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Reviews
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
A solid 4.5/10. Member berries & synthetic writing
As always, any film with a budget greater than 100 million add or subtract two stars from your final score to account for the percentage of ratings financed by the studio.
I fully expected this film to be a 6.8/10.
Which is probably what the studio will try, and squeeze out of these ratings with their various methods.
Classic male character shows up does half a dozen trademark character things and then remind the audience that he is old now.
New character shows up following the most familiar formula. Female brunette, British plucky, sassy know it all that is the exact same character at the films open as she is at the end. Lead serves as punching bag to new character. Classic character presents incompetence in various ways unique to males. New character saves the day roll credits..
Yeah, that's literally it. It's literally everything you've seen in the Disney Star Wars movies as well as the post 2018 marvel films.
A Disney movie wearing an Indiana Jones skin.
These studios have their gender role narrative exactly the way they like it. And it will repeat for as many decades, as is necessary before audiences start to reject.
It won't be long though.
Greenland (2020)
The Grounded Asteroid Film
Don't Look Up gave us the Big Short version of Armageddon, Deep Impact and 2012. Contagion gave us Outbreak, (and a Covid preview) yet grounded in todays world, life, people, emergency mgmt and society's structural decay and plummet over the course of the disaster's duration.
Greenland (this film) is the Contagion of interstellar asteroid disaster movies.
It's as if somebody watched 2012, hoping for A better version of Armageddon and halfway through told the filmmakers to touch grass, left and made this film.
This is a character-heavy, dry-suspense driven story woven into the events of an imminent asteroidal extinction event taking place in stages over 3 days as our protagonists respond and adapt without the Hollywood bs.
What's more, you see the darkest pieces of society as well as the warmest of humanity written and executed smoother than any film of this specific genre before it.
Go ahead and read the negative reviews so long as you watch the film. They'll only make it more rewarding.
Many of the finer plot elements are really so well acted and directed, it takes moments that are historically over dramatic, cheesy or hyperbolic and irons them into perfect character touches reminding you of what people will do to survive and what they are capable of doing selflessly for each other, whilst somehow excising the expected cliches you'll find yourself bracing for. (They definitely had good profession and trade consultants on hand too)
Gerard Butler is a king of a man and actor whilst Morena Baccarin pegs her role effortlessly, all the while making you almost forget how great she made your puberty all those years ago.
Yeah. I went there. No she's no Famke Janssen who played Xenia and Jean Grey. Identical, yes. Just as hot yes. Maybe we'll all one day get that one double feature we've been praying for. God I hope. Deep impact indeed.
Green land's a slam dunk Contagion-mooded, 2012 plotted asteroid movie with better writing and acting than any space rock flick before it.
Enjoy.
Fall (2022)
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!
Is this not that which you crave? What if the tots?! Were they Extensive. Were they not SPECTACULAR?!
Excuse me. Ahem.
If you've ever wondered what would happen if two chicks climbed a radio tower in the middle desert then got stuck at the top. Looks no further.
Quite a bit of accuracy in this film. A few hard stretches of realism, but they'll do.
You might get tired of hearing the question "are you okay?!" Especially now that I just said that, but these ladies did a stand-up job portraying a pair of early 20's girls that bit off more than they could chew.
Character arch's? Meh. Doesn't need it.
These single location movies have to pass a threshold of entertainment and Fall passes the test. If heights bother you you'll probably sweat your feet and hands through most of the movie and that is entertaining as hell. My writing has gone downhill the last few years so I'll stop there.
Nope (2022)
We Don't get these often
Greatly appreciate this film. From the trailer to the opening to the close. I can't tell you how much it means for a script and screenplay to respect the audience's intelligence, film what they want to say, say what they want to entertain with and put it in an order that is satisfying and tense. Great film. IM not a Jordan Peele fan, but he can make one hell of a movie that breaks the mold.
Appreciate the hell out of this movie. So nice to be surprised, even after watching the trailer and have to say that.
Start this movie with whatever expectation the trailer gave you. Lean into it. But pay attention. You won't be disappointed.
The Terminal List (2022)
Phenomenal
I started this show casually then wound up binging it in one day.
Tactics, combat, tradecraft, espionage, mystery, thriller, psychology, corruption and a fairly accurate portrayal of how the upper-echelon of our society operates taken to an extreme.
