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Reviews
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)
Boomers Need Not Apply
The user ratings on this film are off the charts both positive and negative when the fact is this is an OK kids' film in the context of the most recent Nancy Drew books. Here are some cautions about why the ratings zip from 1 to 10...
KIDS R US: Although most of the reviews seem to come from older folks, this film was produced for the kid market and is an OK low-budget film with a welcome change from Superheros and Super FXs .
ACTING: one reviewer was pretty tough on the actors, when what he was really talking about was the director's approach. The Nancy Drew books were always, fast-paced page-turners with a cliff-hanger for every chapter. That doesn't leave any room for nuanced performances and I am not sure how a director could stay true to the material and the intended audience and not have everyone on set hyperventilating.
PERIOD: For folks who read the old-school Nancy Drews, lovingly passed along by families from the 30's to the 60's, there is a real shock seeing Nancy tooling around on a skateboard and spouting dialogue from right now. It would have been fun seeing Nancy driving a flivver and talking like a thirties teen damsel but the series has been matching publication-date culture for fifty years now.
So - this is a 5/10-star kids' film - not a nostalgia trip. If you are looking for a hit of B movie goodness, go find some Chick-O-Sticks, Slo Pokes and the Nancy Drew from 1938!
John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)
State-of-the-Art Kill Fest With Zero Anything Else
The stunts and 140 kills in this film are absolutely amazing with over-the-top action routines I have never seen before - all with flawless performances from the actors, choreographers and tech staff. If this had any of the other ingredients of a motion picture, the film would be off the charts. Guys, we are talking about a rating of 8.0 from 128,796 viewers making this one of the greatest films ever made over the past hundred years. Really?
Daylight's End (2016)
Yum Yum Shoot Em Up!
DAYLIGHT'S END is an indie zombie film that will probably meet the expectations of gamers and action fans but will disappoint others. The plot is bare-boned but promising with an opening that could have been be a fun tangent to Mad Max. That is not the case though and we pretty much segue into an earnest marathon of high action zombie blood-lettings that seems to go on forever.
Considering the budget I was impressed with the care that went into the technical production. A well deserved shout out to the director of photography, editor and sound crew. The ball seemed to drop with scripting and some of the acting - but it's a zombie film - what was I expecting? In the end, Daylight's End is a technically well made shooter, but not a film for those outside this genre.
The 5th Wave (2016)
Great Kiddie Film - Excruciating Adult SciFi Thriller
Marketing killed this film by promoting it to the wrong audience. This is a very well made After School Special NOT a film adults should ever see. In fact that is likely why the ratings are either 1's or 10's. Unsuspecting adults are hating it because it plays out like a kid's film while the parents of grade schoolers are loving it - because it plays out like a kid's film.
What marketing erred on - die-hard Sci-Fi fans might have compounded because on paper the premise sounds interesting enough to take a chance on. The problem though is there is nothing in the script, direction, acting or editing that is original or even remotely interesting for an adult. Other reviewers have raved about the YA source material and to tell the truth I am intrigued enough to want to give the book a shot just to see how much was lost in translation.
Cut Bank (2014)
OK But Disappointing Film Considering Cast
How could you go wrong with Billy Bob Thornton, John Malkovich and Bruce Dern supporting this film? The simple answer is that the two leads, Liam Hemsworth and Teresa Palmer just don't do well as the characters the story is about.
The script is interesting and dark with some initial unexpected twists arcing around two low-end-of-nowhere Midwestern kids a couple of years out of high school. The problem is the leads are being played by older looking yuppies in jeans who seem wildly out of place in an isolated farming community of 3,000. In fact it is sometimes almost sad seeing these two actors struggling to cover parts they physically grew out of five or even ten years ago. The only interesting performance here came from Michael Stuhlbarg who did well as a strange reclusive character Mr. Thornton cut his teeth on. Ironically enough, he looked right for his role, even though he seemed to be about the same age as the supposedly much younger leads.
Is this a failure in casting, acting, directing or scripting? Not sure where the wheels fell off the wagon, but this film definitely misses the mark on a project that should have been a lot more compelling.
The Guest (2014)
High Film Rating Is Suspect
For those making viewing decisions based on "The Guest's" very high score - the film is going to be a big letdown.
