This was brilliant! It was immensely funny, energetic, introspective, and entertaining.
This movie didn't seem able to decide what it wanted to be. The script was really ambiguous, a feeling only strengthened by the ending of the film. I wish that they had focused more on the struggle between Jack and Mark, instead of trying to be something that it ultimately wasn't.
This was incredibly poor. After five minutes, I was bored out of my mind. I barely made it 25 minutes in, and I was ready to give up. Travis Fimmel is not an actor. His portrayal was labored and a ridiculous caricature of how a human being would act. The writing was also pretty bad, as both the dialogue and storyline were really weak. I have no idea what Forest Whitaker or William Fichtner were doing in this film.
This was a fantastic film. The acting was tremendous, and the pacing of the film was quite good for such a movie. I was really impressed w/ the overall production, and I learned quite a bit about the entire process of the atomic bomb coming to be. I will say that I was somewhat surprised that there wasn't any real focus on the long-term effects of dropping the bombs, however.
This film was about as Wes Anderson as Wes Anderson gets. The casting and acting were incredible, but unfortunately, the story left a bit to be desired. I also felt that the use of three women being portrayed nude was unnecessary, especially in this day and age. If you're a big Anderson fan, I imagine that you'll enjoy this. For those of us who simply find his works amusing, I don't know that there was all that much here other than the performances.
It was a solid effort w/ an extraordinary cast, who were all fantastic, but the story left a bit to be desired but, I suppose that was sort of the point. It's a story about a couple of bumbling gym employees who find what they believe to be government secrets and the confusion it causes in figuring out what they really have in their possession. In the end, it turns out that they have notes related to a former government security analyst's memoir. The experience in trying to sell what they believe to be sensitive information to the Russians is detailed in this movie. The entire idea was that no one was on the same page, and even in the end, they couldn't figure out what had taken place, b/c it was so bizarre. It's difficult to dislike it, b/c the cast really was great, but the story lacked, and the humor was really nuanced.
It was a solid effort. I think that they could've made it more dramatic and less of an action-adventure, but other than that, I didn't really have any complaints. Millie Bobby Brown was solid in a difficult role, b/c she didn't really have anyone to play off of.
This was a terribly pointless film from a vile racist, bigot, misogynist, and child-rapist. Always remember that Tarantino said that a 13-year-old girl wanted to be raped. That thing is a fucking subhuman.
It's difficult to imagine that filmmakers could compile such a great cast, then go so far off base w/ the script that it doesn't really make a difference. I've read where this was considered a prequel/sequel, but I don't see how that's possible, since the events of this story clearly took place after the first movie. To have that be the case and not have Kristen Stewart reprise her role as Snow White, it was the huge hole at the center of the story. Charlize Theron's primary motivation was killing Snow White, so how do you make that a central theme of a film w/out utilizing Snow White? Other than that, there really wasn't anything special about this story. It was standard fare for this type of film. One thing that stood out to me as bothersome were two scenes, where, when approached by opposing forces, Chris Hemsworth just stood there and was taken captive. It begged the question: Isn't your entire purpose in this film to protect the mirror, and kill the evil queen? What sense does it make to simply stand there and be captured...twice?!?
This followed a formulaic horror plot, and the writers took no time to investigate a well-researched topic. They got so many details of the Zodiac case wrong, and it made this difficult to watch. Aside from that, the ending made zero sense. The end of this film has the two leads confront the Zodiac, who, if he were still alive, would be roughly 85-years-old. The man they used in the film looked to be maybe 60-years-old. And, after they killed him, the last scene of the film indicates that he's still alive and stalking them. So, are they saying that he's some supernatural entity? B/c, the film had nothing to do w/ that type of storyline. All in all, it was just a bad film that the filmmakers seemed to put very little effort into.
This was an incredible achievement in filmmaking. What Benh Zeitlin captured on film was astounding, and Quvenzhané Wallis' performance, by a six-year-old nonetheless, was something that has to be seen to be believed. As I watched this tale of a daughter and her ailing father living deep in the bayou of Louisiana, I couldn't help but think of the film Cidade de Deus, which evoked similar feelings of authenticity and cultural understanding. The world captured in this film also reminded me of a book I'd read years ago that mostly took place on an island off the coast of Virginia, where people had lived for generations w/out much, if any, contact from mainland America. It was as if they were leaving in a completely different country, and this had a very similar feeling. As someone who has lived their entire life in a major metropolis, it's incredibly eye-opening to see that there are pockets of first-world countries that have seemingly been left in the past, largely untouched by technological, medical, or educational advancements.
In a way, this was a simple story about those struggling to survive in the face of a dying homeland. But, it's also about the people and their connection to one another and their origins. I think that the message at the end of this film was that in spite of the harshness of reality, life goes on, and we adapt to ever-changing conditions, or we cease to go on with it.
