I usually don't watch reality shows but this format was unique. So i hesitantly watched last season and did the same with this one. They need to stick to the format and do what was agreed upon at the start of the game.
Reviews
8 Reviews
Our Friend
(2019)
Different terminal illness movie
29 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This was a good movie and it is different from other terminal illness movie. They are always very melodramatic and focus on the disease very much. This movie tried to focus on the friendship of these characters which I found was good but I really wish it held to that even more.
The Equalizer 2
(2018)
A predictable sequel that doubles as a Lyft commercial
20 July 2018
It's not that this is a particularly bad movie; it's just not a very good one. Some portions of the story seemed completely unnecessary, almost as if their only reason for existing is to show the audience the redeeming qualities of Denzel's character. Character development is fine of course, but these scenes and interactions don't help propel the story forward, rather they play out like a collage of good deeds hiding beneath the surface of a commercial for Lyft (the ride sharing service competitor to Uber.) These scenes feel like filler and bloat a movie that feels much longer than it's actual run time.
The other main gripe I have with the movie is the script. It's just not very good. Denzel and company do the best they can with what they have, but they don't really have much to work with. The jokes fall flat for the most part and the story is highly predictable throughout; you can see the twist coming from a mile away.
The action scenes are well done, visceral and appropriately brutal. A set piece at the end of the movie that takes place during a hurricane is also particularly well done, but overall, the script is too weak for the movie to be a well-done thriller and the pacing is too slow for it to be a fast-paced action movie, so this movie ends up stuck in purgatory and turns out to be an average action-thriller where the sum isn't really better than it's parts. 6/10
The other main gripe I have with the movie is the script. It's just not very good. Denzel and company do the best they can with what they have, but they don't really have much to work with. The jokes fall flat for the most part and the story is highly predictable throughout; you can see the twist coming from a mile away.
The action scenes are well done, visceral and appropriately brutal. A set piece at the end of the movie that takes place during a hurricane is also particularly well done, but overall, the script is too weak for the movie to be a well-done thriller and the pacing is too slow for it to be a fast-paced action movie, so this movie ends up stuck in purgatory and turns out to be an average action-thriller where the sum isn't really better than it's parts. 6/10
Sicario: Day of the Soldado
(2018)
A good follow up, should really be viewed in it's own merit, separate from the first film
1 July 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Here's the thing. The original Sicario for me is about as perfect as a movie can be. One of my all time favorite movies. I have watched it several times, and I believe it to be a true work of art. Is this movie as good? Absolutely not. But is it worthy of being roasted by critics? I'd have to answer with an equally resounding no.
Soldado is not really as much of a sequal as it is just another part of the Sicario anthology. The original Sicario was about American international policy in the facade of a drug movie. It was about the lengths the government was willing to go to deal with this war on drugs, the policies behind it and the individuals affected by putting those wheels into motion. Soldado, in that way is a similar movie. It also has a lot to say about American politics. What some people see as a pointless terrorism angle that was left behind for the movie to shift gears into a road journey is actually a key aspect of the film and does not take away from it, regardless of what political stance you have for border control. The terrorism angle: Initially, the movie starts off at the US-Mexico border with some migrants crossing. The border patrol closes in on them and one of the migrants diverges from the group; he has explosives and sets off a bomb, killing himself, and I believe to be several agents around him. The movie then flashes to another very graphic and well-done scene of 3 suicide bombers blowing up a super market in Kansas City. These events set the movie in motion since the Cartels are now labeled a terrorist organization based on the FBI definition that was given in the movie; basically, less rules in combatting them. One of the plans that Brolin's character hatches is to start a war between the cartels themselves, making a war between the U.S and all cartels in Mexico much more likely to succeed. The plan that they devise is to kidnap the daughter of one of the cartel leaders under the assumption that another cartel did it, and the events that transpire after involve the kidnapped girl herself, Del Toro's and Brolin's characters (and of course their mercenary compadres) as well as a side story about a teenage U.S citizen that starts to get more involved with the cartels eventually becoming a more integral part of the plot.
One of people's major concerns with this film is that the terrorism angle in the beginning of the movie seems like scare tactics towards individuals who have a political inclination to close off the border. That could not be further from the truth. In fact, the movie makes it clear that the three terrorists that were involved were actually U.S citizens from New Jersey, therefore this theory they had that the terrorists came in from Mexico was completely caput. The overreach of the government to label the cartels a terrorist organization so they could continue their war on drugs is the point of this movie. Del Toro, Brolin, the kidnapped girl are all eventually seen as pawns on a chess board. When the mission is abandoned for yet again more political reasons, Brolin's character is told to dispose of the girl and Del Toro as they both know too much about the operation. This movie is not about the war on drugs, terrorism or border politics. It's about individuals being pawns on a chess board to government plans and policies, however ridiculous, immoral or unlikely to achieve a particular goal they might be.
