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Reviews
The Full Monty (2023)
Don't expect an iota of the charm from the movie.
Like me, I am sure many many people flocked to the show because of the memories of the charming, campy, fun filled movie. Like me, I am sure many people are extremely disappointed in the series.
Even a tiny bit of charm from this series cannot be extracted from this series. They managed to get the entire cast from the movie back, and every single one of the characters has some kind of awful, sad, desperate, downtrodden situation. There is absolutely nothing to be entertained by. And some of the subject matter of those stories is quite serious.
I couldn't believe someone actually put together the storyline and thought it would be entertaining. It's as if some drama writers put together the screenplay without ever seeing the movie or even any comedy movie.
It's baffling how this got made.
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
What happened to the John Wick franchise?
I don't get it. This movie (and the previous chapter) got such high ratings. The first two chapters had intrigue, action and a formidable foe. This one and the previous one have this strange tone with a type of fantasy 'bowing to the gods' type of thing. It is SOOOOO stupid. It's so cheap. I was shocked to see the same director made the first two chapters. The last two look like there had been huge efforts to make some over-the-top situations with the strangest of circumstances (neon lit glass rooms which is essentially a house of mirrors, a strange duel at 30 paces etc.) It's so transparent the efforts made to create outrageous situations. It's very cheap.
OMG has this franchise lost its way. There is absolutely no cache' like the first two chapters. I appreciate the homage to 'The Warriors' in Chapter 4.. but again.. its derivative. I am so disappointed.
The 355 (2022)
How could the movie studios not see how awful this movie is?
Oh my gosh. This movie is soooo bad. It's hard to know where to begin. The story is beyond stupid. Extremely cliche. I mean EVERY cliche you can imagine is in this movie.
The tech in the movie is so beyond reasonable it's laughable. If you can just grab your phone and in 3 seconds know (actually view in real-time!) that the person you are chasing has just checked into hotel x, in country y, under the name z, then why is it so hard to chase the evil people down?
The handheld camera work got out of control.. with so many ridiculous kung-fu fights, the constant jitter and swinging around of the camera got bothersome after a while. I am guessing it was an attempt to make the scenes more believable.
There were a lot of good actors in the film, and I think it was well acted.. . But as much as I like Jessica Chastain, I don't think she was right for this part. Her physical fighting and chasing scenes etc never seemed natural. It just wasn't a good fit.
This movie will actually have you wondering what the meeting process must have been like, and how in the world it got the green light.
Someone had to say "The agent runs to the shipyard, reaches inside a large forklift and presses a lever (momentarily mind you) causing the forklift to extend way out over the dock. The agent will get on top of the pallet forks and having achieved an incredibly clear vantage point, proceed to fire round after round at the individual on the boat below, missing every time. And the boat drives away".. hahahaaa.
I Care a Lot (2020)
There is NOBODY to like in this movie
They had such a chance at a good story.. What a waste. Everybody.. EVERYBODY in this movie is an absolute slime. Why would they think its interesting to sit for 2 hours and watch a bunch of sleazebags get sleazier.
Ridiculously stupid execution. At least they didn't film the movie in handheld cameras. You can actually follow the scenes instead of trying to focus on a jittery flashes of images.. A total waste of time.
Angel Has Fallen (2019)
Unwatchable due to the handheld cameras
I knew this movie wasn't going to be good.. but I expected it to be fun (and probably stupid). This movie is a perfect example of how lazy movie directing has become. Virtually every scene - even slow static scenes- were done with a super zoomed in, constantly panning and focusing handled cameras. It made this movie absolutely unwatchable. I had to laugh at one scene where the entire scene was nothing but a mega-zoomed in view of Morgan Freeman's eyes.. all you could notice were the dark moles all over his face. I don't know this director.. and after seeing this one, I hope I don't have to look him up ever again. This thing stinks...
Drunk Parents (2019)
Nobody read the script obviously
I originally theorized that Alec Baldwin didn't put out any effort since getting the game show gig, but that was put to rest when I discovered this movie was made in 2016 but not released until 2019.. That leaves one thing.. The movie is a an abhorred failure of a film.. It flat out stinks.. The script is ridiculous and very poorly executed.. Salma (who I tend to be ok with) is absolutely wrong for the part.. The story... Oh boy the story... I have no idea how the story got to where it ended up.. but obviously many people should have been fired.. This movie is obviously patterned after Date Night.. but it doesn't come close to reaching the same level - in every single area..
I see why the movie was not released in the US.. and only overseas after a long period.. It did a total of 900k at the box office.. Ouch... but probably appropriate.
Stan & Ollie (2018)
A rare feat of absolutely hitting the mark on the impersonations.