I really enjoyed this. The cast was fantastic, and it was an enjoyable and amusing film. I wasn't sure what to expect going in, but I thought that Rachel Sennott and Emma Seligman did a wonderful job handling the material.
I really enjoyed this. I felt that it got better as it went. It was a movie w/ heart about the intricacies of family dynamics, and they really delved into what makes and breaks these intensely personal relationships.
I love seeing white nationalist and neo-Nazi mutts get what they deserve.
This was a really solid first effort for Zach Braff writing and directing. I enjoyed the film. It was an eclectic character piece about connecting w/ oneself and making our pieces fit together w/ others. And, the soundtrack for this film is still one of the finest of all-time. It's difficult to believe that this film will be 20-years-old this year.
It's unfortunate that they chose to carry on w/ this season. After the eighth season, and the finale of the original series, they didn't have much of an idea to move the show forward. Yes, it was nice to see Elliot and JD married w/ a baby on the way, but it really wasn't enough to base a new series around. To me, that was the best part of this ninth season. Quite frankly, I'm surprised that they chose to create another season given that they had little to work w/.
This show was always best, when it led with its heart. They combined the proper amount of emotional idealism with comedy, and they produced a winning formula. This show is one of the few that got better with age. In fact, I can't think of another serialized program that did what Scrubs was able to accomplish. Forgetting the ninth season, which was really its own separate show, I felt that the eighth season was the best of all of them. They wrapped up storylines and allowed pieces to fit together, without having to force them, and they gave each character hope for the future without dismissing their past. The eighth season finale, the de facto series finale, was one of the best I've ever seen. I'm glad that I rewatched this, because it was a series, and characters, worth revisiting.
Edit: I realized that upon finishing this rewatch, it was exactly 14 years to the day, since the final episode of the series aired.
I'm down for dumb comedies, but when all you have is dumb, there's nothing fun or interesting about that. This was a huge swing and a miss on the part of the scriptwriters. There was nothing funny about any of this, and I don't know who Andrew Santino is, but his delivery comes across as mean-spirited rather than playful or funny. I don't know what William H. Macy was doing slumming in this.
I really enjoyed this film. The cast was great, Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell had great chemistry, and the story moved along at a good pace w/ a fair amount of amusing dialogue. I don't really ask for much more from romantic comedies.
The stories were interesting, if not disturbing, the cinematography could've definitely used quite a bit of work. The extreme close-ups, the shots of highlighted text from documents, while people were speaking, it makes it difficult to watch, and follow, at certain points. My rating was based on the content, which was solid, but the framing of it could've been much better.
This may be the finest series finale I've ever seen in all my years. It was such a fitting ending for all involved, as they held a funeral for Old Man Fixico. It was a community affair attended by everyone, and as Willie Jack had been under Fixico's tutelage, she spoke in his honor. She noted her growth and spoke of how no matter what everyone decided to do w/ their lives, the reservation would always be their home, a part of them and they of each other. What she spoke of really mirrored the show and its premature ending. She stated that "He was my good friend, and we were just really starting to get to know each other, and I'm happy for my time with him. Boa, I know I didn't get to spend enough time with you. But mvto for everything that you taught me." And who among us didn't have these sentiments when viewing this final episode. When Willie Jack was done speaking, she picked up a handful of dirt and spread it over Fixico's casket, as if metaphorically spreading the dirt on the casket of this series.
Over the course of the series, Willie Jack's growth was remarkable. She started as a kid w/ a smart mouth and grew into a caretaker of the community. She was the one member of the Rez Dogs who kept them together, through thick and thin, and helped show them realize just how precious their time together truly was. It's something that goes by in the blink of an eye, and you can lose it w/out ever realizing that it's gone. We never know the last time we'll someone, so it's important to remain as connected as possible, and that's what this show was about, the connective tissues that held this community together, and it was beautiful to watch it play out over the course of three seasons. I'll always be grateful for my time w/ Elora Danan, Willie Jack, Bear, Cheese, and the rest of the village community. From the bottom of my heart, mvto, Reservation Dogs.
This was an incredible portrait of what it means to be a displaced person. I greatly appreciated the fact that two-thirds of the film focused on the journey from a war-torn Syria to safe refuge in Germany. The inbetween trek was heartbreaking and frightening, and real-life sisters Manal and Nathalie Issa did an amazing job of portraying the harrowing journey. At its core, this was a story of the indomitable nature of the human spirit and our will to overcome all odds and obstacles. Displaced peoples will go through unimaginable travails in order to find a new, safe life for themselves and their families, and it's not anything to be taken lightly or dismissed.
