If you're a fan of FOLLOWING and MEMENTO, you are going to be sorely disappointed with Mr. Nolan's latest effort. Likely the only person who understands what is happening in this film is Nolan...in his head...while he was writing it. Sadly he was unable to covey it on screen. Perhaps he realized it after editing since he overcompensated by cranking up the background music so loud, you'd be forgiven if you thought you were watching a 150 minute Whitesnake music video.
Reviews
72 Reviews
Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind
(2020 TV Movie)
Whoa, Daddy.
14 September 2020
The first thing that strikes me odd about this film is the fact that Ms. Wood's middle-aged children still refer to their father and stepfather as "Daddy Wagner" and "Daddy Gregson." That they ever referred to them by those names, even in childhood, is creepy. The second thing is that it spends a lot of time allowing Mr. Wagner to tell his one-sided tale. It would've been much more interesting and credible to also have Dennis Davern, the boat's captain, express his account. The question that remains behind is: were Wagner and Walken lovers?
The Painted Bird
(2019)
A love letter to Adolph Hiltler
22 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
There are only two reasons to watch this filth; you're demented and revel in observing animals set on fire and burned alive, men getting their eyeballs ripped out followed by cats lapping up the spherical organs, women raped with liquor bottles, young boys defiled by men of god, and teenage girls making sweet love to goats, OR, you were fooled by the ratings on IMDB and thought you were in for a 3-hour jaunt through history. This isn't art. This is an exercise in exploitation and extremely poor taste. The Painted Bird needs its wings clipped.
Calm with Horses
(2019)
Great indie filmmaking!
22 August 2020
This was an intense and well-made crime drama with excellent performances. Barry Keoghan delivers as do the actors who play the diabolical uncles. There are a few spots that unnecessarily slow down the pacing, but overall this is relatively taut and impressive for a lower-budget indie. Nick Rowland's direction was spot on. This film is well worth taking a ride on.
Brawl in Cell Block 99
(2017)
Vince Vaughn getting back to his comedic roots
27 July 2020
When I saw Vaughn's shaved head and cross tattoo on the back of it that looks like he drew on himself, I burst out laughing and looked forward to his hilarity shining through. He did not disappoint. Him playing a redneck tough guy had me in stitches. The funniest aspect was when he would speak in a southern drawl in one scene, then switch to a midwestern accent in the next. Pure comedic genius. Too bad this wasn't a comedy because I laughed 99 times!
Honeyland
(2019)
Let It Bee
25 July 2020
In a remote area of Macedonia, population 2, a woman taking care of her elderly mother, living in squalid conditions, barely subsists as a beekeeper. A family of odious gypsies show up, and there goes the neighborhood. The transients are everything that's wrong with humanity; they're a selfish, profanity-spewing brood who torture animals, steal from the woman, and eventually destroy her 'career.' A more appropriate title for this film would have been Homeyland.
The Central Park Five
(2012)
A Clockwork Black
25 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Five teenagers admit to regularly "wilding" (activity by a gang of youths going on a violent rampage in a public place and attacking people at random). They were beating/robbing people the night a woman got raped in the same area. They gave unforced confessions they commited the crime. Were they guilty or innocent? It's irrelevant. NYC was made that much safer during the six years they served their prison term, and The Wilding Five got what they deserved. Adjourned.
Lost Bullet
(2020)
9 Stars. THIS is how you make a movie!
23 July 2020
If you're expecting to see some sappy, boring, poorly-written and contrived Hollywood action flick, you're gonna be sorely disappointed. Guillaume Pierret is a director to be reckoned with. This film is so taut, there is not a single frame wasted on trivial dialogue or scenes that don't propell the story forward faster than a speeding bullet. If you're familiar with my reviews, you know that I don't spare many films my wrath. Trust me, you're gonna like this one...or you've lost your way.
Peppermint
(2018)
#FreeHarveyWeinstein
22 July 2020
Or at the very least, allow him to run a studio from his prison cell. The moviegoing public needs it. They should demand it. They should riot for it! Otherwise, horribly written and directed films like Peppermint will continue to be churned out by idiots at studios who either don't read, can't read, or have no time to read any scripts they produce. You might not agree with Mr. Weinstein's methods of courting women, but you can't argue that most of his films are freakin' awesome.
The Outsider
(I) (2018)
Sloppy, lazy writing makes it impossible to stay with it.
22 July 2020
Jared Leto must've had wonderlust to get out of his system. I bet he's wishing he would've simply taken a trip to his local sushi restaurant instead. The opening scene showed promise, everything after that was awful. The acting is a joke. And when Lil' Emile Hirsch shows up for a tiny cameo role, it was so bizarre I thought perhaps he was traveling in Japan, found out an American production was nearby, and threw his hat in the ring to play a glorified extra. Hai...I'm serious.
What Just Happened
(2008)
Nobody cares.
19 July 2020
What a waste of time. This is a dumb movie made by people nobody really gives a damn about anymore. Levinson is a boring director. Bruce Willis will do any film cameo for a million bucks, big deal. De Niro makes his down-turned lips mafia face throughout which has become tiresome. And Penn is now obsolete. I'll tell you what just happened, Art Linson: Nothing...for 104 minutes!
Honey Boy
(2019)
No flies in the honey.
8 July 2020
It's always a self-indulgent exercise when the star of the film is also the writer and, even more so, when it's autobiographical. That said, LaBeouf does a commendable job portraying his abusive loser of a father. But the idea that Shia had any more of a difficult childhood growing up in Hollywood than the tens of millions of children who grow up in abject poverty in war-torn third world nations is pretty aburd, at best. Daddy issues aren't always a sweet memory.
