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6 Underground (2019)
I need more cowbell.... I meant Ryan Reynolds (not enough Ryan Reynolds!)
I think NETFLIX should have stuck with original title "Ryan Reynolds; THE MOVIE!", it begs the question if one can have just too much Ryan Reynolds and still be entertaining and I know what you are thinking; the Deadpool series has an uncomfortable amount of Ryan Reynolds yet somehow manages to remain entertaining... this film has even more.
You see the geniuses over at FOX studios have figured out a way to pepper their movies with just enough away time from Ryan on the screen so you can collect your thoughts and get reinvested in the movie, well NETFLIX doesn't play your rules maaannnnn and if they want all of the Reynolds lines to be jokey than so be it. My guess is that they thought Ryan Reynolds was Dane Cook and I could see how they could get them confused but even Cook couldn't make EVERYTHING funny.
How could they squeeze more entertainment into only one film.... who better to explain all the plot points than Morgan Freeman unless of course you have Ryan Reynolds cast; actually I've only watched the first 45 minutes (needed a break) so Freeman could be in the movie I guess. I was going to do a Tom Cruise comparison about screen time but I've run out of steam, watch the movie and good luck.
IMDb Originals: In Memoriam 2018 (2018)
Touching
Gotta love that Charismatic smile from Burt Reynolds, for the user that was asking why Tom Petty wasn't included... well this is the Internet "Movie" Database, I'm sure there are a multitude of musician based websites that didn't mention LaVerne. 2018 has been a year of great loss for me and it's nice to see our dead being honored, thank you IMDb for helping us to remember the gifts of talent that have been shared with us throughout the years ^_^
Hereditary (2018)
Unpredictable
I like when smaller Studios like A24 make Horror films... they are just so much more interesting than the movies the giant studios make to please the masses; smaller productions by default need to be more clever and while they may not smash Box Office records they bring joy to the few Savvy Connoisseurs.
The movie starts with death and you're sure you know where it's going on with the Granddaughter Charlie but you don't because (shocking twist), then the Mom kinda in a way and then the Son and then the Mom in a big way and then the Father... the Mom again and then the Son but it all comes back to the Daughter.
Does that make sense? No it doesn't which is why this is a great movie to watch!
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
The first half put me to sleep but the second half was just amazing!!!
I was worried Disney would ruin this franchise but I was wrong... it's slow to get started but once it does it is positively riveting. There are a few plot-holes and if you can see your way around those you will ultimately the movie.
The Parking Lot Movie (2010)
Wow, What a bunch of losers!
It's amazing how these useless people in our society who most likely smoke weed everyday claim to be somehow superior to those of us who just hold jobs (doing actual work) making money by earning it rather than extortion.. I never pay for parking unless it's a meter; paying for for parking is like paying to take a s**t!
The Shallows (2016)
Title suggestion
If you've seen this movie then I'm sure you would agree with my synopsis a re-worked title suggestion that "Sharks are A**holes", according to the IMDb guidelines I may not use profanity in my review but you get the gist. I've never liked sharks and I imagine I'm not alone but this movie takes certain liberties with what I would consider to be normal shark behavior... it's not a bad movie and it has some production value but some of the plot-points are ridiculous to the point of being funny. I still enjoyed the movie but maybe I was alone in being the only one in the theater laughing at some of the more horrible scenes, I generally care about the outcome of the protagonist in a given story however when the shark is just dead set on murdering you (just for the hell of it) then I'm left wondering how it is we arrived at this point... global warming perhaps??!
See the movie, it was good... particularly her co-star Steven Seagull xD
The Revenant (2015)
This is what movies should be!
Our group was split about which movie to see so half of us saw the Revenant and the other half saw the Hateful 8 (which I'd already seen twice)... man was I glad I saw the Revenant instead. The cinematography is just stunning, the CGI is most realistic (although you know it must be CGI because they can't train animals to do that stuff) and the story-line is compelling beyond belief.
Because of all the running water in the movie I wanted to go pee after the first hour but each time a few minutes would pass another amazing event would happen which kept me glued to my seat as I didn't want to miss a single thing; see this movie if you love great film-making.
Texas Rising (2015)
What part of "Dramatic Interpretation" do these reviewers not understand?
