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dougd2000
Reviews
Gone Girl (2014)
Trash
Just more Hollywood trash. Hollywood doesn't know how to make a classy film anymore, just all vulgarity and profanity. How do people watch this crap? When in the first few minutes it manages to insult the sensibilities of so many of its audience you wonder why do they bother in the first place? Have people really lost all their innocence or does Hollywood just think so? Or is Hollywood just trying to make our culture more perverse? I'm a liberal Democrat but I'm so sick of looking forward to watching a film only to get turned off almost immediately by such profanity and vulgarity it would make our ancestors ashamed of what we've become. You make yourself look bad, Hollywood. Clean up your act.
Lost Child (2017)
Enthralling Under-Rated Award-Worthy Film
This film was woefully and unjustly maligned by some "professional" critics because I guess they just don't understand the culture that is the background and actually an important character in this film. And their reviews were unnecessarily bogged down by debate over what genre this film fits into. My response is what possible difference does it make? We should appreciate films for what they are, and the fact that this one doesn't neatly fit into any box is all the more reason it is a special film.
The bottom line is if you like movies with atmosphere and mystery and intriguing settings, and you have a heart, you will like this film and be moved by it. It takes you slowly but surely down a suspenseful, heart-felt journey with many stops along the way that add to the mystery. And you will like the two main characters and come to care about them in the end. The actors playing them delivered authentic performances that pull you into their stories.
Lost Child is an award-worthy film that sadly did not get the attention it deserved.
The Disappointments Room (2016)
Where was the movie?
A terrible, horrible mess of a movie. Little made sense, especially in the last part, and by then you didn't care if it did. Nothing scary or even suspenseful here. Inexplicably bad acting by the two leads. Any plot present fell apart but it was hard to tell because a lot of the last part was filmed in the dark with characters randomly disappearing and then resurfacing. I was stunned it ended when it did because nothing really happened to justify a movie even being made. I'm being generous with 2 stars because the soundtrack and photography (except dark sequences) and set weren't bad. And performances by Lucas Till and a young Duncan Joiner were good.
We Go On (2016)
Perplexingly over-rated
After watching this movie and then reading the reviews here, I literally thought I had seen another movie with the same name, because the movie I saw was nowhere near deserving of the rave reviews posted here.
It does start off with an interesting premise for fans of the paranormal and those of us who like to ask the existential questions of life. But it quickly disappoints and dissolves into an extremely poorly paced and ultimately boring and unsatisfying film experience. I could barely get to the end it was so painfully dull and un-engaging. The attempts at humor and hipness were many times just grating and somewhat insulting to serious film goers expecting something of a much higher caliber given the premise. If you're looking for a film that scratches your existential itch look elsewhere as you'll probably be disappointed.
Chad (2021)
Total Garbage
Trash. Garbage. Absolute abomination. Made me ill just watching it. No human should ever watch this. TBS should apologize to its viewers for this.
Cry Wolfe (2014)
Ignore the negative reviews. Good series.
All these people writing negative reviews may not be so smart. A reality show that may not be a reality show? Hold the presses! Good grief, wake up. They are all fake. You only show your naivete thinking they are or should be real. At least this show is based on the work of a real private detective, and the cases are quite interesting. People complain about this show because the re-enactments appear so authentic, with surprisingly good acting and direction, that they are pissed when they find out it was re-enacted instead of filmed as it happened. But that's more an indictment of their stupidity than of the show's premise, because the disclaimers are there for everyone to see. I like this show. I like that it's based on real cases and that it is fast-paced and interesting, and shows real problems that people encounter. I wish it was still in production.
The Neighbor in the Window (2020)
Could've been good (for a Lifetime movie), but ruined by absolutely abysmal acting
This would be a much better movie (for Lifetime) if it had better actors, especially the actors playing the protagonist husband and wife. She is just bad, don't need to elaborate. I think if you chose any random guy on the street, he would be better than the actor playing the husband. I mean seriously, I could do a better job and I have very little acting experience. Why is casting so absolutely horrible? Do people pay to be in these movies? Maybe relatives of the producers? On the plus side, the actress playing the evil neighbor is quite good and very watchable. Her husband is played by another truly horrible actor, who I think is really a salesman or something in real life. Painful to watch at times. The production values and storyline are actually not bad, but completely wasted on such unbelievably bad, throwaway performances.
The Holly and the Ivy (1952)
Not Your Usual Christmas Movie
I just saw this film for the first time on TCM. Without going into detail about the plot (covered by other reviewers well) I will say this film was a real surprise.
Using Christmas as the backdrop and springboard for the story, it explores themes of family dynamics, faith, morality, religion, grief, addiction, trauma, and family bonds.
In fact, though it is somewhat of a "period piece" it seems remarkably ahead of its time. Few films of today touch upon the existential questions brought up in this film, including the most basic, is there any purpose?
The interplay near the end between the father and younger daughter bring this all to a head in a strikingly honest and unflinching manner. The symbolism of the holly and the ivy, and the tension between the two, are reflected in this conversation in an authentic way. (As another reviewer suggested, you may want to do a bit of research on this symbolism.)
The importance of finding a way to live a meaningful and fulfilling life is a dominant theme in this film, as well as the frustrations and challenges to achieving this. There are no easy answers in this story.
Not your typical Christmas movie, but one of the best I've seen. It resonated with me personally and the resolution left me feeling hopeful.
If the Christmas spirit is to give hope and renew faith, this movie succeeds in doing that.
Hereditary (2018)
Brilliant Terror
Not since the likes of The Exorcist have we seen a film like Hereditary. It pulls you in emotionally with the ironically comforting and familiar themes of family and loss. But then it takes you down an elevator ride of horror, stopping at every floor so you can see and feel the normal being pulled away from this family in viscerally disturbing ways as they experience multiple levels of terror. You know nothing can or will be the same for them as you fear for your own sense of normality. Few films are brave enough to put front and center our darkest and most powerful fears and anxieties, and portray themes of grief and disintegration, in such an honest and unflinching manner as this one. The film as a whole is brilliant and will no doubt become a horror classic in the same vein as The Exorcist, and will leave you just as shaken after watching it.
The Perfect Storm (2000)
BORING Movie
This movie started off incredibly slow and uninteresting and never got any better. It is a horrible, muddled attempt at storytelling. There is no suspense, no tension, nothing to make you want to keep watching. The transparent attempts at character development were embarrassing, almost as if done by a high-school student taking a creative writing class. The action scenes and special effects never draw the viewer into the movie. After awhile it's like, oh boy, another wave, how exciting to see people lose their balance and get wet. And the sentimental ending tries to make up for the lack of emotion in the film's previous two hours. Bottom line: watch it at home on cable where you can do something more interesting and look up every now and then at the TV.