Change Your Image
KatoC
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Freelance (2023)
Why oh why, Alison?
With the woman who gave us Horse girl, Community and GLOW comes this sack of stereotype nonsense that one shouldn't bother to watch, even if she looks terrific naked (you don't see much, it's definitely PG-13, just the idea of her naked makes a great moment) Other than that, she could have the word BORED written on her forhead throughout the entire movie. You can literally tell at certain points how laughable she finds the whole thing. So I guess it's the money, eh.
The worst part though, is the editing. Action scenes, where both parties shoot at each other, are cut in such a ridiculously long-winded manner, they could have smoked a cigarette on the way over to slap the other guys, never mind shoot them from a distance.
Acting is OK overall (not Brie, she should have let a less starry actress take a shot at it, of only for the money), could have been better. Really not that funny.
The story is as old as Slater, the male audience grabber secundo.
And on top of all, they make it far too long.
Watch it to see Alisons really sweet body. No other reason. Anyway, she's better than this.
Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner (2019)
What is this?
I've only watched ten minutes of the first episode. Two rich idiots on a trip, or at least drugged, if only by marihuana (no spoiler, the description on Netflix mentions it). Laughing their asses of at - like - anything. No sense in anything that happens. I would have expected more of Rogen, I don't know who the other guy is, nor do I much care, but it's a sad day in Neflixland, when every dodo who can afford it, will submint some videos of him and his buddies breathing oxygen, turning it into carbon dioxide and farting half of it out, enriched with sulfur. Dosen't bode well with you or your reputation, guys. Raise the bar, otherwise Prime is gonna eat you up.
The Happening (2008)
Lotsa spoilers! Watch it (not the movie)!
I love Zooey. She's funny in the "Yes man", she is super as the "New girl", so I specifically watched this one to see how she does in a dystopic environment. Well, she's slow, to put it mildly, There's very weak counter on her acting part, at times she almost comes across blasé, which might well be the reason why her role depends mostly on single shots, glances, looks. Snapshots, ment to add to the drama, but instead, added to the tragedy. The movie is not so hot either, Mark I think does ok, considering he's more of an action type of guy, superior to the situation and all (except in The lovely bones, where he's just great, i.m.o.).
So, in a nutshell, nature has had it with us, after oh so many years of abuse it turns on us and teaches us a lesson (or that's what I learned until 00:42 min into the movie, I stopped there and turned on the news, which, ironically, wasn't so much different). Leguiziamo - meh. The rest of the cast did what they were told to do - keel over. Best performances by the dead guys. Kidding - no, it wasn't THAT bad. In Robins words, "not the end of the world, but you can see it from here". Well sure you can, in green, and blowin' in the wind.
No recomandation to watch.
Der Fall Jens Söring - Tödliche Leidenschaft (2023)
So good, it allows further unanswered questions to ensue
The miniseries is a good summary of the entire crime. It doesn't shine much light on whether Elisabeth had a bad childhood, to explain her hatred towards her parents. But that is not the main issue here. After both of them having been released, nothing new will be revealed, except if Jens really, really needs to milk it and write yet another book about his innocence.
The one question that will remain unanswered is, of course, which one of them did it. They probably were in it (literally, at the house) together. Her half-brother can be trusted on his instincts, I believe. Also, the very far from proficient work of the investigators is appalling, and this has been pointed out over the years repeatedly.
Some nice details I have noticed in my nativity:
1. A passage from a letter of hers to Jens points out the prospect of being free. There is a scratched out word there, that the documentary doesn't take reference to: "walk", I believe it says. So if you replace "being" with "walk", which seems to have been her first impulse, when phrasing the letter.....eh?
Also, I found not all the questions of Updike (DA) to be as poignant and smart as they say. When Elisabeth tells the jury how they met back in the hotel room in D. C., after the crime, she says she was shocked to here from Jens that he had seen it through, he does not stress on her reaction. My first though would have been to pick up the phone and call the parents, no matter how irrational that would have been, except, of course, if the news didn't surprise me.
One last remark on the outstanding "intelligence", IQ-rank and what not of the two. First, they are involved in the murder of two people, and soon after, they end up in jail for three decades. Doesn't sound genius to me.
