Top_Dawg_Critic

It's a shame such a great cast was wasted on this missed opportunity. As great as the casting was and as colorful as the characters were, it was the amateurish filmmaking that ultimately brought this film down.

The story was very convoluted and lacked much clarity. Although cliched, it did have merits, especially with the help of the cast performances, excellent cinematography, and scenic location settings, but the attempts at humor were too weak and too dry to elevate any laughs.

But the major issue with this film was the overwhelming and abundance of rookie filmmaking errors, especially the failure to direct the cast effectively, and choreograph the action scenes properly. The directing overall felt too dull and was underwhelming to create any real urgency to the narrative or its characters. If you can look past all of this, you may have a somewhat enjoyable one-time watch, even if just to see the awesome cast having fun.

The writers are grasping at straws with yet another useless and pointless episode, that not only does it add nothing to progress the narrative, but just keeps adding more questions to the already growing list of unanswered questions. All we have here is just more melodramatics, the addition to more repetitive characters that say and do the same nonsense, and the current already useless characters circling back to the same pointless nonsense. Aside from more boring characters and lack of narrative progression, this episode also had the bonus of adding more convoluted subplots and major plot holes. We're now half way through the second season, and there's barely a total of one hour of engaging and relative sci-fi progression. At this point, I'm getting irritated and annoyed with every wajo I hear.

If you can think of the worst film you've ever seen, this one is so much worse, that if you can actually finish watching it until the end, you get to pick a prize from the top shelf.

How can producer, writer and director Michael Matteo Rossi with so many filmmaking credits to his name come up with such nonsense is mind boggling. There is absolutely zero redeeming qualities in this mess. The slow pacing and painfully long dragged out 99 minutes has the worst story you can dream up. The acting was phony, forced and so unnatural, you will be on the floor laughing. The dialogue is even worse. Any action scenes are too poorly filmed and choreographed, you will shake your head at how bad they are.

When I say a fifth grade drama class can do way better - writing, acting, directing, and every other aspect that goes into making a film, I'm not kidding. This was so bad, I can't even suggest Rossi going to film school, because after so many attempts and you still do it this bad, it's time to take up a new hobby. This was the absolutely worst film I have ever seen.

This based-on-true-events little indie gem is newb filmmaker Sean McEwen's 3rd writing and 2nd directorial full length feature film credit, with only some TV series and a few short films as prior experience, but you'd think this film was put together by a seasoned filmmaker with a big Hollywood budget.

I really can't find anything to critique or say could've been done better, especially when I was expecting a ton of rookie filmmaking mistakes and typical B-grade filmmaking annoyances. Maybe the pacing could've been a little better and about 5-10 mins cut out, but everything else was so well done, I shouldn't complain. The cinematography was spot on, if not perfect, and McEwen sure knows how to shoot an action thriller with his effective use of close-ups, ariel shots and camera angles. The score and soundtrack were outstanding - that alone is a huge feat, as the score in B films is always loud, annoying, overbearing and unfitting.

McEwen's screenplay was exceptional, with a very coherent and cohesive narrative. His use of actual past TV news clips from the real events inserted at the right times elevated his story telling. The entire 99 min runtime was used effectively, and maintained a constant engaging tone and level of suspense. McEwen even nailed directing his cast effectively, as all casting and performances were excellent and convincing, particularly the three siblings that nail down the specific dynamic of this family, especially India Eisley who shined as the troubled Lee-Grace Dougherty sister.

Huge props to the entire cast and crew for creating such a great film. I can honestly say this is in my top 10 must-see low budget independent B-grade films of all time, and I've seen a lot of films - click on my username to see my over 3,300 ratings and over 1,700 reviews. McEwen certainly is an up and coming filmmaker to keep an eye out for, and his little gem American Outlaws is a well deserved 8/10 from me.

It's clearly a B film, so as such, it's a middle of the road viewing experience. There are much more bottom of the bargain bin B films, and much better ones, and this one had a good theme, but was riddled with many rookie filmmaking mistakes.

