Ratings
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Reviews
The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (2021)
I felt like I could watch this movie forever.
I'm off and on with Wes Anderson. I generally don't regret watching his movies, but I've only LOVED one or two. This is one, now.
The movie feels like the pinnacle of what Anderson has been striving for his whole career. It's EXTREMELY Wes Anderson-y, which doesn't always work to his stories' benefit, but it really does here. The script is funny and quaint and writerly and unusually fast-paced. It's an anthology film with a frame narrative, and the compact brevity of each weird little story kept me fully engaged throughout.
It's a rare movie that I wish it wouldn't end, but this is one.
Night Teeth (2021)
A modest Vamp romp with excellent cinematography
This movie's alright. It doesn't stumble or drag, all the acting is decent, and the plot is ultimately satisfactory. I like how it ended.
But the cinematography and the color and the framing ... all the shot decisions make this a VERY good-looking movie. Unusually so, for the type of film it is. It's so pretty on a technical level that I think it actually improved my opinion of the movie as a whole.
It's light entertainment. It's never bad, sometimes good, and always beautiful to look at.
I Care a Lot (2020)
They just misunderstood their own main character!
At the beginning you think this is going to be a "bad person gets their comeuppance" type movie. Our protagonist is no mere con artist or huxter - she's deeply thoroughly reprehensible and irredeemable. So, okay, I'm ready to watch her do her thing, and then get what she deserves in the end, right?
But somewhere along the way the film begins to treat her not as the bad guy we want to see go down in flames, but as a feminist anti-hero archetype. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely game for a movie with a feminist anti-hero archetype! But this character is simply not that. She's so horrible and insidious that I found myself willing to handwave the literal sexual slavery that the Russians were doing, just so I could have SOMEONE to root for! The movie seems totally oblivious to this issue, and plows ahead for a much too long runtime, all the while assuming I was hoping this wretched person would pull through. I just didn't buy it, and I was not at all in the headspace the film seemed to expect me to be in (and, really, who would be??).
That being said, it's quite well-shot and well-acted. It just needed to be shorter and to treat its main character as the villain she is.
Central Park (2020)
I find it pretty charming
It's fun, and deceptively well-written. Great VO cast with good singing voices. It's not really for kids or teens tho, even less so than Bob's Burgers. Not because of inappropriate content (it's "G" rated for sure), but the show is kind of written from an adult perspective, where the parents are somewhat complex characters with some verisimilitude, while the kids are basically caricatures of kids. That doesn't bother me, but I imagine it might've, when I was younger.
It's no replacement for Bob's Burgers, but it really shouldn't be approached that way. It's its own thing, and it's an enjoyable little watch.
Prospect (2018)
Roadside Picnic for the intergalactic age
Prospect is a slow burn of a film. It's the kind of film that asks for a viewer who is willing to appreciate the subtle but deft world-building and peculiarly literate dialog. This is not cheap-thrills scifi, but neither is it navel gazing pedantry. It's a clear story of an often tense struggle in a treacherous and foreign setting.
It is slow, but it is not a slog; on the contrary I found it to be very well-paced. We're never in one place very long, either literally or narratively.
All the acting is good to very good. The photography is excellent. The budget (~3mil) was used well and I found all the props, costumes and effects to be really quite convincing.
I'm glad I took a chance with this one. It paid off.
Bob's Burgers: Eggs for Days (2017)
Rotten eggs DO smell...
The other reviewer "moosuch" is entirely mistaken. When I was a kid my family failed to find an easter egg just like this episode, and let me tell you it was a shockingly smelly thing. We only found it when the smell absolutely filled our guest bedroom. It was just behind a picture frame, but if it had been well-hidden I have no doubt it would've filled the whole house with that acrid sulfury smell.
...also this is a fun episode ... lol.
King Lear (2018)
The best performance of the mad king I've seen in ages.
The film is heavily abridged. It's a real tragedy. If they had filmed the whole play this might have been the best Lear ever televised. Nevertheless there's much to like in this telling of Lear.
Casting the Fool as an old man was a stroke of minor genius - his rapport with Lear is the best I've ever seen it on film OR stage; The modern setting (not often my preference) works well here and lends the whole a seriousness for modern viewers that too many ruffled shirts might've threatened; The photography and cinematography are honestly world-class; The cast has no weak links and many excellent performances. Andrew Scott as Edgar, Karl Johnson as the Fool, and Jim Carter as Kent were the stand-outs for me.
