Category Archives: 6 Star Movies

Naked Alibi Review

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Time for one of those noir films where you have to stay focused and make sure you don’t miss anything! The film really covers a lot of ground which is pretty good as half of the film is about the first part of the suspect’s double life and then we go to the other. So it’s like the film is actually following the guy’s career path which makes a lot of sense. The villain gets away with quite a bit as the film goes on and the ending isn’t the most satisfying which is what holds this one back a little.

The movie starts with some police officers interrogating Willis. Willis was really drunk and the cops have reason to think he may know something about recent robberies. Willis gets quite upset and even starts a fight but ultimately the cops are forced to let him go. Officer Conroy overhears Willis swear revenge and then shortly afterwards a cop is murdered. Conroy is convinced that Willis is behind this but there is no proof. Then another pair of officers are murdered and Conroy really wants to take Willis down but getting the evidence is the tricky part. Willis also has public opinion on his side so Conroy ends up getting fired from his job for going at this a little too strongly. Well, he will crack this case even if he has to do it as a civilian and follows Willis across the border. Can he really make it out of this alive?

You could say that the opening city is Conroy’s home base since even after being let go from the police force he knows everybody and can tail Willis rather easily. When we switch to Willis’ home base then it’s a lot tougher as Conroy doesn’t know the local gangs or how things work here. In fact he is quickly taken down by a bunch of thugs and only barely survives thanks to Marianna and a kid who spotted Conroy in time. Conroy was a bit sloppy there even if it was because he was just desperate at this point. You still can’t follow just anybody, particularly in a seedy environment like this. It’s just not going to work.

I applaud Conroy’s dedication the whole time though. He never relents in the search or doubts himself at all even when everyone tries to talk him out of it. Conroy knows that he has got his man. Working on your own like that is definitely tough and he doesn’t fall for Marianna’s distractions either. He is completely locked in and ultimately does good. He has to be one of the standout characters in the film although I also give his partner a lot of credit for risking his own career in helping Conroy out the whole time.

Meanwhile Marianna is in a really rocky spot the whole film. She is with Willis but the guy is obviously abusive and isn’t exactly the ideal guy. She has put up with this for a long time and is basically resigned to being with him but this gets more and more unbearable as she learns about him. The relationship was toxic from the start so it’s partially on her as even from the opening greeting he’s putting hands on her and she seems okay with it. It’s once she finds out that there’s another woman involved that it gets more personal. Mix that in with Willis getting more and more paranoid and it’s a recipe for trouble.

It’s clear from her rather rough living expenses that Marianna doesn’t have many options available to her though. Willis basically owns the area and she has no way of getting out. So the whole plot point is a rather tragic one an you wish things could have gone better for her. She definitely tried to help out as best she could even if this wasn’t always a good idea. Following Willis into the Church for example was definitely ill advised. She did not appear to be prepared at all.

Finally you have Willis who is a fairly crazy villain all the way through. He wants pure chaos all the time and really sells the innocent routine. He managed to make a lot of friends at his day job which helps for the alibi. People just seem to like him and it’s a bit scary how well trusted he was despite having this double life. It just goes to show once again that you may not always know someone quite as well as you think you do. The side you see at work is just one part of them after all.

While I definitely don’t like Willis at all, he is probably one of the best fakers I’ve seen in a while. If this was your first Noir title you may actually believe him for the first half because the guy seems really genuine the whole time. I mean fighting a few officers is a massive red flag if I’ve ever seen one but if you get behind that then you’re all set. The film is definitely compelling as you wait for Conroy to take him down.

Ultimately like I said the main weak point here is the ending. It just feels a bit mean spirited even for a Noir title with everything going on. I also think the scenes with Marianna follow suit with her having to take a lot of punishment before Conroy can ultimately come in and put a stop to this. It’s really just a rough situation for everyone involved and shows why you don’t want to have to live in an area ruled by a gangster. It’s just never going to go over all that well and you’re going to really get blasted the longer you hang around there.

Overall, Naked Alibi is a film with a fairly intricate plot and it’s got a lot going for it. The story is engaging and Conroy is a great main character. It also shows how frustrating it can be when you know who the villain is but just don’t have the proof to put him away. It puts you in a really tough spot the whole time. I’d have appreciated getting to see Conroy having a full mano a mano fight with Willis and getting us a happier ending but at the end of the day this is still a film that will keep your attention. It can get rather dark and comes close to breaking through to being overdone but mainly keeps sticks to scratching the edge.

Overall 6/10

The Letter Review

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It’s time for a movie that is entertaining but definitely riddled with suckers around every corner. These characters were all slacking, down bad, or just generally not very smart. Either way it makes for quite the ensemble and the whole time you’re wondering when they will wake up or if it’s just going to be game over for them. The movie’s fairly short so you don’t have to wait long for your answer.

The movie starts off with Leslie shooting the living daylights out of a guy who’s trying to scramble out of her house. He doesn’t make it though and she finishes him off with a few more shots. She summons her husband Robert and their friend Howard as she explains that the guy tried assaulting her and so she had to shoot him in self defense. Of course it is still a murder so she’s heading to trial now but should be found innocent very quickly. Howard has a lot of doubts about this case because of little odd notes that keep popping up that don’t line up with Leslie’s story. Still, he’s just ready to get this over with his bus receptionist Ong shows up and says that a letter exists which will destroy the whole case. Should Howard destroy his entire legal career to save his client when he knows that she is actually guilty or should he follow the law and do the right thing? It’s going to be a tough call.

After all on one hand you could follow the law and establish a fair case. Doing this would save his best friend $10,000, would ensure that he salvages the reputation of the deceased, would keep his career in order, and would get Leslie to actually pay for her crimes. On the flip side, he could save Leslie and ensure she gets away with pure murder, allow his best friend Robert to never realize that his wife was cheating on him, destroy the deceased’s reputation, and also spend $10,000. I’ve never seen an easier decision and yet in the film this is treated as a tough one.

