mlk18 Reviews

Madame Web (2024)

Opinions are like... well you know.

[6/10 · 26 March 2024]

So right now Madame Web is sitting at a 3.8 IMDB rating while The Marvels sits at a 5.6. Both are diverse female lead superhero movies with pretty high budgets and lots of marketing. Madame Web was an okay movie, pretty much what I expected from the trailer and knowing Sony was in charge of making it. Was it a blockbuster thrill ride? Nope. But nothing about this movie made it worthy of a sub 5.0 rating, outside of it being part of the same boring nothing new, nothing amazing, and nothing unexpected world that Hollywood has become. It was good enough to keep me watching and not wish I was somewhere else, like The Marvels did. The Marvels was messy, discombobulated, boring crap-fest that was full of tired old tropes and gimmicks that Marvel somehow still thinks are entertaining. The acting was actually as bad in the writing, and that's saying something. The Marvels was not worthy of a 3.6 let alone a 5.6. All this just goes to show how the average person is willing to embrace mediocrity and celebrate the unexceptional as long as enough people on social media tell them how to think one way or the other. It seems Disney had more money to pay influencers than Sony did. If only these ratings could be about the quality of the movie rather than the marketing. As they say, opinions are like...

Justified: City Primeval (2023)

NOT Justified, not even close

[4/10 · 31 August 2023]

This isn't Justified anything. Not a reboot, not a continuation, not a spin off, not even a rip off. It does have a US Marshall with a hat but otherwise it shares nothing with the original series; things like good acting, great characters, compelling story, quality writing, an actual plot, a desire to keep watching, etc. This show actually makes me happy that the writers are striking because this had to have come from an AI running on a used Macbook Pro. With any luck they will just end it after one season and pretend it never happened until some good writers and a better show runner can take over and come up with a deserving follow up the amazing series that was Justified.

The Hammer (2023)

Ultra-cringey 1980's wannabe movie

[1/10 · 9 July 2023]

I am confident that someone with a struggling career found an old script written by a film school dropout in 1981, in an old studio trash can, and somehow that person decided to make it into a made for TV movie with the first post-retirement celebrity they could afford to cast. That person should be fired and forced to clean the house or mow the lawn of every person unfortunate enough to have watched it. Clearly the ultra-happy positive reviews falsely portraying this is watchable were the result of paid marketing campaigns (the most likely option) or someone accidentally took a few too many special pills with their glass (turned bottle) of white wine at the assisted living center. The first 5 minutes of cringe was enough for me to know that the 7 point something rating was as fake as $3 bill. Unless you think Dolly Parton movies are pure cinematic gold, run away from this piece of trash.

White Men Can't Jump (2023)

Ignore the hate

[8/10 · 28 May 2023]

I almost didn't watch this movie because of the IMDB reviews, but I ended up watching it anyway. I am glad I did because it turned out to be a pretty good movie. Comparable to the original? No. Was it supposed to be? No. But was it a fun and entertaining movie? Yes, it was. The bad reviews I read came off as a mixture of remake purists who demanded a shot for shot clone and others who were upset that the movie wasn't woke enough. Instead the movie was reasonable balanced, well written, fairly acted, and had some seriously funny moments. It's okay for a movie to just be good entertainment without it being a life changing cinematic experience.

Quantum Leap (2022–2024)

Has potential, but I doubt it will live up to it

[4/10 · 23 October 2022]

Loved the original, was hopeful for the reboot. Unfortunately someone decided to take the shows main premise and dilute it with a cast of uninteresting characters that constantly detract from the main point of the show. So instead of a series of fun and interesting time leaping adventures we got a mixture of half developed adventure and a whole lot of boring drama and and uninteresting story arcs that waste the viewers time. They chose a solid lead who I think can still pull it off, but they will need to transition back to a show about time travel and not a daytime soap opera with an extremely boring cast. A good start would be to keep Ray and Ernie and fire everyone else.