I won't repeat the many existing negative IMDb reviews but will confirm the film has a weak, confused script, dozens of major plot holes, wooden acting and weak directing. The film is jam packed with violence - so maybe a younger audience is skewing the rating. It is listed as a drama / thriller so I tried to look at this from as many angles as I could to try to understand the high rating (black comedy? ground-breaker?). Although I admit I could be missing something others saw - I am sticking with my original impression of a bad film voted way up by enthusiastic fans.
Hoping the "9" and "10" people are not shills, I would like to point out that voting should be done in the context of other films. In other words, if you really think this film is as good as the best ever made, a ten is an honest vote. If not, maybe a six would be a more appropriate marker for others who are considering paying for the film.
August: Osage County (2013)
Death Match
This is definitely a "7" film with powerful writing, performances, and solid visual adaptation from stage to screen. I would have scored it even higher, however this felt more like a two hour death match than the "entertainment" Pulitzer Price winner Tracy Letts' says he was going for.
Mr. Lett's intelligent and well-crafted script was certainly chock full of witty lines and wry zingers but in the context of the human wood chippers in his script, I was far too edgy to laugh about any of the fun lines in his script. By the end of the film I was relieved to lock this dysfunctional family away in the DVD case they arrived in. I never saw this in a public venue, so I may have been missing audience cues but it could also be that the film's frenetic pace just left no time to react to the lighter moments in this script during the film.
To sum up, this is a tough but fascinating film to watch, well worth your time. You won't be laughing out loud during this film, but you will appreciate the script's wit.
Generation Um... (2012)
Shaky Film First
We have a technical first with "Generation Um..." a ShakyCam production done using what sounds like the on-board ShakySound mics! If the script and direction were killer good, that might have made this forced cinéma vérité work. The problem is it doesn't, and I walked out of the theater feeling really cheated.
For gosh sake, if you have enough money for an A-list star like Mr. Reeves, grab your shots with the benefit of at least a pro camera, stabilization, lighting and on-mic sound. If you don't have the budget for that, refinance until you can do it right! If you don't, you are ripping off audience members who paid to see what they assumed would be a professionally produced theatrical film!
Scenic Route (2013)
Scenic Route Would Make A Great Short
The film is basically an hour of two friends needlessly bashing each other physically and psychologically to the point where you are ready to leave the theater - which is what I did. I thought the film was terrible, but at the behest of a friend, I rented the DVD. I scrubbed through 90% of the film to the end where I was pleasantly surprised by a great plot twist that was well executed.
So my rating goes from a minus something to a reluctant five for a cool ending of a first effort. To those thinking of renting the DVD though - watching is still torture unless you chop the second act. If you do watch this film the repetitive bashing starts twenty minutes in so whenever you tire of this you can save your sanity by skipping to the start of the plot twist at an hour and fifteen minutes for a reasonably entertaining half hour short.
FLASH TO FILMMAKERS - No one but your parents and friends will pay $20 to see a feature film that takes an hour and fifteen minutes to engage its audience. The static script might have worked as an off-Broadway one act but as an 86 minute moving picture film this needed a lot of development - or at the very least a lot of heavy editing.
FLASH TO PARENTS AND FRIENDS WHO POSTED INCREDIBLE REVIEWS - if your reviews were disingenuous, you are not only cheating IMDb readers but the people behind this film. Think about it. You are building unreasonable expectations for a $20 movie ticket or DVD sale that the material cannot support. What should have been a great "reel" and learning experience for the filmmakers is now going to be held to the unreasonably high standard of your reviews. This is not going to sit well with people who watch based on your recommendations.
Dreamland (2007)
Amateur Night At The Movies
I am surprised in this day and age that Dreamland has been picked up by a distribution service like Hulu. I found this film to be a nearly unwatchable low-end indie production with very little for casual viewers to enjoy. If anything - its value is for students as a case-study in problems shooting under-financed - covering both the technical AND creative side of film-making.
I won't focus on the problems that others have nailed, but the major lesson for students is that no matter what your budget (or credit card limits) - you need a strong script, a cast that gels and all of the support details needed to make them look good or at least interesting (they are supposed to be "stars" right?).
As far as looking for that "break-out" indie film, unless I am at a festival, I always use IMDb and scan reviews before buying a ticket. If there are a small number reviews and they are mostly 10's - those are likely family and friends so beware (it is very hard to get a general audience to shill for a bad film). More honest reviews will usually have lower ratings with solid reasons for those numbers.
As far as Mr. Lay and his team - it is a minor miracle when ANY film actually gets made and distributed so a major tip of the hat. Hope his next film is over the top!