It just makes absolutely no sense. The film maybe works if he actually thought that Leslie was innocent and the letter was fake. Maybe have him try to buy it only because he thinks that the jury would be fooled. That’s a much more interesting dilemma and actually makes a bit of sense. Otherwise the way it appears here is just no good. For a minute that I thought he was falling in love with Leslie which would have been awful for his character but then I would at least understand the logic. However that doesn’t even happen so you’re just questioning his judgment now. Howard’s a pretty awful character all around.

Then you have Robert who unfortunately fits into the trope of the nice guy. He’s just so nice and forgiving that both Leslie and Howard know that he will forgive her even after she was cheating on him. It’s really a bad look for this guy as he opens his heart up again just for her to break it one last time. Hey I’m all for second chances but when you’ve been cheated on then the trust is completely gone. You can never really get it back and the worst part is that Leslie isn’t even sorry about it. She’s sorry that she got caught but that’s about it. Robert really needed to stand up for himself more.

Of course Leslie’s a pretty bad character as well as she threw away a perfectly good life in search of thrills and adventure. There was no real reason to leave Robert like that and she knows it. She just let her base desires win and that was the end of that. Throughout the film she is portrayed as very manipulative and rather merciless so at no point do you actually stop and consider that maybe she’s the victim here. Because it’s obvious that she isn’t. The film does a good job of making her so unrepentant here to the point where when the ending shows up you were practically waiting for it. Leslie really handled the situation as poorly as possible given all of the hints though.

Then you have Ong who does a lot of planning the whole time. He really sets up the conspiracies and places the heroes in harm’s way time and time again. You have to give him credit for being really dedicated. Again I think it was too easy to blackmail the main characters since the ammo wasn’t that strong and the characters should not have gone for it at all but I guess that’s just how it goes.

So while I didn’t really like any of the characters, the film succeeds because the story is still good. It’s an engaging movie from start to finish and also has good writing throughout. The pacing is on point and at no moment will you get bored or anything like that. That’s why I would still say this is a good movie in spite of the characters. A lesser film would have absolutely crumbled without a solid cast but this one managed to really keep it together.

Overall, The Letter is a film that I would recommend checking out. It’s definitely a good cautionary tale to remind you how easy it can be to tell a convincing lie. If you just believe what you are told at face value then you will be putting yourself in a really tricky spot. It can be hard to know who to believe and when to believe something. Unfortunately there will never be a 100% foolproof way to determine that so just go with your gut but always remember that your gut can be wrong sometimes. The characters here definitely learned that the hard way. I would have preferred if the characters could have acted more rationally here so maybe the film could take a bit of a swerve on a remake if we ever get one.

Overall 6/10

The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock Review

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It’s time for a parody of a film that I wasn’t a big fan of. Fortunately this one blows the original out of the water. I’m not going to say that it’s a great film or anything but it’s fun enough and worth a few laughs. Ultimately I would say that it is solid and a film that you don’t want to forget because of how absurd the whole thing is.

The film starts off by introducing us to Rossiter who is running for governor. This guy knows that he is the best man for the job and is eager to do whatever it takes to win. The only real obstacle in his path is the garbage disposal man, Artie. Artie is someone who has resisted Rossiter’s total ownership of the town. This man owns all of the businesses except for Artie’s. The worst part is that his niece Emmy is dating Artie which Rossiter fears will lower his own social reputation. Well Artie manages along just fine until Emmy grows huge one day. Now her appetite is fierce and she desperately needs to consume more and more calories. Can he really handle her at this point or is it game over for Artie?

Artie is one of those guys who isn’t very smart and so he rarely notices when someone’s insulting him. He tends to be getting dominated throughout the film with a variety of insults but at least his spirits never go low because he takes it all in stride. The guy is really carefree in a lot of ways and that’s nice because it really means that he can always make a comeback. Through misunderstandings and absurd events going on he manages to usually get some victories too like Rossiter allowing him to marry Emmy.

Artie’s ultimately not one of the most likable characters though because of this. Not being very smart tends to hurt when it’s to an exaggerated degree. He did somehow create a robot capable of moving through time and space while bending reality though so he does have some skills. It does lead to a fairly interesting climax with a lot going on though. If you thought the first half was crazy, well the second half definitely escalates this quite a bit. Trust me the film was not holding back at all.

Emmy doesn’t look as good here though because she tends to be unreasonable once she’s a giant. Now you could say that a side effect of turning giant is that it’s destroying her reasoning skills and that’s certainly possible but I’m not sure that I’m giving her that out yet. The film doesn’t really go into that and so in the end it can make her look a little petty. She causes a ton of collateral damage when throwing the trees around and ultimately takes her vengeance a little too far. Honestly people could have died after all of the rampaging. Also the town did pretty well to get her the jumbo food and drink considering that this was a situation nobody had seen before.

Finally I did enjoy Rossiter’s character quite a bit. Yeah the guy’s as selfish and uncaring as can be but that’s part of his charm. He’s the guy who would run you over to save 50 cents if he needed too. All he cares about is himself and he’s not afraid to flaunt that. He has a ton of close calls while on camera but always manages to play them off which shows how resourceful he is. I actually think he could do a pretty good job all things considered. Yeah he’s not someone you could ever trust because of how two faced he is, but by all accounts he’s run the town really well.

Throughout the film everyone seems really happy and they all get along. So wouldn’t you say that Rossiter should take most of the credit for that since he owns every business? He also seems to get along with just about everyone aside from the main character which is pretty impressive. This guy has good people skills to be sure and the film establishes him well. Considering the short runtime each character has a very well defined personality right out of the gate.

The writing is really solid and the humor is on point here. Of course you really need to enjoy this humor style. I’d still consider it slapstick even if the main guy isn’t getting knocked around too much because he does get grabbed a few times. You just know he would have been slugged if there weren’t witnesses around. He definitely needs to be careful because Rossiter is not the kind of guy who will give up. You easily could have done sequels to this movie if all of the actors had still been around because there’s a whole lot of potential around the setup.

