rehabdoc Reviews

Fast Foodies (2021– )

Cringy

[4/10 · 17 September 2021]

Doesn't work. A bunch of young chefs who are not that funny, trying to be entertaining and really trying too hard.

Needs something else to make it watchable, some kind of structure on the interactions, or straight man to temper all the one up man ship of the bad unscripted humor or something, I don't know what would help. Cooking shows (or any kind of reality show) really do have to have a lot of authenticity in the people to make them watchable. But here all the authenticity I feel is a bit of sadness under the faked enthusiasm of the chefs.

Food premise is also uninspired. We don't really learn a lot about cooking. Just 3 talented but pretentious young chefs kind of showing off.

Format is a failure. And I'm sure these 3 chefs are talented and nice people, but not everybody was meant to be a TV star.

The Beast (2020)

Acting is way below average.

[2/10 · 28 November 2020]

Acting is a little worse than you'd expect in your typical bad B action movie. Like "first time acting gig for an athlete" bad. Think Rhonda Roussey in Expendables X. Or Worse than Chuck Norris when he started way back when. Script and tone are outdated. Cartoonishly written. Fight scenes are very amateurish and outright slow. Unexciting. Made for TV.

Why is this trending on Netflix?

Emma. (2020)

Lol... I love this and most people missed the biggest change...

[10/10 · 31 October 2020]

I love this version. It is my favorite screen version in fact (and I have really enjoyed all of them, including Clueless).

I think a lot of people seemed to have missed the most important difference of this version, though the reviewer here did mention the realism and visceral nature.

What I see as the most important change is Instead of the usual hiding and glossing over of the mechanics underpinning the romanticized world and era, inhabited by the charming main characters, where some kind of invisible magic allows these people to spend their lives in idle gossip and melodrama... de Wilde and Catton choose to ironically place the upstairs/downstairs nature of daily life right in every gorgeous and cluttered scene. The servants hustling to make all this happen, you see their faces, the expression of the effort, the privilege of the people who take them for granted, the class disparity, in the backdrop of the most gorgeous world of all the versions I've watched. But it's not meant to make the main characters look unsympathetic or cruel; it's just beyond their radar. And given Emma's entire plotting is informed by class and her perception of class, it's a very welcome layer of complexity.

I think a lot of the extreme negativity (in IMDb reviews user reviews) towards this movie, and comments about the main characters in this version being charmless, comes from viewers being subliminally put off by the oblivious interactions of the main characters with their omnipresent servants, which also colors perception of Emma's actual dialog about class. Interestingly the many reviewers seem to find Bill Nighy casually treating the omnipresent servants like they are Alexa the automated house, and give him a pass. Reviewers judge women more harshly.

Most productions of Emma discreetly put the servants off the screen via closeups on the main characters, and cut off their heads, or make them leave the room etc., so you just perceive the movie and scenes to have not actually contained all these other people.

This version of Emma doesn't judge Emma and her fellow privileged class... it allows you to appreciate the narrative strictly from their point of view, and she is charming and empathetic and naive and well intentioned in that light. But the second narrative they ironically stares us in the face the whole time, is the spoiled, privileged, life melodrama and life of leisure they are all living, as the servants, in frame, scramble to make it all possible.

I think it's more realistic, and a much needed realism, that is usually deliberately glossed over. It is usually glider over in order to be able to continue to romanticize the era and enjoy the whimsical fantasy nature of these period stories. This version of Emma is kind of a post-Downton Abbey (which while trying to more realistically portray upstairs downstairs and the critiques of this privileged aristocracy, still took an overly romantic view of the landed), Parasite era awareness (complex problems of class through a modern eye), take on Emma.

It's enjoyable still on a straight story level, acting is top notch, and definitely my favorite screen version of Emma.

Lovecraft Country (2020)

Very clever premise and fantastic performances after 1 episode

[10/10 · 17 August 2020]

Jordan Peele is a genius. Even you find his other work a little clunky or on the nose, I think you may still enjoy this a lot. Just being black and traveling cross country in the green book era creates a baseline level of danger and tension that puts the viewer constantly on edge. When the monsters show up it's actually an incredible relief and release of all of that. Very entertaining, love the background of the main character, war vet who loves sci-fi and fantasy I read in college, Lovecraft, Burroughs, Wells, etc. then ends up living in it. I think they really do a fantastic Job of baseline World building.

I'm only one episode in but I'm hooked.

