jacksonmeddows Reviews

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022)

Feel good movie

[7/10 · 23 July 2022]

It fills the role of a nice, funny, feel good movie. Made me smile, and my grandma even more. The acting was on point and the dresses were fabulous, of course.

Pandora (2016)

Boring

[5/10 · 20 July 2022]

1. Netflix has horribly translated Korean to English subtitles. Made the plot impossible to understand in some places (as in, a character provides their reasoning for a decision but the translation is so bad, I can't really understand what their argument is, or why they feel a certain way).

2. Boring. Made it through 22 minutes and quit.

3. couldn't make myself care about any of the characters. There's no hook to draw me into the movie and basically no characterization.

Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022)

Made me laugh a lot, but...

[7/10 · 7 July 2022]

Story was a bit confused. Supernatural elements were weird and not normal in this universe/series. I liked the art a lot. Maybe I'm overthinking, IDK. I liked the 70s references I was able to spot (as a 20 yr old)

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

better than the original for sure

[7/10 · 20 June 2022]

For reference, i gave the original Top Gun a 6/10. I found it very boring. I know some of you will be upset by that.

In Maverick, it was far superior because it actually had "heart" in the story, and I was far more invested in the characters and their success. Also, the original film didn't really have any convincing "stakes" (except for the Maverick & Goose ejection scene) because for 99% of the original, the consequence of failure was probably just they'd have to keep training / go home. I wasn't *invested* in the original like I was in Maverick.

I do have some complaints:

• i wish Kelly McGillis' Charlotte Blackwood could have appeared in this movie or at least been MENTIONED. Kind of sad what happened with Kelly / Charlie
• i noticed some minor continuity issues. For example, there's one scene where a pilot goes from the aircraft carrier to suddenly being in the woods with a parachute behind him on the ground. They could've shown the pilot's trip into the woods with a few short clips.

The Bob's Burgers Movie (2022)

Very underrated

[8/10 · 6 June 2022]

I work at a movie theater and Bob's Burgers was never popular, even when it first released. This is a shame! I've never seen the show and yet I followed the plot very easily. I'm sure if and when I watch the show, there will be a lot of callbacks from the movie that I notice in the show, which is always great of course. I laughed a lot and appreciated the work put into animating the backgrounds. There are a lot of jokes tucked away into the backgrounds, like the back of Tina's classroom and the names of stores in town.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

It's just one of those movies

[8/10 · 3 June 2022]

You know how some movies are so stupid and dumb they're also great?

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is kind of like that. I laughed a lot.

Also Jonah Hill is in this and I'm a big Jonah Hill fan. Everyone should be.

Our Father (III) (2022)

normally would not have written a review, but...

[8/10 · 1 June 2022]

If not for the misogynistic and bigoted 1, 2, 3, 4 star reviews, I would not have reviewed this documentary myself. This documentary is not overly dramatic. What Dr. Cline did is horrible, and the story needs to be shared. This is not something you can just move on from and continue as if life is normal. It's not okay, it's not normal, and Dr. Cline is NOT a "good Christian man."

Hall Pass (2011)

a very 2011 movie

[6/10 · 27 May 2022]

This movie is very "2011" in hindsight. I liked it overall. It made me laugh, so that's worth something, but the plot wandered a lot and the premise is somewhat problematic. I will say, however, that it ends up being less gross / sexual than the plot summary makes it sound. I don't want to spoil anything.

Stardust (2007)

pretty boring

[5/10 · 27 May 2022]

-- the CGI was kind of trash which is understandable given it was released in 2007 -- the story bored me quite a lot and I didn't really care about whether the characters survived or not. I couldn't bring myself to root for them very much.

-- the jokes weren't funny, which would normally be fine since it's not a comedy but they tried to make a lot of jokes and they don't work -- I suppose the non-CGI portions were aesthetically pleasing and had a fantasy vibe but that was just about the only thing I liked about it.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

absolutely unwatchable

[2/10 · 26 May 2022]

Could not finish. Hated it. The jokes are cringey, the turtles are not believable as teenagers, there's casual anti-Asian racism, the action sequences are not realistic whatsoever....

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

shaky camera is annoying

[7/10 · 26 May 2022]

The shaky camera thing (to make scenes more exciting & confusing) is annoying. Should be used much less in this film. Otherwise i might have given it an 8.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

The "stakes" were a bit ridiculous (does that make sense?)

[8/10 · 23 May 2022]

The "stakes" were a bit ridiculous. In the prequel, we were investigating a serial killer and very mysterious man, apparently a warlock of formidable power and great threat to the inhabitants of London. The stability of the country was at stake.

In Game of Shadows, however, we're preventing the fall of western civilization.

