Change Your Image
spmact
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
The Grab (2022)
Puts a spotlight on an important topic
I had no idea many of the things that this documentary shows were happening. I think many people wold do the same.
That is why this needs to be seen by more people. There are forces at work that want to remain undetected and do their work behind the scenes, but this doc exposes some of what's happening, and lets you know the plight of many people around the world suffering because of wealthy and powerful people trying to take advantage of them and their resources.
This is exactly the type of documentary I used to watch more of about 10 or 15 years ago, before many of them became political or had an obvious political agenda. This is more about showing you something that's happening in the world so you can educate yourself and do something about it. I'm glad I watched it.
Terminator Zero (2024)
So disappointing
I watched the first 3 episodes and wow, it was very painful. It's terrible. I don't know why everyone was praising it.
The Terminators are nerfed so the protagonist can survive encounters with them. They have the aim of storm troopers and never hit her, and when they have their target in their sites for an easy shot, they delay for no reason until something happens so the target can get away.
And taking on a Terminator in hand to hand combat and surviving? Really? The writers on this do NOT know this franchise.
The dialogue with the dad and his AI was also very frustrating. It asks what humanity has done to be redeemable, and he just can't think of anything positive people have done and calls them a cancer or something. Sure, people have done terrible things, but they've also done amazingly positive things, and apparently he can't think of any so that the AI can make its point. I'm face palming so hard while watching this junk.
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
Pure cinematic candy
I saw this at an early fan screening and it was pure cinematic candy. I'm confident that it's the best movie of the summer!
The whole audience was constantly either laughing, cheering or clapping. The jokes were hilarious and the cameos were amazing (and so many of them!). I won't spoil anything, but there were multiple cameos by characters you'll never see in any other movie, and I loved them. Fans of comic book movies will have a field day with all the references.
It might be recency bias, but it's probably my favourite Deadpool movie (and I loved the first two). They definitely knew what the fans wanted (and what they didn't know they wanted) and gave it to them. Another hit from Shawn Levy.
Wonka (2023)
Disappointing. Felt like it was for little kids
It had a few laughs, but for the most part it felt like it was for little kids. It had the complexity of a Saturday morning cartoon. So many dumb things happened and so many naÏve characters.
It featured lots of great acting for the most part. Wonka's mom did a lot with what little screen time she had, and Olivia Colman was great as usual, but the actress who played Noodle was pretty bad.
The music wasn't anything special either, apart from the songs from the original movie that they reused here. The "World of Your Own" song was not bad, but the rest were just forgettable.
Overall I'd easily put it 3rd among the 3 Wonka movies released so far.
Cocaine Bear (2023)
How do you mess up a concept like this?
Going into this I thought it would be a fun/ridiculous time watching some coked out bear killing people. There is a coked out bear. There are people getting killed. But for some reason the fun just isn't there.
The movie doesn't seem to know what it's going for. It isn't really funny (I had maybe one or two chuckles max), it isn't really an over the top bloody horror, it's just bland.
It was competently made, but I think the director just doesn't know how to tackle this genre well. The characters aren't interesting, they're just boring. There are also too many story threads so you never really get attached to one to see it through their eyes. All in all, this was pretty disappointing given the concept, because a director who's competent in the genre could have done so much more with it.
Chris Rock: Selective Outrage (2023)
A shadow of his former self
I think that some of Chris Rocks' earlier specials like Bring the Pain and Bigger and Blacker are some of the most classic and best stand up sets ever. This one does not even come close.
I barely had any laughs throughout the whole thing. Maybe a chuckle here and there, but mostly just wondering what happened to the old Chris. There's a lot of talking about his currently lifestyle and how he's so rich and what his family gets to experience, but that's not really comedy gold right here.
The best part is right at the end where he talks about the Will Smith incident. Do yourself a favour and skip to the last 10 minutes or so where he starts talking out that, because fortunately it ends right about there.
The Last of Us: Long, Long Time (2023)
Bill and Frank's story was too long
I don't mind that they included the side characters, but I just didn't find their story that compelling. It dragged on for too long and should have been about half the run time that it was originally given.
