Change Your Image
maryannfarley
Reviews
Bomb City (2017)
Murderer's name was protected, but not in this review
The murderer was even protected by the law in that his real name wasn't used in the film. His name is Dustin Camp, and he walks free to this day. Life is good in America as long as you're a football player with rich parents in Texas.
The film did a great job capturing the punk scene as it really is. Yes, they're wild kids who challenge the system, but they also fall in love and have pets. (Some said those kinder scenes were there to make us feel sorry for them. Sorry, but they're also human beings.) Except for the court room scenes being way overlit, this is another infuriating entry about rich white kids who have it all, only to get even more when they kill. (Dustin Camp was actually applauded at community events.) I'm with the punkers. We're all fed up with this kind of privilege.
The Survivalist (2021)
Yikes
It's hard to fathom how Jonathan Rhys Meyers ends up in movies like these. He's so damn talented, so handsome, has that "it" factor, and yet time and again he ends up in pure trash. I mean, this guy was the lead in Matchpoint! It's almost like when I see him advertised in a film now, I assume it will be abysmal.
An actor can do a few clunkers without self destructing, but Rhys Meyers seems intent on blowing up what could have been a total A list career.
Silence (2016)
Troubling, and not in a good way
Scorsese never makes an unwatchable movie, but I was troubled by so much of this film feeling like "European Christian guys good, Japanese Buddhist guys bad." Yes, the Japanese tortured Christians during this time, but Scorsese leaves out huge chunks of history that can explain at least some of the behavior.
During this period, the Portuguese were using missionaries as a vehicle to make inroads into the Japanese market, and they even trafficked in Japanese peasants in the global slave trade. So Japan wasn't refuting Christianity solely on religious grounds. It was a political rebellion, as well, which is understandable when chunks of your population disappear onto slave ships.
But of course for Scorsese to tell his tale, he must make it all about religion, but even on that level, I've no idea what point he's trying to make. Towards the end, when we actually hear the voice of God as a narrator, I knew he had really lost his way. If you can't tell your story just through the narrative, without strange voices stepping in from who knows where, do you even have a story to tell?
And then he dedicates the film to "the Japanese Christians and their pastors." WTF? Nice swipe at the Japanese on the way out, Marty. Yes, I know you made Kundun (about Buddhism), which I loved, but that was one seriously uncomfortable tribute on top of an already uneasy film. Not my favorite in the Scorsese canon.
In the Cut (2003)
Bold and brilliant
It's remarkable how many critics and viewers thought this a bad film, when in reality it's a masterwork, with understated yet stunning performances from Ryan and Ruffalo.
Campion perfectly captures New York at its bleakest, where her characters live in both fantasy and raw desperation. Then contrasted with this tragic tale is a beautiful score underlining the haunting murder mystery that keeps you guessing until the very end.
If Scorsese had made this, everyone would be hailing it as a masterpiece. Can't help but feel that such dark films aren't allowed to be the purview of female filmmakers nor of a female lead. The discomfort makes certain viewers think it a failed film, when the real failure is their own inability to absorb what is happening on the screen.
Campion has not created a pretty picture here, but it's authentic to its seedy core, and a rare find among the streaming world of sloppy tales that say nothing. Kudos to all involved. You know what you created here. I hope that will be enough until the rest of the world one day catches up and gives you all your due.
AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)
Critics are snobs. AND WRONG.
Oh, come on! This film is terrific! What's not to like? And with Dan O'Bannon and Paul W. S. Anderson as story writers, it's virtually IMPOSSIBLE this would be bad.
The naysayers are simply thumbing their noses at Hollywood for combining two iconic franchises, but damn, give credit where it's due! It's all there...a great narrative, great characters, a terrific set and Sanaa Latham in particular is a standout!
Wherever this film crosses my path, I sit back with my popcorn and enjoy the ride, and what a ride it is. I seriously don't get the snark. I haven't watched the other AVP movies so I can't comment on the whole franchise, but this first installment? Total winner. I might have given it seven stars ordinarily, but because of all the party poopers out there, I'm giving it two extra to balance things out. And I'm thrilled it made $177 million. Good going, guys.
