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Reviews
Nefarious (2023)
LOL, Sooo wanted to like this until about 1/3 of the way through...it got POLITICAL!
No joking, Sean Patrick Flannery does an absolutely amazing job in this role and the setup is pretty darn believable! The director and producers really did pull off a professional, low budget think-piece that required very little suspension of disbelief for about 45 minutes of screen time.
And then it got preachy. Like literal religionist preachy. And worse than that, anti-abortion right-wing preachy. At this point I found myself regretting watching the thing. As in they literally put forth the religionist notions that assisted suicide and abortion are ALWAYS evil at ANY stage of the game. How pathetic, but also how clever.
90% of the ultra-positive reviews are clearly from religionists. Probably ultra-right Catholics and Protestants who think that even the "morning after" pill is murder and that allowing and helping your 90 year old terminal cancer patient relative to end their own life is "morally" wrong according to some sky god and fake religious text. Allow me to interject a bit of historical fact: There is no proof that Jesus Christ ever existed in the manner depicted in the New Testament. Even worse, the Old Testament is full of straight up evil - and most of it was ordered and ordained by God, not Satan.
But then the film starts getting historical facts wrong or quite intentionally misrepresenting them to drive home it's religionist points. Moloch for example. As if child sacrifice was verboten in the (pre) Christian Abrahamic religions! It wasn't. And it goes on from there.
Look, from the perspective of a VERY well executed independent, low budget movie that's also VERY well acted (Flannery again, but also the shrink), this is a damned entertaining ride.
But after watching the whole thing and thinking it through, it's nothing more than a preachy holier-than-thou bunch of faith-based nonsense that expects the viewer to accept demons (and thus SkyGod and the Old Testament) as something other than the fairy tales that they are.
This is not a good lesson in logic, morals or life unless you are already prone to believe (or preach) ridiculous Christianist rightwing theology and politics.
A+ to the director and producers as well as to Flannery and the Psychiatrist actor.
F- for the not-so-cleverly-disguised Kool Aid forcing religio-political messaging pretending to be entertainment.
Weighted average: D.
Revolution (2012)
Extremely dumb
As other reviewers have pointed out, the science and physics just don't add up or make sense in this series.
I was an extra during filming in the Austin/San Marcos area of Texas and even as we were being herded around from scene to scene I found myself questioning WTF this show was even really trying to be about.
Since I was actually in it and appeared in two episodes of Season 02 (would have been four if the local "talent" management was competent), I decided to watch it from the beginning before getting to 'my' episodes. Big mistake. In typical JJ Abrams fashion, the audience is just required to suspend too much disbelief. The acting is also wooden, which I'll blame on the assistant directors being pretty darn bad at their jobs. Don't even get me started on the assistant-to-the-assistant directors who handled recurring 'extras' (like me). Even worse for the non-recurring ones. No direction or guidance whatsoever and when I watched it on TV I couldn't help but focus on just how fake all of the non-named cast members seem to be. It wasn't their fault; this series was filmed on a seemingly tight budget and the producers insisted on a very tight (and long, 17-hour days in some cases) schedule. It was almost like the feeling was already in the air halfway through Season 02 filming that it was going to be canceled.
Sorry about the tangent. This is not worth paying money to watch. 5/10 because it's literally just average television dreck.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Fun Big Budget Disaster
First off, in the grand scheme of IMDB ratings, this is *not* an 8.4 by any stretch of the imagination. The paid ratings/reviews and recency bias among real users has reached a tipping point at this site and it is no longer a reliable source for objective movie reviews spanning the history of cinema.
Ahem...with that out of the way, "Spider-Man No Way Home" can be seen from a few different vantage points.
In one, and the major, sense it's a pretty entertaining big budget superhero flick that's mostly well written, acted and directed. There are some funny one-liners and situations and, of course, excellent special effects. However, the run time is too long and the writers tried to tie way too many MCU storylines into it. I mean like *way* too many.
In another sense - perhaps related to the last point in the preceding paragraph - it's a "Why did they really need to make this?" type of film. There are a couple of obvious answers and they are, in order, 1) $$ - HUGE box office $$ and 2) A genuine love of the MCU by the writers, which they took too far w/ all the storylines they tried to cram in. Another aspect of this movie - and the continuing MCU saga movies - is the same actors and actresses are in all of them now. Not only that, but they use actors that are also appearing in seemingly every other big budget or Oscar bait movie made. Do I *really need* to see frickin' Benedict Cumberbatch or Zendaya in ANOTHER movie at this point? Couldn't some other actors use the work? Yes, I understand that there is a continuity issue with switching actors while trying to extend the franchise(s) along the same story arcs, but since we all know they're never going to stop re-adapting Marvel characters/comics, isn't it time for a reset/refresh? Get some fresh faces in there and start over already. Kind of like what they've done with the switch from Toby McGuire (who probably is too old to play a young Peter Parker, admittedly) to Tom Holland. Either that or just take a break!
