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jrodway
Reviews
Psych: Psych: The Musical (2013)
Brave but missed
With a show that was well written, took chances and never took itself seriously the idea of a musical - original music at that - oddly made sense. Unfortunately this is a complete miss. If you are going to be this ambitious you better hit the mark.
The episode is extended which is too bad. The story drags and loses direction more often than not. It tries to reference other episodes and brings in former characters - weakly Yang and smartly Mary Lightly - with varying degrees of success. Mostly it's just boring.
Honestly the highlight is Henry tell Shawn early, "Yeah, not happening" and then smartly disappearing for the majority of the episode.
The three stars given to Psych the Musical are only for having the courage to take a chance. Even the biggest Psych fans - which I consider myself one - would be well advised to skip this episode.
A Very Murray Christmas (2015)
A Waste of Talent
This is painfully bad and boring. I'm a big Bill Murray fan and will remain so only by not ever watching this again.
It's basically a number of musical performances with a thin plot. I assume some were purposefully bad to be funny. Nothing was very funny. I will say that a few of the performances are okay (sparing a 1 for a review) but mostly it just feels awkward without any real Christmas feeling or humor.
I suspect they had a lot of fun making this. I just wished they had kept it as a home movie to show their friends and not their fans.
With all those stars, what a shame.
Hackers (1995)
Not Bad Enough to be Good
This is a very dated movie about technology so immediately that makes it pretty campy. It does star a young Angelina Jolie (who oddly looks like an elf) as well as Matthew Lillard (who is unbearably bad).
There's no plot and the effects make no sense. The costumes (including lots of roller blading) and settings are cartoon-ish but I'm not sure that was on purpose.
A movie like this shouldn't be judged as a piece of quality film making but instead as an entertaining couple of hours. I get it. However Hackers ends up being one of those movies that's not quite bad enough to be fun and far from good enough to be watchable.
My recommendation is see WarGames for a second time and ignore Hackers completely.
The League: When Rafi Met Randy (2014)
SKIP THIS EPISODE (you'll miss nothing)
If you are streaming The League, skip this episode. Seriously SKIP IT!!! It's unrelated to the show and simply not funny. I guess they were trying to do a spoof on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest but it doesn't work. By mid show you are almost begging for them to stop trying.
It might have been funny - kind of - as a brief side story. Maybe. It's basically a two minute bit that goes on for 20 minutes. It feels like there is a lot of ad libbing happening with attempts at trying to one up each other. I'm sure they thought it was hysterical. Maybe you had to be there???
Hopefully this was an experiment that doesn't repeat itself. The League is normally much better. Frankly it can't be much worse or less funny.
SKIP THIS EPISODE!!!
Enemy at the Gates (2001)
Could it be boring???
For a movie that has as much action as does Enemy at the Gates, in the end it's, well, boring.
The actual battle of Stalingrad was epic and tragic. Historically all the elements for a powerful film exist. This movie almost starts to tell that story and then sadly slogs its way through battle scenes and over drama burdened by an odd love story/triangle that sorely lacks any kind of chemistry or interest. The result is like an odd mix of Sergeant York meets Rambo filled with Russians who have British accents.
It's a shame because with an incredible cast like Jude Law, Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Bob Hoskins and the always intense/powerful Ed Harris this should have been a home run. It's hard to tell if there's just not enough story to tell or the story to tell is poorly done. The acting is fine but goes nowhere. The visual are strong but that's about it.
I really wanted to like this movie. I wanted it to be historically interesting told with action and plot. None of this happened.
Noah (2014)
Simply Not Very Good
Let's start with the big question and that's the Biblical basis to this movie. Noah claims to be "inspired" by the story in the Old Testament. Outside of some of the characters names, a flood, a boat and animals, the movie really has nothing to do with the story found in Genesis. Frankly I'm not sure the writer/director even used the characters names other than as a marketing ploy. This is not a Christian/Jewish movie. Forget all that you know of the Bible/Torah. It is Noah in name only.
The bigger problem is the movie just isn't very good. The story is all over the place and often boring. The dialog is silly, forced and does little to move the narrative. The scenes with the Transformers are, well, laughable, literally. Even the special effects, while big, are not all that great. I expected more.
The biggest positive is, at times, the movie seems almost epic. That also hurts it because this movie is far from epic. Much of it feels like a low budget film that had access to a special effects lab. You have to wonder if the director/writer would have done better on a lower budget and not even tried to tie it to Noah.
Russell Crowe is okay. His performance does make you miss when he did more than play the same character (ie Gladiator) in various historical settings. Remember amazing movies like The Insider, LA Confidential and A Beautiful Mind??? For a time he was one of the greats. Now I fear he's either been really typecast or is just mailing it in.
It's tough to judge Jennifer Connelly and Emma Watson's performances because their characters were written so poorly I'm not sure what they could have done. Sir Anthony Hopkins' part as Yoda was silly. Ray Winstone looks like he belongs in Battlefield Earth and is about as compelling.
The shame is, even without making it "too Christian" if that was the director's concern, the Biblical tale of Noah is so rich with story telling potential and yet it's wasted every opportunity. Exploring the elements of good and evil, morality, faith in what would be impossible to believe, life in those times, etc could have been explored and fascinating. Yes the Biblical story itself is short, there's plenty without the need of making up or changing what was written. For some reason this opportunity was missed. Again, why make it at all.
My recommendation against watching this movie is less due to the lack of Biblical/Torah authenticity in the movie but sadly because it's just not very good. What a waste.
God's Not Dead (2014)
Movie makes it hard to be a Christian
I am a Christian. I have no idea what this movie is.
