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Movie Reviews

Movie Review: I Used to be Famous (2022)

September 26, 2022 josechurape 2 Comments

Image by Firmbee from Pixabay

This movie was okay. I Used to Be Famous is certainly the last resort movie, something you throw on when you have absolutely nothing else to watch. While it isn’t a terrible movie, it is forgettable. This movie relies too heavily on trying to elicit feelings of sympathy and warmth towards a heartwarming friendship that frankly has been done better elsewhere. This is an okay option to throw on when you don’t want to be fully invested in a story.

The story is about a failed boy band artist Vince who is trying to regain his glory days. While he may still feel the music, he finds himself blocked from creating the next hit that will revive his career. This all changes when he meets an unlikely friend in Stevie, a boy with autism who likes to play the drums. Together they begin to make inspired music that begins to open doors for them, but this isn’t without its challenges. Eventually, Vince realizes that he no longer wishes to use his music to seek fame but to help people heal. It is as sappy and cheesy as it sounds.

There isn’t anything objectively wrong with this movie. The acting and story are fine, but the music isn’t. While I can appreciate the chemistry between the actors, it was hard to sit through the concerts. As much as this movie tries to make it seem like the music made is an instant hit, it’s not. This won’t ruin the experience, but it does emphasize this movie’s cheesiness. It is a fine story about friendship, but it isn’t a big impression. Peanut Butter Falcon does it a lot better.

You can stream this movie on Netflix. I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch it, but you won’t hate it if you do.

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Movie Reviews

Movie Review: Lou (2022)

September 24, 2022 josechurape Leave a comment

Image by Thanks for your recognition • Donations ♡ welcome from Pixabay

As far as cheap and generic action movies go, Lou fairs a little better, but I still can’t recommend it. I am sure there is an audience for these types of movies, but they haven’t found any in my home.

Lou is about a recluse who lives in the woods and hunts for her food. The movie starts as she is about to commit suicide, but her attempt is interrupted by her one and only neighbor. Her neighbor’s daughter has been kidnapped, and Lou takes it upon herself to track down the kidnappers and save the little girl. The problem is, there is a storm shaking the island, and her arthritis is flaring up. Will she be able to save the little girl before the arteritis takes her hands?

This movie was average at best but never worth your time. The acting is average, with Lou being the best actor. The other characters try their hardest, but the writing doesn’t do much to help them. The plot is simple and linear, and the action isn’t fun or exciting.

I am not sure how I feel about this trend of older action heroes. I am glad that actors are no longer type-casted into the grandparent role, but I don’t think they’ve figured out the formula to make them work. Granted, these movies aren’t made for me, but it is still a valid opinion. At least this one was more realistic. It makes me nervous for the final Halloween movie seeing how the last movie was over-the-top ridiculous. I have nothing against Jamie Lee Curtis, but she had Micheal Meyers level of resilience to knife wounds; that is a hard truth to accept.

It is hard to say anything more about this movie because it just exists without leaving much of an impression. When there isn’t any action, I was trapped watching two women hiking through the woods, bonding due to circumstances. It may not be the worst action movie, but it is forgettable. You can stream it on Netflix.

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Movie Reviews

Movie Review: Father Stu

September 22, 2022 josechurape 2 Comments

I didn’t like Father Stu because it is a boring movie. While it may find its audience within the Catholic community, it won’t find it in most audiences.

Father Stu is the story of how a failed amateur boxer finds his way to the catholic faith. Stu is an alcoholic without any direction. He has big dreams and even bigger ambitions but has an attitude that constantly gets him into trouble. He moves to California to become a movie star, but instead, he finds his way to the Catholic Church. God has different plans for Stu, and after a terrible accident, Stu becomes determined to become a priest. Fate is cruel and his body begins to succumb to a debilitating illness that will one day leave him completely disabled. Will he be able to find strength in his newfound faith, or will the trials prove too difficult?

The only reason I am not madder at this movie is that the cast is fantastic. Mark Wahlberg carries this movie as Stu, but unfortunately, this movie isn’t good enough for him. The plot is rather generic, and the pacing is terrible. It seems like the movie races from trial to trial and rushes to close up all the plot points at the end. Nothing interesting happens despite it having so many subplots. Sure the movie might be mechanically inspiring, but its execution is anything but. This is just another faith movie, but this one has a decent budget and actors.

