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Darren (1599 KP) rated Buffalo '66 (1998) in Movies
Sep 26, 2019
Characters – Billy Brown has just been released from prison, he has had his own problems which led to him being in prison and it isn’t long before he goes to the extremes to impress his family. He is painted as an aggressive man that believes that woman are just objects and has built his world in lies. Layla is the tap dancer that gets kidnapped, she starts to play along with what Billy wants and even enjoy his company the more time they spend together. Jimmy and Jan are his parents that have both been either distracted or strict in raising Billy, as he wants to impress them now. The Bookie is the man that put Billy in jail as a result of the debts he owed him, he gave him a choice with jail being the only one that didn’t hurt anyone.
Performances – Vincent Gallo doesn’t bring us a very interesting character, it isn’t written well or directed to make us interested in him, he just can’t make this character work. Christina Ricci was trying to break out of the child star roles by now, this is different to what we had seen before, though she does look bored through the film. the rest of the cast struggle too, it is just poorly written to give the actors a chance.
Story – The story follows a gambler that had paid the price for his addiction and now is free, he wants revenge only he spends the time with his kidnap victim as we get to see the difficult life he has had which led him to the life of crime. Well I think that is what we are meant to be seeing, the story does drag along at an awfully slow pace with nothing much happening, trying to make us believe the two could be falling in love, though he is abusive with his actions and spends more time running around looking for a toilet than showing any sort of emotion.
Comedy/Crime/Romance – If this is meant to be a comedy, the jokes miss big time as you will struggle to get a laugh out of this film, while the crime only seems to focus on the kidnapping, which she could have escaped from with ease plenty of times, so that never feels like a threat, the romance just feels awkward for the most part of the film because there is zero chemistry between the two.
Settings – The film is set in the Buffalo area, which is meant to be about the passion of the locals, it could easily be any town with a big American football team.
Scene of the Movie – The first look at the dinner table makes it a clever shot, until it gets boring.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – We spend more time looking for a toilet.
Final Thoughts – This is just a dreadfully dull movie that has no direction in anyway, it fails to capture any attention from the audience with a truly unlikeable main character.
Overall: Dreadfully boring.
Performances – Vincent Gallo doesn’t bring us a very interesting character, it isn’t written well or directed to make us interested in him, he just can’t make this character work. Christina Ricci was trying to break out of the child star roles by now, this is different to what we had seen before, though she does look bored through the film. the rest of the cast struggle too, it is just poorly written to give the actors a chance.
Story – The story follows a gambler that had paid the price for his addiction and now is free, he wants revenge only he spends the time with his kidnap victim as we get to see the difficult life he has had which led him to the life of crime. Well I think that is what we are meant to be seeing, the story does drag along at an awfully slow pace with nothing much happening, trying to make us believe the two could be falling in love, though he is abusive with his actions and spends more time running around looking for a toilet than showing any sort of emotion.
Comedy/Crime/Romance – If this is meant to be a comedy, the jokes miss big time as you will struggle to get a laugh out of this film, while the crime only seems to focus on the kidnapping, which she could have escaped from with ease plenty of times, so that never feels like a threat, the romance just feels awkward for the most part of the film because there is zero chemistry between the two.
Settings – The film is set in the Buffalo area, which is meant to be about the passion of the locals, it could easily be any town with a big American football team.
Scene of the Movie – The first look at the dinner table makes it a clever shot, until it gets boring.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – We spend more time looking for a toilet.
Final Thoughts – This is just a dreadfully dull movie that has no direction in anyway, it fails to capture any attention from the audience with a truly unlikeable main character.
Overall: Dreadfully boring.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Logan Lucky (2017) in Movies
Jul 11, 2019
Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum) just got fired from his job and found out that his ex-wife is moving his daughter to another state. He lives for his daughter and needs to get money fast to pay for a lawyer to fight the move. He decides that the best way to get this fast cash is to rob his previous employer, the Charlotte Motor Speedway. He enlist the help of his brother Clyde Logan (Adam Driver), his fast driving sister Millie Logan (Riley Keough), and explosives expert Joe Bang (Daniel Craig). Together they hatch a plan to rob the cash vault under the NASCAR track during the biggest race of the year. It won’t be easy for the crew as they must overcome many obstacles along the way. For one they only one of them who can blow the massive safe, Bang, is currently in prison. Bang also insists that his two inept brothers be included in the heist. There is also the matter of a large private police force patrolling the track. But the biggest hurdle may be the Logan family curse. Something bad is seemingly always happening to the family. Jimmy was destine to go to the NFL before a freak accident ruined his knee and ended his football career. Clyde was on his way back home from deployment in the Army and was hit by a roadside bomb and lost his arm. If they can overcome all of this they can walk away with a fortune.
This Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s 11, Ocean’s 12, Ocean’s 13) directed film is a fun and fast paced heist film. It definitely fits into the Ocean’s film model, with a large cast, twists that keep the audience guessing and well thought out ending. This films stands apart from those by being more hillbilly than the sleek well put together Ocean’s crew. The film dialog is well done and written expertly by Rebecca Blunt, this is the first screen writing credit for Rebecca. There are plenty of cameos by West Virginia Natives, NASCAR drivers and commentators, and others. I had heard beforehand that there were several cameos and made for a fun exercise in spotting the NASCAR drivers in various roles. The ensemble cast is stellar led by Tatum, Driver and Craig. The cast includes fun performances by a barely recognizable Seth MacFarlane along with Dwight Yoakam, Katie Holmes, and Hilary Swank. There were times thought that the various accents that the cast were attempting to use felt forced and/or missing from particular scenes. The pace of the film is good but does get a little slow during the heist set up and the two hour run time was a tad too long for me.
Overall this is a fun film that fits the heist movie genre perfectly. One news report in the film characterized the robbery as Ocean’s 7/11 and that pretty well sums up the film. The characters are original and if you are a fan of these types of movies you will not be disappointed.
This Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s 11, Ocean’s 12, Ocean’s 13) directed film is a fun and fast paced heist film. It definitely fits into the Ocean’s film model, with a large cast, twists that keep the audience guessing and well thought out ending. This films stands apart from those by being more hillbilly than the sleek well put together Ocean’s crew. The film dialog is well done and written expertly by Rebecca Blunt, this is the first screen writing credit for Rebecca. There are plenty of cameos by West Virginia Natives, NASCAR drivers and commentators, and others. I had heard beforehand that there were several cameos and made for a fun exercise in spotting the NASCAR drivers in various roles. The ensemble cast is stellar led by Tatum, Driver and Craig. The cast includes fun performances by a barely recognizable Seth MacFarlane along with Dwight Yoakam, Katie Holmes, and Hilary Swank. There were times thought that the various accents that the cast were attempting to use felt forced and/or missing from particular scenes. The pace of the film is good but does get a little slow during the heist set up and the two hour run time was a tad too long for me.
Overall this is a fun film that fits the heist movie genre perfectly. One news report in the film characterized the robbery as Ocean’s 7/11 and that pretty well sums up the film. The characters are original and if you are a fan of these types of movies you will not be disappointed.
Darren (1599 KP) rated A.M.I. (2019) in Movies
Oct 14, 2019
Characters – Cassie is a high school student that has been through a traumatic experience, being involved in a car crash that killed her mother, while others in her life have moved on, she still suffers daily, her boyfriend doesn’t give her time and always makes excuses, while her closest friends are more interested in her lifestyle and boyfriend than her. Cassie turns to an AI system on her phone, that starts guiding her on a killing spree against everyone that has done her wrong. Greg is Cassie’s father that has neglected her after her mother’s death drinking and trying to seduce younger women including one of Cassie’s friends. Liam is the asshole boyfriend that is more interested in a career in American football and sleeping around over being caring towards his own girlfriend, he is one of the most unsupportive people you will ever see in a film. Ruby and Sarah are the best friends that are not supportive in any way more interested in her boyfriend than her friendship.
Performances – Debs Howard in the leading role is very interesting to watch, she has the image of a popular student, only holds the psychotic side back. Sam Robert Muik does give us one of the most unlikable characters of the year. Nobody else really gets any screen time to do much.
Story – The story here follows a teenager girl that is struggling with her mother’s death only to turn to her phone artificial intelligence for a friend, which only turns her into a psychotic killer, taking out revenge on the people that are wronging her in life. This story could easily be one that could have addressed the real life problems Cassie would be experiencing with loss, but instead it just decides to show us that she has no friends or family that want to help her in anyway, despite the fact they should be stood next to her helping her. The speed of which she turns to the phone for friendship is worrying quick and how quickly she starts to kill, though it does have a glancing reference to her head injury, which could have been made more of a point about.
Horror – The horror side of the film does follow Cassie on her slasher style killing spree, it isn’t scary and the kills happen way to quickly to have any tension.
Settings – The film does use the everyday settings which shows how somebody could go lose it and go on a spree.
Special Effects – The effects are used to show injuries, while mostly are off camera too, they don’t need to show us anything if we are honesty.
Scene of the Movie – The slip and slide.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – In one scene Sarah is asked if she wants to call her mother, less than 10 minutes later, she talks about living alone in an apartment.
Final Thoughts – This is an odd little slasher that does everything to make you support the killer over anybody in their life and does almost hit comical with the kills.
Overall: Fun little slasher.
Performances – Debs Howard in the leading role is very interesting to watch, she has the image of a popular student, only holds the psychotic side back. Sam Robert Muik does give us one of the most unlikable characters of the year. Nobody else really gets any screen time to do much.