By now you can probably see that I'm fatigued of these MCU creations in just about every way and that "Spider-Man No Way Home" only added to that. Still, if you've read this far and are looking for a fun, shallow superhero film, and you haven't already seen them all, you could do a lot worse than this.
My rating: 5.4/10 rounded down to 5. This does not deserve an 8.4 rating along or above the pantheon of legendary movies that currently have equal or lower scores.
Secrets of the Salisbury Poisonings (2021)
One-sided rehashing of the Western/UK narrative. Submitting again because first attempt was denied.
Too many factual issues and intentionally omitted details and questions surrounding the alleged Russian poisoning of the Skripals. I can list 15-20 factual inaccuracies put forth as gospel truth in this film, but IMDB apparently will sacrifice honest reviews for not having any user reviews at all. That's a shame.
To put it shortly, there is much doubt as to the truth behind this case and too many strange coincidences and perfectly timed official announcements; none of which is covered in this film.
If you're looking for pure anti-Russia propaganda based on what are actually disputed events and findings, you can probably just open up any American newspaper at the moment. This film adds nothing to the already well disseminated official narrative and is extremely one-sided. Why even make a film like this? There's only one answer, and it's obviously not to make $ or actually attempt to solve the case. It was made to spread propaganda, period.
Game of Thrones: The Last Watch (2019)
Pointless without commentary from the other side - namely, the disappointed viewers and fans of the books
I think everyone who initially got hooked on GoT and regarded themselves as serious fans and viewers will empathize with what I'm about to say. The last two seasons, but the final one in particular were - together - an absolute abomination in terms of writing, character development and perhaps most of all the logical (dis) continuity of the latter. I suppose I could sum up the final two seasons as "Lazy writing and production, already very rich producers resting on their laurels and relying far, far to heavily on (admittedly awesome) CGI effects and production value."
I've seen several reviewers say that GoT is the greatest television show in history; which if they had hewed to the meticulous story crafting and character development as well as the involvement of GRRM for the first 3-4 seasons, could have been true. Sadly, that's not what happened; quite the opposite and this documentary seems intended to paper over that and cement the status of the producers as legends to GoT fans, when in fact they're merely legends in their own bloated egos.
To me, the saddest part about this (very good) documentary is the way the rest of the team is portrayed in their utter conviction and joy to be a part of this series, which - again - stands in stark contrast to the producers (and likely GRRM) who phoned it in when it mattered most but still pocketed a ton of money. If anything, this - and the great job of the documentary's director - is literally the only reason to watch this film.
I agree with another reviewer: Give Jeanie Finlay more projects like this. She does an amazing job of showing "how the sausage gets made" and that may be the only other reason to spend ~2 hrs. Of your time watching this.
10/10 for the excellent efforts of this movie's direction and the passion of the actors and everyone involved (other than you know who), minus 4/10 for the failure to provide the viewer/fan reaction to the absolutely atrocious in so many ways final season. Final grade: 6/10 and I hope Benioff and Weiss have learned some lessons from this failure, but I highly doubt they have.
Archive 81 (2022)
Derivative but engaging and creepy
First off, I'm sure many viewers will spot the similarities between Netflix's "Archive 81" *not* with the podcast which it is loosely based on, but on films like "Ex Machina", which also involves a young guy being asked to complete an arduous task at a remote facility where he will be alone with his work. I didn't listen to the podcast, but some articles I've read say that the TV version over-simplifies the plot and condenses what was otherwise a very nuanced story down to another show about cults and demons, which appears to be true. I don't know exactly what subtleties were left out, but as far as a cohesive, compelling viewing experience, very little was lost.
The gist of the story is, again, young man is contacted by shadowy outfit to temporarily relocate to an isolated retreat where he is to complete a job of some kind. The difference here is that there are multiple parallel story- and time-lines going on which eventually intersect.
The other similarity viewers will note is the obvious 'found footage' genre. "Archive 81" refers to an archive of old degraded/damaged videotapes which chronicle the experiences of a young female grad student doing her thesis on a mysterious apartment building with a history of disasters and occult involvement. She is also looking for her mother, who she believes possibly perished in a fire at The Visser complex.
I won't divulge any more spoilers, but 'Archive' is well written and just as well acted. There aren't exactly any super scary parts and it's more of a genre mashup between 'found footage' and mystery than it is about what happens at the secluded compound. The soundtrack is fine and doesn't overstep its own usefulness the way some cheaply produced alternatives do. The story is engaging enough to keep the viewer's interest for each of the 8 somewhat long (hour or so) episodes and even enough to binge watch if you have the time.
All in all, I had very low expectations heading in given some of Netflix's recent garbage, but about halfway in I was hooked and thoroughly enjoyed the series, despite a few open questions left over after a very abrupt ending.
