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Poker Face (2022)
Has much unfulfilled potential
Sets up to be a guy's contemporary " James Bond" style movie.
Main Elements:
1) Bold lead actor (Russell Crowe)
2) Cool fast cars
3) Gambling (Poker specifically)
4) Hot women
5) Expensive wine and watches.
It's all set up. Has several potential story lines but fails to see most of them through which is disappointing. Maybe the budget caused the makers of "Poker face" to skimp or the cost of all of the glittery baubles were simply too much. Regardless, it falls short. Like the anticipation of a great wine but after the first taste you realize it's corked....which is truly a crime, after years of waiting for the perfect time then...nothing...
Into the Dark: All That We Destroy (2019)
im fasinatied with the premise.
Spoilers. The idea that there is a murder gene seems a little far fetched. Now our psychopathic antagonist being compelled to desire to murder girls is very much debatable . We all have thoughts which are illegal and even immoral but the vast majority seemingly dont act on these evil desires. the real question is it just an increased chance or is it a 100 correlation ? i have always considered its merely an increased chance...not a guaranty.
The Amazing Race (2001)
Hard to review a show i have never seen But here goes
I feel a strong contempt for any "reality" style programs. I don't waste my time with any of them. It's just the latest fad to garner viewers and rating. Some like this style of show. And for that reason alone i rated the a 2. I like things many dont like so to support diversity i give it 2.
Rampage: Killing Without Reason (2009)
wash rinse repeat
It feels as if the US has decided that an occasional mass murder is just the cost of keeping our gun rights.as an American.
Avatar (2009)
I find it very interesting...
Interesting that the reactions of how many people consider this film an "instant classic" and a groundbreaking film. And how there is a completely different camp of viewers that sees Avatar as merely a film with good special effects but a weak plot/storyline and a film that borrow ideas from other great films (such as "dances with wolves" and "the matrix").
I'm also in the "I can't believe people are so gaga about this movie." camp. To be fair, i have to say i enjoyed the special effects. But in no way would I consider this a film that will stand the test of time (Like Star Wars, or Aliens, or The Matrix) I consider this a decent film that would seem awful plain (and not very good) without all the CGI.
I rate Avatar a 7 because of its special effects but it only gets 2.5 for the story.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
Hollywood still has what it takes to ruin a good story
This commercialized piece of crap was a great example of how Hollywood takes something good (Terminator And Terminator 2) and exploits it all to hell.
The idea of "The Rise of the Machines" is a solid one. We have other examples in cinema of when the bad guys get their modicum of revenge (The Empire Strikes back, comes to mind) But this piece of tripe sullies the good name of the previous movies in the series. My life would be better if I somehow I didn't know this was ever made or ever existed. I would be quite happy with the Terminators movies only being T1 and T2. I'm not gonna blame the problems on the actors. They were essentially hamstrung by a weak script and trying to fill the shoes (and minds of people like me that knew how good it COULD be)
Its such a shame. Someone should be sued.
The Dark Knight (2008)
Dark Knight good but certainly not great.
This was a good not great film. I rated it an 7. I've read many of the comments related to the film, both the folks that loved it and the folks that hated it. It was entertaining and I don't feel my movie money was wasted but I found it being rated #1 quite surprising.
When i looked at the rating breakdown I noticed that the younger you were, the more you liked it (Those under 18 rated it an average of 9.6 which was the highest for any age range) But I guess that isn't surprising for a movie that was adapted from a comic book.
(I really wish IMDb allowed for decimal points in the rating because then it would get a 7.5)
Transformers (2007)
You can tell who the target audience is
and I'm not one of them.
Transformers had impressive special effects. But the acting ws subpar and plot was written for a younger audience. Megan Fox's sweet bod was, in my opinion, the best part of the film (narrowly beating out the special effects) My roommate rented the video, so i paid exactly the right amount for it (nothing). Perhaps on the big screen the special effects would have been more captivating but i found myself glancing at the clock on the wall wondering how long the film was. I discovered it was 143 minutes long and I felt it was probably about 43 minutes too long. I can't believe that the entire story couldn't have been condensed at some points.
Overall Transformers was an average film that had decent special effects to keep it from being a stinker. I give the Special Effects an 8 and the film as a whole a 4. Not good, not hideous and possibly better than anything i could have watched on TV tonight.
Edit-After reviewing other comments, I realized that for many Transformers were part of childhood/growing up. I also remembered that in the 80's I was in high school and i was far more concerned with how to get into Tracy L's (I'll refrain from using her last name) pants than anything concerning toy robots. So I when into this film unbiased by childhood memories. ((Unlike when I watched the re-release of episode 4 (known as STAR WARS when I saw it back in 77-78)The trouble was that the kid that saw Star Wars was grown and the magic was lost in the tide of life)) Anyway, apparently lack lack of bias didn't help much, the film simply wasn't very good. At least I didn't feel part of my childhood memories were being violently tread upon (like others have implied). I also learned that a lot of the charm of the Transformers, the development of their personalities was apparently too (tedious? frivilous? unnecessary? expensive? useful? ) to be added to the movie. Shame.
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
About How people reacted to Borat...