The best gag was probably when the machine started explaining how the wedding would have to wait and then it went farther to start yelling that there would be no wedding. Of course it was just another glitch but the timing was just perfect for trolling the main two. It’s clear that the robot still has a lot of errors to iron out but at least it come through when it counts. You can’t really ask for much more than that.

Overall, This is a fun film like I said before. I don’t think you’ll find it super memorable so eventually this will fade away but it’s short and never drags on. The characters have some nice back and forth banter the whole time as well which is always good. The writing did a good job here and so mixing that in with the effective humor makes the film a winner as well. It’s probably a rare case of a good film that would have been worse if it was too long because then it would drag on but that doesn’t happen here. A good movie knows when to end and I did enjoy the final scene here as a nice gag to end things off.

Overall 6/10

Bloodsport Review

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This review is of the TV-14 edited version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

It’s time for a big tournament epic! Bloodsport is a film I can’t say I was too familiar with even though it’s a whole series. After watching it I can definitely see the appeal though as I always enjoy a big tournament like this. Now the story beats may be overly predictable to a dramatic degree as the film really telegraphs every moment but even with that it’s executed well.

The film starts off by introducing us to Frank. He used to get into a lot of trouble but eventually he was taken in by a nice man and learned the ways of the martial arts although mostly it was second hand as he wasn’t taught directly. The guy’s real son was the one who was meant to be the champion but unfortunately he ended up dying early. Frank figures it is up to him to achieve the dream of winning the ultimate tournament now and so he gets some training in and then heads over there. This tournament is a huge deal so fighters from around the globe will be participating. It’s all done under the books as this tournament isn’t exactly official. Now why would you enter a tournament where you could die? For some it’s a matter of honor and for others it’s the money. Either way it’s the opportunity of a lifetime!

So yeah it’s very much a Mortal Kombat setup right from the start here. There are a ton of battles and that’s one thing I really liked about this film. A lot of times in these martial art titles there can be a lot of deadtime before you get to the tournament. The training is important too of course but I want to see the matches. This has to be one of the longest tournaments that I’ve seen in a long while and trust me when I say that this is a very good thing. We see all kinds of opponents so you are reminded that this isn’t just a small battle with the main character and a bunch of throwaways.

A small detail I appreciated here is that most of the opponents put up a fight. For example in your average film the main villain will sleepwalk his way to the grand finals. Instead Li actually has a tough go of it at least for a little bit against several of these opponent. His victory is never in doubt but I’m glad that they at least landed shots. It feels a little unrealistically when the villain just steamrolls everyone no matter how good he is. These are all professional fighters after all.

Each fighter also has a different fighting style. You really get to see a lot of variety here and all of the fights are really intense. We’re talking kickboxers, sumo style, aggressive hands, jumping around, etc. It works really well as a solid blend to keep each match really interesting. You also get to recognize the characters as they go through the rounds. So yes this tournament was handled excellently with the bracket and actually making every fight feel real.

The pacing is on point as well and Frank makes for a good main character. He is confident in his abilities and really does well in battle. I also appreciate how confident he is, Frank knows that he is a good fighter after all. My only complaint is when he didn’t step in as a guy was harassing a girl on the bus. Feels like most main characters would have stepped in there. It was also a bit of a bizarre intro to Ray’s character as he’s meant to be the likable sidekick after the opening scene.

He brags a ton and the more he brags the more you know his ending is going to be painful. Even so you’re meant to like the guy so the opening scene just doesn’t work. I’ll also say I think the film overdid it with all the bragging in the final round. Cmon I don’t care how overconfident the guy is, he knows exactly who he is fighting. You don’t just turn your back like that for so long. The scene is so exaggerated that it would be funny except you knew that a lot of pain was coming up.

This film definitely does go all in on the finishing blows which is another thing that will feel like Mortal Kombat. The fights with Li always end with a final blow where it feels like a 50/50 on if you’ll die or not. He holds nothing back and the tournament isn’t going to eject him for it so he keeps escalating. He has murdered someone more than once after all. The tournament’s moment of silence definitely didn’t make sense with how callous they were the whole time. It’s also a completely empty gesture considering they aren’t going to disqualify him either way.

Li’s definitely a bad guy through and through however he makes for a great final boss. You do want a powerful opponent like that at the end and the final fight has a lot of good back and forth. Li does have to cheat so it does show right away who’s better but the final fight is really on point the whole time. It’s also a little less exaggerated of a comeback than Kickboxer so you can buy into the eyes closed fighting a bit more. Ultimately it makes for a fun climax.

Now I did still have some issues with the film. First off is the romance subplot with the reporter Janice. She can be pretty annoying the whole time. So at first she wants to get into the tournament and is doing whatever she can to make this plan work. Then once Janice gets in she starts to think that the violence is too much and gets angry at Frank. I never like this kind of plot because everybody told her to stay away but she insisted that she could handle it…and then she couldn’t. Cmon…that’s just bad.

Additionally the romance is really abrupt and comes out of nowhere. Given that it’s not even going to continue, it just feels like a waste where we could have had more fights instead. Frank also needed to give the tournament his full concentration so the fact that he was almost late to a match because of that was rough. The other time was because of the army so I can cut him a little slack there.

Also the government plot could have been cut out. I suppose it helps to explain why Frank is so powerful and well conditioned but you could have easily established that with his origin. The plot just doesn’t add anything to the film except for a slight obstacle that isn’t taken very seriously anyway. The fact that they were ready to knock him out is crazy. It gives us some decent humor scenes but eh the film would have been okay either way.

Overall, Bloodsport is a pretty solid film. It has a nice sense of humor and a pretty good cast of characters. You should be warned that the film can definitely be quite violent, particularly with the finishing blows. In some cases it’s not even the blow itself that is so intense, but the build up to it because you always know what’s about to happen. Still the fight choreography is really on point and for the most part the film is careful not to overdo it the way that Kickboxer did. Yeah this is one I could safely recommend.

