Film Reviews - what have you seen lately, what did you think?

[gingerlover]

Tomorrow War (Prime) - Already covered above by others

Fatherhood (Netflix) - Stars Kevin Hart. His wife dies during childbirth and he's left to raise his daughter alone. Of course no one, including the grand parents think he can do it. It has some funny and some sad as he grows into a great father trying to figure out what is best for his daughter over the years. He of course has the friends that try to help, but never truly understand the situation that lend to the humor.

Not going to lie. This one surprised me and was very good and hit hard at some points. Both our boys were delivered via C-Section and this was definitely an outcome I always feared during that time, but as the movie shows there is something about becoming a parent where a switch just goes on and you step up and push yourself through things you didn't know you could. 7/10

The Ice Road (Netflix) - Liam Neeson takes his Taken character to being a ice road trucker now. Basically there is a mine that collapses and people are trapped. They have to truck up the part needed to free them. Neeson is a down on his luck trucker taking care of his Veteran brother that had an accident while on duty and of course takes the job with a few others. They then have to fight off the evil corporate people who caused it in the first place. Lawrence Fishburn for some reason also signed on to this hunk of junk. There is no reasonable explanation for this movie to be 2 hours, hell there may not be a reasonable explanation of why it was even made.

This movie is on the verge of being very very very bad. The acting is not good and at least in trucker movies of old they would have had some T&A. Neeson shot up like a bottle rocket after Taken and it seems that is the only character he can play anymore. He's as bad as Bruce Willis is at the moment. 3/10.

Boss Baby 2 (Peacock) - My oldest (8) loved the first one so he was excited for this one, but glad we didn't spend the cash at the theater. Its not horrible as far as kids movies go, but not as good as the first. Basically the kids from the first movie are adults now and the one's baby is now the CEO of baby corp. They have to turn back into kids to save the world. 6/10

No Sudden Move (HBO Max) - This movie has a great cast. Cheadle, Liotta, Del Toro, Hamm, Harbour and a nice surprise at the end for the big man. Basically a bunch of criminals are brought together to find some plans for the auto industry. They all have done something in the past that has marked them in some way and it starts becoming a list of who betrays who and at times gets confusing to follow. It's entertaining, a little slow, and it is basically yet another movie on the corruption in the auto industry back in the day, but is also a little bit of a mess that is hard to follow. Also has Brendan Frasier in it and its hard to fathom how he looks now. 6/10

 

[Zambo]

Tomorrow War might possibly be the stupidest thing I have ever seen. Everything about it was just fuching terrible. Worse than terrible. I'm embarrassed that I watched it but after a while it was just morbid curiosity about just how crappy a film could possibly get. The people who produced it, directed it, acted in it, and promoted it should be dragged into the street and shot to death on national TV.

 

[soflagator]

Boss Baby was decent, but not as good as the first according to my wife.

Also, I had Black Widow playing at my house tonight. Is it me or is it tough to get I to these blockbusters today? I was in and out doing other things, but I really didn’t see anything worth stopping and watching.

Despite it’s less than subtle socio/political undertones, I thought Luca was as good as anything I’ve seen recently. I am
Italian and love pasta, so there’s that I guess.

 

[BNAG8R]

Started watching Tomorrow War two nights ago… fell asleep.

Started watching Black Widow last night… fell asleep.

Started watching Army of the Dead this evening… fell asleep.

 

[Gatordiddy]

Started watching Tomorrow War two nights ago… fell asleep.

Started watching Black Widow last night… fell asleep.

Started watching Army of the Dead this evening… fell asleep.

Are these movies that bad or are you getting really old?

 

[CGgater]

Started watching Tomorrow War two nights ago… fell asleep.

Started watching Black Widow last night… fell asleep.

Started watching Army of the Dead this evening… fell asleep.

Asleep? Or dead?

 

[TheDouglas78]

Are these movies that bad or are getting really old?

So old he is close to dying, he has ask to be buried his(?) uniform...

 

[TheDouglas78]

The Mrs has been down for the count for a couple of weeks post surgery, so we started watching a few franchises we enjoy. Some of these will be repeats of earlier reviews but after watching again, a different perspective (some I haven't seen since the theater). The first series she selected was the Purge movie series. All of these were watched on our VUDU account we own them all.

