cyifly-2 Reviews

Cobweb (2023)

Solid, Creepy Slow Burner

[7/10 · 22 October 2023]

The first half was rather slow, but the second half is worth the wait. Reviews on IMDB say they didn't like the last half - For me it was just the opposite. I almost turned it off a few times in the first 45 mins. I'm glad I didn't. The end was the best part.

Cobweb is a slow burner with some character building. There are a few things you have to just "go with." But if you are watching a horror flick, that's always the case anyway. The acting is pretty solid. The story is interesting. Even part of the back story eventually comes around to be relevant. If you like horror or thriller... worth your time.

How to Get Rich (2023)

Title Is Misleading

[5/10 · 18 May 2023]

The title makes it sound like there is going to be some insight to managing money. But the whole show centers around people who already make a lot of money and telling them not to spend it to pay off debt or save. Not a novel concept. They should have concentrated more on the average, middle-class person and how they can budget better. Only 1 couple like that.. There should have been a whole series of people with their income and how to help them to straighten out their finances. The host is a nice, media-friendly guy, but the people on the show are not even likable. Nobody cares about people with so much money that they don't even know where it goes. The one nice, middle-class couple were the only realistic ones in the show by the time I turned it off in episode 4.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

Better Than I Thought It Would Be

[7/10 · 8 April 2023]

I took my 9 and 10-year-old kids to see it and they loved it. That is their target audience, so that is what you should take into account when going to see something like this. With that in mind... Did I like it? Yes. It was good family entertainment and I enjoyed seeing my family enjoy it. It had several things in it that were also meant for adults to get, like lots of action, great 3D, 'Easter eggs' only adults would get -- such as Jack Black singing in his old Tenacious D style, hidden jokes, old characters and many more. The score was like it was a character by itself and kept the action rolling and the use of 80s music also helped. You have to take it for what it is, who it is intended for, and just go with it. If you are not bringing kids... Maybe not something you have to rush out and see. But if you have ever played a Mario game and you have kids who have played them as well... It's really fun.

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Cameron the Cameraman... Does it Again

[9/10 · 27 December 2022]

Avatar: The Way of Water has got to be the best 3D spectacle I have ever been a part of. And that is how you feel while you are in the midst of this theatre experience. Like you are part of it.

Is it a little long? Sure.

Is the story a little thin? Sure

Is it the coolest thing you will see in 3D for the near future? Definitely.

It has everything a Hollywood movie should have. Action, adventure, love, emotion, a despicable bad guy, a bad-ass mother, a loving father, greedy corporate monsters, real monsters, lovable animals, kids you want to hug, kids you want to smack, robots, space ships, cool airplanes and boats -- and all in the best 3D imaginable. It feels like you walked into Pandora itself -- made me want to call the realtor and move. I mean... If you can't find something to love in this, you just need to stop going to the movies.

Halloween Ends (2022)

Obvious Cash Grab

[2/10 · 7 November 2022]

Terrible. I had to turn it off 45 mins into the movie because nothing had happened yet. If I have no clue what is going on 45 mins into a movie, it no longer matter to me what happens next. That is too long to get started because by then I don't even care. They can't have a 45-min movie, so they drag out the 45 min ending into 1 1/2 hours to say they have an actual "movie."

I love Jaimie Lee Curtis. But this doesn't do her any justice. Let's put this to bed, shall we? It's been done to death. How many times are we going to kill this guy? Watched it for free on Peacock. Thank goodness I didn't spend money on it.

Luckiest Girl Alive (2022)

Although a Relacant Topic - Slow And Boting

[6/10 · 14 October 2022]

You want to like it. You try to like it. You like people in it. But about half way through this, you are just kind of bored and it becomes predictable.

The whole things seemed awkwardn - It is a relevant, trendy topic. But nobody seemed to want to talk about it until it was too late.

It starts out well and with potential. The bad writing and slow pacing doesn't help it at all. I managed to see it all the way through, hoping it would get better and it didn't. They could have left entire "fluff" characters out. Everyone just seemed to be walking through their parts. Could've also been 30 mins shorter.

47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019)

Not Bad, If You Can 'Go With It'

[6/10 · 5 July 2022]

This was way better than I thought it was going to be. Was it great? Not at all. Was it entertaining? Yes. There are things that just are not plausible or even possible, but if you can 'just go with it,' you can have fun with it. Don't take it too seriously. It doesn't try to be taken seriously. As long as you can just take it for what it is, then it is certainly tense and enjoyable.

