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The Guilty (2021)
Endless Drivel And Complete Nonsense
This movie is so stupid. You're better off watching the two-minute trailer. At least, that was exciting and intense. This movie is an hour and twenty-nine minutes...which is one hour and twenty-four minutes too long.
Jake Gyllenhaal's character is so unlikable. You just want someone to walk up to him and punch him in the face. Then there's all the phone calls which are executed so poorly. All the whimpering, all the whispering, all the crying. It is just so absolutely horrible. It's like a long series of 4 a.m. Drunken phone calls from your ex.
Then the plot...it just completely goes off the rails at the end of the movie. I can't express to you enough, dear reader, just how stupid, predictable, and lame this movie is. I kept watching, hoping there would be some sort of plot twist at the end that might give it some redeeming value.
That never happens. Not even close. The longer I watched, the worse the movie got. If you watch this movie after reading this review, well, then...
You get what you deserve.
Have a wonderful day.
Wrath of Man (2021)
For all the action, the ending is rather anti-climactic.
This has all the earmarks of a Guy Ritchie movie: massive amounts of violence, massive amounts of swearing, massive amounts of humour, and massive amounts of Jason Statham.
The plot is decent. I've seen better but not a lot.
The reason for a 7 stars rating and not higher is the ending. It's just kinda BLAH. It's about an hour and forty-five minutes of build-up and three minutes of payoff...and then ten minutes of crredits.
Other than the payoff, the rest of the movie is golden. Very entertaining. I highly recommend it.
Palmer (2021)
If You Are a Fan of Sling Blade...
This movie is the story of an ex-con who, upon his release from prison, befriends a young child that comes from a very troubled home life. A story whose premise is very akin to the movie Sling Blade. It's not nearly as good, however, nor is it going to win any Academy Awards, but it is heartwarming and a good watch the first time through. I have seen Sling Blade more times than I can remember; Palmer might get watched again if my girlfriend wants to see it, and there's nothing else on to watch.
JT is good. Alisha Wainwright is exceptional. The rest of the cast does their job, but no performances that were all that noteworthy. The writing and directing are pretty decent. Two things that I liked about it - and this is just me - was that every scene was well lit, and the camera work was solid. To me, those are two things you rarely ever notice if they are done well, but can absolutely ruin a movie if they're not.
The ending is relatively predictable.
The writers could have convaluted the process by making a whole bunch of legal obstacles for JT to go through at the end of this film. In real life, that probably would have been more accurate and realistic, but for the sake of this movie, they kept things pretty simple. I was glad that this was the route they chose to go as it kept a movie that was an hour and fifty-five minutes long from turning into a three hour snoozefest.
Seven well-earned stars for this one, gang. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
VFW (2019)
Like Watching A Contest Of Who Could Do A Worse Job
I read a lot of reviews that say "this is the worst movie ever" or "the director didn't know what he was doing" or "worst acting ever", and I think to myself...what a wonderful world...
No.
I think to myself, "I've seen worse." However, with this movie, VFW, I don't know that I have seen worse. I try to watch every movie to the end just to give it a fair shake. I, lit'rally, could NOT watch this movie to the end. It truly seemed like the director, lighting guy, and actors were all trying to outbad each other at their jobs. I don't even know that there was a script. Kinda seemed like the actors were all auditioning for "A Night at the Improv".
Anyway...when I tell you, dear reader, not to waste your time watching this movie, I do it out of love. Because this movie - put your hands down - is the WORST movie I have ever seen.
Welcome to Sudden Death (2020)
Soundtrack issues killed this decent film
Sometimes a soundtrack makes or breaks a movie. In this case, the soundtrack destroyed what was an otherwise halfway decent, low-budget, b-flick. It's pretty much JCVD's Sudden Death done on a quarter of the budget, but all-in-all, you could watch worse movies.
The Wrong Patient (2018)
Just call 911!
This movie should have been over after about 20 minutes. When you have a restraining order against someone, and they break it...call 911.
When you make plans to meet someone after hours at their place of work, and when you get there, they are dead...call 911.
In a hotel room and you've shot a woman and your husband is laying dying on the floor...call 911.