God's Not Dead just makes me sad and embarrassed. It's so poorly written with surprisingly offensive stereotypes, arguably racist and old, tired clichés of how Christianity is attacked that it's almost unwatchable. In fact, as Christians or people searching I would recommend NOT watching it.
Maybe it's impossible to have a well written script that is also Christian based. Goodness knows that so much of what Hollywood produces feels like an attack on faith so I should probably at least applaud the effort. But I can't. This film promotes much of the worst of Christianity. Franklin Graham??? Seriously???
It could have been so much more. ANY element of realism, dialog and/or avoidance of tired caricatures would have vastly improved what the writer was trying to do. People are complicated. Faith is complicated. This movie is simply terrible. It's never a good sign when you are laughing at what is not a comedy. This is literally laughably bad.
I pray some day a movie will be made that elevates Christianity instead of one that is so over the top, in your face and offensive like God's Not Dead that it makes it hard to be a follower of Christ. I shouldn't have to apologize for being a Christian and yet anyone who asks me about this movie the first thing I'll say is, "As a Christian, I'm sorry . . ."
Man of Steel (2013)
Boring
I really wanted to like this movie. What I didn't expect was to be so bored.
There is basically no plot and storyline (most honest reviews acknowledge this). I do give the film makers credit for generally not pretending that either exists but at least something would have been nice.
In the end the movie is nothing more than a series of special effects that are at first pretty amazing but sadly quickly become repetitive and predictable. Instead of making the movie exciting it's like watching someone play a video game. It becomes not a movie but a demo reel for the CES show.
The cast is amazing. So much talent. The exception is sadly Superman. It's not clear if it's poor writing, directing or acting but a piece of paper has more dimension than what is shown here. That being said he has spent A LOT of time in the gym. I wonder if they film makers realized this which is why Jor-El (Russel Crowe) seems to have more dialogue and screen time than Superman.
The rest of the actors are incredible . . . in other projects. They clearly have nothing to work with other than to look worried as big explosions happen (a lot) or as they stare at green screens.
A franchise with so much history and with so much potential has been wasted here. It's a real shame. Superman, and his fans, deserve so much better.
Shooter (2007)
Fun, Suspenseful Movie
This is not Shakespeare and so shouldn't be reviewed or scored as such. This is a fun, entertaining, suspenseful joyride of a movie. The scenes move quickly, the plot is straightforward with obvious bad guys, the locations are extreme and the action larger than life. It follows all the typical plot "twists" but that's okay because it's done with enthusiasm.
Mark Wahlberg plays the action star that he always plays when in an action film but that's okay because he plays it well. He fully commits to the role - that borders on comical - and so therefore he makes it work.
Michael Pena is a surprise as his character starts slowly but evolves. He is the unlikely hero for a big Hollywood movie which frankly is refreshing.
The biggest miss is Kate Mara who I generally am a big fan. Her attempt at a Southern accent is painfully bad and borderline insulting. It's also unnecessary to the story as is the need for random scenes of her in a bra. While she is obviously beautiful, it would be nice for her career if she could be more than a body.
The Shooter has all the realism of Rambo 2 but that's not the point. It holds your attention with big action and limited dialogue which is really the hallmark of a great action film.
Ring the Bell (2013)
A Cable Access Film
Why oh why can't a Christian made/themed film also be a well done film??? I say this as a Christian. There's nothing wrong with a movie that promotes Christian values - I wish there were more - but why do they have to be either poorly made or so ridiculously over the top that it makes Christians sound like idiots.
It's really tempting to trash the film on all levels from the script to the directing to the acting but I won't do that.
Ironically the best part of the movie - which falsely claims itself to be a sports movie - is about two minutes of pitching. It's believable - the action not the acting/dialogue - and engaging. The flashes to the agent in the crowd are comically bad but the field shots are really good.
That's pretty much it other than the Casting Crowns performance which is great music but feels like a music video inserted into a movie. Not very effective. Frankly the whole film would have better served its intention of promoting Christ by making a Casting Crowns concert movie.
I'm sure everyone was very well intended - hence at least 3 stars - but Ring the Bell is at best a cable access channel movie.
Christianity is wonderful, beautiful, exciting, scary, humbling, powerful, amazing and more. Sadly NONE of that translates into this movie.
One day there will be great Christian movies. Today is not that day . . .
Penguins of Madagascar (2014)
Previews WRECKED a fun movie
I would give the movie a 9 if you are seeing it someplace other than the theater. We had to endure 25 minutes - literally - of previews and some of them (in particular Pan) are NOT kid friendly. My 4 year old enjoys a movie and has no issues sitting through them. Before the movie had even started he was asking to go home. Parents around us were actually complaining out loud with every new preview (now that's a first). What made it worse was the movie starts a bit slowly. I thought we were in trouble and I basically had to insist that we stay.
The movie itself was surprisingly entertaining and funny. Both myself and my son laughed throughout (although at different parts). What was a really nice change is the "adult humor" wasn't completely based on sex like has been the trend on so many Disney and Pixar films as of late. Much of it was clever with fun references to other movies.
My four year old - who likes Madagascar - laughed and cheered. The bad guy wasn't too bad and there was enough action to keep everyone's attention. The movie did run a bit long but that was really due to the previews. My son got pretty restless near the end.
Who knew that penguins could be so enjoyable???
I would definitely recommend Penguins but NOT at the movie theater (which pains me to say). If you are a parent wait for the DVD or streaming. They really wrecked a fun movie going experience. Clearly the executives and marketers don't have the children that should be the target audience for this movie.