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benniewoodell
Reviews
Last Night in Soho (2021)
I forgot how beautiful cinema can be
Last Night in Soho is easily the best film I've seen in years, maybe since Bad Times at the El Royale. I felt like I was sitting in a theater not watching a movie, but I was watching cinema again, which is something I rarely feel anymore. It was refreshing. It was beautiful. It was terrifying. It takes you in so many different directions that you don't know what's hitting you. I'll easily be seeing this two or three more times in the theater, I can't recommend it enough.
Ron's Gone Wrong (2021)
A lot of fun for all ages
So I went and saw this today on a whim as a friend unexpectedly had to cancel plans (couldn't see Dune as we were supposed to see it so I'm waiting, and I've seen everything else that's at my theater) and I had a heck of a lot of fun. I'm a forty year old dude, no kids, just like to see something fun and I found myself laughing all the way through. The interaction between Ron and Barney was really well done. Definitely give this one a watch.
And I see in some reviews people are saying this is woke. I have no idea what movie they were watching. I'm scratching my head trying to figure out what they're talking about. This is a movie that can be enjoyed by everyone and really does have a good all around message.
Masters of the Universe: Revelation (2021)
Everything is awesome except the story
Man, what a misfire here. I don't understand why they felt people who were fans of He-Man want to see him go away at the end of the first episode and now follow Teela. And having her get the title of Man at Arms is just as cringeworthy as Becky Lynch calling herself The Man. And I'm not someone who's against changing things and such, but if they wanted to do away with He-Man for the series, have Prince Adam lose his powers and have to regain them with the help of everyone or something.
And it's such a shame too because the animation was awesome and the voice acting was great too. But two out of three can be bad.
The Turning (2020)
So much potential
Throughout the entire movie, you really do feel on the edge of your seat. They did a wonderful job of building the atmosphere and keeping you just as creeped out as the Nanny. But, as things seem to be going nowadays, the filmmakers tried to get cute with what was really going on. It didn't know if it wanted to be a movie about mental health or ghosts, it really had the elements to work both ways, but there is one moment that ruins the chance for you believing this movie is about mental health and that's when the Grandma doll's head turns back as the nanny did not see that, we did as the audience, so now when they want to pull the whole everything is in her head and she's crazy, let's get away from her ending, it's confusing as all hell because it was completely set up to be a ghost story from thirty minutes in. Take that one moment out and the whole she's crazy is totally plausible. Although finding the dead body in the lake lines up real well with ghosts trying to tell someone how to help them find the way to the "other side."
Now, with that being said, the first thing that we were taught in film school was never do a dream sequence unless it's something that is obviously a dream, like in the Big Lebowski, otherwise don't do it as your audience will feel cheated that they got invested in something for no reason at all, and boy did I throw my hands up in the air and say I'm done with this one. I would have given this film an 8 until the dream aspect of it came about, then it shot to a 3 as there was nothing they could do to reel me back in, and then leaving it even more ambiguous was just absurd.
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
I wish JJ would have just done the whole trilogy
Wow, just saw the first showing tonight and from the start till the Lucasfilm logo at the end, I was enthralled by what I was seeing. This felt like Star Wars again. There was, lots of excitement, the story was great, it moved at a good pace, and most importantly, there was great chemistry and banter between the characters that was missing in TLJ. The little zingers are some of the best parts of Star Wars, to me at least, and this one does not disappoint in that regard. I don't want to go too far in depth for those who haven't seen it, but this is a lot of fun and I'm glad it went out like this. If you have access to 3D, I'd say give that a whirl because it looked really good in the Cineramadome at the Arclight in Hollywood in 3D.
Shut In (2016)
Not what I expected, and that's not a good thing.
I hadn't heard of this film until yesterday, and all I saw was the poster. It looked fantastic and film noir'esque with the blinds and shadows, I was sold on that alone. I didn't want to watch a trailer and go in blindly cause the poster is supposed to represent what the movie is also. I do have the Movie Pass, so though I pay the monthly subscription fee for the service, I didn't actually have to pay to go in the door to see the movie which has led me to seeing some great films on a whim that I otherwise wouldn't have seen that I loved, I sometimes go twenty times a month to the movies, so going to this on a whim was not a rare occurrence. Plus I love Naomi Watts, ever since Mulholland Drive I've been a fan of hers.
Within the first ten minutes I realized that the film was going to be vastly different than the poster, which is fine, calling an audible on the line of scrimmage isn't going to make me hate the film, sometimes those turn out to be the best movies, but within twenty minutes I sat there and I knew exactly what was going to happen, and it only got worse from there. They really could have taken what they had and made something incredible, it was there, but instead they decided to go and make a paint-by-the numbers "thriller" that didn't even allow them to color outside the lines at all.
At on point in the film I looked at Naomi Watts and knew she must have needed a new car or something as this was a phoned in performance, everyone else in the movie did great and really tried, but I feel like they knew they were in a dud and were trying to pump themselves up and give the best damned performance of their careers to make the movie better than it was turning out to be.
Yes, there was some great cinematography, some that even followed suit with the noir style poster that drew me in, so that I enjoyed. They really did try to make it look great, so I applaud them on that.
But all in all, this film is what I tend to think of as a disposable cup movie. You're thirsty, so you grab that small plastic cup next to the water cooler, take your drink and toss the cup in the garbage and forget you even had a drink.
Half Empty (2009)
excellent independent film
I saw this film at the Bare Bones Film Festival in Oklahoma and I was incredibly impressed by the film. The cinematography was very beautiful and colorful, it really drew me into the picture from the opening shots and I found myself constantly saying to myself how beautiful the shots looked. The acting was spot on, they should be very proud of their performances in this film. The production design and locations were well thought out and the editing was very seamless. And the story was well played out by interweaving the lives of three four people back and forth and I won't go into detail on what happens but I loved the role reversals and the underlying themes that were prevalent. I honestly forgot I was watching an independent film, this was a very professional production and it showed how much time and effort they put in to make it so.
If you have the chance to see this film it would be in your interest to do so!