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Kick-Ass (2010)
Starting out good, then went downhill
Starting out good, then went downhill after an hour. I had heard of this movie and saw ads when it came out but it always looked like a silly movie to me so I never bothered to see it. However the other day I saw a clip from the film and decided to give it a try and surprisingly I got hooked quickly. Mind you, I am very jadded when it comes to movies, so I rarely find anything anymore that I enjoy.
I enjoyed the premises and the characters, for at least the first hour. Yes, it is a over the top pop corn movie, which can be fun, but it went from somewhat original and entertaining to very predictable and derivative.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson started out fine, but then became very annoying after a while. His character never really went anywhere, which I found irritated.
So YES for the first hour, MEH on the last hour, which gives me mixed feelings, but I would still recommend, with all that in mind.
The good parts were definitely all the crazy over the top violence, cursing etc.
The bad parts were the latter of the movie where you could predict everything. I also thought the Cage and Moretz characters were under developed, maybe they need a "Kick-Ass" begins film to build on their story. They just were just there. Taylor-Johnson arc was okay, until it really went nowhere.
So I recommend, but with those notes.
It Ends with Us (2024)
I don't know why this was made..
I don't know why this was made.. I really don't. Besides being boring ASF, I didn't buy ant of the cast. I didn't buy their relationship, the way they met, nor the casting choices. I certainly didn't buy the Jenny Slate character and her "boyfriend" not a chance it was authentic, it was clearly a DEI hire.
I found the cast to be uninteresting, bland and thus boring. It was equal to a Lifetime movie.
The boring dialogue didn't help, as it went on and on and on and on.
Just because you write a dram doesn't mean you have to make the dialogue bland. Life isn't like that, life is but fun, dramatic and sad, hopefully, hopeless, and everything in between.
Why does everything written in Hollywood fall into a specific category. I miss movies that are a mix of things.
The teen age crush as an adult was so beyond wooden and uninterestingI couldn't watch much more.
This is what is called a bona fide chick flick, but I'm not even sure women finds this good. I say SKIP IT!
Late Night with the Devil (2023)
If you are going to make a movie about found footage then...
If you are going to make a movie about found footage then make sure it is believable. You can't claim you have this old TV footage from a show from the 70s and then make it look like a movie that was done in 2023 trying to look like it was done in the 70s.
Nor does the incredibly bad acting help this movie. Not did I believe David Dastmalchian as a late night TV show host.
It was supposed to be found footage including "never before seen behind the scene footage" which didn't look different the TV show. None of acgtors were able to convey real live people that were supposed to be on this talk show.
The most convincing footage was all the clips from the opening and some of the pictures they used, which looked pretty good.
I just don't know the point of the movie. It was poorly executed, even if the premise was interesting.
You can safely skip this.
Blink Twice (2024)
Didn't believe a single thing in this film
Didn't believe a single thing in this film. From the opening shot until the rest of the movie. Not a single thing...
I didn't buy the cast, I didn't buy their interactions, their dialogue, the situations, from Frida being the help to two minutes later mingling with the star of the night, the billionaire, and then we are to believe she was just invited to come to a remote private island flying private jet planes etc. I mean, come on, make it believable.
Lazy writing made this so not believable. They never showed why Frida was special.
The lead girl was uninteresting, unlikable and annoying, thus miscast, and so was the rest of the cast. Clearly Zoe called all her actor friends and asked for a favor and they complied so they could see another WOC direct a film.
This was Zoe Kravitz trying to make an M. Night Shyamalan film, but a complete failure. Relied too much on the heavy handed dialogue.
I just checked out after 15 minutes and began to fast forward through the movie to see if anything interesting would happen. It didn't.
As much as I liked the music it did NOT fit in this film. More like Zoe trying to inject childhood memories of the music played by her parents.
Trap (2024)
What did I watch?
From the get go I didn't believe a single thing that happened, from the PHONY dad/daughter relationship. No dad acts like that around his teenage daughter, nor does he talks like that. Nor did I buy any of the fanaticism the concert goers displayed for the performer, who came across like a karaoke singer.
