Reviews

It's been a while since I watched a real movie. It was sufficient for me to know that John Hamm was starring in a dark comedy for me to watch it with no further information. I do believe its best to just watch it with minimal prior awareness. Just like some excellent movies of yesteryears, this movie will grip you and stay with you even after the end credits roll.

Anybody with a creative bent and also work experience in a corporate environment will quickly warm up to the protagonist and identify with him. Creative people want the same things as others, but others fail to accept the manner in which creative people operate.

The movie is a critique on the culture of supremacy of mediocrity. It isn't that mediocre people are without their little fallacies and foibles, but somehow their issues are ignored. The odd behavior of a creative person, regardless of his or her contribution is however chastised.

If you've had enough years of life experience in the work force, then this movie will provide some catharsis. The protagonist experiences the same fears, pride, and injustices you have experienced and so you feel less alone.

I'd whole heartedly recommend this movie to folks with some professional life experience. If you've got a bit of creativity in you, you'll like this move even more.

The movie as a whole isn't too bad, especially when compared to other action franchises. The story and screenplay is written by a committee of business executives and a moronic focus group and not by artists. Consequently, some aspects of this movie are clearly a labor of love, where I imagine the artists got creative control. Other aspects of the this movie are a huge let down, especially given the high expectations that fans of this franchise had.

The good stuff: (1) The cinematography is stunning. For a pure action movie, this is by far the best cinematography I've ever seen in this genre.

(2) The action choreography is good. It is a John Wick movie after all. The actors have put in blood, sweat and tears.

The okay stuff: (3) There are a lot of action scenes with multiple main characters and they deliver an intense performance.

(4) The movie tries to play with the soundtrack by infusing modernish elements. I appreciate the effort to experiment. However, they messed up the soundtrack. It lacks coherence and context.

The bad stuff: (5) The script is beyond obnoxiously bad. Whoever wrote the screenplay lacked sufficient time or brains, probably both.

(6) They did attempt to cover plot holes, but they did so by adding a couple of lines of dialogue to explain away each plot hole. Since these were after thoughts, they stick out like a sore thumb in the natural flow of the story.

(7) Given the duration of the action sequences as a whole, there isn't sufficient variety. Things get very repetitive.

(8) No love or understanding of principal characters. The writer is pretty bad at plot development and absolutely criminally bad at character development.

In summary, the movie shows the battle behind the scenes between the studio executives (the high table), who demand that plot and character development be butchered with extremely prejudice for the sake of money and power, and the artists ( the assassins), who try desperately to create meaning in their life and their work. Unfortunately, we all work under the High Table, always under the High Table, try as an artist may in vain to answer the calling of his heart.

Who among us, growing up, has not read book series like the Famous Five or the Hardy Boys. The grown up in me often longs to view or read such a wholesome adventure. Stories like these harken of a simpler time, just a death defying adventure without the stakes of some permanent emotional damage.

Lockwood & Co. Does a great job of one critical part of story-telling, "show don't tell". The lead characters are gradually embellished through the 8 episodes, mostly by their actions, rather than their words. We know from the beginning that following character arc will be centerstage in this series. The spirits themselves are backdrop and dealing with spirits will be a repetitive chore. What moves the story forward is the evolution of the lead characters.

Lockwood & Co. Does a great job or another critical part of story-telling, "multi-dimensional characters". There isn't a single flawless or even one-dimensional character in the story, this includes the recurring but secondary characters. Consequently the story moves forward by how actions in any episode mold the story arc of all characters involved and their mutual relationships. The lead characters are well-written and balanced. They make mistakes, but learn from them. They discover team dynamics from a process of trail and error. It is great to watch their evolution.

I am totally invested in the lead characters. I want to know what new adventure they will brew, one borne out of their own misguided but well-meaning bravado. It is a quintessential trait of being young.

This is a clean show. There are no adult themes here. There is some violence, but it is muted and never gratuitous. It can be enjoyed by folks of all ages, albeit in their own ways.

