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Reviews
Now You See Me (2013)
Reasonably entertaining, if you ignore the morally detestable reason behind the entire scheme.
I enjoyed the movie itself. The story was mostly entertaining, despite the ending, where they attempt to justify all the thefts, based on the fact that the protagonists father effectively committed suicide.
The entire premise that the protagonist is the hero, because his father bought a product, then used the product in a manner in which it was not intended to be used, without performing any safety tests whatsoever, before plunging himself into a river, while locked in a safe, is somehow the manufacturers fault, is just absurd.
This movie highlights the failure of Hollywood and its continued push to serve up characters who operate under immoral precepts, as "true heroes". None of the "heroes" in this film are actual heroes. The magicians are all shallow, self-serving, vapid individuals, who are ultimately nothing more than petty thieves, committing crimes to obtain something they value for themselves. The organizer, is an unhinged, emotionally stunted child, who is unable to come to terms with the fact his father killed himself via his own ineptitude, while seeking fame and fortune.
If the writers had managed to come up with a plot driver that wasn't so reprehensible, this could have been at least a nine star movie.
Am I Racist? (2024)
Shines a light on a serious problem in our society.
I attended this film on opening day. I also posted a review that same day, which mysteriously has disappeared from IMDB, so I will try again.
Despite the insinuations in the trailer, this is more of a documentary than a humorous movie. Or maybe this kind of thing has become so prevalent and dangerous, I now lack the ability to find their insanity very humorous. It had a couple chuckle moments, but it was primarily a factually accurate depiction of the money scam which is DEI.
In the movie, Matt attend multiple DEI workshops, where the grifters running their scam repeat all the tropes we hear in the media every day, while offering no actual solutions to "solve racism". Instead they turn up the rhetoric, creating even more division and racism within the groups they are supposedly "helping". I appreciate the producers including how much money each con-artist charged for their "expertise", on a "problem" which is 100% media and politically manufactured. I think that goes a long way to making the movie's point about just how greedy are the scammers in this industry, and just how gullible are their victims.
The documentary method used in the movie allowed the participants to show their true attitude of the subject matter, making clear they are not serious about solving any problem, but instead are working desperately to keep the money train going. Prior to the release date, all of the "top experts" who appeared in the movie, shutdown all their public social media accounts, validating the entire premise of the movie, the fact that they don't believe at all in their cause. The movie depicts them exactly as they are, doing exactly what they do in every one of their workshops. If they were true advocates trying to find solutions, they would be thankful for the documentary getting their vision out to millions of viewers. They would gladly face the public and defend their professed ideals, instead of hiding from public view, waiting for it all to blow over. As with every documentary on shady and/or criminal behavior, this documentary has forced the guilty to run for cover.
The result of this documentary is successfully making the world a better informed, and dare I say, safer place.
Icons Unearthed (2022)
Nope, can't do it
I just can't take anything from Vice seriously.
Everything they produce is done with either a sensationalist view or from the view of their political ideology. I don't believe anything they produce can be trusted to be accurate or compete.
There are more than a few comments that back up my pint of view with detailed information about the failures of more than one of their productions. From incomplete telling of the History of Batman, to a complete failure of the recounting of the making of Star Wars. Both subjects have literally mountains of source information, and it should be a no-brained to be able to compile that information into complete and accurate histories. Yet Vice failed miserably on both those accounts, therefore there is no possible way to be confident in anything else they produce.
The Magnificent Seven (2016)
All-in-all a decent remake of a classic movie
I have read several of the reviews, and I don't think people give this movie enough credit for being a true western in all it's glory.
I see many people mentioning the racial diversity angle. Although I get just as irritated as the next person when Hollywood goes beyond the realistic just to be "inclusive", I don't see that happening here. Despite what people learned about the old west from 50's, 60's and 70's westerns, the old west was a very diverse place. There were many, many black cowboys in real life. Indians did actually work with white men, as did many Mexicans, and white women were extremely tenacious in those days. I felt like the team makeup was completely plausible. Anyone who reads any amount of real history, knows that nothing in this movie, as far as casting goes, is beyond the realm of the reality of the old west. I really appreciated the fact that they didn't make the female lead into a "girl boss", fighting men twice her size and beating them in hand to hand combat. The female character is exactly like many of the women of that era, whom I've read about in historical accounts. She was tough, capable of using a weapon when called upon, but still a woman in every sense of the word.
