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thebenstrong
Reviews
The Lost Symbol (2021)
Miscast
Say what you want about the pacing; it feels like pacing of any other television show with an over-arching story. My problem is the casting. I'm not a big Tom Hanks fan, but his portrayal of Langdon is just better - more interesting.
Overall, the acting, as well as the musical scoring, feels like a soap opera.
My biggest beef: the bad guy. In the book, he's described in great detail. The whole thing was that he was wholly unrecognizable, menacing, threatening... huge. This guy is still just a scrawny punk. He comes across as a nut more than he does an otherworldly character on a quest.
Disappointed.
Swiped (2018)
It's obviously a budget-film
The acting is discount Disney Channel and the camera work is Nickelodeonesque. I was surprised at the overwhelming amount of negative reviews, though. For a mindless movie, it's alright.
Mr. Iglesias (2019)
Reminds me of a Tyler Perry show.
Sub-par and forced acting from good portion of cast. Unneeded political jokes that are so one-sided that they fall flat.
Do you y'all remember Rodney Carrington's show? You don't, because the same thing happened. Producers took another hilarious comedian and surrounded him with bad writing and bad acting.
Captain Marvel (2019)
Ain't the best, ain't the worst.
Since politics surrounded this movie due to the title actress, I went in with very low expectations. Overall, it was ok. Nothing new. No real wow moments. Several cheap jokes. Some of the fight scenes looked like the love child of Star Wars and Top Gun.
Tyler Perry's Boo 2! A Madea Halloween (2017)
Eh
It's alright if you're looking for something mindless to watch.
If Madea and Bam could be a bigger focus, that's be great. If Tyler Perry didn't appear as himself, that'd be great. If they could get some decent actors, that'd be great.
Kevin Hart's Guide to Black History (2019)
While a little too campy, it's still great!
As a white, strait, southern (Alabama (and now Georgia)) Christian male, I usually don't sit around watching black history programs because it recent years, it's less about the great things that were accomplished during times of strife and more about claiming victimhood and blaming white men for everything. While I acknowledge that black folk have gotten the short end of the stick throughout history, I am overly tired of being blamed for it just because my great, great grandparents were white southerners... though not near rich enough to even think about having servants. In fact, a large portion of my own ancestry was sharecroppers and indentured servants, themselves. While not completely relatable to forced slavery, it's still a far cry for being rich slave owners.
That being said, I really enjoyed Kevin Hart's special. It was a bit too campy and corny for most people - some may even find it offensive if their underwear's on too tight - but he gives a ton of information that I've never heard before. It's packed with stories and info of lesser-known people within black history that did more to advance their situations than most anyone alive today.
Kevin doesn't present this film with a preachy tone; rather, he comes with what appears to be a light-hearted approach that many people can appreciate without feeling blamed or vilified for once. I'd give it 10 stars if it wasn't so corny.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Lots of momentum
The first part of the movie is kind of hokey and fun - silly. I was thinking the whole movie would keep that same atmosphere, but as it progressed, it became more and more serious. Where were some chuckles thrown in here and there, but didn't really match the first part of the film or the advertisements... in my opinion.
However, overall, it was a good watch. Good quality acting and some surprise appearances.
There were no real crying moments and there's warning for harsh violence, but it's no worse than anything on television, and there was no outstanding vulgar or explicit language which is a nice change from other Netflix movies.
Roseanne: The Driver's Seat (1993)
Over the top
Roseanne was also an extremely funny and real show, but there were a few episodes that over shot on the drama. The tornado episode was somewhat comical in terms of how scared and wild they became. I'm not saying that tornados aren't dangerous and/or scary, that's not the case. But growing up in a region where tornados were common, I have a hard time believing that a midwestern family would be that worked up over a tornado.
In this episode, while it is clear that Roseanne and Jackie's dad beat them, her reaction to spanking DJ, who very much deserved it, was once again over the top. She didn't beat him; she gave three or four licks with her bare hand over clothes. Just think how much more pleasant, though less funny, that household would have been if they had actually punished all three of the kids when they acted like turds.
A blue collar family in a blue collar town would probably never have this issue. While understandable that she is upset due to her childhood, it should have been taken a somewhat different direction... just in my opinion.
Country Crush (2016)
What do you expect?
It's a good movie to just zone out on. It won't make you think. It's not gonna preach at you. It's just a simple story. It contains all of the Hallmark/Lifetime-esque stereotypes that you would expect: simple small town boy that could have been more, but his heart kept him at home and is thus loved by the community; city girl with ambitions that gets stuck in town with no one else to turn to but that's already in an unhealthy relationship; no new vehicles in small town, only mint-condition muscle cars (other than country boy's own worn-out vehicle); some forced acting; some pointless dialogue; military death; unneeded side plots; country boy tries to pick fight to protect city girl's honor; country boy and city girl end up together back in small town after show of love by entire community; the script is corny at best... What do you expect? Sure... there's some questionable casting decisions, but what do expect of a low budget picture? However, the surprising musical aspect is pretty good. Granted, it *painfully* obvious at times that they are lip-syncing, the music (for the most part) as well as the singing is pretty good. Did all of fit? Not really, but what do you expect. I never go into these kind of movies with great expectations because everyone knows the level most of them are.
Bottom line - It's a good movie to fill time. It won't make you think about about life's deep, pondering questions. It won't leave you heart-broken for the characters/play with your emotions. It's not going to preach at you about some moral/controversial topic. It's just a simple movie to unwind and relax to. Go in with no to low expectations and you'll like it. I found it entertaining enough to watch it the whole way through.
Timeless (2016)
Potential
There are several reviews about how there are plot holes on top of clichés on top of technical mistakes on top of sorry writing. Well... when I am watching TV, I'm not so much worried about bad CGI or if the science is completely correct, I just want to be entertained to get my mind off of reality - politics, news, weather, daily life. However, if the first two episodes are any representation, it looks like the show is going to insult our collective intelligence with politically correct versions of history and politically correct plots. In the first episode, our three main players find themselves in the pokey in the 30's. However, since we have to be politically correct and play on everyone heartstrings, mean white cops are going to naturally separate the black guy into his own cell and the white girl and guy into a combined cell. Now, granted, racism was more common and accepted back then, I don't think we would have had a co-ed cell situation in order to keep the races separate. Also, this is not the South. This is supposed to take place in New Jersey. Now, I could have gotten past that, but then in order to escape, the black guy is to distract the jail guard. He does so by pretty much saying that any white man is wrong and will more or less bow to the black man one day, and he continues to list of several accomplished black people. So, from that, I could already tell that this show was to have a political slant. Then, in the second episode, we have to preserve the Lincoln assassination. Now, I'm not going to tell you that Lincoln was the best or the worst president, but the writers treat him as if he was above all men and that he loved the black man and would protect them from all harm and white people when, in fact, he wasn't so much worried with anything other than winning the war (by any means necessary (constitution and civil right be damned)). These first two episodes lead me to believe that there will probably be a major political, if not racial, slant inherent in the following episodes which really bugs me because I just want to be entertained. I can get past a mediocre script and scientific/technical impossibilities, but I don't want to be preached to... especially with what can be argued is revisionist history to a small degree. That being said, if the show can get up and going, the long-term plot has potential of being pretty good because the "bad guy" (that we're able to chart when he goes into history but we don't notice the change when something happens) has a back story and not- so-clear motives. I'm going to try to hang on for another couple episodes, but if they keep preaching about social injustice in the past, I might jump ship.