I actually read one that somehow compared this series to "The Lord of the Rings"... Lol, what dorks! It says right at the outset in plain English that the story is loosely based on historical events i.e. not a documentary; so do any of these ticked off reviewers know what a drama is... I mean besides the one they are personally having over the the production of this movie?!
All the egregious inaccuracies aside that somehow defame the great state of Texas in so many ways that I'm not even seeing (but I guess you had to be there... like some of these reviewers think they were), the series was alright; a little slow at points but worth a watch. I didn't like Bill Paxton cast as Sam Houston probably because he looked nothing like the "Actual" Sam Houston who existed hundreds of years ago... also there was a bush in the town of Victoria that shouldn't have been there; seriously just enjoy the movie and don't over-think things... you'll be happier in life.
Godzilla (2014)
Fantastic
Compared to the 2000 version this is epically superior, the acting is good and the size and scope of how really large Gorija or Godzilla is kept in perspective at all time; great storyline with all questions answered and very convincing special effects.
You find yourself actually cheering for Godzilla through most of the movie which I think is key in that you draw a connection, I can't think of a way they could have modernized or improved the concept any better than they did; in my eyes it was flawless and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
My only plight with the film was the military insistence that the only way to destroy the monsters was to use nuclear radiation which is what in fact created them to begin with, is our US military really represented to be that stupid even in film?
It Follows (2014)
Fantastic score
The movie was pretty good too, it doesn't rely on a lot of "startle takes" where something jumps out at you from the corner of the screen when you sort of already expect it but instead uses more of a "creep-out" factor that kind of makes the hair on the back of your neck stick up; it was a refreshing change although I didn't jump out of my seat it was still plenty scary.
I mention the music because it really does set the mood for the scenes... Especially "old maid" which just drives home the creepiness and unstoppable nature of the thing that "follows"; not surprisingly there were a few other people that stuck around for the credits to see who was responsible for the music. Band called Disasterpeace in case you are curious.
The film has pitfalls such as how the curse or whatever you call it is transferred which I think just gets silly at some point but the horrifying aspect seems to make it worthwhile, the concept of someone just walking towards you has never concerned me and this film makes you at least temporarily question if there should be cause for concern; that's good film-making.... My only question is why was it released wide in essentially every other European country and even South Korea before being released in the U.S.?
Are we not savvy enough to appreciate a film of this scope while the "Furious 7" release is being played every 30 minutes in 5 different auditoriums at the local Google-plex?... How stupid is the premise for that film and why do we still cater to morons in this country?
The Gunman (2015)
Not that good
Some performances were better than others, the ultimate goal of the movie took forever to get off the ground (like the first half)... I miss the old Sean Penn who took roles displaying his raw talent over these emotionally enriched character development stories which quite frankly come off as emotionally supercharged in my book.
The film has some good shootout sequences and Javier Bardem is a joy to watch but the story just isn't there for any kind of connection to the rest of the characters, I'm kind of surprised this emo-fest wasn't the brainchild of Clint Eastwood to begin with.
What action sequences there are well done but there are far too few for a movie called "The Gunman".
Run All Night (2015)
Good action flick (Dumb name)
I honestly don't know why the Ed Harris character gets so vengeful at his son's death, Danny is a punk and a threat to Harris' business and you get the feeling eventually Harris himself would have taken the boy out just to prevent his own downfall; Neeson did him a favor in fact and if the roles were reversed it would have been perfectly understandable why Neeson did what he did.
Decent gun-play although let's face it the odds of the NYPD not being able to track an alleged cop-killer are not very credible (dirty cops but still nonetheless). In fact D'Onofrio (the main detective) doesn't even run forensics on the gun that killed the Albanians found in the back of the limo till long after everyone is dead... that's pretty shitty detective work if you ask me.
It's hard to feel sorry for anyone in this film including Conlons' son because he's just such a dick to his father until the very end, Common gave a good performance with no real clear point as to why he wants revenge on Jimmy (for free)?! I forget what city I'm in at times until they show the L trains (and they show them a lot) for effect and then it brings me back much of it looks like it was shot elsewhere.
Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (2015)
Why no Cusack?
