scottinhawaii-1 Reviews

Neumatt (2021– )

Bad Swiss Telenovela/Soap opera

[4/10 · 24 January 2024]

This thing is a huge mess. Every character is horrid. Nobody is likable, especially the lead. He's handsome.

The writing is cliched. The acting all over the place. Some good, but mostly not. Everyone is miserable, especially the sister. What's her motivation through the whole thing? Money to buy spin machines for her gym. Sabotaging her own family! That's downright evil.

The sullen brother only reacts with absolute RAGE.

Almost every character is a one dimensional archetype. The mean boss is comical in how stereotypical the character and acting is.

The plot is drug out over way too many episodes.

Netflix has pushed this series on me for years. I finally succumbed. I regret it.

Mates (2023)

Terrible

[2/10 · 1 October 2023]

This is the longest 81 minutes ever. Slow. Boring. Terrible dialogue. Bad acting. Even the chance for showing the beautiful countryside isn't exploited. So many missed opportunities.

Mark is an insufferable twit. But his character is also all over the place. At one point basically telling Nathan he'd would be OK if Nathan were gay and the next minute talking about beating the gay guy.

You get the feeling Nathan may be gay too, but maybe he's just a good guy. We'll never know for sure.

Connor is confused and that turns into 90% brooding his way through the trip.

The best thing was learning about what backpacking is like in England. But it leaves me with a question: where did all that beer come from?

My Policeman (2022)

Well done if well trod territory

[8/10 · 26 February 2023]

There's really nothing new here.

But it's well done, the cinematography, set decoration and costumes are terrific.

Good performances from all. I was pleasantly surprise to see that steamy of a gay sex scene. They have what appears as genuine chemistry.

I find Rupert a bit insufferable in his later roles, but he has a barely a speaking role. "Where's Tom?" is his biggest line.

Harry is pretty good. Best when he's using subtlety. Like his reaction in bed in the "Don't ruin it" scene.

Oh IMDB wants more words: it's a sad story. No getting around that. But like I started out, we've heard variations on this story many times.

Tár (2022)

Long boring pretentious slog.

[4/10 · 4 February 2023]

A few years ago I was complaining that every movie was 90 minutes. Well the pendulum has swung and 2.5+ hours isn't that unusual. Tár edited down to 90 minutes might really have been something.

I thought the projectionist screwed up and showed the end credits from the previous showing. Nope just some pretentious decision by the director to shake things up. Well that's about all that's original here.

I wonder now if the things I laughed out loud at weren't meant as sarcastic judgements of the music world. I found some comedy, but seemed alone in that in my theater screening.

This is the story of a supposedly brilliant artist, that we're give little evidence of, who is in fact a terrible person. Tale as old as time. There's a myriad of sub plots and the big mystery isn't that much of a mystery when we're given such big direct clues early on.

A far more interesting turn of events and more of a social commentary would have been if she got away with it. A la Woody Allen.

Fire Island (I) (2022)

Predictable plot with every gay stereotype known.

[2/10 · 4 June 2022]

I want to have a fun evening with this romp. But it's cringe inducing tired tropes and overflowing stereotypes spoil the fun. The problem isn't the good cast. They do the best they can with the formulaic script that covers no new ground.

Would Noah's close group of friends go many, many years without calling him out about his being a complete jerk know-it-all trying to fix everyone? And most of the rest of the characters are equally annoying, save Margaret Cho's Erin.

There are genuinely funny moments here and there some good acting going on.

Licorice Pizza (2021)

Stylish dreck. WTF?

[2/10 · 10 April 2022]

Long boring stylish slog. I really can't understand the good reviews here. Under age/10 Years older rom com? Well no, because it wasn't funny. Strange racism mixed in for what? That whole Asian Restaurant side plot was there why?

This is one incredibly clunky mess.

Operation Hyacinth (2021)

Interesting and provocative

[7/10 · 20 January 2022]

It's like a 40's American thriller with a French film ending. By which I mean, the film just stops. Not that I mind that. A tidy ending isn't always needed.

I think I missed all the details that explain the central mystery. But I got the gist. That's enough.

Based on true facts of persecution of gays in Poland 1985-87. But the movie has a noir 40s look. Switch out the cars and some of the set decorations and it could have been then. Maybe that's the intent of the look.

It's a well made and good looking film. It's moody and sad.

The Humans (2021)

Broadway was better

[6/10 · 7 January 2022]

Overall this worked better as a play. The pacing was better and lighting was by far better. There are many scenes just too dark to see anything going on. I felt that the art house direction of the film detracted from the performances. The big reveal of the father's secret is filmed from afar with him not even in frame. Reading character's reactions was impossible.

