mikyb21 Reviews

House of Gucci (2021)

A Lot Of Star Power With Little To Show For It

[5/10 · 13 December 2021]

With all the Oscar winners involved with this film. I was certain it would be a huge success. Unfortunately that is not the case.

I enjoyed Gaga's portrayal and Adam Driver was fine I guess. Pacino was horrible. One minute he's doing a bad Italian accent, the next minute he sounds like an old Jewish guy. Jeremy Irons was just Jeremy Irons. Barely an attempt at sounding Italian. And Jared Leto was just annoying. His character was just so odd and unreal. It was like an unnecessary comic relief.

Whoever was in charge of the soundtrack totally dropped the ball. In a film like this the pop songs chosen are meant to help tell us what time period is currently being represented. Between the clothing and the music we should easily narrow down what year we are in. The music used here seemed chosen more for tempo than storytelling. I never quite knew what year (or even Decade!) we were supposed to be watching.

The pacing was off. The dialogue unstimulating for the most part. It was just...off. Maybe they should give Zack Snyder a crack at it. But as is, Not even sure its worth renting.

All That Jazz (1979)

Self Indulgent, and painful to sit through

[4/10 · 9 August 2019]

I had put off watching this movie for a good long time. Mostly because I thought Roy Scheider looked creepy on the box. I mean, I've enjoyed some of Fosse's film work, but this one just did not call to me. More so other director interpretations of his work..

So after watching the tv film FOSSE/VERDON, I finally decided t give it a try. Plus it had multiple Oscar nominations, so how bad could it be?.....

I soon learned my answer after sitting through the entire painful 2 hours. While the real life exploits of Fosse can be titillating and fun to watch, the overall presentation and style was just hard to swallow. He at aspirations of Art, but just turned out a mess. About the only character I enjoyed was the girl l who played his daughter. And oddly enough she never acted in film before or since.

Pretty much everyone in the film felt creepy and desperate. Maybe that was Fosse's intention. Plus I didn't enjoy 90% of the songs. Can't have a musical with crap songs and slimy dance routines

So, as a bizarre biopic it might succeed, but as a proper, enjoyable musical it plain sucks. Just not my thing. But hey, I hate "CATS" too, so there ya go.

Aquaman (2018)

CGI on Steroids

[5/10 · 7 May 2019]

Wanted to enjoy this film but couldn't. Just about every aspect of the film let me down. Could not stop feeling like I was watching a PS4 game. Mamoa was about the only charming character, and just barely. All the supporting cast offered no support. I simply cannot recommend this film, even as a dumb popcorn film. DC needs to up its game and spend more budget on writing and acting, and less on CGI.

Song of Granite (2017)

A Painfully Disappointing Film

[4/10 · 18 August 2018]

I was really looking forward to watching this film. I love Irish folk music. I enjoy indie and art house films. I really wanted to enjoy this film.

Sadly, I have to say that I found it to be a poorly made film. It didn't quite know whether it was a biopic or a documentary as it was primarily reenactments, but randomly tossed in documentary footage.

There is absolutely no information given to help the viewer understand when or where the film was taking place, or who the characters were. If you didn't have a passing knowledge of Heaney's life, you would be absolutely lost. I found myself guessing everything.

It was just a disjointed series of long boring shots with a musical performance tossed in now and then. No story. No proper dialogue. It really came off as a pretentious college film project. Purposely arty, but without any compelling content.

And while the cinematography was very striking at times, it was just not enough to carry a feature length project. I generally hate when a reviewer calls a film "boring", but I can honestly say that this about the most boring film I've ever watched. I never thought it was possible to make Irish folk boring :-)

Very disappointed.

Victoria (II) (2015)

Indie Brilliance

[9/10 · 8 July 2016]

Went into this film with reservations. An entire film done in one take seemed like a risk, and possibly a distraction. However, I am pleased to say that this film was truly a pleasure to watch. The performances were overwhelmingly real and thoughtful. The story line, while maybe not 100% logical or plausible, was plausible enough to keep me interested. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and see how they connected over time. I was thoroughly caught up in the parts that were meant to be intense, and engaged in he parts that were lighter.

Excellent work. Not for everyone, mind you, but for fans of small independent film making it is a gift. A successful experiment.

The Strange Little Cat (2013)

Not for casual film viewers

[4/10 · 2 March 2015]

Watched this after reading all the praise and adulation from assorted critics. Was expecting to be blown away. Sadly, I was not. While this film intrigued me to certain point, and I was curious about some of the characters, ultimately I was let down. As many have stated, it may as well have a been a documentary. There is no obvious plot to speak of. No obvious goal or obstacle to overcome. No obvious big reveal or "A HA!" moment.

