virtue_srb Reviews

Don't Look Up (2021)

Overhyped trash

[1/10 · 10 February 2022]

The idea of this movie was great, but it falls flat on so many levels.. Its not smart or fun, its so obvious and plain, and humor is quite tasteless, a lot of unnecessary swearing, vulgarity, the usual stuff for this day and age..

The actors all did their part, its just the writing that is so bad and boring.. Who gets off watching this movie, I don't get it.. I have not laughed a single time.. I guess its just Netflix creating content for their sub 70 IQ herd..

The fact that this got nominated for the Best picture Oscar really leaves me baffled..

Red Desert (1964)

Very disturbing

[10 July 2019]

I honestly have no idea what made me push through full two hours of this movie, it may have been my curiosity, or some doubt that this movie may be trying to tell me something important which may unravel by the end.. If there was an underlying philosophical theme, I have completely failed to grasp it. I don't think there was any philosophical background to it all.. The quality of cinematography in this piece cannot be argued though..

For me, this movie is as close depiction of insanity that I have ever seen it in any movie, without any shugar coating, it is raw and disturbing, coupled with a very depressing yet beautiful visuals of the industrial wasteland. I'm not an expert in psychology, but the beautiful italian lady seems to be suffering from a severe bipolar disorder coupled with a strong narcissistic traits.

The thing that really bothered me was the randomness of events in this movie, and by the very end I just couldn't wrap my head around it all.The only movie that I could moderately compare to this one to in style and aesthetics would be Stalker, with long speechless shots and gloomy surroundings. But again, Stalker gave me something to work with, as opposed to this movie which just left me guessing whats the meaning of it all.. I'm usually a very oppinionated movie viewer, but this time I'll just pass giving any rating..

If you're willing to see what insanity looks like close up with none of light motifs usually following in those kind of movies, be my guest, but if you are prone to anxiety, I would urge you to not watch this because I'm not a very anxious person, and after watching I feel like I've had a freight train run through my head.

The X-Files: The Post-Modern Prometheus (1997) Season 5, Episode 5

Outstanding

[10/10 · 29 March 2019]

What an awesome episode.. I really feel bad for folks who cant unwind and enjoy the magic of this, good job Chris. I was really hesitant to watch this, as I understood from the beginning its going to be something goofy, but I was not disappointed one bit.

Alien: Covenant (2017)

Hands down best Alien movie

[9/10 · 24 June 2017]

So, of course its not the best Alien movie (not the worst either, Prometheus was a total disasted), but I'm so sick of the fact that supposed Alien fans are bashing this movie so ruthlessly, to the point where I'm beginning to be afraid if the franchise will survive.

Indeed, this movie has some major flaws, it has conflicts within the logic compartment, as well as plot-wise, but what bothers me the most is that a lot of people dwell on these shortcomings, instead of trying to see whats actually good about this movie, and there's a lot of interesting things shown to us.

Movie is absolutely eerie, but in a totally different way from previous alien movies, or at least that's the effect it had on me. Planet itself was immensely foreboding, especially taking into account the events prior to events of the movie. I just loved the feel of that place, it really did creep me out, and that's not the feeling I get often.

Also, even more than before, movie deals with some very interesting topics regarding creation. Dialogues are very well written and acted. Michael Fassbender performance for me was mind blowing.

Soundtrack was superb, it reminisced of the original score from the first Alien movie.

Basically, I'd probably rate this movie somewhere around 7,5-8, but just because I see so many supposed Alien fans bashing it, I give it 10 stars to compensate for the hate it gets.

If you're a real Alien fan, you will enjoy this, unless you're watching the movie and waiting for the slightest mistake/mishap in plot/action, so you can go into a full nerd rage mode, and bash this pretty movie on IMDb.

Parker (2013)

Lacks essence

[5/10 · 15 February 2015]

It's just another mediocre thriller with Jason Statham, lots of action, fast paced, yet lacking essence and believable story, it doesn't make you care enough for whats going on.

I didn't finish watching the movie, because I sort of understood how it will go, I guess it can entertain you for 2 hours if you have low expectations and play the movie just for the heck of it, but expecting some big thrill from this is just out of the question, its instant entertainment lasting no more than it plays, the moment it ends, it will fade away in your mind.

