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Reviews
Purple Hearts (2022)
Slight variation on a trusted formula
Let's admit that romance movies usually have some standard plot points they need to hit to be a hit.
Often they have a scene near the begining where our future lovers either meet cute or annoy each other. Sometimes both. Then a story unfolds where the hostility is replaced by chemistry and the audience is now rooting for them to get and stay together.
This is usually followed by a serious disagreement that often leads to a break up. Sometimes this is the weakest part of this type of movie. Writers don't want their lovers to come off as jerks so the breakup is usually not the result of a serious character flaw but because of a communication breakdown.
Next comes the realization by both that they can't live without the other and the most at fault for the breakup feels the need to make a grand gesture to get the other back or at least make things right.
Then, of course, happily ever-after.
"Purple Hearts" isn't so cookie-cutter that it follows this formula exactly, but it doesn't stray too far from the tried-and-true. If you're looking for pleasant romance movie with charismatic leads that have nice chemistry I recommend this. If you're looking for something you haven't seen before you should probably keep looking.
The Mystery of Her (2022)
I made it through the whole movie so you don't have to.
A teenage girl who loses her memory in a car accident suspects she wasn't really happy with the "perfect" life she was living that she can no longer remember. The premise sounded interesting but the film itself was a dull letdown.
The movie is decently acted and directed - about Hallmark Channel quality - but after finishing it I felt I had just watched a better-than-awful vanity project. The script had too much dialog that didn't ring true and not enough humor or insights. It's dull and directionless and probably not he best use of your time.
Helter Skelter (2020)
Not great, but not bad
Helter Skelter is a pretty good retelling of the histories of Charles Manson, his cult/family and the murders that made them famous. Mostly the archival footage mixed with interviews is presented in a way that coherently tells viewers how Charles Manson became who he was and how he managed to collect devotees that would one day commit murder for him. The documentary also does a good job of creating a sense of place. While watching I felt like I was transported back in time to stiflingly religious West Virginia, dopey and disjointed San Francisco during the summer of love, and contradictory Los Angeles which was both the glitzy entertainment capital of America and a smoggy tinderbox of racial anger.
But I had two significant issues with the series. The first was with the editing. Occasionally the presentation could be clunky where the viewer is taken out of the story because the choices made were ill-advised or the pacing was off. This is a minor quibble. But I have a bigger issue with the repetition of sections. Three different stories that I remember (the killing of Gary Hinman, moving into Dennis Wilsons house, and the first meeting of Charlie and Stephanie Schram) are repeated in different episodes. If you need to remind the viewer of something to maintain narrative flow you do it quickly and if you can without repeating yourself verbatim. This series makes the odd choice of showing large sections of identical video and audio during different episodes which gives the presentation an amateurish feel.
My biggest issue, though, is with the marketing of the series. The tagline "You think you know the story... you don't" and placing "An American Myth" under the title gives one the impression that the documentary is going to give an alternate motive for the murders different from the commonly known Helter Skelter race war narrative. But it doesn't. Two people in the show say they don't believe that Helter Skelter was the motive for the murders. But they don't say why or what they believe the true motive to be. The series gives information that could possibly be alternate motives but they don't take a stand on it. Besides this information isn't new. I'm a very casual follower of the case and I had heard that the more famous murders could have been done to help create doubt to Bobby Beausoleil's guilt in the Gary Hinman murder. The series also points out that the murder sights were the previous homes (or at least very near them) of former Manson acquaintances. But it doesn't give any meaning to this knowledge. So despite its bold claims it doesn't present a different point of view to the commonly known narrative of the case. It instead competently retells the same story that has been told many times before.
The League of Legend Keepers: Shadows (2019)
Could only get through the first 20 minutes.
I'm dumbfounded how this movie currently has 7.3 stars and three favorable critic reviews. It was so amateurish and painful to watch that I just couldn't continue and had to turn it off. When I finally said "That's enough" and stopped it my girlfriend wanted to know what took me so long. The first 20 minutes were awful and based on the level of filmmaking competence shown I don't see how it could have improved. Do yourself a favor and skip this one.
Yesterday (2019)
Why couldn't somebody else have had this idea?
