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Reviews
The Fall Guy (2024)
I have many questions but first and foremost, why?
I only watched this because of Gosling and oh my God did I make a mistake. Couple in love. One gets hurt. Why reject your significant other because you got seriously hurt? Fast forward 18 months, couple reconnects. Add in a third and fourth party of slippery a holes trying to frame hot Daddy Gosling and voila, you have a love story/action movie/criminal enterprise/comedy/then back love story. Veering from one lane to the next left me uninterested. Even a shirtless Gosling couldn't cheer me up, that should really tell you how bad this movie is. I recommend Googling "Gosling shirtless" in place of watching this movie.
The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping (2024)
It had the potential to be groundbreaking, but falls short
The unfortunate issue with this series is how poorly they attempted to tell a very serious story. Children were sent to a cult like "school." Parents were duped. Teachers were duped. Everyone was duped. Torture, rape, brainwashing, violence, you name it, these children were subjected to it all. The problem with the storytelling lies in the continued, running narrative. I don't need a constant reminder of how bad it was for each person, that's obvious. There was so much time wasted on so many people telling virtually the same story. The creator of this also is, unfortunately, terribly irritating. It's been nearly 20 years she's left this hell scape and she still holds her father in such negative regard. If I'm to believe your argument, EVERYONE WAS DUPED, that would include your father. Punishing him by continually holding him at bay was deplorable. If they want to heal, move forward with forgiveness, not continual whining about something that happened long ago.
American Nightmare (2024)
Wow Wow Wow
We all know there are people with negative opinions of law enforcement, and there are people that will defend law enforcement no matter what. It is the latter that will have a hard time wrapping their minds around how badly the Vellejo police and FBI screwed up this investigation. This poor woman was raped over and over, and before she even walked into that police station law enforcement believed she was lying. Her then boyfriend, now husband, was also treated like a murder suspect. I cannot stress enough how unsettling this story is as a woman. To know that this could happen and police wouldn't "buy" my story is absolutely terrifying. Every single penny those two were awarded is deserved, and to hear Vallejo police officers were in no way punished is egregious. The inhumanity shown that poor woman makes me physically ill, shame on the FBI. Shame on the Vallejo Police Department, shame on every officer that did nothing. The only other hero here is the female officer that put together what really happened when the others all failed.
Scream (2022)
Lacking in charm or originality
I haven't seen any of the Scream films since the first. I caught this one and saw the cast and thought it would be a decent sequel. Alas, it was filled with more savvy one liners than I can count. Note to writers: people do not talk in snappy one liners. The only reason I gave this film three stars is it was gory and the villains were a surprise. Unfortunately, even the return of much of the original cast couldn't save it. Courtney Cox has had so much work done, and David Arquette has never been a stellar serious actor, and this film carries on in that tradition. Neve Campbell was meh, and Skeet Ulrich can still get it.
Reptile (2023)
Poor editing + lazy story telling = Reptile
I really was hoping this movie would be awesome, but alas, it was just terrible. Starting with the numerous plot lines and clues thrown at you, I counted at least five that were unresolved. Do not take your audience down those roads and then assume we will just forget or ignore that they were unresolved.
You never really figure out who committed three of the murders, I had to look it up after the movie finally ended. That is how badly this movie was edited, they don't even bother to show the viewer how it was committed or who was involved. The laziness of the writers, editors and director is truly shocking.
Savior Complex (2023)
The arrogance of Renee
How do you rate a series like this? There are no winners and there is no silver lining. Christian Evangelicals homeschool their kids and raise uneducated adults that feel the need to relocate themselves to third world countries and save that nation, all the while indoctrinating even more uneducated people into their religion. Renee had no business serving in a medical position. Period. The extent of any education appears to be simply a high school diploma, a homeschool diploma at that. She is regularly filmed inserting catheters, IV's, instructing actual medical professionals on how to do their job. She documented her unethical and dangerous behavior on a daily basis on her personal blog, leaving no doubt as to the extent of her deadly actions. My issue with Renee is she never took responsibility for dressing up and playing doctor. She lied as easily as she breathes whenever confronted with video footage, or her own writings proving her culpability. Her inability to accept responsibility only reinforces the negative stereotypes directed towards evangelicals and missionaries. Her lawyer later goes on Fox News (of course) to defend her outrageous behavior. Painting her and missionaries as the actual victims when over 100 children died under her care, in her "clinic," is appalling. How dare they imply she is just allowed to do whatever she wants because she's a Christian missionary. But if any news organization will stand by and lie for supposed Christians, Fox News is certainly the place to do so. Her own mother defended her abhorrent actions as well, reinforcing their belief that because they were doing something good, they were entitled to practice medicine with absolutely no medical training. The arrogance is what's most appalling about Renee and her dreadful mother, and if they had pulled that nonsense in America, she'd be in jail and Serving His Children would be bankrupt. Luckily, for her, she pulled her entitled/criminal behavior in a third world nation that isn't willing to close their doors on white missionaries that bring a lot of money and aide into their poor nation.
