DancingBookworm Reviews

Risen (2021)

Most enjoyable terrible movie I have seen in years

[4/10 · 10 December 2023]

First, this movie is, for the most part, terrible.

• It is unwatchable without subtitles because the sound mixing is so poor that you can't hear most of the dialogue over the music.

• CDC, military, and similar scenes have the research realism of an elementary school play.

• Dialogue is often stilted and expect to spend 5 seconds or more every time emotion is strong and someone's hands need to move.

For all of that, the first half was a perfect MST3K revival. The second half did something different than typical with the storyline. We spent a fun few minutes afterwards debating what we each thought was happening at the end. All in all, a 6-7 star time on a solid 3-star film.

Black Widow (2021)

MCU Magic is Alive Again

[7/10 · 3 August 2021]

This isn't a solo gig for Nat, but Marvel seems best with an element of ensemble. The cast works well together, and each one of the family brings something good to the table with challenges to overcome. This isn't your straightforward heroes journey, but that's mostly because you have two heroes hitting the highlights.

Sure, there's the could never in real life scenes, but this IS Marvel. In a world of soul stones and biology-altering serums, it's easy enough to put reality aside.

The action shows how Widow went toe to toe with enhanced all these years. The setup for the Red Room will give MCU fans plenty to play with for years to come.

My only real complaint is two spots where the music doesn't fit. It reminds me of the score from the second Matrix film: The was nothing technically wrong, but it stood out enough in an early motorcycle chase and part of the sky fall that I was distracted wondering why nobody changed that instead of paying attention to the eye-catching action.

It's great to see more of SJ just being Natasha. Now with all of the age-shifting tech they've developed, they need to go back and do a Hawkeye + Black Widow TV spy serial.

Last word? I never expected Budapest to look so nice. Maybe Hawk had the right attitude about that mission after all.

Turner & Hooch: Forever and a Dog (2021) Season 1, Episode 1

Situation Comedy Sans Humor

[2/10 · 3 August 2021]

Beyond bad. Nothing fresh and nothing compelling where it revisits the old. The partner feels real, but the rest in episode 1 are poorly-executed contrivances.

This will probably be one of those that makes it through on nostalgia with a decent second season before it's canceled for lack of traction.

Attraction (2017)

Wonderful Sci-fi with Terrible Dubs

[6/10 · 6 October 2019]

If you can get past the terrible English dubs of the main cast - don't ask me why the tertiary characters were good and they skimped on the main cast - this is a beautiful sci-fi gem.

You can see the quality of acting behind the dubs. The story is good. The visuals were superb.

I wish Amazon had it in the original Russian with English subs.

Shangri-La: Near Extinction (2018)

Diamond-in-the-Rough Sci-Fi

[6/10 · 6 October 2018]

This delightful take on a familiar trope suffers from stilted dialogue that hampers an otherwise engaging cast, good cinematography, decent wardrobe design, and well-done splatter.