toddg-473-289818 Reviews

The Expat (II) (2021)

Weak script

[2/10 · 14 December 2023]

The Expat could have been a much better movie, if the producers had invested a few more dollars into a better script and a proofreader. And if they had cast a better actor to play the lead character. What a stiff.

The story revolves around Nick, an expat and former military member who is vacationing in Manila. He is suspected of murdering several women who are found dead after being with him.

I agree with the previous reviewer - the cinematography accurately depicts the chill life of traveling around SE Asia. But the plot holes do not tell of Nick's ability to leave The Philippines as he is temporarily cleared of being a suspect. Nor do they explain the presence of the other English speaking man who is following and harassing Nick. And when Nick is informed of what is really happening to him, he has zero reaction to it.

A big disappointment for a movie that could have easily been much better.

Jim Gaffigan: Dark Pale (2023 TV Special)

Who knew Jim Gaffigan was a leftist?

[1/10 · 31 July 2023]

The comedic material of the usually reliable Jim Gaffigan has really deteriorated in his latest TV special, "Dark Pale." Coming out of the pandemic, many comedians express their happiness at being able to perform again. There are easy and relatable jokes to be made about covid, but Gaffigan chose to infuse left wing politics into his material this time. First was a dig at people who oppose the covid vaccine. Then, about halfway through the show, he took a dig at people who oppose the current narrative on global warming. And in between all this was only marginally funny material and awkward segues, going to the well too often to talk about diarrhea. Even his self-deprication about making too many diarrhea jokes didn't play well.

For years, Gaffigan's comedy was funny, polished, clean, and well timed. But by choosing to inject politics into your material, you risk alienating half of your audience. This performance was darker and edgier than his previous comedy specials. We want the old Jim Gaffigan back.

Your Honor (II) (2020–2023)

Feminism and misandry send season 2 off the rails

[3/10 · 16 July 2023]

YOUR HONOR should have ended after season 1. The tangled web of lies upon lies, and the larger moral questions that arise out of the harm done by trying to protect one's child at any cost, were well on display during season 1. Season 2 reinvented itself into a lecture where women do all the good and achieve all of the successes, and men are bad, cruel, and incompetent, ad nauseum. Some examples:

1. Hope Davis as the unstable mob wife. She mercilessly blames her husband for her younger son's death via motorcycle accident, and then manipulates her longtime crime boss father into killing her husband, whom she believes is inept, so she can rule the crime family. No one believes the plausibility of that happening.

2. Rosie Perez as an assistant US Attorney. Her smiley, nonchalant approach to her character was annoying. She makes clear to Bryan Cranston's character that she holds all the power to order him around, after springing him early from prison. Yet she showed no professionalism when she was constantly texting him while he was out trying to do her bidding. And the script was lacking his inclusion of the the fact that he discovered and destroyed but bug she planted in his dress shirt, which saved his life as he was later searched by the mob enforcer. She was unapologetic about almost getting him killed, and is happy to turn him over to a NOPD detective when he decides not to be her pawn anymore. Yet this cold hearted prosecutor can later cry tears of sympathy for Eugene Jones, accused of murder in an open-an-shut case? Lame.

3. Big Mo. She is the drug dealing crime boss in the lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, who loses her tight reign on her soldiers when one of her fentanyl laced balloons kills the younger brother of one of her soldiers. The soldiers eventually turn on her because of her greed and carelessness, and try to do business with a dealer out of Houston, pushing her out of the way. Yet she miraculously shows up to the deal and retains her power. Oh, and her romance with the jazz singer girl was nothing but a sideshow for fill.

By the end of the final episode, all of the female characters except Fia come out on top and get what they want with no consequences for their actions. Way too much grrrrl power here. And why flash to Jimmy Baxter's eyes opening as he lays in a hospital bed after being shot by his wife's father? Leaving the door open to a third season? I sure hope not.

The Black Phone (2021)

A slow burn, but with sloppy period piece errors

[7/10 · 1 July 2023]

The good of this movie is the slowly developed story and reveal about several teens being kidnapped in a local neighborhood. And Ethan Hawke is excellent in any scary movie, and this time he gets a lot of license to play the demented kidnapper.

