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Russian Doll (2019)
Season 1 was excellent and they should have ended it there; Season 2 thumbs down
IMHO, just like "The Matrix" should have stopped after the first movie, Russian Doll should have stopped after season 1.
**I highly recommend watching Season 1 and stopping there.**
Although Season 2 started with some potential, in the end it was a jumbled story that just didn't really seem to lead anywhere. I felt it was a waste of time; thankfully it only totaled to 7 episodes for a total runtime of around 3 hours w/o credits.
Election (1999)
Good but definitely NOT a romantic comedy
I saw this movie with the wife, in part because the IMDB description said the genre was: comedy,romance. But I find that wholly inaccurate; instead I'd describe this movie as a dark comedy. The movie crossed the bounds of accepted social norms in multiple fashions, and I thus find it's R rating appropriate, as the situations aren't appropriate for children.
Despite the inaccurate genre description, my wife and I still enjoyed the movie. I'd probably rate the movie a 6.7.
I Want You Back (2022)
Second half of the movie was better than the first half
The first half of the movie there were plenty of times that I felt bored, and I didn't think the dialogue was that great, and I did think of turning it off several times....instead, I opted to keep going while I multi-tasked on my phone. I found the second half of the movie better written and much more engaging.
Overall I'd give it a 6.
Plan Coeur (2018)
First season good -- stop watching after the 1st episode of season 2.
A fantastic first season, followed by a second season that seemed forced.
The wife and I immensely enjoyed watching the first season of this with subtitles (she speaks French, but I do not). We binged through the first season in one or two nights because we thought it was so great.
The second season was a different story.
Although we were glad we watched the first episode of Season 2, because that tied up some loose ends from season , we felt the show went downhill in the episodes that followed -- so much so, that after we got half-way through episode 4 of season 2 we decided that the show had lost its way, and we decided not to watch any more or the series.
Stripes (1981)
Just watched it again after 35 years
Not sure how it came up, but last week my wife mentioned that she had never seen Stripes before. I told her that I hadn't seen it since college, and that I would gladly watch it again with her. So we set a date for last night to queue it up on Netflix.
The short of it:
Although the first 5-10 minutes of character foundation was early 80s style comedy that was not that funny to me in present day, the remainder of the movie, all of which took place in the military, I thought held up very well and I enjoyed it a lot.
As for my wife, who had never seen it before, she really enjoyed the movie as well.
There were many instances in the movie where we both laughed out loud.
Also, I had never appreciated it back in college, but seeing the movie last night I realized what a good acting job the drill sergeant did.
If you've never seen the movie, watch it. If it's been a few decades, watch it again. Just remember that the first 10 minutes of buildup prior to signing up for the military aren't anywhere near as good as the scenes after that point... so hold tight, sit back, and prepare to enjoy. :)
One Night in Miami... (2020)
First half rates a 5, second half rates an 8.
I found the first portion of the movie to be very much like a made-for-TV movie; lower quality lines and acting, and not much substance.
But at some point (whether that was 1/4, 1/3, or 1/2 way through I am not sure) the whole movie turned .... the dialogue became very substantive and real, and the acting seemed more on point. If the whole movie had been the quality of the second portion I would have given it an 8. But, given the poor start, I average out the whole movie to a 6.5.
Wrath of Man (2021)
After 14 months away from a movie theater, this was just what I needed
Maybe it is because it is a story of heists that take place in L. A., but I felt like it had an Italian Job feel to it. Though I enjoyed the Italian Job a lot more, the Wrath of Man comes in at a 7 movie when viewed in a theater (I doubt I would have enjoyed this movie as much if I had watched it at home).
A lot of action with a storyline that unfurls nicely (I like how they played around with the timeline; the story does not unfold in a linear fashion ---- although I hate that approach in books, it worked very well in this movie).
The story is not very realistic, the characters are poorly developed, and after I finished watching the film I felt like there were needless loose ends (did they just edit a lot of the film out, leaving some stuff in that caused me to scratch my head afterwards). Nonetheless, if you are looking for action and an interesting storyline, I think you'll enjoy this in a theater.....especially if you, like me, have been limited to streaming on a TV at home for the past 14 months due to the pandemic.
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (2021)
Both I and the wife found this movie terrible
We both watched it for a while, and then decided to turn it off as we just found the humor to be pretty stupid. Before turning it off we decided to fast forward a bit and see if it got any better after the plot developed a little more... nope.
No idea how this is getting a 6.5 rating; 1 star for us.
