thecure-1 Reviews

The Restaurant (2017– )

Overall a good series with some good threads but sometimes VERY predictable

[4/10 · 7 December 2020]

The series has a good spirit and delivers a good message... but to get there they fall into many very predictable story lines and characters that tend to be cartoonish: the good ones are naive and fall into traps, the bad ones are evil for no reason other than to be evil... For example, as soon as the sweet italian waitor gets a new car, one can guess that the bad guy will return to the show and destroy that car... OR predictable scenes... you know when one guy is about to commit suicide: he polishes his shoes right before, JUST like the witness in "A Few Good Men" Nina goes bankrupt because the bank does not follow procedures when a bad check is about to be withdrawn, yet the bank is not sued for this mistake Anytime 2 people get together, SEX *MUST* occur, no character can ever say: "this is not right" I did like the time passing (1950-1971) and the character story with the waitress who goes into politics

Yesterday (III) (2019)

Hey Dude You made it bad

[4/10 · 30 September 2019]

The beginning premise was interesting, then they did not know where to go. Many folks here wrote the same so I will just add some comments I did not see... 1) With so many Beatles songs available, why repeat Back in the USSR? 2) Did they have to kill John Lennon again? 3) A movie about Beatles music should not have other horrible music intertwined in the movie ... a waste of time which could have been used for other Beatle songs 4) Why did the dad go back to get a tuna sandwich and why did we have to watch that? 5) Today: All my troubles seem to stay again

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017–2023)

For those who think it was bad comedy ...

[10/10 · 21 August 2019]

I read many reviews with folks criticizing the level of comedy of this show... And I can agree that it is not the type of humor that will have you holding your belly and laughing on the floor ... It is a "comedy" in that it is DESCRIPTIVE of life in the late 1950s, Jewish New York, and a woman trying to make it through the sexism in the comedic circles she has to travel through. The depiction/costumes/music of the era is great... Maisel's acting is superb and a great cast around her... Good interesting story lines ... And the situations are funny even thought there are no amazing lines to quote afterwards ... Also pay attention to the closing credits music: great 80's songs which fit the ending like a hand in glove (Smith's reference)

The Doors (1991)

Open your "Doors" to this movie ...

[9/10 · 22 April 2019]

Read a lot of reviews here and many are hung up on the fact that it was more about Morrison than about the band ... Maybe Oliver Stone called it "The Doors" referring to the meaning of the band's name and not so much the group itself ... Either way, even though the Doors had GREAT musicians, the Doors would NOT be the Doors without Morrison...

ANYWAY, IMHO ...

What DID work: the way the movie included the music and when, the scenes, the 60's feeling, Val Kilmer's performance, the final shots at the Lachaise cemetery ... even Oliver Stone's interpretation of where Morrison was at, his identification with native Americans, the lizard king, his love for poetry ... why The Doors are such an important R&R band ...

What did NOT work: Some of the exaggerations or made up scenes (Pam's burning, thanksgiving), showing Jim Morrison as very (ironically) one-dimensional... he just wants to get fed-up ... Robbie's line: "you like pain but you are constantly trying to avoid it" shows what Oliver Stone thought ...

Final recommendation: If you like music and you are not old like me and want to get a sense of what that time was like (leaving some room for doubt as this is Stone's perception after all), then do watch this movie!

Lodge 49 (2018–2019)

No plot whatsoever ... A bunch of disjointed scenes

[1/10 · 1 September 2018]

This series is trying so hard to emulate The Big Lewoski that losses itself in the process. There is no plot, just random scenes which sometimes have something surprising happen (like a bird hitting a window for no apparent reason). Like a modern painting where the viewer can see whatever they feel like, this show just throws situations up in the air and leaves it up to the viewer to make sense of it. A sea fox crosses the road. You make sense of it! Cheap and lazy writing with some great scenery at times.

Borg vs. McEnroe (2017)

Enough flashbacks already !!!

[7/10 · 20 April 2018]

I liked how the movie brought me back to those days when tennis players were like superstars (although you would not know it if you watch the last aierport scene where Bjorn and John have a lWhat I did not like is how the movie overkills the contrast between them and yet, it is contradictory in that the "calm/predictable/shy" Bjorn fires his coach without thinking it over much and is ready to leave his fiance as well ... which makes him as volatile as McEnroe supposedly is... Meanwhile there is no tennis analysis whatsoever. I loved how John had the best hands in tennis and how graceful and talented he was at the net ... Sverri Gudnason plays and moves a little bit like Bjorn, Shia LaBeouf is a DISASTER as John McEnroe: his movements are totally non-tennis and totally wrong!!! The movie shows them as if this is the first time they play one another when it really was the SEVENTH time they played one another. This is just on of many liberties they take to tell the story they want to tell: the Ying/Yang that movies require in order for those watching to get the point... Too many flashbacks: the whole movie seemed like a long string of Bjorg remembering hitting against a wall and John getting rejected by his parents!!!

