Reviews

I loved this movie when it came out originally. It was disjointed, as was the fashion then in movie making. I still love it, but it honestly hasn't held up that well. This last time it seemed that they must have edited out some key parts. There is a sweet love story and a coming-of-age parallel story involved, some partial character development of admittedly one-dimensional caricatures of human beings, but I still love this movie. It must be the nostalgia.

I guess that there is a mandatory rule that I mention two of the teen stars, Corey Feldman and Corey Haim. They see kind of quintessential characters which reminds me that it's time to rewatch The Lost Boys.

It was hard to sit through so many missed opportunities to make a good movie out of such potential for good stories and possibly engaging characters.

Not because of the tough subject matter, but because of the shallowness of the presentation, the dull dialogue, and the lame attempts at sensationalization.

I kept waiting for it to get better and kept being disappointed.

It was a snoozer for me.

Hard to imagine this holding interest for anyone interested in the story or with experience in addiction or recovery.

I wasn't particularly offended nor put off my the philosophies about addiction and recovery, but they just never got to the point of being meaningful or powerful, and they really should have.

Dialogue was just underdone. Not awful, but it felt like maybe they had a good movie here and over edited it to the point of simplicity.

Not for me. I disliked this movie about as much as I loved Creed. To do it over again, knowing what I know now, I'd read the Cliff's Notes version of C2 in case it's relevant in another sequel. Maybe, MAYBE, watch the last 15 minutes. But even that fight sequence is disappointing compared to what I've come to expect from a Rocky movie.

And I'd read a few more reviews. I was excited, saw the score, and a few of the top reviews. Scroll to page 2 where some critical fans describe their disappointment.

Even Stallone was diminished in this chapter. At one point early in the movie, the dialogue was so dreadful that I turned it off. Unbelievable that a professional writer did that, and it was endorsed or overlooked by everyone else before finalizing this. A glutton for punishment, I had to watch the rest in 3 installments.

TLDR: It's bad.

I didn't like it.

I don't recommend it.

I should have watched anything else instead.

Just what I was looking for after a heavy drama.

A cheesy funny romp with a smart dog a cute kid, a neurotic protagonist, a boyish crush, and a hopeful message.

The enormous insects and critters are great.

The acting doesn't have to be good, because this was really all about the story and the themes. It did those really well. And the acting wasn't bad.

I mean, this isn't for serious "film" buffs or critics. And it leaves much to be desired. (Like how did the insects get so massive so quickly? And my dogs is pretty smart, but she'll eat poison things like grapes or chocolate if i let her, but these are petty complaints). But it was fun, light, and I'm glad that I stumbled onto it tonight.

A different take on the post-apocalyptic theme without taking itself seriously.

I'm not going to comfortably recommend this, because I don't know what you like. And I doubt that I'll ever return to it.

Bravo. Superbly done.

This movie is dark.

Really f'n dark.

Although the specifics of the movie are about JWs, the themes apply to most religions and many secular organized groups. It also portrays some moral dilemmas we may face based on affiliation with almost any church or group that defines who's in and who's out.

As humans made of soft flesh and not very fast or strong compared with other animals, our need to belong to a group is basic to our survival and we know this instinctively. It is for similar reasons that solitary confinement is considered cruel punishment and why people in isolation deteriorate quickly.

Likewise, our tribal sense of family and the importance of taking care of our closest relations first is a basic drive. These needs can disagree and create conflict. And a well acted movie can portray this with an exclamation point.

Religions, groups, and governments make up rules to control individuals and punish those who don't comply. One of the ultimate punishments is banishment. Exile. Excommunication. Solitary confinement. "Disfellowship" in the JW tradition.

One of the rare times that the imdb score led me into a super stinker of a movie. What the heck is going on with this rating? I can only guess that it's because it's still pretty new.

People who liked this seem to have really liked it and described it as campy fun. I am not one of these people.

I regret taking the time to slog through this almost as much as I regret not pulling the plug after 20 minutes, when it was clear that this was more wreck than train.

There are a few moments of cuteness, but that's as close as it gets to comedy.

Proceed having been warned that if you're in the "don't like" group, I recommend an early exit.

It was a decent story with familiar characters. It wasn't as great as the main movies, but on par with the previous Beasts installment.

