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Reviews
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)
Obama's 2019 Favorite movies list review
This is one of the most pretentious films I've ever seen, and I usually like pretentious films, but this was too much, it seems like the director was more interested in the shot framing rather than the story itself, the acting is bland and boring, there is barely a story at all and it's 2 hours long when it should have been a 30-minute short film at the most, the music cues are also terrible and feel out of place and the whole thing has a sense of importance that it does not earn at all. It's been a while since I had to struggle so much to finish a film, really disappointing. Obama's movie recommendations are going down hill.
Transit (2018)
Obama's 2019 Favorite movies list review
I guess nobody cared to write a review after Obama added this film to his 2019 favorite movie list. This film was suspenseful, easy to watch and fresh. I recommend this film if you like Joaquin Phoenix or if you like Nazi resistance or if you like slow french films. Overall, this film pretty bad because the production crew doesn't explain anything and you must figure-out the film for yourself. Obama picked a bad movie for us to watch.
Bombshell (2019)
It's a training video about harassment in the workplace
I honestly felt I was in a meeting the entire time, and someone was going to go on stage after, and give us a quiz to fill out about what we just saw.
It really sucks this is directed by a male (since he didn't add much) This editing is as horrible as Bohemian Rhapsody. I'm shocking it didn't go directly to On Demand (or to video) It gets street cred, since every so often it comes across as important, and a lot of people should watch it for that. But I can't recommend this to anyone, on the principle of it being a film.
Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)
Lets do the same movie twice.
Copy and paste the 2017 version, no imagination, no new flavor, money grab. I wish they showed us what happens when someone lost three lives. Do they go to heaven or hell?
Queen & Slim (2019)
Blue Lives Matter
This film is another tiny symptom and a nearly indiscernible shout from a contemptuous, roaring and riotous segment of a misanthropic society that vilifies those who stand for what's right and glorifies the very people who would usher in the destruction of the social fabric.
What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (2018)
Great documentary when they didn't talk about politics.
Lots of great interviews, especially of Avery Brooks who is not very visible these days. The best part was when the writers got together and hashed an episode that would have taken place 20 years after the last episode. I really enjoyed this doc, as would any Trekkie. But Ira Steven Behr just couldn't keep the amount of politics to an appropriate level to tell the story. He had to add a bunch of current day news footage that was very slanted on one viewpoint. I also got very annoyed at him and bunch of other white liberals patting themselves on the back for doing so much for black people. And I'm not gay, but I got offended by his stereotyping of Garak as gay (seems that he forgot about the hetero love subplot they had written for the character). So two stars off a well-produced show.
The Greatest Showman (2017)
I loved The Greatest Showman
My birthday was this week and one of the things my wife gave me was a copy of The Greatest Showman. I've heard many of the songs but I've never seen the movie. Is this the greatest show?
First off, the music is amazing. They got a great cast with a lot of musical talent. Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, and Zendaya really knock it out of the park. I've heard most of the songs already. (They come up a lot on one of my Pandora stations.) They are great there but seeing them in context takes them to the next level. "This is Me", in particular gave me chills when it came up.
The Greatest Showman tells a highly fictionalized story of the life of P. T. Barnum and the creation of his famous circus. The story isn't particularly deep but it's well told. Most of the depth comes through the music. To be fair, that's pretty much par for the course with a musical. That's not to say the rest is bad. Far from it. The music just so amazing that the time between songs becomes a nice break before we're hit with the next powerhouse musical number. It's kinda like an action movie except of epic car chases and explosions, we get epic music.
Zendaya's non-singing performance really stood out to me. She can portray so much emotion with out saying anything. She practically stole every scene she was in.
There are a couple of weaknesses. The effects were serviceable but not amazing. Nearly every animal in the movie looked fake. They don't show up often but they pulled me out of the movie just a bit every time they showed up.
The Greatest Showman also glossed over the more "colorful" parts of Barnum. For example, one of his most famous quotes is "There's a sucker born every minute." He was a conman and a hustler who frequently played on the ignorance of his audience. (Not unlike politicians today. 😉) While he is frequently called a conman and worse by his detractors, you never really see it.
Overall, I loved The Greatest Showman. As soon as it ended, I wanted to watch it again. My youngest daughters (who are in their early teens) both really enjoyed it, too. I can wholeheartedly recommend The Greatest Showman to one and all.
Midsommar (2019)
Truly a relief in comparison to Hereditary
All this formal rigor in service of what exactly? This 140-minute shrug doesn't remotely support its ambitions of describing self-actualization and peace in the face of grief and trauma and toxic relationships, much less its excessive length, and the ritual at its heart is so self-consciously ambiguous that it could just as easily been an innocuous tradition and still have the same emotional and figurative resonance aside from an over articulated thread about the men in her life being competitive and/or gaslighting dipwads. At least it's almost constantly intentionally hilarious, and Florence Pugh is terrific.
Manbiki kazoku (2018)
Like Father, Like Son
At first, it seems like humanity has been restored as we get covered under the warm blanket, during winter days, by some strangers who live near the side road. Then Kore-eda appears to deftly take every piece of us apart. He nimbly arranges and turns our hearts into punching bags before stealthily removing them from our chests forever. How do you survive through the second round, witnessing that long uninterrupted take again with Sakura Ando holding back and weeping for the children she tried to raise? Impossible.
Captive State (2019)
Captive State interesting film
What a waste of an excellent setting and concept! Captive State could have been a very interesting film, but unfortunately it ended up being a huge missed opportunity. Poor writing, zero character development, porcupine aliens, and a pretty simple story told in the most convoluted way. I keep seeing people praise this because it's "original sci-fi", but guys, just because it's original doesn't mean it's automatically good.
The Straight Story (1999)
The Straight Story really struck a chord in me
Went in expecting something like, I dunno, movies I never go see, but I'm delighted to report that not only is this delightful and heartwarming in the best Hollywood tradition, but also unmistakably Lynchian in ways big and small. In some ways, it might actually be the key to unlocking huge swaths of his other work, since it reveals that his affection for small-town communities and the people in them as anything but ironic.
Magnolia (1999)
Paul Thomas Anderson's "Magnolia" IS AMAZING!
Quite possibly the quickest 3 hours ever. An all around mesmerizing film from beginning till end. I am also truly shocked at how good John C. Reilly was.
THE SOUNDTRACK IS AMAZING!
Clifford (1994)
Martin Short playing Clifford was average.
I despise adult actors acting like children, I've never liked it and I've never found it funny, it's too irritating to be funny and kids don't actually act like the cloying simpletons most actors seem to think they are anyway. Which is why it's cool that Martin Short plays Clifford like that stereotype gone amok and turned into a figure of willfully malicious chaos, it's the nightmare of a childless bachelor terrified of having a family but also, maybe, perhaps, possibly, the nightmare of a ham actor using every cheap trick in the book to get the audience to like him and ending up seeming like an unsettling creep. I'll say it: It's Lewisian.
Serenity (2005)
well written science fiction
I've been familiar with Firefly for forever, but have never gotten into it like some people. This movie though, it may make me binge the whole show (even if it was super long). I loved the characters, the elaborate but real settings, and the incredibly well handled science fiction concepts. A lot of what makes that original first Star Wars film great makes this movie great. I couldn't be happier coming out of this. It's just so charming.
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
beautiful scfi-fi film
I want to recommend this movie to everyone, but more specifically to those who've been disappointed by the latest Star Wars sequels. It offers a beautiful scfi-fi world as you would expect from a James Cameron production, great action, a surprising amount of violence and grit for a PG-13 movie, and most importantly a protagonist you can root for.