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dkstarkey
Reviews
The Gentlemen: Where's My Weed At? (2024)
Freddie's gotta go
The Gentleman is an excellent show. The quality of each episode is comparable to a motion picture. The show is fast paced and a fun adventure. Edward and Susie are perfect counterparts to each other.
But after only 3 episodes, the role of Freddie borders on moronic. Freddie is the addict Amrit older brother who has no self control nor common sense. He ruins everything he touches - and for no reason except brotherly pity, Edward keeps trusting Freddie to follow simple instructions. But he can't. He's an idiot. Eddie undermines his own intelligence by continuing to let Freddie screw something up every episode.
It's already getting old. I'll keep watching for the entertainment value of the rest of the offering of this clever show. But the Freddie incompetence storyline degrades the show's trust with the viewer in my opinion. And employing a similarly ignorant pothead Jimmy who uncovers the secret operations is equally unrealistic.
Greater (2016)
Uninspiring film about an amazing person
I feel it necessary to separate the real life story of this amazing young man Brandon Burlsworth and the storytelling, production value and underlying Christian moral lesson.
First the man. Brandon Burlsworth was a man of unwavering faith in his life goals and his discipline to work towards those goals in face of endless criticism. Burlsworth was such a likable person. I cheered for his success. He earned every bit of his success.
The movie. Somehow the nearly miraculous inspiring story of the greatest underdog walk-on (non-scholarship) player in Division I college football was depressing and dragged on and on. Starting in grade school and continuing through high school and at the University of Arkansas football, seemingly almost every coach and teammate in his entire life ridiculed him as fat and deemed him unworthy of ever accessing as a football player.
In addition, his father was a derelict alcoholic, his older brother and de facto father figure also doubted him early and only his mother was his endless cheerleader. His football teammates nearly universally abused him. There was even a random homeless-like local in his hometown that declared God must be bad to allow such awful things to happen in Brandon's life.
The Christian moral espoused by Brandon's Mom of "we are all just a drop in the ocean" and that the afterlife in eternity is all that matters - not anything we do in this life - was, I feel, heavy handed and contributed to the pessimism throughout this movie.
Finally, the acting was poor and the editing was equally disappointing. At one point, I thought that the movie should be over soon. Only to realize it was barely 50% over. Snooze.
I wish this movie lived up to the extraordinary life of the main character Brandon Burlsworth. He set his dreams beyond anyone's wildest expectations. He worked harder than anyone else imaginable academically, athletically and socially to achieve college All American and NFL draftee. He is forever honored with the Burlsworth Award named after him.
I don't know why the movie was so completely depressing.
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Torturous slog of confusion
I approached this movie with great anticipation given all the Oscar hubbub. Great cast - Michelle Yeoh, JL Curtis. I loved Ke Huy Quan's acceptance speech at the Oscars. I was ready to enjoy it!
But holy moly. This was mind blowing in a bad way the filmmakers did not intend. The style felt like a cross between The Matrix and The Shining - but did not approach the entertainment of either of those films. The storyline was difficult to comprehend despite its mind numbing repetitive nature.
Twenty minutes into the movie I was already asking how much longer till it's over (answer: a lot!). This movie is in dire need of an editor at an excessive 2hr23min runtime. In addition to fast forwarding parts to get it over with, there are numerous cringeworty plot triggers involving the characters paper cutting themselves and impaling things up their rectum.
The acting quality was the uniquely impressive part of this experience as the characters must transform abruptly through a myriad of emotions. But in no way did that make up for the stupidity and drawn out torture of the plot.
My wife opted out watching it with me and she was the lucky one. I would never watch this movie again and I'd warn friends if they asked me about it.
Ted Lasso: Lavender (2021)
5-star, certified fresh
While the season two premiere was less laugh out loud funny and more character setting, episode two reminded me once again why Ted Lasso is my favorite show in years. From the opening scene featuring Jamie Tartt on the dating reality show, I was busting a gut laughing. And in true Lasso fashion, the rest of the episode volleyed between laughter and real moments of vulnerability. The writers continue to reward the audience by effortlessly developing Jamie's back story and showcasing Keeley's strength. Roy Kent is rediscovering what makes him Roy F--ing Kent. And Higgins remains an underrated but appreciated team player. I think Ted would rate this episode "5-star, certified fresh".