Side note: If you disagree with how truly uneducated these homeschooled evangelicals are, count how many times they use the word "like" and "basically." Renee also didn't know what the word 'neocolonialism' meant, the irony is not lost on this viewer.
The group that called Renee out and brought worldwide attention to her actions, No White Saviors, were majority Ugandans that employed a white woman from an identical background as Renee. They were a relatively unknown group that latched onto Renee's story and exploited it for clicks, likes and follows. They eventually, after achieving an impressive number of followers and appropriately inciting a world of hate directed at Renee, opened a library and cafe in Uganda. This appears to be something that Ugandans are not desperately in need of, as they are literally starving to death. But once the group opened this library/cafe, they threw away their white American compatriot, which was clearly rooted in vague accusations that were never presented. At this point it is clear the Ugandan people are equally as culpable when it comes to using and exploiting white people from the colonizing nations they regularly disparage and vilify. They are now internet famous, but going after white Americans will only you get you so far. They are not taking their newfound popularity and pivoting to the next Ugandan crisis, which will lead to their eventual collapse.
The only person, and I mean the only one, that really shone in this series was the Ugandan lawyer. A woman who was at the receiving end of the unjust Ugandan male-centric hierarchy worked tirelessly to finish law school and start a pro bono law group. She helped file civil suits for mothers whose children died at the hands of Renee's arrogant and entitled hands. She wasn't fighting for evangelical Christianity or for clicks or likes, she didn't argue for herself or for Uganda. She fought for women that suffered as a result of injustice at the hands of white evangelicals from America that felt they could waltz into a third world nation and play God and Doctor to those in true, desperate need.
Shame on Renee, someone that is so uneducated and arrogant it makes you sick. Shame on her mother for blindly supporting her insanely stupid daughter, shame on the churches that support these overseas missionary trips, shame on the Ugandan government that allowed this to continue, shame on No White Savior for offering only hate and zero ways to solve their countries numerous problems. As I said above, there are no winners here. Uganda is still poor, Christian missionaries are still allowed to send people to third world nations, and Renee is still a free woman that will never be smart enough to realize what she did was wrong.
Depp V Heard (2023)
Just awful
The content is there and, quite literally, writes itself. Rather than focus on the trial and major players, this documentary focuses on the impact social media had on the trial. To be honest, I found that to be the most annoying part of the actual trial. Everyone suddenly became an expert on civil cases and felt the world wanted to hear their opinion. This series goes from one nobody to the next, and their outlook and opinion on the case. NO ONE CARES! I wanted to hear more on the case itself, not from the nobodies with no legal expertise. Such a waste of a time, and had I know how bad it would be, I would never have watched.
Oppenheimer (2023)
No one wins
Nolan's best?
Hard to say when everything this man does is groundbreaking. But this man is a genius, and if you didn't realize it before, you will after seeing Oppenheimer.
Cillian wins the Oscar?
There are times you forget that is not Oppenheimer and lose yourself in his heartbreaking performance. I see no reason to even nominate anyone else, The Academy may want to send the Oscar to Ireland now.
RDJ in a non super hero?
People forget that prior to the Iron Man film franchise he was a serious actor. Good Night and Good Luck was one of his best but his role in Oppenheimer has surpassed any role he's ever held. This may be his Oscar year as well, you end the film hating him so much.
Emily Blunt?
