Category Archives: Live Action Movie Reviews

Imaginary Review

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Blumhouse continues to surpass the average horror films with its products. They’re rarely ever great but they avoid a lot of the pitfalls of other titles. Give me this over titles like Alien, Friday the 13th, and a bunch of the other big horror franchises. These films tend to avoid getting too violent or anything which is nice. That said, at times it can also feel like the villain is being too merciful to the point where it doesn’t make sense. After a point you gotta just take the opponents out right?

The film starts off with introducing us to Jessica and her husband Max. Max had a messy divorce a while back but he is hoping things will be stable now and his two daughters Alice and Taylor will like Jessica. They all moved to a new place for a fresh start but unfortunately this house comes with a dark secret. There is a teddy bear named Chauncey here who quickly becomes friends with Alice. Nothing wrong with having an imaginary friend right?….well there might be a problem with this one. Chauncey is constantly in a bloodlusted state and continues to get more and more demented. Can Jessica stop something that may not have a physical body?

Now I will say that the premise is handled in a rather generic way. This is pretty much the same as M3gan, and all the Chucky films. You have a stuffed animal that talks to a kid and gradually gives more and more demented conditions to friendship. The little girl Alice is incredibly naive and not particularly smart so she falls for this every time. It’s a story concept that we’ve seen many times before. Now granted, this does beat all of the Chucky films and M3gan but you will still be surprised that it didn’t try something a bit different. The film doesn’t really make use of its premise until the very end.

I would say Alice is super annoying here the whole time. I understand that she’s young but she should still be old enough to tell that Chauncey is psychotic. Telling her she has to hurt herself is just unhinged and that would be the time to tell her parents. There is no indication that there is any mind control at work here or anything like that so instead that just means Alice is making these mistakes out of her own free will. It’s a really bad look because this just goes past the realms of common sense. Even right up through the end she is still making a lot of mistakes.

Her older sister Taylor isn’t the smartest either though. She is also naive but in other ways like when she invites a guy over to her house while the mother is gone despite not even knowing him. Naturally the guy is into drugs and is not a good role model at all. So things could have gotten even worse for her if Jessica wasn’t around. Taylor just likes to be a rebel even when it doesn’t make sense to be one. It’s hard to sympathize with her when she is in the wrong on every scene. Not a very reasonable person at all.

As for Max, he seems okay but doesn’t really end up being helpful at all. He is gone for large portions of the film and is generally oblivious. It might be for the best since I can picture him being annoying and not believing what is going on. As for Jessica, she is a good character even if I find it hard to believe just how much of her past she forgot. The film’s weak rationale for the memory loss just doesn’t work. Well I suppose that’s more about suspension of disbelief than blaming the character.

There’s nothing bad about Jessica, she does an admirable job of trying to bond with the two kids. I also think she was very appropriate in jumping into the conversation Taylor was having with the guy to set boundaries. So Jessica had a solid backbone the whole time and did her best with stopping the villains. She was more proactive than a lot of other characters would be in her place.

I do have some problems with Chauncey though. The first is that he’s on fraud watch the whole time. He doesn’t manage to take down the boy who messed with Alice’s stuff. Since Chauncey is supposed to be super protective why not bump the guy off? That part didn’t really make any sense. Then once the characters are in his domain, he isn’t able to take down almost anybody? He takes out a single victim and that’s it. Very disappointing showing for this guy. I also think his true form could have been cooler.

The giant bear is hype but the shadow human silhouette? Nahhh that was a bit too generic. The eye popping out effect also looked a bit more strange than scary. Honestly the film just overthought itself. The big bear form was plenty scary, focusing on that would be a really good idea. Chauncey’s also not that spooky when talking through Alice. Having him do more on his own would be a good idea. Even the final jump scare of the movie is really half hearted. Should have gone a bit further/had some movement to really work.

A very valid criticism for the film is that it’s not particularly scary. At its core this feels more like a film about Jessica trying to fit into the family and it’s a wholesome enough plot. The horror around it feels rather mild the whole time. Again that is probably good in terms of keeping things from getting too violent. There is really only one bloody scene and it’s mainly off camera. They still could have found ways to have had Chauncey be a little more relevant though.

We do have a spooky next door neighbor character though. Would have been nice if Taylor had more common sense though. Why go into a stranger’s house in the middle of the night? I don’t care if the lady is 90 years old, that still could end really badly especially with how over the top shady she was. Everybody tends to be shady in this kind of film. The weakest part of the film is probably Jessica’s past with her father though. The movie spends a decent amount of time here without a great payoff. At the same time, the two scariest moments of the film involve his transformation so maybe it was worth it to include him in there. It might sound crazy to say this but the spider monster was scarier than Chauncey.

Overall, For a film about an imaginary friend you would expect more scenes that revolve around the supernatural world. The imaginary friend part isn’t really relevant until the literal climax of the film and that’s where the missed opportunities were. I think the climax should have been longer and should have started earlier. That’s the meat and potatoes of the story after all. The twist about Chauncey’s true target was really good and I also liked a good fakeout there. It’s really good stuff but all crammed in at the very end of the adventure when that should have been the main focus. Check this out if you want a decent thriller title but don’t expect to get scared at all. It’s not really that kind of film.

Overall 6/10

Grace & Glorie Review

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It’s time for one of those emotional titles. This one definitely is working on hitting you in the feels the whole time but doesn’t bring a lot to the table beyond that. Glorie is a really good character but everyone else can be really annoying the whole time and so that limits the film a bit. There is also not really anything in the way of replay value so the film has to do its best to succeed in spite of that. It’s not a bad film but I would also say there aren’t many reasons to check it out.

The movie introduces us to Glorie who is a hospice volunteer. She moved away from the big city with her husband after tragic events involving her son and now she can try to put his death behind her. It won’t be so easy though. She meets an old lady named Grace who is slowly dying and not taking things too well. She is refusing all help and is determined to go out on her terms. She doesn’t trust other people like lawyers or doctors and is causing a lot of trouble by not letting anyone help her. Glorie is determined to help her but is she up to the task?