While the show is very meta in its premise, it's all played very straight, without people breaking character, and the grounded elements (the home neighborhood, the racism across the gorgeous picture perfect countryside, family life). Actors are all excellent. Direction is excellent. Clearly there is a bigger arc going on, but i understand many of the episodes will also be MOTW. Special effects so far very professional.

Don't seek to be promoting this one that hard On the HBO Max app. But I think it could be breakout hit. Much more accessible than Watchmen, which this will inevitably compared to (I loved both. But Watchmen moved slowly definitely was aimed at a more comic book audience and required full investment and concentration on detail to enjoy. Lovecraft Country is compelling just being with the characters, especially Atticus, living lives in 1950s America. A war vet who fought for his country with many towns that don't even let him eat in a restaurant. The pride. The anger. The resentment. So much to bear.

Hopefully the main bigger story arc will hold up as the series Unfolds. I have faith in Peele.

The Witch: Part 1 - The Subversion (2018)

Excellent performances make this very engaging despite convoluted script

[9/10 · 19 June 2020]

Kim Da-mi and Choi Woo shik are really excellent and charismatic. All the acting performances are very very good. Weakest area was plotting which was a bit too convoluted (too ambitious, but I am reluctant to fault that), and some of the side character metahumans make themselves into cannon fodder for no reason, which annoys me. Kim and Choi are definitely the best part of the movie. Choi's cynical killer with a devilish sense of humor slipping back and forth between a English and Korean, being sinister, is just fun to watch all day.

Kim Da-Mi goes on to bigger things in Itaewon class as the lead, and Choi Woo Shik of course in Parasite. But both show they are capable of stardom here.

Ad Astra (2019)

This movie is really really dull

[4/10 · 9 June 2020]

Nothing dramatically interesting goes on in this entire movie. On paper it sounds like a really Cool, contemplative, space film exploring deep themes, but it is not. The space stuff is not realistic, and the science is not sound at all. It's all just an excuse to shoe horn mediocre action sequences (For the masses) and the director's simplistic theme (for the critics), that "we're all we've got".

For the record, it would not be even theoretically possible to RULE OUT intelligent life in the galaxy from a station in our galaxy. There should be no existential crisis arising from not being able to answer the question.

It really feels like the director is trying to be profound but he doesn't have profound ideas. He's just not all that smart.

My Mister (2018)

Favorite kdrama of all time.

[10/10 · 29 March 2020]

IU is fantastic. Very good writing. So much to love here. Great performances. All the characters have so much balance to them save one. Loved every minute of it.

Avenue 5 (2020–2022)

Two episodes in I have yet to laugh

[4/10 · 31 January 2020]

The scriptwriting is bad. More trying hard to be super clever than actually funny. No genuine emotion going on with any of the characters because everyone is hamming it up, and nobody wants to play "straightman" to all the mugging and quipping. The Jack Black impersonator is weak as hell. Hugh Laurie is deserving of so much better than this.

Production values are fine, With pretty sets for the cruise ship in space. CGI for space is nothing special.

No laughs, occasional chuckle, and the mike hogging passenger lady is irritating AF. mercifully the episodes are 30 min. If they were 22 for commercials it would be better. If episodes had been 1 hour, I would not have been able to finish one.

Maybe it will get better. But I'm not hopeful. I will only return to give it another chance if the score suddenly pops up to 7.5+ or rave reviews start coming out at end of season.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

For me, it doesn't age well.

[6/10 · 13 January 2019]

I am a huge fan of Milos and Jack, and this supporting cast (Dourif, Devito, etc) is amazing, but based on my personal experience in the medical field and dealing with people with mental illness, I don't think the portrayals were very authentic or believable. I think the movie also trivializes the severity of mental illness that leads the people to be institutionalized in the first place as well. I think Ratched is a rather unfair stereotype of the seemingly joyless, sensible shoes, marmish, rigid, head nurse who is portrayed to be a straight up villain on a petty power trip. Chaos = good, order = bad: this is all just sloppy anti-establishment fluff.

And the idea that the institutionalized mentally ill just need a field trip, booze, and hookers to enrich their lives is insulting.

Then the final plot point where Randle gets lobotomized for daring to bring booze and girls in and defy Nurse Ratched, defies all credibility.

I think the movie does a real disservice to the mentally ill as well as the psychiatric field in general. If I had watched this as a child I would have gotten a really distorted perception of many important topics, and this misinformedsimplistic mindset is something I see from many ignorant well intentioned people when they comment about institutions, skilled care, etc.

Girl From Nowhere (2018–2021)

Great show... different... super creepy

[10/10 · 11 November 2018]

Horror series. Great mood. Kind of J-horror crossed with outer limits crossed with grindhouse. Very naturalistic setting And performances, but insert this super creepy lead actress. Definitely uncomfortable, which is a good thing for a piece of art like this. I like that it doesn't give away where it's going as a series right away.

