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Reviews
The Irishman (2019)
Maybe I'm missing something...
But I have no idea why this is rated so high. Nostalgia? Its a Scorcese saga (4 hours), minus Dicaprio. It reminded me of "Casino", with the actors all switched around, playing different roles in a different setting, but the same sort of story. The rise and fall of an iconic figure, only this time the figure doesn't get away at the end - although DeNiro does (again). It has its moments, and is undoubtedly star-studded, but its really just an average biopic period picture that's chock-full of holes without any rhyme or reason. And its a LONG, long ride.
Shades of Blue (2016)
Could have been better...
Its a decent generic New York cop soap opera from a network. They chopped it up into way too many storylines, and WAY too long between Seasons to make it anything more than a casual watch or keep anyone interested. Season One is good, thats about it.
Hustlers (2019)
J-ho milks another few million.
Basically the idea is to portray Lopez as the mastermind of this strip club caper. You also got the generic Asian dancer, the black rapper chick, the poor granny. All the regulars. The T/A saves it, but basically its "Striptease" 2.0. My advice would be to go to an actual strip joint and get your money's worth.
The Professor and the Madman (2019)
A walk in the old/odd folks home.
Sean Penn is good at yelling and getting riled up for no reason, per the usual. Gibson is decent. That's about it.
Vault (2019)
Tired, Vintage American Italiano mafia BS
PLAYED OUT, generic 70's, glorified mafia flick. Stereotype characters. Don Johnson could have done well here, but they give him three scenes. No real genius heist or plot. Chaz Palminterri as the "boss". Its like a cartoon. And the "token" black girlfriend? C'mon, man.
For Love of the Game (1999)
Its an oldie, but goodie
Its not the cliche Kevin Costner Tin Cup character. He does real acting here. Its sort of a homage to Bull Durham, but this is not glorified. Its a story about agony. And playing for a garbage team in a meaningless game that means nothing to no one. Except him. Definitely one of the most underrated baseball movies ever produced. But its really not about baseball.
Midsommar (2019)
Long, but not strong.
Its certainly attempts to strike the mold of bad Kubrick films or maybe a young David Lynch film, but it gets itself bogged down in poorly establishing a random Sweden backwoods ritual and characters who are never really engaged. Its not very artistic, either. Its visually boring, stale sound, or pure bad acting makes it laughable in parts. Its not a horror film. Its not a drama. Its pure silliness. Pagan bear suits? Save this thing for a midwinter's night on your death bed with a bad cold, if you want a bizarre, kooky movie while on Nyquil. Wanted to like it. I hate "jump scare" fodder like Annabelle and Childs Play. But this is not even as good as those because it TRIES to be. THINK "The Village" by M. Knight Shaymalar
Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
Its spooky room in a house, with a babysitter while the folks are away with snoopy kids
Patrick Wilson and Vera Ferminga are barely in this movie, so its nothing at all like the "Conjuring" series. Its redeeming in some ways, but definitely not a horror movie. Its a lightweight romp that asks you to play along.
Murder Mystery (2019)
Sandler, as Sandler. Aniston as Aniston
A farce. As always, Sandler likes to play the one-liner Boston buffoon that eventually gets it right. Aniston plays the charming wife that puts up with stupidity long enough to figure it out herself. Dumber than than "Dumb and Dumber", but it passes with a 2 star.
Acts of Violence (2018)
Its pretty terrible
Its just a paycheck for Bruce Willis with some standard cop/bad-guy gunfights. The Cole Hauser character is your prototypical disgruntled veteran who brings out his Basement Armory to help find his sister - who was forced into the sex trade after being kidnapped outside of a bar by some hilariously elaborate crime syndicate. Its got some decent action sequences, but as far as a plot, there just isn't much there. There are no cat/mouse elements, its just a "paint by numbers" exercise.
Us (2019)
Not sure what the hype if for on this one...
It has a sort-of fascinating premise, and the actors give it their best, but the story is just so far fetched its hard to take seriously. Its kind of like an old episode of the "Twilight Zone", or the "X-Files". And the ending is just a plain old head-scratcher. You are left wondering "What actually happened?" Perhaps this was done deliberately by the director - leaving the audience hanging, waiting for a sequal. Done on purpose or not, there is no real closure, which is frustrating.
The Haunting of Sharon Tate (2019)
Its not terrible, if you view it all as a dream sequence and not a factual documentary
There is a quote from an Edgar Allen Poe poem at the beginning of the film...
"Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?"
I think you have to look at it through that lens - as a dream within a dream or perhaps a guess at interpreting Sharon Tate's own self-perception of reality during her final days. Its not by any means historically accurate (at least from stories told by the Manson family, whatever those are worth), and Duff is certainly overly dramatic in portraying Tate's paranoia. But who are we to say or think we know how she was actually feeling? Perhaps her "visions" are blown out of proportion. Or maybe not. We'll never know that story from her perspective. The word "exploitation" is being tossed around in a lot of reviews, but any film/doc/TV show Manson related - fact or fiction, has done the same exact thing for 50 years. Overall, its got a few decent jump-scares and some blood. But its definitely not a horror, and it passes as a "C" thriller.
The Vanishing (2018)
Its as transparent as seeing a light house in the distance.
It struggles all the way through. The Connor Swindells character is orchestrated for doom from the first act. And he hardly seems believable. Butler puts in an effort. But not a good one. And its a dumb story. But mostly, this was a character piece for Connor Swindells, and quite frankly he failed.
The House That Jack Built (2018)
Very dark, at times silly, and cerebral
Really, this movie is more about philosophy than a serial killer. The serial killer motif is so cliched, it serves as wrapping-paper and hides the director's true intention and message - in motioning the audience toward morality-themed classics written works such as those written by Virgil in the Aeneid (in particular) and the circles of hell.
