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Reviews
Fantastic Four (2015)
Diasppointing waste of opportunity
I write not to add to the well deserved chorus of negative comments to the Fantastic Four movie but to express my profound disappointment to the producers and director of this movie. I am a longtime fan of the Fantastic Four and had been somewhat disappointed by the 2005 and 2007 F.F movies directed by Tim Story and forgot about the unreleased 1994 version of the movie. The 2015 version of the F.F. movie repeated the same critical mistake of the 2005 movie of saving most of the action to the end of the movie. Where as the 2005 movie had comedic undertones, the 2015 movie had a slowly developing serious undertone that was very boring. I had enjoyed the previous movie "Chronicle" that the director had previously directed but the director was way out of his depth with this movie. I was disappointed with all of the actors in this movie; Miles Teller was underwhelming as the genius Reed Richards, Jamie Bell was unimpressive as the strong man Ben Grimm and both Kata Mara and Michael B. Jourdan were undeveloped as Sue and Johnny Storm. I had hope having Michael B. Jourdan playing as Johnny Storm would have been a nice touch to the movie but unfortunately, even if Chris Evan had been re-casted as Johnny Storm, the director would still have not had the skill to make this character very interesting. I had tuned out most criticisms of this movie when it first came out in order to see the movie with an open mind but unfortunately, the criticisms against this movie is all true. I hope a better effort is made or the upcoming Dr. Strange and Black Panther movies and that this Fantastic Four movie serves as a warning to the future producers /directors of those 2 upcoming movies as to what not to do.
Annie (2014)
A good update of a classic movie
I am very disappointed in the low mark given to this well made update of the movie Annie.I have seen the 1980's version of Annie many times.While Cameron Diaz can't really compare to the comedic genius of Carol Burnett, her change of heart towards the end of the movie is still very affecting.I loved Quvenzhene Wallis' portrayal of Annie in this movie.Thank goodness, Willow Smith passed up on this movie.Quvenzhene showed so much heart and determination and talent in this movie that I felt proud to watch this young girl growing up in this movie.Critics have noted that the director Will Gluck must not have been comfortable in presenting more musical numbers in this movie but I did enjoy the musical numbers that were there such as the seen where Annie received some bad news about the search for her parents and sang the song" Tomorrow "thru the streets of New York to show that she was still determined to try to find her parents. The musical scene for the song "I think I 'm going to like it here" was updated and well done. I loved the new song written by Sia called "Opportunity" which symbolized what all children need in order to fulfill their potential in life.Overall, I enjoyed all the performances and liked the changes made to the story from the 1980's version.
Battleship (2012)
Enjoyed the movie despite other viewers hating it
Battleship is a movie that a lot of folks seem to enjoy hating and like to write the reasons why they hate. I saw this movie for free and enjoyed it. I seen the movie a number of times on cable and still enjoyed it. Sure, Taylor Kitsch is an annoying character in this movie and his unlikeableness from other movies such as John Carter seemed to have carried over to this movie but as set up by the screenplay, Taylor's character was suppose to be unlikeable at first so that as the confrontation with the aliens continued, he was supposed to have grown into a better "Navy Commander" character.Sure, the aliens were poorly set up . They have to be the most polite alien invaders in movie history, in that, they only react to actual military threats against them before responding in kind. The initial first contact between the aliens and the Naval task force is bizarre with the most of the Naval Commanders reacting without common sense when the first attack begins. Taylor Ktitsch's character being warned twice not to touch the Alien ship which he disregards and touches the ship. Taylor's Naval Commanders actually stepping outslde the ship's commander center during the first attack and then being killed thus making Taylor's character in command of the ship when he gets back to it. I could go on and on about the negative aspects of the movie but there are still enjoyable aspects to the movie as well. First is the Navy ships themselves; the destroyers and , of course, the Battlship Missouri. Gregory Gadson is a wounded warrior who plays a bitter double amputee veteran.He may not have a lot of acting skills but he brings gravitas to his role and I give Director Peter Berg much props for including him in the movie.For the most part, I even enjoyed Brooklyn Decker and Rihanna's roles in the movie as well.
