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Reviews
Telemarketers (2023)
Fun While It Lasted (for 1 ep)
Heard good things about this one from multiple people. In ep 1 when Pat snorts heroin I thought we were in for something special. Surely a debaucherous romp. American Pie mixed with Office Space set in real life perhaps. Turned out that, like heroin, the doc's highs were fleeting. By ep 2 it slows way down and is subsumed by a crusade by our lovable protagonist, Patrick J. Pespas. "Oh great, another self-serious documentary shedding light on a previously unknown evil", I thought.
Don't get me wrong, these telemarketing companies are greasy and twisted. And I was surprised and intrigued when it was revealed the charities are equally loathsome. I just feel like the promise of a good old fashioned comedy was squandered here.
Anyways, 7 stars.
The Identity Theft of Mitch Mustain (2013)
Who stole Mitch Mustain's identity?
Aside from the nonsensical title, rambling plot, redundant speakers, and one-sided point of view, this was not a bad documentary. Certainly a fascinating topic. It was really interesting to go back and look at that time in the program's history and wonder what might have been. I really wish it would've worked out form Mustain. And I believe he could have lived up to the hype if he could have found a better situation. Basically he went 0-for-2 in picking schools. I hate what he went through his Freshman year. No 18 year old deserves that.
But back to the documentary... cut 20-30 minutes out of it, (could've done without Mike Irwin altogether), and give it a better title and you might've had something. Wasted opportunity if you ask me.
Licorice Pizza (2021)
Hit and miss
This is the first PTA film I've been able to see in a theater. I've always found it odd that my local cineplex would show Kevin James's Here Comes the Boom but not The Master. But being one of four people, (my wife being one of the other three), to pay to see Licorice Pizza at a 7:05 showing solved that mystery. That's the Bible belt for you...
I enjoyed the movie for the most part. I appreciate the fact PTA doesn't spoon feed you exposition, but sometimes I struggled to understand what was going on. Scenes that relied too heavily on dialog between the leads, particularly early on, made it difficult to stay engaged. But the moments that really worked were some of my favorite in recent memory.
The Haim family and Bradley Cooper were standouts. The leads impressed me, even if some of their dialog was overwrought. I think their futures are bright.
Overall, Licorice Pizza is mid-tier PTA for me, below Phantom Thread and above Inherent Vice.
The Wrong Missy (2020)
Surprised by How Much I Enjoyed This
Had low expectations but this thing came out swinging. Haven't laughed this hard in YEARS. Lauren Lapkus slays. Highly recommend.
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Perfect Ending
They landed the plane. You cannot do a better job of ending a gigantic story. Kudos to the Russo brothers and the entire cast.
Triple Frontier (2019)
SPOILERS AHEAD
Heavy, heavy, HEAVY SPOILERS! You've been warned...
How did I not see Affleck's death coming? All the signs were there: 1) he was the only one who we had learned much about, 2) he was way too thirsty for that money, 3) he had never missed a hard out until this mission, 4) he would have murdered Yovanna if Pope had consented, 5) even his paunchy dad bod was a blinking red sign that "this guy should not be here".
One thing I did see coming was the fact they were not going to end up with any money. It just kept bleeding out slowly but surely. If they had only left, what, 50 million (?) on that airstrip they would've made it over the mountain with the other 200 million. And Tom would've lived.
Behind the Curve (2018)
It's not actually about the shape of the Earth
Flat Earthers seem to be more attracted to belonging to a group of nonconformists than actually proving the world is flat.
My favorite part was near the end when Mark was in his room at the conference talking about the Truman Show. He contrasted Truman, who could escape because by the end he had nothing else to lose, and the town's mayor, who was sort of tied down by the trappings of life. And the director says "Aren't you like the mayor of Flat Earth?" And Mark, who has an answer for everything, was speechless.
Mark actually is trapped in Flat Earth. The notoriety is something he'd never allow himself to give up. If one day he was confronted with irrefutable proof of the planet's curvature, he wouldn't be able to accept it because he cannot walk away from this fame.
Therefore Mark ultimately doesn't want to know the truth. He has no interest in it because his life isn't about that anymore on a fundamental level.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Solid Coen Bros effort
I had to start and stop this a couple of times and this movie is strangely suited to that. The Buster Scruggs story was, funny enough, the weak link of the group. I really enjoyed The Gal Who Got Rattled, the ending of which still has me shook.
Man of Steel (2013)
Better upon review
Just watched Man of Steel for the first time in a long time. It's better than I remember! I was so disappointed when this came out. It's too earnest, too dark. But there were several strong performances from Amy Adams, Kevin Costner, Russell Crowe, Laurence Fishburne. And Henry Cavill was good too. The Zod stuff was just too much, too over the top. They should have pitted him against Lex Luthor on Earth.
I'll say this for it though: after watching Aquaman last weekend, it makes me appreciate Man of Steel which was clearly better.
Aquaman (2018)
Worst DCU movie to date
This was such a letdown. Aquaman was the best part of Justice League, (which is an underrated comic book movie), and I expected this to be comparable to Wonder Woman in terms of quality. I was way off. The dialogue was SO bad. Momoa the only good lines. The writers just quit trying beyond that. Everyone else was very stale and uninteresting. Amber Heard was terrible. I thought Patrick Wilson was good in other stuff I've seen him in but he was bad in this. I can't believe Dafoe and Kidman took these parts after they read the script. This is the worst they've been in years.
It was really incoherent in terms of style. It was Game of Thrones for a while. Then it becomes and Indiana Jones movie for the middle third of it. The end is a take on King Arthur set in Avatar world. It was a mess.
I'll probably always watch DCU movies in hopes they finally get it right, but so far WB has completely whiffed on putting out a good product.
Halloween (2018)
Stick to acting, Danny McBride
The movie's concept of being a direct sequel to the original is a great marketing idea but ultimately the movie they delivered was fairly flat. We spend too much time with under written characters that we're not given good reasons to care about.
The story goes that Michael was arrested by young officer Hawkins in '78 (by himself? I guess?) and he's just been biding his time at Smith Grove for 40 years? C'mon dog be serious. Hey quick aside: I wonder how his trial went? Did the jury deliberate long? Did his attorneys put him in some beige sweaters to make him look less menacing? Guessing he got life since they don't seem to be too interested in executing a mass murderer.
And I guess when you put the Dr. Sartain puzzle pieces together we're supposed to believe he causes the wreck that helps Michael escape. Damn Michael was pretty lucky to have the world's most derelict psychiatric doctor! Not only that but the podcasters who have his mask, (because the state let's random people take evidence from a 40 year old mass murder case?), just happen to be at the same gas station he stops at.
Let's talk about how the night goes for Laurie and family because this is so dumb. Upon learning that THE Michael Myers is doing his thing in Hadonfield again, Karen and Ray are content to leave town with Laurie despite the fact their daughter is missing. I'll say that again: THEIR DAUGHTER IS MISSING! They just put old officer Hawkins on the case and go chill at Fort Laurie until he brings their daughter to them. HUH? And at what point does Karen *EVER* express concern that Ray has very quickly gone M.I.A.?
This makes me appreciate H20 that much more. That was a satisfying reboot because it didn't try to do too much. Michael's back. Where has he been? Who cares. Laurie is in California and has a son and a drinking problem but she's not a nutcase doomsday prepper. It moved fast and let Michael do Michael things. That's all the new reboot needed to do but the writers simply failed.