Tag Archives: blogger

Movie Reviews, movies

Movie Reviews: Cashback (2006)

Leave a comment
Source

Cashback is an odd artsy movie that is a bit pretentious. The film works as an exploration of loss, specifically the loss of a relationship. Sean has just gotten out of a relationship and is dealing poorly with his heartbreak. He doesn’t sleep; Sean spends the whole movie trying to hide from life and his pain.

The way that Sean deals with his heartache is by freezing time. Freezing time is a metaphor for his escapism. Sean doesn’t want to deal with the pain of his break-up, so he escapes into a world frozen in time. 

A world where he can appreciate its beauty without getting hurt. These moments usually turn into pretentious monologues about seeing the beauty in everything. Sean uses this time to express how this ability is unique to him because he is an artist and only artists can truly appreciate beauty. This message wouldn’t be problematic if it wasn’t constantly being repeated. But this movie does a great job at showing escapism. Sean isn’t the only one who chooses to escape the pain of life. You will be introduced to a collection of broken individuals who themselves need to escape. Each character has their unique method of escape, but you only get to see Sean’s dramatized. It is an interesting narrative that does address a lot of how people cope with the difficulty of life. I just wish it didn’t get so preachy. 

This movie isn’t for everyone. Unless you like artsy and weird movies, you probably won’t like it. A bit of warning, there is a lot of nudity. The movie tries to justify it as artistic expression, but it gets a bit creepy. There are some awkward monologues about the beauty of the woman form that get a bit uncomfortable to sit through. 

That said, I did enjoy this movie. Cashback is a solid movie with good actors, memorable characters, and a decent story. However, it suffers from its presentation. I appreciate its unique narrative style, and it did leave an impression, but it is hard to get past the pretentiousness. I get it, beauty is in every moment, and only an artist can understand this. I guess I am not an artist. You can watch it on Amazon if you have a Prime subscription.

Movie Reviews, movies

YouTube Movie Review: Picture This (2008)

3 Comments
Source

You should not watch Picture This. I don’t even know where to begin with this film. Picture This is a poorly written fantasy of the boring girl getting with the hot guy. It was a struggle getting through this movie, but somehow I found the strength.

Picture This is about a boring high school girl who likes the hottest guy in school. Her only defining characteristic is that she loves the hot guy. Through the power of shitty writing, the hot guy likes her too. The movie is a quest to meet up with the hot boy at the end of the film without her dad finding out. Oh, and the hot boy likes photography. Does that impact the plot? No, but the movie makes a big deal about that, hence the namesake.

This movie is poorly written, it has a decent cast, but they are doing the best they can with what they are given. The whole movie is a series of reactions to the different generic story beats before the girl gets the guy at the end. There are millions of these movies out there, you will forget you watched this too. I can’t name you a single character or attempt to give you any meaningful moments because of how generic this movie is. This movie tries to distract its audience with complicated vocabulary and awkward Chaucer references, but there is no hiding the fact that this is a bad movie.

I know that this is a kids’ movie, and maybe I should give it some slack, but I can not. Your kid’s time is too valuable to be wasted on this movie. Your time is way too valuable. It is free on YouTube, but that price tag is still too high. Skip it.

Watch it Here!
Movie Reviews, movies

Movie Review: Dog (2022)

1 Comment
Source

Dog is a road trip movie that makes important commentary on the effects war has on soldiers. It also makes some valid criticism about how America treats its veterans. Although the movie is presented as a comedy, be aware that it is a serious movie.

As far as these road trip movies go, this is one of the better ones. The acting is great, the dog is cute, and the story is fine. What sets this movie apart is its commentary about the effects war has on veterans. Throughout the movie, Briggs and Lulu struggle to live outside of combat. The movie does a great job at showing how hard it is for soldiers to deal with depression, anxiety PTSD in healthy ways. The film is very creative in how it presents these lasting effects. Life seems to move on for everyone else, but the veterans have continued dealing with the effects of war. It is powerful commentary shown through meaningful imagery. The movie keeps it light, but it is hard to ignore the struggle.

I recommend this movie to everyone because it is well made and creative. The plot is a little slow and sad in parts, but the overall experience is very heartwarming. Plus, the dog is really cute. 

Movie Reviews, movies

YouTube Movie Review: Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009)

3 Comments
Source

Confessions of a Shopaholic is a very middle-of-the-road movie that doesn’t have much going for it. Sure the cast is great, but the story lacks anything worthwhile. If I am being honest, it is very bland despite it having a colorful obsession. The movie plays like a bad fantasy, and your time is better spent elsewhere.

