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I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
Very unique movie in the time of idiocracy.
This was the most original and thought provoking movie to come out in years. I understand it was based on a book, but I've never read it so I can't comment on the adaptation quality. I, too, got bored and confused about halfway through, I actually turned it off, but then I couldn't stop thinking about it. I had to finish it. When I started to get an idea of what was happening, I was very impressed by its unique concept. The execution wasn't perfect, but it was a hundred times more interesting than anything coming out of Hollywood right now. Every movie that comes out these days is spoon fed to the drooling masses. Every movie plays to adults who like kids' movies, action movies, or religious/spiritual psychobabble. This movie was the first INTELLIGENT thing to come out in years and it's really not surprising that most Americans "didn't get it".
Love (2016)
An incel's wet dream
My BIGGEST problem with this show is that every male character is hideous, (like hunchback of Notre Dame hideous), and all of the women are very attractive. It's so unrealistic and sexist. Mickey wouldn't have dated any of those men in real life. The acting was terrible, especially by the leads. The only redeeming performance was by the actress who played Mickey's Australian roommate. She was the best character and the best actor on the series. Gus is the biggest brown nosing, needy egotistical nerd and Mickey is just a straight up, uninteresting wh*re. Mickey's character devolved the moment she started liking Gus. She went from being a "bad ass" to just another clingy girlfriend type. Her whiny, nasally voice almost made me stop watching on a few occasions. Gus' constant apologizing and aggressive begging was super annoying as well. And last but not least! The credits were super aggressive. You couldn't skip them at the end and they were right in your face in the beginning. Yes, Judd Apatow, we get it, you created it. Literally nobody cares.
Ozark (2017)
Another "meh" Netflix series
This show is boring and has literally put me to sleep, which is weird considering the unusually high number of obstacles these characters have to face. I'm on season 2, episode 2 and the story is just getting more and more unbelievable. I have no idea why this show has such a high rating. There are like 5 separate groups of people trying to kill the family for different reasons. LOL. Seriously? The premise itself was unrealistic from the start. This is definitely no Breaking Bad. The challenges that Walter White faced were realistic and all stemmed from one or two places. It's unrealistic that Martin Byrd is stepping on toes and having to pay people off every way he turns. Every time we think he's finally in the clear, a new group comes out of the woodwork. Please. The writers have to keep coming up with new foes because they know the show is boring. Unfortunately, it's not working. Also, why is Martin Byrd incapable of showing a single emotion? Jason Bateman's deadpan affect works better in comedic roles. Here he just comes off as an actor trying desperately to save his career.
The Society (2019)
God awful bad. Not one redeeming quality.
Why does it feel like Netflix keeps taking the same show and trying to rework it over and over and over again? I suspect this show came from the writers of Hemlock Grove and every other teen sci-fi series that Netflix has tried to make work and failed at. Absolutely nothing about this show is redeemable. The characters are poorly written, the script is sparse and poorly written, the premise has been done to death, and the acting sucks.
A few things stood out to me as particularly bad: 1.The female characters are written in a very sexist way. They only care about boys, being single is a tragedy. The one strong female that tries to lead is apparently hated by everyone in town with no explanation 2. The night they came home, instead of being scared or concerned about nobody's parents being home or reachable, they threw a rager that trashed the town church. Why would they do that on their first night back if they assumed their parents would be back? Wouldn't there have been consequences? 3. From the very beginning, the teens are completely focused on their own personal drama instead of trying to figure out what's happening or trying to get out. They make one half-assed attempt at escaping and then give up. 4. It is so boring! If you enjoy watching a pale, inexplicably sad girl stare at the wall for five minutes without talking, this show might be for you. 5. All the girls look the same and all the boys look the same. Why did their high school apparently only house football players and wispy, waifish girls? Where are the nerds? Where are the chubby kids? Where are the artsy kids? Nope- only jocks and anorexics live there apparently.
This show is one bad cliché after another. The writing is beyond terrible. The dialogue is barely existent and awful. The teenagers are all written like bad 80's clichés. I watched one and a half episodes. I literally feel asleep midway through the second episode. I will not be watching any more. Netflix should really be ashamed that they greenlit this horrible dumpster fire of a show.
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)
Extremely Sugarcoated, Shockingly Inaccurate and Vile...
This was a disgusting portrayal of Bundy. If someone watched this who had never read up on him, they might think he was innocent. This movie is a slap in the face to his victims' families. I don't know how anyone could think he was innocent back then when everywhere he went, bodies of women, all killed in the same manner, started turning up soon after he arrived. How much of a coincidence could that possibly be? He's in Utah- dead girls, he's in Colorado- dead girls, he's in Florida- dead girls that live right down the street. Not to mention, the disappearances stopped after he left Washington State. You'd have to be a complete moron to believe in his innocence. Liz Kloepfer identified him to police twice, also, not just once. She gave the police quite a lengthy interview at one point. She had very strong suspicions that Ted was the murderer. I don't know what this movie was trying to convey, but it was very inaccurate and completely sugarcoated.