Griefwalker (2008)
Grief as a skill of life
I have a serious blood clotting disorder that has nearly nailed me a few times and causes chronic, sometimes debilitating pain. I'm older now and in the most exciting phase of my songwriting, which I don't want to end. I never thought I would feel this way.
But I believe I do because I did a blog for a few years that helped me accept that this is my life. And so I've been able to compartmentalize the physical suffering, tipping my hat to it, but I've stopped fighting it. As a result, joy has returned, which I never ever expected.
He's right that grief is a way of being, if I remember his words correctly. I had to mourn the loss of my health. And before my mom, my soul mate in this life, died in 2018, I was grieving her too in the years leading up to her death as I knew it was coming. As a result, I never missed an opportunity to spend time with her. I would even cry with her about it (in the midst of our fun) and she would comfort me, saying "I will always be with you."
I'm so profoundly grateful I lived with that awareness. And I'm so grateful that I'm aware that my own time here is sketchy. I'm recording my songs with a lot less perfectionism, finally understanding how perfect is the enemy of good enough.
So in that sense my blood illness is a blessing. Kudos to Jenkinson for helping people feel the beauty of death and how it can invigorate and deepen your experience of life. When you let that happen, everything seems so very poignant, with the smallest thing often bringing tears, not of sadness, but of a pained type of beauty.
Till Death (2021)
Megan and Her Lipstick
There are so many rave reviews for Megan Fox on Rotten Tomatoes that I'm left here scratching my head. Were they all written by guys? I mean, the woman was fighting for her life, yet after tumbling to the bottom of the stairs...multiple times... her lipstick is suddenly shiny, pink and perfect again, along with the rest of her makeup. WTF? She does a serviceable job in the role, but any serious actress would never stop to re-do her lips between takes! Lolol! That's some serious vanity going on. I mean, RT has an 88 percent critics score for this thing! That's Meryl Streep territory. And it's all raves for her ACTING. Wow, beauty goes a long way in B-movie land. Like REALLY long, because this film was predictable Netflix nonsense with a perfectly coiffed actress doing an okay job...in consistently perfect lipstick. That about wraps it up.
Annette (2021)
Enchanting
I can't recall the last time I felt this way about a film. I watched it for the second time today and, as with all great art, got so much more from it the second time around. The film's repeating melodic theme (from the song "We Love Each Other So Much") is deeply moving and soon becomes the connective tissue throughout the movie. And the three leads--Adam Driver, Marion Cottilard and Simon Helberg--could not be more perfect in their roles, which sounds almost trite to say, considering the courage it took for each to commit as deeply as they did.
I will say that the film almost lost me about a half hour into it, when at that precise moment something seemed to shift. What on the surface seemed like a glib experiment with a modern musical soon became a deep dive into the heart of ambition, love, jealousy, parenthood and betrayal.
The direction, narrative and acting are superb, but it's the music that will set the whole enterprise in concrete in your heart and mind. Give "Annette" a chance. Try not to be put off by its strangeness, and instead, put your trust in the capable hands of Leos Carax and the gang. By the end, you may still question whether or not you liked it as much as I did, but you will never forget it.
Beckett (2021)
Baffled by bad reviews
I'm not sure what the problem is. Are people blaming JDW for not being his dad? And those saying he lacks the charisma or depth for this part REALLY have me scratching my head. I was so completely engaged with the relationship between him and Vikander that I honestly didn't need it to be established any further. The charm, intimacy and chemistry between them was palpable and terrifically established with narrative economy. And surely the expression of his grief would be limited by the fact that, ya know, cops are trying to kill him. It totally fits the events as they unfold.
I found Beckett to be an adept, tight, steamrolling thriller that had me with JDW every inch of the way. There's an everyman quality about him that fundamentally makes me care about his characters right out of the gate. And while he's handsome, even his good looks are of the real life variety. The only thing I didn't like about Beckett is this odd, lukewarm, sometimes even hostile reception. It's strangely and completely unwarranted. I can't help but think his paternity has something to do with it, where he's not allowed a great superstar dad AND a great career of his own. No one is allowed that much luck, right? Keep going, Mr. Washington, and let your work ultimately speak for itself.
