Brillfury Reviews

Nefarious (2023)

Not Horror but Almost A Comedy

[2/10 · 25 January 2024]

About 20 minutes in, the sickening realization sets in that this is not a real horror movie, but instead a religious propaganda film, and a really boring one at that.

In places it is almost funny, though the humor is unintentional and comes from the ridiculous dialogue and increasingly over the top acting.

It begins with a completely fictional scenario where a psychologist can evaluate a death row inmate at the last minute to see if they can be executed. A scenario that is completely made up.

What proceeds is a painfully boring back and forth between the two main actors. I laughed at some of the more ridiculous lines and when the actors start getting really campy as the movie goes on.

I have no doubt that a "certain audience" will love this movie, but for normal film watchers and horror lovers, it's a laughable snooze fest.

Good Burger 2 (2023)

Thumbs Up 👍🏻

[8/10 · 21 January 2024]

The OG film has been one of my favorites summer movies for years and years. And today I finally got to see the sequel, and in my opinion, this is how you do a sequel well.

It was so fun for me to to see Keenan and Kel back again, as well as the fantastic familiar faces of the supporting cast.

There are wonderful cameos galore from all sorts of celebrities and every scene is a celebration of the stupid, zany humor of the world of Good Burger.

You could also tell how much fun the cast had, their energy was palpable throughout the whole film. Absolutely loved it, cant wait for part 3 in another 25 years when they are in a nursing home and Keenan Thompson inexplicably still looks the same age as he did in 1997.

Scream VI (2023)

Thumbs Up 👍🏻

[7/10 · 21 January 2024]

Listen, I grew up on the SCREAM movies and here I am 20 years later, loving what they are doing with this franchise.

The acting, writing, and directing is all a slightly different feel from the original two, but I still love it. This movie was very entertaining. They did make Ghostface a little TOO good at combat, it kinda strains the believability, but then in SCREAM V they wanted us to believe that one certain person would be able to kill Dewey which was even more ridiculous.

Loved seeing Courtney Cox return again, love Gale Weathers.

I love Horror movies and I love that with Scream you are always going to get something good. I also am happy that I was able to guess about 80% of the ending. Which didn't ruin it for me, I was happy I guessed right.

The Book of Clarence (2023)

Thumbs Up 👍🏻

[7/10 · 20 January 2024]

I knew I wanted to see this from the trailer. Overall, it is the story of a man who doesn't believe in god and leads a life of crime and finds god in the end. And it happens to be set in Jerusalem right along side the story of Jesus.

So that's the overview. This movie has many funny parts and funny lines but it's not nearly 100% comedy as the trailers make it seem. It's a drama with funny parts.

There are some good action sequences and effects. The acting is incredible!! The music is also really great and I enjoyed the choreographed dance scene.

The camera work is very creative in many parts, including the opening chariot race and the last supper.

The pace does slow down a little every time Clarence's girlfriend shows up, but that's ok.

Go see this if you like a creative film with a lot of metaphors and allegories.

Cult Killer (2024)

Thumbs Up 👍🏻

[7/10 · 20 January 2024]

This is a thriller where a private investigator stalks a killer who is getting revenge. There are some heavy themes in this movie including lots of references to SA, so be warned. There is also a theme of s3x trafficking. I do think the movie treated these parts as delicately as they could, given its central focus to the plot. Meaning, it wasn't dismissive of it but it didn't make it extremely graphic.

I was already unsettled enough with what they did talk about and show.

Loved the "look" of the film and the music.

The acting was outstanding. When I realized it was Antonio Banderas at the beginning, it surprised me because to be honest, he is amazing in this movie, he brings his character to life and I did not know he could act on that level.

This is a dialogue heavy movie and even though I liked it, it does slow down the pace of the movie in several places.

Also, there were many instances where something didn't quite make sense or was not explained well and there is a computer hacking scene that is beyond ridiculous.

See this if you like dark murder/killer type movies and don't mind heavier themes.

I.S.S. (2023)

Thumbs Up 👍🏻

[8/10 · 19 January 2024]

I enjoyed ISS. The premise of a war breaking out between Russia and the U. S. and the members of the space station being pitted against each other was simple but used to great effect.

The acting was very good, as was the score and the visuals. There are a few rough CGI scenes but other than that, it looked amazing. And simulating zero G environment for how it looks on film is no small achievement any time it is done.

Extremely suspenseful movie, I was riveted the entire 90 minute run-time.

I loved the theme of paranoia Vs trust. Go see it if you want to see a psychological thriller set against the backdrop of space.

The Boys in the Boat (2023)

Calm Movie Your Grandparents Will Love

[4/10 · 17 January 2024]

Beautiful cinematography and music. Good acting. Probably technically nearly perfect movie. But alas it is about a very boring, bland topic, rowing a boat. I love an inspirational sports film: Miracle, Cool Runnings, Rocky, Vision Quest, etc.. but I can't get inspired by rowing a boat. Sorry that's just me. I don't care if they ten gold medals, the boat rowing scenes are so beautifully done but painfully dull.