The Rookie: Feds (2022–2023)

Who approved this show to be made!?

[2/10 · 19 October 2022]

Did they watch the episode of The Rookie where the rookie FBI agent's character was introduced before they green lit this show!? It was the worst episode of The Rookie ever made, the character was laughably idiotic with little to no redeeming qualities, realism was completely thrown out the window, and every second of it screamed "THIS IS A MISTAKE!". And yet someone approved this show to be made. Someone who should be fired. I watched the first episode of the series just to see if it there any possible chance that the actual show was worse than that crossover pilot. To amazement it was! Yes, they somehow made it even more laughably idiotic. Wow. Cancel the series immediately and make a public apology to all The Rookie fans.

The Moderator (2022)

Wonderfully awful

[4/10 · 29 July 2022]

Looking for a top tier suspense thriller? This isn't it. Looking for a classic style "B" movie to make fun of as you choke down your lunch and laugh your way through the adventure? This is definitely it. Stop expecting low budget movies to be perfect in every way and just enjoy them for what they are. Wonderfully awful.

Pretty Hard Cases (2021–2023)

The positive reviewers must be cast & crew of the show

[3/10 · 19 June 2022]

A comedy that it not very funny, a drama that is not really dramatic, a cop show with no real cop action, and an 'odd couple' buddy show with no chemistry. It is however very boring if that's your thing. The nail in the coffin however was the woke nonesense they threw in for good measure. Watch something else.

Bosch: Legacy (2022– )

A solid show with awful intro music

[7/10 · 7 May 2022]

The show is solid with strong familiar characters. It's not the same as the gritty cop drama that was the original Bosch, but it is developing nicel and I have high hopes that it will develop into an 8 or 9. But so far after 3 episodes it's a strong 7. Which is high praise as most of the stuff on TV is barely worthy of a 4 or 5. For me it loses a point because the intro music is horrendous. Like someone should be fired horrendous. They needed to replicate the dark jazzy intro from the original, not use some odd 1980's Miami Vice soundtrack reject. Bosch was one of the only show where I did not click "skip intro". I won't make that mistake with Bosch Legacy. Blech.

The Batman (2022)

Proof the algorythm is fixed

[2/10 · 25 April 2022]

Throughout my large friends circle I found one person who enjoyed this movie, everyone else (myself included) thought it was some kind of weird boring Batman-like rip off movie worthy of 2-3 stars at most. Like an out of work anime writer had nothing better to do but try and make a Batman flick using an especially odd emo kid just because he nothing else to do. Everyone of those friends of mine came to IMDB and rated it poorly, and yet it has an 8.3 rating? Uh huh, sure it does. Apparently the "rating" is now based on an alorythm that ignores the the overwhelmingly poor ratings and just counts the ratings by people who never heard of Batman before and think it is supposed to awful or the ratings paid for by the movie company. 8.3 hardly reflects the reality of this movie. I feel like people who came to IMDB and then watched this movie because of that fake 8.3 deserve a refund, or at least an Amazon credit. There is enough fake marketing and lies in this world that we don't need IMDB to get in on it too.

Cheaper by the Dozen (2003)

If you previously reviewed this...

[7/10 · 27 March 2022]

Go watch the newest reboot (2022), then watch this one again. Suddenly those 5 or 6 stars look like 7 or 8! The first time I saw this I would have given it a 5 or so. But after seeing the nightmare that is the current rehashing, then watching it again, I feel a 7 is the very minimum this show deserves. Fortunately shows from this era are still available so I can show them to my kids and skip the newer garbage productions DIsney is putting out.

Cheaper by the Dozen (2022)

Stop making horrible reboots!

[2/10 · 27 March 2022]

I recently read an interview with the show runner from a very popular and well made TV series that has been off the air for a number of years. They asked him, with excitement, if he was going to reboot or restart the show. He simply said absolutely not, all these reboots are awful and I would never want to destroy the memory of my show by making a cheaper, woke, lazy version like everyone else in Hollywood is doing. I really wish someone from Disney would read that article and take it to heart. You built an empire on good entertaining family shows, don't destroy it by making cheap, woke, lazy shows (which seems to be all you are doing nowadays).

Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2024)

This show is going downhill FAST

[2/10 · 24 March 2022]

Season 1 was pretty good, needed some polish and a little more "Trekishness" but overall enjoyable. The action and excitement made up for the woke add ins, not to mention the high end special effects. A solid 8 stars.

Season 2 was not as good. The writing and the story seems disconnected from season 1. The action was not as good and it was boring at times. Dropped to 5 stars in a hurry. Still have hope.

Season 3 was boring and nearly painful. What happened? Did they fire the writers and just use free interns? Did the show runner start using (or stop using) drugs? Now sitting at 4 stars.

Season 4 was (and is) some kind of woke-fest soap opera of boredom that is so far off course they might as well just cancel the series. I don't see them being able to come back from the pointless and unentertaining story lines that have made this series drop from an 8 to a 2. I hope they don't destroy the new Trek series the way they destroyed this one.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

Wow. Just wow.

[9/10 · 9 January 2022]

In a world of constantly regurgitated, rebooted, and reimagined garbage that Hollywood expects us to watch and actually enjoy; this is the FIRST of it's kind to actually impress. A quality movie that felt like it was from a time where they used talent and creativity instead of played out storylines, shock value, and over the top crap to make a flick. Thank you to everyone involved in this film.

Don't Look Up (2021)

Idiocracy II wannabe that fell short

[4/10 · 31 December 2021]

What I was hoping for was Idiocracy II. What I got was a funny at times, preachy at times, and horribly boring at times movie that somewhat accurately villified government and big business but also pushed an underlying narrative that politics you don't agree with sucks but politics you do agree with is heroic. So just blindly agree and you will be on the correct side of the issue. All your favorite ultra-wealthy highly-political actors who own large shares of big businesses say you should hate politics and big business for your own good. I guess I am just not woke enough to be spoon fed their special brand of wokeness. Probably because I distrusted goverment before it was cool.

Y: The Last Man (2021)

Interesting premise, horrible execution

[3/10 · 10 October 2021]

The premise of the show is interesting and there is (was) a lot they could have done with it. Unfortunately in execution they dropped the ball and made it excessively boring with unrealistic characters and story lines. The supposed only living "Man" is far from a man. He is more like an adult male toddler with no self control, common sense, or coping mechanisms. If his genetics are supposed to save the species, I say let humanity die off. The female secret super spy is either a complete bad ass who has it all together, or she is poser who falls apart depending on the moment. They did get the politicians in the show right however as they all seem to be dishonest, power mad, manipulators who are only concerned about themselves and their loved ones. Overall there is no one really worth rooting for and society as we know it is apparently gone forever as the survivors are too weak, confused, or selfish to keep it going. I am suprised the writers haven't already introduced tribes of cannibals as fast as things are going to crap. I hope moving forward (as long as I can stand watching it) they just let the world return to it's pre-human state. Nothing else is really possible with these characters and the one season this show will probably be on for.

Free Guy (2021)

A little better than a 7

[7/10 · 26 September 2021]

I only seem to write reviews when the show is painfully bad or wondefully different. And in a world where everything is a reboot, remake, or regurgitation stuffed inside some woke politically rhetoric I leave more painfully bad reviews than the latter. But Free Guy was fun and fresh enough to make me feel like I wasn't watching the 37th reiteration of Freaky Friday. This movie will definitely end up in the collection. Turn off your brain (and your phone) and just enjoy it.

Prisoners of the Ghostland (2021)

What was that!?

[2/10 · 24 September 2021]

The difference between this movie and Candyman (2021) is that Prsioners of the Ghostland wasn't trying to make a good movie. I am pretty sure they were just trying to troll us and see how much money they could make in the process. Still, no matter how bad it is... I will never stop watching new movies with Nick Cage in them. Unless of course Jordan Peele gets involved.

