bunsen2019 Reviews

The Missus Downstairs (2021– )

Comedy crack had me on a binge bender

[10/10 · 4 April 2023]

Mary Walsh is in top form as The Missus Downstairs. Her upstairs neighbor John is the perfect gullible foil to the salty beguiling Missus. John moves into the seemingly perfect waterfront apartment after a breakup; not realizing it comess equipped with a unique downstairs tenant who will soon take over his life. The Missus cuts through any pretenses John might hold about himself. His pride over an artisan crafted 'satchel' is skewered by the missus as a 'man purse' which it clearly is. John quickly becomes a grocery fetcher cum personal assistant to his neighbor and accessory to crime. All the same a ?friendship? Of sorts evolves with The Missus nearly becoming John's stepmom. Hilarious throughout.

The Wrong Missy (2020)

Gut punch funny

[10/10 · 18 May 2020]

Tim's grandmother sets him up on a blind date he will never forget with Melissa (AKA Missy). Uptight corporate Tim is less than impressed with the freewheeling boundary breaking Missy and ends the night by trying to escape via the restaurant's bathroom window. Flash forward a few months and Tim accidentally meets Missy's complete opposite, his dream woman, oddly enough, also named Missy. Tim decides to text his dream Missy an invite to his corporation's Hawaii retreat. Departure day arrives and bingo bango, wrong girl texted and Wild Missy shows up on the plane. The lead actress is hilarious. The setups are obvious yes, but man, they do work. There is crude rude partying and sex and shark attacks. This movie will make you cringe in a good way and laugh till you pee.

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)

2 hours and 40 minutes passed in a flash

[9/10 · 7 August 2019]

Beautifully toned, rich footage-panning decadently over each scene, gives the viewer a bird's eye seat into the gritty and glamorous details of Hollywood in the 1960s. Brad Pitt is at his best as Cliff Booth, a loyal and affable friend with an unlikely strong moral compass, while conversely burdened with a dark past. Leonardo DiCaprio's perfect portrayal of Rick Dalton is so sad and earnest - his talent buried by the success of his cheesy much loved "Bounty" character. Dalton and Booth have an enduring deep friendship which is truly the star of this movie. Once Upon a Time is such a treat to watch. I'm sure I will see it again and again to catch more of the glorious detail that Tarantino plants throughout.

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Disney Light plot with predictable old values agenda

[1/10 · 20 May 2019]

The last Avengers ended with a philosophically valid dilemma. Stop the overpopulation of all worlds by halving the population in the universe in order to save humans and other species. The only mention of environment in Endgame was Captain America stating "a pod of whales was seen in the Hudson, if you want to look at the bright side" to which Black Widow replies "I will throw this sandwich at you". Yup, that's as deep as that conversation went. Immediately they were back to the tired old 'save humanity from evil Thanos' plot. The world is portrayed as a complete shambles with Thanos' reduced population measures. It would have been far more interesting to show the positive changes of having fewer people in the richness of the planet, thriving of other species as well as our own. But no, that is completely ignored and the ecosystem crushing population returns. Very generic plot, disappointing.

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Queen Biopic Extraordinaire

[9/10 · 7 November 2018]

Bohemian Rhapsody delivers a deep and thoughtful exploration of the life of Freddie Mercury. Seeing the joyride rise of the band and exploring their lasting bond was both lovely and crushing. Queen was clearly a family capable of producing music like no other band, music that stands the tide of time.

A Star Is Born (2018)

Glorious destruction

[9/10 · 10 October 2018]

Well, an old faded and genuinely screwed up but talented singer meets his musical muse and destiny in young Ally. In age old fashion, this happy union has the seeds of it's own destruction sewn right in. Jack's swimming in his addictions and even the support and love he gets from Ally aren't protection from drowning. He finally gives in to his struggles and commits suicide. It's too bad death is such a glorified end in romance. I would far rather see Jack do the boring day to day work of being alive and getting his head on straight than ending it all in dramatic fashion. That is the way of the romeo and juliette storyline. This film has so much drama and kind of a bad message but is o well acted and filmed. The music is perfection.

