jjdausey

The nonfiction novel "Killers of the Flower Moon" is a riveting true story of how a series of murders on the Osage land inspired the creation of the FBI. It is a stunning expose of lost innocence, abject evil, and true heroism. The movie... gets bogged down in telling one person's story -- the husband of an Osage woman whose loved ones are mysteriously dying and who barely registers in the book -- and he's such a cipher that you never quite know if he's innocent or not... and that's deeply unsatisfying. You end up watching the movie and waiting and waiting and waiting for someone to STOP this band of criminals (the opposite effect Scorsese's more irreverently amusing tales of mob life - Casino, Goodfellas - have). In the book, the FBI is on the case much quicker and it makes the story feel less redundantly grim. I do think DeNiro is the surprise acting standout here. DiCaprio mugs a lot. And while I appreciate Lily Gladstone's authenticity in the role, her character is such a passive dud and her acting so limited to one glum note... any awards talk seems very misguided.

When the "Scream" series was in Wes Craven's hands, there was a general realism to the violence. If someone got stabbed multiple times, they died... with the exception of maybe Dewey, which was slightly ridiculous fan service but i gave that a pass because it was the exception not the norm. But beginning with the brutal attack on Tara Carpenter in the opening of Scream 5, these new Scream movies have become embarrassingly silly and unrealistic about the consequences of knife violence. Certain characters are brutally attacked in this movie and absolutely should have died - and didn't. But the filmmakers behind these new films seem too afraid to actually kill anyone off, which makes the whole endeavor feel like really sloppy fan service. And it's almost socially irresponsible to pretend getting stabbed is no big deal. The worst part is, the air is let out of the film's potentially strongest suspense sequences when we discover there are no consequences to them. I don't know. I think the series has become kind of a joke now. Everyone I know is doing a quick negative reevaluation of this movie and I'm sure its reputation will sink in the years to come.

This movie was an absolute chore to sit through. Some might call its flourishes creative; i found them tedious and undisciplined. Also, behind all the gimmickry, I found the family story pretty banal and conventional. Lesbian daughter/disapproving mom drama? What year is it? This is tired stuff. The awards season run for this is just baffling. Jamie Lee Curtis has done some consistently good work but her performance here as, essentially, "bad white woman" is kind of cheap and grotesque. Michelle was fine but I've preferred her elsewhere (Shang Chi, Crazy Rich Asians, Crouching Tiger). I'm really only here for the Key Huy Quan comeback.

Fine, it's a moderately entertaining deadly doll movie but... seriously, it's been a bit overpraised. This is paint by numbers storytelling. A beat by beat remake of every "deadly friend" tale. Also, while I generally find her appealing, Allison Williams looks like she's about to crack up half the time. It's also a little soft on the true horror/scares front. Id actually love to see an R rated sequel that goes as hard as "Child's Play" or "Annabelle." Anyway, it makes me sad to think that there are strong movies out right now ("Babylon," "The Whale") that audiences are ignoring in favor of this January junk.

The negative box office reportage on this film is toxic bs. Who cares about who's seen the movie in the meager seven days it's been out. Instead, let's talk about how damn entertaining this feast for the eyes and (cinema lover's) soul this is. The cast is excellent, the scenery sumptuous, the music soul rattling, the direction innovative, and the entertainment factor off the charts. Give this movie time - it'll earn its right and good reputation. I mean, if i have any nitpicks it's that the final film left out some scenes from the script I read in 2019 that added good stakes to the story. For example, in the original script, the clara bow-inspired character (robie) slept with manny the night they met... this kind of bonded them more intensely than whats in the film. Also, there were many more suicides that resulted from the end of the silent era - including the female director - and this added more pathos to the ending. But the script is the script and the movie is the movie and what a movie it is!

The creator of the show is an airhead who clearly hasn't read the room. No one likes this show or what he's done to the characters. He has probably burned off most viewer goodwill with that first season. Now he's doubling down on the Che character being featured more. Good luck. I'm out like Kim.

Despite its entertainment value, which is indisputable for a lot of the run time, this felt like a two hour story stretched wayyyyyy out. Like, how many ecstasy-fueled dance scenes did we need? Also, I'm not sure the subjects really deserved this much time. Kinda trashy people all around.

I was initially enticed to watch this because of the awards hype surrounding Will Smith's performance. But his character became increasingly annoying and the performance repetitive and irksome. The only reason I stuck with the movie was because the wife character was great and i wanted to see venus and serena succeed. So... I know he's probably going to win an Oscar. But this is a Will Smith performance I have no interest in seeing again.

By bringing back the legacy characters, the filmmakers deny us the chance to care for any of the new ones. And to further alienate us, they have the kids talking horror in exhaustingly tedious "meta" ways. The whole self-conscious meta thing is tired. Imagine the thrills a straight slasher could provide if it wasn't weighed down by all the smug cynicism? Let's stab a fork in this series once and for all. And if they do make another sequel, God help us, leave Gale and Sidney out of it.

I enjoyed watching fresh faces Haim and Hoffman but this movie felt a little too thin and underdeveloped. I'd have preferred a biopic of the clearly insane Jon Peters.

