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The OA  - Season 1
The OA - Season 1
2016 | Drama
Great story, keeps you engaged, well acted, well written, fun (0 more)
Low budget (0 more)
A binge worthy supernatural mystery
  
Evil Eye (2020)
Evil Eye (2020)
2020 | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
6
6.3 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Average horror
Well acted and well directed but lacking that extra bit that gets your heart pumping
  
Othello
Othello
1604 | Play, Drama
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Show Rating
Well staged and well acted (0 more)
It is a very dry play that drags in the middle third. (0 more)
  
Despicable Me (2010)
Despicable Me (2010)
2010 | Animation, Comedy, Family
10
8.0 (64 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Cute
I like how it was made as well as characters and cast. The girls were very cute and easy to watch as well as Gru. He was funny and well made.
  
Lost  - Season 1
Lost - Season 1
2004 | Action
Well made. Incomprehensible.
  
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
1971 | Crime, Sci-Fi
Distressingly well made.
  
The Petrified Forest (1936)
The Petrified Forest (1936)
1936 | Classics, Drama, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Tense, well-acted
  
The Man in the High Castle  - Season 1
The Man in the High Castle - Season 1
2015 | Sci-Fi
Very well done.
  
Well worth watching...
A man called otto (2022)
A man called otto (2022)
2022 | Comedy
7
7.5 (4 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Has Over-Sized Heart
They sure don’t make films like this anymore. A character study/drama featuring an “A-List” Star about a curmudgeon who finds that there is more to life than to hide from it. It’s the type of subject matter that has been seen over and over again, but this one hits differently.

It has an over-sized heart.

Based on the Swedish novel (and film) A MAN CALLED OVE…OTTO (played by Tom Hanks) is a recent Widower, who is forcibly retired and has given up on life. The question of the film is whether Otto can find a reason to keep on living.

These types of films can be over-melodramatic and saccharine, but in the capable hands of veteran Director Marc Forster (FINDING NEVERLAND) and the performance of Hanks (who shows that he still has his fastball) this film will touch your heart…if you open your heart up enough to receive it.

Foster has created a world where Otto has sealed himself off from the world by keeping a sharp eye on the perimeters of his row-housing. With an Engineering background, and a keen eye for detail, Otto keeps his world neat and orderly. However, it becomes clear that what Otto is really doing is retreating into this world - and further into himself - until a new neighbor (and a stray cat) starts pulling Otto out his cocoon.

Hanks, as mentioned above, is wonderful as the curmudgeonly Otto. It helps that Hanks’ inherit charm shines through during the early, grumpy, despondant portions of Otto’s existence. Despite what one is seeing on the surface, the audience instantly starts to root for Otto, more than likely due to the audience goodwill that Hanks has built up over his long and lusterous career.

Newcomer (at least to the BankofMarquis) Mariana Trevino is just as strong and caring as the new neighbor that starts breaking through the exterior of Otto. It is important for a film of this sort to have someone just as strong (but not overpowering) as the lead performer to serve as a balance. This Trevino (and the rest of the supporting cast) do very, very well.

Credit for this has to go to Director Forster who surehandedly steers the course of this film, threading the needle effectively on the edge of emotional heft and heart without falling into caricature and melodrama.

It is a charming, effective, quiet film that surprised the BankofMarquis with the amount of earnest heart imbedded within. If you are looking for a film that will charm you and warm your insides, look no further than A MAN CALLED OTTO.

Letter Grade: A-

8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
  
     
Braveheart (1995)
Braveheart (1995)
1995 | Drama, History, War
Another big battle epic based on a true story. Very well directed and a good story as well.