Plus the audio was so bad. You can literally see 100s of people around them and all you heard was the dad/daughter talking. Then when the concert started the music lowered when they spoke to each other, things like that takes me out of the movie experience because it doesn't feel real. Some of the editing and camera compositions were odd. Like one person opuld look directly into the camera when talking to her dad, but it was over her shoulder when we saw him.
This seemed more to me that M. Night Shyamalan wanted to make a film promoting his daughter singing than making an interesting and different movie. The concession-stand dude knew about the "trap"? I mean, really? Huh? The concert had constant breaks for them to go out and eat? What? What was with a concert where the hallways were totally full all the time while the concert was going on. Why were they not in there watching the show? What person goes to a concert and then spend 20-30 minutes outside in the hallway buying food/T-Shirts etc while the concert is going on? No one.
There was nothing about this film that seemed believable including the HORRIBLE acting and writing. The whole thing may ZERO sense.
Knock Knock (2015)
Holy Moly this was bad....
The direction, the writing and the acting, not that Keanu is known for his good acting, but there were a few exceptions in his career he did fine, this was not one of them.
Never once believed his family was his family, the way he spoke to his kids is not something a dad does, it was sooo over the top playful and "daddy-like" it came across as phony, nor did I believe he would ever marry that woman playing his wife. Not with that accent? She was a favor-hire for sure, and I know it likely helped she is the daughter of the former Chilean Minister of Defense and former Presidential candidate Andrés Allamand Zaval.
Oh right, she was co-writer and co-producer, likely raised some of the money herself to get a part.
Or maybe someone provided funds for the movie to have her in it, which happens way more than you think in the film industry. Woody Allen made a film called Bullets over Broadway about it.
Nor did believe for a second that these two hot girls randomly showed up at his house and decided to torture him for a game. I mean, WHAT?
Not a single likable character in the film, not even Keanu who cheated on his wife and betrayed his family.
And of course there is always a DEI hire which never actually fits in there.
And Keanu was a DJ? I mean, really?
Then Keanu plays a 50 at the time, played a 43-year-old, but the worse part is we are supposed to believe he believed they were both underage, both were 26 at the time. None of them looked under 22. So like really?
This movie was RIDICULOUS!!
Seeking Justice (2011)
Incomprehensible mess
What a total incomprehensible mess. This is another prime example of a writer trying to inject way too much into a script, regardless of whether it makes sense or not.
The writer literally just took a bunch of different movies and put them into one never worrying if anything made sense. This was a mix between the Star Chamber, Speed, Phone booth and the list is endless. Put a man in a situation where he is force to do the unspeakable in an effort to save face. Then have his best friend be in on it, but of course totally change his mind at the last moment.
Cage's acting was so atrocious, I hate actors that indicate to the audience how they should feel. I honestly don't think there was a single moment in this film that was believable.
You also have to ignore all the bad stunts etc. It's not like we have seen this type of ending 4 million times before. Because we have which brings me to the next thing. DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE!
Chestnut (2023)
Another indie with potential but just never delivered
Another indie with potential but just never delivered. They sold it as a girl getting involved with a couple, so you think, off interesting. It just got there. The whole movie was a repeat of 3 different scenes. Leads wakes up in the morning, texts, then it's a bar talking about mostly nothing, then them leaving the bar, talking some more, and then back to one, lead wakes up in the morning. And this went on throughout the whole film.
What could have been a nice indie film with some good performances turns into a bore fest.
Not everything as to be jam packed with action and especial effects, but also on the flip side not everything has to be talking heads with no real story line.
Some movies can work like that, E. G. Lost in Translation, but it's a hard accomplishment to meet.
Kudos for the acting and atmosphere, but thumbs way down for not developing anything that has some meat on it. Little to no humor in it, and no real drama, so in the end it was a lackluster. If you want something a bit better, go watch Threesome or Love. All similar to this, but more happened, somewhat, at least compared to this film.
