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Reviews
Leave the World Behind (2023)
Huge bunch of panic at the end of civilization.
Nobody in this film is likeable. The husband is weak, Julia is panic stricken and says things that do not make sense. (let us go to the hospital emergency room when they already know there is no help and no way to get there.)
Why did the sons teeth fall out? Why did two aircraft crash in exactly the same spot? What was the bug all about?
Flamingos on long island? Hundreds of Deer gather with a buck that looks like no deer species in NY.
Why keep your garden tools in a shed a very long way from the house.
Why keep your secret information secret when trying to explain why you left NYC (home owner)?
Gratuitous global warming screed by Julia when nothing about what is happening is related to that in any way
The husband gets lost due to no GPS? He is old enough to know how to read a map or ask where the town was.
Random Spanish woman who could have brought him to town.
Drone spreading pamphlets in the middle of nowhere for no reason.
NO human beings except speaking roles
Satellites out world wide but no AM radio either.
The house has electricity throughout the entire movie.
Stupid love scene?
Homeowners daughter acts like petulant teen even though she is covered with tattoos.
Kevin Bacon survivalist takes paper money.
Glad the daughter (they say she is 13 acts like she is 8) found the bunker. It wasn't locked and got to watch the end episode of Friends. Everybody else just had to get there after but the film ended an we will never know..
New York is nuked (or so) but no sound or blast is heard or felt.
Aliens? Terrorists? Communists? Russians? China? Rogue military? Reversal of the poles? Who knows who cares?
Midnight in the Switchgrass (2021)
Bruce Willis gets a payday.
Murder mystery about dead young prostitutes being killed by a serial killer. Bruce Willis sits in a car, sits in a diner, talks about retiring from his burnt out FBI job. His young female partner/bait carries the show.
It is obvious that most of the Florida scenes are filmed not in Pensacola, but in California someplace. High mountains off in the distance in the background at the diner. Large expanse of golden grass hills at the rural house of a truck driver. Second banana local state cop is a dolt. Com links work until they are needed. Tropes abound. A bit of torture. Commanders who poo poo every idea about a "serial killer" "You're off the case Johnson!" meme. All in all a generic cop/serial killer/made for DVD movie. Female FBI agent is a badass fighter also.
Identity Thief (2013)
Not terribly funny in any way.
You have seen this movie before. A series of unexpected crap happens and for some reason not one person in this movie acts logicly or as an adult might do in this "identity theft" crisis.
Melissa McCarthy mugs and chugs and does some improv. I don't know how much of this was scripted but it didn't seem like it was scripted much for her. Film everything she does and fit stuff in post and editing.
Call the Credit card company and deal with your credit card problems like an adult. I refute these charges and can prove my card and my identity was stolen. No one listens no one can hear whatever bateman had to say. The police were incompetent. Bateman was incompetent, everyone they meet is an asshole or incompetent. A few laughs, a lot of GROAN. I know it is old but it is still available to stream on Prime.
Ramsey: The Vandy Case (2021)
Crime drama that goes off the rails.
Murder mystery about a child star that becomes a cop and gets shot and killed while walking the beat, alone, in a dark deserted alley behind a auto junkyard. This actor and policeperson is never seen again. Could have used a bit of backstory.
The sister (also a child star from "Family Jewels" tv show (ha ha they said Family Jewels when talking about a kids show.) hires a PI who has a teen daughter and is separated from his wife and family.
Things move along until they decided that a subplot about sexual addiction should be added to the plot. Slightly different from Alcohol or opioids or some other plot trope.
This really doesn't add to the plot. Sexual encounters are in the plot but "addiction" only comes up with some support group that his other PI friend belongs to.
The Twist ending could have been done without any addiction at all and only men/women cheating on their respective spouses.
Lots of characters giving exposition in lieu of showing us stuff.
Kateo (2022)
A movie that put every stunt man in Korea to work.
A seemly endless stream of antagonists. Where were all these guys on motorcycles trained? Where were they waiting for just this guy to come around? Who was tracking carter to get them to exactly the right spot for 10 motorcycle villains to attack? How many dead bodies, how many insane anti gravity stunts can there be? How much Blood?
Seems like a propaganda piece for the CCP. Villains? The CIA, The South Koreans, and in the end the North Koreans. Convoluted "plots" mysterious voices. More like several video games I have played and a zombie attack too.... Ends after 2 hours and change but on a obvious sequel as there are many plot points that need to be resolved.