Jurassic World Dominion (2022)

It's a Dinosaur Monster Movie - Relax

[8/10 · 21 June 2022]

I read all these terrible reviews and almost didn't go. Thank God my wife and kids came up with the idea if taking me to see Jurassic World: Dominion in 4DX. What a RIDE! Perfect move for the interactive seats and 3D glasses. It's more fun than a roller coaster. And it made the (pretty good) movie that much better. I highly recommended it.

Pig (I) (2021)

Sometimes, Less Is More

[8/10 · 28 May 2022]

PIG is an intriguing film with fantastic characters and a peculiar, well-written story. It is a love story of a few different sorts. The very deep story is certainly is certainly more than being about a man who loves his pet... But, at the same time, it's nothing less. It's a slow-burning character builder and not at all what you'd expect from a story about a man going after the people who stole his pet. It's not a revenge film... it's more about how to use your wits than your fist. It's slow... but very worth the watch. Every actor in it was wonderful.

PIG brilliantly shows two things - 1. With the right vehicle... Nicolas Cage has serious acting chops. And 2. A name like PIG is going to be a difficult sell. It took me a few years to finally turn it on. I hope people can get past it.

Pieces of Her (2022)

Starts Well... Gets Worse As It Goes On

[4/10 · 30 March 2022]

The first few episodes were quite interesting. Then the show gets worse and worse with each episode. It seemed every show was way too long... and they were only an hour each. The dialogue and interaction was painfully slow. I only kept watching because I figured the next episode is eventually going to be as good as the first few. I kept thinking - It can't keep getting worse... but it does.

No Time to Die (2021)

Great Movie, If It was not A Bond Movie

[8/10 · 14 January 2022]

I waited a long time to watch this movie because of the run time. It runs 2hrs 38mins and that seems like a long time to watch a Bond film. The opening credits don't even run until 20 minutes into the movie. But... This clipped along at such a pace that the run time was not a problem. I was very involved the whole film. Very action-packed, great story, great acting and no boring or long parts. This was a great film, but it went against every reason or rule Bond - the character - has. To tell it here would spoil it. Several time I had to stop and say... I like it, but this isn't James Bond. Is it a good film, worth watching? Yes. Is it a typical James Bond movie? No. There are several times in the film you have to say... James Bond doesn't do that!! From beginning to end, if you know the character, you know Bond would never do most of what happens in the movie. But... It was an entertaining movie. I'm disappointed in how they wrote the character in this one, but I did like the movie.

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Hands Down - The Best Spider-Man movie Since Spider-Man 2

[9/10 · 22 December 2021]

I'm not sure how they did it - Nor how they got approval to get this done... But this was fantastic. Sony owned the first Spider-Man franchise/ trilogy. Not sure who owned the next one. Marvel/Disney own the third spin-off/ reboot. I thought the third franchise was pretty good - at best. But this movie was a great way to extend the franchise and give long-time fans exactly what they wanted. Brilliant... really. First movie I have seen in a very long time that I already knew I wanted to see it twice before it was even close to being over.

Bruised (2020)

Had Potential - Good Idea - But Plot Was Forced

[6/10 · 13 December 2021]

Bruised was not terrible... But it just wasn't very good. The plot was very forced, the cliches were abundant and it was very predictable. It was a good idea and Halle Berry was good in a lot of the movie, but it dragged because it seemed very familiar.

True Story (III) (2021)

Surprisingly Good

[8/10 · 5 December 2021]

True Story was a pleasant surprise. My expectations for this were very low, considering Kevin Hart always plays a comedic role and we have not seen Wesley Snipes in many years. The acting was truly the biggest surprise. Each character was well thought out and the actors in every role did great. This is no comedy. Kevin Hart was great this a dramatic role. And kudos to Wesley Snipes. He was great in his role too.

In a time when everything has to be drawn out to make as much money as possible, True Story was very well paced. The story was tight and the episodes short - so you could watch at your own pace and not get bored with an overdrawn plot. If I was to say something negative, it would only be that the story was a little predictable... but not totally. Well done.

The Lost Symbol (2021)

Forgettable.

