Change Your Image
RRiley9945
Reviews
A Haunting in Venice (2023)
Ghastly Not Ghostly
For many years Dame Agatha Christie turned against her own creation Hercule Poirot and wanted to do him in. But his fans kept clamoring for more of his tales, so she keep churning his books out. After this ,movie I am starting to see her point.
Allegedly based upon the so so novel, Halloween Party. Beats me how. The book takes place in England not Venice. There are different characters. The ending is different. Unless the similarity is that there are two E's in Halloween Party and two E's in A Haunting in Venice.
I give up.
Branagh's two previous Christies were a passable way to spend sn hour to two at the movies. They even have Ariadne Oliver, who Agatha Christie based upon herself and usually added tongue in cheek to a story. Not here. She even is part of a plot to fake a seance. God no! And Tina Fey who played her, is dismal to boot.
This ship is sinking fast--whether the sinking is in a canal in Venice or the English Channel.
The Blackening (2022)
A Treat
Loved it from beginning to end. The cast is great. Some really clever lines especially one about Rosa Parks and sitting down. Hilarious. I read the complaints about it not being scary enough, but it had its moments when I found myself talking to the screen about them getting out of there.
Keep watching the cast members who are sure to go on to bigger and better things, but for the meanwhile this will do nicely. There is already a setup for a sequel, so here comes a Scream clone. Hey I liked scream also although at this point they have drawn from the well once too often.
Try it, I think you'll like ti.
You Hurt My Feelings (2023)
The Woes of the Upper Class ...Again.
Hollywood loves the upper class. Here is the plight of another collection of yuppies--- none of whom I gave a hoot about. Oh the horrors! The therapist husband lied about liking his teacher/.writer wife's book. The son is writing his own play. In the meanwhile, he is the manager of a marijuana dispensary. Who cares.
Every single character is self-absorbed and obnoxious in this Woody Allen wannabee. Yes, there are a few chuckles, but not worth slogging through this mess to hear them. The only bright spot i seeing Jeannie Berlin again, but sadly she too is obnoxious.
I had such high hopes after reading all these glowing reviews. A major letdown.
Blue Beetle (2023)
Another Stupid Superhero Movie
I will give you that it is a big plus to have the hero a Mexican. Something definitely different than your other bombastic superhero movies. But it is still bombastic.
This is yet another story where you take people off the street and put them in a huge spaceship or hand them a huge gun and somehow they can figure how to use in minutes. No one ever scrambles around looking for the directions.
I couldn't figure out who was worse: Susan Sarandon, completely out of her league in this kind of movie or George Lopez who chewed up every scene he was in. Both were awful.
Overall the same nonsense that has been done before. Noisy and nonsensical. Not sure how to say that in Spanish.
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
Confusing and Way Too Serious
My movie-going rating is always determined by the number of times I look at my watch and I did that repeatedly throughout this. I will concede that some of the action stunts were great but when they weren't happening the movie plodded.
I realize that logic needs to be suspended during action films. But really----Cruise rides his motorcycle off a cliff, parachutes down right through the exact spot on the train when one of his femmes fatales is just about to be shot??? And didn't I just see Indiana Jone have a car chase though the cobblestones streets in Europe. Do keep in mind when you are in a foreign country, it's always very easy to find the car you are chasing.
Finally both Henry Czerny and Ving Rhames need to lighten up.
The Flash (2023)
Ho Hum
Another slam bang superhero movie with tons of special effects and very little logic. These days if you are stuck with what to do when someone dies, simply have people go back in time and change things. They do it in the Marvel world and they do it in The DC world. It's very convenient for the writers. Not so for us viewers who have to deal with the past, present and future personae of every character.
And of course, there are all the cameo appearances of the actors who played the heroes in previous movies. They truly go overboard here, but I won't spoil it for you.
