buckosjointhouse Reviews

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities: The Viewing (2022) Season 1, Episode 7

I wanted to like this more than I did.

[5/10 · 29 October 2022]

I can't confidently say what this episode was about. The price of forbidden knowledge? Curiousity killing the cat? The hunter becoming the hunted?

I loved the aesthetic of the piece, the set design the soundtrack and the vfx. Parts of the premise were intriguing; was the object of demonic or extra- terestrial origin?

The acting was solid apart from maybe the psychic guy who just came across as annoying and the jaded skpetic who couldn't give hima break. A tired dynamic. Petter Weller has a lot of gravitas as the mysterious host. Also, I think I've seen too much of Eric Andre in comedy and spoof works to take his terror seriously and it ruins the suspension of disbelief.

Ultimately I feel it's too aloof and purposefuly refuses to reveal it's context in order to hide what's ultimately a styalised and shallow creature feature.

Hellraiser (2022)

The most pale of imitations the softest of reboots.

[3/10 · 8 October 2022]

A very lacklustre reboot that pales in comparison to the orignal. The body horror is weak. There are two likable characters (the protaganist's brother and his female room mate who die quickly) . The aesthetic of the cenobites doesn't evoke anything in comparison to the original.

The most intriguing aspects ofthe lore were left as raw filler in the final act and if the true nature of the configuration wasn't understood to fresh eyes before that you would think this was a low budget teen scream flick.

At times I was lamenting the lack of subtitles as the cenobites were hard to understand. Was that supposed to be spooky?

I'd rather see another retconned studio rip off that was produced to retain Hellraiser rights then rewatch this pathetic mess of a film.

Midsommar (2019)

Boring, vapid and overlong.

[3/10 · 21 October 2019]

Stupid characters that are imposible to identify with. Long drawn out scenes that are telegraphed too often before they even occur. Bitterly dissapointing after Hereditary. The most disturbing and scary thing about this film is the over 2 hour run time. This whole film was just obnoxious.

Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers (2018)

Poor narration choices and terrible editing ruin a great story.

[4/10 · 2 July 2019]

First off I don't know why the director felt the documentary needed narration. It felt completely out of tone with the themes of Bob Lazar's story. Instead of conveying a sense of mystery, paranoia and subterfuge it felt like a drunken rambler trying to describe a bender while he was hungover and chewing through 40 cigarettes an hour. So much of it was pointlessly expositional as if the audience hadn't been paying attention to anything being shown on screen. I also found my self struggling to hear what Mickey Rourke was actually saying at times. I don't mean this as a slight against the man, I loved his naration in Sin City where it suited the tone and style of the piece, it just feels terribly out of place in a documentary film.

The editing and some of the lighting choices in the film gave me a headache. There seemed to be so many pointless distortions in the sound and picture. We get that a lot of the source materials wouldn't have been of the best quality in terms of picture nd audio. You didn't have to make them worse to convey that.

The director felt the need to splice himself in every now and then with a worried look on his face. The text message intro was terrible and devoid of context. It felt so staged and unnatural.

Overall the film lacked a sense of cohesion. It jumped around too much. If you want a more coherent version of Bob Lazar's fascinating story check out his recent podcast interview on the Joe Rogan Experince.

Game of Thrones: The Last of the Starks (2019) Season 8, Episode 4

Felt flat. Very hard to get hyped anymore.

[5/10 · 6 May 2019]

It's hard to care anymore. So many characters just feel redundant and or severely predictable. The deaths in this episode just didn't feel impactful. I feel like I have a menancholic hangover from the Long Night and this episode did nothing to aliviate that. Fairly underwhelming. I know it's just a tee up episode but so much of what's teed up just doesn't have a sense of importance. I don't really care how this resolves itself now. Hopefully we'll get a good cleganebowl at least.

Game of Thrones: The Long Night (2019) Season 8, Episode 3

No bueno.

[5/10 · 29 April 2019]

7 seasons to turn the NK into a cartoon villain and make Bran literally useless. Shame on you.

