The good: the two leads are very, very good in this movie. The bad? The movie is remarkably unremarkable. It isn't necessarily interesting or dramatic or funny. I may have been a little kinder to this than I otherwise should have because of my affinity for the two leads.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
I gave this a look because I have always had a soft spot for movies made in rural New England. It felt like a local community theater group got together and decided to make a Hallmark movie. Even for the Hallmark genre, this was very bland.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
I gave this movie a look because I live in the Western New York / Niagara Falls region. The director did a good job making Niagara Falls look better than it is - there were a lot of tight shots and a little bit of trickery going on in many of the scenes (for example, they make it look like the zipline is right next to the falls). Anyway, this is a paint-by-numbers hallmark movie that manages to be respectable because of the chemistry between the two leads.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
Over the years, I have seen a lot of movies that felt like Coen Brothers rip-offs. This movie very much has the feel of a Coen Brothers movie, but I dare say that it still managed to feel authentic. Everything about it was really fantastic - perfect casting, tight story, excellent musical choices, etc. Once the opening scene played out, I knew I was in for a treat.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
Its hard to be critical of a movie that has a good message. This movie is.... fine. Its hard to do something new in the coming-of-age genre, and we have certainly seen this movie done better and worse.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
Season 1 is very good, but everything outside of the last 2 episodes of season 2 is poor.
Despite the best efforts of Gleeson and Clarkson, this season was extremely disappointing. It did pick up with the last two episodes (especially the finale), but the rest of the season was at best mediocre.
I loved this movie far more than I probably should have. In the movie, the lead is triggered when she hears a song that she first heard with her boyfriend years ago. While watching this movie, I was very much reminded of other movies (High Fidelity, L.A. Story, What Dreams May Come, Safety Not Guaranteed, and probably more). But I don't think that this movie was derivative of any of those movies. Despite the fact that the film travelled down familiar paths, it still felt like an authentic journey. I felt a personal connection to the lead and became emotionally invested in her story. I am sure that others watched this film and did not have the same experience, but for some reason it really got to me.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
This movie was a bite-sized thriller in that the viewer is dropped almost immediately into the conflict. The might might be described as efficient in that it has no wasted scenes or dialog, and the final scene is true to the characters. If you don't have a ton of time to watch a thriller, you could do worse than this movie.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
This movie won't be considered a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination. It is light and airy and dare I say "good enough" to be considered a worthwhile 90 minutes. It was actually refreshing to see two leads who don't look like models and have a bit of chemistry.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
To say that this film is slight would be an understatement. We are dropped into a world of people that are seemingly unknown to anyone. From the outside, it looks to be a dark and lonely place. But if you look closely, there seems to be glimpses of hope. This movie is about those flashes of hope.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. Is it a romcom? Sure. This movie could have taken the easy way out and spent 45 minutes having Leopold try to navigate modern technology, but it did not. In a weird kind of way, Leopold's character brought a kind of credibility to the movie in the same way he brought English charm to the film. If you paid attention to the opening scenes, you probably have an idea as to how the movie is going to end (the hint is visual and not part of the dialog or story). I enjoyed the movie more than I thought I would. Hell, it was the first time that I saw Liev Schrieber in a movie where I didn't want to punch him (I think for once he found a role that fit him).
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
The synopsis of this movie states that a college student struggles with mental illness when her mother is struck with cancer. This is all true, but I dare say that the movie works best in another theme. While the focus of the movie is the daughter with mental illness, all three siblings struggle with the same affliction: they aren't adults. The world revolves around them, just as it does with any other teenager struggling to grow up.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
I had seen bits and pieces of this movie over the years but never the whole thing until recently. I can't imagine what the fuss was about it - it is pretty average and uneventful. Michael Keeton does a good job playing some kind of character, but I don't think that I laughed once at anything he actually said. Not surprisingly, Catherine O'Hara was the best thing about this movie.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
This movie was mediocre on levels that I didn't even know existed. I say that while grading on a bit of a curve. After all, how hard could it be to mess this up? They started with the rough outline of a franchise that already existed, and then added in some A-list movie stars. They also had the ability to spoof so many other movies that came before it. The funny thing is that I can't really put my finger on what exactly I would have changed because it was soooooo lacking. Despite Carrell's best efforts (and he was really working it here), it wasn't funny. It wasn't a good action movie (the last 20 minutes were painful) and it wasn't silly enough to be a spoof. Worse, if you paid attention in the middle part of the movie, they told you how the movie was going to end and who was the bad guy.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook I HATEBadMovies
My first thought after finishing this movie was "that felt really amateurish". After all, how many times did we need to be reminded that it was just such a coincidence that the two leads ran into each other while walking down the street? Over and over again - "wow, look at my dumb luck for running into you". But then I read some of the other reviews and saw the better way of stating how this movie feels: it feels like someone fed the last 20 years of Allen movies into an Allen AI model and this was the result. It was just so... unambitious. About the only thing that this movie had going for it is that it looks absolutely gorgeous and the people look and sound lovely (speaking French probably gave it more credibility than it deserved). The music bed running through the entirety of the movie only backed up the fact that there wasn't much confidence in the material.