Every time I go to the superhero movies, I walk away so disappointed.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
Come for the Visuals.The Plot is Convoluted
The graphics are to die for. I would highly recommend those who still do hallucinogens to do so and I am sure that will bring you closer to nirvana. Probably the trippiest move I have seen since Yellow Submarine.
The being said the downside is I didn't care one bit about the characters in the muddled confused storyline. Superhero movies have crossed over the line into multiverse and there's no turning back. Plus let's add time travel, so there will always been the possibility that dead characters will be brought back to life. Way too much for my amoeba like mind to absorb. Give me the good old days of Doctor Octopus chasing Spidey on Earth Number One and I'm happy. Those days may be over.
The Little Mermaid (2023)
Disney Gets One Right
The CGI is amazing throughout the film. Underwater scenes are bright and exciting, as is the shipwreck.
The acting is fairly good especially.the young lady who plays the mermaid. Javier Bardem is always a pleasure. McCarthy is her usual over the top. The only clunker is the male lead who is bland.
Overall, it was a nice way to spend a little more than two hours at the movies. This is coming from someone who had held most of the live action Disney remakes as useless. This one seemed to hit all the right notes and tugs at the heartstrings at times. Why not give it a try? I can think of worse ways to while away your time.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
Seen One Seen Them All
Clearly I am in the minority here, but I found Guardians to be just about ever other Marvel---and even Star Wars---movie. It's loud. There's no scrimping on budget. And of course every flick ends with the climactic battle against some megalomaniac who wants to destroy the world and/or universe. This gives the entire team of heroes the opportunity to viciously murder hoards of alien enemies. I can't even guess the body count. .No one ever mentions that side of the superhero business.
It was excruciating to watch. Remember the Ewoks dancing at the end of the Star Wars. Well, we have a dance scene here too.
Sorry folks, I am not a fan.
Violent Night (2022)
Kris Kringle as Rambo
I am not sure how many times I am allowed to use the word "awful" in a IMDb review. The script was awful. The acting was awful. The music was awful.
I popped the DVD in. Thankfully, I took this out of the library. I didn't pay to see in the movies nor spend my cash to stream it. Word was out there that it was violent--- for about two hours I watched Santa act like Rambo.
In the beginning of the movie, Ol' Kris is a burnout, sitting in a saloon downing his liquor. About 20 minutes later, he turns into a killing machine, wiping out one after another. No matter what gets thrown at Santa, he is impervious. Stab him. Beat him. Shoot him. He just keeps coming back.
Attempts at humor were half-baked. The sentimentality belonged in another movie. The number of movies ripped off, I lost count.
A complete waste of time. Ho! Ho! Ho!
Scream VI (2023)
Buckets of Blood
Had me on the edge of my seat. The scene with the characters trying to climb a ladder from building to building had me squirming.
To truly enjoy any of the Scream movies, you must have a high tolerance for over the top violence, buckets of blood and leave logic and common sense out the front door. I realize in their own way it's a tongue in cheek look at the horror genre but people don't react like this. In life. This go-round Ghostface spends much longer periods of time doing his mayhem---but never does anyone stumble upon the scene or God forbid call the police.
He must spend ten minutes shooting a shotgun and chasing people around a bodega in the middle of Manhattan yet not a single cop shows up.
Finally, the worst slasher of all is the plastic surgeon who butchered poor Courtney Cox's face.
Infinity Pool (2023)
Like Father Like Son
Must be in the genes. Brandon Cronenberg follows in his dad's, David Cronenberg and created this trippy opus.
I agree with the few who also found it too long and at times it seemed padded. A shorter more tightened movie may have worked better. Chockfull of symbolism, sex and bright red dripping blood type violence.
No idea what the plot was. Some crazy nonsense about well-heeled people paying for duplicates to be executed in place of them. All of which takes place in some third world tropic island, which seems to be run by a Communist regime.
Take a chance if you are looking for an different type of film.
M3GAN (2022)
Some Acting Was Awful
The movie kept me entertained. The budget seemed higher than your usual Blumhouse effort and the special effects overall were above average.