On the whole, very enjoyable, offering a nice insight on the twistery of the human mind, once unleashed.
Retribution (2023)
Big Hollywood in Little Germany
I'm not gonna repeat what other rewiewers have already done quite funnily and wittily and, above all, to the point. My main goal is to somewhat move the overall score into the right direction, calibrate it, so to speak.
So Liam Neeson, whom I personally find to be a fine master of his trade, found a new wormhole on how to make more easy money. First, it was the cheap-sequel trick (not him particularly, though Taken 2 and 3 were far from "proudly presents"), now being followed by the go-to-Germany-as-a-Hollywood-superstar-and-make-a-kraut-movie trick. The following seem to be the ingredients:
-bad plot (a reviewer mentioned ChatGPT, I concur)
-embarassing overacting of some extras, with no chance of a second take. No worries, Liam will balance it out. NOT!
-Nerve recking paraphrasing (actually, this aspect I liked), stuff like: "There's a BOMB under my seat!" - "Calm down, sir. So you're telling me, you think there's something under your seat? Like - a bomb, maybe? Did you put it there?"
Sometimes, having a big name just isn't enough.
Also, on a side note, if a German police officer on duty in Berlin, Germany adresses some driver in German, and is being answered in German, he will not suddenly and without reason adress the female passenger with "Miss". We may call our cell phones "handys", which is stupid enough, but we do have German words for most other things or cases (in the words of Wittgenstein).
Half Light (2006)
Horror? Horrible is more like
I'd like to apologize in advance to Mrs. Moore, for who I have considerable respect, regarding her body of work in general,
In this movie, I am sad to say, her acting sucks. It starts with the cry of grief at the beginning, during the first crucial scene (no spoiler, since they announce it in the synopsis). In fact, without the picture, her cry sounds rather like she just passed the last gas station 20 miles back and now, against all odds, the tank is empty.
It goes on like this. At some point I was just happy she didn't accidentally break the fourth wall.
The villains, also rather clumsy with their hands and lines. If you should make it that far into the movie (no guarantee) pay attention to the first conversation between the bad guy and the bad girl. It's like they've been given the exact time, to the second, when their line is to be delivered, so in order to honour that, they keep busy counting seconds.
Not worth your time. Great landscape, though.
Lots of eerie music, but that just isn't enough for a mystery thriller.
One Ranger (2023)
They should have cast Casey Sander
And the movie started so promising. Dive into a almost Sicario-like scenario, with the bluer then steel sheriff, one no-good indian (that could have beome his side kick, instead, after the first scene, he's just forgotten), also one on-the-money-bad guy, so all in all just the right ingredients for a popcorn-coke-action movie night. Alas, after some 7 and a half minutes of western (at first I thought the whole thing happened in the old, wild west times. The guy was chasing the fugitive on a horse, for crying out).
Next thing you know, he's chasing terrorists in London, with machine guns, uranium and a very, very tired - I hate to even say this - John Malkovich as the somewhat stubborn and mildly obtusive chief of whatever task force they've involved, branch of the good old MI6. After a while, I'd half whished Bond would turn around the corner, save the day. The characters act unreasonable at times, almost as if the director is actually trying to imitate real life, with all its edges and bumps. The action is quite convincing, at times, but just barely. It's sad, really, but at at the end it just gets painfull to watch. My eyes were focused on the timer rather than the movie. Regretably, not a recomandation to watch.
Barbarian (2022)
Great horror movie in a long time
I've never been in Detroit. We hear things in Europe, about the former city of cars being deserted, with outlaw reigning and all. Anyway, even without the harsh reality, this I think is a horror flick worth the while. I am not a horror fan myself, I used to like friday and freddy and chainsaw, but then I turned 14. This one however has it almost all: mystery, frightening moments without the sound engineer suddenly blasting the sound up to thunderstorm level, just for scare, but instead there was a story behind, and so nicely played by the actors, it didn't need big time character development. Basically, there are three different plots that are told in Pulp Fiction order (chronologically, the first one comes last). Then there's the fourth scene, uniteing all three initial strings, offering a pretty decent explanation and solution, with a tiny twist at the end. I mean, when at the end of a movie, you can't help but feel some slight sympathy even for the bad guy, that's, in my opinion a good movie. And, on top of it, it has a happy ending (you know, considering the carnage it underwent on its way there. Definitely worth a watch.
