Reviews

The show involves the main character, Matilda, as she attempts to uncover her mysterious past. The trigger is the death of her own mother through a rather gruesome suicide. The mysteries build once she travels to the village of her suspected childhood. As the last episode arrives, one hopes for answers to all the mysteries. But what you are left with is more questions along with few answers to the earlier ones. Why did she...., how did she..., why did he...., how could that happen....? So many unanswered answers and improbable actions. A very frustrating experience having stuck with all episodes only to be left with nothing in the end. 4 stars for the previous 5 episodes but man, they really screwed the pooch on episode 6.

I know, I know. Wes Anderson is known for his quirkiness but this film is all quirk and zero story. You can only stare at super-saturated clever camera shots for so long without any coherent story and this was way too long. Everyone speaks in rapid monotones as if they were doing a Dragnet episode on speed. All saying meaningless dialogue that I guess, if said fast enough, is supposed to be funny. A vast array of famous actors gathered together to indulge in a great work of nothingness but probably all enjoying themselves while acting silly for probably a nice paycheck. I kept waiting for something to actually happen in the story but it continues with pointlessness to the end where it just fizzles out. You know how the Coen brothers do clever, quirky films with distinctive camera shots? This appears to want to be that but without any story at all. Three stars for the pretty colors.

Maybe my beef with this movie was the way it was marketed. It was sold as a "hilarious" comedy and the trailer features ALL the mildly humorous lines in the entire movie. Netflix even puts it in their comedy category. What this movie really is, is a presentation of two individuals with an unrelenting need to have a child but waited beyond their best reproductive years to do so. This drive takes them through endless gauntlets of expensive high-tech medical procedures, adoption applications,hiring surrogates...it is exhaustive watching two people with no other goals their in life but to reproduce. One thing it definitely isn't is funny. It's actually quite sad. And just when you think that maybe they are starting to realize just how destructive this addiction is, they dive right back into it again. The acting is excellent by all. The dialogue is a bit unrealistic at times, maybe a touch of Woody Allen but without the funny. Everyone speaks so well but are dumb as posts when it comes to this baby drive. If you want to spend 2 hours being depressed with maybe some forehead slapping anger thrown in, go ahead, but don't say I didn't warn you.

The first two seasons were beautifully written and acted and by the end of season two, we had seen the evolution of the Gervais character from depressed, suicidal man to seeing the light. He was finally embracing life, finding comfort in friends and ready to again, be part of the world. Season three is a total reset of the show with a doubling down on his depression, pissing on the people that helped him before and a large number of side stories encompassing an endless series of offensive sexual jokes that often miss the target. Why did Gervais not continue the growth of the character in S3 rather than do a complete reset as if nothing had ever happened in the first two? Why not more embracing of life, more joy of being alive instead of every show having the character buried in his grief watching a seemingly infinite supply of old recordings of his dead wife. He must have recorded every waking moment of his life with her and he was a bit of an ass even then. Season 1 and 2 get an 8 rating but season 3 moved the needle down to 5. Netflix must have asked for season 3 after he thought it was done so he just started over again.

The story of two psychotic parents, both are so self-centered that most times, they fail to even remember they have a son. The son, of course, is permanently damaged from the actions of these two. When they aren't seeking some sort of revenge on each other, the parents swear their love for the child. These two main characters are surrounded by a cast of people also with their own issues. The title character actually has a job treating other people which is scary in itself. She should have had her license lifted for her instability. The husband is a serial liar but somehow, as despicable as his actions are, they don't come close to the pure evil bitterness and vengeful self-absorption of the mentally ill doctor. I'm really not sure what the writers were trying to say with this show. There are no characters to identify with(unless your own life is also a freak-show), no characters you have any sort of sympathy towards, except, perhaps, the son and the husband's second wife. I watched the whole mess so I tip my hat to the writers who kept me stringing along waiting to see just how it would end. Lets just say the doctor still needs to seek psychiatric care. She's as delusional as ever.

