taylamell

The show is just OKAY. It's not "garbage," it's not "the best thing ever," it is just okay, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

At times (episode 4) it feels like the writers wanted to bash the audience over the head with the social message, but it's nothing worth all of the vitriol and 1-star ratings I'm seeing.

On the flipside, the comedy doesn't land for me almost at all. The character dynamics (i.e.: getting to see Jen's interactions with her father) are charming and really hook me, but the show fails to make me laugh. The jokes are just too telegraphed before they're even attempted.

Overall, this show is a 5.5/10 for me. Nothing to hate, nothing to be overly joyed about, but it's charming even if it's not firing on all cylinders.

This show is truly just okay. The flashback portion of the story was, in my opinion, the best and more interesting part of the season. Yes, there's convolution and spouts of teen drama, but none of it is especially egregious given the subject matter. The teen drama especially, is not on the level of CW cringe (at least in my opinion).

Where the show drops the ball for me is the present day portion of the story. The actress playing present day Jade is less compelling than her younger counterpart, and the story there is much less compelling as well.

At the very least, the present day stuff should've been saved for a season 2, or just a 2nd half of this first season (with the flashback story filling the first half).

I went into this laughing at the premise, and came out of it actually sort of enjoying it. This was definitely way better than it had any right to be.

Having watched the finale this morning, I can safely say this show is one of my favorites amongst the MCU Disney+ shows. The first two episodes alone captured the magic that made me a fan of Kamala in the comics (very similar vibes to her debut run), and (the first two episodes) find themselves amongst my favorite viewing experiences in the MCU to date.

The show does have the typical pacing and blatant "well that sure was convenient" issues as most of the Disney+ 6 episode series, but this really was such a joy to watch. The family elements were so wonderfully handled that I almost feel robbed that we didn't get a first season to just fully explore those dynamics, and these episodes as the second season.

Natalie Portman and Christian Bale carry this movie, and it's a shame because not enough time is properly dedicated to either of their characters' tragedies. While nothing in this made me laugh, there are a few moments that stand out as hints of what this blending of tragic stories could've been.

As a side note: No amount of ill-timed narration/monologuing will ever get me to buy into Jane & Thor's relationship.

I've tried three times now to like this show. Everyone raves about its humor, and I thought that maybe it was the serious miscasting on voice actors that was keeping me from seeing that... but no. There's something clever at work, I'll give it that, but as it highlights things about DC's Gothamites that are either funny (when you think about it) or can be analyzed in a different way, the show is also egregiously annoying. From the dialogue, the voice acting, the line delivery, hell even the jokes themselves, the show is just not that good. Crass for the sake of crass is the best way to describe it.

I'm really not sure how I feel about this movie. The film's message is pretty easy to pick up on not too far in, but the execution of everything, all the way to the end is just... perplexing, honestly. It's really the last 15 or so minutes that fumble the film, as things get flipped around in what feels like an attempt to subvert expectations. However, based upon everything presented in the movie this twist makes no sense whatsoever.

This definitely felt like an older slasher flick in both the good & bad ways. Where the kills are concerned, there were a couple that (timing-wise) caught me off guard, but none save one are anything of note.

Where the bad of old slasher flicks comes in is the pacing. The first bit of it is pretty interesting & moves along well, then hits a wall after the first kill.

Gunna start with the negatives:

While this is a good movie, it is way too long. The middle act has pacing issues towards the end of it that leads to a 3rd act that has 3 different endings. Honestly had they stopped after Falcone's arrest scene, they could've picked up from there on the sequel and it would've felt like a more natural ending.

For how grounded it is, the fact that Batman's able to take so many rounds to the chest (and no one tries to shoot his jaw off) almost feels like the film forgot it's trying to be grounded. Also, the fact that Batman was passed out long enough to be moved from the church to the police station and no one having tried to remove his mask until he wakes stands out with how otherwise smart this movie is.

They also took the Riddler and gave him a personality & motivations that would have fit Anarky much better than even a freshly started Riddler (especially with the streamer angle).

Now for the positives:

Pattison did well as Batman, and even Bruce Wayne. I know people don't like the lack of difference between the two personas, but to me it worked for a relatively naive Batman. I actually buy that this Batman has room to grow as a person and crusader.

Colin Ferrel as Penguin was easily the highlight of the movie to me. He really had fun with the material, and his jovial (for lack of a better word) portrayal brought needed levity to the movie.

Zoe Kravitz was a good Catwoman. She brought a confident sexiness to the role that was a wonderful juxtaposition to Robert Pattison's awkward & reserved Batman.

Turturro as Falcone was a wonderful surprise. I've just never seen him in this type of role, so his poise and aura as a mob boss was that much better to me.

Jeffrey Wright's Gordon was good, but I felt like some sort of hint to his backstory would've helped push his relationship with Batman a bit more (yes, I know that there's a GCPD show coming that will hopefully delve more into Gordon).

Dano's performance was solid. I didn't find him terrifying, maybe I've just seen too many flicks with psychos trying to make a point, but the brief time we spent with him as Edward Nashton was much better than his Riddler to me.