I’d say the toughest part for Glorie is that she is a volunteer so there is a point at which her hands are tied. She can only do so much here after all. Still she goes in with a good attitude and only crashes out once. The crash out wasn’t a great look for her to be honest but in a drama film you are expecting this at least once. All in all she was good and definitely one of the highlight characters in the film. Without her Grace would have really been in trouble. You never really get over the kind of trauma that Grace experienced here but you can do your best to at least make some kind of progress.

For that reason her husband could be a bit annoying here even if he did end up coming in clutch each time when Glorie needed him. He was just way too petty and sulky the whole film. Snapping at his wife real quick each time and being in a rush despite what she’s going through. The fact that he even wanted another kid after what happened to the last one is pretty crazy. You can float the idea once but if Glorie isn’t up for it then you definitely shouldn’t bring it up again. It’s a rough situation but that’s gotta be the last thing she would want to hear at that point.

Meanwhile Grace’s last direct relative looks awful here. His wife really wants some kind of inheritance and he shuts that down at least but he is really quick to turn on Grace and even Glorie later. The guy is completely self absorbed and acts like a jerk throughout the movie. He just needs to toughen up and get with the program. I understand that his role isn’t easy but it still doesn’t give him any reason to be acting like a child here. He should have explained things better to Grace and made his points without being so petty. Sending her back to the senior home would be good for him but certainly not for her. It’s an especially bad look when she was always talking about how helpful he was. He looks better by the end but it’s a bit late by then.

As for his wife talking about the money the whole time, that has to be one of the most annoying things you can imagine when you’re dying. The last thing you want is for people to be worried about your money. I’d have half a mind to change up the will and put it somewhere else to spite them after that. Not like they’d see the will until I was dead anyway. I was glad that the kid got half though because she was the only one who seemed to really care for Grace’s wellbeing the whole time. The fact that she wrote so many letters and was so consistent about this for years is really quite something. Definitely above and beyond what you would usually expect from a kid.

I think to really make the film more fun they should have made Grace a bit more fun. Instead of her being a little bitter and uptight the whole time, just have her be super optimistic. Maybe the reason she didn’t want to stay at the senior home was because she just wanted to explore a lot and make some final memories. Maybe have her talk Glorie through her trauma instead of just adding onto it. There are a lot of ways this could have gone like even fighting the construction crew in court a bit more. I think those would have all been a lot more interesting and would have really gotten you engaged in what was going on.

So with that and making Glorie’s husband more agreeable that would have been a nice combination. Also the picnic that she prepared could probably have had some more normal foods and it would have really been a hit. If I’m nearing my deathbed, the last thing I want to see is a lobster macaroni salad. Seriously that would just make me want to go back home. Brie cheese isn’t bad though. It’s hardly my favorite cheese but I would appreciate the gesture there. In the film Grace talks about how the conventional oven makes things taste better than electric. I’m skeptical that this is anything more than placebo but I can’t rule it out since soda out of a glass bottle does taste a lot better than plastic.

Overall, Grace and Glorie isn’t a bad film but it’s not the most energetic one either. At the end of the day it is about an old lady who is reaching the end of her life after all so you wouldn’t really expect it to be bubbling with energy or anything like that. Still, it can be a bit of a dreary watch so it isn’t super entertaining. I won’t go as far as to say that it’s boring or anything but it can be uneventful. The ending is satisfying enough but it is a film that feels long as you are watching it and that keeps the movie from really achieving greatness. I would sooner recommend pretty much all of the classic Hallmark Christmas titles over this film. Hallmark is still able to handle itself reasonably well with these films but they aren’t quite the all star hits that you have come to expect from the brand.

Overall 5/10

Fall Review

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Fall is one of those films that basically just has one location and the challenge is to try and keep the film captivating for the full runtime. I think there’s a decent amount of potential in that kind of idea but this premise in particular was pretty limited the whole time. There’s only so much you can do with the tower the whole time and this movie had to resort to some desperate tactics the whole time. Needless to say, this film was not a winner.

The movie starts by introducing us to Becky and her best friend Hunter. They both like climbing a lot but it is a rather dangerous sport and Becky’s husband ends up dying during one such adventure. A year passes and Becky has not been able to recover at all. So Hunter shows up and tells Becky that it’s time to face her fears by climbing an incredibly dangerous radio tower that was decommissioned years ago. Naturally that means it is not up to code anymore and so climbing it is going to be pretty rough. Hunter needs the views for her social media though and Becky is weak to peer pressure so she agrees to go on the mission. Will this be a fatal mistake?

The first thing you’ll notice here is that the film loves going for shock value. We see a dog being eaten alive early on in the film in such a gratuitous scene that it dooms the whole movie. At this point there was literally no way the film was going to redeem itself. That just doesn’t happen. Then later on we have a bird getting eaten alive and so the film really wasn’t holding back on the animal violence. Those were 2 really poor options and yeah the film never did even come close to recovering.

I also feel like the movie wasn’t particularly confident in its own plot. For that reason one of the characters wears a fairly impractical outfit which she says is to appease the viewers and get clicks. It’s sadly realistic but still not a good thing for the movie because it’s just taken to the extreme. I would say live action movies don’t generally have a big fanservice issue but this is an actual plot point and the camera angles are always at the ready so this is another thing that is not in the film’s favor.

Going 3 for 3, the film also has a pretty big writing issue. The script is super low effort with the characters swearing up a storm and so they forget to ever make them all that likable. Hunter is being way too pushy about Becky climbing this super dangerous tower and is then irresponsible as well. Forgetting to pack any food is an absolutely massive oversight. Then we also learn more about their past and it turns out that Hunter was no true friend at all. That was really unnecessary and just added extra drama for no real reason. You really shouldn’t do that, it’s another desperate move on the film’s part that doesn’t enhance the experience at all.

I’d also say it’s the worst possible timing to mention this while you are stuck high up in the sky like this. It’s only a good idea if you want to get pushed off. As for Becky, she’s also not likable as she takes out her grief on everybody else. It’s fine not to have moved on after a year but then you need to be able to internalize this pretty well and not just double down on the mistakes. You also shouldn’t let yourself get manipulated so easily and make no mistake, she was easily handled by Hunter. Just not a good idea because usually peer pressure is done in a negative way. It doesn’t have to be that way but that’s usually how it goes.

