ScriptiSandy Reviews

Being the Ricardos (2021)

Nicole Kidman not the Right Choice

[4/10 · 4 August 2023]

It wasn't the story I was expecting and I was also disappointed to see the tense relationship between Lucy and Vivian Vance. But what drove me crazy was Nicole Kidman's lips - why on earth wouldn't the makeup artist have over painted her lips in the classic Lucy style. Such a small but very important detail that kept me from being lost in the story. And she just wasn't the right actress to play this part, her face lacks the diversity of expressions that Lucy was so well known for (probably the fault of Botox) and I just couldn't get past that and her lips. I wanted to love this but really didn't.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Mission Impossible WOW

[10/10 · 2 August 2023]

Look, I work in the film industry as a Script Supervisor (for 20 years now). I am not easily fooled, impressed, nor able to suspend disbelief with ease as I know how this is done. It is hard for me to hear dialogue without it sounding like words on a page. I have a hard time not *seeing* the set and the crew just off camera. I know what is live action and what is VFX. I know how carefully fight scenes are choreographed, how stunt scenes are prepared and rehearsed for days, weeks and sometimes months in advance. I understand camera angles for distortion and filters for effect. It makes it difficult to get into the story and action most of the time (this is why Script Supervisors watch mostly 'reality' tv).

NOT THIS TIME!!! I was BLOWN AWAY by it all. The story was relevant and gripping, the acting and characters were believable, and the stunts - I mean.... gobsmacked. I could hardly breathe through the train sequence.

You HAVE to see this on the big screen. HAVE TO. It will get your heart pounding in the way no TV can no matter how big it is.

I will be going back this week to see it again. At least once. Maybe more. GO... you have to go see it.

The Last Kingdom (2015–2022)

Fabulous Series

[9/10 · 3 July 2020]

I am really enjoying this series, bloody as it is!! BUT one thing is really bothering me - Uhtred's Dane accent is so much stronger in season 3 than it was in the beginning which makes NO sense and I find the change really distracting. Sometimes I can barely understand him. I wonder why the actor felt it necessary to do this and why the producers/showrunner let him.

Heaven Is for Real (2014)

A Frustrating Movie for a Christian to Watch

[4/10 · 28 May 2016]

As a woman of faith, this movie frustrated me. A pastor who struggles with whether or not heaven is real? Whether Jesus exists? Whether or not his kid really went to heaven when he died on the operating table??? Not much of a pastor then. How can someone as lost as this guy lead a congregation? How can a man of no faith (obviously) stand up and preach about the God of the Bible (although I never saw him crack one open the entire show, not even when he was preaching). It is a terrible premise and it was not at all what I expected from this. Although I should have... Hollywood's interpretation of the Bible and what Christians are like is so off the mark 99% of the time. And so it is with this movie.

The Curse of Oak Island (2014– )

Far Too Much Repetition!

[2/10 · 25 January 2015]

I have loved the mystery of Oak Island since reading about it in an old copy of Readers Digest in 1975. I was so excited about the show and have watched every episode in hopes of something being discovered.

I agree wholeheartedly with the other review - it is far far far too repetitive. Easily 90% of the show is rehashing and repeating what has already been shown, talked about, etc. As a result, in an entire season you get MAYBE one episode worth of new information. It's pathetic really.

I have wasted enough of my time on this show, I won't be watching any more seasons. I wish it were different as I really like the brothers and their passion and dedication to the quest, and I would love to watch it unfold in anything but what amounts to frame by frame slow motion.

The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)

Good Story, Distracting Camera Work

[7/10 · 3 April 2011]

Saw this movie last night. Decent story, solid performances, lousy camera work. Don't use hand-held when steady cam is called for - the opening scene was unbearable to watch due to not using steady cam. Far too many extreme close ups and haircuts - I'm talking middle of the forehead - tell the story with the shot instead of filling the screen with half a face. The camera work completely distracted me from the story in at least a third of the scenes.

Matthew McConaughey's performance was nothing other than what one would expect from him; he makes acting look easy and he is very comfortable in the roles he chooses - I'd love to see him in something that challenges him for a change.

Marisa Tomei is solid and real as usual. This is an underused actress to be sure - I'd love to see a movie where she is the lead.

Ryan Phillippe turns in another great performance.

Great Women Writers: The Brontë Sisters (2000 Video)

Don't Bother

[1/10 · 5 April 2009]

It is painful to sit through. The narrator mispronounces so many of the names of locations and even common people groups; Yorkshire, Pennines, Celtic - to name but a few. Some of the places he talks about I haven't heard of but I am willing to bet that there are a lot more that I didn't catch. The visuals are repeated over and over with no relation whatsoever to the narration. The narrator speaks in almost a monotone and his language is very stilted, even when he manages correct pronunciation. That is what happens when you don't use a script supervisor. Without question it is a very lazy and shameful attempt at a documentary and should be avoided at all costs.

Then She Found Me (2007)

Top 5 Worst Movie

[1/10 · 28 January 2009]

This movie failed to deliver. With Colin Firth and Bette Middler, two of my all-time favorite actors, in prominent roles, I had high expectations that were tempered somewhat by the lead being played by Helen Hunt. When the opening credits rolled and I saw she directed, I lowered them even further (in that this was, to my knowledge, her first effort at directing). Even with that in mind, I was not prepared for how awful this movie turned out to be. Hunt's performance was stilted and one dimensional. Her voice grated on me as she tended to speak in monotone for most of her dialog. There was a complete lack of any depth to her character. She obviously needs the guidance of a good director to elicit a decent performance, something she apparently cannot do for herself. She should never direct herself again. Ever. In fact, she shouldn't ever direct again at all as no ones performance was up to their usual standard.

There are long, and I do mean long, awkward moments in the story. One glaring example is at the first ultrasound. The camera lingers on the monitor far too long, and then on Hunt as she is looking at the image on the monitor. Moments like that are milked for all they are worth and long past the point where the moment dries up.

This movie definitely has a permanent place in my list of top 5 worst movies I have ever seen.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)

Don't Waste Your Money

[1/10 · 25 May 2007]

I hated this movie. The story line was impossible to follow. I had no idea who was fighting who for what almost the entire time. The only time I perked up was when Keith Richards made his much anticipated appearance as Jack Sparrow's father. Even that was a disappointment as his role was minimal and lines few.

Keira Knightly's costumes were absurd. Where on earth would she have picked up those outfits and managed as many changes as she did in the mêlée? Not to mention the stupid hat she wore throughout most of the movie.

I loved the first movie in the Trilogy, but I have to say that the second and third were progressively more disappointing than the last. Let's hope we have seen the end of the story before they ruin the memory of the first entirely.