My biggest issue with this movie is its main character. Isla Fisher does the best she can with what she is given, but her character lacks depth. Rebecca is this Mary Sue character who happens to be addicted to shopping. The way they depict shopping addiction was fun and creative, but that creativity is missing from the rest of the movie. Instead, you have this character that is destined to have a happy ending. The whole world is there to support Rebecca, but they never get the reason as to why. As a result, none of the meaningful moments are earned. It is hard to care about a character who doesn’t face any adversities. Instead, Rebecca faces inconveniences. She doesn’t get the job she wants, but she becomes a world-renowned author with just one article. She finds the love of her life because the script says so. She is even able to settle her crippling debt by selling her junk. This movie ends with Rebecca not learning anything but getting everything she didn’t know she wanted. 

There is a lot more I want to say about this movie, but I don’t want to waste your time with a movie that isn’t worth your time. There are better movies of this genre you can watch instead. But for those of you who are still interested, you can watch it for free on YouTube.

Watch it Here!
Series Reviews

TV Series Review: Upload Season 2

4 Comments
Source

I need to revisit my initial review of this show because of how disappointing the second season is. The second season of Upload is full of plot holes, filler, and bad acting. There seems to be a trend with shows that go to streaming where they are made too long to be watchable. You see this a lot with those true crime docuseries. Instead of a meaningful story, you get filler. Filler served its purpose when shows were released weekly, but filler has no place in streaming. Filler is the death of good storytelling. The second season of Upload is more filler than story. 

I enjoyed the first season of Upload. It is a cheesy love story that explores philosophies about life, death, and personality. It isn’t revolutionary, but it has its charm. All of this charm is gone. The second season turns into a generic and boring spy thriller with a plot riddled with plot holes and obvious twists. There is maybe an hour of meaningful content within the second season; the rest is boring filler. Any growth or interesting plot points made in the first season are forgotten and replaced with a story that isn’t worth your time. The characters are unlikable, the holes are too many to ignore, and there isn’t anything to care about. I don’t care about Nathan and Nora’s relationship. I don’t care about this weird rebellion that is brewing. I don’t care about who killed Nathan, and that is a huge plot point in the first season. I don’t care because everything takes so long to happen that I lost interest. The only reason I stuck with this show was that I loved Ingrid’s character arc.

Ingrid had the best character development until it is ruined by mediocrity. In the first season, Ingrid is presented as this shallow, entitled, and vain character, but there are meaningful moments where she allows herself to be vulnerable and be compassionate. You learn that her attitude results from her complicated relationship with her family. In the second season, Ingrid begins to do a lot of self-reflection. She begins to work through the guilt she has about Nathan’s death. Ingrid realizes that she is alone, and her personality is to blame. There are powerful moments in this season where she begins to grow as a character as she learns from her experience. She even expresses a desire to become more compassionate, loving, and motherly. The tragedy of Ingrid is that she wants someone to love her as much as she loves Nathan. 

I really thought this show would have her become a more complex character as she works through her flaws. I wanted her to realize that she doesn’t need the approval of her family or Nathan to be happy. She could have had interesting character growth, but she doesn’t. Instead, they make her the crazy obsessive ex-girlfriend. There is also a clone of Nathan now because the writers want to lazily set up an ending where everyone ends up with their true love. Gag. There is no risk, no tension, so why does it matter?

Don’t waste your time on this show. It isn’t worth your time or your data.

Movie Reviews, movies

YouTube Movie Reviews: Status Update (2018)

1 Comment
Source

Status Update is another wish movie. We’ve seen this before; the main character gets the power to make wishes. He wishes for everything he thinks he wants but somehow is still unhappy. It is only after he realizes that he has to be true to himself to be happy. It helps that he wished for a great singing voice and the ability to work a stage.

Status update is generic. You have the chubby comic relief best friend, the misunderstood lead, the jerk jock, and the artsy girl who writes her own music. None of them are memorable. It is full of cheesy eye-rolling moments and fake deep commentary about the fakeness of social media. As far as wish movies go, this one is average. The plot is ok, the music is fine, but the acting is solid. The cast is the only good thing about this movie. This cast deserves a better movie. There are few scenes in this movie that work only because of the actor’s charisma. It’s not a terrible movie, but you can spend your time watching a better movie.

If you’ve exhausted all of your other options, and need something to watch, you won’t hate this movie. It’s okay, but other movies do this plot better. This is a great movie to throw on if you don’t want to pay attention to it, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch it. But hey? You can watch it free on YouTube. You can do a lot worse for free.

Watch it Here!
Movie Reviews, movies

YouTube Movie Reviews: The Sandlot

1 Comment
Source

I’ve been avoiding this movie for a while now. I loved this movie as a kid, I have very fond memories about it, but I was afraid that time might have been too kind to one of my favorite movies. There are a lot of movies from my childhood that I can’t bring myself to rewatch because I don’t want to ruin my memories of them. I know they were always bad movies, but I cherish the experience. I am happy to write that The Sandlot still holds up.

