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Reviews
Maestro (2023)
Did the cigarette industry fund this?
It's basically a cigarette ad in that everyone is smoking in every scene, but really badly edited in that it drags on for over 2 hours.
I'm not sure if cigarette ads are like cigarette boxes these days in that they need to include a lung cancer warning, but that was about the only gripping part of the plot.
I watched it because I had Leonard Bernstein confused with George Gershwin, and I can't say this has made me want to know more about Bernstein.
Not sure why every biobic has to start with an old dude, then flashack to over their lives -- though going black and white to 50s colour etc does help as done here if you are going to go this cliched route.
Leave the World Behind (2023)
"Night of the living dead" updated for cyberwhatever
ChatGPT, create an update of "Night of the living dead", but with Teslas and other cyberwhatever instead of zombies.
"OK, but I insist on zombie deer for artistic integrity. Also, the entire cast must act like zombies."
This movie has deservedly been trashed by many, but I still think it's worth watching
As in the.50s George Romero movie, the external threat is a lot less scary than what's in the house. The real fear is the paranoia of middle-class folk facing the unfamiliar.
I always felt that Romero's dark-comedy had to be made overt for the Brits as "Sean of the Dead" was pretty telling, buy unfortunately this updates version of his original classic has lost all its humour.
Girlfriend's Day (2017)
What could have been a great Hallmark parody ruined
My guess is this started as an idea to make a parody Hallmark romcom, with the male romantic lead a down-on his luck writer for a Hallmark-type greeting card company.
The Hallmark template is all there, a competition opens the way for a guy who has lost his job to regain his mojo, get the girl...
Problem is Bob Odenkirk, who turns this into yet another Breaking Bad spinoff.
He plays his usual role of Saul, but even tougher, which is extremely unlikely for a guy who is supposed to be a nebbish greeting card writer.
The greeting card owners are thugs who make the druglords in Breaking Bad look like choir boys.
None of the saccharine which makes Hallmark movies so easy to poke fun at survived this mess. The ending where the "good guy" wins the contest struck me that the director suddenly remembered there was some plot originally which he'd forgotten.