Overall 6/10

Stagecoach Review

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It’s time for a film about a bunch of people all stuck together on a stagecoach. It makes for a pretty interesting film even if some of the characters sure can be annoying. It’s intentional though and you get to see everyone’s true colors this way. I wouldn’t say there is a ton of action but we do get an exciting climax with some gun slinging action. Ultimately I don’t see this one being too memorable next to other titles but it’s good enough.

The movie starts with a few people getting onto a stage coach and they pick up some extra passengers along the way. One of them is a very infamous shooter named Ringo who is a wanted man. Some of the passengers don’t feel safe with him here but now they’re all heading the same way. They temporarily stop at a hut to get supplies and regroup but they lose time when one of the passengers begins to give birth. Indians and Bandits are quickly approaching and the army base isn’t nearby. Can these strangers find a way to unite and fight against these odds or are they completely doomed?

There’s definitely a lot of pettyness going on among the crew which makes it hard for them to unite. First up we have Dallas who is treated poorly by some of the other characters (Hatfield in particular) as she is a lady of the night and it’s not a profession that the characters hold in high regard. The only one who mainly defends her is Ringo who doesn’t really know or care about her past. He’s an outlaw and his values are also a bit different but he also knows it’s just plain silly to be making such a big fuss about this.

Look, it’s definitely a bad job to have but Dallas may have been forced into that business or there could be all kinds of explanations. The characters shouldn’t be so quick to condemn her and also it’s not really the time or place for this. Their being petty isn’t helping anyone. Dallas tries her best anyway like staying up the whole time the baby is being born to help as much as she can. In general she doesn’t complain or anything and is one of the most polite passengers.

As for Ringo, he may be a crook but he seems like the nicest guy on the coach. It’s definitely ironic when something like that happens. He’s an easy character to root for as a result especially compared to the others. It’s also helpful to have someone on your side who actually knows how to fight since the characters know that a fight is coming up and they won’t be able to avoid it. Without him they would all definitely be doomed.

Then we have Hatfield who is likely the worst character here. He crosses the line from being a nice guy into a “nice guy”. He constantly puts Dallas down while trying to show his complete servitude to Mrs. Mallory. The guy just never felt genuine in the slightest and naturally his idea when the going got tough was to shoot her as a “mercy” before the villains finished them off. That’s not the kind of mercy most of us are looking for and this guy just gets on your nerves the whole time.

Doc Boone is another annoying character because of how he’s always getting drunk. As the local doctor he really needs to stay sober at all times for emergencies like when Mrs. Mallory was giving birth. In the end he’s able to handle the situation just barely but it ended up being a lot closer than it needed to be and that’s entirely on him. Afterwards his first thought is to go right back to drinking too so it’s not like he learned anything. Getting addicted to alcohol like that is always such a tragic thing because you see how the character is completely overwhelmed by it.

Mrs. Mallory seemed okay enough. She wasn’t quite as rude as Hatfield but she wasn’t particularly nice to Dallas either until Dallas helped with the baby. Before that I’d call her knowingly oblivious at best. She would just stay out of the way for the most part. Then there’s Samuel who mainly serves as the resident coward of the group. He’s a bit afraid to voice his own decisions here and in general just isn’t a commanding figure. Hey, I’ll take that over being super annoying or an antagonist so that’s a start.

The writing here has that retro feel to it that I always enjoy. The script is pretty good. Even if I may not enjoy some of the characters, I can still appreciate the back and forth banter the whole time. The pacing of the film is pretty solid and the fight we get is good. This is certainly not an action film so don’t watch it for that but it’s still an added bonus. In the end this is a film you shouldn’t really have any big issues with. It’s a fairly safe ride to the end.

The cast is also fairly big so the movie does a good job of throwing so many figures at you. They all have different personalities and don’t really overlap. I didn’t even go into all of them here. The film is another reminder of why I wouldn’t have wanted to be around during the wild west era though. It feels like you are always one broken stagecoach away from serious trouble. If a wheel slips out you’re basically dead because you’ll be caught before you walk to the next army base. Even if it’s working bandits could show up at any time and if you don’t have a lot of guns then you would be doomed.

If you think about it, things go sideways for the characters here because they got delayed and before they could leave the enemies popped up. It’s not even like they made a bunch of bad decisions like horror protagonists. It’s not like you could stop the baby from being born at that moment either so the heroes were just in a rather sticky position the whole time. They’re lucky that the enemy group wasn’t bigger or things would have really gotten dicey.

Overall, Stagecoach is a good movie albeit one that is not the most memorable. It’s not particularly exceptional in any way, it just goes about its business and executes the story at a good level. Without the big gunfights or super memorable characters to write about it isn’t able to compete with the top members of the genre but it still beats the weaker ones. That’s why I’d say it’s a good movie. It’s not breaking any records but it handles itself well enough.

Overall 6/10

The Rainmaker Review

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It’s time for another court thriller. This time we have a lead who is fairly new to the game and gets thrown into a really difficult case right off the bat. This movie’s pretty solid with some nice humor but mainly a ton of focus on the court system. You’ll really learn the ins and outs here and how every technicality is super important or you could end up losing the case.

The movie starts with Rudy finally passing the law school and ready to get his license. He just needs to pass the BAR exam now but in the meantime he needs some experience. He ends up working for a guy known as the Bruiser and the office looks nice but it becomes clear that these guys don’t mind taking some shortcuts. They get wins but at any cost and ultimately this is starting to catch up to the firm. Rudy doesn’t want to get into trouble but this is the only gig he has. Can he pull this off and also do good in winning cases for his client?

