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Superpower (2023)
A waste of a rare opportunity
First of all, the editing of this is terrible, just awful. There's no story arc. Chopped up bits of meaningless conversations are interjected throughout. And the cliches, oh the cliches. They smack you in the face with their obviousness.
But worse than this is the wasted right place, right time opportunity. To happen to be in Kyiv during the first day of the invasion with access to Zelinsky, yet get so little from it is devastating and disappointing.
Zelinsky wisely took the time to meet with this high profile American to ask him to communicate the need for American support. Penn responds with a platitude about heroism. And then bolts right out of the country.
There is very little content about the cost to the Ukranian people. One segment shows a woman in her blown-out apartment. And a hole in the ground of a children's playground. We all know the toll of death and destruction is unspeakable and this felt like it was being trivialized.
More time is spent on glorifying Penn and his celebrity tourism of war-torn and natural disaster areas. As well as wasted footage of him sitting in a car driving out of Ukraine.
In the end, it's mostly a puff piece about how a silly comedian put in an unimaginable position, rose the the occasion to take on the evil empire. Rife with trite banalities.
The Changeling (2023)
You're in for a wild ride
I think it's important to understand what you're in for with this series. It's a dark fantasy horror mystery. Google what a changeling is and that should give you some idea.
This is not a straightforward drama, nor is it scifi. There's a lot of backstory woven into the first three episodes. So far it's been crazy and shocking. Some people may think it's slow, but this exposition is absolutely necessary to understand where it's headed.
Being impatient, I read the book synopsis. Suffice it to say, we haven't seen anything yet. In the Apple+ behind the scenes video, the leads said viewers will not be able to guess where the story goes. They were right. I'm very excited because this ride is about to get insane.
The Watcher (2022)
Not worth watching
There is some fine acting with top quality leads, but as you get deeper into the story it becomes more and more preposterous. The motive made the ultimate villain clear from the start for me, but there are so many others who either claim credit, or are implicated, without compelling motivations, it becomes eye-rolling. Virtually everyone is a suspect at one point.
The ending is infuriating! It's an obviously plot mechanism to leave the door open for a second season. After all the misdirects and a resolution that points to the most obvious person, the real estate agent (sell, sell, sell!), the Watcher is still out there? What? We've accounted for all the letters.
The married couple's lingering obsession with the house is nonsensical. They just wanted to get out of the city. They can buy another house in the suburbs. But the writers had to find a way to keep Naomi and Bobby around for season 2. I hope they don't get it.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022)
The format does not do the character or actress justice
There's a lot of negative feedback about this show, and I think its failures come down to the total run time the writers had to work with. There are 9 episodes of 30 minutes each. A typical network broadcast show runs 22 episodes. Other short-run streaming shows have episode lengths of a hour.
It's a tall order to cram an origin story into basically an anthology series in less than half the normal total episode time. To root for She-Hulk, we need to feel her struggle to adjust to the catastrophic change that has occured in her life. But in the first episode, she quickly accepts her fate and even enjoys the rivalry with the Hulk.
The only struggle portrayed for Jennifer Walters, is finding a decent guy willing to date a good looking, intelligent woman with a great job. It's so hard! Her solution is to date as She-Hulk insuring guys go out with her for the novelty, not for who she is as a person. So much for female empowerment.
Each episode focuses on other superheros, spending little time on our protangonist. She even has to remind the audience in a fourth wall break that the show is still about her. We have no investment in her struggle to adjust to her fate, and then spend more time on the stories of other characters ... and all in a handful of short 30 minute episodes. What could go wrong?
I don't mind that it's not a belly-laugh comedy. It's a light-hearted farce. It's different than any other Marvel property we've seen. That's ok. Some audience members that come for the action and fight scenes, probably won't enjoy it much. That's ok. It's not for them. But when I haven't been given material that allows me to care about the main character, that's not ok.
I'm a long time fan of Tatiana, who is an incredible actress. I wish the writers had done her justice. I hope if the show is renewed, they will see the audience feedback and inspire us to care about She-Hulk... next season.
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
What a disapointment
I was really looking forward to this movie because I loved Ragnarok. This was a mess. The video quality was lacking. It starts out like a sensory overload video game. When Gorr crawled out of the oasis pond it and was so obviously fake grass over a plastic tub on a soundstage, my stomach dropped. How did the LED panels look so convincing in the Mandalorian and so fake in this? I felt like I was watching a role playing video game.
Bale is a great actor, but wasted in this part. His character was not menacing at all. He just shows up in a mass fight and starts sword fighting? What?
The Thor and Jane relationship retrospective was painful to watch. It was just plain dumb and juvenile. There was no hint of a real connection to be rooting for.