There were many holes in the writing as well as plot and technical issues. The PTSD flashbacks started to become annoying, then ended up being cringe and worthy of eyerolls. Even the sister's whole "dancing" scenes were pointless and just added annoying filler that detracted from the urgency and seriousness of her situation. Had those scenes and the PTSD ones been cut out, and the pacing picked up by at least 1.2x, I may have enjoyed this more and been more forgiving to the many other filmmaking errors.

But as it was, the 101 min runtime felt way longer and I caught myself losing interest many times. There were also too many sappy and poorly thought out writing issues, some I could even call lazy. For example, everyone knows from Vigilante Class 101, you wear a mask to hide your identity. I also found most of the action scenes poorly filmed and choreographed.

Casting and performances where adequate for a B film, although Jandreau's character was the least convincing. Partial blame I'm sure goes to poor cast direction and also to poor writing, especially when in some scenes she easily takes down big guys with her military training, and then can't handle taking down the women she fought. It really made those scenes feel like amateur-hour filmmaking you'd expect from a high school drama class. Nevertheless, it's better than watching paint dry, and that's a hard find with most of the poor quality B films out lately.

Never mind the new account 10/10's, this film is very far from perfect, but a decent enough biopic film to see once. The main issue with this film is the underwhelming filmmaking with the long and dragged out first half and the very slow pacing. Although all casting and performances were decent, Pena's acting lacked urgency with blame falling on the director's inability to direct her cast effectively. The just over two hour runtime really dragged out, especially the first two acts. This film needed a good 15-20 minute trim, and the pacing picked up by at least 1.2x. The third act was by far the most engaging and entertaining. I'm sure in the hands of more experienced writers and director I would've enjoyed this more, and feel this film missed the opportunity to really showcase Jose Hernandez's incredible journey.

With all the slim pickings and nonsense that's been coming out lately, especially all the failed Hollywood blockbusters, I'm not sure what everyone's expecting. I held off watching this from all the low ratings and reviews, and since I had nothing else left to watch, I though I'd finally give this one a go. The first two acts where actually impressive and with hardly any flaws, and full of constant tension and suspense. But the third act certainly had some plot and technical issues, as well as some logic defying actions and decisions. Casting and performances were excellent throughout, as was the pacing, cinematography and score. Had the third act been better, this would've easily been a solid 8, but as the writers seemed to lose steam and creativity in the third act, it's down to a 7/10 from me.

After the prior episode Fireworks being one of the best episodes with actual sci-fi themes, we're back to pretty much another useless episode filled entirely with the kids, walking or driving or arguing. I get that they play a role, somehow, but to devote an entire episode of their boring excursions and the constant blah blah blah is annoying, lazy writing, and a waste of the viewers time, as we're not here to watch a Disney series. It's like the writers who wrote this episode didn't even see the previous one and at least add some context and follow-up content from the previous events. There maybe was a total of 5 minutes of relevant alien sci-fi that could've been added to the previous or next episode, instead of giving the viewers all this nonsense and boring filler. The executive producers need to slap some sense into these writers before they lose all their viewership, especially if this is the best they can come up with after a 2 year hiatus.

The idea and twist on the conventional time travel genre was what interested me and ultimately kept me watching, but sadly, this film missed on a huge opportunity to capitalize on the concept. What follows is a meek, dull, repetitive - albeit though provoking story, that I felt was too aloof, riddled with plot holes, that asks too many unanswered questions.

The narrative kept spinning itself in circles but lacked finding more engaging material aside from the expected results. Plus I only found Greer's performance being the most nuanced, and not sure how or why Maadi was cast, as he was unconvincing, and I was constantly annoyed between trying to decipher his accent and seeing his backwards bowl short hairline-cut.

Additionally, the so called time machine wasn't convincing, and felt like an Inspector Gadget cartoon concoction put together from spare parts from a wrecking yard. So I'm not sure what film the critics saw that rated this so high, but I wasn't buying what the filmmaker was selling, and I surely didn't enjoy spending a slowly paced underwhelming 104 minutes to get such a lazy ending.

