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Reviews
Unfrosted (2024)
Funny, unnecassily political?
"Unfrosted" (2024) is Seinfeld's satirical take on the OLD Kellogg's-Post competition to mass produce toaster pastries. Funny moments, slew of cultural references & great supporting cast. But "Unfrosted" does play politics -- perhaps unnecessarily in this most contentious Election Year. JFK is savagely satired, and the flick is set in 1963, just before JFK was murdered in Dallas. Talk about bad (after)taste? This movie also manages a reference to trump. It comes at the 1:22 mark. Maybe not so odd that Seinfeld and the disgraced rightwing NY politician George Santos both hailed from Long Island.
Hit by Lightning (2014)
Alan/Ricky Gets Lucky
Jon Cryer as Ricky Miller in Hit By Lightning (2014) seems to be reprising his role of Alan in the television comedy Two and a Half Men (2003-15). Unlike Alan, though, Cryer's Ricky character scores on the first date with hottie Danita (Stephanie Szostak). Like the tv show Ricky's hot date comes with a catch. Being that the movie was likely filmed during the television's long run Cryer didn't appear to alter his Alan schtick for the movie role. I actually had to check the movie credits to see whether it was another Chuck Lorre production. If you liked Two and a Half Men, you'll like this flick.
Very Good Girls (2013)
Suggested viewing for every family
Progressive parents seeking to instill good character in their kids should watch Very Good Girls (2013). And when their kids reach an age of mature reasoning, they should watch this movie as well. Very Good Girls is a meaning tale about character, friendship, loyalty, honesty, forgiveness and love. The Very Good Girls in this movie are Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen, excellent actors who portray best friends enjoying their last summer together before heading off to college. A chance meeting of an artistic, slightly older bohemian fella leads to a conflict that tests the bounds of their friendship. Laugh, cry, get angry, but it's not until we understand that no one is perfect that we can forgive. Great supporting cast whose challenges reaffirm the importance of good character for these Very Good Girls. Enjoy the lessons learned.
Straight A's (2013)
Sticks & Stones, People ...
No doubt the profanity used by Scott (Ryan Phillippe) -- mostly in the opening scenes -- is the main reason for the Low Viewer Ratings for Straight A's (2013). (Yep -- Evangelicals, the Religious Right & Deep South Bible Thumpers have discovered the Internet & sites like IMDb.) As in life, Scott employs profanity to shock and/or offend those around him -- as it clearly also did with SOME movie viwers. But make no mistake, Straight A's is one helluva flick (pardon my french). Anna Paquin is special. And just about every movie with Luke and/or Owen Wilson is pure gold. Once you get by the naughty words, you got this one LICKED. Enjoy.
The TV Set (2006)
Judd Apatow is the EP ...
Kinda liked The TV Set (2007) which I watched on demand on the peacock, but heck we got the Women's NCAA, the Diamondbacks-Braves game, Gameday posts, etc., etc., going on at the same time. So suffice to say I had The TV Set on pause (literally times two) for virtually all of this movie. It has literally taken me 8 hours to get thru The TV Set -- and that includes a three-hour midday nappy-poo. But between the often lengthy pauses I gotta say I kinda liked The TV Set movie. Then as the credits rolled ... there appeared EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Judd Apitow ... omg!!! I'm watching this flick again asap. U should 2.
Six in the City (2023)
This "Six" is almost better than "Sex"
Diversity in All Things is Good.
This is part of the reason why we are enjoying Six in the City (2023) almost as much as we have enjoyed the more vanilla Sex in the City. Coincidentally (or not?), both comedies are now showing on Netflix. (We love Netflix!!!)
We would be remiss not to direct readers/movie viewers to the excellent and very well written critical review of Six in the City by a writer named Anjali Sharma that was published at the Midgard Times. (I am jealous and humbled by Sharma's brilliant and creative writing skills.) There is a link to this most stellar review ielsewhere on this movie's IMDb page.
This is a South African film and worth a try!
Sea to Shining Sea (2017)
Road Trip Cliff Hanger
Sea to Shining Sea (2017) is not War and Peace -- fire up a bowl -- but it is two hours of decent, mostly clean entertain. As the title suggests this is a cross country road trip for two old friends, one from NYC, one from Amsterdam. The first needs to get a Suburu wagon gifted from his Mom in San Francisco to his home in NYC. The other is in California and needs to return to Amsterdam. Hey, Friend 1 says, why not ride with me from Cali to NYC. Friend 2 agrees, has a mysterious rendevous with Mom the day before the road trip, culminating in Mystery Solved. Not War and Peace but fun AF. Party on.
Blue Iguana (2018)
Blue Iguana really is a Gem
Rule of thumb: if certain actors are featured in a movie I'm gonna like it. Sam Rockwell is one of those actors. Today as I perused Peacock's excellent comedy movie collection I came across Blue Iguana (2018) with Rockwell and other performers I didn't recognize by name. The rule held true -- this flick is funny, witty and worth your time. One more observation, actor Phoebe Fox, who I didn't know until now, plays a British lawyer. Her accent and cadence reminds me of Julianne Moore's as Maude Lebowski in The Big Lebowski (1998). Recency bias? I just saw the classic Coen Brothers film again yesterday.
Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)
Geico Freddy Kruger Commercial, the Extended Cut
Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022) (only 575 more characters needed to post this review) is the lamest 20-something horror flick we've seen in a long time ... maybe the lamest ever. Every stupid stunt used to heighten the suspense in B movies is deployed in this waste of 90 minutes that viewers will never ever get back. None of the alleged actors working here, including the talentless pete davidson, should ever disgrace another publicly presented production. Netflix ought to be ashamed for including this in its movie library. I'm sad to admit I almost watched a full hour of this trash. You're warned.
Almost Friends (2016)
Two "Charlies" -- Freddie Highmore and Anton Yelchin
As I watch Freddie Highmore define the lead role of Charlie in this very average coming of age dramedy "Almost Friends" (2017), I am reminded of the late great actor Anton Yelchin, most specifically in the title role in another coming of age dramedy "Charlie Bartlett" (2007). (The same lead character name begged the comparison for me.) Highmore and Yelchin obviously have their own unique acting styles, and both enjoyed success in the arts, but I can't help but think how Anton might have handled the Charlie character differently in "Almost Friends." Freddie's Charlie is boring/bored, obviously depressed and almost completely unfunny. Gotta feeling Anton might have done more ... man, I miss Anton Yelchin ...
The Tourist (2022)
Barney Fife & Gomer Pyle Police the Outback
The Tourist (2024) could be a decent Aussie cops & robbers series if it weren't for the amateur rural police force portrayed in each episode. It might have been a better half-hour comedy. Danielle Macdonald is horribly miscast as a junior constable trying to solve crimes that are way above her pay grade. She even carries a loaded pistol, unlike Deputy Barney Fife in Mayberry. At least Sheriff Andy Taylor had the sense to insist Barney carry an unloaded revolver with just one spare bullet in his shirt pocket that he rarely if ever needed. Each episode of The Tourist is roughly an hour long that seems like an eternity. I seriously doubt I'll finish Season 1. The bumbling cops are just too frustrating to watch.
The Fugitive: Fear in a Desert City (1963)
Kimble Arrives by Bus in Tucson
The Fugitive, Fear in a Desert City: the first episode in this unforgettable suspenseful four-year television series begins with Dr. Richard Kimble arriving by bus in Tucson, Arizona.
The opening scenes are filmed at and inside the old Greyhound Bus station, roughly a block south of the old downtown and the historic Congress Hotel. This was where John Dillinger stayed in January 1934 before he was nabbed by the coppers and brought back north to justice. The Tucson bus station has since been relocated, but the Congress Hotel still has rooms to rent.
"Fear in a Desert City" aired in 1963, two months before President Kennedy's murder in Dallas, roughly 950 miles east of Tucson by bus.
Emily in Paris (2020)
Most Ugly Americans will never visit Paris
This is the problem with quality entertainment like Emily in Paris in the Age of Ignorant trump republicants. This low class of minimally educated Americans accounts for perhaps 30 percent of the voting public, but now that they've learning how to navigate a handful of sites on the internet they are making their narrow views of the world felt. This is why a great series like Emily in Paris gets an average rating under 7 on the IMDb website. Emily in Paris is a fun romp about a Beautiful American marketer from Chicago getting acclimated and finding success in Modern Day Paris -- the fresh-faced Lily Collins. The 30-minute episodes are perfectly suited for binge watching. Enjoy.
The Harder They Fall (2021)
How the West shoulda been won
The new Hollywood royalty shows how to film Westerns with liberty and justice for all. Don't bother with the ratings and the amateur reviews of this movie. You know how trash write reviews. This is why all entertainment written and directed by and featuring Black artists on IMBd receive lower scores than most thinking people might expect. I'm here to tell you The Harder They Fall is perhaps the best Western ever filmed. It features the best African American actors left standing as of 2021. It's written by one of today's great Black writers. And the story grabs you and holds you and shakes your sorry butt until the very end. Watch & Enjoy.
Flipped (2010)
Sorry for you if you can't relate to Flipped
Flipped is filmed in Southwest Michigan and takes place in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Two grade schoolers, sweet Juli and the two-faced jerk Bryce, live across the street from each other, go to the same school and are in the same classes. They ride bikes, climb trees and as a throw-back to the previous generation Juli has chickens and sells the fresh eggs to her neighbors do for 60 cents a dozen.
Well, as one who also grew up in Southeastern Michigan in the 1960s, I can relate to just about every aspect of this fine tale. The fact that it is directed by one of my contemporary sociopolitical heroes, Rob Reiner, makes my appreciation for Flipped all the more satisfying. Watch this movie. If you have a heartbeat, you'll enjoy it.