What got me was some of acting which was amateurish at best. Three notably awful examples were the next door neighbor who was chewing the scenery every time she showed up. The Asian boss was dismal in the acting department. There was a detective who interviews the lead character at one point. Not only was the acting abysmal, but I even question the purpose of that one scene. It wasn't funny and just stuck out like a sore thumb. Small nitpicking on my part, but did tend to slightly loser the overall rating of this film.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
Typically Overlong
No longer do we have a super hero fight a villain. Pow! Bang! And that's it. It's more like suffering through a psychoanalysis session each movie. I do realize Marvel was famous for that but enough for awhile.
And of course, the film goes on forever. No more 90 minutes these days It's hard to even find one that's two hours long. They. Go. On. Forever.
I had a hard time understanding many of the characters. What I did get a kick out of was how in a few hours when you put two brainy young ladies together, they can assemble sophisticated armored suits just like Ironman has. Where do you go in Wakanda to get screws and nails much less a pack of cigarettes. I thought this was an isolated landlocked country but suddenly they now have waterways big enough to flow out battleship out to see.
I am finding myself rambling here much like the movie I just watched.
Till (2022)
Important Piece of History Well Acted
I can't praise enough the powerful acting of Danielle Deadwyler. She truly gives a star-making performances the mother. If the is overlooked at the Academy Awards it will be a travesty.
Speaking of travesty, the murder of Emmett Till and the subsequent acquittal of the two defendants is just that. Carolyn Bryant the woman who made the accusations is in her 80s and still has never been charged with any crime. This movie vividly depicts a Southern system steeped in racism. There are scenes even in the courtroom where blacks are treated with composted distain.
This is one truly fantastic movie.
Poirot: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (2000)
Ghastly
I am only writing as much as I am writing because it is a review requirement here. I really could sum up my thoughts in a word or two ---and neither word would be complimentary. This is truly one of the worst adaptations of a Agatha Christie work, I have ever watched. This even tops the awful Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple movies.
Ackroyd, the novel is a masterpiece. Its merits are still debated to this day. How Dame Agatha managed to pull the wool over everybody's eyes is a tour de force. I don't know a single person who was not completely surprised by the reveal of the murderer.
This movie ruins all of that. In fact, it ends with a gunfight. Pleaseeeeeee. Is nothing sacred?
Here I have used up all my words and I could have simply reviewed it with only one word----ghastly.
Poirot: Murder on the Orient Express (2010)
Abysmal
I did not watch the Suchet/Poirots when they first appeared on television. But I have been a lifelong Agatha Christie fan. This episode was the second one I have watched and it took me years to do so after watching the God-awful version of the Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Curiosity got the better of me. That did not work in my favor.
For starters, characters were changed or dropped completely. Since they hired Dame Eileen Atkins, her part was pumped up considerably The acting was fair. I found Suchet far too morose. There were way too many unnecessary scenes of Toby Jones dead oozing blood.
My main complaint is with the overemphasis on moralizing. Since when did Poirot find religion??? Dragged the movie down. They were working with little time to begin with. Now they had to make cuts to the story to accommodate all this other morality nonsense. It distracted from the mystery angle and steered far afield of Christie's original.
Overall this was a.putrid version.
Barbarian (2022)
Edge of Your Seat Creepfest.
A roller coaster ride of a movie with all sorts of twists and turns. It wouldn't be a horror movie if people acted sensibly. So get that notion out of your heads right away. Of course, people go back into scary house basements. That's half the fun--- watching dopey people do dopey things.
This one throws in bits of Psycho, Silence of the Lambs and a few other alone-in-the-house routines, you are all familiar with. I had to close my eyes several times things got so creepy.
Well-made and well-acted. I enjoyed it immensely. Would make a nice double bill with this year's other things that go bump in the basement flick, the Black Phone. Set aside your logical mind and just sit back and get scared right outt of your pants.
