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Dune: Part Two (2024)
Come on! Not spicey!
No. Just no. The high rating for this movie is not warranted. I've enjoyed every movie directed by Villeneuve except this one. I had super high expectations coming in after really enjoying Dune part 1. After making mostly very good movies he dropped the ball here.
Pacing bad. Story was wafer thin. So many useless and undeveloped plot points. Cinematography was so over rated. So many close ups of the actors faces that it ruined the scale of the world and was so overused to become noticeable. The world in part 1 was detailed and mysterious but here we have cliche after cliche. Music was annoyingly loud in spots and not impressive considering Zimmer made it. Acting was OK but Chalamet and Zendaya who were good in part 1 really were a let down here and ultimately miscast. I didn't care about any of the characters. Brolin was the only actor who did well with his small part. Walken was so lame as the emperor. Sting did a better job as the main baddie in the 84 version. Anti-climactic ending. The fight choreography was bad. How did the baddie get stabbed at the end?
Here we have another example of people buying into the hype machine. I'm so annoyed with how people/lemmings are giving 10/10 scores for this failure.
Invincible (2021)
I like gratuitous violence and gore but this story has no heart.
Some of the animation is great while most of it is amateur. The dialog seems to be written by a teenager. The motivations of Omniman is far fetched. I heard that in the original comic book that he has a redemption arc which is beyond stupid. You can't come back from being a sadistic murderer and narcissist in any rational universe. The rest of the plot is derivative of better stories in the genre. The teen high school side drama was so cringe. The only people that I can see who would enjoy this show would be impressionable teen boys. This is not a good thing because the show demonstrates that "might make right" and "the ends justifies the means", a horrific take on morality. I still watched the whole season and enjoyed some of the fight scenes but I can't recommend it.
Primal: The Red Mist (2022)
Another stunning episode! The Red Mist rivals the Red Wedding!
OK, I'm the hugest Primal fanboy first off. This episode had it all and the violence was right up there with season one's Rage of the Ape Men. But this was also one of the most thought provoking episodes too. I could not stop thinking about that annihilated village of humans who enslaved others and how complex the situation is. Sure it is easy to judge them and say they enslaved others so they deserve their gruesome fate. The complexity is when they revealed the tribal family's love for one another and deep feeling of loss. It makes you think further about America's history of slavery and how we condemn the entire South for it. Were the slavers completely oblivious to the pain they caused their slaves? Were there some who cared for the well being of the slaves? Was it a culture of cruelty to outsiders? Did they actually enjoy the suffering they caused? There are so many awesome layers to what is going on in Primal I will just have to fanboy for the rest of my days.
Love, Death & Robots: Swarm (2022)
The most thought provoking LDR episode from season 3
I really loved the animation and the swarm design. They really did a great job conveying how wondrous the swarm is and despite the bravery of the two humans I thought an underlying dread was maintained, detailing the claustrophobic spaces and the destructive capacity of the creatures. The plot twist at the end was great and some really cool scifi but I feel like there could have been more to it than the abrupt ending. One reviewer noted that the ending was dumb considering the swarm was orders of magnitude more intelligent than the man it claims it enjoys speaking with. I kind of agree and feel like the writer should have had Afriel completely horrified and at a loss when he realizes the human species is now doomed because of his ambition. I still really liked the show and could not stop thinking about it.
Jimmy Carr: His Dark Material (2021)
Karens will write 1 star reviews here.
I've seen Jimmy Carr perform before but only snippets of his act. Also, I've seen him before on the celebrity roasts. I had the opinion that he was pretty funny but that he also drops some duds too. My expectations were met here with His Dark Material. He really does go dark here plus he gives a warning at the start so I'm not sure why the snowflakes kept watching. It had some LOL moments as well as some groaners. I loved how he crushed anti-vaxxers without mercy. He doesn't pull any punches with some of his targets. There were about a handful of times I was in stitches laughing and another handful of times where I was "no, dude" but that's what you get with this type of comedy. He is kind of like Jim Jeffries in that way. I am now looking forward to checking out more of Jimmy Carr's comedic work and I would like to see him in an evil antagonist movie role at some point.
Death Note (2017)
I liked it better than the anime. Come at me, bro! LOL!