Molly's Game (2017)

Usual Sorkinisms ruin the movie

[7/10 · 13 April 2018]

Interesting movie, well made but the dialog is the usual Sorkin 1000 "clever" words a minute without one "ah" in between (as if everyone speaks like that) ... Sorkin has a hard time avoiding cliches like the tough-father-who-really-did-love-his-daughter-after-all and the lawyer who we are lead to think would not take the case... surprise, surprise: he does take the case! ... The movie is fast and entertaining but sometimes too fast and if you only know poker a little bit (like me), you probably lose a lot but get the point so no need to rewind... I found the movie entertaining but once again, Sorkin gets in the way with his "creative" repetitions.

Wonder (I) (2017)

Disney movie: Good if you want a message for your kids BUT ...

[5/10 · 13 March 2018]

Disney movie: Good if you want a message for your kids BUT ... if you expect a REAL movie, this was terrible. The good people are good and the bad people are bad. Everyone is a cartoon character. Watch this with your kids if they never watched a movie where one is shown how we need to support/respect EVERYONE regardless of looks. If you already watched movies like this and you are already a decent person, BAG this movie ... it is so OBVIOUS and patronizing in its message ... And it does with the viewers what the bad people do with the main character: judge him on his looks... Judge people depending on what shoes they wear !!!

The Mountain Between Us (2017)

Watch 3 minutes, guess what happens and you will be correct!

[2/10 · 2 March 2018]

The only surprise in the movie is that 2 people and a dog can hang out for weeks with nothing to eat and survive fine. There are no spoilers in this review: Do you want this couple to end together? Do you want them to survive? Do you want a happy ending? If after the movie you compare the answers you wanted and the outcome of the movie, and you like what you end up with, God Bless You: you have a lot of other movies to look forward to!!!

American Made (2017)

Too much Tom Cruise selfie to be able to appreciate the movie ...

[1/10 · 6 January 2018]

Cruise did not try to look like the real Barry Seal as actors before him did like Robert De Niro when in Raging Bull he gained weight to look like Jack LaMotta or Johnny Depp looking horrible in Blow (which this movie steals so much from) ... Tom Cruise does not act but POSES to look the coolest in every shot and be the sexy hero he needs to be in order to keep getting other jobs ... He even flashes his butt on us ... When almost shot, it is his companion who pees in his pants but not our cool hero (he only sweats a little) ... The movie may look promising but seemed like it borrowed too much from Goodfellas, Blow and other similar movies ... And, again, it is hard to see past Tom Cruise again trying so hard to re-create his role in Risky Business or Days of Thunder ... The movie is one long Tom Cruise SELFIE !!!

Fearless (I) (2017)

More plot holes than swiss cheese

[1/10 · 26 November 2017]

I usually love English series for their subtle-ness and rich characters. This show is the opposite. One stereotype after the other! ... They even have TWO scenes with a bus running someone over when the script has nowhere to go! ... The initial setup is one we have seen MILLIONS of times ago: No one believes an innocent man except the main character. The "crowd" condemns this innocent man and rallies against him because they have nothing better to do ... and 14 years after the fact ... Hate for the sake of hating ... The main character is perfect and flawless and can go against anyone and never gives up, because ... oh yes, she is "fearless" ... her diet consists of vodka and cigarettes, never sleeps but has endless energy (except for the bags under her eyes) ... Constant flashbacks to some sixties protests that nobody cares about... A connection between a teen age murder and the highest CIA and UK politicians as well as, yes, lets throw ISIS in there why not, nobody pays attention to realism anyhow ... SPOILER: The last episode plants this big red herring around a supposed attempt against the main character which never happens... it is just there to fool us the audience ... bad scripting ... This series tries so hard to be memorable and ends up being totally implausible and forgettable ...

