Change Your Image
galileosmth
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Silence (2016)
Well-Made Film But Some Tough Sledding For the Viewer
I saw Silence on TV. To be brief, the movie is about two, young, 17th century Catholic priests venturing to Japan to find a lost priest. Apparently Catholic priests were not held in high esteem in those days in Japan because the two priests had to go into hiding.
I almost turned off the movie at about the half hour point. It was slow going. Eventually it became clear that the priests, and other native Christians, must forsake their religion or die of the Buddhists. To show the priests and the other Christians that they meant business, there was a lot of torturing going on.
Anyway, enough. If the viewer is a devout Christian, particularly a Catholic, then the film might have some meaning. It might even be inspirational. To the average joe, it will probably come off as kind of strange. In fact, the inspirational parts for some viewers might seem to other viewers like the actions of the foolish. I was in the latter camp.
Hello, My Name Is Doris (2015)
It Provides A Pleasant Little Trip
The movie is often humorous, and sometimes sad. The reality is: Doris's life has passed her by, mostly through no fault of her own. She is trying to make up for lost time, or really, lost experiences by stepping out into the world as though she were 30ish. She does not realize that it won't work. It could work fine for her, it's just that it will not work for all of those she encounters.
I have a friend who is a little like Doris only that he is male, and he doesn't quite have the courage, or maybe it is naivety of Doris. I'm not sure which. Doris eventually had a rude awakening. My friend has not, probably because he does not ventured out into the world socially as did Doris.
As an older guy, I kept flashing back to past Sally Fields roles. It's like a time machine. There's the somewhat more mature Sally Fields seen in Forest Gump, the 30ish mother in both Places In The Heart and also Murphy's Romance, and go way back and there is the teenager in TV's Gidget. Given Sally's work in My Name Is Doris, she's still has some miles on her tires.
Butterflies Are Free (1972)
Decent But Nothing Profound
I saw the movie at the theater when it was first released. I was in my early 20s at the time. I remember that there was a blind guy sitting across the isle from me. I got to wondering if he knew that the actor playing the blind guy in the film was actually not blind. It seemed to bother me then, and even now, that a blind guy in a movie who was supposedly independent despite his blindness, was played by a guy who had 20/20 vision. I guess that's not a crime but I doubt it would be okay for a black man to be played by a white actor. Okay, I am preaching and I will stop.
Butterflies Are Free is a decent movie. It is harmless and has a "feel good" quality to it. It is basically a boy-meets-girl movie with an extra ingredient or two, namely the blind character, and the culture of the 60s. I would suggest giving it a look and if after 15 minutes you mumble to yourself, "geez, this is really lame", then hopefully you will have the option of forgoing the film and doing something else.
Wonder Woman (2017)
Given the Hype, I Was Disappointed
I'm not sure how the movie could have been any better without being significantly different. But it wasn't exactly amazing, in my opinion. I thought the chemistry and the general romantic attraction between the two main characters was probably the biggest problem. It was superficial and just not very stirring. Maybe a nice, quiet three minute conversation between the two would have helped. You know, whispered voices, provocative smiles, a close-up of a hand offering a gentle caress.
Anyway, I thought some of the superhuman attributes of Wonder Woman were too often either kind of silly, or were used at the wrong times to optimize effect. Maybe I would have a different opinion if I were 15 years old.
It wasn't a bad movie by any stretch but there was something missing that was needed for me to give it a higher rating. As it is, I am not eagerly awaiting a sequel.
Stand by Me (1986)
It Just Did Not Work For Me
I thought Stand By Me was a good movie. It was decent enough. It just did not exactly click with me. I think it is because I could not identify with any of the characters even though I was once a 12 year- old kid myself, complete with 12 year-old pals, and assorted neighborhood bullies causing me trouble. Maybe it's too difficult, or even impossible to delve into the psyche of ordinary kids and make it somewhat realistic and also entertaining without it being a straight comedy a-la A Christmas Story. But as I said; it wasn't a bad movie. It is not unlike October Sky in some ways, another decent but not unbelievable film.
Supergirl (2015)
A Bit Too Much Of The Same Old Same Old
In the last couple of years I have seemed to have gotten bored with TV series. I miss House and The Mentalist. To catch my attention, a series has to be considerably better than average. For a few minutes I thought Supergirl might be that series. Maybe it will be, but after the pilot, I sincerely doubt it. I like the Supergirl character well enough. I wouldn't have gotten by the first commercial if she had been macho. In fact, I like all of the main characters. Unfortunately I released an audible groan when it became apparent that Supergirl would be fighting an alien super villain. That has been done before. If the super villain were interesting, if he had a silly sense of humor, for example, then it could still work. Sadly, the pilot's super villain is garden variety and therefore boring. He growls like the standard bad guy professional wrestler and expresses pretty much the same evil sentiments.
It could be that these types of series just will not work anymore, at least not anything long-term. But who knows, maybe in the coming episodes something new and special will be added. I might go one more episode, or perhaps just part of one. Like I said, for a series to really catch my attention it has to be above average. The Supergirl pilot was not bad, it just was not above average.
Mr. Robot (2015)
I gave up
I'm not sure if what I'm going to say qualifies as a spoiler or not, so I did not take any chances. Anyway, the main characters, aside from the Christian Slater character, are all moody 20-somethings with anti-social attitudes. Christian Slater has an anti-social attitude too but he is a 30 or 40-something. Point is; if you're not entertained by moody, anti-social 20-somethings, you won't be particularly entertained by the series.
One of the main characters is technology. This can be a problem too. Typing information into a laptop is simply not that entertaining, regardless of how dramatic the background music may be, or how furiously the person is typing. To top it all off, the series is a little too artsy for its own good. I had a tough time keeping up with what was going on. Fortunately, the problems I have cited caused me to lose interest by the end of the third episode, so at least for me, those problems are no longer a concern.
August: Osage County (2013)
Could not relate
I'll bet August: Osage County is a very good movie. In fact, I'm sure of it. Unfortunately pretty much every character in the film was aggravating. I'm not sure why any of them would want to continue living, given their various behaviors and their views on life. Personally, I could not relate. Not even a smidgen, thank god. I can not relate to a lot of films, of course, but those are either sci-fi, westerns, or comedies.
Still, I take nothing away from Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, and the rest of the cast. They were all excellent. The movie was just so unrealistically a bummer that I could not get into it. I felt no sympathy, no anger, no joy... okay, I felt a little bit of joy when the movie finally ended.