8/10 - High quality for Netflix.
System Error (2018)
Different take on the limits and dangers of finance capitalism
The presentation is pretty good despite some natural clunkiness expected when German filmmakers decide to make a movie in English.
Don't believe the other reviews if they say "been there done that" or "nothing new here" - In fact, as stated above, it does present its arguments in a novel way and is thorough in breaking things down.
The fact of the matter is that current day (post?) capitalism relies almost exclusively on growth and profit for only growth and profit's sake. The other fact is that the Earth is a finite environment and will not be capable of providing infinite resources or letting us do so in a manner that doesn't further damage it, which is one way that capitalism externalizes losses onto the public commons. The growth has to stop sometime or something else will give.
Sadly, I think the natural progression of things as laid out by this film has us living in one of the many dystopian sci-fi scenarios involving the billionaire class escaping to off-world satellite colonies or Mars while the rest of us are turned into batteries like in The Matrix. OK, that last part is a bit hyperbolic, but the rest of us already are and will continue to suffer the consequences of unfettered growth, the financialization of everything and the resulting damage to our environment leading to danger to all of our lives.
Euphoria (2019)
Euphoria just pops out of the screen.
I saw the first season when it originally aired and am now up to speed on season 02 through ep 03. Also watched the two one-hour specials focusing on Jules and Rue. This review is for the entirety of the show to date.
First off, the reaction I get from many friends and relatives with kids is "Oh my God I just watched this Euphoria show and I'm horrified." Indeed, there are some horrifying things for parents in this series. They are largely exaggerated and unrealistic, however. Nate being the supervillain in season 01 for example. Some of the stuff he did just wouldn't be possible, let alone for a kid his age, but I got over that in light of all the other positive aspects of the show.
The production value is incredible. The characters and the settings/scenery pop off the screen in often unpredictable ways. The framing and composition of camera shots is creative, engaging and electrifying even. Cinematography is one of Euphoria's many joys and the director plays with all the techniques you'll see in a Scorsese film. But for whatever reason - maybe it's that this is low stakes kid stuff - it actually works better than it does in films like Wolf of Wall Street. If I hadn't already known better, I could've believed this was directed by David Fincher.
The soundtrack/score are also first rate. I do get a sense that some of the 80s and 90s music isn't very realistic for kids that age to be listening to, so I suspect that the director is putting songs he likes in rather than striving for ultimate faithfulness to whatever the generation depicted really listens to in their own real lives. It's a minor quibble because all in all the choice of tracks is excellent and just another way the show has reeled me in.
As mentioned above, not everything depicted is realistic. Some of it not even close, but the cast and crew pull it off regardless and there's a lot of excellent acting to be seen from virtually the entire cast. I can't think of a character for whom the actor wasn't the perfect choice.
Now for the elephant in the room. The penises. All the penises you could ever imagine in a soft porn film on Skinemax much less a television show about teens. This is one of the, er, techniques that the director uses to shock the audience - in some cases it's a little overboard, but again I can look past it. Just be prepared (if that's possible).
In summary, Euphoria is a highly entertaining if a little bit exaggerated look into the lives of a group of Gen Zers in a medium sized California city that will grip you both visually and audibly. Highly recommended viewing!
Use of Force: The Policing of Black America (2022)
Repetitive but competently made and important
First off, police violence against 'civilians' (the fact that they even call us that is indicative of a military battlefield mindset that's taken hold) is out of control. ALL civilians, not just Black and brown people. Tony Timpa, Daniel Shaver (video of whose murder was briefly shown in this movie), just two of the names that come to mind when thinking about sadistic police violence. Am I saying "All Lives Matter"? Yes, I am but that's not detracting from the disproportionately bad treatment that minorities and especially Black folks have gotten from police dating back to when police were first conceived of in the USA. But I'm not here to provide a history lesson.
This film was a repeat of numerous other similar films and television programs of the last 4-5 years, but it's still worth watching. The only way things will change is for people to become informed. And this movie does a good job of presenting its case. To the reviewer who said this was "one-sided" LOL, you obviously didn't watch it. The entire 2nd half of the movie is dedicated to giving police a voice. It's almost all interviews with police officers, former police officers and department chiefs.
Police forces have unions, generally easy access to the media, generally a good reputation in the eyes of most non-minorities and therefore have many ways in which to air their own concerns (as they so often do - see the LA cops who were just fired for putting a sign up in the precinct's door saying they were defunded and therefore were not available. That was a lie, it was a COVID outbreak in the dept.). Rather than being "defunded", in nearly every single case where that was proposed, the PD got an INCREASED budget! Furthermore, they have police unions (benevolent whatever) who are basically a PR mouthpiece for the police department. Police don't seem to have a problem with their own unions, but they're first in line to break a strike by other government and commercial unions.
