March 2, 2023

The Consultant

Rating: 4 of 5 golden bones
A dark, very creepy story about a mysterious consultant that shows up to take charge after its CEO is killed. Excellent acting (as expected) from Christoph Waltz as the lead. The series slowly exposes more information, while simultaneously creating more mystery. My only complaint is the tertiary characters have little depth to them, and could be played by cardboard cutouts. Only complaint is, the ending still left so many questions unanswered.

February 28, 2023

After Life

Rating: 5 of 5 stars
A wonderful blend of happy, sad, poignient, realistic, funny and tragic. At its core, a journey with a man dealing with the death of his wife. Soon it pulls in the lives of his co-workers, and people he meets. It is excellent at showing each person as an entire character with their assets and flaws, and how each deals with their own personal issues. It’s also a rare complete story, where the last episodes wrap up all the storylines, but not necessarily in a clean or final way, life will go on after the storylines, and the characters will be living through it.

February 25, 2023

The Banshees of Inisherin

Rating: 5 of 5 pints
Beautifully photographed and acted. Wonderful storytelling of two old friends on a small island, one who decides he doesn’t want to be friends anymore. It’s sad, funny, tragic. Motivations are difficult to discern, but it’s enjoyable just to be allowed to observe these characters and their lives.

February 19, 2023

Do Revenge

Rating: 3 of 5 high school students pushing 30
First thought this was going to be a really silly young adult mean girls flick. It was actually somewhat engaging, had some plot twists, and except for the last 30 minutes, kinda interesting. Then, in the last act, it got pretty confusing as to what motivated who and who was doing revenge on who. Add to that, both stars, who are suppose to be in a fancy preparatory high school are in their late 20’s, having to remind yourself that these huge adult parties are being run and attended by high school kids?

February 15, 2023

Ingrid Goes West

Rating: 3 of 5 staged selfies
A disturbing movie about a social media stalker who’s definately got a few issues to work through. Looking for a new friend, Ingrid goes west! Things start out OK, but go downhilll fast. The story looses a star for peetering out near the end, and leaving unexplored a few plot points that were started. Perhaps their are scenes on the editing room floor, but still, a little disappointing, given the detail in the rest of the film.

February 14, 2023

Your Place or Mine

Rating: 2 of 5 Hallmark movies
Nothing much to see here. Take a thin Hallmark Movie plot, make it a bit less interesting, then toss in Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher for the ‘ol name recognition viewing. It’s not terrible, it’s also not memorable. A fine rainy Valentine’s day viewing while second screening.

February 13, 2023

Bullet Train

Rating: 5 of 5 Boomslangs
Pretty simple plot, it seems. Several nefarious characters are on the bullet train in Japan, each with their own mission. Violent hilarity ensues. It’s violent. Very violent, and usually comically violent. Lots of secrets are revealed during the course of the film, as characters backgrounds are fleshed out. Think “The Usual Suspects” meets “Pulp Fiction”. You’ll cringe, you’ll laugh, you’ll cringe that you’re laughing. Then you’ll quickly cringe again. It was a totally enjoyable ride.

February 10, 2023

Viking wolf

Rating: 3 of 5 bad moons on the rise
A Norwegian Werewolf flick. Not much original, scenes taken right out of an American Werewolf in London, with a lower budget. Silver is still the creature’s kryptonite, but it’s traditional, so I’ll allow it. The acting and characters were all interesting enough to earn it a couple stars. Even got me to jump at one of the jump scares. A fun distraction.

February 9, 2023

Vengance

Rating: 4 of 5 stars
B.J. Novak wrote,directed and stars in this interesting crime story, where B.J.’s character, Ben, attends a funeral for a woman he hooked up with, then gets drawn into trying to discover what caused her death. The characters were mostly interesting, although some are pretty minor and just glossed over. I especially liked that the characters that had depth also had a lot more to them than you first see. Not exactly a tourist commercial for rural Texas, which was intentional.

January 31, 2023

Emily the Criminal

Rating: 5 of 5 cloned credit cards
Not exactly a feel good romp. Well acted, plot has you uncomfortable, and wondering what’s going to happen next. Emily does not make the best life choices, but the way the film shows you how the deck is stacked against her, the choices aren’t irrational.