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Reviews
Misanthrope (2023)
Good Movie, Awful Writing
If you give your audience, a good story, they can overlook an awful lot. In this movie, you have to overlook some absolutely atrocious dialogue and some plot holes, big enough to fit a stretch limousine through. Actors can't overcome dialogue this bad and Ben Mendelsohn and Shailene Woodley don't. Ben's character is so bad, at no point in the movie is he convincing. Shailene Woodley's talent is such that she runs the gamut of emotions from A to B. What any talent agent ever saw in her is beyond me. Maybe he thought there was going to be a shortage of actresses with blank stares and he was eager to fill that gap. Still, it's a good story, and a good story makes up for a lot of faults.
Joe Pickett (2021)
Original and Fresh Concept from 1974
A game warden who solves crimes with his wife? Wow, what a concept.
First off, let me say my wife and I are huge Blue Bloods fans, watch it every Friday. We know what it is--a guilty pleasure. Same with Joe here. It's a pleasant way to pass a few hours, absolutely no drag on the brain cells, pretty scenery, some interesting characters. It's better than "The Father Dowling Mysteries" and "The Snoop Sisters." It would probably be better than "Mr. And Mrs. North" except that show had Richard Denning as the lead and he's just SO much better than Michael Dorman who frequently looks like he's right in the middle of a bowel movement with that trademark grimace of his.
"Joe Pickett" is on a comfortable par with "Murder She Wrote", "Diagnosis Murder", "Quincy", and "Burke's Law." If you liked those, you'll like this. Again, a guilty pleasure, nothing special.
If you're looking for a better crime-fighting married couple, "McMillan and Wife" is your ticket. There's nothing wrong with Julianna Guill that a little more Susan Saint James couldn't fix. Dorman is no Rock Hudson, either the before or after version.
Finally, if you want the BEST crime-fighting married couple, just go stream "Hart to Hart." Nobody was ever more handsome than Robert Wagner or more beautiful than Stefanie Powers. The plots still hold up and the series was just as good as "Blue Bloods" is now. And here I am, back where I started.
Coherence (2013)
NOT coherent
I couldn't understand the dialogue in the opening scene and no more than ninety seconds into the film, I turned it off. Muffled and muttered dialogue is no way to draw me in.
The 355 (2022)
Women Are SO Empowered!
Two world class actresses-Lupita Nyong'o and Diane Krueger. Two international stars-Penelope Cruz and Bingbing Fan. One bona fide movie star-Jessica Chastain. A ridiculously improbable movie with five women acting like Tom Cruise. This film is better than "Charlie's Angels" the movie, but not as good as the television show.
Twist (2021)
So Bad, So Awfully Bad
I've read everything Charles Dickens wrote and "Oliver Twist" was my least favorite of all his books. But I figured if anyone could make a movie out of the book, it would be Michael Caine and Lena Headey. I was wrong. There were six roof-jumping scenes in the first 23 minutes of the film. I knew there were going to be more but six was my limit. Maybe it got better after the first 23 minutes, but I'll never know. Your mileage may vary.
Greyhound (2020)
Really Dumb German Wolf Pack
If I were the captain of a submarine, I believe I'd stay away from the surface to prevent enemy ships from firing at me with their deck guns. Nice CGI, pretty good job by Hanks, silly story.
Body Cam (2018)
Rewind, Please
This was a terrific show for the first four or five episodes until they changed the format by adding the FBI profiler whose commentary is relentlessly inane. Went from a 10 to a 1.
White Boy Rick (2018)
Why Richie Merritt?
Good stories make good movies. This one is slow-paced but very watchable and it's always nice to see Piper Laurie and Bruce Dern. Jennifer Jason Leigh continues to morph into her father, Vic Morrow. My only complaint is this mumbling squinting Baltimore-accented non-actor who plays the title role. He runs the gamut of emotions from A to B and his facial expression is stuck on "sullen". Were there no working young male actors who could have taken on this role? What was the Casting Director thinking?