Max-1441 Reviews

Idiocracy (2006)

Ah, yes, everyone is stupid except me because Technology. I am very smart

[1/10 · 29 December 2021]

Genuinely one of the worst movies I've ever seen (and I watch homemade rockumentaries for fun). Same rehashed "technology makes us stoopid >:(" nonsense people have been harping on about since the invention of clay writing tablets. Nothing new, just crude, repulsive, lackluster commentary clearly written by someone who thought he was much funnier than he was.

Waves (III) (2012)

An absolute must-watch, even if you hate it

[10/10 · 4 February 2021]

This is the ideal film-major's-midterm, budget of ten bucks and a pizza experience. The camera work is excellent, though oddly focused on various actors' feet. The scenes are arranged beautifully, even in the middle of the ocean. The characters are well-defined and consistent, especially for how little time we get to spend with each. The acting is smooth and believable, though the various language transitions made it a bit difficult to keep up with. The story makes perfect sense in a modern film and just as much sense if this was set four hundred years ago. It's timeless, in other words. It made me want to learn how to sail a boat.

Heart Street (2014)

Fantastic smushy modern fairytale

[10/10 · 24 January 2021]

This is not so much a work of cinematic or literary (movie-ary?) excellence as a feel-good reminder that love is there for us. Love is in our family, love is in sex, love is in romance, love is in cooking and football and swans. Love is in our neighbors and our schools.

Complete with fantastic performances by all involved and enough humor to keep even the stressful climax above water, this movie is exactly what you need when you need love.

Slam (2016)

Worth a try

[6/10 · 4 January 2021]

I really wanted to like this movie. The first third was great, and the acting and camera work stayed wonderful throughout. The ending was disappointing, and the story could've used some work. It was worth watching, but I don't think I'll be trying it again.

The Blob (1958)

Watched for the first time in 2020

[10/10 · 16 December 2020]

This movie was the best possible thing I could've watched. As typical of the time and in comparison to recent movies, the acting was flat and stiff, the action was slow, and the effects were terrible. I'm in love. I laughed so hard I coughed up spit on my cat. Worth every penny.

There Is a Light: Il padre d'Italia (2017)

A whole mess of fun

[9/10 · 7 September 2020]

This movie starts messy and confusing, ends messy and confusing, and the middle is much the same. It's one of the best things I've ever seen. There is virtually no plot and it feels like there's a few explanatory scenes missing (though my version didn't have the best captioning, so keep that in mind). However, the whole thing was just so much fun to watch that I didn't care about whatever I missed. The ending is heartwarming (if a bit bewildering) and the level of character growth and development is honestly unparalleled. If nothing else, watch it for Marinelli in green sparkly eyeshadow.

Rainbow: A Private Affair (2017)

Delightful

[9/10 · 26 August 2020]

First off- I don't speak Italian. The version I managed to find didn't have subtitles in any language. Nevertheless, it was fairly easy to understand what was going on. I looked up the plot synopsis and a few questions about the time period and was good to go. I really appreciated the moderate pacing and relative lack of violence considering how many people were carrying guns (almost all of them). The acting was very clear and relied a lot less on the actual speech than I expected. If nothing else, watching Luca Marinelli run around the Italian countryside with various guns and an interesting moral code for 80 minutes is well worth the time.