It felt like a lot of filler was put into it to pad the episode, and ultimately it didn't add much to the main story arc. Sure it was interesting to see the humanity in their story during the apocalypse, but it was too self contained and felt like it was from a different show.
I liked the Bill character more than the Frank one, and I would have liked more interaction between him and the main characters.
The series spent much of the first two episodes introducing two main characters that I want to see the story of, but then gives me two other characters who don't have that much of an effect on the main characters - and whatever effect they do have could have again, been done in half the run time.
Halloween Ends (2022)
I thought it couldn't get worse after part 2 in this trilogy. I was wrong.
The first movie in this trilogy was great. The second was a let down but I was hoping they'd finish strong. Ooof was I wrong.
Only the first few and last few minutes are any good. Michael is barely in it and really weakened as a character when he is. It's like he lost all his mojo and is a shadow of his former self - when he's actually in the movie that is. Sometimes he's himself for a bit but mostly he's not. Why? Who knows!
Lori is only Lori at the end - the rest of the movie her character sucks. She's either writing a book or fretting over her granddaughter.
The film focuses on a random character nobody cares about, which might have made sense in part 1 of a trilogy, not part 3.
Do yourself a favour and stop with the first in this trilogy.
Glass Onion (2022)
Started out meh, then got pretty intriguing, but ultimately ruined itself
At the beginning when you're finding out everything about the characters they seem kind of one dimensional and caricature-like, and that doesn't change much throughout the movie. It also doesn't make sense that such wildly different people would be friends.
I thought I wasn't going to like it based on that, but around the mid-point there's an interesting twist that got me invested again.
By the third act though I was predicting everything and was pretty shocked that I could see obvious things when the characters were totally oblivious. Setups near the beginning made things obvious towards the end, which really ruins a "mystery" type movie. Unrealistic things start happening and characters do dumb things just to make the ending work, which had me rolling my eyes and regret the two hours I spent on this movie.
Day Shift (2022)
Not terrible, not good, just OK and forgettable
Foxx and Franco have some decent chemistry and comedic moments, but a lot of the movie is just over the top action moments that I didn't really care about because the story and character build up were meh. Forgettable story, characters, villain etc. Just something to pass the time and mildly entertain you.
This ain't no Bad Boys.
Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe (2022)
I laughed all the way through
I watched the last movie right before watching this and the sense of humour is just as it was back in the 90s. In fact I can even say that I laughed way more during this movie than I did in its predecessor.
The story line had some definite similarities to the last movie, but the animation looked different for some reason. Oddly enough Beavis and Butt-head looked the same, but all the other characters looked like they were from a different movie. It didn't look like the class Mike Judge animation, but the laughs were still there regardless.
All in all, if you're a fan of classic B&B you'll love this.
Peacemaker (2022)
Did James Gunn really write this?
Just finished watching the whole series and throughout I kept hoping it would get good. It didn't.
I heard that James Gunn wrote this when he was bored during lockdown, and I'm guessing he never really thought it would get made because there seems to be very little effort put into bringing it up to par.
I loved Gunn's writing in Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad, but this is just bad. So many things that don't make sense and are there just to drive the plot forward. There are some laughs here and there, but most of the jokes fall flat. Basically every line that comes out of Vigilante's mouth is dumb and seems like a 13 year old trying really hard to be funny.
Also, it seems like the show is single handedly trying to solve racism, sexism, homophobia and toxic masculinity in general because you're constantly beaten over the head with it. When a story deals with these kind of things subtly it has much more effect, but this is so blatant that it takes you out of the story and makes you feel preached at.
They were also continually tearing down the character of Peacemaker and trying to make him seem inept, immature and having a blatantly obvious inferiority complex. It's like he's a teenager desperately trying to fit in and get people to like him by overcompensating. It's kind of pathetic, and does not seem like the same character as we saw in the movie.
Sorry James, I expected much better.
Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two (2021)
Interesting set up that is ultimately let down by weak writing
First, the positive. The animation and voice acting were great. It had an interesting set up and the world building was decent. That's about it.
