kmcginty71 Reviews

La La Land (2016)

White guy teaches John Legend about Jazz...

[2/10 · 7 July 2020]

This movie is a perfect example of a film that came out hot but won't stand the test of time. The actors do a fine job with what they're given, but... It's two millennials so caught up in their own "I'm special" narcissism that they don't notice anything else around them. Then Ryan Gosling teaches John Legend and a bunch of other African-American musicians about the true meaning of Jazz, the ending fizzles out to a non-resolution that makes me wonder what the point was, and I'm angry at the two hours of my life I'll never get back.

Oh, and let's not forget the fact that a massive marketing campaign snagged a Best Song Oscar for "City of Stars"-possibly the laziest and most tryptophan-like song ever written-beating out Lin-Manuel Miranda's "How Far I'll Go."

Thank god this movie will be forgotten in five years.

When We Rise (2017)

Important story, but trite, melodramatic dialogue and mediocre acting disappointed me

[5/10 · 31 May 2017]

The story is one that's important to tell, but the quality is NO WHERE near "And the Band Played On" or "Milk." The dialogue is trite and forced, and when the "bad guys" (homophobes) speak, they sound like villains straight out of Dragnet. The bad dialogue then prevents these talented actors from giving strong performances. I almost wondered if George Lucas had written the screenplay...

DO watch it; it's important for kids and younger adults today to know this story. But I have to recommend "And the Band Played On" as the better film on the same topic.It was made for HBO with better acting and more believable dialogue, and actually tells you much more about the early days of the AIDS crisis.

I'm very disappointed to see how "network" ABC made this thing; it feels low budget and heavily watered down.