The anime itself was ok, very good at the beginning but eventually it went downhill as many have noted and I ended up giving it a 7/10 and can't recommend it. The "I know what you know" and "I know you think you know what I know" got tedious. I had low expectations for the movie and it was probably the right mindset going in. I prefer the Light Turner character to Light Yagami. Yagami was a sociopath and quite boring while Turner had more relatable flaws. I believe the popularity of the anime among young dudes is probably because they they are little edge lords with undeveloped frontal lobes and think that Light Yagami is their role model. LOL! The L character had a much more interesting character arc in the movie while taking the cool personality traits from the anime. The Misa character in the anime was annoying and childish while the Mia character in the movie was way more interesting with a much more believable motive for going psychotic. The anime had more than one Deathnote which seemed a dumb plot twist as there should be only one in the universe to be a proper artifact. The gruesome deaths in the movie also made it much more tense and horrific as it should be since it is about murder via a Death God. The anime had the same problems a lot of these long-winded anime series have in that they run out of ideas and keep flogging a dead horse when the story should be pared down with less characters. The movie was very entertaining and the voice of Willem Dafoe as Ryuk made me smile ear to ear. The effects were very good as well. I'm actually amazed people think the anime is that clever when it is filled with plot holes. The movie has a few as well but overall it was much more enjoyable despite the flaws. I'm hoping this review annoys the Deathnote anime fanboys. LOL!
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Coen bros make a western and it is mostly very good.
I dig it. The Coen bros made this series of 6 western vignettes in typical Coen bro fashion. None of the are tied together so it is kind of like reading a bunch of short stories. Whimsical stories with fun dialog and their existential nihilism in full display. Each story had a different tone with shades of comedy and bleakness. Excellent cinematography throughout. Only problem really was that I didn't enjoy the concluding chapter much. My ratings for each individual short film.
Ballad of Buster Scruggs 10/10
Near Algodones 8/10
Meal Ticket 7/10
All Gold Canyon 9/10
The Gal Who Got Rattled 8/10
The Mortal Remains 6/10
Godless (2017)
It was an intriguing story but fell prey to some cliches and a weak conclusion.
Interesting characters, some good villains, and some story details were excellent. Memorable parts: good dialog with Jeff Daniels playing the main villain Frank Griffin and Iyovi the old native woman. There was some gory moments which worked most of the time to effectively show the consequences of violence. I enjoyed some of the one-dimensional baddies like the Devlin brothers and Ed Logan. Was moved a few times by the Alice Fletcher character's struggles. It had me invested in the story all the way through and I was going to say 8/10 initially but the last half was cliche and let me down so 5/10 and can't really recommend watching the series. The big gunfight in the finale was not well choreographed. I stopped caring about the characters in the end because of the way it was summed up. A lot happened but the pacing was off at times. I think they needed to whittle the story down some more.
The Umbrella Academy (2019)
Five and Klaus were the only riveting characters.
Every other character I could not care one bit for. It was like night and day. This show is more about daddy issues than good solid science fiction. Slow moving plot, lacking in action, and characters behaving without reason. Only Five and Klaus made it worth watching all of season 1 but I'm gonna pass on season 2.
Doom Patrol (2019)
If you like superhero action movies do not waste your time on this show.
There is almost no action, no harrowing moments where you fear for the safety of the characters. Brendan Fraser was great to start the show but when he became Robotman I stopped caring. Most of the show is meandering with little progress except for character back stories. If you like soap operas with a lot of weirdness then you might enjoy Dumb Patrol.
True Detective (2014)
Watch the first season and STOP.
The first season was amazing dialog with a sinister vibe throughout so I have to give this show 7stars and highly recommend the 1st season ONLY.
I didn't watch the 2nd season because all feedback was that it was garbage.
The 3rd season was a colossal disappointment. It started off as before with a sinister vibe and slow burn but it ended up being a boring show that I was happy to see end with no memorable dialog like the first season.
The creator/writer must have used up all his ideas in the 1st season and resorted to family drama to fill it in. What a massive fail.
Mei ren yu (2016)
Stephen Chow's Mermaid doesn't provide the lols despite a good message.
Firstly, why do all Chinese movie romances have the guy yelling angrily, "I love you!" like it's a bad thing? They make me think that Chinese culture promotes the man being stoic and then loses his mind every once in a while while the girl is usually non-serious and goofy. I've never found the chemistry between Chinese leads to indicate a simmering romantic heat and I can't help but conclude that Chinese are a bit prudish. They try to make romance too innocent and childish and when they have a kissing scene it seemed awkward. Not hot.