This isn't a perfect movie, but it's a really solid foundation to a franchise that I hope will culminate with the Court of Owls flexing their muscle in Gotham.

7.5/10.

No seriously, the majority of the movie is poorly lit and difficult to see.

Jokes aside, The Retreat is a mixed bag of a movie. From the opening scene, the motivations of the killers are very obvious, and while the LGBTQ representation was great, the movie's exploration of its theme feels a bit uninspired (again, everything is pretty obvious, including who the killers are and it's sort of an, "of course they would," moment).

The movie picks up in the last 30 to 40min, but I couldn't help but laugh as one character literally lies on the ground and watched one of the protagonists pick up an old desktop to smash their head in with.

This movie was firing on all cylinders until the very end. Even when the movie took a left turn (if you've seen it, you know what I'm referring to) it was weird, but still great... But that damn end scene though.

This just might be the absolute worst movie I've ever seen... I'm still at a loss for words.

Opening scene is probably one of the best action scenes I've seen in awhile. The movie has a few great one-liners/back & forths, and it really nails the look of an online multiplayer game.

The only things I would change about this, is making the game VR and having Taika Waititi tone it down a bit.

For those who don't know, this film is based on the French graphic novel "Sandcastle," which honestly isn't much better than what we see here. In both instances, we're presented with an interesting premise that isn't executed to its full potential. Hats off to Shyamalan for attempting to provide a pseudo-scientific explanation, as well as for the brief scenes of body horror.

Honestly this series is pretty decent. I enjoyed most of the monologues, but it's definitely overused & some contain maybe 2 or 3 sentences that serve any purpose.

I gave this a 6/10 because killing off Riley seemed like a waste. Through visions of the girl he killed and his constant confrontations with religion, the series sets him up like he will get redemption for his past by sacrificing himself at the end to take down the threat. Alas he is just the catalyst for the "uprising."

After watching this movie, I'm really not sure why this is the film people want to be extremely hyperbolic about. Is it the worst thing ever? Absolutely not. Is it the greatest thing since sliced bread? Absolutely not.

Honestly had it not been for the 3rd act, I would have given this a 6, however it's certainly not a film I regret having watched. It's just really mediocre.

It's a cute film. Very fast paced & pretty poorly written/acted in some parts, but it's a cute teen romance flick regardless. I did like the commentary of everyone being too wrapped up in their phones/social media presence to really enjoy life.

This movie was a blast from start to finish. I'd put this on mainly as background noise and found myself locked in almost immediately.

Whenever I see Iceman in something, I'll always give it a watch. Aftermath is creepy & a pretty decent film. The twist, however, both makes sense and doesn't once it's revealed. Honestly if it wasn't for the twist I'd've given this a higher rating.

This is not the best film out by any means, but it is one of the few horror flicks in recent years to genuinely leave me on the edge of my seat. I'm glad I stumbled upon it.

The Suicide Squad gets right what the 2016 film got wrong. The team actually feels like a team, the mission is an actual mission that makes sense instead of a haphazard one that just happens because they needed a villain, and there are some solid dialogues between characters. Margot Robbie delivered a speech in the movie that really highlights the growth of Quinn since she was first brought to life in the DCEU.

Where the film falls flat to me, are the jokes. They're not necessarily bad, but they feel unnecessarily juvenile at times (in other words: James Gunn is very James Gunn here).

Regardless, this was a solid film and everyone got their chance to shine instead of just Robbie and the sharpshooting male lead. Hopefully this marks the start of a great DC cinematic universe/multiverse moving forward.

As a 90s baby who grew up watching the original Space Jam, I'll admit that even that movie is really flawed, but this... this wasn't it. While I did enjoy some of the father/son moments, I think the first movie benefited from really just embracing the silliness from top to bottom. The plot was thin, but it was a Looney Tunes/NBA crossover; you don't really need to explain why everything's happening, just have fun getting there.

This was fun at times, but it mainly felt like it was trying too hard to not be the first film (despite the in-film allusions to it), and got too bogged down by the need to remind you that LeBron was being a bad dad.

Overall the movie wasn't bad, especially when looked at as part of a trilogy, but after the 2nd film this was definitely a let down.

*Spoiler Ahead*

I just can't buy into the relationship of Deena & Sam, no matter what the century or who they happen to be. I just don't feel the chemistry from these two actresses. I was also confused as to why, after Sam/Hannah had freaked out about somebody seeing them kiss in the dark woods, she would kiss Deena/Sarah in the middle of the town & illuminated by the fire.

I hope they do a movie or series on the murderous kid with the baseball bat though. By far my favorite killer 😂

This was so, so much better than Part One. There's one exposition scene that doesn't fit, but it's over almost as soon as it starts. The film is consistent throughout, isn't afraid to be brutal, and finally delivers on the tone the trailers promised for this trilogy.

This isn't a bad movie by any means, but if you saw the trailer then you've probably accurately guessed the "twist" in the movie. It's very much a mix of Edge of Tomorrow and Independence Day, but not nearly as fun.