Purge (2013):
This movie seeing for the second time really does a good job of setting up the world created by the New Founding Fathers. It's an upper class family that lives in a gated community. They don't seem to concerned with the night events, and while they talk you get the first glimpse of the world that is currently being displayed (2021). How from 7pm to 7am all crime is legal, and how the economy has stabilized and recovered. There are some socio-economic dialog, but it's mostly about the events of this one family. The son feels bad for a black man fleeing a group of purgers which is where the movie starts going. Ethan Hawke is the father in this one, and does really well. Lena Headley (spelling, Queen Cerci Game of Thrones) is the wife/mother. The kid that plays the leader of the purgers, and he is really good. There is a number of jump scares and some decent action. The tension was a little better than I remembered.

The Good:
The Story is tight and stays in scope
Ethan Hawke plays the role well
The purgers
The world

The Bad:
The scope of the story is small

The Purge: Anarchy (2014):
This movie starts with the expansion that the first movie set up. It follows three groups of people who are brought together due to a series of events. A upper middle class white couple, a lower class minority mother and daughter, and a man who is out to purge his son's killer (Frank Grillo, Crossbones in the MCU). They all converge at the building the mother/daughter live after, because a semi-truck of purgers who are about to purge the mother daughter. They go on the run through the city, and different sides/aspect of the purge are on display. This movie does a good job of opening up the world of the purge from the first movie.

The Good:
The Expansion of the world
Action and different views of the purge
Action is good, Really enjoy Frank Grillo's character and fully understood his motivation.

The Bad:
Gets a little choppy at times in the story
Other than the main purger character, the other four could die and I wouldn't have cared and probably would have cheered.

The Purge: Election Year (2016):
This is obviously an election year and the New Founding Fathers have the first real competition for the Presidency they have had with a non-purge candidate. The man who was out to purge from the previous movie is the head of the non-purge female candidate's security detail. The New Founding Fathers feeling the threat lifts the restrictions against high ranking politicians which allows open season on the candidate they fear. As expected an attempted is made on the candidates life and they are on the run. This allows for another expansion on the Purge Universe.

The Good:
Expansion of the world
Better action than the previous two
Easily understood character motives

The Bad:
Got a little predictable.

The First Purge (2018):
This is the story of an experiment that was the first purge. In a neighborhood that is sealed off with the whole country watching. The NFFA is paying residents to stay in the area and to actively participate. It is a decent way to show the start of the world, but it could have been done much better. There is a lot of potential in this movie, but you can really feel the change in director and tone.

The Good:
When the action is going it's good
There are some good tense stop

The Bad:
A lot of potential that is obviously left out
Felt emptier than the previous entries

Ratings:
The Purge 8/10
The Purge: Anarchy 8.5/10
The Purge: Election Year 9/10
The First Purge 6.5/10

Threat Matrix Matrix: No boobs, butts or bush but I would believe in a real purge would would see a lot

Deet Diagram: there were homeless in the middle two movies, but no homeless ass was drank from.

 

[TheDouglas78]

Boss Baby: Family Business (2021): This was a movie I took the daughter to in order to get her out of the house while the Mrs is in recovery. My daughter loves the first movie and the netflix show. I have never seen either the first movie or the tv show. So my understanding of this world is schitty to say the least. The movie starts off with a dad with an imagination as wild that he doesn't live in the real world. Like he should be living in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The baby daughter starts talking which was by far not the weirdest part of this movie. And then it goes from relatable to straight up full injun.

Good:
Voice Acting

Bad:
Everything else

I give this a solid 4/10 and part of that is being in A/C in the middle of a hot ass day and hearing my daughter laugh through out. She gave it a 7/10.

ThreatMatrix Matrix: No boobs, butt or bush

Deet Diagram: No homeless ass, therefore none was drank from.

 

[RiverRat]

Been watching "Banchee" and love it. Main character is like a Jack Reacher on crack. If you like naked people having sex and bad guys getting their due you'll like Banchee.
4 season series on HBO or Netflix

 

[TheDouglas78]

Been watching "Banchee" and love it. Main character is like a Jack Reacher on crack. If you like naked people having sex and bad guys getting their due you'll like Banchee.
4 season series on HBO or Netflix

Show recommendation thread | Gatorchatter

 

[Gatordiddy]

I'm very late to these, but...wife was visiting our daughter and I finally got to see some of the movies I wanted to watch.

Anyone seen the old classic 'The Maltese Falcon'? Finally got around to watching it. Awesome.
Bogart was a man's man. Peter Lorre was a little freaky.

Also finally saw 'Unforgiven' - Eastwood, Hackman and Morgan Freeman. One of the best westerns ever done.
Hackman was fantastic.

'Hell or High Water'... is there anything that Jeff Bridges can't do? (besides give birth... back in the day, of course. Today...apparently so).
This was crazy-good. Chris Pine and Ben Foster play brothers who rob banks to help pay off their late Mother's debt on her ranch.
Loved this one - 9/10.