Book Club (I) (2018)

sexy times at the rest home.....

[2/10 · 24 May 2018]

God I hope getting old is not what is shown in this movie. Nature makes old people less horny and that's a good thing. Less pressure and more common sense and outside interests. Unfortunately, this movie denies all of this, instead insisting that hey don't worry, you'll be running around with your head on backwards, chugging the viagara and having bad internet dates. I prefer grumpy old men to this movie....

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Too many characters, prolonged action scenes become monotonous

[2/10 · 2 May 2018]

SPOILER: The plot follows Thanos around on his quest to collect 5 stones, achieve control of all dimensions and eliminate half of humanity in an attempt to save planets from population induced ecosystem destruction/annihilation. Each stone quest involves 10 minutes or so of the same CGI fighting. Why 5 stones? Why not, they've got time to fill. Lots and lots of time. Many of the characters are likeable esp the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Hulk and Tony Stark BUT, there are just too many groups involved with too much repetition. The plot is mildly interesting daring to touch on overpopulation crisis. Thanos makes a good point. Though in true Hollywood style, he goes about it the wrong way. He should have sterilized half the planet, not dissolve them.

Fifty Shades Freed (2018)

Irresponsible messaging. Lush seattle footage, gorgeous interiors, OK looking stars with no chemistry and less acting ability.

[2/10 · 14 February 2018]

2 stars for the cinematography. Loved watching the gorgeous Seattle settings. The films stars are average looking people dressed up to their best possible advantage. There is no chemistry. It's like a forced mating at the Zoo. Next the plot. The villain out for revenge was a refreshing bit of action but that's about it. The Hollywood messaging is very irresponsible. Christian clearly tells Anastasia he is not ready for fatherhood. Anastasia conveniently 'forgets' to take her birth control, getting pregnant. When he tells her this is grossly unfair and he absolutely is not ready to be a parent, she lashes out at him saying "that's what happens when you have sex you get pregnant!". Um, no, actually, if you are responsible about birth control that does not happen 99% of the time. When you force a life altering change on your partner - that's sociopathic and plain nasty. Of course, Christian learns his "lesson' when Anastasia's life is threatened. He has a gospel like revelation that yes, in fact, being a Dad is all he wants in life and Anastasia's forcing it on him was just what he needed for a full happy life. Oh, man, the plot is wrong on so many levels. Wrong to feed such a garbage idea to young women. Just 'forget' your birth control and if he doesn't like it when you get pregnant, he's the one with the problem. Oh, and don't worry, he'll come around and be a super dad and you will all live happily ever after. Wow!

I, Tonya (2017)

Hardings and Giloolys stories laid on the table-you decide....

[10/10 · 21 January 2018]

Amazing film- the director handled the material objectively and with fantastic character development. Getting to know Tonya Harding was a trip. She came from the depths of poverty and abuse with no connections, yet used her considerable fortitude and discipline to sculpt her natural talent into skating gold. I loved the fact she could fix cars, shoot guns and sew her own clothing from scratch. Yes other skaters work hard, but most have the luxury of money and support at home. Tonya Harding had none of this; she wore the badge of 'white trash' and fought biased judges and the elitist skating community making her achievements ever the more exceptional. The Kerrigan attack is presented quite differently between Hardings and Gilooly's retelling. The movie leaves the viewer to decide on what really happened. And as in all memories of our personal stories, the mind colours events and distorts truth. I love this movie for letting us decide.

