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Madame Bovary (2014)
Bland and colorless movie.
Going into this movie, I've heard of the book but I have never read it.
That being said, I found this to be a lackluster period drama. This is the third film that I have seen starring Mia Wasinowska, whom I personally don't find entertaining or remarkable in her character portrayals.
In this film, Mia Wasinowska looks so much like Gwyneth Paltrow but I think Paltrow would have done a much better job with the role. This Madame Bovary, I felt nothing for her but disgust alternating with pity. Pity was for her naivety alternating with disgust for her stupidity and vanity. If one considers the fact that she came from a convent only to be married off, then you can understand her naivety about life and especially about men. That's the only pity this clueless character seems to deserve.
Mia's portrayal of Madame Bovary is so flat and two-dimensional that even her unraveling seems to have no emotional impact other than to portray somebody desperate who wants an easy out of the mess she's gotten her life into.
I found the ending very unsatisfying, that Mia's husband is not witness to find her body. It would have been interesting to see his reaction. I don't know if that's how the book ends or not. But the ending was totally abrupt and unsatisfying.
I'm not sure what the point of the original novel was but if it was to convey the fact that the world is full of men who will use naive women then this is a dreary story and lesson indeed. Clearly nobody ever educated Madame Bovary to understand that men will willingly use you if you open your legs and pretend they love you to continue the free flow of your feminine charms. Her character never seems to figure this out which is more frustrating than tragic.
That Madame Bovary takes her life at the end to escape the consequences of all her bad decisions is just plain depressing. What is the purpose of this morality tale ultimately? Is it like the movie Fatal Attraction where those who commit adultery get their comeuppance? Considering that the adulterous one in this movie is a female, was this some kind of warning morality tale for all married females? How would a story like this even have been written if the central character was a man? It would have been a very different book and movie indeed.
Blink Twice (2024)
A horror plotline females can definitely relate to
This was a suspenseful, entertaining film,even if the first hour is a slow burn, almost seems to be going nowhere and you begin to wonder to yourself, when is something sinister going to happen? There are plot holes that develop, to be sure. More than Jess thinking "something is wrong"...how would the females not have noticeable physical internal injuries from what happens to them? Dirt under fingernails or external bruises would hardly be the only noticed or felt evidence. The ending is unrealistic, pure fantasy (how would a waitress be able to run a mega tech company) but a fun revenge fantasy nevertheless. The monstrous character of Slater certainly deserved that comeuppance. Despite the unlikely plot holes, this is still a gripping movie to watch. The performances of actresses Naomi Ackie and Adria Arjona are especially strong and really carry the movie. The quirky assortment of other characters, some played by veteran actors, was interesting. I'm not sure if it's intentional or not but there is almost an anti-drug message to everyone and a cautionary message to females embedded in this story (which isn't a bad thing.) Like Sarah says, what were we thinking, getting on a plane with a bunch of guys we don't know?
Alien: Romulus (2024)
Still the baddest creature in film ever, but this film was just alright.
Highly anticipated but then I must have forgot myself about how sequels/ prequels often are: derivative or uninspired. Eh, this movie was alright, but had a lot of flaws. But what should fans of the original movies expect at this point? Nothing is ever going to compare to them (the original 4 movies with Sigourney Weaver) favorably this far down the line. At this point it's about using the legacy of the original, highly respected films to still generate income. So, first complaint: what's up with the terrible audio soundtrack for the actors? Couldn't understand about half of the dialogue in this, will have to re-watch at home some day with captioning on to hear a lot that was easily missed. SO sick of this crap. It's a CHOICE to offer up garbage quality dialogue on soundtracks. There's NO excuse for not having dialogue be crisp, clearly spoken and understandable above the background noise. Was this on purpose to hide what's essentially a crappy script? And they couldn't have signed any truly interesting actors and actresses to the roles here? No one with a long established acting pedigree wants to be included in the Aliens franchise? Not a good sign. For most any other sci-fi movies, it's never a good sign when you see almost the entire cast is virtual unknowns. So Ridley Scott put his name to production...but not to actually directing. Okayyyyy.....bit of a click bait there. This movie runs too long and all the background characters are bland, boring, forgettable. The two leads are good in their roles but far above Rain for a much more interesting character and performance was David Jonsson as Andy. Using Sir Ian Holm post-death in the role of Rook (Ash?) was a weird choice but done very well. Too well, in fact. Yes, pretty soon they'll be able to replace real actors with A. I. generated ones to churn out even more poor quality movies and make bigger profit on them. I really hope it doesn't come to that.
