6 Underground

POSITIVES…

  • I actually like the general premise.

  • The stunt work is solid.

  • Locations are visually beautiful to look at.

  • The meta and pop culture references entertained me.

  • There are moments of visually fun creativity put on some of the death scenes at least. Can be pretty violent if you like that kinda thing.

  • Magnets.

  • I admire the attempt at making some cool action set pieces.

NEGATIVES…

  • It’s not exactly fresh new material here.

  • Story is nothing worth remembering.

  • Dialogue is atrocious.

  • Thinks it’s really edgy, but it’s really just obnoxious.

  • There’s outrageous fun and there’s outrageous dumb. This is the latter.

  • Absurd and unbelievable.

  • The editing is annoying.

  • Feels like the cast is just phoning it in.

  • Its attempt at humor and comedy falls flat most of the time.

  • Its attempt at seriousness and drama is kinda pretentious and eye roll worthy.

  • Tonally all over the place.

  • Pacing is terrible.

  • It’s way too indulgent Michael Bay.

  • Overall narrative needs some work. “Some” work? How about A LOT of work.

  • If this is Netflix’s attempt to make a franchise, then it failed. Try again.

P.S….

loveditenjoyeditlikedititsokay IT’S MEH itsterrible

(Don’t) Watch It Now On Netflix

Jumanji : The Next Level

POSITIVES…

  • If you’re a fan of Jumanji : Welcome To The Jungle, then there’s no reason why you wouldn’t like this.

  • The cast is once again amazing. Gillan, Johnson, Hart, and Black. What a team they make.

  • Karen Gillan continues to impress with the physicality she is able to display in this movie.

  • Jack Black once again shows us what a fantastic actor he is with the character he plays here.

  • Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart were amazing acting like old men in younger bodies. A lot of the enjoyment with this movie was because of this premise.

  • A running gag about old men who don’t seem to have a full grasp of what’s happening to them in this video game world is also pretty entertaining.

  • The action set pieces with the ostriches and the dune buggies, plus the monkeys and the bridge. Fun stuff!

  • Kudos to the writers for being able to integrate important thematic messages into a movie that doesn’t seem like it needs depth in it’s story.

NEGATIVES…

  • It’s easy to accuse this movie of being roughly the same thing as the previous installment.

  • Has some new ideas, but it’s not exactly pushing itself further than it’s comfortable with.

  • Was it a bit cliche, derivative, predictable, or too familiar? Sure.

  • Rory McCann as Jurgan The Brutal wasn’t all that great of a villain to this story.

  • Awkwafina also seemed a bit forgettable in what should have been a more significant role.

  • Somehow it felt like the movie lost its steam by the final act and concluding action set piece.

P.S….

lovedit ENJOYED IT likedititsokayitsmehitsterrible

Waves

POSITIVES…

  • The camera work makes such a huge difference here. Really brings the viewers closer to what’s happening on screen, in an almost too invasive way.

  • Pacing and tone also helped enhance the drama, in what could have otherwise been a standard family drama story.

  • Story and themes itselves tackles some very sensitive but important subject matters, that are definitely worth discussing.

  • Amazing cast here overall, from Kelvin Harrison Jr, Sterling K Brown, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Taylor Russell and more.

  • A lot of the memorably powerful scenes were because of how the cast brought the story to life.

  • This narrative for a story like this is kinda unconventional, so that deserves some credit.

  • Amazing soundtrack too.

NEGATIVES…

  • Could be seen as “too artsy” for its own good?

  • There is a moment where you expect the movie to be over already, but then it continues on a little longer, then a little longer, then a little more longer. The movie was simply not over yet, but it was a bit disorienting for me.

  • While the filmmaking is somewhat unconventional for the premise, the story is in itself not that original.

  • Some of the plot turns do come off as a little cliche or too familiar.

P.S….

lovedit ENJOYED IT likedititsokayitsmehitsterrible

Let It Snow

POSITIVES…

  • It’s charming, delightful, sweet, wholesome, and inherently positive over all. It’s very likeable if you let yourself embrace this holiday movie for what it is.

  • Perfectly captures that idealized and romanticized “regular” life of a teenager.

  • The ensemble cast here are pretty solid, with highlights by Isabela Merced, Odeya Rush, Liv Hewson, Mitchell Hope, and several more.

  • I like the different parallel storylines that expectedly converges into one.

  • The soundtrack is simply awesome!

  • On that note, there’s a song number that I thought was adorable.

  • It’s inclusive and has a positive thematic message worth rooting for.

NEGATIVES…

  • It’s very much a derivative and conventional romantic-comedy, that borrows many story cliches and plot tropes.

  • Very nonsensical and illogical in a lot of ways. Almost to a point where it challenges your suspension of disbelief.

  • Plot conveniences all around!