I think the toughest part about being an attorney is that you won’t always be on the right side. For example you have to give it your all whether you’re defending the person you think is just or not. Fortunately Rudy manages to stay on the just side here but it’s a tough balancing act. Also even if you’re a good person, if you work for a crook then that gets a bit dicey. Seeing Bruiser get swarmed by the cops was pretty intense, I wasn’t expecting that and as a result he plays the interesting role of foreign fugitive. Obviously Bruiser’s not a good guy but I can at least respect that he takes care of his allies. Even when he’s half a world away, he shows up when it counts to help Rudy out of a jam.

Meanwhile Rudy’s partner Deck seems rather incompetent at first. He’s failed the BAR exam almost 10 times and doesn’t seem to know what he’s doing. That said as the film goes on you get to see how creative he is. Deck has the good idea of creating his own law firm with Rudy and also comes in clutch when Rudy is late to one of the hearings. So definitely a good example of not judging a book by its cover. Deck may not be book smart but he’s street smart and has picked up a whole lot over all the years that he has been in the sector.

Meanwhile Rudy is pretty good at staying focused on the cases and blocking out the noise. The main case he is handling here is on behalf of a kid named Donny who is dying of leukemia. What Rudy has to argue is that this death was preventable had the insurance company allowed him to have a bone marrow transplant operation. The defense is alleging that this would not have worked anyway and was very experimental so it wouldn’t be covered. That’s the crux of the main case here and it plays out during the duration of the film.

As with a real case there are lots of breaks and it spans many days which is how you can have the rest of the film playing out. One thing that is distracting Rudy a bit from the case is he bumped into a lady named Kelly who is being abused by her husband. Rudy tries to convince her to leave the relationship but she’s scared of the repercussions and so he has to try and figure out a way to get her out of this jam as well. It’s just difficult because there is only so much you can do from an outside perspective especially if she doesn’t want to go through with it. After all if you make the wrong move then she is the one who is going to pay the price there.

It’s a fairly dark plot and definitely the most serious part of the film. The rest of the film is still fairly serious of course but more in a somber way like with the Donny plot. This plot also nearly takes Rudy out for the count since he didn’t time things too well for when the husband would get there. In general this is a plot I’d remove from the film and keep the focus on the main case.

Meanwhile the case has a lot of developments going on for a while. For example the previous judge dies so we get a new one, Tyrone. This works out really well for Rudy because Tyrone is a whole lot more reasonable. He’s eager to see some justice done although he still has to act within the confines of the law so he gets annoyed when Rudy starts making some rookie mistakes. Either way it makes a world of difference to have a judge who is sympathetic to your cause though.

I enjoyed all of the court room stuff quite a bit. You can tell that the movie was taking the legal aspects very seriously here. It’s all done by the books and I could definitely watch that for ages. It is the film’s strength without a doubt. The writing is solid and so the pacing is pretty good there. The film tends to weaken a bit when we’re outside of the court room though. I like the legal stuff like working around the office and finding things out but the subplots outside of that aren’t quite as interesting. Rudy getting used to the area and the Kelly subplot end up distracting from the film’s main focus and the latter just felt unnecessary with how it really darkens the tone. The main case was already dark in its own way with how shady the company was so that was enough.

Overall, The Rainmaker is a good film. I’d say it’s just slightly not strong enough for me to call it a pretty good film but it hits enough of the right notes. The ending is definitely not very satisfying at all though. It feels like Rudy just started to give up and in the end that doesn’t just hurt him but all of the people who need a good lawyer out there. I didn’t buy his arguments for why it was time to leave. Still if you’re looking for a solid court movie this is a good one to check out.

Overall 6/10

The Boogeyman Review

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Everyone remembers stories of the Boogeyman from when they were a kid but the scare factor behind him hasn’t really stood the test of time in the same way as stories of vampires or werewolves. They’re just at completely different levels the whole time. This movie does a fun job of updating the mythos but honestly it feels a lot more like a mini Cloverfield monster as opposed to the Boogeyman you’d be thinking of. Honestly if you played your cards right with this film it would be a thriller instead of a horror as you could see a lot of big fight scenes taking place.

Okay so the movie starts with Will doing his best to raise his two daughters Sadie and Sawyer after their mother died in a tragic accident. He is a professional psychiatrist but while he is able to help others, Will hasn’t been able to come to terms with his own situation. As a result he refuses to bring the topic up with his daughters as well which hasn’t been good for their mental health. Sawyer is already afraid of the dark as it is and that’s before the Boogeyman shows up. Well one day a crazy guy runs into the house and starts to talk about monsters. Will decides that he knows how to handle this and leaves the guy alone in his living room while he runs to the kitchen to call the cops. By the time Will returns, the guy seemingly destroyed himself and unfortunately his eldest daughter Sawyer watched this. The traumas are growing now but what if the guy wasn’t crazy. What if a monster is around targeting kids all around the world?

This is one of those movies where we know there is a supernatural monster right out of the gate so of course we’re waiting for the heroes to realize this. While I talked about the opening with the main characters, there was a scene even sooner where a child is murdered by the Boogeyman so we know that he’s around right out of the gate. The Boogeyman only targets kids for some reason but absolutely does not mind collateral damage. If you get in his way then you will very quickly end up dead.

I will say that Will tends to be a very annoying character here. Obviously death can be very hard for some and the effects will vary from person to person. However, as the father Will does need to get it together to at least have a brave face for his kids. Refusing to talk about the subject and not helping during counseling is just being selfish by that point. Yeah the events of the film wouldn’t be all that different if he did talk since the Boogeyman doesn’t care about such things but their bond would have at least been a whole lot stronger.

Sadie is a solid character throughout who is trying to find answers and protect the family. She only weakens midway through when it comes to her “friends”. I haven’t seen a faker group of friends in a minute though. Really there is only one who has been a close friend for a while but now that girl has made other friends who don’t actually like Sadie. Sadie makes the mistake of trying to be close to them anyway and ultimately this doesn’t work out too well. Sadie even gets involved with drugs and really starts to fall down the dark path real quick.