The premise from the first movie had promise, but in the end it felt like the writing force things to happen they way they should in order to make the ending happen.
Batman is made to look weak and is constantly getting beaten throughout the two parts, but no one thinks to just kill him. The villains win a lot, until the script needs them to lose so the movie can end. The twist feels out of place, as does Batman's reaction to it.
This had potential, but was a let down in the end.
Werewolves Within (2021)
More comedy that horror, but I liked it.
It's basically a funny who done it with a werewolf instead of a conventional murderer.
The cast of characters is interesting and keeps things entertaining. The two leads are likeable too. It was enjoyable and I didn't think it was woke like I saw in other reviews.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)
Not bad, but the ending didn't quite feel like an ending
Firstly, I liked Chris Rock in this. It was good to see him doing something pretty different that his usual fare. He and Samuel L Jackson were my favourite parts of the movie.
A lot of people said the ending was predictable, but not for me. Perhaps it's because I've only seen the first movie, so I don't know how things usually work in the series.
The main criticism for me is the ending. While interesting enough, it feels incomplete. You're basically left wondering what happens in the next few minutes after the ending, since it didn't really get resolved. Sure, you find out who the killer is as expected, but it almost seemed as though they were trying to leave things wide open for a sequel with a "what the heck happens now?" kind of conclusion.
In any case, I liked most of the film and apart from the ending and the traps that were more brutal than clever, I'd say it was decently done.
Khorshid (2020)
Well, that was depressing
The film was well directed and acted, but the story was just too much of a downer.
While a Western movie about kids digging for treasure would have a totally different premise (a la Goonies), I thought that this one might at least have a good story and maybe a slight sense of adventure. I wouldn't say that was the case at all. Everything that could go wrong does, and it's as if this movie is trying to say "life sucks and things rarely end well" rather than provide a piece of escapism for the audience.
It's more of a critic baiting piece of "realism" instead of something that might make you feel good watching it. I won't get into spoilers so I'll leave it with saying that you shouldn't go into this expecting a feel good story.
WandaVision (2021)
This was painful to watch. I had to force myself to finish the second episode.
Firstly, I should say that I like the MCU movies, but Scarlet Witch and Vision were never my favourite characters. I'm mainly disappointed because all the early reviews I saw were pretty glowing. I wasn't actually planning on watching the series until I read those pre-release reviews (which were based on the first 4 episodes I believe). Now I'm wondering if something happened in episodes 3 and 4 to redeem the show, or the critics were just being Marvel sheeple.
The first two episodes were painful to watch. I chuckled once or twice but the majority of the time I was cringing big-time. It's like an old 50s sitcom with laugh track every few seconds and hardly anything is funny. The main characters act ridiculously silly all the time. They're completely not who we've seen them as in the movies. They have their powers, but that's the only connection; their personalities are completely different.
Sure I've only watched two episodes, but plenty of other good shows have had me hooked by episode 2. I shouldn't have to commit to a whole season to see if your show is good or not. This one, at least at this point, is definitely not.
Batman: Soul of the Dragon (2021)
For a movie with Soul in the title, it's unfortunately lacking one
This was a mediocre Batman movie. Apart from the fact that Batman is barely in it (there's much more screen time with Bruce and the rest of the team), I didn't really care about the characters and story.
The one positive is that it shows some background on Bruce's martial arts training and elaborates on why he can beat up a lot of bad guys, but other than that it was pretty generic and forgettable.
It seemed like they just wanted to team him up with Bruce Lee and Jim Kelly, so they set it in the 70s. There's a move Richard does in the movie that makes it obvious they modeled him after Bruce Lee (with a bit of James Bond thrown in).
Ultimately I didn't care about the good guys or the villain, or even Batman himself, which is a shame because there have been much more interesting Batman animated movies.
Give this one a pass unless you're a hardcore Batman animated fan and want to watch them all.