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Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)
Silly Summer Fun
For years, I've listened to guys get all logistical when it comes to female action heros...like, "How could a hundred-pound woman kill twenty 200-pound guys?" Yet logic never surfaces when John Wick racks up preposterous body counts, or when Daniel Craig as Bond runs across aerial construction rigs twenty stories high. So all the action fun should belong strictly to the dudes? Guess what? It's ALL FANTASY, regardless of gender. Frankly, I don't know a single soul, male or female, who knows how to do a genuine judo chop. The idea is just to have fun and delight in things like Michelle Yeoh machine-gunning the bad guys from the library balcony. It's also fun to see a cross section of ages among the ladies, again another thing never questioned in male action heroes.
Could this script have been better? Yep. These gals deserved more. But I felt that way about the second and third installments of John Wick, too. And every Guy Ritchie movie. Great narratives often are sacrificed to the action. But they're all just stylish fun. Manage your expectations and enjoy.
Alcatraz (2018)
Lol! This is awful!
Trust me. Any good reviews here were written by relatives. Did they make this with a phone? Lol! It's TERRIBLE! They couldn't even get there opening credits right. I was bored that quickly. Listen to me...RUN! Run away! I'm fifteen minutes in and I'm done. I value all remaining hours of my life too much.
The Undoing (2020)
Just terrible
Obviously I'm in the minority here, but this show is as dull as lead. Starting with the first episode, so much feels so amateurish, like the lady guests all taking a turn at a line at the party. And there is just so much useless footage, with a staggering amount of cutaways (I don't need to see any more cityscapes or puddle reflections, thanks) and even useless scenes, like Grace fainting and going to the hospital. Ten minutes wasted right there. I usually adore Nicole Kidman, but she has about three expressions these days that are so odd that I can actually do an impersonation of them with my friends, who also hate this show. In fact, we're actually enjoying how much we hate it.
I know David Kelly wrote it, which shocked me as he also wrote Big Little Lies (we liked season one, not season two), but this series feels more like one of his shows from the '90s, written as tame storylines with commercial breaks in mind. The story is just dumb, I don't care about any of the characters, and the whole thing feels wooden. And there have been more than a few scenes where I was embarrassed for Hugh Grant as he attempts to cry. And no, that's not his character faking a cry. That's him trying to emote. Ugh... just cringeworthy. The entire thing.
After watching this on the heels of a three-season binge of Penny Dreadful (one of the best shows I've ever seen), the contrast between riveting writing and the phoned-in kind is keenly apparent after watching The Undoing.
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (2020)
Whoops.
Why is this called Penny Dreadful? Penny dreadfuls were gothic books of cheap horror stories that one could buy for a penny. The key element is that they were GOTHIC, which is why it was such an apt name for the original. It just doesn't apply to 1930s America in any way. And John Logan wrote and created this? Something is off. Either he had much more help with the original than we know, or some executive took this series and somehow hacked it up. There has to be more to the story as this failure is just too perplexing.
Penny Dreadful (2014)
As Good As It Gets
This haunting masterpiece of a series has taken me surprise a few years after its release, as early on I remember reading lukewarm reviews. Well, that was a mistake. The whole thing is stunning...the look, the feel, the language--ESPECIALLY the language-- it's gorgeous, all of it. The poetic dialog is only upstaged by the commitment of every actor to make this a true and original work of art. I've since read that the mash-up of characters from gothic literature is actually truer to their source material in Penny Dreadful than what we've seen in most films, and thank God, as I've fallen in love with all of them.
One thing I don't see many mention in these reviews is the eroticism in so many of the episodes that also comes across as poetry, with all the beauty, longing and heartbreak we can feel about these things in our own lives. Only Penny Dreadful lifts it into art, pure and simple. Put it this way: I even watch the intro credits every time, just to linger over the images and listen to that stunning score that keeps coming back throughout every episode, often in a barely recognizable way. My only beef is that I read they were gearing up for a season four when the series was cancelled and so the ending had to be rushed. Obviously, duller heads prevailed, but no matter. Penny Dreadful has made its indelible mark. I know I'll be watching all three seasons again and again.
Dr. Phil (2002)
What happened?
For a long time, I was actually a defender of Dr. Phil. I thought he focused on solid issues and always made sure his guests received quality follow up support.
But he's now obsessed with this Dr. Frank Lawless, whose PNP Center consistently gets low reviews on Yelp, with people complaining they spent ten grand for literally nothing, and they go there based upon Dr Phil recommendation. It's BS science.
