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Reviews
Don't Look Up (2021)
Stupid, slow and not funny at all
Wow, this movie had good advance press a few months ago. It is here now and it is stunning how bad it is. My review needs to be at least 150 characters so I will go on to say that it is completely unbelievable and unfortunately not funny.
Finch (2021)
Pinocchio
Finch is not to be confused with the genre of Science Fiction which would be a fiction depicting things that might happen given certain known or extrapolated scientific concepts. It is rather a pure fantasy of a magical being in a magical (not-very) possible future. It could just as well have been the tale of a magic boy made by a lonely carpenter who's character arc culminates in his ability to take on the responsibilities of pet ownership.
There is nothing even remotely believable about this fantasy, and apparently that is not the point. But for me, I would much prefer to see the story without the baggage of post-apocalypse which is so loaded with cultural angst.
Tom Hanks makes a lot of nice facial expressions and you get to hear a lot of dog whimpers. The robot is real gangster.
I Care a Lot (2020)
Sociopathic black comedy with 2-dimensional characters
Would not have made it without fast forward. I really thought this was going to be at least watchable based on the NY Times 'Critics Pick' : "Nasty people do terrible things in this wildly entertaining Netflix caper about guardianship fraud". Good God what can you do when even the high-brows are raving about complete garbage. This film is of the 'nudge-nudge black comedy' genre which means that it doesn't have to be funny in any way. It need only be snidely sociopathic at every turn of the script and therefore any unbelievable twists will not only be accepted but somebody in the audience will always chuckle to let you know that they 'got it'. I used to hate seeing films like this in the theatre because there were always a lot of these 'with-it' people. Personally I like to see something that is actually funny, or actually dramatic. I get nothing from a film that aspires only to titillate, with the appropriate response being that we secretly wish that we too could be cold, confident and ruthlessly materialistic..
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The Last Days on Mars (2013)
This is a spoiler and you should be spoiled on this
It is a Zombie Movie. And not a very good one. It must be super cheap to do amazing outer space special effect nowadays in order to justify blowing it all on a stupid story. The Eye Candy was good when it came to the tech. But the Zombie part was rubbish. Terrible makeup, stupid premise, lots of holes. Like if your heart aint beatin, what's the point in breathing? In the near-vacuum atmosphere of mars?
Fahrenheit 11/9 (2018)
Relentless cannonball with devastating impact - wake up!
This is a brilliant propaganda piece and I find it the best Mr. Moore had accomplished to date. Any documentary has a bias, therefore I would always prefer to watch two opposing views, rather than to rely on just one however 'objective'. Having said that, this propaganda piece is a relentless cannonball making a compelling case that we here in America have never really had a true democracy, and that our aspirations toward what many feel are our god-given (entitled) rights are facing darkest days. The narratives of this film follow the shortcomings of our capitalist-based republic presenting along the way many causes for great hope. But the basic inevitable and devastating conclusion is that this land is your land and that is is in YOUR hands. Embrace apathy at your own peril.
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
One of the biggest stinkers ever
I see a lot of so-so movies but this one is genuinely awful. The only thing good about it is that now I know not to trust Rotten Tomatoes which gave it an aggregate of 93% which is dumbfounding. There is no way to begin to count the ways that this movie sucked. Too long, stupid stupid impossible situations with no attempt at explaining how these preposterous events could actually happen. And on top of that dripping with syrupy sentimentality (Apes with sweet, no sad, but caring tears in their eyes)...
And on top of all that the effects were not as good as the first movie which I was astounded by. The movement was just off (watch the rock hefting scenes more carefully; the rocks clearly weighed about 2 ounces each).
Sure, I already suspended my disbelief that we got talking apes taking over the planet, and yes I loved ALL of the original 5 movies for their camp and charm. This dud has none of it.
From the Earth to the Moon (1998)
mythologizes history
I suppose there is nothing wrong with the Ron Howard school of myth-making. But for me it is so tedious and masturbatory that I can't sit through it. As much as I loved the Apollo missions this markup is just too ludicrous to be taken seriously. The first episodes are actually not too bad. But as the initial favorable reviews came in the producers must have felt they'd gained ehough Spielberg-Glow powers to call in scriptwriters from every cornball corner of the middle-American galaxy. Too bad, it is a story worth telling. I listened to the audiobook which is straight-forward accounting of history vastly superior to this mushy mash-up.
Rubin and Ed (1991)
hilarious
This is a must for a Crispin Glover fan. I have no idea why it is difficult to find. It is a gem. Great story and very funny. If you don't think it's funny then you must not get it. You know; one of those. My review did not contain 10 lines of text so I must add more. I really really think you should see this movie. Dahhhhhhhh. It is still not long enough. What a stupid requirement that IMDb has. Why? Okay, I will type more meaningless praddle. are you happy now>? No? Still not enough. They want more and more and more. Okay, this is really great! Thanks for listineing Please show your appreciation at the offering plate. Gem stone