Love Kills (2024)
Solid Indie Film
It's rare to find small indie films to enjoy, but this was a very interesting little gem. The acting was great and the story kept me engaged throughout as it had constant changes that up the ante needed to keep me interested in finishing and I am glad I did because it was a fun ride filled with smiles, awes, and jaw-dropping moments.
The lead girls did a really good job, and so did the guy who played Lia's boyfriend. In fact, the whole cast did a really good job. There was just enough balance between them all to make me recommend this film.
The music was nicely blended and not overly done like so many other films.
It just felt really realistic and like something you would see in real life, which was nice for a change from the standard formula films that rarely ever feel real.
I say go and watch it where it's available. I saw it on Apple TV.
How to Rob a Bank (2024)
Holy moly this was all over the place...
So I thought it would be a "who done it" story and we would go on a detective journey to see banks being robbed and then trying to find out who did it. But no, they reveal who did it within 8 minutes of the documentary after a bunch of superfluous meandering, like immaterial detective interpersonal quarrels and Nivarna's grunge influence. Even if these side stories would somehow fit in this movie, it was done poorly and jarringly.
There is a story in there somewhere, but these filmmakers didn't figure out what it was or how to tell it. I honestly don't know what the point of this film was. Somewhat of a story didn't start until 25 min into. In fact some of the story at around 34 min into should have been used in the beginning of the film to build the character of Scott.
The whole story should have been re-edited to start with all the robberies, then figuring out who did it, then learn about his lifestyle, background etc.. Not everything works like a Tarantino film.
The music didn't help either.
Potential but no go for me.
ABBA: Against the Odds (2024)
Interesting documentary... but
I wish it was better because it deserved to be, but it was all over the place in terms of the timeline. Nothing was really in chronilogical order, which was a shame.
They moved from one album to the next, but the next was the album before they just went over, so it needed some real good re-editing.
Knowing Me, Knowing You is covered, but that album came after the next song, Dancing Queen, in the documentary. It made no sense, and some of the stuff was repeated too many times like Agnetha's fear of flying, she literally talked about that 5-6 times.
And the biggest shame is they did't interview any of the band members for this documentary, it's all old footage.
The Greatest Hits (2024)
Yeah, no!
I mean originally I thought it was an interesting concept, but quickly it began to follow no logic.
She was time traveling based on songs she heard? What?
Then the forced DEI cast didn't help. Stop casting actors based on some checklist HR department handed out.
And like people are actually playing vinyl everywhere? I mean, come on. And someone actually said "what in the Luther Vandross name is going on." None of these zoomers have heard of Luther.
It was shot well, and it had a nice mod to it, but I didn't buy for one second any of the characters and their relationships. The lead is best friends with a drag queen? I mean, seriously. Never happened in real life and the only reason it did happen is because of the DEI requirements.
She still went to recovery meetings after 2 years of losing her boyfriend? Again, really? Do you know ANYONE that goes to meetings after losing someone?
The direction was just poor. They tried too hard too hard to make something emotional and didn't succeed.
Lola (2024)
What the heck did I just stumble upon?
What the heck did I just stumble upon?
I don't know what this movie was about nor did I ever finish it. She works at a convenience store but also as a stripper? Huh, what? It made ZERO sense. The reason why girls strip is NOT to work a normal job and make more money. They didn't think this through whatsoever.
And she is supposed to be best friend with the BBBW? What, like really, what? Then the gender confused little brother? Were they just trying to score every DEI box when they wrote this? I don't know what this movie was about.
And then the stereotypical strict "Christian mother" I mean seriously, how many times have we seen this premise before? So tired.
Nicola Peltz Beckham cut her husband from the movie apparently because of his bad acting, but did she look at herself?
The whole thing was just so cringe and tried way too hard to make the audience cry and feel emotional.
SKIP IT, SKIP IT GOOD!
The Killer (2023)
This movie was just ridiculous
This movie was just ridiculous. I don't even know what the point of it was. I didn't care about anyone, including Fassbender who was cast a pointless lead that had no story. He essentially took revenge on some girl I never got to know or cared about.