Candyman (2021)

Had potential, but fell flat

[2/10 · 24 September 2021]

The 1992 Candyman was great. The 2021 version wasn't even just okay. Somewhere between the woke rhetoric and West coast dogma was a movie trying desperately to find its way to the screen. But in the end it failed to emerge and 90 minutes of my life was wasted. It's so sad when Hollywood has a good story and some good actors and yet they decided to ruin it with political crap.

Black Summer (2019–2021)

Season One = 7 stars / Season Two = 3 stars

[3/10 · 11 September 2021]

Season One was an entertaining zombie thriller. Perhaps there could have been a little more storyline and a little less panic for the sake of panic, but it easily kept my attention and made me eager to see the next episode and the next season. Felt like a prequel series for 'Left4Dead'. Season Two was an artsy discombobulated mess that was equal over the top drawn out frantic chaos and pointless yawn-filled boring time wasting. Whatever storyline existed in Season One went out the window in Season Two. It was like watching a concert where every musician was playing a different song and some pretentious ahole was clapping and shouting bravo! The whole time. Netflix either needs to fire people and start over with Season Three or just let it die (pun intended).

The Tomorrow War (2021)

Pay attention Netflix, this is how its done.

[9/10 · 2 July 2021]

2 hours of continuous story and action without the boring filler, questionable plot twists, and pointless side trails that plague the originals from other streaming movie services. Nothing in this movie was ultra-revolutionary, but none of it made me roll my eyes and turn it off either (again, looking at your Netflix). Overall it was a very solid movie that easily kept my interest and thoroughly entertained me. Well done Amazon.

Run Hide Fight (2020)

When reality comes to the cinema

[9/10 · 18 April 2021]

We need more movies that drive home the point that reality has little do with how people feel about issues and that when it comes to the safety & welfare of our youth we all need a wake up call. The Daily Wire got everything right in this movie and cearly demonstrated the inherent idiocracy of how we deal with active threats in schools. And somehow they did it withough actually going way over the top to make their point.

Doors (I) (2021)

Will not appeal to the spoon fed crowd

[5/10 · 8 April 2021]

If you are one of those people who only want the same regurgitated story lines, the same predictable plot twists, and the same over simplified character archs then this movie is probably not for you. While it was clearly on the low end of budgets it was on the higher end of creativity, especially if you define creativity as not being the same spoon fed no-brain-required movies we get from the big budget companies. No, it was not the best movie I have seen but it was much better than the reviews on here would indicate. I would have given it a 5.5 if IMDB had half stars.

The Great North (2021– )

I guess it has potential

[4/10 · 5 January 2021]

I will start by saying I am a huge long time fan of animated series like this and absolutely love Bob's Burgers. When I heard about The Great North and its voice cast I was very excited. Unfortunately it fell short of its potential. The premier episode had a few lightly funny moments and some cringeworthy misses, but it did not come even close to the cleverness and humor that Bob's provides. Not to mention the characters lacked a little appeal and the Alaska connection was not as prevalent as I expected. Sometimes shows like this start our meh and quickly improve from fan feedback, I hope that is the case here. The show has the potential of being one of the great animated series of this era but it will take a lot better writing and character development to get there. They could also hire someone who actually lives in Alaska to give them some guidance too.

The Leftovers (2014–2017)

Original and Captivating

[9/10 · 31 July 2020]

In a world of regurgitated low-IQ ultra-predictable television and movies, The Leftovers is purely original and truly captivating. I could not stop binge watching this series and the second it was over I returned to episode one to watch it all over again. Perhaps the most underrated and underappreciated series of all time. I am not going to explain it, just find it and watch it. Turn off your phone, don't play on your tablet, and put away the laptop. I know, you need those distractions to get through most crapo-vision show now days. But with this one just keep your brain engaged and go. You will be amazed at the trip The Leftovers will take you on.