Like a soda that has been left in a glass overnight. Too bad, because it could've been OK, but too gimmicky and many of the jokes fell flat. I struggle to comment in a very meaningful way. Even its theme was soft. I wouldn't watch it twice, that's for sure.
Reviews
13 Reviews
Café de Flore
(2011)
Fell short for me
9 June 2022
Using love as a central theme is bland, as is much of the dialogue in this movie. I don't want to be too scalding in my review, since perhaps I'm missing some meat on the bones of this story since I don't speak French, had to rely on subtitles, and perhaps missed some nuance to the story. Fairly plotless which is fine, as long as it has a story that weaves together a meaningful odyssey, which this appeared to attempt to do.
The two parallel stories were disjointed and I was waiting for the movie to reveal the significance between the two narratives, but instead of this movie giving me suspense through interrelated tales, it just left me hanging and wondering why this movie was made in the first place. The last frame of the movie is an old photograph that slowly zooms into the waterfront of an old cathedral, and there are some objects that it focuses on but it is not clear what they are.
The good points of the movie was lush cinematography, interesting characters, and superb acting. It's just that the continuity was jagged, and much seemed like random stories merely repetitively exposing the central characters' frailties, as if we didn't get that in the first portion of the movie.
Still, I thought it was worth a look-see since it is so visually interesting and unique, and really transports us to times and places we'd likely never get a glimpse of in the same way in other movies, '60's Paris in run-down old apartments and streets, and modern Montreal in middle class families.
Interesting but a bit tedious.
The two parallel stories were disjointed and I was waiting for the movie to reveal the significance between the two narratives, but instead of this movie giving me suspense through interrelated tales, it just left me hanging and wondering why this movie was made in the first place. The last frame of the movie is an old photograph that slowly zooms into the waterfront of an old cathedral, and there are some objects that it focuses on but it is not clear what they are.
The good points of the movie was lush cinematography, interesting characters, and superb acting. It's just that the continuity was jagged, and much seemed like random stories merely repetitively exposing the central characters' frailties, as if we didn't get that in the first portion of the movie.
Still, I thought it was worth a look-see since it is so visually interesting and unique, and really transports us to times and places we'd likely never get a glimpse of in the same way in other movies, '60's Paris in run-down old apartments and streets, and modern Montreal in middle class families.
Interesting but a bit tedious.
Terminator: Dark Fate
(2019)
Good solid entertainment.
19 April 2022
I liked it. I hear a lot of boo'hoo'ing in the reviews here. That just sounds like folks who are let down because they wanted something else and didn't get it. Well.... so? It wasn't what they wanted, but I enjoyed the story and the sequencing and the suspense and the CGI, etc. I felt like it was good fun and I loved Sarah Connor and Arnie's return.
Cellular
(2004)
Decent enough
28 February 2022
Decent movie.
Willam H. Macey, as he often does, makes the movie that much better. It was fun watching him play a tough cop, which is usually not a role he would play, being typecast as the neurotic, bumbling sort of character. A simple, predictable plot that could've fit into an hour long t.v. Show, but then again, the movie is only an hour and a half.... Worth a look, anyway.
Willam H. Macey, as he often does, makes the movie that much better. It was fun watching him play a tough cop, which is usually not a role he would play, being typecast as the neurotic, bumbling sort of character. A simple, predictable plot that could've fit into an hour long t.v. Show, but then again, the movie is only an hour and a half.... Worth a look, anyway.
The Stepford Wives
(1975)
It's Just Really, Really Good
21 January 2022
It's just that good.... and, it is proof that you don't need a big budget to make a great movie. It is a very original and complete movie, in my mind (in other words, I can't think of a way to improve upon it). OK; so why didn't I give it ten stars? I'm not sure, to be honest, I guess I'm just stingy with my ratings.
I like movies that stick with me, make me think about the story afterwards, and want to watch it again some day, which this clearly does.
I like movies that stick with me, make me think about the story afterwards, and want to watch it again some day, which this clearly does.
Gangster No. 1
(2000)
I think it's the best gangster film of all time.
5 December 2021
It's grisly, gritty, raw and visually very well put together. It just is so good. Hard to put in words why.... it just has an edge over the other gangster movies I've seen. You really get the sense that the main character is deeply disturbed, no mistaking. You can't just get away from it, or sympathize with him. He's just a whacko, but yet the whole film works, holds together and really delivers a fascinating show.
City by the Sea
(2002)
Not bad.
27 July 2021
Great actors. Dialogue was a bit disappointing. Story is not terribly interesting, in my mind.
Great scenery of dilapidated, old waterfront amusement parks and boardwalks.
Interesting to see De Niro playing a character who had insecurities and self-doubts about his personal life and family which is not the norm for him.
Great scenery of dilapidated, old waterfront amusement parks and boardwalks.
Interesting to see De Niro playing a character who had insecurities and self-doubts about his personal life and family which is not the norm for him.
Stone
(2010)
A film that makes you think.
17 February 2021
Not your run of the mill suspense thriller. More of a psychological drama, really. It's a good movie in the sense that it makes you think afterwards about universal themes of morality and what role of religion is, could be, or it's shortfalls.
No big complaints, just that it tends to drag a little here and there, since it seems to lead us down one path but... I don't know; maybe that's a good thing?
No big complaints, just that it tends to drag a little here and there, since it seems to lead us down one path but... I don't know; maybe that's a good thing?
Sicario: Day of the Soldado
(2018)
Better than the first one...
13 February 2021
Well, from reading the other reviews, many would disagree.
I have a hard time defending my review, but suffice it to say that I never really liked Emily Blunt's character all that much, a bit too monotone for my tastes. I thought someone else should've played her role.
Day of the Soldado really delivers a lot more explosive and raw scenes, more in-your-face action which is not just gratuitous Hollywood heroics but believable war-on-terror raging conflict. And, the portrait of Del Toro's character shows other sides of him which is interesting and enriching to thematic elements. Great movie, the rawness and grim situations are portrayed well.
Day of the Soldado really delivers a lot more explosive and raw scenes, more in-your-face action which is not just gratuitous Hollywood heroics but believable war-on-terror raging conflict. And, the portrait of Del Toro's character shows other sides of him which is interesting and enriching to thematic elements. Great movie, the rawness and grim situations are portrayed well.
Sabotage
(2014)
Pretty decent.
11 February 2021
I think this is a pretty solid movie. If you just want an action movie, look elsewhere. Sure, there is a lot of action (but not like The Expendables or some kind of redundant formulaic crap like that) but it is a twister plot which makes for good suspense. A bit fanciful, in terms of the characters (or even the whole DEA dept. in the movie that Arnie heads up) but it all works and ties together. Kind of like across between the movie L.A. Confidential and Sicario but with a lot of whimsy thrown in. Schwarzenegger's role shows his range of acting abilities since he plays a bit of an anti-hero, a rare thing for him. Good casting. All in all, a good movie. If I am in the right mood, I'd give it 7 1/2 stars but I didnt' want to go all in at 8 stars for my review of this.
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