Reviews

I could have saved decades of self-inquiry if I had watched this earlier.

Male lead Rob Morrow excels as permanently grinning overzealous but naive angel apprentice struggling to make his first case love herself.

If you have ever doubted yourself or made yourself fail due to not believing in yourself this movie will boost your self-confidence.

The guardian angel character is so friendly it's almost unbearable but it's probably the normal state of mind of an angel arriving on Earth.

The film is family-friendly, there is no sex or violence so you can watch it all together. I did in April so it's not strictly a Christmas story or movie.

Just don't expect fancy special effects or uttermost drama. It's a slow paced character study that reflects insights of modern psychology.

It could be mistaken for a Hallmark or Christian movie and even though it will delight those audiences as well it's more a serious therapy type of movie dealing with childhood trauma. So don't expect cheap laughs either.

All in all a well spent evening and uplifting journey of self-discovery.

Given the hate comments here I decided to review it and give a star more to keep the balance. After all it's a low budget TV movie so 7 would suffice but given the sophisticated message 8 is fine as well.

So Mr. Right is a small budget "slice of life" indie type of movie.

There is no violence, death or drama. We just watch a relationship unfold despite some childhood trauma that has to be overcome first it seems.

In stark contrast we also witness the typical pitfalls of online and other types of casual dating.

Some of the worst disasters happen off screen and we just see the effects yet even those are not as exaggerated as in big screen Hollywood movies.

There is no over the top gay friend like in your usual romcom. There is a supportive coworker and best friend though.

These people feel authentic and even what they talk about does not sound scripted. It's not improvised either.

I was pleasantly surprised. I somehow expected something low level. True, it is a bit slow and there is no passionate love affair.

It's just an evolving relationship. More than enough for me in these frantic speed dating times.

So I wasn't sure what this movie is about. Given the title I somehow expected break dance.

Yes, we witness a dancer and her slowly but then quickly evolving dance career in what is considered hip hop dance these days.

Yet the dancing only forms the background of the story. The dance performances work almost like in a musical.

In contrast it is actually a sweet, relatable movie about the ephemeral nature of Internet fame and its effects on everyday life.

It's not a big budget blockbuster. It sometimes feels more like a TV movie. Yet there is always a "feel good" type of vibe about it that makes it warm and fuzzy.

We mostly watch Casey and her friends. Later we also follow her manager and how they navigate through the world of YouTube celebrity. Even the somehow "bad guys" are not dark characters but driven by the forces they attempt to ride.

So at the end of the day Breaking Thru (as the title was written here) asks the important questions.

What is more fitting, a "real job" or a passion? Who is really caring about you, your friends or your fans? What is the right thing to do when you want to combine both worlds? The answers are not always black and white.

I enjoyed watching this. There is no graphic violence and it wasn't just a long music video. At times it felt a bit indecisive, just like the lead.

Is this a dance movie or a relationship movie? It tries to be both and ends being 50/50, missing out a bit on both worlds.

In the society we live in we are never "good enough". There is always something we need to do, buy or fix to improve ourselves.

The young female protagonist of Good Enough has a good enough life yet she also feels that something is missing.

What is that she misses? It seems to be family. After her estranged dad dies she frantically attempts to find his brother to reunite with the family she did not know she even had.

Along the way and due to many failures she may find out something about herself as well. Maybe she will realize that she's good enough? Who knows.

This is a slowly developing indie about the search for yourself and who you are. Who are you? Do you know for sure?

Are you your name, family, relationship, job or whereabouts? Are you good enough? Maybe this movie will help you a bit. Do not expect anything spectacular though.

This is not a romantic comedy. It's just romantic! It's a delightfully sweet and nuanced love story with a lot of truth to it.

It might be a bit sugarcoated and very low budget but that does not make it less inspiring.

I really liked the depiction of a developing relationship of two people who weren't "planning to fall in love".

Indeed these two were not falling in love like teenagers and going crazy. They were slowly becoming more fond of each other until they realized that it was actually true love.

The two leads could be a bit more passionate about it and I'd like to have seen at least a few real street scenes as it allegedly played in Chicago - my favorite city in the US - but you can't have it all I guess.

Until recently I did not even know the term "toxic positivity" but this movie already dealt with it years ago.

It's a small budget indie but apparently ahead of its time.

We meet Charlie, an awkward loner and all out miserable person who is even afraid of dating women.

His friend wants to hook him up but instead he meets a super happy girl who wants to save him.

Due to her influence he embraces toxic positivity at the expense of his authentic self. His "realistic" friend wants to recover his old miserable self.

It's not really a romantic comedy but it has some funny and romantic moments. The psychological message is the main subject matter though.

