Change Your Image
jgxenakis
Reviews
Physical (2021)
Brilliant in every way
We loved both seasons. The series is a mature, authentic depiction of 1980s stories, types, and sensibilities - no need to suspend disbelief. Sheila Rubin - suffering from childhood trauma, shaky marriage, feelings of inadequacy and loss of control - is on a trajectory of self-empowerment via the catalyst of the aerobics business.
Can't wait for season 3, which I read was green-lighted. Every actor and each craft are brilliant - sets, stylists, costumes, sound track, etc. The director, and the editor, make the episodes tight and fast-paced. No boring, time-wasting "filler" to scenes. I don't follow the politics of the Emmys, so I can't understand how this show did not receive any nominations. It's a major snub.
Frayed (2019)
Could have been so much better than it is
Some great actors and engaging story lines. But after the first four episodes it accelerates downhill. The creative team can't conjure up a balanced amalgam of comedy and drama and the series fails at both. The humor is obvious, never clever; and is an ever present cloak all over the human drama to render those scenes tedious or worse, irritating. The story lines with the mother, played by Kerry Armstrong and nicely crafted, are an exception.
His House (2020)
I would call this a psychodrama, not a horror film
Two refugees escape the brutal horrors in Sudan to begin a new life in the U.K. They are settled in run down public housing where the ghosts of their past follow them.
The two leads are engaging, but the film execution is a bit clunky. At 90 minutes, though, it doesn't get tedious.
There are moments of suspense and shock, but it's clear enough that the two are experiencing effects of psychological trauma. Their back story, revealed in the latter part of the film, is poignant and shocking in itself.
The Duchess (2020)
Not Funny
Gave up after two episodes.
Apparently the series has its fans. But Endless babbling of wisecracks does not produce good comedy. Thoroughly lacks cleverness or any sophistication. This standup comedian wrote a Series of standup cracks for those who respond to raunchy 'humor'. KH May be a good standup comic, but is not a good actor, Delivers almost every bit of dialogue in a staccato tempo as if they are punchlines of a routine.
Can't understand how her dentist boyfriend didn't go running away from her to begin with; how her girlfriend or even her daughter much likes her.
Another reviewer called this British humor. Ha! If only! Series takes place in London, and KH is the only one with an American accent. Because . . . KH is a Canadian comic, with a decidedly non-British style.
Knives Out (2019)
Tedious, low rent script
Lazy script. First half is a thin plot Line with inane, almost futile, dialogue and scenes that add nothing to advance the story. No subtlety, no cleverness. Daniel Craig's southern accent is not at all amusing.
Second half (all of 45 minutes) is Daniel Craig narrating how it all went down.
And this was nominated for best original screenplay? Bad year I guess.
Carnival Row (2019)
Good steampunk fantasy, but . . .
Great production values, and the CGI builds are wonderful. Casting is spot on. Fantasy story line is keeping us engaged after two episodes, even though we've seen the same scenes and plot devices many times before.
The biggest weakness is the dialogue. It is purely transactional and barely distinguishes the characters' personalities. The acting is a bit wooden which we feel reflects the nature of the script dialogue.
Forever (2018)
Watching these episodes feels like forever
Stopped watching 6 minutes into Episode 2. Not funny. Not complex. Not attractive in the least. I'm a fan of Catherine Keener and I wouldn't even wait for her to show. Best watched with an iPad when you have social media stuff to do.
Russian Doll (2019)
Couldn't take this much longer
I was going to stop watching after Episode 2. Then I read all these great reviews in IMDB telling me to hang in there; that I would be rewarded eventually. So I plodded forward. More of the same. The lead character, Nadia, is thoroughly unappealing to me - crude, unkind, someone who always speaks in wisecracks, and always imposes herself on others - I couldn't understand how she even had any friends in her life.
Other reviewers praise the character development in this series - there is very little that goes on. Almost everyone is a caricature of lower Manhattan "bohemians."
I clicked off in the middle of Episode 6. Apparently I'm one of the few who couldn't stand this awful series.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Horse's Ass
Six dramatizations of "Tales of the American Frontier," a green cloth-bound book where shots of the pages begin and end each vignette. Great production values, save for a whole bunch of nothing parodies of the American West. The movie ends with a shot of the back of the book, fittingly illustrated with the rear view of a horse, before fading to black
Homecoming (2018)
Glacial, soporific pacing
The talkiest scenes. The slowest pacing. Good that it's 30 minutes because I need a pick-me-up after each episode.
I finished episode 4 and so far, . . . Shady guys running some evil corporate empire in which earnest but clueless employee and her client victim begin to sense that . . . things aren't what they seem! Nothing more than what the reviews and plot summaries offer.
I'll probably watch it to the end, but not for a while.
Great acting. Tedious directing. Lots of annoying camera angles and backlit scenes where actors are darked
Robin and Marian (1976)
Only one reason to spend time with this film
The story line is indecipherable. Scenes are improbable. Wife and I kept sensing incipient Monty Python sketches which did not appear. Dialogue is tortured. 1976 production values for sure. Great cast though - some of the best actors of their generation. Wonder why they all took this script.
The End (1978)
Man has deadly disease and cries over spilled milk
This film has a 35 year-old sensibility that is as dead as a stump today. We all know that comedy doesn't last, and this one does not at all stand the test of time. The film is a series of disjointed, contrived scenes with a very thin narrative stringing them along. The main character receives a terminal diagnosis and is so bummed out that he wants to kill himself - one knows it's not going to happen from the moment Burt offers up a hysterical crying fit that sounds like a hyena. Burt Reynolds can't act and can't direct. Its boring, plodding pace makes it almost soporific, although the only spark is Dom DeLuise. Yes, I wanted to see Sally and Strother and Dom and others, but gave up and fast-forwarded to their scenes to catch glimpses of them. You will have a better time staring at an aquarium than spending any time with this one.
Out of Rosenheim (1987)
Awful movie - why was this ever made?
I loved Marian Sagebrecht in Sugar Baby. Great actor. I missed Bagdad Cafe when it came out so I jut watched it. AWFUL!
No sense of place or context. No character development or exegesis. Most of the roles seem "pasted" into the script like Colorforms - they are all cartoon characters. CCH Pounder plays Brenda at only two levels - a perpetually angry and unlikable woman, and then as an inexplicable softy - my only wonder about the movie was what took her husband so long to leave her.
The ending was ludicrous - I thought it could have been an SNL skit and I was waiting for Will Farrell to appear as Robert Goulet on trucker tour.
And whoever Jevetta Steele is, who sings the soundtrack, her voice is most irritating.
I will say that the cinematography and editing were very good.
Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic (2005)
Good material; poor production
This "film" essentially is a documentary of one stand-up performance, sandwiched between silly, fictional scenes of Silverman and her friends leading up to and following her show. I suppose it's a mitzvah that she gives some paying work to her fellow comics, but their participation is trivial and lame.
Silverman's material, once she gets around to it, is good. She is a provocateur and a constant threat, in the best comic sense. Personally, I don't care for her delivery. Yes, she "pauses" well at times and this gets laughs. But mostly she appears wooden and the (good) jokes fall flat. I thought a number of times how good the jokes might sound if told by Joan Rivers.
I wouldn't advise going to a theater to see this movie- rent the DVD if you must see it. At least if you're at home you can occupy yourself with something else during the boring parts.