Insight

POSITIVES…

  • Efficient. In 3 mins, you already know the relevant background history of the main character, what he can do, and the premise. 

  • Isn't exactly breaking new grounds in the martial arts action genre, but there is a comfortable familiarity for those who like these kinds of movies. 

  • Story moves at a good enough pace, and keeps you generally engaged as much as it possibly could. 

  • The martial arts work by Ken Zheng is essentially the main reason to watch this. 

  • Kudos to Madeline Zima who is a real trooper in this. 

  • It's nice to see some familiar faces in John Savage, Tony Todd, Keith David, Sean Patrick Flannery (who looks amazing in his 50s!), and even François Chau who shows up in an almost cameo fashion. 

  • I think the concept and idea to the premise is solid enough that it could absolutely work as a procedural TV series. I probably would watch it.

NEGATIVES…

  • Cliches. Tropes. Conventional. Unmemorable. You know what to expect. 

  • There are some eye rolling plot conveniences and plot points here. 

  • Wished the camera work would have been better for the action scenes. 

  • Although understandable, this can't quite get away from looking like a film with low production value. 

  • Almost felt like it struggled a bit to make that barely 80 minutes run time. 

  • Drinking game challenge: Take a shot whenever you see or hear the name “Vortex.”

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Insight - watched it on VIDEO ON DEMAND

Chaos Walking

POSITIVES…

  • Story’s concept is definitely interesting, fascinating, and provocative. 

  • Visualization of “the noise,” and the idea behind it in the science fiction fantasy gimmick kinda way, was cool. 

  • It’s got a solid ensemble cast, from Tom Holland, Daisy Ridley, Mads Mikkelsen, Demián Bichir, David Oyelowo, Nick Jonas, and more. 

  • Tom Holland in particular really does the most heavy lifting carrying this movie, in that heroic way, and even as the comedic relief. 

  • The somewhat nice and comic moments between Holland and Ridley are probably the best parts of watching this. 

  • There’s a theme here about discovering things for the first time that I appreciated. 

  • Has a lot of social commentaries about sexism, ignorance, politics, survival, and many more, crammed into this one movie.

NEGATIVES…

  • There’s a lot of voice-over monologue in this that might annoy people. “I am Todd Hewitt.” YES, WE KNOW! 

  • Some big plot conveniences and one big plot hole. Don’t roll back your eyes too much. 

  • What is this, a dystopian world YA story with all the trappings and cliche plot tropes? 

  • That big stand-off set piece was just dumb. Just stupid at how it plays out. 

  • It kinda has a cynical perspective about men and women. Maybe too cynical? 

  • DoesTheDogDie.com

loveditenjoyedit LIKED IT itsokayitsmehitsterrible

Chaos Walking - watched it on VIDEO ON DEMAND

Concrete Cowboy

POSITIVES…

  • It’s an interesting take on a classic familiar premise of a trouble kid learning the real lessons of life. 

  • The history, life, and family of the Black urban cowboys in the city of Philadelphia is not fiction. Appreciated how this film brings that to light. 

  • Caleb McLaughlin as Cole is great as the main protagonist we are following in this story. 

  • Excellent supporting cast, from Idris Elba, Jharrel Jerome, Jamil Prattis, Lorraine Toussaint, plus many more from the Fletcher Street Stables. 

  • Some good scenes in this, that specifically personal one between McLaughlin and Elba, or the dynamics between the characters of Cole and Smush. 

  • All those scenes about being an urban cowboy with those horses. Good stuff. 

  • “Horses ain’t the only thing that need breaking around here.” 

  • At one point, there was an actual horse shit cam.

NEGATIVES…

  • People thinking this is a full blown Idris Elba leading movie will probably be disappointed. 

  • Moves at a slow methodical pace, but some might think it’s moving too slow. 

  • As expected, there are some familiar plot cliches and tropes. 

  • Despite the interesting parts involving the Fletcher Street Stables, there’s a very conventional plot progression here as well.

loveditenjoyedit LIKED IT itsokayitsmehitsterrible

Concrete Cowboy - watched it on NETFLIX

Godzilla vs. Kong

POSITIVES…

  • You know why you want to see this movie. You want to see Godzilla fight King Kong. You get what you wished for. 

  • That first huge choreographed set piece when Godzilla and Kong first meet. Amazingly done! 

  • Visual effects are top notch, with Godzilla and Kong looking fantastic! The sense of scale at how gigantic these titans are still amazes me. 

  • Speaking of which, there really is some beautiful imagery to be seen here. 

  • On that note, the second half of this is filled with such wonder. 

