Anyone who doubts the realism of this film needs to watch it again with the director's commentary on. That should change your mind. Everything that happens in this film is taken from real life.
Reviews
24 Reviews
Thirteen Days
(2000)
This isn't a Costner movie
12 November 2020
Kevin Costner's name may be above the title but this movie belongs to Bruce Greenwood as JFK and Stephen Culp as RFK. It's a reasonably accurate narrative of the events leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Younger viewers may be surprised how close we came to all out war with USSR.
Tarantino shows his love
6 April 2020
The only point I wanted to make (other than the fact that boomers are going to get this film far more than younger viewers - especially the one-hit-wonder soundtrack) is that the two main characters are surprisingly nice people. Wonderful movie.
Meet Howard Epps.
13 December 2019
Warning: Spoilers
This episode is one of the best in the entire series. My main takeaway is the fascinating struggle Booth has between his duty as a cop and his desire for justice. The twist at the end is a shocker, just when you thought you had it figured out...
The Highwaymen
(2019)
Good movie!
30 March 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I was wondering when someone would tell the other side of the Bonnie and Clyde saga. This movie fit the bill admirably, if it was a little slow at times. It was a brilliant decision to completely avoid personalizing Bonnie and Clyde; in fact, their faces aren't ever clearly seen until that final encounter.
Did humans actually write this crap?
1 March 2019
Horrible. Every cliche in the book. Plot holes and ridiculous logic all over. One of the characters (FBI) actually tells the other (CIA) that the FBI has jurisdiction over their prisoner because he happens to be an American citizen. Even though they're in Moscow at the time! And the dialogue? You can anticipate the next line at least 90% of the time. I will give this series two more episodes to improve, only because Lauren Cohan is in it. She can't have left TWD to take on something this stupid.
Update: after now having watched four episodes, I can now say I think this series has massively improved. In fact, it's damn watchable. A solid 7.
We're not all teenagers in this audience
22 October 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I love the dark turn this series has taken. I would have given this episode a 9 or 10, until they ruined it with that dumbass football game/cheerleader sequence. To quote a character from another CW series "What are you...seven??"
San Andreas
(2015)
There was Paul Giamatti, explaining the catastrophe that had occurred and predicting what was to come.
15 October 2018
It was fascinating. I was on the edge of my seat. This was good stuff! And then...it turned into a Dwayne Johnson rubber-stamped action joke. The cliches. The wooden dialogue. The predictable good guys and bad guys. The tragic deaths and heroic rescues. Against all odds. And the final triumphant, puffed-up declaration by our hero, after being asked what comes next: " We'll rebuild". I need a barf bag.
Deadpool 2
(2018)
Better than the first.
30 August 2018
More complex. Better action. Better character development. More humor. Better music. Gives an answer to the question "What the hell do we do about Green Lantern (and it's REALLY satisfying)". Just an all around better movie.
Baby Driver
(2017)
Great, except....
18 July 2017
The cinematography is unbelievable. The editing is perfect. The script is ingenious. The acting, especially by Jamie Foxx, is top-notch. The action is pulse-pounding. The sound editing is superb and the soundtrack sublime. It's almost enough to make me forget that the last half-hour of this film makes absolutely no freaking logical sense whatsoever. Almost.
Great episode. . .
1 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I just wanted to add a couple thoughts to the excellent review by darbski (which you should read first).
While I agree that new chief Dammick is stupid and lazy, I'm beginning to think he has an ulterior motive. He has blocked every effort to investigate each of the suspicious deaths.
I also agree that Mashman is a coward, but since I'm sure Yuri unloaded his pistol before he came back to get it, he'd probably be dead otherwise. Yuri is just too cocky for that not to be true.
Although it's apparent that Nikki was the only prisoner in the police station, I'm sure that the bus had already made several previous stops to pick up prisoners, which would explain the presence of Mr. Wrench (one of the mob hit men from season 1). Which brings me to my final thought: what if the bus crash had nothing to do with Nikki, but was orchestrated to free Mr. Wrench? What other purpose does his presence possibly serve - unless it's just an Easter egg. We will soon find out.
So far, I think this as been the best season of Fargo so far. Hope the final episode won't be a yawner like the first two seasons.
While I agree that new chief Dammick is stupid and lazy, I'm beginning to think he has an ulterior motive. He has blocked every effort to investigate each of the suspicious deaths.
I also agree that Mashman is a coward, but since I'm sure Yuri unloaded his pistol before he came back to get it, he'd probably be dead otherwise. Yuri is just too cocky for that not to be true.
Although it's apparent that Nikki was the only prisoner in the police station, I'm sure that the bus had already made several previous stops to pick up prisoners, which would explain the presence of Mr. Wrench (one of the mob hit men from season 1). Which brings me to my final thought: what if the bus crash had nothing to do with Nikki, but was orchestrated to free Mr. Wrench? What other purpose does his presence possibly serve - unless it's just an Easter egg. We will soon find out.
So far, I think this as been the best season of Fargo so far. Hope the final episode won't be a yawner like the first two seasons.
Training Day
(2017)
A sorry mess
10 March 2017
I have been a Bill Paxton fan since before most of you were born. I've appreciated his more recognized roles (Twister, Titanic, Aliens, etc.) but I loved him for his greatest roles: Lords Of Discipline, Near Dark and the unforgettable One False Move. So I was so saddened to have to watch this piece of crap and then accept that it was his swan song. The writing is horrible; nothing happens that isn't expected in a B-movie script. The dialogue is ridiculous and would embarrass those making a high school play. I imagine Bill cringing every time he is forced to speak his lines. The supporting cast try desperately to make the dialogue work (great effort, Katrina Law) but nothing could have saved this dumb series. Absolute garbage.