[5/10 · 4 December 2021]

I love Dan Brown books & I really wanted to like The Lost Symbol. I have been anxiously waiting for it to come out. It turned out to be a disappointment. I tried - I watched every painful episode. The casting was terrible. No one was meant to play the roles they did. Tom Hanks was a bad Robert Langdon and Zuckerman was worse. Landon is written as this middle-aged, James Bond, good-looking, smooth-talking, smart, sexy ladies man that turns a nerdy profession into something cool. They keep casting these boring, average-looking guys to play him and give them none of that appeal. The acting was bad - from everyone - because the writing was bad. The script was drawn out in places it should have been sped up and rushed in places it should have gone slower. The ending was so rushed it didn't make sense - after drawing out 9 previous episodes. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good either. Certainly not worth 10 hours of my time.

Squid Game (2021– )

Modern Day Twilight Zone

[9/10 · 8 October 2021]

Very well done production. It was like a modern day Twilight Zone. Character development was excellent, music/score was spot on and like another important character, and story was well done. It was creepy, chilling, bloody, touching, and emotional. It had a little bit of everything.

The very few complaints about it I do have don't outweigh the good points - The acting was a little over-done at times. The voices and lines of the VIPs were way over-acted, the subtitles were very fast and hard to keep up with at times, and the last episode/ ending was just a little too bizarre - it took away from the good parts of the earlier episodes.

But definitely watch it.

No Sudden Move (2021)

Should've Been Better

[6/10 · 17 August 2021]

With this cast, this should've been better. It was actually quite long and boring, for what it was. Parts were good, but it just never really engaged the audience. Even when it tried, the twists and turns were too much to be engaging and we're difficult to follow.

Little Monsters (1989)

I Love Howie - But He Actually Ruins This Movie

[3/10 · 2 July 2021]

Little Monsters started off fine. Great cast, a decent story, kids' flick about monsters under the bed, etc. But once Howie Mandel gets there, it just falls apart. He WAY over-acts his part. He may have been given a script and told to act the way he did, but he seems to ad-lib through the whole thing, is completely obnoxious and NEVER shuts up. His character was so annoying, I had to turn it off about 15 mins after he got on the screen. I couldn't take him any more and advise you to not put yourself through that.

The Serpent (2021)

What a True Gem -- Best Show I've Seen In A Looong Time

[10/10 · 5 May 2021]

COVID had drained the bank of shows/movies which studios had stashed on their shelves. It was getting pretty bleak out there. With everyone cooped up in the house, most people have caught up on all of the TV they had missed. All of it. Studios just started throwing anything at us just to see what would stick. There was almost nothing left to watch that was worth your time. Most stuff had been getting so bad, I had almost given up and started watching reruns.

Then I discovered the Serpent almost by accident. It's just brilliant. Great acting by every single character, fantastic story-telling, great production and costumes. It's filmed all over the world and makes you feel you are truly in the 70s. A crime drama/thriller/horror show you don't want to miss. It's the best show I've seen since before COVID started.

Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)

Is Any Movie Worth 4 Hours of Your Time? Yes. But Why Rated R?

[8/10 · 29 March 2021]

Is this movie worth all the hype and 4 hours of your time? Is any movie? Well... Yes... If it is on TV. It was brilliant for WB to put this on HBO MAX. Nobody would sit in a theatre through a 4-hour movie, and being rated R would cut out a massive percentage of your core audience from getting in the theatre. Put it on TV, and you can take breaks at your own pace. You can even come back to it another day. And adults would watch it with kids in their living room rather than being forced to sit in a theatre for that long. Great plan - I hope it pays off.

Justice League is well worth your time. Very epic and well-done. Definitely the best DC Comics movie since The Dark Knight trilogy. DC has not held a candle to Marvel until now.

I only have 2 real complaints about Justice League - and the rest was great.

First -- It just needed a little bit of editing, which would not have hurt the story at all, and it could have been PG-13. Why add some blood and vulgar language and go for the R? It was BARELY an R. I have seen rougher, scarier, bloodier PG-13 movies. To purposely throw in some blood spatter and a few F bombs to get an R makes no sense. Cursing superheroes? Really? Is that necessary? Why add that and risk cutting out the core, young audience? If you are wondering if you can let younger ones see it... I say yes. You will never be able to skip the few, fast parts that make it an R, but they really are not THAT bad. They hear worse at school and see worse on Netflix.

Second -- I wish there was more Superman. Superman is by far the best superhero of the JL bunch and has not had a decent movie in decades. I understand that this is how the story is written, but I was just looking forward to finally seeing him back and was disappointed he really was not in it much.