Night Sky (2022)
The only disappointments are episode 8 and no Season 2.
Absolutely loved this series. JK Simmons and Sissy Spacek portrayed an incredibly realistic older married couple with some deep rooted history, great emotion and poignant dialogue between them. I could have watched this couple, The Yorks, forever in a series. The story unfolds slowly but is gripping and builds from each episode to the next. There is a lot left to interpretation as to what's going on and I wasn't crazy about the religious cult overtones but still the story seemed to be going somewhere. The characters are all interesting and great to watch. The last episode would not have been so disappointing to me had it led to a season 2 to explain more. It was definitely a cliff hanger that left significant details unresolved, although one could infer what happened to Byron. Still, I didn't like it and could have forgiven that last episode had a Season 2 been coming next to follow up. Very upsetting that Amazon did not continue this series. What do they hope will make a show successful anymore??
The Holdovers (2023)
Held me watching for too long
Love Paul Giamatti. He's the main reason I watched this movie. The other reason was seeing this movie have an 8.0 rating on this site, which puts it in the rarer upper echelons for ratings. So the plot looked like it would bore me but I watched anyways, based on such a high rating. Mistake, I was had. This wasn't anything particularly special as a movie. It didn't really do anything for me and it seemed to drag on forever. The character of Angus was thoroughly unappealing and unlikable. So was brat Kountze. Mary Lamb spent too much time smoking on screen, which I can't stand. And I just didn't buy the movie's ending at all, where a teacher whose whole life is built around the school he's taught at for decades would just willingly give up his job for a punk student who didn't do much for his life beyond disobey and aggravate the crap out of him. I don't think that would happen in reality. Honestly the boy would have deserved military school. Not at all did he try to intercede and save Mr. Hunham's job, as Mr. Hunham tried to save him from military school. Just a plodding movie aspiring to look like bonding and with a crap ending. I would not sit through this again.
The Disappearance of Maura Murray (2017)
WORST QUALITY CAPTIONING EVER!
Whoever did the captioning for this six episode series did an absolutely abysmal job. There were so many typos, it was every few sentences practically. It's hard to get a captioning job and they hired some completely incompetent loser to do the captioning for this series. I can't believe it, does nobody proofread the captioning that gets done anymore?? Other than that I didn't know anything about the case of Maura Murray previously and now I do. Talk about a mystery that will probably never get solved. I pretty much figured that they weren't going to solve the case during this series. I don't know why they make a series with six episodes that could have been wrapped up in two. In fact, it's leading me to not watch anymore of these kinds of long, drawn out series that solve nothing but drag people along with a slow, plodding story. The best part of the series was getting to know the family of Maura Murray. I feel very deeply sorry for them and what they've been through. It helps really personalize the case for the viewers but still doesn't bring back their beloved Maura nor figure out what happened to her. If anything this series might have accomplished, I hope that it quiets down all the internet sleuths who have wildly ridiculous or outlandish theories. I knew from episode 1 that she probably was abducted and killed and I didn't need to sit through six episodes to learn that. So was the purpose of six episodes to give the two series hosts something to do? It's tiresome when people accuse the police of not doing their job when even when they try to do their job, they're still up against the wall of a pretty much unsolvable case.
Carnal Knowledge (1971)
Bleak and uncomfortably honest
It's a brutally honest and raw movie which explores and exposes misogyny.
In the age of me too, the sex scenes in this movie are positively cringe inducing, especially when Sandy pressures Susan into kissing and later on, having sex. What's more cringe is: how often does this same scene play out in real life between real people?
How Candace Bergen's character Susan talks about herself not feeling comfortable to come across as too bright with men or they get threatened, that was accurate then and still valid today.