I predict this will be remade in US in English. It's good enough and different enough.

Travelers (2016–2018)

Very pleasant surprise. Very good show. Great characters.

[9/10 · 26 October 2018]

Such a good show... starts slightly slow, like it might be just another lightweight action genre show... but it just builds nicely with wonderful chemistry and really excellent characters, especially Reilly Dolman as Philip the traveler landing in the life of a heroin addict, just a standout. Low stress to watch, yet still completely engaging because of the characters. Premise is kind of 12 monkeys, but operationally like CSI, but the tone is a darker and more complex (but still aspirational) Quantum Leap. Stand alone episodes and mythology arc work well together and so far two seasons in, it's gotten stronger, no drop off.

The Resident (2018–2023)

Just watched one episode... great cast

[30 January 2018]

Show seems OK so far. Really excellent cast, likeable and good actors. Definitely on the melodrama side. Moralizing definitely on the heavy handed side.

Do note that a large number (16%) of the 1 votes are clearly politically motivated, from conservatives, because of the liberal slant of the undocumented immigrant plot line.

This show is far from perfect on the medical details, but the 1s are undeserved in my opinion and the lack of scores in the 2-6 range are really telling, with most scores 8-10.

The Emoji Movie (2017)

Sorry, but not as bad as claimed

[5/10 · 10 September 2017]

This movie is aimed at children, and my daughter enjoyed it a lot. While the movie wasn't great or even really good for an adult, it was nowhere close to as bad as Angry Birds or Boss Baby. I expect it to be worse than most of the non-Disney, non-Pixar stuff.

I saw one reviewer compare it unfavorably to Wreck it Ralph and Inside Out, but come on, why is that comparison even being made? Those are GREAT movies in their genre.

This is a 5. It held my attention without irritating me, while my 4 year old enjoyed herself. Jokes didn't all hit, but the inside the phone software metaphors was more on the mark than the vast majority of live action portrayals of virtual worlds.

Frankly I think the script needed maybe a couple more rounds of rewrites and it would have been above average.

Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia (2016–2018)

Spectacular show - fun, great mythos, great visuals, great relationships

[10/10 · 26 December 2016]

This is an absolutely top notch show with a legitimate season long story arc like Buffy the vampire slayer. Characters, friendship, and relationships are emphasized and everybody speaks with their own voice. Top notch voice acting from Kelsey grammar, Anton yelchin, Ron Perlman, and the people nobody heard of as well. Very positive role modeling. And of course unparalleled world building, monster design, and visuals that always come with Guillermo Del Toro. Troll market's wondrously glowing beauty reminding me of Book of Life. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

. . .

SPOILERS: If you loved Buffy, lots of stuff clearly referencing Buffy. No question the plotting is HEAVILY influenced by season 1&2 of Buffy the Vampire slayer, which was also set in high school with a "chosen one" in a world of supernatural (trolls replace vampires) . The first two episodes here are actually titled becoming part 1&2 which is the name of two of the greatest Buffy episodes of all time, as if to cement the Buffy reference. The main character lives with a single mom, just like Buffy, and slayers/trollhunters are supposed to work alone. Except this one acquires a gang of scoobies who eventually make indispensable contributions. Angor Rot, one major opponent, is Basically much like "the Judge" in Buffy. They sit basically on a hellmouth type gate out of which the greatest evil entity is trying to escape, and only The hero himself is key to opening the gate to let him into our world.as season goes on, he is hiding more and more from mom, straining their relationship The coming out as a hunter/slayer scene to mom is a little reminiscent of the Same scene in Buffy. The mom bashing a bad guy in the back of the head shouting get away from my son is a direct homage. Also like Buffy, huge emphasis on having to hit the ancient tombs and study to beat their enemies. And the trolls turn to stone in daylight like the vampires.

Yet despite taking many plot points and the core character dynamic from Buffy, it feels fresh and there are constant surprises. The main characters are very different. Jim is a nurturing type boy who cooks gourmet meals for his mom to take to work at her night shift work as a physician. The bully kid interestingly is strongly reminiscent of Kent from Real genius. Too much like him not to have been deliberate.