Some may disagree with that, while ignoring Ghislane maxwell was sentenced to prison for trafficking girls to...nobody, apparently.
Terminal list will reel you in close from the start, igniting a strong distrust in its narrative and characters in the first 20 minutes.
The plot unfolds in a rewarding fashion, providing proper effective and entertaining introductions for each character whilst avoiding the dead-horse predictable story beats and character stereotypes that have become common place today. There isn't a personality or plot point placed on screen Unless it is driving the narrative of the story.
This is not a Disney film. This is not a Michael Bay or Jerry Brucheimer film. Or JJ Abrams.
And it's definitely not another Expendables.
Terminal list is what you get when you combine elements from movies like Sicario, Rambo, Bourne Identity and True detective(S2), then wrap it in a clean neat package, add nuance, respect the audiences intelligence, avoid on-the-nose plotting and cast Competently.
Chris Pratt is at his finest. Constance Wu and Taylor Kitsch crush their parts. This is just good film. All of the elements of great action sagas of the past with none of the cheese or redundant crap that killed the genre.
After it wrapped up I saw a headline "unhinged right wing revenge fantasy" and have been trying to figure out that assessment for the last hour, leading me to IMDB and this review.
Much like the series depicts, money talks, corruption is rampant And the poltical media machine is all about corrupt framing. Film and culture deserves honesty. I wouldn't write this if the series was anything but excellent.
Dear, human Subaru. I'm sorry Chris Pratt made a series that's good.
Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)
Devastating.
This show is like attending a wedding (or funeral) for a best friend, but only people who didn't know them were allowed to attend while they hired a high school drama class to cater the entire event.
If youre familiar with the quality of The CW; the set design, the writing, the screen play...the only thing holding this show together is the superb acting chops of the leads and about 10% nostalgia. And even then the editing and script is so poor its pasted together. Obi-Wan Kenobi Showrunners cut so many corners that Ewan McGregor is the only thing keeping it from rolling off backwards into the skull of what used to lucasfilm and now Disney.
The child playing Leia is being falsely heralded. She appears to be 4 years old and can barely run (yes, the script requires her to) let alone deliver dialogue without a flat expression or letting her eyes wander while she searches her memory for the lines.
Remembered "hello there"? Yeah, they have Ewan deepening his voice to sound older. It doesn't fit.
Like most of these spin-offs, then plot has aimed to gut the integrity of their legacy characters in order to build up the heroism of the supporting cast. It doesn't "lean towards" it completely prioritizes all development toward female and minority characters and wrote the story around that goal.
Vader is cool, but feels very forced.
Kenobi, despite having 10 years to continue his training with force ghost Qui gon (where ROTS left off) has instead atrophied into a shell of us former self. Argument being he's abandoned the way of the Jedi. In direct conflict with the fact that he insists "the big must be trained" is supposedly watching over him.
Continuity errors are plentiful. And underwater tunnel has a glass pane buddy open. He narrowly escapes, as the camera cuts to the airlock door, not a drop of water is seen or heard.
The de facto main character, Riva, a woman of African descent and mannerisms of inner-city street twang, plays an angry-eyed infinitely talented inquisitor that is not only written to be unlikable but unbelievable as well.(oh she can read minds too) forget Luke and Owen. Forget any classic characters from the prequels.
Forget any Hope for meaningful Easter eggs or crossovers.
This is not the show youre looking for.
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Flies high above Hollywood storm. Respects viewers. Pays off fans.
Tom Cruise just solidified his name as one of Hollywood's greatest powerhouse of all time.
That is not an exaggeration.
Watching top gun Maverick three things bleed through in the finished product:
1. Cruise cares deeply for his characters, scripts, screen play and fan experience
2. He places these standards above profit goals, people pleasing or brown-nosing anybody in Hollywood. His projects command respect and lack preferential treatment
3. If he gives preferential treatment to anybody on his projects, he does it tactfully and under the aforementioned standards. Yes it's possible to draw these conclusions from one film and YES, it's possible to create a diverse, inclusive, nostalgic and moving film that is still exceptionally executed to deliver an effective action movie experience that pays off the promises it makes at the start of the film whilst also rewarding the audience with ample, organic fan-service, Easter eggs, winks and nods, without ever becoming repetitive, predictable or on the nose in the lessons or messages the script brings to the table.
