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Reviews
The Hammer (2007)
A great, well-written comedy
Based on the premise alone, you probably won't be shocked by how things end up or the story beats hit along the way, but it's still an original story that's very well paced and smartly written.
The characters are great. Adam Carolla basically plays himself. Carpentry, boxing, and comedy are all right in his wheelhouse, so it works quite well. Oswaldo, with his thick accent and charming good nature, is the perfect sidekick. The rest of the supporting cast is likewise entertaining, and their relationships with Carolla are all interesting, natural, and damn funny. I laughed out loud several times throughout, and was genuinely touched by the ending. I'd say they absolutely nailed the feel good original comedy genre with this one. Well done.
Also, I agree with the other posters that this really should have been PG-13, not R, and it's a shame that that probably hurt this great, independent, low-budget film.
Yesterday (2019)
An ode to mediocrity
Mediocre guy falls in love with mediocre girl because of... inertia? He's in his 30s, talentless, and thoroughly uninteresting, so he settles for the only available woman in his boring, six-person friend group after 20 years of wasting time. It's not even remotely believable that such a "man", even when gifted with sole knowledge of some of the greatest songs of all time, would be able to accomplish anything, let alone international stardom. It's an affront to the beauty, originality, and greatness of The Beatles music for it to be associated with such blandness. And to show John Lennon as a hermit who had no impact on the world as if that were some kind of sweet tribute to his legacy? I think he'd prefer death.