This is a beautifully executed film. The characters are absolutely nailed by Reilly and Coogan.. Boy.. the look was perfect, the actions were perfect (down to the walks) and the voices were perfect.. That *never* happens in a biographical film. I am always distracted by someone imperfectly impersonating someone else. This thing played perfectly. I loved the story.. they focus'd on the time when L & H were in decline, trying to salvage what was left of their careers. Most filmmakers would have focus'd on the rise of the duo. But a real story exists towards the end.. and it is expertly presented here. I liked this film a great deal.
Goliath (2016)
Season 2 is a total joke compared to season 1
Oh boy.. Where to begin.. Season 1 was intriguing, interesting and expertly executed. Season 2 ....... stinks.. It is creeeeeepy and weird. Some of the story pieces aren't believable, others make you roll your eyes.. It's a very bizarre season. There isn't much to make you want to watch the next episode.
I searched out the writers and for some reason, season 2 writers were different for every episode.. and all of them were different from season 1. If you have a show that had such high acclaim, why in the world would you change it up so much, that its unrecognizable at times. Very very puzzling..
The Disaster Artist (2017)
Interesting story but very difficult to watch
I had fun with the story. Very intriguing. I have not seen the original yet.. but I will search it out now..
The problem with this movie is how it was made, with ALL hand-held camera shots.. The camera is in a constant state of jitter. I mean EVERY SINGLE SCENE.. Even scenes where the two main characters are sitting still and having dialog, the camera is moving.. It is so annoying.. You can even detect the camera operators steps when the scene is moving. Seriously? Has movie making gotten THAT lazy? Do we care that little?
This problem coupled with the very short scene cuts leave your eyes in a constant state of adjustment. This extremely short scene cuts is something you would expect on a modern TV show.
It almost ruined the entire experience..
Wind River (2017)
Mostly good. It has some big flaws.
This movie should have been great.. It had potential to really be a great film. The Jeremy Renner character was great.. He really pulled it off nicely.. The Elizabeth Olsen character wasn't nearly as believable.. but OK. I don't see how it got the high marks it did. But I only have one opinion.
There were some really stupid executions in the story telling.. I rolled my eyes a few times at some of the scenes.. Ridiculous stuff.
And then there was the lazy film-making style of going hand-held with the camera. There are scenes in this film that are almost unwatchable because of the hand-held camera jitter. I understand at times it adds to excitement - ala the street scenes of The French Connection.. But this film wasn't using hand-held to add to action. Clearly most of the hand-held was done to make the film easier to make. There were even jittery hand-held scenes of two people having a conversation in a living room..
Un-necessary and really takes away from the film. I am glad I only paid a couple of bucks to see the movie.. if I had paid full price I probably would not have felt like it was worth it..
Patriots Day (2016)
People are reacting to the theme not the quality of the movie
People who are giving this movie a higher rating are most likely reacting to the theme of the movie and not being objective about the film itself. I rented the flick, without knowing anything about the film or who directed it. I knew of the story of course, but the cast was good, and it looked interesting so I rented it. My opinion was cast blindly and honestly. I only looked up the film later to see the details.
The movie plays exactly like a made-for-TV movie. It follows the formula to a tee. Peter Berg has done a lot of TV work so it makes sense.
Virtually the whole movie was done with hand-held cameras which ensures a jittery constantly moving picture with the exception of the countless aerial shots of Boston. That's really lazy.. The music is a perfect blueprint for the music that is played on TV documentary to unnecessarily boost drama. Again Berg has done a lot of documentaries, so again it makes sense.
There is one preachy scene with Wahlberg on the tailgate of a truck that actually made me roll my eyes.. I thought really? Can it be more contrived?
John Goodman's character didn't really have anything to do..
J.K. Simmons character is aloof and mostly uninterested and has one of the more ridiculous scenes in the movie.
Michelle Monaghan really didn't have a part either.
The performances were good, and I love these actors. But there is some big talent wasted on parts that anyone could have played and we wouldn't have noticed.
The movie pays tribute to law enforcement, but until the end, they are made to look pretty incompetent and at times, witless. I couldn't understand how that characterization was allowed given the purpose of the movie. It was puzzling.
The tribute to the actual victims was very nice. I certainly felt for those people.
Jason Bourne (2016)
Oh so disappointing.
Wow was this movie a bust. The directing trend to take the easy road and do everything in hand-held camera has taken over with Paul Greengrass. Not only is *every single* scene bouncing around and jittery, Paul has taken the step to add zooms to the mix making things even worse. Add to this editing that makes each shot about two seconds (literally), this movie is virtually un-watchable. Dreadful lazy lazy film making.
The story (what little of it there is) was really really stupid. If you are a techie and can't overlook ridiculous technical setups and jargon, you will have a hard time getting through this movie. It is pretty laughable. But I can overlook that stuff in the interests of fun.
I had high hopes for this one, and was extremely disappointed. If I wasn't with others I would have walked out.
