bgar-80932 Reviews

Infernal Affairs (2002)

Pretty good

[7/10 · 9 April 2024]

This is the departed before the departed remade it. Alot of people think this is better than the departed but I don't think so. The departed was essentially a perfect remake. I think the remake worked more for me due to the American side of it. That said this movie is still really good and had a ton of great ideas that the departed essentially copy and pasted but in a Boston accent. It didn't hurt that the departed cast was ridiculously loaded. Like guys like Mark Walhberg were a footnote when he himself is a genuine leading man. Overall I don't have any critiques of this movie other than I think the remake is better.

Bone Tomahawk (2015)

Excellent newer western

[8/10 · 26 March 2024]

I really liked this flick. It was brutal and I really enjoyed the dialogue. Basically two thieves desecrate an Indian burial ground. They kill the one but the other gets away and involves a nearby town. These aren't regular Indians though, they don't have a language and are cannibals. Kurt Russel is the sheriff of the town and they apprehended the surviving thief for something else. The Indians raided to get that guy and in the process captured one guy's wife and a deputy. A few people included the injured husband go after them. There a brutal fight occurs. This movie just really surprised me and it nailed it.

Journey's End (I) (2017)

Not bad

[6/10 · 26 March 2024]

This movie isn't bad but it doesn't really stir me. The acting is actually pretty good. The captain of a company has to hold a trench when it's known the Germans will probably take it over while he's there. The British were rotating and each company has to be there six days. The Captain is a drunk because he's struggling to deal with all the loss, then his 2nd in command dies on a pointless raid he was directed to put together. A newer officer comes under fire by the Captain by implying he doesn't care. He clearly cares, and maybe too much. Overall there's zero reason I didn't like it more, good plot, good acting, good conclusion it just didn't fully resonate with me.

Justified: City Primeval (2023)

Better than some are saying

[7/10 · 21 March 2024]

This isn't as good as the original by any means but it scratches the itch. Raylan is still a great character. It's dragged down a bit by his annoying daughter. That doesn't kill it though. The villain is pretty good, he's no Boyd Crowder but he's menacing and erratic enough to make a good story. It's in Detroit so it has a vastly different setting and the setting doesn't really work as well for me though but it's not bad. I heard it was a mini-series and was thankful for that because it scratches that itch then excuses itself. The very end they show Boyd Crowder though like another season is going to happen. If it does, I'll watch it but I'd rather they just end on a semi-decent note.

Wild Tales (2014)

Not bad

[7/10 · 21 March 2024]

This is an interesting foreign flick that features six random stories of people in stressful situations and how they respond to it. There's two stories in particular, one featuring a road rage incident that spiraled completely out of control and the other is a guy who's basically against corruption. The road rage one is pretty straightforward and good. The other one the guy gets a parking ticket he didn't deserve and tries to fight it but sees how completely corrupt the system is. His whole life spirals out of control and he essentially becomes a "terrorist" fighting against his country. All of the others were decent as well but those are the two that stuck.

Money Shot: The Pornhub Story (2023)

Not overly interesting

[3/10 · 19 March 2024]

The beginning where it explained why pornhub changed the way people could put content on it's site was semi-interesting. People were getting away with basically putting rape, revenge porn, or underage content which obviously needed to be addressed. They did but made it a little harder for porn actors/actresses to make money on their own content. That in itself doesn't really matter to me. To some people it does I'm sure. Somehow this was a whole topic about porn yet it was uninteresting. Not sure how you do that but they did. It wasn't horrible I guess but I wouldn't recommend it and I only finished it because I usually do.

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Intense

[7/10 · 10 March 2024]

The main thing I'd say about this movie (others may not agree) is that it was intense. The whole plot is about killing Bin Laden. Well that's not entirely true it's about killing everyone known or associated with being involved in a high capacity of Al Quaeda such as Bin Laden. The main guy they were going for wasn't Bin Laden but it led them to him in a compound that was more or less completely off grid because nobody made calls there. It was very different than what I pictured in my head and I really liked seeing how it really was. Also freaking Tony Soprano was in it which I had no clue. Good movie, not great but I really enjoyed it.