  • Pacing moves at a quick pace, that builds up that sense of urgency that fits perfectly with the tone of this movie. 

  • Gotta give props to the screenwriting by Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein, and direction by Adam Wingard. It’s impressive at how adept they were in juggling everything going on in this one engaging story. Efficient! Doesn’t even break the two hours mark! 

  • Liked the bits of humor sprinkled here and there. 

  • "It's just so massive. It's so stupid."

  • Plot involving Brian Tyree Henry, Millie Bobby Brown, and Julian Dennison. Fun stuff! 

  • The whole thing with Kong, Kaylee Hottle, Rebecca Hall, and Alexander Skarsgård, are great! 

  • Those mini music videos that Kong gets. Love 'em!

NEGATIVES…

  • Let’s be honest here. The plot isn’t exactly deep.

  • Some will argue that there's a clear bias favoring King Kong here over Godzilla. Team Kong won’t mind, but Team Godzilla might.

  • Then there are those who would prefer this movie not have the human characters in it at all.

  • Inept security measures. Oh there's that trope again. 

  • Yeah, certain familiar plot cliches, conveniences, and coincidences, will make you roll your eyes. 

  • Sometimes you just have to wonder why they always seem to constantly put young kids in unnecessary danger in these movies.

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Godzilla vs. Kong - watched it on HBO MAX

The Vault

POSITIVES…

  • Still waiting for another Ocean's 11 to get your heist movie fix? Maybe this one will help a little with that. 

  • Pacing is good, and it's exciting enough to possibly keep your interest to see things through. 

  • Liked that whole huge set piece involving scanning stuff. That was fun. 

  • It's Davos Seaworth! I mean Liam Cunningham! I like that actor, and he's good in this too. 

  • On that subject, along with Liam Cunningham, the rest of the cast, which includes Freddie Highmore, Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, Sam Riley, Luis Tosar, Axel Stein, and José Coronado, are all solid in the roles given to them. 

  • There were some good small character moments here and there that were nice. Especially the ones involving Luis Tosar as Simon.

  • I like having the 2010 World Cup Finals as the backdrop to this premise. 

  • This is a perfectly straight forward heist movie, that's perfectly acceptable for what it's going for, and is perfectly fine. If you're okay with watching something comfortably familiar, then you should like this.

NEGATIVES…

  • It's comfortably familiar. Not everybody wants that. What else can be said. It's a more or less standard heist movie, that doesn’t exactly stand out in the crowd. 

  • Clichés, contrivances, tropes, and conveniences. All there. Prepare to roll your eyes when the movie gets to them. 

  • Speaking of conveniences. I present to you the character of Thom. No talk about Marty Stu now. 

  • There's an angle here where it romanticizes engineers and engineering, but it doesn't completely capitalize on that idea as much as you would have hoped. 

  • Also, see “La casa de papel” AKA “Money Heist” on Netflix.

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The Vault (AKA “Way Down”) - watched it on VIDEO ON DEMAND

The Toll

POSITIVES…

  • Provocative premise about a rideshare that I think a lot of women are always worried about. I would say, anybody would be concerned about. 

  • You know what text message you don’t want to have to send? "Are you up? This driver is f***ing terrifying." Great way to start a thriller right? 

  • Oh, but driving through a dark middle of nowhere forest, that’s where things get really terrifying. 

  • Solid direction of creepy visuals and scares to keep you on the edge. Making you wonder what’s going to happen next. 

  • Good work by Jordan Hayes and Max Topplin as Cami and Spencer respectively, for effectively carrying this movie. 

  • It can be fascinating observing how some people might act in this kind of predicament as presented here. 

  • There’s this big exposition sequence in the middle of the movie that’s welcome to see, and essentially tells us what the thematic lesson is supposed to be. 

  • Add this to stories that might scare you enough to not take ride shares.

NEGATIVES…

  • That thematic lesson is unfortunately kinda superficially handled though. 

  • Prepare to yell at the screen when the characters decide to do things that you would not agree with. 

  • Yeah, there are some plot decisions that can be frustrating to watch. 

  • Even at only 80 minutes long, it still manages to feel too long for this story. I think it would have been a great scary short film though. A short film you would have caught on YouTube.

  • Some might not be satisfied with how the story concludes.

loveditenjoyedit LIKED IT itsokayitsmehitsterrible

The Toll - watched it on VIDEO ON DEMAND

Bad Trip

POSITIVES…

  • Familiar hidden camera prank show meets familiar road trip movie? Okay sure. 

  • There are definitely some cleverly executed pranks to see here. 