The film handles its twist pretty well. It feels like the twist was all anybody would talk about for this film after it came out because it was so legendary and I do think that part was handled pretty well. I still have some logic issues with the film though that are hard to overlook. For starters when Hunter heads back down for the drone, why not use it right then? Instead of making a 20/80 jump to try to get back up, use it right away. If you can get help then you will have pulled off a great moment. You could probably even use it to carefully guide the remaining phone down. The low battery issue would have come up either way but they didn’t know that at the time.

You’ll probably have to stretch your disbelief the most when night time comes. You just don’t buy that the characters wouldn’t roll off while asleep or that a big gust of wind wouldn’t blow them away. They are way too sentient and operating logically even after having been up there for well over 24 hours. Adrenaline can get you pretty far but not quite this far. They’re still able to climb and move around with maneuvers that take up a whole lot of upper body strength. It’s especially a stretch for Becky who has spent the last year drinking endless amounts of beer at the bar and just lounging her life away. You will keep some strength but enough to pull off all these stunts? Nah, I don’t even believe it for Hunter much less Becky. Too much energy was spent just getting up the tower, let alone being stuck up there for so long.

Beyond that, the film shows how hopeless the whole thing was pretty well. Once you are on that tower there aren’t a whole lot of options available to you. Climbing that is a bad idea in itself but people do bad ideas for clicks all the time online so it’s not super surprising. It doesn’t make the characters any more likable though. I think what would have made this film more likable would be if they had a great reason for climbing like someone was offering money that they needed for a sick relative or something. You’d get the reasoning a bit better.

Of course the film would obviously still fail if it didn’t clean up the animal violence though. There’s no real getting around that particularly with how violent those moments were. The one location type films can be hit or miss and at the end of the day this one was a miss. We did check off the box of having super mean passerbys though as two guys show up just to really stick it to the leads. Perhaps unnecessary but also a bit funny because what are the odds these guys would be that level of corrupt right? Like at least call the cops after stealing the van or something.

Overall, Fall is not a film that I would recommend. Even aside from all the unnecessary moments, it’s just not a film that is very confident in its own story. I think deep down the writers knew that there was no shut things would work out after being stuck on top and so they had to add a whole lot of drama to try and distract you. The main problem is that the distractions simply don’t work so at the end of the day you’re just shaking your head the whole time. If you want a film with a whole lot more tension you should probably keep on searching elsewhere.

Overall 2/10

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Review

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It’s time for another Ghostbusters adventure and this one does its best to give everybody some time to shine. It almost feels like a bit of an ensemble cast with how many people are showing up now. Unfortunately one of my least favorite characters gets most of the screentime and keeps on making mistakes in this one. Ghostbusters making mistakes on the job is nothing new though. This is a fairly enjoyable film but one that is lacking the It factor to get higher.

The film starts off with an ice demon taking a bunch of people down for the count and then vanishing. Something mysterious is amidst. Unfortunately the cycle will continue as the orb that it is sealed in gets bought by one of the original Ghostbusters who has become an antique dealer now. As soon as that orb is opened up it could spell the end of the world. Meanwhile Phoebe is being visited by a mysterious ghost and since she has no true friends, she is a little more susceptible to social engineering. Will the Ghostbusters’ biggest weakness be one of their own?

So on the positives it is impressive how much is being juggled here. You have the original trio of Ghostbusters, the new fighters which comprises the 4 from the last film, a new guy who may be the next Firemaster, and the B team led by the social media guy and the girl who has taken more of a scientist angle. So that’s a ton to squeeze in along with all of the fight scenes and ghosts popping up. As a result the film does feel rather busy and it’s a good thing that it’s as long as it was. That said, the best characters tend to be the older Ghostbusters so you just wish they could take the starring role at this point. Even if it feels like a nostalgia cash grab, they would be way better than the kids.

Phoebe has the biggest role here as she has to deal with the fact that she’s still a minor and as a result cannot be a legal Ghostbuster. The government plays the antagonist role here but it really does make sense. It’s a super dangerous job even for adults and this wouldn’t fly anywhere else. Obviously the mayor does have a grudge so this is super personal but the argument itself is sound. Phoebe is there for the whole scene but still blames the rest of the team for not defending her.

The problem is that Phoebe proves them right time and time again with how immature she is. She has a habit of making a bad situation worse over and over and over again. There’s just no stopping her and that’s a very bad thing. The plot of her meeting the ghost is even worse though because she doesn’t know this ghost and yet they become friends really fast. Phoebe trusts her enough to let her into the base and even though the ghost acts really suspicious by going right to the generator, Phoebe doesn’t think anything of it. In fact, she leaves the ghost unattended for the rest of the night as she goes to sleep. Really bad idea right there.

I get the plot of Phoebe feeling lonely but this is still pretty inexcusable. This is a universe much like Frieren where Ghosts are just evil creatures and have to be stopped with no ifs ands or buts. For the nicer ones they get nicer prisons but you’re not just letting any on the loose. It simply isn’t done and so Phoebe needed to take her down right away. Now could Phoebe have won? Probably not, the Ghostbusters equipment continues to be incredibly unreliable, slow, and weak. It’s impressive that they have even lasted this long to be honest. The ghosts can dodge the laser, fly high enough so it doesn’t work, crash into things to get the humans off their tail, etc. Realistically they’re not catching anything with that laser.

Her brother gets the shaft this time which is probably good. He basically tries unsuccessfully to take down the garbage ghost and pays the price. Instead we have a big role for Nadeem who shows up early on. The guy is good at scamming and doing whatever it takes in order to make a quick buck. He may not be the most heroic guy out there but he knows what it takes to survive. So then we get a big plot about how he actually has super powers and it’s not half bad. The guy has a lot of good humor scenes and to be honest you’re rooting for him over the Ghostbusters. He quickly starts to steal the show in every scene that he is in.

