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Reviews
Cat Ballou (1965)
Even the singing sucks
I'd heard so much about this movie over the years that when I finally saw it, I had nowhere to go but down. What a disappointing film! And why did Fonda want to do it? Everybody looks like they are spoofing on Laugh In. That horrid constant pseudo folk background minstrel show by Nat and Stubby is hard to listen to. Nat must've been given a bundle to lend his talent to this dog. All of them must've been promised pie in the sky to drag themselves around in this lame western. Is it a spoof? Is it a sendup? Is it by Mel Brooks befor ehe had any talent? Was it written in a drunken stupor? It's like Blazing Saddles without the humor or the acting abilities.
El conde (2023)
Like having teeth pulled
Someone watched too many Fellini films!? This lumbering purposely gory and dull story does its best to bore the viewer with a rehashed version of history. The Spanish are so preoccupied with the church, death, torture and patriarchy/matriarchy. It's sad really that they've never progressed beyond this stuff. They embrace fairy tales and lore with violent emotion. I'm surprised they don't have large UFO followings. If you live in Spain or So. America, it must be kind of like living inside the pages of that old rag, The Enquirer. Could have done so much more but didn't. This could have been another season of 'American Horror Story'.
Thriller: Worse Than Murder (1960)
Constance is wonderful always
Might have a different ending if made today. There are three evil women in this melodrama and Connie. Connie plays what was then a more obvious gold digger who has run out of luck with an overbearing mother in law. The mother in law was in fact a murderess. She has a rather plain simpering fool of a daughter who thinks she's good. She is as bad as her mother. Connie finds out about her mother in law's evil doings in her past and blackmails her as anyone would do if they were down on their luck as she is and surrounded by hypocrites. The whimp duaghter covers up her mother's sins, steals the diary Connie was using as blackmail and sets the house on fire. The idiotic cops nab Connie for everything while the puke of a duaghter and her doctor friend walk into the sunset unscathed. I'd have made the daughter perish in the fire as well as the doctor trying to save her with Connie finding the money in the entryway and driving off to future happiness. Hollywood was warped.
Sans répit (2022)
Good actors, plausible script.
Great production but like all stories we are handed now the characters are deeply flawed and non sympathetic. It is just more of the real news--rotten humans with narcissistic souls who wander the earth destroying and hurting letting others clean up their messes. These characters are all vile, even down to the little girl (the corrupt cop's daughter) who speaks with fem voice and acts all coy whilst playing with violent toys. We used to go the cinema to be entertained; now it is just more horrible news stories based on realism without depth of character. By the finale you're relieved and even happy to see one of them offed.
Mojave (2015)
Fair acting; evil plot; evil people.
A very modern plot: 2 men who have been given everything (looks, talent, opps, etc.) waste it for self indulgent reasons. We are watching the news here--reality as we read it everyday on MSN. They are sated with everything superficial. They've never had to take care of anything, nurture/grow anything, cook a meal, fret about a pimple, find a job, work for a boss, put someone else first. They are spoiled children/brats. They indulge in perversions because of boredom. They are typical Americans. They have run out of amusements so now they pick fights with strangers and drink/smoke too much, alienate loved ones, kill people for a thrill or misperceived notion. It ought to have ended with both their deaths. In a just world it would have but we know life is not just. The antihero is NOT the one who should win in the end in this case; the villian is more righteous than the antihero. It's a sad time when we refuse to acknowledge good and bad, black and white anymore. We're doomed.
Las heridas del viento (2017)
Quite poignant; but....
It's a shame the Hispanic culture is eternally fearful of homosexuality. I'm not sure whether it's the infectious Catholicism or macho ideal that has brought this about but it's in their DNA to the bone. I've been out as a gay man all my life really but 'officially' since my early 20s in the 1960s/70s. Surely I'm a contemporary of the elder character in this film. He is truly sad but wise enough to realize it's of his own doing. He 'set the stage' for life of despair and regret.
It would have had much more of an impact if they had had the courage to use a male actor to portray a gay male character. Although the actress is very good, her latent physical femininity, features, movements and voice ruin the effect. She is a drag queen in reverse. The end result is one of less impact--a real weakness. In my own life I've known many gay men of these Med. Cultures (Spanish, Italian, Black, Greek, etc.) and they all have mother complexes, daddy issues and keep some part of their lives closeted always. This leaves them living unauthentic lives that deprive everyone of genuine connection with them. Sad.