Again, I digress. Chuck D could've done a better job in narration, but I suppose it could also have been worse. This is another important documentary designed to keep the message in the public's ears and eyes. White people are killed - and unarmed ones too - by police all the time with equal repurcussions to what happens when a Black person is killed, namely ZERO, thanks to "qualified immunity." For that reason, I wish the filmmakers would have also at least mentioned that an out of control PD is bad for us ALL. I can see some viewers complaining that this is divisive, grouping everyone else against white people, but at the end of the day it's necessary information and the more people who see it, the better.
6.4 stars rounded down to 6 because nothing novel or different in terms of filmmaking.
Station Eleven (2021)
The post-apocalypse thing is getting tired
First, the disclaimer that yes, I know this series was based on a book. Still, there are just way too many of these post-apocalyptic stories set in predictable wastelands and, aside from the zombie versions, riffs on the same old themes that have been hammered into our collective consciousness since COVID-19 came into being.
The positives:
* Production value is good even if they saved a lot of money by re-using numerous sets.
* Aside from a few notable exceptions, one of them being the female lead, the acting is pretty good, not great.
* It's paced well through episode 7 and the episodes are just long enough but not too long.
* The acting by the brothers is very good and believable.
The neutral:
* The ridiculous trip to the supermarket when NOBODY ELSE is doing the same?
* Some boring sets.
* Low budget on the special effects; almost too low.
The negatives:
* I just don't like the lead actress's affectations. It's probably not a well shared opinion, but something about her just turns me off to what's happening on screen. Maybe it's the character she's trying to get into...
* The character itself just isn't very believable and she does unbelievable things. I don't know if the book had supernatural or maybe sci-fi-ish elements, but they're clearly going for that in the series and it often falls flat or leaves the audience with more questions than answers. Perhaps these loose ends will be tied up by the finale, but so far it strikes me as not creative enough.
* There are too many holes in the way that the civilization-crippling virus is presented, especially in the first few episodes when we are first introduced to the pandemic. Clearly the book was written before COVID, but the way the news spreads in the series is just unbelievable. I'm not going to spoil anything, but I will say that this isn't how the beginnings of a pandemic - any pandemic - play out in real life 2022.
* The virus (?) has contradictions that make suspension of disbelief more difficult than need be. How is it spread? How fast? What do we know about it other than a few scattered TV reports (that mostly focus on the fall of civilization rather than the virus) and phone calls from the brothers' sister who happens to be an ICU/ER nurse at a large local hospital. Yes, the plot has more to do with how the world must go on after such a virulent disease wrecks the world, but again, this central story arc is not explored sufficiently or with sufficiently consistent inquiry (with science and with its own writing).
All in all, it's entertaining enough to merit a 7/10 from me and that could go up or down depending on what happens in episodes 8-10.
The Murder of Gabby Petito: Truth, Lies and Social Media (2021)
Pretty straightforward recap of this strange and tragic case.
First off, as of now the other user reviews contain spoilers but the users didn't check the box. So if you stumble on this review first and didn't know about this case, you should skip the other reviews.
Without spoiling anything, this documentary clocks in at a relieving 1 hour and 25 minutes, so up front it's clear that it will be sticking to the story and not wasting our time with a bunch of auxiliary junk like podcast techniques and unnecessary graphical reproductions.
As the title states, this tells the story of the murder of Gabby Petito and all of the media and social media reactions before and after her body was identified. If you're interested in a recap with everything being in one convenient place, this film is recommended. Otherwise, if you followed the case as it unfolded, there probably won't be too much here that you didn't already know. 7/10.
The Story of Film: A New Generation (2021)
Disappointing
Being new to Mark Cousins, I was a little thrown off by how thick his Irish accent is. It doesn't help that he kind of just meanders on in a stream of consciousness fashion while cycling through various film clips.
The nominal subject of this documentary is movies from the 21st century, but he spends ample - too much really - time trying to tie things back to previous films from long ago. This adds significantly to the run time which hits 2 hours and 40 minutes.
If the whole affair was more engaging, I could see it as a piece of film school curriculum or a means of motivating the young to go back and check out what's already been done - because a lot has been done that's fading from the collective memory as time goes on.
Unfortunately, and I am pretty forgiving with films, especially documentaries, the combination of the above put me off to this director and his style and therefore cannot highly recommend this film.
His 2011 Story of Film: An Odyssey was broken up into 15 1-hour episodes and I think a similar approach would have accomplished two things here: 1) Way more films could have been discussed and 2) Audience attention would be easier to maintain.
All in all, 5 out of 10.
The Novice (2021)
Excellent debut from this director
Stylistically, this film could've come from David Fincher it was that good. The way shots were framed, angles, cutaways and transitions executed, the soundtrack and of course the acting were all first rate and surprising from a first-time director.