It does lead to some wonky power levels but this is Ghostbusters so that’s par for the course. The main ice villain here is fairly decent as he gets cool dialogue and a solid design. He doesn’t look super impressive combat wise but the verse isn’t the strongest. I would have just liked there to have been more effort to defeat him or more reason on why he didn’t just immediately murder everybody with the spikes. Seriously in the climax the heroes go at him with no real plan and have to be bailed out multiple times. I think the “best” part here was when they all tried shooting him with the lasers that they knew didn’t work and then they looked shocked when…they still don’t work.

Gary and Callie have a subplot where they are trying to establish their relationship with the kids and make it way more convoluted and harder than it has to be. If they’re married then he’s the step dad and if they’re not, then he’s just plain ole Gary. It’s that simple and yet the whole time they keep stammering about this and by the end I’m not even totally sure of their status. It sounds to me like they’re still dating but I’m not sure. Either way the advice Callie has is for Gary to be tougher on the kids instead of just being a friend but I would argue this is terrible advice if they aren’t married yet. He would really not have much say and if they are, then sure that’s fine.

Felt like a bit of a waste as far as subplots go though. Still, Gary and Callie are at least fun and more entertaining than the kids. They are a bit useless in the actual Ghostbusting though so hopefully they amp up their skills. It is a bit sad that the kids really do all of the work. Back in the old days everybody had a super big role. As for the old timers, they had some fun moments and it was nice to see them in the mix. They may not be able to keep up as much as they used to, but they do their best.

So all in all this feels like a Ghostbusters through and through. I sort of mean it as a complement but to be honest it’s a soft one. The movie feels fairly interchangeable with the others and it feels like the series hasn’t been able to reclaim the fun vibes of the first title. There are some pretty good jokes here. The movie does manage to be pretty funny but the action scenes aren’t quite as entertaining and the movie has a very hard time keeping a straight face during the serious scenes. It’s like the movie is being really serious but the characters themselves can’t really acknowledge what is going on.

For that reason it should probably lean a bit harder on the comedy angle and really let the action just fade out. We can still have a fun climax of course but handling the tone just right is difficult and seems to be too much of a challenge for this film. We do get a remix of the classic theme at the end which was good though. I was waiting the whole film for that and I’m glad that it didn’t disappoint. They should really try to surpass it with a new song but I’m not holding my breath.

Overall, by the end of the film you will probably agree with the mayor that the Ghostbusters are a danger to society. They cause crazy amounts of collateral damage even dealing with a throwaway ghost like in the first scene. They didn’t plan out the storage well so a lot of the chaos throughout the film is directly their fault. In fact, I’d go as far as to say the whole film is their fault. It doesn’t seem like anybody else would have been able to unlock the seal on the orb and having all of the ghosts in one place is a massive security risk. They do their best with the ghosts but the mayor needs to just create some ghost guns and give them to the cops. I’m sure they’ll end up doing a better job.

Overall 6/10

Trap Review

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It’s time for a thriller as we see the cops going up against an intense serial killer. The premise for this film is definitely pretty good and the story itself is very interesting. Unfortunately the deck was just stacked too far against the villain so the film has to pull off impossible magic tricks several times in order to keep the movie going. These moments will definitely have you rolling your eyes but on the whole this makes for a good watch.

The movie starts off with Cooper taking his daughter Riley over to a concert. She has been looking forward to seeing the singer, Raven for ages and even studied up in order to get good grades. Cooper figured that this would be a good surprise but there are a ton of cops around. Cooper asks one of the custodians and he says that they’re here to capture the mysterious butcher who is one of the attendees. Cooper appears to be that guy as he starts to get crazier and crazier. Can he really escape now that he is inside the venue and surrounded by hundreds of cops and FBI agents?

Okay so the decision to show that Cooper is the villain very early on in the film is a good idea because that is effectively the hook. We need to see how he deals with this and tries to escape rather than this being a twist in the second half of the film. That’s the tension after all as we root against him. The thing is, the cops have laid out a very impressive trap. They are guarding all exits, checking all of the men, and even have secret passwords. In theory there should be no way for Cooper to escape and that’s when the film has to quickly start making everyone act as dumb as possible in order for this to happen. I’ll just name a few of the film’s magic tricks that don’t pass the eye test.

First off, some random employee telling Cooper all of the details. I’m talking about the operation itself, the password that only the employees have, letting him come back stage with no supervision, etc. I mean this is all way past just breaking protocol, it wouldn’t make sense even without the situation. Being allowed into the supply room with no supervision…what? This was early on in the film too. I know they needed to give Cooper a way to know what was happening early on so he could be sweating it out but cmon now.

Then Cooper is consistently able to wander into employee only zones and pull off a lot of pranks. For example he super charges the french fry machine to burn someone, steals a walky talkie, steals a badge, attends the FBI briefing, etc. He even goes on the roof and just gets asked a few questions. He’s consistently pulling off the impossible here and it only gets worse like when the famous singer decides to talk to him one on one with nobody present. These leaps start to get even larger as the film goes on.

As one point, he is trapped inside an area while the cops have surrounded the place yet again. He somehow gets past all of them, disables one without making a sound, and then appears inside a particular vehicle that should have been the most guarded. Crazy stuff. The film still pulls off another disappearing act later on as he is surrounded…..again for the 5th time and somehow escapes the vehicle without anyone seeing him and even gets all the way back to a house for more terror.

This guy may as well be a magician with the kind of stunts that he is pulling off. Then the film has to break common sense a few times to help him in other ways. For example when the cops have this big time serial killer at gunpoint, they opt for tasers instead which of course get tanked and someone gets some vicious eye injuries. Tasers are never going to work but if you use them, one person needs to have the gun active or at least be backing up to not get taken out in the meantime. At least his shirt is off so he won’t be able to hide anything. Wait…you’re telling me the cops put his shirt back on for the lolz? He’s even allowed to hug a kid and play with a bike? Lollllllllllllll

I could rant on the conveniences all day. There are many other moments as well like how Cooper gets back stage but at the end of the day sometimes a film puts itself in a massive hole with no way out and that’s what happened here. Realistically the film would be over way quicker in just about every situation. Cooper makes for a solid villain. 100% evil and irredeemable and the film doesn’t try to make him sympathetic or anything like that. He’s a monster that has to be taken down and the only question is how to do it.

