themwntl

IMDb member since February 2015
    Lifetime Total
    10+
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    1+
    IMDb Member
    9 years

Reviews

Sorcerer
(1977)

Just watch H. G Clouzot's The Wages of Fear and this copy will seem "less"
Just watch H. G Clouzot's The Wages of Fear 1953 and this "copy" will seem less than... Oh it's not a bad film, but the original is so much better. I know Hollywood has to find material and for those troubled by subtitles (or don't speak French) I guess this one will do.

In The Wages of Fear, four men in a remote South American town have the enviable task of transporting a metric buttload (technical term) of nitroglycerin across mountainous roads in poor condition. It's a taut, superbly suspenseful thriller, guided with a steady hand by director Henri-Georges Clouzot, who would go on to direct the classic Diabolique in 1955.

Yves Montand, in a rare dramatic role, plays Mario, the ostensible protagonist of our tale. He's been stuck in this backwater for some time, but it costs a lot of money to get out - plane fares are through the roof, and there's no train, and there's no neighboring village. In short, you're stuck there until you can buy a ticket - and pay for a passport, of course.

Mario spends his days looking for work, wooing tavern worker Linda, and despairing about the lack of work. There's an American oil company in town, but they're no longer hiring. His monotonous lifestyle is interrupted by the arrival of fellow expat Jo (Charles Vanel), a tough-looking older man who quickly wins Mario's favor at the expense of the rest of the men in town.

The oil company, in fact, has its own problem - one of their large derricks has exploded, causing a huge oil fire. Company man Bill O'Brien decides to send two trucks loaded with nitro from the town up the mountain to the derrick. (The eventual idea is to set off charges, which will somehow contain or extinguish the fire.) O'Brien has no trouble scaring up volunteers for the task, since the men of the town are largely unemployed. Four men will be selected to take the two trucks. Only one truck is needed; the second is truly just in case there's an accident with the first one. The men will receive $2000 when the work is finished, more than enough to secure passage out of the backwater.

Mario and Jo are chosen, as are Mario's roommate Luigi (Folco Lulli) and German expat Bimba (Peter van Eyck). The two trucks depart early in the morning, full of gas and of nitro. Danger awaits.

Theirs is not an easy task. The road is full of ruts. In one place, the wooden deck that trucks use to make a sharp turn up the mountain has been damaged from disuse. It's hot and muggy. And one has to be very, very careful, as even the smallest bump might set the whole shebang off. There's also tension among the four drivers - Luigi is unhappy that Mario is spending more time with Jo than with him, Mario is unhappy with what he perceives as Jo's cowardice. Bimba seems to get along with everyone, though.

The whole time I was watching this movie, I was certain not all four were going to make it. I will not spoil what is now a sixty-three-year-old movie, but I was still genuinely surprised by the ending. This ain't no fairy tale or sitcom. This is a movie about desperation, redemption, sacrifice, and comeuppance. It's not necessarily about justice.

The Wages of Fear is a singularly terrific movie from start to finish, exquisitely shot and expertly written. Its money maker is its tension, something present here in spades. The writing is impeccable; even personality changes make perfect sense within the film's context. There are intricacies within a straightforward plot. This is a must see for lovers of thrillers.

The Black Phone
(2021)

More Sadism... Child Killer... oooos so scarrrrryyeee
What's learn about a child killer sadistic kidnapper... (the grabber) ?

Not much really... Nothing to see here is this flat scarrryyyyeeeee horror, maybe it scares some 10yr old ? Poor Ethan hawke, career meet toilet..

The Beta Test
(2021)

It's a Horror film, don't kid yourself by the humor
The very first scene is a very serious and graphicly brutal murder with multiple stabbings, blood splatters, and a toss off the balcony. The main charactor is a horrible human in virtually every scene; a cynically driven, pathological liar who fluctuates between paranoia and aggressive manipulation. The big plot hole is the mask wearing adultry scene, but if you can forgive that and suspend disbelief for a few other failures of logic and reason, then the story moves along nicely with a lot of very clever writing. The dark disfunctional "humor" is head shaking amazing... when it works, but much of the time it seems more like long winded rant. (the humor is in the rants fwit) In many ways it's a great modern take on the condition of the country (2021) at its most desperate capitalist, money and fame grubbing best. Acting is A++++ all around. Cinematography is A++++ all around. I'm glad I saw it and would recommend it.... but it is not a comedy.

WandaVision
(2021)

too clever by half
Too much laugh track, too little plot.. Parody of old sitcom is not funny... at all... Very labored acting and why not, since who can put heart and soul into such poor material..?

Raised by Wolves
(2020)

Big Flying Snake... Really? Rubbish
It's just unbelievalby bad.... Just read the other 1/10 reviews for the details, but be assured, I did not like it as much as they did....If you like this kind of "sifi" you must have 7th grade level "satisfaction" mind... .

