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Reviews
Napoleon (2023)
What a Shame
Ridley Scott is a great director and has made some of my favorite films. This is not one of them. I've rarely been as bored as I was watching this movie. Phoenix sleepwalks through his performance and neither he nor the script provide any insight into the character of this important historical figure. The production design is beautiful, but hurt by the dim lighting and low contrast. The supporting long cast is lackluster and even the score feels like it was stock music.
Scott has made great movies that do and will continue to stand the test of time. This film will be a footnote at best.
This movie is a wasted opportunity.
Outer Range (2022)
Started out decent enough...
The first episode was promising. Then it just became this long, boring, melodramatic slog with lazy pacing, terrible lighting, over-acting, and sloppy writing. By the time I got to episode 8 I just didn't care. I watched it last night and already I could not tell you what happened because I was so checked out, it was like watching a test pattern.
Really a shame - a good cast and a promising start that just completely fizzled out.
Firestarter (2022)
Pointless
There is a ton of Stephen King material that has not been adapted for the screen. Why take a book that was already adapted pretty well and make a worse movie out of it?
The actors are not bad - I'm always glad to see Gloria Rueben - but the pacing is awful, the special effects are amateurish, and the changes/additions that were made to the story are not only unnecessary, but detract from the narrative and the emotional impact.
I usually like Blumhouse movies. This one, however, is not good at all.
Reacher (2022)
Entertaining
I have not read the novels but I enjoyed the Cruise movies (the first was better than the second) without knowing much or anything about the character. Cruise is a better actor than this guy on the show, but physically, he's too small to be Reacher.
Please don't take this show too seriously. This is not meant to be a serious law enforcement procedural or a realistic portrayal of the police.
This is pure entertainment and it's very entertaining. The plot is strong, the actors are engaging - it's always great to see Bruce McGill in anything - and the action is solid.
It's s fun watch.
The Stand (2020)
Ruined a Great Novel
Only 4 episodes in and I'll keep watching to see if it gets better, but I don't see how it can get worse.
It's not just that the writers don't seem to understand these characters - they don't seem to understand character development at all.
The actors are fine. The production is high quality.
The writing and story structure ruin of the great novels of the last 50 years.
If you have not started watching, don't waste your time or money. The 1990's miniseries was no masterpiece, but it was a thousand times better than this dumpster fire.
The Stand (2020)
Ruined a Great Novel
Only 4 episodes in and I'll keep watching to see if it gets better, but I don't see how it can get worse.
It's not just that the writers don't seem to understand these characters - they don't seem to understand character development at all.
The actors are fine. The production is high quality.
The writing and story structure ruin of the great novels of the last 50 years.
If you have not started watching, don't waste your time or money. The 1990's miniseries was no masterpiece, but it was a thousand times better than this dumpster fire.
Grand-Daddy Day Care (2019)
Sad and unfunny
Seeing these actors from the 70s and 80s try to lift this pathetic script into a comedy is sad and pathetic. This movie has as many laughs as a book of carpet samples. Just terrible.
Western Stars (2019)
Wonderful
The music, the narration, and the cinematography were all simply gorgeous. Springsteen hit this one out of the park.
Springsteen on Broadway (2018)
Masterful
A brilliant and intimate portrait of an essential American voice. The songs, the stories are all great and Springsteen inhabits the screen with such charisma and personality, that the show seems much too short.
Tremendously moving and inspiring.
First Man (2018)
What a Disappointment
This film had so much potential.
Unfortunately, all you get is a flat performance from Gosling that teaches the audience nothing about the man he portrays, claustrophobic direction that fails to put anything into context, and a story that should be rousing and heroic rendered completely flat and lacking any emotion. Even Armstrong's despair over the loss of his daughter lacks resonance as we never get a chance to see the relationship.
Watch Apollo 13, For All Mankind, From the Earth to the Moon, The Right Stuff, and Mission Control to get the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo story done well. Skip this boring film.