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normstobert
Reviews
One Bad Turn (2022)
Not worth 10 minutes let alone almost two hours
Not sure how I came across this movie on Prime but I put it in my queue. Watched it tonight and many times during the movie I wondered why I kept watching - maybe hoping it would get better? Well, it never did. The actors were OK but nothing that would make me want to watch other movies with them, or, for that matter, watch other movies done by this director. The plot was very plodding, moved slowly along while I hoped it would get interesting at some point, but it never did. Yes, there was a plot twist at the end but that sure didn't make up for the whole rest of the movie. So, folks, don't even bother with this one...
The Hasty Heart (1949)
Far better than I expected, very emotional film
I didn't know what to expect by the title but the reason I got it was because I'd never seen a Ronald Reagan movie. Like another reviewer said, I'm not particularly interested in emotional movies, most of them are too sappy for me and are really chick flicks. But this movie was truly a great movie. The subject was treated with dignity and realism, and near the end of the movie where there is an emotional scene, it brought years to my eyes. C'mon guys, this one is worth a watch!
The Hallelujah Trail (1965)
Dumb jokes, dumb plot, dumb story
A friend wanted to watch this, and considering I like westerns, and I like many of the stars in this movie, I agreed. Not 15 minutes into the movie I wanted to do anything but watch the rest of it. Usually serious actors playing in comic roles usually doesn't work and it sure doesn't work in this movie either. Burt Lancaster trying to be funny by being serious? No, doesn't work. No wonder it was free to watch on YouTube. Avoid it.
The Gore Gore Girls (1972)
Wow, where do I start
I like B movies, but this isn't one. Nor a C or D or E or F. It's pretty close to Z! The acting is atrocious (except for the strippers who really did a fine job and have bodies well worth looking at!). The role of the detective is just awful and at the end when he "gives the story" to the reporter, comes up with all kinds of information never given in the course of the movie! All the other "actors" are probably people that they found hanging out at some club and gave them 5 bucks a piece to be in the movie - their dialog is so choppy you'd think they are reading it from cue cards in Russian and translating as they go. My advice: watch it for the stripper scenes and fast forward through all the rest!
Inside Look: The People v. O.J. Simpson - American Crime Story (2016)
Bad performances, typical Made For TV series
The story itself is a typical "made for TV" mini-series which is inferior to any theatrical movie. The story itself was interesting as it brought out many aspects of the case that were unknown to most people. I didn't follow the case at the time it happened so I found it interesting to see all that happened.
HOWEVER, many performances, particularly by Travolta, Schwimmer and Gooding were cheesy and wooden. Many times it seemed like they were just waiting for their next "dramatic" line, especially Travolta and Schwimmer. And I'm not sure what's happened to Travolta, maybe a dozen face lifts? When his mouth moves it barely moves, like his face is going to crack if he opens it too wide! The thing I got most tired of was the obvious "all white men are evil" attitude of the series. Yes I understand that there were racial tensions at that time (like there's not now?) but after the first 100 scenes where blacks were lamenting the fact that every white cop was out to get blacks for no reason, it got really old. That took at least two points off my rating. Three points off for the acting. Another point off because it's "made for TV". Is it worth watching? Yes but it's not something you will be glued to your TV for or binge watch on Netflix.
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
A waste of two hours
For the life of me I can't understand what all the raving is about this movie. "One of the greatest movies ever made", "Excellent story". BLAH! The movie started out interesting but then became mired in meaningless conversations. I thought that Jack Nicholson was poorly chosen for this role. His usual character is strong and bold, in this movie he is confused and wandering and in my opinion he does not play it well. Ralph Waite is wasted as a dithering, unassuming husband that acts as if he must have his wife's approval for seemingly everything. All in all a real mish-mash of a movie that just winds to a very unsatisfying ending. Don't waste your time with this one.
Happy Land (1943)
This is available on DVD if you look hard
I reviewed this back in 2001 and since then I have found it on DVD. I did a Google search for the title and I eventually came up with a place that sells self-copied movies that have fallen into the public domain. These folks had a ton of movies I never even heard of! I purchased a copy and it came in a case with a "home-made" cover insert as well. The quality of the copy was good. Sorry but it has been several years since I purchased it so I cannot give you a link - but Google it and you will most likely find it. Will also throw in a comment on another post- I loved the old AMC - uncut, no commercials, no colorized movies. What happened along the way? It was great having all those movies with no interruptions. I suppose they figured out that you can make a lot more $$$ by doing it the way they do now. It's a shame cause they played movies you absolutely cannot find.
Cloud Atlas (2012)
2+ hours of sheer boredom
My wife said "Let's watch this, you'll like it!". A half hour in I was so confused I just stopped the movie and said "OK, what's going on". After my wife and kids explained it, or rather, tried to explain it, I said OK, fine, just go on because frankly I didn't get it. Beyond that, it moves at an incredibly slow pace and each scene gives you such a small bit of information it takes forever to try to piece it together (if you even care at this point). When we were an hour + in I looked to see how long the movie is and found it had an hour + to go - I started looking for excuses to leave and do something, anything, interesting. You know, like watching grass grow or paint drying - either of those options would have been better - honestly. So if you're thinking of watching this, run away! It's AWFUL! It's TERRIBLE! It's BORING!!!
Hardcore Pawn (2009)
Love it!
If you like Pawn Stars, great, go watch it and quit complaining about Hardcore Pawn! I watch Pawn Stars too but it's a whole different show with completely different reasons for being popular. What I love about Hardcore Pawn is the wacky people that come in and try to force them to do things - like give them a certain amount of money for something, etc. and get thrown out. In fact, my favorite character on the show is the bouncer - that dude is funny! ALL pawn shops buy way low and sell way high - that's how they survive, so saying that people get ripped off is stupid. Nobody is forcing them to pawn or sell their stuff - they can turn around and walk out and list it on Craigslist or Ebay (in fact I think most people who go to Pawn Stars in Vegas would do way better selling it an alternate way!). So get over the annoying owners kids - that's a selling point of the show! Trust me, I can't stand them either!
Charro! (1969)
An hour and a half of boring movie
I like Elvis as much as the next person and enjoy watching his movies more for his music than anything since most of them were so bad (yes there are exceptions that were fairly acceptable, King Creole being my favorite) but this movie was just bad - plus no singing. Stiff acting, poor dialog, thin plot. Just when you think something exciting is going to happen, it doesn't, and then it's 15 minutes until the next almost exciting thing. A better script would have gone a long way in helping this move along. There were just so many blank spaces where you were expecting someone to say something but there was just this long pregnant pause. Sorry but I have to chalk this one up on my least favorite Elvis movies.
Gray Lady Down (1978)
Highly predictable, mediocre acting and scripting
Bad acting all round here - amazing what Charlton Heston and Ned Beatty descended to to make a movie. Dumb story and anything but "gripping" as the description says. Unfortunately just another flavor of 70s disaster movies in the same vein of Posiedon Adventure, Towering Inferno and Earthquake. I predicted the end of this movie about 20 minutes in and was right on the money! Don't waste the time unless you really like naval movies that seriously stretch the imagination about how sea rescues really work or if you just have to see Charlton Heston in another mediocre role just to say you've seen them all. Special effects aren't bad given the era.