9 Songs
(2004)

Sex Sells Schlock Songs
Feeling sad for Mike W-Bottom. Mediocre writer (uncredited) of this pretentious matress romp.. Off to the concert you lovers... back to bed... etc etc etc.. There must come a time in a mainstream Brit TV directors' career when the dream of being a really great Driector (list famous Driectors here) dies.. ? what to do to ease the depression? Mike can make that voyeur sex film with some young (ish) , fit, desperate for work actors. Let them improvise much of the dialogue (like the Trip with less talent) and make sure the camera gets just enought of the penetration.parts... OH goody Mike... you really can make a swell film.... Keep up the good work...

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels
(2020)

Pretty Dreadful Ep01
Penny Dreadful, City of Angles. Is it a cop show with psychotic serial killers? Is it an ethnic group relationship show with labor activists, familia, and cops? Is it a ghostly thriller with Mexican supernatural Death gods? Why call it Penny Dreadful when it has no clear relationship to the first show? Penny Dreadfuls were cheap popular serial literature produced during the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom and have nothing to do with Los Angles. Is Nathan Lane horribly miscast here? Why does every scene look like it is shot in a façade of a set? LA1930 doesn't look like LA 2020. Need Atmosphere? show the concrete LA River, old cars and those bridges. BTW, that concrete pour in the river was not started until 1938. John Logan is a great writer, but city of angles is just mediocre at best. The PD#1 2014-16 was brilliant because it created a world in which all the fictional "monsters" (gothic, Victorian, film) that are cultural icons, co-existed in one fashion or another in a complex, yet focused plot. Bravo. City of Angles is just a plot disaster, stilted dialogue unfolding in cos-play, yet dares to associate itself with the good Penny Dreadful?

Marriage 2.0
(2015)

Marriage 2.0 = Porn 2.0
Adam and Eve produced this trash, disguised as a "relationship" film. One of the "stars" is Nina Hartley, a porn star from the classic era who has been in thousands of these "movies". She's graduated from "barely legal" to Granny GILF, Of course the porn is book ended by tedious chatter that the "actors" deliver with all the skill one would expect. They probably fantasize about being in a real movie while the sex scene lurches on, and who can blame them, stuck in an endless porn loop, when they went to Hollywood to be movie stars....

Bird Box
(2018)

A Movie so HORRIBLE. I killed myself after seeing it...
The producers should have warned me... I should have quit watching as soon as I found out about the HORRIBLE thing that would make me commit suicide if I saw it... I tried watching it with a blind fold on but it did not work as well for me as it did for S. Bullock in the movie.. Blindfolds are overrated...I was arrogant... I thought I could beat the "thing"... I was wrong.. And so I type this just before I end it all... Woe is me. And so you, dear review reader, are warned. this movie is so HORRIBLE that you may die. I tried driving my car blindfolded and that did not work too well either... Sad

Ozark
(2017)

Not believable more than unbelievable
Crime Drama leaves reality behind in backwoods boondoggles. Marty and Wife get in a fix every episode and escape every episode. How? fictional writing magic. Marty can't keep his mouth shut (nobody can really) and so everybody knows everybody's "business", really! , They are all criminals and they tell every criminal they meet exactly what they have and what they are up to. . Local heroin producers give Marty a tour, explaining everything they have and how it works! really!, Need a casino to laundry money?, no problem because Wendy will get bill through the Mo. Legislature in no time at all... really! Local criminal rednecks actually give back a million dollars in cash... really? Sick old geezer in the basement actually can help you with the KC mob.!... really!.. Its an endless list of not believable criminal activity, with lots of violence and dead criminals.... fortunately Marty and Wendy bought a mortuary where they can cremate the bodies... really! You can actually just watch every other episode of season 2 without missing any of the plot... really... I give it a grade "C" and suggest no season 3, especially since they have killed off almost every character except the family.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
(2017)

It's like watching someone else play a video game
I suppose it is impossible to reduce 21 volumes of Valérian into a 2:17 minute movie with any real hope of pleasing the actual people who love the comic series. I'm not that fan and so I'm judging it independent of its pedigree. The movie is just not very good.

Heroes: Like a blind date set up by a modeling agency, these photogenic clothes horses have nothing believable to say to each other, and the so called "humorous banter" achieves exactly the opposite effect. It's the kind of writing that passes for funny in much of Sci-Fi/Fantasy. It's not the actors fault; they are kids, pretending to be superheroes, and probably have no real relationships to mimic. It matters because one has to suspend every ounce of disbelief to get through the hallucinogenic, stuffed like a hoarder's closet, CGI world that needs saving. Having a couple of human's with some basic reality attached to their behavior, character, attitude, and language might make the CGI overload less a mind numbing bore. It's like watching someone else play a video game; after a bit, who cares? That's enough. Read the books, your imagination is better than this….Zero Gravity + Zero Chemistry = Fail

Here is a simple formulation for movies: Would you ever watch this movie again. In Valerian, the answer is absolutely not…. (Unless the geniuses at Rifftrax decide to clean and gut it)

Twin Peaks: The Return
(2017)

Unmitigated & Relentlessly DULL
ZERO would be the most accurate rating... This "stuff" This Sequel "stuff" has all the trademarks of similar sequels...: poorly written plot, poorly written dialogue and poor editing. The sequel is stuffed with padded scenes that go on for boring minutes... oh well... who cares anyway? David Lynch, you're not the first "creative genius" who has lost the magic..... and you won't be the last...

