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Reviews
Draug (2018)
I am a sucker for Swedish film but...
Have you ever watched an Asian film that wasn't meant to be marketed to English audiences , and you thought it was edited really badly because stuff just didn't make sense or wasn't explained enough? And it jumped from scene to scene without so much as a story to propel it?
Yeah sort of what happens here although I'm 100% sure it makes way more sense to a Swede. Something does get lost in translation.
And it wouldn't matter so much except that the entire story line - this happens to.
Yeah in the end it makes sense , but getting there is difficult and it is such a good movie in other respects that you really want this movie to tell the entire story and you want the explanation. You want the back story. You want it all to come together clean.
This movie could have been one of the best indie movies of this genre - if it had done that. But instead it has characters that don't make too much sense ( why are they there and why does it matter and how do they connect to this?) and you have a loose at best story..... that for English listeners doesn't make sense- a story about an old lady who got buried and they had to cut her head off. A girl who enters your body- and takes over .... but it's the old ladies curse.
But then - that's not the story.
Actually at the very end - there was a homestead. And they cursed the land. Ok....
but so much could have been cool there that was wasted .... and I'm not sure if it was the translation or a bad script or just culturally implications that I missed - is it worth a rental? Sure.
Is it mind blowing ? No.
Seemingly up to standard production value also. Not a B film.
Mindhunter (2017)
One is the best shows out there
Season 1 is close to perfect for the above average intelligent watcher . I have no complaints , other than seeing one of the best characters in a long cold time be so stifled. Holden is so well written and so well played.
Holden is a genius. And everyone around him is really jealous of him and his genius and ability to initiate and create.
Season two comes and I've binged watched the entire thing... what makes this season so frustrating is that they really make the jealousy of Holden's colleagues a constant issue. And what makes it so frustrating is that Holden starts to deteriorate because everyone treats him like he is crazy- and he is smarter than all of them.
I guess it makes it hard to watch. Because it's really realistic and reflective of what every intelligent, humble , kind and innovative, authentic person goes through in America.
America seems to really have this problem with people who are afraid to be different. From elementary school on and it takes a very strong and secure person to survive it. Add on youth, beauty or wealth and everyone will hate you.
Which is what happens to Holden. The entire show arc is about his team trying to pretend Holden is crazy, and doesn't know how to act right when in reality, America doesn't know- anything.
So that's really frustrating - it's painful to watch actually.
As far as being a good show- season 2 dives into the other characters more and their personal lives. Tench is ok.... although you still hate how blind he is to his reaction to Holden and how wrapped up he is in his own traditional view on things and wanting to take credit for Holdens work etc etc. the character arc for him is really left field.
The woman doctor is just boring. So boring. And unnecessary. Seems slightly excessive . We tune in for one thing. Holden and serial killers and we get less and less of what we really want in season two.
Holden is more pressured and picked on in a way to stop being Holden and so we get less on what we want and Holden starts to implode. We don't want to see him weaker . We want to see him stronger. So it doesn't give us what we want and is really frustrating to see the other people win. Again.
The Lion King (2019)
Wow.
So I read all the reviews about how little emotion there was in this version and I have to say- my kids ? We're entranced. They loved it. No one was thinking about how little emotion anyone had. In fact, no one was really thinking at all because my kids love the story so much.
Of course there was a lot of comparison. To the first version. Personally I am glad they copied it exactly . It was a great and pretty much perfect story for kids already. The songs are favorites to this day. The kids wanted the songs and they wanted to see the first movie alive.
This story is intense. It's a child's version of Hamlet. But if you think about it... this story is slightly traumatic to any healthy kid with normal parents. I mean my kids were shocked by the turn of events in this story and it really tethers right on the border of being too much for children emotionally. The slightest change, the near miss and this is a movie that kids can't tolerate. So for us I think we were glad they stuck with the story we all know. My kids especially. It would have been a huge surprise for them and totally disappointing if the story and songs changed.
It was pretty scary as a matter of fact for my kids. My four year old spent half the time with his eyes covered. Because for them, without the cartoon, it became so realistic and much more poignant I think. Darker.
I thought it was beautifully done.
