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Reviews
Saltburn (2023)
Utterly Unwatchable.
For me, this movie redefines the word "unwatchable".
The movie is about two university students, who come from different worlds. One who is rich, popular, and charming, the other who is poor, shy, and awkward. They become friends.
That they become friends is the most believable part of the story.
What happens afterwards is a poorly executed ripoff of other movies, but ridiculous in scope, and devoid of reality. It will leave audiences feeling underwhelmed and disappointed - both in the movie and themselves for having wasted their time and money on this "film".
I saw this as a sneak preview, where it was hyped as "the most buzzed about movie of the year". After watching it, I realized "buzzed" does not necessarily mean good. It is being buzzed about, as it will be remembered as one of the worst movies of 2023.
BlackBerry (2023)
Entertaining, fun docudrama
Without knowing the history of Blackberry, outside its spectacular crash, I found this movie very entertaining and informative. It's not a documentary, so everything needs to be taken with the proverbial grain of salt. That being said, there were many parts of the Blackberry story, including Research in Motions technical innovations that predated the iPhone by almost a decade.
Jay Barucshel and Matthew Johnson were both wonderful in a corporate Ying-and-Yang relationship, though Johnson steals the show with his irreverence and comedy. Glenn Howerton was a bit disarming as corporate tough guy Jim Balsille. Together, the three drive the story from its lowest points to its dizzying heights.
Overall a fun entertaining picture, that may not be completely accurate, but for those who don't know the details, it won't detract from the story.
30 for 30: The Tuck Rule (2022)
So much wasted potential
This incident was so needing of the 30 for 30 treatment, but this failed entirely, in a boring, pointless, Brady love in episode. Instead of the insight and introspection by experts, which we have come to expect from an ESPN production, we get a boring, meandering, pointless love in by Brady and co.
Perhaps this was his price to appear on the episode, but a much better episode would have been one without him. Have the experts and commentators who called the game discuss it: what they were thinking then and what they think now in hindsight. That would have been far more interesting that this pointless, useless, episode.
Glass Onion (2022)
Absolutely terrible and pointless: don't watch it.
The original "Knives Out" brought back hope of revising the murder mystery genre of film. "Glass Onion" looks to have killed it, completely.
This movie is completely moronic and pointless. It lacks all the intrigue, depth, humor, and mystery of the original, and instead focuses on a thin plot, poorly developed characters, a complete lack of depth in an overly simplified, obvious crime.
The worst part was the ending. Instead of bringing the guilty to justice, let's destroy priceless works of art in his possession: that'll show him! No, it doesn't. The ending robs the world of masterpieces and we're supposed to think this is justice?
The only redeeming feature of this film is that it didn't have all the political jokes of the first. That's it.
Everyone involved in this "movie" should be embarrassed and I hope I never see one of their attempts at entertainment again.
1899 (2022)
Pointless, disappointing, mystery that's very stylish looking
Don't be fooled by the style. That was the only redeeming part of the show for me.
The show starts well, bringing in a lot of elements for a good mystery. Then, around episode 3-4, it starts to fall apart, and the rules of this reality start to fray. This will continue to happen, until the last episode, where all rules of this reality are thrown out for something completely different. In the end, nothing is explained, and there is just one twist, which, I believe was added because they dug themselves into a story hole.
It reminds me of what happened in "LOST" for the last few seasons. The only action was only in flashbacks, and they threw tons of crap at the wall to see what sticks. That's what happened here. So much of this story was left unexplained, such as:
- the beetle and how it opened door
- what the black gunk was
- why people died unexpectedly, both on the deck and why they jumped
- the tattoo on the kid.
Originally, I thought everyone on this boat was in Purgatory; they had the use of the scarab beetle, families who died, a mysterious second boat with no bodies. It seemed obvious and simple. However, after the "ending" we got, I wish my version was true. It would have been a better show.
I suspect people liked this show because it was stylish and mysterious. I'm sure folks who don't agree with my view will claim I don't get it (if so, please try to explain it).
If you prefer shows that make some semblance of sense, don't watch this show.
House of the Dragon (2022)
Why do folks like this show?
I just finished watching Season 1, and I have no idea why this show is getting good ratings.
Visually, very cool. Story, meh - it was slow, boring, and predictable. Unlike "Game of Thrones" (pre last season), there was complexity and intrigue. Season 1 of HoD would have been condensed to one episode, maybe two, of GoT. But, unlike GoT, most of the key characters are replaced due to age issues, making it tough to remember who is who, from episode to episode, and even worse, the plot is so thin, there is no reason to remember them anyway.
It's like a worse version of the Hobbit: A small book that was stretched too much. This is a very thin story, without any of the complexity, depth, or intrigue which made GoT so great (aside from Season 8).
For me, it missed as a drama, adventure, and sci-fi. I'm glad I'm done, but I miss the 10 hours I'll never get back.
The Undoing (2020)
Great, till the last episode
Felt the series was building up to something interesting. Then saw the ending and realized it's not. Really disappointing end to something that could have been great.
For anyone considering this series, I would recommend "Presumed Innocent" instead. Similar story, much better conclusion, and four hours shorter.