An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn (2018)
A waste of acting capital
Craig Ferguson is seemingly caught mid-crap for nearly two hours ... we had to double check the run time on this movie because it seemed so much longer and we're only half way through. Ferguson's character the titular Beverly Luff Linn can only grunt and occasionally fart. As far as we watched, he had no actual lines. Emile Hirsch wears a yellow woman's wig for a large chunk of this disaster. His acting is akin to a 12-year-old in an elementary school production for truants. Then there's poor Aubrey Plaza who seems to be ever the good sport for playing along with the running joke that is "An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn." Do yourself a favor -- skip this crap.
The Wrong Missy (2020)
Won't have Rob Schneider to Abuse Anymore?
The Wrong Missy is underrated funny good. The Adam Sandler production features several old-time comics from Saturday Night Live, television sitcoms, and standup acts. They are all well past their prime. But still they are hilarious in this flick. Netflix viewers, not exactly connoisseurs, give it Five (5) Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. I wouldn't go that far. This hopefully will be one of the last productions we'll ever see featuring Rob Schneider. He recently outed himself as a flaming rightwing conservative dillwad. He allegedly moved out of Cali & doesn't care if ever works in showbiz again. Good riddance!!!
Locke (2013)
Tom Hardy got Locked in a Car
Unless you have gay love for Tom Hardy this movie is the most boring piece of trash ever made. As Ivan Locke, Tom Hardy is taking a drive in the rain to be with family and perhaps his mistress who is having his bastard child. He's got a nice car with a built in phone that rings incessantly throughout the endless film. That's the movie. He talks to his sons, his coworkers, his mistress, between blows of his runny nose. Honest to Pete, this is a 90-minute bore.
L'amour dure trois ans (2011)
This is my experience as well
Never been married. But have shacked up with women before. In fact was once formally engaged but never consummated the deal. Each meaningful relationship over the past 50 years -- and I've had a few -- lasted exactly three years. Some lasted weeks or months but they weren't meaningful. This flick's in French and I've never seen it. But would like to. Maybe it has subtitles. Or one day perhaps some tired hollywood type will try an easy score with an English version. Just drawn to the title, which has been my experience as well.
The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (2020)
Four Incarnations
Most of us are blessed with one life on this beautiful planet. The incredibly talented Gibbs Brothers experienced four distinct incarnations. From their Australian roots as a 1960s rock band, they evolved into an international rock band, to their greatest life as a falsetto disco band, to their final act as songwriters for the stars.
In the mid-1970s, I was lucky to be a college DJ when The Bee Gees released their legendary movie track disco album Saturday Night Fever. At the time, I had a paying gig spinning vinyl at Farmington Hills, Michigan's Best (and at the time only) Discoteque, The Inner Change, aptly named for being on Grand River Avenue near the I-96 interchange. The newest Bee Gees hits were at the top of owner Marty Kochmanski's play list. They were the go-to music to pack the dance floor -- guaranteed.
Those were heady days for me and everyone else who was lucky to be in their prime at the time. "How do you mend a broken heart" is among the greatest 5 documentaries I have ever seen. I think those who were alive and listening to contemporary tunes during The Bees Gees era will agree. Enjoy.
Sort Of (2021)
Why can't U.S. TV be as smartly woke as Canada's?
As with Schitt's Creek, Sort Of is a brilliantly written and performed Canadian sitcom. Sabi, the main character, is a nanny facing daily societal slights,, and rises above it all with compassion, empathy and a keen intelligence. If one needed a nanny, one could do no better than Sabi. And if one were looking for a friend/partner, one would be lucky to have Sabi. Sort Of is sort of great.
Search Party (2016)
Five seasons of this crap?
Watched the first 3-4 episodes on hbo max ... absolute garbage by, about and for the young and dumb generation ... then just flipped to the final episode, Revelation, season 5. Same annoying four main characters 5-6 years older. Life is too short to waste on a dumb horror series like this. Like the goofy geico commercial: "Let's hide behind the chainsaws." "Yeah, that's smart."
The Time Traveler's Wife (2022)
Quantum Leap meets Diary of a Mad Housewife
To all the Golf Widows out there, The Time Traveler's Wife is made for you. Hubby is there one minute, gone the next. From young ages to prime to middle age, this Henry dude is bouncing thru time in and out of the wifey's question mark of an existence. No rhyme, no reason. He's not righting wrongs, he's just randomly meandering thru time, naked, in need of a full set of men's clothing, size medium every time he seemingly falls out of the sky in a new time. If this charade makes it thru one full season, I'll be amazed.
Old (2021)
No day at the beach
A day at a secluded beach in paradise becomes hell for family vacationers. The kids are growing up real fast -- and this is without internet access. 🤣 They're all stuck and it looks like the resort shuttle wont be picking them up at 5 p.m. The question is can they survive the day at the beach. Worth a laugh for a couple hours you will never get back.
Hacks (2021)
Gotta love strong female hacks who are funny
Jean Smart is actually 10 months younger than my first love who was 23 when I started dating her at the tender age of 17. I can only hope my first is still as hot as this always Smart comedic actor. Hacks is a laugh riot. And how bout the co-star Hannah Einbinder -- the great Laraine Newman's daughter -- get outta here. I'm currently binging Hacks and constantly putting the show on pause cause I don't wanna miss a thing nor do I ever want this series to end. Enjoy.