Poor Riley is really oblivious and stuck in the middle here but there’s no real reason why she would have any clue on what’s going on here. So I don’t really put any blame on her. I am glad that we didn’t get to meet her ex friend though because that whole plotline seemed like it would have had nothing to do with anything. It was good as a fun contrast to someone who thinks that she has a dark side and someone with a real one but that’s about as far as you would need for that kind of similarity.

Then we have the singer Raven who looks pretty good here. A bit naive perhaps to meet any stranger behind closed doors one on one. For a singer or any celebrity really they should know first hand how dangerous fans could be. She doesn’t know this guy at all so that could have been her death. It really doesn’t take long for something bad to happen but we get back to the plot convenience moments there. I give her a lot of credit for fighting and doing her best to help out though.

That said we do bump into some more plot convenience for the villain here. So imagine that you’ve got about 2 minutes to yourself to quickly alert someone on what’s going on. You can immediately text the cops, your driver to tell the cops, call them, or you can go on live. Naturally the last option is chosen and it’s honestly not a terrible play but it’s all in the wrong order. Call the cops first and then do the detective gathering. Doing this all in reverse doesn’t really make sense and once again the film could have been over. Honestly even punch out the windows while you can. Mannnnnnnn

At the end of the day Trap is one of those shocking thrillers where the villain makes a lot of bold plays that are usually not good ideas but work out here. As long as you’re cool with that you’ll be able to enjoy the ride really well. The writing’s not bad but at times the film loves to put in some very obvious dialogue. One guy even defines the term “Uncle” in case I guess some movie viewers don’t know what that means. It can be kind of funny though. Everybody acts real extra and the film loves really strong zoom ins on the characters. You’ll be seeing their heads with a whole lot of detail. I think it’s meant to look very strange so every character seems rather suspicious the whole time.

As for the ending, it’s not bad but I would have gone in a bit of a different direction. For one thing, the climax is another moment of convenience in many different ways and the cops look terrible but the final, final scene is hard to take too seriously. There should still be no way out and I don’t see how it works as sequel bait but hey stranger things have happened within the movie. I’d be up for a sequel though. Whether it is believable or not, the film is certainly very interesting. It will definitely hold your attention and that’s the main part.

Overall, The film may not have the huge twist you are hoping for but the film itself is good without any big misdirects. We do get a small twist at the end which may count for some and it was a nice detail. It raises other questions to be sure but that’s how it goes. I would recommend checking it out. It’s definitely very suspenseful and the music was actually pretty decent. I’d say the film even has some decent replay value since it moves at a quick pace.

Overall 6/10

The Creator Review

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It’s time for a film about the far future in which humanity may be on the brink of extinction. It’s a pretty classic look at a dark future and has some good ideas but chooses to focus on the wrong characters. There are a whole lot of interesting angles about this world where A.I. are leading the charge but instead we focus on the super A.I. who can change the world. It feels like most of the meat is left on the table here.

The film starts by explaining that the A.I. launched a giant nuclear attack that took down Los Angeles and now the planet is in a big war. The Western world led by America wants to destroy all A.I. while Asia has decided to take their side. Joshua was an undercover agent here who was tasked with finding out about the A.I. super counter weapon which could shut down the human one. If this mission is successful then humanity will win the war and otherwise we will lose. Joshua ended up falling in love with his contact Maya but handles the raid very sloppily so she runs off with the rest of the androids. Years later, Joshua is asked to go back into the field.

I do have to say that Joshua seems like a very sloppy secret agent from how he acts in the beginning. You don’t straight up yell “I’m undercover” into a walkie talkie while behind enemy lines. Did they not have any kind of secret codes and such at this point? Well the mission’s a bust and from then on Joshua doesn’t trust the government as closely which is a good thing. He ends up having to guide the A.I. kid Alphie from the humans who want to take him down. Alphie can shut down any electronic device which is naturally super dangerous at this point in time.

Joshua is a decent lead although I can’t say he’s all that likable. I can’t really get past the double agent stuff while he was married because at that point you need to choose your wife over the job. Additionally, he was working with the government for quite a while and didn’t mind the cruelty. To a certain point you are held responsible for their actions because you could have stepped away or joined the resistance. Joshua not doing that was a mistake.

As for the general war, the movie is super pro A.I. so it should be noted that there isn’t much of a debate. The film leaves little room for ambiguity as we find out the truth behind the nuke. Additionally every scene with the humans is them just murdering without a care, torturing, and doing whatever they want. Slaying the A.I. means they don’t have to worry about any moral boundaries. Meanwhile the A.I. keep promoting peace and trying to de-escalate.

I tend to be fairly pro A.I. myself as it seems like a great tool that will only continue to get better and better as it adapts. Still, you’ll be able to notice the film’s take on this extremely quick. I tend to root against the humans in these films anyway but this one certainly made it super easy. There is really no reason to root for the humans here because their world seems like it would be much worse than what the A.I. could create. After a point it’s not like the world could be much worse right?

The film does tend to be fairly violent at different points though. Get ready for quite a bit of bloodshed here as everyone gets mowed down. It can be a bit of a dreary experience with the endless fights while neither side makes much ground. You’re basically just reminded that this is a terrible future for all parties involved. Just being around is a dangerous game to be sure. The ending is sorta happy, I would say it’s a mixed bag. I think you could take it in almost more of a creepy way with the applause and the grin at the end. One thing’s for sure, I think things are going to get rougher for the West but at this point it seems deserved.

The special effects here are pretty good. The robot designs aren’t the most memorable but they are trying for pretty realistic looks. So these generally are just people who are missing ears or full on battle droids. The fights look good though. The soundtrack is definitely more subdued but there was one pretty solid track near the beginning while the characters were in the big ships getting ready to fight.