A saying goes, perfection is not attained when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. This I believe lies at the heart of this brilliant movie.

The protagonist of this movie, Jim Bennet, is a university literature professor. He is also in principle the principal antagonist. Or rather, it is the angst within the protagonist that antagonizes him.

Jim is in search for perfection, the highest level. Mediocrity is abhorrent to Jim's sensibilities. He would rather not exist than exist in a state of mediocrity. Jim also believes that mediocre people despise the geniuses among them.

Jim would outwardly look like a very happy man. His social status and lifestyle are the envy of all most all regular people. Yet, Jim is on a self-destructive path.

The movie delves into the misadventures of Jim as he meanders in search of something he can't define. Through his trials and tribulations Jim's quest is to find perfection and happiness, maybe both.

This is one of those movies, that you watch with your feet up on the couch in a comfortable PJ. A dram of whiskey to slowly sip and just soak in the movie.

Props to Mark Wahlberg for an outstanding performance. He has portrayed an academic with existential crisis and esoteric pathos with remarkable fidelity. Brie Larson does a good job in a supporting role. Her understated performance provides a good complementary color to Mark's character. John Goodman has some impactful lines.

There seem to be an overwhelming number of fake reviews on IMDB aimed to boost theater ticket sales. Unfortunately this highly anticipated film is a typical 5/10 action movie sequel.

The writing and screenplay make film school 101 blunders, like violating the principle of show don't tell. After one "viewing", a blind person could describe this movie as well as a non-blind person.

The plot development is campy and over the top, typical of cheesy action movies. The character development is forced down your throat, doesn't work.

The casting for this movie is inexplicably bad.

The number of plot holes and illogical nonsense tends to infinity.

A key point in the original movie was that Maverick is actually a very disciplined pilot who pushes it to the limit of what is required. Notwithstanding appearances, he is actually very considerate of his colleagues.

This sequel completely misses the point. Maverick is now an undisciplined showboating pilot. In a similar vein this sequel, despite appearances, is actually inconsiderate of the original film.

This latest installment in the franchise stays true to the message of the original movie. The message is that life on earth that occurred naturally was awesome, just like the original movie. Subsequent efforts to replicate that accidental greatness in a test-tube is fated to fail catastrophically, just like this recent installment. The other part of the original message was that no matter how much money you throw at it, it will still fail.

This movie has practically zero plot development and absolutely zero character development. As far as narrative structure goes, this movie's screenplay is ridiculously bad.

There is no logical flow and so suspenseful situations seem obviously forced, predictable, and totally unsatisfactory.

Watch it on streaming later on. Ideally, when you have company and need to run a movie as background noise to your social interaction.

The movie could well have been a theater show. The entire movie is set within a bank during a heist. The quirky comedy intertwining the plot and character development just works, which makes this movie a fun little gem.

We've all seen a lot of bank heist movies and we've seen a lot of Mc Dreamy. What sets this movie apart is that it does not take itself seriously. Let's face it, you are not going to conduct a heist and so you don't need a heist movie to be edutainment. It just needs to entertain you during its duration. That is exactly what Flypaper intends to do and successfully pulls off.

The cast has some quirky comedy heavy hitters and they do not disappoint. The character development in this movie is absolutely brilliant. There is just enough information about a character to care and no more. Some of the characters are intentionally left ambiguous to add to the mystery and thrill aspects of the plot development. All the character arcs reach their satisfying conclusion.

Kick back in your PJs and simply enjoy this quirky funny movie.

The horror genre very rarely impresses. It is a very difficult balance between different ingredients to get right. Vicious Fun was surprisingly great at pulling off this balancing act with flair and style.

The acting and pacing are excellent, natural to the point of achieving that state of suspension of disbelief. The production quality is top notch, so the setting and atmosphere of the movie draw you in and hold your attention.