The premise for this film is fabulous: A failed musician wakes up after an accident and realizes he's the only one in the world who remembers The Beatles and proceeds to take advantage. Such a great concept deserves inspired execution where there's drama with surprises, really sharp and well timed comedy and an ending you didn't see coming but is so perfect it really couldn't have been any other way. What we got instead was a bland, phoned-in story about unrequited love that didn't stir any emotions, wasn't funny and didn't so much end as peter out. This movie could have been so great but turned out so forgettable.
Mia et le lion blanc (2018)
Message is important, but film is just okay
"Mia and the White Lion" feels like a movie/vehicle created specifically for spreading an important message. The script doesn't feel creatively inspired but more like a series of cliched scenarios thought up during a board meeting. The movie has some quality actors which is good because some of the ham-fisted dialogue and scenes in less skilled hands could have been dire. I also feel like I must mention that intermittently, and awkwardly, a legend about a white lion saving the world is brought up that the teenage kids unrealistically believe throughout the movie.
The movie has some good qualities too. The scenery and the animals are beautiful. The baby animals are cute. The acting is good especially given what the actors have to work with. The message is important and a good reason to support the movie. Unfortunately I can't say what the message is without spoiling the plot since it's not revealed until the end of the second act. Overall I give the movie 5 stars. It's watchable but not quite good.
The Axiom (2018)
Current 7.0 rating is too high.
I understand the desire to cut small-budget movies a break but a 7.0 rating for this film might be deceptive for someone deciding if they want to commit a couple of hours to it. 'The Axiom' is a decent enough movie but it's inferior in nearly every way to the lower-rated but similar 'The Endless.' The latter film has a better script, better acting (except for Taylor Flowers who's great in this), better cinematography and a more self-assured sense of what kind of movie it is. 'The Axiom' is a combination of cosmic horror and monster movie that has some effective moments mixed in with some barely adequate ones. I'm not saying skip this film, I'm only warning you that it's a bit uneven and not deserving of it's current (early March 2019) 7.0 rating.
Rust Creek (2018)
Ignore the Feminism-related Noise
Rust Creek is a good little drama/thriller. The story is pretty good. The directing, cinematography and acting are good. I don't remember any cringe-inducing moments where supposedly smart people do dumb things to move the plot along. And if there's an intended female empowerment message it's not obtrusive.
I know that in our current overly PC culture we have a few movies that are thinly-disguised excuses for male bashing (I'm looking at you "Bad Moms"), but this isn't one of them. The main (and only) female character is smart and brave but not unrealistically so. She worsens her situation by making some understandable mistakes. The three bad characters are made up of two men who are truly vile and one guy who, if left on his own, would probably make kinder choices but he's too stupid and weak to not go along with the other two. That's it for the bad men. All the other men have admirable character traits with one whose desire to fight injustice and protect the main character rises to the level of heroic.
This is a good movie made by competent people and I would recommend it.
All Light Will End (2018)
Core concept is decent. Execution is terrible.
Some minor spoilers.
"All Light Will End" is about a young author who suffered from night terrors as a kid. She is returning home for her brother's graduation while experiencing dreams/memories about a cloaked creature with a skeletal face. The plot gives out small bits of information through flashbacks, dream sequences and conversation that set up the movie's main mysteries:
1. Why does Savannah suffer from night terrors?
2. Why did her mom commit suicide?
3. Why are body parts being discovered around Savannah's home town?
4. What happened 20 years ago that lead to the death of multiple residents around the town? And is it related to the current deaths?
Not a bad setup, but the execution is a letdown. The young actors are inexperienced and not very good. Especially the actor who plays Savannah. Another review here described her performance as "wooden" and I agree with that. There are some good performances by older actors that only highlight by contrast how poor these performances are. There are also some directorial decisions that make the timeline seem impossible as shown. I understand that the timeline of the sheriff's investigation is kept deceptively vague so that the payoff will be more of a surprise, but even taking this into consideration there are parts of the timeline that don't make sense. There are also some loose ends that never get tied up.
Overall I gave this movie three out of ten stars. It's probably not worth your time or money.