maristprods Reviews

Hypnotic (2023)

Nonsensical script made good actors mediocre and so so actors cringe

[2/10 · 2 September 2023]

This script is so bad I'm stunned. I'm sure it was only on the long history they share that Ben Affleck agreed to be in this movie for Robert Rodriguez. Rodriguez is a gifted Director but he really shouldn't write because it's just not his forte. I went through his entire IMDb credits for writers, and very little substance or memorable films beyond the ones that popped Because of his deft direction and/or interesting concept.

Alice Braga has been in some very good movies and she was quite good in them. This dialogue and the script do her no favors, however. Her weaknesses are revealed so greatly that I had to look her up to see where I knew her from because I was convinced this was her first job. But no she's been in a lot of good stuff and she's been good in them. That's what I mean by the script, making good actors mediocre, and so-so actors cringe worthy. The dialogue is silly at times. Truly silly. First draft quality.

I don't mean this to be a hit job, but I'm just so stunned because I was hopeful for a good movie and this is just so embarrassing. What a great cast wasted.

Lioness (2023– )

Hell or Highwater was a great movie. I loved it. It would be nice if Taylor Sheridan stopped giving us first drafts of Scripts and worked on them a little bit.

[2/10 · 20 August 2023]

Just so disappointed. The cast he has compiled in his myriad series is just the cream of the crop. I am positive that the movie we got on screen with hell or High water was not his first draft. I'm sure it went through multiple rewrites for the superior film we were gifted with was released. That doesn't seem to be the case with any of his television series. Some of it is really good but a lot of it stinks. Just cliché dialogue and first draft plot points. Sheridan is a gifted writer but his pen doesn't seem to match his ego longer. And that's a shame.

I watched an episode and a half of this series and finally turned it off because the stupid outweighed the grid by a mile.

Infinity Pool (2023)

Thousand ideas yet none fleshed out logically

[4/10 · 26 June 2023]

This movie has 1000 ideas, several of them good and provocative, but the filmmaker doesn't have the skill to flesh them out in any kind of logical narrative. I think it wants to be as crazy as midsommer but that had a plot- it was insane, but had a plot and was a very good film. This is not that. It was like five different movies, and by the end I was actually getting angry at. The squandering of this good talent, excellent location, good production values, but a really stupid lot that goes nowhere. Literally meandering from one incendiary set piece to the next with no cohesion. It could've been great.

Knock at the Cabin (2023)

Watch Take Shelter instead

[4/10 · 29 March 2023]

So this wasn't horrible but it definitely wasn't very good. I much preferred the vastly superior " take shelter" with Michael Shannon from 2011 that has similar beats and themes, but is so much better executed. In fact, when I was done watching that film, my mouth was agape. It was so thought provoking.

The beginning was pretty good and invoked the original Frankenstein movie with a very small young girl and the giant man/beast. Wasn't a waste of time but again I watched it for free on Peacock. Well, I don't love about this film is it gives cover to the nutters in the world and conspiracy freaks that they might be right.

1BR (2019)

Hoping for a great thriller but....nope

[2/10 · 12 January 2023]

This is just a really silly, plot hole filled, bad b movie. And that's being kind. The acting is pretty horrible, the direction is stilted stilted. There are so many plot holes and silly areas to this script I can't even begin. I was hoping for a great psychological thriller or even a tear in an apartment building story but this is just dumb. You can see Instance who you think they're being clever and it doesn't work. I can't believe all the good reviews the Scott but wow, wish I had that time back. Such a boring movie. With some of the worst arch performances I've ever seen. I guess you can say I'm not a fan.

The Invitation (II) (2022)

Ready or Not meets Get Out, but not as good as either

[4/10 · 31 December 2022]

I was thinking this was gonna be a Dorian Gray meets Get Out situation at first and then it devolved into, spoiler alert, kind of a Trueblood meets ready or not. Both ready or not and get out are vastly superior to this. It wasn't a train wreck of a movie like some people are saying - - it's fine and I mean that-just fine. It's just not very good. If I Paid money I would be unhappy but for a Netflix film when I got to watch this and glass onion as a double feature with my membership I'm OK with that. Netflix better start getting better movies though because the glass onions are few and far between. By the way THAT was a very good movie.

The Handmaid's Tale (2017–2025)

Brilliant first season. Then kept playing the hits

[5/10 · 2 December 2022]

First let me say the acting has always been superior and they've really given these actors lots to play. But each season has been a decline in stakes and emotional resonance. Bruce Miller simply refuses to make some hard choices with writing out cast members when it's just clear that the character would have been killed in a savage place like Gilead, but his obvious and warranted love for this extremely talented troupe outweighed that necessary choice. Even Alexis Bledel's character would probably still be on the show if the actress didn't choose to leave, despite there being several points in the story where she would've been killed in a real dystopian world like this.