The premonition when Susan meets Sandy and tells him that everybody is an act and they're different with different people comes fully into play later when she seen Jonathan behind Sandy's back. Jonathan harasses Susan because she's not the same woman with him as she is with Sandy and he wants that, too. It isn't bad enough that Jonathan's been willing and eager to cheat behind his best friend's back and try to steal his woman but he wants her to act exactly the same as she does with Sandy - and she tells him she cannot.
The dialogue between Jonathan and Bobby is excruciating, especially in regards to what they're both looking for.
If men's true viewpoints between one another about women are anything like what's portrayed in this movie (and for many, they are) what a brutal and ugly world we live in. Jonathan and Sandy both use women as commodities whose sexual graces they're always pursuing. They barely consider women as human beings. They don't want women to be like women and they don't want women to be like men. They want fantasy ideals and not real people. They want to manipulate and control women and when it doesn't work, they resent them for it and call them ball busters and castrators. Will real misogynists see what's exposed here and how will they reflect upon it? Do they relate to the mirror or find themselves uncomfortable looking into it?
Mars Attacks! (1996)
The cheese is the point!
Watched this movie again and found it to be just as strange, imaginative, wacky, fun, colorful, weird and over the top as when I first saw it years ago. I love the campy, cheesy performances by Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker, Martin Short, Lisa Marie and especially Jack Nicholson and Rod Steiger. It's kind of a surprise when you realize that, despite this being a comedy parody / send up off kitschy alien movies, the aliens in this movie are quite cunningly deceptive and gleefully, unrepentantly and unrelentingly homicidal. They're so cute, animated so adorably and cool looking, but then they devotedly try to kill everybody. It's a weird juxtaposition that takes getting used to, initially. But despite that, it's hard to get too disturbed by the violence when you see these aliens like to run around their ship in their underwear. Not very professional behavior, aliens. But what do you expect from aliens who switch heads on a woman and her tiny dog?
John Wick (2014)
Over the top, just too much stupidity
I wasn't expecting anything of this film, and near the end of watching, just abandoned it without caring at all how it ended. The best parts of the movie were the beginning scenes with the puppy. The puppy was the most appealing part of the whole movie for me. This movie morphed into what seems more like a shoot 'em up video game than any story that anyone would care about. After that it seemed like more of a video game, with outrageously fake amounts of people being gunned down anywhere and everywhere effortlessly and without it creating much of a stir by onlookers or any mega-response from law enforcement. I'm stumped as to why anyone would find this movie appealing unless they enjoy the barest and simplest of story lines to justify extreme violence, mayhem and ad nauseum gunfire . Stuck it out watching as far into it as I did just to see Lily Allen's brother acting in a movie because I hadn't seen him in anything else before. Then I gave up out of (pardon the pun) overkill and boredom. If you don't have critical thinking skills and enjoy Neanderthal, knuckle scraper level entertainment, maybe this movie is for you but it sure wasn't for me. This kind of mindless crap generated 3 more sequels?? Wow.....
Haunted Mansion (2023)
Light, silly fun with no agenda
Haunted Mansion felt like a movie like Disney used to make, well, like many studios used to make until comic book movies parasitically took over the world and political agendas and polarizing opinions started to infiltrate whatever else is supposed to just be entertainment. This is just a warm story of warm, likable, caring characters who interact sincerely and try to help one another (deal with a crazy, supernatural situation.) Where else do you see that these days? LaKeith Stanfield played a great character with depth and emotion. I was not familiar with him but was glad to learn of his talent. This movie was a bit long and there were a few dull moments but otherwise, it was still entertaining enough for a pleasant matinee at the movies. I can't even remember the original movie with Eddie Murphy so I can't make any comparison. I enjoyed seeing this no-agenda, warm family/ friendships movie. I'm glad I went to see this movie. Oh and one star should go to the fact that the majority of the dialogue was easy to understand, unlike so many other movies that require subtitles to understand what the heck is being said.
Barbie (2023)
Initially fun but there's lots to dislike
I went to this movie just to see the eye candy of beautiful people and fanciful sets because, come on, who is more perfectly beautiful to portray Barbie than Margot Robbie? And who's more attractive to be Ken other than Ryan Gosling?
