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The Adults (2023)
Couldn't do it
I made it halfway through. Not only is it a very slow slice-of-life film, the main character (Michael Cera's Eric) is so repellent, I just didn't want to spend any more time with him. He is inconsiderate, self-absorbed, cold, oblivious, and shallow. He blows off all these people who made plans to spend time with him in his rare visit, with barely a 'sorry.' Both of his sisters are obviously suffering, and he doesn't even seem to notice, let alone care. He even scolds the one who adores him. At one point, he shows what really matters to him (and it's not anyone else), and asks her why the other sister 'hates him.' The short answer is that he is just a JERK. The real question is why there is anyone in his life who actually tolerates him.
Suspect (2022)
Go for the original
An almost exact translation of the Danish "Forhøret" (Face to Face), with the few changes not helping. Even Christina and Nikki/Nicola look alike in the versions. An amazing cast doesn't save this one, though, so watch the original. Ulrich Thomsen's Bjørn is so much more engaging that James Nesbitt's Danny. Bjørn is more aggressive, more obviously jaded, meaner... you can see why his daughter doesn't talk to him.
The Card Counter (2021)
A disjointed mess of a film
I can't even figure out where they intended to go with this movie. It has a bunch of unconnected themes, all told badly (and SLOWLY, as has been said).
Give it a miss.
Parlement (2020)
Very enjoyable
Political satire, but really more a funny take on people and institutions in general. Fantastic acting, great characterization, and a good story line, all in easy 30-minute chunks. Good one, this.
The Hunter's Anthology (2021)
Unwatchably bad acting
On top of badly written dialog, the acting isn't even worthy of community theater am-dram... Do yourself a big favor, and give it a miss.
Le passager (2014)
Watchable but weak French thriller
The Passenger starts with a very workable plotline, but doesn't seem to put enough work into delivering its possibility. A watchable series, it's held back by lazy, sloppy writing, leading the episodes with happy coincidences, lucky breaks, repeated way too easy escapes, and incredibly convenient chance encounters.
The series tries to present high intrigue by dragging the story all over France for no apparent reason, and the characters seem to get around with lightning speed. But instead of adding depth or grandeur to the events (a la Bourne's world hopping), it just comes across as unnecessary.
Some expected red herrings along the way... a little sex thrown in... not a bad way to spend a few hours, all in all.
Bastille Day (2016)
NOT As Good As the Other Reviews Suggest
This is a decent film, fun enough for a (short) evening's watch. The great cast is very let down however, (especially the under-used Kelly Reilly), by rough and heavy-handed editing. Any depth, connection, or richness just got pulled out of the edited story. We really could have used about 20-25 more minutes to this thing, instead of the action-only version we got presented with. It seems it started out as a good concept, with some good planned twists (all of which are pretty 'Eh' when they actually happen), so it left me feeling a little disappointed, all in all. The 'buddy' feeling in the film just never developed as it obviously was supposed to, either.
Dark Cove (2016)
Run for any other movie you can find.... any....
Excruciatingly awful... and I mean AWFUL. A pace and acting skills that would make a high school drama teacher cry, continual and badly placed strings of infantile sex jokes and talking about genitalia, and a cast that looks about as comfortable with each other as my dog is with my vacuum cleaner... all make for an unwatchable film. I also should give the soundtrack a mention - did they pair up the tracks with the movie, or did they just throw in some of their favorite songs when they felt like it? It's all so out of place and incongruous. It would be OK, I suppose, if it were a 10 year-old's project, but I'd really even expect more out of the ten year-old.
I lasted about 15 minutes, about 10 minutes more than I probably should have, but I wanted to at least give it a chance.
RUN - the worst film I've seen in ages.
The Judge (2014)
Not as good as hoped or hyped
Unfortunately, this film doesn't live up to expectations. It's good, not great. It's bogged down by Hollywood's insistence of huge box office draws. Instead of making this film fantastic, the reputations of the two huge legends Robert Downey, Jr. and Robert Duvall just feel like they weigh this story down. We've seen these two characters before, haven't we? Even if Downey tries to be just a bit more of a self-important jerk than his usual self-important jerk roles, it's just not that much farther along. Billy Bob Thornton in this movie is just confusing. Why is the same character from TV's Fargo suddenly here? The intended tense battle of egos between his and Downey's characters is unimpressive and unneeded, as it turns out. The emotional drama here is the son's realizations, not his already-proved professional ability. We don't need the other.
The "coming-of-age by going back to the little and not-so-small- minded-as-it-turns-out town" they came from is a theme more than well used, and it surprises to see it here. We get it. Just because people don't go out in the world doesn't mean they are small-worldish. Equally, just because people are successful and in the wider world doesn't mean they are big-worldish. Yup... got it. I sometimes think this recurring theme is actually just a successful writer's guilt and self-inspection. Luckily, though, the cast is saved by the fantastic work of the supporting players, notably Vera Farminga, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Jeremy Strong, who all give very convincing and compelling performances.
Such a big budget deserved better. DVD this one.