The other thing which makes this movie stand above others, is the theme of individuals standing up for what is right, even when there is nothing for them to gain personally. The theme of the true hero is something that modern day Hollywood doesn't want to perpetuate. Hollywood would rather make movies about selfish, greedy people who do nothing unless there is something in it for themselves. This may be the way that people in Hollywood live their lives, but the average American still does the right thing more often than not, even when they don't stand to gain from it.
Now, as to the battles, yes, they were completely unreal and still thoroughly enjoyable. The action sequences were exciting, but not over the top Hollywood ridiculousness. They stayed more to the nature of classic western excitement, which in this day and age is a real accomplishment that should be praised. There were no slow-mo sequences, there was not an overabundance of gratuitous blood soaked killing scenes. No insane non-stop fist fights showing a 230lb man being thrashed by a 100lb woman. Despite the action being beyond reality, it wasn't so ridiculous as to make it impossible to suspend disbelief enough to enjoy the story being told.
Overall, this movie grabbed my attention and kept it right up to the end. Which is yet another thing that is a real accomplishment in this day of poorly written, directed, and acted films. In this case the writing, direction, and especially the acting were all outstanding. Plus, the visual effects and cinematography were also well above today's standards. Kudos to the stunt team on this picture, as well.
Now, if Hollywood could just take the hint and go back to making movies of substance, without worrying so much about political correctness and "inclusiveness", maybe we the public would start returning to the movie theaters.
The Ark (2023)
What a waste of a good idea.
I'm so tired of Hollywood writers and their inability to understand not every person in the universe is as emotionally crippled and unstable as they are. This is supposed to be a ship crewed by professionals who have trained for years to be able to complete their mission. Yet, at every turn, they are emotional, childish, driven by fear, with no sign whatsoever they have undergone any training at all. The majority of the crew is irrational and incapable of dealing with any adversity at all. They're like a bunch of carnival attendees who stepped foot on a ride they expected would only last a few minutes, rather than a group of highly trained professionals who knew they were undertaking a massive mission, which was ALWAYS understood to be a harrowing task, with many monumental challenges to overcome.
If this is what the future looks like for humanity, then it will never survive, so there is no point in even trying.
Freelance (2023)
Not the greatest movie ever, but still a fun watch
I went into this not expecting much. I figured I'd probably wind up turning it off after the first 15 minutes, but it turned out to be better than I expected.
There is a good amount of well, played dry humor. Cena did the job you have come to expect from him. Some of the plot points were pretty awful, yet they managed to keep my interest. Juan Pablo Raba was fantastic in the part of the dictator. He played the part with a great sense of humor, and really kept the movie going. Raba is truly the only serious actor in this movie, and his skills turned it into a movie worth watching. I'm not a fan of Brie, and she didn't do anything in this to make me change my mind. Brie was simply window dressing to provide the ability for the real star, Raba, to achieve his story line.
Next Exit (2022)
This is not for everyone, but...
If you like a good movie about people exploring their lives and mistakes, you will probably like this.
It is not even close to being a sci-fi. I really hate it when whoever determines movie categories has no clue what each category is. Just because a movie has a scientist or fantastical scientific theory, it doesn't make it sci-fi. They do the same thing if there is a fairy in it, or a witch or werewolf. Somehow the idiots in charge think that makes it sci-fi. Here's a clue, if it's about fairies, vampires, witches, etc. It's a FANTASY movie. Sci-fi requires a scientific theory that could even remotely possibly be true. Even if it is a long shot theory.
This is a drama about a couple of people and their problems. It is well written, and well acted. I enjoyed it more than I expected based on its five point whatever rating.
