sigpret Reviews

Leaving the Frame (2019)

Not what I expected

[3/10 · 17 June 2022]

Call me a hedonist but when I did my one year travel in Australia or my two month travel in New Zealand it was all about freedom and doing awesome stuff. In this "movie" they seem to believe that they must show some emotionally deep or cultural valuable things but this is not what I expected. Of course it is terrifying how woman are treated in some places but if I want to know more about it I look a documentary about it. On the other side, if I decide looking something about traveling I expect it to be about.. well, traveling and not about women rights or Nazis. Apparently the makers wanted the "movie" to be something big, something meaningful and a movie about two people simply traveling along the world and enjoying themselves seemed not enough to them. But this is exactly what I expected.

Further, I do not understand why some things are shown very short and other long. For example, the shark diving is shown for only 5 seconds or so but the bird stuff goes on and on. Same is true for the car search: why should I care how they were looking for the car? I know Germans are supposed to be car fanatics but even as a German I found it totally unnecessary to see how they visited all the car sellers.

There are probably more thing to say which I disliked but that are some random points that come into my mind.

The Mule (2018)

Boring

[4/10 · 8 June 2022]

The whole problem in this movie is that an old men likes to make stops while driving car but he is supposed not to do so. There is the first mexican guy telling him not to stop while driving cocaine and then there is a second, tougher looking mexican guy saying the same. That's 80% of the movie.

Of course there is a second story line - the family issues of the old driver. Unfortunately, the second story line is as boring as the first one.

Beside those two things mentioned we see Clint Eastwood dancing with young pretty girls multiple times. It is conspicuous what a great guy this old driver is - he admits being guilty in court, young girls want to dance with him, even cops hunting him can't deny how lovely he is and the same is true for the onces he has neglected his whole life. I was not surprised that Clint Eastwood is not only the super great guy but also the director of the movie.

War of the Worlds (2005)

Should not have a happy end

[9/10 · 5 June 2022]

After all what has been said about the superiority of the aliens and after all that has been shown the end is pretty odd - suddenly the indomitable and intelligent aliens die by themselves. The reason is not really convincing: they did not consider how they would cope in our biosphere. This is unplausible since the allains are supposed to be so much more intelligent than we are and they planed the invasion for million years. Thus, it is the first time that I would say I disliked that the movie has a happy end. It would be unpleasant to watch but it would make much more sense if the world goes down in this movie.

The second point is that the movie doesn't really has a story. Aliens attack the world. That's all.

Nonetheless I give it 9 stars because it wa such a fun to watch. This is one of those movies where you can turn of your brain and enjoy all the action and thrill. With another ending it would be definitely 10 stars.

Den of Thieves (2018)

Bad

[2/10 · 1 June 2022]

The two main characters are basically the same: masculine, aggressive, criminal. There is pretty much no difference between the main cop and main criminal. The plot is unplausible and I see no sense in many parts - why does the cop sleep with the wife of the ganster boss and her husband even wanted her to?, why does the ganster boss tell one of his guys he shall tell the police where they will break into a bank?, why does the police not simply arrest the criminal group but just meet them in different settings again and again? I did not get it and had no connection to either side.

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Great

[10/10 · 12 May 2022]

That one surprised me! I just expected some action but the movie also proofs to be funny and exciting. Of course we all know how it ends and of course there are those last-second-scenes. Nevermind, really enjoyed watching this.

Knocked Up (2007)

Stupid

[4/10 · 12 May 2022]

A story that everyone predicts just after watching the poster being told along with stupid jokes. Was a waste of time to me. Not even for an easygoing comedy night a good choice.

Tenet (2020)

What?

[5/10 · 12 May 2022]

Why do you make a story about to opposing time lines even more confusing then necessary? Even before the time traveling begins the whole story is told in an absolutely ununderstandable way. Too bad, I really was looking forward to this movie.

Spirited Away (2001)

Magical

[10/10 · 12 May 2022]

An unique story with many lovely details. Heart warming, exciting and beautiful. Despite all the many magical details the movie does not seem overloaded but the pieces come perfectly together to a great picture.

Moon (2009)

But good

[7/10 · 5 May 2022]

Many logical inconsistencies. Why does the second Sam react that different to being a clone? Why is the robot designed to fully help Sam, even giving him access to secret passwords? Why does the company install things to disturb the live stream to earth - they simply could hinder a live stream by software. And what is Sam there for at all? It seems like robots could do all the work by themselves.

Regardless of the mentioned flaws the movie hits the right emotional buttons. If you stop question and follow the emotional disturbing journey the movie works perfectly.