 

[Gatordiddy]

A couple more quick hits:

Watched 'Fatherhood' with Kevin Hart.
Pretty good overall with some laughs and a few good co-stars.
6.5/10

About Time -
I really liked this one.
"When Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) is 21, his father (Bill Nighy) tells him a secret: The men in their family can travel through time. Although he can't change history, Tim resolves to improve his life by getting a girlfriend. He meets Mary (Rachel McAdams), falls in love and finally wins her heart via time-travel and a little cunning. However, as his unusual life progresses, Tim finds that his special ability can't shield him and those he loves from the problems of ordinary life."
There is a great 'cutting onions' scene near the end - especially if you have a son, or a father who has passed on, or ...in my case, both.
8/10

 

[TheDouglas78]

The Forever Purge (2021): I will start off by saying I love the Purge franchise and have been really excited to see a new entry in. This takes place a few years after Purge: Election Year and the NFFA have retaken the Presidency after immigration was increasing, poverty is increasing etc... The movie starts off watching Mexicans immigrants sneaking into America, then jumps 10 months later until the day before the annual purge that has been restarted. The main couple as part of the immigrants are the focus at this point, the husband works as a ranch hand, and the wife as a supervisor in a meat processing facility. The annual purge comes and goes in the first 30/40 minutes of this movie and it's really a non-event. This is where the real movie starts, a group called the Ever After create the Forever Purge. You follow the two immigrants from the beginning and the remaining family members from the ranch who survived trying to get to Mexico. This could have been done really good, but it's a dud. This is like watching URG attempt to dunk a basketball on a NBA regulation basket.

The Good:
A bunch of actors you have seen in other stuff
The potential for the story and the world
Seeing the purge that's not in a large city

The Bad:
It's Lazy
Doesn't expand the world

I give this a very disappointing solid 4.5/10.

ThreatMatrix Matrix: no boobs, butts or bush...

Deet Diagram: no homeless ass was seen or drank from.

 

[gingerlover]

Suicide Squad (HBO Max) - Caught this one last night and definitely better than the first. Directed this time by James Gunn (Guardians of The Galaxy) and staring people that look like they are actually enjoying being there this time it is a better outing. It has a very surprising start consider the marketing of all the cast and from there you are off to the races. It moves along at a descent pace and the humor is much better this time around and like most of his movies they pull from some of the more obscure/weird DC characters including the villain. Lots of goofy violence and better characters this time around. I found it enjoyable, with of course the usual the US gov secretly did something bad stick.

Idris Elba is the lead man in this for the team. He has become one of those actors that I can watch almost anything he is in. He plays it much better than Will Smith did in the previous outing on the humor side despite some similarities in the characters. Margot Robbie is back as Harley Quinn and while still one of the stars, isn't so centric this time around and it feels like the shine is rubbing off on the character some. John Cena's character might be one of the funniest at times as well and King Shark plays a lovable human like shark that is an idiot, appropriately voiced by Stallone. you also have a few others from the first film return as well such as Rick Flagg and Captain Boomerang, but the focus is on the newer guys. The rest of the new characters are there as well and are rounded out by guys like Nathan Fillion and Michael Rooker, but don't get as much focus.

This is an enjoyable two hours. It's not as good as the first Guardians, but in DC's attempt to create something on the less serious side similar to that it was a much better attempt than the first try where they made it to dark and serious. 7/10 and definitely a hard movie to describe without giving to many spoilers about what happens or what might come.

 

[gingerlover]

A few others we have scene recently

Space Jam (HBO Max) - How sad is it that Warner still can't write the looney tunes correctly any longer or that you with Michael Jordan returned to acting. The kids even lost interest in this one. 3/10

Let Him Go (HBO Max) - The movie with Kevin Costner in like the 50's where his grandson is taken by a hillbilly family or something. So slow and drags out so long. This might be someone else's cup of tea, but at the halfway point I just fast forwarded to the ending. 3/10

The Hunt (HBO Max) - This is the movie that caused a still where liberals were hunting conservatives. I will say that it has a lot of humor and despite the premise it hits both sides pretty hard for their stereotypes, many of which lead to their deaths on both sides. Not as horrible as it was made out to be, but still not something to be extremely proud of. 5/10

Good on Paper (Netflix) - Two hours I can't get back. Starts out funny with a stand up comic/actress thinking she has met Mr. Right. However his story starts to unravel and it turns out he is con-man. However it shows her and her friends reaction as ok and justifiable even though they should have been thrown in prison for things done. 3/10

 

[Zambo]

Sorry if reviewed already but I just watched "Nobody" on my commute flight. Loved it!