I also disagree with many critiques that say the show should've ended earlier because if Miller had simply explored all the fascinating, various ways the world changed when fertility rates dropped it could've been equally amazing in later seasons. We got some great glimpses of this with Canada and then the politics of different countries, Gilead v United States (and don't get me started on The Colonies which seemed to be simply making the women move around dirt in different buckets.) But they never stayed here long enough or dealved deep enough. Instead they kept spinning to plates and playing the hits.

For me, this falls in line with a Homeland, Walking Dead or The Affair-brilliant first seasons then diminishing results, some worse than others (TA became silly and unwatchable while Homeland managed to have some good eps during the lesser years)

Smile (V) (2022)

Derivative dreck. Took It Follows subtract the subtext = this

[3/10 · 17 November 2022]

Bacon is very good. In fact the cast is the best part of the film. The script was derivative and silly and there were, like, four endings tacked onto each other for, reasons? The final chase down the hall where the monster disappears is so 'seen it before a thousand times' that when it reappeared behind the hero I laughed. It like the writr/director put a bunch of previous movies in a blender and created this. The image of the creepy smile was great-but the script couldn't keep up, or pay off, that image. Too bad. Maybe with a script he didn't write himself the director might do better. That part was pretty good.

X-Rated: NYC (2022– )

It makes the housewives look like deep thinkers read nothing about this show is authentic

[1/10 · 4 November 2022]

. So I understand reality television is manufactured - - they're producing a television show and create drama and circumstances and story. But this takes it to another level. It's ridiculously stupid. I wouldn't even say it's a guilty pleasure, just guilty. There's truly not a moment of authenticity in this product. I kept watching for several episodes just to see if it would maintain this level of silliness or there actually could be some story. Anything genuine. Behind the scenes of porn, how they interact with their regular lives, etc. That could be very interesting. This is not that.

This is absolutely the stupidest thing I've ever seen and I watch that Vangie dating show and Sunset Tan.

Reboot (2022)

Funny! Better than I expected. Shades of 30 Rock with some great conflicts

[9/10 · 20 September 2022]

This really surprised me. I expected a traditional networks sitcom, and this is that but with a whole lot more. This feels like it could be a four quadrant show while also not talking down to us and having a lot of wit and inside jokes. The things that really hit, really hit hard. Actually laughing out loud is not something that usually happens for me but I did a few times. The cast is phenomenal. None of them are overdoing it or playing their tics. I have nothing negative to say. Give it a shot. Right now my favorite shows are Reservation Dogs, Barry and Succession so that'll give you a hint of my taste. Finally, I appreciate that the child actor grown up isn't a spoiled dick-they went another direction and it's so much better-thank you!

American Gigolo (2022)

Love Bernthal. Not a fan of the writing

[3/10 · 12 September 2022]

Biggest criticism I saw for the show while in development was the casting of John Bernthal in the role. I didn't worry because I knew you could carry it in every single way and he delivers. He's not just incredibly sexy - - that hair in that nose - - but he has acting chops that many haven't realized. His role in the crime drama last season should put all that to rest because he was fantastic.

I really looked forward to this but I didn't realize the creator writer was from Ray Donovan, series I didn't like, And liked less as it went on. I gave the pilot a chance cause I didn't look up the credits until the episode was over. I wondered why I didn't connect to it, why it just felt muddled. Well that's the reason. The talent can only do what the script allows. I won't be watching any more episodes.

The 15:17 to Paris (2018)

Eastwood's appreciation for a admirable event doesn't translate to a well-told story or strong narrative

[3/10 · 6 August 2022]

He may as well have been yelling at the chair like he did at the GOP convention of 2008. He is enamored-understandably-with a strong hero story but this should have been a documentary by 48 hours versus a full feature film.

Blacklight (2022)

Assume writers are 16 and watched 3 'action' movies on Netflix prior to writing this cliche, predictable clunker

[2/10 · 31 July 2022]

Hate to be mean. I truly do. I didn't even turn this one off I just got off halfway and started doing things around the house just curious to see if they could redeem it at all, have anything original happen. If the dialogue would get better. God I love so much of this cast. Liam, Aiden, so many good ones. It wasn't the worst thing I've ever seen and it wasn't the worst script ever produced. It was just meh. Predictable and cliche. We've seen it all before. When Aiden Quinn called Liam Neeson buddy in I think the second scene I knew Quinn was the bad guy. Everything was telegraphed.

Midnight Mass (2021)

Really liked, really loathed

[4/10 · 6 October 2021]

Regardless of what you think about this miniseries-and I liked a lot of it- look at the last two episodes and how lazy it was that each character spoke in five minutes, uninterrupted monologues that explained their entire position, inner dialogue, motivation, regret, etc. Lazy writing.

A few tweaks, Another pass, would have fixed this.