Christmas Vacation (1989)

Bad

[4/10 · 25 December 2021]

Almost every joke was predictable and silly. Probably great for kids but to us it was just bad. Can't recommend at all. All I liked is the flair of the 80s/90s movies.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

Bad

[2/10 · 3 December 2021]

The disgusting scenes are unpleasant to look at and there are many of them. Even the Whos are not nice to look at. The Jim Carrey spirit that I actually love makes this movies unnecessary mundane. The setting looks completely unauthentic. Just bad.

RoboCop (1987)

Dumb

[4/10 · 13 September 2021]

The movie is full of naive and odd scenes. Here are some.

The prototype robot kills at his first demonstration an innocent person and not a minute later they are talking about the next robot. That is so naive and odd; you see the worker loaded with bullets in the background and the company chiefs are doing business as usual. In real life, all people would have been shocked seeing a co-worker being killed right in front of them.

Later, a guy attacks a shop and says "give me the safe!" The owner responds that there is no safe. Then the guy kicks against some cans in front of him and there is the safe. Why the hell would someone put the safe right in the middle of his shop behind some cans and how should the guy have known this? Again, it is an odd way to save time and rush through the story. The company chiefs take no break and discuss the next roboter just after the first one killed someone and the guy does not have to search for the safe but immediately finds it.

In another scene some guy goes crazy and kidnappes his co-workers. He says to the police what his wishes are. He wants a new car that is fast, yet needs a little fuel and so on and so on. He wants his job back but he wants a bigger office room. If he does not get what he asks for he kills the hostages. Seriously? Again, that is so naive. Who on earth thinks he or she will actually get the job back with even better conditions after kidnapping people? He will be arrested and this regardless of whether he kills someone or not. This is not the way someone gets promoted.

There are other similar scenes like this. In my opinion it would be a better idea to make the movie some minutes longer than to create such weird situations. It would be easy to change all this off scenes to more sensible ones since the crime solved by RoboCop is quite interchangeable. The story itself is good but those naive scenes made me rate the movie that bad.

What I disliked too is that the bad guys are laughing all the time. They shoot a cop in his hand, in his shoulder, in his head... and laugh all the time. That is so exaggerated and naive. Those bad guys are depicted as fully evil: They have no feelings, no tears, they are just bad. That's a naive view, too.

Points above and more make me think it is a child's movie. But then all the violence is inappropriate. I as an adult can not take this movie seriously.

Bruce Almighty (2003)

Entertaining

[7/10 · 5 September 2021]

This is an easygoing movie with a nice message, although there is not much new what the movie is saying us: money isn't everything, love your close ones and live your live as you want not as other want you to. Anyway, Jim Carrey makes this movie entertaining and some scene where Carrey has the power of God are funny to watch.

My Name Is Earl (2005–2009)

Hilarious

[9/10 · 4 September 2021]

Why why why was this show canceled! One of the best TV series to me. I love all the characters!

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

Pretty brutal for a family movie

[6/10 · 6 August 2021]

Many disgusting and brutal scenes for a family movie with 12 year old children in my opinion. Beside that it is an usual Indiana Jones movie: a lot of action and quite entertaining.

Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

Lost

[4/10 · 3 May 2021]

The movie shows countless magic things but often it is unclear what it is all about. Many scenes make little sense. In the end Sophie kisses this rabbit or whatever and the rabbit becomes a prince who has the power to end the war. That is an odd way to create an happy end. It is said that the rabbit becomes a prince because it was love but Sophie was not even in love with him. This is only one example of many odd scenes.

The White Tiger (2021)

The american dream

[10/10 · 11 March 2021]

The american dream that anyone can make it and become rich is not wrong per se. People like Bill Gates show this. But it is highly highly unlikely that someone who was born poor will become rich. On the other hand, some people are born in rich and privileged families. That is one of the biggest things that makes this world unfair.

The White Tiger plays in India where the importance of the family you are born in is more obvious, but the principles are the same here: Either you have a rich family or you have to struggle a lot and must have good luck to become rich. So the american dream is not impossible, but improbable. I hope people stop voting for conservative parties and start voting for social parties that make this planet a more fair place.

(English is not my native language)

The Purge (I) (2013)

Stupid

[2/10 · 14 September 2020]

There are so many cliches in this movie. People split and walk around alone in dark rooms. There is this "scared girl hides under the bed" scene, too. The crazy leader kills one of his friends, just to make clear how crazy he is. Then, in the midle of a action scene when all are shooting, there is a girl with a machete dancing around - no one would ever do this. Of course the girl gets shot just some moments later. The only male black actor is a homeless guy who is supposed to be killed by the "purge activists" in order to keep clean Amerika. What the hell. Further, in the movie they tell the reason why the purge was introduced is that it is good for the economy and so on. But at the end of the movie a house worth of many millions is completely devastated. This is just stupid.