As for Anthony Hopkins's Lear I have only good things to say. His Lear stands with the very best, I honestly believe. He's all the madness and all the pity, and he plays it so easily that it somehow never once sounds theatrical, pompous or silly - quite a feat for any Shakespearean role in the 21st century, but dubly so for Lear.
With Shakespeare there's no substitute for a live performance, but this film is a real accomplishment regardless. Bravo all. Highly recommended!
The Boys (2019)
Good concept, love the brutal R-rated style, actors look the part, production is high quality....
...But the writing has frequent low points, and every scene feels stretched to fill the timeslot, so to speak. I wanted to like it but I found myself flicking forward on the PS4 controller multiple times in each conversation without missing anything important. I blame the script and directing mostly.
(Who sits on a small bench right next to a total stranger, in the middle of a wide open grassy park, and then holds an emotional cell conversation?)
One Punch Man: Wanpanman: Everyone's Dignity (2019)
Great Anime, but it hardly feels like OPM
If I wasn't waiting for more scenes with Saitama I would say nothing but good things about this season's anti-hero Garou. He's a compelling character and his fights are badass. But I just question the decision to have him take over this season so completely. I'm all for secondary characters being fleshed out but I feel like I'm watching HHG (Hero Hunter Garou), not OPM.
Lucifer: All Hands on Decker (2018)
At this point ...
... I completely understand why Lucifer was cancelled after this season. I've been trying to push through to the new (much better reviewed) Netflix season, but the second half of season 3 has been SUCH a slog. The interminable love triangle; Maze the pouty villain; Lucifer becoming a whiny tone-deaf insecure lame-o; NO progress being made toward any of the show's most interesting plotlines; Charlotte foisted on us as a character we should care about for some reason; and to top it all off the actual murder mysteries (while never best-in-class) have taken a dive in quality too.
(spoilers below)
I understand that Lucifer finally reveals his true self to Chloe somewhere in the next few episodes and frankly it can't come soon enough. I'm losing patience and interest equally and precipitously.
Lucifer: The Last Heartbreak (2018)
No one enjoys watching a jealous loser fume for 45 minutes
Lucifer's entire character profile is thrown out the window in this episode. He's not a breezy, in control playboy, he's not carefree or confident, he's just jealous, whiny and unsure, and it's a chore to sit through. I haven't seen season 4 yet but I get the impression things pick up, and thank God for that (lol) cus I am losing patience with the direction this show is takin in the second half of season 3.
Even Maze's B story is devoid of entertainment value. She's been seriously cruel and petty toward the show's kindest characters for what, four episodes now? And it's getting really old. That plotline needs to move forward or fade away because it's been drawn out far too long already.
Game of Thrones: The Bells (2019)
Taken on its own merits...
I think we can mostly agree this season is fairly weak, in terms of the rushed pacing, and the shortened length, and the overall simplified nature of this once complex, intelligent narrative.
However, taken on its own merits, and trying to set aside my fanboy expectations, I have to say this is one of the best and most incredible individual episodes of the entire run. I was blown away from start to finish. The Long Night, too, is some of this show's best work.
As an ending to such an incredible series, this season falls short in many respects. But it also contains two of the show's most exciting and shocking and enjoyable episodes.
Working within the constraints of a shorter season and a simplified plot, it is my opinion that the show runners have done an admirable job, and I am mostly happy with what we're getting.
They shouldn't have dumbed down the plot, or rushed the ending. In a perfect world they wouldn't have. But they DID, and we can't change that now, and ultimately I am happy with what we did end up getting.
The Dawn Wall (2017)
Absolutely one of the most enjoyable and well-documented nonfiction films I have ever had the pleasure of seeing
If you're considering watching it, no need to keep scrolling through these reviews. It's among the finest documentaries I've ever seen and I wholeheartedly recommend it!
The Widow (2019)
Solid mystery with an interesting setting and a great supporting cast
Kaye Beckinsale has never been a phenomenal actor. And her weirdly smooth forehead doesn't help her to emote, here. (People in their mid-forties have horizontal lines on their forehead when they raise their eyebrows, it's just how we're built.)