StartUp (2016)
Life has no meaning
You want to see over and over again how horrid, worthless, mean, evil humans can be to each other, this is the series for you! I've never witnessed such corruption and usury based on narcissism in my life outside of the Kardashians or Hollywood. If everyone is really like this I'd like to leave the planet sooner rather than later. How hopelessly lost we all are. This is a dark world like the Sopranos filled without hope or illusion. It is based on tomfoolery , sarcasm , jadedness, and cynicism. The adults are rotten to the core and the children are even worse. Time for euthanizing machines and disintegration machines. Poor mankind--all that brain power wasted on nothing important or worthwhile. As you watch this you wish all the characters find horrible ends fast. It's just painful if it is how we are today. Maybe nuclear wars and pandemics are just?
I Am the Night (2019)
Good actors; bad costume and art design
One thing you just 'assume' about even the worst films/series is that the set and costume directors get things right. After all, most of what they have to do is recorded history which they could retrieve off of any google site. Type in 1965 and see what comes up in terms of fashion, cars and style. The costume designer for this one had his/her head up their bum or just didn't care. I'm 71 and remember that year extremely well. I was the same age as Fauna. No girl at that time would be caught dead walking around in skirts down to her calves let alone wearing ankle socks?? The wardrobe in this thing is right out of 1955--a decade before. It is all James Dean and 'Rebel Without a Cause'. What were they thinking here? It's jarring. Some of the clothes even appear older as if they raided a wardrobe from the 1930s on a previous production. They could've done better at any nearby thrift store than what they did. Shame on them.
The actors are all good. Script seems OK. Action keeps pace. Sad that something like sets and clothing can put such a damper on believablity.
Attack the Block (2011)
As if the daily news wasn't depressing enough...
Idiot boring ignorant kids vs. idiot aliens. This is a case of nobody wins. If you're civilized and educated you'd love to relish the aliens eating the humans. If you're also an idiot, you'll enjoy this (difficult to swallow) film. There's nothing more current and more of a yawn than listening to jive talk and juvenile conversations. "This is the way the world ends, this is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper!" Eliot was right!
Monsoon (2019)
Nice travel brochure but characters lack substance.
A great idea perhaps 20 years ago. Too much time has passed to believe these two young men could have parents old enough to have experienced Vietnam in the 60s. The main character is likable and good looking enough to do Garbo with facial expressions that reveal emotion and confusion. The other chief character is a very lackluster black actor who is so one dimensional one wonders if they just grabbed a GQ model off the runway with little time to get him any acting lessons. This script must've been 3 pages long. It could actually be a silent movie. There is NO chemistry between any of the characters==it is very flat. The nicest scenes are between what look like locals--families, children and the Westernized young tour guide are all welcome deflections from what is otherwise a long, boring waste of celluloid.
Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer (2021)
Good reporting
Great doc which reveals the ineptness of the police and the media when it comes to solving crimes. The police (through apparently no fault of their own) are subject to a million rules/regulations from county to county and even sections of cities so they are even thwarting each other in their clown like attempts to find fluid evidence. If they aren't accidentally destroying evidence, they are muffing up detection constantly. The press as usual are only interested in the sensational aspects of anything and selling papers. In the meantime, we the public are allowed to be butchered and given up to their lax progressions while they eat donuts and have all night drinkathons at local bars to forget their woes. Makes you ill.
Hugo (2011)
Who go?
Has a lot to learn from films like 'Amelie' and a zillion others. Some nice attempts here and there; the actors are OK and try; script sucks. It's been Hollywoodized which for a film is akin to being sodomized. Sad waste of talent , money and time. Whenever you fill a film with an all star cast, you can most often be sure it's going to be a dud.
Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer (2021)
Good reporting
Great doc which reveals the ineptness of the police and the media when it comes to solving crimes. The police (through apparently no fault of their own) are subject to a million rules/regulations from county to county and even sections of cities so they are even thwarting each other in their clown like attempts to find fluid evidence. If they aren't accidentally destroying evidence, they are muffing up detection constantly. The press as usual are only interested in the sensational aspects of anything and selling papers. In the meantime, we the public are allowed to be butchered and given up to their lax progressions while they eat donuts and have all night drinkathons at local bars to forget their woes. Makes you ill.
Midnattssol (2016)
Very good, but...
Interesting story but if you watch this you'll come away believing the Scandinavians to be a bunch of naive and backward hillbilly boobs from another era. I've never seen so many laid back dim wits in my life. It's sad. The most intelligent person in the group is a French female detective sent to review the crime scenes because it has involved at least one French citizen. One would think Arkansas and West Virginia are alive and well near the reaches of the Arctic Circle! As I've never been there, I can't say for certain but I am of Scandinavian blood and it made me ashamed of my heritage to watch them.
Devs (2020)
Could've been good!
It's amazing how one bad actor can ruin something well written and produced. Namely, the main actress accomplishes this. She is flat, bad timing, slow on the uptake with her lines and really gives the performance any high school girl could manage to this production. Sad that they chose her; probably because of her multi-ethnicity. This role was way over her head. She needed much more experience and she's way too androgynous looking. Her agent and her promoters should be shot.
