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All reviews - Movies (225) - TV Shows (1) - DVDs (1)

Embodying Warmth

Posted : 4 months, 3 weeks ago on 2 November 2023 12:06 (A review of Warm Bodies)




Director: Jonathan Levine
His 4th Movie
My 6th movie watched from the director


This is a little better than expected. It's actually kind of a sweet story which makes it strange with the post-zombie apocalypse setting. I suppose that's what they were going for, so it works. The two leads are pretty good and the chemistry is there, also strange. Still, the production overall didn't really impress me - it's not bad, just basic filmmaking.


Added to Lists:
Top Ten Performances - Nicholas Hoult
Stuck in One Place

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Location: Montreal, QB, Canada


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Less Fuel for the Mule

Posted : 6 months, 1 week ago on 18 September 2023 10:37 (A review of The Mule)



As a director Eastwood seems to be going down a strange path. I love his ability to experiment at his ripe old age, but this one fell a little flat. Still, he no doubt is the big sell as the main actor. Too bad the supporting cast seems second rate, especially Taissa Farmiga.
He got invested in the character and the story, yet the movie left me with thinking he could have made this a stronger movie ten years ago.



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I Wanna Love This Movie, But I Can't

Posted : 8 months, 2 weeks ago on 12 July 2023 12:13 (A review of Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody)




Director: Kasi Lemmons
Her 6th movie
My 4th movie watched from the director


This movie was kind of a mess. Lemmons' most recent work, "Harriet" was her best, so I thought she was about to really hit her stride here. Instead it looks like it's made by a novice filmmaker. There are too many little things that screwed it up, but the most notable ones were the rough character arcs and relationships that didn't make any sense, especially the lesbian relationship that begins the piece giving us viewer the idea that "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" might be about her in love with a woman but then never truly being able to love her because of fill-in-the-blank. Instead the movie's title is irrelevant, only named after one of her popular songs. The movie also made her very unlikable and turned her death from sad to "she had it coming, I guess" which is terrible. Then the movie ends on a scene that's trying to be powerful like the ending of another music biopic, "Bohemian Rhapsody", except the poor filmmaking just leaves us viewer confused as to why we needed to sit through that melody.
I really "wanna" love this movie, but can't.

Added to Lists:

The Music Biopic: Ranked
Top Ten Performances: Stanley Tucci (Honorable Mention)

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Location: New York, NY, USA; Los Angeles, CA, USA


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An Imbalance

Posted : 8 months, 3 weeks ago on 7 July 2023 11:04 (A review of Ambulance)




Director: Michael Bay
His 15th movie
My 11th movie watched from the director


I was really hoping this would bring Bay back to days of "The Rock" and "Bad Boys" and while it's not bad, it definitely didn't hit those marks. The Action is good, of course, that's what we want. The acting is a little rough, even from Gyllenhaal - Plus he wasn't believable in this role. The pacing and editing is absurd, part of the 'Mayhem' appeal for some, but it actually ruins it. Actually what ruined, as with most Bay films, is the script. It was awful - dialogue and story.

Added to Lists:

Top Ten Performances - Eiza Gonzalez
Speeding Along - Movies set in vehicles not on a road trip
Top Ten Films - Michael Bay

__________

Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA


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The Comedic Dilemma

Posted : 1 year, 2 months ago on 16 January 2023 08:20 (A review of The Dilemma)

This movie had some weird tonal shifts throughout. I think Howard and company were trying to make a comedy that was also deep but failed. It's too bad because there are some truly funny moments, fun moments, serious moments, emotionally charged moments, but as a whole they didn't work with each other. The acting wasn't bad either. Though, beyond Wynona Rider's naturally poor acting I have one negative comment about the acting - Vince Vaughn is naturally funny, but I think every movie he has done post "Wedding Crashers" he has this way about him where he now knows what people love about him and he tries to replicated that, causing a lot of his jokes and acting not to land. They're often 90% there. Whereas, pre "Wedding Crashers" he was still trying to himself.


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Daft Day

Posted : 1 year, 2 months ago on 16 January 2023 07:57 (A review of Draft Day)

It shouldn't have been any surprise to me this would be a paint-by-numbers movie, but I expected more from Ivan Reitman. This was lazy and essentially an NFL commercial with bad supporting acting. Costner was solid, and he is the only thing I can compliment. And why is the hell is Jennifer Garner still getting cast in things?! She continues to ruin every scene she is in.


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The Amazingly Caught in the Same Web as "S-M 3"

Posted : 1 year, 6 months ago on 8 September 2022 10:52 (A review of The Amazing Spider-Man 2)



Following an unneeded but, at least, decent reboot of the Spider-Man saga, this movie makes the same mistakes as 'Spider-Man 3' with having too many villains/storylines. It's not because it's confusing it's because they short-change every character; and by the end I don't really care about any of them.

The main actors are still entertaining and the production is still impressive, which is why this superhero movie is still better than average and better than 'Spider-Man 3'.



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Maybe Top 5 Chris Rock Starrers

Posted : 1 year, 7 months ago on 15 August 2022 11:47 (A review of Top Five)



Chris Rock is funny and the supporting cast is strong enough, although Tracy Morgan needs a larger role.

There wasn't really anything inventive about the film, pretty standard stuff. The areas in which they seemed to want to be different ended up being awkward and over-the-top.


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F This Franchise

Posted : 1 year, 9 months ago on 27 June 2022 02:07 (A review of F9: The Fast Saga (2021))




Director: Justin Lin
His 10th movie
My 4th movie watched from the director


This movie was just so ridiculous and not in as fun of ways as in previous installments. Yes, this is a guilty pleasure, but there are things that can ruin even those, like a Cardi B appearance, Jon Cena infiltrating another franchise, and taking the franchise to space. They jumped the shark into space.


Added to Lists:

"Fast" Movies: Ranked
When the Franchise Goes South

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Location: Several


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The Hunting Found Out

Posted : 1 year, 9 months ago on 27 June 2022 01:48 (A review of The Hunting Ground)




Director: Kirby Dick
His 10th movie
My 3rd movie watched from the director


A very important subject told in an affective enough way. At times it felt amateurish, but overall it covered the topic and showed the issues in a varied way without feeling too long.

Added to Lists:

Best Documentaries of the 2010s
The Dark Side of America through Documentary Films

__________


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