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Reviews
Inside Amy Schumer (2013)
funny but no laughing
off and on over the last 2 seasons and season 3's premiere, I've watched Schumer's show.
it's a lot like the daily show, McFarlane's family guy and NPR's wait wait don't tell me and what-do-you-know. I understand the moment of humor, the punchline, but I don't laugh.
I get Schumer's vulgarity, profanity, attempt to shock, and feminism. she's gotta sell a show to comedy central.
I laugh at modern family, sirens, Schitt's creek, British office, parks and recreation, Seinfeld, letterman, mike & molly, big bang theory, the Goldbergs, 30-rock, and Frasier.
It Follows (2014)
over-hyped
Hopefully, no spoilers.
After reading and hearing of national and local hype, I saw It Follows March 31's afternoon. Glad it was at matinée price. About 20 minutes in, I contemplated asking for a refund but kept thinking "it'll get better." Never got better. Too late for asking for a refund.
Scares without gore. Moody. A slow burn. Carpenter-esque. An intellectual horror movie. The bad guy could show up at anytime and the characters and viewers would never know we were with the bad guy. Heavy on 70s and 80s synthesized music. That was the hype.
Discounting the scares, more like that was the truth rather than the hype. Generally speaking and because I enjoy horror/thriller, I want to be scared w/o or w/gore. Does not matter. I saw the scares w/o gore but the scenes were not scary.
The first Paranormal Activity was scary w/o gore.
The Rover (2014)
I don't get it
With a some interest based on critics' and internet buzz I saw The Rover June 21's afternoon. I don't get it. Basically, it's a story of guy (Guy Pearce's character) seeking his car because it was stolen by a trio of bad guys that committed an unknown crime prior to the car's theft.
Explanations are missing: no story for the earth's and humans' condition, Guy Pearce's character, and the trio of bad guys' crime prior to the car's theft. Maybe I'm an intellectually inferior movie-goer??? Give me a decent story, please......
I stuck out the entire movie thinking the plot would've been explained. Glad I paid matinée price......................
This Is the End (2013)
Big Disappointment
*********NO SPOILERS****** An explanation as why no spoilers later in this review.
June 22's afternoon, I saw 'This Is The End' with an 80%-full theater; a mix of young and old people. Within the first 25 minutes, 80% dwindled to 60%; people leaving the theater. Nobody was laughing. I stayed for the entire movie with the hope of 'This' getting funny. But it never did.
Everybody understood the punchlines and physical humor but barely anybody laughed. Prior to watching, I had read/heard only good reviews. The good reviews stimulated me to see 'This.' 1 out of 10. Big disappointment. Save your money and time. ****No spoilers because there was not any scenes worth remembering and writing about..................
The Hangover Part III (2013)
a waste; a big disappointment
i saw hangover III may 25 and was sadly disappointed. i laughed twice; once at the scene after the credits. don't remember the first occasion of laughter.
III's after-credits scene was reminiscent of hangover I. III needed more scenes during III like the after-credits scene in III. make sense? director phillips filmed the best scene for after-credits. i feel like my money paid for the after-credits scene.......
chow's character was drastically more prevalent in III but 'a little goes a long way' in I and chow grew to be annoying in III. if the writers, director, and actor meant for chow to be annoying, then it worked.
Overall, III is a BIG DISAPPOINTMENT. If you really believe you must see III, wait for it to move to a second-run/discount theater.
Catfish (2010)
piece of $#&!
warning: don't spend time or money on this movie. i'd really like to select a '0' on the voting scale of 1-10. maybe a negative number would be more appropriate. saw 'catfish' oct 9's a.m. at a matinée price.
it's marketing hype: "the best Hitchcock movie not directed by Hitchcock." honestly, that's what drew me. i expected a big surprise, twist ending that you'd see in a Hitchcock or Shyamalan movie. some "oh, crap" or "what did i just see?" moment. even if somebody else pays your ticket, don't go. don't subject yourself and your benefactor to this piece of $#&!. you can't have your time back even if money is paid out...........
maybe the marketers of 'catfish' can be hired by the obama administration for selling it's socialistic tendencies.............
