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DianaMEP
Reviews
Extra Innings (2019)
Leave The Audience Wanting More
There's an axiom in entertainment always to leave the audience wanting more. When Extra Innings ended I hungered for more. After all, the characters worked through the tough stuff. The movie's ending showed me that good things were imminent so I need not see more.
Some reviewers called this a baseball move. I disagree. This is a story about one person's walk through mental illness and how he endured. Baseball was the Universe's gift to the main character so he could have an outlet in a dysfunctional environment. The skills he learned developing his talent for baseball, no doubt gave him the foundation and confidence to develop other talents later. We know this because the author, on whose life Extra Innings is based, did not become a professional baseball player, but still was successful in his chosen career paths. Plus the author opened the door for others to share their stories of loss and illness that will help bring them healing and catharsis.
You did a good job, Mr. Dabah. Keep telling your story. Keep encouraging others to tell theirs. The truth sets us all free.
The Core (2003)
Impressive Cast, But...
With such a good cast this really should be a better movie, but it isn't. It's premise is preposterous. The science isn't even close to fiction, and the movie itself not very compelling.
I wonder if Stanley Tucci smokes as much as his character did in the movie. I hope not. Plus he looks really good with hair. Delroy Lindo is macho. Aaron Eckhardt is such a hunk. Bruce Greenwood; that's one easy on the eyes. Why do planetary disaster movies get such a big kick out of destroying The Eternal City? I've always liked Alfre Woodard. Sure wish I were as trim as Hillary Swank. These are the things I was thinking during this movie instead of getting involved in it.
The cast is SO good. Too bad they didn't have a script.
Tian · Huo (2019)
I Loved It!
One has to hold cheesy disaster flicks to an entirely different standard when reviewing movies, and when it comes to cheesy disaster flicks, Skyfire has a lot of cheese.
With that being said, I found it very enjoyable. The special effects were impressive, the beautiful scenery vibrantly colorful, and there were even a few weak sub-plots, making for a fun and entertaining movie. The simple plot offered a few side conflicts between characters which, of course, required resolution before the final credits rolled and tried its best to tug at our heart strings.
There won't be any awards for acting or anything, really, but who cares? I watch these kinds of movies in order to see somebody else in a lot worse shape than I survive victoriously. Never mind the rescues are improbable, that some of the characters seem to wear "death repellent," or rise to meteoric levels of strength, bravery, and heroism. Yes, these kinds characters CAN leap tall buildings in a single bound! Isn't that part of what makes them entertaining? For me, it is.
I rented this movie but my guess is somewhere in a weak moment or if iTunes offers it for a ridiculously low price, I might buy it and add it to my collection. That way, whenever I'm in the mood for a disaster flick, this one will fill the bill.
Palmer (2021)
Enjoyable Film, Extremely Well Acted
I wasn't sure what to expect from Palmer. It was a quiet, simple movie, a slower-paced film I was afraid would tweak us at the end and make us feel down. But this was not the case.
Timberlake and the rest of the cast gave solid, skilled performances. There was nothing wooden or fake about any of the characters, all of whom were believable. They seemed like genuine small, town southern folks to me. I actually got lost in this story. That's always a good sign the acting wasn't "showing."
My guess is Ryder Allen is on the precipice of becoming this decade's Abigail Breslin. He was quite young and this was his first film. We haven't seen the last of this very talented young man.
This was well worth watching and that I'll watch it again.
Coming 2 America (2021)
All The Right Ingredients But Still A Flop
This movie had a good cast, good choreography, spectacular costumes, even a few predictable but fun plot elements. It had the right ingredients, but just didn't come together. The beginning was so lame I almost turned it off. In fact, through much of the movie I felt I was wasting my time. It was overdone, fell flat too often, and never redeemed itself. There was good chemistry among the cast and it looked like they were having a good time. Too bad that's not why I watch movies. This WANTED to be a good movie, but wasn't.
Monster's Ball (2001)
Sorry I Watched It
I disliked this movie but from seeing the reviews, I must be the only person who feels this way. This movie, these characters, this entire plot line is so dark, so vile, so disgusting, I can't believe it received such rave reviews.
The only reason I gave it three stars is because it is so well acted. But I've seen many well-acted movies that weren't good. Monster's Ball is such a movie.
If you like to see movies that show gratuitous sex, you'll like this movie. If you to see movies where fathers and sons express hatred for each other more than love or respect and will sell each other out at the drop of a hat, you'll like this movie. If you like to see movies with blatant, overt and unchallenged racism, this is your flick! I don't mind seeing dark plot themes in movies, but I like it to move out of the darkness into some kind of lesson learned or higher purpose. This is darkness for darkness's sake. No, this is not my kind of movie.
Don't waste your time or money. I regret watching it. I've been known to watch movies more than once. I'll skip this one the second time around.
The Front Runner (2018)
Perfect For Insomniacs
ITunes featured it as the Movie of the Week with a special price of 99 cents. We felt ripped off. With such a good cast I expected a good movie but sorely was disappointed. Both my husband and I dozed off a bit while watching this! There was no plot, no sense of storyline, just a montage of scenes in a poorly executed docu-drama style. Excuse me, I'm stating to nod off just writing about it!
Centennial (1978)
Quite Good
No, this isn't the best movie ever made. No, it's not the best mini-series ever, as some of the other reviewers state, but it's darned good.
I am a big fan of historical fiction and Michener does an excellent job of weaving fictional characters into accurate history.
The storyline entitled "The Massacre" was difficult to watch, but after having read authentic accounts of some of the ways the Native Tribes were treated, it's a story that needs to be told.
I enjoyed the characters and how they lived, grew, and gained wisdom and experience during their lifetimes. Most of the character development was quite good, and only a few were one-dimensional. Several major characters just disappeared from the series and we have no idea of their fate, but I wrote this off as lack of time for detail in a visual medium. I imagined they were dealt with more thoroughly in the book but don't know for sure since I haven't read it yet. I liked getting to know these characters and missed them when they died.
What I'd like to know is who on earth wrote the last episode? It was terrible! Surely James Michener was on sabbatical at the time. It was inconsistent with the character development and quality of plot of the earlier episodes. We are slapped in the face with cliche's, plastic characters, unbelievable story lines, very bad acting, and sophomoric sentiments. I wholeheartedly agree with earlier reviews that the final episode should have been with Lynne Redgrave teaching her young grandson (and paraphrasing an American Indian adage), that "Only the land lives forever."
This mini-series should live forever and the final episode should be buried forever, even longer than Soren Sorenson's body. Skip that final episode. You won't miss a thing.
The Lovely Bones (2009)
A Good Cast Doesn't Guarantee A Good Movie
Oh, please. Don't waste your time. The movie has a lot of potential that never comes to fruition. It's excessively long, dragged out and never fully satisfies. It just drags on ad nauseum, jumping frantically between earth and the astral plane, taking forever to resolve all the conflict. I feel sorry for the top-notch cast whose solid performances could not redeem this disaster. Watch Ghost one more time instead.