Shame! *ding ding* Shame! *ding ding* Shame! *ding ding*

The set design and the battle sequences get this episode 5 points, but the writing is still trash and my god how anti-climactic to just throw away the prophecy and have Marya Sue just gut-punch Death like it was no big deal. I pray grrm finishes the books and gives us a decent ending. He'll probably disavow the tv series after that crap.

Shame! *ding ding* Shame! *ding ding* Shame! *ding ding*

Game of Thrones: Winterfell (2019) Season 8, Episode 1

Tonnes of fan service.

[7/10 · 15 April 2019]

I think everyone got what they wanted but the dialogue hasn't improved. They clearly have a bigger greeen screen budget in terms of actual plot progression and content the episode was just a tie over with lots of reunions. We knew about Jon's parents. Yes, seeing dragons is a big deal. We knew Euron would arrive back with the Golden company. The opening titles were really good. 2 stars for that alone.

The Greasy Strangler (2016)

Wow

[8/10 · 29 December 2017]

Hilarious. Childish brilliance. Grease mongers of the world take heed. Our saviours are here. Oily grapefruit for all!

Ever said to yourself "That's not right!" when presented with poorly greased food? Well suffer in silence no longer. It's great to see the greasily afflicted portrayed so well. I can't tell you the amount of times I've absconded with pilfered grease and wanted to see it so artfully brought to life.

No longer will the plebs of a greaseless society associate us with racist stereotypes like Groundskeeper Willy, a known bullshit artist! We have true champions of grease in Big Ronnie and Big Brayden.Why tis no easy life being a grease bandit never mind a greasy strangler. These guys get it.

My heart goes out to Janet. What a trooper.

Jurassic World (2015)

Too many things wrong to rescue.

[2/10 · 23 March 2016]

Kids. Didn't they learn from the first one with the screaming and the crying? Kids ruin a good action flick, that's it. Nobody wants their blubbering and their screaming. Shut the **** up already. Who gives a **** about the kids' parents divorcing? That was so forced and obtuse, it warranted the whole movie having a late term abortion. The back alley kind with a rusty coat hanger.

The obese security guard in the paddock deserved to die the second he started talking with food in his mouth and for assuming that was an acceptable thing to do. They got something right, but he still needed to die quicker.

What's with this half reveal the antagonist deal? We've already bought the ticket or the movie, it's not like they're trying to trap us in for some Lost Season 1 smoke and mirrors shenanigans.

Lens flair too.Where do they get the nerve? Show us the ******* thing already you JJ Abrams wannabe tool.

I like Chris Pratt. He's kinda funny and a decent actor. That doesn't mean you get away with just casting him and not bothering with any other decent actors, a script, a director or anything else that makes a decent movie.

But what's particularly crippling about Jurassic World is that Trevorrow and his three fellow co-writers populate the film with stock human characters who as much personality as the dump I took directly after watching the movie. Pratt demonstrated a winningly self-deprecating sense of humour in Her, The Lego Movie and on the TV series Parks And Recreation, and his ascension to movie star with Guardians Of The Galaxy was especially cheering, suggesting that he could become an A-lister without losing the modest humanity and sweet common touch that were his trademarks. Sadly, his Owen is a somewhat sensitive mush mouth who probably had to be held back several years and in real life would have tattoos on his neck and hands. He also seems to read of a q card: Whether he's establishing a personal connection with one of the dinosaurs or bickering with the walking nun's fanny, Claire, the character isn't much fun — nor is he compelling or swaggering enough to come across as a magnetic dramatic presence.

Please shove more products in our faces, you useless sacks of ****.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Don't be sad because it's over, be happy because it happened.

[9/10 · 20 July 2012]

****SPOILERS****

I had to compose myself before writing this. I felt an unparalleled rush of feelings and perhaps answers to questions long rattled around in my head. Over the past six years Christopher Nolan has brought fans of The Bat and lovers of quality film making on a great journey. When Lord of The Rings finished I felt lonely thinking I would never experience a cinematic event like it again, I was wrong.