This movie was too long, too wordy and too preachy to be for actual children. Which is odd since it's about the most iconic doll of all time.
The creation of the Barbie world was awesome: sets and props. But the preachy and messy plot about the patriarchy didn't impress, and neither did the resolution of the story. How about promoting a world where neither men nor women have to have the majority of the power over each other? Some of the dialogue in this movie was literally incoherent babble. Also, they didn't have to pointedly throw in that Barbie was drinking cow milk- cow on the label in all caps. Are the writers anti vegan? At least they mentioned in the film to the audience that Ken was wearing faux fur, but it was like a condescending little note because I guess they assume people care more about fur industry animals than they do about the masses of exploited cows. Anyways, the best parts of this movie were: Ryan Gosling all the way (gorgeous, funny, singing and dancing,) the conflict between the two alpha Kens and introducing me to Simu Liu and Issa Rae. Despite its flaws, I'm glad I followed the hype and saw this movie. But I doubt I could sit through it again, it's just too silly and canned preachy.
Based on a True Story (2023)
Entertaining for the acting but otherwise, morally worthless
If you want to see justice, fairness and fair play happen, this show is really not for you. First of all, a couple of scenes of graphic, sickening violence that wasn't expected or needed. Two, if you can stick with it through the rather implausible plot, all the actors were engrossing and fantastic in their roles. But come on, the FBI would trace and figure out in a minute who's created and profiting off such a webcast. If this series was even remotely reflecting reality, it wouldn't have been written.
However, Based on a True Story definitely makes one realize how some true crime fans can be wayyyyyy too invested in the tragedies and misfortunes of others. If that was the point to be made, it was made with absolute certainty. The Wine and Crime discussions? And Crime Con? I was thinking, is that a real thing? Looked it up and it seems like they actually filmed at the real CrimeCon in Las Vegas. The Sisters in Crime were a perfect mocking of how there's content that keeps flowing and money to be made from crime fans' dedication to the stories of crime and those who narrate and speculate on the tragedies of others.
Almost none of these characters are good people at all. Everyone, knowingly or unknowingly, made bad choices and continued to make them. The outcomes were, correspondingly, not good. There is, at least, a lesson of value in that. Greed, naivety and stupidity have real consequences.
The season (or series ending) was completely open ended, unresolved, and does lead one to think there must be a season 2 coming.....right? Otherwise I agree with everyone else, stupid way to end a series completely if there is no follow up.
Little Women (2019)
Completely disjointed movie
I watched this movie because Emma Watson was in it and I figured it had to be good. For me, it was not good and her character did not impress. I guess one should not watch this movie unless they are familiar with the book Little Women. I never read the book and I've never seen another film version of the book. So for myself being a total newbie to the story, the way this movie was filmed was so choppy and uneven and how the scenes from different times and dream sequences were cobbled together with no transitions to explain just made it all chaotic and confusing to me. Also, the characters were never thoroughly or carefully introduced at all and it took me half the film to untangle the chaotic and distracting family scenes and actually figure out which sister had what name. I just stuck out watching this confusing movie until the end because I wanted to know what happened. Not because I needed to know what happened or cared about the characters but just out of curiosity. I think I need to watch a different and hopefully better film version of Little Women. I would not watch this one again.
Fatal Attraction (2023)
Plodding, psychological but NO thriller
Eight episodes, which took me viewings of 3 nights each to sit through because I kept falling asleep hoping for something interesting, engaging or dramatic to happen. Nope. Lizzy Caplan was completely unconvincing and only briefly sympathetic as Alex. Joshua Jackson was inscrutable as Dan. Chemistry between them was almost completely absent and the sex scenes were PG at best. The adult Ellen character was utterly annoying, dull and droning on with distracting and overly sensual lips and constant facial closeups. Just seemed like eye candy for this production because Alex certainly wasn't sexy or any kind of femme fatale at all. Seemed like the one pinned to be the actual killer was a weird and unlikely choice. There would have been no story at all had he cleaned up the crime scene. The last 5 minutes / ending? Meh. A psychological reveal with minimal impact and anticlimactic. The only interesting and fun character was Mike. You know when there are an equal amount of mini-episodes by the cast telling you why this series is supposed to be amazing, there's a problem. Watch this only if you're an insomniac who needs something to fall asleep to but better than that, watch the original MUCH, much better movie.
Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood (2019)
All Style and No Substance
I was seduced by what looked like an awesome cast and decided to take the risk and watch another Quentin Tarantino film, when I haven't liked any of his other films that I've seen. This movie did not change my mind at all. This is an overly long, smoke and booze drenched, aimless and utterly pointless snoozefest to watch. I cannot stand it at all when characters are smoking the entire movie, practically non-stop. For a non-smoker, it's literally nauseating to have to sit through. The inclusion of the infamous, real life Manson family killers into a fictionalized story line and entirely fictional, fantasy ending (going off the deep end from reality) made no sense at all. It just seemed like a bait and switch to include the Manson family -then to fictionalize and transform what they did (and whom they did it to) into something else entirely. Fan fiction for the Manson family? Really, Quentin Tarantino?? This does not a movie make, nor make a crappy movie any better.
I don't get the admiration of Quentin Tarantino's films at all, so I suppose that doesn't make me impartial. But if you have nostalgia for the culture in America of the late 60's and Hollywood too back then, there are many and far better ways to indulge or satisfy that yearning other than watching this self-indulgent, strange vanity project from Tarantino to a past time in Hollywood. And even though Leonardo does an amazing acting job in this movie, you can watch him doing that in literally any other film he's in. Lesson learned.
Belfast (2021)
An odd mix of chaos and uneventful
This film was okay. It kept me awake and watching and wondering what was going to happen next. Although the warmth of and focus on the family was endearing and heartwarming, other than that it still seemed uneventful, even with all the chaos going on around the family and they pretty much remained untouched. There wasn't even an emotional impact felt when Pop died. As a viewer I didn't learn all that much about The Troubles and how it truly affected the psyches of those who went through it. I liked the performances of and interactions between Jude Hill and Ciarán Hinds. Jamie Dornan has one scene stealing moment when he sings but otherwise was in a bland role. I absolutely love Judi Dench but.....that Irish accent was understated and weird. I actually like Van Morrison but the overly loud pasting of his music onto intros of scenes seemed out of place and very forced to me, not so much setting an appropriate or relevant mood. I'd go as far as saying the songs chosen were incompatible to setting an intention or mood for the scenes. As others have said, I guess the only intention of this film was simply reminiscing of (Kenneth Branagh's) childhood, and nothing more deep than that. There was nothing to be learned other than how it was all viewed through Branagh's youth. Seems a bit of an egotistical approach to me. I would have appreciated and felt more if the movie had a more serious intention to it and depth. It's worth a watch anyways and it certainly isn't a terrible movie.
The Maid (2014)
Better Title: The Cringe
This movie was bad in so many ways: BAD dialogue (from repetitive/simplistic/cringy to laughable at times) BAD acting, BAD French accent, BAD chemistry between the leads, BAD boy so completely unlikable that nobody should ever want anything to do with him, BAD teaser pre-sex scenes so BAD that they were actually pretty nauseating to revolting (the incest angle of the "seduction.") Don't waste your time watching this, unless you adore overly long and tedious movies with stupid characters and poor script with no satisfying payoff to the story whatsoever.
Being the Ricardos (2021)
The most boring movie ever!
I really only watched this because Javier Bardem was in it. I only ever saw a few episodes of "I Love Lucy" and never was into the show. This dead boring movie will never change that. Too much jumping around back and forth in the timelines of her life and career made it very confusing. Too much time of the movie was spent on infighting and micro-analyzing how they were going to do an episode of the show. This movie automatically assumed the viewer knew who half the people in the production of the show were, at various ages. I didn't have a clue, pretty stupid approach to a biopic. I really didn't see where this biopic was going and what was the point of it. So Lucille Ball was accused of being a communist, they got her out of it, she finally got out of Desi he was cheating on her, she filed for divorce next day. These facts did not add up to an interesting movie, hence the solution must have been, oh let's show for two hours how stressed Lucille Ball was over all this and how she drove everyone else around her crazy. It took me several nights to watch this movie in parts and I kept turning it off because it was sooooooo boring. And yes, another movie where everyone has to be shown smoking, all the time. That of course added absolutely nothing to the movie. This is just a waste of a movie, the only people who could possibly get anything out of it at all (maybe) would be "I Love Lucy" fanatics.