This was a surprisingly pleasant little gem that was put together by relatively newb filmmakers. The pacing was a little slow for my liking, but the excellent performances by the cast, especially Kingsley, made me want to keep watching. There were even some entertaining wtf moments and lots of unexpected laughter, especially when you hear the first unexpected f-bomb. The story is a little laid back, so don't expect any action or Alien-film's type creature scares, but instead, a simple, sweet, heartwarming and (fun)ny story combining sci-fi, comedy, with character study about family, friendship and aging with dementia, and the beautiful metaphor that even the elderly simply just want someone to listen to them. It's a fun and entertaining 87 minute one-time watch that I'm sure everyone will enjoy.

If you watch the trailer, there's the entire film - the best parts, if you can even call them that. The rest is all walk, walk, blah, blah, blah - repeat. The idea was decent, but the execution was amateur-hour, and felt like a long dragged out failed SNL skit. Listed as a comedy, there was nothing to laugh about, it was more eyerolls and cringe. Then there's the annoying constant references to drug use, like the filmmakers were jonesing while making this film. It also felt like there was zero effort into this production, and if the budget was $10 to make this, they still had $9.75 left over after this was made. They didn't even invest in color contacts so her metaphysical younger self could at least have the same color eyes. Even the score was loud, overbearing, unfitting and annoying. The only entertaining part was seeing all the cameos, but even that wasn't worth investing 82 mins of seeing the actors for a few minutes in between the rest of the walk, walk, blah, blah, blah. It's a generous 3/10 for all the cameos and showcasing empty L. A. landscapes.

This film is a mixed bag of genres that really didn't work when combined. The story started off with so much promising potential with the initial premise being very creative, then it devolves into a narrative that was just too convoluted, inconsistent, lacking impact, and riddled with tonal inconsistencies that will leave you scratching your head. Even the attempts at humor were more cringe than laughs.

The filmmaker's ambition surpassed his execution, that struggled to balance a social commentary, a coming-of-age romance, and a sci-fi dystopian cautionary tale. Sadly, the film ends up failing on both dramatic and comedic levels, and ultimately is underwhelming and will leave you feeling frustratingly unsatisfied, especially the ending, which felt lazy and rushed.

I will credit this film with some impressively staged sequences and set pieces with great performances by all cast members, but that wasn't enough to overshadow this film's failure to tell a compelling story. Maybe in the hands of better filmmakers, this may have been a hit, but as is, it's a miss, and a loss of 105 poorly paced minutes I'll never get back. It's a generous 6/10 for the great concept, performances, cinematography and score.

A bunch of us showed up late to the movie theatre planning on seeing another drama-action movie, but it was sold out, so we unwillingly went in to see this one as there were no other closer showtimes for other secondary choices, as this film would've never been a choice. Man, were we in for a shockingly pleasant surprise.

We never noticed the R rating and thus we all expected some Disney animation family-friendly film, and wow were we ever wrong, for the better. I can't remember the last time I heard myself, my friends, and an entire theatre burst out in such loud laughter. This film was juvenile, absurd, ridiculous, obnoxious, profane, raunchy, ludacris, outlandish... and we all LOVED IT!

The casting was perfection, especially Fox and Park. After overcoming the initial shock at the beginning with all the swearing, and realizing this movie is in fact, NOT a Disney animated family-friendly film, we couldn't stop laughing. The entire theatre either had a perma smile or was laughing out loud. Not only was the comedy bang on, but there was actually a sweet and heartfelt story to this, and that just added to the entire entertainment factor. I mean there's some scenes in this film that you'd never even think about visualizing, let alone seeing them on film, and that bold audacity to put them in a movie is why this is a must see comedy. It was absolutely brilliant as it was hilarious, and we loao.

My friends and I vowed to buy this once it's out on DVD, reconvene at one of our homes, add munchies, alcoholic beverages and some recreational pharmaceuticals - strictly for medicinal purposes of course, and re-watch this at least one more time. Imagine how much more laughter there will be under the aforementioned conditions. Yes, it's one of those films that would be even more appreciated under the proper environment and mindset.

This little gem is one of those films we all didn't know we need to see. If you haven't seen the trailer, don't, go in blind like we all did, the shock factor will add to the entertainment value, I promise. It's a well deserved 9/10 paws, woof, woof.