Gods of Egypt (2016)

So bad that it's fun

[7/10 · 27 October 2016]

It starts out where you're just constantly asking yourself "Good god, did a child write this?" It's got this silly, gravelly voice-over filling us in on mythology, which is a very arbitrary, hilariously specific variation of Egyptian mythology using the original names. Music is straight up bad Version of Stargate/Mummy ripoff. All the gods are just like 30%-40% bigger than the humans, which means almost every shot in the movie has to be digitally composited for no particularly good reason. The Gods have Gold for blood for no reason (not a spoiler. It's like the 3rd line of the voice-over).

Tons and tons of overacting going on left and right. Effect are really bad. Like eye rollingly bad. The CGI is quite shiny, but they way they cut back and Forth from CGI to enhanced live footage that doesn't quite match is so jarring. Movie is worth seeing for Jeff Rush (who is weirdly reminding me of James woods here) just blasting through embarrassingly bad dialog. There is just... so... much... shiny CGI here, even for stuff that is unnecessary like the guy who storyboarded and directed didn't give a s*** what it costs, just put what's in my head on he screen. And SO uneven in quality.

The fights are the worst kind of badly cut, like it was made in the 50s. Truly terrible fights, where they cut back and forth between CGI version of character lunging back to closeup of actor from different angle over and over. . But yeah good natured, naive, earnestness of the whole thing won me over.

I don't think it was just low expectations lifting the movie up. It was like watching some weird foreign film take on clash of the Titans in Egypt by people who just completely lacked certain literary skills but really loved what they were doing.

Make no mistake, this is a bad movie but it's exceptionally bad enough to be entertaining just for that.

Watching great actors speak such terrible lines alone is worth the price of admission

Webgirl (2014)

Not horrifically bad but not good either

[3/10 · 9 July 2016]

Saw this on Amazon prime because it was free and had a 7.2 on IMDb (with 28 votes) and setup seemed like it might be OK. Regular shmoe comic owner in small town meets web cam girl. Made on a tiny budget, a nice Indy change of pace, maybe? Thought perhaps it could turn out to be a gem like a low rent Chasing Amy or Swingers?

But no, this was amateurish stuff. Other than the high resolution on the filming, this was purely made for web kind of stuff. Forget about Chasing Amy or Swingers. It's well below anything you will ever see in a movie theater. Worse than anything you'll see on cable TV actually. Acting is a little better than Cinemax porn, and writing is about the level of bad made for Syfy channel movie.

Mixology (2013–2014)

honestly could anybody possibly think this show looks appealing?

[9 March 2014]

Just awful. You would have to have absolutely no taste at all to like this. I believe the positive reviews are by studio plants. A bunch of caricatures and unfunny, sarcastic , "banter".

The commercials marketing the show also are terrible as well. Who approved those? They are annoying.

Its really kind of insulting, especially placing this after Modern Family, which is an absolutely brilliant show. Mixology is the worst show on scripted prime time that I can remember. Yes worse than the worst of those CW shows. It reminds me of one of those fake commercials for fake shows you sometimes see on SNL.

Easy A (2010)

Good movie. 80s nostalgia for grownups, more than teen comedy. Gratuitous Christian bashing detracted.

[7/10 · 18 September 2010]

Enjoyed this flick. Go 80s!

1) I like Emma Stone, an intelligent, articulate and charismatic actress. 2) Made me think a little of Mean Girls in structure, though Mean Girls had sharper comedy, though Emma's better than LL in this kind of role, and Easy A was definitely more... sincere. 3) Family interaction was very enjoyable if a little unbelievable. 4) Premise was not believable in 2010 high school, that a girl claiming to sleep with somebody, would generate a stir. Maybe in the 80s. 5) Actors and actresses, I agree, were more like community college age than high school, and that was at times jarring. 6) Thomas Hayden Church was fun.

7) The Christian bashing was gratuitous... I can understand making a joke or two about Christians promoting abstinence, but the non-funny caricatures of over-emotional Jesus promoting, emotionally stunted Christian club went on and on and on. I don't know when it became "open season" to thoroughly bash a religious group like that, but it was over the top and unnecessary. Unlike the rest of the characters in the movie, the Christians are NOT actual fleshed out characters, despite the amount of screen time. They are tacked on, like the writer just had a personal agenda.

Despite the Christian baiting, which I pretty much tuned out halfway through the movie, and definitely marred it unnecessarily, I enjoyed the rest of it, and give it a 7.

Takers (2010)

Quality, updated Mashup of John Woo, Ocean's 11, & lots of other stuff...

[8/10 · 6 September 2010]

First off, I have to say that this is a good movie, and I can say with 99.9% certainty that the ridiculously low IMDb rating of 4.7 that is currently there at the time of this writing is due to dishonest raters that I know did not actually watch this movie.*

Both my wife and I liked this movie a lot, because it was engaging and well paced, did not take itself too seriously, yet took itself seriously enough to respect the characters, and kept the suspense up throughout, with surprises at every step. Acting performances weren't all great, but none were embarrassing, and many were a step up above what was expected.