The Undoing (2020)
Stars are with regard to the ending
Some very well developed and brilliantly played characters here by Kidman and Grant. Not so much granpa Sutherland, but then, he didn't have too much to work on, to begin with. With the little his character offered, he actually did a good job.
Like many other reviews here, mine refers to the ending and the open questions that we're left with:1. Who was the second woman he cheated on his wife with? Since she had no impact on the movie - they didn't even mention her in the trial - why even invent her. 2. Why did the wife walk around in the middle of the night, in the vicinity of the victims gallery, on the night she was murdered, no less, far away from her home (Harlem is not for the rich)? If it didn't matter, why bring it up in the movie? Cause that's what this is, a movie. Not real life. In real life, the perfect alibi probably turns out to be a lie. Many things happen by accident in real life, and unrelated to the crime, which makes police inverstigation all the more difficult. Shouldn't be that way in a movie. Here you are supposed to entertain the spectator, not lead him into false assumptions by mentioning stuff without later transpiring its use. And last, what was it Grace had her lawyer friend do for her, on the last trial day (conspirative phone call, short cut from the drone perspective on the meeting and then- nothing)? Presumably, she checked the hammer for the husbands DNA. Dishwashers are good, they're not that good.
It's not the lack of reality I deplore. The opposite is, in fact, the case. No matter what the subject of a movie feature that's evolving around a ficticious story is, above all, it should be entertaning, and it should give the spectator some sort of closure, some satisfaction, the feeling that watching the movie wasn't a waste of time, when reading a book is more and more losing its meaning in our world. Sadly, the complete opposite is the case with the solution offered by The Undoing, leaving the audience somewhat lost for answers to rethorical questions of the type: "Are you kidding me??"
The Stranger (2022)
Utterly disappointing
If this was based on reality, as it seems to claim, according to some reviews here (didn't bother to consult wiki on that), then I guess that's what it was like in reality. Period.
If you want to turn it into a movie, I think you have to be capable to ad suspense and entertainment. Maybe some twists, preferably toward the end.
For example: a plane landed in the Hudson river, not too long ago (2009). It took a mere six minutes, the flight did. And they managed to turn it into an excellent full feature movie. That's how you make reality entertaning and worth watching, as a movie.
Unless you declare it an educational piece for the police force. Then maybe.
This is a complete waste of time. I honestly hope this was based on real events, and that the director decided to film it 100 percent authentic, based on a lost bet, or to get laid. Or something! Otherwise, this whole endeavour makes no sense, much like the movie itself.
The acting of the two protagonists is fairly good. Not the rest of the plot though. They're just filling in, for better or worse.
Frustrating piece.
The Assassination & Mrs. Paine (2022)
Fun to watch, but to what use
I guess this is an interesting vantage point for an US-audience, since its part in the national history. I know many younger Germans like to watch documentaries about Hitler, with it having been recorded so extensevely and all. In both cases, nothing new is being revealed. Hitler didn't defect to South America, nor did Elvis get abducted by aliens (as I presume). As with JFK the same old information is presented in a slightly different light. They're milking these stories for as long as humanly possible, but - hey, as long as it is fun to watch, by all means, onward and upward with it. Nothing new or revealing here.
The Spy Who Never Dies (2022)
Girl spies
This movie is chock-full with outstandingly beautiful women. Pretty much every scene has one or more of them in it. Their acting is ok. Other than that, it's silly and lenghty. They tried hard though, so...yeah. Still, no more than a watch on a rainy, lonely sunday morning, before getting outa bed. The jokes are either copied or plain lame. Thats about it. Except for the girls. The girls are just a bucket full of sexy.
Sin Eater (2022)
Poorly executed
They should have given the script to Guy Ritchie, or Stone, or Polanski, to turn it into a good movie, with more skilled actores, more experienced cutters and, just in general, people with better timing. Especially the last scene, with the protagonist being able to get the upper hand oncemore, the dilletantism reaches its peak. Brutal viewing experience with what could have made a decent film.
Lakewood (2021)
No easy task
The first ten minutes of the movie she brings coffee to her grieving son, goes jogging, is phoned by her daughter, talks some more on the phone with different people. So far, the acting is presentable, no major slips, all good.