They couldn't afford John Cusack or he is just to big for dumb movies now?*scratches head*... Oh well the movie clearly wasn't as good as the first which seems to be a dilemma Hollywood is facing with all it's sequels these days, it seemed to me to be basically the same script as "Back to the Future" with a lot of reference being made to that movie by the actors at first tongue in cheek and then to the ridiculousness of how much they were referencing that movie.
The movie had potential to be something original like the first but it seemed like the writers just gave up half way through, Craig Robinson did not disappoint on his behalf though... I'm starting to think he makes any movie (no matter how bad) better and he definitely made me laugh. The plot-line is sort of a whodunit which really I thought was just a huge time waster that could have been used for more creative plot twists.
Oh and the soundtrack was better in the first one too.
One good thing I can say about this movie was there was some ridiculously stupid MoFo 3 rows back who decided to take a phone call during the movie and I looked back and said "Are you actually talking on the phone during a movie?!"... the one thing they ask everyone NOT to do! He didn't respond, I settled down and tried to get back into the plot and about 20 minutes later he left because I guess the movie was just too stupid for him so for that the movie was good enough in that it got an idiot to leave the rest of us in peace... I mean who the F%#!@ do people think they are; honestly?
The Lazarus Effect (2015)
Better tagline: The door doesn't close til something goes through
People who've seen the movie will understand the my tagline suggestion, I was interested in seeing this the first time I saw the trailer on YouTube where "big surprise" 95% of the comments were from wackos claiming the film was "Blasphemous".... well I'm here to tell you it is safe to watch and there is no blaspheming occurring in this film; what's more if you like movies about evil being unleashed as I do you will likely enjoy this film.
The movie is short (83 minutes) which is fine by me because I don't like movies that are slow to get started or full of pointless gimmicks, there isn't a lot of character development except for the main character (Olivia Wilde) and other than Donald Glover I really don't care too much about what happens to rest of the cast but it was suspenseful although it does rely on some typical horror movie clichés.
I gave it 9 stars because there were moments when I was genuinely scared in the sense that I would hate to be in that persons situation at this point... what would I do? Also this is the type of film I'd like to see more of, I think the last movie I saw with evil incarnate that kind of shook me was Devil by M. Night Shyamalan and that was 5 years ago; Cabin in the woods was good too but it had more camp value than genuine evil affectionate draw.
I hope this film does well and as it is left intentionally open ended I can see how it could make it to the sequel stage which leaves me hopeful although lately sequels to some great first release films have been crashing and burning like Hotub time machine and Horrible bosses... I will remain hopeful ^_^
American Sniper (2014)
Real disappointment with some of my fellow reviewers
I read a lot of one star reviews that claimed the movie was a bunch of propaganda and I can only conclude they are referring to the news footage in the film of the 9/11 attacks and several American embassy bombings that occurred around those years, I think the footage lends to the character development of Charlie the protagonist of the story and to anyone who saw those planes fly into those buildings as I did on that day who still draws out conspiracy for the sake of propaganda I'd say give it a rest because no one really cares what you think anymore.
I was ready to give the film 9 stars just to offset the nonsensical rantings of all the one star voters but to be honest it wasn't as great of a combat movie as I'd been led to believe with the scale of 10 leaning towards a movie more like Black Hawk Down, truth be told I thought the action sequences seemed like something you see in a lower budget film or even something made for cable television and quite frankly I'm starting to wonder if Clint Eastwood hasn't become menopausal with all the tear-jerk reaction scenes that are shot each time Charlie Kyle comes home from a tour.
Did I care for Charlie? Nah, he was kind of a dick but I would imagine most SEALS are, considering their really just trained for one thing and with that said I supremely value the contributions made by them on behalf of their fellow soldiers; this guy prevented the bloodshed of many American soldiers and for that he should be commended as he was with great pomp and fanfare... but seriously Clint just do a film without all the emo stuff for once will ya? I gag on that crap and have hated your movies since Mystic River for just that reason... start taking hormone replacement therapy or something to remove all this effeminate crap from your films. Thanks
Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
Charlies' Angels meets the Knights of the Roundtable
Well done although there is no actual Roundtable in the film, this movie is more action based than your typical Bond film which leads me to strongly suspect it was made by mostly Americans besides the actors of course; I reference Charlies Angels for the creatively composed action scenes... tasteful use of CGI and the clever and sometimes ironic use of songs (mostly American) that play over some of the more violent scenes.
