treydrier Reviews

Nefarious (2023)

Disturbing in the same vein as Exorcist

[8/10 · 31 January 2024]

I happened upon this movie late one night when I could not fall asleep. I had never heard of it. Sean Patrick Flannery is superb. The movie is riveting.

But then you have 'user reviews' from people like Mehki_Girl that gave it a 1 star because she thinks it's some sort of a Christian theology class. It could not be further from the truth. I just laughed because as I read her review, and others like it, I am reminded of the divided world we live in and how so many people close their mind and thoughts even when watching a movie that to me is on the same level as The Exorcist.

I am not a religious person but this movie was seriously disturbing in so many ways. Yes it is primarily dialog but Flannery is so good and it explores the exploitation of our society from so called trained 'experts' who can be easily manipulated.

The ending was absolute shocking and makes you truly think about today's world and the evil who live amongst us in everyday life.

Is It Cake? (2022– )

Good but needs some tweaks

[7/10 · 10 July 2023]

I enjoyed the show. I'm on the 2nd season now and doubt whether I will finish it. They changed the format and made it confusing to follow. It's pretty much a disaster and the contestants are not nearly as talented as Season 1, which was good but it took me a few episodes to warm up to the host, Mikey Day. He's a poor man's Jim Carey. But after a few episodes I enjoyed his stupid humor.

I skip about 15 minutes of each episode. The contestants that aren't baking are sitting around asking dumb questions like "what flavor is the cake" or "how long are you baking it". It's too boring to watch so I just fast forward it.

To improve it and keep audiences more involved I would recommend the following: 1. Move the judges closer. They are constantly squinting and wrenching their necks forward to get a better view. Move them up 10 feet.

2. The judges get only 20 seconds TOTAL to guess which is the cake. In season 1 there were 5 items to evaluate and make a decision. Season 2 is worse with the new format. I would double it to 40 seconds. They can't even look at them all in only 20 seconds.

3. Get REAL judges! I don't mind celebrity judges but they are all either comedians, actors or social media influencers. Clearly the producers want a younger audience but how about bringing in a few people we actually know and some that are in the business.

4. Do something else with the contestants that aren't baking. Listening to their dumb questions while they sit there reminds me of an execution with a peanut gallery watching. Its stupid.

Its good and fun entertainment but skipping 15 minutes of every episode is a must, at least for me it is.

Barry (2018–2023)

So disappointed ... that this is the final season

[9/10 · 2 May 2023]

I'm not going to repeat what everyone else has said. However, let me just say that I do not understand why the 4th season is it's last. The writing is superb and the acting across the board is equally as good. A great, very unique plot. Henry Winkler steals the show imo. But honestly, Bill Hader, Sarah Goldberg and Steven Root are fantastic. Anthony Carrigan as Hank is hilarious. It can be gory at times so those who do not like violence will miss this great show. Hader truly created a winner here. Once I finish this season I will watch it all over again in binge fashion. Its that good! (Ooops I need 8 more characters. Ahhh now I'm good.)

The Last of Us (2023– )

Revised from 10/10 to 4/10 and now 7/10

[7/10 · 1 February 2023]

UPDATE: This show started out with a bang with the first 3 episodes and then meandered into boredom until the 8th episode. Skip episode 7 (watch the last 5 minutes). It really ticked me off because it was such a waste of time - Elle tells Joel how she got bit in about 30 seconds in episode 8. I have read that several here did not care for the ending. I liked it. What I now realize is this show is more of a drama than The Walking Dead which relied heavily on zombie attacks to provide the drama. Zombies are part of this show but it focus's much more on human survival and how the human race is as bad or worse than zombies. Some didn't like how this show negatively portrays Christianity but I disagree - he was a false prophet which Jesus warned us about. Yes, there are parts that are far fetched, very far fetched, but did you expect anything different? What I didn't like was the filler episodes and I did not much care for the girl who plays Elle. Just not a good fit. In addition, Joel meeting up with his brother was the original mission. He gets there and they hug ... and that's about it. So Joel and Elle move on. Disappointing. Overall its good but could have been great.