Alien Addiction (2018)
Beautiful scenery, New Zealand stoner/slackers, Aliens!!!
Sucked in by wanting to see what a New Zealand indi film was all about. The location is great, the slacker friends have personality, they do a lot of grab ass and weed and hooning about in their vehicles. What is not to like?
Well the aliens show up in a blaze of a meteor and find they get high from human Scat. Turds if you will. I at that point noped out and watched something else.
Patsy & Loretta (2019)
Another great movie about two of the best country singers of their generation.
I have watched every movie about these two. (Coal Miner's Daughter, Sweet Dreams) and loved them both. A little love for Sissy Spacek as Loretta here, it took me a few minutes to get used to the Loretta in this movie but she did shine here.
A little heavy on the 1950's version of men in marriage being alcoholic babies (can't make yourself a sandwich or feed your kids, really?) But it was more about the friendship and love between two women who were living their dream.
Apostle (2018)
Starts out with standard searching for a kidnapped sister. Descends into gore and weirdness.
It could have been so much more.
Needed more explanation about what was going on on the island.
The first movie I have ever had to fast forward through some scenes just to finally get to the end of this movie. The gratuitous nature of the third act violence doesn't add to forwarding the plot.
Five Grand (2016)
Not a bad independant low budget film.
A man wanted for robbery and murder escapes from a Federal Marshal and his adventure ensues.
The movie itself is fine, the acting is fine, the gun fights and the Pinkerton man are fine.
BUT>>>>>>>> I live in California in the foothills of the Sierra and the change of location is just jarring.
One minute in the rocky desert of the Mojave the next in the Blue oak grasslands of the Sierra Foothills then up to Northern California wetter foothills then back to the Blue Oak grasslands and finally into the Mojave again. All mostly on foot and not possible in the time allotted for the plot.
The only "location" presented on IMDB is the Calico Ghost town near Barstow. Nothing about the rest.
Good movie but I was too familiar with all the location shoots to not be taken out of the story.
Finch (2021)
Tom Hanks drives through a dying Earth .
Tom Hanks as the titular character is not the last man on Earth but he may as well be. He lives in a bunker in a world burned off by massive solar flares.
He is an electrical genius building his own "sentient" robot and trying to survive.
Trouble is brewing though and he must get in his "motorhome" and try to hit the coast in San Francisco from just west of the dry Mississippi river.
His companion is a dog, probably the last dog that hasn't been eaten in the 15 years since the "event". The robot learns and some hilarity ensues from his antics. .
To those who didn't like it as it is slow and character driven (Finch the dog and the robot) not a slam bang gore fest or a slam bang fight scene extravaganza . It is a human story about a human being trying to do the best he can.
Midnight Mass (2021)
Started out fine. Then went in a new direction.
Starts out as a dying fishing village on a isolated island. The old priest left to go on a pilgrimage to Israel. A guy gets out of prison and returns to his island home. A woman comes to have a child in her ancestral home island.
A new young priest arrives saying how the Monseigneur is sick and in the hospital and he is a temporary replacement. So far so good.
Miracles start to happen
A backstory is revealed An "angel" in a box. Devolves into a Vampire/zombie movie with lots of blood and throat slashing.
"Angel" is not an "Angel"
Could have been so much more than a locked room, Zombie story. That was the disappointing part of this show.
Ojing-eo geim (2021)
Great show, very violent
This show is violent and there is a lot of death in it.
But it is compelling and well shot.
Don't speak Korean so I cannot comment on the translations or the voice acting of dub people.
Wild Wild Country (2018)
A fair and balanced documentary about the Rashneesh cult and their effect on a small desert town.
Not a fan of any "cult" and I don't have an ax to grind about this cult or the Town of Antelope. BUT.... The amount of bigotry towards another religion is the whole basis for the beginning of the attacks on the Bhagwan.
The Rashneesh leadership were paranoid and were made more so by by the Government. The hatred of the other by the long time "CHRISTIAN" ranchers while understandable from their standpoint is so blatantly bigoted.
The Feds didn't like their free sex, their "east Indian" roots and went in looking hard at the cult.
The Cult lawyer is still a true believer and filters events that way.
Ma Sheela comes across as a powermad cultist who while accepting the punishment for her crimes and did the time is unrepentant mostly.
Now the site is owned by another cult/group, but Christian so it is acceptable. Looks nice good to have a Billionaire to buy you a cult site built by members/willing slaves for pennies on the dollar and the Christians now make bank with a vacation spot for indoctrinating children.