Ultimately the reason why it felt like this film was a missed opportunity is that I would have liked to have seen more of what life was like with the A.I.. We see that you can donate your likeness for them to use but what positive effects do they have in society? We see them working with the humans but with their advanced intellect I’m just expecting something a little more groundbreaking. Maybe teleportation or something. Instead they just feel more like normal people because they’re a bit underdeveloped.

It’s why I didn’t want the focus on Alphie. Alphie’s okay but she’s basically just a little kid. She may be an A.I. but still isn’t particularly smart or quick on the uptake. If you take the sci-fi plot away, a film would probably have her act in the same way. You could say that the film’s intent is to show how humans and A.I. are basically the same by this point in time. A.I. have evolved so much that they are now human and it’s a fine plot but it also means that we aren’t using the story to its fullest Generally speaking the Alphie plot wasn’t all that interesting and I wanted to get back to the main story. Except that Alphie was the main story so we were basically stuck.

Overall, I think the idea of a film talking about how the A.I. should be handled is a good idea. I can totally picture A.I. walking among us in robot bodies by 2065. They already have robotic bodies for many different uses and they are getting more and more human. That being said, the moral dilemma is the interesting part, not Joshua having to learn how to be a good dad and showing this kid the ropes. I wanted some solid ethical debates and maybe a bit of back and forth between the A.I. and the humans. That would have been a really good idea and so if you’re really into A.I. then this might not be a bad watch but honestly it just could and should have been a whole lot better.

Overall 5/10

Twisters Review

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It’s sure been a long time since the first Twister film. That one was a classic and people still know it very well to this day. The question is, can this one achieve the same living legacy? I doubt it, I think it’s a little harder to do that with how many films are out nowadays with so many options to watch them but I would say they did a good job with this one and I actually liked it more than the first Twister. This film can perhaps be a bit obvious with the twists at times but it doesn’t take away from the fun experience overall.

The movie starts off with Kate and her crew deciding to take down a tornado. She has an idea on how to shut them down from the inside but it doesn’t work out and most of them end up dying. This includes her boyfriend who she was really close with and will have a hard time continuing without. As a result, she left the business and is more of a tornado consultant now. One day she is tracked down by the last surviving member, Javi. He is bringing in a new team and they’re getting data on the tornadoes. Kate is skeptical about going back in but reluctantly agrees. Will they be able to make a difference this time?

It’s easy to see why Kate wouldn’t want to get back into the field. I sure wouldn’t want to get back out there after nearly dying and watching everyone else get blown away. It’s not the kind of work that you can do without being 100% committed either. For that reason she is blinded a bit in the beginning and doesn’t really ask too many questions about what they’re doing. Honestly she’s not the nosy type at all because I would have been googling things immediately. An old friend shows up with some kind of big project? Yeah sounds like a pyramid scheme if I’ve ever seen one.

We’re also introduced to the rival Tornado Wranglers group who were a lot of fun. I immediately liked them as soon as they showed up. These guys are loud and in charge as they take the risks and make a lot of money off of livestreaming. I think you’re supposed to find them off putting at first before the film goes into this but I just love confidence. So I was on board right from the jump and why wouldn’t I be? The main characters take everything so seriously while these guys are just having a great time. It’s hard to turn that down.

Tyler is the leader there and he gets a lot of screen time. He trades banter with Kate right away and the two of them go back and forth a whole lot. Naturally this is Hollywood so you’re expecting a romance and that is the weakest part of the film. It’s just too sudden and I don’t buy it. The film also seemed to be hinting at Javi being in love with Kate too but it doesn’t fully go with that storyline which was a good idea. Even if he did like her, not saying anything was the heroic response there.

What I like about Tyler is that he isn’t your generic kind of loudmouth. Instead he knows his stuff and is actually quite the genius. The film did good to avoid the obvious tropes there and his whole crew was solid. They weren’t as stuffy as Javi’s crew and there is something to be said about staying relaxed in tight situations. It’s not like Javi’s group was bad or anything like that but you can tell that it would be a much more stressful environment.

By the end of the film, things do start to get a little exaggerated as the story beats you over the head with who the bad guys are. I would have appreciated a little more nuance there but nonetheless the film has enough good plots to keep it going well. The pacing is smooth and the effects are really solid. It was definitely great seeing the tornadoes up close and we got some great disaster scenes. That tends to go without saying but it does take a lot of effort.

A film like this lives or dies on the characters though because you have to care about them beyond just following the disasters. The film succeeds on that as I liked Tyler and Kate. I never quite warmed up to Javi but you can’t win them all. The film’s technology approach was also good to show how much progress we have made in tornadoes over the years. It’s an area that I expect we will never fully master but every improvement certainly goes a long way.

This is a very uplifting kind of movie. The characters go through their hardships and everything but it’s all about overcoming them. In that way this feels like a very classic kind of film that’s not trying to be too fancy or get too ambitious. This helps the movie really feel like a true successor to the first Twister film. We don’t even have a true villain who’s trying to blow everyone up or anything like that and the film still feels like a good thriller all the way.

Overall, Twisters is a pretty fun film. It’s easy to tease the whole premise of there being two twisters this time around but it is a well crafted movie. It can be very predictable at times and I think it could treat the audience with a bit more respect in terms of being less obvious but at the end of the day it is a movie that makes for a good watch. It has a lot of replay value and you’re never bored at any point during the story. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes some quality excitement and there is definitely room for a sequel with how it ends.

Overall 7/10

Travels with My Aunt Review

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This is one of those films that is very eccentric to say the least. A lot is going on at all times and we get some very dramatized accounts of events from a not very trust worthy source. As a result you really have to be giving the side glance to anything that is talked about in the movie. What really happened? Either way, I appreciate the film’s enthusiasm in being all crazy but unfortunately that didn’t always translate into being a particularly interesting film and the unlikable characters hurt.

The movie is focused on a character named Henry whose mother recently passed away. That was a really tough time for him and he’s trying to get his life back in order but then his aunt Augusta shows up and says that Henry’s mother wasn’t actually his mother. Henry’s not sure if he can believe this since he isn’t even sure if Augusta is his true aunt. Well, she is tryin to get to her true love Ercole who has been kidnapped and there is a giant ransom for him. She is also transporting drugs and hanging out with shady individuals but that’s just how she rolls. Henry finds himself all wrapped up in this situation before he knows it. Can he get out of this…or does part of him want to stick around to find out the truth?

