kathyceulemans Reviews

Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game (2022)

Excellent light movie

[8/10 · 30 March 2023]

This film left me feeling warm and fuzzy inside, without overdoing it. It takes a very interesting, relatively unimportant piece of American history and turns it into a wonderful story. Light without being superficial, educative without being preachy. A perfect pick me up on a rainy day.

The sets, clothing and actors are wonderful, the seventies are beaming from the screen, making me nostalgic for times I have never lived in. It feels very hollywood, which emphasises the American-ness of pinball, bringing you even more in the spirit of the movie.

The only thing that makes it a bit cringy at times (at least for me), is the breaking of the fourth wall. It's rarely done well, and I don't think this movie needed it. But again, that is just a personal preference, and it does add some extra information.

I would recommend this movie to anyone, especially those who like fun, interesting tidbits about history.

The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)

Very funny, got bored halfway through

[6/10 · 4 February 2023]

The idea of spiritual, hippie soldiers is a very funny, satirical take on actual armies and the jokes in this movie were hilarious. If they had made a few. After a while it started to feel like the gags were just repeated louder and louder, without any real novelty to them.

The reason I only watched half of this movie, was that after the humour had lost its charm, the story became very dull. The 'present' timeline moved very slowly, and the flashbacks seemed intended to display the increasingly less interesting jokes. Higher stakes were added by the introduction of Kevin Spacey's character, but the resemblance to high school drama became too strong for me to bear.

Maybe it would have gotten better if I had pushed through, but I don't care enough to find out.

The School for Good and Evil (2022)

The worst movie I have ever seen ... I loved it

[2/10 · 19 October 2022]

This movie brings terrible to a new level, a level that no one ever dared to image. If you like watching bad movies, this is the crème de la crème. Watch it with your snarkiest friends, have a good time making fun of it, because that is what this film is perfect for.

The CGI is awful, dialogue is cringy and predictable, the story is all over the place. It seems they just kept making things up as they went along, and in the end fabricated an explanation for all the nonsense that is this movie. I am having a hard time finding words to accurately describe how bad this movie is. I just keep wondering how on earth they got Cate Blanchett to agree to be a part of this.

However, it was never boring, and I had fun while watching it, so I am still giving it two stars.

Can't wait for the sequel!