Force of Nature
(2020)
How many Polish bros does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
3 July 2020
I dunno, but it would take more than one to make a watchable B movie. Throw in Bruce Willis' stand-in, Mel Gibson, the director's ageing, once-attractive gf Kate Bosworth who, by the way, should don some makeup, and a bloated Emile Hirsch who appears to have shrunk three inches, and you have Cirque du Soleil in Puerto Rico. I turned this off after 20 minutes once I began rooting for the three leads to get swept away by a real force of nature called retirement.
7500
(2019)
7500 reasons not to watch this.
1 July 2020
The premise is not realistic because the Muslim terrorists purchase duty-free bottles of liquor and take them into the airport bathroom to turn into glass shard weapons to bring onto the plane. The reality is, purchases at Duty-Free shops are given to passengers at the gate as you board. Either the writer didn't do his research, or he knew but figured not enough people would realize this. That killed it right there for me.
Sicario: Day of the Soldado
(2018)
Better than average sequel.
27 June 2020
It is hard to top the genius of the first Sicario and Denis Villeneuve's direction. But, this was a highly entertaining, and very well-acted and directed follow-up. Anytime you have have Josh Brolin and Benecio Del Toro playing a couple badasses, you're in for a fun ride. It's a very dark story about very dark characters who will never see the light. Looking forward to the third installment; I hope it's a hit.
Upgrade
(2018)
Check your suspension of disbelief at the door.
26 June 2020
This film must be geared toward the 3-10 year old crowd. This highly influential movie-going demographic has zero expectations and has likely seen fewer than a dozen movies in their brief existence to compare anything to. For everyone else, Upgrade will make little sense and is so contrived even for a sci-fi fan that you'll be wishing you had a gun built into the flesh of your arm to easily put yourself out of the misery of having to kill 100 minutes on this low-grade idea.
Helicopter Mom
(2014)
I would give this 0 stars if possible.
20 June 2020
The writing felt like this could have been a script written by a non-film major in a screenwriting class at a local community college. It is riddled with some of the worst dialogue I have ever heard in a film. And then you have Nia Vardolos; she was so over-the-top that one has to wonder if she was binging on drugs or alcohol during the filming of this. I was in utter disbelief at how bad and rotorless this film was.
Hereditary
(2018)
The first half promising, the second half incomprehensible.
20 June 2020
This film starts off intriguing, then something happens midway through; the writer gave up. He quit. Or got lazy. Or both. He had the audience with him and then...poof, he completely allowed this to veer into absolute ludicrousness. And the ending is one of the all-time dumbest I've ever seen. It's difficult to fathem why Toni Collette and Gabriel Byrne signed on to this other than the possibility that they share a genetic link to the director.
The King of Staten Island
(2020)
Pete Davidson is a Participation Award.
19 June 2020
I've liked some of Judd Apatow's films. I have not seen one thing that Pete Davidson has done that is good OR funny. Even on SNL his humor is sophomoric and imbecillic. Casting him in this feels like it was done more out of sympathy rather than talent. And this was not one of Mr. Apatow's finer writing efforts. Once Pete's tattoos start fading along with his 'career,' you'll likely catch him manning the fry station at Burger King.
After Life
(2019–2022)
A newer, better, more profane version of Our Town
17 June 2020
Ricky Gervais has created a brilliantly poignant, hilarious, and relatable look at life. All of our lives. And death. In small town UK. The characters are so well written and all of the actors do a spectacular job portraying them. You would be hard-pressed to find a better TV series than this one. Hopefully Netflix doesn't kill After Life too soon.
Fractured
(I) (2019)
I'm split on this.
13 June 2020
Definitely a watchable thriller but some of the plot devices were a bit nonsensical. This had some similarities to Mr. Anderson's The Machinist which was a tremendous film. Sam Worthington does a decent job keeping the viewer engaged, and the cinematography and music helped retain a good deal of the edge. But the twist at the end left me completely shattered.
Fargo
(2014–2024)
Fargo reimagined...for the worse.
13 June 2020
I don't get it. You take a Coen Brothers classic and concoct one of the dumbest, most vacuous TV spinoffs ever? It's neither funny, nor dark. There is none of the uniqueness or charm of the film. All of the actors are trying way too hard and, Billy Bob Thornton, he might as well have worn a sundress and bunny ears. I'm floored knowing the Coens were closely involved in this since they're notorious sticklers for perfection. This mockery is going to leave many fans out in the cold.
Barry
(2018–2023)
A brilliant show with brilliant actors.
13 June 2020
First off, if I was a filmmaker I would hire Anthony Carrigan to play the lead role...AND every other role, male and female. This guy is absolutely phenomenal. Bill Hader has always been amazing and is perfect in this. Every single character stands out, even the minor roles. If I had one criticism, it would be the finale of Season 1 seemed a bit pat and forced. But I'll take it considering how good this series is. It's time to change my Tinder settings to Chechens only.
Leaving Neverland
(2019)
Kiddies Lives Matter
10 June 2020
A twisted and depraved pop icon who revels in sharing his bed with little boys, greedy pageant-parents living vicariously through their children by pimping them out, and a couple of forty-year-old losers attempting to cash in on their fairytale odysseys at Never Neverland. This was a four hour crusade that could've been edited down to thirty minutes. But at least it answered one burning question; how Michael Jackson got the inspiration for "Beat It."
Hammer
(2019)
My faith has beeen restored in Indie films
5 June 2020
Exceptional acting and directing make this a must-see indie crime thriller. It's proof that every good film starts with a good script regardless of budget size. Will Patton was superb. The other unknowns all turned in riveting, believable performances. It's definitely Hammer time.
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