Zack Snyder saves the DC day. Impressive, considering it started as such a mess in production. Hats off to that director. I'll probably watch it again and can't wait for the sequel.

Nomadland (2020)

Acting was great. Story was not there

[4/10 · 14 March 2021]

The whole time I watched Nomadland, I wanted it to go somewhere. I wanted to root for someone. I kept wondering where the story was going. After all, it won a Golden Globe for best picture. And best director. And was nominated for best actress and best screenplay... So there has to be a screenplay, right? Well...

The acting was really good. No just by the stars, but by everyone. The cinematography was excellent. I felt like I was stuck in a desert. But that was the problem. It didn't seem like anyone was stuck. They all chose to be in the situation they were in and had no desire to get out of it. That is really the whole plot. All the writer wanted to say was - They live differently than most and what they are doing is satisfying enough to them, regardless of what others think. They were not accepting any help and had no concerns about living out of a vehicle with nowhere to go and nothing to do. But how much story is that? It took me about 20 mins to get it. I didn't need 2 hours of it.

I wanted to get engaged by the best screenplay it was nominated for, and it never told me any kind of a story. It just went on and on without starting any kind of reason to watch. It was very interesting at first, but after I figured out that it was more about the lifestyle than an actual plot, it got boring. I stopped caring about what the main character was doing, because she obviously didn't care what people thought about what she was doing and she was just going to keep on doing it. I don't get the hype. I thing this will be forgotten about very quickly, because people will sniff out that this was a very artsy film without much plot.

The Mandalorian (2019– )

Truly Brilliant TV Making and Epic Star Wars Storytelling

[10/10 · 19 February 2021]

Just when you thought the "Star Wars" stories were starting to get a little tired, they come with an absolutely brilliant TV show. New characters are mixed with old ones. Fantastic sets, production, writing, characters, pace and action are in every episode. Wonderful storytelling and music. Great for Star Wars fans of any age. Even if you are not a Star Wars fan, you just need a few episodes to get absolutely hooked. An epic series without being very long or carrying on for too many episodes. I rarely give any show a 10 - But this is really good TV making.

Bravo Jon Favreau!! Well done.

Broadchurch (2013–2017)

Braodchurch Fires On All Cylinders

[9/10 · 10 February 2021]

Well-written, well-acted, well-paced drama. The characters are interesting and the stories are brilliant. A binge-worthy series that has it all. I hope there is another season, because each season is better than the one before

Wonder Woman (2017)

Wonder Woman Was Beautiful To Look At. That got 4 stars

[4/10 · 7 January 2021]

There is so much wrong with this movie, that I am having a hard time remembering the parts which were right. I will start with a few.: Gal Gadot looked wonderful. The actions scenes were entertaining,.. for the most part. Well that is about it. Now for the bad parts: Pretty much everything else. The script was horrible, the editing was all over the place, the directing was just aweful, and the script was terrible and the acting seemed very disengenuine. The script was terrible. And then they hd WW doing things that she never did in any other program or book... For example - fly. Womder Woman Doesn't Fly! She also doesn't sligng around like Spiderman from her lasso. The lasso gets longer if she just holds in teh direction she threw it. It can even catch passing jets to help her fly... 500 miles and hour. They hop into a jet that neighther of them have flown and become one with the wind... because that is all you need to fly a jet fighter. Did I mention the bad script? Those are many more reasons to skip this nonsense. i just listed a few. Parts were entertaining, but other parts were boring. It was way too long and it had a terrible script. The CGI of her slinging her lasso and flying through the air behind it and scooping people up was very off in the editing. The love scene was just awkward, but the script was terrible.

Skip this turkey. I was looking forward to it too. Sorry I did it. One of the worst super hero movies ever made.

The House That Jack Built (2018)

Waaay Too Long & "Artsy Fartsy."

[4/10 · 29 August 2020]

Matt Dillon did a fine job as the serial killer - But the script and directing was far too "out there" for most people who enjoy horror. I can "go" with a lot, but far too long and artsy. The parts that were good were very good, but way too many LONG, strange, boring parts. Most people looking for a horror or thriller just are not looking for this type of artsy, weird movie - myself included. I'm mad at myself for not checking to see the run time first. That was 2 1/2 hours I wish I wish I spent watching 2 other movies with.