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johnsblack
Reviews
My Octopus Teacher (2020)
Just watch it
Pay attention to all the 10 star reviews and ignore the cynical "I like to crap on everything others love" 1 star reviews.
This movie is visually stunning for one thing. It's worth watching on your best tv just for that. It's a cinematic masterpiece.
Second, it's truly an incredibly moving documentary about what happens when a man takes the time to spend months in the water every single day with an extremely intelligent creature until he earns its trust and develops an actual relationship with it. Why some people feel like it's all "fake" when we humans develop those same relationship with land animals like cats, dogs, etc all the time is beyond me. Octopuses are some of the most intelligent animals on the planet, so duh of course it can bond with a human.
Lastly, it's also a fantastic study of an animal that we know so little about but is capable of such incredible behavior.
Do yourself a favor and tuck into a comfy couch, in front of your best HD TV, with your favorite snack, turn the lights low and be prepared for a truly wonderful experience.
Devotion (2022)
Great true story poorly done
Full disclosure, I watched this on a plane where for me just about ANY movie is entertaining and helps pass the time, and yet I was bored. Best way I can describe this movie is that it simply has no heart.
You just don't ever learn much at all about any of the characters, and I mean pretty much nothing, so therefore even the 'dramatic' moments end up as Ho hum.
It's too bad because from what I've researched it's a pretty good true story, but the movie fails to capture the whole point of making a movie about the story.
Maybe it's bad casting, maybe it's bad writing, but I've never been so bored watching a war movie.
Cold Pursuit (2019)
Wow, what a pleasant surprise
I don't often write reviews but I thought this movie deserved one. It started out just okay but I stuck with it and I'm so glad I did! Truly a fun movie and a neat twist on the action movie genre with a lot of different plot lines going on all at once.
It's more dark comedy than action movie and I enjoyed the tone immensely. As I said, starts a bit slow but really develops into a fun ride. So glad I gave it a try. The evil bad guy is great and throughout the movie there is an intentional quirkiness to even the violent scenes that just makes it an enjoyable watch. Definitely one of my favorite Liam movies.
The Pale Blue Eye (2022)
Very thin plot
While I was able to finish the film, I found the plot to be very simple and the characters extremely thin. The movie basically introduces you to Bale's character then drops him into a murder investigation of a cadet all within the first few minutes. Zero character development. The result is a movie where you really have no connection to anyone and no real interest in who committed the crime. Even the mild twist at the end failed to be much of a shock as I just didn't really care. Overall I was left thinking 'so what' when it was all over. Just a very flat film unfortunately. That said, I enjoyed Bale's acting very much so I decided on 5/10 stars.
Greenland (2020)
So bad I had to turn it off
How can anyone give this movie a 10? Or even a 7? One of the worst disaster movies I've ever seen. Just one ridiculous turn after another. Utterly disappointing. Do yourself a favor and skip it.
The Five (2016)
Excellent
I'm surprised at some of the negative reviews, I thought this was well worth the time. Sure, it meandered a bit trying to fill 10 episodes but overall it was a great mystery that delivered a solid conclusion. Anyone on here saying they guessed the ending early on us complete full of it. No way they could have guessed the ending, the facts were too well kept secret until the end. It was a very clever and touching reveal, I was very pleased with how it all turned out at the end. Well done Harlan.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
Shockingly bad, which makes it actually ok
I can't get over how bad this movie is, but it was SO bad it was actually entertaining. The visual effects are quite good, which is why I decided to give it 5 stars but make no mistake the movie itself is horrible. But like many campy movies of the early 80s sometimes bad movies are fun to watch simply because of how bad they are :)
Longmire (2012)
Starts out so good, ends so bad!
Seasons 1-4 were really great, I blew through them in a week and was totally hooked, but after that the writing went downhill unbelievably fast. Season 5 almost did me in but I stuck with it and I suffered through Season 6 just to see how it finally ended and it was excruciatingly hard. Walt became an utter cliche by the end, as did Vic, to the point that I really couldn't stand either of them by the last episode. Just so unbelievably sad to see a good show ruined by such horrible writing over the last 2 seasons. And the actual ending was so utterly ridiculous and disappointing I just had to write this review to warn people. Take my advice please, watch the first 4 seasons of a great show then STOP! Sure wish I had...