Change Your Image
Macfeetie
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
The Last Victim (2021)
Complain, complain, complain.
I'm not sure what people are griping about. I guess they think they could do a better film. (Bloody doubtful)
There's nothing all that wrong with this movie. Some good performances, decent soundtrack, effective atmosphere. I think audiences just look for something to complain about.
It's not gonna win any awards but it's an entertaining watch.
Perlman is solid. Larter is strong. And the "bad guys" seem legitimately and worryingly nefarious.
Admittedly, there' a bit of an interesting interpretive scene the puts a speed bump on the road through the action, but it's short and somewhat logical.
The narrative may raise a few questions of continuity, and I can see a lot of grumbling about the writing. But when people site examples like The Mentalist as counter examples of good writing, you have to question the validity of the criticism. And I actually liked the Mentalist.
Again, this ain't palm d'or quality, but it's more interesting than a CBS formula crime drama.
Burial (2022)
Not that bad.
When I saw the ratings, I thought I was in for a bad film but I took a chance anyway.
It's not brilliant, but it's a good little flick.
Simple, but somewhat thoughtful and timely in a world where the manipulation of truth to influence people's actions has become an interesting & relevant conversation.
Based on some historic realities, it spins a tale that about the truth, remembrance, and the ugly sides of war.
The performances are reasonably solid though - again- not earth moving or award winning. Felton holds his own. Harriet Walter is strong. And Barry Ward shows some real charisma in an ancillary role.
It would seem the reviews were a tad harsh, imo.
Gangs of London (2020)
Wow. Just wow.
With the likes of Taylor Sheridan penning, ultra-violent scripts on today's television, I begin to think I've seen the apex of sheer butchery on the screen. But then I happen upon Gangs of London. This series makes Breaking Bad look like a Lifetime original, or Hallmark Holiday special.
Imagine Deadpool without the humor, heart, or clever satire.
Even the first season left me mildly shocked at the gruesome violence but then by season two midpoint, I now find myself laughing, just as hard at the dialed up carnage as I would in a Deadpool vignette.
Having visited Yellowstone, in person years ago, I leveled mocking criticism at how much violence seemingly went on in such a sleepy town. And while one might admit that the crime rates in London are higher than a rural, Wyoming town, I'm ashamed I thought the body count in Yellowstone all that absurd.
What I find myself thinking after watching this series, and series like it, is why the hell are audiences eating this drama-based human abattoir up?
Have we as a television audience...society become so desensitized, so bored, and blood lusting that a program set in a contemporary setting must grossly exceed the violence found in films about World War?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not some mamby-pamby pacifist or a shocked Pollyanna senior citizen. And I'm not suggesting the acting in this show isn't impressive and compelling.
Neither would be accurate.
But the stratospheric heights of gratuitous savagery in this series is - at worst - morally pornographic and - at best - comically exaggerated and fatuous.
Mad God (2021)
Disturbingly weird
Unsettling visually and audibly. Grotesque, depressing, and without reason (if there was meaning, I missed it) and it's completely void of storytelling finesse.
The animation is overrated and, ostensibly, the product of a deeply unstable mind that set out to shock & repulse viewers with nightmarish puppets made with material the film maker apparently scraped from the scummy leftovers of a neglected city dumpster. It's a cinematic Rorschach disguised as art. Confusing throughout and childish in glimpses. Frenetic, violent and graphic in dark spirit. Like an acid-fueled, demon Fraggle Rock lost in a crazy Brazil hellscape. Or a grimy, abandoned carnival horror house.
I highly recommend it.
(If want to feel crappy and creeped out after you watch it.)
Or, you could just stare at the bottom of a dirty toilet for a while.
Hey - if that's what they were going for... mark this one down as a Win.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Fantastic.
Simply fantastic. Loved it. A beautiful, creative, full-spirited culmination of the entire franchise to date. As a life-long fan of the character, I feel lucky to have seen this evolve into such a fun, entertaining story. I really have to question the attention spans or comprehension of those who criticize the film for having "too many characters" or being too long. There are ADD medicines out there, so I don't understand why they wouldn't avail themselves. Lol. But hey, maybe people who can't keep track of more than 4 characters in a movie should stick to primetime sitcoms or one-person musicals. And if you don't like super hero movies, don't drive to the theater expecting The Godfather or Fast & The Furious (which, by the way, have a ton of characters). Just stay home. Please.