The Sandlot is told by an adult reflecting on events of his childhood. He is unreliable. Details might be misremembered, others might be embellished for the story, but it works perfectly for this narrative. Some of us look back on our childhood with a fondness that distorts our retelling. What might and might not have happened ultimately doesn’t matter because it is the emotions that exist within those memories that cherish. The games we played, the friends we made, and the adventures we had are all pieced together into an epic we carry with us. The actual events might not have been anything special, but the memories are. That is what this movie captures very well. 

The Sandlot does a great job of showing the grandeur of childhood. Before the big reveal at the end, the beast is portrayed as a giant blood-thirsty monster. A lot of the interactions between the kids and the best are these epic missions to retrieve the ball. It is only at the end, when they get the full story that the beast is no longer a monster but a sweet giant dog. This is what childhood is. A period full of wonder, urban legends, and adventures with your friends. I remember playing with my friends until the street lamps came on. I remember sharing a cigarette behind my middle school because we all wanted to look cool. This is why this movie still holds up. 

You can watch this movie for free on YouTube.

Watch it here!
Movie Reviews, movies

YouTube Movie Review: A Good Woman (2004)

Leave a comment
Source

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It has a solid cast who give great performances, and the writing is excellent. If you like romance movies, this is a complicated one full of wit, drama, and misunderstandings that’s easy to enjoy. If you are a fan of the 20’s era aesthetic, there is enough in it to satisfy most audiences. If you are only looking for something to watch, I can promise you that you won’t be disappointed.

A Good Woman is about a newlyweds trip to Italy. All seems fine until gossip and desire place a strain on their relationship. The movie focuses on a group of social elites who have too much time on their hands. The overall message isn’t wholly universal, but it does address some important topics. The film is an exploration of the relationship between man and woman. What is acceptable differs based on gender. Men can cheat and have mistresses, while women must accept this fact and hate the mistress. A man can’t be friends with a woman, things of that nature. It doesn’t go deep enough, but at least there is an attempt. This movie is framed as a fantasy, so expect a lot of the lessons learned to be superficial. You can only do so much with out-of-touch characters.

That said, it is a good movie full of lots of witty banter. I recommend it, and you can watch it for free on YouTube.

Watch it Here!
Movie Reviews, movies

Movie Reviews: Turning Red (2022)

5 Comments
Source

Turning Red is the perfect coming-of-age movie. It has fun and quirky characters, a cute story, and the song will get stuck in your head. Turning Red is a wonderful story of dealing with the changes of puberty and the pressures of clashing cultures. Mei has always been the ideal daughter, doing what she is told and working hard to make her family proud, but Mei also has desires and likes outside of these traditions. This movie does a great job at showing this constant struggle as Mei comes to the age where she wants to find herself. Is she the traditional little girl her mother wants her to be, a quirky Canadian teen, or is she a mixture of both? It is a wonderful exploration of identity accompanied by catchy boy band music.

If you haven’t seen it yet, I urge you to stop what you are doing and watch it now! Turning Red is an excellent example of how great Disney movies can be. Plus cute Red Pandas. Turning Red is available for streaming on Disney+.

Movie Reviews, movies

Movie Review: Lantern’s Lane (2021)

1 Comment

Do not waste your time on this terrible movie. The camera work, the plot, the acting, and the big reveal are irredeemably bad. There is nothing worth watching in this movie.

Lantern’s lane is about a girl who returns to her rural home town where she reunites with friends from high school. Bitter that she hasn’t returned, her friends attempt to play a prank on her by scaring her. Things turn sour when a killer starts hunting them instead. The mom and daughter from the opening scene are the killers. This movie spoils its ending in the first five minutes of play time with its terrible acting and camera work. Lantern’s Lane is a great example of a filmmaker who is trying way too hard to be symbolic. This movie is full of obvious foreshadowing that ruins any tension that this movie could have had. Not that anything of note ever happens. It takes a whole hour before the horror element comes into play, but it doesn’t matter because you already know who the killer is.

Instead, you are forced to sit through terribly read high school drama no one asked for. I don’t know which is worse, the acting or the writing. I don’t think anyone involved with the making of this movie has ever talked to a real person before. The dialogue in this movie is unreal. You can mash your keyboard right now, and the outcome would be better dialogue.

And the editing of this movie? I don’t think there is a single scene in this movie that isn’t a collection of shots lazily pieced together. There are more cuts in a scene of simple dialogue than there are in an MCU fight scene. Disney cuts fight scenes to hide the fact that the actors can’t fight. This movie does it to hide the fact that they can’t act. There are moments of dialogue where there is a 5-second delay before an actor responds to what was just said. I wouldn’t be surprised if the actors weren’t competent enough to remember simple dialogue. 

Don’t waste your time with this movie. Even if you like watching bad movies for fun, there’s nothing here for you. It isn’t worth sitting through because nothing happens. You don’t even get to see anyone die. But if you don’t believe me, you can watch it on Hulu.