The script had a couple of slip ups but none too serious to break the plot. The screenplay was otherwise good.

A slasher horror movie with actual heartfelt character development, that is well intertwined with plot development! This is some unexpectedly excellent writing.

In addition to that, the homage to everything 80s is sure to regale those with fond memories of living in the 80s.

Get the DVD or stream it, sit back and watch this movie, you are almost certain to enjoy it regardless of your like or dislike of the horror/slasher/thriller genre.

Ender's Game is a movie adaptation of the Sci-Fi by the same name. Like all movies that are book adaptations, the audience member must fill in the blanks around character development and the story's premise; there is insufficient screen time to do these justice.

Latent Nuances: The most brilliant parts of this movie are actually between the lines, so you'd have to listen to the dialogue carefully to discover and enjoy the hidden nuance.

Intelligent: Intelligence is the ability to create abstractions for the information coming your way. Refine those abstractions and finally project your conclusive abstraction back into the real world. The most intelligent minds never cease the intellectual process of continuously refining their abstractions of real world entities and concepts.

Intelligent people never simply accept any piece of information told to them. They will challenge, assess and re-assess every bit of information; always looking for a more beautiful pattern that explains an enormous and complex deluge of information in a simple model.

How far is too far?: The author, Orson Scott Card, has written a book that presents numerous instances of the protagonist's asking himself the same question over and over again: Have I gone far enough or have I gone too far? The author does not provide an answer, it is left to the audience to reflect on this philosophically.

Intelligent Brute?!

Perhaps the biggest underlying question in this movie is whether it is possible to have an intelligent brute. Unintelligent people, function with flawed assumptions, flawed interpretations, and flawed perception. It is entirely too easy for such people to be unwitting brutes. If the outcome of their decision is viscerally gratifying, then they think their modus operandi is right. Consequently, with no self- intellectual and moral compass, unintelligent people frequently set a vicious route towards their goal.

Intelligent people, on the other hand, are least bothered by outcomes. It is their abstractions that speak to them and their inner-critic that censures or rewards them. Consequently, unless an intelligent person is a psychopath, he will be kind in his modus operandi.

Intelligent brute does sounds like an oxymoron, which is delves upon in considerable depth in this movie.

Will the Real Enemy please stand up?

The real enemy is, more often than not, found in the mirror. It's all very well to know how to fight; but do you know who to fight? The movie repeatedly explores this topic as well.

Conclusion: Watch the movie; you'll probably watch it many times.

Bold, original and incredibly well balanced comedy. The creators of this series took some novel creative decisions and managed to pull it off.

I thought the show would become boring somewhere in the middle of season 2, just more of the same. How wrong I was!

Character and plot development is astounding, both keep surprising the audience again and again.

One of the smartest and entertaining comedies of all time.

In Time is a brilliantly written and performed Sci-Fi Thriller. It is above all a brilliantly disguised socio-economic satire.

Premise: The basic Sci-Fi premise of this movie is use of "life expectancy" as currency. Any entity of "value" can be used as currency.

Value Rationale: Value (of life) = Quantity (of life) * Quality (of life)

(1) Life expectancy is correlated to economic status; individuals with more money tend to live longer and healthier lives.

(2) Quantity: A working man gives 40 hours a week, to earn a living. An unemployed man would die sooner, so the working man earns lifetime by giving some lifetime.

(3) Quality: Everyone works 40 hours/week, but a CEO enjoys much higher quality leisure time than a janitor. If both CEO and janitor die at 80 (equal quantity), the CEO has enjoyed much of those 80 years far more than the janitor (quality).

Sci-Fi twist of In Time: In the equation, Value = Quantity * Quality, what if we removed Quality and replaced it with multiplier for Quantity! So,

Value (of life) = Quantity (of life)

The awesomeness of the movie is to take this simple modification in the equation for value of life and be able to intertwine that with social and economic commentary.