3 Days to Kill (2014)
Disappointing action movie
I saw 3 days to kill at a movie preview.The promos for this movie looked pretty promising but within 5 minutes, I could tell this so called action thriller would be a let down. First, Amber Heard plays a character way too young to be a seasoned CIA operative. In the initial meeting with the CIA big shots, she looked like a girl fresh out of college.The CIA seems to have opened their bank accounts to her as she spends money on unnecessary sexy disguises and fast cars that she really doesn't need to advance the so-called plot of identifying and setting up the assassination of a deadly terrorist. At least the terrorist isn't portrayed as the typical Western-hating Islam fanatic. Most of the action sequences are pretty tame with most of the bad guys being dummies with poor shooting skills.The relationship that the Kevin Costner character very slowly develops with his daughter is really a foregone conclusion but the ring tone interruptions by his daughter while Kevin Costner is going about tracking the terrorist is amusing.
Ender's Game (2013)
disappointing movie version of classic book
Ender's game the movie was a great disappointment for me.I have read all of the Ender's Game book series and had been surprised at the news about the writer Orson Scott Card's being against gay marriage. Surely a writer who had focused on the character Ender Wiggins'greatest strength, his empathic nature, would have some empathy himself.The movie disappointed me because it should have been a combination of Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow. Such a combination could have developed two intriguing characters, Ender and Bean. Of course that mean that you would need an excellent screenwriter and director but unfortunately, this wasn't the case. The movie as shown could only focus on Ender and even that was done in a limited fashion. True, it would have been impractical to have Ender and the other kids as young as they were in the book.But key elements were missing from the movie that would have made it a better adaption. The fact that Ender killed 2 kids who was bullying him in the book made it all the more tragic due to his empathic nature. In the movie, it was only hinted that the bully Bonzo was dying. The actor Moise Arias was really miscasted as Bonzo Madrid. It was laughable seeing the taller Ender and the rest of Bonzo's teammates being bullied by this actor.The actor who played Bean was a relative newcomer so once I had heard that he had been casted as Bean, I knew that no elements of Ender's Shadow would be in this movie.In the end, it was another example of Hollywood diluting a classic book of its main strengths based on the underachieving abilities of its producers, directer and screenwriters.
Un château en Espagne (2007)
unimpressive French Comedy
I was rather surprised at how totally self centered and mean spirited the two main characters " Maxim and Esteban" were to most of the other characters in "My Very Best Friend" for most of the movie. If a child of mine were to curse at me, unnecessarily and continually torment their little brother or complain about watching video games while they were watching video games then most of their time would be spend in their rooms doing whatever tasks I have directed them to do. Of course, that is not what happens in this movie when the two kids lie and manipulate a way for the two friends to stay together. Unfornuately, I was too turned off by their unsympathetic attitudes to really care what happens to them. I only gave this movie a "3" because of the great cinematography work that was done for this movie. The colors were vividly bright and colorful.
I Declare War (2012)
I declare this movie sucks
I do not know what movie the other reviewers were watching because "I declare war" was 90 minutes that I wasted watching this crap. The kids repeatedly mouthing innate conversations while on the hunt for the enemy camp that no real kids would actually be saying. A so called wannabe military strategist General PK replying "no" when a kid asked if Napoleon ever lose a war, I guess the movie writer never heard about Waterloo.The only part of the movie that I found even remotely amusing was when the kid returned to the enemy camp where he had been tortured and overacted his death scene after being shot by the enemy camp kids.I believe this would have made a decent 30 minute episode of the new twilight zone. Anyone who thinks this movie belonged in the top ten movies of 2012 probably also thinks Spring Breakers should get a Best Movie Oscar nomination.
A War of Children (1972)
long remembered ending
I have not seen this movie in over thirty years and yet I can never forget the ending of this movie.As an African-American,I did not find anything to laugh about in this movie with all the discrepancies and inaccuracies that a few reviewers have mentioned. That the British soldiers' uniform may not have been accurate or where the movie was actually shot were not issues that mattered to me while watching this movie. There may have been some illogical plot twists in this movie but overall, the movie achieved its main point of how war affects children.I only remember how such a thing as hate can destroy people's lives and of course, that children are the first casualties.This movie first made me aware of the troubles in Ireland.I was impressed by the acting of the young actors.
Boss (2011)
Well made but disturbing
I caught the pilot episode of this series .I was impressed by the making of it but disturbed by it as well.I was disturbed that a corrupt, dictatorial person of authority was the focal point of these series. I was also disturbed by the fact the the people that suffered this corrupted mayor's wrath were Hispanic and Afro-American people. The reminder to the Afro-American doctor's continued silence was rather over the top and chilling in its blunt brutality.I doubt that this series is going to be about the downfall of this corrupt and dictatorial mayor and therefore won't be inclined to continue to watch any additional episodes