If I had a complaint it would be -no Nathan Lane. I mean Pumba and Timba from the first movie were the best. Why would they ever attempt to replace them? So Pumba and Timba fell short for me. But other than that, I thought it was an amazing child's story that kids all over the world will love. Hopefully it will also teach them to love the animals in this movie and not grow up to hunt or kill them, and actually protect them.
Which would be a happy cconsequence.
The Favourite (2018)
I wasn't that impressed. At all.
The most impressive line in the whole thing was "Because love doesn't lie!"
If the question of what love is , is still a mystery, we are a sad, sad bunch.
I think the world of art was probably far more impressed with this because it was the shallow man's feeling tale. For someone arrogant , power hungry, and used to the exploits of ambition, this is probably a marvel, and self revelatory. For the rest of us, who long ago examined our need for competition and jealousy, ego and power hungry desperation- it's the lesser offering of so many delicious movies out there about the same exact thing.
Personally I didn't like how they merged modern with history .. it made it less believable and more appeasing the subject matter and really at it' end, insulting to think we couldn't sit through a movie that was actually realistic about history.
I know it was a stab at comedy but ... it just fell short. On every level.
Everyone is going on and on over the script- it makes me wonder what kind of exposure they have to literacy.
I mean with period pieces - just off the top of my head- Rob Roy, Dangerous Liaisons ( with Glen Close) they make this script remedial when we compare. Of course those movies weren't block busters - how could they be? Half the planet literally couldn't sit through them.
So, I felt it was a vapid offering of the same dish, that has been done sooo much better before.
In the end it is just another shallow story about self love and the will to survive, than love or power.
And maybe that was the entire point after all.
A Star Is Born (2018)
Maybe I have a life
But I'm sorry, the music- the actual songs were terrible. The film was so shallow, really lacking depth In some really important parts. Trying to sell GaGa as having a large nose and too ugly to make it in the business nowadays is a hard sell- to say the least . Her pain over that also a hard sell.
The character development really lacked .. it was hard to believe in a once in a lifetime love that I couldn't see ... I mean the chemistry of these stars is off the hook. ( everyone tapping foot waiting for Bradly to get divorced and hook up with Gaga)
But the script didn't back up what we saw. The plot also didn't back up what we saw.
We are supposed to believe so many things - and it just was not there in the writing or the scenes.
As far as acting goes- I was stunned by Bradly. I mean, he steals this show in every way possible. He outshines Gaga in every single scene. He is just brimming with charisma and talent.
His direction! The direction of this film is Oscar Worthy. There are some stunning moments as far as direction is concerned.
The script is beyond terrible and so is the music.
The 70s version had like four #1s ... the music is played on the radio still today!
It would have been cool to say the same about this film.
Gaga didn't have the same kind of depth.... as Bradley here. Their characters are mismatched and in that way- the love isn't believable. For this film we needed to see a really remarkable and unique female lead with real depth, not just vanity and immaturity. We needed to believe she was worth his chasing and we don't.
Bradley got my attention so hard here though... I never thought of him as really talented or having that depth as an actor and he really changed my mind.
I wish they could have worked on other aspects of this film to make it one of the greats.
This film in ten years will be forgotten and everyone will think its sucks. It had a shine for a second - they could have made it last forever and really seized on some great opportunities to tell us something ( no pun intended)
Game of Thrones (2011)
This WAS the greatest show ever on tv.
I loved GOT. I thought this was one of the greatest shows I had ever watched , one of the greatest stories ever told. Whatever.
Up till season 8, this might be true.
At season 8, the show pivots.
It isn't the dragons, the dead zombies. Or the little children that become the fantasy.
See this show had so much about it that made it what it was. That made it cross over to a wide range of people, places etc..
I think the characters were so beloved and the story was so beloved that at season 8, when the writers thought they could take it all and smash it again, it didn't work. It didn't make sense. And it doesn't matter if there was a fantasy aspect to it - we needed the characters to make sense, to ring true.
Season 8, became a lie.
Nothing made sense.
Beloved characters started making no sense. The writers started pulling our legs, trying to be funny. Trying to shock.
Basically season 8 everything took a dump and the writers really started trying too hard. Trying too hard to make an impression and trying too hard to entertain and shock us and come up with the same shock and awe of the previous seasons - but they didn't have the author or his story to relay on anymore and it shows.
Nothing made sense.