Search Party (2016)
Was intriguing but skip Season 5
The first episode of this series had my curiosity piqued, although right off the bat, I didn't care for the obviously shallow and phony characters of Elliot and Portia. At that point, I didn't quite get that this was supposed to be a dark comedy, I guess. Even so, I chose to keep watching more episodes as the story drew me in (but not necessarily the characters.) But yet I HAD to know what was going to happen next. So I binge watched all 5 seasons.
Although Season 1 is based on trying to find a missing woman, it's really what happens during the search that is intriguing.
The surprising season one ending where Keith gets killed was a great episode. The fallout from that act dominates Season 2, which was also great overall, even though we see Dory spiral more and more into someone who lies convincingly to others and maybe even to herself. Phoebe Tyers gave a fabulous performance as the unhinged neighbor April and her twin June. Dory winds up killing April because April threatens to expose the details of the murder of Keith. The show was still quirky and entertaining throughout Season 3.
Season 4 was pure psychological horror to watch, as Dory became Chip's prisoner. But the performance of Cole Escola as Chip is worth watching the entire series for- he's fantastic as the terrifyingly manipulative Chip.
Near the end of Season 4 of this show it becomes apparent that ideas were running out and it was time for jumping the shark when Dory dies and then envisions her own funeral. How on earth could the series come back from that kind of story arc, unless they had actually gotten rid of the main character Dory? Of course that wasn't going to fly so welcome to Season 5, the most annoying and outright ridiculous of all. Dory came back from being dead for 37 seconds and then has some sort of epiphany where she wants to spread love and healing to everyone in the world. She's clearly off her rocker and so is the entire storyline that follows. What REALLY angered me about Season 5 was SO much. I hated how Dory became a nauseatingly new age-ish guru, how incongruous 5 was to the other 4 seasons but even worse than that, the show had to sink so low into ending with a zombie apocalypse. Seriously?!?!?!!? Had I known that was going to be the way the series wound up, I would NEVER have watched this series at all. I didn't sign up for some brainless zombies-are-taking-over ending.
But why did I watch this series obsessively? Why should anyone? What's to like about it? In the end, it was for me the high quality of the acting which kept me engaged -and about being kept on the hook desperately wanting to know what would happen next. All the cast did a wonderful job with their respective roles, even if their characters were flawed individually in various ways. The many minor or background characters were also distinctive and entertaining, including Dory's lawyer and the prosecuting D. A. I just really hated Season 5 from the beginning of it and just slogged through it, unfortunately at that point wanting to get the series over with already. The final episode of the series was the worst of all and ultimately slapdash and unsatisfying.
Faces of Death (1978)
NO. NOPE. NO!
I had lonnnnnng ago forgotten this movie even existed but then it turned up viewable for free recently on a streaming app. And I was like, heyyyyyyy, wasn't Faces of Death this super scary VHS movie from a million years ago I used to see at the video rental store but wouldn't dare to watch? But now I thought (out of mildly piqued curiosity) that I'd give it a go, all these decades later.
I didn't complete watching but a small portion of the movie before bailing. Once I realized graphic animal cruelty and animal death was going to be shown, that's it, I was done.
It was a momentary lapse of reason to think that I could watch this kind of unblinking and sordid expose of violent deaths of both humans and animals. It was more like okay, so what was the fuss about this movie all those years ago?
Reading some of the reviews and details of this movie on here, I realized I made the right decision to abandon watching this movie quickly. I'm proud to say I don't have the stomach or soul for this kind of movie to be EVER considered to be "entertainment." Cheers to those of us who actually find the suffering and death throes of other living beings is not at all good for our minds or hearts, and we aren't so bored or jaded that we want to go that far to be "entertained."
What was real? What was faked? Doesn't matter, don't want to see or know.
United States of Al (2021)
I enjoy it because well...I'm not expecting a lot.