The Seventh Seal (1957)

Meh

[5/10 · 10 March 2024]

I kind of get why this was rated so highly but it was hard for me to feel the same about it. I don't know if it was just far too dated feeling (I watched in 2024) or I was missing something due to not being religious. That said I did like some aspects of it. For one, living during the plague is always interesting to me, it had to be so incredibly frightening and most people probably thought it was the end of the world. Why wouldn't they? In that case it's very obvious why they'd turn to religion. I don't blame them in the slightest. What I didn't love was the timeline of them playing chess. Chess doesn't take that long and like in between he was just living normally? It was a bit confusing. I can see how it'd be a hit at the time though but it didn't resonate with me.

Retribution (I) (2023)

Watchable

[5/10 · 4 March 2024]

This is short and to the point. Liam Neeson is still enjoyable to watch although nothing is probably going to beat Taken for him. He gets a phone call while he had his kids in the car that there's a bomb in it with pressure plates and everything and that the bomber can detonate wireless because there's a phone attached. He didn't buy it at first until he sees one of his business partners die. The idea is obviously for money and Neeson did okay acting wise but the whole thing is just kind of lazy. The kids' acting isn't great and I can't help but feel they just thought if they put Neeson in a movie they'd more than break even. Maybe they did, I don't know.

Our Friend (2019)

Good

[7/10 · 4 March 2024]

The acting here is really good but I didn't like all the time hops, there were certain points where I wasn't actually sure which time frame we were in. It doesn't take away from the film too much but it bothered me. Casey Affleck is great like always and Jason Segal is an excellent actor in his own right. It's hard for me not to compare this to Manchester by the Sea, another Affleck film with a horrible tragedy though and frankly you cannot beat that acting. In that film Affleck was the most broken I've ever seen a man on film and it really can't be topped. If I had seen this before that though I might have rated this higher, especially as there's some comic relief here that doesn't exist in Manchester by the Sea.

Bosch (2014–2021)

Very good

[8/10 · 4 March 2024]

This show is great because it strays a bit from the normal police detective shows. Nothing is near as easy as they typically are. Bosch always pays attention to all the little things as well as his gut and manages to figure out most stuff but it's not like he's a superhero. One murder that was consistently eluding him was that on his own mother from when he was a kid. That's what got him into detective work and in his down time he still was trying to solve it. He also kind of plays by his own rules (which admittedly isn't bucking the trend but it works here). In the end he sabotaged his career to get a murderer even though the feds had already been willing to give the guy a deal essentially get off Scott free. That's why the sequel to the show was made because he went into private investigating right at the end.

Power (2014–2020)

Addicting

[7/10 · 17 February 2024]

For a show with a ton of flaws it was still very addicting. Some of the murders in New York are just a little too hard to believe they got away with in broad daylight. If you suspend belief it's still a good show. That said sometimes I thought Tommy was a good character and sometimes I thought he was a terrible actor. That was hard considering he's the #2 on the show. It got lazy and way off the rails as it went along but I still ran through the show quickly. It was a fun ride for 80-90% of it so I'd recommend it. I lost all interest in trying anyone of the 3 sequels/prequels though. One of them follows Tariq, Ghost's son which was a horrible storyline near the end for me. No interest in that. One is Kanan's backstory which I don't really care for either. The third one is Tommy going to Cali, that's the only one with slight interest for me but without Ghost I don't think it'll land the same.