The forever drunk, emotionally immature Blunt gives her best performance yet. Being a selfish drunk whose side eye game dominates any scene she's in deserves our respect.
Oppenheimer
I walked out of the film in tears and broken. No one wins. America builds a bomb, drops the bomb, wins WWII, only to enter another, longer war involving a terrifying arms race. Oppenheimer built a feat of science, then was thrown away by the US government that benefited from his invention as quickly as he tested the bomb. Once Oppenheimer realized the destruction he imparted, he realized that his selfishness and greed and need to be the best was all for naught. Oppenheimer doesn't win because he's labeled a communist sympathizer and loses his security clearance after championing a non-nuclear world. But the final scene, with Albert Einstein, who tells Oppy that they will love him until they don't anymore, and then they'll treat him like a relic of some long forgotten way of life-just as Oppenheimer had referred to Einstein earlier in the film-that is the moment it all comes together. I began to weep and couldn't stop. The despair and sadness in Cillian's face when it all falls on him at once, it will break your heart. There has not and will not be a movie like this for many, many years.
Any negatives?
I hold a Masters in Modern American History and a minor in Twentieth Century European History. Nolan did not put a single date in the film. As someone well versed in WWII, beyond the dates surrounding the war in Spain and WWII, I was actually unsure of the timeframe beyond decades. Even at the end when the single Senator voted against confirming Strauss, I knew it was JFK, but still could only say it was the mid to late 1950s. As a proud history nerd, I would have liked the dates. But beyond this, Oppenheimer may be as close to perfection as any film I've ever seen.
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (2023)
You did not go over the wall.
There really are not enough words to capture how utterly beautiful this season is. I adored the first season, but season 2 was underwhelming. This story about the Queen and her George breaks your heart over and over. The entirety of the season is summed up in the final scene, under the bed, with two people seeing each other as they were when they first fell in love. Even after all the pain of Charlotte coming to terms with her husbands mental illness, she never left his side. She would always get under that bed with him, always looked at him and saw the man she fell in love with. I have not cried this hard over any show prior. But you don't finish unhappy, you finish in love with their love.
Renfield (2023)
Everything you want in one movie
Clocking in at around 90 minutes, Renfield has all the ingredients for the perfect comedy. Nic Cage as Dracula may be his best role yet, not kidding, Oscar worthy performance. Nicholas Hoult is hysterical. Period. He's amazing in The Great and is just as charming and funny in Renfield. Awkwafina, who I normally find annoying, was hilarious. Brandon Scott Jones from Ghosts stole the scenes he was in, he really held his own alongside that amazing cast. Last but not least, my boy, Jean Ralphio. That man plays a moron like no one else, bravo. This film will absolutely, guaranteed, develop a cult following. The best scene was when Nicholas Hoult finds Nic Cage in his apartment, not understanding how he got in without being invited. Pan down to the doormat, "Welcome, come on in." Seriously, brilliant.
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
Easily the best so far
I gave this film 10/10 and it earned every single star. Shot in NYC, Jordan, Japan, and Paris, the film captured the beauty and timelessness of each nations' historical locations. The cinematography is the best I have seen in years. The plot emerges and presents an out for John that will release him from his life on the run. Two hours and forty five minutes later, an ending that brought tears to my eyes, including the post credits scene. There is NO WAY our guy is dead, God help me, there better be another John Wick film or we will riot.
The only downside of the film is Reeves' acting. They are smart to give him a small amount of dialogue, anything beyond those few words is comical. But I, as I'm sure many others, forgive him. John is a man of few words, therefore Keanu was perfect for the role. He has always been the rare A lister that acts his heart out with minimal dialogue, and somehow pulls it off. Let that be a lesson to you kids, if you have charisma but sound like a teenage stoner, you too can succeed.
Welcome to Flatch (2022)
Ditch Kelly and the show is perfect
As with The Office, this mockumentary style show brings together a wide variety of unique characters. Unfortunately, the character that plays Kelly is unbearable in every single scene she is in. She is irritating, unfunny, and provides the purest example of overacting. The other characters are all hilarious and act in ways that appear as though they aren't even reading off a script. This show can be one of the best of the year if they ditch the character that plays Kelly and replace her with someone funnier. So I strongly recommend the show, just fast forward through the scenes with Kelly. I've watched the show three times now, and every time it gets funnier.