Also, this movie lacks any interesting characters or scenes. Usually movies have some wit or spark or you get to know the characters or something, but this movie doesn't bother with any of that.

This is the kind of movie your teacher will be showing in school when it's an easy day in class and they just want to show the class a nice film.

Or if your grandparents are visiting and you want to put on something they will like or fall asleep to.

The main actor, the blonde guy, delivers all his lines like he gulps air and then burps words.

Anyway to sum up, beautiful film about guys rowing a boat. La di da.

Loqueesha (2019)

You Have To See It To Believe It

[1/10 · 14 January 2024]

Like the title of the review says, you really have to see it to believe it.

Even if the plot itself wasn't problematic, and it certainly is, everything else about the movie is also terrible.

This is an independent comedy written and directed by the main guy, who sounds a lot like Norm Macdonald, but without even a shred of his comic talent.

He plays a bartender who dispenses folksy advice to patrons of the bar, and one day an opportunity to work for a radio station pops up, which coincides with his ex-wife demanding that he pay for their child's expensive school.

The radio station rejects his submission, but he notices they specifically wanted women or minorities, so he invents a character called Loqueesha and submits a new demo.

The voice he does is ridiculous, he sounds exactly like himself pretending to be black and "sassy". Honestly he sounds like Lindsey Graham. Nobody would ever believe that was a black woman, yet he fools everyone seamlessly. The plot gets more ridiculous from there.

But maybe maybe a person could forgive the stupid premise IF it was actually funny. But it's not. Not for one single moment. In fact, a lot of it is pretty boring. There are lots of clips of him pretending to be Loqueesha and answering people's call in questions, and it gets very dull.

The acting is so bad. The sets are bad. The dialogue is bad. It's not even a "so bad it's good movie". It's dreadful. He dedicated the movie to his parents and some twisted part of me would love to know what their reaction was.

The Beekeeper (2024)

UnBEElievably Dumb

[2/10 · 13 January 2024]

Look,I love a good action flick as much as anyone, and Jason Statham is usually awesome. But sadly director David Ayer delivers what will probably be one of the worst movies of 2024. Ayer made one great movie over 20 years ago (Training Day) and also delivered a good flick in Fury, but everything else he makes is horrible. I will admit I did get a kick out of how dumb and goofy this movie is, and laughed a lot. Statham's character is like a cardboard box, it's so boring. Yes his fighting scenes are very cool but he's played awesome characters before that also had a bit of kick. In this movie he gives us nothing.

Phylicia Rashad looks fabulous and gets about 5 minutes of screen time. Jeremy Irons and Josh Hutcherson do a great job but their talents are wasted in this movie.

The plot starts out really promising...who wouldn't love to see a revenge action movie where the evil call centers get justice? But sadly the premise is wasted.

Oh if you love hearing the word "Beekeeper" and references to bees you'll love this.

The dialogue in this movie is so corny. It's almost like a satire of action movies at some points.

In David Ayer's world, nothing works like it actually does in the real world. It is so goofy the way he portrays everything. And this is something he does in a lot of his movies. Just dumb fictional versions of everything from presidents to agencies to how classified programs work. But I do understand they have to make movies and sometimes make everything really stupid to be entertaining. But this movie takes the cake. For instance, call center scams are a real thing and there are many YouTube videos showing how they operate. But in this movie, the call center office is the most over the top clown spectacle you'll ever see and the actual scam is a ludicrous fictionalized version of how they actually work.

The two main FBI agents are portrayed goofy AF and their dialogue is nearly unbearable.

Statham's character, the beekeeper, doesn't want you to steal from old people but he has no qualms with murdering about 50 federal law enforcement officers in the course of the movie without batting an eye.

So if you are about 13 years old this movie will be the coolest thing you've seen but anywhere over that and it's just too dumb. Maybe when it's on streaming it might be fun to watch and make fun of on a rainy day.

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

James Cameron's Awful Vanity Project

[3/10 · 4 January 2024]

I admit I could not finish this. I made it about an hour but I had like two more hours to go and I could not torture myself any longer. I admit when I saw the first Avatar in theaters, I was mesmerized. When I watched it again later on DVD I was less impressed. It kind of sucked and didn't make a whole lot of sense. I avoided seeing The Way of Water because frankly I just don't care about this franchise at all, even though I think Cameron is a masterful director. But finally I decided to try and watch Avatar 2 and man, it is a stinker. I mean yeah the effects in these movies is great but really James, you were away for all those years and this is the best you could think of for a story? The same villain comes back? The humans are once again trying to invade? This is the EXACT same movie except even worse than the first one. Sadly it made a lot of money and there seem to be no limit to how many people think this movie is great so now we have to endure the sequels as well. It just saddens me so much that James Cameron has made some of the greatest movies of all time but will likely end his career on these dumpster fire Avatar movies.