This Must Be the Place (2011)
Despite excellent acting we couldn't get into it
The main character reminded us of Edward Scissorhands in his appearance and quirkiness. We watched the movie for 30 minutes or so, but we couldn't get past the voice and slow speaking of the main character and decided to stop at that point.
Giri/Haji (2019)
Excellently done overall
My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed this mini-series.
We enjoyed the character development throughout.
Some of the situations were very dark, while others added levity. Multiple times in the series there was a Guy Ritchie feel to it (Lock Stock -esque), which I really enjoyed.
I rated the series a 7 overall, but that is only because I found two episodes in a row moved more slowly than I would have liked. The other episodes I would have given all an 8 or a 9.
WRT to language: Although it started out in Japanese with English subtitles, the vast majority of the dialogue throughout the series was in English.
Get Out (2017)
Great movie and NOT HORROR
I had avoided seeing this movie because of its genre designation of 'horror' I think if horror films along the line ms of Halloween: very high suspense with multiple scenes intended to make one jump out of one's seat (a startling visual is purposely accompanied by startling music). Thankfully, this movie is not like that at all. To me this movie in a nutshell is like the drama and mystery of a 1960s Twilight Zone episode meets the campy gore of DJango or The Hateful Eight.
If you have been avoiding this film do to its horror designation, it is about high time you've seen it....IMHO if this movie is considered horror then DJango should have been considered horror as well.
I rarely rate movies an 8, but this one gets one from me.
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
Second half of the movie is much better than the first half IMHO
Haven't seen this movie for decades. I decided to watch it again, and I have to tell you that I found the first half very unentertaining (I'd rate that a 5). However the second half was a very entertaining 7.
I have no problem with cursing, but I thought that one scene where the F* bomb was used in pretty much every other word was a bit excessive.
Overall, I'd give it a 6.
The Village (2013)
After two great episodes it lost its way
My wife and I loved episodes 1 and 2. After that it seemed like things moved too slowly... work episodes 3 and 4 not gripping us. Episode 5 was good but seemed a little disjointed (we even had to double check the DVD to make sure we have actually missed an episode). After finishing episode 6, we decided it wasn't worth watching season 2 despite those episodes being on the DVD.
20th Century Women (2016)
It's slow, but very good
The movie is very slow, and at times I wished it would move along, but overall it is a quality movie with very good acting. As a man I found it interesting that the story was called 20th Century Women, since from my personal prism I saw it more of a coming of age story about the male son. However, I can definitely see how someone else would focus on the women as the central protagonist(s) of the story.
To help with this slow pace, sit down with a glass of wine and enjoy this movie as the lives of each of the characters is slowly revealed.
World's Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji (2020)
I loved the course and stories, but hated the "Mark Burnett"ing of it all
I binge watched the whole thing, but nonetheless I only give it 3 stars.
I loved seeing the course that the competitors were competing on, and it was great to witness the trials and tribulations that many went through, as well as the back stories on team members. What I could have done without though was the "Mark Burnett"ing of it all wherein he made it mimic an episode of Surivor ---- the dramatic music, the giant gold medallions, the way the camera approached the tiki torches, the shots of Bear in the helicopter who tried to add a bunch of hype by the way he spoke .... the overall feel of the editing / finished product seemed to cheapen the actual experience; I would have preferred to have more of a documentary feel to it.
Also, the number of episodes and the amount of time to watch was just way more than it should have taken. Doing this documentary style could have easily shaved off about 30% of the viewing time. If the Eco-Challenge continues in the future, I will watch it again only if it is NOT Mark Burnett who is the producer.
The Loch (2017)
Started good and then disappointed
I really liked the first couple of episodes, but subsequent episodes were lacking. Quite a bit seemed contrived, and somewhat fantastic/unreal at the same time. The last 2-3 episodes I stayed in because I wanted to see how it ended, but it felt a waste of time overall.
Walkaway Joe (2020)
Falls a bit flat due to a confluence of factors.
I'd give it a 5.5 overall.
Acting:
I thought that both David Strathairn and Julie Ann Emery did a first rate job. And although Jeffrey Dean Morgan's acting was fine, my wife and I weren't that impressed with the performance of the star, Julian Feder.
Story:
Although the story was good, the rapidity at which events unfolded took made the story feel a bit forced.
Pool/9Ball:
Whereas the game of pool fit nicely into both The Hustler and The Color of Money, it just sort of felt like it didn't quite belong here.