None of the killings hit home with me, because I had no idea who any of them were, nor did Fincher care to spend any time with them to set up some sort of character and/or relationship between Fassbender or them. I can maybe understand the opening scene had a non-established character, but why on Earth would they spend 20 minutes with him?
Let's forget that the opening was about 25 minutes long, yes 25 minutes long.
Basically it was hit job gone wrong and then the hit man was the target, apparently, although not every clear. Try figuring out who each person was. Again, I couldn't care less about any of the victims nor the killer, pun intended.
The film brought nothing new or interesting. And you have to ignore all the unbelievably not believable scenes, like getting punched in the face multiple times, with uppercuts etc and he didn't get KO'ed.
Then the VO was annoying.
In the end, the Killer had zero redeeming qualities so I say SKIP IT.
The Score (2001)
Solid film... but
Solid film... but, kinda ruined by the silly side love story that was totally unnecessary.
Norton and Brandon stole the show. Both great performances. De Niro was okay, but this was a point after his heydays. Jackie Brown was probably one of his last movies De Niro put any thought into. Everything after that was pretty much phoned in.
At least Norton and Brandon added some flavor to their parts.
And we also didn't need the small side story of getting code numbers. It didn't really add anything. It was just a long dramatic tense scene.
It had the same issue as Heat , which they added too many side love stories. Also, the silly jazz club took up too much time. If they had cut that out it would have been a much better film and 20 minutes shorter.
Having said that, I would still recommend it.
Oppenheimer (2023)
So frustratingly bad
Nolan is by far one of THE most overrated directors. He has problem telling a coherent story.
Sure he is a master of special practical effects, but that is defeated by his illogical stories.
The dialogue was so boring. I am so tired of writers that make everything written so on the nose. Everything is so devoid of the daily minutia, emotional exchanges, but instead focus on tedious exposition.
There was way too much flashy edits and effects, instead of letting the story just unfold in an organic way, they had to cut every 30 seconds, back and forth etc. Probably because it was the only way to save an even worse movie.
I guess Nolan's praise comes from the fact that movies are in such a poor state and have been for 2 decades.
I literally checked out after 2 minutes and stayed checked out for the rest of the film.
Oppenheimer was introduced like 12 times during the first 15 minutes by different characters. Totally unnecessary. And then the annoying music. Why does he always have wall-to-wall music?
I think Nolan is more after cinematic poetry rather than comprehensive narrative.
And then the acting was just so bad for the most part.
Memory (2023)
5 stars for realism, acting and simplicity...
5 stars for realism, acting and simplicity... -5 stars for story, or lack thereof and confusion.
I am okay with movies that sometimes not a lot happens in them, but having some sort of edge, like a tone, or something that is enjoyable, like funny characters, dialogue etc. E. G. Lost in Translation. Even Days of Heaven was enjoyable with very little happening.
This is very Sean Baker'ish and Noah Baumbach. A slice of life, and while I like Sean Baker's films, he always seem to miss adding SOMETHING, ANYTHING, to spice it up a bit. Although Baumbach does the same type of films, he seems to do a better job and making his films (for the most part) interesting. My biggest issue with Hollywood films is it's all action/effects/violence etc, and my biggest issue with Indie films its all characters and relationships, and very little happens. Such as the instant case.
You basically have to guess what is going on or infer a bunch of things, which is fine to some extent, but I don't want NO answers either.
While the acting was phenomenal and everything was approached in a very realistic way, which is rare in movies, I found myself really frustrated with Peter Sarsgaard's performance, which was likely due to poor direction. He couldn't even remember 5 minutes in the past of what happened in a movie, but then other times his memory was crystal clear, like he had been married, his wife died etc. But had no memory of other things, like he remember Sylvia, but didn't remember the waitress at the cafe he goes to all the time. That was very confusing. It was not well thought through.
The other confusing part if I had no clue who was who and what their relationships were, and although I eventually figured out some, others were still unknown by the end of the film.
I don't think there was enough for them to start their relationships.
At least thank god for no DEI cast. Refreshing to see a movie that reflects reality within the world they are showing. Also thank go for no fancy camera movements and annoying score, but a nice diegetic film. It makes it feel so much more real.
