Movie Reviews

[Maxim]

I searched the whole board and didn't find a topic for this, that is still open. I am sorry if I missed something.

I am a film maniac, I live to find hidden gems and films that are obscure and forgotten. Sometimes I like the commercial trash too.

I would love if there is a place where after we watch a movie - we can write a short personal review and say if we liked it or not. Spoilers should be hidden so that we don't spoil the fun of other people.

Last movie I watched - yesterday.

1. EXHUMA - 2024.

The process of excavating an ominous grave unleashes dreadful consequences buried underneath. (IMDB)

My review 

I went in without any expectations, didn't really like the first 5-10 minutes, but then the story just sucked me in. A great sense of suspense, no cheap scares, masterful psychological terror. Amazing twists that I didn't see coming, which I can rarely say.  It gets really dark after the first half of the movie, so this is a BEWARE message.

Truly haunting experience! I recommend 100 percent! 

[Maxim]

 

2.What you wish for - 2023 - psycho-thriller

 

Today me and my husband watched this movie. It was not bad at all. A level above the medium quality psycho-thrillers. I would say the script is the best part. The story keeps you on your toes. The negative was the acting for me - the lead role was... underwhelming.

But the story was very gory and very shocking. Dealing with very taboo subjects like cannibalism. Little disturbing. 

I liked it overall - 6,5/10.

[Maxim]

 

3. The Strangers - Chapter 1.

We watched this movie last night... and boy it was scary! It is not some deep psychological thriller, know that, and it does repeat a lot of what the original The Stranger movies had in terms of plot and suspense tricks, but it is not deserving of the negative reviews it's been getting. People are ripping it to pieces and I don't get why. I am one to leave negative reviews and maybe it was the 0 expectations I came with, but I definitely can give it 6,5/10. The characters were likeable, there was plenty of suspense and spooky moments. And yes - it is targeted towards teens and younger demo, so I get why some people find it a bit infantile. And yes, it is worse than the original, but not THAT much worse. I still recommend if you need something light and spooky and not that deep for a night full of potato chips and pop-corn. 

[xtr]

This is a fun thread. I used to not go to the theater that often, but recently I purchased an AMC A-lister subscription where I can watch up to three moves in the theaters under free reservation. I have gone to see several movies lately. 

The movies I have recently seen in the theater are The Fall Guy, Sight, Tarot, The Garfield Movie, Summer Camp, Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle and Bad Boys Ride or Die.  I'll make some posts giving reviews/my thoughts on these movies. Two of these movies were pretty good, three ranged from surprisingly decent to okay and two were not very good IMO.

I will review the pretty good films first. The first one is: 

The Fall Guy- This film was the first one I saw in this string of movies. I thought that this was a pretty good film and it is disappointing that it hasn't done as well as it could have at the Box Office. It went to streaming only a few weeks after being out in the theaters. This movies has all of the makings of a summer hit. Good looking charismatic leads, who were already in hit movies last year,  (Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt), fun action scenes, and a nice romance between the leads. Not sure where things went wrong as far as people not attending the theaters to see it as much goes.

I did see people saying online that they were confused about the previews and was not sure what type of movie it was. I thought that the previews adequately showed that it was an action and romance film. The movie, especially the first part, did lean heavily on romance. But I also think there was enough action in it to keep those who prefer that type of movie satisfied. I think it had a bit of everything in it.  I thought that the movie was entertaining, I really enjoyed Ryan as the stunt guy in particular. I also like  how he was used in an unexpected plot involving the actor ( Aaron Taylor Johnson) he was a stunt man for. 

I liked his chemistry with Emily Blunt (they had a scene using a split screen that had a nice classic, romantic vibe to it.) I also enjoyed Ryan's chemistry with Winston Duke his friend in the movie. 

I thought that the storylines were wrapped up nicely in this film and I enjoyed the action sequences and camera shots. Visually it was a very nice film to look at. I also enjoyed the movie within a movie thing it had going on. It was a nice homage to stunt people. 

I would definitely recommend this movie. I do wonder if it would have fared better if had been released on either Memorial Day/Fourth of July. It just had that type of vibe to it.

I wonder if it will start to fare a bit better with streaming, and it's technically still in the theaters like where I live. Though, I wonder for how long. Nonetheless IMO it was a pretty good film and deserved a better reception than it has received so far. I hope more people will end up getting to see it eventually one way or the other. 

Edited June 10 by xtr

[Taoboi]

It might be because it was being sold and advertised as a continuation/reboot and what it REALLY appeared to be was a straight up remake of a movie that was a sleeper hit with prime actors (Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman) that had very little false notes. Never underestimate how horror fans cherish their movies.

 

I wanted to see it because it felt like they are going to get into the mythology. Since it's a filmed back to back trilogy allegedly, they might just do that. But since I know it's now a REMAKE (and like most of the world I am kinda tired of remakes for things that didn't need one...), I can wait for it to start popping up on my television rather than hitting the movie theater and feeling like a waste of money.

 

 

[Contessa Donatella]

I went to the movie theatre for the first time since the pandemic to see the latest installment of the new DUNE movies, DUNE 2. My brother & I went together. I almost fell asleep. Yes, it's true, it's a long movie. I am something of a DUNE fanatic & this held up quite nicely. I watched it again recently when it dropped streaming on max & almost fell asleep again, so I've concluded it's the movie, not me. The FX are excellent & that's one of the things you watch this for. Of course I rewatched its matching DUNE 1. 