She’s also not very smart in being tricked by a crazy lady and tied up in an abandoned house though. Stranger danger may be a meme at some points when characters take it too far but scenarios like this are why the constant warnings are always appropriate. I could not believe that Sadie just fell for it like this. Cmon you can’t let that happen. There’s just no way. Her little sister Sawyer isn’t particularly helpful but she’s a much younger kid so I’ll cut her a bit of slack.

Also the guy that broke into the study in the first scene didn’t have much of a plan. One of the most annoying things in a film like this is when the traumatized guy tries to talk about monsters and demons while somehow expecting everyone to believe him. You gotta think a little here. Nobody is going to believe a story like that so you have to either lie and make up a believable story while getting the person you’re talking too to do what you want them to do or you just don’t mention it and try something else. Even if Will had believed him…what could he do about it? It’s not like you can just call the cops and have them find the Boogeyman. At least the lady later on had a concrete plan so there are ways to trap it but again you’d need someone to absolutely believe you and that’s not going to happen. And you clearly know that it hides in doorways so why would you walk towards one? I can’t even….

Now when it comes to the Boogeyman, he seems a bit weaker than you’d expect. In most of these horror films they tend to skew too far into the other direction where the monster is completely unstoppable so I’m not entirely opposed to this but the Boogeyman seems like he could be defeated by a single well equipped soldier. He’s not immune to fire or explosions and even bullets seem like they would be enough to put him down if you have solid rounds. Now you could make the case for a lot of vague powers for this guy since he does seem to move with incredible speed. Maybe slight teleportation or sheer invisibility but when we see him the monster seems more like a Xenomorph. Relying on physical abilities to get the job done.

Again the design is cool (When we actually see it which is very rare in the film) but it doesn’t really feel like the Boogeyman. It also seems a bit ineffectual because of how it has a hard time actually defeating its opponents. It wasn’t able to finish off Sawyer in one on one combat and had a lot of trouble with the lady in the house. Even the guy who broke into Will’s house lasted a little while when you’d think that the fight would be over in an instant. No wonder the Boogeyman only goes after kids, it would be completely doomed against full adults after a while!

The film definitely starts off with a rather brutal moment but after that it’s fairly tame. It’s definitely not as violent as the average horror title and avoids a good amount of pitfalls. We even get a climax with a surprising amount of action. Although again I’m a little skeptical here, the creature couldn’t have just finished off the 2 characters before Sadie showed up? You have to suspend a lot of disbelief for the whole climax because as cool as it looked, the power levels didn’t really add up.

Overall, I actually thought this film was fairly solid. It’s not the scariest title out there since it feels like a thriller for the most part but the characters are solid. All of the scenes at school tend to be annoying and the friends are all bad but this felt like a well crafted horror title. The ending is a bit weak since I was expecting a strong twist/cliffhanger moment to end things with a bang but I’ll take what I can get. I’d recommend checking this one out if you’re interested in seeing a modern take on the Boogeyman. Just be warned that it’s not much of a man in this one and just feels more like a classic creature.

Overall 6/10

The X from Outer Space Review

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It’s time for a classic Kaiju film from way back in the day. I do have to admit that I was not very familiar with it but hey that happens. After watching it, it definitely does deliver on the Kaiju action but the human plot is particularly weak even compared to normal. You really don’t care about these guys and the random love triangle going on. It takes forever for Guilala to appear but once the monster does show up then things start to get real interesting. Get ready for a lot of buildings to be destroyed!

So the movie starts with a space crew heading off into space. Unfortunately their doctor gets sick so he has to be replaced with another one who is really not happy about being up here and makes this clear from the jump. Previous expeditions continue to disappear with all of the crew members dying but it’s unknown why that is happening. Well it turns out that there is some kind of tractor beam and an odd sponge/spore type object here. The heroes end up bringing this back to Earth and unfortunately it ends up being a massively powerful Kaiju that is determined to destroy the planet. They must find a way to reverse these effects or its all over!

While I mention Guilala in the summary that is still fairly deep into the film even though I mention it now. I like the deign a lot and Guilala seems to have a lot of powers but they are too much for the budget. For example at one point he starts glowing blue as if this guy thinks he’s Godzilla but then nothing happens. I do like the reaction times of plucking jets out of the sky even if they shouldn’t have been so low to begin with. Don’t underestimate the power of a Kaiju after all. Guilala is definitely the highlight of the film though.

Back to the humans though, so we have the weak romance going on. Sano is a guy in high demand as the local correspondent from Earth is in love with him as well as a new astronaut who is on the mission. It seems like Sano and the first girl are semi official but it’s hard to really know this for sure. She has a picture of him on her desk after all but it could just be her being possessive. During the first call to Earth the new girl makes sure to be extra clingy with Sano so the first girl quickly gets an attitude and gives off the silent treatment.

It all feels a bit unreasonable because Sano was actually doing really well on the ship. He refused the second girl’s offer to dance and basically dodged all of her flirting attempts. I don’t see how he could have handled it any better short of constantly talking about how he was in love with the first girl which would have been a bit tacky. Ultimately the astronaut gets the hint and near the end of the film it’s played off as a really sad moment. Look romance can be tragic, the person you like won’t always like you back but you just gotta buckle up and keep it moving. Don’t be desperate, don’t try too hard, and just move on.

All that being said, Sano is the only one who came out of this looking good. The second girl was moving way too fast and the first one was just way too insecure. She never actually made a move to talk to Sano about this or discuss rationally. Instead she just became super upset for no reason. If she is going to fly off the handle that much when any girl talks to Sano then I suspect this will be a pretty rough romance going forward.

As for the doctor who didn’t want to be on the mission, I think the idea of the character is good. I’d like to see this guy complaining constantly and bringing everyone down but his role is rather minimal so he doesn’t end up actually doing a lot. His role could and should have been a whole lot bigger. I guess he had the one moment where he cracked and ran for the controls at least….it’ll have to do.