Then, the movie turns into the main plot, and that's where it goes all wrong. Bad script, worse acting. Obviously, neither Watts nor the director have ever done some serious in-the-woods-jogging. Running, panicking, slipping, falling, hurting, yet all the while, calling all kinds of people, watching the news over the mobile (perfect signal, by the way, with streaming live pictures no less, those woods must have been somewhere near Hogwarts). At some point (later) she actually seems to redial a number she just called, digit by digit. No need to go into details, it has been described in other reviews. Suffice to say that it must be very hard a task for one actor to single handidly bare the motherload of the pic. Hanks did it in Cast away and was brilliant, Gyllenhall recently did it in The guilty, and was quite presentable. Watts, however lost to this one. The fact that, pretty soon into the movie you kinda sense where this is going, nevermind the following twist, doesn't help.
The Tomorrow War (2021)
Cheap shot at Cruises Edge of Tomorrow
There is nothing new or original about this movie, except maybe, that the aliens were brought to us by yet other aliens (maybe as a preparation for a future sequel, where the transporters turn out to be even worse a menace). Anyway, CGI is indeed very good, the alien is successfully being anthropomorphized, in its moves, gestures etc. I have absolutely no idea what J. K. Simmons is doing here. Did his wife leave him, has he gotten bored? Either way, not one inch of his talent comes to use or life here. Kiera Armstrong is great. Good job. The rest you can guess from the trailer. Watch Edge of Tomorrow. That's the one that's good. This one - I don't know.
Contraband (2012)
See twists coming a mile away and around three corners
Man, money will have some people suck on anything, right? I mean, Mark has basically signed up to making action stuff, that's his thing and I'm sure he stands by it. But for Beckinsale, Simmons and Ribisi to do this kind of sh..., that's just despicable. Big talent lost on some senseless rubbish, boring dialogues and triviality. Just a waste of time. Walk your neighbors dog instead.
Modern Family: Good Grief (2018)
Watching paint dry...
...than crack, and sowly falling off the wall. Watching that also. As a tribute, this ep. makes no sense, since Shelley Long is alive and kicking. Maybe she bailed on the show, hopefully, not because of a bad feeling about the rest of it. I'm just now watching it on Netflix, so I'm kinda behind on it. The show had its ups an downs along the years, but always, in my opinion, managed to get back on track. Curious how they are going to pull out of this one.
The Sinner: Part IV (2020)
Cheap shot at "Mortelle randonnée"
Like other reviewers, I enjoyed the first season. The second was OK. This one sucks. Too bad, they hook you up, than they let you down. In this particular episode, the people behind the series make a weak attempt at remaking the french film noir atmosphere, with a hopeless dystopi of the rich, who just have no worries in the world (no profane ones that is). So some of them become the ultimate consumer, and then the chosen few have trouble adjusting. And all of that is OK, it should make us think, like money isn't everything and all. But the riches, this guy profits from isn't all materialistic. He's got people who care about him, including one old, cynical depressed detective. He's got a healthy baby, a good career, that he achieved with knowledge, not just money. The writer throws apples and oranges together and sells us a picture of plants. No good and simply disturbing, especially the car chase, where the protagonist drives UI and recklessly, puts multiple lives in danger, only to get taken home by this pathetic excuse of a remake of The Eye of the Beholder
Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
Teaser for Conjuring 3
To be clear right from the start: nobody dies in this movie (at least not on the make believe side, I can't well speak for any junpy viewers, but I'd be very surprised).
This is a very, very light version of the Conjuring franchise, I guess to remind us of the good movies Mr. Wan has brought us. The third one is not directed by him, so lets hope for the best. We are experiencing a mix between a children-almost-appropriate Pandora's Box and Goethe's 'Der Zauberlehrling' (look it up, if you care, there's actually a quite decent English version of it on the net). Contrary to other posts here, I think the girls (and yes, that includes Danielle) and the young guy (Wilson and Farmiga don't really matter much in this movie) did a very respectable job on their parts. The ending is so happy, 'corny doesn't begin to describe it. You can watch it with your kids (but stay close, just in case), your dog or by yourself, in a dark room. Rest assured, no bad thing will come from it, because, until proven otherwise, ghosts don't travel in our world. So enjoy. I gave it five points for effort, four would have embarrassed the Conjuring/Insidious universe, six would have been reaching.