Watchmen (2019)
Well produced propaganda and reverse racism. Dangerous when watched.
If you wanted to rekindle a race war, this is the way to do it. The production, actors, CGI, etc. are great. I just don't approve of something so obviously intended to muster violence and genocide on a massive level. This series is like Hitler's plans to rule the world but warped. Like most characters in series/films now, there is almost nobody one can identify or like in it. Everyone is a liar and everyone is a murderer. Unfortunately the authors of this mess felt that deconstructing society was the only way to 'fix' it. We are animals and we operate daily on more civil levels of consciousness trying to push back our base desires (murder, mayhem, hatred). If our society functions because we navigate through those emotions by being somewhat superficial and generous, then it is for the good of all we continue doing so . This is the breakdown of civilization going on here and really reflects the most disturbing notions and movements that are happening in our world today. I don't hold much hope for mankind. Perhaps, considering how we've treated the world, our time here is over and we need to let nature choose another species to flourish? Perhaps people really are NO damn good?
I Know This Much Is True (2020)
Three stars for Ruffalo; none for the story itself.
Another sad story about victims yet again.
This time it's the old naive, low intelligence woman who marries an abusive 2nd husband who abuses her real children and she allows it. To boot, she never reveals to them their history. She gets what she gets--two children/one defective, one average. This could be the tragedy of human kind. The majority of our populace is defective--low intelligent apelings. Yet we continue to breed like cattle with no concern for the earth, those others having to share the planet with us and our own children. This is just more proof of how debased human beings are.
Midnattssol (2016)
Very good, but...
Interesting story but if you watch this you'll come away believing the Scandinavians to be a bunch of naive and backward hillbilly boobs from another era. I've never seen so many laid back dim wits in my life. It's sad. The most intelligent person in the group is a French female detective sent to review the crime scenes because it has involved at least one French citizen. One would think Arkansas and West Virginia are alive and well near the reaches of the Arctic Circle! As I've never been there, I can't say for certain but I am of Scandinavian blood and it made me ashamed of my heritage to watch them.
High-Rise (2015)
A Display of Cruelty
This is perhaps the meanest picture ever made. It is about many things and nothing. Autistic and non-empathetic people should enjoy it immensely. There is something for every serial killer, psycho and pervert in the world: psychological cruelty, corporal cruelty, animal cruelty, child abuse, sexual deviation. I suppose one could attempt to analyze it on the grounds of being a metaphor for the future (God help us) but it degenerates too quickly into a free for all slash and bash-a-thon to be taken seriously. I'd consider it to be a primer for young sadomasicists and sexual voyeurs of snuff films. Sadly a lot of good actors are wasted. Like 'Caligula' back in the late 70s, a lot of actors got together to make art and ended up making porn. This is just porn for the diseased of mind.
The Witcher (2019)
Nice to see Henry Cavill, but...
Henry is always worth a gander. However, this imaginary r rated Narnia is somewhat disappointing. The CGI is ok but there is so much gratuitous female nudity flaunted here and almost NO male nudity that it is painfully obvious who was in charge of production--either lusty straight men or oversexed lesbians. Even some of the creatures are given female anatomy. For a gay person it's enough to bring up one's lunch. Seriously. Henry seem bored much of the time and grunts out his lines in such a way most are inaudible muddle. The hunchback elf witch girl has the same problem with diction. Sad as it could have been good.
Starred Up (2013)
Well acted garbage and propaganda
We live in an age where we are supposed to identify with prisoners, bad guys, evil men and women, rotten brat children, bad manners and criminals. Ah, but they all have hearts just like you and me but just had bad things happen to them early in life that made them mean. Oh really? Then why aren't we all killers or are we becoming that? I'm not empathetic to nut cases who murder and maim people just because they feel like throwing a fit of anger now and again. I'm not into rages against authority unless you're talking big government, politicians, lawyers and the very wealthy and elite. I don't care for brats who act out. Never did. I don't care for scripts that are written by brats. This is one. This kid ought to have been aborted by his mother or popped full of bullets in the first scene to spare us all the pain of watching another sociopathic psycho go through a hundred mad scenes and his secret father protecting him. What a moron both are. Genes don't fall far from the parents. One just hopes this couple never has another child or opportunity to propagate again! I am believing more and more in both euthanasia and eugenics. Let's start with the writers and some of the actors for choosing these roles. How desperate can actors be?