Father Stu is pro-Catholic propaganda. Stu has to sacrifice so much in his journey in order for him to be rewarded. His journey is used as a way of proving that God will test you constantly, but will reward you if you have faith. There is also enough preaching in between to make this message redundantly clear. The movie also goes out of its way to show its audience how accepting, caring, and helpful the Catholic church is. I was raised Catholic and understand that the church does good for its community, but this was over the top. The movie constantly shoves its righteousness in the audience’s face to the point where I have to question its legitimacy. There is enough controversy surrounding the Catholic church to suggest that it is not as virtuous as this movie so desperately says it to be. I want to be clear, I have nothing against the Catholic faith; this just wasn’t a good movie.

If you are Catholic, Father Stu is an inspiring story about a fallen man finding God. You should watch it. For everyone else, I would probably hold off. But if you are still curious, you can stream it on Netflix.

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Movie Reviews

Movie Review: Drifting Home (2022)

September 20, 2022 josechurape 6 Comments

Drifting Home is a cute coming-of-age story that deals with grief and loss. I wasn’t ready for the emotional journey this movie was about to take me on, but I am glad I was there for it. Even if you aren’t a fan of Anime, you should check out this film.

Kosuke and Natsume are two kids who lived together due to their circumstances. They were best friends and did everything together. This all changes when Kosuke’s grandfather dies, breaking up the long-existing friendship. Now they only speak to each other when necessary. Unknown forces whisk the pair and a group of friends away and drop them on top of an endless ocean, floating on top of the decrepit apartment they grew up in. The building floats aimlessly, and the kids must band together to survive till rescue comes. If it ever comes that is. Will the kids survive the journey and find a way back home?

I will be rewatching this film regularly. It has become one of my favorite animated films in recent memory. The art is beautiful, the dubbing is fantastic, and the story is cute and compelling. The endless drifting at sea is a perfect metaphor for the kid’s feelings, as they struggle to cope with complex emotions such as grief and loss. The journey acts as the catalyst that will help the kids work through their troubles. It is a well-written journey that will have you sobbing at points but ultimately leave you smiling. Drifting Home is a unique take on a human experience we are all familiar with, making it relatable to all audiences.

Above all, Floating Home is fantasy done right. This is a fun and fantastical world that is well-built and developed. It makes for a fantastic adventure that will have you at the edge of your seat. This isn’t going to be a movie you can only watch once. If you haven’t seen it, I ask you to add it to your watch list and thank me later. You can stream it on Netflix.

Now as a shameless plug, if this movie isn’t available for streaming where you live, I suggest using Atlas VPN. As a note, I am affiliated with them and will get a small commission if you choose to use it. I’ve been using it for a bit now, and it does what it sets to do.

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Movie Reviews

Movie Review: Do Revenge (2022)

September 16, 2022 josechurape Leave a comment

I just watched Do Revenge and it was a lot better than I expected. It may not be winning any awards or breaking any leaderboards, but it is a fun and entertaining movie to throw on when you don’t want to think.

Drea attends a prestigious high school and has managed to work her way to the top of the social ladder. She runs the school and dreams of going to Yale. This all changes when her boyfriend leaks her nudes to the entire class. Drea’s reputation is ruined overnight, and she is made an outcast by the people she believed to be her friend. Her boyfriend survives unscathed, leaving Drea to deal with the anger of this betrayal alone.

While her boyfriend gets to live his normal life, Drea must play by the rules and deal with the repercussions. But Drea’s fall from grace lands her an unlikely ally, Elenore. Elenore has also had her reputation destroyed, and shares in Drea’s anger. Together, they plot to exact revenge on those who wronged them. Common goals create unlikely friendships, but will the revenge they seek quell the anger they hold within?

Do Revenge doesn’t have the greatest story. It doesn’t even have enough story for a full movie and must resort to romantic subplot plot filler and some light fan service. That said, this isn’t a bad movie. What makes this movie work so well is its leads. These two have the chemistry and charisma to carry this movie. I had so much fun watching them scheme and slowly become friends, even though what they do is immoral.

What I liked about this movie was the leads had a conscience. In movies like this, the leads don’t realize what they are doing is wrong until it’s too late. You get a sappy apology, and everything is restored in the end. This movie has some of that, but the characters show remorse as they plot and scheme. There is a very cool scene where Drea confesses that she still feels angry, and nothing seems to quell that anger. This was a very surprising moment because I didn’t expect this movie to have any depth or character growth.

Do Revenge is a simple movie that does what it sets out to do, it entertains. Aside from the leads, the acting is average at best. There are some bad line reads that I am willing to forgive. This movie is a tad generic as it hits a lot of the mandatory teen movie tropes. The story also loses a bit of traction towards the end as it tries to tie everything up. But if you just are looking for something to watch, this movie is a solid choice. You can stream it on Netflix.