Characters and portrayal: The principal protagonists and antagonists in this movie are smart people.

FYI, folks who orchestrate a revolution are always much smarter than the average person. They will not be relatable to a mediocre person.

For example, would you have thought of using hyper-inflation as a bomb?! Just like an actual bomb can destroy a building, hyperinflation can destroy a currency. Read about how Zimbabwe had to abandon their currency after a bout of hyperinflation.

Justin, Amanda, and Cillian deliver great performances given that the movie had very little time to fully develop each their characters. Note that a lot of the dialogue between characters is spent on socio-economic commentary as opposed to character development, so this is a difficult balancing act for any script writer, director and editor.

Conclusion: The movie is NOT preachy. It does not educate the audience between economic theory of currency, inflation, stratification, interest-rates, etc. So the rationale behind the actions and choices by the principal characters might not be immediately obvious. Do yourself a favor and learn the basics of economic theory, it is incredibly fun!

Bonus: I loved one of Chekov's gun in the movie, in character development, so deliciously subtle. Near the start, the protagonist laments that the increased number of guards reduces accessibility to the object of desire. Near the end, the protagonist, has grown, exploits the increased number of guards to increase accessibility to the object of desire. This parallels the underlying theme of the entire movie of scarcity vs. Plenty and poetically links to the notion that there are always two ways to bell a cat. So incredibly delicious, hmmmm :-)

Every now and then, a thought provoking satire comes along and Don't Look Up is one of them. The movie has numerous references to pop culture events and icons and much of the humor in the movie requires you to recognize the references to get the joke. Since the comedy is fairly accessible, most people will enjoy this movie.

The cast does a surprisingly good job. Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio both created very relatable characters; very impressive thespians. Meryl Streep seamlessly blends into her character; brilliant as usual. Jonah Hill provided a good supporting role and comic relief through out the movie. Solid performances from the rest of the cast including Cate and Tyler. I feel they edited parts of Ron Perlman in the final cut, since there should have been more of him.

Overall, the movie, falls slightly short of its own potential, perhaps by design. There wasn't any memorable music score accompanying the scenes of gravitas in the movie. The script leaned a tad too much towards "cheap-shots" in its satire, which makes the comedy accessible but not that impressive, most discerning audience will see the jokes a mile away, but it is entertaining nevertheless.

In terms of entertainment, I'd rate this movie a 7 because of the acting performances and a few good jokes. However, I am rating it an 8 since there is important commentary in the movie that everyone should hear and think out.

Watch this movie with a friend or two and enjoy discussing various social, cultural and political references in the movie. If you and your friend have different opinions on economic ideologies, you'll love the post-movie debates and discussions. ;-)

The cinematography and soundtrack are off the charts. The plot and character development is great for an episodic TV series. All the main characters have interesting story arcs that make them individually fascinating.

The actors are endearing. We all know and love John Cho, but the other principal cast members hold their own and were a joy to discover.

Many of the other reviews have me incredibly surprised, and not in a good way. I suppose you need atleast a little bit of maturity to enjoy this show.

Here is my question to disgruntled Anime fans: if you have seen the greatest near-perfect version before, why squander time watching this show, and then squander even more time writing your ranting review?

Movies and TV shows are abridged adapted-for-screen versions of the original text. This is universally understood except for some anime fans. Get a life and grow up, is all that needs be said to these anime fans.

If you are over 30 and enjoy jazz, you will absolutely love this show.

Dave Chappelle has raised the bar on what a stand-up comedy show can achieve. Like the Mona Lisa painting, like the Live Aid rock concert performance by Queen, this comedy special is a work of art that is so much more than itself. Even though the Mona Lisa is just another painting, and probably not the number one painting for everyone; even though Queen's concert performance is just another rock show and probably not the number one concert performance for everyone, there is something subliminal about these pieces of artistic expression that make them legendary. Dave Chappelle's, "The Closer" is similarly an artistic expression in the category of stand-up comedy that renders it legendary. Of course, it must stand the test of time to attain this status, but if the furor it has engendered is anything to go by, then this comedy special is all but guaranteed legendary status.

