johanrattus Reviews

The Spitfire Grill (1996)

Made for TV

[2/10 · 5 July 2015]

My sidekick gave it a 2, I give it a 3, we both agree it's made for TV and belongs on Lifetime or Hallmark. Fine for burning a few hours on the couch on Sunday, but not a good movie. The script is evidence of the thousands of movies that came before this one and the fact that the writer and producer had to somehow come up with something "new" enough to get the project funded. So the plot is rather cockamamie, forced, and silly soapy. While there are necessary unexpected twists and turns, the predictability came in the form knowing exactly when the writer was forced to add a new twist, and our "uh-huh, sure, yeah right" reaction each time. Struck us as overwritten and overacted, with bad music and bad attempts at Maine accents. Interesting to see the 1996 version of Marcia Gay Harden, and Ellen Burstyn is a name, however I'm sure they'd agree this is not their best work. Not terrible if you have absolutely nothing to do, but go find something to do.

Timbuktu (2014)

Well Done For What It Intended

[7/10 · 2 March 2015]

There is not much positive or enjoyable about watching this movie, but assuming it accurately portrays how a rural African desert town is taken over and administered by conservative, armed Islamists applying strict Sharia law, it is a worthy eye-opener. No music, no dance, no ball-playing, no unapproved mingling of the sexes, etc. etc. by penalty of lashings, stonings, and worse. It is well-acted and produced, and gives the feeling that you've visited this small town in the African desert and unfortunately watched the local population, to whom we have a chance to bond, suffer. Disturbing and unsettling to think such places exist, but this movie puts a human face on those living under such conditions while allowing us to visit safely for a few hours. Good movies make you think, and this will make you think, sympathize, and appreciate.

Reel Paradise (2005)

Poor In Every Way

[1/10 · 16 February 2015]

Doesn't even qualify as a movie. This is a home video made by the Pierson family, all about the Pierson family, in Fiji and the final month of the year they spent embarrassing themselves and America. Self-centered, self-absorbed, grandstanding, foul, irritating, unlikable, abrasive jerks filming themselves, and denigrating the native Fijians while they're at it. There is nothing redeeming about any of them or the drivel on this DVD. I mentioned donating the DVD to Goodwill but my movie companion said don't make someone else watch it, and she's absolutely right. Trash bin. The fact that this scored a 6.5 on IMDb and positive comments on the DVD cover calls the entire process into serious question. My guess is the Pierson family spent much of their abundant free time pumping up their own ratings. It is horrible. Cut your wrists - you'll have more fun.

Wild (I) (2014)

Blah blah, why make a movie of this?

[3/10 · 16 January 2015]

Strayed is difficult to like so we never bond with or particularly pull for her. A lot of people have hiked the PCT, and a lot of people have experienced tough times, but why do we care that somebody turned her life into a heroin and promiscuity-filled train wreck, then hiked? There was no reason to bond with the main character.

And I don't buy the portrayal of the park ranger who tries to leave her in the pouring rain instead of letting her in the door 20 feet away unless she does him favors, then makes another advance with three other hikers around. Really? Men are generally portrayed in this film as puckish clowns or sexual predators. Consider the source - a head case hiker armed with a bunch of condoms and a beast-with-two-backs habit. In reality most people one meets along the PCT have nature in mind. I guess we're seeing it from her perspective.

More interesting would have been a documentary on the PCT or another episode of "Intervention" with Strayed as the focus. Largely absent was the beauty of the PCT and any reason to bond with any of the characters.

Not terrible but no real reason to see it. Could have been titled "Horny Head Case Ex-Heroin Addict Adulterer With Foul Attitude and Potty Mouth Takes Time to Process Painful Memories That Many People Experience - While Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail", but I suppose "Wild" fits the marquee better. Whatever. And the fox was blatantly CGI.

The East (2013)

Worthwhile

[6/10 · 16 July 2013]

Truth is stranger than fiction so it's hard for a two-hour fictional film to compete with real examples of immorality, greed, and corruption that are rife within corporate America. Documentaries such as Enron, Who Killed the Electric Car, and Food, Inc. are more powerful because they're real. However, The East is solidly produced and acted as it dishes up fictional corporate misdeeds and misinformation perpetrated in the name of power and profit. The East humanizes its activist characters by giving insight into their varied and often mainstream pasts and into what fuels their battles against the system. Activists can be people too. At two hours, The East is limited in the number of corporate transgressions its activists can pursue and attempt to undermine, but it is an entertaining reminder of the type of malfeasance that goes on as it builds to a suspenseful and thought-provoking end. Good movie, not great, but worth watching.

Before Midnight (2013)

Laughingly, Skin-Crawingly Bad

[1/10 · 13 July 2013]

Three of us saw this film together, all agree it is as bad a film as we'd ever seen. The couple in front of us said the same as they left midway through. The two couples with whom we spoke after said the same. They were laughing, as were others who were exiting. Literally painful to sit through. Abrasive characters to whom the viewer cannot bond, pointless, gratuitous sex-speak, irritatingly filmed in front of the two actors as they drove or walked toward the camera, bickering non-stop for the entire length of the film. We just wanted them to shut up. Somebody could have filmed us walking around for two hours, talking randomly, and it would have been a much better movie. Why do we want to hear these people spew dysfunctional drivel? Yeah, we get the message, but what a brutal delivery for the viewer to have to endure. We tried to understand what demographic could possibly have been targeted here or might have enjoyed it and came up empty. Horrible, in-your-face soap opera with no redeeming characteristics.