Russian Doll (2019)
Beautiful and darkly comedic
This show was superbly executed in every way. I loved the entire cast, including her goofy hipster friends. The writing was genius and there were subtly humorous parts that you had to watch out for. The shot of the awkward Jewish receptionist trying to eat the mango made me laugh so hard I had to push pause. Natasha Lyonne is incredibly smart and talented and deserves more success in this business. The thing I loved most about the story is that every event was approached with kindness. I particularly found her relationship with the homeless man endearing. Where do you ever see yuppie characters hanging out with homeless people in a genuine fashion? Lyonne's character was interesting and unique. I think this show deserves the highest praise and should win some awards.
Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)
Best movie I've seen in a long time
This movie right here is old school. This is the kind of stuff 90's teens/twenty-somethings judge other movies by. The movie wasn't spectacular, but it was good. It's miles above anything that has come out recently though, so by comparison, it's a solid 9. Finally, a writer that understands the importance of character development. I kind of get the comparisons to Tarantino but not really. People who are saying that haven't seen any old school Tarantino for a while. I actually enjoyed this more than QTs work because it wasn't too flashy or contrived. QT's work can get a bit bogged down by paying homage to too many styles. The music in this was also much more cohesive than a QT soundtrack, and it was understated. I really loved the soundtrack and how it focused on the Motown/R&B music of the time rather than the tired old 60s hits that are in every movie set in that period.
Jeff Bridges gives another brilliant performance. Cynthia Erivo was excellent and I felt her singing added to the movie and wasn't too much at all. Dakota Johnson and Jon Hamm were great as well. Chris Hemsworth was a little one dimensional and not quite believable in his role but I blame that on the state of today's Hollywood. The setting was perfect, the cinematography perfect, it had a real plot,(finally), and the acting was fantastic. I gave it a nine because it didn't have any "wow" factor. Nothing about it was extraordinary. I really, really hope that this starts a new trend of bringing back real movies to the big screen.
Bird Box (2018)
I'm surprised Sandra Bullock accepted this role
This felt like a bad B movie with a big budget. It was cliché and unimaginative in every single way. I'm really shocked that Sandra agreed to do this, then again, good scripts are in very short supply these days. Where is the plot structure? It's supposed to go: introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution. All this movie had was introduction and action that stays pretty flat through-out and then it just stops. A proper resolution would've wrapped things up and explained what was happening.
I'm so over this trend of plotless movies. I can't help but wonder if America's declining educational system has seeped into Hollywood. People don't know how to properly wrap up a story so they just decide that they won't. It worked as a novelty for all of five minutes and now it's way past it's prime. Time to find a new gimmick, Hollywood. I gave it four stars for the quality and acting.
The House That Jack Built (2018)
Don't watch in darkness, especially with a headache.
I found the quality of this movie to be severely lacking. The plot, I can get behind, even the philosophical meanderings on morality, but the audio was horrible, especially during the conversations that were supposed to be integral to the movie, and the lighting in the cuts was a atrocious. I would have to watch the entire movie again with closed captioning just to get all of it. I'm not willing to do that. The sound would go from being so low, you couldn't hear it, to that obnoxious guitar riff blowing out your eardrums. It was the same with how they chose to use light and dark, it gave me a headache. The spinning camera scene combined with strobe like lights literally made me sick. Funny enough, those scenes all seemed to take place during the philosophizing.
I almost felt like the writer didn't have faith in his own words and was trying to prevent the audience from hearing or paying attention. I liked some of the movie. I enjoyed some of what he was trying to convey. I couldn't hear enough of it to review it beyond that. I completely gave up when his imaginary friend appeared. I'm giving it a five because parts of the movie are worth watching but parts are complete rubbish. I wouldn't give the filmmaker the satisfaction of polarization, I think mediocrity hurts more. Matt Dillon shined though.
The Glass Castle (2017)
Bad adaptation of a fantastic book
I read the book just a few weeks before the movie came out so it was still fresh in my mind when I went to see this film. Woody Harrelson was superb as always but the movie really glossed over his character. There was no depth to the movie at all and at times it felt ridiculous and insulting to watch the Hollywood portrayal of these characters, particularly with Naomi Watts. Naomi's make-up and wardrobe were horribly contrived and her acting wasn't much better. She was a bad choice for Rose Mary. The movie changed the order and places of events, skipped about half the book, and threw some important parts in at awkward times just to get them in the movie. They also just plain made stuff up, particularly with the ending.
