Reviews

Dune 1 & 2 can be confusing. They spent a lot of time teaching cast members how to speak Fremen (a made up language) and how to walk without rhythm to avoid worms but they totally forgot to provide context or back story for the films.

So before watching DUNE 1 and 2, watch David Lynch's 1984 DUNE Extended version (a little campy but fun) and/or read the book DUNE or at least the Wikipedia page. Also before DUNE 3, watch Children of Dune 2003.

Some factoids from DUNE 1984: In 6041, the universe was ruled by thinking machines and humanity became apathetic and eventually became enslaved to these machines. A religious revolt freed humanity from the machines and forced humans to develop their minds.

As the movie opens, it is the year 10,192 and the known universe is ruled by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV. Each major planet is ruled by the great houses of the Landsraad and their members are part of the royal families. They follow an ancient feudal system of government.

Only two mental training programs remain. The Bene Gesserit sisterhood for females with their selective breeding program to produce the Kwisatz Haderach (the Super Being) as foretold in a Fremen prophecy. The other is the Spacing Guild which emphasizes pure math and with the orange spice melange produced on the planet DUNE (aka Arrakis), their space navigators are able to fold space to almost instantly transport objects with their minds which gives them an economic monopoly in the universe. The spice melange extends life, expands consciousness and is vital for space travel and must continue to flow.

Two royal houses have been mortal enemies for centuries--House Atreides on planet Caladan ruled by Duke Leto Atreides and House Harkonnen (a ruthless and sadistic people) on planet Giedi Prime ruled by Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.

The CHOAM company under the Emperor controls mining of the spice melange on DUNE. The Bene Gesserit and the Spacing Guild are silent partners of CHOAM. The Emperor is fearful of Duke Leto's popularity among the Landsraad and has conspired with Baron Harkonnen to eliminate the Duke and his family. The Emperor has transferred the spice mining contract from House Harkonnen to House Atreides forcing the Duke to relocate his household to Arrakis (DUNE) and become more vulnerable.

The Bene Gesserit sisters can read minds, have powers of telepathy and are able to mutate with the water of life. They are trained in a method of hand to hand combat called the WEIRDING WAY and they're able to influence behavior using the VOICE.

DUNE 1 & 2 follow the Fremen prophecy of the Kwisatz Haderach (the Super Being who is the hand of God). He will bring peace to war, love to hatred and will free the Fremens and change the desert climate on Arrakis.

Dune 1 & 2 can be confusing. They spent a lot of time teaching cast members how to speak Fremen (a made up language) and how to walk without rhythm to avoid worms but they totally forgot to provide context or back story for the films.

So before watching DUNE 1 and 2, watch David Lynch's 1984 DUNE (a little campy but fun) and/or read the book DUNE or at least the Wikipedia page. Also before DUNE 3, watch Children of Dune 2003.

Some factoids from DUNE 1984: In 6041, the universe was ruled by thinking machines and humanity became apathetic and eventually became enslaved to these machines. A religious revolt freed humanity from the machines and forced humans to develop their minds.

As the movie opens, it is the year 10,192 and the known universe is ruled by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV. Each major planet is ruled by the great houses of the Landsraad and their members are part of the royal families. They follow an ancient feudal system of government.

Only two mental training programs remain. The Bene Gesserit sisterhood for females with their selective breeding program to produce the Kwisatz Haderach (the Super Being) as foretold in a Fremen prophecy. The other is the Spacing Guild which emphasizes pure math and with the orange spice melange produced on the planet DUNE (aka Arrakis), their space navigators are able to fold space to almost instantly transport objects with their minds which gives them an economic monopoly in the universe. The spice melange extends life, expands consciousness and is vital for space travel and must continue to flow.

Two royal houses have been mortal enemies for centuries--House Atreides on planet Caladan ruled by Duke Leto Atreides and House Harkonnen (a ruthless and masochistic people) on planet Giedi Prime ruled by Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.

The CHOAM company under the Emperor controls mining of the spice melange on DUNE. The Bene Gesserit and the Spacing Guild are silent partners of CHOAM. The Emperor is fearful of Duke Leto's popularity among the Landsraad and has conspired with Baron Harkonnen to eliminate the Duke and his family. The Emperor has transferred the spice mining contract from House Harkonnen to House Atreides forcing the Duke to relocate his household to Arrakis (DUNE) and become more vulnerable.

