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Poor Things (2023)
Vile
Here is why this film is vile. Critics are claiming it to be empowering to women and it is not. The non stop gratuitous sex is overdone and difficult to watch as the character is a child, mentally at least. We see our protagonist evolve from immature sheltered horror to a more worldly and mature horror. Did she suffer cruelty, yes. She also inflicts it with great relish. Bella becomes increasingly unbearable as the movie progresses. I am a former fan of Ruffulo, lost all respect for him after his ridiculous white savior stunt during the Flint, MI water crisis. And Stone appears to be taking darker and darker roles, making her less likable in the process. And seriously there's too much of her lately....like they did with Paltrow, Ryan, Robert's, Hathaway...over saturation of the same actors. Viewers like variety, Chang it up a bit. And lastly, the movie stunk and made me feel gross. Just yuck.
The Gray Man (2022)
Not terrible
It was something to do, not much depth or development but it's an action flick. Ryan Gosling is ripped, we only get to see a bit of his physique which was disappointing. Billy Bob plays an unusual role for him, too caring which was odd. Chris Evans character will remind you of an evil Freddie Mercury, comical. The ladies are out shined by too little Alfre Woodard. She is the strong female lead here, they underutilized her. Instead they went with cookie cutter bad assery from the interchangeably sufficient Ana de Armas and Jessica Henwick. Could be some Gadot in there, any of them could do these roles. Rene Jean Page is seriously just another pretty face. The relationship between 6 and Claire was charming, but not quite enough to create an investment. The action scenes are interesting but very choreographed...looks more like dancing with blood and bullets than actual combat. And even so, still a decent watch. But I don't think I would watch it twice.
The Time Traveler's Wife (2022)
Omg, I'm embarrassingly obsessed
And a bit enamored by Henry and Clare. I've only reached episode four, which is stellar btw, and how can I be in love with and want to take care of these two characters at the same time? Ridiculous. Like I said, obsessed. Watch it.
1408 (2007)
Omg, gimme more Cusack
I've had a mad crush on John Cusack forever and this movie is almost all JC, it's dark and twisty, messed up in a Stephen King can only do fashion. I pick up new details everytime I watch it again. Never disappoints. Keep in mind that there are two endings available for this film, the one I purchased is my personal fave but I can't tell you which one it is without ruining it. Look up the alternate endings and decide for yourself. Seriously, I was a hardcore SK fan before he went bat crap libturd but that still doesn't taint this story. Watch it.
The Shack (2017)
Misses the target
In a desire to be inclusive, hollyweird has missed a basic tenant of humans, we are comfortable with familiarity. Mack and the other heavenly beings should have been black if they wanted papa to be Octavia Spencer. Or all Korean or all Philippino, you get it. God presents in a form we can accept, if a person expects Allah, that's what they get. Another mistake is the complete absence of consideration for the grieving mother, she appears to just breeze through the tragedy of violently losing a child. Ridiculous. Where is her rage, is it not allowed? Why doesn't she blame Mack? A mother of any color would blame him.
So many obvious mistakes, this movie sucks.
Four Good Days (2020)
I understand the low star reviews
The acting by Close and Kunis is fantastic. I read in many of the low star reviews that the addiction and withdrawal portrayals are sanitized and disneyed. Guess what? Cancer, Stroke, accident injuries and my personal peeve, COMAS, are not accurately portrayed either. If any of these things were portrayed accurately, no one would watch it. And I don't think that people should be made aware of the horrors of any of these things if they don't have to. Deeper insight into addiction is not something anyone untouched by it needs. To say that it is is arrogant. People joke about comas all the time. It is not someone laying peacefully in a hospital room. It's horrific. And no one needs to gain more insight to make the victims of cancer, coma, injury whatever feel validated. If you are unlucky enough to experience any of these, included addiction, it belongs to you.
The movie is good but depressing. I won't be rewatching it.
