jmattlandrum Reviews

Dominion (2015)

C'mon, I have seen a lot worse.

[5/10 · 1 April 2024]

OK, the special effects were laugh-inducing and sometimes the acting was overboard, but I have seen many movies much worse. The story was interesting. The score was pretty good though it felt like the editor, director, and music weren't always on the same page. The acting was fine, though I feel like some of the characters may not have been cast well. I especially didn't like Jaelen, although the actor was fine. I would have liked a little more Jeff Bridges / Starman.

I didn't like the ending - cost the move a star or two in my rating. I did make it all the way to the end though.

All the 1 and 2 star reviews aren't making "sense" so I wanted to put my 2 "cents" in.

Nefarious (2023)

Nope

[5/10 · 25 January 2024]

I gave this 5 stars because I was unable to finish this movie, and I didn't want to bring the rating down too much. The actor playing Nefarious, overacted (my opinion), and the actor playing the psychiatrist didn't behave like a psychiatrist - at all. This is mainly due to the script and not necessarily a commentary on the actor's skills. Much has been made in other reviews about the political / moral positions the movie takes. I could rehash those, but I won't. I'll just say it gets a little preachy. The thing that finally made me just lose interest is that Nefarious is supposed to be this uber-smart character, and he's just not.

Do you have friends who have an unjustified high opinion of their cleverness? That's Nefarious.

Also, this is supposed to be a horror movie? The dark Gospel,"woooooo, scary". Maybe a lot of horror stuff happened in the last hour.

Annihilation (I) (2018)

Do you need all the answers and a nice tight ending? If so, don't watch.

[7/10 · 7 August 2023]

Do you need all the answers and a nice tight ending? If so, don't watch. I say that not because I look down on anyone who needs that. Sometimes I need that. This is one of those more ethereal thinkers that some like and some don't though there is some pretty good action too. There are several scenes that honestly just scared the crap outta me. The acting is good. The effects are good. The premise is interesting. From the reviews, I was expecting much more glaring plot holes and fewer questions which were actually answered. I am trying to avoid spoilers so let me just say that I thought that while there were not a lot of concrete answers, we got some good theories proposed.

In slamming the movie, I saw one reviewer compare it to Sunshine, which he also hated. That review was what actually flipped the switch and got me to watch it, but I'd say that is a good test. If you don't like movies like Sunshine (also written by Alex Garland), you probably won't like this.

Vivarium (2019)

Would have been a perfect short film

[6/10 · 18 July 2023]

I agree with another reviewer I saw who said this would have made a great short film. That's really what it felt like to me, or perhaps an episode of the Twilight Zone or Black Mirror.

It had an Interesting concept and was acted. Good cinematography, sound, soundtrack and score. So why only six stars? It all comes down to me not like liking this type of movie, and it's my rating and Vivarium is dang lucky to get 6 stars from me.

Here come the pseudo spoilers now....

If you are OK with movies with a lot of unanswered questions, and the bad guys winning (remember all those 70s horror movies), then you might like this movie a lot better than I did.

Kleo (2022– )

Clearly, I missed what they are going for

[4/10 · 29 October 2022]

I've been wrong about shows before, and judging from all the other reviews, it's likely this is one of them. Having said that, the first episode of Kleo just came across to me as bad. There was no drama, no tension, no comedy. The plot took leaps, which I found unbelievable. I couldn't find myself invested or interested in anything. In fact, I couldn't even finish the first episode. I didn't like any of the characters except for maybe the boyfriend and the loser at the bar who can't get anyone to listen to him. When the Miami Vice looking detective tries to look cool putting his sunglasses on and fumbles it, I didn't find myself laughing. I found myself asking why didn't they shoot that scene again. I must be missing something. Maybe I'll try to finish the first episode another time. Maybe watching the non-dubbed version will help.

The Northman (2022)

Screaming, so much screaming

[6/10 · 14 June 2022]

I'll be the first to admit that a long, depressing epic is not my thing. The pace was just numbing. Everyone screamed seemingly all the time. They screamed in battle, in pain, in pleasure, when drinking, when laughing, when having nightmares, at brunch... I kept having to turn the volume down. It made me furious.

On the plus side, it was a good story, well acted, and beautifully shot. Oh, and the fight scenes weren't interminably long. I respect that.

The Lincoln Lawyer (2022– )

Bosch viewers will be disappointed, season 2 is better than season 1

[7/10 · 14 May 2022]

Mediocre to poor acting. Script, average at best. The story is great, and Neve Campbell did a nice job. She made the guy playing Mickey look like a high school actor. He's easy on the eyes I guess.

Update: I liked Season 2 much better than Season 1. I'd give season 1 5.5 stars and season 2 6.5 or 7.

Hellarious (2019)

Great Horror/Gore/Camp

[9/10 · 31 December 2021]

If you don't get what they are going for, I don't know know what to tell you. Perhaps not everyone's cup of tea, but I just loved it. Great stories, Great acting, Great cheap special effects.

Breach (IV) (2020)

I enjoyed it more than most reviewers.

[5/10 · 23 May 2021]

It was a decent alien, dystopian thriller until the end. Willis's dialog was not written that well. Where I really thought it sucked was the ending. I won't go into details, but it was not good in a number of ways. The alien effects were not good overall.

Another Life (2019–2021)

Good ole sci-fi fun

[7/10 · 28 July 2019]

After seeing all the crappy reviews, I was expecting a lot worse. I'm only through 4 episodes so maybe it gets worse? Aliens, space travel, good effects, a good story (at least so far), and Katie! Sure I have a couple of quibbles and there a couple of characters who I feel were miscast, but overall I am enjoying the heck out of it.