The Bene Gesserit sisters can read minds, have powers of telepathy and are able to mutate with the water of life. They are trained in a method of hand to hand combat called the WEIRDING WAY and they're able to influence behavior using the VOICE.

DUNE 1&2 follow the Fremen prophecy of the Kwisatz Haderach (the Super Being who is the hand of God). He will bring peace to war, love to hatred and will free the Fremens and change the desert climate on Arrakis.

Wanted to like this film but at the end, it felt really boring and flat. Then I read about the extensive rewrites, so no wonder the film is a dud.

It opens with the back story of Madame Web's mother who is pregnant in the Amazon, how she dies and was bitten by a rare spider with healing and supernatural powers. Then we move forward to a grown up Cassandra Webb in 2003 who is an EMT in NYC. As the story evolves, we learn about her EMT partner (Ben Parker) whose family will eventually produce the future Spiderman (Peter Parker). The original script had Cassandra involved in saving the unborn Spiderman from the nemesis who killed her mother. These rewrites explain why they built up the cast in the firehouse in the beginning but don't use them throughout the film.

Then 3 teens are added who need Cassandra's protection as her clairvoyant powers emerge and the talent of these young actors are wasted. The script is schizophrenic. It morphs from a superhero film to a horror flick during future flashes.

Instead of the wit & humor found in beloved superhero films, the writers give us a passenger who keeps asking Cassandra if he's on the right train. So many missed opportunities. While the 3 teens have sassy personalities, they're mostly used as midriff eye candy in the film. And when Dakota Johnson tries to climb her closet wall like a spider, this could have resulted in a good comedic pratfall but was missed.

Future flashes are handled clumsily. In the writer's desperate attempt to introduce futuristic tech, they have the nemesis acquire new facial recognition & aging software, access to city wide CCTV, control traffic lights and advance cell and Bluetooth technology.

Despite the writers' attempt to cobble together a script, there should have been more smart action and dialogue like in the ambulance scene towards the end where they throw off the nemesis using a charged defibrillator.

Love the ex-pat actors from Hallmark (Trevor Donovan & Merritt Patterson) but these GAF movies are super low budget and desperately in need of better dialog with very limited scenery. Even the Xmas decorations look cheap compared to the competition of Xmas movies from Hallmark, UPTV, Lifetime, etc. I devour Xmas and romance movies so I'm a conosseur of this genre and frankly after the first 15-20 min, I fast forward to the end and didn't miss much with this film.

I'm a big fan of the lead actors and the plots of their past Hallmark movies were way more complex and watchable compared to this GAF release. I know many actors moved to GAF to get production credit but obviously they didn't get script approval. This movie felt more like a low budget community stage production with a quickly written script than what I've grown to expect from other seasonal releases.

Fun film for mindless blow 'em up action, choreographed stunts and the cameos from Avenger co-stars. The plot is not too deep and predictable but provides a vehicle for the film.

Ana de Armas is great and definitely shows she's been training with the stunt crew. The cast that fills in for Evans' family at the farm and friends at the farmer's market try hard to give him a likable and lovable background but Evans has a hard time playing an everyday Joe and especially a rom-com lead. Outside of the Avengers, he was much better playing the psychotic killer Lloyd Hansen in The Gray Man or the Uncle of a child prodigy in the Gifted.

Evans could take a lesson from those Hallmark male actors on how to build chemistry and sell a relationship regardless of the dialog or the co-star. For half the film, Evans looks bored. There's a scene when Evans and Armas are in bed for the first time and he delivers a cheesy line and she slaps him hard on his naked chest. I wish Armas could slap Evans across the face every time he seems distracted.

Eventually Evans and Armas do show some chemistry but it's not until the end of the movie. Still it's worth a watch especially if you're a fan of Ana de Armas.

Wanted a romance but not the saccharin formula of a Hallmark movie. Saw STAY THE NIGHT had a good score on IMDB with an Asian lead and decided to give it a try. The sights and sounds of Toronto's night life is background as they hop around from bars, restaurants, hotels and airports.

