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emlynaddison
Reviews
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
What absolute crap
They say that nobody sets out to make a bad movie, but HOW DO YOU SPEND TWO HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS making this much garbage? Every tired movie trope you can imagine. Slow, uninspired, boring, and dumb action sequences. The only thing worth watching this for is Pedro.
American Crime Story (2016)
Strong cast, good screenplay, keeps its eye on the ball
For anyone older than a millennial, they probably remember the endless courtroom TV we were subjected to for months on end. I recall what felt like weeks of the same DNA analyst answering questions, Marcia Clark's face became a fixture, and I remember Mark Fuhrman's monotone delivery; unemotional.
It wasn't until after I had watched this show--and learned things I didn't know about the trial and its players--that I sought out a description of the crime itself, to put all the hype and hysteria of the trial in context of the act of murder itself. I came across a video reenactment on YouTube that was sobering, angering and startling in its detail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqpvNQZxCtg ("OJ Murders Nicole and Ron")
There is no question that Simpson murdered these two people, regardless of racist cops; but what was lost in the trial was the sheer barbarism of the act. One is left wondering whether Simpson's brain is affected by CTE symptoms, now seen in so many other NFL players. It would explain his temper and his capacity for committing such a heinous act of violence with no remorse. Monstrous inhumanity.
The Night Manager (2016)
Great potential, so-so execution
Something happens when American producers adapt British comedy; it loses something. The same applies in reverse when British producers take on the American drama-thriller genre. Anyone familiar with James Bond movies might understand this: British thrills are somehow less thrilling, less genuinely exciting. What we get here is 70% of the thrills, but lots of lavish visuals awash in strings. (That's not to say that the acting is worse in British shows--it's often better, MUCH better. 'Broadchurch' for one.)
I almost stopped watching the first episode before it was over. Hiddleston saunters into his place of work, strolling past gunfire in the streets, does a so-so job of appearing like an actual hotel concierge, allows himself to be seduced by a woman he's only just met and who he knows is a local maniac's trophy girl, then suddenly makes it his life's mission to fight a faceless bad guy when she comes back to the hotel and ends up dead? In what universe?
But the drama picks up--with occasional inexplicable story holes and flubbed motivations-- and the acting is mostly top shelf. Don't know if I see Hugh Laurie as Mr Gun Runner--he doesn't scare me at all--but I suppose they could have done a lot worse. Tom Hollander is a treat to watch.
Rio 2 (2014)
Self-indulgent, over-the-top garbage.
Are we now at the point where we can be bored stiff by $50 million of cutting-edge movie technology?
Stereotyped characters, poor casting and an apoplectically lame story line. And stupid, sophomoric visual gags that are, more often than not, so fleeting that you wonder how many months of work and how much money were spent on each of them.
Who on earth is green-lighting these garbage stories?
If you can't first produce a decent script, don't waste your time trying to wow me with your visuals. Even my 5-year-old was bored.
Bring on the feather and a bucket; I've gorged myself on your junk movie and want to purge myself so you can fill me up again with your next undeserving boondoggle.
Digfellas (2013)
Ignore the antics; it's about history
Yeah, so the producers obviously figured on creating "characters" by giving these guys some goofy alter-egos and even goofier accents--notice how Bill & Howard's accents aren't half as strong on their earlier Youtube vids? That's no accident; enter the TV producers...how do you make a show about metal detecting sexy?
Anyway, if you can look past all the silliness, there is a surprising level of depth here. Yes, they're both skilled metal detectives, but I saw a lot of solid history. Somebody has done their homework.
I actually like the historical angle more than the detection work--nice, quick summaries with hand-painted (I think) vignettes pointing out the details of some historical event.
Probably not for everyone, but way better than that other show with the group of borderline- criminal greasebags conning witless homeowners into letting them dig holes all over their properties...
Haywire (2011)
I love it when I love a movie I didn't expect to
Knew nothing of this movie and loved it. Don't know what these other reviewers are smoking. Smart, fast-moving, original and engaging. Well-crafted action sequences, edge-of-seat suspense and very smart time-shifts.
I'm so tired of the Bourne-alikes (even 007 in Skyfall!) that it was refreshing to see a woman take on the role for a change; she really wears the role well and makes for a believable female agent under pressure.
It's Heat meets Munich meets Bourne Trilogy. Been recommending it to all my friends.
Looper (2012)
One of the best time-travel-themed movies
I didn't even know Bruce WIllis was in this, and didn't recognize Gordon-Levitt until halfway into the movie...
Unusually engaging opening sequences and the setup actually respects the audience's intelligence, not giving everything away with cheesy dialog but letting it dawn on us gradually as we see the cause-effect relationships unfolding.
A very smart story that needed very smart filmmaking, and I think this hit the mark squarely. You end up rooting both for and against both the protagonist and the antagonist; that's a very difficult thing to pull off properly, and this succeeds. Very good casting--the young boy is incredible.
One of my new favorites.
Hard Candy (2005)
This cockamamie film disallows suspension of disbelief
Actually, don't let my two-star rating mislead you: The acting is very strong in this film, but the story and plot are so utterly and atrociously defective, misguided and self-gratifying as to render the entire exercise pointless and the viewer wholly unfulfilled.
When you begin to wish death on the leading character within 20 minutes of the film's exposition, you become aware that you're consumed not with the story, but the protagonist's (read: antagonist's) immediate and violent demise.
When I saw Page in "Juno" I thought she acted too old for the character's age; too self-assured and mature. In this case (now playing a 14-year-old) the disparity between age and behavior/language is even greater.
And when this little 14-year-old behaves as if the likelihood of her being caught is a patent impossibility (as if instructed by the script) and is always--and without exception--a step ahead of a seemingly cautious and highly intelligent adult, one can only question the scriptwriter.
This film disallows suspension of disbelief. A colossal and unmitigated failure of film-making.
Consider:
1. How does she find the man in an otherwise anonymous chat room in the first place?
2. How does she move his limp body, not just onto a chair, but onto a table? Let alone hanging from a cross beam? Beyond absurd.
3. How does she not electrocute herself with the stun gun if both are covered in water from the shower?
4. Where did she learn to handle a gun so deftly (you can read about gun skills on the web all you want, but actually holding and operating a heavy pistol is another matter)?
5. Do you think a pedophile would be stupid enough to "hide" a safe in his coffee table and be such an insufferable fool as to use his chat room handle as the code?
Brian Nelson: SHUT UP.