Change Your Image
invisiblephrend
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Road House (2024)
Solid action flick not to be taken seriously
Apparently the reviews are getting swarmed by boomers that didn't get their cream of wheat this morning. Do remakes suck? Usually. But this is a solid action flick that doesn't hide what it is: a slapstick action flick packed with ridiculous amounts of alpha Chad characters and protagonist plot armor. It's laid on pretty thick throughout the film that it's meant to be a goofy punchfest of senseless violence and overly eccentric characters.
Even if you haven't seen the original, this film still stand out on its own as a movie that's just fun to watch and at no point takes itself seriously. If you're looking for a deep and thought provoking storyline, then this might not for you. But if you enjoy the adrenaline junkie style akin to John Wick or just about anything Jason Statham, then it's highly recommended.
The most impressive thing that stands out in this film is Jake G's commendable dedication to getting in shape for this role. Jake went through intense amounts of training and discipline to acquire an absolutely shredded physique for this role. The fact that he achieved this while in his 40s is an inspiration to anyone who is trying to get in shape. It's on par with Hugh Jackman's preparation for Wolverine.
Now for the bad stuff. The fight scenes are heavily reliant on CGI body doubles and shaky camera effects that stick out like a sore thumb in several scenes. If they had spent a little more time in perfecting these effects, it may have worked out as more believable. Jake's character also has superhero levels of plot armor that can induce a bit of eyerolling from anyone expecting realism out of the story. Plenty of scenes where he survives moments that would easily kill an ordinary man (i.e. Disarming several men with guns without getting blasted).
You're also not likely to enjoy the ending, as it was pretty intentionally peppered with plot holes in order to allow a potential sequel. This also may come as a shock to some of you, but Connor McGregor is (gasp) not a professionally trained actor. He was hired to play the crazy goon that he is in real life and it worked well for the film, in my opinion. Is it still worth watching? Absolutely.
Mon père, le diable (2021)
Powerful
I can't say much more than other reviewers have already covered on this film. The acting is superb and the story is an engaging slow burn. If you're expecting a Tarantino style revenge flick that's loaded with over-the-top gore, this is not one of those films. It focuses moreso on the deeply embedded struggles of people who suffer through extreme levels of trauma and the need to heal from their past.
The main focus of the film centers around moral ambiguity and begs the question: can people who have done terrible things be redeemed? Is revenge the solution that will heal your troubled mind or make it worse? The film does an incredible job of not only empathizing with all parties involved and keeps you guessing what happens next. The only divisive thing I found about this film is the ending, which you may or may not like. I found it to be a bit too cliché (pun intended for French film lol), but still highly recommended!
The Whale (2022)
Not impressed
I was curious about this film due to Brendan Fraser winning the Oscar for best actor in a leading role. I don't want to diminish Fraser's award because it is easily his best performance of all time. With that said, he's the only good thing about this film. The writing is sloppy and unoriginal. The acting from the supporting actors is just okay.
The entire film centers around Charlie wanting to reconcile with the daughter that he "abandoned". By abandoned, I mean he legally was prohibited from seeing her and his ex-wife (who had full custody) forbid him from seeing her or even talking to her over the phone. Despite all of this, his daughter still lives in the delusion that he never cared about her. And no matter how many, MANY times he tries to explain to her dumb ass that he wanted to see her, she still incessantly treats him like garbage.
There's a persistently unrealistic disconnect with Charlie not realizing that his daughter is just a horrible and cruel person. Her behavior goes way beyond just being a bratty, rebellious teenager. She repeatedly tells him that she only cares about his money and at one point even "jokes" about murdering him. Charlie feels bad about the fact that she doesn't seem to have any friends, but can't comprehend that she doesn't have any friends because she's just an extremely toxic person to be around.
Despite all of this, he still continues to take constant abuse from her. What really upset me is when it's revealed that not only will he be giving his entire life savings to her, but it's heavily implied that his best and only friend in the world, Liz, is likely never going to see a dime from him after he dies. What a class act.
