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Reviews
4 Blocks (2017)
Very well done.
I almost never watch show not in English, as I can't stand sub-titles. The script was so well written, the visuals, the acting; I quickly adapted to watching it, even learnt a few foreign worlds.. A wide variety of characters, all played extremely well. Attention to detail.
A lot of action, like the other reviews say here. I agree 100%. We see the lead actor go thru quite a transformation thru the two seasons.
Righteous Kill (2008)
Two Masters of their craft save the script
The movie is worth watching just to see these two masters work.. I didn't have a problem with the script as some here did.. I found it well worth the time. Fun to see Wahburg, Leguizimo and 50 cent.. They all pulled their weight. Although they could have carried more weight,.,. It was an excellent cast, script not up to their calibre. but they pull it off in my opinion.
Saturday Church (2017)
This movie has HEART
All the actors do an EXCELLENT JOB.. While it would be great if they had a big budget; this movie can stand on it's own.. The scenes with the two boys was incredibly sweet, and touching. And I felt as uncomfortable watching as Luka appeared in his first adult sexual encounter.. My heart ached for him. Having worked in gay clubs for many years, and hearing stories of boys who ran away or got thrown out of their homes and what they had to do to survive. . I am so grateful I didn't have to go thru that.
The music and songs were decent. Perhaps not the smoothest transition, from acting to singing but in my opinion most musicals have that difficulty
This movie was a real 'slice of life'. And everyone obviously was very into making this delightful movie
I look forward to future productions from Damon Cardasis, and the talent he pulls together. I thought this was excellent.
7500 (2019)
Good Drama
This movie shows you what can be done with a good script, decent actors, and NOT a big budget.. It moves along well, with the bulk of the story being carried on one pilot and a young terrorist. I enjoyed it for the quality and craft they put into it, and yes, it could have been more exciting, with a bunch CGI, over the top dialogue action.. This concise drama held it's own.
Prityazhenie (2017)
Beautiful computer visuals
The visual effects are simply stunning.. Better than US visual effects. I thought the actors were very good, the english dubbing gave a weird effect, but in a way it added to it's charm. Writing OK, kind of cliche. But for me if a Sci Fi flick has great visuals I can deal with some rough edges. The alien actor was very good.
I considered it worth a watch. It was also interesting to see how a Russian production approached the material.
Unity (2015)
It may have an important message but...
OK... First they spend 5 minutes watching two cows get slaughtered. You can see the 2nd cow is aware, and frightened. While the message is important, I got stuck on the boring stagnent new-age music. Worse is the decision to have a different speaker every 15 seconds..
You get caught up in trying to recognize some of the well known people. Distracting. Then they decide to put a number of questions in a row. The message is VERY important, but there techniques to present the material, forced me to quit after 13 minutes.
They flashed on Hitler/Jews and Slavery. I imagine they went back to the subject later. In short Being 70 something and fed-up with the way humans are behaving. (I"m taking about presidents, government, corruption, greed.) we don't deserve to live here
Maybe there was inspiration later, that made it worth watching. but this just left me with a bad attitude.
2:22 (2017)
held my interest for most of it
This movie has several things going for it. actors create characters, you care about. music, nice shooting, angles, etc. It has mystery.. It lacs a coherency, which makes it interesting for a while. But by 2/3 in, I realized, the producer, had a lot of good techniques, but didn't know how to really meld them together.
Some might like this movie a lot. others find the inconsitencies, too distracting.
At this point, i realized the movie really doesn't seem to know where it's going. Still I've sit thru a lot worse movies.
Stan & Ollie (2018)
A movie with a LOT of heart and soul
This is a great movie.. It shows the famous duo near the end of their career. It has sad moments. The sets, scenery, costumes are excellent. The heart of the movie, is two men, who work together for their comedy. They have their scrapes. To me it shows how two men can deeply care and love each other (no sexuality of course). They have created a very strong bond.. That is the power of the movie to me.
There is sadness in this movie. Don't know how factual this is, as some others have noted but it is a brilliantly written, excellent executed movie. Well worth your time
El abrazo de la serpiente (2015)
An extremely well crafted film documentary style
Shot in Black and white. The power of this movie is it is such an analogy to the world today. Many forces fighting to destroy what is left of the humanity of us.
It's shot simply and starkly. Even the use of Black/White verses color, makes you focus more on the story and the message inside the movie.