The Mule (2018)
Great movie, horribly lame ending.
Since i.m.o. this is a classic parable kind of story (with his mule experience being allegorical for an entire life, not necessarily his), it could easily have ended with some sort of a bang. Like, after the phone call he receives from his niece on his ex-wifes stage, he could have hidden the load, and later would have went on to pick it up from the hiding place, but got intercepted by the cops, who than would have had no case against him. He could have made his last delivery in the later course and then had made a deal with the police, leading them to the bad guys. Instead, Eastwood decides it is time to walk the crime-doesn't-pay-high road in a very abrupt and swift right turn, only to put an Porsche-breaks-like full stop to what could have ended rather happily, or at least with a smile. Aside from this, I found the movie very entertaining. Some unfortunate amateur acting mishaps, but totally neglect-able.
River Runs Red (2018)
Walk your/neighbour's dog instead
There's pathos, and then there's pathetic. It's been said already, and, as my last review I will be happy to repeat what's been said. This is a compilation of very poor acting skills, bad directing, too many issues to be covered (racism, maybe some misinterpreted reversed discrimination, missing effects of affirmative action etc.). Because of the high ratings in some of the reviews (either the authors were on very heavy drugs or they're just simply involved with the production of this product) I had decided to watch the movie. Bad decision indeed. Also, I saw Cusacks name, so I said to myself, can't go wrong with John Cusack, right? Wrong. I feel sorry for the guy though, having to partake in something like this. Wast of time, this one is.
The Circle (2017)
Not satisfied!
OK, the change from Saulus to Paulus was predictable, but many a-movies have been made on that topic so, why not. But the whole sense - in my opinion - of that kind of radical change in ones credo should be minutely documented, I mean, that's the whole point of it, no? What will you do on your way back to being found, how will you manage to expose your former demigods? All of that should take a little more than "I did everything you asked!". For a moment there, I was about to say, darn, the girl can act. Eventually, I returned to my initial conviction that she should have stayed with Harry Potter. There are two arguments though that I would like to contradict myself on that: first, obviously, even the mighty Hanks can be part of a nonsense like this, second, there is one scene, at the end, with Emma starring at the drones and greeting them, where she displays precisely the part she should have acted after the change in her conviction: seemingly naive but with all the knowledge she had acquired in the meantime. Sadly, she didn't. In summary: too expensive actors with to little money left for a descent screenplay. No recommendation from me.
The Eyes (2016)
Worst acting ever
About six minutes before the end Nicholas Turturo's character says something like "I have hired these fine actors here..." That is the overstatement of the day, in my opinion. Now, I don't think the actors are dilettantes per se. They do seem very unmotivated in the sense that they all just act each one his or her own part. Isolated, no chemistry between them. The film plays in one room only, the filming however may well have happened at each actors home, and afterwards cut together. I'm not sure about the plot, is has been done before, nothing even close to "Saw", but anyway. If you plan on going to acting school, maybe you should watch it, if only to ask the right questions in class about how to avoid bad acting. Or maybe, for the same reason (acting school attendance) you might want to skip on this film.
Get Out (2017)
Wrong movie
Want to see this movie in "Good"? Watch "The Skeleton Key". It has been mentioned here by others already, but there's no shame in repeating the truth. I give it five stars for the nicely embroidered humor here and there. Solid acting, somewhat obvious plot revelation. Had this been the first one, well. But it wasn't. So go watch Skeleton Key. Much better realization of the same idea.
All Nighter (2017)
Not to bad, not to good
I thought Hirsch did OK. Simmons - dare I utter it - not so much. What I believe his character was supposed to undergo would have been some kind of transformation, from up-tight, mysterious dark dude to a nice guy who learns to appreciate the alternative ways of living, a little less conservative, generational gap reloaded and all. This metamorphosis however, Simmons did not transmit in a credible enough fashion, in my opinion. Remember Bob de Niro in the "Meet the parents" Quadrology? That would have been the prize. Simmons just didn't nail it. The rest was OK, somewhat lacking the drive. Solid, a little boring.