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chrismarcus8
Reviews
The Reading (2023)
Just Skip It
And read all of the negative reviews instead! This "movie" was horrible from the script to the execution. Once I saw Mo'Nique's character cheesy interactions with her family in the beginning, I knew to throw all my expectations out the window. The movie starts off bad and gets worse. Mo'Nique's acting was off like she showed up to set on the 1st day day of shooting without any character preparation. Her character went off in multiple directions and would switch from bad comedy to cringey drama during scenes. The young actress playing the psychic was decent but her efforts were not enough to save this film. The other actors didn't have much to do as their characters were not fleshed out. I will say I would love to see Charnele Brown in another project. Her presence stood out in her brief role.
The Devil You Know (2022)
Much Better Than I Expected.
My low expectations for this movie was undeserved. The Devil You Know is a finely tuned character driven drama. The performances by Omar Epps (Marcus Cowans) and Will Catlett (Drew Cowans) along with the rest of the cast steady the film with a firm foundation. The Cain vs Abel gave the movie a deeper feeling. Now a bit more backstory on the relationship between Marcus and Drew could have been provided. Drew was a fascinating character and it would have been great to get inside his head a bit more. I don't understand how this movie got bad reviews. It's not fast moving but it's an entertaining ride all the same.
Life Without Hope (2020)
Typical Urban Crime Story with a Few Surprises
While the storyline follows along fairly typical urban drama tropes, there are few gems to be found along the way. One is the onscreen presence of Andra Fuller. He is captivating with an intelligent energy. The plot never quite rises to Fuller's level. You get the feeling that there is much more range that Fuller could have explored if the script gave him the room to go there. The actress playing Hope has a nice chemistry with Fuller's Life. I wished we could have gotten more of Hope's backstory and more scenes with Hope in the 2nd half of the movie. It seems like the ending is set up for a sequel. If so, hopefully the plot becomes tighter and there are more scenes between Life and Hope.
Sunday Mornings (2021)
Great Idea, Bad Execution
The premise was cute enough, a woman named Sunday goes through life with her 5 dysfunctional but churchgoing sisters. Their lives are chaotic but the 6 women always have each other's backs. Sunday, played by Courtney Arlett, is a very interesting character. The movie flowed better when the plot focused on her. The acting by the ladies playing her sisters was very uneven and their storylines were very choppy. As with many low budget productions there were unnecessary scenes and dialogue.