Ghostbusters (2016)
No, no and no
I just finished the latest release "Ghostbusters:Afterlife", that movie was good. It made me remember this reboot and why it just fizzled compared to the original GB. The original only had one scene chewing over actor with Bill Murray. One obnoxious guy with three semi level headed guys works. Three scene chewing over acting women and one semi balanced woman does not work. McCarthy, McKinnon and Wiig are just trying to outdo each other and the result is painful to watch. I don't know why Leslie Jones agreed to this movie. The movie stinks because they tried too hard, not because they are women. It's starting to look like female ensembles don't work because their egos are too big. Anyway, don't watch this, find "afterlife" if you want to have fun.
Wipeout (2021)
Swing and a miss
The hosts are not good in this reboot. It would be extremely difficult to top John, John and Jill, but this trio is like they want it to be bad. They have been set up to fail for some reason. Someone allowed these three to tape shows that they were not prepared to do. It's embarrassing and sad.
A Castle for Christmas (2021)
That was fun
It was slightly cringe, but not enough to turn it off. I loved seeing Brooke and Cary in something new, and they are both sexy as ever. The scenery is lovely, the castle is impressive and the story is so tired. So very tired. The formula needs some reworking I'm afraid. I cannot speak to the Scottish accent, but, I will say that I understand. Americans have the privilege of hearing our accents slaughtered daily, mostly by Australians.
So if your looking for a slight tear jerker while you're wrapping or decorating or just unwinding, go ahead and indulge. It isn't a masterpiece but it is fun.
Red Notice (2021)
Kind of silly
Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. I guess the leads want to make all their money now and will do any schlop to get it. Sucks to be us. We lose time and money every time this happens and we don't even get a decent distraction from the our effed up reality.
Ragdoll (2021)
Made it two whole episodes
If a show can't get to a hook in two episodes, don't bother. Interesting premise but not interesting enough to be bored to tears with woke propagandists. At least try to make it less annoying with good writing instead of this slop. The Lucy Hale character is a ridiculous stereotype. It is just as offensive as any other stereotype that is currently unacceptable. This show takes preachy and offensive to a whole new level. Bravo.
Love Life (2020)
Occupies some time
It's an easy watch except for some cringy dialogue. Seriously, no one needs to make a word salad to convey a thought, get to the point already. And all through the show the protagonist is shown growing and advancing at a ridiculously easy pace, yet she maintains the very unprofessional habit of peppering all speech with the word "like". So annoying. So if you really have time to kill, watch it but don't expect much.
Edited to add that season two starts off with a heavy handed dose of anti white propaganda. Way to work the hate hustle, morons.
Ghosts (2021)
Just okay
So after reading the reviews saying the bbc version is so much better and blah, blah,blah.... I watched the bbc one, available on HBO max as of today. It is far superior to the USA show. So go watch that one instead. Or watch both and decide for yourself. And please try to refrain from generalized statements like " Americans suck". It's juvenile and inaccurate.
Cherry (2021)
Excellent acting, terrible story
Ugh, so depressing. You wait and wait for something good and you get nothing. Zero. Zip. Your actual life is much more entertaining than this sad story. If you wake up every day, your life is better. Period. Hard pass.
Chapelwaite (2021)
Have cc turned on
You will need cc to decipher what the characters are saying, and then you can determine that the mumbling gibberish is just bad writing. I wanted to like this but it's boring. No way around that fact. Even better actors couldn't salvage this wreck, many of the secondary characters are played by the "D" students in acting school. Waste of money and time.
Midnight Mass (2021)
Kind of a mess
What the af is this supposed to about? Vilification of the Catholics, retribution of Muslims, vampires, second chances, miracles? None of the above it turns out that it's just filler, or confetti. Bah. Trying to tie this disjointed mess together using divine spark was weak.
Yes there are many SK themes used here, it's like Flanagan took bits of every SK story and threw it in a blender...and there you have midnight mass.