Avenue 5 (2020–2022)

Corny but I like it

[7/10 · 4 January 2023]

At first I didn't care for this series. It's so stupid. But after sticking with it, it reminds me of the old Monty Python shows. Really ridiculous humor but funny once you understand its just a whacky comedy. Hugh Laurie is very good. Zack Woods from the sitcom Silicon Valley plays a similar role as an airhead is a goofball. Josh Gad plays Herman Judd, the creator of the space craft, is a bit annoying (which he is supposed to be) but you will get used to his stupidity after a few episodes. Lenora Crichlow is plays the only one with half a brain. She's good. Overall very likeable series that becomes fun to watch once you realize it's purposely stupid humor.

A Christmas Story Christmas (2022)

How is this movie good?

[5/10 · 7 December 2022]

The first thing that disappointed in this movie is Julie Hagerty playing Ralphie's mother. Completely different personality and demeanor than Melinda Dillon, Ralphie's mother in the original. Hagerty is not a good fit. And then there's Peter Billingsley, who everybody loved in the original. But now as a middle aged adult he still acts like a kid and has to be the dumbest father on the planet - his not listening to critics and his own wife on his absurd book and then his day dreams of fame, awards and riches from the absurd book. It was sad - a grown middle aged failure still day dreaming like 10 yr old Ralphie. Didn't work for me at all. I became very bored with the whole thing as did my wife so I can't even tell you how it ends. If you're watching with you kids and they haven't seen the original, then it may be fun to watch. However, the acting and story line are weak. And I didn't care much for Billinsley or Hagerty. Some of it was poor writing as Billinsley came across as delusional day dreaming wimp. The only redeeming characteristics were the flashbacks and nostalgia. Otherwise, if you're expected another Christmas classic you'll be disappointed.

The Patient (2022)

Good acting but boring and weird format

[6/10 · 19 September 2022]

I got halfway through the 4th episode and turned it off. I could not take the boredom any longer. I like the premise. The acting is very good. The writing is not great. The wife's guitar playing at the son's wedding was the final straw. And then there's the daily carry out food choice. The show is just so boring that I grew frustrated having to sit through flashbacks that have nothing to do with the plot. His son doesn't seem to like him. His wife is a bit strange. Yeah ... ok. And then there's the idiotic 23 minute episodes which everyone here has already written about so I will leave it at that. It's not terrible just slow and frustrating.

The Contractor (2022)

Solid acting with Pine, Foster and Sutherland

[7/10 · 5 August 2022]

The acting in this movie is very good. At first I was like "is that Kiefer Sutherland"? I had to look it up and sure enough it was him but it was hard to tell behind that beard. I'll be honest, I almost turned it off after about 15 minutes. Didn't know where it was going and it seemed to drag for the first 25 minutes or so but I'm happy I stuck with it. It's a solid action movie. I enjoyed it once it got going. The story line was very good however Pine escaped death so many times that it was a bit over the top. Somewhat ridiculous is this one scene where he had what appeared to be a dozen highly trained mercenaries shooting at him in a wide open area with machine guns and precision rifles ... they all missed. I still enjoyed it though.

Super Pumped (2022– )

Why the negative reviews?

[8/10 · 10 May 2022]

I worked for several Silicon Valley start ups 25 to 30 years ago when the Valley was in its hey day. It's the reason I started my own company - I could no longer stand to work for domineering egotistical management. Super Pumped is a bit over the top in some ways but also an accurate depiction of today's tech start ups. People need to understand the mentality of these 'disruptive' genius's. Guys like Larry Ellison (founder of Oracle) was very much like the Uber founder - a ton of hype and in the end very successful but he did many under-handed things to get there (like shipping blank installation disks in the 90's because the product wasn't ready for prime time despite Ellison saying it was, plus Oracle's misleading and deceptive sales and ads).