The movie pokes fun at the formulaic pitfalls of typical Bond films with some tongue in cheek dialogue and presents some plot twists that really were unexpected from what I gleaned from the trailer; most everyone's back story is explained with the exception of the villains henchwomen whom I would call scissor-legs but the story of how she arrived at her present skill-set is never addressed.
The fight scenes are very well choreographed.. one in particular seems at first to be a single shot until you realize the cut-away scenes of others reactions in satellite locations although they are not the Kung-Fu style I prefer such as in movies like Charlies' Angels or more recently Oldboy (American release) and more along the lines of a Jason Stathem movie but with more violent outcomes.
In all it was clever, comedic, thoughtful and action packed.
Nightcrawler (2014)
He's kind of a dick
Our main protagonist is just a common thief from the beginning who evolves into opportunist that benefits from human tragedy... at first just what he encounters but then escalates to the tragedy he orchestrates for the camera (money being his only God), how he came about the extreme opportunistic ability to force those around him into submission is never really addressed except with a scene where he claims he took an online business course (with unlikely results). Gyllenhaal denigrates nicely but there seems to be no tipping point where he measures the pluses and minuses before making his decisions culminating in a clash of likability for the character and utter disgust.
Dracula Untold (2014)
Impaler
I've seen the connection to Vlad the Impaler before to Lord Dracula and the loss of his bride being the reason he drinks human blood in defiance of God which curses him to all damnation but this was done with a slightly different twist on the loss of his bride and his decision to remain immortal to reap his revenge so I give points points for that but what I miss is the details about how Vlad went about impaling the thousands of soldiers before his palace or how he impaled the thousand others when he was still fighting for the Turks, that to me is a story in and of itself that should be told... I mean it takes time to impale several thousand humans on stakes and then to make sure they stay upright... that is quite a task and I would like to see it explained. The special effects were nicely done but short lived, we could of used more of that and less (love scenes with Dracul and his wife); honestly I don't even get why they put love scenes in a movie like this??
Creating Freedom: The Lottery of Birth (2013)
Eye opener
I am not a hippie conformist and in fact I think they are wrong most of the time but I can admit that the window through which most of us us view the world is very narrow and I think it would benefit us all to expand our understanding of the world, this movie poses some very enlightened concepts that in my mind should be part of the regular college curricula as it is in many of the more enlightened countries around the world.
After I watched the film (for free on Hulu) I decided to leave a comment but they only accept comments from face-book or yahoo although while I was reviewing the comments some guy was calling fans of the film "pinkos" which doesn't make any sense since the film expressly calls for free thought and damns closed cultures that dictate preconceived dictates. I would have argued the stupidity of his argument but I don't have a face-book account.
I encourage everyone to watch this film at least once as it revolves around the quote of the once great Mahatma Gandhi "You must be the change you wish to see in the world". Nuff said.
Lucy (2014)
100% not achieved
I've been dying to see this movie since I saw the trailer as I thought "Finally! A great summer movie" in a summer that has offered very little in the way of great movies, Lucy had the potential to be a great film but they dropped the ball... it wasn't awful but it wasn't very good either.
First the parts I did like, Scarlett Johansson has some pretty sweet revenge scenes which I always like to from a female lead and she's fun to watch during some of her ECUs while she delivers her dialogue, some of the action sequences were well crafted as well and got me excited but they don't crescendo well as the level of intensity goes up then down then medium then down then high then low???? I'm no screenwriter but I'm pretty sure film school 101 tells you to just keep turning the dial up.
Morgan Freeman delivers his dialogue as scripted literally... like he was reading a script to the audience, I love this actor but he doesn't seem like they paid him enough for his role in this film judging by his performance; it's almost painful to watch.
100% in the review title refers to the ultimate level of brain usage Lucy achieves by the end of the movie, so what happens when you use 100% of your brain? Well apparently you develop the ability to convince the studio that produced the film that special effects should ridiculously cheesy and not even in a tongue in cheek sort of way... like the editor actually looked at these scenes and actually thought they looked good.
Bottom line: 3rd rate special effects, Scarlett is fun to watch, good fight scenes, bad guys don't speak English to a fault, plot-holes, worst performance by acting great Morgan (sad face), good action sequences, good visual relays, disappointing ending.