And what's with the shameless self-plugging of his wife's cosmetics (under the guise of fighting domestic violence...ugh), his son's publishing company, or of his books (now published by son, 'natch).
The final straw was Phil's appearance on Fox News on the Laura Ingraham show giving opinions about Covid before he educated himself about the virus. Not only were his facts dead wrong, but his apology later was half assed, of the "I'm sorry if you didn't like what I said" variety. Not exactly a meal culpa, which at least Dr. Drew gave.
Also, what is Phil thinking appearing on such a divisive network, and with a host who is the fringe of right wing? Pretty sure his right wing fans wouldn't want to see him on an MSNBC pundit's show. Phil has always been great at keeping his politics private, but I guess that's over. Laura Ingraham Phil? You do realize you may have lost half your viewers with that.
I'm not looking for arguments about Ingraham. I'm pointing out that this was a careless act when your viewers are from both sides AND his facts were grotesquely in error.
The ads were already turning my stomach. Revealing his politics has turned nausea into vomit.
Hollywood (2020)
So much was right, until it wasn't
This series was a total joyride until the last two episodes or so. The cast was wonderful, as was the writing and production, and it was fun to see both old and new faces. It seemed to be telling real stories about real people until, well, it went off into "Dreamland." (I won't be a spoiler about that.) Something about the last episode, in particular, was actually painful to watch. It's titled "A Hollywood Ending," so we know just from that that things are going to be tied up in a big pretty bow. But the bow was just too big. Yes, it was a fantasy rewrite of history, but as others have said, it could have told stories of minorities, gays and women from that era that were truer to the times and still have been a moving finale, without the golly willikers nonsense. What a waste of talent and of a series, because it really had me hooked through most of it. I particularly loved seeing an older Dylan McDermott have such a blast playing the hard boiled yet dashing pimp. But honestly, in that last episode, at any second I thought Lassie was going to run out after saving Timmy from the well to join in on the Oscar fun. What a shame, but I'm not sorry I watched it. If there's a second season, I hope it will focus on truer tales of that period, instead of fictionalizing actual people like Rock Hudson. Pretty sure his real life struggle would be a story worth telling.
The Last Thing He Wanted (2020)
Remarkably Bad
Wow. What a mess. Hathaway's opening narration is your first clue as to just how bad this film is going to be, and in fact, it actually sums up the entire debacle quite well. It's confusing, self-important, rambling, non-sensical, disjointed, tedious and just plain dull.
And is it me, or was the volume of this film curiously low? At first I thought I was missing things because it wasn't loud enough, but I was missing things because the film is, well...missing things. Like a story.
And to think this incredible cast signed on for this! Were they given a wonderful script and then it got all chopped up in the editing room? Were they tricked? Duped? Anne goes all in to flesh out a character, but I started to feel sorry for her after awhile that she was working so hard, not knowing that the ship was sinking. For an actor, that seriously has to suck.
When all was said and done, I suspect the producers knew they had a bomb, so they lowered the volume hoping we'd just fall asleep and forget the whole thing. Which everyone will.
I don't like giving bad reviews, but this was just so remarkable in its terribleness that it was worthy of comment. I guess that's something.
Frank and Cindy (2015)
Wonderful!
Why is it when someone tells an autobiographical tale they're called self-indulgent or other unkind remarks? The very nature of one's own story means that they're at the center of the narrative. How can it be any other way? Anyway, this film should have hit the mainstream much harder than it did. I was enchanted with every character as well as the story from beginning to end. I knew nothing about the backstory going in and that was probably a good thing as there's a lot of judgment about that as well... Like should the director have even made this film if there was already a documentary. What difference does it make? He did a fantastic job here, period, mining the nuances of a complicated love story with his parents. Maybe it deserved to be retold from another approach. The film was funny, touching and compelling. And Russo and Platt give outstanding performances. I love that actresses are allowing themselves to be real, meaning unattractive, these days. Recently saw Melissa McCarthy in "Can You Ever Forgive Me" and Patricia Arquette in "Escape at Dannemora." Like those gals, Renee is going for the performance in this film with no vanity at all. And she gives the performance of her career. Bravo to everyone all around. I hope this film finds its audience on Netflix because it deserves so much more than the attention it's received so far.