Travis Kalanick is what Silicon Valley is today what Larry Ellison was 30 years ago. I do remember Uber going through terrible growing pains and they had to deal with hypocrites and corruption in local governments. I also vividly remember when NYC banned Uber for a short time until locals and businesses fought back against DiBlasio. I did a lot of business in NYC and can verify that the cabs at that time (10 years ago) were God awful. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, had sympathy for them and their broken down beat up unsafe cars and bad attitude cabbies. They overcharged and cabbies were blatantly dishonest. I started using Uber the moment it was available. Uber was a breath of fresh air at the time. However, today Uber has lost its luster imo due to inconsistent rates, unhappy drivers and surge pricing that customers despise. This limited Showtime series accurately depicts Uber's fight for relevancy. I specifically remember their 'Grayball' tactics on the West coast. Everyone was rooting for them at that time and they were very creative in getting around the rules until city after city finally accepted them. I have 2 beefs with this series: 1. Kyle Chandler plays the same role he plays in everything he does. He's ok in this series but not great imo.

2. I enjoy JGL as the Uber CEO/founder but it is highly dramatized and does have that Billions feel to it. He's good though in the role he's playing.

Overall it's a good watch and a *relatively* accurate depiction of Uber's struggle (and continued struggle) for profitability. It's stock price today is about half of the $45 IPO when it went public in 2019. It's been a terrible investment for shareholders. It's a business that burns through tons cash due to the high variable costs of scaling the business to meet demand. This series accurately depicts Uber's struggles and the ego's that get in the way of success.

Snowpiercer (2020–2024)

Is the magic lost?

[4/10 · 26 March 2022]

Unlike the 1st two seasons I'm trying my best to get through season 3 but boy is it a monotonous confusing mess. Loved the 1st two seasons and was excited to watch season 3, only to be let down right away in episode 1. I will try and grind through season 3 but it won't be easy.

Vikings: Valhalla (2022– )

Solid 7 could have been higher except ....

[7/10 · 2 March 2022]

I will start out by saying what bothers me about this show. It suffers from the typical hollywood stereotype casting a black woman as a Viking leader. Go through the history books and show me where and when this occurred - the real Haakon Sigurdsson is a white man, whereas Vikings: Valhalla's Haakon is a black woman. Yes, the Vikings had black slaves and a few black soldiers but at no time was a black woman ever a Viking leader. It's ridiculous and the woman who plays her is pretty awful. The other negative is how 'woke' the Vikings became, saying things like "times have changed" as a way of not murdering everyone but of course 2 minutes later they murder someone. Its weird and makes no sense. Hollywood please stop it already!

However, I like the action and the somewhat convoluted plot. Good fight scenes and excellent strategies for both England and the Vikings. At first I did not like Leaf Erikson but he kinda grew on me. I do think they could have made a better choice but he's not terrible. The Olaf character is superb as is King Canute. He really knocked it out of the park. Also the queen played by Pollyanna McIntosh is another superb character. And the 'boy-king' really gets on your nerves which is what he's supposed to do so that was solid casting.

Overall its a good sequel to the original Vikings. But PLEASE hollywood stop trying to rewrite history with wokeness already. It's a modern day dilemma and really takes it away from the true events.

Yellowstone (2018– )

Season 4 is a disaster

[2/10 · 6 February 2022]

I thoroughly enjoyed seasons 1 and 2. Season 3 dragged but had some good moments. Season 4 .... I don't think the writing could have been any worse. It was absolutely terrible and very disappointing especially considering it was the final season. Literally nothing happens. When we finally realize who tried to blow them up it was an insult to anyone with an IQ above 80.

And then there are the sub plots that go nowhere. Honestly, I got bored. The whole Jimmy thing adds up to nothing and his sex scenes were cringe worthy. Who wants to see him having sex? Geezus. Then they bring in the new kid, a 13 yr old who ends up living on the ranch shoveling horse manure. Oh boy! That went nowhere.

The writers lost their minds with this script. This was 10 excruciating hours of waiting for something, anything, to happen. But nothing ever happened. The entire plot was around Beth and her constant desire to get back at her brother. A Beth visit to the penitentiary was one of the dumbest and most uneventful scenes in the final episode. She fools him into seeing her only to tell him in a long dribbling diarrhea of the mouth dialog that he will rot in jail. Well gee thanks for wasting 15 minutes of the final episode on something that again adds up to nothing. Oh wait, we found out it was her brother. Well .... more boredom.

