Change Your Image
akiva96
Reviews
Dune: Part Two (2024)
Excellent movie
Really enjoyed this second installment of Dune. It feels mostly true to the book with a couple notable exceptions. The book does not paint Chani as being in opposition to Paul - she is with the program the whole way and even understands why Paul must take Irulan to wife rather than her. Also, it is Alia who kills Baron Harkonnen with a gom jabbar, not Paul with a knife.
Other than these two plot diversions, the movie kept my interest and the pacing was fine. A bit slow at the beginning but speeding up as the movie went along right up to the final scene. At the end I wanted more. Hopefully Dune 3 will explore both Children of Dune and Dune Messiah. The special effects were first rate. Again, all in all an enjoyable movie.
The Renovator (2022)
Renovation or therapy?
I don't know. So much time is spent on touchy feely marriage counseling (at least in the episode I watched) that I wasn't sure if this was a show about renovating a home or a pop therapy session for couples who have problems they weren't aware of.
Aside from the psychobabble, the show just wasn't that interesting. Although, to be fair, I am personally tired of most of the HGTV fare these days. With the exception of House Hunters and House Hunters International, the channel lineup has become boring and repetitious.
Anyhow, I give this show three stars and I consider that rating to be pretty lenient.
Top Secret! (1984)
If you like Airplane.....
One of the stupidest, funniest movies ever made. The plot is virtually nonexistent - it is just a setup for a bunch of "Airplane" type humor and innuendo. I couldn't stop laughing. I actually own this movie so I trot it out every so often when I need a mood elevator. If you don't like Airplane or Naked Gun style humor, then don't bother watching - in my opinion this was even funnier than those. And I loved both of those as well. This one does not have as well developed a plot as either Airplane or Naked Gun so just be aware and go along for the ride of gags that are what this flick is all about.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
Mediocre at best
Maybe my expectations were just too high going in to this movie. I was expecting a lot more of, well, everything. It ran long at nearly two and a half hours but it could have been edited down to ninety minutes. The plot was obvious - there was really no doubt who the bad guy was and the premise was ridiculous as was the ending.
Without revealing any spoilers I would just say that rather than having a rollicking good comedic time - or having an interesting whodunnit where the bad guy is a mystery until the ending twist, you just end up with a long boring movie with a bunch of famous actors. Afterwards I watched a rerun of Goonies and had a better time.
How It Ends (2018)
That was disappointing
The premise has a lot of promise. The movie started out ok, if a little predictable.
The middle became a repetitious series of humans treating humans badly.
And then, just like that, it's over.
You never find out what causes the disaster or basically what the hell is going on.
Seems pretty disappointing to invest two hours and then.... Nothing.
For some reason IMDB aid very worries about making all reviews at least 600 characters so even though I have nothing else to say about this movie, I have to continue writing or I will not be able to submit my review. It seems silly but you can just disregard this last paragraph.
Moonfall (2022)
Silly but fun nonetheless
I actually enjoyed watching this even though it was a bit silly. BUT this is a sci-fi about the moon falling on the earth so some silliness is expected.
The characters and their interactions and motivations were pretty inane but it is a underdog saves the world type of story on the same lines as Armageddon, Independence Day and other movies of that genre.
At least it wasn't too woke although the military is, as usual, portrayed as wild eyed warmongers bent on using their nukes no matter what. It didn't really add much to the story.
With that said, it was worth the watch if you can suspend your disbelief for a little while.
Interceptor (2022)
Wow, really bad.
Let's see. The premise was OK. Terrorists threatening the US. But the execution is horrible. Unbelievable characters, crappy stunts, bad acting. Oh and every white male is either a terrorist, a molester, traitor or a racist. Don't even bother with this one unless you just want to irritate whoever is watching it with you. What an unbelievable load of junk. The creators of this dumpster fire should be fined for this failure. It seems like anything new coming out these days has to toe the woke line that all white people are inherently evil and/or stupid. I might just cancel my subscription to Netflix after this.
On Patrol: Live (2022)
It's Live PD!
Finally a network had enough guts to bring back a show that never should have been cancelled in the first place. On Patrol: Live duplicates the structure of Live PD - as well it should. I will be watching every week.
BTW - these aren't my pants. 🤣😂🤣
The Thin Red Line (1998)
Calling it boring insults other boring movies
This review is possibly the most interesting thing I got out of this flick. I mean how do you take a war movie and turn it into a boring piece of pseudo artsy trash?
