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Reviews
Motherless Brooklyn (2019)
"BORING Another actor doing Dustin Hoffman" I agree
I second that user's review, which I quoted. Admittedly, the film has a strong production and effort. But the whole thing was a chore.
Burning Blue (2013)
Strong film....well acted....more about the "issue" than the romance
Remember it takes place 1990s. The film actually holds together pretty well, and is done with a lot of care and better than average acting & directing. In the end, it would have been a little more exciting, if it were more sexual (i know many bi navy guys that were very wild at this time in navy). Rob Mayes is very good looking. But overall, better than expected. ...some kind of secret was going on with one character, John Cokely...not sure what his conflicts were, but it was obvious he had them.
The Conjuring 2 (2016)
Well done and worthy of positive reviews...director James Wan
Absorbing, and well crafted horror film. If you looked into the 'real' story over the years, with great care, director James Wan touches on soooo much of the already documented research: The way the kids look/behave, Maurice the researcher, the constables, the way the townhouse is layed out and it's decaying condition - almost exactly like its event from the 1970s. Then, yes, he adds amped-up effects and situations (that didn't happen) to make a fun film and very aggressive.
Wan employs excellent, alluring cinematography with the situations, careful shadows, and kinetic editing that cares about his characters & sets up the wicked scares; you must watch this in widescreen or you miss a lot. Wan also takes his time, and some may complain about a few slow spots, but I enjoyed it. A strong film predominately b/c of the talented James Wan.
This House Possessed (1981)
A 1981 TV Movie.....a few cool moments....nostalgia
Like a few others, I saw this when I was a kid. Sure, some moments scared me, too - at the time, fresh horror stories like this on TV were rare, except "Salem's Lot." I actually just watched "This House Possessed" again last night (thanks Youtube!!) for kicks.
The director, William Wiard, had a lot of '60s & mostly '70s TV credit, so the filming mostly has a clean, flat '80s TV feel, with nice California photography & the acting is better than expected. Only a few cool & disturbing effects. The house itself is pretty spectacular.
But holy cow is "This House Possessed" mostly a blasé, slow trip. Sure, it has some of the horror moments...but most scares strangely feel more sci-fi than horror.
I'll probably get thumbs down for saying this, but some people who overwhelmingly praise this movie here on IMDb.com user reviews are too nostalgic - hey, I was there too & I liked it at the time, but trying to be realistic here to folks who haven't seen this.
....a scarier choice is 2002's made-for-TV's "A Haunting in Connecticut." Regardless, if you are curious & have time to kill, give "This House Possessed" a shot - it's on Youtube as of this writing ☺
Scarecrow (2013)
Great production & some chills....but plot holes galore
THE GOOD: This is a great-looking film. The cool creepy farm house, vast fields of corn, the huge strange barn, & the unexpected ending. Great lighting & moody, alluring photography - most of the shots look great.
You might think that the kids will be stuck in the farm house for the whole film, but they aren't, which helps keep the film moving and unpredictable in a sense.
The acting isn't too bad, although Sheldon Wilson's direction of the acting can fail (like Aaron oddly laying in the bathroom after an attack, when he would have gotten up more quickly). Robin Dunne "Aaron" is good here & a solid actor, too, but the writing for his character was always way serious and one-note.
Britteny Wilson ("Beth")'s character takes an unexpected turn, and the boiling Wilson is by far the most interesting, intense performer who BLOWS AWAY the more seasoned Lacey Chabert.
A few gory shots can be intense, like the discovery of the first girl's death - little kids should not watch this. Some of the creepy scenes between victims and the scarecrow are scary. And it should be noted that if you get to hear this through a home theater in surround sound, the swirling audio sounds pretty awesome.
THE BAD: The guy from the first young couple said that his friends come to the property's barn lots of times -and he knew right where to go...and the scarecrow never killed his buddies? The terrorized kids could have departed in Kristin's car (unless I missed something). Why didn't the scarecrow kill others during the prior Halloween party events held on the property?
The scarecrow's CGI is...well, it's inventive, supernatural and creepy to a degree, but its movements are so smooth, that it often looks computer generated. For the record, parts of the scarecrow interaction looked real. One wonders that instead, if the scarecrow had been played by a human in costume, if it would have felt more threatening and nightmarish with more realistic interaction.
Participants exclaim that to kill the scarecrow, it must be buried. Two problems: 1) the scarecrow repeatedly attacks coming up from under the ground, defeating that theory. 2) by the end it doesn't get buried. Some of the reviews said the film was a little like "Jeepers Creepers" and that is kind of true. "Scarecrow" could have been better, but isn't a total loss. It's obvious this film was a lot of work and they try to keep the action fairly constant.
Clarification to reviewer "SanteeFats" Why does the cop car work and not the truck? The guy ("Eddie" I think) arrived with the truck barely running, and said that the truck constantly overheats.
The film generally looks terrific with a strong production, but don't expect an air-tight plot, & it could have used more levity in places. As some of the other IMDb.com user reviews note, some people might like the film, and some might not.
Flight (2012)
First know this is a human story....not an espionage action type
"An airline pilot saves a flight from crashing, but an investigation into the malfunctions reveals something troubling" → Led me to believe that this film had some kind of espionage. Nope.
"Flight" is predominately about a man's personal struggles, Granted, the plot line has a thrilling first 26 minutes & becomes reasonable and pretty straight-forward. But I wish I'd known that before, but I was trying to limit my knowledge to avoid spoilers. So my expectations were way different, and I ended up just waiting for clever plot twists...which never happened.
