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Reviews
Burnt (2015)
It's deep...
Yes, it's a movie about a restaurant and a chef. On the surface, pretty boring. However, having worked in the front of the house in a Michelin rated establishment, I cannot convey how serious this level of people are about their craft. This is not a mere vocation to those involved, they live it because they have to, they're compelled by a force within to reinvent everything everyone knows about food and service. You don't train for it. You have it or you don't. It consumes you, the punishment it imposes on your life both physically and mentally is blatantly masochistic. They don't do it for the money as no amount is enough. As one would imagine under such circumstances, there is a prolific amount of substance misuse running rampant throughout the industry. They are the equivalent of pained writers, painters and poets whose medium is food and the ultimate execution of its service. That being said, the protagonist is a tragic, somewhat exaggerated example. Not all are as he is. The thing I related most in the movie was the conveyance of emotion. The movie is brilliantly directed. The story line can be a bit mundane to the un understanding. The acting is well executed and again the direction is superb. There are multiple situations throughout the movie where words aren't being spoken but the cathartic raw emotions are brilliantly expressed. The passion and conflict are evidently present and they've ironically nothing to do with food. The movie is a grande rollercoaster of ups and downs that are exquisitely shared with the viewer if they relax, look beyond the storyline and give themselves the opportunity to not only watch but feel the characters, it will summon strong emotions. It's a good movie and again, very well directed.
St. Elmo's Fire (1985)
A movie of the Times
This movie was the cliché post college life of the 1980's, the life every one read about, saw on television or what was told it should be. It fit right in to the very interesting 80's format. Although, this movie is also strongly "Brat Pack" driven and if you don't know or can't relate to these actors the movie doesn't stand a chance. It's not bad, just chummy, overly dramatic loathsome characters carried by well liked actor credentials of the time. Typical coming of age flick for over privileged college kids with some interesting character twists throughout. A very early glimpse of a young Demi Moore is of pertinent interest, Judd Nelson delivers, Emilio does his Emilio thing and of course, there's Rob Lowe. A quintessential 80's film. A rainy day check it out flick.
Monster (2022)
A lot of hoopla
The acting was great at times, the content was quite the bit dry. I went into it with high expectations looking for wow and fascination and it just wasn't there. The facts were weighted by a whole lot of fiction and it wasn't terribly imaginative. An entire episode was nearly silent and dreadfully boring. I'm a huge fan of true crime and I'm aware that people LOVE this show but it's just a skosh above average. It has a lot of "times we live in" reference woven throughout and leans quite heavily on racial injustice, sexual orientation, police disapproval all of which are exaggerated beyond rational interpretation. I lost most interest by episode 6 and rated it accordingly. Just wasn't that great.
The Equalizer (2014)
Won't Disappoint!
If you're like every other regular guy you love action movies. Blood, guts, fights, dramatic good over evil and graphic beat downs. This movie won't let you down. The storyline is quite inspiring and the action easily backs it up. Denzel executes his role of McCall well, per usual, and Marton Csokas compliments him with "nailing" his menacing character Teddy equally well. Definitely one of those "I can watch it a thousand times" movies.
The Dropout (2022)
Tanks Quickly
I originally rated the series an 8 star after viewing the first three episodes and was eagerly waiting for it to continue. I've since changed to a rating of 4. The show takes a very unfortunate turn and rapidly does a 180. It's as if the writers had only enough comprehensive material to sustain 4 episodes. The erratic, illogical and highly unbelievable plot just spins in circles and seemingly goes nowhere. The acting plummets as well, likable characters once cheered for become irritating and appear lost in an ambiguous plot that turns dreadfully boring. Major letdown in my opinion.