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

[TLB]

I seem to be falling lower and lower on quality films :\

Rebirth (2016) <Amazon>

We start with office mid-manager "Kyle" who has an old college friend "Zack" (Adam Goldberg, one of the only recognizable faces in the film) show up unexpectedly after years of no contact. Zack starts asking about the 'fight the man' mentality they had in college and if Kyle still feels it, which now-married father in mid-life Zach does not fell as he has conformed to 'the system'. Zack begs Kyle to come away for the weekend and reawaken that spirit, but refuses to say anymore, then disappears. Kyle goes home, fuddles about, then decides to give it a try. The trap is sprung. Kyle joins others in donning a hooded mask so he can't see, then riding on a bus to some unknown location. They offload from the bus into a rather large house building and assemble in the basement for something of an orientation.

The entire film operates on two basic levels. In the obvious, this is a cult initiation as Kyle wanders from room to room being told 'you can leave anytime you want' and nobody will help him find a door, they just redirect him to another room. So that basic level is an exposition on cult indoctrination. The slightly, only slightly, higher level should you choose to view it this way is as a satire on cults. It seems Zack was inspired by their college days and has used that to build this cult called 'Rebirth' based on his younger days working with Kyle. Bringing Kyle into this is something of a Thank You for the inspiration. In the back third of the film, Zack continues to play nice about all the mental and emotional freeing this does for a person and he wanted that for Kyle, but also, as Kyle works at a bank, Rebirth has drained Kyle's personal funds and is asking him to embezzle from the bank. The closing credits are of Kyle and his family, all now firm believers in the Rebirth system, the wife even shows off her brand-scar that a person earns with each rebirth.

From the imdb reference, this is described in part as "his journey down a bizarre rabbit hole of psychodrama, seduction, and violence" which is somewhat true, but done on a crappy level. The wife is attractive, but seldom seen. We have a lead female in the Rebirth organization, and never see any skin - constant double talk about exploring and doing whatever he wants, whatever he feels, as she leads him to yet another room. Hell, there is a room where three women try to have an orgy with Kyle and another guy, but we get nothing. The pschodrama and violence culminate in a reveal where Kyle tries to rescue someone calling for help in the house, only to find it is Zach in what turns out to be a semi-staged event to push Kyle over the edge and accept a new reality. If you want to blow an hour on a film about cults that is neither amusing nor enlightening, nor even offensive if you really want to look for that....here you are. A waste of time. Don't do it. 3/10.

 

[TLB]

And it continues...


Kate (2021) <Netflix>

Someone watched 'La Femme Nikita' when they were younger and thought they could do better. They didn't. We follow a female contract killer around Tokyo as she attempts to do a job but it goes sideways when there is a kid present. Fast forward a year or so, and she has another chance to finish the job and fails again. However, in the aftermath, this professional assassin casually hooks up at a hotel bar and ends up being poisoned. She goes to her handler, Woody Harrelson (only face you'll know), and tries to find out who poisoned her, assuming it's related to the botched jobs. The child from earlier is the niece of some big yakuza guy who was the second hit. The first hit was yakuza's brother, father of the child. Kate has about 24h to live before her radiation poisoning kills her, so we get some decent action sequences in dark Tokyo neighborhoods, but it all has this nagging level of unbelievable to it all. For her 24h she is trying to get to the yakuza boss thinking it was revenge - I won't spoil the film, but it wasn't him. He actually has a good discussion with her in the final act. But along the way Kate steals some stims from a hospital, so we watch her go from dying last breath to aerial combat thru the neighborhoods that even a healthy person wouldn't do, yeah, ok. And, she pairs up with the kid for the final 24h, trying to use her to get to yakuza boss, bonding with her over time. We wrap with a final confrontation with Woody, where he is dealt with in a very meh way, a disappointing conclusion for the film overall and weak writing and dialogue. All it has going for it is Tokyo setting, some action. That's about it. 5/10

 

[TLB]

A brighter spot, but not by much


The Vault (2021) <Netflix>

We begin with a salvage ship recovering a Spanish Galleon sunk in the 1600's, and getting swarmed by Spain's law enforcement who takes the booty. We have a handful of our 'salvage' crew led by some old fuzzy Sean Connery wannabe sans accent, and he enlists some young college genius who turns down extremely lucrative corporate offers in order to chase this fools folly of stealing the booty back from the Bank of Spain. The newish part for this film is the vault, which nobody has seen and is secured with old technology nobody can define, much less beat, hence the enlisting of the boy genius. It's a decent bit of plot, if far fetched, and brings some well paced drama and tension during the heist, complete with some double crossing towards the end. Ok for man night, not for date night, kids will ask why you made them watch it. But, it's better than the other crap I've seen lately. 6.5/10

 

[Detroitgator]

And it continues...