Season 8 becomes so shockingly sexist and stereotypical , when it really wasn't trying to. In fact I wager they thought they were doing something revolutionary. But in the end, after several seasons. It just became a lie.
This guy can forgive anyone and every man gets redemption- no matter the awful deeds they do. In fact men can commit atrocities and become better people! But not women. . You can tell the writers are religious.
The show becomes so shockingly bad and the ending is just about the most awful series of choices and decisions on the part of the writers - that the entire show doesn't deserve its high rating anymore.
I hope everyone comes back and changes their initial vote ( take your 10 and turn it into a 2) so that the rating can accurately reflect the show at this point.
That ending ruined the show.
I'm sorry but GOT isn't the same show.
The ending has forever altered it. Ruined it.
When I think of watching the show over again, I can't. I don't want to. Why? Because I know how it ends. And the ending is terrible.
It isn't worth it anymore.
As a huge fan of the show I didn't even watch the last episode. I never will.
It's that bad guys.
We all need to show how horrible this ending was.
The writers deserve it.
Change your vote!
Good Omens (2019)
I almost choked on a cookie watching this I laughed so hard.
I'm not a laugher. Seriously. My husbands a comedian and I think he married me because I don't laugh at his jokes. It's really hard to make me laugh. But two episodes in, I am laughing so loud and hard I almost choked. Literally.
I don't like comedy either just decided to watch this on a whim and GOT is over. This is one of the most hilarious shows. And it's not just comedy. I don't know how to explain it but it's wonderful and it takes itself seriously. Which is why I could sit through it.
Chernobyl (2019)
I'm starting to think everything Jared Harris is in is a 10.
Perfect. Stunning. Real horror. It's scary, in so many ways.
The thing that struck me is how same America is to Soviet Russia- it reminds me of the "Patriots" in America who refuse to acknowledge the truth about our country.
There is a scene, where they all decide to be "patriots" and kill a million people. They all decide to grasp on to the lie.
At the cost of so much..
I ache for books, I miss them in our culture and inside the minds of people, children, etc. But sometimes a show comes along that is almost as good.
I think this is one of them.
Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)
Omg people! It's a joke. This is comedy horror.
I'm reading these reviews and what a bunch of dummies.
This is a sarcastic movie. It's really not trying to be serious. I'm super sad not many people realized that. Like I said in my first review - this might just be for smarter people who get the joke.
True Detective (2014)
I hated the first season. Didn't watch the second. I'm rating the third.
I had my doubts about watching the third season. The first season totally underwhelmed me, while my film buff friends went absolutely nuts over it. I thought it was way too overdone. Like ruining a steak. Everything about it was over done. The characters, the crime, the direction. The acting. It was just trying way to hard.
So reluctantly I turned on the third season. I'm glad I did, because so far I've been captivated by the lead actors. Talk about Steven Dorf! My gawd I thought he overdosed on cocaine somewhere . Is he sober now? I guess ! He puts in a stellar performance here . He is really talented. Who knew!
The other outstanding show here is his partner; forgive me I do not know his name. The main actor playing a tormented detective with dementia who goes back in his memories to remember a case.
What a beautiful performance.
Just to watch these two makes the show worth it. But we have some other bonuses. A crisp plot and writing is great. The characters are well developed.
I am really into this actor. I hope to see him in more and Steven Dorf! Wow. I would love to see him in more now that he has matured into an actor that seems to have changed his priorities... they both love their craft here and it's wonderful to seeZ
Polar (2019)
Done before
Nothing new here... as much as I love One Eye. He captivates no matter what he is doing.
These movies I like to call Tarentino wannabes. The 90s started this style and it looks like it's having a renaissance ( probably because all the 90s kids have grown up and a new generation ignorant to the style is buying movie tickets) but it's been done before and better before.
I guess a lot of people who watch this type of movie are high anyways. So it will probably get like a 6 or 7 rating here, when it really doesn't deserve it.
It's vapid.
Simple enough action film with no depth and no heart or soul. Just flash. Just really trying hard to be stylish flash.
It's just not enough anymore.
Our barre for film has been raised way too high and while this would have broken some barriers in the 80s, it presents nothing new or original now. Even the plot has been done over and over and much much better. The Professional, anyone?
If you want to waste an hour and a half... or if you're in high school and or a pot smoker, you will probably think it's cool.
