dbegley-748-626325's Reviews

A Man in Full (2024)

8/10

So, some here didn't like the Georgia accents?

7 May 2024

Who cares? And who can tell the difference between an authentic Georgia accent and a Texas or South Carolina accent? Us Yankees and Westerners don't care! And it is completely unimportant to the story.

I'm thrilled that Tom Wolfe's masterpiece is finally on film. Full credit to the screenwriter for updating the script and capturing Wolfe's essential story.

It's been decades since I read the book, but this production rings true. The race aspect of "The Cannon" had to be deleted. The switch to the mayor's campaign was clever.

The horse barn scene was classic.

And for my money, the final episode with Diane Lane made it all worthwhile. A book could not capture the intensity and beauty of that scene.

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Anatomy of a Fall (2023)

2/10

Completely terrible

9 March 2024

One of the worst movies I've seen in a long time.

Did the guy get murdered by his wife or was it suicide? This turns out to be a very boring question. The movie was way too long. It just rambles.

Not sure if it was in the three act format.

Are there lower standards for movies in France?

There was really no tension in the movie.

And for an American lawyer like me, the French legal system is incomprehensible. The questions were frequently objectionable. I was making objections during the movie. The lawyers didn't ask questions; they made arguments. And witnesses were questioned out of turn. And the defendant testified at length.

Don't waste 2.5 hours on this wreck. The mountains were the only good part of the movie. It was not "A Few Good Men."

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Comes a Horseman (1978)

6/10

Legally speaking, nuts!

20 August 2023

Warning: Spoilers

So the banker and his father had lent money to rancher Ewing and never been repaid a dime? And then the banker just takes over the ranch? No equity at all for Ewing? And this just happened instantly? The foreclosure process takes time!

Absurd.

And then Ewing drags the local banker's body into Ella's house and she doesn't notice anything when she comes home?

Ewing then doesn't kill Ella but sticks her in the closet with the banker's body. The Sheriff would have easily have figured out that Ella wasn't the murderer.

And why not kill Frank rather than pistol whip him and put him in the same closet with Ella and the dead local banker.

Really a sorry script.

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Sisu (2022)

7/10

Think Finnish Rambo, but with fewer words

14 May 2023

Our hero does all sorts of impossible things and survives a number of near-death experiences in 90 minutes, but you think: Yeah, he could do that.

The Nazis are the perfect bad guys so everything is good there. The actors are good as Nazi bad guys.

The plot is simple. The Nazis steal our hero's stuff and he is on a mission to get it back.

One thing I really liked was that it was not written in the usual three act format. And it worked!

This movie may well be the modern movie with the fewest words ever. Maybe I'm wrong here, but I can't recall another like it.

I liked the B story with the captured women.

This movie really appeals to your lizard brain.

Our hero is played by an actor who is 63. He should get an award for that alone!

Very bloody.

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The Journey: A Music Special from Andrea Bocelli (2023)

10/10

A Voice Like No Other

4 April 2023

Bocelli! The man who has sold 90 million albums has a voice that is beyond compare. And to think he struggled to get into the business and was told "no" by many. Not until age 35 did he break through.

The story of the movie is of a blind man, his wife and some friends traveling from Rome to his home over the same trail used by the apostles; a distance of over 200 miles. The Pope sends them off from Rome. That's how big Bocelli is.

Along the way, Bocelli and his friends sing in some stunning venues. The camera work is first rate.

If you need to be lifted up, go see this movie. Bocelli's voice sent chills down my spine. He's that great.

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Don't Look Up (2021)

1/10

Terrible. Unfunny.

4 February 2023

The only good thing were the performances of Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry as the morning TV hosts.

We get the analogy. A comet headed for Earth is *exactly* the same as global warming. If we don't act now, the planet is doomed in the year 2100. Our liberal elites, of course, know this with great certainty, but the American people are too dumb to believe "the science."

Two problems here. The predictions of disaster have been dead wrong for five decades. Why are they right now?

Secondly, there's a giant difference between the real math of a comet's path in six months versus using flawed models and corrupt data to predict the climate of the entire planet in 2100.