While medaling in the Olympics would've been great, it would always pale in comparison to what the Mardini sisters chose to do w/ their lives. They're both champions of human rights, helping displaced peoples find their way safely to new lives. They are both to be commended for their choices.
For a number of years, I've supported an agency that assists widows and orphans in Syria. Their own government has waged an illegal war on the people of that country, and NuDay Syria has helped provide necessary services to displaced families. In addition to providing goods and services, they also teach the women a sustainable skill, so they can make money to support their family. It's really an amazing organization, and they're backed by the UN. If you're able, I highly suggest supporting them and those they help.
I'm still not sure what to make of this mini-series. I love the Maya Lopez/Echo character, an Indigenous woman who is deaf with a disability, that cross-representation is so, so awesome for a number of greatly underrepresented communities. Yet, this story felt incomplete. It seemed as if they had created a much richer story, and possibly filmed quite a bit of it, then cut it out for some reason. That this was only five episodes was one indication and that the final three episodes all decreased in length, w/ the final episode coming in at less than 30 minutes, was another. Also, much of the first episode seemed to be taken from the Hawkeye mini-series.
Usually, when a mini-series ends w/ an episode that's significantly shorter than the rest of the series, it's not a good indication, as it often feels like leftovers from the main story; not so much an epilogue as that the filmmakers didn't really flesh out the story completely, and that was what they were left w/. This series felt less like that, b/c the storyline continuity seemed off throughout, and as noted, episodes got shorter and shorter. It just really left a sense that so much was left behind during the editing process. It really seemed that there had to be more to this story in order to make it fuller and more robust. I had a difficult time understanding how this might of occurred, since Sydney Freedland, of Reservation Dogs fame directed four of the five episodes, and she was more than capable of bringing home a stellar series. It seemed as if Marvel's hand in this might've taken the ship off-course.
One thing that I really wanted to see more of was the relationship between Maya and Bonnie. They played it up as if they were sisters forcibly removed from one another's lives, but they barely utilized Bonnie. She seemed more like a set piece used to move the story forward, and that was through no fault on the behalf of Devery Jacobs, who's a tremendous, young actor. I will say that Alaqua Cox did a tremendous job as Maya Lopez/Echo. For someone w/out a lot of acting credits to their name, she really held her own well, and she did herself proud as a representative of the Indigenous, deaf, and disabled communities. I also greatly appreciated the message that strong, intelligent, capable women could accomplish anything together. I really hope that her character is used to better effect in the new Daredevil series.
Devery Jacobs really gave it everything in this episode. You can see from her performance that's an incredibly well-skilled actor.
This started off well enough, but it ended on a sour note. It's never a good sign, when the final episode of a mini-series is roughly 10 minutes shorter than each of the other episodes. It gives a feeling of watching the leftovers. One thing that I didn't really understand was the jumbled timeline. Griselda Blanco's life story was interesting enough w/out them having to change so many details, and keep in actual events but in an alternate order. It didn't make much sense, and it certainly didn't add anything to the story. If anything, the story that they concocted was more of a rendition of Scarface than anything else. I wish that I knew why they had done this, especially when there were plenty of action involved in her real-life story. I will say that one thing I didn't care for about this series was how they made her a sympathetic figure. She wasn't, and to make her and her family victims was disingenuous and dishonest. Other than that, it was well-acted, but it just didn't flow well.
Just as I thought that this mini-series was making an upward turn, it came crashing back to Earth. This episode did little-to-nothing to move the story forward, and w/ only six episodes in the entire series, that's not something that could be afforded. This episode spent nearly an hour hammering home a singular point that really didn't do much for the overall entirety of the storyline. The time would've been better spent covering a range of plotlines.
This was phenomenal. There was such great care taken in the attention to detail that it made so many scenes really stand out for how well fleshed out they were. The acting was superb! There were so many wonderful performances, there were too many to list, but Michelle Dockery and Merritt Weaver were exceptional. I'm not a big fan of the western genre, but this was so far above and beyond a simple western tale. This is one of the best mini-series I can ever recall having watched.
The attention to detail is really what makes this mini-series so compelling.
This was a solid film, and Ms. Luss did quite a competent job in the lead role. I found the story to be engaging and entertaining, and while there were parts of the story that I questioned, overall, it was an enjoyable film.
At its core, this film was rotten. The dialogue was insulting awful, the characters ridiculous, and the storyline was as dumb as it was improbable. Not only this, but it was written by three men, who clearly have a distaste and disregard for women, as the two women in this film are disregarded caricatures of human beings. To give you an idea of the type of dialogue, a culmination of one scene is, "New York, thank you for the magic," unsurprisingly spoken by a woman character. Oh, the direction is terrible, too.