Adults, sober people, smarter people who like character development and original or even slightly interesting plots and story lines- avoid.
Jordskott (2015)
You have to follow this thru till the end
The first couple of episodes I was intrigued but not exicited. By episode nine I was immersed in this series. I love the theme of man being punished for his treatment to the earth and animals. I also love the mix of magic and sci-fi. It has everything I love including a strong female lead who isn't a victim or weak, and dependent on a man. No love story here, except between a woman and her children. I love how we get a glimpse into how different our cultures are. There are no bad guys and good guys. Everyone is a mix of everything and has a back story to comprehend actions now.
Complex and moving.
The Open House (2018)
I knew I had to write a review
At first this movie confuses you because it has a budget, great acting. It looks like a huge movie. The plot seems interesting. Although I did notice an alarming amount of jump scares. After the first half of the movie when I am expecting the plot to really take off- I knew I had to write a review after about four more stupid jump scares and ( this really happened) the kid walks outside and is in his back yard and the music swells and the camera fast films towards him with the scary music and then cuts to another scene. So essentially we have a kid who walks outside and nothing happens at all but music and weird camera angles. And that's essentially the plot of the entire movie. We have a neighbor who says weird things and then we find out she is actually diagnosed with Alzheimer's ( but still living alone) .. and a pilot light who constantly turns off. Everything centers on this pilot light. And bumps on the wall. I'm not kidding. Oh and throwing pictures in the trash.
I didn't even want to wait around for the big reveal. Which I figure is going to be that guy at the store. Who somehow killed the dad and now is killing them too by building a tunnel into their basement.
It's a movie that expects you to be dumb. And hopes you won't notice the inconsistenties and irrational plot devices. Yes. It is that bad. Turn it off and go watch Bird Box which is much better.
Bird Box (2018)
I really liked this.
I love end of the world movies...I fantasize about the world ending. I think it would be cool if we all had something more important to think about. But having said that, there are so many bad apolcalyptic films.
This movie had characters that were interesting. I really liked the lead. Sandra Bullock does a fantastic job here making you believe her. She is really touching as a mother, and there is something so relatable about her choices. She makes sense. That's so important in these films that have really unbelievable premises to begin with.
This movie actually made me cry.
I loved that there was not such a terrible ending too. I mean everyone dies , but not everyone. And that's so rad.
I am still going to a movie to be entertained after all, and when movies don't do anything you want them to do at the end when you're so attached at that point to the characters and their outcomes- it sucks.
Like if Game of Thrones kills off Jon Snow and The mother of dragons and they don't live happily ever after raising their baby and Cersi doesn't die- I'm going to really hate the best tv series ever made. All because it ended badly.
This one is good entertainment ! And worth a watch. That's really all we can ask for in a movie. Right?
Primal Rage (2018)
If the lead actor is supposed to not be gay, get a decent actor or at least not a gay one.
Ok so right from the beginning , the couple and the arguments and all the stupid drama?!? All ruined completely by the male lead in the beginning - the supposed ex con, who can't shake his gay off enough to play a straight dude.
When they get out of the car to check on the person they ( predictably) hit, his walk just sent me over the edge ... so GAY.
I almost turned it off.
Please, please for the love of god - use straight actors ( if there are any left ) or damn better gay ones.
Grrrr. Really grates on my nerves.
Hereditary (2018)
So terribly horrific. A wonderful horror movie with brains.
Smart horror. From the beginning, every word, every thing you see, is placed there for a reason. Not some artsy- interpret as a guess symbolism, but placed there intentionally. Like you need to really listen and really see and it all makes sense in the end. Or in the begining, depending on how perceptive you are.
This is our generations "Exorcism". It's that good. And that messed up. But it doesn't have a happy ending. Not like The Exorcist. No.
Jack Ryan (2018)
For people who haven't read the Jack Ryan books.
So Jack Ryan started out in books. Then he went to the movies with Harrison Ford ( who was a great Jack Ryan) and then he did another movie with Ben Aflac that wasn't so bad , and now this.
This is not Jack Ryan- says anyone who has read the books.
But if I hadn't of read the books, I would like the show more.
The only thing that remains of the books is the name of the characters and that Jack is a Boy Scout. A highly moralistic and good guy.