The story itself is pretty straight forward without much there to spoil, but I won't give anything away. Suffice it to say that there's just enough meat in in the script to hold the audience's attention for all but the most critical film buffs.
I found "The Novice" to be entertaining from a style POV to recommend it for that alone. In addition to Fincher, I got a bit of a (HBO) "Euphoria" vibe from the production value as well.
This is not lighthearted fare; quite the opposite. Also there isn't much if any comedy or laugh value. It's a brooding, obsessive affair.
Still, I recommend it highly, especially to movie afficionados who like to be pleasantly surprised by low-ish budget debuts. Here's hoping that the director wasn't leaning TOO heavily on her rowing experience in writing the script and bringing a unique passion to this project. I very much look forward to her 2nd film whenever that may be!
The Fight Before Christmas (2021)
The main character almost makes this unwatchable on her own
But 'luckily' for her, the writing was even worse. The title character, the daughter, would make most of the cast of "Succession" look like Mr. Rogers by comparison. She's a walking petulant, immature, mean spirited persecution complex and one of the most unlikeable roles I've seen in a long time. The actress was fine at it I guess if the writing really lacked as much nuance as what came through on the screen, but they'd have to really try hard to write a character as unsympathetic as the one Hayley Orrantia had to play. Maybe that explains why this terrible flick isn't even listed in her filmography at Wikipedia.
The music/sound direction was awful in a bad Lifetime movie type of way. Aside from the annoyingly lame soundtrack itself, the Rock for the Homeless bit involves a hair metal band named Rayven and they play generic 80s garbage and this is supposed to be 2021?
The only reason we watched this was that it's free on Amazon Prime Video and we were bored. Unfortunately we will never reclaim that hour and a half stolen from us by this dreadful film.
Hard pass and hopefully the reviews have saved future readers the time. This isn't even good as a Christmas movie to have on in the background.
There's No Place Like Utopia (2014)
Ridiculous One-Sided Propaganda But Makes for Good Unintentional Comedy
There's enough of this kind of thing on YouTube and Facebook these days. But not to this director. No, he had to turn his own political brainwashing into some sort of hour+ long rant without ever presenting source citation much less an explanation from the other side.
The problem is too many people are susceptible to garbage already-debunked lies and faulty logic like this now.
I mean, anyone who thinks Obama was a communist..er, excuse me, Communist (proper noun since that's what the filmmaker seems to think) should just Google "Obama CIA covertaction" and get back to us.
Even during the McCarthy era when actual communists and progressives were being arrested, blacklisted, blackballed and having their careers ruined, this film would have been seen as a third grader's attempt to regurgitate a combination of HUAC broadcasts and the ramblings of a rabidly anti-commie dad at the dinner table.
The number of lies is so immense that it'd be impossible to get through a fraction of them here, so you have been warned. Want a better way to spend the time than watching this hot pile of steaming trash? Pick up a US history book or read up on McCarthyism.
'Twas the Fight Before Christmas (2021)
Unfortunately Incomplete
Without actually spoiling anything just yet, it's important to note that the court battle behind this case is still pending and could be unresolved 3-5 years from now. Hence, the filmmakers should have probably waited until we know what the final outcome will be.
**Many Spoilers Ahead**
Basically what you have here is a disruptive, spoiled manchild in Idaho who - unfortunately for the HOA of his neighborhood - happens to be a hyper litigious person, even for a lawyer such as himself.
Long story short is this guy had a known history of hosting disruptive, potentially dangerous "Christmas" events at his previous residence which was under the jurisdiction of a certain city government that began to deny him permits for his spectacles. So being the fake and disingenuous purveyor of "Christmas cheer" and the entitled brat that he is, he finds a new neighborhood outside of any city's jurisdiction and thus an opportunity to circumvent the permit process and host bigger "Christmas" events than ever, despite his neighbors (by way of the HOA) stating right up front that this type of gathering (and lighting) were not permissible under their bylaws. Naturally, being who and what he is, he immediately embarks on a lawfare and intimidation campaign against his HOA using every legal trick and bad faith action in the book in order to 1) force his neighbors to allow such an event, 2) satisfy his obvious ego and lust for attention and 3) ensure that his wife and kids will probably never have any friends in their neighborhood on the basis of his childish and incessant adversarial posturing.
Ultimately he settles on a First Amendment platform and cites as his primary piece of evidence a letter that was sent to him by the HOA stating that his over-the-top "Christian" or rather "Christmas" displays and bringing large numbers of strangers into the neighborhood could, among violating HOA bylaws, also offend non-Christians or those who don't celebrate Christmas in the neighborhood. Never mind the fact that most of the members of the HOA and residents of the neighborhood are themselves practicing Christians. But his true piece de resistance was that he secretly recorded all of his communications with neighbors and the HOA and selectively edited several audio clips to paint the exchanges in the worst possible light and help him weave his religious freedom/pro First Amendment narrative. It should go without saying that Fox News and every possible "conservative" media outlet and columnist then took up his "cause" and casy a national light on the poor people in this quiet neighborhood. After all, when important context is ignored, it played right into the insufferable Bill O'Reilly's annual whine-fest he called "The War on Christmas."
