Change Your Image
Snowbeard-1234
Reviews
Black Adam (2022)
Silly excuse from for a movie!
No joke! This is probably some of the worst storytelling I've seen in a long time. It's as if they decided, let's throw our audience into a story with little context and no build up of characters. This movie would have worked better as a slapstick parody than this odd attempt at seriousness. The story is no better than hyper simplified kids book. Which is appropriate because these characters were behaving like children. The whole thing might as well have been playing out in the mind of a child. If that's the case, then the directors were thinking of a five year old. The best way I can describe this moving is childish ideation.
The Creator (2023)
Great, familiar Cinematography, mediocre, "hole-y" story
I took my eleven year old son to see this movie. He said to me as we left, "it looked like Star Wars and Star Wars is better." And, I agree with him. There is nothing unique or original to this story and is very imbalanced. It has several holes in it and, in my opinion, blatantly stole scenes and designs from Star Trek, Avatar, Kung Fu Panda and Star Wars.
I wouldn't recommend spending money on watching this movie. Wait until it comes out on streaming. Yes, the Cinematography is worthy of the big screen. The story isn't worth much. I know critics are raving but if this is the best of the year then what does that say about their options.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Serene Squall (2022)
Angel, NO!
I couldn't stand the acting of the character Angel. It was exaggerated. It was like watching an individual battle bipolarism. Him/Hers mannerisms were way over the top. The passing of Enterprise back and forth was comical. Overall, I found the story exceedingly boring. Come on, nothing quite progressed for any characters. The closest was Spock but I don't find anything definitive. If anything it was as if the maturity of Star Trek was met with the childishness of the recent generation..."are you kidding me?" Angels dialogue was juvenile and unintelligent for the most part. Beside this episode, I am truly enjoying this throwback to Star Trek proper. Still less silliness, please! As number one said toward the end..."please stop!"
Jurassic World Dominion (2022)
TailSpin was better!
This felt like a disjointed episode of Tailspin. Between the dinosaur slapping the deer out of the way and Chris lassoing a dinosaur on horseback, it was one laugh after another. The familiar-faced caricatures brought it back into some perspective, but failed to offer anything substantial as far as story, emotional connection, or a clear train of thought. No offense, this was probably the closest I'll come to knowing what it's like to be inside an ADHD. We're here. No we're here. Over there. Wait what was that. Um, um, um. The director of the biosyn facility encapsulated the essence of this film perfectly. No grounding and everything else mimicking an existence without life.
Oh did I say the movie was stupid and a waste of time...that is if it hadn't been for watching the deer get slapped and later eaten as roadkill. Hysterical!
Spirited (2022)
Wow! A waste of time and hopeless venture.
Yeah it had some funny parts and the tunes were catchy. The tap-dancing was amazing!
The story, dialogue and anti-climax was predictable, sarcastic and deflating.
The issue I've had with the Christmas Carol is its hopelessness. This movie made it all the more clear of what a person trying to redeem themselves is looking for, the Christmas feeling.
I am all too familiar with person's who feel unredeemable and hopelessness. My time in suicide prevention gave more insight than this movie ever did in what's involved and required for someone to become "redeemed". (It's interesting. This movie was more concerned about redeeming someone than cause any actual change.)
Good deeds and good feelings are fleeting fantasies. The use of sarcasm to spread such things... The sarcasm fit this movie in one way though, it reflected the hostility, apathy and fear people truly generate and live with on a daily basis.
This style of story telling reminds me of Evangelicalism and Mormonism. Personal truth and begrudging coexistence is broadly becoming the norm of our cultural and relational landscape. The sickly approach to such story telling makes me want a shower. The sleazy, oily salesmen found in Will Ferrel and Ryan Reynolds was so inauseating. The one "redeemable" line was "sacrifice has no meaning without consequences." Still one line fails to right the wrong of a subpar, culturally relevant story. It infuriates me to see a blatant attempt to humorize and practically ridicule the actual hard work of REGAINING and LIVING life. The hard work people actually put in would make Will and Ryan either shut them up or explode with their sarcasm to silence such people. This movie did the exact opposite of what it was achieving, I feel sick!
The Wingfeather Saga (2022)
Congrats to the author and production team!
