jenniferbellydancer Reviews

The Resurrection of Charles Manson (2023)

Good movie for first-time director

[7/10 · 22 March 2023]

I sincerely hope that the critics won't be too hard on Remy Grillo because I find this to be a decent movie for his first movie he ever directed. And I watched this movie twice just to get a second opinion on it before I came to the conclusion of what I thought about it. Were there some things that could have been better? Yes, I'll agree on that, but for his first film, Grillo did pretty good and I can definitely see he has the talent and I believe his talent will grow the more he learns and grows as a director. And I do love psychological thrillers, and I found this movie had just the right amount of thrills in it.

What I really loved about the movie is the plotline, the performances, and the intensity of certain scenes. Some parts went a little too fast in my opinion, and I felt some parts should have been added into the movie to give things a little more context, but you could still feel the main characters' emotions and I find that made the movie that much more believable. And you could definitely tell that Tiana was hiding something just by looking at her face in certain scenes, and I think you would need to completely miss that in order to be shocked later during the movie.

I've always loved Frank Grillo and his acting skills, and to see him take on a role where he is not acting like the tough guy for once is nice and I felt as if he pulled off the charismatic cult leader rather well. I think it would have been nice to give his character a little more depth or context because it seemed to me that he had some sort of political influence based on that one scene you see where it looks like he's practicing a speech in some office. Most cult leaders often have some sort of influence within society, whether that is religiously or politically, and it would have been cool for the movie to explore that just a bit.

Other than that, it's a really good film for Remy Grillo's first movie to direct. My advice would be to give this movie a chance before judging it too quickly, go watch it with no expectations, and you might find yourself enjoying the movie.

West Side Story (2021)

A decent remake of the original

[8/10 · 17 December 2021]

I did find there were certain weak points to the movie, but overall, I loved it. For me, watching this was like taking a trip down memory lane, having seen the original myself.

There are certain aspects to this movie that are different from the original like how Tony is part of a song he was not part of in the original or in the play, if you've seen it. Spielberg gives more of a background to Tony's character whereas the play and original does not, and I feel as if that gives Tony more depth than it did in the play or original. In the original/play, he is so in love with Maria that he doesn't want to do anything he knows she wouldn't like (e.g., violence), but this remake, he had more of a reason of turning away from the Jets and not being part of the gang anymore and not wanting to fight.

Another few changes I really liked within this movie was how they replaced Doc's character with his Puerto Rican widow who is played by the great Rita Morena and made Anybodys genderfluid. There was a part in the musical where the Jets nearly sexually assault Anita and it's Rita's character who stops it. Here is the main difference that nearly made me cheer in the movie theatre: in the original, Doc asks them why the Jets have to make the world so lousy and Action and other Jets just end up making excuses for their vile behavior, but no, not Valentina! She used the ancestors' card on them and did not let them make excuses for it and that was amazing! And I loved how they made Anybodys genderfluid as I have always seen her character as neither male nor female, and for the movie to bring out some of the things someone like Anybodys goes through just because they don't dress or look a certain way even tho their assigned gender was female. It was nice touch of modernism to the movie.

I thought Ariana DeBose did such a terrific job as Anita and so did the actress for Maria. Rachel can definitely hit those high notes the way the OG actress did, so it definitely felt as if I was hearing the voice of Natalie Wood once more.

Overall, I liked it and thought it was good. I would probably watch it again once it comes to one of the streaming services.

This Is the Night (2021)

Very heartwarming film

[10/10 · 23 October 2021]

I really do not understand why the rating for the movie is low. Then again, I do have to keep in mind, not many people have seen this and there is less than 200 people who rated this.

I really loved this movie, it was very heartwarming and revolved around a hard-working Italian family in the 1980's in a neighborhood where the Italian culture is very prominent, but centered around the movie Rocky III. I really do not understand one review of how they are complaining about it not being an action film and it's not supposed to be. Just because the director did movies like the Purge doesn't mean they have to do action movies ALL the time, they're allowed to do movies like this.

It was a movie that places the value on movie-going theater experiences while at the same time bringing the story of this one family with each member finding the courage to do something they were too afraid to do before. I personally found it beautiful and thought the director and the actors did a wonderful job, especially Frank Grillo. I hope to see him do more films like this because I consider Frank Grillo to be one of the most talented yet underrated actors out there, he needs to be in more movies like these.

Copshop (2021)

Pretty good thriller

[8/10 · 20 September 2021]

Other than the fact they killed off Frank Grillo's character (AGAIN!), this was a pretty good thriller. Forget what the naysayers say. If you like thrillers, then I think you'll really like this movie; plus, it definitely had some funny moments and I laughed a good decent amount throughout the film. If you're into the guns blazing and bullets flying and buildings exploding, then this movie is not for you. Do not come watching this movie expecting it because you won't see that. If you go into the movie with zero expectations, then I think you'll really enjoy it.

