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jaegrayson
Reviews
The Greatest Hits (2024)
Overall 8/10
This is a great indie romantic/drama with a little bit of scifi sprinkled into the film. Not only does music play a pivotal part in this film but it does in a kind of way where everyone who loves music can relate to. The addition of wanting to save a life lost with time travel and music being the key to the time travel is quite fun but mostly made to be frightening here. Not scary movie frightening, but in a way that if it happens in the wrong places someone could get hurt. The drama in this film comes from loss, grief and moving on. Anyone who's gone through losing someone can relate to this. Wishing to be able to save someone they've lost is a sad but true feeling. It's done well here.
Music being the drive here is fun. Music can absolutely bring people back to a time and place when heard and the idea of time traveling back to pivotal points in the past through hearing songs makes this a fun and beautiful story for music fans.
The acting here was also superb. The two leads had great on screen chemistry, Corenswet not so much. The best friend was a cliché that is gettin a little old and the actor did not have chemistry with the lead. The rest of the supporting cast was good. Direction here was also great. Great shots, great locations.
Some will say this is a movie for the romantic movie crowd but it does have the strength to appeal to many viewers. Those who love romantic movies, those who love all Time Travel movies, those who love music filled movies, those who've lost someone, and those who wish they could change the past. It's a well thought out film.
Over all it's a great indie film. I only give an 8/10 cus some of the actors didn't have chemistry.
Road House (2024)
Easily a straight to video B movie. Dumb remake.
As a remake, this movie sucks. As a "reimagining" it still sucks.
I'm honestly surprised Jake Gyllenhaal would sign on to do a movie with such a bad story. They turned a tough brooding mysterious character like Dalton and turned him into a jokey quip filled homeless ex ufc fighter. This version was never a bouncer but jumped right in to it with ease, because he was a ufc fighter. No skills necessary except to punch right? There is no Wade. No mentor. No back story to why this guy is homeless, why he thinks murder is okay or why he thinks Hawaiian shirts are stylish.
The changes to the storyline was cliche with a rich guy wanting to buy some land and the owner doesn't wanna sell said land. Yawn. A rich guy that we never see btw. We meet his dumb at everything son but no big bad, no final boss. The original had a far better storyline.
McGregor was so campy here it was a kin to a bully in an after school special bad. The one liners given to him were so stupid you had to laugh. I won't knock his acting cus he's not an actor but no, he can not act. His walk looks even dumber on film than when he's walking to a ring. I heard him say in an interview that he felt as if he was going for Arny (Arnold) vibes, the big difference here being Arnold worked with better writers and better directors.
One of the worst changes to Dalton was this. They made him into a legit stone cold murderer. He kills a guy (purposely btw) and brings him home and puts him in a cooler. Goes to bed. Makes coffee in the morning and later knocks out a cop and uses the cops gun to shoot the dead body. That's psychotic serial killer stuff. Was this Dalton a serial killer in the past? The original was not that. The killing done in the original was always done in self defense. He did not kill guys and carry them around in coolers. The bad guys here were so terrible I'm not even gonna waste time typing about them. The worst group of henchmen ever written into a script. Worst group of bikers ever written into a script as well. Terrible.
The action was okay. Nothing special. Nothing to talk about. They sped up some of the fight scenes which is always sad. If that's what you clicked watch for then this turd fest might be for you.
As its own, it's a dumb campy B movie you won't watch again. Unlike the original which has a ton of rewatchability. This should've been called anything but Roadhouse. They should have not used Dalton as a character, maybe as a sequel with a different character would've helped. It would still be a B movie, but at least then they wouldn't have to go around lying about how they honored Swayze and the original movie.
What a turd. Everyone saying this is a good movie is lying. They either just like B movies, the ufc or they stan Gyllenhaal and/or McGregor.
Barbie (2023)
Disney channel level movie.
First, let me say there are some laughs in this movie and I enjoyed some of the comedy. Absolutely fun for kids and family (minus the sexual innuendos and sexual jokes). You're a blinded by bias if you don't think this movie is making money cus of the brand alone. Visually this movie is appealing. Yes. Absolutely. Straight out of the toy stores and out of the Barbie toy boxes. Story wise this movie is a dump. Mediocre at best. Feminist heavy which is fine, but the story itself is what makes it a dump. It makes no sense. If you're expecting a Lego movie or Free Guy type of reveal, there is not one. The humans literally just cross over to "Barbieland" and Barbie herself is able to stay in the "human" world which is apparently a skip and a jump or row boat away from the city. This makes the movie seem like it's Disney channel material and not really Disney theater material.
It's a Barbie movie so I wasn't expecting much but to not explain why and how everyone is able to just crossover to "Barbieland" is just lazy writing. The main character draws a sad Barbie and it makes Barbie in the nearby very real "Barbieland" sad. Barbie can somehow feel her emotions. So with no explanation why, Barbie is supposed to be a doll but is also real and has a connection to this woman who's works for Mattel and draws Barbie in her free time. Mattel CEO's can also crossover to "Barbieland" and it's normal. This side of the story is terrible. Aside from the obvious feminist storyline there is no other storyline that makes sense. It's all just Disney channel silliness. The final scene serves no purpose other than to serve for another inside sexual joke. So dumb.
The Oscar talk surrounding this movie is absurd. As a real movie, it's a terrible movie. While Gosling is funny here, should he be nominated for playing a silly, sad Ken doll? Literally anyone could have played these roles. There was nothing Oscar worthy in these performances. Gosling has turned in some great performances in his career but this is just not one of them. Nothing outstanding here.
Of course women and little girls will find this movie entertaining. Thanks to the brand and the visually appealing sets it will of course connect with almost all females, women and children alike. Is it really Oscar worthy? No. There is no real acting done in this movie. It's like one long SNL sketch. Nominating this movie for anything other than visual, costumes and/or sets, would be an insult to the actors that have truly acted in some amazing roles.
Should you watch this movie? Sure. Why not. Like I said it's visually appealing and is funny, and is feminist heavy. Most women should and will most likely enjoy this movie. Anyone with a sense of story telling, might not. I would suggest watching Free Guy, and the Lego movie. Much better stories being told there that actually do make sense.
2:22 (2017)
Not great, but not bad either.
This was not a guy reliving the same day. Not a Groundhog Day situation here. By some astronomical reason these characters are reincarnated characters and we are only given that knowledge from the main characters view but somehow by the end we see that the ex bf/villain of the story also knows. Maybe even knew the whole time. Not enough story was given to the two other highlighted characters. That is where the story fell flat. Decent story but badly described as a relives the same day type of movie. The direction was good through out the movie except for the final confrontation scene. The main character is shot but doesn't appear to be in pain, and no one is coming to his aid. He lies there in her arms shot and bleeding. In a train station. With cops around, but no one seems to care. That was a terrible shot. Not sure what the director was going for there. All in all, it's worth a watch but could've been better if the other characters had been given some of the story.
Above the Shadows (2019)
Should've been better.
Great concept but not giving an explanation to the invisibility was lazy writing. This film doesn't need to go full Sci-Fi, and going for the someone "feeling invisible" theme is fine but an explanation is needed here as she literally becomes invisible. She has a family that is part of her story that just forgets her existence. This needs resolution. The romantic story was good, minus him not having more questions about her "invisibility". Giving an invisible woman a virtual scooper job was clever, but the MMA story felt forced to fit with todays fascination with the sport. It didn't work for me. A glitch or two would've helped her fading in and out as well. Thirlby and Ritchson save this movie. I look forward to someone improving this concept in a future film.