Kate (2021) <Netflix>

Someone watched 'La Femme Nikita' when they were younger and thought they could do better. They didn't. We follow a female contract killer around Tokyo as she attempts to do a job but it goes sideways when there is a kid present. Fast forward a year or so, and she has another chance to finish the job and fails again. However, in the aftermath, this professional assassin casually hooks up at a hotel bar and ends up being poisoned. She goes to her handler, Woody Harrelson (only face you'll know), and tries to find out who poisoned her, assuming it's related to the botched jobs. The child from earlier is the niece of some big yakuza guy who was the second hit. The first hit was yakuza's brother, father of the child. Kate has about 24h to live before her radiation poisoning kills her, so we get some decent action sequences in dark Tokyo neighborhoods, but it all has this nagging level of unbelievable to it all. For her 24h she is trying to get to the yakuza boss thinking it was revenge - I won't spoil the film, but it wasn't him. He actually has a good discussion with her in the final act. But along the way Kate steals some stims from a hospital, so we watch her go from dying last breath to aerial combat thru the neighborhoods that even a healthy person wouldn't do, yeah, ok. And, she pairs up with the kid for the final 24h, trying to use her to get to yakuza boss, bonding with her over time. We wrap with a final confrontation with Woody, where he is dealt with in a very meh way, a disappointing conclusion for the film overall and weak writing and dialogue. All it has going for it is Tokyo setting, some action. That's about it. 5/10

Yeah, zero interest. I'll stick with Luc Besson's original and his remake (Anna), and throw in Point of No Return. Not interested in seeing "Woody and some Japs."

 

[Durty South Swamp]

My wife and I are watching "inventing anna" starring the white trash inbred chick from Ozark.

It's pretty entertaining, although her horrible attempt at a suppressed Russian accent is painful at times.

 

[gingerlover]

My wife and I are watching "inventing anna" starring the white trash inbred chick from Ozark.

It's pretty entertaining, although her horrible attempt at a suppressed Russian accent is painful at times.

Wife and I tried to watch it and the second she spoke it was a big nope.

 

[FlyingGator]

My wife and I are watching "inventing anna" starring the white trash inbred chick from Ozark.

It's pretty entertaining, although her horrible attempt at a suppressed Russian accent is painful at times.

i bailed after Episode 2. Just the worst accent ever..you could here her slip into her Ozark character accent in her bad German/Russian one quite often..

 

[Spurdog98]

Checkout the Boeing Documentary on Netflix. Big WTF are you guys thinking?

 

[Durty South Swamp]

i bailed after Episode 2. Just the worst accent ever..you could here her slip into her Ozark character accent in her bad German/Russian one quite often..

no argument, but the show gets pretty wild so we're enjoying it. I just sort of accept the fact that the only character she can play is inbred white trash girl from Ozarks lol

 

[Alumni Guy]

i bailed after Episode 2. Just the worst accent ever..you could here her slip into her Ozark character accent in her bad German/Russian one quite often..

I’m 4 episodes in, and the accent is awful.

I think the accent is intentionally bad, because she’s faking her past. I think the actress is attempting to imitate how the real girl spoke, and not like a German/Russian would actually speak.

At least that’s what I tell myself to tolerate it.

 

[AugustaGator]

i bailed after Episode 2. Just the worst accent ever..you could here her slip into her Ozark character accent in her bad German/Russian one quite often..

I just watched it last night. I’d like you try to talk like that for that long. Her voice was apparently that grating. I can’t believe they were hoodwinked by it but I loved the hustling! If I were on the jury only the hotels would have won.

I liked the movie.

 

[gingerlover]

Munich: The Edge of War (Netflix) - Other than Jeremy Irons not a lot of cast I recognized. Focuses on the events a year prior to WWII and Britain trying to stave off war. The main part of the plot is that there are two young men in each government that went to Oxford togethor. One works in each government. The one that is German knows what Hitler is planning and is part of a plot to try and remove him from power. It then becomes espionage as he is trying to get his notes to his friend to be passed to the Prime Minister.