The movie does have substance, despite some critics stating the contrary. The direction and script are very good (what we've come to expect from Sheridan.) The cinematography and action sequences are spot on, as well as the sound and overall sense of dread that was captured in the first. My major gripe with the movie is the ending. This movie is too intelligent to bait us into a sequel. You put it out, I'll watch it, but please don't ruin a 2 hour long movie with a 1 minute sequence that basically winks at the camera for a sequel. Watch the movie, understanding that it is not as good as Sicario, but better than most of the crap that Hollywood peddles nowadays. If you like Sheridan's other movies, I'm sure this will be right up you alley.
Soldado is not really as much of a sequal as it is just another part of the Sicario anthology. The original Sicario was about American international policy in the facade of a drug movie. It was about the lengths the government was willing to go to deal with this war on drugs, the policies behind it and the individuals affected by putting those wheels into motion. Soldado, in that way is a similar movie. It also has a lot to say about American politics. What some people see as a pointless terrorism angle that was left behind for the movie to shift gears into a road journey is actually a key aspect of the film and does not take away from it, regardless of what political stance you have for border control. The terrorism angle: Initially, the movie starts off at the US-Mexico border with some migrants crossing. The border patrol closes in on them and one of the migrants diverges from the group; he has explosives and sets off a bomb, killing himself, and I believe to be several agents around him. The movie then flashes to another very graphic and well-done scene of 3 suicide bombers blowing up a super market in Kansas City. These events set the movie in motion since the Cartels are now labeled a terrorist organization based on the FBI definition that was given in the movie; basically, less rules in combatting them. One of the plans that Brolin's character hatches is to start a war between the cartels themselves, making a war between the U.S and all cartels in Mexico much more likely to succeed. The plan that they devise is to kidnap the daughter of one of the cartel leaders under the assumption that another cartel did it, and the events that transpire after involve the kidnapped girl herself, Del Toro's and Brolin's characters (and of course their mercenary compadres) as well as a side story about a teenage U.S citizen that starts to get more involved with the cartels eventually becoming a more integral part of the plot.
One of people's major concerns with this film is that the terrorism angle in the beginning of the movie seems like scare tactics towards individuals who have a political inclination to close off the border. That could not be further from the truth. In fact, the movie makes it clear that the three terrorists that were involved were actually U.S citizens from New Jersey, therefore this theory they had that the terrorists came in from Mexico was completely caput. The overreach of the government to label the cartels a terrorist organization so they could continue their war on drugs is the point of this movie. Del Toro, Brolin, the kidnapped girl are all eventually seen as pawns on a chess board. When the mission is abandoned for yet again more political reasons, Brolin's character is told to dispose of the girl and Del Toro as they both know too much about the operation. This movie is not about the war on drugs, terrorism or border politics. It's about individuals being pawns on a chess board to government plans and policies, however ridiculous, immoral or unlikely to achieve a particular goal they might be.
The movie does have substance, despite some critics stating the contrary. The direction and script are very good (what we've come to expect from Sheridan.) The cinematography and action sequences are spot on, as well as the sound and overall sense of dread that was captured in the first. My major gripe with the movie is the ending. This movie is too intelligent to bait us into a sequel. You put it out, I'll watch it, but please don't ruin a 2 hour long movie with a 1 minute sequence that basically winks at the camera for a sequel. Watch the movie, understanding that it is not as good as Sicario, but better than most of the crap that Hollywood peddles nowadays. If you like Sheridan's other movies, I'm sure this will be right up you alley.
You Were Never Really Here
(2017)
I Was Never Really There
16 May 2018
If I only had two words to describe this movie, I would use pretentious and dull. Look, I understand the movie is very technically proficient. I understand that there are some nice visuals and good use of camera work, and that the acting of Phoenix is superb, but at the end of the day, this movie is very hard to watch. I would consider myself a movie buff, more so than most people I know and I tend to think I can appreciate a film as an art form, and I do. This is a pretentious movie, in that it feels like it almost screams "if you don't like me, you don't understand me." It''s artsy for the sake of being artsy. Watching this movie is a chore. You can dress a movie up, but at the end of the day, movies are an entertainment platform, their job is to entertain, to engage or to make you feel an emotion. At it's core, the emotion this movie makes you feel most is restlessness. Not because of how incredible the story is, but because you can't wait for it to end.
Chris Rock: Bigger & Blacker
(1999 TV Special)
This Stand-up performance is the best I've ever seen.
1 January 2004
I saw this about one month ago on HBO. Than I saw it 3 more times. Than I finally saw it again yesterday. It is the funniest performance I have ever seen. Like the joke about not banning guns but making bullets worth $5000 a piece. How he said that is you got shot they would have been like, "He must have done something." I was literally laughing-my-ass-off. It's a great stand-up-performance. The best that I've seen, and I'd like more people to recognize it.
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