Inconsistencies w/o any reason as to why:
Seatbelts off, seatbelts on, seatbelts off. Bike on the rv / no bike on the rv. Flat tire / no flat tire.
I feel that there was a much more enjoyable version of this movie trying to come out, but it just fell sort of flat for us.
Greater (2016)
They could have done a better presentation
First of all, let me state that the story was great. My wife looked up on the internet to see if there was a lot of artistic license, and her research said that the movie was very true to the story with very little artistic license taken, which we both definitely appreciate.
The problem was the acting and directing. I don't know how to say it except that it came off like a low budget after-school-special; some of the acting was quite mediocre, and some of the scenes and/or characters seemed like they needed more development...because some of the actions just came out of left field.
Also, there was so much spent on the religious aspect that it felt like the movie came from a production company that deals in evangelizing. I have no if it came from one or not, but that it has it felt, and that turned me off personally. I don't fault the movie for it because it seems like spirituality plays a huge part in the real life of this character, his family, and friends; it is just that for me, personally, I don't enjoy movies where religion is so prominent throughout it (just like someone else might not like movie with a lot of violence throughout a movie --- e.g. I loved 'Casino' but wouldn't recommend it to someone who doesn't like violence to play a prominent part in a movie).
1917 (2019)
Too Hollywood -- we were disappointed
No idea how this movie is rated an 8.5 average, and got nominated for Best Original Screenplay is beyond me. I won't give direct spoilers, but nonetheless the below gives hints of what the movie is about.
First of all, from my perspective, they took what was Saving Private Ryan and essentially reversed it. Nothing very new in the plot here as far as I was concerned.
Secondly, the movie was way too predictable in multiple places. I am normally absorbed by movies, but in this one I found myself saying to myself throughout the movie "it is likely that this will happen or that will happen."
Everything about it seemed quite contrived.
All that said, the acting was good, the cinematography, etc. was good. As well, it was an enjoyable movie. But, I'd rate it a 5 or a 6; I easily could have spent my Valentine's date with the wife doing something more enjoyable.
Apollo 11 (2019)
Amazing footage, but much of the movie we found too slow
My wife and I saw this tonight. I will agree that the footage was amazing; we were particularly blown away by the clarity of the footage given that it was taken 50 years ago.
However, as a movie we were disappointed in it for the following reasons:
it only covered the Apollo 11 mission from day 1 to its completion. There were no interviews with the astronauts, their families, or the many people at NASA involved in the mission. In other words, for adults who were familiar with the history of this mission, although this movie added some more dimension to the story, it wasn't enough to make us feel that it is was worth sitting in the theater for the entire movie.
There were parts of it that we enjoyed, but not enough for us to recommend this film.
A Walk in the Woods (2015)
Redford would have done better to cast someone else as Bryson
I never read the book, and my wife read the book and loved it. Despite coming into the movie with a different background, we both felt this movie was a 5 out of 10.
Watching the movie we could see its potential to be good, but both my wife and I felt that Robert Redford was a poor choice to portray Bill Bryson. Towards the beginning of the movie in particular, his acting seemed very unconvincing. Maybe Robert Redford should stick to acting or directing, but not do both in the same movie: I felt it compromised his performance as an actor (and possibly as a director), and hence the movie.
There were some enjoyable parts, and I liked the story line, but whatever the secret sauce is that makes a movie worthwhile was definitely missing.
Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
Not sci-fi, but a very good independent romantic comedy
I picked this up at Redbox yesterday, and I'd give it a 7.5.
My wife saw that IMDb classified this movie as "sci-fi." she said she didn't want to watch it (*she has a huge aversion to sci-fi*). After I said "It is also classified as a romantic comedy, and how much sci-fi could there be in a romantic comedy. Also, remember how you enjoyed the Time Traveler's Wife (which for some reason is not pointed out as sci-fi on IMDb); well, I am sure it is similar, with the bulk of the movie being about the characters, and not about the time travel itself." That said, she said she would give the movie 10 minutes; but if she didn't like the first 10 minutes of it, she'd head off and read a book. Suffice to say she not only watched the entire movie, but she laughed out loud many times, and thoroughly enjoyed the movie.... as did I.
Safety Not Guaranteed has all of the elements has the unique story, good acting, and witty lines that I find in all indy films that I enjoy. If you are into independent films in the realm of Adventureland, then I can virtually guarantee that you'll enjoy this movie.
If you didn't enjoy Adventureland, then maybe you need to re-examine your life. :)