There's also this incredibly irrational hostility towards Thomas, the missionary boy, who by all accounts is a good person throughout the story. He gets dogpiled by everyone but Charlie because of his church affiliation, despite the fact that he did nothing personally wrong to any of them. At one point the daughter even plots to get him arrested because... there is no good reason; she's just a borderline sociopath.
And then there's the ending. It's the classic 180 move where either the writers had no clue how to properly end the story and/or the budget was running thin, so think of something! Anything! Charlie once again says a few kind words to his daughter and presto! She finally comes around to have an emotional connection with him. And then 3 seconds later he dies. The end.
Heckler (2007)
looks like little jamie doesn't like negative reviews.
So, i was reading some of my old reviews and noticed this one was missing aka censored. Hey little jamie, way to lose the sense of irony of from reporting/deleting reviews you don't like. Not that you ever had a grasp on good comedy to begin with. Sorry that your career died a miserable death, but we're all super impressed that you don't like star trek. Really looking forward to your next role as Party Guest (voice, uncredited).
Child's Play (2019)
Wasted potential
So, I'll give an honest star rating rather than join the battle of 1's, 9's, and 10's which are blown out of proportion. I don't hate the movie. It has its moments, but it's hardly memorable either. And I'm not against remakes or reimagining the story of a classic horror film. Rob Zombie's Halloween remake was phenomenal, for example. But imagine my excitement when I found out that the same people who ruined IT were behind the production of this dud. This "modernization" of Chucky was just lazy and desperate to be different. I hated the new doll design, hated the voice actor even more, and we went from a sadistic, quick-witted serial killer possessing a child's doll to an autistic dwarf with wi-fi abilities. There's no conviction whatsoever in any of the characters. It's also missing the dark and sociopathic nature that made the original Chucky so terrifying. It's basically a PG-13 horror flick with R-rated profanity. Everything is just so one-dimensional and none of the characters carry any kind of conviction behind their actions. It's just bad.
Cold Comes the Night (2013)
Wasted potential
So like 99% of the people who watched this movie, I was invested in checking out Bryan Cranston's performance. I'm a huge BB fanboy and the trailer for this film seemed decent enough, but I feel like Cranston must have not gotten a full copy of the script (or a voice coach) before accepting this role. The writing is just absolutely atrocious. 2-dimensional characters, tons of plot holes, and the mother has NUMEROUS chances to escape her captor. At one point she's even standing behind him while he's sitting in a chair. It was more than plausible for her to pick up any of the several blunt objects in the room and try to knock him out.
Every character is so painfully dumb, CinemaSins would have an absolute field day with those details alone. A vicious Russian mobster kidnaps a mother & daughter, threatening to murder them both if they try to escape, but then inexplicably has a change of heart when attempting to steal a meager $2000 from her. I mean literally out of nowhere he suddenly forms a conscience for God only knows why. If that wasn't bad enough, he then spares the life of a dirty cop who knows what he looks like and whose wife he just murdered in cold blood. Yeah, that totally makes sense.
But here's the cherry on top: the mother, whose SOLE MOTIVATION throughout the entire movie is to protect her daughter from a murderous sociopath, figures it's no big deal if she just helps herself to stealing $50,000 from the Russian mafia. And does she immediately pack up their essentials and skip town like a bat out of Hell for making such a reckless move. NO. Instead, she just stays home. Yes, seriously. She stays home! She apparently stays there for so long that it leaves enough time for both the mobster and the dirty cop to arrive there and try to deal out their vengeance. And by the time they get there (which at the very least is hours later), she has barely even started packing. What in the actual Hell?
The acting was decent enough, but it seems like as the film progressed actors were slowly realizing that the story was just too ridiculous to take seriously. Like they were just trying to get through their lines and get this crapfest over with. It's worth watching if you want to learn how a decent cast, directing, and cinematography is already doomed from the start without a decent script. Otherwise it's a hard pass.