jonathanconti Reviews

Road House (2024)

Was the original good?

[6/10 · 26 March 2024]

Most remakes are bad. But what about a remake of a bad movie? If you're honest with the original, it's not good. It's ridiculous. Yoga guy afraid to get in fights goes to a bar and cleans up town as a bouncer?! It was a stupid plot from the beginning, but the campy, ridiculous, over the top testosterone made it a cult classic. And rip Patrick Swayze, but don't tell me he was a good actor in that movie. He's a movie star doing movie star stuff.

Cut to the remake starring Jake Gyllenhaal and of course it's bad, but actually better than I expected. The plot makes more sense than the original. The fighting is ridiculous and over the top but why not? McGregor is so crazy and I'm here for it. People think it's bad acting (it is), that he's over the top crazy (he is), but I think it's brilliant. "Is there a world class UFC fighter out there that's over the top crazy? Like a guy that starts fight with buses full of other fighters?" Ya they found the craziest fighter ever and had him be crazy. It's hilarious and gives the fighting a touch of authenticity. I mean the guy was a two division champ. He can fight. It's like the writers were like, "let's have a movie star and a ufc star take a bunch of roids and fight each other everywhere. In a bar, on a boat, in the ocean." And that's the movie. Don't take it too seriously and if you're not a fight fan I'm guessing you're gonna hate it. But if you like watching fighting and not thinking for two hours, hey you might like it.

Hannibal (2013–2015)

How are there 27 CSI's?

[9/10 · 24 January 2024]

If this show was made by HBO it would've won every award and be considered a classic. Instead it came out on NBC, way ahead of its time when shows like CSI and Law and Order dominated prime time TV. And because of that no one watched it, and it was cancelled in the middle of its third season.

I watched this show when it came out and thought it was outstanding. And given the reviews it seems to have lasted the test of time artistically. It finally made it to Prime and of course people liked it and finally watched it. The Hannibal Lecter story is an old one and one with a lot of commercial success. On a platform like Max today I think the trailer would attract the right crowd, a younger crowd eager for a darker Lecter story. The biggest hurdle would be casting Lecter himself. A character Anthony Hopkins made so iconic, it's hard to imagine someone else as him.

Boy did Mads nail Hannibal. I'm one of those weirdos that read the books and he seamlessly brings some of Hopkins iconic mannerisms together with how Hannibal was originally in the books, and wow... Again, had this come out on HBO I think he would've won every award. I don't want to blaspheme, but he's probably better than Hopkins. Written perfectly as a background character to Will Grahams story which is exactly how Hannibal should be.

The one Hannibal flop was the Hopkins driven sequel to Silence of the Lambs, "Hannibal." In it, Hannibal is the main character, with his every move detailed. What happens is Hannibal takes on a comical unbelievability. Seeing him cut off a guys skull and eat his brains. Come on. Hannibal Lecter works better in the dark background. Letting the audience imagination fill in the details of his grisly crimes. And that's how the TV show portrays him.

The cast is amazing, truly superb. I give it a 9 because I can see where it could've been better if not made for network TV. And because of the early cancellation season 3 is definitely weaker than season 1 & 2. I'll save my ten in hopes they can continue this story somewhere. But it has to have Mads.

The Killer (2023)

It's Not John Wick

[10/10 · 22 November 2023]

I can't find a thing wrong with this movie. I have one of those girlfriends who never watches movies, falls asleep 10 minutes into everything. She enjoyed this just as much as me and we got through it in one sitting, then chatted about it for 30 minutes after it ended. If you're bored then you're missing it. The first 30 minutes are boring, but on purpose. This guys life is boring. Being an assassin is boring. But from there the movie steadily picks up and unfolds at a pace only the best filmmakers can pull off. The script and character development is so good. Even minor characters are flushed out and peeled back through context instead of dialogue. I hate when characters explain their actions and motivations through terrible dialogue. For example, character A saying to character B, "I have to (action), because (motivation)." Let their actions and the world around them explain their motivations and then let the characters act accordingly how they naturally would. That's what this script does. So by the time you see minor characters for the first time, you already understand so much about them. I loved it, thought it was genius.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022– )

It's good and not because of cinematography

[2/10 · 17 September 2022]

Ya the visuals are stunning. But the green screen screens aren't the strength of this show. First off, there's actual character development, world building, political backstory between races. They could've gone House of the Dragon route and just thrown mythical cgi but they aren't. And it's still a mythical spectacle. The makeup and costumes of the orcs are amazing. Classic Peter Jackson style. Again Lord of the Rings is not Game of thrones. It's a mix of fun and frightening creatures. There is plot armor which is absolutely the Tolkien way so enjoy it. And they are really building on the backstory of the world. Palantir's, the creation of Mordor, how the legendary swords were made, where Gandalf came from, the fall of Moria, and as a Tolkien nerd I am here for it. I dig Galadriel and Elrond are the primary characters. They were some of the coolest characters in Lord of the rings and I love seeing more of them as they ascend to power. And finally, dude, if a black dwarf or black elf offends you... come on man. It honestly looks more like Middle Earth. It was weirder seeing a bunch of people from Downton Abbey all over the place.