For a few years now, there has been a question in questioning minds, as to what, if anything, can bring the Right and Left political factions to agree on something. Chappelle's "The Closer" is the first instance of an artistic expression that has folks on both sides of the political aisle in agreement. If nothing else, this alone is absolutely amazing. It had to take a work of pure genius to achieve a cross-cultural phenomenon we are currently witnessing.

Multiple anchors and pundits on the Fox news network are emphatic in their support of Dave Chappelle!?! This despite the unequivocal stance of Dave Chappelle against the politics of "White People", which he reiterates in this special. Let that sink in; Chappelle is calling them out for their hypocrisy and a thinly veiled attempt at subverting the Liberal political movement, and yet they are cheering him on. This is incredibly inspirational stuff from Chappelle.

Dave Chappelle achieves this landmark without recourse to fabricating falsehoods or even bending the truth. Politicians should take note! The power in Chappelle's persona is his adherence to unabridged truth. The truth doesn't alter itself to placate the misguided emotional self-image of some people. That is, obviously, not how truth works, truth is what it is, regardless of what you feel about it. Truth can not and will not alter, even in the slightest, simply because you complain about it. Dave Chappelle is the personification of truth. It is that simple; and also that profound.

It is the immutability of truth and therefore of Dave Chappelle, is what lends him the influence that he has over everyone, Right and Left. Anybody who has fought long enough and hard enough realizes that the last narrative left standing is the Truth. You can shun the Truth, you can kidnap the Truth, but you can never kill the Truth. When the war of narratives is done and the dust finally settles, it will always be Truth that is left standing. The man who unflinchingly adheres to the Truth narrative, will therefore be the last man standing.

To achieve something legendary requires relentless hard work and dedication over years and years and years. The most beautiful flower blossoms in the harshest of environments. It is the crucible of adversity that crystalizes the most precious of gems. This wisdom is universally known. However, people constantly try to create short-cuts to success. Most of these short-cuts take the form of violence (overt and/or veiled) coupled with a relentless campaign of disseminating false narratives. Many so called successful empires (political, business, cultural, religious) have utilized this approach. Therefore it comes as no surprise that people are influenced by the allure of "Violence & Lying".

The creator of "Calvin and Hobbes", a universally beloved genius cartoonist, once remarked that the secret of humor is surprise and nothing is more surprising than the truth. There you have it, if you want your narrative to be genuinely funny, it must contain the kernel of truth. Sure, many people may not immediately like it or even readily understand it, but eventually, the humor will shine through, because it is true.

Therefore, Comedy as an art form is arguably essential for the salvation of humanity. Comedy is the cure for the cancer that ails the human spirit.

Dave Chappelle, shine on you beautiful diamond!

While I think this movie deserves a 6.5 rating; I've given it a 10 to offset in some small measure many of the 1/10 from the overtly non-woke folks.

Pros: (1) The movie remains suspenseful till the end.

(2) There are under-currents of support for the typically disenfranchised people (Indigenous folks; miners; truckers; people with disabilities).

(3) Without giving spoilers; the writing does not pander, i.e. Characters are frequently in real harms way.

(4) The movie shines a light on exploitative corporations; abusive work culture that preys on the weak.

(5) Inspirational: with struggle, *sacrifice, and tenacity we can see an impossible journey to its end.

* sacrifice of self for others and not sacrifice of others for self (6) The IQ for protagonists and antagonists is fair. This was the most refreshing aspect of this action flick. A hero with the typical EQ and IQ of a trucker will not suddenly act with the IQ of a rocket scientist. The characters in a supporting role are not complete morons; which some movies do to make the hero seem more impressive.

Cons: (1) The movie has some glaring plot holes: light travels faster than sound; but they got that order reversed.

