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Rounders (1998)
Texas Hold Em fans - must watch this
I really loved this movie. Have the DVD and watch it every time it airs on the tube. If you are into Texas Hold Em, watch this movie. Really enjoyed the poker scenes; you get to see the entire hand play out when Mike plays KGB.
Basically, good guy Mike is a poker hound and prides himself on reading players' "tells". He narrates his experience with playing poker, getting burned in a hand with KGB and losing everything. His BFF, Worm, also a poker hound, is getting paroled. Mike picks him up from prison because he owes Worm. Worm took a rap for him and ended up with the prison sentence; Mike is grateful that he has such a good friend. Problem is, Worm is exactly what his name means....a worm. His method of playing is cheating and he gets into trouble, a lot. Worm wants to get back into the action and making money; Mike is struggling to make his way through law school. Mike helps him find poker games. He goes out of his way for Worm, even vouching for him for his debts. In the end Worm lives up to his name and Mike gets screwed over. The boys crash the Friday night, state police poker night. Worm gets caught cheating, the guys get roughed up and kicked out; all their money gone. Mike finally lets Worm have it and sees him for what he is... a loser. Edward Norton is at his best when he plays slimy characters and he shines here. But since Mike vouched for Worm, he has to pay off his debt. He goes to KGB - Russian mafia - engages in an all nighter and wins money back to pay off Worm's debt.
I do have a few annoyances with this film and although they sound significant, they in no way turn me off from it.
1) Why does Hollywood love jargon so much? The jargon in this film gets old after about 5 minutes, but we have to put up with it through the whole film. I seriously doubt the WPT players ever talk this.
2) Mike and Worm get the living daylights beat out of them at the state police game. Aside from a few scratches and some facial blood, they look great. Where's the swollen, black eye? The swollen, split lip? The contusions? The hematoma? Make up sucks in this film.
3) Final big scene - Mike is head to head with KGB. Mike needs to win at least "15 thou" to pay off Worm's debt and cover "the juice". Of course, he spots KGB's tell. He should have ignored it, he needs to win big time. But he calls KGB out. His narration indicates that he normally wouldn't so he could "bust him up all night, but he only has until morning". Stupid. If you need to win, you wouldn't expose a tell!
4) I don't like Counting Crows; lead singer's voice is whiny, melodies sound like adult nursery rhymes. Except for one song which is played during the credits. "Baby I'm a Big Star Now". Best song they ever did, great tune. However, it was never released. I have searched in vain, not a single, not on an album. Who in the world made that ridiculous business decision?
Mamma Mia! (2008)
Love the music, hate the story
I remember summer afternoons playing over my friend's house when we were kids. Her older brother's bedroom was in the basement and we would play his ABBA albums on his stereo. Loved it and still love ABBA to this day. Hence, the reason I watched this film. I am giving it 3 stars because of the ABBA songs; I would have liked to have given it a higher rating with the ABBA songs, but unfortunately, the rest of the film is trash.
The writer/script obviously hates marriage and treats it as though it were an evil anathema. Sophie is supposed to be getting married. Problem is, she doesn't know who her father is. She confiscates her mother's journal and finds out her mother was, shall we say, less than moral in her younger years. She wants to invite the sperm donors to the wedding. Her fiancée scolds her for it because well, he just loves her so much, he wants to take the wedding funds and use it to travel instead of wasting it on getting married. Sophie, trust me, you can do better. Find a man who will put you first instead of himself. Of note, if I lived on a Greek, tropical island, I'd be ecstatic. Why travel when you already live in paradise.
Meantime, mother Donna's friends arrive for the wedding. Why is is that some women, when they turn 50, act like imbeciles? Donna goes to the dock to meet her friends at the ferry. They whoop and yell like idiots while Donna has to gyrate and shimmy all over the dock like a fool. Her friends return the greeting with equal idiocy. They embarrass themselves in front of the natives.
Almost every adult in the film is either divorced or separated; they are miserable and wonder why Sophie is "wasting her life getting married". She ends up not marrying Sky. Donna ends up marrying Sam, one of the sperm donors. Which is a surprise since she complains about male menopause throughout the film and wonders how she could put up with a man around.
Stupid story, although we do get plenty of ABBA! We could do without Pierce Brosnan's singing, though.
Assassin's Creed (2016)
Nothing Memorable or Worthwhile
I have been wanting to see this film since I am an avid video game player which is inclusive of the Assassins Creed series. So of course this film is based on that series. Folks who are unfamiliar with the video game will be scratching their heads.
Essentially, a confusing plot with minimalist script and dialogue delivered without conviction. I found myself having no feeling for any of the characters whatsoever. Action scenes are....nothing memorable; flashes of slashing and stabbing, glimpses of chase sequences where everyone defies gravity. It always amazes me in movies where you have only 1 or 2 main characters able to fight off an entire battalion of bad guys; there are just that good. I was waiting for a scene like in the game where the hero jumps from the highest point and dives into hay; and finally, it happens 3/4 of the way through the movie and the scene ends in the middle of the descent. We are deprived of the benefit of Cal landing in the bale of hay. Seriously?