The bad of this movie is how many avoidable errors were in the film that tries so hard to be a period piece. Many of them were mentioned in the IMDB goofs and anachronisms (pinball, newspaper, comic books, LED lights), but the most obvious error was the vehicles used. The police cars and other cars were very early 1970s models, not from 1978. And the rock music intertwined into the story was also full of songs from well before 1978. If the movie had begun by stating it was set in 1972 or 1973, it could have avoided being picked apart for all of its errors.

The Rover (2014)

Bland and boring

[2/10 · 4 April 2023]

I have become accustomed to the plots in Aussie movies taking a long time to unfold, and usually they are worth the wait. In this case, THE ROVER was a waste of time. Featuring the talented actors Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson, the movie depicts what remains of Australia 10 years after some apocalyptic event, and the struggles to survive with no resources.

Guy Pearce's character pursues a trio of thugs after they steal his car. His street smarts tell him to pick up a wounded man (Pattinson), presumably part of the crew in a crime gone wrong nearby. He plays a mind game with the wounded man in order to track down the trio of thugs, one of whom is Pattinson's brother.

Beyond the irredeemable dismal setting and good cinematography used to portray this, the characters' motivations aren't significant enough to warrant the audience's interest or favor. Not to mention that two random buildings still have electricity when no other buildings anywhere do.

The only highlight in this movie is Pattinson's acting. His character is mentally slow, and he portrays his own pathway to strength and smarts as the movie progresses. Other than that, by the end of the movie you will feel empty and depressed.

The Nice Guys (2016)

Crude and hilarious

[8/10 · 30 November 2022]

Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe have great chemistry together as a pair of ethically challenged investigators trying to find a young girl. Everyone associated with the missing girl keeps turning up dead, which deepens the mystery.

The writing here is excellent, with Gosling showing off his comedic chops against Crowe's straight man. The production values are also excellent, as this movie is set in 1977 Los Angeles, in the seedy world of drugs and porn movies. One flaw came in the background music, with Rupert Holmes's "Escape" is heard. This song came out in 1979, and for all of the things this movie got right about the era, this was rather sloppy.

But don't let this deter you from enjoying a funny movie, with the crudeness of something the Coen brothers would make.

Count Me In (2021)

Interesting but flawed

[4/10 · 27 November 2022]

After watching this documentary and reading other reviews, I felt quickly vindicated in my criticism of this film making no mention of Neal Peart. While many drummers grew up admiring John Bonham (as they should), I grew up admiring The Professor when I was playing the drums as a teenager. The main difference here in the GOAT argument is that Bonham's recording career lasted for 11 years, while Peart's lasted for 40.

That aside, this film has two other major problems: First, it mentions MTV and the 80s video era, then quickly jumps to a clip of Nirvana in 1991. The only reference to the 80s came in the form of a Human League video in which the drum sounds were artificially produced by a synthesizer. So much was missing from how the video era influenced a generation of drummers.

The other major problem is the portrayal of female drummers as victims. In one clip, female drummers are never shown any respect, and in other clips, Cindy Blackman (married to Carlos Santana) is killing it on the drums with Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Stephen Perkins of Jane's Addiction playing along side of her and and admiring her work. And in another clip, Samantha Maloney is living her dream by playing live with Motley Crue while Tommy Lee was out sick. So make up your mind, Netflix - are these women victims, or are they accomplished musicians? Netflix can't help itself in its continual pushing of this agenda, which is very off putting.

Blackout (VI) (2022)

The first half of the movie is an extended fight sequence

[2/10 · 28 October 2022]

This movie is pretty bad. Josh Duhamel must have needed a paycheck, so he signed up to play a middle aged tough guy with amnesia from a car accident. He spends most of his time fighting off bad guys while stuck in a Mexican hospital, trying to remember who he is and why so many people are trying to kill him. The movie comes off like a John Wick movie, as one continuous fight scene for a good part of the movie.

Duhamel's character, John Kane, figures out that it is cartel members who are after him, in search of a briefcase that supposedly holds secret information on powerful people. The actors playing these cartel goons are not believable, as their eccentric outfits make them look like caricatures of themselves rather than obedient soldiers.

And then there's Nick Nolte, who is 81 in real life but looks and sounds well over 100 in this movie. His voice is so garbled that his dialogue is almost incomprehensible. Perhaps he needed a paycheck as well, but he should retire from acting and look back on a long and storied career.