The Left is handing out billions in free money to their friends in Big Wind and Big Solar. But China and India are building coal-fired power plants all the time. This US virtue signaling will bankrupt us.

I've got to say I've lost all sorts of respect for Meryl Streep over the years.

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Babylon (I) (2022)

3/10

At least the music was good.

9 January 2023

Warning: Spoilers

But how did this movie get made? Horrible script and three hours long.

Infamously this movie features poop, urine and vomit. That's what Hollywood is serving up to America these days and the box office reflects the poor quality of today's content.

Prior to my showing, there was a trailer for some Ant-man movie. In the trailer, Michael Douglas shows up twice looking astonished. Michael Douglas! Definitely not Fatal Attraction or The Perfect Murder. The MCU is today's content and it is excrement.

Babylon documents the end of the silent movie era and the dislocation for the industry. Same thing will happen when the last superhero movie is released. Who watches those movies other than 10 year old boys and the Chinese? So, so juvenile and tiresome.

Jack Clifford's story arc was entirely predictable. And what was the point of the trumpet player's story? Margot Robbie was good, but we don't really care about her. And the Jersey Girl tirade was really pointless.

The movie within the movie was Singing in the Rain. That movie is still popular and has made plenty of money. Maybe Hollywood should take a hint.

Most of the time Manny just stared. Sometimes his Spanish was translated into English with subtitles and other times not? What's up with that?

The screenwriter showed off his knowledge of the early days of Hollywood, but not that interesting. He's a talented guy, but this movie is really terrible.

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Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

5/10

Unwatchable at any length

31 July 2022

Warning: Spoilers

I couldn't finish the movie. The only good thing was the music.

Why did the criminals keep their money at the bus station locker? There were no Federal Reserve reporting requirements on cash deposits then. Could they have been that stupid?

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Ava (IV) (2020)

5/10

The A and B stories are terrible

31 July 2022

Why does Jessica Chastain get any work?

What a tired plot! Secret agent killer beats up and defeats enemies. She has a troubled past. Former alcoholic who is tempted by demon rum.

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The Gray Man (2022)

2/10

A terrible movie and a

23 July 2022

Giant waste of money.

Gosling fights and kills scores of people. A tired, tired plot we've seen hundreds of times before.

The laughable thing is that the CIA is so effective. In life, giant failures and screwups. Why didn't the CIA tell us in advance about 9/11 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine?

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Stillwater (2021)

5/10

Not good

14 August 2021

Unfoxy Knoxy meets "Taken" but without all the killing.

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Let Him Go (2020)

8/10

An emotionally powerful movie

9 November 2020

The beginning of the movie is an excellent use of "show; not tell" as the dialogue is very spare. The settings are fabulous.

The story is really about Diane Lane's character. Her love for her family and what she will do for it.

The Weboy family is really evil and very convincing.

Lane and Costner are exceptional.

The little boy in the movie is now about my age so I really connected with him and his mom.

The third act is action packed.

I loved all the period details including the Red Owl store in Montana.

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Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

1/10

One of the worst movies ever

23 March 2020

Lots of staring. Little dialogue. It hardly made sense. Who would care about any of the characters? The script was terrible. I can't hardly believe this movie got made, much less anyone paid money to watch it.

The sad thing is that the original Blade Runner was good and interesting. We cared about the characters.

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The Irishman (2019)

9/10

This movie is about Frank.

25 November 2019

Warning: Spoilers

And mostly his relationship with his daughter Peggy. She sees him beat up and break the hand of the neighborhood grocer. The punishment didn't fit the crime.

As the oldest, Peggy figures out that her father is a criminal and possibly a murderer. Peggy realizes right away that Frank whacked Jimmy Hoffa; a man Peggy really liked. After that, she refuses to speak to her father.

Scorsese's Catholic faith is important to the ending. Does Frank confess his sins? Did he feel guilt and remorse for all of his murders?

Leave the door open a bit. A hedge. Or maybe Pascal's Wager.

And Pacino had Hoffa down cold. Great sets and costumes. The powder blue tuxedos were spot on.

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