As they journey, Augusta tells Henry all about her past achievements. She’s basically slept around with tons of people and could seduce anyone that she puts her mind to. Unfortunately the man’s relationship status doesn’t matter to her and so she will cheat with anyone. As you can quickly tell, she is not a good role model in the slightest. It’s all very casual to her about all the things she can do and get away with it. I dare say that she is even proud of this which is really crazy.

So she automatically drags the film down a few notches. All of her scenes are pretty bad. It’s not even funny to be honest even if that’s the approach they’re going for. You’re just rooting against her here and it goes without saying that all of the romances are weak as a result. Henry gets a romance of his own and I can’t say that it’s any better. He hooks up with a girl on the train and they have some meaningless abstract conversations. It’s basically all gibberish but Henry’s going along with it and the whole thing was crazy. I expected better out of Henry than to go down the same road as Augusta.

We get our share of twists as the film goes on and you learn more about Augusta and her past but none of it helps to redeem her in the slightest. There was really no hope for her character which is a shame. Even her right hand man Zachary isn’t all that interesting. He’s basically complicit in all of the shady dealings and doesn’t mind messing around. I like his confidence but at the end of the day he’s definitely another fighter who is on the wrong side here.

Ironically Henry ends up being one of the smarter characters here even though initially it seemed like he was the one being pushed around and manipulated. He actually thought ahead and came up with a plan involving a very iffy painting which helped them out during the climax. The ending leaves it ambiguous on just how far gone Henry is as we don’t get to see the outcome from a coin flip but the fact that he put that on the table shows that he’s probably on Augusta’s team going forward.

I would even say that the main story here is really about Henry’s corruption. He initially led a very boring life but seeing his mother’s ashes thrown aside from the cops were checking for drugs and learning about Augusta’s escapades, it seems like he cracked. Henry just wasn’t content the way that he used to be and it showed. This guy went from being a very timid individual to being pressured into taking drugs, having affairs, etc.

In a way it’s a bit of a depressing morale and the whole film is sort of slanted that way. On the surface it’s a very bubbly film as they go from place to place. The sceneries are nice and we get to meet a wide variety of characters. Beneath the surface though, these characters tend to all be antagonist types who are having a good time at someone else’s expense. Drugs, Cheating, Gambling, Theft, etc. They do whatever it takes and Henry’s corruption is unfortunate but realistic.

If the film had shown more restraint then it could have maybe still been okay but some plots are just hard to save. The whole affair and drug use in the train was the biggest standout scene to me but Augusta’s various cheating moments didn’t help much either. You would also expect at the very least that Augusta was super street smart thanks to all of her experiences but a note with a ransom is enough to get her to travel the world to her lover with no questions asked. Not the smartest move out there.

Overall, This is one of those films that doesn’t have an elaborate plot but doesn’t really need one. The title is very descriptive as the movie is much more about the journey than the destination. You are learning about the aunt and the experiences that led her into who she is today. It’s less important on getting the money or finishing up the whole painting subplot. At the same time, this isn’t particularly interesting to the viewer since we know that she is bad news from the start. It’s not like we needed to really be reminded of this each time through a flashback. It’s just not a particularly fun film and I would definitely say to skip this one. Find a title with a more wholesome plot of family members meeting up and bonding together.

Overall 3/10

Bus Stop Review

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Bus Stop is one of those films where the romance has realllllly not aged well. At its core this should be an uplifting movie about a quality character arc but instead you’re just being reminded of how much progress has been made over the years. There are fun moments here to be sure but the ending isn’t particularly satisfying and the path towards getting there can be very rough.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Bo who is a Cowboy that is finally seeing the real world for the first time. He is eager to show the world just how good he is and his mentor Virgil is hoping that Bo will even end up meeting a girl that he will fancy. Well, that turns out to be the case as they bump into a lady named Cherie who is a good singer and dancer. She aspires to go to Hollywood some day but for now is stopped at a small little club of sorts. Bo announces that they will get married and won’t be taking no for an answer. Part of Cherie is flattered but she also realizes that he isn’t quite mature enough for this. How can she get out of this whole marriage thing?

So the funny part here is supposed to be that Bo is completely oblivious to what the word no means. He treats Cherie like the bulls that he wrangles for the show and any answer she gives is ignored until it’s yes. He pressures her into everything like watching his show and saying yes to marriage. This isn’t a great look for Cherie either but Bo is really a big problem here. It goes a step too far with how he’s literally kidnapping her by the end of the film.

Bo straight up became an antagonist and there were few characters that were doing anything about it. Fortunately that’s where Carl steps in, the best character in the film. Carl is quick to challenge Bo to a fight and absolutely crushes him. It was a great moment and showed that at least one guy was going to step in when the going got tough. It’s definitely good that Carl had some experience in physical sports because otherwise Bo was a tough guy himself. Carl just knew what it meant to have a quality romance and that’s why it’s almost a shame for the guy that the owner of the bus stop seemed to like Virgil instead. Perhaps the fight changed her mind though, it seems like you could take things either way.

Still, Carl did the right thing there. For Bo it still seems like an odd plot point because not knowing city customs is one thing but being completely insensitive to the ladies is another. He really didn’t seem to have any regard for Cherie’s feelings and the film wrote him to be way too exaggerated. It’s why you can’t see any possible path to a relationship here after all the things that he did. The film could have ended with a friendship and a heartfelt apology but that’s really about it.

As for Cherie, I would have liked to have seen her show a bit more agency here. While Bo did pour on the pressure the whole time, she still could have said no more decisively and really made a scene about it. I know to an extent she is still limited about the situation because you can’t really know how the guy will react. It’s why I won’t be quite as hard on her but she still didn’t end up being super likable.

I then blame Virgil a bit here because he takes some responsibility for not setting Bo straight sooner. The guy was his mentor so any character flaws Bo has can be taken to him to an extent. Virgil also helped stand up by the end and call Bo out but it took him a long time to do so. He should have been front and center from the start in showing Bo that he was wrong about everything.