  • Outrageous enough to be entertaining to watch. 

  • Gotta give Eric Andre, Lil Rey Howery, Tiffany Hadish, and Michaela Conlin recognition for being fully committed to the pranks. 

  • The "I saw a girl today" bit put a smile on my face. 

  • That dream fantasy montage sequence was hilarious. 

  • Gorilla scene really went much farther than I thought it would. Just wow. 

  • Honestly. I wouldn't mind seeing a more ambitious sequel after this.

NEGATIVES…

  • It's not like this hasn't been done before. 

  • Feels disjointed with the plot progression, as if everything was put together with duct tape. 

  • Part of the fun with hidden camera gags is seeing these big reveals where they realize they've been had, but you just don't get any of that here… until the credits at least. 

  • Due to the fact the majority of the footage were taken by hidden cameras, the visual fidelity isn't exactly high. 

  • Some might not take to the more lowbrow gross humor.

loveditenjoyedit LIKED IT itsokayitsmehitsterrible

Bad Trip - watched it on NETFLIX

Seaspiracy

POSITIVES…

  • This is an alarming but amazingly done documentary that should really make you think twice about eating seafood. 

  • Fantastic pacing and editing. Really gives us a highly engrossing film. 

  • Loads of incredible visual data that perfectly matches the educational value presented here. 

  • "If dolphins and whales die, the ocean dies, and if the ocean dies, so do we." 

  • That segment of Taiji, in Southern Japan, leads the rest of the narrative, and just wow. I was not prepared. 

  • Plastic straws only account for 0.03% of plastic entering the ocean. 

  • "If you want to address climate change, the first thing you do is protect the ocean.” 

  • Fascinating seeing how "Sea Shepherd" operates. 

  • Is this a documentary or a horror movie?! What I've seen here scares the hell out of me. 

  • Can we get a real Aquaman to stop the atrocities presented in this film?

NEGATIVES…

  • Warning. Animals were harmed. 

  • This is a bummer to watch, especially if you are someone who loves eating seafood. 

  • Sometimes felt too unrelentingly depressing.

LOVED IT enjoyeditlikedititsokayitsmehitsterrible

Seaspiracy - watched it on NETFLIX

More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story

POSITIVES…

  • How much about Pat Morita do you actually know? Definitely watch this and find out. 

  • Those archival footage and photos, especially ones you've never seen before, are just incredible. 

  • Interviews with people who shared stories and thoughts about Pat Morita. 

  • Good narrative that's based on Pat's manuscript of his autobiography, and from the perspective of his third wife Evelyn Guerrero-Morita. 

  • Pat Morita as a comedian. 

  • Mr Miyagi on the Karate Kid. Iconic. 

  • Segments about the internment camps he lived in when he was young, and his twilight years. Heartbreaking. 

  • "Why open a Chinese restaurant? Because Japanese food wasn't popular there?" 

  • Social issues like racism and alcoholism are of course addressed, and importantly so. 

  • Hearing Pat Morita doing voice impressions gave me big smiles.

NEGATIVES…

  • Essentially just a basic straight forward enough biographical documentary. 

  • There's a huge segment dedicated to yellow face acting; while an important topic to address, it felt like a side plot that distracted from the overall focus on Pat Morita. 

  • Kinda wished we got interviews with his children, or his first two wives. 

  • Felt like it could have gone in even more depth than it actually did. 

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More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story - watched it on VIDEO ON DEMAND

The Yin Yang Master

POSITIVES…

  • The fantasy filled premise and mythological world building is entertaining enough to keep my interest. 

  • Solid plot progression that doesn’t waste a lot of time in keeping the story moving. 

  • Ensemble cast is good in this, which includes Chen Kun, Zhou Xun, Qu Chu Xiao, Shen Yue, and more. 

  • Despite the minimal developments, it was easy to find attachment with the characters in this story. 

  • Some enjoyable action sequences that mixes martial arts with magical aesthetics and superheroics. 

  • That one scene involving those shoji screens was pretty cool looking. 

  • Set design and costumes looked great. 

  • If this is just a giant promo to look into the Onmyōji novel series, video games, or anime, then it fulfilled its purpose.

NEGATIVES…

  • Plot conveniences and familiar tropes galore. 

  • Characters are generally just archetypes without too much nuance. 

  • "OMG he's such an idiot." Phrase I used often while watching. 

  • Visual effects for the monsters don’t always look the best. 

  • Ending could have been more satisfying.

loveditenjoyedit LIKED IT itsokayitsmehitsterrible

The Yin Yang Master - watched it on NETFLIX