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Reviews
Invasion (2021)
Rooting for the aliens to invade already and destroy the boredom
Mostly a collection of ideas you've seen before set to slow motion pacing.
There are so many characters, it's impossible to get invested in any of them. Yet we are exposed to deep back stories on several characters - back stories that have nothing to do with the plot.
One character loses a loved one, so we are shown how sad she is for nearly half an episode. We get it! She's sad!
There are a ton of clichés and ideas you've seen in countless other shows and movies.
I was left rooting for the aliens to hurry up and invade and destroy all the pointless story lines and dialogue.
Someone should have cut this show down by about 2/3 and it would be much better.
We Have a Ghost (2023)
Couldn't finish it
I made it through about 45 minutes of this film and couldn't take any more.
David Harbour and Anthony Mackie are big talents but they can't come close to saving this thoroughly amateurish endeavor. I guess Jennifer Coolidge is in this movie but I didn't make it far enough to see her appearance.
It's chock full of cliches and some of the acting is so bad it's actually uncomfortable to watch. It induces more eye rolls than laughs.
Also, it's a mix of tones and doesn't do well at any of them. It's not funny, it's not sad, it's not scary. It's not really anything.
I would not recommend this movie to anyone.
The Terminator (1984)
Relentlessly focused story
Three central characters. One plot line. Perfectly consistent tone.
I miss the days when a movie plot could be strong yet simple, allowing the tone and the characters shine. Too many movies today are a chore to watch due to complex plots and a barrage of themes and characters (Marvel anyone?).
Schwarzenegger, Biehn and Hamilton are perfectly cast. Secondary characters like Lt. Traxler and Dr. Silberman add light moments that let the tone breathe in the right spots.
Yes, the special effects are not up to today's standards but they don't take away from the overall experience.
Just a badass movie.
Glass Onion (2022)
An onion with very few layers
Take a group of unlikable characters and put them on an island with a bunch of lame ideas and a weak mystery at its core and what do you have? Glass Onion, a Knives Out Mystery.
The story starts out well enough but just as you really start to get curious about where things are headed, the veil on the entire mystery is pulled back and you're left muttering "Wait, that's it?" as you swivel your head back and forth between your TV and your significant other watching the movie with you.
There are no characters to root for (I guess we're supposed to root for the one that destroys an iconic piece of art?).
The big ending is among the dumbest you will find in all moviedom.
Disappointing.
The Card Counter (2021)
Dreadful movie, uninteresting in every way
Paper thin story with paper thin, lifeless characters. Zero dramatic tension, Weird dialog. Plot points that lead to nowhere. One of those 'how did this even get made?' movies.
Another Life (2019)
I feel bad for the actors
The actors and directors do a good job with the material they have to work with. But what awful material it is.
There isn't an original idea anywhere to be found and parts of the story are laugh-out-loud absurd.
Reminiscence (2021)
Why not just move to Denver?
There's a good movie in here somewhere, but it gets lost in flabby storytelling, wooden dialogue, and laughably bad action sequences. Also it requires us to believe people in the future will choose to live in a Miami made miserable by heat and rising sea levels, rather than, say, Denver or Asheville, NC.
The Silence (2019)
The Walking Dumb
Borrows elements of other horror fare including The Walking Dead. The characters make several poor decisions, which makes it hard to root for them. Not good.
Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour (2018)
Ruined by the distracting editing
The editing is so lightening quick, no single shot lasts for more than a half second or so. After 5 minutes I could no longer focus on the music or the performance because the visuals were popping by so quickly my eyes we're exhausted. It's a real shame. I would love to watch a better edited version.
Note to editors who use this annoying style: you're asking the human eye and brain to do things they aren't designed to do and ultimately creating a distraction from the experience.
The Endless (2017)
Flawed, but Entertaining
The Endless has its flaws but the premise, the mystery at the core of the the movie and the fine music score keep things interesting. Worth a watch.
Malevolent (2018)
Derivative
The idea has promise but the movie takes a by-the-book approach we've seen in a zillion other horror/thriller flicks. It makes a movie like 'Red Lights' look like a masterpiece.