This one is an ok filler, but not much new information of historical events. Drags a lot at times and could easily just been an hour if you really wanted. 6/10

American Underdog - The movie about Kurt Warner. This is one of your feel good movies and can be watched by your entire family with the message of never giving up. Picks up his senior year of college and progresses from there. Goes through his relationship with his wife, his struggles both personally and professionally and ends with his first NFL start. One of the big focuses is his relationship with his son (step-son) who is special needs and his finding his faith.

The football scenes are at times painful to watch and feel as though they had a limited budget. I think also the scenery for the arena league games and such also contribute to how poor it can look. I really like Zachary Levi, but at times you can tell he probably didn't play much football in real life. Movements just look awkward. There are also liberties taken with the story to make it more dramatic, such as his time in NFL Europe being omitted to look like he just came off the street. The final few minutes are just running through highlights of the 99 season and his accomplishments.

This one has a good message and is a wholesome movie. Is it the greatest sports movie? Not anywhere close, but a good one to watch. It has the production feel of a movie made for Disney+. I expected a little more considering it was a theatrical release, but worth renting. 6.5/10

The King's Man (HBO Max) - The prequel to the Kingsmen movies. Set in between WWI and WWII it follows the group that would launch the first round table so to speak. Obviously there are liberties taken with history and it tries to hit the same tone as the more recent movies. If you like the series you will find this somewhat entertaining, but once again drags a little to much and just isn't as good as the others. You have some cool action, you know the cast but once again takes far to long to get things moving as the first 3/4ths of the movie is just backstory. 6/10

 

[TLB]

Finally, something decent

Uncharted (2022) <Theater>

Film opens with two teenage orphan brothers breaking in somewhere to steal a map, getting busted, and the oldest is now going to jail. He skips out and promises to come back for lil bro at some point. Skip ahead a bunch of years and we have Tom Holland as the younger brother grown up, working as a bartender but also a petty thief. One night Markey Mark shows up and offers to take him on the adventure of a lifetime and drops enough knowledge to show he knows Holland isn't just some random. Tom says no to stranger with candy, then breaks into Markey Marks place that night to see what's what. More knowledge drop, and the vague hints that the older bro was partners with Mark but split recently. Mark wants Tom to help finish the caper, and maybe find his bro. Tom's in. Said caper involves finding gold hidden by explorers centuries ago. We will add in an aging Antonio Banderas as the last heir to a rich family, one who hired the explorers way back when and he wants his gold. Working for old Tony is Tati Gabrielle (don't know her) as a kick ass mercenary who apparently has a history with Mark, and not a good one. Those two are our villains, but adding to our two heroes is Sophia Ali, another former partner of Marks who is helping on this adventure. Sophia's bio says born in California, but she has an India(n) look to her, and carries a British accent throughout. While slim and attractive, we see nothing of note on anyone in the film.

The good would involve a decent script, where everyone is double crossing and backstabbing, accept our angel Tom Holland of course. So, plenty of twists to enjoy, even if you can see them coming. Tom has a ton of action scenes full of gymnastic rolls over tables and fighting sequences = I will note, this is not your Spiderman Tom, he looks and carries himself as a grown man throughout, not a teenager, in case you have friends with crushes on him he won't disappoint as shirtless and fit. Mark is not so athletic these days, but he holds his own. It's almost like Tom's participation was contracted to include this type of action sequences for him, but it works within the film. Also, we have a very interesting chase scene towards the end that involves two helicopters, each craning out and flying around with an old Spanish explorer ship. We have fighting ship to ship below as the choppers fly around = not something you see every day. I have no idea how much was CGI, but it was a very different take on a chase scene. The bad would likely speak to a weak character for Tony, and the par-for-the-course suspension of logic and reason. Not to an absurd reason (if you can imagine choppers flying explorer ships thru the air) but I say this as my 13yo son was next to me asking things like 'they spent 20min going thru tunnels to find a room and Mark is above ground matching them step for step, isn't he going to have to spend 20min to catch up or them to get out? It's a bad example, but he hit me with several of them and I had to explain it's a movie, it's make believe, you don't ask logic questions. No ugly to report.