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Movie Reviews

Movie Reviews: The Catholic School (2022)

September 15, 2022 josechurape 6 Comments

Image by Marcos Cola from Pixabay

Catholic School is hard to recommend because of how disturbing the subject matter is. This is a movie that is based on real events, and it doesn’t hold back on trying to make its audience uncomfortable. If you have any kind of trauma, from either sexual or physical abuse, don’t watch this movie. It doesn’t show any of the violent bits, but the implications are still difficult to sit through.

Catholic School follows the events that lead up to 1975’s gruesome Circeo massacre in Rome in which three boys from a prestigious catholic school kidnapped, tortured, and murdered two young women. The movie will jump around the different students of the class, showing how the pressures and trauma in their lives slowly shaped them. The film does a deep dive at all the students, not just the ones that committed the atrocities. In doing so, the film aims to show the importance of mental health and how simply ignoring the problems doesn’t fix them.

I wouldn’t watch this movie for fun because this isn’t a fun movie. It is difficult to have to sit through the family drama and the traumatizing events at the end of this film. It is harder to sit through knowing that this is based on real events. Knowing and seeing the atrocities that man is capable of is always a difficult experience. I will be watching cartoons to try to get through the sorrow I’m overcome with because of this movie.

This movie does a good job of showing how people deal with trauma, and how this trauma affects a person. The problem is this movie takes a long time to get to the point. You jump around between each classmate, learning of his troubled home life to get a bit of perspective, but this gets old and repetitive. I understand that the intention was to show how the pressures of society shape young people, but it does so too slowly. It feels much more like filler, wasting the social commentary it is trying to make. This movie suffers for its artistic choices.

This movie is available for streaming on Netflix, but be warned; this isn’t an entertaining movie. It is a hard look at a horrible event. It isn’t for everyone, and I would skip it.

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Movie Reviews

Movie Review: The Bubble (2022)

September 14, 2022 josechurape 2 Comments

The Bubble proves that you can have a movie full of funny and talented people and still be painfully unfunny. If you haven’t heard of this movie, consider yourself lucky because this movie is a huge waste of time.

The Bubble is a meta-comedy about the making of a bad movie. The movie pokes fun at how the pandemic affected filmmaking. The film spends too much time making pandemic-era jokes that you have seen done better on TikTok. This movie actually becomes a Tiktok commercial halfway through. In the movie, the actors find themselves imprisoned by the production company and are forced to finish filming. I don’t know if this movie is a documentary or a comedy because I felt the same desperation the characters did to leave this film. This is a discount Tropic Thunder you shouldn’t bother watching.

What a shame that so much talent was wasted on a skit that never ends. I hope the paychecks were nice because this movie was torture. The jokes rarely landed, the meta nature of it doesn’t work, and there is no structure to this comedy. I couldn’t tell if the jokes were meta or if they were critiquing the movie in real-time. I can’t tell you how many scenes start with them talking about how badly this movie is. There are parts of this movie that feel like it was all improvised, and none of it was good. This is a movie that gets worse the longer it runs because the jokes get more and more desperate. The only good thing about this movie is the CGI. It is really good, but I don’t understand why they even bothered to make it so.

I understand that movie was supposed to be satire and poke fun at the film industry, but it doesn’t do it properly. There is nothing more I can say about this movie because it is so bland. Nothing happens. You can watch this on Netflix, but you should skip it.

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Movie Reviews

Movie Review: Me Time (2022)

September 2, 2022 josechurape 6 Comments

Me Time is another lazy and generic buddy comedy where Kevin Hart plays himself. While this might be one of his better ones, it isn’t saying much considering how low the bar is. I wouldn’t bother with this movie unless you really enjoy Kevin Hart’s comedy.

Kevin Hart is a stay-at-home dad with a very successful wife. He takes pride and joy in his role, but there are factors that leave him insecure about his manhood. In an effort to prove his worth to the world, he links up with an old childhood friend for a night of partying. Things quickly get out of hand, and now Hart must salvage the night and save his marriage and friend.

You’ve seen this movie before. You will probably forget you watched this movie. This lazy addition to Hart’s filmography only proves that he is destined to be typecasted as himself for the remainder of his career. While these movies might be good for his bank statements, I am tired of having to sit through the same movie and listen to the same jokes, all to learn the same morals. All I want is a unique plot, and not this copy and pasted nonsense.

Don’t watch this movie and give it ratings. With how much content there is out right now, your time is better spent elsewhere. The acting is okay, the jokes are barely funny, and the plot is clearly recycled. Why waste your time on something that clearly had little effort put into it? You can stream it on Netflix, but I wouldn’t bother.

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Movie Reviews

Movie Review: Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (2022)

August 29, 2022 josechurape Leave a comment