Had I known what this film was about I would have never seen it, especially with the camera fawning nonstop over Washington (yawn). However, the film is good for what it is, but clearly a vehicle for Washington, who does a great job, but...eh.
The Thing (2011)
2011's "The Thing" is solid, and what you may expect
Watched this last night on Blu-ray. Make sure you increase the surrounds just a little bit, by the way.
I'm a fan of Carpenter's 1982 "The Thing" film, and this prequel was pretty fair, I thought. The acting was good, the Thing's special effects were outrageous and intense, and there are a few surprises.
It's not perfect, and a few things may leave you scratching your head thinking, "but what about..??" Oh well. LOL My only little complaints would be a few (just a few) more bits of clever humor spread out would have helped. And the Thing's first, conniving manifestation (on a plane) actually didn't look like the special effects were quite finished.
Lastly, I wished we could understand the basic layout of the dwellings - so when people and Thing are running around, we'd have an idea of rooms in relation to one another for safety or defense, etc.
Interestingly, the lead, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, seems to behave (and was maybe directed?) a lot like Sigourney Weaver from the first Alien (1979) film. It works fine, Winstead is good, if that was intended or not. Just interesting.
Other than that, the overall plot is what you would generally expect, and probably fair to this specific adventure. Little, fun touches of style make it seem like it's 1982, right before the Carpenter film would start. The international team, with different, sometimes challenging languages, there also made it seem more realistic. Overall, a pretty fun flick.
Abduction (2011)
'Abduction' ...not bad & pretty much what you would expect
Watched this last night, and it was mostly what I expected. After a wonky beginning, it's generally a popcorn, action/date movie that's not exactly high-art. The film is not the worst thing you've ever seen - it's really just an escape, with a good production, and that's it.
Zillions of reviews say Lautner was horrible. Huh? I really think people are just jealous. He was fine and didn't overact - he was sincere, fit the role & there is little reason to be upset.
These reviews lacerating Lautner were like people destroying Paris Hilton from "House of Wax," when in actuality, she was honestly alright in that. Not a big deal. Granted, I don't have strong feelings about either performer.
With a strong budget of $30M, the film looked confident and solid by John Singleton, the film is a fairly easy watch as it goes along, & the supporting cast of admired actors (Weaver, Molina, Bello) were fine.
Singleton isn't too flashy, and might just be cashing a check... but one thing he would do is make sure that the actors would have their moments, instead of too many quick cutaways.
The story is kind of fun in the moment, but, sure it's silly when you think about it afterwards. But, mehh. It was fun. Nothing is horrendous about 'Abduction.' I saw two of the Twilight films and thought they were easy to watch as well & not really a big deal. And Lautner's disposition is somewhat similar in Abduction as he was in Twilight. I think that's alright & he fit the roles fine.
If I were to complain about anything is that ½ of the fighting looked good, but ½ wasn't that great. Secondly, the dialog was usually fine, but it could get so dull/ cliché I felt sorry for the actors.
Thirdly, the ending climax with the villain was just straight-forward; you really see it coming. It's not clever at all & it felt very '80s. Fourthly, some of the chasing sequences were good, but sometimes they could lack blood-pumping momentum. Despite the complaints, the film is still a fun adventure.
I'd read so many bad reviews of this film...that maybe my expectations were low. But honestly, the film was fine and kinda fun. Just an escape.
Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)
casual fan, better than expected show
Just finished this animated original movie. No doubt about it, the action in this was extra-brutal and loaded. Not to mention a semi-shocker of a beginning. I was constantly entertained, especially with so many bad guys and the layers of betrayal between them.
I had no idea about this "Robin" kind of story as things were revealed...pretty interesting. They never explained his knife, though. But anyway, it's probably the best original animated Batman movie I've seen so far, though I haven't seen many.
My only complaint is that Batman might be a clever & strong fighter, but otherwise he is a bit of a stiff here, but...eh, no big deal. Bruce Greenwood does a good voice-over as Batman.
In this production, John DiMaggio had a richer, smokier voice as the Joker I thought over Mark Hamill, but Hamill still rocks. And visually, I liked the Joker's weathered face as well here in this movie.
Definitely a recommended animated original movie by DC Universe. Enjoy.
The American (2010)
A confident film with good moments, but generally cold
Just watched it last night, based on good reviews here at IMDb.com, actually. Anyway, yes, this is a confident film, and Clooney and the cast are pretty good. Some good tension near the end, when you and Clooney realize a covert trade is actually a veneer for something more lethal.
And Clooney's "boss"...what was his motivation? Maybe it's revealed in the novel of this story - but I couldn't get that question out of my mind!! The prostitute was a nice touch, though - she gave the best sense of life and expressive nuances in the film...which I'm SURE is supposed to "contrast" against Clooney's stiff "Jack" (uggh).
It's just that despite "The American"'s plot really being like a gritty western (per the director's admission & intent) underneath & taking place in the low-profile, Italy city of today, I just didn't believe some of these characters would talk so little, with bland stilted lines. While it was understandable because many characters were so suspicious of each other...ultimately, (realistic or not) it just made the film more soulless and cold. More casual dialogue would have made this film more cryptic, sneaky and human.
And the life of Jack (Clooney) is so unbelievably empty despite his clandestine career & attempts with Clara (cliche). Others are going to like it more than me. Not as good as I'd hoped & definitely, definitely overrated... I'm just kinda tired of this cinema-posing.