What begins with tales right from Scotty Bower's fantastic Full Service memoir quickly turns into a fantasy based little upon reality. By the last episode, the train has run so far off the tracks, you begin to question if this is the Sci-fi channel you're watching. No longer situated anywhere near the real world, it is more a fantasy where all those nasty things like gender bias, racism, struggle, don't exist or even if they appear, it vanishes with the click of the heels. I was laughing at the end as we fully escaped planet earth. Nice production values throughout.

While the reviewer, Deager, has beautifully summed up this film (and I recommend reading it), I would just add that this film is pure mental masturbation for the writer/director. Two more uninteresting characters could not be conjured even from the mind of a corpse. You truly wouldn't care if they vanished mid-way through this film. Staring at the various exterior shots of tree tops throughout this film would be more interesting. As a poke in the eyes of the viewers who manage to make it to the end, the lead character is actually making an equally tedious film that we are supposed to believe is deep art. Ignore the critic reviews because this emperor has no clothes OR skin. Update: Ladies and Gentlemen, I just finished watching Lucky with Harry Dean Stanton and more happens within the first 3 minutes than happens in all of The Souvenir. AND it is better directed, better acted, has characters we actually care about and expresses emotion. It makes me hate The Souvenir and it's ice cold, emotionless, drivel with dept. store mannequins for characters even MORE. That they are making a part two of Souvenir is astounding. Who was stupid enough to back a second helping of emptiness?

Not clever enough for David Lynch as some have referenced. More like Friday the 13th on drugs. Really just a hodge-podge of 80's slasher/Clive Barker and throw in a dash of The Trip. A little borrowed from Evil Dead but without any sense of humor. Much makes no sense but if people talk really slowly with serious expressions, you're supposed to read deep meaning into it all. Everything moves very slowly with endless closeups of drugged or enraged faces. You could run this at double speed and it would still be slow. Plenty of blood, though, if that's what you crave.

What if Neil Simon were to write a story about a really ticked off guy but forgot to add any humor. This might be the answer. Stilted dialogue that doesn't resemble real life--made more for broad-gesturing stage actors, characters that kind of represent real people, but not really and a story to match. It's a shame because there are a lot of good actors here. Some like James Earl Jones and Mellissa Leo are just wasted in this. Robin Williams plays the angry man of the title and remains so throughout the film with a touch of remorse near the end, but by that point, you want him to die. Kunis is almost an emotional doppleganger of William's character, annoying but not quite to William's depth. I actually prefer Robin Williams as a serious actor more than his comedic roles but in this, he was just an unrelenting a-hole. We're supposed to feel sorry for the guy because of a past tragedy but, most people, even with a burden such as his, would be able to find a little humanity in others. The very end of the film is cringe-worthy. Some may like this film, mistaking it for powerful drama rather than contrived sausage.

I read through the various reviews and it would appear that many either hated this film or thought it a brilliant piece of avant garde comedy. I decided to give it a try and I'm afraid to say that the title appears to refer to the film itself and not the character, as intended. I understand what the writing team of director(Bravo) and main actor(Gelman) were trying to do but they failed miserably in their attempt to make a "squirmy" comedy. I enjoy the uncomfortable type of comedy a la Ricky Gervais but this film never finds the humor in any of the contrived situations. The main character (Brett Gelman) is someone who, in real life, would never be able to function in the world. He is shooting for a socially awkward person but instead, has created a vile, spiteful, and completely dysfunctional man-child that leaves no opening to like in any way. A person who cannot perform the smallest of social skills would not have been hired as a drama professor in any college. We are supposed to believe that a beautiful and apparently sweet, normal woman (Nia Long) would go out with this man who appears to have just landed from Mars, THEN consent to another date after a clearly failed first meeting AND then invite him to her meet the family (in a rather sadly stereo-typed gathering). To drive home the point that this person is a "lemon", he is married to a blind woman who will not allow him to touch her and dates other men---it's so funny(no, it's not). There is a gathering of the Lemon's siblings at the parent's home and, again, no humor ensues. I could not tell if there was even a script for these scenes or if the actors told to just improvise. The film is just a conglomeration of contrived, solemn scenes that, I suppose, certain hipsters are interpreting as cutting edge comedy. It's so funny because it's not. Get it? What's really sad is that there is a large cast of talented people(the reason for 2 stars) and all are given absolutely nothing to do but swim through this muck.