There are very few comedy sitcom series that are truly timeless, classic, hilariously written and acted gems that you're going to want to watch in reruns over and over forever because they're THAT good. After that, there are shows that are pretty good or okay, just amusing maybe and they're light entertainment when you don't want to watch something heavy or intense but you know you're not going to laugh a lot or marvel at them, necessarily.
I would put this show in that category. It's not amazing or memorable so far but it's lightly entertaining and amusing at best. I can't say I really laugh at it much but I like Adhir Kalyan and I think he's charismatic and entertaining as the lead and central character.
The down points of this show that could be improved upon include:
It's another prime time comedy series writing the child character (Hazel) to be a mostly unlikable brat. Seems to be a thing for sitcoms Chuck Lorre is involved in. Why are children frequently portrayed this way? To me, that's the least funny part of this show . What's wrong with children being decent, friendly, cute, engaging, and lovable instead of snarky, crabby, sarcastic, jaded little creeps ? (Sorry to the actress who plays Hazel if you read this, I'm sure it's not your fault but your character IS written that way so far.) And this actress is actually 16 and supposed to be playing what, 10 years old ? That's just weird. Clearly they weren't looking for a cute, adorable child to play the role but someone older who could produce enough snark, even if it's not ever funny.
Secondly, they really don't have much going on with the sister character Lizzie yet, she seems to be a floating character to fill scenes with not much purpose. Maybe they'll do something more with her, eventually.
I think the show will get better over time, though. The last episode watched as I wrote this review had Al infatuated with an American-born Afghan woman and it was a thoughtful and well-written episode (even if more serious than funny in tone.) Some actors from The Big Bang Theory roster of extras have had cameos and that's a plus, too. I hope this show works out but I'm not holding my breath it will make it past one season.
The Dreamers (2003)
What a disappointment and waste of time.
A movie with a young and luscious Michael Pitt fully and repeatedly nude ?! Must see this movie, I thought.
Then I watched this movie in pieces over 3 nights and couldn't wait for it to end. The sex scenes were awkwardly staged and filmed and quite UNsexy. While the character of Matthew makes attempts at true intimacy with Isabel (and Theo) it goes nowhere because they are too damaged and insular.
The character of impetuous, arrogant Theo was utterly unlikable and his sister wasn't far behind with her manipulative and shallow games. What a pair of brats.
There's nothing deep about this movie at all. Nothing to learn. It's just a (pardon the pun) fleshed out tale of the development of a threesome of self-indulgent, spoiled young adults that randomly unravels at the end. They smoke A LOT, they drink, they have sex, they argue pointlessly, they play around and wrestle like silly children, they run out of food and money, they live an escapist and unrealistic fantasy. It's as decadent and depressing as that all sounds. I actually felt sorry for the three main actors getting roped into this demeaning and shameful story.
There's really nothing to recommend about this movie at all other than (if it's something you're interested in) getting to see all of younger Eva Green's gorgeous body. She is unusually lovely.
Don't Come Back from the Moon (2017)
Sci fi ? Not even.
I was misled by the byline of this movie to think it was actually science fiction. That's the only reason I hung on and watched the entire thing, thinking that at some point, the still-missing sci-fi angle was going to come into play ? It never did. So they pulled a fast one in the marketing by claiming there is any sci-fi element to this movie, there is not. Yes, you will feel a bit had after sitting through this thing.
This movie is simply about bleak living in a town where there's nothing to aspire to, apparently aimless and uncreative types who can't think their way out of their life situations live there, and low empathy fathers who just bolt and leave town without even a good-bye to their loved ones drive the supposed mystery to this story. There's no mystery. The dads are smart enough to leave this dull hellhole behind, but selfish and cruel enough to not explain themselves to anybody, leaving behind clueless and angry families they deserted.
There's a pretentious narration over the story from the protagonist, played blandly by Jeff Wahlberg, whose character Mickey is apparently a teenager of some undetermined age but looks like such a baby face that you have no idea what his character's age is supposed to be and could be even just a 14 year old. Who knows ? That's what makes the sex scene between him and a local girl actually uncomfortable to watch.
Ultimately, this is a drawn out, aimless and meaningless slice of small town life on the edge of society depiction. Not much of interest happens at all, just erosion.