And the monologuing, oh my lord shut up already, does Kate Segal get paid by the word, it's like she repeats everything she says. Reminds me of a student trying to stretch a writing prompt. And Beverly, every catholic parish has one of her, that part was accurate at least.
After Hill House and Bly Manor, shows that I rewatched, this effort is dismal.
Clickbait (2021)
Unbelievable
Ridiculous premise, and atrocious casting.
Spoilers, lot of them coming
Nick and Sophia are not a convincing couple, it's makes zero sense. They have zero chemistry. The police are not this stupid. The sister is an annoying brat. Attractive women that have options don't get catfished. People that have inappropriate emotional responses should always be suspect. Just so much wrong with this show, it just wastes the viewers time.
Doctor Foster (2015)
Depressing
Adults behaving badly. If you want to be depressed, watch this terrible show. I wish I hadn't.
Our Friend (2019)
Difficult watch
Well made movie, I have so many opinions regarding the story but I won't go into them. If you haven't seen the movie they would be incomprehensible and if you have you wouldn't like my honest opinion of Nicole. If you do watch this, I highly recommend you read the article that this movie is based on. Look in the Esquire archives for "The Friend". The additional information covers the gruesome details left out of the movie. What a nightmare. May God bless the Teague family and Dane.
Queen Bees (2021)
Not worth the wait
Waited for the rental and very happy I did not waste 20 bucks on this. This is a prime example of all of the best scenes being in the trailer, they did some pretty clever editing to make this movie look like a comedy. It isn't. It is a fairly accurate depiction of relatively healthy eighty somethings in a community. I doubt they would be groomed so well in reality but it is a movie. None of us look as good as the actors. Fact is this movie is depressing, I had rented it to see if my 87 yo mother would enjoy it and I don't think she would. The whole scenario aside from some sleazy characters is unbelievable. Queen Bees was a huge disappointment. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't good either, wait until it's on a streaming service you already subscribe to.
The Empty Man (2020)
What happened?
From what I understand, this movie is based off a comic book series. Had I know that I would not have wasted a second on this. But, this movie has money behind it, better than average actors, terrific scenery. All surprises but the plot is convoluted nonsense. I enjoyed the 1995 arc much more than the 2018 two hours of nonsense arc. When the identity of the "receiver" is revealed, they blow up their own plot. I don't regret watching it once but I wouldn't do it again.
Dispatches from Elsewhere (2020)
Interesting interpretation
Of the afterlife, and past lives, and the spirit world. But to be fair, this show danced around the topic without ever touching it until the end. I can see why so many people are confused.
Mare of Easttown (2021)
The women carry this
Kate Winslet is phenomenal, Jean smart is phenomenal, all of the women are. But the men, some of the male characters are positively cartoonish. Great watch if you can get past the underdeveloped male characters.
No Country for Old Men (2007)
I was misinformed when someone said this movie was awesome
To be clear, so many notable and excellent actors that there are too many to mention so I will review the story. Not good. Lame. Sucked big time. A rabid animal of a sorry excuse of a man kills indiscriminately but randomly gives some victims the benefit of a coin toss, because life is a coin toss? Nope. It isn't. Trying to dig into this story to somehow fabricate a moral compass for a monster is ridiculous, and an indication that professional help is needed. It isn't even about the money. Dumb movie glorifying a sociopath while minimizing literally everyone else, when everyone else is better than the sociopath. Waste of time.
The Woman in the Window (2021)
Didn't read the book
So, going in my expectations were zero. I enjoyed this movie, interesting. I chose it because I love that Amy Adams is choosing roles of real women and not plastic Barbie dolls that don't exist in real life. Julianne Moore plays yet another annoying character, which she is consistent at. I'm thinking that annoying is all she can do, she does it well. Jennifer Jason Leigh, minimal screen time but how many powerhouse actors do you need? Wyatt Russell is good enough, but like all children of famous actors, I always wonder if they would still float to the top without their famous lineage. Either way, this is a decent movie...I may even read the book. Recommend.