The movie's 1 hour and 21 minute run time is another indicator of the script being content-light, and too reliant on fight sequences to pass the time.

Hunter Killer (2018)

Not your average submarine movie

[7/10 · 10 September 2022]

HUNTER KILLER features Gerard Butler being promoted to captain a nuclear submarine despite not having the usual Annapolis pedigree. His character uses street smarts and out of the box thinking to try and avert a nuclear war with Russia, whose President has been kidnapped during a military coup.

A few flaws were a little annoying: First, bullets being shot in the water rapidly lose their velocity and would have far less chance of doing damage to the underwater frogmen than what was portrayed in this movie. Second, the XO (executive officer, second in command) on the American submarine was constantly questioning the orders of the captain, in front of many other crew members. This would never happen on a real submarine. Look up the exchange between Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington in 1995's CRIMSON TIDE for a far more realistic explanation of what happens in that situation.

Lastly, is seems like the script did no favors to the great Gary Oldman. Oldman can play any character extremely well, and he has done so over his many decades on film. But this script didn't allow his character much depth or introspection, only a hawkish military commander hell bent on war.

But in spite of the above criticisms, this was an enjoyable film and atypical story.

The Terminal List (2022– )

Disappointing, especially if you read the book

[2/10 · 16 July 2022]

THE TERMINAL LIST is the first adaptation of a series of novels by author and former Navy SEAL Jack Carr. It stars Chris Pratt as James Reece, a Navy SEAL whose unit is set up for failure on a mission, and whose family is murdered to cover up the trail of corruption.

The first conclusion here is that Chris Pratt was miscast for this role. His performance is very flat, but his relationship with Amazon Prime Video is what gave him the green light to star in the series. He was much better in THE TOMORROW WAR.

The other big problem with THE TERMINAL LIST is that it relies too much on the flashbacks that Reece's character has to his family while they were alive. It is a crutch used as fill, making an implausible leap to explain what is happening in the present by reliving the past. The same goes for Reece's PTSD and headaches. Less would have been more here.

What is more disappointing was to see author Jack Carr interviewed on TV recently, stating that "We didn't make this for the critics." No, clearly you didn't. You made it for the paycheck, selling out what you accomplished with your book. And you will likely do it again, if further adaptations of your novels are made for TV.

Regarding the dark hues on the screen - there is a technical explanation for this. The lighter the hues when something is shown on screen, the more bandwidth is required to stream it online. This being a show made by Amazon Prime Video purely for streaming, they can successfully stream it to more locations if less bandwidth is required. Netflix also does this with much of their original content.

Skip this show and instead read the excellent novels that describe the journey of James Reece.

Dark Was the Night (2014)

Scary and suspenseful

[7/10 · 16 July 2022]

Not understanding the bad reviews here - DARK WAS THE NIGHT develops slowly with suspense all the way to the end.

A small town sheriff and his deputy search to find what is behind large animal tracks and the disappearance and odd behavior of animals in the region. Initially they dismiss the tracks as an elaborate prank, but slowly put the pieces of the puzzle together as more bits of evidence get revealed to the audience.

This is not an action packed movie, but instead more cerebral. But it was well written with a plot that kept the viewer interested.

Extinction (2018)

Great story, lousy Netflix trailer

[6/10 · 27 March 2022]

The movie EXTINCTION frequently comes up while scanning Netflix movies in the sci-fi genre. I skipped over it for months because the trailer made it look like an ordinary alien invasion movie. Being careful not to reveal too much here, about halfway in, the audience is given a huge plot twist that shows the characters are not what they first seem to be. While hardly the first movie to do this, Extinction is worth watching to the end.

If Netflix had made a better trailer for this movie, they would get more people to watch it.

Lawless (2012)

Great cinematography, weak storyline

[3/10 · 26 March 2022]

LAWLESS made its way onto Amazon Prime in early 2022 with some buzz, so that's why I chose to watch it ten years after its initial release. It is a slice of life portrayal of three brothers in rural Virginia, making their way as moonshiners during the waning days of prohibition. The beginning credits say the movie is based on the true story of the Bondurant brothers, but was more representative of any family during this time in history. Great camera work, scenery, music, costumes, and props like the cars and guns used gave this film promise as an authentic historical portrayal.