It's a high-brow endeavor which will require at least a college education or a dictionary to follow thoroughly. Nevertheless its a carefree movie so self-absorbed with itself and its (protagonist Matt Dillon) character you can't help but laugh along and enjoy the ride.
Danika (2005)
Tries to get too clever
The story is simply confusing with silly jump-scream horror scares thrown in. If the camera would have just let Tomei take her own ride into acting dementia - without the side-shoe tricks of the children, the teacher, the Nannie, the neighbor (and his dog), etc... Could have been a much stronger movie if directed in a David Fincher "Fight Club" type of plot and reveal.
I would forget about the movie in its entirety however - if not for the hallucinogenic scenes that keep you guessing.
BlacKkKlansman (2018)
Its stylish in its own way
Its not really about the protagonist (Washington - who seems ready for bigger things), but rather the silliness of the whole chase. In the end, at its core, the premise tries to draw weak comparisons between modern-day America and a time from long ago (with specialized imagery and sound-bites that are cut-and-pasted from other places lazily - I might add). Certainly, Spike Lee has held his grudge against "white" America for his entire career and has used the film medium as a way to express his opinion through transparent characters and generic stereotypes (SEE: Sal's Pizzeria in "Do the Right Thing") . But his incendiary angle is now stale - as is his cinematography. Its an incredibly interesting true story - but the director just charges off in his own direction to serve his own purposes.
The New Daughter (2009)
Pure gremlin rubbish
Indian burial mounds and supernatural forces. Boo... scary stuff. Pretty terrible story without any substance. Someone here said this is better than "Mr. Brooks"???
The Rover (2014)
Sloooow burner. Watch the first 20 minutes and the last twenty.
Its a really drawn out saga/road trip deal. Kind of a Mad Max vibe, but really all your doing is sitting there and waiting for the big payoff at the end. And it really isn't much. It just kinda makes you say "Ohhhh. So that's what that was all about."
The Signal (2014)
If your a Sci-Fi geek, this might be a bit cliched, but worth a peek
Its premise is simple enough... some college computer nerds try to track down a hacker that nearly gets them expelled. And the adventure begins!
Its a very linear plot. Easy to follow. The Brenton Thwaites (sp)? character (Nick) is the protagonist, but he tends to reach a bit too much and sort-of overacts the protagonist archetype - becoming nearly unlikable. But his stubbornness with the role actually works to his advantage when viewing the film in its entirety.
For Lawrence Fishbourne, this role is old-hat. He's been playing this character since "the Matrix." Speaking of that movie... there are some parallels to be found in here. The rest of the cast are mostly mannequins - the typical GF, the best buddy, some quirky locals, etc.
The settings are pretty standard, but the editing and effects are well done and the ending will surprise you.
Se7en (1995)
It has plot holes everywhere, but if you play along, its pretty fun (if not dark) ride
So the setting is kind of ambiguous, some east-coast American inner city where it rains everyday. This is the true odd couple detective mish-mash set-up. A typically crusty Morgan Freeman character and a typically hot-tempered Brad Pitt character. But the movie's craftiness in character reveal and its play on morality is pure Fincher from this era. Se7en is only a seven, but a must-watch.
The Titan (2018)
Strong premise, some good camera work, but ultimately flat
This movie just seems rushed and haphazardly edited. No surprise that it was only an eight week project. Its just STUCK in first gear for far too long trying to establish familial soap-opera standardized relationships and just flat-out misses its direction to live up to anything close to what the title suggests. The movie is less about "the" Titan than it is the complicated idea of separation and anxiety. So, as a drama its probably in the 4.2 range, as a sci-fi wreck, its a 2 - and only because of some strong, consistent cinematography and site selection.
Alcoholist (2016)
Its spooky in its sensationalism of Addiction
At the end of it all, this movie is about disappointment. The path taken by both the hopeless alcoholic and the misguided and jaded therapist to achieve their own selfish agendas is flawed and transparent from their first encounter in the parking lot outside of the liquor store.
Roberts' angst in the lead permeates every scene. His body is physically dependent on alcohol, and his withdrawal symptoms take him into delirium. The (excellent) set design of his home is not too far off from what reality would show of an true-life alcoholic's living space if he is near the end (hidden bottles of booze, overall disheveled and wretched conditions). His paranoia and fixation on killing his neighbor has taken over his entire consciousness. He's experiencing a mental breakdown, and his grip on reality starts to disintegrate
The booze, of course, will never solve the problems of his life, or provide a solution for the grief of losing his wife and child. But while under the influence, the fantasy of feeling the euphoria of murdering him in cold blood drives his every move.
The "Alcoholist" (a clever play on words between "alcohol" and "therapist") Gabrielle Wright uses some outside-the-box strategies in an attempt to rehabilitate Roberts - as a sort-of remedy for her own professional grief of losing a patient she thought she had cured. He insists he is ready to quit drinking, yet she still includes booze as part of his therapy, insisting (perhaps correctly from a physiological standpoint) that his "body isn't ready to quit." Most people do not know this, but if a person who is a daily heavy drinker were to quit "cold turkey", as it were, the person could possibly have a withdrawal induced seizure and die.
From a pure diagnostic and therapeutic standpoint, her method is indeed a bit misconceived, but well acted-out. But the premise of the treatment is it's demise. Treachery and doom linger around the film like some kind of trick of the weather. There is a grime to the film that looks to attach itself to the audience - much like the alcohol it depicts. If you're into tragedy, this is way above average. Its not a horror, but it is kind of haunting in the same type of way.