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Reviews
Brad's Status (2017)
Some movies just need to be a Perfect 10
I was hoping this wouldn't be an old school Ben Stiller movie, because - while I loved those movies at the time - we've all seen those Ben Stiller movies a million times before and I wanted something different. Well there were times this movie could've become one of those movies, but it never did. Instead it did something different and - I think - very necessary:
We all seem to know about the problems with social media (primarilly the comparisons we make with others) and we all know that social media is often not a true reflection of reality. However, many of us still battle with it because we're human and we're inside our own minds all the time. And here's what made this movie a Perfect 10 for me...
It's the only movie I've seen that dealt with a person's true inner thoughts. I think we all have them, but most of us don't express the many things we think about, yet the protagonist of this movie comes across as one of the most real characters I've ever seen because he seemed to portray those parts of ourselves that we often don't even show our most loved and trusted ones.
So while the plot of this movie wasn't groundbreaking (it was just a slice of reality), the device of hearing this character's thoughts and fears and desires, etc, was executed excellently, and I can't remember ever having seen this on the screen before.
This movie should be seen by everyone, in my opinion, because it will ground you and connect you to others.
This movie was perfect in what it was trying to be and to the genre it belonged.
And also, the ending felt perfect too.
The Bubble (2022)
Two Storylines In One...
One storyline was about the actors stuck in the pandemic bubble; the other storyline concerned the movie called Cliff Beasts that the actors were filming.
I liked the Cliff Beasts storyline a lot and would like to actually see that, but the actors-in-a-bubble storyline was hard to watch because I actually think the portrayal of celebrities was spot on... I think they're mostly spoiled and selfish and so far removed from reality that they make me feel sick. It reminds me of that time a bunch of actors sang Imagine during the covid pandemic. Yup, the only people who make celebrities seem dumber than South Park are celebrities themselves.
Anyway... I went from enjoying the movie a lot because it was the Cliff Beasts plot, to being bored or hating it because it was the pretentious actors plot.
Also, the movie was about 2 hours, and it could've been much shorter. Sometimes editing is what makes a bad movie into a good movie.
All that said, there were some memorable scenes here and there, so I can't say it was totally unwatchable, just mostly unwatchable.
Leave the World Behind (2023)
Not Just Excellent, But Excellent in A Different Way
I've never watched a movie before that made me feel so completely uncomfortable like this one. It was a weird sensation because I didn't feel scared or shocked; rather I felt extremely uncomfortable because this movie slowly, methodically, built up an anxious tension I didn't even realize until close to the end and I felt like I might have a panic attack or something.
And I might be the only person who thought the end was perfect... completely satisfying. I think people have expectations in movies, based on other movies, and this movie didn't play out as expected: this movie was telling a story that is as close to the truth as things would probably be if this all actually happened for real, and it seems completely plausible to me that it could happen... all of it. And that we - the majority of society - would be as unprepared as the characters in this movie mostly were. Does nobody remember covid anymore? How quickly and slowly things seemed to happen at the same time? How surreal it all was?
I think the reason many people thought this movie was terrible is because it didn't try to package everything up in a way we can understand and feel good about.
To me, this was a 'Perfect 10' movie. That said, I don't think I could ever watch it again because - as originally stated - it made me too uncomfortable. I can't compare this feeling to any other movie (or book, etc); I can only compare it to the feeling you get when you're going on an especially scary roller coaster, and as the roller coaster begins to slowly chug it's way to the top before you know it's going to hoist you into madness, you suddenly get that very uncomfortable feeling that is similar to fear, but not quite.
Masters of the Universe: Revolution (2024)
Don't watch this if you hated the first series by Kevin Smith
So I watched the first series of MOTU (Revelation) which I despised. I wasn't surprised that series got 5.6 stars.
Then, when I looked at the second series of MOTU (Revolution), I saw it got 7.5 stars, so I became interested again. Maybe it actually got better, or - more accurately - maybe it actually got good.
Then I remembered to look at the numbers properly.
The first series got 5.6 stars based on approximately 30 thousand votes. The second series got 7.5 based on less than 3 thousand votes. That's a massive difference in votes!
I'm guessing the people who voted so highly for Revolution, therefore, were mostly the small minority of people who liked (and probably voted so high) for the first series.
On that note, there's no way in hell that I'll be giving the second series a chance, and I highly recommend you do the same. Watch something else instead that isn't politically pushy and preachy. Scavenger's Reign is excellent and so are many other awesome shows out there that are just trying to tell a good story.
Star Trek: Voyager: Threshold (1996)
I Loved It!
I loved this episode so much that I did what I normally do after viewing a Voyager gem. I looked at the ratings on IMDB to see how well they matched my own. Wow, was I wrong! Usually I'm with the majority concerning the best or the worst of Star Trek. Haha.
All I can say is that when I originally watched this, I loved it, then I rewatched it and loved it all over again, but I can also see all the flaws in the story.
What I loved is that the story was daring and original. Usually the science is important to me, but this time I could overlook logic and science in way of everything else it delivered. One such thing being the dialogue. Great dialogue!
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
Less Woke Than The 2016 Version, But Still Woke
Like so many people, I REALLY wanted to like this movie. Every time I was about to give up with it, I pushed on, and somehow it just got worse in how ridiculous, predictable and unoriginal it was.
So why did this movie get relatively great reviews, I wondered?
Well I think that because the 2016 movie was so woke, you almost don't see the wokeness in this movie (or you don't want to), but it's there. More subtle, but it's clearly there. The males aren't quite as stupid and the females aren't all quite as amazing as in the 2016 version. However, the main character is a teenage girl genius scientist. That said, even if the wokeness wasn't a part of the problem with this 'movie', the story itself has so many unrealistic moments that I couldn't buy into it.
It saddened me to see original cast members returning to this franchise (although they were the best part of it) and I think I'm now officially done with any more Ghostbusters films, unless it's to go back and rewatch the originals.