I was surprised to see that many people have said that this was his best movie in a decade, and maybe even since Match Point. I absolutely despised his last two movies (they really were unwatchable), but I would put this one only marginally ahead of those two (it didn't make me angry while watching it, so I guess there is that). At least with Wonder Wheel and Irrational Man there was some kind of character development. Or at the very least, extremely talented actors delivering questionable dialog. This film is a regurgitation of so many movies that have come before it. I am baffled that so many people thought that this slight and extremely simplistic movie was actually good.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
I once read that the Movie Wayne's World was actually a shell of a script and that the movie was just filled in with site gags later on. Obviously that worked, at least in the first movie. It very much felt like the same kind of idea with this movie, except that the delivery was terrible (having Stiffler as one of the leads probably should have been a sign). Hey look, the kid is swearing and breaking stuff for the twentieth time. BWAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA. Ugh. The movie was really amateurish site gag after site gag, and these were only interrupted by terrible dialog. It really is a shame that such a talented comedic supporting cast was so wasted on this film (I actually felt bad for Jane Lynch).
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
I recently watched The Kingsman and absolutely hated the absurd last 20 minutes of that movie. Argylle saw that review and said "hold my beer". The funny thing about this movie is that - not unlike The Kingsman - it actually had a pretty decent setup. It could have just remained what it was and I would have been fine with it. The last 30 - 40 minutes are downright stupid, even for a movie in this genre.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
I think this movie was at its best when it demonstrated the different stages that each of us pass through in our various relationships: fear, insecurity, loneliness, longing, etc. I could recognize both myself and people I have dated in the characters during the course of the vacation. The ending may have felt a little underwhelming at first, but upon further reflection I think it had to end just as it did. The point was never the resolution. If you are not a fan of character studies, I recommend staying far away from this film.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
The good: it was actually kind of interesting to see a pair of scorned former lovers watch their former lovers interact in real time. The bad: pretty much everything else. The movie tried to have it both ways in that it played up the dark and twisted plan to spy on other people while trying to develop the paint-by-numbers path of a traditional rom com. And it didn't work on either level. Part of my problem with the film is probably how I see Broderick. He is a charismatic actor, but for some reason I don't see him in rom coms. Maybe because he will always be a teenager in my head?
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
The movie had potential. It just never really took off, despite the presence of Fiennes and some other fine actors. It was kind of fun, and then I forgot about it before the credits rolled. We've seen this movie done much better in other places.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
Imagine trying to make a Coen Brothers movie on your own. You would have colorful characters, a weird situation or misunderstanding, and a fair amount of violence. And that would be the absolutely minimum of what you would expect. Well, in this movie, that is about as much as you are going to get. Coens-lite? Derivative of Coens? It felt like there was a better movie in there but it just missed on so many levels. I kept waiting for it to kick in, but it never did. Margaret Qually (whom I first fell in love with in Sanctuary) gives it her all while playing a southern lesbian, but that isn't enough to carry this film. It really is a mess.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
The film definitely works best in its more dramatic moments, and that is especially true in the last act. That is all well and good.... except when a movie is supposed to be a comedy. It didn't help that the friends interaction was rather dull - I don't know if there was an issue with casting or if it really was just mediocre writing. I didn't expect much from this movie, and that's about what I got.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
I have to admit that I expected a bit more as this movie and director are held in high regards by so many famous movie critics. Don't get me wrong, there are some fascinating themes on display in the first half of the movie. But it just seemed rather odd that those themes seemed to be tossed aside in the second half for a rather pedestrian case about police work. The movie was at its best in Gondo's home.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
This movie has all of the feel of an epic but for some reason.... isn't. Maybe an epic-lite? It probably doesn't help that the movie looks a bit dull. The story is good but the acting is somewhat lacking. I enjoyed it but felt that it could have been better.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
This movie was a steaming pile of dung from beginning to end. Well, I can’t say “end” because I couldn’t stomach anymore by the midpoint of the movie. I should have seen it coming after the awful setup. If you haven’t seen the movie, I’ll sum it up for you: there are two attractive co-stars that spend much of the movie in various states of undress. In between these events, you can expect a heavy dose of site gags with a music bed playing underneath the mess, which is ALWAYS an indication that the director knows that a movie is a steaming pile. Also, I don’t know what was worse – the dialog, or the performances by the secondary characters. Just brutal.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies (so that you don't get stuck with garbage like this)
I don't watch many movies from this era, and this film was a good reminder of why this is true. Every scene was twice as long as it needed to be and it felt like the story was being played out in real time. It didn't help that I have never been a fan of Grodin. If there was one redeeming quality, it would be the ending.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
I so wanted to love this movie. And for a while, I did. After all, there is a very worthwhile message in the movie, and Emma Stone gives the performance of a lifetime (side note: every time someone gives a performance like this, I can't help but remember that Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for playing a sassy housewife in The Blind Side, and I throw up a little in my mouth). And Willem Dafoe is, of course, fantastic. It just became a slog to get through after the midway point. It was as if Wes Anderson re-made Bride of Frankenstein. That said, it was beautiful to look at.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
If I didn't know better, I would have thought that this was one of the bottom-of-the-barrel Woody Allen movies. You know the ones I am talking about - they "feature" a mediocre plot filled with coincidences set in New York City under a constant music bed. Breezy and light and instantly forgettable. It's such a shame because this featured an excellent cast (including a young Michael Shannon playing an unnamed cop). Imogene Poots is probably the only reason that this was watchable on any level. Jennifer Aniston was stuck playing one of the worst characters in recent memory. This movie really was a mess.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
While this movie had so much going for it, it could have been so much better. Sure, we've seen this movie before. A broken woman falls into the arms of another woman. What makes this movie so unique is the chemistry between the two leads. Also, the love scene: it is intimate and sensual and never tawdry. So what went wrong? The middle of the film. At times the dialog is meant only to explain a little bit more about the plot and not to move it forward. Also, the editing. I can't think of a movie that was more awkwardly edited. I have read that they were on a strict budget - maybe that included the runtime as well. Still, the film is worthwhile.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