The movie lost the emotional punch of the book because they omitted everything that was difficult and meaningful. I didn't care about any of the characters and I was so frustrated and bored that I actually got up and left the theater for a few minutes. It was a sugar-coated, feel good mess. My advice, if this plot seems interesting to you, is to read the book and skip the movie. You'll thank me later.
It Comes at Night (2017)
Absolute trash
This movie was so bad I had to keep myself from falling asleep in the theater. There seemed to be foreshadowing several times throughout so I stayed awake for the big payoff. There wasn't one. At all. There is one scene, that is supposed to be pivotal, (I think) that makes zero sense. It was thrown together, with little forethought, just to get us to the conclusion. This movie tries very hard to be original at the expense of the plot. It doesn't have one. Why anyone is singing this director's praises is beyond me. This is the worst movie I've seen in years. Nothing happens. The main character talks about where to pee and poop for five minutes. Please don't waste your money on this heaping pile of trash. Everyone walked out of the theater saying how much it sucked.
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
Bland
My biggest complaint is that the movie focused too much time on the wrong things. I haven't read the book but from what I gather, the book delves deeper into the relationship between mother and son. I kept feeling like something was going to be revealed, like the mother was abusive, or absent, or something but no, other than a few brief, understandable outbursts, the mother seems perfectly fine. The fact that the son hated his mother so intensely for no real reason just wasn't believable. Other than the way he treated his mother, there were no other signs of him being a sociopath so it all seemed very much directed at her. The other thing that bugged me was how passive the mother was. The kid is torturing her for years and she says very little about it to the husband. Again, that could be explained if the mother was hiding something like abuse and felt guilty. Again, something the director fails to address.
The director kept trying to make a connection between mother and son but it failed because the mother is written like a caring, normal person with empathy for others and her son is a total psychopath. The long, drawn out scenes of Tilda are pointless and add nothing to the movie. They could've cut half those scenes and shortened the ones they kept and it would've been more effective. The father seemed like a moron but honestly, I think it's just the way the movie was put together.
In all, I felt I wasted my time on this movie. The plot was very badly written. The whole movie was flat. I knew before the last scene that there would not be a satisfying ending and I was correct. The director lost any emotion in trying to make the movie artsy. It was style over substance.
Aquí entre nos (2011)
Funny little feel good movie.
I've been learning Spanish recently and have been using Latin American movies and TV shows to help me with context. So far, I've been very impressed. Every show and movie I've chosen has been far superior to most American entertainment. The writing is better and the acting is way better. I just can't believe it. Everything really is so dumbed down in this country. Anyway, on to my review of the movie- I thought it was excellent. It was realistic, cute, funny and meaningful without being cliché. The actors were all fantastic, especially the father. His character made the movie for me. In America, it's all about big names, sex appeal and flash. Most of our movies lack substance these days. It makes me happy to know that somewhere in the world people still care about talent.
Gone Girl (2014)
Disappointing
Remember when a movie was considered good because it made you feel something? What has happened as of late? I don't understand why this movie has gotten so much praise. I had been looking forward to seeing this since I first saw the trailer. The preview made it seem like a deep psychological thriller with similarities to Gone, Baby, Gone. Boy was I wrong. It was a cheap mystery which wasn't even suspenseful because the answer is revealed in the middle of the movie. I can't stand the lead actress. She is so wooden. I didn't feel whatever great love they were trying to portray in the beginning of their relationship. I didn't like the way their relationship fell apart with very little visual explanation. They said it fell apart because of a, b and c but there was only one scene when she kind of got a tiny bit bitchy about him playing video games. That was supposed to show the deep hatred that developed between them? It was more interesting and believable when I thought he may have actually been abusive. Then it's revealed later on that he actually wanted desperately to have a baby with her after he had already started an affair with a student? OK...
I won't go into all the other super obvious holes in the plot because many other reviewers have already pointed them all out. It seems like the story outside of her plot only evolved to make her plot possible. Like they were making it up as they went along. I didn't care a bit about any of the characters. There wasn't enough character development for that. I didn't even care about the creepy twin sister who seemed to have no life outside of what was happening with her brother. When the big reveal happens at the end, I wished his sister had just killed him herself to put him out of his misery. And don't get me started on Neil Patrick Harris in his role. That was a terrible choice. Was he or wasn't he actually a stalker? I still don't know.
I gave this movie a 4 because it wasn't completely terrible. I was somewhat entertained. I just didn't feel a damn thing about it and when it was over, I had wished I had chosen to watch a TV show on Netflix instead of wasting 2 hours and 5 bucks renting it on Amazon. It was just blah.