Everything in this final season was like a tossed salad. Just throw everything in, mix it up, add a little dressing and there you have the final season. Very VERY disappointing. I'm happy it's over.

Dexter: New Blood (2021–2022)

Get past the 1st few episodes ....

[7/10 · 27 December 2021]

UPDATE: Just finished the series. I was hoping for a season 2 but now there's no way it can happen. They can do a spin off with Harrison but that's not very enticing. The ending was a surprise and definitely an end to Dexter. It could have been better if they allowed Dexter to live and brought back Angel Batista as it appeared they were going to do. But they didn't which tarnished the entire ending. It would have made for a very interesting season 2. Every series has its closure and I guess this is the end of Dexter.

My final thoughts: I enjoyed the new season and enjoyed watching Dexter get his back to being Dexter. The father son relationship had its ups and downs imo. Harrison ends up turning on Dexter which came out of nowhere but its easy to understand why he did what he did. I did NOT enjoy Debra Morgan's role as Dexter's voice of reason (minus 1 star). She was the opposite of their father - she was loud, stupid sounding and not likeable. Chief of police Angela didn't come across as believable. I thought she was miscast in that role. The way she nailed Dexter was ridiculously far fetched for a stupid cop that suddenly has a brain transplant and becomes the smartest cop on the planet. She arrests her boyfriend Dexter with the flimsiest of evidence (minus 1 star for her terrible performance). Kurt was awesome. Very much enjoyed his scheming character and Clancy Brown was perfect for that role. Sergeant Logan was also very good. The plot itself was good until the end. I would have preferred a different ending where Dexter returns for a season 2 (thus minus 1 star). Dexter New Blood was good and I'm very happy they produced it but it wasn't nearly as interesting as the original series and the acting wasn't as good (Angela and Deb being the duds).

Original review: I almost stopped watching. I initially did not care for Harrison's character the couple episodes where he returned with a strange sense of caring that turns out to be a façade, like Dexter's facade when he was the blood splatter expert in the original series. As the show progresses it gets much better. Episode 9 is coming in a few days. I can't wait. It's good. His girl friend cop is a bit too stupid but the show was always far fetched. Just watch it.

Nine Perfect Strangers (2021)

What started out interesting became redundant and boring

[6/10 · 27 September 2021]

Interesting premise with some (not all) good acting but episode after episode became a boring repeat of previous episodes. The one character I could not stand was Regina Hall as Carmel. Didn't like her at all as she over acted in virtually every episode. I was hoping she'd do us all a favor and jump off a cliff. In addition Nicole Kidman with that Russian accent was poorly executed. Look, I will give her credit for trying but it didn't work for me. This should have been a 2 hour movie and not a 10 episode bore fest. And when you finally get to the end ... good Lord was it stupid. The one couple end up taking over camp. Don't ask how. Just accept it. Ummm ... no!

Bosch (2014–2021)

Great ... up until the Season 7 snooze fest

[8/10 · 25 August 2021]

I consider Bosch a great series and was looking forward to season 7, which is the final season. What a disappointment all 8 episodes were. To fill 8 hours the writers decided to make gay bullying the main theme. It was so pretentious and preposterous (and boring) that I found myself losing interest and falling asleep during almost every episode after the 1st one. It took away from 6 seasons of mostly intriguing and suspenseful binge watching as the series kept me looking forward to the next episode. Not so Season 7. The gay/lesbian thing was a side show time filler that had no part in the actual plot which was weak and may explain why the writers focused on gay bullying rather than a viable plot. In addition, the whole mayor/police chief sub plot was so watered down and virtually left to die until the final episode. It just didn't make much sense. If I had to do it again I'd watch the first two episodes and skip to the final episode. First 6 seasons: 10/10 Season 7: 2/10 (it was that bad)

Without Remorse (II) (2021)

Its a WOKE Tom Clancy catastrophy

[2/10 · 2 May 2021]

I had not read any reviews before watching this movie but boy do I wish I would have. I did not get through the entire movie. It was THAT bad. I knew it was unrealistic when a woman was posing as a Seal leader. What were they thinking??? Michael Jordan was flat out awful. It was as if he knew he made a mistake in taking the role and just went through the motions. You've likely read the other reviews so I will keep it short: DO NOT WASTE ONE MINUTE WATCHING THIS FARCE. Tom Clancy, what happened to you? Why sell the rights to your book and allow hollywood to sabotage your work? Have more pride!

