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john.schneider
Reviews
Maestro (2023)
Why Was This Bernstien Movie Produced?!
Why did people think that this was the LB movie that had to be made? Yes, the performances of Mulligan and Cooper were excellent, but the whole vibe of the film was pretty disgusting. Was the point to show another gifted person being a deplorable human being? Well, then success!! We can't have too many movies about repugnant people now, can we. Sure, Bernstein made some good music but so did a lot of other people of the last millennium or so, why not a film about any of them? Probably because there aren't enough repugnant behaviors available that can be splashed across the screen. The old saying applies, "just because you CAN make a movie doesn't mean you SHOULD.
A Quiet Place Part II (2020)
No Need to Film This
While I like the work of Emily and John there was no conceivable need to make this movie except to give employment to the worthy workers in the film industry. I won't waste time writing a detailed review, I just want to express my dismay that awful films just should not be made. The acting was just decent (probably why John didn't have much screen time) and he was completely correct in his initial decision NOT to make a sequel -- except that he was the one who wrote the screen play. Again this was not a sequel that should have been made.
The Clovehitch Killer (2018)
Good Film Except the Ending
I would have given this film more stars except for the way the ending was written. The script writer who dreamed up the way this was finalized should be banned from getting scripts accepted from now on. Up until the end the story was fine, well acted, particularly McDermet's portrayal, and believable. The Producers should have seen the problem with the ending as written and demanded a better finalization.
Hillbilly Elegy (2020)
Ugly Movie with Great Acting
This is one of the ugliest movies I've seen. There is some great acting here but the script, the story, its all just too ugly. Stoopid people doing stoopid things to screw up their lives. I know there are plenty of people like this, just look at the recent election. Its sad there is this kind of misery, hopefully some can work their way out of it and excel. But man! The film is ugly.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
I Wanted to Like it
As most agree the production if first rate, the vistas of the American West are just beautiful to see. But as for the stories themselves - they could have beed enjoyable but they seem to this viewer to maybe have ended before the proper time. As one said and I agree, I just coiuldn't connect to incomplete stories.
Spivak (2018)
Too Ridiculous to Endure
I finally couldn't take it, I had to stop after the Laker Girls went to his apartment. Its not that the acting is bad, and its really not that the premise is too strange, its just that the vehicle the actors are given is too ridiculous and taken to painful conclusions. A comedy this certainly is not, maybe it has to do with the fact that it was written by a 2 person committee. I suppose in the hands of a single competent script writer the concept could have fared better rather than realizing such a horrible death, but I gave up hope about halfway through realizing nothing could salvage this mess.
The Good German (2006)
We Turned It Off After 15 Minutes
Since we pulled the plug after 15 minutes I really should give this film a Zero, but the lowest rating here is 1.
Couldn't care less for any of the characters seen during our viewing time. Didn't want to waste anymore time waiting for the plot or film to develop.
The music track was completely out of place, and should have been silent during certain scenes, but relentlessly continued.
The film tried hard to mimic a genre with it's black and white look, but missed the mark widely. This picture is nowhere near the quality of George Clooney's other black & white film about the radio host during the McCarthy hearings, which was quite good.
Apocalypto (2006)
Nothing But Ugliness and Bloodletting
I wish the reviews had indicated what one might expect from this film. I won't give away any spoilers as there is little in this film to spoil. It is virtually just a bloodbath from beginning to end with very little of a substantive plot to separate each killing.
Sure there is a plot, but the gore, violence, brutality, evil, wholesale slaughter, and torture pretty much cancels it out.
I expected so much more from Mel Gibson, as I've enjoyed and appreciated his other films. Even The Passion of the Christ, which I think it fair to say overstated the brutality of the scourging of Jesus that final night, has so much more than just depicting the bloodletting. But at least the whole point of the Passion was that He shed his blood for us. But Apocalypto is NOTHING but gore, showing mankind being cruel out of enjoyment.
The cinematography is lush and gorgeous being filmed on location. But when the focus of that cinematography killing and torture, it becomes repulsive and ugly.
One last thing concerning an astronomical event depicted, I really wouldn't consider it a spoiler. . . . but a total solar eclipse is followed by mere hours by a full moon! Any grade school child could tell you this is not only impossible, but it is stupid to even suggest it, much less put it in a Hollywood movie! This film is a major disappointment. Be warned before you buy a ticket.