As in the play these are some pretty annoying people who can only communicate in unhealthy ways. So it's a bit hard to watch.

And as many of the low star rating reviews state it doesn't really go anywhere. It's just a slice of this family's life for whatever that's worth. Telling a segment of a family's life can be valuable without some cooked up resolution of everything.

I read the credits and immediately forgot Amy Schumer was in it. It was two thirds through before I noticed. She was fine. Held her own with the cast.

The cast was very good. It's tough material and each character is kind of one note. That problem was in the play too.

The frequent scary noises often startle us the viewers as much as characters and they get very loud at one point on my surround sound system. I'm sure my downstairs neighbors were wondering what I was doing.

Reminiscence (2021)

A terrible version of something else

[1/10 · 18 September 2021]

Altered Carbon did it so much better. Even during those moments when it was mostly failing. The visual style is almost exactly the same. Both are like the clean version of Blade Runner. I mean who would rebuff Hugh Jackman? Who?

News of the World (2020)

Ridiculous

[3/10 · 5 September 2021]

They repeatedly get out of situations that would have killed them. Over and over. I'm really disappointed it was more a traditional Western than it was marketed as. Very little is about the News of the World. The two time Hanks reads the news are good but brief. The second one is also really stupid. Completely disappointing movie.

Respect (2021)

Mediocre at best

[5/10 · 4 September 2021]

This was not at all engaging. It got boring and slogged along a lot of the time. I thought Jennifer did a good job, serviceable. The script focused mostly on how horribly the men in her life treated her. Yeah that should have been included, but it was the major theme of the movie. They glossed over things where she did start taking control early on like playing piano on her songs. That's when things changed. I wish I had waited rather than rent it for $20. Certainly not worth it.

Hillbilly Elegy (2020)

Opie you coulda done better

[6/10 · 19 June 2021]

Not as cringey and horrible as expected, but it is kind if a messy film. No one has ever accused Ron Howard of making a tight film. This one meanders way too much. The timeline flashback tricks were largely clunky and ineffective. What's missing here were some scenes of genuine joy. Yes poor people from Appalachia can actually get together and have a good time. The family reunion that starts the film should have been longer and showed the real family bonds in good times. The film portrays these people as joyless hicks and that's a disservice to the people.

I grew up in Ohio and went to college in Southern Ohio near the location of the film. I later had a very close friend who's life has in many ways mirrored JD Vance's. I read the book when it came out. And found it a bit myopic as the resulting film is.

It seems the director constrained the editor from making this a better film. Because the raw material here could be so much better. Or the studio stepped in. Or the editor just wasn't visionary enough.

Really good performances fill this film. They do the best they can with the one note script they're given. Droning on for 2 hours of tragedy relentlessly is not enjoyable. It's a slog. And it's a shame, but I think this story could have been told much better. In 90 minutes.

Oasis (II) (2017)

Terrible. Slow. Boring. Awful.

[1/10 · 1 June 2021]

How can a 71 minute movie be this much of a slog. I've seen bad college student films that were better. The first 20 minutes are absolute crap. The rest was much better. There wasn't much of an ending.

Implausible things: going hiking with duffle bags; taking drugs that someone on the street forced on you for $1; a freelance photographer would only send $20 a month home to his wife in Panama.

Do not believe the overall rating. Someone has stacked the deck.

Dance of the 41 (2020)

Disappointing

[5/10 · 31 May 2021]

The movie is beautifully shot and based on an interesting real event. The pacing is terrible. The acting is wooden and one noted. Every character is a strict archetype with no nuance. Ignacio broods and broods and broods some more. So does his wife Amada. Extremely brief moments of happiness with Eva are just that too brief. There's little to no character development. There's nothing to draw you into the story. Too much silly facial hair to be attracted to either Eva or Ignacio. The orgy is one of the least erotic things ever.

One Night in Miami... (2020)

Stage to screen is hard

[6/10 · 2 May 2021]

It's exceptionally difficult to take a stage play and remove all it's stage trappings to make an engaging film. Excellent performances here certainly help. To a person the actors did a good job. Leslie Odum, Jr. Was perhaps the best. His emotional truth was honest and engaging. The others seemed to stick to more to archetypes of the characters. The opening was pretty dull. A very straightforward introduction to the characters.

While I would recommend this film, I would also caution you need to be in the mood for a talkly movie.