All in all the film was well made by a British crew (judging from the accent of the director) and the story is presented in a logical, linear fashion with copious interviews, audio recording snippets, and down-home genuine neighbor involvement. Perhaps the saddest and most genuine personalities to come through (in some ways unintentionally) were those of Mr. Christmas's wife and children. His wife demonstrates all the textbook behaviors of Stockholm Syndrome and my guess is that she doesn't have a high paying skill that she could fall back on so she stays with her husband rather than divorcing him and forces herself to adopt his narrative so as not to do any more damage to her mental health than his crusade has already done. His poor kids are of course too young to realize that the reason other children don't come over to play is that their father has made it his mission over 3 years to essentially terrorize his entire neighborhood and push them to the point of exhaustion and potential financial ruin.
At the moment, the case is in sort of legal limbo awaiting the decision of an appeals panel of judges who are tasked with reviewing a lower court judge's overturning of a previous unanimous jury verdict in the manchild's favor. It could still be appealed to the SCOTUS as he insists he will do if the appeals panel doesn't find in his favor, so this could stretch out for quite some time.
One thing I wished the producers would've done is seek out any neighbors who might have been in support of Mr. Christmas and his plans, which - by the way - he has carried through with every year anyway despite the HOA's attempts to stop him. It would have been interesting to see IF any of them support him and how many if so. But alas, my suspicion is that there aren't many, or the ones who do don't want to upset friendships and neighborly relations by going against the HOA and bylaws they agreed to when purchasing their homes.
6/10 just for something Christmas-themed and entertaining to watch during the holidays.
Boiling Point (2021)
Engaging and Compelling
As stated this is a single take film starting at the beginning of a busy night at a new restaurant and taking us through dinner service and closing.
The camera work was great, the atmosphere was perfect, the acting was first rate and most importantly, "Boiling Point" draws the viewer in from the get-go and holds onto you until it's all over.
I didn't expect to appreciate this film as much as I do and I'm re-watching with my wife since she went to bed extra early last night; that's how much I liked it.
Just a simultaneously humble and yet grandiose glimpse into a working restaurant/bar for the course of one night done so in a way that escapism becomes educational.
8.3/10.
America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014)
LOL
Obama was CIA all the way. It's well documented. Go to covertaction . Com and you can search for the (very) long and (very) detailed investigative piece.
The reason I bring that up first is that this right-wing rubbish from Dinesh D'Sousa can't even get the correct negatives about Obama and Hillary right and therefore the whole thing is built on a pile of sand which collapses the moment one understands the *real* ways in which the Democrats - starting with Clinton and really picking up steam under Obama (the fake hopey changey guy) - have betrayed the working and lower classes in the USA. Instead, we get ridiculous, oft-repeated right-wing tropes that have been around since the "culture wars" of the 1980s and promulgated by too many noisy clownish far-right rantboxes on AM/FM radio to keep track of.
If you're actively looking for reasons to judge Obama and Hillary harshly, try alternative left-leaning media. No, the corporate media in the USA is not "leftist" to anyone that actually understands what the words "corporate" and "leftist" mean. There is plenty to hate about both of them from the lies Obama told during his "Hope and Change" campaign, his reversal on telecom immunity, his refusal to investigate much less prosecute Bush administration war crimes, the sacking of Libya, the funding of ISIS in Syria, the way he treated the people of Flint, MI when they had a water contamination crisis only to stage unannouced military drills literally in the city weeks later, his bailing out of the big banks and refusal to even consider single-payer healthcare or keeping American working class citizens in their homes after all the bonuses were paid at AIG and Goldman Sachs despite nearly destroying the world's economy, his not having fought harder to get centrist Merrick Garland into the SCOTUS, his inability to get Ginsburg to retire, his evil drone wars and assistance to the Saudis, and really too many other things to name.
My point is, if you want to hate Obama, Hillary and the Democrats, at least do it for the right reasons and this movie has none of those in it. Do yourself a favor; skip this pile of trash and watch one of Michael Moore's movies about Hillary and Obama. I'm not kidding, he genuinely despises both of them. For the RIGHT reasons. Pun intended.
Dune (2021)
Really very well conceived of and executed sci-fi...
There are already a ton of reviews, so I won't get into any details about the film already likely to have been covered.
I gave it an 8 rather than a 9 because as of this writing, there is no set date or plan for the next film, and let me tell you - this one ends on a rather large cliffhanger with absolutely no resolution - AND - it is an incomplete film for that reason. Here's hoping Villeneuve and the studio(s) are seeing the box office returns and critical praise and solidifying the next installment. If they don't, I'm gonna have to come back and deduct a few stars.