Along Came a Spider (2001)
How does Morgan Freeman stay the same age?
I remember seeing this gem in a theater (I guess it must have been about 14 years ago) and Monica Potter seemed so young and vivacious like Ashley Judd who is just a tad older than Monica (point of fact) but still looks incredible... I guess it's a southern thing (Monica from Ohio and Ashley from SoCal.).
In any case after looking at the time that has gone by it would seem that Morgan Freeman should have aged as well but he still looks pretty much exactly identical to how he did in this movie so I'm calling "Conspiracy" on Morgan Freeman an his anti-aging technologies!
Don't get me wrong... he doesn't appear any younger... he just doesn't appear to be getting any older either (for the last 20 years?).
The Rover (2014)
Build up to nothing
There were a few times when I contemplated leaving before the film was done but I convinced myself the ends would justify the means... boy was I wrong; the protagonist and his unlikely companion murder a dozen innocent people throughout the outback just so he can get his car back with his dead dog in the trunk that he wants to bury.
Maybe Australians have hugely more regard for dogs then they do for human life and I'm missing that, at the end I felt I'd reached a pointless point. The kid who plays the half-wit/savant (I think it's the guy from Twilight) in the movie does draw you sympathy and for that I give him credit, the story however while graphic doesn't convey a message... any sort of message at all!
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (2014)
Dumbest host ever
Even worse than Leno, is NBC allergic to real late night comedy? Who's funny? Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel, David Letterman, Stephen Colbert... even the watered down version of Conan Obrien on TBS is still funnier than the comedy bereft Fallon.
Fallon is funny if his material is scripted and rehearsed as in the movie TAXI or on SNL but left to his own devices he fails to deliver anything other than just goofy and that gets old real quick, most likely if he fired that rasta band and quit smoking so much weed he could actually deliver some punchlines that wouldn't make a real comic vomit his liquor lunch.
I hope if NBC keeps this guy they go completely bankrupt for having the stupidest idea ever, it would be a well deserved closure.
The Fifth Estate (2013)
Not what I expected
As I was driving to the theater I was thinking about what my review might sound like based on just what I'd seen in the trailers, it sounded something like this "all journalist get into the business for the right reasons such as making the world a better place but it usually winds up being more about celebrity status after a while, this movie demonstrates the true initial journalistic urge"... well I was completely wrong and the movie did just the opposite of confirming my suspicions.
The movie starts out by convincing you of the genius and passion of Julian Assange where you feel compelled to see him as a champion for justice but about half way through you start to see him as a real A**hole (this is as the movie portrays him, not my personal view), as it proceeds his character gets worse... almost villainous (not that he surrounded by angels; mind you).
I think it worth a look especially if you were not aware of the WikiLeaks phenomena as it was occurring, I for one found much of it informative and I believe it will raise some awareness about censorship in the media and the plight of genius (if not bordering on madness but isn't that always the way?).
Machete Kills (2013)
What did you expect
I read another users review that had a lot of negative things to say about this movie and it's audience and to that reviewer I say "what did you expect" and "did you even watch the first movie?". Because why would you go to see this one if you knew how the first one was, for that matter are you even familiar with the Robert Rodriguez genre? I voted your review as "not helpful" because it was all BS.
In any case for the rest of you who did see and liked the first Machete you will not be disappointed, the sequel matches up very nicely with even more ridiculousness than the first. I honestly wasn't sure if this movie would ever get made, I was pleasantly surprised they used the innocuous title they said they were going to use in the original.
Fans of Rodriguez will not be disappointed with the wit and humor of the fantastic cast; especially Demian Bichir who plays Mendez. I had wished there was more Antonio Banderas and less Amber Heard and maybe I'll mention that to Robert if I ever meet him.
Not all the jokes were funny but that gave it the element of cheeziness one would expect, like when Michelle Rodriguez and Amber Heard are trading one liners you half expect Machete to tell them both to shut up because they can't trash talk. I sat through til the end of the credits to see any out-takes and it wasn't worth it; just like two 5 second spots. Gaga was pretty bad-assed but i felt she could have played a larger role i.e. more screen time.
In all, I gave it 8 stars, definitely a fun movie.