Mud (2012)
Realism and multi-dimensional characters makes this a unique film
The only reason I am writing this review is because I was shocked by some of the bad ones. While yes, the film is long, I was engrossed the entire time so it didn't feel long to me. I see criticism for McConaughey's character because he is a "criminal". Ooooh, golly gee, that's so scary and repugnant. If all you saw was that he was a criminal, then you missed the entire point of the movie. One of the points of his character was that you can be a criminal and still be GOOD in other ways. That is reality and that is what's so great about this film, it reflects reality back at the audience. I know I am watching something special when I don't feel like I'm watching a movie at all. This is how this felt to me. Maybe it's because I've grown up around a similar element of society, but I saw people and experiences that were very familiar in this film. It felt like I was on a great adventure with some of my childhood friends.
The writer said he was trying to capture a certain way of life because he knew it would soon be gone with all the gentrification that's happening everywhere. I absolutely commend him for that because gentrification is swallowing up everything that is real and hearty about this country. I guess looking at a shabby houseboat as a residence is hard for people who are used to open floor plans, granite counter tops, and cathedral ceilings. This is a story about real people and personal experiences that make us grow as human beings. The writing is good, the acting is excellent and the direction is perfect. The one flaw that I saw was that the writer went a little overboard with the theme of love. I thought Ellis' personal love story was a little cheesy and unnecessary. I admit, there were a few eye rolling moments. Hence the nine stars instead of ten. Other than that, this is a wonderful example of an independent movie. I hope others follow suit.
The Way Way Back (2013)
Just meh
I gave this a five because it wasn't god-awful bad but it definitely was not great. I expected a lot from this movie because of the great cast. I kept waiting and waiting for it to take off and it never did. The main character was almost unbearably annoying. Even shy people speak when spoken to. They don't just stare down at the ground like a catatonic mental patient. My first hint that this was going to be a bad movie was when the unrealistically hot girl next door took a shining to the "quiet new kid". How cliché can you get? I was hoping it would get better from there. It didn't. The dialogue was scant and clumsily written. There were a lot of things going on beneath the surface that seemed thrown together hastily and were never explained. The character development was terrible and left me not caring about anyone. When the movie was over, I found myself wishing I had rented a different movie. It just seemed like a big waste of time.
Warm Bodies (2013)
It was good for what it was
Look, I'm not going to say this was some kind of mind blowing, thought provoking movie because it wasn't. I don't think it was supposed to be. It was a light, mainstream movie. It's a unique, silly, sometimes meaningful spin on the zombie genre. The thing I really enjoyed about it was that FINALLY someone made a movie where the zombies can be cured. I've always hated zombie movies because the plots to all of them are pretty much the same. A virus spreads, people turn into zombies, there's a camp of survivors who fight the zombies. In the end, the zombies die and a few plucky people prevail. How many times can we watch that same plot over and over again? This one, while not perfect, was refreshingly original. I admit, there were some contradictions here and there and there were cliché moments but the movie was enjoyable enough that I didn't care. I also liked the fact that the zombie make-up wasn't overdone. I've seen some other reviewers criticize that but I am sick to death of zombies with rotting flesh and dangling body parts. The characters were very likable and made me root for a happy ending. The girl was tough but not annoyingly so, and the male lead was vulnerable and sweet. I have loved Nicholas Hoult ever since he was in About A Boy. I was so happy to see that he was still having some success in the business. I'd so wanted to like this movie just because he was in it but then I heard from a lot of people that it was pretty bad. I avoided it until now because I just didn't want to see Nicholas fail miserably. That would've been painful. My eleven year old daughter finally persuaded me to watch the movie tonight and I am glad I did. While it wasn't earth shattering, it was a good, solid movie. I'd recommend it to anyone.
Breaking Bad: Ozymandias (2013)
Kudos to the writers
Vince Gilligan and the actors get all the glory for this show but I think it's high time we tip our hats to the writers. Moira Walley-Beckett wrote this episode and boy what a doozy it was. We also can't leave out the cinematographer Michael Slovis because some of those camera shots packed the biggest emotion punches of the show. After the scene where Walt and Skyler struggle for the knife and Walt is standing above them saying they are family the camera shows Walt's point of view as he is looking down on Jr. and Skyler. That shot was brilliant. At that moment I was Walt, Walt Jr and Skyler all at the same time. I could understand what all of them were feeling and my heart was breaking. For the first time Walt finally saw what his creation had done to the family and you could feel his shame and regret. All along I have supremely praised the writers of this show. I have never seen more realistic dialogue. Every reaction from every character feels truly authentic. After last night's crescendo of an episode all the writers involved deserve the highest awards possible. This show should go down in history as the greatest television show ever produced.