If you liked "Just My Luck" you will like this one as well.

While at it you get served some deep insights into becoming a "whole" human being you'd need to read lots of books for otherwise.

Seemingly ageless French icon Sophie Marceau plays a woman who after raising two daughters looks for a fresh start in the US. As she's a movie director in her home country she chooses LA and Hollywood as her destination. Lisa also has a close friend there.

She wants to experience the places she's seen in her favorite movies and maybe relive some of the stories portrayed there.

You may have noticed by now that this is a semi-autobiographical movie depicting the life of the director of this very film.

So you won't be surprised that it's not just the typical Hollywood romcom made after a checklist from the studio. Indeed it seems to be combining the French way of making movies with some of the Hollywood standards.

Yes, we have some typical ingredients like the supportive gay friend and the obnoxious dates meant to make us cringe.

Yet almost at the beginning we get a u-turn where Lisa has to literally revisit her deeply troubled relationship with her parents. So we witness her reluctantly dealing with her childhood trauma both in the current time frame and in flashbacks.

This can be rather depressing, sad and triggering at times but when we wade through the difficult emotions with our protagonist we can also enjoy the shiny and (not always) happy encounters throughout the movie.

The somber undertone makes this movie less of a comedy. It's rather a fresh and uninhibited look at modern relationships. So if you're in it just for cheap laughs you might be disappointed.

We have some of the bizarre downsides of (online) dating here but they are shown in a realistic way so they are not really laughable due to their somewhat ridiculous nature. These are rather WTF moments.

Also if you don't like gay people being shown cross-dressing and kissing you will probably hate it.

I blame homophobia for the surprisingly low reviews. Apparently some "American patriots" were drawn in by the title just to realize that it is the open minded America people from outside the US love. If you hate truly American values like freedom of expression don't watch this.

If you are a healthy heterosexual man (like I am) - sorry for the outing - you may want to watch the movie just to see the lead's breasts! They are incredible. How on earth do they look so beautiful at that age without looking fake at all? I hope this is not just about CGI special effects.

Given that I Love America is just an Amazon Prime production and rather low budget compared to full-fledged Hollywood movies I was pleasantly surprised by the depth, uplifting message and overall enthusiasm of this little film.

The main drawback is that it's basically two films at once, one about dealing with childhood trauma and one about navigating the often strange realm of dating and (the lack of) relationships these days.

I had the impression that the movie was jumping back and forth all the time.

Each time you relaxed a bit there was another blast from the past. So I can't give "I Love America" a 9 or 10 like the "one time reviewers" reviews which look like mostly written by friends and team members.

I Love America is clearly better than your stereotypical Hollywood romcoms. It combines the best of two worlds, French filmmaking and tried out Hollywood concepts yet it could be more polished and have benefitted from a bigger budget IMHO. The editing and overall cinematography have suffered from this apparent lack of funds.

I hope to see more (American movies) of Sophie Marceau and writer-director Lisa Azuelos. This is indeed a fresh start.

Last but not least Sophie plays a woman of 50 who poses as 43 while in reality being 57 at time of filmmaking. I had to look that up to make sure. Why? She looks incredible. I should add "older women" to my online dating settings haha.

I was really hyped to see this movie, especially to see the multiverse visualization and it was the first film I wanted to watch in a cinema for years.

I also wanted to watch it on my birthday in an open air cinema but that didn't happen due to torrents of rain and I am glad. Why?

This movie celebrates naturalistic violence. It starts innocently enough depicting a realistic family facing all kinds of struggles, mostly about money and relationships.

Then it suddenly descends into graphic cruelty towards average people (think a tax officer, low level unarmed government building security or innocent bystanders).

If you enjoy average people viciously hit in the face, necks snapped and inflicting pain this one is for you.

I watched this with my date who was a victim of brutality (indeed her face was broken once) so I suggested to leave the cinema after 20 minutes or so as the graphic violence just got worse and worse.

We went home and had some intimate sex instead. That was the best part of the movie.

The multiverse idea is just used as an excuse to justify depictions of sadism and gore. The fact that this celebration of naturalistic violence received so many Oscars proves the poor state of our world and how numb audiences are who actually laugh about physical harm inflicted to their fellow human beings.

And don't think that I did not watch some Eastern type of movies in the past where supernatural fighters would fly and do kung fu in fantasy historical settings. This movie here is different in that people like me and you get hurt.

This movie takes the slogan "buy one get one free" to the extreme. It's basically two movies in one. First we have 55 minutes of a love story, which is nice, agreeable but somewhat superficial. I enjoyed it a bit but not too much. Either the characters were too shallow or the story too conventional or maybe I'm simply too old for that kind of "first love" movie.

