bubulac Reviews

R.M.N. (2022)

Nothing happening

[7/10 · 31 October 2023]

Not sure what the message of the movie was supposed to be. There are two separate stories, one with a kid who saw something scary and is not able or willing to speak anymore after it, the second with a couple of immigrant workers who are not welcomed by the locals in the village.

Not much is happening in any of the stories, and definitely nothing that has not been depicted better in other movies.

The end of the movie is really, really confusing, with a woman who is asking forgiveness for something, not clear at all what exactly, then some bear figures hiding in the woods around her house... The movie left me with the sensation that I just wasted two hours that I could have spent in a better way.

Luther: The Fallen Sun (2023)

Excellent!

[10/10 · 23 July 2023]

I saw this right after finishing watching Luther - all 5 seasons.

I regret that it has all ended, because I enjoyed immensely the series and even more the movie.

Excellent plot, despite some of the critics who seemed to dislike the fortress and what not. It kept me guessing from beginning to end, it had twists and turns as it should have and I have not been disappointed or bored for one single minute.

Good pace and good solid ending. Good action without getting too gory.

I hope there will be more movies like this with Idris Elba, who was more than excellent as Luther.

I highly recommend this movies to all lovers of detective and mystery movies.

Dunkirk (2017)

Confusing, confusing, confusing

[6/10 · 13 July 2023]

To say that this movie is confusing is but an understatement.

Horrible, horrible editing, with scenes going back and forth in time without any meaning, making the whole experience unpleasant and difficult to watch.

I really tried - and succeeded - to watch it till the end, hoping that it would get better eventually, but it never did, unfortunately.

A good idea, and a potentially good scenario ruined by nonsensical editing.

To this day I ask myself what was the guy doing on top of the overturned boat all by himself, how did he get there, why was he by himself, where were the rest... Never got an answer to any of these questions.

Otherwise good special effects, pity that they were ruined in the end by the scenario and editing.

Decision to Leave (2022)

A mess that wasted two hours of my life

[3/10 · 15 June 2023]

This movie is a mess, simply a mess, I cannot find any other term to briefly describe it.

A mumbo-jumbo of scenes of present, past mixed up randomly with sick scenes of imagination.

Throw in a slow plot where not much happens and not much is being detected, an idiotic so-called detective/policeman who is not able to separate his personal and professional lives, and you have the perfect storm of nonsense good for just wasting time when one is really, really, really bored.

The first half is really slow and could have probably been compressed in half the time it took. The second half becomes a little more interesting, just for the movie to become boring again and end disappointingly and without any sense.

Closeness (2017)

Boring

[3/10 · 12 June 2023]

Boring from the beginning to the end.

Although it was supposed to be about the kidnapping of a couple, the kidnapping itself takes back seat to all kinds of mostly unrelated stuff.

The movie is painful to watch due to the extremely slow pace.

Scenes of extreme violence shown unexpectedly - before I even had time to wind it fast forward.

Most of the characters are more than abnormal, I would say deviants.

The soundtrack is horrible, my wife who is native russian speaker was not able to understand more than 20-30% of what was being said, so she had to rely on the English subtitles.

Conclusion: cinematography at its worst.

Mai Mai Miracle (2009)

Boring

[7/10 · 21 January 2023]

We watched this last night together with my 9 and 10 year old daughters. What can I say?

We were collectively bored from the beginning to the end. Oh, and annoyed by the constant vocal musical background, which very often covered the characters' voices and we had to struggle to understand what they were saying.

As for the story itself... really difficult to understand what was going on, with the constant jumps from present to past and back to present again.

In the end we were left with a taste of "what was this all about???" and felt we thoroughly wasted an hour and a half of our lives.

I only gave it a 7 due to the nice imagery (but even that doesn't compare with other better Japanese cartoons).

Trouble (I) (2019)

Kids loved it!

[10/10 · 30 December 2022]

My daughters 9 and 10 y.o. Absolutely loved it! I have not seen it since it is a cartoon intended for children, but I asked for their opinion afterwards.

I don't understands the low rating and what are adults doing here reviewing kids' cartoons. "Jokes are lame"? Yeah, maybe for an adult. But this cartoon is not for you, it's for kids! "Predictable plot", "dumb title", "unoriginal dialogue" - my god, this is not a Criterion collection classical, but just a kids' cartoon, which kids seem to like!

Adults, please stop reviewing kids movies without even asking kids. Maybe you could leave a useful review then.

A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)

Unexpectedly good

[9/10 · 26 July 2022]

I was not really expecting much when I decided to watch it, but the overall experience proved to be a lot funnier and pleasant than expected.

Had quite a few laughs along the way.

The Adventures of the Wilderness Family (1975)

My kids loved it

[10/10 · 23 July 2022]

I saw this movie as a child in a movie theatre in Romania in '75 when I was 14, and somehow I never forgot it.

There are movies you see, you like, but then you forget about them. And there are some that you, for some reason, can't forget. This is one of those.

So I watched it now again at home with my 8 and 10 year old daughters, and they loved it too.

Yeah, it's naive, yeah, it idealizes nature and living in the wilderness, but it's a family and kids' movie, not an adult action flick.