Beginning as early local success stories and running into larger fights with law enforcement, the Bondurant family in LAWLESS, and the story in general, quickly falls into predicable stereotypes. Each of the actors becomes a caricature of themself: Tom Hardy as tough guy brother Forrest, who says little and is reduced to incoherent mumbling as the movie drags on. Jason Clarke as middle brother Howard, who howls like a wolf when going into crazy mode after swilling too much of his own product. Jessica Chastain, whose character plays an eventual love interest to Tom Hardy's character, but really serves no useful purpose in the movie. And Guy Pearce as the eccentric but by-the-book lawman brought in from the outside to shut down the corruption and illegal distilleries.

Completely underutilized in the story was the great Gary Oldman, playing a criminal boss who once had a conflict with Forrest Bondurant, and spares younger brother Jack his life when Jack tries to fill the shoes of the wounded and recovering older brother Forrest. Much more could have been developed with Oldman's character.

Instead we are subjected to extraneous plot lines, forgettable secondary characters, and a run time which should have been cut by at least 20 minutes, particularly during the first half of the movie.

Black Crab (2022)

Too long, too many plot holes

[3/10 · 23 March 2022]

Black Crab is about a seemingly randomly selected group of six people who, during a post apocalyptic conflict, are tasked with transporting two canisters across frozen lands to a research facility.

Lead character Noomi Rapace is first captured, then sent along with the five other characters, bribed by the lie that she will be reunited with her missing daughter once she reaches the research facility. Anyone watching knew this was predictably false. All but two of the characters die along the way, either killed by enemy forces or by the harsh conditions.

By the time the remaining two characters arrive at the research facility, they face a moral dilemma of what to do with the two canisters, which they had previously discovered were some type of biological weapon meant to destroy all mankind and end the war.

But this movie ran way too long, and as it dragged on, the audience stopped caring whether the characters ever made it to the research facility.

The Colony (2021)

Too preachy

[1/10 · 2 March 2022]

So in a post apocalyptic universe, a few lucky humans are sent to another planet to explore its viability to sustain life, because earth has become unlivable. The first expedition back to earth to check on its livability status occurs two generations after humans have departed the earth.

Two people get sent back and one quickly dies from the landing of the spacecraft. The lone survivor is sent out to collect water samples and to check on contamination levels and to see if fertility is possible in that environment. She encounters a tribe of nomadic wanderers, including children, who resemble a toned down version of a clan found in a Mad Max movie, but she is captured by them and can barely communicate.

As she passes time locked in a deep well of some sort, she flashes back to her childhood, and her father telling her how all this began. The father's explanation makes sure to include the idea that humans plundered the earth, and for that reason alone, they were forced to seek other habitable planets. That's when I turned the movie off.

The title card shown at the beginning of the movie reads "Climate change, pandemics, war...etc" as the basis for humans escaping to live on another planet. This is cinematic clickbait, to make the viewer more inclined to watch and believe that multiple problems on the earth caused its near extinction. But make no mistake, this movie is nothing more than a political lecture and human guilt trip, set in a dystopian backdrop.

ExPatriot (2017)

Jumps the shark an hour into the movie

[3/10 · 2 March 2022]

ExPatriot showed up on my Prime movie feed, after apparently getting little attention since its 2017 release. There are only 4 other reviews for this movie at the time I am writing mine, so maybe more people will watch it now. But they shouldn't waste their time.

ExPatriot is about a former CIA analyst turned whistleblower named Riley Connors, who has to hide out in Colombia after being targeted by her former employer. She is assisted by a DC based journalist, and her brother who lives in Colombia. While in Colombia, she encounters her lover, also a CIA operative, on assignment there to take down a pair of Ex Cuban money launderers. She is told by her lover that she can gain redemption from the CIA, if she will go undercover to try and take down the money launderers. She is betrayed by both her lover and the money launderers, and doesn't know who she can trust.