Terminal (2018)
This was a movie
I don't know why anyone would call this movie a waste of time. I found it motivated me to better use my time. It was so slow and boring it motivated me to get off the couch, do two loads of laundry and make dinner, all while listening to this movie in the background.
I am certain the writer/director thought he was being so very clever, creating a movie with a bunch of disjointed stories in the fashion of Quinten Tarantino. Problem he is not Tarantino, and his skills are considerably less honed. In a Tarantino film the disjointed stories are compelling and complete on their own, whereas the stories in this film are plodding, uninteresting, time fillers. Tarantino created individual stories which didn't require the ending to give them meaning, it was just a bonus for the viewer. This movie however, didn't have a single compelling story in it, including the ending which was supposed to tie it all together for the viewer, but unless you are brain dead, you will have seen this ending coming from miles away, and didn't need the droning narrative at the end.
And here's a twist, the twists in the film are not twists but a straight line down a formulaic path, which is used all too often in Hollywood. Oh wait, that was no more of a twist than what this script contained.
The acting was fine, they all very convincingly portrayed their characters. The photography, locations and set decorations were also quite good. In the end I guess I have to thank the producers for financing this loser film, which so motivated me to get up from in front of the TV and accomplish mundane tasks around the house.
The Gateway (2018)
So many flaws with this
Forget the fact it's a low budget movie, I can deal with that. The idea that someone would travel to a parallel world to replace their dead spouse is sheer stupidity. Sure you might be able to find someone close enough to your late spouse to feel like they are the same, but you wouldn't have the same shared experiences. So how long could you fool yourself into believing your with the same person?
Aside from that fatal flaw, the script in this film was not well thought through. We drift from one poorly constructed situation to the next. The central character is supposed to be brilliant enough to construct a device which transports matter from one universe to another, but she is too much of a moron to comprehend simple reality. I know many will attribute her lack of foresight to grief, but truly brilliant people aren't that susceptible to rash emotions. That's the sort of burden born by people with much lower IQ's.
Blue Beetle (2023)
Meh, it's a way to kill a couple hours.
Apparently movie makers have lost all concept of what it takes to make a great superhero movie. When everyone in the movie is cast as some sort of hero, it really takes away from the gravitas of the one super hero. What's the need for the super hero, if everyone can defeat the enemy.
This movie is slow at the start, slow in the middle, and a failure in the end. The story is non-impactful to the viewer. It's impossible to become emotionally invested in the main characters, because every character is treated the same. Basically, it's the idealist version of a communist hero movie, everyone is equal, and the only thing special about the title character is some mechanical/AI enhancements. But, without everyone else, he could never have won the battle, because he is less special than everyone else, despite being the chosen one. Boring, unimaginative and cliche.
Beast of Burden (2018)
There are no words to describe just how bad this movie is
18 minutes in, there has been nothing of interest, so I started fast forwarding. 30 minutes in still garbage. 57 minutes in, still garbage. Seriously with all the people involved in this from it's writing, through the pitch meeting, on to the table read, production design, casting, story boarding, photography blocking, on and on, are you telling me nobody in all that saw what a steaming heap of garbage this thing is?
Who funded this thing, a trust fund baby high on heroine? Somebody who needed to get a massive tax write off? Either they wanted to loose money, or they just wanted to pay to hang out with Daniel for a few weeks.
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (2022)
Truly a great story without the need to overdramatize, while not boring you out of your mind.
Most professional critics have been extremely harsh in their reviews of this of this movie. Of course, in my opinion most professional critics are complete morons, who have no clue what it takes for a movie to be truly entertaining or inspiring.
I chose to watch this movie because I am a fan of Kunnal Nayyar from his work on The Bug Bang Theory. To be honest I was expecting to be disappointed in the movie, as so many actors who move on from hit TV shows can never seem to outgrow the characters which made them famous. That is not the case with Kunnal's performance in this movie. He created a very compelling and realistic character in his portrayal of the bookstore owner.