(2) The movie fails to find a coherent principal protagonist and antagonist; is it a man or is it a force of nature. This debate is indeed a core aspect of this movie. Unfortunately, the script and/or editing fail to find harmony between these will achieving coherent plot and character development. A lot of other reviews complain of this aspect, but judge it too harshly.

(3) It seems that the CGI budget was slashed after the script and screenplay was finalized; so some CGI is there but noticeably bad.

(4) The main cast does a good job of acting but some supporting cast are really poor quality actors, which sticks out like a sore thumb.

Summary: Overall, this movie is a good depiction of a three-way clash between man vs nature vs man's nature. There is a watered down indictment of predatory corporate and social norms. Impressively the movie hints at the fact that there are no racist people, just greedy people and stupid people; the stupid people perpetually misled by the greedy people. Finally the movie is about "the greater good" - what does it mean to you and what will you risk/sacrifice for the greater good.

Since there are topics of philosophical reflection that this movie engenders in the minds of people; the reflexive hate from non-woke folk as evinced in other reviews is par for course.

The movies in the purge series have an undercurrent of socio-economic, racial, political, etc. Issues. It is rare to receive a narrative from the disenfranchised in the American south. This installment of the Purge series does justice by the original inhabitants of the United States, particularly in and around the state of Texas.

In the 2004 movie, "The day after tomorrow", it is the advent of climate change that instigates are mass exodus of American citizens to Mexico. The political commentary there was that in an ever changing world, the once high and mighty, will be brought to their knees and need aid from the very people they always denigrated.

This 2021 movie, has a similar political commentary with the exception that the cataclysm is not climate change but extreme political polarization. It is not freezing weather but fascism boiling over that compels American citizens to seek aid from the very people they relentlessly denigrate.

The movie script is reasonably well written. It includes numerous references to recent socio-political issues and events surrounding native americans and latin americans.

The movie does not pull any punches in its depiction of white american entitlement. Most white americans are brain washed from birth into thinking they are special and should always think of themselves as special and always expect to be treated as special. Ironically, most of the review comments here reinforce this point made in the movie. Most of the comments rant along the lines of, "I expect to be entertained by any movie in which the implicit and explicit message should always reinforce my unqualified sense of entitlement and superiority. How dare a movie shed light on the destructive ramifications of my white supremacism and call itself entertainment.".

It is completely besides the point that this movie might be entertaining, perhaps even provide catharsis, for the hundreds of millions of non-white people. However, the rationale in most comments is that non-white people are not really humans, so entertaining them is not really entertaining humans, therefore the movie is fundamentally not entertaining, QED! (I agree that the logic is fool proof assuming the axiom that non-white humans are non-humans.)

In conclusion, "we" need more movies like the forever purge.

I did not know what to expect from the trailers. I guessed it might be some manner of Rocky, story of redemption, but it turns out to be more of a Rambo. With out giving anything away, I'd say the one thing this movie definitely does well is consistently subvert expectations.

There is a lot of 80s action movie references in this movie. So if you're of the age that grew up watching those action movies, you're going to enjoy Nobody.

You will enjoy this movie. If you watch this post COVID-19 and George Floyd, then you will be amazed at the accurate prediction of society decay in this film. The plot of the movie is fairly standard and also unimportant. What is important is the character development, dialogue, and content between the lines. If you are smart enough to understand satire and dark comedy you will absolutely love this movie.

The joke is that this movie IS a Zombie. The original movie, Zombieland will go down as a classic. The writing was brilliant and I felt a connection with the characters. The writing and screenplay was alive.

Zombieland 2 is what happens when the spirit of the original is dead but the movie still brought back to life for a sequel. It IS a zombie.