The Color Purple (2023)

Spectacular

[9/10 · 2 January 2024]

I have not read the book, seen the original movie or the stage production of The Color Purple. I came into this completely not knowing what to expect. So I cannot compare it to anything that came before but all I know is I loved it. I tend to hate many "musicals as movies" so I was skeptical. But I loved the songs. Loved the storyline. But what really made it work for me what the actors. There were many times I felt very emotional during this movie because the actors just pull you in with their stories and wit and humor. It was quite a ride but I enjoyed every moment. The only thing I will say is during the last song, that food was sitting there getting cold.

The Creator (2023)

Aiming High But Falls Short

[3/10 · 17 December 2023]

I was fairly entertained by The Creator. For the plot, they borrowed from a trillion other movies like Blade Runner, The Terminator, AI, The Matrix, etc... but almost any movie they borrowed from is INFINITELY better. Still, after mashing all those inspirations together, they come up with a fairly basic plot where the main protagonist ends up helping the enemy to protect the AI child. I could tell they tried to insert some emotion into this relationship, but it just didn't work. Poor Allison Janey and Ken Watanabe are doing their damndest to make it work, but the movie around them is failing.

The effects looked pretty cool & I think they did A LOT for their 80 million dollar budget, as far as the effects. There are 4 big issues with the movie: 1. The dialogue is absolutely god-awful. But I let that go because a lot of these movies these days are written by people who couldn't write good dialogue if their lives depended on it. 2. The main guy is a RAMBO, ie he miraculously survives lasers, explosions, etc... he is the luckiest human on planet earth. 3. Technology rules makes no sense in this movie, even from scene to scene. You expect me to believe for one second that the U. S. stopped using AI and somehow has the military upper hand? Why do the missiles shot from NOMAD need constant guidance from it? The missiles don't have guidance systems which already exist in the modern era? Early in the movie NOMAD needs to be directly over a target but later it can be halfway around the world. Why are the big robust trash can bombs some kind of sentient robot? Why are the AI soldiers not supremely advanced over the humans? On and on and 4. The plot itself is pretty simply but the details make no sense. Plot points are not explained very well and it leaves you with a lot of questions when things do not really make sense. How come sometimes the AI kid can control machines and technology and sometimes she just conveniently can't? Did the makers of this movie at any point just sit down and watch it and realize it really doesn't make sense?!

Honestly I love the idea of this movie but the execution was extremely poor.

Blue Beetle (2023)

Another By The Numbers Super Hero Flick

[4/10 · 18 November 2023]

I finally got to watch this on streaming!! I had been waiting for months and I was hyped by the trailers but I just couldn't make it to the theater when it was out. I don't know anything about Blue Beetle but the promos looked like this was gonna be something really cool and different. So here are the POSITIVES: acting was good, music was good, visuals and aesthetic were outstanding. But sadly it's an extremely formulaic movie with boring dialogue. Once in a while, you get an out of the box moment, but otherwise it's pretty bland. It also commits one of my BIGGEST movie pet peeves, which is that any film that exceeds 90 minutes better be spectacular and need the extra time. Otherwise, get an editor for gosh sakes. This movie, in no way, justifies a two hour plus run time. Really had such high hopes but it just settles into the most by the numbers plot you've ever seen.

Wicked Stepmother (1989)

Absolutely Hilarious

[9/10 · 27 September 2023]

This whole movie is so over the top, so campy & so ridiculous!! I loved every single second!! In the genre of movies that are "so bad they are good" this is the supreme. There are also many one liners in the movie that are genuinely hilarious on their own. I love all the ridiculous elements they threw in, like the lawn vines, the cat smoking a cigarette, and the TV game show lady, "Vanilla" licking Grandpa's face. Bette Davis chews up every scene she is in, and every other actor also tries their best to ham up every scene they are in. I think I totally got what they were going for, and I really enjoyed it!!

Bones and All (2022)

Very YA feels

[6/10 · 26 September 2023]

First, I think I'm just too old to fully appreciate this movie. It's very "Young Adult" Twilight vibes. The aesthetics, music and acting are absolutely amazing. Do not watch this thinking you are watching a horror movie. This is like a young love angst tale dragging a horror subtext along for the ride. However I think everyone did a great job with what they were going for. If I was about twenty years younger this would have been one of my favorite movies ever. The downsides are it is TOO long, (films like this should be bold and edit themselves down to 90 minutes tops) and it is very slow. But it's a love story. Also when the movie was starting to end, and the last twenty minutes made no sense, I found out there is a book so I'm going to read that because based on the article I read, I can see the changes they made for the film and uhhh like most adaptations, the ways they changed it sucked so at least the movie made me want to read the book now.

After the End (2017)

Had Promise

[4/10 · 25 September 2023]

Based on the trailer I watched, I thought this looked like a decent movie, and in some ways it is. Nice atmosphere, good acting...the thing that drove me INSANE was the two main characters traveling by bicycles to get to their destination and at the same time evade these three hillbillies in pursuit. The hillbillies are. On. Foot. And SOMEHOW keep catching up to the two on bikes. I wish the writer or director would have had just one encounter between the main characters and the hillbillies. Then drop the hillbillies from the plot and introduce a different conflict later on. But nooooo. Made zero sense and ruined the whole film.