Change Your Image
jessicabailey68
Reviews
The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)
I'm sad this era is over
I really loved this series. It's not my favorite out of the group by any means but it's probably number two or three. I was a little off put by the sex scenes, it was a lot. But not enough to ruin the whole thing.
I was blown away by all of the performances. Bruce Greenwood was so good, he deserves all the awards for his role as Roderick. There's not one person who doesn't shine in this though, it's hard to choose a favorite.
The ode to Poe was great. A lot of people saying he'd be rolling in his grave watching this but I disagree. I think he would have appreciated it. The jump scares were wicked. The storylines were tight. It was just really well done. If you understand Flanagan, and enjoy his work, I don't doubt you'll love this.
Elvis (2022)
What did I just watch
So I've never been a huge Elvis fan, but I adore Baz. So I watched it. I had to stop in the middle of it and take a break because I was bored. I can't believe I've watched a film where I actually was annoyed by Tom Hanks. Even though I'm not an Elvis fan, I still have read up on his life and was quite surprised in how they left out or changed so much to his story. He groomed Priscilla. And yet she signed off and supported this like no big deal. He was never faithful to her, he treated her like complete garbage. But sure let's romanticize that. Austin was great, but not enough to save this film.
Willow (2022)
Jeez People
I'm not sure why it's such a big deal about the accents. I'm not watching the series for the accents, it's about the adventure. I obviously can't give it a full rating as it's just the beginning but I found the first episode to be very entertaining. I love the cast, it's funny and the creatures are pretty cool.
I'm looking forward to see how this show turns out. From everything I've read it's going to be phenomenal and I trust the sources I have completely. Don't give up on it yet over something so small like accents. Let people enjoy things and let yourself enjoy things! I say give it a try, if it's not your thing, it's not your thing. But these negative reviews are crazy ridiculous.
Midnight Mass (2021)
Sighs
I love Mike Flannagan because I appreciate his story telling and the fact that he uses classic horror in his stories. This show made me think of Stephen King's Salem's Lot....but there was just so much going on. So many soap boxes to stand on and it just got really monotonous. I wanted to love it but I was just meh with it.
The Mitchells vs the Machines (2021)
This movie is fantastic
I don't know how you could possibly not give this film 10 stars. It's one of the best family movies we've seen in a long time. All three of our boys were laughing so hard, they laughed in ways I've never heard before. We even had to pause a few times because my husband and I couldn't stop laughing and no one could hear the movie. What a great cast! Maya and Danny of course are A+. We loved all the pop culture references and still have Rihanna stuck in our head. This is a great movie for the family, promise you. You'll laugh, you'll cry. And then you'll watch it everyday, every hour for the next two weeks because your kids are obsessed!
Without Remorse (2021)
Wow what a bomb
We were excited for this film because a) Tom Clancy b) the cast and holy wow we were disappointed. The acting was terrible, it's like they didn't take time to research weapons or any type of military training. Jodie-Turner Smith was awful. So bland and unenthusiastic. It's like she didn't even want to be there. It felt like forever to get through.
There Is No I in Threesome (2021)
Enjoyable but sad
Some of you are utterly exhausting! I felt this documentary was really well done. Before we watched it, I had pretty much guessed what the ending was going to be and was partially correct. The few other surprises I was impressed by.
Is it perfect? No. Ollie & Zoe are engaged to be married but are going to be living apart due to Zoe's work as an actress. They decide to open their relationship before they have their wedding. This is where some of the reviewers are stressing me out. They make their OWN rules on their polyamory. I hat they felt would work for them as a couple. So please stop forcing your views on what they should have been, when it plays into the reason the movie was created.
Two consenting adults have relationships with other consenting adults, fully knowing exactly what they are getting into and what could possibly happen. Which yes, it does happen to both of them but Zoe truly falls for her partner and she breaks off the wedding despite Ollie giving in to her every whim along the way.
You think that's going to be the shocker, but in all actuality it's that Zoe isn't actually the real Zoe. Ollie and RL Zoe agree to keep this documentary going but she is ultimately taken out. He explains this at the end. He shows both sides of things, including that he cared more about his career than he did her before they even came up with the idea for the documentary.
I didn't go in blind, it's obvious how naive they were, especially Ollie who didn't explore his sexuality more during the time he was a teen/college student.
This is life. Not everyone has the same feelings or experiences. I for one appreciate the honesty and vulnerability with this project. At the end when he shows him and Natalie going through the actual footage of him & RL Zoe, she is floored by how awful he has been to her and says " No wonder she left."
Natalie was amazing as Zoe. She and Ollie had an amazing connection, as did she with Tom. You really felt like this was their actual story.