It (I) (2017)

Up Close and Personal with Pennywise

[7/10 · 10 September 2017]

It is the end of the 1989 school year in the beautiful town of Derry Maine. Summer vacation has begun for Bill and his friends 'the losers', and they're dodging their psychopathic bully classmate Henry and something even darker lurking in the sewers below. IT delivers the jarring contrast of sweet childhood friendship and warm small town summer days with the everyday dangers of molesting parents, bullies and the far worse supernatural terror of Pennywise the Clown. The film is rife with 'jump scares', but the pace is too fast and repetitive. There are too many encounters with the Losers escaping Pennywise. The director gives into the temptation of turning the movie into a 'chase' film. Pennywise is too revealed, stripping away his mystery and terror. The magic and eeriness of a good horror story are mostly missing. The viewer doesn't need to see Pennywise's tonsils, nor in extreme close up. The art of the horror story is lacking and veers instead into action film territory.

Baywatch (2017)

Great looking and funny cast. Plot is secondary but that's not the point anyway....

[8/10 · 31 May 2017]

Mitch and his crew protect a crime ridden beach, encountering murder, drug dealing, blackmail and romance. Brody is perfectly cast and played by Zac Efron, as washed up "vomit comet" Olympic swimmer (Ryan Lochte esque) who blows his career by vomiting in the pool during the Olympic relay. Now he finds himself down on his luck, offered a job on a reluctant Mitch's lifeguard crew. Mitch challenges young Brody with inventive belittling nicknames and endurance course antics. It is an amazing thing to see the fitness challenge between the equally impressive Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron. Somehow, I really believe they could carry two refrigerators on their shoulders. Ronnie is a new character actor, and is incredibly funny as the "IT" lifeguard recruit and love interest of "slow mo" hot girl with daddy issues CJ. Priyanka Chopra does not quite hit the mark as the gorgeous villain who is buying up beachfront and running a drug empire. Still, the cast appear to have had great fun and good chemistry in the filming of this movie. The theatre I attended was full and there was plenty of spontaneous laughing throughout. I love this kind of humour, no it's not high brow and the plot has holes but it's so much fun to watch. Recommend!

Office Christmas Party (2016)

Good vulgar fun

[7/10 · 22 December 2016]

Go to this movie, not for the plot or the acting, just to enjoy watching the party. "Did it need so many swear words?" asked my friend after seeing this. Hell yes, I said! It was just enough swearing. Also, the right amount of binge drinking, bad choices, you'll be sorry tomorrow hookups, and questionable office party attire. sign me up for this Christmas party! jingle bells jingle bells jingle all the way ho ho ho and jingle bells and all that Christmas crap. Office party's a great movie, go out and watch it now. Don't expect a fancy plot or even a logical one. But you get to see a guy swing off Christmas lights and bounce off a filing cabinet now my reviews ten lines.......

Inferno (I) (2016)

Is Ron Howard actually that stupid?

[1 November 2016]

Other reviewers are questioning whether Ron Howard intentionally changed the book's ending and simplified the script to the point of imbecility as a courtesy to the "dimwitted" audience. Nope, I honestly believe he has the intellectual depth of a puddle; and was way out of his league in directing this movie. Howard has shat out the most one dimensional boring Hollywood "motion" picture ever. Please next time you want to produce a turd of this dimension, don't ruin an excellent thought provoking book's chance to translate into film. Just crank out your own boring stereotypical script- it should only take 5 minutes or so to do.

Magic Mike XXL (2015)

Well done gentlemen

[8/10 · 5 July 2015]

If only there were an Oscar for hotness. Kudos to channing, joe, matt, adam and kevin (not to forget Michael strahan, dashuan and crew). Respect to the actors for working out so hard to achieve such perfect bodies! Joe and Channing were standout dancers. Straight up talent. Matt Bomer surprised with an incredible singing voice. It is amazing fun to watch these performances. The female characters were kind of duds. Could do without psychoanalyzing the one dimensional women (got a bit embarrassing at points esp the scene with Andie mcdowell and her wino middle aged desperate lady friends-gay husband, crying b/c i don't feel attractive ugh stereotype much). Guess what, women just enjoy the show, not because they have low self esteem or need someone to make them feel beautiful. It's just fun to watch hot guys dance!