Jason plays out his usual self, tough guy, fighter, the rest of cast did an OK job, apart from Michael Chiklis who's acting skills were really unsatisfactory.

5/10

Nightcrawler (2014)

Appalled not entertained

[12 January 2015]

I'll keep it short, because there's not much to say about this movie really, at least from where I'm standing.

It starts off as something that could really be an interesting movie, young man trying to make a living in a big city without many options. First 40 minutes I found promising, but after that Nightcrawler turns into a disaster when it just tries to endlessly exploit its mentally disturbed main character by leeching out every sick and twisted idea out for a viewer to see. Everything JG says in the movie, no matter how hard it tries to make him seem sophisticated or smart, is all actually basic logic with a lot of excess words mixed with total lack of moral boundaries. Psychopaths are charming, which is a quality Louis doesn't posses, he is just being a blatant douche throughout the movie.. One more thing, Jake's acting is really something I'm not a fan of, it just seems so forced and fake, I never get the opportunity to empathize with his character(s), especially here where he plays a major anti hero..

I can't say it's a total waste of 2 hours, the only half redeeming quality of Nightcrawler is its unique story. If you can put your emotions aside, then maybe you will like this more than I did, but for me, the disgust for main character was just overwhelming.

By my standards,this movie should not have a rating of more than 6, but since it has an unrealistically high rating, I give it a 3.

Son of a Gun (2014)

Unexpectedly good

[8/10 · 9 January 2015]

I just want to clarify the rating, 8 is well above average movie for me. It's worth having in your movie collection, along with classics of the genre.

I really wasn't expecting much from this one, but it turned out to be a surprise, and a good one too. I loved the action scenes where you can actually see the direction where character is shooting as well as damage being done by shots, I think this is extremely important for any serious action movie, but strangely a lot of action flicks fail at this. Whole cast did they job flawlessly, they are serious, tough criminals, there are no silly jokes, or something that would mellow down their characters (which is way too often in action movies today I must add), I loved it. Tashas accent was a bit too strong, but I guess it's a minor mistake. The romance part could have been a bit different, Tasha could be the one falling in love and wanting to get away with him, and he could be the one not being sure about it, but eventually going for runaway with her, I think that would hit the spot even better than this one. One glitch, I get the monkey metaphor in the movie, but I really think that if you want to crowd control people falling from the ceiling, you ought to pick some better mask than an ape one. I wish there was more action in urban setting but hey, maybe in next movie. The ending was (bitter) sweet.

Son of a Gun restored my hope for true old school serious-to-the- bone action movies, and I think this is the direction which action movie directors ought to follow, this is what real action movies are about,thumbs up for Aussies.

The Family Man (2000)

Heartwarming

[10/10 · 25 November 2014]

The very feel this movie gives you is just something I think is a matter of past sadly, newer movies just seem to trivialize important topics as one presented in the movie, and aren't quite capable of treating them with so much beauty. I really miss movies like this, I cant actually define what it is they have, but I think it has something to do with times they were made in, 1990s and early 2000s had so much more optimism and happiness in them, and I think movies from that era absorbed spirit of those times. Eventually The Family man will leave you wondering what is it you value the most in your life. Also, its not the kind of movie that you will forget completely after some time. Honestly, it deserves an 8 (better than average), but I give it a 10, its current rating does it no justice.

Lucky Number Slevin (2006)

Wrong man,wrong time,wrong movie

[1/10 · 15 November 2014]

Im never judging the movie based on IMDb rating again. Its just shameful how people visiting the site have low expectations for movies (or just have zero taste),if they rate this 7.8. For comparison,American Psycho has 7.6,Glengarry Glen Ross is just +0.1 away from Slevin,The Rock is 7.4,Face off is 7.3... Its just ridiculous...

It seems that the cheesier they make them,the better they are liked,this movie tries to be funny,smart,mysterious,but it fails in everything. Its just a pointless revenge story which is supposed to blow us away with "unexpected" ending. Not at any time of the movie did I feel any sympathy for any of the characters,from the protagonists father,to the corrupt cop getting shot at the end,this movie evoked zero emotions. Dialogs are just flat,unimaginative,trying to be funny and witty,but actually cliché,fueling God awful plot. Sure, a mob boss would let you interfere within his chess game. People who let you do that cannot make criminal empire, its that simple, I cant stand the movies that don't do their homework on psychological profiling and as a result make their characters into oxymoron's.