It wasn't seat-edge suspense nor nonstop action. There was some character backstory and a few twists that we haven't seen before.

I guess having low expectations helped. I enjoyed the movie and that's despite being annoyed at some of the casting.

Scenery and cinema were beautiful when it wasn't too dark, which it was often. Black space on screen is overused and this movie was contemporary in that regard.

Great, now I'm gonna have to buy the book.

It was exactly what I wanted. Realism. There are a few moments, like the one on his Dad's front step and a few others, that rant capture the messiness and cruelty of living. But the whole feel of the show makes you think it could turn out OK as long as the characters don't self destruct or get murdered first.

Extremely well done. The story is told balanced with dialogue, symbolism, action, and magic.

The characters are well defined and nuanced except for the mother who could be portrayed a little more sympathetically and still be just as incompetent at protecting Bennie.

The use of color and light are brilliant and help tell the story.

Ok, there are some really really good scenes and storytelling intentionally reminiscent of the original movie now known as A New Hope.

And there is some of the worst After-School Special dialogue and spoon-feeding the most obvious plot turns along with hopelessly bad efforts to keep the language PG that they are major detections.

I lived the cameos from original characters.

The musical score is practically a character, and a very good one. I don't notice the music usually unless it's distracting. This was brilliant.

I guess this movie is polarizing as most review scores seem to be below 4 or above 7.

The same date in 1957 to the movie's release in 2014 is over 20,800 days. If you could only time jump backwards one day, that's an impressive amount of jumps!

There were some funny moments. A few. They were separated by long stretches of lowbrow attempts that missed their collective marks badly. Some generational themes may resonate with viewers when the running gags don't make you, well, gag. The high points were the originality, the quirkiness, and decent subtitles. I can't recommend this, although some folks seemed to really enjoy it.

I plan on at least 2-3 episodes when I watch and I don't normally sit still for that long.

Starting with realistic, relatable, multidimensional characters, all of whom are flawed and still easy to care about, matched with writing that flows and subplots that seem like they're your own, or at least happening to people you might know, and that's the setting.

Sure, it has a message and a current topic du jour that's been overdone (which is exactly why I avoided it until now), but this series can stand on its own just in writing, storytelling, and acting. And the messages about people and families who are affected are pretty well balanced, right down to how they know that they are being annoying when they advocate and still feel the sting of isolation from friends and acquaintances because of it.

The family dynamics, the interactions with professionals like doctors and therapists, the struggles of seeking accommodations, of making accommodations, and of accepting them are portrayed in a way that's magically and simultaneously informative, entertaining, and kind of make you squirm.

I don't know how realistic the high school scenes are, I don't remember being as helpful to our neighbors with ASD 30-40 years ago. I would like to think that it is getting better, but the portrayal of Sam's nicer classmates seemed a little wishful at times.

Finishing where this started, the characters, writing, realism, and storytelling are standout strengths. I bet this team could succeed a totally unrelated project. And I'd binge the hell out of that too.

It was funny, unique, and quirky.

I enjoyed it, but I'm not going to necessarily recommend it, especially after reading some of the reviews on here.

I mean, if you're watching a dark comedy about Santa, fercryinoutloud, and looking for best-anything type performances then you probably deserve to be "disappointed." Really, what were you expecting here?

It's an easy watch and Walton Goggins sets the standard for villainy and menace. His 4 door Plymouth sedan is almost a character!

Less "magical" and special effects than you might think for this type of movie, and I mean that as more of a compliment than criticism.

Surprisingly good. I watched this based solely on the high IMDB score and, as usual, it was legit. A really enjoyable take on a fairy tale adventure story without sci-fi and with just enough CGI effects to enhance the feel and the magic. It should be more well known than it is.

Part honest 80's coming of age throwback, part After School Special. I was drawn in my the inflated (over 8 stars) IMDB rating and my love of all things 80's. I stuck around because friends said it was really good, and I got a little invested in the characters.

Tanner Buchanan and Mary Mouser's performances stand out in this talented cast.

What CK does well is to blur any black & white, good guy/bad guy lines you expect from main characters. They aren't rich, layered, complex characters but they aren't one dimensional either.

Think Saved By The Bell with fist fights.