Queen of the South (2016–2021)

Lazy writing and uninspired plot ruin this show

[4/10 · 14 November 2020]

Who in their right mind would give this show a 10/10 rating? I'm a big fan of Narcos and El Chapo. I watched Queen of the South with high hopes. What a let down. The Camilla character is so ridiculous that she's hard to take seriously. It got to the point where I just rolled my eyes and thought 'not this again'. The writers want Camilla to be a sex symbol. Maybe in her younger years she could have pulled it off but here she's old and tired looking. Getting past that, she has to be the dumbest drug lord on the planet. She actually WANTS a drug war against her powerful husband. But all he needs to do is cut off her supply (yep she wants a "war' with her supplier who happens to be her husband - this is how ridiculous the plot is) but Camilla somehow doesn't understand that. What a dope! She makes mistake after mistake and yet Theresa and the other henchmen stay with her as she constantly runs dry of drugs and money and is easily out foxed by her husband and other drug lords. I was thinking, 'just please end our misery and knock her off already'. But no. Its so stupid that its an insult to anyone with an ounce of intelligence. Theresa is bland with very little personality. The violence is forced and Theresa conveniently escapes every dire situation. Its lazy writing and a meandering repetitive mindless plot. Both main actresses are terrible - Veronica Falcon (Camilla) and Alice Braga (Theresa). Apparently Veronica Falcon is a well known Mexican actress but wow is she terrible in this series. For me she completely ruined the show. It's not all her fault though. The writing is incompetent. I watched the 1st season thinking it would get better and started the 2nd season. After the 2nd episode of season 2 I skipped 4 episodes and missed nothing - they need to steal money AGAIN. Lol Its as if those 4 episodes never existed. So I'm done with it.

The Outsider (2020)

Worth the watch but ....

[7/10 · 15 March 2020]

It started out great. Very good acting but Mendlesohn's role got a bit old and stale after the first two episodes. It should have been at most 8 episodes. It dragged out to the point where I began to lose interest. But it was one of the better horror miniseries (let's be honest, there's not a lot of good ones). The ending was just astonishingly weak imo. Without giving anything away it how could that actually happen knowing the powers of the supernatural being? Its enjoyable and could have been great if it actually had a realistic ending.

Watchmen (2019)

Good (not great) but nothing to do with original Watchmen

[7/10 · 22 February 2020]

For those of you not familiar with the original Watchmen series Rorschach was a vigilante who fought crime, at first not killing his victims who were rapists and killers and then becoming more violent by killing them with no mercy.

Here we have a series that takes place after the death of Rorschach who's journal is published in a right wing racist newspaper which is misinterpreted by the Seventh Kavalry, a white supremacist terror group who dress up using the same black blotted mast used by Rorschach. In the HBO series it cleverly references the original series in newspaper headlines and other innuendo.

If you are expecting the HBO series to be an extension of the original comic series you will be very disappointed. It truly has nothing to do with it. The problem is the topic the authors brainstormed to land on a white supremacist group using the Rorschach doctrine as it's calling card. It just doesn't hold water.

I gave it 7 stars because if you can ignore any reference to the original series and think of it as a stand alone series it's not bad. Knowing the background of the original Watchmen graphic novel gives credibility to the critics of the HBO version and has little to do with politics as some here seem to try so hard to believe its all about politics. Its not. A post Rorschach series could have gone in many directions. However the writers decided to intentionally make it controversial which leads to political overtones. They are getting the criticism they deserve and likely anticipated.