Remember Red Dawn? Classic. Exceptional? No. Neither was OG Top Gun.
Remember red dawns sequel? Me neither.
Remember the Michael Douglas' Wall Street starring Shia Lebooferton? Nah. Creed? The Karate Kid(2011)? The Hobbit? Yeah let's not.
They are what happens when you don't put the story first, cast according to social movements and allow a studio to meddle and check their boxes.
I don't give away anything in my reviews. So don't expect plot points in this one. What I can say is that I only leave reviews when a film is either exceptional, exceptionally terrible, or so mediocre it catches me off guard. Top Gun Maverick rushes expectations and should be seen in IMAX.
Please let your voice be heard when you see films like this. This is what respecting an audience looks like.
Peacemaker (2022)
This series will blow casual viewers away
I finally feel okay giving something a 10. I give this a 10/10 because of how doubtful I am in there being another series as surprisingly hilarious and satisfactory as every single scene of every single episode of Peacemaker was.
This happens once every 5 years if you're lucky and usually it's just "really good" but this series kicked it up the extra mile.
I am a casual viewer of DC material, I love the comic movies but am hyper critical of poor writing, editing and General flow of a story or plot OR of ridiculous insertion of bs from the studio that does not work for the story or characters.
This was the equivalent of the first Guardians movie multiplied by 3 and R rated. Enjoy.
Uncharted (2022)
Exceeded expectations
Wow. This was fantastic. Tom holland and Mark Wahlberg make a great pairing. As a fan of the game, I greatly enjoy this crushing my low expectations, following movies like Assasins creed and hitman.
Any movie that doesn't try to force some kind of parallel social cause down the viewers throat, while exploring a fun adventure is more than worth the money.
And Just Like That... (2021)
Are producers being held hostage?
I'm a Long time fan that completely flipped in this show in 25 minutes.
The entire spirit of the character "Che" is all over the shows writing. Cultural cancer.
This is why: Che represents a identity-less synthetic and Unrelatable personality type riddled with level of severe narcissism that used to be exclusive only to militant vegans when SATC aired its finale.
Che sits like a bowling ball on a trampoline, effectively warping the fabric of the entire show around it. And for who? Ze's not likable or relatable in any way because don't feel the compulsion to exude smug, attention-seeking behavior and presentation.
The character mirrors real-life cartoon characters with real-life personality problems that are only functional amongst other narcissists.
None of the flow or banter works. It's uncomfortable. The writing is weak. It COULD be pulled off, as in its history could help it barely tread water, but inclusivity training drops like an anvil landing on the shows face and dumping it to the oceans floor.
I'm not a professional writer or movie critic. I'm a sex and the city fan.
Pick a show. Pick a script. Pick a motivation. Pick an audience. Stick to it.
This reboot doesn't.
Reboots are possible, with nostalgia and full-circle pay-offs peppered with inside jokes.
The ones they attempt, fall flat, but most just completely miss the mark as they are clearly attempting to speak to a different crowd than 98% of viewers (actual percentage).
Santa Inc. (2021)
Shockingly bad. Obvious intention
People are getting sick of this routine. I hope hollywood wakes up soon.
This could have been a fun throw back to classic christmas films. But the writers clealry want or need to force irrelevant social issues that are disproportionate to the actual viewers. Unreal.
I would beg them to Please stop, but i and others have been doing that for a decade and the film makers' answers are to tell us were bad people for expecting thr values of christmas ti be portrayed in a christmas movie without the talking points of a minority extremist movement.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)
The MCU won't go back
It could it if wanted to, or felt safe to, but won't.
It took me until episode 4 before I gave in and admitted they that the show flat out wrote a pro-antifa, anti-white, anti-individualist, pro-collectivist narrative into a super hero show.
The MCU is now quickly disappearing into the hollow, woke background.
The show would have a 7.
Marvel fans will vote high regardless, the rest of the world will sadly whisper, get woke go broke.
WandaVision (2021)
When creativity gets the production $ it needs...
Do you have any idea how hard it is to find content this original, covering this kind of material, with this level of production value?
That alone puts this show in the 8/10 range.
The only reason somebody would rate this less than 8 is if they haven't followed marvel.
After 4 episodes I give it an 8.3/10. How it ends will determine whether that score goes up or down.
Unbelievably good stuff.