Red Notice (2021)

Just have fun with it

[7/10 · 14 November 2021]

Look, if you go into this hoping for Skyfall, ya you're gonna hate it. But come on, this thing is clever! It's got a good pace to it, beautiful set pieces, and true Hollywood star power. It's cool. Don't hate, just enjoy the thing for gods sake!

Chicago Party Aunt (2021–2022)

If you can look past the terrible accent, it's actually not bad

[7/10 · 30 September 2021]

The over the top trashy Chicago accents made me want to turn it off. But if you can get past that and actually give the story and dialogue a chance, it's a pretty well written show. Lauren Ash won me over. It's different, fun.

Homecoming (2018–2020)

A lot of style, very little substance.

[4/10 · 13 October 2019]

Traditional Sam Esmail style. But style and a good soundtrack doesn't make up for a shallow story and terrible dialogue. A story that should've taken 90 minutes to tell, overly dramatic and just flat out boring.

Our Planet (2019–2023)

Of course it's good, just not as good as it's predecessors

[7/10 · 14 April 2019]

It's good, but lacks the immersive scenes other planet earth type shows have had. For example, watch episode 7. It starts with a beautiful look at a large group of birds at Australia's biggest lake. And that's it. Just a camera in the middle of this chaos, and we're out. No predator vs prey relationship, nothing like penguins kidnapping other penguins offspring. Just a couple nice shots. No scenes stand out in "Our Planet" like the scene in planet earth two where baby iguanas hatch only to have to escape dozens of hungry snakes. In "Our Planet" there are some beautiful drone shots of a blue whale mother and her calf. But it's not as awe inspiring as "Blue Planet" documenting a blue whale feeding with shots from all angles and David narrating the play by play. It's a couple nice over head drone shots and we're done. Unlike the immersive feeding action of this giant. And I guess that's kind of how "Our Planet" feels and was shot, it's detached from the action. Many of the Hunt scenes in "OurPlanet" build tension only to end in a very boring stalemate with prey running and hunter not chasing (the tiger vs. the antelope). The jaguar vs caymen scene is obstructed by brush and the camera crew doesn't have a clean shot on the action. There's more interesting footage on YouTube of jaguar vs caymen. So again is "Our Planet" good? Hell yea it's good. Did I binge watch it over a couple days? Bet your ass I did. Are there cool scenes like cheetahs taking down an adult wildebeest? Probably. It's just a little over rated compared to its incredible predecessors.

Triple Frontier (2019)

I've never seen cleaner jeans.

[4/10 · 30 March 2019]

It's just so hard to buy into this movie. Right from the start, Oscar Isaac gets into a fire fight with cartel members. Shortly after he chases a way too pretty prisoner in the cleanest jeans I have ever seen on a man. Not a spec of blood or dirt to be found. And that's how the rest of the movie looks and feels. There's one scene at night right after the first recon job, where the 5 guys are standing around talking about the mission. I've never seen a prettier group of dudes. Beards, hair, eyebrows, all on point. One guy just had a UFC cage fight and looks like he had spent the last 10 weeks at the spa. Even Mark Boal mailed this thing in. In the opening lines of the movie, Charlie Hunnam talks about losing his sanity in a cereal aisle at the grocery store and grabbing some dude by the throat. It harkens back to The Hurt Locker and a much more effective Jeremy Renner looking lost in a cereal aisle at the end of that movie. Without any words you see how not for this world Renners character is, it's a powerful piece of story telling. Boal takes that scene he wrote for the Hurt Locker, adds a choke hold, then has a British Charlie Hunnam recite the scene into a camera. Needless to say the effect is not effective at all, you just don't believe it. And that's what I'll say about this and most Netflix movies, I just don't buy it.

Paradise PD (2018–2022)

Brickleberry Season 4

[10/10 · 31 August 2018]

If you liked Brickleberry you'll like it, if you didn't you won't.