The Front Line (2011)

Very good

[8/10 · 17 February 2024]

This movie showed the absurdity of the Korean War. I'm sure not all the issues and the South succeeding wasn't absurd, just certain aspects of it that I read about when I was younger. There were peace talks for years and everyone thought it would end. Not only that but when they finally signed for peace it was 12 hours later, so the soldiers had to fight when the war was clearly over. It's just an absurd waste of life for a little leverage into where they make the line. The characters were great in this and that added quite a bit to it. There's a very young Captain that's seen a ton of loss and lost a little bit of himself as he stayed on the front. Then there's a Lieutenant who was sent to investigate the death of the previous Captain as it was under fishy circumstances. He saw many things go different than what he thought it should but he's always been a behind the scenes guy so not someone on the front line. There's a good cast of complimentary characters also, and they even show guys from the North but not in a negative light, just as soldiers like everyone else.

The Hunt (II) (2020)

Better than expected

[7/10 · 9 February 2024]

I went into this with low expectations but it was actually kind of good. I didn't even know it was a comedy but it had some really good satire of the elites and how they view normal people and vice versa. The violence was great with the exception of the last girl fight, it was over the top and great. It had some really good one liners too. Sometimes when you go into something with no expectations when it's actually decent it seems better than it is, that may be the case for this but honestly I don't know because I had never even heard of this movie. My wife and I found this because we were looking for the 2012 movie with the same name.

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Kept my attention

[6/10 · 3 February 2024]

The movie kept my attention and maybe at the time it was groundbreaking but I'm not sure why this is considered like one of the best ever. The main guy is basically just a thug thief who takes and does anything he wants. He has some cronies following him around beating up homeless people and breaking into houses raping and pillaging. Eventually his crew is sick of him being mean to them so they set him up and he gets convicted on a murder charge. In order to get out early he undergoes some kind of therapy that is supposed to make violence and sex revolting to him. It has some pretty interesting elements but I didn't love it and maybe it is just dated to me, not sure. It is over 50 years old so that wouldn't surprise me.

Don't Worry Darling (I) (2022)

So-so

[5/10 · 3 February 2024]

The idea of the movie wasn't bad and I got it wrong. I thought it was a nuclear testing site or something and it was actually some kind of forced simulation for most of the women while the men leave the "town" and go to work to pay to keep them in there. Their memories are erased for the most part minus when they got there and they don't really know what's going on. That all changes when the main wife goes into the no-go zone and discovers something amiss. That messes with the simulation and allows her to have some memories. It's an okay concept but I thought Florence Pugh was terrible and she's the lead. The main guy wasn't great either. It was slow as well. Meh.

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Good action, good concept, good acting

[7/10 · 3 February 2024]

This movie kind of has it all but still didn't blow me away. It has very good action, an intriguing concept that kind of explains the repeat lives, and good acting to top it off. It also throws a believable love story in the mix. That said I just feel like I've seen this type of film too many times. There's one that's exactly like it but I'm blanking on the name where a guy fights off a gang and each time keeps getting better to take them out. There's also groundhog day which isn't exactly the same but obviously he's repeating the day. There's a few more with similar ideas so I just feel like I've seen it too much. If it was the first of it's kind I saw I'm sure I would have liked it more.

Downfall (2004)

Interesting

[7/10 · 3 February 2024]

It was interesting to see the Nazi side of the war especially when it was clear they were losing and clear it was over. Delusion ran half the bunker and despair the other. Some knew it was over but couldn't do anything about it and some still saw Hitler as like a god that could do no wrong who would somehow find a way out. Hitler himself was a little in the middle, he still talked a big game at times but he had his exit plan more than set up (Suicide for him and his wife and also some others). For a regular soldier it was super depressing to be there and still be trying to follow orders. It makes you see the other side a bit as not everyone who followed Nazis were horrible people, some were just doing what they thought they had to do for their country. Not something I'd watch again as it's not really enjoyable but a good piece of film making either way.