Yes, you have to 'work' with the movie.. You just don't sit there like an ADD vegetable, ingesting by osmosis. It makes you think. Normally black/white, foreight language movies are not my cup of tea. But those factors help to make it all the more driving.
It moves a little slow, but its a complex story with many factors, and positions in it.
Worth the watch..
Extinction (2018)
Worth the wait, of seeing till end.
The movie is kind of your standard, man vs alien take over. It goes along. A lot of action, it is neither great, nor real bad. But then the plot takes a 180 degree twist. Pretty shocking. This movie is kind of the ultimate example of dealing with racism.
I don't want to spoil the surprise, but I felt it was really worth it. At the very end, there are a couple of lines of dialog which really give the audience something to think about..
The actors and casting are good. If they could have just finessed the script a bit more, this could have been a mind boggling movie.
Jean-Claude Van Johnson (2016)
It was fun for a while, then I lost interest.
I've been a fan of Jean Claude. His acting was ok, and his moves were amazing.
To see him so aged and beat up.. kind of made me feel bad.for him. I guess this is better than 'infomercials'.. The series does have good qualities, pretty much everyone here gave it a real thumbs up..
But the episodes just seem a minor variation of the same theme over and over.. I watched about half the episodes and then gave up..
But you have to judge for yourself.. Real die hard fans will want to see it.. but gone forever is that physical perfection of his early films.
ReGenesis (2004)
good
This has held my interest for the duration.. I just don't get the 30 second 'time loop' flashbacks. cannot for the life of me understand their purpose, become disruptive..
Science talk fascinating.. Knowing noting about the subject, it sounds plausible, and is like a DNA 'who-dun-it' from episode to episode..
Characters, casting good.. Pretty much every actor gets a chance to 'shine in the light'. which makes it more appealing.. They really skirt some issues, they bring up, then again, this is entertainment, not soul evolving preaching.
All in all pretty fine.
Medium (2005)
excellent show
The actors are very well cast, and all excel in their roles.. The writing is quite intricate, there are subtle 'teasers' (they go by unnoticed at first, and later in the episode, you realize, 'wait' they hinted at this earlier'.. quite clever..
It has the perfect balance of supernatural (never overdone)..humor, drama, and sometimes a really touching subplot, about, family, relationships.. They give some ample time to the co-stars to shine in a scene or two. (although I would have loved to see the the younger girl, get more action.. She, her older sister, and the other supporting actors all shine at doing their part to make the show a really total great package..
Right from the beginning it's quite good.. Somewhere in the 2nd season, the whole project, (writing, development of characters, back ground history, start to come to the surface to give this series an even deeper depth, than you were aware of at first..
Love it..
The Truth (2014)
not my cup of tea
I tried to watch it.. I gave up after 30 minutes. The characters, were clichéd and cardboard.. cookie cutter plot According to the other good reviews. it must get better.. But I didn't have the patience after 30 minutes that could have been condensed to 10.. save your energy and time and watch something better..
Manhunt (2017)
Interesting
While the treatment might have been better.. I thought it was fine. What was amazing to me, the depth of detail, the insight, the development behavioral analysis techniques.. Especially the FBI figuring out when he went to college, and finding the 'writing rules, used by a world renowned Newspaper') to track down Kazinski
That part of it is amazing. I thought this was very informative, and entertaining. I'm glad they focused on the discovering who the Unabomber was rather than focusing on the bloody aftermath of his actions (would have been a cheap way to boost ratings.. The writers and producers 'took the high road' in creating this outstanding insight
The Expanse (2015)
damn good
Don't let the comments of not prime CGI fool you.. There are plenty of stunning visual effects (ships in space). The complexity of the show, actors, plot, sub-plots fits together extremely well. The pieces of the puzzle fit together well. The plot and pacing is excellent, so the show works well without having to rely on constant stunning visuals..
Casting is good.. The story line jumps around, back fill in sections, Earth, Mars, the Belters.. It takes several episodes to get the complete storyline and set-up of show, which really works well.. There are surprises, twists and turns
11:55 (2016)
decent and pensive
I think this was a decent movie.. I'm actually glad it wasn't full of mindless violence and sex scenes. It seems too many movies rely on that nowadays. His acting was first rate.. He came back a marine, torn about what he had done in the past..
It showed the viewer how one can get locked into their past. Yes it could have been more exciting, more gritty, but I thought it was quite view-able the way it was.