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jcrobles17
Reviews
The Holdovers (2023)
Alexander Payne nails another gem.
I love movies like this. Seasonal, set in the 70's, new actors, excellent script, superb casting and directing, and Outstanding acting!! Would be filmmakers, this will be in your best of collections. Dominic Sessa's performance is exceptional. It's hard to believe this is his first film. Da'Vine is a force as she redefines the supporting cast role wringing out every drop of the script to create an unforgettable character. Then an absolute master class in acting from Mr Giamatti as the balance, the glue that helms the course of this film as you'd expect from one of our generations best actor's.. He's got the best eyes in cinema, (no pun). How Payne paces the sad to the funny is pure genius. There are moments of complete heartache. The holidays always brings out the inventory of our year(s). Struggling with the discomfort and sadness of being lonely, the three have each other for at least a few weeks. Then there are true laugh out loud moments with a less than 5 actor getting one of the biggest laughs. Set in 1970, the set, costumes, script, and incredible acting makes me want to transport to that time and be at the table with them. I'll be rewatching like I have Sideways, Wonder Boys, and Scent of a Woman.
The Way Back (2020)
Great acting performance
Ben pulls off his most subtle performance of his life. He has mastered the art of less is more as the camera catches every slight facial muscle movement and Ben knows this well being an incredible director. The plot was ok, the team going from bad to good was a little rushed, but basketball was just the back drop. It's a story of his way back to being the man he once promised someone he'd be. His greatness as a player is overshadowed by a fathers conditional love that sets the tone for one failure after another. He is an Everyman and shows how anyone is going through the deepest pain has ups and downs but still needs to get up and go to work. I loved the detail of him putting a beer in the freezer to make it extra cold. Making a basket at the end hinted a step in the right direction albeit a bit cliche. I would've liked to see him make amends to the Father at the school gym. And then maybe a freshman that reminds him of his son loses control of the ball that rolls to Jack. Jack picks it up, looks at the student, throws it, blackout, you hear the sound is a perfect swish. Credits.
Morbius (2022)
Went in knowing nothing about it and enjoyed it
Moved fast vs The Batman. Good action and didn't spend too much time on origin. Leto is great, supporting characters took a back seat. I had a great time at the movies. Anyone doing a hard core review should get out more. ITS A MOVIE!!
2022 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Live Action (2022)
One impression that was left
If I had to rank:
1. Take and Run
2. Please Hold
3. The Long Goodbye
4. The Dress
5. On my Mind
1. Felt like an actual film but I never like the " Did you know" quotes at the end.
2. was relevant to the course of tech if we are not careful
3. Good take away was the way it was told; slow to extremely fast. But super Woke (Most likely will win)
4.just all around sad.
5. pointless sentiment
I was expecting more from this years picks. The one impression it left on me as i walked out of a nearly empty theater was even I could make one of these. Probably should.
Reacher (2022)
The writing got lazy. Alan Ritchson is great as Reacher!
It seemed to borrow from Ozark even though it was written before that show. The last shoot out was cliche but did like some John wick Action. I hate when the big hero protagonist whips all the no name bad guys but yet struggles with the small bad guy at the end. Some acting was c list stuff especially from Bruce McGill. At no point did he even try an pretend he wasn't a bad guy. But I like the character of Reacher and the actor who plays him so the second season should do a serious lessons learned from S1 of what not to do.
Ski Patrol (1990)
Classic late 80's; bad but necessary movie.