Judy (2019)
Disappointed
A few summers ago we visited Grand Rapids, MN which is where Frances Gumm was born and somewhat raised. Since then I became fascinated with Judy Garland and poured over books & documentaries about her. I greatly looked forward to this film and Renee's performance since it seemed to exude so much admiration. Wow. Holy disappointment. I don't know why anyone thought Renee pulled this film off, she was awful. The singing, the acting....she just didn't have it. Really bummed out this was such a waste of time.
Insidious (2010)
What a let down
We had trouble deciding between this and Sinister. I was told by a handful of people that this movie would keep me up or give me nightmares.
It was pretty lame. Had they just kept it as a haunting without these weird ghosts walking around with terrible make-up and costumes, they may have had me. But the Darth Maul looking guy and his weird hooves, so silly. Almost reminded me of the devil in the Tenacious D movie. I would have much rather had Dave Grohl show up.
I wanted to take it seriously, but I couldn't. It was just awful. If I was that type of person, I would sue every single one of the people that told me this movie would terrify me. I'll stick with the Exorcist, thank you.
The Invitation (2015)
Classic Thriller
I really enjoyed this film. I thought it was a nice hat tip to a late 60's early 70's suspense film. I love how they laid out the traumatic past of Will & Eden, and yeah, it was a slow burn but it still kept me interested wondering where everything was going and then boom, all the action starts. We had laid out a few possibilities for the ending and did not guess correctly whatsoever.
It was fun to having something different to watch for Halloween with out gore and cheap laughs. I do wish they had kept the cut scene involving Claire but agree it adds mystery to the movie.
I recommend it.
Jennifer's Body (2009)
You guys, watch this movie!
Saw this when it originally came out and loved it. Watched it again last night because my husband has never seen it, he loved it and he hates horror films. Underrated movie, watch it. It's so much fun.
Dracula (2020)
So Disappointed
I was stoked (pun not intended) for this series, being a huge fan of Dracula as a book. Vampire genre has been so terrible these last few years, and this took us back to original lore. Too bad it was so poorly done and confusing.
I was annoyed by Sister Agatha. Her voice was like nails on a chalkboard, and I didn't understand her relationship with Dracula. It was a weird build up that went absolutely no where, even as she became Zoe. They needed to build his obsession with her better or not at all, IMHO.
The second episode dragged so badly I was bored. And the third episode was just...awful. There was potential with the Lucy plot line, because his feelings for her were obvious and I thought well done. Then boom, done. If he was able to look young again, why couldn't Lucy after she fed off humans? I mean he literally burned too, but came back looking the same afterwards, so hello?
That first episode had me so hopefully of a series that would be interesting and not only was it closed off two episodes later but completely fell apart, and fast.
Ready Player One (2018)
Never Read the Book...
Here's a review from someone that didn't read the book and had no idea what to expect going in to the movie: Nope.
Although the nostalgia & useless trivia from the past decades had some of my attention, overall I winced every minute this movie went on.
So. Boring.
So. Predictable.
So. Awful.
The CGI was painstakingly bad. The acting worse. I didn't understand how anyone who came up with the screenplay thought having this group of VI friends that met in a world of billions of people all over earth happened to be in the exact 25 mile radius ( bad people too! What are the odds!)
Main female gives this speech about how you don't know what they look like in reality, you're expecting something completely different and she's gorgeous but has a birth mark on her face? OH NO! Tragic.
The best character was the 11 year old, and he barely got any screen time. Also: 5 years after his death and still no one figured out that first race? Mmmkay.
Those aren't even the worst of the plot holes.
Maybe if I read the book I'll feel even more depressed about the time wasted watching this.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Trailer Throws You Off
I love the Coen's but also understand their sense of humor and ability to break your heart. This movie took a few days for me to finish because I was so completely shattered by " Meal Ticket" And "The Girl Who Got Rattled". I was so worried about the dog dying, my brain wondered away from the obvious Coen ending and I should have known better. So I turned it off and waited to finish the remainder of the film.
The cinematography was so incredibly beautiful.
The acting superb by everyone but especially Tom Waits, James Franco, Harry Melling (Hello, Dudley.), Bull Heck & Zoe Kazan. My love for westerns and the Coens couldn't keep me away. I shouldn't rate it based on how depressing it was for me, but it seriously made it so hard to enjoy.
The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
Just awesome
This is the first time I have ever written a review on IMDB, and it's because this series was just so amazing, I had to.
It's terrifying, you connect with the characters, and you definitely binge it.
Episode 6 is in my opinion, the best of the series and will go down as one of those classic episodes everyone always talks about. The cast is wonderful. I want to know more about the history of the house and it's ghosts, so I'm hoping there's a season two for that.