Current video games make liberal use of religious and political themes and modify them to fit their plot. This movie is no exception; take the story with a grain of salt; purely fictional.
Probably the best things about this movie are special effects and costumes.
Arrival (2016)
Disappointing
Seemed intriguing at first. I was curious about how the linguist would interpret the alien method of communication. No dice. We are given images of her gazing at the computer screen at the alien symbols without the benefit of translation. Miraculously, she is able to turn circular blobs into English sentences.
There is a lot of jumping back and forth from present to past to present again and, in the end, what's assumed to occur in a chronological order, has occurred in a different sequence from what the audience is led to believe. The last quarter of the movie is rather confusing in this regard.
The military operation at the site of the U.S. alien ship is poorly managed. Our civilian heroine manages to thwart global disaster by calling the Chinese general on a sat phone she confiscated from a CIA operative on the post. A significant keynote in the movie, yet we are deprived of the contents of the conversation. I won't even get into how she manages to steal the phone, call the private number of the general, speak Mandarin to him, and in that one sentence, convince him to halt his aggression toward the alien ship. Really?
A lot of assumptions are made in order to forward the plot, but it doesn't work since the content is devoid of answers. Disappointing.
Deal (2008)
Frat boy wins online poker, so he's the next WPT champion.
Frat boy wastes his precious daddy's college funds playing computer controlled online poker and wins a few bucks, so next thing, he is at the WPT at the championship table. Yeah, right...rolling my eyes.
Burt Reynolds taught him how to get there; except we never get to see actual teaching. Our hero is naive with real poker and women, but thanks to Hollywood fantasy...he is the big winner. And Burt gets to make a comeback in the poker limelight. Oh, and our hero throws in the towel at the last minute so Burt can have his chance in the sun.
Stupid, boring movie.
August Rush (2007)
Shallow and Superficial
Very superficial; appeared to be a movie made for children.
Evan, child musical prodigy is searching for his parents. He hears music everywhere he goes from the surrounding environment. He can instantaneously play a guitar, a pipe organ; write a symphony. It's obvious that adult hands are playing instruments when close up is shown of Evan playing an instrument.
Plot moves along so fast, skipping details which is why it is perfect for a child.
Actor who portrays Evan basically smiles and says "no"; that's pretty much the extent of his dialogue through the entire film.
The very end, when his parents come together and see Evan on stage, the film ends. No scene with him re-uniting with parents; nor are we given the gratification of what caused their separation in the first place.
Cool idea and would have been a good film if not so poorly executed.
Manchester by the Sea (2016)
Gloomy and Slow
This film is less about plot and story and more about portraying to an audience the feelings and thoughts of the main characters. This goal is perpetuated by the methodical pace and gloomy wintry imagery.
Slow moving. Glad I watched because it is critically acclaimed, but not something that I would sit through again.
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
Surprisingly Good
Keeps you riveted. Audience is like the leading actress; given information on a need to know basis. So the plot holds your attention.
Is Goodman's character a psycho or does he really know something that the rest of us don't? Either way, he does a great job.
Unexpected twist at the end which only enhances this production.
Definitely a must see.
A Few Good Men (1992)
Good Acting - Biased Story
I have been wanting to write a review for this movie a long time. Just recently registered with IMDb so now's the chance.
It's obvious that the creators of this film hate 2 things - the military and women. Kaffee is the most disrespectful, arrogant jerk who doesn't hesitate to show his disdain for order or authority. Mocking the Marines' code, "hates the whites", doesn't know military time. I always wonder when I watch this film, why he joined the Navy.
Galloway is superior in rank to Kaffee and the only significant female role. She initially sees through Kaffee's BS and threatens to have him dismissed from the case, but somewhere along the line, the film never reveals why, she has a change of mind and thinks he is the best thing next to sliced bread. She then assumes the subservient role, becoming his secretary and relegated to such tasks such as picking up packs of pencils. Every idea she verbalizes is shot down by the all knowing and powerful men which in turn portrays her as the naive and gullible female. I can't believe Moore actually took this role as the "little woman".
Lastly, Sam Wineberg is a complete sap. He is shown pushing baby strollers, yelling at Galloway because she defends her clients and essentially kissing up to the mighty Kaffee.
Having stated the above, I continue to watch this movie, because as everyone who has seen this film knows, the courtroom scene between Cruise and Nicholson is probably one of the best scenes in movie making history.
The Da Vinci Code (2006)
Don't Waste Yout Time
Just wasted 2.5 hours of my life watching this crap. Poorly made, poorly thought out. Basically, a modern day fairy tale that gradually reveals itself through the movie to the point where it reaches fanaticism. At which I promptly turned it off. Cannot believe Hanks actually took this film. Whether it was the script he was given, the direction he was given, IDK, but Robert Langdon was one of the most boring characters I have ever watched.