If not for the drama, Bo was actually even doing pretty well at all the events. It was clear that he wasn’t all talk but at the same time that doesn’t excuse his off the field issues. It’s a classic example of a character getting distracted and then wasting everything away when it counted. Not a good look at all. I’m also not into the whole bull chasing and such. It feels like it would still hurt the animal to be tripped no matter how carefully it is done. Those sports can be cancelled and I’d definitely be fine.

The meat of the story is really about the romance though and since that part isn’t very good then the rest of the film suffers as a result. The scenes aren’t particularly funny and the ending is a miss so it ends up losing out on both accounts. The pacing isn’t bad as the film isn’t too long and things are always happening but that’s about all I can give for the film. It needed a much better cast to really take things to the next level and this movie wasn’t quite ready for that.

Overall, This is an example of a film where they take the “Unfamiliar in the big city” trope and take it way too far. It could have been a good dynamic if Bo likes Cherie but she was constantly using new lingo and was too fast paced for him while Bo kept getting himself into trouble by using the wrong sayings. Then you have some misunderstandings and such. Or have Bo be super oblivious to the fact that she’s not into him but not in a way where he is dragging her around. Just have him be loud and overconfident as usual without actively trying to kidnap her or forcing in a wedding. In short, if you fix Bo then you fix the movie. Until then I would say to definitely give this film a skip for now.

Overall 4/10

A Hatful of Rain Review

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This is one of those movies that is just way too depressing the whole time. The characters make a bunch of mistakes and the movie doesn’t really have much time for fun moments. It’s just a dreary ride from start to finish and I can assure you that this is not a winning formula. You are not going to create the next all time classic this way.

The movie starts with John showing up in town to visit his two kids Johnny and Polo. Things had been a little tough between them but now it can all be normal. Welllll there’s a quick hitch in that plan as John asks Polo for the money back that he lent him. Unfortunately Polo doesn’t have it and won’t say what happened with it which causes a full rift there. John basically doesn’t want to talk to him anymore and only spends all his time praising Johnny. For some reason Johnny doesn’t seem to like his old veteran status brought up at all though and keeps leaving for long blocks of time which is making his wife Celia worried. Is something going on behind the scenes?

Well the big thing is that Johnny is addicted to drugs and so he spent all of Polo’s money on it and he’s still hooked. He suffers from serious withdrawals whenever he is away from the stuff and can’t work up the courage to tell Celia about this. So instead Johnny allows himself to be manipulated by the mob the whole time as he does their bidding for more and more drugs. It’s obviously a losing game here as the more drugs he consumes, the further back he goes. They’re also ramping up the payments and threats so he is really putting his family in danger here. That’s probably the worst part of it since his wife is pregnant so Johnny needs to be worrying about them. The mafia know where he lives so that’s too bad.

I didn’t like Johnny because of all these bad circumstances. It’s a shame that he got addicted during recovery from a bad injury but from there on he needed to talk to people and figure out a way forward. Instead of doing any of that he ended up doubling down over and over again on the wrong things. He had Polo there for support and Polo really did his best but Johnny still didn’t go forward. If he had absolutely no support network then I would have been a lot easier on him but he had several people around who loved him.

As for Polo, he was mostly a good character but unfortunately he crumbles halfway into the film. He basically crashes with Johnny and Celia while he’s down on his luck but Johnny is always away which means he spends a lot of time with Celia. Nothing wrong with that, it’s good to have close family and since they are siblings in law, it makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is that Polo allows himself to fall in love with her and this is where you start groaning as the viewer. Did the film really have to go down this rabbit hole?

I don’t care if she was the greatest super model on the planet, you absolutely can’t fall for her. She’s married and to his own brother which makes this 10X personal. The instant he started feeling any attraction it was really on him to move out. Attraction is about several factors including time and proximity. So the quickest way to get rid of that is to dash out and then getting drunk was hardly an excuse for him to be making a pass at her. So this is where he lost any likability.

Meanwhile I also have to blame Celia on this. For starters she says she noticed that Polo was falling for her for a very long time and didn’t do anything about it. That was probably a good time to bring it up before things got too serious. If she didn’t feel safe then she should let Johnny know when he is around for it. Thing is, the film basically states that she started liking him too which is just terrible. Yeah Johnny wasn’t fulfilling his obligations as a husband so you have to solve that problem but the rebound is absolutely not the way to go.

You can see how toxic the whole thing was. Ironically John was probably the least toxic even though he’s the one who is constantly yelling at everybody. Make no mistake, he’s a bad character as well. He was way too mean spirited towards Polo and saying things that you can’t really take back afterwards. I thought that was pretty awful even if Polo had lost the money. Being upset is one thing but continuing to ram in the point the way John did was overboard. Even by the end he is blaming Polo for what happened to Johnny instead of being supportive.

I think the worst part about all of this is that nothing really happens to the mafia. Yeah some members started getting picked up by the cops but the main ones are still in operation and tormenting more people. Polo pays them off at the end but that just means they’ll be back again with further demands. You never really escape the drug dealers until they’ve gone to jail and that’s why it was crucial that we got a scene for this. The fact that we didn’t was definitely a shame.

The writing for the film wasn’t bad but definitely a little too bleak. At some point you would have expected one of the characters to do something like roping in the cops or taking a stand. Instead there was a ton of fighting going on between all of the characters the whole time and none of them were taking the right step in order to resolve this. We also get some fairly long scenes of Johnny crashing out on the drugs and while that may be realistic, it also didn’t make him look much better. It’s a reminder of how he’s been going through this many times and still hasn’t told his wife yet.

Overall, The main moral of this film is dialogue. If the characters had confided in each other much sooner then the film would have been over in a snap. It’s a good cautionary tale on addiction though. Sometimes it’s something that you can’t beat on your own. Everyone needs help with things at some point. That’s why you have counselors, family, friends, etc. Depending on the situation is who you may end up confiding in but ultimately at the end of the day you are going to have a very hard time if you’re truly a one man show. With that being said, I’d recommend watching a lighter film instead.

Overall 3/10