Story – The story here follows a teenager girl that is struggling with her mother’s death only to turn to her phone artificial intelligence for a friend, which only turns her into a psychotic killer, taking out revenge on the people that are wronging her in life. This story could easily be one that could have addressed the real life problems Cassie would be experiencing with loss, but instead it just decides to show us that she has no friends or family that want to help her in anyway, despite the fact they should be stood next to her helping her. The speed of which she turns to the phone for friendship is worrying quick and how quickly she starts to kill, though it does have a glancing reference to her head injury, which could have been made more of a point about.
Horror – The horror side of the film does follow Cassie on her slasher style killing spree, it isn’t scary and the kills happen way to quickly to have any tension.
Settings – The film does use the everyday settings which shows how somebody could go lose it and go on a spree.
Special Effects – The effects are used to show injuries, while mostly are off camera too, they don’t need to show us anything if we are honesty.
Scene of the Movie – The slip and slide.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – In one scene Sarah is asked if she wants to call her mother, less than 10 minutes later, she talks about living alone in an apartment.
Final Thoughts – This is an odd little slasher that does everything to make you support the killer over anybody in their life and does almost hit comical with the kills.
Overall: Fun little slasher.
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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Before and Again in Books
Mar 10, 2019
Emotional tale but slow and over-the-top
Driving her five-year-old daughter to a playdate, Mackenzie Cooper's life changes in a moment when she takes her eyes off the road to check her phone's GPS. In that second, she runs a stop sign, and as a result, the other driver and Lily are dead. In the aftermath, Mackenzie finds herself divorced, estranged from her mother and brother, on probation, and moving away from her friends and former life. She reinvents herself in the town of Devon, Vermont, now known as Maggie Reid. There, she does makeup for clients at the Devon Inn and Spa, while living alone in a remote cabin with her pets. Maggie has managed to build a new life for herself in Devon, where no one knows about her life as Mackenzie--plus, she likes her job and she has friends. So when one of them, Grace, finds herself in trouble: her fifteen-year-old son, Chris, is accused of hacking some powerful journalists, Maggie stands by her. It doesn't matter if this could affect her probation or her future. And that's not even the end of the trouble: some surprises from Maggie's past are coming back to her haunt her and threaten the private, quiet life she's worked so hard to create.
So, this was a tough one. Parts of this are a heartbreaking, emotional tale. Other parts I found to be far-fetched and so incredibly slow. The novel almost has two storylines, between Maggie's attempts to find some sort of peace in Devon and then the Grace and Chris tale. For me, it was tough connecting the two, despite the fact that both Grace and Maggie were being forced to confront their pasts and the sensationalism of the media. For most of the book, the two stories run parallel without really connecting, and I found it really hard to care or empathize with Grace at all. Her entire plot is a bit over-the-top. Both she and Maggie were difficult characters--prickly, with their protective shells up.
Of course, the book is also achingly hard to read at points, as Maggie's still reeling from the loss of her daughter. As a parent, I found those parts so difficult to read. But, there was so much talking and introspection from Maggie that it felt like the novel dragged on at points. With Maggie's constant reflection and rehashing, I sometimes just wanted to shake her or move things along. (Also, the endless descriptions of how makeup application worked were far too much for me.)
Still, there were definitely moments where the plot was compelling and moved along, especially near the end. I felt for Maggie, for sure, and enjoyed pieces of this novel. But overall, I found this one slow, disjointed, and hard to get into. Oh and for some reason, being someone even mildly into football, it bothered me that Maggie's probation officer was named Michael Shanahan (a former Redskins coach, among others). When things like that start bothering you, you realize it's probably not the book for you! However, this book is pretty much well-loved by most, so please realize it may have just not been a fit for me.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review.
So, this was a tough one. Parts of this are a heartbreaking, emotional tale. Other parts I found to be far-fetched and so incredibly slow. The novel almost has two storylines, between Maggie's attempts to find some sort of peace in Devon and then the Grace and Chris tale. For me, it was tough connecting the two, despite the fact that both Grace and Maggie were being forced to confront their pasts and the sensationalism of the media. For most of the book, the two stories run parallel without really connecting, and I found it really hard to care or empathize with Grace at all. Her entire plot is a bit over-the-top. Both she and Maggie were difficult characters--prickly, with their protective shells up.
Of course, the book is also achingly hard to read at points, as Maggie's still reeling from the loss of her daughter. As a parent, I found those parts so difficult to read. But, there was so much talking and introspection from Maggie that it felt like the novel dragged on at points. With Maggie's constant reflection and rehashing, I sometimes just wanted to shake her or move things along. (Also, the endless descriptions of how makeup application worked were far too much for me.)
Still, there were definitely moments where the plot was compelling and moved along, especially near the end. I felt for Maggie, for sure, and enjoyed pieces of this novel. But overall, I found this one slow, disjointed, and hard to get into. Oh and for some reason, being someone even mildly into football, it bothered me that Maggie's probation officer was named Michael Shanahan (a former Redskins coach, among others). When things like that start bothering you, you realize it's probably not the book for you! However, this book is pretty much well-loved by most, so please realize it may have just not been a fit for me.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review.