Starring the dude who plays Saul Goodman on Better Call Saul, this is really a spoof of movies like Taken. Sort of the same way Deadpool is a spoof of comic book movies.

The guy is a mild mannered dude trying to just lead a normal boring life, when of course he crosses paths with some bad guys. The bad guys find out in a gratuitously violent way that this dude is actually a retired super-secret badass, and they pay a glorious price for it. I was actually laughing out loud at some of the fight scenes.

Not sure if streaming anywhere but if its free on the airplane its usually on TV somewhere.

 

[ThreatMatrix]

Suicide Squad (HBO Max) - Caught this one last night and definitely better than the first. Directed this time by James Gunn (Guardians of The Galaxy) and staring people that look like they are actually enjoying being there this time it is a better outing. It has a very surprising start consider the marketing of all the cast and from there you are off to the races. It moves along at a descent pace and the humor is much better this time around and like most of his movies they pull from some of the more obscure/weird DC characters including the villain. Lots of goofy violence and better characters this time around. I found it enjoyable, with of course the usual the US gov secretly did something bad stick.

Idris Elba is the lead man in this for the team. He has become one of those actors that I can watch almost anything he is in. He plays it much better than Will Smith did in the previous outing on the humor side despite some similarities in the characters. Margot Robbie is back as Harley Quinn and while still one of the stars, isn't so centric this time around and it feels like the shine is rubbing off on the character some. John Cena's character might be one of the funniest at times as well and King Shark plays a lovable human like shark that is an idiot, appropriately voiced by Stallone. you also have a few others from the first film return as well such as Rick Flagg and Captain Boomerang, but the focus is on the newer guys. The rest of the new characters are there as well and are rounded out by guys like Nathan Fillion and Michael Rooker, but don't get as much focus.

This is an enjoyable two hours. It's not as good as the first Guardians, but in DC's attempt to create something on the less serious side similar to that it was a much better attempt than the first try where they made it to dark and serious. 7/10 and definitely a hard movie to describe without giving to many spoilers about what happens or what might come.

That's not the name of the movie. Probably one of the reasons it's not doing well at the box office. People don't realize that it's a new movie.

 

[PastyStoole]

THE BETSY (1978)

This movie has an amazingly underutilized cast, awful dialogue, and a fairly dumb plotline filled with goofy stereotypes, 3-second romances, hollow characters, and predictable "twists." But I suppose in 1978 it would have been worth it, given the full-frontal nudity and cringe-worthy sex scenes.

Let's start with the cast. Perhaps the greatest British actor of all time, who won an Oscar for his lead role in Hamlet - Sir Laurance Olivier - played a dottering 86-year-old American automobile manufacturing magnate with a heavy southern accent. It was so bad that you wanted to turn the sound down whenever he spoke. His character, though, got more young tail than the lead in the film, Tommy Lee Jones, who played an Italian guy, also with a southern accent. The film was set in Detroit, just to make it even more culturally confusing. Olivier's 86-year-old character was constantly balling chicks a third of his age. If you are a normal person and your reaction to this is "gross," then your perception of the love scenes between this smelly, hobbling codger and his paramours is accurate. One of them was Katherine Ross, who I fell in love with as a small boy when my mother wrongly took me to see "The Graduate." I fell in love with her again in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," another movie my mother wrongly took me to see. The sight of this wrinkly geriatric plowing her in bed, (she actually CAME to his bed to fk him, believe it or not, while she was married to his homosexual son), was absolutely unbearable to me. What's more, she barely had any lines. It was like the director told her to stand there and look pretty, then summoned wardrobe to dress her in the dowdiest costumes they could find from the "Wuthering Heights" set.

Robert Duvall plays Olivier's ambitious son pretty well, but the dialogue is stilting for this masterful actor. Leslie Ann Dowd plays Duvall's side piece and manages to get generously naked, at one point almost blowing Tommy Lee Jones in what would be a first for 1970s-era mainstream films. Also getting naked in the film is an intentionally barely legal granddaughter of Olivier's character played by Kathleen Beller. She tries to seduce Tommy Lee Jones by skinny dipping while he's on his balcony, thereby revealing her massive, unkempt 1970s bush, and beautiful big naturals. There's multiple sexual genres in this film; barely legal, wrinkly old dude and young girl, homosexuality, MILFs, etc.., the film is a relic of a time before Pornhub, when you had to go to a sleazy theatre or smut shop to see this type of thing and buy it from the seediest person you ever met behind the counter, while moldy semen covered patrons in trench coats furtively looked on.