Just no ecstatic holy sex please.
Body Cam (2020)
Running through abandoned buildings alone with a flashlight.
Stealing a trope from the original X files, many of the scenes are filmed at night, in a variety of abandoned buildings which are constructed as mazes by the protagonist.
An angry ghost movie. No other explanation is needed. As a well trained senior officer she is a wild card who commits various felonies as she moves through the movie.
Worth a watch if you don't expect more than a little ultra violence filmed in dark spaces.
World's Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji (2020)
Great Race, great competitors, Beautiful Fiji Too much sob story.
We just finished binging (over a week) the WTR:ECF and it was great to see Fiji and the heart of all the competitors.
The Focus on Alzheimer guy (props to him) and all his friends and family got a little old after the mention in almost every episode.
Same with the other "older" contestants. Too much sob story and not enough Fiji and the other competitors in the race.
Tighter editing of stories and more and different teams in focus would have stopped me from fast forwarding every time the Feel Good/Feel Bad parts came on.
Gogol (2017)
Russian Series in Russian with english subtitles.
Gogol, a psychologic and mystical thriller set in early 19th century Russia.
Someone is killing young girls in a village in the boondocks.
Gogol goes as an assistant and scribe for a very important investigator from St. Petersburg. He has epileptic fits that show him important information about the crimes they are investigating. This does not please Gogol he cannot control the visions.
Demons ? maybe
Succubus/ghost women? sure.
Murders, plenty and with gore. some sexual scenes but not excessive or played for titulation.
Nudity. If you are frightened by the sight of a naked woman don't watch.
This is not a show for children or the easily offended.
Well worth a watch. It is on for free at this time on Amazon Prime.
Wildfire (2019)
Inconsistent stories. Continuity is weak to non existent.
Come on, How hard is it to have good production values but not continuing plot?
Started out strong. Who is the Guitar man? devil, angel, magical creature.
Why is he doing what he is doing? What happened to the plot set up in the first episode. Why are the episodes so violent without any explanation?
What kind of justice is being meted out and why?
Three episodes to go and I am only continuing because of sunk costs involved in this.
So much potential, wasted
My Dinner with Jimi (2003)
A thoroughly entertaining view of a time and place by someone who was there.
I had never heard of this movie until it came on Amazon Prime in 2019 and as someone who was alive during the 60's it was wonderful.
Howard Kaylan presents a very tongue in cheek look at his experiences with the Turtles at the point of their first "Big Hit" and tour of England in 1967. Meeting all the usual suspects and their British Invasion heros in 1967 London
The Turtles were shocked to find feet of clay in meeting The Beatles, a musical group that were at the height of their power with the release of Sgt Pepper's lonely hearts club band coming the day after the events in the movie.
All the characters are played by actors with various degrees of success. Some come across as caricatures of their public personas. Then again it is all filtered through Howard Kaylan's memory and his well known degree of snark.
Partner Turtle, Mark Volman comes across as a buffoon and is relegated to the background mostly except when singing.
Donovan is a mystic hippie, John Lennon is an insufferable guy. Paul is polite and fun, George just tries to keep John from being an insufferable guy. Ringo is kind of drunk.
Meeting Brian Jones (Rolling Stones) in an alley way leads to being introduced to Jimi Hendrix and the subsequent dinner with Jimi, really more of a way to many drinks before eating kind of gabfest for Jimi.
Jimi is a sympathetic and humble man in this portrait, beset by the same insecurities that Howard has about success and acceptance by the audience..
A wonderful filtered by time remembrance by one who was there.
Mr. Presto (2018)
Every cent of the budget went into this movie.
An independent movie that had decent camera work. But, the lines were read as if the actors never saw them before and didn't really know how human beings communicate.
Like my teachers used to say, has potential but is not living up to it.
I fell asleep part way through and didn't wake up till the motel and nuns scene which is when I turned it off and watched a rerun of Cheers.
C for effort.
Askeladden: I Dovregubbens hall (2017)
A fairy tale from Norway.
I just kept looking at the overly saturated color matching in the landscapes, beautiful.
The dialog was straight out of a video game from 1999, Example: "Look at this I found, This will come in handy later." This was a line several times in the movie.
Sounds from over there, "I better look" Side quest, Weird old lady(?) save her and get magical item, "This will come in handy later".
I watched it on prime, it was dubbed OK, worth a watch if you don't think about it to much.
Probably a good one for the slightly older kids, 8-13 No profanity or sex, Trolls.