Incredibly disappointing
15 December 2015
I waited for this episode with so much anticipation! And what did we get? The same thing we got in the last episode of season 1: a nice tie-up, but nothing we didn't already know or expect. Nine episodes of incredibly addictive story-telling followed by a huge yawn. It's like the writers were planning a nine-episode story and then an epilogue.
Kudos to Kirsten Dunst, Ted Danson, Jeffrey Donovan, Angus Sampson and Zahn McClarnon for pretty much owning every scene they were in this season.
I may be an idiot but I will be eagerly awaiting season 3. They've got to get it right all the way to the end eventually.
Kudos to Kirsten Dunst, Ted Danson, Jeffrey Donovan, Angus Sampson and Zahn McClarnon for pretty much owning every scene they were in this season.
I may be an idiot but I will be eagerly awaiting season 3. They've got to get it right all the way to the end eventually.
The Walk
(II) (2015)
Absolutely stunning
4 October 2015
Warning: Spoilers
First, let me say that I've never seen better 3-D in a live action film and that is crucial to the impact this film delivers. As everyone knows, the film tells the story of Philippe Petit's wire walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. To anyone who has read the book on which this film is based (and the documentary Man On Wire) the events leading up to that spectacle are well-known and fairly accurately portrayed. BTW, I'm old enough to remember the real event. Others will discuss the acting (Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Petit is particularly good) the writing, cinematography and all the other aspects of what goes into a motion picture. I just want to discuss the walk itself, as Zemeckis presents it. I am terrified of heights and was worried I might not be able to watch Petit's high wire performance. In fact, I was cringing far more during the scenes of the characters scurrying around on the edges of the tops of the two towers while preparing the wire. Once Petit actually started his walk, though, Zemeckis and Gordon-Levitt were able to actually communicate (at least to this viewer) the serenity that Petit says he feels on the wire. I left the theatre shaking, and two hours later I got a text from a friend who saw the film with me: "I'm still reeling!" Me too.
Best episode to date!!!!
27 May 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Wow! This is without a doubt the best episode of this series so far. Several "huh?" moments, a few "What the hell??" scenes and one big "Whoa! I did NOT see that coming!!" After breaking and telling Monroe everything, Nora is smuggled out by Sanborn (huh?) Monroe wants to kill Flynn but Flynn convinces Monroe that he needs him to access The Tower - as if Flynn thinks he isn't just delaying his execution - (what the hell??). Rachel plans on sacrificing herself to kill Monroe and get Aaron into the tower at the same time (another what the hell??). But the BIG storyline is Miles, Nora et. al. heading to The Tower via a pendant-ized chopper. They set down in an old military airfield to find fuel, but as they separate to search, the pilot is found murdered and the chopper sabotaged, apparently by one of them. They all accuse someone in the group; loyalties are tested and everyone appears to be a suspect (recalling the old Clue board game which I assume gives this episode its title). I knew without question who was responsible and when the culprit was revealed that was my "Whoa! I did NOT see that coming!!" moment. Oh, and did I mention that this episode ends with a major cliffhanger? 10 stars
Defiance
(2013–2015)
Terra Nova deja vu all over again.
14 May 2013
This show started out with great promise, but now reminds me of another show I really, REALLY wanted to like: Terra Nova. Great premise, great cast, great design and effects, but then devolves into predictable, clichéd plots. Shouldn't the aliens with whom we humans are now sharing Earth act -- I don't know -- kind of ALIEN? Instead they act just like what they really are: humans wearing a lot of makeup but with all the predictable passions, appetites and vices.
Those who get involved with the associated interactive Defiance game may be getting something more out of the series than I am, but I can only judge it by the series itself, and that is becoming more and more of a disappointment the more I watch.
Those who get involved with the associated interactive Defiance game may be getting something more out of the series than I am, but I can only judge it by the series itself, and that is becoming more and more of a disappointment the more I watch.
Better than T2
7 November 2007
When I heard Jim Cameron wasn't directing this version of The Terminator, I dismissed it as a money-grab flick. I was stunned to find out how good it was. The attraction of the Terminator films has never been in the excellence of their FX, but in the brilliance of their time-turning plot twists (which we could discuss for DAYS). Based on that criteria, I think this is almost as good as the original, and far superior to the FX-laden but plot-challenged T2. The ending is incredibly, and suitably, fatalistic. Having said that, the FX in this film are great! And best of all -- no Robert Patrick to stink things up! Absolutely brilliant!
Still Crazy
(1998)
Greatest rock movie
7 November 2007
"Still Crazy" is without a doubt the greatest rock comedy of all-time. It has been erroneously compared to "This Is Spinal Tap", which it has no relation to. "Spinal Tap" is a satire (and, quite frankly, not a very good one, in spite of it's "outing" of many rock clichés). Unlike "Tap", "Still Crazy" is populated by great actors, great songs and great human situations. You CARE about the people in "Still Crazy". That's all that matters. Oh, yeah, the music's pretty damn good, too, written by Mick Jones of Foreigner and Chris Difford of Squeeze. American audiences were already familiar with Stephen Rea (The Crying Game), but would only later become familiar with Bill Nighy (Underworld, Love Actually, Pirates Of The Caribbean II) and Timothy Spall (the Harry Potter movies).
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