The Square (2017)
An Ad to NOT Visit Sweden
It is very sad to watch a once functioning culture deteriorate and lower standards to the point where nobody has freedom to function. This film shows almost in documentary style the degeneration of the Swedish society as well as its laws. One has to step over vagrant begging gypsies and Arabs who have attitude on top of everything to get down the street. The upper elites in the country do the pc thing as ours do in America of defending mass immigration and tolerance of ignorant criminal and mentally ill foreigners who have breached the borders and the laws. We watch a man with prestige and a career in his own country lose his self respect and civil behavior to blackmailing illegals, blackmailing insane lovers and blackmailing children. It's difficult to watch. This is a travel brochure for all of the EU at the moment. Unless you want to see famous capitals falling into disrepair and destruction, do not travel abroad anymore. You can find all the illegals you want to embrace right here at home. ( At least we are trying to build a wall to keep some out. ) It is pitiful to watch a grown man turn into a shamed high school student by a looney female sexual companion and an aggressive nasty Arab child. Perhaps this is what the director wanted like Hitchcock with his blondes--bringing them down in the end? However the only thing we are left with is the sad state of affairs with museums, orgs and governments run by incompetent narcissistic children who are techies with degrees and insane ideas who have undermined all of existence and turned this world into a disaster. I"m so glad I'm 70 and will be gone soon.
The OA (2016)
Four stars for the acting.
Once again, we're facing a script that basically shelves all responsibility for who we are as civilized beings onto society and outside circumstances. The onus isn't on our parents or elders to teach us or on ourselves to adopt better behavior towards each other. We are all tabla rasas wandering in a maze and we are NOT to blame. Oh really? The boy that gets punched in the throat is to blame? The raped girl is to blame? The girl bitten by a mad dog is to blame? In other words, the premise of these writers is 'everything is good' including evil. Well, sounds to me like someone's spent too much time in Hollywood and LA listening to too much rap and smoking lots of dope. It's childish and truly bad to indulge oneself in this kind of thinking. This is basically saying , "Sure, be Charles Manson to work out what you have to, it isn't your fault." I think it reflects the current complete fall of our culture and of education and society in general. Welcome the barbarians and hun, they'll do just as good a job. Personally I don't think there is much hope for life on earth or for human beings. I do not think humans want to be good or without rules seek goodness. Humans are just animals who desire to exist for themselves and only survival matters. Love and feelings are illusions. So is this show. It's another fairy tale gone very bad. If you want to be depressed, watch this. It's an outline for another Columbine.
Personal Shopper (2016)
Desperately Seeking a Screenplay!
...and the winner of the Worst Screenplay, Worst Actor, Worst Direction, Worst Production, Worst Costume Design, Worst Set Design is "Personal Shopper"!!!! (terrific applause) . Where can one begin?? This is up there with a trip to Hackensack. When you get there, there's nothing there and you wondered why you wanted to go there. It's like having a stomach ache--after it passes you wonder what made you eat that food? An androgynous he/she addicted to depression and nicotine who exhibits bad hygiene and thrift shop mannish clothing is supposed to be a personal shopper for a famous celeb who depends on her fabulous abilities and taste. It amazes me how someone so unkempt and NOT into fashion could/would be chosen to do this for anyone? All the characters are bored and boring to watch. Two dogs in the film were the highlights. What was said by Dorothy Parker about Kate Hepburn years ago is true of this actor in the lead: She/he "runs the gamut of emotions from A to B." This film is like watching a lobotomized person try to get some emotion going--it farts and burps but never arrives. Put all the people who had anything to do with this movie in prison for assaulting our senses for nothing and never let them get anywhere near art or film again!
Deadpool 2 (2018)
Cut, cut and cut again
On a very base level this is an enjoyable comedy. One has to view it censoring all the cynicism, f-words, needless toilet humor kind of like watching 'MASH' of 1970. As usual in modern films it is almost impossible to locate a hero figure or idol. Everyone here lives in a gray zone between good and bad. It is to the film's detriment that they used a grossly obese teenager to try and garner empathy from the audience especially since Ryan Reynolds saps all the energy out of the film with his raw and sarcastic comic shtick which then makes the film a dark brooding piece of moral rubber. If he is the hero and we are supposed to believe he is really trying to be a kinder understanding person, why is he determined to undermine it at every turn or rather why are the writers trying to bring us closer to the mundane trailer trash mind while pushing an ending that is opposite and not believable? The fact is that almost nobody could like this child actor in the center of the film let alone the actors IN the film!? There is nothing to like about a spoiled brat sociopath who lives in comic bookland mentally. The writers seem to be saying that psychopaths are made not born when in fact psychopaths are born! Once again we live in a world in which pc people wish everyone to believe that we are all OK and good at heart even if we kill people for kicks like 'Dexter' did. The visits to limbo where he encounters his dead gf are idiotic. Firstly, Reynolds is so obviously gay and apparently has swallowed the current fad of acting 'bisexual' and 'metrosexual'. He's just this side of a flaming queen. He flirts with homosexual behavior constantly but then believes if his gf lived they'd be happy ever after. (I'm now going to vomit.) Typical Hollywood and America.