Overall they could have added more events to make it more interesting, they don't need an action packed Marvel movie, but a little something would have made this better.
Watch but keep all these notes in mind.
Bob Marley: One Love (2024)
First mistake... casting
First mistake... casting. What on Earth were they thinking casting this guy for Marley, he looked and behaved nothing like him.
I just couldn't get over looking at this guy and seeing ZERO resemblance to Marley. Same with his wife.
It is soooo hard to find any decent movies these days. So disappointed to see movies with such high budgets, access to any writer, director, actor etc and still fail pretty much every time.
It was just uninteresting, uninspiring, slow and boring.
They just did a terrible job at establishing a coherent story I cared about, mostly because of uninteresting dialogue.
Who green lit this script?
SKIP!
Poor Things (2023)
What did I just watch?
There is Terry Gilliam, then there is Tim Burton, then Gaspar Noé and now Yorgos Lanthimos. They all have one thing in common, they make very weird obscure movies. While Gilliam and Burton have been able to create some commercial appeal and a smidge of logical comprehension of their movies, Lanthimos proves there is no such thing here.
I have no clue what I just watched or what the purpose of the film was. It seems like an exercise in abstract art laced with gratuitous sexual content, all for, at least to me, served no purpose at all. It was like Edward Scissors hand meets Jim Jarmusch meeting pørnhub.
I didn't last more than 20 minutes before I started to skip through this mess.
Most of it because it made no sense. How did Bella progress that quickly without aging with her child's brain? She went from barely being able to say one word to speaking normal and then engaging in adult courtship and sexual interactions.
I still don't see why this movie was made, nor why it's getting this amount of praise.
I would stay away from watching this.
American Fiction (2023)
Didn't maximize its potential (kinda blew it)
It just didn't maximize its potential. The premise isn't new. This movie is a recreation of two films essentially, a mix between Robert Townsend's Hollywood Shuffle and Mel Brooks' The Producers. So no new themes or other groundbreaking material.
The latter, was about someone who did something to fail, and the former how Hollywood (really just white people) forced stereotypes upon the lead character. Like what it means to be black etc.
If they had focussed on that story, it would have been much better, but unfortunately, they added way too many unnecessary side stories and watered down the film. Like the maid's love interest, his mom's health problems, his brother's issues etc, all of those could have been a movie by themselves.
The director could have had some hint of the lead's personal life and family without spending 50% of the movie on it because the crux of what was good was the hilarious
All the other stuff was just low-key family drama we have seen a million times. The latter, although derivative of Hollywood Shuffle could have gotten an updated spin with all the new stuff going on in the world today, so it is really a shame he didn't focus on that.
In addition, it was way too slow and 30 min too long, and the constant melodramatic music didn't help (like so irritating and distracting). And I didn't believe for one second his new girlfriend loved his fake book and their forced fight that came out of nowhere. In the end, what started out good, got worse and worse over time, and by the end it was predictable and unfulfilling. A note on the end, which made zero sense, since the pseudo name was obviously all fake there would be no way the cops would come and arrest him.
After doing this review I had further reflection which took it even more in a negative direction. The characters were so one-dimensional and if the movie was about breaking stereotypes it failed because there was not a single white person in the film that wasn't an absolute dummy or ignorant or unlikable. The family make-up was also ridiculous. A writer, a gay man, a sister who is a doctor, a mom with dementia, a dad who was a serial cheater, and the overweight maid who seems to be the only one who was smart and put together well. We have seen it all before.
At the end, it is in need of a serious edit.
For those reasons I can only give this a 3 star, and because some of the lines in the movie if said by another race would be rather offensive.
American Idol: The Search for a Superstar (2002)
What happened to this show?
What happened to this show?
I watched first few seasons and loved it, but then it fell off with Simon leaving etc.
They also ruined it with adding instruments to the auditions. It gives some people advantages over others who don't use it or can play an instrument.
Then the latest judges, like Katy Perry are a joke, they don't take it too serious. They try too hard on every level, by being TOO emotional, too over the top personality.