Call Me Kat: Plus One (2021)
Yikes
I'm not really sure what to say. It's pitched as a comedy though I couldn't figure a single moment when I should even smile, much less laugh. I actually feel badly because Mayim was brilliant as Amy Farrah Fowler in TBBT and I hoped to be entertained.
I was not. The writing and acting felt forced. The storyline was cliche. Part of me wants to give another episode a try, but I'm not excited about staring at my TV waiting to laugh. Disappointing.
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
Sequel undeserving the WW name
I loved WW.
I cannot express how poorly WW84 reflects on the WW franchise.
This movie needed better writing and an editor. Together, all but about 5 minutes of the first 1:08:00 could have been left out of this movie with little to no detriment to the quality or storyline. I finally got up to do dishes as a better alternative to waiting for something - anything - to happen.
Gal and the cast didn't seem to have much to work with in this script. I would have appreciated some gratuitous action scenes just to keep my attention. Furthermore, the CGI was second-rate. It looked like 10 year old caliber.
Without getting into plot details, I'll just summarize my review as follows:
This movie had the feel of a movie made-for-HBOMax; not a studio blockbuster movie that happened to be released on HBOMax due to a pandemic.
One of the weakest and the most disappointing movie I've seen since the COVID-19 pandemic began - and that's saying a lot.
Morning Glory (2010)
I don't know what to say...
Rachel McAdams is a favorite of mine yet I could neither buy into her character nor bear to watch her split personality of manic disorganized workaholic and frivolous ditz. A very odd combo.
Harrison Ford's character is so over-the-top with his pompous ego it's ridiculous.
I think the screenwriters deserve the credit for producing these caricature roles. For me, it was difficult to watch.
Schitt$ Creek: The Olive Branch (2018)
Simply The Best
David's rendition of Tina Turner's Simply The Best was gold. Enough said.
Game of Thrones: Battle of the Bastards (2016)
11
Like in Spinal Tap, I need the scale for this episode to go to 11. Spectacular! Satisfying.
Guess Who (2005)
waste of time
My wife and I went to this movie under the impression that this was a comedy. "A fun lark of a movie" is what we were hoping for on a Friday night. Whoa! We were quite wrong. It was uncomfortable and boring. Uncomfortable like watching "Meet the Parents" where EVERYone and everything in this movie was set up to make Ashton's character feel awkward. Boring - to the point where I found myself looking down and staring at the empty chair in front of me rather than watch the staged events on screen.
There was no chemistry or apparent love between Ashton and his fiancé and no chemistry or apparent romance between Bernie Mac and his wife - who were renewing their vows at a party when the kids come home to stay with them. It was confusing because you could tell some scenes were meant to be "laugh out loud" but we found ourselves just staring at the screen shaking our heads.
The sad part is... we rarely (2-3 times per year) go to the movies anymore because the prices are so high ($9.50 each tonight) and the movies are usually disappointing. Out of 20 movies at this multiplex, THIS was the movie that looked best to us? We're going to stick with Netflix. The only good part of the evening, besides when the credits starting running and we were thinking "that's it?", was that we had gift cards to see this movie, and got cash back when we paid for our tickets. So it was a waste of time, but at least we got paid for our time.
Bad Santa (2003)
"Badder" was worse than I could have imagined
I can't believe someone told me that this movie was funny. Half hour into it, I was in disbelief that someone "green lighted" the making of this movie. It wasn't funny. And there were more F-bombs and other curse words than a George Carlin stand-up act. I can only guess that the writers of this film thought swearing = funny. Guess again. Frankly, I can't even believe that they were able to produce a movie trailer suitable for television with the immense volume of vulgar language.
Lauren Graham's character had no point, except to offer gratuitous sex scenes. And even then it was nudity free so what's the point.
The movie summary states that an 8-year-old befriends Billy Bob Thornton's character and shows him the spirit of Christmas. Huh? Thornton's character split his time either swearing at the sad little boy or ignoring him.
Watching this movie was a huge disappointment and a waste of my time. I hope you don't waste yours.