I think there's just not enough passion or "chemistry" between the lead characters. You don't feel the love you are allegedly watching. The boy meets girl scenario works to some extent though so we are quite happy after they finally mate.

Yet at the happiest moment the movie literally flips the switch (here's it's the typical telephone call) and then drama ensues, tragedy strikes all over the place and we get lots of reasons to be sad delivered in fast succession. Or maybe it was just fast because I hit fast forward in those remaining 40 minutes.

It seems that after cutting the first 55 minutes the movie makers realized that they can't have a French film which is usually financed by the government deliver a happy message.

There must be something to learn from it, that life is hard and ends of with death so don't feel happy or you might lose it all. So better listen to what the government says because they keep you safe after all, don't they?

Or did the film maker decide that it would ruin his reputation to have a movie with a happy ending? No matter what the motivation was to add another completely different movie with the same characters to the love story: you can watch the first 55 minutes for free on Amazon and you don't have to buy the drama/tragedy meant to infuse sadness for another 40 minutes.

So I watched this because of Jake Johnson as I like him ever since New Girl. I wasn't disappointed. Not only does he re-assume his role as the slacker who does not live up to his potential with admirable effectiveness, the movie itself does deliver as well.

Of the main characters many evolve a lot during the few hours spent in that supermarket during a prolonged robbery and even though it could become claustrophobic the character development keeps us engaged. The crime story is only a catalyst for the self improvement theme of the movie.

This is one of those low budget indies that outshine mainstream productions by having a heart, mind, and soul.

An ambitious albeit a bit amateurish movie about death, populated by awkward characters. Not for everybody, just a specific type of audience, not sure I'm part of it. I watched till the end though.

So if you like quirky indie movies and do not shy away from difficult topics you may want to watch it. There is a love story in it, which besides the unique background of the girl (you may be surprised by that one unless you read a summary or something) is relatively sweet and innocent, but sadly doomed by time-constraints.

Some scenes look literally staged though and some of the supporting characters seem to be utterly redundant (the boss, the nerd friend) as they do not really intertwine with the main story. So when watching them act you may wonder why you witness their antics really. Especially the boss is merely annoying most of the time. I wasn't sure. Maybe I was too sick myself while watching this movie and expected something more uplifting. The message seems to be there but it was a bit too bland to finally arrive at it.

Well done indie movie. A bit of a slow start but offering a lot of character development. Also a touching family story. At first I was a bit annoyed by the leads but over time I understood where they are coming from.

Both Warren and his weirdo father struggle with lost love and careers and try to return to the past until both finally overcome it in their own ways. It's a realistic movie with depictions of real emotions.

We can't truly relate though as there is always something off-putting about them. We are kept at a distance. We are not meant to identify with the characters like in Hollywood movies. That's a bit of a drawback. This way the movie does not really move us as much as it could.

I started appreciating Justin Long only recently after watching such intriguing movies like The Wave or Comet. He tends to play the rather timid and awkward guys and here he's at it again - to the extreme. This is probably the main reason why so many people dislike this movie.

Adam - the main character in Literally, Right Before Aaron is not likeable at all.

He's needy, sneaky, dishonest, literally fidgeting and not living up to his potential. He gets pushed around by his alpha male boss and even the hotel clerk pities and ridicules him.

You need a lot of compassion to be able to stand watching him. Add to it the rose colored nostalgia he views his former relationship to Allison - his ex of many years - with and the story may elicit pity.

As the movie continues the character study shows that there is no development. Adam instead clings to his ex or rather his imagined version of her increasingly.

Some potentially hilarious situations ensue due to the unlikely circumstances he finds himself in (being the guest of his ex and her new partner). I have to admit I laughed a few times at the wrong moments probably.

Will Adam finally give in to Aaron or live to his potential or will he further deteriorate into despair? Make sure to watch till the end.

Just seeing all the kinds of gestures and face expressions showing the multiple ways (lost) love makes you suffer is worth it. Justin Long can show more emotions on his face alone than a whole ensemble of actors.

I wish I had watched this movie on another day. The evening I did I was already quite disconcerted due to a plethora of issues including a pesky cold so that it was an additional downer. Why?

Christina Ricci plays a single mother struggling with her life throughout the movie. It's a very realistic depiction of common struggles indeed so if you have enough of them already you may want to watch something else.

Not only do we witness lots of messy relationships including the one night stand turned dating, turned relationship by the two leads.

We also watch vulnerable, immature or selfish people making mistakes and witness friends and family who often do not offer the kind of support that would be needed in such situations.