I am not a fan of David Arquette, Christina Hendricks, nor Lucy Hale, but they all did amazing work in this movie, portraying characters which I came to care about, which is not a normal reaction for me to any movie characters. Actually, this is the first time I have ever liked a character played by David Arquette. I believe it is the best work he has ever done. Hendricks on the other hand has played a couple characters which I have thoroughly enjoyed, and this was also one of her strongest yet. Lucy Hale, although I have always considered her a decent actress, has never stood out for me. Hale's performance here was, like her costars, very strong and compelling on a real level. I don't know the names of all the actors who portrayed Maya, but each one did a fantastic job of bringing Maya to life at each age. I found these characters so much more real than any I have ever seen in any Oscar winning movie.
Again, I'm not a professional. Like you, I'm just some poor slob who pays his hard earned money to be entertained, and gets angry when I am scammed out of my money by professionals. I can only offer my opinions as to whether or not I find a movie entertaining on a personal level. So, when I see professionals giving in depth opinions based on production quality, character development, direction, set design, blah, blah, blah, I realize they don't care at all about real entertainment. They gauge movies purely on how much they can show off their knowledge of the industry (or what knowledge they believe themselves to have), despite the fact they likely couldn't produce anything worth watching, even if given unlimited budgets and a decade to make something which is even simply tolerable.
In my life I have watched literally thousands of movies, including many of which tried to portray real life. Very few have succeeded in that endeavor. These types of movies generally bore the audience to death before the first 20 minutes have passed. This movie, however, not only succeeds, it could possibly be the best I have ever seen in making you feel it's a true story, without the slow, painstaking attempts at making it feel humdrum.
Some complain the movie jumps around too much, and doesn't dramatize enough using tortured formulaic prose, which attempt to force the viewer into unearned emotional states of caring or despair for the characters. There are no such devices used here, everything is real and earned.
If you are a person who can appreciate a movie which doesn't attempt to manipulate your emotions through overly dramatic monologues and musical scoring, then you should appreciate this gem.
The Orville (2017)
Everything a sci-if tv show should be!
The third season is even better than the first two. Kudos to Seth and his team for making the kind of sci-if show we have been waiting for since 1969. This is truly the one and only successor to Star Trek TOS.
Secret Society of Second-Born Royals (2020)
It's a Disney channel movie.
The quality of writing is the same as every other Disney channel movie. It's not big budget, but it's not so low budget that it's horrible.
Standard tropes, standard story line, if you've watched enough movies you'll know who the "secret bad guy" is within a very short time after the movie starts.
Still, if you like Disney channel movies, this one will not disappoint. It will be exactly what you are looking for.
The only thing that bothered me is the tone deaf nature of Disney production and casting directors. They have a Cambodian mom and a white dad, who somehow managed to produce two Chinese daughters. It's really disturbing that their desire to be so inclusive, is so completely tone deaf to reality. And no, they didn't adopt, they are "royals" and an adopted daughter would not be able to inherit a throne passed through bloodline.
Last Survivors (2021)
Another waste of time
The actor playing the father is another Brit with an abysmal American accent. The actor playing the son is only there to titillate the female viewers, the dialog is plodding, and the plot is boring and uninspired. I got to about 25 minutes, and had to start fast forwarding just to get through this hot pile of garbage.
It was great to see Silverstone back in action. It's just too bad they didn't give her a better project.
Darkest Hour (2017)
Not an accurate depiction of the man
Although Oldman managed to accomplish some of Churchill's physical mannerisms, he failed miserably at mimicking his bravado. Churchill was at times an arrogant and egotistical man, brimming with self-confidence, Oldman portrayed him as a simpering fool, who questioned his every decision, and didn't have the spine to carry conviction in any of his decisions.
It appears to me this is yet another feeble attempt, which seem so popular in todays entertainment industry, to lessen the impact created on the world by many of the great figures in history. There are those in todays media who wish to retell history in a light they believe is more favorable to their own political objectives. It is a disturbing trend, which should be met with disdain by the viewers of their fantastical imagined machinations. The best lies are those that are told with enough truth, that the gullible with swallow the lie in its entirety.
The 100 (2014)
The one plot hole nobody seems to have mentioned.
