Reviews

Soapy drama where almost everyone has issues. Always fun to see and completely unrealistic, nobody has this many issues in their life, only in the movies and tv they do. I was not convinced as to why the actress who played Schmi Skywalker wanted a divorce. I come from divorced parents and it did not resonate at all. She wants to do things and travel the world but for some reason the husband is too boring I don't know made no sense, I can only guess the real reason is she is in fact going to a galaxy far far away to raise Anakin Skywalker. Then there is the cheating daughter whose boyfriend for some reason forgives and they still get married right there, the old guy with the young girl who is pregnant (we get no resolution there as to whether she keeps it or not or the relationships is still on). The loner who secretly has a crush on the other daughter. Then there is another daughter from a previous marriage (?) that is mixed race which is there only to diversify the cast I guess. Did I mention the terminal ex-boyfriend? Ugh. I am giving this a 6/10, but just.

I binge watched this new mini series about the hijacking of an aircraft from Colombia, flight 601. It's really surprising to find so little information about it on wikipedia since it is based on a true story but you have to be really careful when they decide to film a true life event and after each episode the producers of the show do say it: based on a true story but some dialogues, characters and story has been dramatized, basically some of it is made up. I emphasize the dramatized part, I believe a lot of is purely speculation. Maybe one day I will see some youtube video pop up about the movie vs reality.

The series starts good, the first three or so episodes are good. The fourth one is a flashback on the motivations of the two hijackers and then there is final act, episodes 5 and 6 where we are being explained how they disappeared and what happened to the main characters after their ordeal. But it's the last episode that goes downhill, so much drama, so much BS about life and this and that and a whole bunch of non sense and now somehow the two hijackers are now "good" guys and just misunderstood somehow because they had it so bad in life. I hate it when they romanticize criminals and their whole thing was just. And the completely made up ending where one of the stewardess meets up with one of the hijackers (that was never caught), I mean come on give me a break! I was about to gave it a 7 but the last half of the final episode ruined it and I had to deduct a point.

A decent German sci fi first contact type of movie loaded with mystery all the way till the end. I thought the message that we need to change as humans is great. Really do no understand why this is bad or considered "woke" these days. The series makes some really good points about us humans not ready for first contact. I think we are, I just hope the aliens or the probe the alien sends to earth one day is received by good folks that aren't political or even scientists. That is also part of the whole deal in this show. Who gets it, who makes first contact. We are too divided about it and the series points that out. So it is nice to see the two main characters, father and daughter are the ones that receives the message.

The Reason why I am only giving it a 6 and not higher is this could have easily been a 2 hour movie. Netflix does this sometimes, make what could have been a movie into a mini series so the show kind of dragged on for too long. But as a sci fi fan, this is a good watch, just too long unfortunately.

I enjoyed Transformers: Rise of the Beasts more than I thought it would. It is in the same league as Bumblebee and way better than the Transformers movies from Michael Bay. Also glad to see the transforming of the bots are more smooth and not as ridiculous as in the main movies and the robots are not as stupid and don't have stupid beards but they still have too many human traits for my liking.

I used to watch Beast Wars, the TV show back in the day so I was disappointed those bots did not get much screen time. I was more interested in the bots than the dreaded human factor: the actors in this suck. So we got a latino from the hood and a black female archeologist with a sassy mouth. They couldn't come up with better characters than that? So both characters from Brooklyn and now we gotta hear rap music through out the whole movie? So stupid.

I also would like the add, it takes place in 1994 and happy to report, they didn't lay the nostalgia on thick but seriously, one dude is talking to the lead through a headset and he has excellent reception in an underground garage? No way that would happen in 1994. And also good to see they really tried to keep any other humans or government people to a minimum but really what they should have done was not put any human actors as the TV show didn't have any. Or at least put normal actors and not the stupid stereotype characters we always see in movies. Oh yes, again, a poor latino in the hood with a father not around and a sick brother and hard working mother. How cliche can you get.

Overall I enjoyed it, it is a decent Transformers film but the actors are cringey and annoying, almost ruined the entire movie for me, the cool bots saved it and I really wish the next Transformers movie does not take place on earth at all. Don't want to see more stupid and annoying human characters that make dumb jokes. But the bots are good, I liked all of them, Mirage especially and the motor autobot (forgot the name) but such a shame the beasts have so little screen time, especially Cheetor.

Rico Verhoeven is a Dutch kickboxer, he is part of Glory Kickboxing events and has won a lot of matches, he is well known in my country The Netherlands. I have seen him once at a Glory event I went for the first time (and also last), back when I had no idea who he was. I know he is a fan of movies and wants to make it in Hollywood.

I think his first big role (he had a small part in one of the Kickboxer sequels from 2010s) is not super bad but it suffers from terrible dialogue and non-sensical scenes like the bad guy Frank Grillo complaining to his chef about the mushroom stew. I see where they were going with this but scenes like this were done way better in other movies. The script is very amateurish, resulting in comedy when it was most likely not intended.

The acting of Rico isn't super bad but it definitely needs work. One thing I didn't like was why the film was all in English when it takes place mostly in The Netherlands? I know they want it to be for international audience but guess what, audiences can also read subtitles when necessary. I think the movie would have improved a lot more if it was part Dutch and English.

Another problem with the film is the duo cop, the woman and the guy, the chemistry is not there and I really think it was bad casting for the guy at least, the women I liked better. The male cop who is just terrible at his job and can't even fight still thinks he can fight an Asian martial arts expert and gets bruised and cut a lot is the dumbest scene in the film.

The overall acting is well pretty wooden for almost everyone even Frank Grillo who I think is only there because of money and a nice trip to the Netherlands on studio expenses. As I mentioned before, the script is just bad so the actors have not much to work with dialogue wise. Feels like a teen wrote it or at least someone with very little experience either with movie scripts or action movies because a lot is cliché and copied from other movies but worse.