Meanwhile the sense of distance was a bit odd here. So the whole mission is super dangerous and stuff because you have to go deep into space where people keep vanishing right? Well at one point they run out of fuel…so the main heroine flies in from the base with the extra fuel. She gets there in a matter of minutes but we could say it was hours in real time. Either way it seems like it was absolutely trivial to get to where the main characters were in space so how does that make any sense? It’s just a bit odd if you ask me.

The whole film I wouldn’t say is thought out all that well which is why the Kaiju is what is saving it the whole time. Without the Kaiju this film would have just ended up being boring. At least this way there was something to keep you engaged even if there could be some recycled animation at times. There wasn’t a whole lot of monster footage but it was a decent start. The effects of the Kaiju deforming were pretty good at least.

Overall, Creature X isn’t nearly as good as it could have been but I would still say it was fun enough. I had a good time watching the film even if I was taking shots the whole time. It’s an easy film to poke fun at for all of the missed opportunities and such. At the same time the Kaiju is still cool and while the characters aren’t good, the film avoids making any big mistakes. It’s short enough where even the poor pacing of the first half won’t hurt the replay value too much. I could watch this one again even if there is not much point as long as the main Godzilla films exist which absolutely crush this one.

Overall 6/10

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Review

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Transformers has definitely had a lot of films over the years. The original animated one was excellent but then the live action ones have tended to have a lot of issues for the most part. This one’s here to take us in a new direction and on one hand it’s got a pretty grand plot. On the other hand the fights are severely lacking compared to the old ones so that’s something that I’m hoping can improve pretty soon for the next one. It’s also probably a good idea to not cut out the best scene in the movie.

The film starts with the Maximals being under attack by an incredibly powerful fighter named Scourge. He isn’t a Decepticon nor an Autobot but a Terracon who works for Unicron. He effortlessly destroys one of the fighters and proves why he is a threat to be reckoned with. We then cut to Noah who is our lead here. He’s around some bad influences and once he doesn’t make the cut for the job he applied to, he resorts to a life of crime. Things don’t go well though as the car he tries to steal ends up being an Autobot and he is taken to their base. They want him to take some kind of artifact from a museum and then he can go on his way but the Terracons know about this and want it as well. Can the Autobots take Scourge down and save the planet or will they all be eaten by Unicron?

Okay so lets go with the good, the bad, and the ugly. To start with I will say that the humans plot is handled a lot more gracefully than in older films. None of the characters are pervs, there’s not a ton of comedy running around, and they’re all decent. I wouldn’t say any of the characters are particularly interesting but the plot is played very seriously the whole time and Noah feels like a real character. Perhaps a bit too “real” though as he’s quick to be ready to betray the Autobots even as we get near the end of the film. He’s not someone to be trusted. Now his motivations were reasonable as he wanted to protect his family but betraying the robots is not a great call.

Meanwhile Elena is solid as well. Her boss is always stealing credit and so she hasn’t been able to move up. Perhaps this whole experience can help her finally make a name for herself….provided she survives this at least. I would say the best part of the human plot would definitely be the after credits scene for the film. It’s definitely an excellent moment and gets you hyped for the future. So that’s something the film definitely did really well there. I’d have probably thrown in an extra character or something but there’s a lot of possibilities here.

The robot designs are also on point. Scourge looks really strong right out of the gate. He works well as the main villain and is probably the best villain out of all the live action Transformers villains. The guy has presence and you can feel his power. Optimus Prime has a great personality as well. Like in the Bayverse films this Prime is very bloodthirsty and just wants to destroy everyone. The film cut out his best scene involving this but the guy wasn’t playing around. Prime should be desperate to get back home and stop the villains after all the deaths so the characterization makes a whole lot of sense.

Okay so those are the main positive elements of the film. Now lets talk about some of the negatives here. For the first thing, the fights just aren’t good. They aren’t just the weakest Transformers fights but I would say they are weak movie fights in general. A lot of the times you’re just looking at a quick tackle, a stab, and then the fight is over. That or they’re just blasting each other a while. There’s never a sense of just how strong or weak someone is because they all look really fragile in battle. A good example of this is how effortlessly Prime was defeated by Scourge.

In practice it makes a lot of sense. You want to show how good Scourge is so you clown on Prime a bit but the execution was way off. It just made Prime look like a chump as opposed to making Scourge look like a champ and that’s really my main problem here. It’s absolutely not the way to go about this and there’s now weight to the battles. You have Noah blasting away at Scourge later on and distracting him while the guy was no selling hits from Prime? The power levels were too wonky and yet too one sided at the same time. So even when you had the rest of the robots getting involved it didn’t really do anything for me.

The visuals are good of course but the actual fights were definitely below average. The soundtrack’s also extremely weak but for a movie that’s not a huge deal. You mostly don’t even notice the music in these things anyway. Of course it’d be nice if it was a lot better but I’m just saying I wasn’t expecting a whole lot either way. So the movie has good pacing and you’re engaged during it but you feel a bit sad because the whole Unicron experience can only happen once and now we’ve already used it up. At least the opening battles with Scourge and we can’t get those back again.

Ultimately I just think a bit of a problem here is that without big fights the film can be a little more on the forgettable side. I know everything that happened with the story beats and all but for example I couldn’t tell you quite as much about the individual robots. Of course we had Bumblebee around and he did great near the climax but there wasn’t much to him if you take away the knowledge you already have. Same with most of the other robots as only Mirage got a ton to do.

Now I will say even if on average the fights weren’t top tier, the visual of Bumblebee getting taken out was pretty intense. You will still have some major doubts on the heroes looking so bad there of course but it’s still something that you won’t forget. There is also something to be said for this being a well written film of course. It’s a good title and while it doesn’t have a lot of replay value it definitely did more good things than bad ones. I’d be able to confidently say that I’m a fan of the film, it just has potential to be so much more. I think it’s time to bring in Megatron in the next film for some kind of big team up. Especially with the new characters who will be showing up soon since in theory they should absolutely decimate the Autobots in a straight fight.