John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch (2019 TV Movie)

Abysmal

[1/10 · 14 January 2024]

I'm not sure who this is catered to but it for sure isn't me. It's like a skit show with kids talking about adult topics with musical numbers thrown in. It had the potential to be funny with the topics but never landed. Then it threw in a random 3 minute song here and there that wasn't funny at all and it was just kids singing. Is it for kids or adults? I don't think it's for either and it doesn't land on either side. I like John Mulaney so I kept hoping it would get funny but it never really did. Jake Gyllenhal made an appearance at the end and he did okay but even that didn't really land. He was a music teacher that tried to make music out of mundane objects but he didn't prepare and got frazzled. I could see how someone could think his performance was funny but that's it for the full hour and a half. Terrible attempt.

Banshee (2013–2016)

Fun

[9/10 · 12 January 2024]

The main thing you can say about this show is it's fun. It has over the top ridiculous violence, gorgeous women who get naked in just about every episode, and a decent storyline to move things along. The acting itself is actually pretty good as well so it makes for an enjoyable ride. The main character is the guy who plays homelander in the boys. He assumes a new sheriff's identity when that sheriff gets killed before anyone knows who he is. He came to the town to reunite with his ex and get the money he's owed after he went to prison for 15 years for her. The story gets crazier as it goes along and there's multiple good villains that make for an enjoyable ride the whole way. The last season is only 8 episodes and that caught me off guard so I was sad to see it go.

WALL·E (2008)

Not bad

[6/10 · 12 January 2024]

This is kind of depressing for a kids movie but my kids didn't really catch the tone for the most part so it was fine for them. The story is of a robot living alone on earth when another robot lands. They give these robots human emotion and eventually they develop a friendship. All the people from earth are on a ship essentially waiting until it's safe to come back to earth. They turn into big slobs on the ship and just depend on the robots there to do everything for them and the robots actually try to stop them from returning to earth. When the robots get separated its sad but eventually they get back to earth and the two robots reunite.

Monsters (2010)

Not bad

[6/10 · 8 January 2024]

For a movie that is so clearly low budget this still does a pretty decent job telling a crazy story. Monsters have taken over parts of the world and a man is hired to get a rich man's daughter out of a dangerous land. He works with the rich man as a photographer but is hired to get her out. Throughout it all there's a lot of danger and they somewhat fall for each other in the peril. It's well acted and they show the monsters sparingly I'm assuming to save money but they still create a good atmosphere of how scary this new and dangerous world would be. There's a good bit of mystery on how they're here as well. Overall it's not bad, id never watch it again but it's good for the money.

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)

Swing and a miss

[5/10 · 6 January 2024]

This is probably my least favorite Quinton Tarantino (sp?) movie I've ever watched. It bummed me out because it had such a great cast but it kind of just meanders along with no real point until the end. We still got some pretty good acting and scenes out of Brad Pitt but Dicaprio is one of my favorite actors but I didn't really like him in this until the very end like right after the home invasion. The ending being an alternate version of reality kind of saved it for me a bit because otherwise I don't understand what the point would be, I still don't really but that made it made sense a little more.

The Wages of Fear (1953)

Not bad at all

[7/10 · 29 December 2023]

In a town somewhere in Central America foreigners basically get stuck as there's no jobs available and it cost too much to get out of town. Four positions delivering very dangerous explosives in trucks along a dangerous road become available when the other trucks exploded and the drivers perished. The rest of the movie is the four guys who took up the job trying to navigate their way to deliver the goods. It's pretty intense the obstacles they face and the potent danger they're driving around with. The whole time you're thinking they're going to blow up and some of them don't make it because it's actually two trucks with two teams. Overall pretty entertaining and it didn't feel too dated.

The Green Knight (2021)

Hated it

[3/10 · 27 December 2023]

I wanted to see this movie since it came out because I love medieval fantasy and the visuals in the trailer were stellar. The visuals held true but the rest was pretty much all bad. There's a challenge by a green knight in the beginning to a whole courtroom and the main character takes up the challenge as he's been mainly in the shadows and not living up to his potential. The challenge is to strike the green knight then whatever you do will be done to you in a year. So of course he cuts his head off. The rest of the movie is him continuing his life for that year and then traveling to get his head cut off. Ridiculous.