Some ideas were great but didn't work on film. Old hacky bits never work. The plot we have all seen in Police Academy type flicks. What I liked were all the actors who made a career for themselves. Paul Feig has become a known producer director and was responsible for my favorite Freaks and Geeks. Classic Ray Walton, Bannya from Seinfeld, George Lopez, and Leslie.scene stealing Jordan. Awful writing and directed but again, such a quintessential movie for the time. Today is the land of reboots and sequels to comic films mostly. We need silly movies like this - think the last time there a comedy at the movies was Something about Mary. And the hair and wardrobe!! Haha c'mon!! Those sweaters?!? I had one of those 🤣🤣
Frank of Ireland (2021)
Episode 1
Excellent. We need a laugh and this one delivers. Genius stuff and excellent comedy performance by the versatile acting Gleeson Brothers. Brian completely unrecognizable from his hick role in Lucky Logan. Domhnall's Doofus is done so effortlessly; comedy is hard and this guy has got it!! Great writing that instantly established the characters within seconds. No fat directing and editing. Looking forward to more. 9/10 because it should've been a longer episode. (Making out at a wake 🤣🤣)
Sharp Objects (2018)
Could have been shorter.
Nothing worse than a real long unfunny joke and a weak punchline. That's the series as a whole. Which sucks because that opinion overcasts so much of what was right with this series. The director did an incredible job making this town a character of the story. A small town with haunts locals don't like talking about. The actors gave subtle creepy incredible performances for Amy Adams to play off of and she so does. The woman literally disappears in this role. Eliza is such a powerhouse. You were annoyed by her, hated her, and then felt sorry for her. This story is about all kinds of bad. There were too many times where I was screaming, "Get on with it already!!" They took their sweet time revealing the truth. The end was a complete left turn in story theme and style. It doesn't fit at all. This story was stretched out too much and for no good reason. It never built suspense and centered too much on Amy than the reason she was there. I'm sure a female audience will love it more than men. It was good not great.
One Night in Bangkok (2020)
Not bad for the budget.
The good:
Photography, excellent night shot and use of color
The use of Bangkok
The unexpected slow pace and long takes
The Armory
Mark's ability to carry this movie
A NON HOLLYWOOD film
True diversity of culture in films
The bad:
The script (predictable plot) (see Collateral)
The lack of Bangkok as a character
The acting from support characters (Det, Wife, other cop)
Lack of hand to hand combat, gunfight, car chase
Messiah (2020)
Definitely binge worthy
Excellent show that grabs you from the beginning. Compelling character arch's, smart writing, and a message that you'd hope the second coming would bring. However as a Christian the part when the Messiah said to a character that her dead loved ones watch over her, I had a problem with. Bringing current events like the tensions in the Middle East was great and loved that they used middle eastern actors but the immigration crisis in America as a sub plot was very lefty narrative. That's said, it did make you think.
Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood (2019)
Good, not great.
Coming off of such amazing films like Inglorious Bastards and Hateful 8, I fully expected to see QT in prime form and there were bits and pieces of the Tarantino brilliance but I would rank this work right above Jackie Brown. He is clearly a fan of the long master shot aka spaghetti westerns and we thought we got our fill with Hateful 8 but he continues this ode with Once.
The production was on point with the time references and the soundtrack was like the Greek chorus and serves as a mini narrator with tone, mood, and foreshadowing. And as great as actors Brad and Leo are, they play the roles exactly as you'd expect them to. Still it was so cool to see these two finale make a film together.
The ending was pure Tarantino. But if you're expecting the plot(s) of Pulp or character dynamics of Django, or the script of Inglorious, you may be disappointed.
Like I said it was good and I enjoyed it. Not a 10 by any stretch. Like most of his films, they are very polarized by fans and that in itself is a sign of a great filmmaker which Tarantino absolutely is. But this particular story could have been told in 90 minutes maybe 70.
A.D. The Bible Continues (2015)
Too many made up dramatizations
The acting is Hallmark channel quality. They all have English accents. The casting is multi ethnic, John and Mary Magdalene are black. Those distractions aside I would say the script is based on the gospels but with heavy artistic license. The wives of Pilate and the High Priest were portrayed with fictional authority. Nowhere in the Bible does any woman in the gospels have any authority or influence over such powerful men. This alone would disqualify this portrayal as truth. And we all know what the Bible teaches about false vs truth. That said, I enjoyed Saul/Paul's story. His story needs to be told much better. The Jesus ascension into heaven was woefully underwhelming. I would say this series is a good starting point if you have never read the New Testament or if you have no point of reference.