Rating for this one should be say 3.5,but I just have to abolish these unrealistically high ratings with 1/10.

Neighbors (I) (2014)

Stupefying.

[1/10 · 9 September 2014]

This movie is so bad,it is going to have you asking some pretty deep questions about where humanity is heading at this time,and what is our final destination destined to be. Something needs to change,people need to wake up,this kind of disgusting vulgar sexual low life humor must not turn out to be something our children,friends or anyone for that matter should become accustomed to,because once that happens,human race is no more human,its a herd. This movie is not made to make you laugh,its made to make you stupid. Spare yourself,don't watch this,it doesn't deserve to be watched,give 5 bucks to some homeless person,you'll feel a lot better.

Assault on Wall Street (2013)

What a mess..

[2/10 · 27 August 2014]

This movies had huge potential story-wise,but utterly failed to use it. Realistic movies with similar plots are becoming quite a rarity,and this one had an opportunity to revive the genre,but..

First,the title of movie is somewhat misleading,since it gives an impression that the majority of screen time is actually the assault. Well,you gonna have to wait 3/4 of a movie for assault to begin,which is tiresome. In that say hour and 10 minutes,everything will revolve around Jims financial hardship,sick wife,and his efforts to pull himself out of the harms way. I don't know how to describe Dominics acting,its just straight out bad,he doesn't seem to be in the role,hes just walking in front of camera spewing out boring lines with one constant facial expression. But it shouldn't all be on Dominics shoulders because Im convinced that its just directors reflection all over the movie,from dialogs to acting.

The "fun" part,the assault,actually consists of Jim going on a killing spree killing about 50 people who work on Wall Street. There is absolutely no shoot outs with cops,only Jim executing Wall Street employees. All action of the film are actually close ups of people getting shot in a massive amount. I wont even comment on the moral of protagonists actions.

Also,about 15 minutes of the movie are scenes artificially prolonged with an intent of adding drama or something like that,so you'll watch Jim stare at New York panorama,thinking to himself,for 1 minute straight when things get rough. One of reviews even compared it to Heat,which is sort of blasphemy. This movie unlike Heat lacks essence,strong powerful emotions,awesome acting and UNPREDICTABLE STORY. Guessing whats gonna happen next is as easy as drawing a line on a piece of paper with a pen.

I wanted to like this movie,I wanted it to be a meaningful,action packed story about a man who lost everything and wanted to make some sense of his life after it fell apart,but it just failed in everything. I give it 2 stars for the sake of unutilized story,which could have been great,but turned sour.

Unforgiven (1992)

Definitely not worth 4 Oscars,if any..

[1/10 · 2 July 2014]

I don't really know where to begin. I was disappointed in this one,maybe because I expect the very best from nineties cinema,maybe because it was rated 8.3 which I think it doesn't really deserve. I was checking for old stuff I missed and this one popped out,with 4 Oscars and pretty satisfying cast.

The story was just so very naive and predictable. I mean,who leaves his children at home to go bounty hunting with some rag tag teenager,especially if you've been straight for 11 years,it just doesn't add up in my mind. I can understand that money is a powerful motivator,but at least Eastwood should have stayed a mean guy made to live the way he did,possibly waiting for something like this to come up. From what we can see in the movie,there was absolutely no temptation on Eastwood part to actually go do it,no nostalgia for the old days,he just went as if he was made to. Conversation are badly done,most of them are shallow and actually quite boring to listen to. I found characters very uninteresting and poorly developed. The story,the characters,the things that movie is revolving about,just way to insignificant to captivate.

Don't know what else to say really,go and see it if you're up for some western movie,but don't expect much because this one fails to deliver. After the movie just felt 2 hours older,and thats about it.

And for people saying this is the best Eastwoods movie,do actually see another Eastwood movie before claiming something so untrue..

The Italian Job (2003)

Solid

[7/10 · 20 January 2014]

Well,I got what I was hoping for. First the good stuff about movie. Story was quite satisfying to me.. I really like the section of movie up to part where Steve betrays his comrades (maybe even to the point where Charlie presents his crew to Stella),it was really promising,it was dead serious,and thats how I like my thrillers and action movies,there was no too much silliness about it,which was great. Movie kept my attention,plot was constant,there were no points in movie where I was asking myself why these scenes exist.. First robbery was interesting,quite original. I was kind of sad that it was Norton who played the bad guy,I was hoping he'd stay in the crew as one of good guys because I wanted to see more of him,but ironically,I did see more of him because he was the villain. Liked the dialog between Steve and Charlie when they meet for first time after sell out.