Free Guy (2021)

Very funny action comedy

[7/10 · 23 August 2021]

I was on the fence with this one, but I decided to give this movie a try and hopefully get some laughs out of it, and I was surprised I did.

I find Ryan Reyonlds to be so great at action comedy and he definitely didn't disappoint in this one. There were just the right amount of cute, sweet, and funny moments. There were even some pop cultural references, but it made me laugh!

I think the only thing I did not like was the same old story of how two people of the opposite gender are best friends and they end up falling in love. It's a story that is often told and I wish Hollywood would stop putting this idea into people's heads that two people of the opposite gender can't be just really great friends.

Other than that, this movie was really cute and funny and would highly recommend it!!

Wheelman (2017)

Very interesting and unique action movie

[8/10 · 15 August 2021]

When I initially saw the trailer of this, I was skeptical as I thought it was going to be boring, but was pretty surprised when I started watching it. The entire movie, you just see the main character in the car, and I thought that was a very unique for an action movie. Most action movies when it comes to cars is almost an equivalent to the Fast and Furious series: stunts that are just out of this world and just not possible, but they didn't do that here. I liked it and would certainly watch it again.

Donnybrook (2018)

A pretty decent dark drama Indie film

[8/10 · 5 August 2021]

I am like hella confused as to why some people are saying this movie is crap and how movies are only meant to entertain when literally that is not what movies or any kind of art is all about! Movies can be emotional, gritty, and dark as well.

People are saying that this movie is too violent and dark and some people don't like that and that is fine, but that is literally the whole point of this movie. I'm probably gonna get some thumbs down for saying that but oh well!

The pacing of the movie was pretty good down to the characters, music, and the story. It's really great story about surviving in a world of extreme poverty while also living in the messed up world of meth cookers/dealers. Frank Grillo's character barely talked in this movie and I wasn't sure how I liked it at first, but overtime, I began to enjoy it. Grillo's character Angus has this dark and menacing outlook and is meant to strike fear and even shock in the audience as well as some of the characters. He's very controlling of his sister and is pretty psychotic to pretty much killing a whole bunch of people as well as forcing his sister to do things that are pretty messed up. But I felt as if that is literally the point.

There are a lot of drug movies/shows out there that I feel as if glorify the life of drug dealers, but this movie kind of gives a more honest perspective about how messed up it really is. And some people may say that a situation like this may never happen, and I think when they say that, they don't really know or understand the life of a drug dealer and what it does to the family dynamics, whether you are the addict or the dealer.

Overall, it was a good movie and I would watch it again.

Into the Ashes (2019)

Pacing was too slow for me

[6/10 · 4 August 2021]

I loved the plotline and the characters, except for maybe the cops, and the actors did a really great job. Frank Grillo is one of my favorites and I feel like no matter what, even if the movie is not the best, I can tell he puts a lot of hard work into the characters he plays, and I don't think this was any different.

However, I will agree with many of the reviews, the pacing in this movie was a bit too slow for me, which is why I am giving this a 6 as it was not bad, the pace was just slow. I also wish they would have delved a little deeper into the main character's past so see what the connection is between the main character and Sloan. Only thing that is really known is that the main character was once an ex-con but nothing more.

Snake Eyes (2021)

Not half bad

[7/10 · 28 July 2021]

As someone who knows little to nothing about the GI Joe series, I can't give my opinion on how accurate it is, but compared to the predecessor movies (meaning the ones in the 2000's), this was pretty good.

The difference between the characters in this movie and the GI Joe movie with Channing Tantum is a couple of things. The first is there is not any rampant sexism or over-sexualization of the female characters. In this one, the Baronness and Scarlet are actually interesting characters. Although you don't get any background stories from them (since the focus is on Snake Eyes), you see them as strong characters and Baroness actually seems to enjoy being evil whereas Baroness from the previous one just seemed to have this lame reasoning for going evil just to get back at her ex for breaking his promise 🙄. And Scarlet is not some socially awkward person, but is a total badass and she knows it too! And Storm Shadow's grandma, she's a fighter! Not to mention, there are no lame cheesy liners that can be borderline sexist in this movie.

There is also the fact that this movie doesn't white-wash Snake Eyes character like the Cobra Kai movie did. Although, yes, Henry Golding is half-white, he is still Asian and is bringing representation to the screen. I have no idea if the original Snake Eyes is Asian or not, but the way Cobra Kai movie depicted him as white and Storm Shadow as Asian seemed to set this old ideology (even if it was unintentional) that white is good and Asians are not, so it is nice to see him as Asian, given the background he had from the Cobra Kai movie.

And Storm Shadow has an interesting background to the rivalry with Snake Eyes. Instead of having this hatred for him just because, there is a reason to it and he tried to be good, but there is also a lot of rage and impulsiveness within him that basically leaves him no longer the heir to the ninja clan; thus, making him hate Snake Eyes for it. In my opinion, that is a much more interesting reason to their rivalry than the one in Cobra Kai.