So it's a hard watch at times and not very uplifting most of the time. It's rather the sad truth about messy relationships but well played and relatable. Watch it when you're feeling fine and you will learn a lot in the best case.

Don't expect romance or comedy though. It's more like an art house movie a la "Scenes of a Marriage".

By using the metaphor of invisibility this movie is depicting the common ways of dealing with childhood trauma and neglect.

If you live a perfect life and expect a martial arts or superhero pop corn flick this is not for you.

When you face problems like most of us and often struggle with dealing with them or don't even realize that you use the wrong ways to do so (aggression, chasing fame, withdrawal etc.) you will find this movie useful.

There are many relatable characters facing issues of fear, egoism, unworthiness etc. You might be able to learn from.

The biggest pet peeve with Above the Shadows is that the message is literally narrated in a Captain Obvious way. It is too often spelled out so that when you prefer to think for yourself you may feel like a kid spoken to by a teacher. Sadly we did not have psychology lessons in school though.

The brutality of the fighting scenes was also not necessary for the plot IMHO. Women will love the display of muscular male bodies though.

Fantasy is usually a genre full of stories about witches and magic that are made for adult children. It's OK to be entertained but not for in many cases.

"A Rough Draft" is different and highly intriguing. It's more albeit loosely based on the multiverse theory of innumerable parallel universes.

There is a roughly sketched love story and some spare action added to it for the general audiences. You will recognize some Matrix references e.g,

Apart of that it's a metaphorical exploration of history and philosophy from a unique Russian point of view. I was born in Poland and live in Germany so I can relate to it but American audiences may have some difficulties deciphering some hidden meanings.

I have read the books (the movie is based on book one of two) and devoured both of them a few years ago so I was delighted to find out that there is a film. Seeing the many negative reviews I got discouraged from viewing it at first.

Luckily I've read the reviews finally and understood that most people don't get that movie. It's relatively complex and does not explain everything like a Disney pop-corn flick would. Also the ending is quite open (because it's only based on the first book).

As mentioned above the love story is superficial and the action is half-hearted but if you come for the quest for identity in a rapidly changing world and the question of what would happen if Hitler hadn't started WWII among others you are in the right place. The alternative worlds are very convincing for sure. I wish they had shown even more of them. One of them is perfect for Steampunk lovers.

The German version of the book is called Worldestrian btw. - a mix of world and pedestrian - because the guy can literally walk from one reality to another.

The second part is called Worldreamer in German. That's an even better match for the story as Cyrill literally dreams up the worlds he visits.

Many of use have probably experienced the "trance of unworthiness" as popular Buddhist teacher Tara Brach calls the phenomenon of feeling "not good enough".

Irish farmer Anthony is a particularly strong case of this typical misguided conviction.

Wild Mountain Thyme is not "wildly romantic" as the plot summary suggests. It's rather a neurotic dramedy than a romantic comedy.

Rosemary, played by the both strong and beautiful Emily Blunt, struggles through the whole movie to convince the unworthy feeling guy to love her. This is really cringe-worthy sometimes as Anthony would rather give her up and stay unhappy as he is despite the wonderful scenery and prospects of having such a wife. On other occasions he does not manage to get his act together when actually trying to win her over.

At the end the movie becomes more of a thriller. Will the successful braggart from New York get Rosemary and the land or will Anthony finally "man up" and face his emotions and shortcomings fully to let go of his low self-esteem?

Besides that we see some heart-wrenching family stories unfolding so you may want to keep some handkerchiefs within reach.

All in all this is a movie about unworthiness or how (not) to deal with it. If you're looking for a standard romcom this movie is not for you. Do you enjoy beautiful landscapes, Irish folklore, self-discovery and emotional well-being? This is a good choice then.

What if life was just a game? Is there a way to win it? We're presented with many ways people use to win or cheat. We see money, love, violence, work, help, drugs as means of trying to play the game of life.

Yet there is even a better one. You can see through the game and win by stopping to play by the rules. It's not as easy as it sounds though. Yet it could literally save the world.

This is a low budget movie and there is no main character really, or the main characters are not the ones we expect. Also we see the people in a neutral way. We do not empathize too much with them even though we witness all kinds of suffering.

This is probably why I can't give Café a 10. Maybe I'm just nagging. Take note though: it's not a romantic comedy. It's somehow dramatic, tragic and deeply moving on a philosophical level. You have also to listen very closely to the dialogue to get the profound messages that the movie is full of.

I'm really glad I watched this beautiful little independent movie about acceptance, being accepted but also accepting yourself and your life circumstances no matter what they are.