My comments aren't going to be about the movie itself but rather about how it offended so many people. Personally i thought the movie was hilarious and I will certainly see it again. I think the reason so many objected to this film was probably because it hit too close to home. Much in the same way someone that doesn't believe in evolution would consider such a theory completely garbage. Another thing i find interesting is that around 7,000 IMDb members gave this film a rating from 1 to 3 (with 4800+ giving it a a lowest possible rating of 1) So that means about 10% percent of everyone that voted on Borat (7000 out of 71,000) hated it but 482 out of 1040 (around half) of the people that hated it bothered to comment on it.
The film is not for the masses. Because the masses are exactly the people that Borat is lampooning. Good Job Borat !
The Pallbearer (1996)
pulled in...
I feel fairly certain that had i watched this movie on video or in the theater it certainly would have been better. Unfortunately i saw it on cable with commercials defiling all the tension built up by a dramatic scene.
***** spoiler ****** They almost lost me at the funeral scene. I simply could not get past the laugher of Tom's friends (aren't they in their 20's and NOT in their teens? ). I didn't find the scene funny but rather pathetic. Besides was Tom such a moron as to not be able to come up with any traditional things to say to the bereaved ? Perhaps its me, but I'm certain i could give a eulogy for anyone's funeral without problem while winging it the whole way.. Just think of positive adjectives (kind, caring, sweet, generous, thoughtful, smart, funny, witty, ...etc) then apply them to the deceased. And just take a pause to think between each set of compliments. Besides if he knew he was going to have do to this why not at least try to think of something ! The writers really dropped the ball on this one. Or they did a really good job of not being funny.
Fortunately Paltrow's pretty face kept me around to see more of the film. Overall i think some of the drama of the film made it worth watching. Ironically, it was billed as a romantic comedy because I'm pretty sure i didn't laugh even once.
6.5 stars out of 10
xXx (2002)
Vin Diesel's Star is rising
For an action flick, it delivers the goods. Plenty of motion and excitement from start to finish. "XXX" is basically Generation X meets James Bond rolled into one. From "Pitch Black" to "The Fast and the Furious" to "XXX", Vin Diesel has set the stage to be the next Action Hero. Move over Arnold and Sly, there's a new kid in town.
I really wanted to give this film a rating of 8 in the genre of action film but the database doesnt separate between genres as such. I gave other films such as "As good as it gets" and "Pulp Fiction" a rating of 8 and overall "XXX" doesnt measure up to those standards (It's like eating the best cotton candy you ever had in your life, you might rate it a 10 but its STILL just cotton candy)
for these reasons, and wanting to preserve the overall integrity of the database rating system i gave "XXX"
7 of out 10 stars
Striptease (1996)
Demi Semi-Naked still can't save this abomination
As a rule, It's usually the truly great films or the truly awful films, that inspire me to add my meager 2 cent worth to the IMDB user comments data base. Unfortunately in this case, it is the latter not the former.
Demi Moore stars in this comedy (Comedy ??? excuse me, i forgot to laugh) playing a woman forced into stripping (um, pardon me... DANCING !) as her only means of financial support. Her deadbeat thief ex-husband has custody of her daughter and she desperately wants little Angela back. Burt Reynolds plays a repugnant Congressman with his libido set on HYPER and has his heart and other parts of his anatomy set on capturing the lovely Ms. Moore.
The Stripping scenes were at best mediocre, and they were, by far, the best part of the film. If they edited the movie down to a short 15 minute Stripdance by Demi, it would be a marked improvement. The plot was typical of most murder mysteries but quickly lost its way and the ending was contrived and (unfortunately for a comedy)not humorous in the least. I can fully imagine that the film's money ran out and the necessity for a real ending was also discarded.
Ving Rhames, playing the bouncer, was as always a pleasure to watch, i developed a true appreciation for his acting skills in "Pulp Fiction" (If your film needs a macho "heavy" call Ving. Or Vin Diesel for that matter, apparently there is something in the Vin :)
Only Demi flashing her lovely bod saved this film from my bottom of the barrel rating of 1 (So far only the Blair Witch Monstrosity has garnered that dubious distinction)
2 stars of out 10
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
At least i didnt pay money to see this film
I saw this film after hearing all the hype, both positive and negative. Perhaps because i watched the film in the comfort of my living room, on video, that this film didnt have the desired effect of being scary (or perhaps because it was a very poorly made film.)
Whatever the reasons, i found BWP to be one of the worst films i have ever seen (and I'm not prone to hyperbole).
*mini spoiler* The idea of college aged kids getting lost in the woods with a STREAM nearby is completely implausible (Follow the stream, you morons). And intentionally losing the map, the ONE source of information, left me with a feeling that they all truly deserved whatever fate befell them and that the human race would be a slightly better place without them contributing those defective genes to the gene pool.
Additionally, i found the characters to be annoying, argumentative and having few redeeming qualities. PET PEEVE - WIPE YOUR NOSE !
Initially i was going to rate this film a 2 because they did manage to make over 100 million dollars on this piece of tripe, which required a bit of marketing genius. But due to my love of true cinema, i couldn't justify any rating above 1
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Quite Odd
Unusual film in both plot progression and content. Admirable performance by Jude Law (I highly recommend "Gattaca" for those wishing to see another stellar performance by Jude Law). The flow of the film was a bit too disjointed for me to enjoy it fully. Good cinematography (invoking a renewed desire in me for a trip to Italy ! )
I suspect I may have enjoy the film more had I read the book or at least had some prior knowledge of its content.
My Vote= 6.5 (although given i only had choices of 6 or 7, i chose 6)