The excitement of the first season where we didn't know what to expect, neither did the contestants, it was unpredictable and fun.
Also too many people are picked because of their story, not their voice.
We just need to hear them sing acappella.
Finestkind (2023)
OMG this was painful
I don't know here to begin. First, it was so slow. The music was ripped from a Hallmark TV movie and so on the nose of how you should feel. It was just too distracting. Tommy Lee was useless in this. The acting for the most part was terrible, but especially from Jenny Ortega.
And then the writing was just so bad. Like the "dad" coming into the bar in the beginning and caused a scene, which just would never happen.
The movie didn't know what it wanted to be. It was all over the place with too many ideas and not enough focus. 45 minutes into it and nothing has really happened, except the superfluous rushed relationship between Mabel and Charlie.
I just don't see why this was even made. What was the point of it? If you want to make a movie have something NEW to say., like a message, maybe just pure entertainment, but then it should be funny. This was nothing new. It reminded me of the Perfect Storm, kinda.
Everyone seemed unlikable and uninteresting. Over an hour into it and I'm bored to death!!
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2020)
What was once funny has become dreadfully awful
What was once funny has become dreadfully awful. Everything that was funny about the original Borat character is totally lost here. Sacha Baron Cohen suffers from what too many Hollywood people suffer from, which is TDS and political obsession of promoting their ideology.
The problem with this sequel is that they are taking everything too serious and that includes themselves. It seemed more important to make political jabs at their political opponents rather than just telling a story and being funny. But this happens to people that get too political, they simply lose what made them funny to begin with, and become way too focused on being an activist.
They literally explained too much and some of the humor was repeated, but not funnier.
Plus Sacha has gotten too old and his acting was way worse and too obvious in his manners, unlike the first one. Something about his character seemed awkward. I remember seeing the original Borat and laughing basically throughout. This one I cracked maybe a smile a few times.
Like others have said, it was way too forced, and as I mentioned, the jokes seemed derivative. An example of this, is they open with old damaged film footage, like anyone in the world still using 16mm film footage to shoot stuff. Over all they should have toned everything down. It was WAYYYY over the top and didn't know whether it should be a Borat sequel or a anti-trump political peice.
SKIP IT!! Sacha.
Dumb Money (2023)
What?
Who the hell decided it was a good idea to BLAST Cardi B's WAP during the opening so you can't understand what anyone said? The music STUNK in this film. Everything wrong about music today was added to this film, and what a let down. It was so raunchy, but not in a fun way, but in a bad vulgar way.
And then we have the latest Panderverse from South Park come true in this. Pretty hilarious.
Some movies just don't translate well into cinema, like stories about poker, stocks and other computer related issues, unless you center it around something other than those topics.
And the whole mask thing was beyond annoying, yeah I don't care if it was happening during mask mandates, it ruins it.
And I didn't believe most of the stuff like the nurse knowing all about stocks etc.
There was not a single likable character in this. The most unasleep film in a while. You can figure out what that means.
It was just BORING.
Andor (2022)
Yet another wasted opportunity
Yet another wasted opportunity.
It started out looking like something potentially really good, but it quickly descended into absolute garbage. From the bad acting, specially the lead, to the bad cliche derivative writing.
They tried too hard to make it emotional, but it wasn't done in an organic way. It had every cliche imagined.
Same problem they did with Rogue One, little to no build up that justified any of the pay offs.
Juxtapose it with New Hope where they spent 40 minutes getting to know Luke and his family before any real danger happened. In Rogue One they spent 2 minutes with the lead and her family.
Then the lead guy (from Rogue One) was just as annoying in this series as he was on Rogue One, and mostly because of his annoying accent and his awful acting.
The DEI casting nonsense wasn't as bad as usual, but nevertheless annoying. And what's with the cast being all non-American, like everyone. Why can't Hollywood cast American actors anymore? Only British actors wre available?
There were some good things, like the effort to do something different, the set designs etc, but the over all premise seemed frivolous.
This was just the prequel to Rogue One, but a needed one.
I wish Disney would hire people that actually got Star Wars.