I've read several reviews that accurately and justly detail numerous flaws in the plot of this show. The one nobody seems to mention is the stupidity of the "one child" rule. If every couple (aka two people) is only allowed to have one child, the population of the station would decrease with every generation, until it gets to a point where there is only one person left. The last child of the last couple.
Not to mention that everyone who breaks ANY law is flushed out the airlock, which would also reduce the population at a considerable rate. Especially when every one of the 100 seems to have had either one or both of their parents "floated" already.
Plus, they're all mating like rabbits, as humans will tend to do when bored, so what birth control is employed to prevent unwanted pregnancies? If it's the "law" that you can only have one child, and they live in a heavily regulated and totalitarian controlled community, why wouldn't women be forced to have their tubes tied after giving birth to their first child? Why wouldn't men be forced to have a vasectomy after fathering their first child?
Granted, that's not the biggest plot hole in the show, but it definitely deserves a mention.
One last pet peeve, this is supposedly a conglomeration of multi-National space stations, yet they have Henry Ian Cusik speaking in the most horrific American accent imaginable, when they could have just let him speak with his own natural accent and it would have not only been preferable, but considerably more believable.
Greenland (2020)
Just another horrible piece of garbage
You'd think I would have learned after the last decade of garbage Hollywood disaster movies, that I shouldn't waste my time. But like the characters in this film, I make bad decisions, and turned this on.
Unfortunately for me, my OCD forces me to finish what I start, no matter how bad it is. It was so bad, I paused it multiple times to watch YouTube videos. Had I tried to watch it continuously to the end without interruption, I have no doubt I would have literally died of boredom.
Radioactive (2019)
Mediocre biography laced with poorly planned political statements.
As a work of fiction, this movie is watchable. As a biography of one of the greatest scientists the world has ever known, it's a complete failure.
Many reviewers have accurately touched on the fact the movie does nothing to depict her true scientific brilliance, and the process she had Togo through to achieve her greatest accomplishments. It dumbs down the science to the level of a daytime soap opera.
The creators then attempt to interject an "everyone should see America as criminals" message, by flashing shots of Hiroshima backed by a Nobel lecture Pier gave in 1905 (not 1903 as the film claims), where he points out science can be used by criminals to drive us to war. Trying to force the idea on viewers that the Hiroshima bombing, which was done to end a war started by Japan, was somehow the USA utilizing "criminal actions" in a war the USA started, apparently?
Enjoy to mention, neither of the atom bombs used during World War II were powered either polonium or radium. In fact the bomb they showed , Little Boy, was a plutonium powered device. So once again, this is Hollywood re-writing history to attempt to push their leftist views of hatred of America.
The directors insistence on portraying Marie Curiè as a barely tolerable wretch of a human being is another bad decision. Yes, we can all agree she was a formidable woman, but Hollywood only believes a woman can be formidable when she is a completely anti-social and venomous creature. Thankfully the reality is the world is full of formidable women, who are neither, and in fact the most formidable women in society, are extremely accomplished at managing successful, productive relationships, without being vial and despicable.
I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone who is looking for a real biography, however, the acting is decent, and the love story, though limited, is not terrible. As a work of Hollywood fiction, it's only mildly annoying, due to the need of Hollywood to inject progressivist political statements into everything they make these days.
Red Joan (2018)
Warning Spoilers!
After viewing this fictional account, attempting to justify the life and actions of an actual traitor, I have no doubt it was written and produced by a new set of communist sympathizers. I am also certain the CCP had a hand in its creation from script to ending.
When I watched the movie, I was unaware of the details of the actual traitorous actions of the main character. Even with my lack of knowledge beforehand, I found the movie to be utterly and completely unbelievable. The very idea that a brilliant and educated physicist could be swayed by a kiss and a promise rings hollow. The fact she refused to betray her country until she heard about the deaths in Hiroshima, also bears little resemblance to the reality of persons living and working through a long and brutal war.