The film is supposedly about a Formula One race car driver, (Jones) who unbeknownst to anyone but Olivier is a genius mechanical engineer, draftsman, and designer with an Ivy League pedigree. So right off the bat, you're like, "whaaat?" He's a horn-dog, of course, and he only reluctantly decides to suspend his super-successful racing career and join on with Olivier's secret car project, "The Betsy" because he wants to screw Olivier's barely-legal titular granddaughter, also named Betsy. Honestly, after Olivier plowed the French maid mere seconds after meeting her, (worst French accent ever, BTW), I thought he was going to end up balling his grandaughter too. She kept sitting on his lap, which was super creepy.

The duo is trying to produce a car that will get 60 miles to the gallon, but all sorts of soggy intrigue surrounds the plot, you know, mafia, greedy progeny, cheating spouses, suicides, gay lovers, successful kitchen appliance ventures, etc.. All of it is supposed to keep you on your toes, but the dialogue and tropish plot is so weak that all you can do is sit there boredly waiting for the next nude scene and praying that Olivier's wrinkly ass wont be in it.

One and a half stars out of five, and that's being generous. Do better, 1970s.

 

[Detroitgator]

THE BETSY (1978)

This movie has an amazingly underutilized cast, awful dialogue, and a fairly dumb plotline filled with goofy stereotypes, 3-second romances, hollow characters, and predictable "twists." But I suppose in 1978 it would have been worth it, given the full-frontal nudity and cringe-worthy sex scenes.

Let's start with the cast. Perhaps the greatest British actor of all time, who won an Oscar for his lead role in Hamlet - Sir Laurance Olivier - was playing an dottering 86-year-old American automobile manufacturing magnate with a heavy southern accent. It was so bad that you wanted to turn the sound down whenever he spoke. His character, though, got more young tail than the lead in the film, Tommy Lee Jones, who played an Italian guy, also with a southern accent. The film was set in Detroit, just to make it even more culturally confusing. Olivier's 86-year-old character was constantly balling chicks a third of his age. If you are a normal person and your reaction to this is "gross," then your perception of the love scenes between this smelly, hobbling codger and his paramours is accurate. One of them was Katherine Ross, who I fell in love with as a small boy when my mother wrongly took me to see "The Graduate." I fell in love with her again in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," another movie my mother wrongly took me to see. The sight of this wrinkly geriatric plowing her in bed, (she actually CAME to his bed to fk him, believe it or not, while she was married to his homosexual son), was absolutely unbearable to me. What's more, she barely had any lines. It was like the director told her to stand there and look pretty, then summoned wardrobe to dress her in the dowdiest costumes they could find from the "Wuthering Heights" set.

Robert Duvall plays Olivier's ambitious son pretty well, but the dialogue is stilting for this masterful actor. Leslie Ann Dowd plays Duvall's side piece and manages to get generously naked, at one point almost blowing Tommy Lee Jones in what would be a first for 1970s-era mainstream films. Also getting naked in the film is an intentionally barely legal granddaughter of Olivier's character played by Kathleen Beller. She tries to seduce Tommy Lee Jones by skinny dipping while he's on his balcony, thereby revealing her massive, unkempt 1970s bush, and beautiful big naturals. There's multiple sexual genres in this film; barely legal, wrinkly old dude and young girl, homosexuality, MILFs, etc.., the film is a relic of a time before Pornhub, when you had to go to a sleazy theatre or smut shop to see this type of thing and buy it from the seediest person you ever met behind the counter, while moldy semen covered patrons in trench coats furtively looked on.

The film is supposedly about a Formula One race car driver, (Jones) who unbeknownst to anyone but Olivier is a genius mechanical engineer, draftsman, and designer with an Ivy League pedigree. So right off the bat, you're like, "whaaat?" He's a horn-dog, of course, and he only reluctantly decides to suspend his super-successful racing career and join on with Olivier's secret car project, "The Betsy" because he wants to screw Olivier's barely-legal titular granddaughter, also named Betsy. Honestly, after Olivier plowed the French maid mere seconds after meeting her, (worst French accent ever, BTW), I thought he was going to end up balling his grandaughter too. She kept sitting on his lap, which was super creepy.

The duo is trying to produce a car that will get 60 miles to the gallon, but all sorts of soggy intrigue surrounds the plot, you know, mafia, greedy progeny, cheating spouses, suicides, gay lovers, successful kitchen appliance ventures, etc.. All of it is supposed to keep you on your toes, but the dialogue and tropish plot is so weak that all you can do is sit there boredly waiting for the next nude scene and praying that Olivier's wrinkly ass wont be in it.

One and a half stars out of five, and that's being generous. Do better, 1970s.

I'll never forget how disappointed my parents, and all of Detroit, were when this movie came out.