debitspread Reviews

Food Club (2020)

My wife and I enjoyed it!

[10/10 · 8 October 2023]

A sensitive treatment of the issues faced by three older women. The film was well-cast, and the performance of each actor was excellent. Also, the picturesque setting supported the storyline. (By the way: the English dubbing was good.)

I can't really understand the lukewarm rating here on IMDB. Maybe the viewing public wanted more action. This film is more about discovering one's self and learning how to relate to others. If that's not what you're looking for, then you might not be happy with this story.

The actresses are probably in their seventies, so Boomers are probably the target audience. Young people who are more philosophical might enjoy it, too.

The Good Liar (2019)

Contrivance alert

[2/10 · 30 November 2019]

Maybe this story worked in novel form, but it certainly didn't work as a movie -- not for me, anyway. The whole Nazi thing is so tired, it comes across as a failure of creativity. Sure, all fiction is contrivance, but the idea is to do it without the audience being so painfully aware of it. "Getting revenge against the con artist" is an age-old trope. The writer has to do better than invoking a Nazi past to power the story line.

Sorry to Bother You (2018)

A disappointing mess

[1/10 · 13 July 2018]

I wanted to like this movie, and it DID have a few admirable features, but the great bulk of it was squandered potential. I've seen articles about Riley's political philosophy -- which is fine. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to write a script that will deliver on that promise. In the future -- if there is one -- maybe he'll develop some chops that will help him to focus and edit his story ideas.

Some people will like this picture, and to them I say: Great. Wonderful. Glad you had that positive experience.

I wish I had one of those. For me, though, it was just the opposite. I got bored after the first act and stopped rooting for the protagonist. After that point, I felt trapped.

All I can say is: Thank God for Movie Pass. I would be really bummed if I had spent my own money for this show. As it was, I "only" wasted 105 minutes of my life.

The Founder (2016)

A superb movie

[10/10 · 13 May 2018]

I just loved this film. The story was told beautifully.

In our crazy age of CGI, explosions, and gratuitous violence, this film proves there is nothing quite so compelling as REAL conflict between REAL human beings.

I thank all the artists involved with this project. It gave us an insight into something BIG that happened in our culture -- first in the US, and eventually in countries around the world.

The writing, acting, direction, music, production design -- all fabulous.

Regrettably, the movie had a box office of barely over $24 million. That in itself is a sad, sad commentary on the state of what audiences want these days.

Bad Samaritan (2018)

Not sure how I feel about this one

[6/10 · 4 May 2018]

I don't normally have much respect for movies like this. It's a story about a wacko who does bad things to people. So, my temptation is to say that it's just some contrived Hollywood product, designed only to give us the sensations of pseudo-fear and a little excitement. But then, I think about some of the murder, rape, and enslavement cases that have made the news lately, and I start to wonder: Maybe there is more truth to this story than I would like to admit.

I used to think that scaring an audience is really not that hard, but after seeing Bad Samaritan, I need to adjust that opinion. The challenge is to scare people in an artful manner, and I now see how difficult that can be. Personally, I think the makers of this film did a pretty good job; not great, mind you, but pretty good.

I'm glad the writer clearly outlined the protagonist's moral problem, as well as the courage it took to "do the right thing"; i.e., fight his evil opponent. I guess the bottom line for me is that it's too bad we have a movie industry that makes money by dealing with deranged story material like this. There is obviously a market for it, however, and that may be the saddest thing of all.

Lumumba (2000)

Moving, sad, fascinating

[22 October 2001]

Wow. What a fabulous film. The artists are to be congratulated and thanked for making this whole era come to life.

Should you go to this movie? Well, my wife didn't want to go because she guessed that it would be upsetting. She was correct: It IS deeply upsetting to see cruelty, treachery, panic, wobbly social institutions, etc.

On the other hand, there's nothing like a strong dose of the truth. I don't know enough Congolese history to have an opinion on the accuracy of this tale, but the movie certainly had an emotional truth to it.

In fact, it reminded me of something Meryl Streep once said. She mentioned that the purpose of a movie is to tell you what it felt like to be there -- wherever "there" might happen to be. By that standard, this movie succeeded. The film showed me -- a white guy from an American suburb -- what it means to have guts and commitment to high ideals during the most chaotic of times.

If that sounds intriguing to you, go see "Lumumba"!