Porco Rosso (1992)

Unusually weak for a Japanese cartoon

[7/10 · 16 July 2022]

Weak story, weak dialogues, both myself and my kids (8 and 10) were slightly bored from beginning to the end, and certainly disappointed when it was all over.

I've definitely seen a lot of good Japanese cartoons, this is not one of them.

Dead Man (1995)

Bored out of my mind

[3/10 · 14 July 2022]

I was bored out of my mind after the first 15 minutes or so. Nothing much happens, lots of meaningless stuff being said and done, total waste of my time till the end.

Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

Hard to understand

[7/10 · 8 July 2022]

Beautiful imagery as usual in Japanese animation, but subject and message rather confusing, lots of things mixed together.

My daughters (8 and 10) were not impressed and neither was I. It definitely is not one I will remember.

A White, White Day (2019)

I really tried

[2/10 · 8 June 2022]

I really did my best in trying to watch this, but I had to stop halfway through because I just could not stand it anymore.

The movie is extremely slow, whatever happens is confusing and not making much sense. The dialogues are scarce and not helping to enlighten me on what is happening anymore than the imagery.

All in all, a painfully slow and unsatisfactory experience.

Little White Lies 2 (2019)

Better than the first one

[10/10 · 6 June 2022]

Really liked the sequel, interesting plot and stories, humour, some laughs and some tears too.

It's rare that the sequel is better than the original. Not sure why the relatively low rating.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

I did my best...

[1/10 · 1 June 2022]

... to try to watch it till the end, but I absolutely had to give up halfway because I was feeling I could lead a completely different life if I just stopped watching this senseless waste of my time.

The Informer (1962)

Confusing

[6/10 · 1 June 2022]

I watched this movie feeling confused right from the start as to what was happening and why, and its end did not bring more clarity unfortunately.

The acting was good but the plot is an absolute mess.

What's the Worst That Could Happen? (2001)

It made me laugh

[9/10 · 15 May 2022]

It made me laugh, more than once, and definitely more than other comedies made me laugh in the past. And it still makes me laugh 20 years later. And that's what a comedy is supposed to do, right?

So I was really surprised at the relatively low rating here. Definitely undeserved.

1: Nenokkadine (2014)

Interesting idea...

[3/10 · 18 November 2021]

... but poor execution.

I keep being disappointed by Indian "thrillers" where an often good idea is ruined by poor acting and poor directing, actors behaving like idiots or retards, attempt at poor quality jokes.

On the other hand, the stunts were excessively choreographed to the point where they became unreal.

I had to stop watching after 15 minutes when it became unbearable to watch and a waste of my time and life.

But then again, it may be a good watch for those who are fans of elementary-school-level jokes and acting.

Open Season 3 (2010)

Adults should stop reviewing kids' movies...

[10/10 · 31 May 2021]

... and ask their kids instead whether they liked them or not.

My daughters, 7 and 9, loved all three movies in the series.

They couldn't care less for original cast or not, voices and so on.

So yes, it's a kids' movie and kids will probably like it.

Taxi (I) (1998)

Not funny

[5/10 · 21 May 2021]

I tried hard to like this movie, especially knowing that French comedies are usually fun to watch and funny.

There was no fun here, though. I was not annoyed either, but just moderately bored from the beginning to the end.

Shallow, rather childish humor, lots of car crashes, and that's about it.

Disappointed is the best word to describe this movie.

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Quite a disappointment

[6/10 · 12 May 2021]

I was expecting a lot more but I was sorely disappointed.

I have seen horror movies where I was really scared and thrilled, but here I can't say I was more sort of curious to see what next and when will the horror begin.

In tne end it never began.

Other than a lot of weird symbols and an incomprehensible ending there was nothing to make me want to remember this movie, especially not in the horror genre.

The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends (2007 Video)

Excellent!

[10/10 · 27 March 2021]

Excellent series! I do not understand the low ratings and reviews, they seem to be given by adults reviewing cartoons intended for kids. Have they consulted some kids before rating/reviewing? My guess is they haven't.

My daughters (7 and 8) absolutely LOVED all of them, to the point where they were impersonating various characters, making lego dinosaurs and even dreaming about dinosaurs.

I asked them to rate the movie and they both said 10/10 with a big grin.

The Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave (2016 Video)

Excellent!

[10/10 · 27 March 2021]

Excellent series! I do not understand the low ratings, they seem to be given by adults reviewing kids' cartoons.

My daughters (7 and 8) absolutely LOVED all of them, to the point where they were impersonating various characters, making lego dinosaurs and even dreaming about it.

The Magic Roundabout (2005)

My daughters loved it

[9/10 · 17 March 2021]

My daughters (7 and 8) loved it. I don't understand the low rating - probably given by adults. This movie is intended for young children, not for adults!

Stick It (2006)

12-16 y.o. range

[4/10 · 5 March 2021]

Movie for early teens, I got really annoyed after the first 15-20 minutes and was not able to watch any further. Tasteless jokes and pantomime that could maybe make a 14 year-old laugh but which didn't make me even smile. I chose to watch it after seeing Jeff Bridges' name and knowing that he usually picks good scripts to act. Failed this time...