Paris Can Wait (2016)

Lipstick on Sexism

[1/10 · 24 September 2017]

The movie is beautiful. But the beauty of the landscapes or the amazing food presented serve as a framework to a story we have seen many times before: Unattentive husband and victim wife being romanced by french don Juan ... What I object to (and thus my low score) is how the story is one big SETUP ... We the viewers are framed to think that an affair was to occur, but good thing that "this movie is special/different and it does not happen" (which is what they want us to walk away saying)... Multiple times Anne gets warned to "not travel with a french guy named Jaques" or "you know how the french are" ... the movie is mined with stereotypes for us to fall for ... So the guy ends up making love to her with food instead of sex but the affair carrot keeps being dangled in front of our eyes ... Another setup: the french guy who has her paying for everything and we over hear him him having money troubles when she ear drops on his phone conversation ... the setup is that this is a suave, slimy french guy trying to get in her pants, as with his various attempts to getting her drunk throughout the movie ... But on the other hand: where is Jaques' loyalty to Michael, the husband, who trusted him to take his wife to Paris ... Anne seems to like him by the end, does she not value this guys loyalty to her husband? ... Even though he pays his debt and does not force himself on her, he was still a douche for even afterwards attempting a date in the future with her (and not the husband) ... And about Anne: she was so passive and such a victim... doesn't a strong woman speak up that she wants to go to Paris and not be a damsel in distress, captive to this man who can decide for the 2 of them where they stay, where they go, what they eat? ... instead of saying she does not like escargots she chooses to throw them on the floor so a kid ends up eating them off the floor... Anne later asks him "how far is Paris?" as if women do not know of the existence of Google Maps! The whole movie is a big SETUP for us to think that the barriers will break, but when they do not, walk away thinking we saw the one movie that "did not resort to cheap sex", when indeed, that is what the movie flirted with and used all along to keep our attention.

And by the way, Jaques says the best way to see France is by car... I disagree, it is the 2nd best way, watching the Tour de France is much better!!!

The Distinguished Citizen (2016)

No one is a prophet in their own land

[8/10 · 4 September 2017]

Being an Argentine (sans the Nobel prize as the main protagonist achieved) away from Argentina for over 43 years I could totally relate to the topic of this movie. I liked the main character in how clear he is about his convictions, his work, his principles and how all of this clashes against the bureaucracy, guilt, jealousy which awaits for him when he comes home... The movie is a great study of change and lack of change. His travel brings him perspective and intelligence ... The main character is a writer who forces himself to go back to his birth place and finds a world which has not changed and which projects onto him what they want him to be. This may happen to many of you writing when you go back home after not being there for a while... this movie is an extreme case of that: going back from a first world to the third world he came from. (Not Buenos Aires but a small town 500 miles from B.A.)

Breaking Bad (2008–2013)

Best show or movie EVER.

[10/10 · 11 July 2017]

Intelligent, original and interesting story. Great acting. Logic in its own universe. Metaphorical and matter-of-fact at the same time. Simple and complex at the same time. I watched it twice and kept finding new reasons to love it. What other TV or movie can make buying a plastic container in Home Depot or installing a water heater actually interesting? It is the simplicity of the normal life that makes it so believable. Unlike other shows where one someone is "smart" you just have to believe they are. Here they SHOW you why they are smart. Actions have consequences. Godfather-like, except for 65 hours which, like a long classic book, I loved so much!

Beatriz at Dinner (2017)

Disappointing ... The movie takes advantage of the viewers like ...

[1/10 · 27 June 2017]

The movie takes advantage of the viewers like one of the "Trump-like" characters takes advantage of the world around him. Someone wrote/directed a one hour long movie with a no-direction plot and felt OK charging us $12 a head to have us watch it. The premise is dumb. Anywhere else Beatriz would have stayed in a room watching TV or reading a book waiting to be picked up and not be exposed to an uncomfortable nothing-in-common dinner for her or the other guests... Incredibly depressing: not only is it about the present horrible reality of the oligarch system we live in now but the movie itself is about the same unfair reality. We kept on wanting something to happen to redeem the plot, but nothing came to save us... On a positive note: the acting was fantastic.

Wakefield (2016)

Enlightened but irresponsible

[6/10 · 28 May 2017]

Yes, as others commented, the movie is superbly done and Cranston is as always a fantastic actor. The problem I had with this movie and its premise is the same I have whenever people introvert and wander into themselves and leave their surroundings: it may be sometimes healthy and prove certain independence but it is totally self-absorbed and selfish. Howard Wakefield may be "cool" by freeing himself from all his suburban self but he still depends on his house and its leftovers, he becomes a parasite where he once was a provider. And there is no consideration at all for the pain he may have caused those around him. This is the problem I have with his withdrawal... And when he returns he expects to be welcomed as a hero, when, in my mind, he betrayed and abandoned his loved ones.

The Fall (I) (2013–2016)

Great UK Thriller ... Shows how well trained we are!