Producer, writer, director and co-star Kevin Grevioux makes his directorial debut with this film, and he did a better job with that, than using his writing experience to come up with a better screenplay. There's some decent action sequences, but sadly, most are overshadowed by Grevioux's horrible cinematography choices. I don't mind bold colors and high contrast to make a film feel animated in a comic book sort of way, but when you dial down the brightness, all a viewer sees are paint color splashes amongst shadowy backgrounds. Even the daylight scenes were too dark. This is amateur-hour filmmaking and makes for a frustrating viewer experience. Then you have his screenplay which is a knock-off of every assassin movie ever made, that was predictable, convoluted, cliched and generic. The normally comfortable 92 min runtime felt never ending with unnecessary sub-plots and ridiculous side-characters. Aside from the decent twist and best action parts towards the ending, the rest of the main narrative was repetitive, exhausting, unimaginative and dull. It's a generous 4/10 all going to Grillo's excellent and best performance of all the characters, albeit he deserves to be in much better films instead of these bottom bin B-films.

Just because they promote From the three-time Academy Award-nominated producer of The Wolf of Wall Street and Two-time Academy Award-winner Hilary Swank doesn't mean a thing when you hire amateur writers and director.

This entire film was underwhelming, slow and convoluted. The normally comfortable 89 min runtime felt endless with the long dragged out and mostly unnecessary scenes and poor pacing. There were far too many filmmaking mistakes, and director co-writer Miles Joris-Peyrafitte also failed to direct his cast properly, because Swank seemed like she'd rather be somewhere else and call in her lines, than in this mess.

After seeing the worst episode of the series by far (the previous episode), this series has redeemed itself with giving us this, the best episode of the series. The entire 48 min runtime was all substance, with little to no filler, the entire narrative progressed the theme of the series. Every minute of this episode moves the story forward beautifully. I had lost hope after seeing the last episode, and was ready to give up, but wow, did the writers step up their game with this beauty of an episode. I hope the writers maintain this momentum, as I'm finally excited to see what happens next. A well deserved and my highest rating of all the episodes at a 9/10 for this one.

All the best parts and any attempts at humor are in the trailer, so don't expect to see anything more that may make you laugh throughout the bloated and predictable 103 min runtime. The story was targeted to a younger teen audience and will mostly be relatable to those that understand the culture and religion of this film's theme. As a whole, the story is rather cliched and bland, and something that's been done many times before, and much better, with the only difference being the cultural theme. There are many better coming of age stories and funnier ones too. Adam Sandler's daughters gave a better performance than he did, as it felt Adam had better places to be at instead of this film. It's probably one of his most bland, underwhelming and amateurish performances I've seen him in. I'm baffled by the high Tomatometer rating, as this film at best is a generous 6/10 from me.

Nothing is ever going to compare or be as epic as the original blockbuster films, but at least this film was a nice send-off. The production value of the sets, props, landscapes and s/vfx were outstanding. The score was the same as the original films, so that complimented this one. All casting and performances were spot-on. What dragged this film down was the the second act. The first and last acts were excellent and were as close to having the magic the earlier films had, but the middle act felt too long and dragged out, that made the 154 min runtime feel like it was much longer. Had the middle cut some of the filler out, I feel the entire film would've been more enjoyable. Nevertheless, a decent final installment and farewell to the franchise.

Huge props for the cinematography and S/VFX that were the best part of this film, and in a close second, was the outstanding casting and performances by everyone. But the issue with this film, and what really dragged it down, was the repetitive and predictable narrative that was stretched out with lots of filler and not enough substance to fill in the two hour runtime. I would've enjoyed this more if at least 20 mins were trimmed off the current narrative, or more meat was added to the potatoes to satisfy the two hour runtime. Nevertheless, it was a decent one-time watch that added a nice chapter for all the Dracula fans.

This should've been a short film without the unnecessary and mostly pointless back-story. That way there would've been constant tension and suspense without the deflating sappy back-story, that ultimately was repetitive and bland and really had nothing to do with the dramatics. I felt the gals were well cast and performed great, and the underwater cinematography was done well. The Fix-a-flat canister product placement was entertaining, but they missed some opportune moments for humor with the can and after destroying the Toyota. Nevertheless, an ok one-time watch if there's nothing better to see.