This could have been a better movie if there was a more realistic portrayal of what would happen to a person if the CIA wanted them dead. Not killing them but merely beating them, and postponing their execution in a Hollywood style rescue/escape simply doesn't happen. Then a few minutes later, the CIA agent chooses to shoot a Colombian police officer in order to escape having to reveal the kidnapped but still alive Riley Connors in the trunk of a car after a fender bender. The Colombian police officer is shot in front of a crowd of people, many of them recording the incident on their cell phones. Those ten minutes of the movie made it go from mediocre to ridiculous.

In addition, the actress who plays the lead character of Riley Connors is listed on IMDB as being born in 1987, making her 30 at the time this movie was released. Unfortunately, she looks closer to 40 in this movie. There are better action thrillers to watch when you are looking for something mindless.

The Vast of Night (2019)

Appearance of low budget, very detailed script

[7/10 · 24 February 2022]

THE VAST OF NIGHT is presented as a vintage 1950s episode of old television, beginning with an obvious nod to Rod Serling and his narrations of The Twilight Zone. A pair of high school characters, one operating a local radio station, and the other operating the local telephone switchboard, follow a storyline about mysterious sounds being heard, following by mysterious lights in the sky.

Great camera work chases the characters around their small town, as they absorb tidbits of information that might reveal the source of these lights and sounds. The script feels more like a theatrical production than one found in a movie, with very long monologues and intense back and forth character interaction. In one scene, the actress who plays Fay is connecting and disconnecting multiple calls from her switchboard, and having short conversations with multiple people calling in. Her dialogue, pauses, and timing, are all shot in a single sequence. The amount of concentration it took for her to nail that scene by herself is highly commendable.

One obvious flaw: The call letters on the radio station say WOTW, and any radio station west of the Mississippi river would have call letters that start with a K, and this story is set in a small town in New Mexico.

Other than that, the viewer will get what they expected.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time (2021)

Horrible sound editing and very hard to follow story

[1/10 · 29 August 2021]

The trailer for this movie looked interesting: Some people pull of a heist, and the place they wind up camping out is haunted by demons. Unfortunately, the trailer was misleading. The story is very hard to follow, trying to keep up with who is double crossing who, what role the third party female victims in the house are playing, and who the audience should be rooting for to survive.

On top of that, the sound editing is awful. The background music is too loud and often drowns out the spoken dialogue in the movie. Two more prominent films that are guilty of this are THERE WILL BE BLOOD and DUNKIRK.

The Possession of Michael King (2014)

Great camera work and chilling story

[8/10 · 29 August 2021]

The Possession of Michael King is about a man, having recently lost his wife in an accident, takes on a project hoping to prove that demons and other supernatural events are pure coincidence at best. He attempts to speak to different authorities on the matter, subjecting himself to what he at first deems silly experiments. He gradually gets drawn into having to question his own reality, beginning with trying to discern voices he hears but cannot translate. His eventual plunge into lunacy takes away his own ability to control his actions, subjecting himself and his family members to grave danger.

There are several things this movie does right: First, the use of multiple cameras that Michael uses to document everything that is happening to him. Different bits of recorded footage are shared with the audience, with garbled sound and video used to explain the departure from normalcy. In most movies that explore the paranormal, the jumpy camera work is overdone. This movie contained just the right amount, without being excessive. Second, the movie portrays Michael as an atheist, but doesn't attempt to transform him into a religious believer, or send a moral or preachy message. Instead it allows Michael's character to at first dismiss what he doesn't understand, then eventually become a believer in demonic possession because of his horrible newfound reality. Third, the movie answers all of the questions that the audience has, especially at the end. An excellent scary movie for fans of the genre.

In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)

Don't trust the trailer. Don't trust Netflix.

[1/10 · 17 August 2021]

This pointless movie is another left wing piece of trash produced by Netflix. The trailer is misleading (otherwise, who would watch if they knew what the movie was really about)?

The movie tries to be a time travel/murder mystery, and they got a couple of things right, like the Chevrolet Caprice models from 1988 and 1997. Always a hideous looking vehicle, mainly used as cop cars and taxicabs. That part was worth a laugh.

Other reviewers have adequately surmised the plot of this movie, and you will be invested almost to the very end, where with 13 minutes remaining, the meaning of the movie will be explained to you. Then you will be angry that you wasted almost 2 hours of your life to get let down and lectured to.