A soap fan friend just posted yesterday about not liking OPPENHEIMER. I was so pleased. This was the first Christopher Nolan movie I ever disliked. I found it to be dreadful boring.

[Contessa Donatella]

Because it's PRIDE I rewatched CAROL. Paramount Plus I think. It was just as good on the rewatch as originally watching it. To me NYC in the 40s is a character in the show. Cate Blanchett is so good, but then she always is. Rooney Mara is brilliant opposite her. Sarah Paulson evens things out. And the movie is visually so pleasing. Knowing a very popular commercial author write it, using a pseudonym, under the title THE PRICE OF SALT just enhances the sweet poignant sad tale. 

[Maxim]

It is not a remake. Believe me. Some people call it that, but it isn't. It's just heavily reminiscent. And repeats some of the tricks, but every single horror sequel does. I don't get the negative reviews, honestly. Give it a try. And tell me if you liked it. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Other movies I have seen

Barbie - just enjoyable

Everything All At Once Everywhere (or whatever it really is) - Loved this & have already re-watched it twice. Jamie Lee Curtis ROKS!!!

Rustin This movie is so good. I hope a lot of people see it. This story needed to be told. They did such a good job with it. And, the lead actor who plays Rustin is so charismatic! If you don't know, this is a true story, Bernard Rustin was Martin Luther King's right hand man but there was this one problem. He was gay. 

Not a movie but a wonderful limited series, FELLOW TRAVELERS. 

Not a movie but the best new series, HACKS. Who knew it would be Jean Smart who would have the longevity out of DESIGNING WOMEN?! 

[xtr]

 

The next pretty good film that I am going to review is the one that is currently getting a lot of buzz right now. And that is

 

Bad Boys Ride or Die

 

I will first start off and say this is a bit of a continuation from Bad Boys For Life. Some of the storylines carry over in this film. I haven't seen Bad Boys for Life yet (I will be watching it soon), and you can follow this movie well enough even if you haven't seen it. You can even watch this movie if you haven't seen any of the other Bad Boys films. But you could watch the other movies to get a more complete understanding of this franchise.

 

I really enjoyed this movie. It was a well shot movie that had a lot of action and entertaining scenes. Will and Martin still have great chemistry together and strong comedic timing. The movie starts out showing both buddies going through some life changes and then introducing a storyline involving their police captain and how the impact of that impacts them and everyone they care about. Things get pretty entertaining from then on as other characters are brought back and introduced including Eric Dane who takes on a darker role in this film. 

 

Will and Martin don't disappoint with their rapport and support of each other as they are faced with major new challenges. One of my favorite scenes was when Martin's character Marcus was telling Will's character Mike how he viewed him and what type of relationships they had with each other in a past life. Martin delivered a take that was nice blend of humor and somberness. The bond between these two characters shined throughout the film and continues to help drive the success of this franchise.  We also see their family members take on bigger roles.

 

We saw a lot more of Mike's family including one character who played an integral part in the movie and a lot of people seemed to enjoy.

 

Martin's son in law Reggie also got to shine in this movie including in what was mine and (from I've read a lot of people's) favorite scene in the film. That scene was great and very entertaining. I'm reading that it got a lot of people got hyped during it in the theaters from others who went and saw it. I saw this movie on Thursday night (the very first night) it was available, and it was a smaller crowd. But I did feel the audience's energy especially during this scene and I believe they enjoyed the movie. Most of the people in the theater when I went were young people on dates. It's good that this movie resonates with a lot of people including young people who weren't even born when the first movie came out.

 

I also read that a lot of black people (and Latinos) supported this movie I'm not surprised at all, my theater mostly had black and a few Latino people in it. And even factoring in that racial component, it sounds like this movie is being well received in general and I'm very glad to hear that. For Will, Martin, the rest of the cast and for those of us who don't want to see the theaters go away and like seeing that. Some movies, including big budget ones, haven't been faring so well recently. But Bad Boys Ride or Die shows that audiences will show up for things that they really want to see, especially if it is marketed well, and the fans are treated with respect. I recommend people going to see this movie and having yourself a good time.

Edited June 11 by xtr

[Maxim]

 

The best movie I have seen in probably 4-5 years. I cried for 1 hour during the second part of the movie and then for 2 hours afterward.

I have never in my life cried from a movie so much. Never. I didn't even know it was possible. My husband came into the living room, because he heard me sobbing like and he wanted to hug me to calm me down.

Jessica Lange gave OSCAR worthy performance. The best in her entire career. 

I don't want to say anything else to not spoil it for you guys.

THIS MOVIE is a masterpiece.

This movie moved me to the core and will stay with me for the rest of my life.

 

[Taoboi]

Knowing me I probably will eventually. I really liked the original movie. If it's truly homage versus ripoff, I'm sure I'm enjoy it. My tolerance for ripoff only goes so far...well as long as they have the essence of the story. Like how I feel about Keanu Reeves's CONSTANTINE. Love it cuz they got the essence even if it was not completely comic book accurate.

[Maxim]

It's 20239910290 times better than the sequel of the original. Know that. 

[Taoboi]

LOL. That makes me feel better cuz that sequel outside of the end was...ugh.

[Maxim]

I enjoyed this new movie tremendously. Yes, it's nothing groundbreaking or new, but I did not expect that. It's not Alfred Hitchcock, it's just a fun slasher.