[9/10 · 8 May 2017]

What I love most about this show:

The story is original, it does not follow the archetypal stories I feel we have been trained to expect. The story is rich with details and with normal human reactions. For example, when there is a death, people react as humans would not like often other shows have characters deal with someone's dying without any emotion what so ever.

Different characters have actual personalities ... They have relationships with one another. There is detail. There is depth.

Stereotypes are broken: good guys have flaws and bad guys have redeeming qualities ...

Not a 10 because at times it seemed to go a little slow, otherwise it would have been a 10!!!

Troy (2004)

The Good The Bad and The Ugly

[8/10 · 10 February 2009]

* What worked: The battle scenes, the 1000 ships thru the Aedrean sea, anything CGI was GREAT!!! The script was as good as expected in putting 24 Illiad books into 3 hours to be shown to people who chances are do not know who Homer was. The acting was solid...Brad Pitt was Achilles thru and thru. The Illiad is mainly about Achilles rage, and in that sense it accomplished its deed.

* What did not work: (Besides the changing of the story: Agamemnon, Menelaus, Ajax do NOT die in Troy for example) One of the main points of the story is that MIND is stronger than STRENGTH... Thet it was Odysseus who unravels the frustration of the Greek inability to penetrate the Trojan walls. The Trojan horse is a small detail and because everything is shown as if ti was a 2 week Greek vacation, Odysseus genius and brilliance is lost in the process.

Bright Lights, Big City (1988)

Coma Baby

[9/10 · 29 January 2009]

Throughout the story Michael J Fox (Jamie) reads about a "Coma Baby" who does not want to leave the womb. Also throughout the movie, people are constantly screaming "Can You Hear Me???" or "I cant Hear You!!!" The symbolism is obvious... And as you know by now, Jamie wants to hide the pain, kill the pain, run from the pain, avoid the pain. Be in a Coma himself. Nothing better than Coke to escape. And the loud (great) New Order's "True Faith" can cover any hope to have a conversation where you might have to deal with what you are trying to avoid. I loved the 80's ... I lived the 80's ... And this movie is a good enough rendition of that time. The time when you have money before you have responsibilities. The final scene has him eating freshly baked bread with the World Trace Center towers in the distant background... An amazing metaphor for us in America today... As he says there, "we have to learn it all from the beginning again"...

Maradona, the Hand of God (2007)

Too Much Missing!!! ... Too bad, could have been great!

[3/10 · 9 August 2008]

My "credentials": Argentine and also met Diego and Claudia and the team in Boston in 1994... This movie MISSED: The whole episode in 1990 with Diego trying to turn Naples against Italy. Talking about his love for el CheGuevara. Diego's friendship with Castro. The 2 goals vs England in 1986 totally screwed up with some bad photoshop quality effects showing the actor as a child and as an adult in the middle of these two goals which are totally impressive and Unforgettable on their own right. And the significance of this game only a couple of years after the Falklands is totally ignored. His relationship with Menem. His love for Boca where he eventually plays... The movie was an overly sentimental cliché about how good he was and his devotion to his daughters, parents, Argentina and sometimes Claudia and his self destructive issues which are never really explained. We constantly see Diego have nightmares about drowning and it all plays like a bad sixties movie about a Rock star going bad. ... There was/is so much material for his life but the movie stayed very bi-dimensional and repetitive. Also, the LIGHT was horrible... did their budget run short? ... I did like the beginning because it had a good reflection and ambiance of what Buenos Aires was like around 1960... ... Even the "Hand of God" title was misused: Diego mentioned a long time AFTER the episode, yet they make it sound like he used that term right after... He denied the hand ball for a long time... ... Go Messi!!! Claudio

Inside Man (2006)

Very engaging and entertaining

[10/10 · 5 June 2006]

I read a lot of the comments. And yes, many people find holes in the story but... Here is my perspective: I have not seen a decent movie in a loooong time. I found myself totally engaged. It went very fast (A good sign!). It made me think. It was like a classic old movie with a modern look and feel to it. And yes it is fantasy, and thats why it is a movie and not real life. And one should go in and just relax and let oneself be in the movie. If I had to find negatives: 1) Jodie Foster is too obviously trying to say: "I have aged but I am still sexy" ... That felt a little needy. 2) Denzel Washington: We all like him. But is he acting? or is this himself. He appears exactly as he always does: Confident, on top of things and always keeping a good sense of humor. Biggest positives: 1) FUN movie. 2) The New York cultural mix. 3) Spike Lee's creativity.