I watched on a small (by today's standards) 55 inch television and it was immersive enough that I don't think I'll seek out an IMAX any time soon. If anything it makes me want to look into home projectors and a large pull down screen, but I digress.
There aren't many faults with this version of Dune, but they sure better come out with the next part. In fact, Zendaya who is all over the posters and marketing materials doesn't even have a single spoken line that I remember. Her character appears in a few dreams and then again at the end. That part made me think this is being handled in a very slipshod manner. Again, please please actually do the Part 2!!!
Copshop (2021)
Not a bad riff on Tarantino style standoff flick
OK, so this wasn't a 10, not even a 9 or an 8. But it was definitely good enough - especially for an inexperienced director - for a solid 7.
Some reviewers these days are always hung up on looking for faults along the lines of the "culture war" and that's why you're bound to see "reviews" claiming that the movie is "anti-male" or that it empowers females and makes all males look stupid and incompetent. That wasn't the message at all. Those people should learn to relax and enjoy the ride, even if it's not perfect. Nothing really is.
I found the directorial style and acting to be very well executed, pun intended. The film held my interest until the end and we're left with somewhat of a silly cliffhanger.
Plenty of tense moments, got a few good laughs out of one of the assassins' lines, and cinematography and score/soundtrack were all very, very good.
That having been said, this film is NOT worth the $19.99 rental price on VOD/Amazon. I'd wait until it was down around $1.99 before actually spending money on it. I managed to acquire it in a less than RIAA/MPA approved fashion, but Metallica sucked anyway after their third album.
Coming Home in the Dark (2021)
Fell flat, too much unbelievable behavior
Starts off well enough, and in a very Haneke-esque early "twist" things get serious quickly. Well, it was a bit too much like "Funny Games" in the setup for me, so it already was lacking some originality.
The acting is good, but the script just wasn't believable. Sure, I get that there was some major abuse of boys at these old camps/schools for wayward or orphaned youths, but the level of both the revenge motive and the violence that one of the main characters is willing to engage in was completely unrealistic and I couldn't suspend my disbelief any longer after a certain reveal. It just got stupid at that point. That kind of person would be in a prison for other serious crimes and not roaming the countryside much less by some miraculous chance running into one of the former teachers aides who wasn't directly involved in his trauma to begin with. Meh, sorry couldn't buy that.
All said and done, it was professionally produced, the soundtrack/score are good and the acting, again, was very good by the mains. It was just too far a bridge to cross for me and I've seen too many films that do the festering revenge thing much better than this screenplay did. 5/10.
No Time to Die (2021)
Definitely not a typical Bond film, somewhat disappointed.
As far as a movie being "watchable" this one is fine. The usual expert cinematography from the franchise and Fukunaga did a decent enough job with a script that was supposedly re-written in the middle. In that sense it kinda reminds me of "Ravenous" - a still great horror experiment that switched directors midway through production. The first half is excellent and the second half drags. Similar issues with other films including Alien 3, but I digress.
You can safely ignore any review that uses the W word and complains about the so-called mob. I swear, I hear that word WAY more often from them than the actual mob. Who cares if there are some Black actors?
All of that said, I agree with many of the other complaints. No chemistry between Bond and the lead actress. Overly long at nearly 3 (!) hours. Soundtrack for a Bond film *should* nod to past Bond films but this one was almost a carbon copy.
The Night House (2020)
Not bad
To the reviewers who claimed that scenes were left in with no purpose, what?
Very professionally done. No stupid jump scares, but not exactly scary 90% of the run-time. The director used a very effective and creepy effect 3X and it worked in each instance, but by the third one I was like OK, we already know what's gonna happen here - nothing.
Really liked this one - kept me captivated until the end but coulda been a little more tied up. Did the hubby do what we were led to believe he did? Did the wifey really see the evidence? If so why didn't she call the cops right away?
The ending didn't ruin it for me like it did others, but I can see why it was frustrating. No resolution in this kind of film equals blah. 6.5 rounded to 7 and I can promise you that it's at least worth a few bucks to watch (not $14.99 like Amazon is charging now).
Intrusion (2021)
In this day and age completely predictable
Let me just say that I already figured this out within about 25 minutes of it starting. That's not me bragging; that's Netflix glomming onto a variation of an age-old script that used to be jarring and original.
Just a way to pass 1.5 hours of time, and I'm sure some viewers under the age of 13 will love it. But there are better films out there that explore this theme far more effectively and interestingly.
Just not worth your time at all unless you're 12 (and I say this in good faith) and want to watch something different.