All this third and final installment was, the same old story but in a different setting, with much less action, and a pointless walking cane that saw zero action. Washington carries the film and is impressive as always, but the writing was way more formulaic, cheesy, with lots of plot holes and ridiculous sub plots riddled with cliches. To make matters worse, Fuqua's choice to have the film set in beautiful Italy failed when most of the film needed English subtitles that took away from appreciating the Italian settings and landscapes, and the subtitles weren't on the screen long enough (not everyone is a speed reader) to make out what dialogue was being spoken in Italian. Technically, this was an Italian film with maybe 10% spoken English, and spending so much time reading subtitles took away from the entertainment value. Nevertheless, Denzel did what Denzel does and did it very well, and is the only reason to see this film.

It was bad enough in this season's premier that we got yet another annoying character - the rich dude funding the research that apparently the governments, including the big international World Defense Coalition are too broke to handle. But at least that episode moved forward and had some intrigue.

But in this absolutely useless episode, we get almost an hour of pointless filler, most of it the British kids, that made it feel like I accidentally tuned in to a Disney channel. It seems Apple is rotting with this series, if this is the best they can come up with after making fans wait two years.

Unless the next episode wows me, I'll be done with this show and will be cancelling my Apple subscription, I'm not into paying for boredom.

This was slightly better than the first film, but not by much. There's no real action until past the half way mark, and writer director Fenar Ahmad still hasn't mastered filming the action scenes right. He missed most of the choreography and it was filmed too choppy. Some action scenes where actually more poorly filmed than the first film. Nevertheless, still a great story, albeit predictable and cliched, but thanks to Salim's outstanding performance and showing his full acting range towards the end in the garage beat-down scene pleading for his family, it made some of the rookie filmmaking mistakes bearable. Plus adding Birgitte Hjort Sorensen to the cast was a welcome addition as she was really easy on the eyes. It's a great sequel to the first film, and although I would've preferred some closure at the end, I'll take the unresolved ending as a continuation to a part 3 hopefully coming out real soon. It's a well deserved 8/10 from me.

I'm now convinced Justin Lee won the lottery. There is no way anyone or any company would fund any of Lee's films, because after 20 writing and 21 directing credits where every single one was a flop, he must be funding his own productions. The difference between this film and his past flops, is that there are some well known current and has-been actors this time around, and although you'll barely see any of them for more than a total of 5 minutes, I'm sure they all wanted to get paid, thus why I'm now convinced Lee won the lottery.

Even at a mere 94 min runtime, the entire film is slow, bland, underwhelming, cliched, predictable, (I could go on and on), and has been done thousands of times before, all much better. Every filmmaking mistake possible is in this mess. It even seemed that Lee put mics on that actors shoes, because you can hear them walking on gravel very loudly, more than them speaking dialogue. To say this is a B film would be an insult to the worst B films you've seen. This barely would qualify as a watchable C-film, if such a category existed. Maybe Lee is working towards a Razzie award, he'd clean up in every category. Even if you're a fan of Trejo, Dern or Tito Ortiz, don't waste your time, you'll barely see them. Lee should find a new hobby or take some of the lotto winnings and actually take a film school class or two or a hundred. I'm never going to see anything with his name attached to it again. So don't waste your time with this mess, I did it for you. It's a generous 2/10, all going to Trejo for the 5 mins I got to see him playing a sheriff lol.

I'm not a gamer, I have an old version of GT kicking around I may have played last 5+ years ago, but no matter, what an incredible true story this was! I had no clue this actual story happened, and as far as true-events films go, this is right up there with the best. It's a true underdog inspirational story that was cast perfectly, and filmed just as great, with stunning effects, visuals and camera work. The pacing and story-flow was just right, in that the 134 min runtime flew by quickly. Watching it in a 4DX theatre added to the experience for sure. It's a well deserved 8/10 from me. Now I just may have to go find that old GT game and throw it in and go for a spin.