Star Trek Beyond (2016)
Wow surprisingly awful
I was surprised how awful this movie is.. It could be fun at times.. The opening was absolutely spectacular. But geez did it go south..
I was surprised how poor the dialog was. Some of the acting wasn't good either. I am not sure the casting was as good as it should have been. One of the main characters absolutely failed..
Some of the characters just looked like people wearing a uniform and a mask. Surprising considering how well done some of the space sequences were made.
It was a fun(ish) time. I love movies and I extracted enough joy from this one to justify the trip to the theater.. But I won't be buying the bluray for sure..
Joy (2015)
Poorly told story, mildly interesting
Hmm this movie was almost interesting.. Almost.. It was very poorly told. There is way way too much time spent early describing the main characters childhood. It reached a point that you are saying to yourself 'we get it.. now move on!'. 25 mins could easily have been cut from this film without affecting the story.
The relationships play strangely on screen. You never get a real sense of friendship or family other than the Ex Husband. Its more of a girl surrounded by a family of idiots and putting up with them because she has no choice. Business relationships are shallow and don't deliver on any sentiment. The visit to Dallas is ludicrous when a smallish looking town is portrayed and everyone is wearing cowboy hats, boots and western wear!. haahaaa laughable.
I am guessing this movie will get a slightly elevated score because it is loosely based on a true story. But even thin I can only give it a 4.
Sisters (2015)
A severe misuse of potential
I like both of the leading actors a good bit. I didn't have huge expectations but I expected a decent ride with some good writing.
I was really disappointed. The basic story of the film is hugely flawed to begin with.. overlooking that premise.. its still a really bad film.
It is obviously largely an improv exercise. But the thing is, with a film where there is so much unscripted dialog, there is a tendency to come up with extreme, off the wall reactions which can really really fall flat.
James Brolin didn't seem like he has acted in years. Diane Wiest who is such a great actress, is way above doing this film.
All in all a very disappointing view for me.. I am glad it only cost me $1.50.
Criminal (2016)
Really stupid and the directing is almost unwatchable
I had high hopes for this one. The cast is awesome.. The idea of a crime thriller/action movie is appealing. Boy was it disappointing.
The story is ... well really stupid.. but its an action flick.. so we can go along with it in the name of fun.... but the film is very very frustrating to watch. I don't know what Ariel was thinking.. Did he make his mark in music videos or something? The full use of hand-held cameras and the constant movement make sure that the picture is jittery and blurred throughout. A very lazy and cheap approach to film making. It can really ruin a film. If you couple the hand held camera aspect with the way it is cut with extreme closeups in practically every shot, you end up with a film that is extremely frustrating to watch. I have seen enough of Kevin Costner's nose hair. :-)
Very few shots last more than 3-4 seconds. Every shot is an extreme closeup, and very jittery and constantly moving.. Arrrrgh..
I kept noticing how much the film resembled the previews shown before movies. Previews are teasers, with very quick flashes of video. But they aren't the full film. This movie is essentially an hour and a half of a preview video. If you can endure it, along with the stupid stupid ridiculous story, you might have a decent time.
Truth (2015)
Soap-boxing at its best
This film is so transparent. At every turn the dialog is a setup so that a grand speech (with huge musical crescendos) can be made. I suspect most people that liked the film were mostly swayed with the politics of the film. I am not against the political statements.. its just that it would have been better as a documentary than a feature film.. Some of the situations setup in the film are laughable. The big dramatic music doesn't help. Robert Redford - whom I am a big fan - was really cheated. He has a strange unbelievable demeanor. The cast is good for the most part. The dialog is very poor at times. "why did you get into journalism?"... "curiosity... Why did you?".. "you!" (a big pause followed dramatic music follows).. Not exactly ground breaking dialog.
Kill Me Three Times (2014)
Wacky and what I expected
Some of the reviews of this movie are puzzling (its also hard to take some of them seriously with the embarrassing misuse of the word 'to').
I don't see that anyone connected to this flick attempted to make an earth shattering film.. It was just a fun ride for me. I had a good time with this movie.
In general I thought it was acted well. The music punched the Tarantino parallel, and added a fun tone. I thought it was worth seeing for sure..
I guess if you go in expecting a Tarantino flick, you will be disappointed - and evidently displeased that a movie would resemble one.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
I am stunned this movie has made any money
This movie is absolutely terrible. It is a little disturbing to me to look at the box office gross and such huge monies made by this ... thing... The story is absolutely the worst.. They followed the usual path that sequels do - take anything popular about the first movie and blow it up even bigger until everyone is nauseated.. I felt sorry for Shia LaBeouf having to act out that script. I don't recommend this flick to anyone.. Another thing - Action is fun.. but I think even the action is messed up.. All the continuous morphing of the transformer bots makes it impossible to really see what is going on. You are never afforded the opportunity to take in some of the 'morphing' action before more of it kicks off..