There is a closing scene that hints to a sequel (if this earns enough money), then we headed for the restroom. On our way out of the theater we saw we missed a closing credit scene as well that further builds the suggestion of a sequel by showing Mark&Tom continuing an adventure somewhere with shots of the older bro still alive in a cell. I'd say we are 50/50 on this earning enough to warrant a sequel. I'd probably watch it, given the utter amount of crap I've seen elsewhere and this one was decent. Fun escape, not too deep but allows some guessing on what happens next. Bonus points for the chase scene. 7/10

 

[gingerlover]

Finally, something decent

Uncharted (2022) <Theater>

Film opens with two teenage orphan brothers breaking in somewhere to steal a map, getting busted, and the oldest is now going to jail. He skips out and promises to come back for lil bro at some point. Skip ahead a bunch of years and we have Tom Holland as the younger brother grown up, working as a bartender but also a petty thief. One night Markey Mark shows up and offers to take him on the adventure of a lifetime and drops enough knowledge to show he knows Holland isn't just some random. Tom says no to stranger with candy, then breaks into Markey Marks place that night to see what's what. More knowledge drop, and the vague hints that the older bro was partners with Mark but split recently. Mark wants Tom to help finish the caper, and maybe find his bro. Tom's in. Said caper involves finding gold hidden by explorers centuries ago. We will add in an aging Antonio Banderas as the last heir to a rich family, one who hired the explorers way back when and he wants his gold. Working for old Tony is Tati Gabrielle (don't know her) as a kick ass mercenary who apparently has a history with Mark, and not a good one. Those two are our villains, but adding to our two heroes is Sophia Ali, another former partner of Marks who is helping on this adventure. Sophia's bio says born in California, but she has an India(n) look to her, and carries a British accent throughout. While slim and attractive, we see nothing of note on anyone in the film.

The good would involve a decent script, where everyone is double crossing and backstabbing, accept our angel Tom Holland of course. So, plenty of twists to enjoy, even if you can see them coming. Tom has a ton of action scenes full of gymnastic rolls over tables and fighting sequences = I will note, this is not your Spiderman Tom, he looks and carries himself as a grown man throughout, not a teenager, in case you have friends with crushes on him he won't disappoint as shirtless and fit. Mark is not so athletic these days, but he holds his own. It's almost like Tom's participation was contracted to include this type of action sequences for him, but it works within the film. Also, we have a very interesting chase scene towards the end that involves two helicopters, each craning out and flying around with an old Spanish explorer ship. We have fighting ship to ship below as the choppers fly around = not something you see every day. I have no idea how much was CGI, but it was a very different take on a chase scene. The bad would likely speak to a weak character for Tony, and the par-for-the-course suspension of logic and reason. Not to an absurd reason (if you can imagine choppers flying explorer ships thru the air) but I say this as my 13yo son was next to me asking things like 'they spent 20min going thru tunnels to find a room and Mark is above ground matching them step for step, isn't he going to have to spend 20min to catch up or them to get out? It's a bad example, but he hit me with several of them and I had to explain it's a movie, it's make believe, you don't ask logic questions. No ugly to report.

There is a closing scene that hints to a sequel (if this earns enough money), then we headed for the restroom. On our way out of the theater we saw we missed a closing credit scene as well that further builds the suggestion of a sequel by showing Mark&Tom continuing an adventure somewhere with shots of the older bro still alive in a cell. I'd say we are 50/50 on this earning enough to warrant a sequel. I'd probably watch it, given the utter amount of crap I've seen elsewhere and this one was decent. Fun escape, not too deep but allows some guessing on what happens next. Bonus points for the chase scene. 7/10

Loved this game series in my mid to late 20's. Glad it seems they did it justice. Also glad we are getting real movies again. This summer has a packed slate.

 

[Zambo]

Not sure if already reviewed, but I watched Stillwater with Matt Damon last week. He's an okie roughneck leading a hard life. Wife died, battled addiction, etc. Then you find out his daughter is in prison. In France.

He routinely travels there to visit her. On one trip he gets some info that might exonerate her, and starts trying to chase down the lead.

I found it to be entertaining. I think Damon did a good job acting like a roughneck.

 

[TLB]

Loved this game series in my mid to late 20's.