Vikings (2013–2020)

This review is for season 601 (season 6)

[8/10 · 23 January 2020]

This was one of my absolute favorite shows. Relatively accurate depiction of the Vikings with great acting and fantastic action...until the past 2 seasons. Kathryn Winnick as Lagertha was a solid character (although she looks very young to have sons in their late 20's and early 30's. I always had a difficult time with that aspect). In season 6 she is terrible. Horrible and difficult to believe story line. Instead of executing 3 treasonous criminals Bjorne sentences them to freedom in the wilderness. If you were here you would see my eyes roll. No way should that ever happen but here the writers thought 'lets make them more likeable' or something along those lines. The episodes drag and drag .... and drag. Constant speeches from Lagertha caused me to wear out the fast-forward button on my remote. Kinda like The Walking Dead. Winnick is flat out disappointing. The writers seem to write to today's era of woman power/right and not the reality of the actual Viking era. I'm sure women were strong back then but come on. This is ridiculous. And then the elections....geezus. Just terrible. And boring. And then there's Ivar and .... whatever. Not sure it's worth continuing to watch.

Messiah (2020)

If you like Showtime's Homeland ....

[9/10 · 11 January 2020]

...then you will enjoy Messiah. It makes you think. Things are not what they seem. Is it really happening or is he just another man with a sinister plan? Is the U.S. a political quagmire (yes of course) or is our skepticism understandably grounded in the constant lies and exaggerations coming out of the middle east (Yes of course it is)? This series addresses all of that in the first season but answers none of it. Like Homeland's Brody in the first 3 seasons, every episode leaves you wondering whether 'The Messiah' is truly divine or a false prophet intent on dividing the world. If you like Homeland, you will enjoy this series.

The Irishman (2019)

Not as good as I expected and too long

[6/10 · 4 January 2020]

With all the rave reviews my expectations were very high. I thought the movie was good, not great. Maybe it's just me but I thought it was at least 30 minutes too long. Pacino was excellent as Hoffa but DeNiro looked old and at times his acting was a bit puzzling. He stuttered at times, maybe purposely ... I don't know. But it came across as odd. He gets into a fight with a shop keeper and tosses him through a glass door and then pounds him into submission. He just didn't look physically capable. They needed to have someone younger playing the part of younger Frank Sheeran in his 30's/40's. DeNiro just didn't fit the part. Pesci looks REALLY old and tired. Make up and computer wizardry just didn't work in making him look younger. Jesse Plemons was superb as Chuckie, Hoffa's son. I thought Ray Romano was also very good as the attorney. Living in the midwest and knowing many in the Teamsters I had heard this story before. This is nothing new. And of course, there is still no verification that this actually happened. It's a famous director and famous actors playing out one of many tales of Jimmy Hoffa's demise.

U Turn (1997)

Very underrated ....

[9/10 · 17 December 2019]

Not sure why this movie didn't do better at the box office. I very much enjoyed it and it's one of Sean Penn's better acting gigs. He plays a loser and does it well. Nolte is fantastic and Lopez is, well, stunning. Billy Bob Thornton plays such a creepy dude you don't realize it's actually him. What a great actor. And Phoenix plays a law breaking bully. One of his first big roles and he shines. I really like the fact that for once here's a movie that is very unpredictable right till the end.

Bird Box (2018)

A 6 because of how far fetched it was

[6/10 · 1 January 2019]

I write reviews to help others who may want to watch a movie but are unsure if it's worthy. So I will keep this simple: Bird Box is worthy of watching BUT the plot is a bit of a stretch. Sandra Bullock was good, not great. She also used too much make-up to try and make her look younger than her 54 years. The names of the 2 children were ridiculous and really no reason for it. For being blindfolded they certainly knew where they were going at all times, easily finding a convenient door to safety time and time again.

Holmes & Watson (2018)

Will Ferrell should never be the lead in any movie

[1/10 · 27 December 2018]

One of the many problems with this movie is Will Ferrell is not a good lead actor. He's good as a supporting actor in movies like Old School, Wedding Crashers, Daddy's Home (Walberger was the lead), etc. As the lead, his humor gets old fast. Such is the case with this movie. Also, I do not find John Reilly to be particularly funny. Don't waste your money on low budget movies like this.