The Great Outdoors (1988)
Candy and Aykroyd deserved better
Unlike many reviewing this, I never watched it in the 80s. I just watched it for the first time in 2020 so I didn't have any nostalgia goggles on. I had watched a bunch of other John Candy movies recently and thought this would also be great because of the two stars. And with John Hughes writing, how could you go wrong?
Man on man was this disappointing. It wasn't funny at all. Just a bunch of lame jokes and maybe a few slapstick gags that fall flat.
The story felt like it was cobbled together without any clear direction, and the pace and tone weren't well executed either. There wasn't any real tension to make the story interesting. There was also a random teen love angle that felt very tacked on and didn't add anything to the movie at all.
The only plus side was that John Candy and Dan Aykroyd did a good job in their roles, but their roles weren't that great to begin with. Where did all this animosity come from? You weren't given much history of the conflict in order to be invested in it.
If you want to watch a good John Candy vacation movie I recommend Summer Rental instead. That's much better than this movie.
A Guy Thing (2003)
Predictable, but funny enough to make you not care
From the opening scene I knew where it was going, but the story was funny enough that it didn't detract from my enjoyment. There are many hilarious situations, and Jason Lee carries the film well.
Don't go into this one expecting clever writing and sharp dialogue and you won't be disappointed. Expect to laugh a lot though. I sure did.
Love and Monsters (2020)
A delightful tale of love, growth, redemption and family...
...told amidst the backdrop of a post apocalyptic world full of huge bugs trying to eat everyone.
This was a good mix of comedy, adventure, and heart that was thoroughly enjoyable. The characters were likeable and the story wasn't too predictable. It's a shame that it didn't get a theatrical release and had to be relegated to PVOD. It deserved better than that.
Dylan Obrien sure does like post-apocalyptic movies...
Extra Ordinary (2019)
Nothing special, but not terrible either
The main two characters were likeable enough, but not interesting enough. Some characters are also just annoying. I often like Will Forte, but his character and his wife fall in that category.
It's just good enough to keep you mildly amused, but not actively engaged. It had a few laughs, but not nearly enough.
Lastly, the ending was pretty predictable and unsatisfying - I guessed it about 1/3 of the way in.
Overall I didn't regret watching it, but it's not one I'd recommend to others either. 6.5/10
Tenet (2020)
You shouldn't have to see a movie twice to enjoy it
I saw a few reviews saying that you need to see the movie twice, since the first time will be disappointing but the second will be brilliant. I agree, in that watched it once and was disappointed. I don't want to do it again. I already risked getting a virus once to go to the theatre and don't want to have to repeat that just to understand this movie. I go to the movies to be entertained, not to be fed a puzzle.
This was competently made, but the story wasn't very engaging, and I was often bored with the (sometimes hard to discern) dialogue. Just over half way through I just wanted it to be over already.
I had an interesting concept, some great Imax scenes and some OK action set pieces, but that's not enough to make an entertaining movie.
I usually like Nolan movies, but this is not one of them.
I Give It a Year (2013)
Predictable, but has some good laughs
This is worth watching just for Stephen Merchant. I laughed during every scene he's in (even the mid-credits one). There are a few other funny scenes that make up for the fact that you know exactly where this is going from the wedding scene near the beginning. The film's predictable story didn't ruin this for me, but it didn't make it a must watch either. It's a little far fetched, but you just go with it.
In the end, this is one of the few times where it was more about the journey than the destination, and the journey has some good laughs along the way.
Lego DC Shazam!: Magic and Monsters (2020)
Felt more like a Saturday morning cartoon than a DC animated film
I'll be honest up front. I could only get through 20 minutes of this - right around the point where the villain was revealed. It doesn't come anywhere close to the original Lego Movie or the Batman Lego movie (or heck, even Lego Movie 2 or Lego Ninjago).
There was one amusing joke, but the rest of the humour was just lame. The writing was a bunch of cliches and cheesy dialogue. I don't see how anyone over 12 years old could enjoy it.
I really liked the live action Shazam film and The Return of Black Adam animated short, but this was too much to sit through.
If there's one positive it's that the animation was really well done.