Definitely the couple have good chemistry. They meet at a low point in both their lives and through the night, they get close, share raw topics, help each other and a friendship and romance develops. The little twists and turns make you want more and that's always a good sign. At the end, each character grows a little and they're left better off than if this chance encounter had never happened and you wonder, what would happen if there was a sequel.

With nothing to do during the Christmas holidays, a coffee shop owner who was left at the alter goes on a road trip with her widower customer in search of his long lost love from 50 years ago. Both characters eventually find their happily ever after with some bumps along the way.

I love Hallmark films. They're so positive in a world of Covid, political conflict and racism but at times I have to tolerate the mediocre acting and saccharine sweet writing. This film was a JOY not because of the plot but because of competent acting in a Hallmark film--an oxymoron! The female lead (Laura Vandervoot) and the supporting male lead (Harry Lennix) can really ACT and even everyday dialogue sounds believable coming from them. They ground the film in reality and provide touches of drama with uplifting notes. I would enjoy an entire film with just these two actors.

The rest of the cast as well as the male lead (Niall Matter) provide background. They are your typical goofy, grinning Hallmark support elves that are interchangeable between Hallmark films. They're all recognizable by their toothy grin and their slapstick style of acting.

I was looking forward to this film, John David Washington (JDW) and Alicia Vikander (AV)-- two A-list action stars--what's not to love!

Movie starts off with great promise. JDW and AV are on vacation in Greece and they're making love in bed. AV is playful but JDW seems to be having problems with his lines. I thought he was breaking up with her initially but he was just commenting on her loud orgasm--bad dialog delivery on his part. Within 15 min, they kill off AV's character in an auto accident and JDW has to carry the rest of the film on his own and he really needs help!!!

JDW sleepwalks through the rest of the film running away from a host of baddies who want him dead because his car crashed into a house where they were holding a kidnapped politician's son. Everyone is chasing JDW--local authorities, an American official at the US Embassy, etc... JDW has no facial expression at all. I didn't feel any empathy for his character even though he's being chased all over Greece and he's been shot, stabbed and beaten. I just kept wondering why he was so stiff and if the cast and sling was not just immobilizing his arm but his acting skills as well. In one train scene, a little girl staring at him stole the show because JDW couldn't express discomfort.

I looked back at his performance in Tenet and he's so much better without any physical handicaps even though his deliver is still deadpan. Without high tech gadgets and CGI to distract you as in Tenet, carrying Beckett requires some acting skills. They brought AV's lifeless body back towards the end to help but there's only so much a pretty corpse can do to salvage the movie. Too bad JDW didn't ask Michael Caine or his dad (Denzel Washington) for acting lessons before taking on this role.

Missing that blockbuster alien invasion, blow them up movie reminiscent of Independence Day with Will Smith? Well The Tomorrow War is the more low-key 2021 post Covid version with Chris Pratt that can be enjoyed on Amazon in the comfort of your large screen TV at home or even on your mobile devices. You'll cheer just as loud as you would in a movie theatre when the aliens are eventually defeated.

Has the classic storyline with alien reptiles who breed and overrun the earth with humans as their food supply. With only 500,000 humans left in 2051, a small platoon jump back to 2022 in a last ditch effort to recruit volunteers to jump into the future to fight for the extinction of the human race.

Volunteers are notified of their draft status via a text on their cell phone and to avoid a time paradox, the inscripted are typically over 40 and must have died before 2051. These ragtag recruits are untrained, few are fit for duty and only 1 in 5 survive the week long tour of duty. Their main incentive is to help the next generation before they die.

Great cast that can deliver dramatic dialog as well as comedic relief to lighten the doomsday plot. Grab some popcorn or better yet, order your favorite take out and release some endorphins this 4th of July weekend.

Love the chemistry between the two leads (Joshua Sasse and Mallory Jensen). They are so natural and it helps that they worked together for two seasons on Galavant and of course they're accomplished actors in their own right. Between the great food and location posted on social media, it was a memorable and fun reunion for these two and Galavant fans shared the news with others. Hallmark should take a note in pairing up other couples from cancelled shows to star in future productions. If the cancelled shows were popular and the actors have chemistry, they will bring their following to Hallmark--a Win-Win for all!