While the original movie, like great music, was made for people with a soul and a mind, who typically feel lonely and have a strong longing for belonging but are generally and repeatedly misunderstood and mistreated. The whole point of Zombieland was that it was an allegory for the rapidly deteriorating dystopian world. I always thought Zombieland was a little ahead of its time in 2009; I related to it, but many other did not. Most people have caught up to the original movie by 2017. It is very clear we live in Zombieland, metaphorically speaking of course.

That is high praise for the original, so what about this sequel? Sigh...damn mediocre idiot writers, no brains, no soul, nothing. A lot of noise and motion, but no substance .. yeah, it's a Zombie.

So, in conclusion, avoid this sequel like you would avoid a Zombie. The protagonist said it best, "One and done, that's what I say" - Columbus

Corporate Animals is a modern day satire that may not appeal to everyone. If you have worked in corporate America for any length of time, then this movie is worth your time and money.

Being a satire, the movie is obviously not to be taken literally, since every sketch or scene in the movie is a metaphor. The script is excellent and there is a lot of good content.

Those of you who have watched "Welcome to the jungle (2014)" will recognize some similarity in overall plotline. The characters in Corporate Animals are colleagues on a 'team building' exercise with an activity instructor. Similar to "Welcome to the jungle", things go awry and the characters are thrown into an impossible situation that sets the stage for the rest of the film. The difference being that the characters in 'welcome to the jungle' are in a jungle on an island and here the characters are in a cave in the middle of the desert.

Importantly, Corporate Animals delves into several pertinent contemporary social and economic issues. For example, there is commentary on the so called 'trickle down economy' and what it really means to the average joe, and many many more.

I can't say more without giving away spoilers, so I'll just say that if you do or have ever had an opinion about Capitalism or Corporate America, then this movie makes for excellent catharsis for you.

Repeat viewing for a movie like this should be rewarding since I am sure I've missed several good jokes and references in the first viewing.

Ironically, everything in this sometime over the top satire could be factually true, except for the ending, which certainly is fiction ... it's a happy ending!

If there is a message from this movie, I guess it would be: "Dear Average Joe, Not all problems can be solved by a tax break; so break a leg."

All zombie movies are made of zombies, but not all of them are made for zombies. This is one of those zombie movies made for non-zombies. The comedy is dark and layered. This movie is a satirical commentary on the current situation in America. There are several news and pop culture references in the movie. These are easy to pick up since the movie runs slowly. If you are in the mood for a chill movie watching experience as opposed to the usual high adrenaline CGI extravaganza, then you should check this one out.

If Ron Livingston (Office Space) and Nic Cage (Lord of War) were fused together, this movie would be it. It has both the easy going and laissez-faire attitude of Livingston and the manic energy of Cage all rolled into one and it manages to work! This is a surprisingly good movie. While there already exist several similar movies, Office Uprising manages to deliver a fresh movie experience. This movie does draw inspiration from many recent movies and movie buffs might recognize some of these. However, I felt that these inspirations were incorporated into this movie by the director and the script writer in the right manner. I could never predict where the movie was going or how it would end and I kept enjoying it all the way till the credits started rolling.

Best part about the movie is the awesome way in which it delivers references to several political issues. It never once got preachy and boring. The plot kept moving forward at a good pace.

The cast did a great job. It is not easy to deliver a compelling performance in an intentionally over the top movie. Nevertheless the characters portrayed were believable and relatable. There is blood, gore and violence, a lot of it. However, it never once felt excessive or out of place. There is both lite an dark comedy in the movie and movie managed to juggle between them very well.

This is an excellent comedy in its sub-genre that you can really enjoy with friends and family and there is something in it for pretty much everyone.

In a nutshell, this movie was everything for everybody. It also had just about every British actor who has ever worked in Hollywood in various cameo appearances. The core of the humor in the movie was making fun of idiosyncrasies of Brits and Yankees.