Shadow and Bone (2021)
It's a pretty good show.
Although it reeks from a "young adult" tilt, it's both interesting and complex. I really hate to like it because one of the directors of the series was a horrible bully in high school. Just a mean-spirited individual who liked to pick on the weak and unpopular kids. I'm surprised Netflix would hire someone with such a temperament. But hey, the world is full of bullies.
Still, the series is quite entertaining and the acting performances are strong.
Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
Oooohhhh, brother
Too late for the movie we WANTED to see, my wife and I took in the Transformers' (5th?) iteration. I guess it wasn't the worst I've seen, but I was dumbfounded at the combination of ridiculously outlandish plot line, painfully cheesy dialogue, and grossly overplayed Michael Bay clichés. There was so much flying around in this film, I left completely unsure of what it was I'd just seen.
Someone actually was scripted to yell out "Zero G" to explain what was going on at one point.
And in another scene, fortunately for the galactically obtuse, when the enemy robots attacked, someone clarified by yelling "Enemy fighters!"
Phew, thanks for confirming my suspicions. (lol)
Alien: Covenant (2017)
A triple Meh on the Meh-index. (Spoilers)
I suppose some elements of this review could be considered "spoilers" (although I'd argue the contrary) but to be safe, let's say there are.
Promised a reveal of the further saga of Elizabeth Shaw and the android David, we are only served a minor throwaway explanation of Shaw's fate; one that reminiscently stank of the similar demise of Corp. Hicks and Newt in Alien 3
the worst installment of the franchise – well – perhaps second worst after AVP.
Essentially an attrition movie like many before. Load X-amount of humans into a scenario and watch them subsequently bite the dust, one-by-one to the last person(s) standing – i.e. Ripley, Shaw, and in this case ----?
My hope was that we film-goers would get an explanatory glimpse into the Engineers and their world
Find out specifically what their beef with us was, and view how we (humanity) would respond to the reality of this; Meeting makers that were so unhappy with their work (us) they contrive a cosmic/bio-scientific "delete" button. No, instead we get a parable on technology run amok because it's too much like its creator. Robots acting on the worst of Human characteristics. Blade Runner meets Alien. Ridley Scott, normally my idea of a tremendous director/filmmaker, seems caught in a repetitive tape loop with this concept – but it's a story he never seems to completely explain in any of his films. It's almost hard to believe he signed-off on this.
There were also reports that this film would bring us full circle - back to the story behind the ship that the Nostromo's crew investigated in 1979 - or maybe even to the tale of the ill-fated colonists (i.e. Newt & her family) from 1986's Aliens. If there IS a tie-up to that fencepost, it is profoundly veiled and speculative.
The most interesting element, David's Ozymandias moment, is skimmed over like ancillary minutia and tossed into the "well-yeah-that- happened-too" bag – an annoyingly wasted opportunity.
A shame – there was so much potential here. I'd almost say Prometheus was better – though it certainly did not set a very high bar.
I now hope the Untitled Neill Blomkamp/Alien Project gains some traction. I'd hate to see the franchise end on this note.
Not saying this is a horrible movie, but "anticlimactic" might be accurate.
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
Clearly, they missed the obvious gold
Okay, this is a "once and for all" statement. While this movie would have made a decent double episode of "Next Generation", it was far from a compelling movie feature. No one will argue the greatness of the cast, but the key to the Star Trek Movie legend is to tie in the "lore" of the series and complete the overall story. Star Trek existed within an episodic format, but it thrived on an aggregate philosophy. Star Trek's future is tied to its past, and not just its recent past, Without a big picture approach, the subsequent movies will always fall short of potential glory. Half-baked concepts that glorify small sections of the "Star Trek Universe", while ignoring others, are a waste of big-screen time. True S.T. fans want ALL the character's stories told, not just the one's who skew well with the Marketing Department. The conflict between Picard and his "Evil-self" is mildly interesting, but not worth 8 bucks. Wake up Berman! I know you know this is true. Tie in all the characters or at least as many as you can or continue to watch the franchise as it swirls around the bowl.