Overall, Transformers is always a fun movie to watch. This one does have a lot of action and thrilling scenes. I like seeing the robots smashing each other to bits but it just slacked off on the actual battles a little too hard. The most important thing is the story of course and that’s on point but I really did want some big battles here. A battle with giant robots should always be supremely engaging and if it isn’t then something went terribly wrong. This is not the way that it was supposed to go….not at alllllllll. Also if you’re here for the Maximals, don’t be. There’s a reason why I went the whole review without even mentioning them and that’s because they are completely pointless to the story. They add nothing. None of them are interesting. We don’t even get a proper fight between them and the Autobots. It’s just like how the Dinobots were wasted, I can safely say that these guys were completely wasted too. That said, I am hyped for the sequel and will absolutely be there right away. I’ve still got pretty high hopes there.

Overall 6/10

Living Review

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Living is a movie about the meaning of life and coping with death. It makes for a decent movie even if some parts can be a bit drawn out. It’s likely hard to avoid that since they really want to freeze the film at some points to give you time to ponder about what’s going on as well. It just starts to show itself more in the ending as we jump between present and past several times. I personally would have kept the film chronological even if I see what they were going for there.

The movie starts off with Wakeling getting ready because it’s his first day at a new job. It’s one of those classic desk jobs with a lot of paperwork but unfortunately there is a ton of bureaucracy so it is hard to do anything. It’s also a very old school type job where you can’t ride in the same train as the boss and once you’re at work everyone is at the same table together. It honestly seems like the kind of job that is a dream come true if you get along with your colleagues but a complete nightmare when there are ever any problems because it’s deathly quiet as you’re all huddled in together. The boss Rodney is known as a very cold guy who only talks as needed. He’s not mean or anything but it’s just hard to connect with him.

One day Rodney goes to the doctor’s office and finds out that he is terminally ill with only 6 months left to live. He doesn’t really know who to turn to or to confide in because he has no real relationships. His relationship with his son has been strained since the guy married a lady who isn’t particularly pleasant and the guy’s rather spineless so that was game over. Eventually the only person he can find to talk to is Miss Harris who used to work at his company. He’s an old man and she’s fairly young so some gossip starts but he really has nobody else so they hang out and he tries to find some real purpose in his life. Can he do this with the final 6 months or is it game over?

Finding purpose in life is definitely something you want to do when you’re young because if you wait until the end like this then you can really get depressed. Some would say that life is what you make of it, others consider it a trial you must get through until you die and others would just say to live every day as if it’s your last and have a blast. People put their meaning in life in different things. Some do this through money, fame, fortune, friends, material desires, religion, politics, making a difference in the world, etc. Ultimately what you choose will greatly alter your perception of death and how you feel about this.

For example as a Christian I can look forward to death. However good Earth is, Heaven is infinitely better. There are no shortcuts there so you just have to accept Jesus Christ into your heart and live a full life but if you are given a diagnosis that you are going to die, it would be a positive thing. You would enjoy your last days as much as you could and then well, the trial is over. Not to be too blasé about it of course, I know plenty of Christians who still fear death and others who don’t fear it but want to last as long as possible. Everyone has different feelings about the subject and it’s fair to say that your thoughts about it are very likely to change once it actually happens to you. 6 months is a lot of time for some but barely any for others.

I would just say to always have some hobbies and things to keep you busy so if this were to happen you have things that you can do. I feel like not having hobbies is a very quick way to get depressed because then the days will feel long and you wonder what you are actually doing with yourself. Be careful on what you pair to your identity, what makes you tick. If you place it on something external like sports or politics then that can often backfire, you want to place your faith and personality on something you can more actively control so something directly in your life.

Now back to the film, unfortunately Rodney really doesn’t have anything. He sees his job as being pretty much pointless for a while there and he has no actual friends or anything that has made a lasting impact. This is what encourages him to finally do something really kind for someone and he works hard to help a local group with a playground they were trying to build. He opts to do something meaningful with the remainder of his life which makes for a pretty positive message in the film. I’d still say Rodney was depressed for most of the film and it took him a while to find his passion but at least he did before the end.

The film doesn’t end on a total happy note though. One character mentions how not everyone can ultimately turn their life around the way that he did and the ending heavily underscores that point. There is always a big difference between knowing what the right thing to do is and actually going ahead with it. It’s easy in the spur of the moment to say that you will do something but actually going through with it is another matter entirely. It would have been nice if the film could have had a brighter ending but it’s not tragic enough where it will hurt the score.

As mentioned before, the only thing keeping the movie from a higher score is that the pacing could really die down at times. You can only have so many lingering shots before you get the idea of how deep the scene is supposed to be. I would say the movie is quite clear with its messaging so the extra drawn out moments and such really aren’t necessary. The movie can really tell its own story quite well. The supporting characters also aren’t bad. Miss. Harris is probably the best one here as she did help Rodney a lot in finding his own peace and making his last 6 months be a positive experience. The rest of the staff ultimately didn’t step up.

Not like most of them had much of an option of course so I usually wouldn’t be dunking on them but the last scene was pretty bad. Also Rodney’s son looked pretty bad so while you feel bad for him in the ending, it really is on him. He should have made an effort to talk to his father before it was too late but he was just busy getting pushed around by his wife the whole time.

Overall, Living does a good job of being an emotional film where you get to wonder what you would do if you found out that you had a terminal illness. I would say to always remember that no diagnosis is perfect though so one recommendation is not to rack up a lot of debt. I’ve heard several stories where people did that but ended up living well past the designated death time and that became very troublesome. You should absolutely live large and have more fun than you normally would but do everything in moderation. Stronger miracles have happened in the past after all so you’ve always got a chance out there. I recommend this film if you don’t mind more of a slow burn title with a lot of drama. There aren’t any high action moments here after all but the writing is on point so I had a good time. It was somber without being too try-hard about it.

Overall 6/10