In addition to a lame romance, Stephen Chow tries to use his slap stick physical comedy but most gags were not even remotely funny. Major physical elements didn't work at all. e.g., the rich dude trying to explain to the two cops his encounter with the mermaids. Also, the tentacled dude getting his tentacles cooked at the chef's stand didn't work either. The girl playing the mermaid love interest had a few chuckle worthy parts where she was singing. What is up with all the insults she has to deal with from everyone though? She just laughs and agrees? Weird.
I liked Kung Fu Hustle a lot but this was not even close to that film which to me is like the Chinese Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I give "The Mermaid" 5/10... +1 for the environmental message... 6/10.
Zootopia (2016)
A heavy-handed allegorical story about racism that isn't for young kids.
I had high expectations for this movie and it did rather well in a few areas: I liked the animation, I liked the world-building (Zootopia is a cool place to visit), I liked the main characters (Judy Hopps, the first bunny police officer, and Nick Wilde, a fox who earns his living by hustling others although they don't explain why he can't easily pay for his elephant-sized popsicles when clearly he makes a good profit daily), and the action sequences were fun to watch.
But the heavy-handed allegory about racism is just too contrived and I don't think it works that well here. I don't think any kids under age 8 will understand the message and their are a few scenes that are probably too frightening for small children. There is a scene that is reminiscent of the "Silence Of The Lambs" insane asylum that will probably give little kids nightmares. The message of racism seems to be more directed at the parents who bring their kids to this movie. I think racism is better approached by using human characters as the anthropomorphic animals added a layer of confusion especially for kids. There is one scene where another animal species calls the bunny "cute" and the bunny quickly says that that is not OK for other species to call it "cute" unless you're another bunny. This is obviously a direct reference to the N-word but it fails to convey a good message in two ways: 1. it doesn't make sense for "cute" to be an insulting word in the context, and 2. the use of the N-word in any culture should be criticized and not just people who are not black. The other message of try and do not give up also does not seem to be balanced as the message of you can be anything you want to be does not seem to be tempered by a realistic self-awareness. Even though it does try hard to make serious light of some issues it actually supports stereotypes. The "sneaky" fox, the "evil" weasel, and the "bullys" who manifest in larger animals. There are many jokes that just fall flat like the "nudist" club, the sloths at the DMV, etc... It really didn't make me laugh at all except for maybe a few smile-worthy sight gags.
The movie had a good flow to it and if you're a person that loves animation and has to see all of Disney's stuff then go for it otherwise I cannot recommend it.
Spy (2015)
I haven't LOL at a movie for a long while and I hit GOLD with Spy.
Middle-school humor with a lot of sexual innuendos, double entendres, uncomfortable situations, and outrageous puns but it was excellent. If you can't LOL at what made you LOL when you were a teen then I'm sorry to tell you but you have grown up into a boring-as-#$%^ adult. People who are offended by excessive swear words CHOOSE to be offended. Maybe you prefer jokes written for five year old's? Good clean fun only for you stupid prudes. The plot of this movie is fairly simple, following CIA agent Susan Cooper's journey across Europe in an attempt to stop the sale of a nuclear bomb. It is a spy parody so of course it uses all the spy movie clichés. The fight scenes are BRUTAL as is most of the violence. Hello, awesome! That is what actually goes down in most spy movies and I appreciated that they kept that aspect of the genre. There are two fight scenes in particular that had me exclaim, "Holy f%^&!" Every actor seemed to hit the right notes with their timing and delivery, even some of the minor characters like Anton or Colin/Frederick. I was never a fan of Melissa McCarthy but she was excellent here and won me over. I will definitely be looking forward to more Paul Feig movies although I will keep my expectations low for the new Ghostbusters movie as I feel it won't live up to the original unless the plot is fresh.
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
So awful it reminded me of the disappointing "Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull"
I don't have to get into all the brutally poor aspects of this film (redundant, as there are already some good slams of this movie already posted) and the positives are far out-weighed by the negatives so I won't go into them either.
I am now going to update all my JJ Abrams movie reviews to 1/10 (not that I have to go much lower) because the guy is a lousy film maker. I recommend other to do the same.