And now,for bad stuff. The movie didn't keep its seriousness.. The scene where Mark talks to Stella on how his crew member got their nicks I understood what is the top reach of this movie. Some scenes were accompanied with music that also gave them a cheesy tone,one of them when Stella is trying out the mini,there were more.. Also,one blunder plot-wise.. Robbing your fathers murderer for revenge,seriously ? Thats kind of weak.. Whatever happened to characters like Neil from Heat,who chooses to kill the snitch instead of going to airport with his sweetheart and starting new life in New Zealand.. Did we lose edge compare to 90s ? I think so. Oh yeah,almost forgot,the Napster anecdote gets old after a third time.. Also,the ending is also cheesy.. Botom line is,if you want to make a good action movie,don't try to be too funny and silly about it,if people are looking the movie for laughs,they'll watch comedy instead,be serious,thats what most of new movies are missing.

Anyway,movie deserves 7.5,it was interesting,it was a bit better than average but not for 8 thats for sure,entertaining,actors did their thing,none of them failed,even the Mark Wahlberg who I cant stand was quite bearable,its a cool flick,but nothing thats gonna mark a cinema history.

Pain & Gain (2013)

Trivialization of evil at its worst

[1/10 · 11 January 2014]

I wish movie industry could just stop trying to dumb down people and make some meaningful movie with a point.

The thing that made me sick the most is probably the trivialization of committing evil on others. When I started watching movie I was not aware that the deaths in the movie were actually real life events,I thought it was added. Even without knowing that I could hardly laugh at people being killed in the movie,it had no humor to it,it was just brutal show of how some people don't value human life. And the way its done,just so naive and innocent,the movie offers absolutely no critical reasoning on what the main characters are doing. Humor of movie revolves around real life deaths and torture of people,and its not some kind of intelligent dark humor,its the kind of humor that lowers your IQ if you watch it too much,incredibly stupefying. I never liked Mark Wahlberg,but since this movie,I just cant stand his face anymore.

This movie can be liked by people with extremely low moral values and lack of intelligence (critical reasoning). Pain and gain is a shame for humanity.

Out of the Furnace (2013)

Wasted Bales talent

[6/10 · 1 January 2014]

-Contains spoilers-

First thing that comes into mind while watching this film are these huge skips plot-wise. When Bale goes to prison,I can only guess he was there for a year or more,it only takes for about 3 minutes of film. Bale comes out of prison the same person he went inside,which is highly unlikely and not contributing to the film. Hes overall character is extremely undeveloped,which makes Bale performance very uninteresting,and he is an actor that has so much to give (could easily say my favorite). He portrays this good guy with bad job,problematic brother,who loses father early on in the film. He has no real personal traits other than being vengeful (I don't blame him),he seems completely emotionless during the whole film. There are a few bursts of emotions,but for 90% of the movie he keeps his poker face on,even when hes been told that hes brother is dead,he says "Ok" and the conversation simply mutes,telling us how he feels. If you take one of the most talented actors of today for the role,then use him. If they wanted to make Bale tough,uncompromising guy who does what he has to do,first,he had to lose that goatee beard,and get his hair fixed. He should have looked something like in Harsh times. Then,hes character would have been believable,and I would go for the all tough guy thing. Also,when his ex tells him shes pregnant,hes not supposed to cry and tell its all wonderful news,its kind of pathetic and out of sync with his character,he should have took it like a man,because guys who cry like that don't premeditate killing a person tomorrow.

On the other hand,DeGroat is played out pretty well by Woody,classical hillbilly lunatic. He and the environment he is operating in seem very realistic and possible. Also Bales brother is troubling but realistic character,he did good on his part.

All in all,this isn't a bad movie,but its not worth of praise either. I think the main problem is the poorly developed main character which makes movie all too mellow for the genre. If you wanna pass an evening watching a movie not expecting much,then go watch it,but if you're hoping for Bale to shine in this one,you'll be disappointed,and its not his fault,its just the way script was done.

Realistic rating - 6.5/10