So, that was my biggest issue with this poorly written movie: every character's complete oblivion to notifying the authorities when a crime has been committed. The second thing I took issue with was the lead character in the movie, Dr. Katie Jones, seemingly had no idea about how the world works. A clueless main character makes for a very bad movie. I know Lifetime Movie Network movies aren't always the best pieces of cinema, but this one...just stay away from this one.
Beware of Mom (2020)
NO! Not Another Lifetime Movie Network Movie!
Beware of Mom is the worst kind of LMN movie because they give you absolutely no one for whom to root in this savagely sloppy piece of cinema. The antagonist mom, despite leaving a myriad of physical and forensic evidence in her wake, is able to get away with killing just about everyone she encounters. The protagonist mom is an overprotective, holier-than-thou, because-I-said-so mom. Although, guess she can't be that overprotective since at one point in the film, upon finding out that her daughter has been kidnapped and her location is at a motel over an hour away, protag mom can't be troubled with calling the police - or even calling the motel manager to give her the heads up that she has looney tunes serial killer staying on the premises (this may have also spared the manager's life. Instead, she was - I believe - the 8th victim of our Beware of Mom mom). Noooo! Instead, protag mom gets in her car and drives to the motel herself. Still, I thought she would have stopped off for some sort of weapon to bring with her on this big rescue mission. A gun? A knife? A can of bug spray and a lighter? No, not this mom. She shows up with nothing but her mom jeans and a fashionably tasty blouse.
Then there are the daughters of the two mains. Uggghhhh!! These two kids couldn't get out of each other's way long enough to realize that everyone around them was dying or dead. They barely had enough common sense between them to work a flip phone. If I was a ten-year old girl watching this movie, and thought that for just a moment that I might grow up to be like either one of these two girls within six years, I'm pretty sure I'd have to ask my parents to have me committed...and now!
No need going into the writing, directing, acting, and lack of originality of this treacherous tale of slasherism. Suffice to say, though, that by the end of the movie, all any viewer of this piece of schlep can hope for...is a power outage.
Oh, gotta go! There's another Lifetime Movie Network Movie coming on right now!!
Hanna (2019)
A Review For Season Two
I find that most seasons of a show after its first season very much go this way: the first few episodes rely on the momentum of the ending of the previous season to capture the viewers attention. Then the middle episodes seem to lull a bit as they build the foundation for the end of the current season. Finally, the last 2.5 - 3 episodes ramp up to an intense and exciting finale and a cliffhanger ending to bring you back for the following season.
Season Two of Hanna undoubtedly follows this formula. Mireille Enos's Marissa character, who was the heavy (bad guy) in Season One, takes over for Eric as Hanna's handler/caretaker, and Dermot Mulroney steps in as the new face of evil in Season Two. In Season One, the story kind of stuck to the storyline of the movie. In Season Two, the story finds its own legs and goes in a new direction. I will not give away much more than that so as not to spoil any parts of the excitement, but I will say that while the story in Season Two is very good and well-written, it really is just an 8-episode build-up to Season Three. I hope there is a Season Three because it will, no doubt, be explosive and has the potential of making Hanna one of the best Amazon series ever.
Overcomer (2019)
Nonsensical ending kills a pretty good movie
If you're looking for a good Christian movie, this is a good Christian movie. It certainly has its uplifting moments. The acting is a little over the top at times, but that's not what killed this movie for me. What killed this movie is the ending and the explanation for how the girl won the final race. I rewound the scene more than a few times to listen to the explanation for how she won the race and...it just does not make any sense. I ran track in high school so I'm pretty familiar with how the rules work, so if you watch this movie and can enlighten me on why she won the race, PLEASE DO!! The ending is just completely made up and nonsensical.
And lousy.
Wiseguy: Going Home (1988)
In-between episodes
Let me just start out by saying that I love this show. One of the things that was a staple to the series were the "in-between" episodes. They would always have one of these after Vinnie would complete an assignment, and then go home to brood over what he had done. It did a great job of showing the other side of an undercover agent's life. This one was quite good because of the twist at the end that catapulted the viewer into Season Two. This episode starts off with Vinnie back home again after he had brought down Mel and Susan Proffit, as well as a crooked CIA operative. The majority of the show is Vinnie trying to clear his head, and, his handler, Frank McPike trying to get Vinnie to return to the OCB again. However, the last few minutes of the show sets the tone for Vince's next assignment.