glyeakley Reviews

Sicario (2015)

Narrative (and mind) bending.

[9/10 · 6 November 2023]

Years ago Tom Stoppard wrote a play called "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead." The premise is that the play is "Hamlet" but told from the perspective of two of the original play's most minor characters, Rosencrantz and Guildenstdern, college friends of Hamlet's who are eventually killed. The two "protagonists" wander around confused by everything that is happening around them. It is a comedy because the audience is in on the joke and we know that they are doomed. Sicario is like that, but Emily Blunt is Rosencrantz AND Guildenstern and the audience is not in on the joke. We are as just as confused as she is. We are well into the movie before we realize who the true protagonist is. Oh, and it is not funny. Not at all. Not even a little bit.

Spiderhead (2022)

What a Dumb Idea

[1/10 · 30 July 2023]

This idea should have been killed at conception. This pitch should have been left on the table. I've never before reviewed a film without seeing it but I'm doing it here do for the simple reason that the short story "Escape from Spiderhead," by George Saunders (author of Licoln in the Bardo) is perfect, and un-filmable. Anyone with any sense would know this. It would be like a film adaptation of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." "Who should we get to play Prufrock...?" Please don't judge me for not bothering to sit through it. Just listen to those who did to see how right I am. Read the story instead.

The Fabelmans (2022)

A Film for Film Buffs

[9/10 · 15 December 2022]

I loved the details about filmmaking in "The Fabelmans" though I'm not sure everyone who is not a movie nerd will be fully on board. The cast is uniformly wonderful, especially Michelle Williams.

I'm a huge fan of movies endings that really stick with you. My favorites include Citizen Kane (naturally), About Schmidt, and The Unbearable Lightness of Being. I can now add The Fableman's to that list. It is a laugh-out-loud sendoff that is a gift to fans of classic old American movies, with a surprise cameo (who I didn't recognize as I was watching).

"No, no, no. Where's the goddamn horizon?!" Classic.

Couples Retreat (2009)

Worst movie I've seen in a while...

[5/10 · 25 September 2010]

I watched this for free On Demand and still felt ripped off. Where do I start? The tone is so uneven that the scenes with the therapists are played straight despite the fact that two of them were played by John Michael Higgins and Ken Jeong, two guys who must struggle NOT to get laughs. It is almost as if they hired the actors and then decided to go a different direction -- if they even put that much thought into it. Before this debacle finally and mercifully staggers to an end it starts to feel as if they are literally making it up as they go along. There is no clear reason for this movie to even exist except as an excuse for the cast and crew to enjoy an nice tropical vacation, squeezing in a little movie work while they are there. Lazy, unprofessional filmmaking that is an insult to the audience.