Dinner for Schmucks (2010)
Was Okay
Saw Schmucks Aug 1's afternoon. It was not a constant laugh-out-load fest. Was hoping for another "The Hangover"-type movie. Overall, the humor was subtle and mostly verbal.
The best characters were Clement's Keiran and Thurman played by Zach G. Keiran's egotism was hilarious. It's subtle, non-wacky humor. Thurman's delusion of being a mind-controller was funny, too. I could see Thurman as the lead character in his own movie..........
I did not buy the premise that Carrell's character was an idiot/schmuck. Carrell did a good job with what he had. Carrell's character was educated/smart enough to be an IRS auditor. Carrell's character had enough social maturity & skills to be married at one time in the character's life, too. I guess the character was a schmuck because he made 'mouster-pieces.' Maybe Carrell should stay on 'The Office?' Maybe he should do dramatic roles like the suicidal professor in 'Little Miss Sunshine?' Carrell is good when he's got good material. Carrell's 'Schmucks' character just was hard to buy............
5 out of 10.
Cyrus (2010)
bland and shaky camera
saw cyrus july 18's morning. lots of unnecessary close-ups. although, i liked the close-ups of marisa tomei. shaky camera work; similar to bochco's 'nypd blue.' was getting queasy at times. come on, directors, hold the camera still for a little while..........
i kept hoping i'd laugh. other reviewers said this a comedy or had a few comedic moments. i never laughed. nice change to see jonah hill play a non-hyper character. (i always associate hill with the horny, hyper teenager in 'superbad.') a guy looking like john c. reilly hooking up with a gal like tomei or have a gal looking like catherine keener be his ex-wife? very unlikely. if movies were real life, i'd be married by now. that's why movies are fiction.........
overall 1.5 stars out of 5. wait for the discount, second run theater.............
Laid to Rest (2009)
Good movie
rented laid to rest nov 15's afternoon from blockbuster. i was surprised about the quality of this slasher.
very good kills: cindy's kill in her house's window, cindy's brother in the passenger window of his car, and the fix-a-flat kill of sean whalen's character were cool...........
tucker was a good hero. have enjoyed kevin gage in other movies, too.
menacing killer; especially the camera on his shoulder and the shiny, large knife. camera was a good illustration of our voyeuristic society. wish we could've had a backstory/motivation for chromeskull. maybe director is working on a prequel?? show relationship between lynch's mortician and chromeskull...
Deadgirl (2008)
tell us about deadgirl?
rented deadgirl nov 15's afternoon along with another, better horror movie, laid to rest. rented deadgirl based on a lot of positive reviews from various print and electronic sources. big disappointment, in my opinion.
while watching deadgirl, i kept thinking/hoping, we get some backstory about the deadgirl. who was she? her connection to the abandoned hospital? how did she die?
the teenage boys and their behavior was nothing new. if the actors were trying to be annoying and stupid, they accomplished their goals.... the lead characters were the most annoying. kudos to them. i mean, they were thinking with the smaller heads...........
The Girlfriend Experience (2009)
Could not take it after 20 minutes
rented girlfriend exp (and 2 others) from Blockbuster Nov 15's afternoon after reading rave reviews from all media sources. was curious to see how a porn actress would act in a non-porn movie. gray's voice-over was bland; like she was reading her lines rather than speaking and emoting them. her non-voice over work was just as bad or worse.
it was shot almost like a documentary, i noticed. i've sat through very boring documentaries that were way more interesting than the girlfriend exp.
i turned girlfriend exp off at the 20 (or so) minute mark. kept waiting for something to happen. very boring...........
other two rented movies were horror movies and much better. girlfriend exp was horrible.