This film smells of college film project but with even less production value. Characters (the director's frat brothers?) reciting their scripts, "CGI" made on a phone. It's supposed to be in the future but in one scene, there is a cathode ray tube TV in the kitchen. When was the last time anyone was broadcasting analog TV? I'll tell you. 2009. So, even though this video, oops, I mean film was released in 2016, it's almost a decade older. I got worried when I saw two promos at the head of this dvd of other awful features by this company, neither of which I could finish. I looked up Summerhill Entertainment and it seems they take your film and distribute it for you. I suspect that this was a project put together by these fellows, and then they paid to have it put out on dvd. Sorry guys, but you should have kept your money and spent it on a trip to the Caribbean instead. A classic, it ain't.

I see that some of the reviews say the film has great atmosphere. I guess that's what you call taking very long pauses before delivering lines and taking long camera strolls down steps and hallways. If an ominous soundtrack is added behind that, you're given the feeling that something scary is happening when really, most of the time, nothing is happening. The acting was quite good with lead character, Shipka, doing a smashing job of playing someone who isn't quite all there. The ending leaves one scratching the head. Is it a response to loneliness or regret or awareness? Unsatisfying. While better than your average slasher flick, it is not the "horror masterpiece" that was promised on the cover of the DVD case.

I can only surmise that the entire cast, crew and family members involved with this film were the 40 votes of 10 stars because I defy anyone to get through more than 30 minutes of this film without reaching for the off button on the TV. The dialogue is unrealistic, forced and delivered in a stilted manner. The direction is lacking any creativity. The entire movie consists of two shots of characters delivering that stiff dialogue interspersed with extreme close-ups, sometimes at odd unflattering angles. Close-up, two-shot, close-up, two-shot...all flatly lit. Nary an interesting visual to be found. You'll have the entire story figured out in about 10 minutes. Really. Don't believe the ratings. Even if all other movies suddenly vanished from the earth, this would still not be a 10...or a 5.

A film for pre-schoolers only. The character animation is a crude with the characters (human and fly) lacking fluidity or definition. They look and move more like articulated plastic puppets. Nice background and hardware rendering. I didn't watch the 3D version which appears to have had a lot of nice depth effects to take your mind off of the very weak storyline chocked full of filler. Inexplicably, the real Buzz Aldrin appears at the end to say flies did not actually go to the moon as if someone was mistaking this for fact. Or maybe he was there to remind people that we actually did go to the moon long ago. Let's hope they paid him well.

The main character of this film is probably the vilest character I have witnessed in a long time on screen. Worse than any classic villain, this character is like a cockroach that can't be stopped in her pursuit of a fictional treasure that her sad confused mind has created. Our "hero" lives a tragic life working in a job with apparently little demands that she still can't rise above. She cannot separate reality from film and believes that a treasure buried in a scene from Fargo is truth. She sets out on a journey to find the treasure and in the process, steals from her employer, lies, steals from a motel, steals from a policeman trying to help her, steals from a deaf cab driver. Her only meals come from those trying to aid a lost soul and she steals from them. She is a slug that takes from anything that crosses her path as she continues on a wasted effort. At least most film villains have evil plans to justify their actions and can think out those plans. This character has nothing going on in her mind but a box of money that keeps her walking like that cockroach that knows a crumb is across the kitchen floor. She is sad, unlikeable, thoughtless, self-centered and just plain dumb. I gave it five stars because the film makers did get me to stay with it to the end to see if she gets her crumb.