And finally, the action. There isn't a lot of it and it should have been more. I do like the final fight but it could have been way more spectacular and the very last scene, the duel between Rico (with a knife) and Grillo (with a gun) at the famous Amsterdam square that is usually full of people but now completely empty (yes it is early morning but there still would be people) is laughable.

I do want to say that the film is not badly made, I actually also liked the soundtrack of the film but it suffers from wooden acting most likely to not so good directing and just terrible dialogues. I do wish Rico Verhoeven a second chance with a better movie script and story and also a better character than the sad loner he plays in Black Lotus.

I cannot recommend the film, maybe only for Rico fans and die hard action film buffs and for those curious about Rico Verhoeven's first big action film role (like I was), move along nothing special to see.

Fisherman Pete falls in love with woman Kate who is stupid enough to promise to wait for him while he goes to Africa to become a rich man. While Pete is away, rich lawyer friend Philip promises to take care of woman. And thus the soap begins when Pete returns and marries the she-devil. A baby is born. But baby is not even Pete's yeah that's right. It has a bad ending but mostly for poor ole Pete because what does he get in the end? He loses Kate who cheated on him as she takes the baby and go with Philip, the traitor best friend. So what more can I say, it's As the World Turns circa 1929 on the Isle of Man. Pete is back to square one and Philip and Kate are together but get booed by the locals as they leave. Conclusion: Women... can't live with them, can't live without them. The End.

A true story, of a man (Dennis Quaid) who lost his faith in God and with very few flight hours on a Cessna, is helped by various people, to land a King Air aircraft after the pilot dies of a heart attack. His wife (Heather Graham) and kids are also on board the airplane.

This movie, it's something else. It had me laughing in tears at how cringe it was. I facepalmed so many times and sighed a lot. I could not believe how bad this was and wondered if I should even finish the movie but once I laughed, I thought this is not just a drama, it's also a comedy. I stuck with it for the laughs. This movie, it's a joke towards the actual story. Here's a funny thing, at the end credits, they show the real characters faces compared to the actors, and two of them were race swapped. I was rolling in laughter, a true story, they race swapped two actual real life existing characters! I cannot comprehend the decision of this from the producers.

Do not watch if you value your time but if you have a lot of time like me and want to laugh at how bad it is, proceed.

Family living in remote cabin in the forest have a wolf problem so daddy goes for the hunt but discovers female bodies. Something far worse than a wolf is lurking in the forest: a serial killer. Instead of notifying the police he decides the wolf is no longer important, he now wants to catch the serial killer. He sets up traps near the bodies in the hope to catch the killer. What happens between the dad and the killer we do not see on screen but we learn the fate of the father near the end. What we do see is the wife and daughter take up a wounded man into heir household while they still think daddy is hunting for the wolf. As you might have guessed, the wounded man is the serial killer. Ah if only the father notified the police instead of trying to catch the killer himself (daddy o has trust issues with other humans) none of the coming tragic event would happen, namely his daughter getting killed by the serial killer. But it's okay because the wife manages to hurt the killer and exact a swift revenge: she skins him alive. In the end I really thought a wolf would end up killing the serial killer and save daughter dearest, beast protecting man, alas it was not to be. Still a decent watch but the ending was too quick. The skinning of the serial killer should have been more intense with screams but instead the music drowns the whole finale while the cops are approaching the cabin. A missed opportunity imo. Also what is up with not showing the dead daughter? No let's just see the shocked reaction of the mother for 10 seconds. I hate it when they never reveal the shocking truth.

Started out well. I liked the twin sister plot twist but halfway it goes downhill. The characters are annoying, I mean every single character is a douchebag. In the end I just wanted all of them to die. Watch the movies instead.

Just watched this film I bought the Criterion blu ray. It was on my radar for a while. I admit I knew nothing about the director's work. Bought it solely on the synopsis: woman disappears on an island during an outing and friends decide to go on a search. And after watching it I feel cheated. Click baited if you will. At some point the disappearance is irrelevant and it just lingers around as the boyfriend of Anna and Anna's best friend Claudia start their own romance (practically starts on the day of the disappearance). By the last 20 minutes it becomes clear said boyfriend is going to cheat on Claudia and he is caught in the act. He goes after Claudia, sits on a bench. Cries. Claudia decides to comfort the loser. The end. Bunch of reviewers will say it's not a mystery film and themes of loss of alienation bla bla bla. Sorry but tbis was a disappointment.

After watching this I regret getting the Godard Collection on blu-ray. This is "nouvelle vague" cinema? I thought "Breathless" wasn't bad at all but after "Une Femme est une Femme" and this, I have no high hopes for the next Godard film on the list entitled "Pierot le Fou". If you think a huge blue painting is a masterpiece of art you will most likely "get" this pretentious trash. This is misseable cinema.

As the title suggests, this one Lassie sits out. We do see the famous dog in the beginning and in the end. This is about Laddie, the son of Lassie as he/it ventures the dangers of an occupied Norwegian village seeking his master Joe from the first film, now he is all grown up and captured by the Germans. It's an overall enjoyable yarn but it is not as family friendly as the original. As it takes during the war, people die, Germans and Norwegian civilians. Maybe even kids? We are never to know the fate of the 4 kids that helped Laddie hide from the Germans as their village is being bombarded by the Allies. Kind of wish they'd at least said goodbye to Mr. Simply (it is what they call Laddie since they don't know it's name). But overall good fun.

Can we please stop with the over long shots of the hero trying to open the door as he barely reaches the door handle? And oxygen going to zero (2 x even in this film) and still surviving minutes after? Sfx is the only redeeming quality of this film.