Hold the Dark (2018)

2 hours of my life I won't get back

[1/10 · 15 August 2021]

This is another typical Netflix produced movie - excellent cinematography and a substandard story. In HOLD THE DARK, Netflix takes its big budget and films a story set in Alaska (although it was filmed in Canada), and successfully shows us the cold, unforgiving, man vs. Nature landscape. That's where the good elements of the movie end.

Fans of 21st century James Bond movies will recognize an older Felix character, played by actor Jeffrey Wright, as an author who wrote about wolves. He is asked to come to Alaska to help a grieving mother hunt down the wolves who supposedly took her young son from her.

Once this initial storyline is established, the movie seems to run on endless tangents, from a wounded war veteran who comes home to Alaska, to the search for the grieving mother who, as it turns out, has her son's body buried in her house, to the demented friend of the same woman's husband, who feels it necessary to open fire with a machine gun on to police officers who came to talk to him, to the author's encounter with wolves in the wild, etc. Etc.

These tangents are unable to keep the story cohesive, and leave the audience wondering what they just watched.

Bosch (2014–2021)

Season 7 almost unwatchable

[1/10 · 25 July 2021]

Like so many once good shows, BOSCH should have quit while it was ahead. It should have ended after season 6 (before the covid pandemic and the violent summer of 2020). Audiences are instead now having woke-poisoned darts thrown at them, and having their faces rubbed into a slathering of guilt. It is shameful that these changes have ruined many a good TV series.

Beyond the slow pacing of the season 7 script, the storylines are cliched and contrived. If the writers and their self loathing handlers had kept what was interesting (a complex intermingling of departmental politics, gang activity, police corruption and bureaucracy, the power struggle between local and federal law enforcement) as the primary focus, BOSCH could have ended its run on a high note.

Another reviewer stated that he will go back and re-watch older binge worthy TV shows and ignore the current crop of PC crap. Sounds like good advice.

Breach (IV) (2020)

Comedically bad

[1/10 · 19 June 2021]

This horrible sci fi movie was another in a recent long line of schlock movies that Bruce Willis has lent his name to in order to keep those paychecks coming. It contains a tidal wave of bad writing, bad special effects, and bad cliches. Add to it a small part of an intergalactic admiral, played by Thomas Jane (also seeking an easy paycheck?), and you have the makings of a disaster of a disaster movie.

I will leave it to other reviewers to point out the list of flaws and stupidity, but at some point we can only hope that Bruce Willis will take on a script where he can redeem himself as an actor, and take back his self respect.

Coming 2 America (2021)

Political messaging ruined an otherwise somewhat funny movie

[1/10 · 14 March 2021]

Coming 2 America did a few things correctly, being a sequel to a very funny and very successful movie a generation ago, in 1988. The nods to the previous movie with flashbacks, music, and the secondary characters created by Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall were all very entertaining. And the brightest spot was Wesley Snipes as General Izzi, trying to marry off his daughter to Murphy's son as a way to prevent war between neighboring nations. Snipes' comedic timing and talents were unbridled and on full display, in contrast to the many serious dramatic and action roles he has played for decades.

In the sequel, Eddie Murphy rises from prince to king of Zamunda, and comes back to Queens to seek out a son he didn't know he had, as the laws of Zamunda only allow a male heir to eventually take the throne. After finding his son, he brings him and his family from Queens to Zamunda to prepare for an arranged marriage. The clash of cultures has some funny moments, and Murphy as king must now decide whether to allow his son to marry the woman he chooses, or the woman arranged for him. The makers of this movie should have stopped there.

Instead we got a steady stream of lecturing on how men are sexist and misogynistic, weaved into each of the plot turns. Every few minutes. Nonstop. OK, we get it. It completely sucked the fun out of the movie. But this is 2021, and if you are going to release a movie in 2021, you WILL bow down to the woke gods of political correctness. And you will do it early, and often.

Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer (2021)

informative, but too long

[6/10 · 24 January 2021]

This was a 4 part miniseries on how LA county sheriff's and other law enforcement agencies in California tracked and eventually found Richard Ramirez, who terrorized suburban communities in the 1980's. The interviews with the two lead detectives were powerful and gritty, but much of the other content was repetitive and seemed like fill material. This would have been better as a 2 hour documentary movie than a 4 part series.