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

pretty solid

[8/10 · 21 May 2022]

I would argue Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock is superior to Robert Downey Jr's but they both did fantastic. The CGI in this movie is a little iffy at times but it was 2009 so it's understandable. I thought the plot was alright but the Sherlock plots I'm used to (from the BBC show) tend to be a bit more confusing and convoluted than this one, with more red herrings and less explaining from Sherlock (Benedict's Sherlock prefers to run off after the killer with no explanation as to his motives or what he's talking about, which I found pleasantly bewildering).

Anyway, I thought the combat was fun to watch and the acting was solid.

World Trade Center (2006)

I was surprised about negative reviews

[7/10 · 20 May 2022]

A lot of the reviews are criticizing the film's focusing in on 2 officers (Nicholas Cage & Michael Peña, playing Officers McLoughlin and Jimeno respectively), and failure to contextualize it in the bigger picture (or something like that). I don't know, maybe they're right, but to be honest with you, I perceived it to be a strength of the film that the movie narrows in on the experiences of two men.

Free Willy (1993)

a couple things about the plot's aftermath make me sad...

[7/10 · 15 May 2022]

For example, Willy has lived most of his life without any contact or interaction with orcas, and will not be able to integrate properly. He will probably live his life alone and then die prematurely.

The same thing happened to the whale who played Willy, Keiko. They released him and he died less than a year later. Pneumonia. He was 27. Whales can reach the ages of 50-80, which makes it especially sad.

Also, both Jesse and his dad committed destruction of property (Jesse kicked a park trash can and the dad busted the marina gate with his car), and most of the characters technically committed theft. The police wouldn't care that you saved the orca because the park owners wanted to kill him. The police would say you should've called 911 to report animal abuse. Of course, Willy would have died by the time the police could save him, like they said in the movie, but still.

That means that, realistically, Willy will die soon and several characters will be arrested on charges of Destruction of Property and Theft.

HOWEVER, this movie made me very happy and I smiled a lot, so I give it a 7/10 after all that.

My favorite part is the little kisses Jesse plants on Willy's nose.

Honeytrap (2014)

a sad, realistic story of manipulation and exploitation

[6/10 · 13 May 2022]

I thought this was a surprising, solid movie. Overall, however, definitely something you should skip if you don't have much time. The lead (Jessica Sula) did a great job. I would say the rating on this one is definitely a little low. It was a very realistic and upsetting story.

Also, for a movie from 2014, I would say this has a really diverse cast, which I thought was nice. I didn't let that affect my rating, though.

I would say the use of music was rather heavy-handed. I saw another review here that said the same thing, and I definitely agree, which is what made me knock it down from a potential 7 to, unfortunately, a 6.

Anchor Baby (2010)

slow and boring

[4/10 · 11 May 2022]

This movie annoyed me so much. The premise was great and interesting, but the plot just crawled on and on, to no end, and the acting was annoying especially from certain characters/scenes. Susan and John (Susan's lawyer friend) were particularly odd in their acting, like they don't know how "real" people behave.

Except Joyce Unanga, the main character. She did pretty good.

It's disappointing because I would have loved to get a movie on this topic (undocumented immigrants shown in a sympathetic light) where I could be really invested in the characters.

The ending was unexpected for me, so that was good, but it didn't feel necessary, like the twist didn't really do anything for the movie overall. If it had, I would have bumped it up to a 5/10 but no.

Also the whole movie felt like it was made in the early 2000s, from the camera quality, to the awkward cuts between some scenes, to the weird dialogue.

Small Town Crime (2017)

it was alright

[7/10 · 10 May 2022]

This was a solid movie. I would say my main advice to the general public is do NOT watch this movie just because Octavia Spencer is in it.

The acting isn't great from really anyone but Octavia's was solid, but she doesn't have much screen time at all.

The Delivery Boy (2018)

good runtime

[7/10 · 8 May 2022]

Some things i liked:

• the score. Fantastic music.

• in an age where many movies are 3+ hours, it was refreshing to have a movie sitting at barely more than 1 hour
• well written plot
• i felt that the fact the main character says misogynistic things to the sex worker was realistic. He has flaws. But he hears her out and becomes a better person.

I did not like:

• the special effects (gore) were not realistic. They looked very fake to me.

Sorry to Disturb (2008)

made me laugh

[5/10 · 8 May 2022]

Unfortunately the plot bores me. And the dialogue is unrealistic and awkward. Some plot points are unrealistic in my opinion; ex. Hassan is insanely bad at riding a motorcycle, to the point that it's not believable.

Pollyanna (1960)

favorite disney movie so far

[8/10 · 6 May 2022]

I've been watching all the disney movies starting with snow white in chronological order and i must say this one has made me the happiest, and made me tear up. Loved it.

Moneyball (2011)

Jonah Hill strikes again

[9/10 · 6 May 2022]

This movie is great for anyone, as I'm not really a sports fan, but it might help to be familiar with sports lingo. I'm very unfamiliar and I still did fine.

Anyway, of course Brad Pitt did great but Jonah Hill is my personal favorite in this movie, as usual. Chris Pratt also did fantastic.