Action sequences were all very good, though could have done with less shaky cam on one of the chases. Certainly far less annoying than Bourne shaky cam.

I would describe the movie as a perfectly paced, slick, hip-hop generation mash-up of HEAT, John Woo films, Ocean's 11, Italian Job, The Professional, The Matrix, Tarantino/Woo/Leone, by a director (John Luessenhop) whose intelligence really shows on the screen... Despite all the homages/imitations/derivative elements to the script, nothing about how the film is shot in a half-baked or clichéd. Even the points in the story that could potentially lag a little, Luessenhop knows exactly how long to hold a scene, cover for his actors, or put a little visual interest in the scene to keep things interesting.

*** spoilers ***

Movies this film reminds me of:

Basic premise of TAKERS and HEAT is a story of a professional crew that robs banks/armored cars, and the cop that tries to stop them. Told from both robbers' and cops' point of view, looking at their personal lives and headaches. In both movies, the cops are far less glamorous and charismatic than the gangsters. Both movies, things fall apart for the gangsters because of (A) a fly in the ointment betrays they (T.I. Harris - Ghost in TAKERS, Kevin Gage - Waingro in HEAT)(B) trying to do a big score on short notice (C) Personal life of one gangster screws himself (Idris Elba - Gordon Jennings with his sister and Chris Shiherlis and his gambling in HEAT). HEAT is considered a classic by many, but TAKERS really doesn't take itself nearly so seriously. The charismatic super- crew of ex-cons that robs banks in both movies is clearly a fantasy, but HEAT takes itself very seriously. In TAKERS, the gangsters are a bit more like the ones in Italian JOB or OCEAN'S 11, but updated for youth. TAKERS is played very naturalistic, but doesn't stretch for any kind of deeper meaning.

JOHN WOO movies are definitely a huge inference, mostly in GQ lifestyle of the gangsters, and their camaraderie... the general tone of the movie... the style of gun play & action sequences of course... and the pacing of the entire movie. Missing was the focus on a bromance/parallel between 1 cop and 1 villain, which seems to be a feature of John Woo movies (and HEAT as well).

OCEAN'S 11 and THE Italian JOB (directly referenced in their description of the armored car plan) both heavily influenced this as well... The camaraderie of the crew... the slickness of the planning... like those movies (and unlike HEAT, where the gangsters have our sympathy, but are still the bad-guys), the gangsters are clearly the heroes of this movie. They even give 10% of their loot to charity. They're not "bad guys"... in the ethical system of the movie, they're just "getting paid"... (and as if to emphasize that even more, one of the main cops steals money too, when faced with a choice).

The fetishism of fashion and violence was definitely reminiscent of MATRIX. The way some of the action was shot reminded me of THE PROFESSIONAL too. Obviously the 3 way standoff at the airport was Sergio Leone, but that's become almost a cliché.

Some people have complained about T.I.'s acting, but I didn't think it detracted from the film. Sorry, but that's how the guy talks.

I think John Luessenhop is very talented. Idris Alba was a standout in the movie. Paul Walker was above average for Paul Walker. Michael Ealy was good as Chris Brown's character's brother, and Chris Brown was adequate to good for a singer. Hayden Christiansen, a guy I can't stand, was better than he usually is. I actually felt bad for him when his character died, which I didn't even feel when he died in STARWARS 3.

Matt Dillon was just OK, but I don't expect a lot from him. With that voice of his, I was seeing Healy from THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY.

Cinematography - very good.

Pacing - very good.

Movie resists the urge to give you too much action from the get-go, and builds very nicely. There is always some reason for you to stay engaged, and you don't know who is going to survive.

Solid 7.5 to 8.

------------------------

* Movie was rated low by multiple people who didn't even watch the film. How do I know this?

I'm no fan of Chris Brown, and I knew Chris Brown hatred was out there but I had no idea how single-minded these people were. 22.1% of voters giving this movie a 1?

This movie clearly has good word of mouth (as evidenced by the B cinema-score, Yahoo A- rating, the #1 opening with Saturday > Friday despite minimal ad support and relatively good "legs" in the second week and highest per theater average, going against a lot of direct male action competition). People who watched this movie liked it, and if not for the dishonest ratings, I'd estimate that this movie would be pulling low 7s, high 6s range on IMDb, as any good action/heist caper movie tends to.