What we have here is a imaginative, visually stunning feast for the eyes overlayed upon a rather boiler-plate story. The Mexican imagery is lush, detailed, colorful and while that is enough for a time, it does fatigue when there is nothing compelling behind it. The music is, strangely and sadly, American pop tunes spiced up with a little accordian or guitar to remind us this is supposed to be Mexico. Why not have the characters sing some really beautiful Mexican ballads? As for that story, it's a weak re-hash of pretty much every animated and super-hero film you've seen in the last few years. Good guy must triumph against all odds and achieve the goal, in this case, winning the girl, and is thwarted along the way by the super-evil character. You could actually watch this with the sound off and just enjoy the visuals and still understand the story.

This feature has the feel of one of those quirky indie films but with is done using big name actors. The highly improbable situations and the contrived dialogue are to be found only in the movie universe. It centers around a family who has gathered together to mourn the death of their father at the behest of their mother, Fonda. Each family member is dealing with their own personal dilemma that gets a public airing during the gathering. The most interesting of the situations is the budding romance between Bateman and Byrne. Probably most of the other stories could have been excised in favor of developing this one more. Situations like the brothers meeting in a class room at the synagogue during the funeral service to smoke pot are the kind that are pure movie-land and not based in what is most people's reality. They set off the sprinkler system and probably create thousands of dollars in damages while they chuckle about it all and humiliate the rabbi after that as a cherry on top. There is a scene at the end where Fonda defuses a fight by revealing something that makes absolutely ZERO sense and seems to be thrown in by the writer because he wanted to see just how far from reality he could stray without an objection by the producers. Silly plot lines like what is found here are what I guess people think is "edgy" and "bold". It's really just stupid and easy because real life situations are more difficult to write.

I usually write reviews of the movies I dislike as warnings to those about to view them but this time, I thought this small film should get some credit and hopefully encourage a few out there to see it. The writer/director has really nailed the complexities and emotional confusions that arise from relationships and how we really tip toe around what we really want or mean. Some people can express their needs and feelings more openly but it's always uncomfortable when the two aren't on the same wavelength or even know what they want. This is all expressed so well in this film. I read that some have said that nothing happens in this film. I'd say they weren't looking very deeply or are perhaps less in touch with themselves to have missed that there is so very much going on. Of course, if you are looking for the staged emotional rides of many rom-coms or perhaps want a riotous action comedy this is not for you. The acting is excellent all around and the director does an excellent job of piecing together the steps that lead the characters to their particular destinations, which don't always work out in storybook fashion. Sit back, relax and enjoy a film that encourages you to get into the character's heads and wonder how you would respond in their situations.

If Garry Marshall were to make a Spanish movie, this would be it. It is filled with those kind of stereo-typed characters that only exist in movies and TV shows. We have the aunt that smokes cigarettes while requiring an oxygen tank (it's supposed to be funny, don't ya know). The slow-adult that spouts words of wisdom that are supposed to makes us all sigh at his deepness unencumbered by thought. There's the little girl who is smarter than her father (isn't she just so precious). Each character is once removed from reality and each is dealing with their own particular problems which are all neatly resolved at the end. All this against the backdrop of a wedding, which itself is against the backdrop of the world cup. It's all cute and entertaining to a degree but really never fully engages you because you always know it's not real and could never be. Like watching a TV sitcom. For example, a wedding procession which occurs early in the film introduces many of the characters by having them dancing down the isle. It is preparing you for what is to come and it will make you squirm.

Are there producers out there looking for films to create tax write-offs? I believe the answer is yes, because I've found a clear example of one. There is no other explanation for how this got funded. It's more of a high school film project but without the creativity. The direction is of the school of "point-and-shoot". The film is supposed to be a combination of humor and horror. The humor(if you want to call it that) is juvenile and the horror portion certainly isn't scary. This movie might appeal to some young teens but will they be the ones staying up past midnight when this will probably be running to fill some cheap space on an unwatched cable channel?