We are expected to believe someone who lived through months of nightly bombings and deaths of neighbors and friends, and spent months diligently contributing to a weapon of mass destruction, suddenly became emotional about the possible deaths of potential enemies? Not something likely to happen, and anyone who knows patriots who lived, worked, and served through those years, would know it's a communist screen writers fantasy.
This is simply more apologetic revisionist history, courtesy of communistic entertainers, who have never sacrificed a single thing in their lives for the benefit of others. They work based solely on their communist ideals, which have been responsible for more deaths and oppression than any other political philosophy in the history of the world.
In the end, they expect they will soften the weak mind viewers (which is what they think of us all) to their "better way of living".
In reality, their heroine's actions, led to the deaths and oppression of hundreds of millions of people for half a century. For without the ability to build nuclear weapons, the USSR would not have been able to maintain their barbaric authoritative regime over an entire region of the world.
Friends Effing Friends Effing Friends (2016)
Filmmakers effing viewers, would be a better title.
This production is chock full of all the porn quality acting and plot points one could hope for, without any of those annoying porn quality sex scenes.
Technically, the women in the film acted well above the quality of the parts they were given, while the two male leads fell squarely within the limitations and poor quality of the characters they played.
It's almost as if the two men had written this film themselves, based purely on their lackluster sex lives, and misinformed fantasies of what real relationships consist of.
If you choose to watch it, keep the remote handy, because the impulse will fade almost immediately.
Stray (2019)
Tennager?
Why on earth would they describe the character as an orphaned teen, when the actress playing her is obviously almost 30?
That one fact, sums up how poorly done is every aspect of this movie.
Starlet (2012)
If you have nothing better to do, then it's worth a watch
Those who are giving this film more than 5 stars and calling it the best film ever are either, friends of the cast/crew, paid commenters, or brain dead vapid troglodytes like the roommates in the movie.
I'm not saying it was a terrible movie, because it wasn't. Yes it was slow. Yes, it was boring at times. Yes, some of the acting was an excellent representation of bad acting.
That being said, I wasn't upset that I watched the movie. It held my attention for the most part, and it had certain appeal. It's definitely not an in your face, explain every detail to the viewer sort of movie. Definitely not a film from a major studio, as the content has not been dumbed down to the level of a kindergartner for mass consumption by the lowest common denominator.
It is reminiscent of early work by Dree Hemingway's mother and aunt, both of whom I always enjoyed watching.
Given the right vehicle I believe Hemingway will be a solid actor, and a mainstay of the industry. (Although, It would have been more impressive and added authenticity if she had done her own stunt work).
The primary reason I gave it only three stars was for the really weak ending. Yes, I got the meaning of it all, but it could have ended better, and stronger. Also, the camera work and editing left much to be desired.
The Man in the High Castle: Now More Than Ever, We Care About You (2018)
Slow to the point of painful
This episode does a poor job of reaquainting the viewer with the characters we last saw a year ago. This series consists of so much intricacy that requires undivided attention from its viewers, and when there is so much time between seasons, we the viewers need to be eased back into the story and reminded of prior goings on.
This episode jumps around a fair bit, and introduces us to the propaganda minister, who for some unknown reason is espousing the virtues of fascism, when NAZI's were actually socialists. So either the definition of socialism is not the same in this parallel world, or the writers of this show don't know the basics of history. Either way it's just another point of confusion added to an already confusing and hard to follow episode.
Life in Pieces (2015)
Not good
It's Modern Family meets Parenthood, but not as funny. (As Parenthood I mean). It tries tries desperately and fails to replicate the dynamic of Modern Family, while using the family formula from Parenthood. With the lost child who lives with mom and dad, the Claire and Phil clones with a growing family and the rest of the extended family. I just don't know how many ways I can say it was a disappointment. Brolin has never been a favorite, he makes a much better bad guy then he does a comedian. The remainder of the cast is ultimately forgettable as well, the mother is cliché and dull, the kids were given nothing to work with by the writers or the director. The story line of the first episode was boring. The writers broke it into four stories that all suffer from lack of originality, and humor. I would be shocked if this series makes it past the first few episodes.