Pioneer Quest: A Year in the Real West (2000)
I Found It Compelling
I can't add a lot to what the other commenter wrote, except I was enthralled at what it took for modern civilized people to remove 100 years of technology and live in the 1870s, as much as was possible to achieve in 2001. I missed the first episode that set up the series, showing the interview process and how the final 4 were picked. I wish the series was available on DVD, because I'd probably buy it, or failing that, it would be nice to see it broadcast again, but it doesn't appear to be much in demand. I thought it was excellently produced, and gave a pretty good picture of what it must have been like being a pioneer.
Aberration (1997)
Not So Bad? No, Not So Good!
It is a silly little movie, obviously a really low budget film. The only thing that kept me watching this on the SciFi channel was the lovely Pamela Gidley. Fortunately she was in virtually every scene after I turned to that channel. I imagine her thinking to herself while filming this, "why the heck did I sign up for this film?!?!?! I'd better do the best job I can or I'll never get better roles!!!!" And she turned in a wonderful performance, all things considered. It was a treat just to watch her.
So the best thing by far about this was Pamela Gidley. The most retarded thing about it was the "monsters" themselves, and how the characters could survive time after time their attacks and bites, and how they could almost instantaneously adapt to being attached.
But even all that was worth being subjected to just to watch Pamela Gidley.
1st to Die (2003)
Too Long, Too Awful
The word "1st" in the title has more ominous meaning for the viewers of this film than for its crime victims. At least they don't have to stick around and watch this interminable film reach its own demise.
1st should refer to: 1st draft of a script; 1st takes used in each performance in the final film; 1st edit in post production; etcetera, etcetera.
The movie is not cast too badly, it's just that everything about the film come off as worse than third rate, from the goofy script, to the wooden performances. And while suffering through this cobbled together film, by the 2 hour mark you want to be put out of your misery. At 160 minutes long it is readily apparent that it should have been edited to under 2 hours.
Going into details concerning the lame script and acting serves little purposes. Even in the equally awful, Lake Placid, at least the performances Bill Pullman and Bridget Fonda constructed out of an extremely weak script, were nuanced enough to make you laugh at the movie. In 1st to Die, one ends up grieving only for the time lost in waiting to see what happens after the opening scene of the preparation of the female lead's suicide.
The editing is so bad one is never introduced to one of the main characters, who I think (were never quite told) is a D.A. She just appears in one scene in the middle of a conversation. Obviously the scene where she is introduced to the viewer was dropped on the editor's floor. And no one realized that a character appearing out of nowhere was an unusual film ploy.
In a word, don't waste your time with this one. My wife and I wish we didn't. But at least we created our own diversions by commenting in various places in the film like it was Mystery Science Theater. "Meanwhile, in Cleveland . . . ." !!!!
The Other Sister (1999)
Oscar Performance by Juliette Lewis
This was a surprise. Juliette Lewis performed incredibly! It was a real treat just to watch her on screen. Watch her eyes, her mouth, her facial mannerisms. Spectacular performance! Why she wasn't nominated for best actress is beyond me. And contrast her role here with one in Natural Born Killers to observe the depth of role playing. The movie was marvelous for its believability and story line. You hate the mother, felt sorry for the father, and cheered for all the sisters smothered by an overbearing mother. All did a great job in what could have been a heavy-handed treatment of it's subject. Instead, the script and directing were just right. One of the best movies of 1999.
Déjà Vu (1997)
Experimental No-Script Movie
This movie reminds me of a Woody Allen film, only the actors haven't a script to memorize. They are given a rough outline of the story and are asked to improvise and we'll see how it all ends up. The premise of the story is pretty good; the implementation is fairly awful.
There is very little background music, so the talkiness of the piece seems to become unbearable. If I had heard Dana say one more time, "What are you doing here?" I thought I'd throw something at the TV.
The best things about the movie were the comments my wife and I made a'la Mystery Science Theater 3000. And its a shame that the nicest person in the film, the blond wife of the love interest was given such short rift. She was best thing about the movie.
But if you like films where the selfish pursuit of self-interests, others be damned, is glorified, you'll want to suffer through this one.