The only thing at all I liked about this film was discovering Henry Hopper in a minor but tantalizing role. His character Ray's interactions with character Eva are the only scenes worth watching in this entire film. Even so, the story between them goes nowhere and like the rest of this movie, winds up unsatisfying. But I'll be watching for Henry Hopper in future movies. Never knew Dennis Hopper had an actor son, and Henry HAS charisma, good looks and talent ! Rashida Jones, who plays Eva, is always good anyways and does what she can with a minor role in this film.
I don't recommend sitting through this movie unless you want a catalyst to plunging into angst and depression one afternoon when you have nothing better to do. If you don't have anything better to do, really, get something better to do. If you already have angst and depression, maybe comparing yourself to the aimless lives of these characters will possibly make you feel better about your own life and yourself.
The Monster Squad (1987)
Mildly interesting but otherwise, nothing special.
Admittedly I don't usually watch movies like this, but did so on a lark. I pretty much had to force myself to watch it in segments to get to the end out of mild curiosity as to how it would end.
There was nothing particularly interesting, comical or appealing about The Monster Squad. I didn't find any of the characters particularly engaging or special. It was kind of a cool take that Frankenstein actually turned out to be a nice guy who tried to protect the kids and the little girl who befriended him. It wasn't too cool that Horace's own friends and the bullies kept referring to the overweight boy as Fat Kid. It wasn't nice or entertaining at all that they kept asking the teen girl in quite immature ways if she was a virgin or not (i.e. "dorked.) I liked that the Creepy German Guy turned out to actually be the kids' ally. Other than that, the pace and action wasn't really interesting or engaging for me. Maybe you have to be a kid to enjoy this movie but it was still immature and uninspiring. Is that what you want your kids to watch ? Including the "cool kid" who apparently has to be a smoker ?
Summer of '42 (1971)
Not realistic, not charming and not good at all.
I had never seen this movie, but in my youth heard the theme song to it, which I disliked immensely for being overly bittersweet and maudlin.
After finally catching this movie on tv recently, it seems extremely dated in its views and irrelevant to today and just life in general. The soundtrack was oppressively cloying and I had to mute it at times just to get through the movie.
Hermie's obnoxious and repulsive friend Oscy pretty much ruins this film with his sexist immaturity and crassness. He spends the whole movie chasing females to cop a feel, and that's all he seems to regard their existence to be for. The young woman he tries to feel up at the movies strongly rejects his unwanted advances there but then, fitting in with teenaged male fantasy, turns out to be an insatiable first-time lay at the beach ? I don't buy it.
Benjie was a completely pointless character and poorly acted at that. Why did they bother to write him in at all ? Eventually the character was not included in any further scenes. He just faded out. Poor character development there.
Hermie seemed likable but didn't really seem to be a teenager but more of a boy. I can understand his crush on Dorothy, but not his obsessive chasing after her. But her getting naked with him and seemingly sleeping with him on the night she's learned her husband was killed in action ? Yeah, don't think so. Doubt that's how a war widow would cope with tragedy. If people like this film, is that how they hope a war widow would show grief ?
Then, the pretty, fresh faced and wholesome Dorothy is suddenly chugging wine and smoking in reaction to overwhelming grief ? How trite. Instead of telling Hermie to go away so she can grieve appropriately and realistically in private, she seduces this boy/child instead ?
Lastly, Hermie seems to actually be somewhat mature and thoughtful, and not as hormonally driven as his friend Oscy. But then Hermie has no problems at all trying to spend every moment he can with an older woman whom he knows is married ? So his invisible parents apparently taught him no moral code at all ? It just doesn't add up. The whole story and plot of this film would have made more sense in gratuitous porn than some attempt to be a wistful look at the fantasies, raging hormones, and sexual awakenings of youth.
As others have pointed out, if this movie was about an older man and a young female, it would never have been seen as some kind of nostalgic, romantic classic. It would have been seen as decadent, immoral, and even glamorized taking advantage of an underage youth.
Oh wait, but then there is that movie Lolita huh ? Well, maybe not then...
The beach and beach house scenes were pretty scenery to look at and for me, the only thing to take away of value from this movie. Hence, a 2 star rating.