Change Your Image
warren-clark001-57-903795
Reviews
Elemental (2023)
Exploring our emotions at the surface
This movie isn't going to be any deep metaphor. The analogies drawn are surface level and can't be missed. There are lots of emotions explored but as soon as they start to hit a core, it moves on with the plot. I would start feel tears swell at certain points, so it did something.
I was expecting there to be some major villain causing the plot to move forward. Maybe a villain would pop out as a twist. Nope. No villains. We are our own villain here. This is definitely an artistic approach that easily and amateurly mimics the lives led by so many trying to fulfill a purpose that is not their own.
It's a fun movie for the family. I don't understand giving it a bad rating just because it didn't go as deep as an adult would like to explore our emotions. For kids, it is easy to digest. For adults, we have been there and done that.
While this movie makes some great points about not following tradition for the sake of tradition and instead following our passion in life, it doesn't make me passionate enough to come back for a second watch.
Nefarious (2023)
Do you believe in god, angels, and demons yet?
This is not your typical demon possesaion horror flick. Nefarious is a film that was clearly written by a Christian writing in the perspective of a demon. It is almost believable if you disassociate from the fact that none of the events in the film ever took place. If it were based in reality, I might have been convinced to believe. I have to hand it to these evangelicals. A for effort.
6 out of 10 for amazing acting but obviously the writing had an agenda. Honestly Glenn Beck just really fit the bill for his part in it. Spoiler alert, he plays himself.
This is conservative propaganda made for Blaze TV. I enjoyed the acting and the demonic perspective. As an atheist, it is exactly how I perceived evangelical Christians. It is at least better than "God's Not Dead".
Scream VI (2023)
Courtney Cox did it this time...
The selling point of this sequel owes all credit to Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox). Without spoiling anything, recalls to the past movies (as all the sequels do) really hit home. The meta-references are what make this series great and it never lives it down in this sequel.
What I don't understand is how the ending is always so outlandish but acceptable. This was better than Scream 5 in my opinion. It definitely had more of the gore that I loved in the original Scream movie.
One slight disappointment is a spoiler. It is the way the relationship between the protagonist in Scream 5/6 and the original antagonist in the original Scream are referenced. It is a bit corny and it creates a plot hole. Why does she have her father she never met talk to her like she knows him so fondly from the original Scream?
Better Call Saul (2015)
Seehorn sells the moral of the story...
It can be a slow burn after being addicted to the high intensity drama in Breaking Bad. Give it a few episodes and the sheer curiosity will keep you watching as more familiar characters are introduced.
Odenkirk makes it easy to believe his character is trying to do the right thing but in all the wrong ways. "Charlie Hustle" is by far the best description for "Saul Goodman". Watching him get his name from the reputation we get to see him build creates a dynamic character in a believable sequence of self-made consequences leading to the tragedy we all know is coming.
The challenges more morally conscious characters face, such as Mike and Kim (Seehorn), really shine a light on how criminals can be persuasive enough to milk sympathy for their dubious choices.
Seehorn specifically brings a conscience onto the screen that you are rooting for every step of the way. Her character Kim is a light in a seedy world that is often compelled to go down dark roads with her close companion we all know as "Saul Goodman". It is her light that really provides a compassionate view of such a seedy character like "Saul".
Excited to see season 6 transition into the story that brought us into the criminal underworld.
Moral question of the day: Is it worth selling your soul for a quick buck?
Interstellar (2014)
Setting the Bar for SciFi
This movie left me jaw dropped at the massiveness of the settings and how beautifully everything was put on screen. Every shot is artistically placed with clear purpose. There is not a single wasted scene. Every scene is important to the entire movie. Even the ones having you stare through vast space and complete blackness.
The music alone is timeless classical symphony and adds the element of suspense in what would otherwise be very quiet scenes. Much like Stanley Kubrick, the music is purposely applied and sets the tone for the massive setting, the universe. It is a fully composed original soundtrack by one of the greatest in the industry.
Honestly, this movie blows Kubrick out of the water with how intense the music aligns with the heavy theme of time being an important dimension to the story.
You will cry and cheer. This is a masterpiece. I have lost how many times I have seen this movie. It just doesn't get old.
The Babadook (2014)
Psychological or Supernatural?
I love this movie because it allows the audience to make their own decisions whether this was the psychological horror of a mother experiencing an extreme case of paranoid schizophrenia or there is a real supernatural presence.
Every scene was as creepy as it could get for a monster in a childrens book and the acting will have you convinced these people are experiencing something real which might make it harder to believe it is all the result of one person's mental illness. Even with the Babadook being fully apparent, it does not detract from the horror and the narrative being told like some other director's attempts to capture the Boogeyman on screen.
This is a movie I will definitely watch again.
The Menu (2022)
Beautiful!
The way the "food" is shot is beautiful.
The food on the menu is purposely pretentious. It's about a chef getting revenge on people he sincerely hates and wants to drag to hell with him.
I imagine this is how Gordon Ramsay would end his career. If you have worked in the food service industry, and you love watching the popular red faced chef call people a "donkey" and berate guests for asking for substitutes, you know what I mean and you will enjoy the plot.
If you are like the beautiful "Margo", you will just think the film is as overhyped as the overpriced miniscule portions fed to their guest.
The depiction of the class system in this world, along with the personal effort we put into applying purpose to our meaningless lives, (whether that effort is applied to serving others or bring others down as we put ourselves on a pedestal,) is artistically placed in a motion picture frame.
With an almost identical final scene of the remaining character (aside from setting and actress), the ending definitely gives off the same vibes as the movie Ready or Not.
Definitely give it a shot.
Entangled (2019)
Perfect representation of Quantum Theory
The people leaving negative reviews simply do not understand Quantum Theory. This movie doesn't teach what Quantum Theory is but is an amazing representation of it from the first to last shot.
The acting is amazing. The grief and terror begins almost immediately and the actors' reactions are exactly what I would expect from teens who don't even believe in the theory they are testing. Watching ASL be accurately used and the differences between someone who grows up deaf and doesn't was pretty astounding for a film that is so wrapped up in it's own premise with no distractions.
I am not discouraged by negative reviews but I understood the cause of them after watching it. You really have to know a bit more about quantum theory than the average person to really enjoy this slice of sci-fi. Definitely not what someone would expect if they are looking for Marvel's Multiverse of Madness. Definitely not for children.
Locke (2013)
Let's record a series of phone conversations and call it a movie.
Okay, yes Tom Hardy is a great actor. Now let us get past our awe of his portrayal in the Dark Knight Rises and focus on what makes a movie worth paying for at the box office. There is minimalist cinema and then there is pointless cinema. What is the point in video taping a series of phone calls? Why not turn to a more reasonable medium such as an audio recording?
We are immediately thrown into the life of some random executive and left to endure the consequences with him. Only problem, we aren't even given a chance to like the bloke. Why do I not get a chance to feel something for the character?
I have been more emotionally moved by a snake on a hunt on Animal Planet than I was by this poor man who lost everything.
In the end, I leave you with a warning. Do not pay ANYTHING to see this movie. You will feel duped.