But the ravages of time and of botox notwithstanding, this is a thoroughly enjoyable mystery miniseries. It has some shakey writing in a few places, some eye rollingly cliche conversations, but the overall plot remains engaging throughout, and the pacing is really well done.
It's not an explosive action-filled tale, but neither is it boring or sedate. By the end I was happy I'd spent the time.
True Detective: If You Have Ghosts (2019)
A Masterclass in Character Development
This season of True Detective has some of the most deft character development I've ever seen on TV. It's already on par with season one in this regard and if it can maintain its steam it's poised to overtake. The three leads in this episode, Amelia Wayne and Roland deliver the sort of subtle, grown-up acting that's just a pleasure to watch.
Now, I don't think anything in this show will ever beat the plot of season 1, and I'm ok with that. But as of this episode, season 3 has proved itself to be masterful at building real, flawed people about whom you can't help but feel deeply ambivalent - in that good kind of way that makes dramatic tv so engaging. I cant wait to find out more about the big secret deed alluded to in that final scene!
Post Script - special mention needs to go to the makeup wizards on this show. They have reached utterly new heights of believability with their aging techniques. I have never seen a more convincing wrinkly old man neck in all my life lol.
The Orville: Primal Urges (2019)
It's bad but not for the reasons these many "offended" reviewers claim.
Yikes, a lot of weirdly conservative button-up reviews of this episode. I cant believe how many people are offended by an ostensibly Male on Male relationship, albeit weirdly kinky? In a wacky scifi show? What the hell is wrong with people? These are, I worry, the same type of folk who call everyone a snowflake at the first opportunity. I lament their increased public presence these days.
That being said, this episode sucked. Not because it "pushed the liberal agenda." It was just a bad episode, regardless of any inferred political position, no matter how misguided.
I really hope episode 3 is a return to form!
Sorceress (1982)
Better than I expected!
From the reviews above, i expected an ultra low-budget, creatively bankrupt titty-palooza.
What I got was something at least marginally better than all that. Sure, it's sword&sorcery on a budget, but it's far from ultra-low! On the contrary there are numerous sets, tons of costumes, exotic animals, even some animatronics! They obviously had real stuntmen, fight choreography, and all the trappings of an actual movie production. What I'm getting at here is, if you've seen many sword & sandal films as I have, just know that this is far from the cheapest. It has more production value than an episode of TV's Xena, for instance.
Yes, there is plenty of nudity. And sex in general has the importance of a subplot throughout the flick, but it's also far from those films that are blatant excuses to show some boobies and nothing more. The movie has a story that's understandable and fable-like, and it's interesting enough to stand on its own, titties or no titties.
If you like the Sword & Sorcery genre, just know that you could do a lot worse.
Maniac (2018)
The blackest of black comedy in a strange retro near-future.
If you're into that sort of thing, and you're still not loving it, keep watching. It grows on you.
It's like Kubrick and Gilliam did a colab or something. It is slow, and it isn't overly concerned with making the protagonists likeable. But it's not a re-hash of some proven scifi blueprint, either; it has its own ideas and a plan for conveying them.
I still have a few episodes to go so I can't comment on the ending. But this plus the triumph that was True Detective, means Cary Joji Fukunaga is 2 for 2 with me.
Year One (2009)
This is a good movie. Not great, but good.
If you know who Harold Ramis is, and you like his work, then you'll like this movie, simple as that.
IMDb is all over the place with its comedy scores, you really can't learn much from them. Try it for yourself if you like the cast, and especially if you like the director, because his style really shines through, imo
Terminal (2018)
A largely successful experiment
The way I see it, this film is an attempt to combine the icy cool bravado and mistique of a classic Film Noir with the understated dark humor the likes of which the Brits often enjoy. These are two very incongruous elements - traditionally noir might take some light-hearted or blasé turns, but it's not trying for laughs. It's not funny at all, really.
But this film IS funny. Not laugh-a-minute hilarious, but darkly funny and occasionally viciously playful. I understand why many responded poorly to it. I don't blame them, in the end. But I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's worth a try, if you're already considering it. But it's not for everyone.
It reminded me of Femme Fatale. One thing wearing another thing's skin.