This is a very revealing look at a sociopathic individual who laughs at a woman's rape, does anything for attention, flaunts social norms, goes after a married man with no sense of guilt or shame. Madonna might be the most famous "singer" of the twentieth century but she's also one of its most horrid humans.

This movie was the last straw for me when it comes to watching cgi humans battle cgi creatures in a cgi landscape. There is no realism to the action. No stakes to the drama. It's cheap plastic entertainment. Thankfully, there were some human moments that shined through. Gemma Chan is lovely. The gay was fun. Sprite too. Richard Madden was a bit joyless. Angelina was stiff. (It would have been amazing if they cast an older actress as Thena - especially since she seemed to have alzheimers. Imagine Sharon Stone in the role - would have worked on many levels). Overall - this was too cumbersome and turgid a movie to have fun with. Like an Avengers movie that skipped the phase one set up and had to cram it all in in one movie.

I grew up watching the original series and loving it despite all the continuity issues, etc. So i had a big chip on my shoulder about 2018's relaunch, especially when I didn't think it surpassed any of the existing (and now canceled) sequels in any notable way. (Personally, I think H20 is a better "reunion" than H40). But for some reason, I was more open minded about this one. Thinking that, with Laurie's storyline out of the way, we'd get to know and savor other characters, new or returning. Nope. No one was developed. The first act rushed into action way too quickly, shortchanging Lindsey and Tommy and Nurse Marion (who actually got a much better sendoff in H20). Who are they now? Are they married? Do they have jobs or children? We learn nothing about them before they're dispatched or discarded by the storytelling. Then there's the issue of tone - weird quirks in dialogue and behavior (guy in drag in opening, karen in christmas sweater, couple playing with drone inside) that undermine the suspense. Could the gay couple have been any more ridiculous? And wimpy? What is this, a 1994 Michael Bay movie where femme queens get tossed off roofs? And the other characters- god, all their dialogue sounded like trailer lines. Horrible writing. I'm disappointed in this sequel. And could really care less about this series going forward.

There is some wonderful artistry on display here. And great style.

But it is undone by an undercurrent of anti-white racism. From the art critic to the teenage girl to the over-the-top racist cops, the white people in this film are depicted as one-note jerks.

Stay woke to this trend in filmmaking. Reverse Racism doesn't solve the problem of racism.

I can't believe how much this movie exceeded my expectations. I thought it was going to be some tired retread of the "assassin training school" narrative. Instead, it told a fresh and surprising story that alludes to Natasha's backstory without literally making us go through it in chronological order. The "family" cast members were excellent and Scarjo really shines in some more intricately emotional moments than she had in the regular Avengers cycle. Well done, everyone involved. Another Marvel movie that's way better than it even needed to be.

Well-acted by all. Why is it not available for streaming purchase anywhere? Ridiculous.

Dialogue in a movie made by a white ass writer/director. Who makes work that is inauthentically all about race. Meh.

PS is anyone else convinced Paris Hilton was a completely evil, corrupting influence on Britney and Lohan?

I liked this movie despite a few nit-picks and felt a real sense of dread and suspense watching it. As a fan of Los Angeles crime fiction, from Raymond Chandler on, I was probably biased to. But I recommend. And Leto deserves the praise. He's chilling to watch.

Megyn Kelley is not worthy of a biopic. Her personal politics are beyond. Another example of a hateful conservative.

Slow pacing is one thing. But going nowhere fast isn't my cup of tea... or coffee. But there are myriad flaws with this: limited time in Twin Peaks; cheap-looking digital look; too many newcomers; underutilized and/or misused legacy players; a terrible performance from a non-acting key player (you know who); no fan service at all; new loose ends; an ending that literally snapped me out of my romance with "Twin Peaks." Sorry, but Lynch "on heroin" was not the alchemical formula that made the og series work. What a disappointment.

Good acting - loved the lower-key older brother and sister relationship/performances most- but this suffered from too many jumps back and forth in time. The story would have been more moving if it was told in chronological order like Forrest Gump (always better to begin with the younger actor, wrap up the youth storyline, then bring in older actor to create a sense of "the past" for the viewer). Two hours was too short. Felt truncated.

Fun mashup of the time loop rom com Groundhog Day and the more sophisticated time loop sitcom Russian Doll. But the title is so wrong - this movie was neither shot in nor bears any resemblance to the actual desert city of Palm Springs, which features stunning architecture and really nice hotels. This looks like it was made in some ratchet desert area near Joshua Tree. It's like if Woody Allen had shot the movie Manhattan in the Bronx and kept the title.

Hurt by overly dark cinematography, joyless lead performers, and a complete denial/dismissal of half the human population (men), this show is awful. We get it - death to the patriarchy. But this is tired, cliched, and simply substituting females for males in a generic military school drama.

F the streamers. HBO is back doing what it does best: grade A NYC-set television featuring the best ensemble cast of brilliant film/tv/and theater actors. Each episode satisfies, upends and subverts expectations in bold and darkly humorous ways. Bravo!