I'd completely forgotten there was a game. Never played it, but I do recall it now that you mention it.

 

[Gatordiddy]

Good date night movie- (with various f-bombs)
“Long Story Short”
Funny Aussie time traveling film, kind of like Groundhog Day - but the main guy (very funny dude) travels one year ahead in time (on his wedding anniversary) every few minutes. Kind of clever the way they pull it off. I believe his best friend was in Crazy Rich Asians.
Basically turn off the brain and have some laughs.

6.5/10

Long Story Short - Google Search

 

[gingerlover]

The Tender Bar (Prime) - Stars Ben Affleck and Ty Sheridan. Story is true to an extent and based on the author of the same books memoir. Sheridan is the main character and plays the author. Its a memoir of his younger years. It starts when he and his mom move home and into his grandparents house (Christopher Lloyd) and runs through his decision on what to do in life. He forms a mentor like relationship with his uncle (Affleck) who acts as his guide through life and encouraging him in the way his absent father should. It shows his struggles with the abandonment and his dealing with losing his first love while trying to figure out what to do with life. His father, mostly known as just a voice on the radio, is there from time to time hoping in to his life at inconvenient times, but shows his growth from not needing him any longer as his mom and uncle have given him all he needs.

The movie is well done and is worth the 1.5 hour run time. They could have explored a few more things, but kept it nice and tidy. The story also keeps you engaged. Affleck is a big piece of this movie as a mentor guiding him on his quest to become an author and a man from his bar "The Dickens" as he is also a huge reader and offers some pretty good advise even for today's standards. Case in point the one thing he hammers into him at a young age is that if he wants to find love he needs a car, a job and to have his sh*t togethor. 7/10 and would watch again.

 

[Gatordiddy]

The Tender Bar (Prime) - Stars Ben Affleck and Ty Sheridan. Story is true to an extent and based on the author of the same books memoir. Sheridan is the main character and plays the author. Its a memoir of his younger years. It starts when he and his mom move home and into his grandparents house (Christopher Lloyd) and runs through his decision on what to do in life. He forms a mentor like relationship with his uncle (Affleck) who acts as his guide through life and encouraging him in the way his absent father should. It shows his struggles with the abandonment and his dealing with losing his first love while trying to figure out what to do with life. His father, mostly known as just a voice on the radio, is there from time to time hoping in to his life at inconvenient times, but shows his growth from not needing him any longer as his mom and uncle have given him all he needs.

The movie is well done and is worth the 1.5 hour run time. They could have explored a few more things, but kept it nice and tidy. The story also keeps you engaged. Affleck is a big piece of this movie as a mentor guiding him on his quest to become an author and a man from his bar "The Dickens" as he is also a huge reader and offers some pretty good advise even for today's standards. Case in point the one thing he hammers into him at a young age is that if he wants to find love he needs a car, a job and to have his sh*t togethor. 7/10 and would watch again.

we watched this one a couple of months ago.
I'm kinda hit or miss on Affleck (Argo and The Town ...he was fantastic).
This movie wasn't bad at all... we enjoyed it.

 

[TLB]

The Adam Project (2022) <Netflix>

If you like Ryan Reynolds with his non-stop smart ass lines, this ones for you. Premise is Reynolds steals a plane capable of time travel in 2050, tries to get back to 2018 to save his wife (Zoe Saldana) but ends up in 2020. You would think it was intentional, but he 'accidently' ends up meeting his younger 12yo self and the two of them set about averting a future apocalypse. Turns out his dad (Mark Ruffalo) is a professor who figures out how to time travel and his business partner (Catherine Keener) travelled back in time to have her youthful self double cross him to gain time travel and take over the world. The sci-fi aspect of time travel is minimal and simply a tool for the plot. Bulk of the dialogue is smart ass Reynolds with his younger self who is also a smart ass, as the two of them learn about themselves and try to talk one another out of being such a dick to everyone. Villainess is decent, but minor. Ruffalo as dad has a few poignant parts but is kinda 'meh' throughout, IMO. Jenifer Garner as the mom shows a body that is aging quite well, though fully clothed throughout. Special effects aren't cheap, but aren't the dominant aspect of the film either, though I do need to give a nod to the last act where they blow up the reactor or whatever it's called. That's kinda cool. All in all, better than average. Would recommend for not-too-serious viewing. 7.5/10