mcdon-64934 Reviews

History of the World: Part II (2023)

Very Disappointing

[4/10 · 6 March 2023]

It just feels like "this is supposed to be funny, right?" Where as with the first one the audience sees history through Mel Brooks eyes, this one just feels like Drunk History sketches without the drunk person. It doesn't feel like the piss is being taken, it's just feels cheap. There's no voice that ties it all together, it's all really funny people whose ideas don't mesh well. All these performers are charismatic and so its watchable, like background while your cleaning kinda watchable, but the jokes themselves aren't clever enough for the performers delivering them.

It all feels like sketch that might work live, but definitely doesn't work filmed.

Ultimately, it suffers from everyone behaving like it's a comedy. What worked so well about the first movie is that all of MB's characters behaved as though they were the hero's of their narrative, but this one is just clowning, and at least for me, that really doesn't translate to film.

JB Smoove as JB Smoove is so far the best part.

The Pale Blue Eye (2022)

Honk Shoo

[2/10 · 8 January 2023]

Just boring. Joyless. Pointless. Great cast but just such a slog. It moves at a snails pace and nobody seems like they want to be there. It all feels very formulaic and predictable. The acting is very stale, which is surprising given the talent. For a movie about poetry, there's something so un-poetic about the whole thing. Like it's such a poor copy of better stories. Even the concept of putting E. A. Poe as a character feels like a shoehorned device that's supposed to make up for the fact there's nothing original going on. It's mildly interesting at the top but by the time you make it to the end you so don't care about anyone. Skip it.

The Ledge (2022)

Really enjoyably bad

[4/10 · 1 August 2022]

I've never quite seen a film where British actors are playing American with quite so terrible accents. It's an inexplicable and unnecessary choice but it makes the whole thing a hilarious study in dialects. Also, a movie that takes places entirely outdoors that is so clearly indoors. So fun to watch on a lazy afternoon.

Archive 81 (2022)

A terrible, no good, very bad Stranger Things

[1/10 · 27 July 2022]

Perplexingly boring. No chemistry between anyone. It's a joyless dirge. I knew I wasn't enjoying it by the end of the second episode but the good reviews kept me going, but I wish I had jumped ship. It was a curse, and may this review protect you from it.

American Horror Stories: Game Over (2021) Season 1, Episode 7

Can you rage quit a TV episode

[1/10 · 7 July 2022]

I can forgive a lot of this show, but this was a bridge too far. A never ending Jacob's Ladder or Dallas dream sequence. A series of meaningless red herrings and a dismal sequel to an already not great original episode. Nothing redeeming.

Drowning Mona (2000)

Everyone is an idiot

[10/10 · 31 October 2021]

This is absolutely one of the best comedies from the early 2000s, don't believe any of these morons. Every performance is absolute gold. In a world where Big Bang Theory is an Emmy winning comedy, don't trust the public at large. This is a comedy for smart people. Character driven, whodunit, and Bette Midler in her best role. This movie is a staple in my family. It's charming, smart filmmaking and deserves so much more praise than it gets. I'd trade any movie Will Ferrel made after this movie for his performance in this alone. I just watched having not seen it in years and it's still freaking hilarious. I can't understand why people hate on this movie, it's maybe my favorite of all time. William Fitchner is an absolute perfect gem in this. Jamie Lee Curtis is hysterical. The specificity of the performances and the writing are the best they could possibly be.

Thunder Force (2021)

It's... not terrible

[5/10 · 14 April 2021]

It's still pretty much quarantine and I've watched literally everything else. Everything in the world is terrible, so this is at least not racially motivated violence in the streets...so there's that.