It pretty much felt like only a potion of a film. A film where they left out all the important details that tell a cohesive story. Instead we just got to watch banality and scratch our heads.

There were things I did appreciate about the film. Some interesting shot selections and odd framing choices were cool. The way they captured the pets was well done. The "realness" of some of the characters was refreshing.

But to my sensibility, this came off like an art-house experiment where script & plot writing was not a requirement. But with visuals not nearly compelling enough to carry the story on its own.

meh.

We Are Twisted Fucking Sister! (2014)

A Must For SMFs and casual TS fans

[8/10 · 2 December 2014]

As a lifelong fan of Twisted Sister I found this film to be among the great rock documentaries. A great combination of information and humor creates an fun and enjoyable view. Plus, unlike many rock documentaries, this film is packed with first person anecdotes and facts straight from the band members, club owners, label reps, and fans. The wealth of stories and personal photos & video is impressive and revelatory. I can't wait to to get the Blu-Ray version!

Now, I am basing my review on a private premiere screening when it was first "completed". But if I have any complaints at all, it would be that the sound could have been bigger and heavier. And some of the editing could have been tightened up on some transition shots. But all in all it's a really enjoyable film about an amazing, hardworking band. Go see it or buy it ASAP. You won't be disappointed...unless you like disco. :-)

Movie 43 (2013)

Funny As Hell If You Like Zucker & Farrely Bros. Films

[7/10 · 11 July 2013]

In the vain of Kentucky Fried Movie and Amazon Women On The Moon, this film is a hilarious, raunchy series of unconnected shorts designed to both make you uncomfortable AND laugh your butt off. Obviously not for all tastes. But if you can appreciate this style of film making it is damn funny. The big ticket stars who appear all do fantastic job. And I especially appreciate Dennis Quaid for being willing to poke fun at himself. My recommendation is to watch this with a few other people in the room. It gets funnier the more people you have laughing with you. So if you like the Zucker and Farrely Bros films, you will enjoy this Big stupid, offensive, non-PC comedy. A breath of fresh air.

World War Z (2013)

Perfectly Good Zombie Flick

[7/10 · 28 June 2013]

I am not a total Zombie fan, but enjoy some of the films and TV shows (Walking Dead). Went into this with average expectations and an open mind and was pleasantly surprised. I thought the zombies were thoroughly creepy and terrifying. Thought the action and storyline were fine. Some of the camera-work was confusing at times (in an effort to portray the insanity of the moment i suppose).

With "popcorn" films like this I make a point of not thinking too deeply about plot holes or realism. Just enjoy the ride on the film's terms and you'll be fine. And I actually like the idea of a PG-13 Zombie flick rather than R rated. I don't care about the excessive gore that R rating allows. I can be scared just fine with the implied gore of PG-13, plus my son could come see it too. Win win.

The Last Airbender (2010)

Did Shyamalan enjoy the animated series at all?

[4/10 · 2 July 2010]

M. Knight Shyamalan must have saw something completely different from me in the animated Avatar series. Action sequences aside, Shyamalan managed to remove every enjoyable aspect of the original from his film. For me, the most enjoyable part of the animated series is the comic interplay between characters. There is a pervasive silliness and humor that gives it it's charm. This live action version is sloppily melodramatic and all the characters over-serious. They do manage to make Aang playful in flashbacks, but he is essentially a mopey kid for the remainder of the film.

The story suffers in other ways as well. Most of the acting is on par with a high school play, especially Nicole Peltz as Katara. While some characters were cast OK (Prince Zuko), many were horribly miscast (Uncle Iroh - He's supposed to be chubby!). The script was horrible and every line felt forced.

I Love the original animated show, but this film just does not do it justice. Shyamalan apparently only thought about how to do cool martial arts stuff, but completely skipped over the character development and script writing. He obviously expects to do a trilogy. All I can hope is that either he wakes up and does it correctly next time, or the films are handed to a better director.

On the upside, my 10 year old liked it a lot, and the score was pretty good.

Dragones: destino de fuego (2006)

Horrible Movie!

[1/10 · 12 July 2008]

I am commenting exclusively about the English language release of this title. This film had the lowest quality computer animation I have seen in some time. The voice talent was horrible and the script just as bad. It was painful to sit through. Absolutely pathetic. I really wanted to like it, but it's just awful. In the era of Pixar and the Dreamworks films, this item simply just does not cut it. It reminded me of a college (or high school)computer animation project. A C-minus one at that. While I appreciated the concept of a dragon being raised by condors, the writing was overwhelmingly simple and insipid. I pray my son doesn't want to watch it EVER again.