The Bad Batch
(2016)

Wasted Premise in an acting wasteland.
You'll need to suspend all of your disbelief to close the holes in this movie's plot, starting with the pumping-iron, body-building cannibals, working out and living in aluminum airplane wreckage in the burning desert sun, in the middle of nowhere. Sun block anyone?

Enter Protagonist Suki Waterhouse, 25, acting age 17, cute and lean, and apparently in the eyes of the body-builders, ready for the BBQ- Grill... Fresh Meat over aged, in wings and legs the saying goes? Predictably, escape follows, and Suki finds Keanu's Village of DJ's, Drugs, Dirt. (Keanu at least has a swimming pool and clean towels) That's Not good enough for Suki, She's in love with the Cubano, the "Artist" (and lead cannibal) with the mute daughter. Cubano's Mute Daughter is a MacGuffin.

The movie starts off "OK", with a good pace, and despite poor acting skill (Suki is mostly eye-candy, with a squeaky voice to match), it maintains an interesting premise. But then dramatically FIZZLES after Suki revenge kills Cubano's girlfriend. Then the "distopian love story" plot takes over and the movie is just embarrassing. There is zero chemistry between the actors, the writing is hideously awkward, and the location seems impossible. Grade F.

I would recommend the movie: "A boy and his Dog" for a successful example of this kind of Protagonist Survival in a post-apocalyptic world (with cannibals.)

Ghost in the Shell
(2017)

A "CAM" of the original GITS Staring Frankenstein with Character Assassination
A "CAM" is a low quality pirate video made with a video camera from the dark, back seats of a movie theater, and posted online for the "benefit" of those unwilling to pay retail movie ticket prices. This GITS '17 is the metaphorical equivalent. It takes a certifiable anime masterpiece from 1995; invents a pathetic origin story for the main character, pirates a plot line from a GITS sequel, and directly steals shot for shot action scenes. Why Bother? $$$

I'll dissect this morgue ready corpse for you. 1. Origin story of the Major: The original '95 version dispensed with it, and jumped directly into a fascinating, complex, and fully realized future universe where adult characters, plot, and motive unfolded in a believable story. GITS '17 lazily falls back on the most boring and predictable of graphic novel plots: "A troubled teenager must save the world and revisit a childhood trauma" and so, true to form "17 has a multi-billion Yen Corporation (classic evil.com) resort to kidnapping runaway teens to experiment on. This version of "teen Frankenstein" is doubled down in the movie because not only is the Major a kidnapped teen, but so is the villain (Hideo Kuze.) Seriously!!! And they also knew each other in the past, living together in the so called "outlaw zone", (where the Evil Corp. gets its "Brains")

2. Put a good teenage brain into a cyborg and you instantly get a "Major"; a tactical wizard, a quick thinking leader, and a hacking genius. Put a bad teenage brain into a cyborg and you get Kuze, a tactical wizard, a devious villain, and a hacking genius out for REVENGE. The revenge plot line is so common and predictable it's easy to imagine it was the producers' first choice when adapting GITS '95. Anything else might have required writing skill.

3. In 1960 they made a perfect movie called Psycho. In 1998 a Hollywood genius decided to remake it shot for shot, but it color. Of course it is a failure on many levels. The same idiocy infects '17, as many shot for shot scenes only serve to highlight the director's lack of creativity. If you feel the need to systematically destroy a classic, why bother quoting some of its great scenes? It's because the lazy adolescent "brain$" who made it have no Adult skill

4. I may as well mention so called "whitewashing" by saying that in this sucide vest of a movie, it would matter not one whit if the cast was entirely Japanese, since there is nothing in the writing that can salvage the character assassination this movie has produced. Scarlett Johannson spends part of the movie in a white wet suit (or are they long johns?) cloaked from human eyes. Well, Scarlett, I can see you. You are in a crap movie. Stop it.

5. It is important to roundly reject these Hollywood clones or they will continue to produce them. They hope that the audience is too lazy to seek out the real thing. They hope you'll be happy with their CGI special effect driven, eye candy film. They hope that you don't want anything of substance when you can safely watch a wet suited chick, fighting in the shallows. "Shallow", now that is the right word for this movie.

6. Please go and rent the original GITS '95

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