Where CK misses is this opportunity to better develop the story arcs. Mild spoiler, there is more karate action in later episodes.

There's enough here to appeal to a range of audiences, but not enough to hold their interest.

All in all, I'm not going to recommend this to anybody who isn't already dying to watch it because of their love of the original movie.

That said, I'm sort of looking forward to season 3.

A talent rich cast delivers some of the smartest dialogue of the year in a darkly comedic storytelling romp through history.

It's one of those dark comedies where you catch yourself giggling through some of the most horrific acts and monstrous deeds that you should feel icky, but you don't have time before the next round of shenanigans takes off.

This flick is smart and it doesn't pander or condescend and yet it's somehow not stuffy or aloof either. But it is dry. A dry, serious, deadpan, hilarious look at a tragic era for so many.

These characters aren't likeable, with only a couple exceptions. They aren't sympathetic and you're left trying to maybe gin up enough humanity to pull for the least despicable among them.

There are several noteworthy individual performances, but the synergistic momentum stand way out. Also the sets and scenes had a hyper-realistic style that more than carried its own water.

After all that gushing, it's obvious that this movie won't be seen everyone's cup of tea. The material, the style, the realism, it's not typical box-office fare. As usual, your mileage may vary.

I didn't "hate" it. I mean I watched all 5 seasons finally, years after not finding much to keep my interest in the first few episodes. Reviews here, several friends, and what seems to be near unanimous opinion about the greatness of Breaking Bad brought me back.

The acting is first rate. The story premise and cinematography really deliver the proverbial goods. As an anti hero, the Walter White character is as good as they come, maybe the best.

But.

But, but, but. I kept waiting for some kind of breakthrough moment or episode where I could identify with a character enough to root for them. Sort of with Aaron Paul's character Jesse and his raw humanity sometimes. But the characters were so flawed in ways that weren't just human shortcomings, they were cartoonishly simple personalities. I don't think it was the acting, it was too consistent across characters. I mean moustache-twirling Mexican bad guys and chronically PMS'ing wives don't engage me even in a hyper-realistic set/scene with decent dialogue.

I'm glad that I watched it all the way through. I don't regret the time spent and now I will be less likely to miss popular culture references to this series.

But.

But, but, but. I think it's pretty overrated. I'm unlikely to ever watch it again.

This is, fairly objectively, a really good movie. I have talked with a couple of dozen friends about it, and they ALL liked it. A lot. There are things to complain and curmudge about, I suppose, if you are trying way too hard to complain and curmudge.

I have no idea how this flopped at the box office(s). So, I'll blame the critics for missing the greatness of this movie.

It starts with a who's who of British acting talent, under the direction of none other than Guy Ritchie, who has a modem take on a classic legend, huge sweeping scenes in beautiful landscapes, a big dose of magic, and is woven through cinematography that is on par with the best action epics ever. How did you people get it so wrong? Did you sleep through the viewing?

My only complaint is that the imdb trailer has a Led Zeppelin song, but the movie does not. That's it. That's all I've got. Everything else is to notch, premium, grade freakin' A, videographic entertainment. There are a few Guy Ritchie quirks and wrinkles, like fast-action montages to explain years of the story, or that oddball shot that looks like the cameraman is actually a Go-Pro camera attached to a guy who is running next to the subject of the shot. And it works.

Jude Law plays the villain and he kills. Yeah, I went there. And the music, with a distinctly Celtic flavor, was outstanding and enhanced the visual effects really well.

I recommend this movie without hesitation.

9/10

There are a few TV moments that stand out as my "all time favorites." The birthday party episode of Ray Donovan, several Sorkin and M*A*S*H moments, and now, "San Junipero."

Just when Black Mirror leaves you wondering if you should keep watching episodes before bedtime, they deliver this gem.

In keeping with the futuristic theme, this episode tackles the challenges of mortality, consciousness, and whether paradise is really paradise if it isn't "real," but still feels real. It's tricky to portray "time travel," immortality, and reinventing yourself in a full length movie, let alone an hour-long episode. They not only managed to do it with San Junipero, but they overcame all of the typical traps and detractions associated with these themes.

Less tricky these days, but also done with dignity, were the themes of homosexuality and interracial love.