The Empty Man (2020)
The Empty Man made me do this review. A conflicted 8-stars
I watched this film without first reading anything about it or watching the trailer, which I'm glad I did. If you stumble on this review, I'm here to tell you that you should stop reading anything more about the plot or at least caution you not to take the hyper-critical sub 4-star reviews seriously. I'm really not sure what the big problem was for people who thought the different story lines were disjointed. They weren't.
There was some excellent acting and amazing (especially for a first-time director!) camera and cinematography work along with a soundtrack that doesn't insult the viewer with jump scares or become overbearing.
TL/DR (my spoiler-containing novel of a review will likely annoy some): Creepy, original genre-bending movie that deserved a much wider release and more studio support. The ratings are dragged down by some overly negative reviewers that seemed to want a shorter film that fell more neatly into a single genre. If you have 2+ hours at your disposal and you like the thought of a supernatural horror-occult-urban legend-shaggy dog mystery movie, then I recommend this highly.
You can stop reading now if you don't want any spoilers.
I must admit that I'm in agreement with numerous other reviewers about the opening sequence being one of the best parts of this movie. It was genuinely creepy, original and the story could have gone virtually anywhere from that point; I had no idea what was coming next knowing there were still about 2 hours left. I wish there had been more of an explanation about the crazy skeleton that looked like a cross between HR Giger's art work (in the "Alien" films) and something out of John Carpenter's "The Thing." What the heck was that thing and if that was the Empty Man, why didn't it re-appear in that form at any point again besides a quick, obscure textual reference to Bhutan in a Wikipedia article on the Pontifex Society much later on...
When we flash forward to 2018, I wanted the story to follow Paul back to the USA and thought at first that our ex-cop detective *was* Paul living under an alias. It turned out not to be the case, but back to that Wikipedia reference - if the events in Bhutan were documented, how did Paul escape any kind of criminal charges? Were his friends assumed to have all killed themselves? Were any bodies found? Alas, no explanation was forthcoming about Paul's whereabouts at all until near the very end of the flick and the back story provided by the nurse was only surface level sketches of his history at best. How did he and the Pontifex Society end up coming together if he was comatose? But man, that opening sequence was awesome and I had some very high expectations, albeit without any clue where things might go, from there.
When we pick back up though, the story centers on a grieving man and his only real friend, the teenage daughter of one of his neighbors. She disappears one day and they find "The Empty Man made me do it" scrawled in some kind of blood on her bedroom wall. At this point I'm like WTF? How has this got anything to do with the scenes in Bhutan? So I was a little disappointed when the story turned into one about some kids disappearing after going along with what was essentially a dare about a (rather silly, unfrightening) urban legend.
Well, as the ex-cop/detective goes about his investigation into the missing kids, the details start to converge on a cult-like group called, again, The Pontifex Society, who seem to practice some kind of philosophical combination of Nietzschean nihilism, eternal return, and goofy Scientology self-help. The sheer number of people (mostly young) hanging around the cult's HQ in St. Louis is pretty unbelievable for how obscure this group is made out to be in the film, but that's a minor quibble I guess. But, yeah, with so many acolytes of a group like that all gathered in one place (St. Louis proper's population is only like 300,000 IIRC), it would probably be in the local news at the very least. As it happens, at least a few of the missing teens had gotten themselves wrapped up in this cult which seemed to be predicated on worshiping and/or bringing this Empty Man character from the silly urban legend to life.
But for what??? I just don't see how nihilism could possibly co-exist with self-help as a practice and worse still, it was never explained what any of these practitioners could possibly have gotten out of it. Like why are they even wasting so much energy and time trying to channel or conjure the Empty Man if 1) All you have to do is blow into a bottle on a bridge at night and 2) TEM doesn't do anything good for them or bring them enlightenment or wealth, nor is it clear what the leader of this cult gets out of it himself if not money (ala Scientology). Blah. Bleh....that part of the story was clumsy IMO.
Anyway, we eventually learn that most of the missing kids are dead, that two are still unaccounted for and we find out that Paul is comatose in one of the main St. Louis hospital and receives dozens upon dozens of strange visitors every day but it doesn't raise any red flags for the hospital staff. Silly. On top of that, it's almost like the operations of the entire hospital have been co-opted by this John Doe as we hear the dispatcher call all doctors to the third floor via the intercom system seemingly to prevent them from seeing all of Paul/John Doe's visitors. Again, bleh, meh.
At the end of it all, it becomes clear. These cultists are trying to find a new host for the empty man (who they use as an antenna to another dimension - again, for what?) and the viewer is led to believe that in fact our protagonist detective has either been kidnapped and brainwashed or straight up conjured out of thin air and given fake painful memories to prime him to be the new Earthly manifestation of the pointless Empty Man entity.
And yet, I still give it 8 stars. LOL. It was super entertaining for me, very well crafted, original, and the score/soundtrack was top notch. It wasn't until the end that I found myself asking all those questions, and by then I'd already enjoyed the ride too much to ding the whole film for the sum of its parts.