Through Fire, Water and... Trumpets (1968)

Awful

[1/10 · 25 April 2020]

I am so sorry for all the people who put their effort into this film but to me it is just awful. The cheap costumes and special effects don't bother me at all, but the overacting, the storry and the music was a pain to me. Usually I enjoy old russian movies but I can't recommend this one at all.

The Mummy Returns (2001)

Unnecessary

[2/10 · 16 March 2019]

There was absolutely no need for this movie since it is pretty much a worse version of the first mummy movie. As the main character in the movie says about one of the egypt myths "it is always the same story". There will definitely be different exciting egypt myths, but the movie makers did not make any effort creating anything new or interesting.

The Upside (2017)

Whatch the original

[24 February 2019]

It is just ridiculous that hollywood takes stories that were popular in other countries and simply shows them an other time. Would it be that much disturbing for people from the US to see european, asian, african or australian people on the screen? It is obvious that movies like this are not art of any kind but simply an easy way to make money.

That is why to me this movie is completely unnecessary, just like other remakes like the announced Your Name remake. Whatch the original.

Non-Stop (2014)

Sexism against men

[8/10 · 14 February 2019]

As always in movies like this: save woman and children first. Or in this movie: place woman and children far away from the bomb while men... Well, men and luggage protect woman and children from the explosion of the bomb. So it is sexism if one says "fireman" but at the same time it is ok if one says that the live of a woman is more worth than the life of men. Disgusting ethic: judgement about a life's worth based on gender.

Apart from that, the movie was entertaining and that is why I give it so many stars. But the critic above remains..

What the Health (2017)

First hour good but then just terrible

[4/10 · 9 December 2018]

I find the furst hour great because most people eat meat multiple times every day which is not healthy. But the personal storys of the second half of the movie are just terrible because the imply that everything can be healed just by eating vegetables.

I have read that people in other reviews state that they work in health sector and they find this movie inappropriate for different reasons. I work as a medical researcher and I find some of this reasons are misleading, e.g. one ciritc is that the movie shows single study's and conclusions should not be drawn from single study's because they can contradict each other. This is true, but in case of the negative effects of meat, for instance, there are meta analysis that show the results provided in the movie: meat does increase the risk for many diseases.

Nevertheless, the movie does have many weak points. I find the individual examples shown in the movie terrible because they suggest any disease can be healed with a vegan diet in two weeks. This is highly inappropriate and therefore and for other reasons I did not rate this movie with ten stars. And of course, this movie is highly biased, because there are many medical experts who would contradict the claims made by the movie, but they are not part of the movie.

Yet, I gave the movie 4 stars since I think that this movie is a good start for many people to think about their eating habbits. I live in Germany and I know many people who eat a lot of meat and cheese every day. This simply can not be healthy, which is supported by most of the reasearch I know and hopefully this movie will contribute to a change.

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

Don't you see the irony?

[1/10 · 1 December 2018]

The message of the film is great: even the seemingly evil dragons are actually not evil but just like you - they have also feelings like you, need also food like you, and so on. This is a great message for a family movie and I enjoyed the first half of the movie a lot. But the end ruined it all and this is why. In the end, the maker of the movie simply created a bigger dragon which is told to be the actual reason for all the problems described before and this big dragon is truly just evil. And this is such a stupid thing to do because it implies that there are just evil beings that must be killed. But the message of the film was actually supposed to be the opposite! That were actually the beliefs of the vikings that the boy prooved to be wrong! And in fact the message of the movie applies to the bigger dragon, too: the bigger dragon simply needs food and this is why it eats the other animals. We are doing the same. But the vikings and dragons start attacking the big dragon, hit it in the eye which hurts it a lot (so the bigger dragon has feeling just like is, too), burning it with flames and eventually killing it. After that horrible scene it gets even worse: once the bigger dragon has died, there is peace and harmony. This is such a terrible message for a family movie and, again, it totally contradicts the message the movie is supposed to have, because in the end all this movie is telling you is: find the evil, kill it and everything will be great. The analogy to human thinking and the reason for wars is obvious and in this sense the movie supports the idea that a war is a good thing since it destroyes the evil. So this movie pretends to have a lovely message and I have neither understanding why the makers included this big irony nor why so few people see this obvious contradiction. To me it was just painful to watch how the boy shows that the seemingly evil dragons are just like us and later they all attack the bug dragon, hurt it a lot and eventually kill it. This is a terrible movie and I give it only one star.

Mother! (2017)

Incredible movie

[10/10 · 4 November 2018]

Some people complain because the analogy to the bible or to the humankind is not coherent. I would suggest to consider only the relationship between the mother and him and the emotions that arise in the movie. This is how I perceived the movie and I was stunned. I have never seen a movie before, which is so unpleasant and painful to watch and transports such a strong feeling of controll lost. But to me exactly this is why the movie is absolutely worth watching - so I recommend watching it not although the movie is unpleasant but because it is so unpleasant to watch.