The problem with the ratings for this movie lie in its inability to please either of its two principal demographics. (1) The smart audience will understand the pop-culture reference that is being parodied or mocked. However, once you realize the reference, the joke itself isn't particularly funny. The biggest component of a joke is the surprise. If the audience instantaneously knows where the joke is headed then it isn't really funny. For example, starting to compare unelected British Monarch and then mentioning American democratically elected president in the first sentence, already telegraphs the upcoming Trump joke. (2) The average audience will not understand any references and the movie doesn't really have any other types of jokes. So this type of audience is definitely going to dislike the movie.

Watching the movie as like sitting at a standup comedy show that you have seen before, a few times. I can imagine there might be some who would be in hysterics watching this movie. But that is like a sweet spot of people just about smart enough to get the references but not experienced enough to have heard all the jokes before.

This is not a mainstream movie. It is not designed to appeal to everybody. This is a movie for creative people. It is a catharsis for any creative person who has ever been wronged. The movie speaks for the silent artists.

The movie is not some linear story, even though it has one. It is really about a dialogue between the tortured soul of an artist with those who would seek to profit from his misery. Watching the movie is about sitting back and thinking about the questions that it raises. In this sense, you will be watching this movie long after having finished watching it.

One of the principal questions that movie raises is: who does art belong to and who gets to arbitrate this ownership? When you listen to a song, who does that song belong to? Does it belong to the singer from whom the sound emanates, or does it belong to the listener whose ears receive the sound? The ownership of the music, the song and the lyrics is simple and known. The singer may sing it again and again and may profit from it each time. But then what about a painting? Why does no artist draw a painting more than once? Why is there only one Mona Lisa?

The screenplay is impressively well written. There are several seemingly innocuous bits of dialogue in the movie that make a lot of sense in hindsight as they address the many questions that this movie raises. A repeat viewing should be rewarding.

The cast list is appropriate for the movie. The acting is superb.

My mind, inured to the regular pattern of narratives in movies, found its choice of protagonist and antagonist during the early half of the movie. Fascinatingly enough, there was quite a reversal of this perception as the movie progressed. Nearing the end, I was thoroughly confused; who are the good guys and who are bad guys in the movie?!

The movie sounds a warning for soulless parasites who prey on creative people. Their greatest vanity shall become their doom. The irony is that such people will scarcely understand this movie and so fail to hear the warning.

You won't believe it, but this horror movie is actually a feel good movie. Those who do wrong get their just deserves in the end.

With a few exceptions, this movie should be entertaining for almost everybody. For those who enjoy cinema, this movie delivers in spades.

Style: This movie is to most other movies out there as Soul and Jazz music is to Pop music. You gotta have a bit of style in your bones to feel it.

Multi-layered narrative: The movie is brilliantly written. It has many layers in it. To the credit of the filmmakers these layers are beautifully subtly intertwined with the narrative thread. It manages to cram in several culturally relevant topics of late 60s America into the movie. Many viewers may well not even realize the social, cultural, and political commentary in the film and think of it as merely a crime thriller.

Cinematography: The cinematography is awesome. Most viewers will easily spot the homage to Tarantino's movies in this film. There are other references as well.

Music: A lot of good music. Again there is nothing in the movie just for the heck of it, there is a reason for it. The lyrics of a song underscore or complement the ongoing scene. This is just so satisfying as a gripping conversation between the characters unfolds without a word of dialogue.

Acting: Excellent acting from the entire cast.

Thriller: Take my word for it, just go see the movie. Don't spoil it for yourself.

Multi-Dimensional Characters: Pretty much every character is 3 dimensional. How amazingly refreshing is that! Kudos to the writers and film makers.

Respect: The film makers show respect for their audience. The characters are deliciously flawed. Not a single event feels forced. There is no action scene for the sake of action. Any viewer would do the same as any of the characters if they were in their shoes. So the story feels real and therefore really thrilling.

It takes a lot of writing effort to drive plot forward with believable characters. Anyone can create an action scene with stupid people doing stupid things. But to create a thriller where everyone is smart and doing smart things and right things. That is exceptional.

Go see the movie!