Even so, the show is good.
What I noticed about the show is that - they are trying so hard to make sure we know that Muslims are people too and that not all terrorist are evil people and they "become" mass murderers because of a sad back story ( that is not the case with so many of the most prolific terrorists like Osama Bin Ladin for example who grew up in the lap of luxury in one of the wealthiest families in the world) ( or of the top ISIS guys who graduated from IVY league schools in America or Europe) trying to give terrorists a reason is a stretch. But it's the new social awareness we see everywhere that makes everything a lot harder to watch.
When you sit back and realize that these men kill women, children, old people, and when you truly investigate into minds like that- pain doesn't "turn" people into mass murderers, or rapists. No. It is such a error in judgment to believe it does. Just like anyone who commits crimes against humanity, usually they are psychopaths. Period. The trouble with Islam is that it's a religion that tells you to kill people ( it really does)
And it gets tiresome to keep on trying to make them more human.
I used to love Home Land and then the Muslim groups started complaining and then the show changed completely. Instead of terrorists being the bad guys, the USA government was- which yeah ok, but sometimes I want to make it a whole lot less complicated.
So the constant effort to humanize everyone on the show makes it tiresome at points. Having one of the main characters who was never Muslim in the books be Muslim in the show is hard to swallow. More because it's not realistic than anything else. Watching these shows try to make Muslims patriots and CIA agents and hero's is fine. But it takes away from the realistic feeling of it all, it just doesn't ring true. And that's what is most irritating about it. Don't make your show a fake trying to please everyone.
But it's still a good show. And worth watching. Trying to connect the characters to the characters in my head is difficult- like Greer- no way is that happening. Having him be a Muslim in the show is really not cool either - this Greer is nothing like the Greer in the books. But he is still an ok Greer.
Sharp Objects (2018)
Sometimes, the characters aren't real or interesting enough to carry the show.
Amy, Amy, Amy! You always do this to us. I'm not sure if it's you, or your agent, but stop picking boring arty roles to get your acting out.
Some people will love it. My best friend - will love it. Some people will hate it. It simply lacks enough plot and events in the first three episodes that it won't hold their attention.
I've only watched every episode that has been released, and only watched them once.
Some of my impressions were , it's too much and just not enough.
The camera likes to watch Amy drive. And drink. And then settle on stop signs. And a flower patch.
Her memories are thrown in there off and on, little one second affairs that aggravate more than they stimulate. And Led Zeppelin.
It all just seems so on purpose. Not random and absolutely willpowered by the money machine.
For example, our main character has a cutting problem.
Anyone over the age of 18 who has a cutting problem has serious mental problems, but ok. She manages to be completely mentally ill and hold down a job.
She drinks vodka all day long. And she is completely addicted to alcohol. Not in a nice or cool way.
But - somehow she can always hold her alcohol well and never acts stupid. Or acts out.
So just the premise is totally unrealistic for me.
But then, the entire show is like that.
Totally unrealistic.
For example, I Amy's character goes to cutting Rehab. Her sweet little roommate grabs some dDraino and kills her self while there.
Just totally unrealistic.
I think I already know who the killer is too.
Again, totally unrealistic.
But it tries to be cool too.
I can tell this is written by a woman who probably is just guessing - about life, friends, sex and cutting.
The character development is over the TOP. I mean just off the hook. It's so thick you can't breathe, yet they get it wrong over and over again.
As an actress, it reeks of rich people who lack the life experience to accurately tell a story, but who keenly want to entertain and add a table cloth to the picnic.
The try to dress it up. Try to keep it exciting. Try to make it deep and traumatic.
But in the end , it all feels more like swatting at a mosquito.
I think the other people who will believe it at face value are teens in the throes of emotions.
To adults that have lived any amount of life, it will feel like a child's temper tantrum. In the heat. Wearing a nightgown.
Is it worth watching?
No.
You can avoid it and not miss a thing.
Is the acting good? Yes.
It's the writing , it's the characters. It's the bones that are broken here.
The writer who imagined these women, didn't really see.
I don't know. The story unfolds at the speed of a catapillar traveling down a leaf, so maybe at the end of the season , it will make more sense.
But for now, it's just Hollywood. It's just very deliberate and always late. Always the wrong color.