If you ever felt lonely, unloved, different, weird or ashamed this movie is for you.

It's also somewhat romantic, funny and and very well played on top of that. Carrie Ann Moss excels as the therapist.

The movie is not fast and furious though, it's slow and compassionate. So don't expect action or drama, just accurate character depiction and development. Kudos for the attention to detail from start to finish.

When I first read On the Road during college as part of a list of masterpieces of American literature I wasn't that impressed. Driving around the country for no apparent reason seemed to be fun to some extent but not worth the effort. Maybe it was just that I was already too old (mid to late twenties) and my early phase of youthful rebellion was over.

When I watched the movie after it first came out I was even more disappointed and only memorized the rather demeaning scenes., especially those at the end. I felt that the book was far more celebrating life and full of energy while the movie was rather lifeless and somewhat sad.

Now that I am almost done re-reading On the Road like 20+ years later I can better appreciate both book and movie. I'm still not a full-fledged fan of both but they are certainly more impressive now that I'm not young anymore. Some things are simply taken for granted when you are while they aren't later. Both book and movie are about freedom. The lead characters do what they want despite lack of money, purpose or a liberal political climate. Both book and movie show that pretty well.

The main difference between the book and the movie is that the book by Kerouac is a manifesto of the lifestyle described in it while the movie is a critique of it. You get a lot of finger-pointing between the lines. Similarly to The Doors movie and Into the Wild the attempt of turning against the majority-approved American way of life has to fail. Mainstream Hollywood apparently introduced reactionary politics into the story to warn the youth of the negative effects of a "too free" lifestyle. Even the wildly sexual Marylou just wants to have a baby and stay at home. That's not at all what she does in the book.

The movie is often a very accurate depiction of the late forties and early fifties. The cars, the jazz, the poverty, the conservative atmosphere of that era, the analogue lifestyle are really taking us back in time. When you know the book and can spot the reactionary intrusions you will be able to enjoy it. Just ignore them. Watch the movie as the original story was intended, as a sex, drugs and rock'n'roll before it was cool inspirational piece created by by the avant-garde of the original hipsters, not the Apple branded consumerist ones of today. Dean and Sal were probably even experiencing the first stages spiritual awakening!

First off this is a very low budget movie, even among indies so you have to be fine with that to watch it. The acting is very nuanced, especially from the lead character.

The sci-fi background story is just a means to explain the alienation the people "from the future" face.

Said that it's a hard watch. I almost turned it off a few times. Why? It's too arthouse in its bland and depressing depiction of dire problems.

The situation starts as bad and gets worse. The silver linings turn out to be mirages. Life is hard and this movie is very realistic about it. So in case you are down already watch something else more uplifting.

In case you're mentally stable and open minded there are many lessons to learn from this. I just wish they made them less painful. It's a character study for the heroic viewer.

This is a harmless feel-good movie for you and your loved ones to laugh and cry. It's just a bit over the top as you might expect from Adam Sandler but not too embarrassing.

The perfect movie to watch when you had a bad day, month or decade. It's of course stereotypical and predictable but in a positive sense.

Also kudos for the depiction of Africa without the usual neo-colonial poverty, crime and war focus. Yes, Africa can be fun too even when Eddie Murphy is not on set.

So watch it with our kids or partners but don't expect an Oscar performance.

This is a great Polish RomCom with happy ending and mostly first world problems.

We witness some young urban professionals dealing with the pitfalls of love and market competition at the same time. It's entertaining albeit on a superficial level.

Nobody gets hurt, beaten or killed so you can even watch it with your kids.

Of course it is utterly mainstream and has some unique and quirky Polish oddities. If you're from Poland you will love it, especially as it is one of the few Polish movies you can watch abroad at all.

If you are looking for a lighthearted movie to spend the evening with you can risk this despite the negative rating.

If you are looking for an arthouse movie with lots of suffering you better don't watch this. There is also no suspense as it is very predictable but it's a pleasure to watch the many twists until the end we predicted finally arrives.

This is indeed one of the best parkour movies with some unnecessary violence added to it for the main stream audience.

I watched it for the parkour and was happy to see some very well choreographed chases and runs along with a good introduction into the intricacies of parkour or how to learn it.

The overall story also makes sense and Taylor Lautner embodies the main character convincingly. The love story does not work that well - there is no real passion visible but that can be explained by the plot.

As with most other parkour movies some crime and violence elements have been added to suit the blood thirsty main stream audience. I loathed those depictions of unnecessary violence. The criminal activities created some thrill and were a good excuse for more jumping and running.

Average people consider parkour to be dangerous and a crime so sadly the movies fits that stereotype.