The movie is well shot and appears to be very accurate time/place wise. The issues raised are unfortunately very much still with us today. If the movie does nothing else, it reminds us of that fact.

Taekwondo (2016)

Meandering bore

[4/10 · 19 April 2021]

If it weren't for the naked and half naked men in this film, nobody would watch it. It's as close to plotless as can be. There's no point. The characters are mostly stereotypical archetypes with little character development. And that two gay men who are attracted to each out would take that long to figure that out is inconceivable. Maybe things move more slowly in Argentina.

I give it four stars as the camera made love to the bodies of these men, some handsome, some ordinary.

Parting Glances (1986)

A first

[8/10 · 19 April 2021]

This heartbreaking film is full of heart. It was one of the first films to deal with AIDS and did so very well.

Clément, Alex et tous les autres (2019)

Well. I'm not sure of the point

[5/10 · 25 January 2021]

It's an adaptation of a stage play and so it's kind of stagey. I didn't like or identify with any of the characters and professions of love to someone the character hardly knows seemed very much like "we need a plot twist here."

Last Ferry (2019)

Go watch Stranger by the Lake

[3/10 · 22 April 2020]

This is a Stranger By The Lake ripoff. It's pointless. I guess I learned that one really shouldn't go to Fire Island in the off season. The acting is OK. The production values pretty good. The script: awful.

Uncut Gems (2019)

Unbearable

[1/10 · 22 March 2020]

This horrible piece of crap pretending to be a film is nothing but a bunch if noise. Quite literally. The first 25 minutes is the most annoying bit of film I've ever seen. Anytime the sound editor pulls back it's only for a minute or two. One hour in and I had a raging headache. At least I was at home where I could turn the volume down. Constant yelling is considered acting here. You certainly won't care about the protagonist. I kept hoping the big secret would be like Psycho. But no Sandler isn't killed kust a few minutes into the film.

I rented it for $5.99 and feel ripped off.

Just Charlie (2017)

Nothing new here

[5/10 · 29 December 2019]

The good acting is significantly weighed down by the script. It's formulaic. The dad has troubles and the mom and sister are supportive. All too familiar GLBT tropes are brought to bear. It's not bad and would likely give hope to a kid in this situation. Now go watch Ma Vie En Rose.

Whirlwind (2007)

Middle of the road

[6/10 · 27 November 2019]

Well it deservedly didn't win an Oscar but it's not the worst gay movie out there.

Yep, it's a bit predictable. Yep, some if the acting is quite wooden. But some of the actors actually have a flicker of talent. The script is a bit cliché, but a lot of the problems are with the direction. Rehearsal and tightening up of the dialog would have helped. Witty repartee comes fast and furious, not after a pause for someone to realize that that was their cue. Some instances could have been helped with editing.

Bryan West has been in other things, but only lists this one title. Maybe he changed his name. He is by far the most natural of the cast. And the hottest.

And don't believe the claims of hot sex. There's some foreplay but it's hardly hot.

Tainted Souls (2017)

Well..

[7/10 · 7 October 2019]

It belongs in the genre of films where the gay characters are ultimately sad and unfulfilled. And while American gay movies seem to have moved on, other countries aren't there yet. And as such it's far above average. The thing I find so refreshing about foreign films is the lack of the need to explain. The viewer is tasked with putting it all together, which makes it a very personal thing open to wide interpretation. We are tasked with filling in the gaps. This is no easy film. I did feel like it overplayed it's hand a bit which is why my rating isn't higher. And I'm kind of over the sad homosexual genre of film.

L'homme de sa vie (2006)

Lyrical and lovely

[8/10 · 5 October 2019]

I keep forgetting name of this movie and I describe it as the French movie with the two guys talking all night and the sheer drapes flowing in the wind. I found it to be one of the best gay movies ever. It's honest and deeper than most. It's also very French. Which is fine by me. But it won't be for everyone. A couple of years after watching it I choose it again thinking it was something I hadn't seen. A few minutes in I realized I had and watched it all over again.

Sorry Angel (2018)

Well above your average gay film

[10/10 · 13 August 2019]

The world has changed a lot since the French New Wave. Audiences have shorter attention spans and don't seem to enjoy literary films as much. I gage if a film is too long by whether I look at my watch in a cinema or pause a streaming one at home to see how mich is left. I did neither on this film.

I was pulled into this film's world. It's yet another film that reminds me that I love the French cinema. This witty, complex, sexy, dramatic, funny, intelligent, literary, romantic, completely honest portrait of gay life in 1993, captured nuances of gay life not seen in American film. The acting is terrific.