This wasn't a standup routine, but it felt like it. How about a few great, well-placed jokes instead of throwing everything at the wall and see what sticks.
I confess I didn't see the end, because I fell asleep! After this I'm really scared of what Taika will do to Star Wars. Please, no more improvising!
Candy: Cover Girl (2022)
Justin, why?
Just because this is satire, doesn't mean you have to ham it up. I know you can act, I've seen several other things you've been in. I thought for sure at any time you were going to break the fourth wall and wink at the camera. Jessica, Melanie and Pablo all have fantastic performances. Jason is good for the little he has to do. Justin made it a joke and really broke the suspension of disbelief.
Otherwise, it was a fine examination of a true crime drama, exploring the why instead of the who.
The Tomorrow War (2021)
Check Your Brain at the Door
In order to enjoy this film, you have to completely shut off the part of your brain that processes reason. If you like cliches, bad dialogue, no surprises, gory, over the top violence, plot mechanisms that make absolutely no sense, all wrapped up in a sappy voice over about family, this movie is for YOU!
These were the sentences I repeated, out loud, over and over as I watched it:
"Come on!"
"Really?"
"You're kidding me!"
*sigh*
*Plays Candy Crush and shuffles into the kitchen 3 or 4 times*
I really was looking forward to this movie. I enjoy Chris Pratt's humor and was excited for Yvonne Strahovski to get this big budget vehicle. After watching it, I was very, very sad.
Awake (2021)
Who wrote this piece of garbage?
Is Hollywood so desperate to produce anything that's not based on a graphic novel they will buy any script? Huge plot holes, transitions and motivations missing. Honestly, I didn't even make it half way... maybe it gets better, but it couldn't hold my attention.
It goes straight from the event that knocks out all power to immediate apocalyptic chaos, violence and religious zealotry. Huh? I had to stop it and make sure I didn't miss a huge chunk. Nope. I mean, where's the run on TP and people making masks for each other type of behavior before cold-blooded, indiscriminate murder?
It was then I realized it was going to be that kind of movie where nothing made sense, no character development and I wasn't going to feel empathy for anyone.
Next.
The Comey Rule (2020)
What a waste of talent
With so many high profile actors on board, I was expecting so much more. I'm not sure where it went wrong... I didn't read the book from which it was adapted. Maybe there?
The acting is as you would expect, high caliber. But the screenplay is trash. It's almost cartoonish. There are no heroes here. Everyone looks like a colossal, unmitigated, self-righteous jerk. I don't feel sorry for anyone, except perhaps Comey's family.
Don't bother complaining about the timing of this release. Just like the slew of books coming out now, it's all about money and exposure.
The Big Short (2015)
I Don't Get It
Why is this movie so critically acclaimed? Why is it winning so many awards? I'm baffled. It's categorized as a comedy, and I don't understand why. Is it a black comedy? When the actors break the fourth wall, turn to the camera and have to explain why what's happening in the scene is so outrageous... is that supposed to be funny?
For the average movie-goer I think it will be an even more boring experience than it was for me. I'm a finance professional, so I already have some understanding of the jargon. I've also watched documentaries about the mortgage collapse (which were far superior to this), so this topic was not new to me. For someone without this background watching this movie must feel like being forced to sit and audit a college course in finance.
Why is Christian Bale winning Best Actor awards for his performance? He plays a one-note socially awkward, introverted shut-in. How hard is that? There was no range or depth to his role.
If you were working in the extended market of mortgage-backed securities during this time, you might find the irony played out on the screen, or the cartoonish characterizations of some of the key players amusing, but for the wider general audience, I don't get how they could be entertained by it. Maybe it's because Adam McKay's brand of humor does not resonate with me. I didn't think the Anchorman movies were funny, I thought they were dumb. Perhaps his target audience for this film is the same as for those and they will appreciate this type of "humor".
The Canyons (2013)
Unwatchable
To be completely honest, I did not see the entire movie... I couldn't bear to watch it all. It's so incredibly bad. I would have never paid to see this, but it was on TMC and I happened across it.
In Lindsay's OWN network reality show, someone showered her with praise about this movie. I should have known it was merely sycophancy. Everything in this movie is bad, from the script to the acting to even Lindsay's makeup. Did she look in a mirror before she walked in front of the cameras? Did they put caterpillars above her eyes?
I know she's desperate to act in "anything", but accepting roles in this kind of trash will result in fewer future opportunities. The only potential value of this movie is for those who want to see stars showing some skin. This is the only role I've seen Lindsay in with nudity. However, I haven't seen many of her recent movies, so this may not be unique.