  • I get that the story is primarily about teenagers, but why are there a lack of adults?! Especially in places and situations where adults would be.

  • Speaking of teenagers… Parents beware. Underage drinking doesn’t seem to be much of an issue here.

  • Story concludes as predictably as you expect it to be. It’s all very safely convenient.

P.S….

loveditenjoyedit LIKED IT itsokayitsmehitsterrible

Watch It Now On Netflix

Black Christmas (2019)

POSITIVES…

  • As a reimagination of the 1974 original, this remake pays honor by also including a social commentary aspect to the story.

  • Imogen Poots is reliably solid here as expected. She brings a lot of nuance to her character Riley, as being vulnerable but still more than capable of showing strength.

  • I appreciated that this movie tried to replicate one of the best jump scares from The Exorcist III.

  • Kudos to the movie for willing to be unapologetic about it’s topical feminist social commentaries.

NEGATIVES…

  • This movie really hits you over the head with it’s topical feminist social commentaries. Don’t get triggered now.

  • Besides Imogen Poots’ “Riley,” the other characters are pretty much forgettable.

  • Speaking of characters. So many stupid things done by the characters in this, that it really pushed my suspension of disbelief to the limit.

  • This movie is unfortunately not above having derivative plot turns and predictable characters.

  • The scares could have legitimately been scarier than they are.

  • Doesn’t help that they edited this down to a teenager friendly PG-13 rating. Really diffuses the horror aspects of the movie.

P.S….

loveditenjoyeditlikedititsokay IT’S MEH itsterrible

You Can Watch The 1974 Original “Black Christmas” on Tubi

Marriage Story

POSITIVES…

  • The movie is called “Marriage Story.” It’s a story about a divorce. I love the clever irony.

  • Written by Noah Baumbach, there are a lot of clever and sharp dialogue in this movie. Some excellent screenplay right here.

  • Directed by Noah Baumbach, there are a lot of memorable and insightful scenes plus set pieces in this movie. Some amazing sequences right here.

  • Despite the heavy subject matter, there are many flavors of comedy expertly integrated into the story. Some are silly haha. Some are witty haha. Some are “it’s funny because it’s true” haha.

  • Running jokes. I liked the running jokes that this movie has.

  • As for the dramatic and heartbreaking elements in this story, they are so effectively done. Certain scenes practically dare you not to just shed tears or be depressed for the characters.

  • One particular scene (that I will not spoil) was just so devastating to watch, it shattered my soul at how emotionally powerful it was. You’ll know it when you see it.

  • All the clever writing and emotional scenes are only as good as they are because of the cast, and the actors here are great.

  • Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson are phenomenal in their roles of Charlie and Nicole respectively. All the emotions they were able to convey on screen, from the subtle hints of the frustrations they feel inside, mixed with the need to try and be as civil as possible, but still be able to show the fact that they were a couple that was very much in love with each other, Driver and Johannson were masterful in making their characters as realistically believable as possible.

  • The supporting cast of Laura Dern, Alan Alda, Julie Hagerty, Ray Liotta, plus several more, were all simply excellent. Shout out to Azhy Robertson who played the son Henry as well.

  • “Marriage Story” proves that you can make an entertaining and enjoyable movie about Divorce, without it being just another gut-wrenching sad-fest, as it isn’t always a downer of an experience.

NEGATIVES…

  • There are some plot conveniences that come up now and again, just for the purpose of moving the story in a particular direction.

  • Some plot threads aren’t fully explored or concluded, so hopefully that doesn’t bother you.

P.S….

LOVED IT enjoyeditlikedititsokayitsmehitsterrible

Watch It Now on Netflix

The Irishman

POSITIVES…

  • It’s a mob story directed by Martin Scorsese. How’s that for a positive point in seeing this film?

  • Alright, how about the fact that it’s a very fascinating look behind the mob and the interesting characters that make up the crime family.

  • You can say that it’s like a Mob odyssey that has great world building and memorable characters. Definitely an experience.

  • There’s one particular conversation involving a wet seat and fish, that reminded me of what you might call a Pulp Fiction-esque type of scene. Entertaining.

  • Al Pacino steals this movie as Jimmy Hoffa. Talk about larger than life. A lot of the best scenes involved Pacino.

  • Joe Pesci is intimidating as heck here, and he’s amazing in his role as Russell Bufalino.

  • Robert De Niro as the Irishman himself; Frank Sheeran, is fantastic. There’s a lot of subtle dramatic acting on his part here, but you’ll feel for the guy.

  • Great supporting cast as well. The movie revolves primarily on the conversations and the dialogue, and it helps to have a stellar ensemble group of actors to bring all that to life here.

  • All three primary actors were given the fancy de-aging and it’s subtle and blends in enough to be more impressive, than distracting.

