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Reviews
American Son (2019)
Important Topic, Horrible Film
If you care about the racism and the challenges that Black youth face even in today's America, you want to like this film. The issues are serious and timely. Unfortunately, the desire to like the film is difficult to sustain throughout the film. There is so much that is beyond the pale of plausibility that it's difficult not to step back from the scene and become a critic. The dialog and the relations between the four characters is completely unrealistic, as is the unfolding of events.
12 Rounds 3: Lockdown (2015)
There Are Much Better Time-Wasters
Those who made this film apparently think that a tiny bit of nudity, a "one man against many" story line, and lots of shooting and fighting makes for an adequate escapism film. Not in my book! I have nothing against superficial good guy v. Bad guy films, in fact I seek them out for distraction when exercising. But, really ... dozens of trained (corrupt) cops couldn't manage to get one direct hit on our hero? They shoot wildly, seldom near their target. A (corrupt) police officer just happens to know now to do everything in the security hub of the new building: lock down the building, cut off all phone lines and block cellular phones, control the elevators, etc.? Our hero hits a bad cop, knocking him down but not out and turns to get something from his locker instead of pressing his advantage with the bad cop, allowing the fight to go on? Right from the start, there were iimprobabilities. The main bad cop fakes a shooting to make it look like the person he killed shot first. While he plants the gun in the victim's hand, he'd fired it before that so there would be no powder burns on the guy's hand.
You know a film failed for you when you're spending more time marveling at the improbabilities than following the plot and, even worse when you find yourself laughing at those improbabilities.
I say, don't waste your time on this one. There are lots of time-wasters that are more engaging.
Unhinged (2020)
The Script is Unhinged!
I couldn't watch the whole thing. Preposterous event after preposterous event made doing so impossible. I'm happy to suspend disbelief to allow for a good, interesting story with interesting characters. But, this script lacked any redeeming virtue, IMH.
Really?! Rachel doesn't call 911 at the first opportunity? No one intercedes in the diner as Cooper attacks and kills Andy?
As far as I could stand to watch it, this was just another "damsel in distress" from a crazed attacker film.
Tedious!
The Assault (2017)
Don't Waste Your Time - The One-Star Reviews Have it Right
This is obviously a low-budget film, unless the remarkably large group of associate producers were paid much. The writers and the director shouldn't have been paid at all. You know a "thriller" is a clunker when you find yourself laughing at the supposedly dramatic scenes.
The plot is preposterous. Two completely incompetent would-be thieves with very poorly though-out crimes are pursued by equally incompetent police to what's supposed to be a climax but doesn't really rise above the rest of the film, which is saying quite a lot.
The dialog is boring and, often, unnatural. The relationships are unconvincing. (The Sizemore character apparently falls deeply in love with one of the thieves, a stripper, after one night in bed.) The acting is barely passable by Tom Sizemore and worse by the rest of the cast.
I wouldn't have watched it all except that I was already into exercising on my elliptical and didn't want to get off to look for something better. On reflection, I should have just changed the channel randomly. Even static on an empty channel would have been an improvement.
Trauma Center (2019)
One of the Worst Films I've Seen
Bruce Willis must have been down on his luck to take a part in this film. I turned it on when I was exercising, knowing it wouldn't be anything great but thought it might be a diversion. I'd say it was the worst 1 hr and 38 minutes I ever spent watching a film but, truth be told, I often fast-forwarded through many of the incredibly predictable scenes that were intended to be suspenseful. (In fact, a number of the scenes intended to provoke tension just made me laugh.)
There was so much that was ridiculously improbable. Here's just a very small sample. Why didn't Pierce and Tull go into Madison's room immediately after killing the guard? Why did they walk around acting as if they were confronting a dangerous person with lethal weapons as they pursued Madison when they knew she was unarmed? Why didn't Pierce ever wipe the blood from his cheek? Why was Madison apparently able to run faster with a bullet in her leg than were two fit police officers? Why, when Madison got on the computer, didn't she use the computer to get help.
This was a low budget film (except, I assume, for Willis's fee), horribly written and badly directed. Don't waste your time. Even if you're looking for cheap thrills, this isn't a film for you.
Lo imposible (2012)
Marred by Some Improbabilities
Despite the impressive special effects and the basic story that should have been compelling, several things struck me as quite improbable and, so, caused step back from the movie and view it critically as it was unfolding instead of being caught up in the story. I felt that the "near miss" encounters between the father and the oldest son were contrived and predictable. Ditto with respect to the mother's sudden absence, leading her son to think she was dead while the viewer was pretty sure she wasn't. And, I wondered why, over the days the story unfolded, even when they had time and the resources to do so, no one wiped the blood of their faces. This seemed like a cheap attempt draw eyeballs with gore, but completely unrealistic.
The Fight (2020)
A "Must Watch" for Everyone Who Cares About Civil Rights in America
This is an excellent documentary. It juggles masterfully four recent ACLU cases, never losing the narrative thread of any of them. It is an important documentary exploring in a serious way issues great significance. And it manages to do that with moments of humor and poignant emotion.
The Dissident (2020)
Terrific Documentary (Don't Believe the Negative Reviews)
This is an absolutely terrific documentary on the murder of Jamal Khoshoggi! The filmmakers got extensive and exclusive access to key figures in the story and, importantly, the transcript of the events that took place in the Saudi Consulte in in Istanbul.
The Saudi government Internet troll factory is trying to flood IMDB's ratings with '1's. Don't believe it! This is an amazing and very important documentary.
Burden (2018)
Remarkable Story, Excellently Recounted
This is a remarkable story of a man's redemption and those who made it possible through courage and love. There are elements, including the name of the central character and an ironic twist that would seem like artifacts of a writer's mind, but they were not--real people, the events that happened to them, and how they chose to respond to those events, provided a story that called out to be told. Writer/director Andrew Heckler does an amazing job telling the story and the cast is terrific.
Dark Money (2018)
Terrific and Extremely Important Documentary
My wife and I watched this marvelous documentary at the Sundance Film Festival last night. It is extremely well done and it presents a compelling narrative about the role of "dark money" (political funds that cannot be traced to their source) in contemporary American politics. Flawed campaign financing laws lie at the heart of many of our difficult political problems. Kudos to Kimberly Reed and everyone involved in producing this gem.