Terror on the Prairie (2022)
What a joke
Carano and Searcy put up about the worst performances I've ever seen. He used to be a decent actor, perhaps he had a stroke or just forgot how to act. She was in Deadpool and had virtually no lines and still did better in that. Her scenes were painful to watch, and her inability to connect to the audience is why this film has such terrible reviews. I really don't understand why this film was even made, perhaps trying to play off the Yellowstone hype. I'd say this is a B movie, but that would be an insult to B movies that are at least moderately entertaining. I really cannot imagine any of these ten star reviewers actually watching this drivel. Do not waste your time on this flop. And for the love of God, someone tell Carano and Searcy to retire from acting already.
The Ivana Trump Story: The First Wife (2022)
She was a class act, this show did her no justice
This was a series of snappy songs and cute one liners in an attempt to summarize the life of the first person Trump mocked, insulted, and threw away on an international stage. Being the mother of his children didn't deter him from destroying her either, it truly gives you insight into how vain and narcissistic he has always been. She worked, she had a vision, she raised her children, and that is her legacy. Her only error was choosing to marry a philandering liar that gleefully mocked her pain after he destroyed their family. You could see the pain in her face when she was asked to recount how her husband abandoned her for the Dollar General brand version of herself. Yet she wouldn't disparage him or insult him, that makes her deserving of more than a 45 minute series with a bunch of snappy songs and cute one liners. She survived the worst marriage to the worst president in US History, that's how she should be remembered.
Black Bird (2022)
Fantastic series
I read this book years ago, nothing amazing, but passed the time. The show, on the other hand, is dark and gritty, able to present this monster as the creepy pervert he is. Then you have the major theme, the fact that multiple dead women were discovered in different states and counties, exposing how police were too smug and arrogant to work together and too prideful to help the FBI even attempt to link these murders to Larry Hall.
Lucifer (2016)
First 5 seasons are fantastic, 6 not so much
Highly entertaining, lovable cast, interesting back stories of each character emerges as well as a number of those from above or below. Season 6 strays from the formula entirely. Reminded me more of a soap opera-Esque storyline and an ending that just takes way too long to arrive. Other than the final season, the show is phenomenally entertaining.
Crime Beat (2020)
Pick up the pace Canada
The narrator is extremely slow. The episodes have at least 20 minutes that are totally unnecessary. This series, though, has exposed the Canadian judicial system is actually worse than America's. America, overwhelmingly, puts minorities and poor people in jail. Many punishments are unfair, far too long, or outright false. But in Canada it appears you're innocent even if proven guilty. The episode about the guy allowed out on bond AFTER being found guilty because he intended to appeal is tots insanity. Does not make any sense.
Shoresy (2022)
Imagine Canadians playing hockey
So it's Canadians playing hockey. Guy from Letterkenny is hysterical. Writing is solid, jokes come in fast and characters are well developed. I don't understand much about hockey, but no worries. You don't need to understand hockey to form an attachment to the characters. I was rooting for them from the beginning, you will too.
Midnight Mass (2021)
Watched it in two days
Unfortunately life got in the way of finishing this show in one day. I also didn't realize this was another season with the same characters a la AHS. This series is the best, by far, of the three. It appears to be a mix of Jeepers Creepers and Salem's Lot. The reason I gave it 8 instead of 10 is because it just had too much religion. Singing, mass, communion, constant interactions and revelations. Yes religion is the basis of the priests life but come on, one less song wouldn't have killed you.
Why Did You Kill Me? (2021)
I had high hopes
As a true crime junkie, I had such high hopes for this. Using MySpace to hunt down a killer? Brilliant! Problem with this is I was so annoyed and disgusted with the mother I honestly felt no compassion for her. Who doesn't cooperate with the police right after their child is killed? I understand that as a criminal and drug user she doesn't trust the police, but my God woman, YOU AREN'T OLIVIA BENSON!! The eventual arrest of the gang member was awesome, but I don't really understand why he did it. Multiple family members were thrown into this documentary as well, seemingly not in sequence and not adding anything to the story. It just didn't make too much sense to me, I wouldn't watch it again. Do not waste your time.