NEGATIVES…

  • It’s a really long movie at about three and a half hours long, and it feels like a three and a half hours long movie. It does not just zip by.

  • Slow paced. Purposefully slow burn of a narrative.

  • Hope you have that patience, because it doesn’t really get super interesting until at least around the one hour mark.

  • Despite the de-aging visual tech and all, Robert De Niro still did not look like somebody that one would describe “the Kid.”

  • Some plot threads are left dangling, and you might wish they weren’t.

  • It’s still generally a mob movie, so there are things you’ve seen before.

P.S….

lovedit ENJOYED IT likedititsokayitsmehitsterrible

Watch It Now on Netflix

Noelle

POSITIVES…

  • It’s cute. It’s amusing. It’s comfortably a generally harmless entertaining movie that gives us another alternative take on the Santa Claus legend.

  • Even with the somewhat predictable and conventional narrative, I still found the whole story engaging.

  • It’s got some effectively moving moments that gives this movie that extra boost of emotion that are meant to tug at your heart strings. Like a certain monologue that Noelle has towards the end of the movie.

  • Anna Kendrick. This movie owes a lot to Anna Kendrick as Noelle Kringle, and how she completely throws herself into the role in such a perfect way. Absolutely makes the movie worth watching just for her. She’s charming, adorable, and delightful as heck. Gotta love her.

  • Shirley MacLaine is a welcome addition to have in this, in her supporting role as the somewhat grumpy Elf Polly.

  • Bill Hader gives us his welcome style of comedy as Nick Kringle. The scenes he had with Noelle were entertaining.

  • Billy Eichner’s Gabriel Kringle’s take on a more modern and cynical outlook on Christmas is quite amusing to say the least.

  • The reindeer. I like this movie’s take on Santa’s reindeer.

  • It’s through and through a Christmas movie with a good message that’s worth sharing to everyone watching this.

NEGATIVES…

  • OMG look at all those product placements! Try not to get too distracted, or at least make it a drinking game when you spot one. You’ll get drunk really fast.

  • Despite the somewhat ambitiously progressive plot turns and reveals, the movie isn’t exactly challenging and goes for the predictably easy solutions.

  • The story is as predictable as you expect it to be.

  • Jokes are hit or miss, depending on your sense of humor. Let’s say it goes for the obvious jokes. Like puns, and easy Christmas related comedy.

  • Even in its own movie logic that it establishes, there are still overly-silly ridiculous logic flaws that pop up, just for the sake of a joke (I hope you found it funny then).

  • The CGI work isn’t exactly the best around.

  • Did I mention about the abundance of product placements?

P.S….

loveditenjoyedit LIKED IT itsokayitsmehitsterrible

WATCH IT on Disney+

Dark Waters

POSITIVES…

  • Such an important true story to tell, and this movie gets the points across rather well.

  • The topic that this movie is tackling can be pretty shocking, frustrating, and heart breaking.

  • While the narrative is predictably straight forward enough, the narrative should definitely keep your attention.

  • Mark Ruffalo perfectly captures that frustrated yet determined spirit of Robert Bilott.

  • Anne Hathaway as Sarah Bilott definitely helped move the plot along when it needed a push.

  • Tim Robbins has an excellent monologue that is worth giving praise for.

NEGATIVES…

  • Movie feels a little too long.

  • The last act doesn’t quite hit the landing completely in terms of the narrative.

  • Might be a little too slow and exposition heavy for some.

P.S….

lovedit ENJOYED IT likedititsokayitsmehitsterrible

Honey Boy

POSITIVES…

  • As a character study, the premise of this movie is infinitely fascinating.

  • This is an interesting journey and experience that chronicles the lives of two individuals; James Lort and his actor son Otis, and how their particular Father and Son relationship works (or doesn’t work).

  • The movie effectively shows us insightful scenes between James and Otis that just oozes emotions on screen, that it’ll be hard not to pay attention. Several of those scenes may be more memorable than you might expect them to be.

  • Excellent work by Noah Jupe, who plays young Otis, and is such a capable young actor to tackle this drama.

  • Fantastic work by Shia LeBeouf who plays Otis’ Father James, and gives us such an explosive and emotionally charged performance.

  • Amazing work by Lucas Hedges for giving us this raw performance of an older Otis, and perfectly captures Shia LeBeouf’s mannerism and speech.

  • Truly a movie that lives and dies by the actors’ performances, and these three actors were all outstanding. Absolutely makes the movie worth watching just for them.

  • This film set out to do exactly what we got from this subject matter, and inarguably accomplishes that goal.

NEGATIVES…

  • There’s not much of a plot, which means the narrative will not be for everyone.

  • Some might say it’s boring and meanders too much.

  • Not necessarily a visual tour-de-force.

P.S….

lovedit ENJOYED IT likedititsokayitsmehitsterrible