I did not read the book that this movie is based on (The Reincarnationist Paper). There are lots of negative reviews but I chose it for the action, stunts, special effects and high production value and it delivered in spades. Great CGI and high tech product placement (fold out phones, Ferraris, Aston Martin, retractable steering wheel, etc...). It's no Black Panther but some of the toys could have come from Wakanda.

You have to suspend your common sense. For example, Bathurst, the antagonist, wants to destroy the Earth because his reincarnations are painful for him but he could easily suspend his conscious on an SD card and stop reincanating via his Dethroner. He's already imprisoned 40% of the infinite population in this manner. Also why would anyone support finding Bathurst's Egg of destruction since releasing it means certain death for everyone and everything on Earth.

Give the movie a chance if you want mindless ACTION with good acting, stunts and fun high tech toys but don't expect the plot to make sense.

WARNING: Watch it if you're really bored and there are no other options.

This is a 2021 re-release of the 2009 rom-com, A Secret Promise. Explains why the clothes, hair styles and automobiles are so dated and why a flip phone is their idea of top of the line high tech.

Poor dialog, bad editing and mediocre acting makes this difficult to watch. Initially it has great visuals and a promising Harlequin romance storyline but it goes downhill pretty fast. Wished they had applied some of the formula writing and shooting used in romance films released by Hallmark or Lifetime. Instead it's a clumsy attempt at what could have been a decent rom-com.

High energy, high production value rom-com/Cuban telenovela set in glamorous/glitzy Miami. Story is based on a popular Israeli comedy. First episode shows lots of designer fashion, fancy restaurants, cameo of local chef, colorful Miami streetlife and architecture plus baking food scenes. Great fun and escapism while we're all stuck at home during shelter in place. Well written with strong supporting cast. Cuban family and girlfriend are hilarious and crazy funny. Nathalie Kelley is believable as a jet setting wealthy model/entrepreneur. Male lead (Victor Rasuk) and ex-boyfriend (Noah Mills) are a little stiff in pilot but enough chemistry there to sell the romance.

I usually love Hallmark movies but this one was a snoozer. The two female leads (Ashley and Lindsey) are pretty competent. Unfortunately almost every male character has been cast with subpar actors including the male lead (Kyle). There's absolutely no chemistry between the romantic leads and the film just suffers and drags.

Thought it was a documentary about Planned Parenthood but it's a propoganda hit piece against Planned Parenthood. It's the polite, smiling Pro Lifers against the big, bad Planned Parenthood who bullies employees and gives botched abortions. The Pro Lifers ultimately saves Abby (the protaganist) from the errors of her ways and returns her to her parents and husband's beliefs and morals. Don't watch it!

I really wanted to like this show but after only a few minutes, I wanted to switch to something else. Cheap special effects, stiff acting, lousy script, poor production value...need I say more. It was torture forcing myself to watch the full episode but I wanted to be fair before I wrote this review. Would be surprised if this isn't cancelled after just a few episodes.

Overacting and it's BAD. Everyone seems to try but it's like an amateur acting class and the plot and dialogue is ridiculous. By the way, the restaurant has the DOUBLE HAPPINESS Chinese symbol on the outside--it's hung upside down! Overall, a waste of viewing time.

If you loved Jon Favreau and Roy Choi's Chef (2014) movie, you'll love this 8 part cooking companion series. It replicates many of the dishes in the movie (Scarlett Johanssen's pasta aglio e olio, cubana sandwich, gourmet grilled cheese, chocolate lava cake, berries with caramel dust & whipped cream, Cafe Du Monde beignet). Guests include cast & crew from Chef & Jon's Hollywood and Marvel connection (Robert Downey Jr, Tom Holland, Gwyneth Paltrow, director Robert Rodriguez, Marvel Studio Pres. Kevin Feige). One episode honored the late LA food critic Jonathan Gold who helped expand Roy Choi's Kogi as well as Jitlada Thai restaurant. Chef David Chang puts in a guest appearance along with Pitmaster Aaron Franklin and the Atlanta staff of Holeman & Finch and The Optimist. As Roy and Jon cook, you get some great cooking tips and I love the animation that dissects the ingredients in each dish.