Overall, very good and entertaining movie and I wish people would take the movie for what it is: pure entertainment. Would I see it again like I would say Black Widow or a Marvel movie? Probably not, but if this movie streams on Netflix along with other GI Joe movies, I would probably watch this movie over the others.

Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)

Not bad but not great either

[6/10 · 19 July 2021]

So keep this in mind, I have never seen any John Wick films, so I can't really compare them to this movie. While the plotline was pretty good, I thought the animation and some of the fighting scenes were kind of ridiculous. But maybe the animation is kind of the point since it does have that Tarantino feel? But there were certain scenes where I was just like "why didn't you do that?!" or the fighting scenes were not done very well.

For instance, there is a scene where Sam is trying to get the money back after rescuing the girl from the thugs and she kind of just stands there as she watches them fight over the money, resulting in the money exploding. This is someone who is considered one of the most legit assassins ever and she just stands there and watches them fight over it and not prevent the money from exploding?! That made no sense to me.

And there was a fighting scene in the diner where the men have the brawl with the women and one of the guys just makes it way too obvious he intentionally missed hitting one of them. Like come on, if you're going to make a femme fatale movie and have this sense of girl power, at least have this sense of the men fighting and the women just pushing back even harder to defeat them!

Overall, it was very fun and entertaining to watch and I got some giggles out of it, but I probably would only watch it that one time.

The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019)

A good idea for the plot but it falls flat

[4/10 · 23 June 2021]

Idk why people are saying this is better than the first one, it really is not. I have seen better children's movie than this, and the first movie was a lot more clever and witty than this one. This humor was rather lame, and I only recall laughing out loud two or three times.

When the first movie came out, I was skeptical about it as it was a children's movie and based off of a video game app, but I saw it and was genuinely surprised and found I actually really liked it. This movie was kind of a disappointment. I felt as if the creators got lazy and used a lot of animation that was rather repetitive. And some people may have liked the three hatchlings story within the movie, but I actually didn't. I found it rather pointless, and there were things that just did not add up within that substory. Like how the hatchlings didn't want their parents to know, and yet the movie indicates that this is within a 3-day timeframe. Either Matilda and Terrence are really bad at parenting or this movie actually didn't go into a 3-day timeframe as it suggested.

The plot and the message behind the movie was good, but it wasn't great either. For instance, Zeta's motivation for destroying the island was rather lame and I felt as if she could have just easily flown off of the island (since that is what Mighty Eagle did, according to his background in this movie) and ask the birds and pigs if she can just fly to the island once in a blue moon as a little vacation for her.

As for Mighty Eagle's background, I felt as if it just does not fit from the original. If you think about it, from the first one, Mighty Eagle has been on Bird Island for a very long time, even before Red hatched, so this background story between him and Zeta just does not make a whole lot of sense to me. And apparently, both him and Zeta have a daughter together, but you don't know that til the end of the movie, which I feel is really unnecessary and I have no idea why they decided to put that in there. Because throughout the movie, the daughter does not call Zeta mom, she only calls Zeta by her first name, which makes me wonder what the writers know about parenting. A child calling their parent or grandparent by their first name is considered a sign of disrespect, and I would not allow my child to call me by my first name!

Also, I felt as if the birds abilities were really downplayed or downgraded in this movie. In the first movie, you see the abilities the birds have and how each one is able to use that ability to save the eggs, but this was not seen. When Bomb was tasked with "taking out" the guards, your first think he is going to blow up to take them out but no, he instead takes the guards out to a bar of some sort to distract them. I get this is a kids movie, but so was the first movie! In that movie, Bomb did blow up the pigs, and so did Red, but the pigs still lived. The writers could have done something similar with this one, but no, they just downplayed Bomb's ability and made him more stupid than he really is from the first movie. And apparently the pigs technology is even more advanced than it was in the first movie, such as the submarine and Courtney having an iPhone. IPhones were a thing even when the first movie came out, but they weren't seen in the first one, you only saw boats and those old cameras, so why bring the submarine and iPhones in this movie now?

I think the only thing I really like of this movie is the conflict Red had when it came to wanting to save the islands as well as wanting to make sure people still like him. There was that tug of war between that and his ego, which is basically one of the messages in the story. I also liked Silver and the fact they gave Red a love interest, but even then, the developing relationship was rather problematic and it could have been written a lot better.

I feel as if this is a movie where you can just sit down and watch with the kids maybe once, but that's it. I would introduce your kids to a BETTER children's movie.

Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (2021)

Very funny film

[7/10 · 19 June 2021]

There were definitely some parts that I found a little ridiculous, but I kind of figured that was the point since it's an action comedy film, but overall, it was very funny and entertaining. And Frank Grillo, who is always good at playing characters who have a bit of a mean streak in them, played a minor role and I wanted to see a little bit more of him in the film, but even with those few scenes he was in, he still did a pretty good job. I would highly recommend this movie if you are looking to be entertained and for a good laugh.