I am very happy for the author. Hats off to the production team for all their hard work.
The artwork was stunning, if a bit out of focus. It was reminiscent of gloppy painting styles such as impressionism or expressionism.
Unfortunately, the issues for me started from second one. The production teams live feed of the studio was choppy. Their Internet signal must have been low. Which made the claymation/stop motion of the show more difficult to watch.
The issues cascaded from there. The soundtrack and dialogue were too loud separately. Combined it was all noise, especially with background noise. I say background noise but the sound lacked depth. It was another layer of paint on an already heavy painting. And the dialogue recordings were surface level instead of embedded to the character in proportion to spacing or placement.
I did expect new scenes and scenes edited or reordered from the book. However, it was still disheartening to see the difference between the book and short film to the TV show. The igiby family going about their chores created such a home-ly tone. I get the adventurous boy antics of the TV show's opening scene but still...
Overall, I can't rate this as high as I would like. The books are excellent! In my opinion, the most creative Christian Fantasy since Chronicles of Narnia.
My kids liked the show even though they too said the sound was odd, scenes were missing or out of order, and the stop-motion made them blink a lot.
Again, congratulations to the author and production. Today was a big day. I hope my review doesn't dampen your spirits. As long as you are happy with the end product is all that matters.
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
I enjoyed the show minus Sheldon, Leonard's Mom and Bernadett!!
The character Sheldon was an obnoxious person. His behavior was narcissistic and psychopathic. At times, he could be defined as diabolical and criminal. Manipulating people, hacking accounts, sexual harassment... I know this is a show but really to demonstrate such a litany of psychological makeup as humorous is scary. Otherwise, the content (geek/nerd related topics) was fun and relatable. But all that was dampened by even more diabolical characters such as Leonard's Mom and Bernadette.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
Left an odd taste in my mouth!
This movie left an odd taste in my mouth. It took a little while to process what I had just seen but one thing became blaringly obvious:Underdeveloped. The story had no point. It delivered visually and emotionally, which left nothing of any real meaning behind except lethargy. Any coherent dialogue was delivered by the female cast. Which was just enough to help one understand anything of the story. The mind-reading sister had to give words to what the men enacted couldn't be expressed. Leaving the men to blunder through their reactions. Newt did perform some function of story shift. Still the character left you wondering who he was, a good hook for any movie goer, what he was thinking and how he was functioning. The latter two neutralizing any curiosity to learn more about the character. Overall making the watcher just as confused as Newt seemed to be.
J.K. Rowling was a good storyteller. Sorcerer's Stone through to the Goblet of Fire has a logical progression of storytelling. Development of characters interacting with each other and their environment. Arguably adolescents propels the three main characters into a whirlwind of emotional outbursts and irrational behavior. And steadily the male characters of the story begin to take a backseat to a higher reasoning of women, especially in the movies. Umbridge, Hermoine, Le Fleur, Ginny, Cho, Beatrix
etc. All become characters of interest over persons such as Dumbledore, Potter or Voldemort.
The younger characters flaunt a flagrant disregard to authority as opposed to the first few books. Snapping and demanding much from what were mature composed adults. Instead of adventuresome, her stories become more philosophical, specifically of death. Death is glorified. Especially in sight of Potters return not being as critical or impactful as his death. (Side note: to kill death with death? Isn't that an oxymoron?) Then with the latest story many of her characters become mindless debutants operating more from feeling than from any rationale.
Take the workers escorting Porpentina to the death chamber, could you make them more brainless than have them smiling and leading them along like some brainwashed drone? All which left this story lover with spitting out the bad taste. The only three positive attributes of the movie were the creative visuals, adult magic users, as opposed to children who haven't a clue of what they are doing, and Jacob Kowalski. (Thank you Dan Fogler for being the one redeeming factor of the film: laughter.)
Thus, making me wonder does Rowling know what she is doing anymore. Is she just banking on a guaranteed product? Of what significance does any of the latest stories impart on the reader? Unlike classical works this pop fiction will likely fade and with it a story line unbecoming of any respectable piece of literature. A clear perspective of life rather than a jumble of pointless emotions and imagery.
This movie may tickle the senses but lacks substance leaving me saying: No seconds please!