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
Star Dreck Seasons 1 and 2 ok. Season 3 not as much....
Well, evidently the only white heterosexual males in the future are all villains, with the exception of Chris Pike and Ash Tyler. Although even Ash is a Klingon trapped inside a human body... so there you go. But aside from that exclusion of a large part if the population, the story was OK... until season 3 which is starting to get to be... all over the place. Season 4 is even more of a disaster.
The latest season (4) is filled with a lot of confusing imagery and whiny characters. The storyline is awful. This is the worst ST series to date. By far.
Won't even bother with season 5. Thankfully that will be the last season.
Law & Order: The Right Thing (2022)
Law and Order is back but they forgot actors. And acting. And directing.
A big Law and Order fan generally. Imagine my discomfiture when the return episode was horribly acted and directed. I turned it of two thirds of the way through and cancelled my scheduled recordings. Hopefully it will improve but I think I will wait to check back for 6 episodes or more.
Reacher (2022)
Fun and enjoyable
This Reacher is much more like the character in the Lee (not Andrew!!!) Child books. Taking a whole season to tell the story of one book (Killing Floor) has allowed a fun and entertaining pace while preserving the essence of the book and Jack Reacher.
Love Hard (2021)
A couple of "woke" moments but good otherwise
Funny and cute for the most part. Could've done without the woke re-do of Baby It's Cold Outside, because really, that's just stupid. The rest of the movie was fun, even if predictable.
Don't Look Up (2021)
A funny satire that is spot on...
This movie is never boring, and is able to poke the snake pit of divisive politics and social media addiction/dysfunction without taking sides. Definitely worth a watch.
Paul (2011)
A road trip filled with laughs
One of the funniest and interesting cult classics out there. I must have watched this ten times now and it's still funny. The cameos are great and the references to other movies are hilarious.
Well, that was good, wasn't it?
Invasion (2021)
Mostly boring....
I'm on episode 7. After episode 6 I thought things were going to pick up. But no, still very slow. Slow burn would not describe it, slow bore is more like it. Everything takes forever to happen and then just builds up to... nothing. It's a show about an alien invasion and so far, minimal aliens. Nothing about what the invaders want, who they are, or any other background information. Just a bunch of mini-stories about how different people are reacting to the invasion.
Dune (2021)
So far so good!
This is a largely true to the book adaptation. The casting is excellent and the special effects are awesome. This is really the setup for the next installment so be prepared for it to be a little slow in some parts.
As a Dune book series fan, this looks to be the start of something great - I am happy and quite surprised that the screenwriters haven't tried to "reimagine" the story (Apple + Foundation, you know what I'm talking about!).
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Bizarre
Yes, bizarre is one way to put it. I felt like I was the one on the acid trip through the whole movie. Somewhat entertaining though, and the cameos of so many established actors was interesting.
1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything (2021)
The music wasn't the headliner
I guess I expected the music to be the main thing. But it's not. The social and political events of the time are in the forefront and the music takes a back seat. It got pretty boring pretty quickly. Quite disappointed.
Unhinged (2020)
Wow, that was really awful
Without revealing any spoilers let me just say that by the end of the movie I was rooting for the bad guy to win so that the protagonist wouldn't be able to breed any more idiotic spawn. Every stupid decision that could be made was made. Totally unbelievable even when suspending disbelief.
No.
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
Barely OK...
I liked the first movie, but this one suffered from a tedious plot and scenes that just dragged on for too long. I found my mind wandering and wondering when the movie would finally end. Disappointed.
Ted Lasso (2020)
A refreshing breath of air.
Funny, interesting, and endearing. This series is everything it should be. The main character is an eternal optimist and his homespun enthusiasm and wisdom rubs off on everyone he meets. Great show!
On the Rocks (2020)
Still waiting for something to happen.
Great cast. Boring movie. There was not much humor or anything else interesting in this movie
Grudge Match (2013)
A lot of fun, worth a watch
Not a big DeNiro fan, but this movie left me laughing. Lots of fun and a bit endearing as well
Hotel Artemis (2018)
gave up on it 20 minutes in
After 20 minutes I still couldn't discern a plot or objective... and the 20 minutes I did watch were just... uninteresting.