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Reviews
The Fall Guy (2024)
Generic action movie with good technicalities
"Lets make a movie where we do all the stunts stuntmen generally do... Can somebody write a plot in 5 minutes?" - whoever came up with this movie.
Technically speaking, this is a nice movie by 2024's standards: visuals and stunts are well done, everything else is mediocre. We do get good laughs and some funny jokes but nothing mind blowing.
The plot is super cliche. In the beginning it seemed like this was on purpose and they tried to make fun of the generic nature of action movies. They should have chosen that path, that would made this an amazing comedy movie, but they wanted to make a generic action movie instead. While some clips are indeed intentionally ironic and we do get some winks about the movie industry, in general they aren't deep, satiric or at least frequent enough to say that this is a reflection of how this genre works. Most of the scenes were intended to be serious and because of this the movie is more of a showcase of stunts then a real movie. The movie does initiate a thought regarding the importance and treatment of stuntmen but despite trying to be a serious movie, it immediately abandons this attempt and doesn't dare to talk about the topic beside some exaggerated jokes. The BTSs are actually pretty interesting, the technical implementation is really good but they missed out on actually giving weight to this spectacle driven film. The love story is super generic, the evil plot is forcefully unnecessary and nonsensical, the characters are predictable. There is no mystery, plot twist or a big reveal. The audience is treated like it was a cartoon for kids: this simple plot was explained(!) 3 times for us!
Acting was okay.
Music was selected from stock libraries. I can't count how many times I heard "I Was Made For Lovin' You" during the scenes which supposed to be epic. There was no attempt to marry the visuals with the music, they just coexist. You could change the soundtrack to any similar music.
All in all it is a feel good movie, with a happy ending and nice visuals that worth a singular watch if you desire something simple.
Serious Men (2020)
Serious social problems oversatirized without any resolution
Serious men doesn't show anything extraordinary in any matters of cinema but it does bring up many interesting issues regarding politics, corruption, self-interest, family, social status and respect. It takes a satirical approach which isn't a compliment because in many parts it raises skepticism about how objectively were these subjects portrayed. It is also unfortunate that these matter were only discussed vaguely we don't go into much deepness and there isn't really a suggested solution either.
Most of the showtime is spent on the political part of the story and it does a good job at demonstrating how people can act on behalf of their self interest disregarding whether it is the proper thing to do, and how the interests of many build a complex web. The main problem presented in the movie is whether someone should chase a goal that makes some aspect of life better when the price of it is that truth has to be sacrificed - not to mention the "few eggs cracked for the omelette". Their motivations doesn't justify their actions, knowing their ambition doesn't make them more humane. And the way most of the issues are presented is not shocking. Most of the interesting questions doesn't get brought far enough to leave a mark.
Bo Burnham: Make Happy (2016)
Audiovisual and deep comedic masterpiece ruined by sex jokes
You rarely see something this intense on a stage in the field of comedy. The mixture of lights, effects, sound, music is accompanied with Bo's wide range of humor and musical mastery. It is amazing what he packed into just 1 hour.
The comedic variety moves on a huge scale starting from simple fart jokes and one liners to the satirical and ironic presentation of deep personal and social topics. The abrupt change between these extremes gives a harmonious rhythm to the production, so it never gets boring or repetitive. This variance is present in all aspects of the show, including the changes between prose, visual performance and music, or how he switches between serious problems or jokes about the most mundane topics.
He is philosophical but doesn't overwhelm you. The unexpected, creative jokes break the tension yet the deep topics still speak to you especially because how well he communicates via music and visuals. He is brutally honest about the messed up problems of society and the entertainment industry trough his relationship with his audience, which makes his philosophical approach to such topics more down to earth. This mixture of comedy and actual philosophical message is so uncommon in these days of comedy when most serious topics are only brought up to say something hilarious than tossed away.
This would be easily a 10/10 masterpiece if it hasn't been ruined by the abundance of sex jokes. It's good that he doesn't takes himself too seriously but in many cases he over derogates the subject of his comedy. This is the most common mistake in comedy in general. Just because you are vulgar it doesn't make you more honest or funny and it is especially unnecessary when somebody is at the level of Bo. Unfortunately this vulgar/childish behavior can be seen in the audience interaction. At some point it is clear that it bothers him as well, but he curated this audience for himself by having this rock and roll type of unlawfulness in his show. He could still discuss these topics in a humane, direct, honest and impactful ways even if he left out these elements - it wouldn't take away the frequent shock value that his show provides. With his artistic potential, he could have chosen a different method of communicating these issues thus elevating this show to unrivaled heights. Unfortunately, this did not happen.
The G Word with Adam Conover (2022)
Important topic not brought to the extent to leave an impact
The series has the great intent of discussing the government on a less one sided way. It tries to introduce us to the everyday aspect and necessity of the government while also investigating the drawbacks and screw ups which is a much needed level headed approach but they fall between two stools. The show's pacing is much calmer and less energetic than what we are used to in Adam Ruins Everything yet it isn't informative enough to be a "real" deep documentary and stood more on the entertainment side.
It feels like a 101 for people who know nothing about politics or the government and doesn't really care about it anyway but tries to make them care trough this entertainy nature but without the snarky, calling you out on your mess style that made ARE great. It doesn't have that shock value that we got used to and not because of the subject. The exaggerated acted out parts are still done in a visually interesting way but they are out of place in this series since between them we don't get the energetic, snarky Adam, but a more serious one who tries to convince us that this isn't a joke, we should take this serious, which is a good thing but:
The series is not deep enough to be taken seriously. It introduces important topics, real problems, pros and cons, but we only scratch the surface. Obviously it is hard to do more in less then 25 minutes yet the episodes still feel dragged out. Vox could state the same in a 7 minute video with greater impact. We spend a lot of time chillin' instead of laying out hard facts and truth. The parts with Obama are a total waste of time. Seems like the only reason they were added is to make him look like somebody who cares yet the only thing it achieves is to remind you to the political leaning of the series which can be felt in many places.
All in all it is a slightly informative and slightly entertaining series without the boldness or thoroughness to leave a mark.
Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates (2019)
An inspiring but unfinished documentary about Bill and his projects
What does this documentary aims to be? A biography? It isn't thorough enough to show his life especially about his work at Microsoft. A memento to a person and his way of thinking? That's what the title suggests but while we got a taste from his attitude towards life - which is unique, impressive and indeed inspiring - we didn't get deep enough. The main subjects of the docu are his projects, which are indeed important, impressive and the series does a good job at showcasing them, but while they are all good causes the series starts to feel like an ad to these projects. The nonlinear editing wasn't justified here, since it made the timeline of events hard to follow. The pacing is slow which could be accepted as an artistic choice, but given the missing material I would have preferred if this time was spent on his life and philosophy. All in all it is a good mix of his personality and his work, it is without a question inspiring but it feels incomplete. Despite the negatives it is motivating and because of this it is highly recommended.
Expend4bles (2023)
Worst movie of an already bad franchise
They kept the trademarks of this franchise: ridiculous action movie logic, subpar plot, and tons of cliché THEN they removed their only merit: the good visuals of the battles featuring famous actors. Special effects got replaced by CGI from the 90's. And the already boring plot was murdered by the totally unnecessary "girl power" plotline. Dialog was never the strength of the genre but they managed to underperform even in this area, not to mention the super lame, out of the place jokes about getting old. This franchise was built on one principle and in this movie they choose to ignore this singular goal as well. This movie has nothing to offer.