The director and his co-screenwriter, brother Jonathan Nolan, pick up the story eight years after Batman (Christian Bale) took the rap for DA Harvey Dent. It was Dent who died going psycho as the evil Two- Face, but Commissioner Gordon (the reliably superb Gary Oldman) persuaded Batman to take the blame as an impetus for severe new crime laws in Gotham. This new era of crime-busting is built on lies, which is hell on Batman's alter ego, playboy Bruce Wayne, who's been living like a hermit in luxury – all his bat toys banished.

What brings Batman out of his shell and back into his bat suit? It starts with his attraction to Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), a cat burglar who teases Bruce wickedly while hiding a secret agenda. Hathaway – sexy, scrappy and fast with put-downs – is dynamite as Catwoman, bringing welcome humor to a movie about to be enveloped in darkness.

And no one is darker than Bane (Tom Hardy), a battering ram of a villain, his face covered by a grille that feeds him medicine to alleviate pain he's suffered from childhood. Hardy's face is covered for 99.9 percent of the film, but his physical and vocal performance is riveting. It's Bane who initiates the attack against Gotham and the stock exchange. Is Nolan equating the legit protest of Occupy Wall Street with Bane's terrorism? You be the judge.

"The Dark Knight Rises" ends on a self-important note (not just quoting Dickens but erecting an actual monument, no less) that would be insufferable if Nolan and Bale hadn't so clearly earned it. In addition to giving fans their fair share of entertainment value, they helped make comic-book movies safe for good actors, resulting not in great talent slumming but elevating the form. Arguably, Robert Downey Jr., Michael Fassbender, Mark Ruffalo and, most recently, Andrew Garfield owe some debt to Bale, whose brooding, tightly coiled psychological complexity found such a sympathetic outlet in Nolan's densely composed style.

Like one of most hotly pursued MacGuffins of "The Dark Knight Rises," Nolan leaves a clean slate by the end of the movie, keeping a door open for Bale's successors. A generous gesture, to be sure, but for now, it's difficult to imagine anyone else with such a perfect scowl for the cowl.

However, I felt the same sadness leaving the cinema tonight.Then I remembered the joy, the inspiring scenes, the music, the goose pimples, stuff that makes you want to stand up in the cinema beat your chest and cry out " GO BATMAN, GO". Call it schmaltzy but I don't care. Batman lives on, so to speak, and thanks to him we may all sleep safe at night.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011)

Meh

[3/10 · 8 April 2012]

Another case where a good book from a good author is turned into Oscar hopeful muck. The director slaps in a couple of well liked stars ala Hanks and Bullock and thinks it's great. Well it's not. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close has a story worth telling, but it deserves better than the treacly and pretentious treatment director Stephen Daldry gives it. His adaptation is like trying to play football with a square of concrete; it's hard and boring. It feels like a Very Special Episode of a hopelessly lightweight kids TV show, misguidedly attempting to have its say on an issue it can barely comprehend, let alone interpret. When it was finally over, I found myself not just disappointed, but a little annoyed. Frankly, it seems more than a little like a cheat. It was almost formulaic in its creation, Oscar winning actors + emotive issue = bad movie.

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (2011)

Self Gratification at it's worst!

[1/10 · 16 February 2011]

Right so everyone here on IMDb is pretty much committed to giving this "movie"(if you can call it that) 1 out of 10 to get it to no.1 on the bottom 100 list. Trust me, they're right.I went to see it because I knew there was no way I could criticize this movie without seeing it.However, the film lacks any artistic merit whatsoever. It is full of the latest and greatest pop sensations of the Youtube generation, but all these names and flashy lights are just stuffing in the under cooked turkey that is this show.At the heart of this presentation is the message to never give up on your dreams, however the whole movie is just Bieber smiling, looking pretty and grooming his lesbian hair, and as mentioned in previous reviews, the theater was full of tween girls screaming their heads off every time he inhaled or exhaled. Someone really needs to teach the modern generation about cinema etiquette, or at least tell them to shut up for 10 seconds. I honestly don't know what this movie was trying to do besides earn money and add a few more accolades to the stars names. In short this movie is just pointless.The 3D also sucks.