Bros (2022)
Was Supposed to be Funny
I walked into the theatre looking forward to a laugh fest. There weren't many of us in the house and I swear I didn't hear one chuckle, one guffaw, one giggle for two hours. And that includes me. I will tell you why it wasn't funny. It was like listening to a whiner on a soapbox. From beginning to end, the lead character just complains. Not in a Woody Allen funny way. It really annoyed me.
Of course, all family members are sympathetic to their loved one's being gay. Not a problem here at all. The conversation with the boyfriend's straight-laced mother defies anything approaching real life. Nor any financial issues either. Nobody in a Hollywood movie is ever short on bucks.
I was majorly disappointed.
Bros (2022)
Was Supposed to be Funny
I walked into the theatre looking forward to a laugh fest. There weren't many of us in the house and I swear I didn't hear one chuckle, one guffaw, one giggle for two hours. And that includes me. I will tell you why it wasn't funny. It was like listening to a whiner on a soapbox. From beginning to end, the lead character just complains. Not in a Woody Allen funny way. It really annoyed me.
Of course, all family members are sympathetic to their loved one's being gay. Not a problem here at all. The conversation with the boyfriend's straight-laced mother defies anything approaching real life. Nor any financial issues either. Nobody in a Hollywood movie is ever short on bucks.
I was majorly disappointed.
Pearl (2022)
Norman Bates Meet Your Cousin, Pearl
Outstanding all the way through with deep echoes of Psycho. Norman Bates was not the only psychopath with mother issues. Goth is amazingly good in the title role. Production qualities are high. Tons of blood and gore.
It is quite apparent that the director loves movies. There are bits of homages to films like the Wizard of Oz and movie musicals. A bit of anachronism, since movie musicals were not such a big thing in 1918. But no sense complaining about it.
I loved X and loved this even more. Between Pearl's appearance here in 1918 and her 1970s role in X, we should be in store for a few more lurid murders still. I look forward to seeing our favorite murderess at it again hell bent o destruction.
The Sunshine Boys (1996)
Terrible
This is so bad, it redefines the word awful. There isn't a single funny moment in it.
Neil Simon updates his classic play and ruins it. A year after writing this fiasco, he would also wrote The Odd Couple II. Clearly, it was time to put away the typewriter. He wasn't funny anymore and out of touch with his audience. He removes the doctor skit and instead has some idiotic schtick with a kid in a hospital bed. Not funny.
Allen and Falk are just plain bad as the stars. I didn't care for either one of them. Allen was Allen. No acting stretch here. Falk was simply annoying. In the original film, George Burns played it low key. Walter Matthau was over the top but likable in his own way. These two are irritating and abrasive.
For good measure, a few notables are tossed in the mix, none of whom brings anything to their roles at all. Sarah Jessica Parker and Whoopi Goldberg are faces---that's all. They bring very little to the proceedings.
To add some class, the production uses Liza Minelli singing Old Friends, the Stephen Sondheim song. A great song wasted in an insipid production. Sadly, the best part of a poorly conceived project.
Emily the Criminal (2022)
Great Small Movie
Tired of special effect addicted movies? Step right this way and savor this little film. Beautifully acted and truly believable.
I am a big fan of indie films and as other reviewers have noted, these can use support. I tried to imagine what Hollywood would have done with this same script. There would have been noisy car chases and crashes. None of that there. In fact one scene I even half-expected that to happen---and it didn't.
Come and enjoy this gem.
Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)
A Nice Surprise
If Agatha Christie was writing today.she would have concocted something like this. But first she would have to snort some white stuff. Slow go in the beginning and Pete Davidson is his usual annoying self, but ride it out. There are enough red herrings to open a fish market. I really enjoyed it.
Nope (2022)
Disappointment
I can usually gauge a movie by the number of times I check my watch for the time. Seems I did that every five minutes. This movie was so bad I started texted on my cellphone. I have never done that before.
Long, drawn out and boring. The only plus was seeing Donna Mills, who at the age of 82 or so looks lovely still.