What has happened here with SWTFA is corporate movie making at it's worst. Focus-group planning that appeals to the lowest common denominator of the movie's audience. The human species is monumentally stupid and continues to breed stupid people. The fact that so many people love this steaming pile of human excrement is testament to this unfortunate truth.
Kiseijû: Sei no kakuritsu (2014)
Very original sci-fi monster...
I normally don't like this style of anime with the jerky movements and anglicized Japanese characters but despite that I really enjoyed the well choreographed fights, brutal killing sequences, the urban Japanese environments, and the characterization of the parasytes themselves. There are several good fight sequences and one in particular at a Yakuza hideout was the biggest "WOW!" in the whole series. The most powerful parasyte was an excellent monster and the tension during the chase scenes were high. A couple of interesting plot twists at the end were well done.
I was hooked immediately by this great premise: alien worms float down from the ether and invade humans with the intent to take over the brain of the victim. The victims then become monstrous cannibals that need to feast on humans to survive. The plot is excellent and explores deeply the topics of altruism, sacrifice, dealing with loss, the role of serial killers in nature, and it does a nice job damning certain qualities of humanity that have created over-population and pollution.
The teen romance greatly detracted from the story and all the female characters were stereotyped as being annoying and clingy. I've noticed this with a lot of Japanese anime and I think it is a reflection of their culture. The only female character that was interesting was the parasyte Reiko. That explored some interesting ideas but I didn't totally buy the character arc for her nor the dramatic effect it had on Shinichi. Several characters who died did not garner any sympathy because of their illogical decisions (e.g. Kana). A lot of this was done to create drama but was too contrived. The sub-plot with the private investigator also didn't add much.
The main character Shinichi and his parasyte Migi formed more of a symbiotic relationship and the character arc for Migi was very interesting. The climactic fight scene achieved exactly what the writer's wanted with this reader feeling deeply sympathetic for the parasyte that had evolved over time.
If you can ignore the childish romantic sub-plots this story was very good sci-fi alien horror.
Arrow: Restoration (2015)
yes, it's true... Arrow is not good anymore...
The toughness and hard edge of Arrow himself seems to be missing and Stephen Amell is trying too hard. His work as the sensitive caring Oliver Queen with his ladies and buddies is OK but he just doesn't seem badass anymore like he was in S1. The dialog remains childish as it was in S3. The fight choreography seems marginally better but that is not saying much. Diggle doesn't even look like he wants to be there. He blows guys away every episode while Oliver and the rest of the "superheroes" usually only bludgeon the baddies. Then Oliver gives Thea crap for being too aggressive? There are so many inconsistencies. By the end of last season the highlight of an episode was the "canary scream" which always made us LOL. Seems to be the case here now too. Just not a good show anymore. I'll probably watch the rest of the season because I'm like that but I think I'm going to video my "hateful" reactions and post them on youtube as revenge against lousy writing.
The Flash (2014)
Just not good in any way and proves how mediocre can do well in America...
Yep. I watched the whole season hoping it would get better. I think there has to be some sort of mass psychosis going on in certain cultural corners of our society. It is the only way I can understand why anyone besides adolescents would enjoy Flash. It is a good thing there are grittier takes on the superhero genre out there like the new Daredevil. Flash is just teen drama with a side of ridiculous action. The inconsistencies of his powers were so blatantly abused just so that they could have some sort of physical challenge for him when in reality nothing should be a problem for him. Bees? He gets taken down by bees? Dumb.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Very disappointing...
I was so amped for Mad Max after seeing the average review was high... WTF? Is it mob mentality or is it crafty advertising because this movie was not good... No character arcs except for Nux and his was so contrived and abrupt that it shouldn't count... the basic story was very lame... the plot was goofy... all the 2D character villains with their bizarre mutations (the hovering baby-man? This movie had shades of Total Recall)... 12 year old boys should like this movie ... When Furiosa walked sadly into the desert and took off her robot arm that was very poorly done... I wanted to scoff out loud but I didn't because I was in a theater... but I'm sure many there would have appreciated it... I see in the user review section that there are a significant number of equally bad reviews... thank you to those intelligent members of the IMDb community for the support... so I don't think I'm insane as Mad Max too for not liking a popular movie... I'll investigate the user reviews here more closely next time so I don't get burned again... I still hope to see some awesome Furiosa cosplayers in the future so that adds a few stars.