dingdong-63388 Reviews

Fool Me Once (2024)

bingeable as popcorn

[7/10 · 10 January 2024]

From the get-go I didn't think the actress who plays Maya looks like a combat soldier. She's just too delicate-looking. They should have gotten her to bulk up for this role. Posh Spice is more muscular! But I told myself, "suspend disbelief, it's fiction, don't worry about it." The prep school ritual at the beginning was sure creepy-looking. That could draw some people in, but I found it unpleasant, and was worried it would lead to some really upsetting scenes. Kudos to the series for not making any of this the stuff of nightmares, at least not in my opinion. The far-fetched elements help, too, in that, when a series is so far from reality, overall, it doesn't tend to cause that creepy unsettled feeling that can keep one up at night.

So I just bucked-up for a fun ride. I did find that there were certain patterns in the writing, in that, any time someone was pressed for details, they would at first protest and then, just a bit more prodding and they are spilling away. Once is fine but when characters repeatedly do that, it's rather silly. Such suspense!! "No, no, I'll never tell!" And then the person pressing them says, "Come on, tell me: Tell my why you did it..." and then, "Okay, it's like this..." That seems like lazy writing.

And all the frantic car chases when, most of the time, the people you might have been protecting are already dead and yet, such urgency, putting innocent people (in traffic) in danger because, you just had to madly chase so-and-so down, when you could have simply met them at their home or their kid's school or whatever, it's not like they were fleeing the country, or even the town!

But it's good escapism which is why I gave it 7 stars.

Obsession (2023)

C'est Dommage

[6/10 · 21 April 2023]

Just the sort of escapism one sometimes needs. Watching a train wreck unfold where you really don't care about any of the main characters because they all seem to somehow deserve what they get.

Having said that, I DID really enjoy the performances of the mother and the daughter. I even teared up a bit at the mother's grief scene.

Agree with the majority of reviewers that the two leads had very little if any chemistry. I did enjoy the chemistry between William and the pillow-stand-in for Anna, though!

Couldn't understand why Anna was such a femme fatale, there are plenty of fish in the sea, surely these various men of hers could find somebody better on any and all levels!

William was a bit of a dullard, too.

This Is Us (2016–2022)

This Is My Review

[6/10 · 18 January 2023]

Okay so I just finished the final episode of the final (God help me I hope it's final!) season. I say "God help me" because that was a lot of hours out of my life. On the other hand it was nice to have something like that to turn to when one just needed the viewing equivalent of a bag of chips, plate of cookies, or even a mug of tea, something that soothes or maybe distracts from whatever is or is not going on in one's life at the time.

I have browsed other people's reviews on here and the haters all seem to be saying the same thing: That it started off great and then became terrible. I disagree. I would say it started off interesting. I admit that seeing Chrissy Metz in her underpants in the very first episode was, refreshing and so unusual. I don't mean to give her a freak quality, but, it's so rare to see a main female character who is so pretty AND so fat with a romantic part to play in things. Then of course things kept coming at us, tricks and surprises, so that it got to the point where, you could almost guess what was coming by knowing it was NOT going to be what you were expected to expect. I mean, some of the time you could guess, or at least guess in the general direction. Other times it was just too left-field, like the smoke inhalation for example. And yes, of course, all this guesswork kept you watching and watching. I DID fast forward at times, especially during long speeches from parents to their children, YAAWN! And for some reason I found a lot of the flashbacks depressing, dimly lit, and people were always mad, fighting, sour, or else just, earnestly struggling with that pained expression on her face---that would be Rebecca, that furrowed brow and simpering, "I am so nice it's killing me" quality. Indeed there were perhaps too many saints in this series. Saint Rebecca, Saint Jack, Saint Randall, Sassy Saint Beth, etc. But besides Randall I would say the other two of the big three were no saints. Kevin was constantly storming out of, restaurants, plays that he was supposed to be acting in, movie sets for movies he was supposed to be starring in, performances he was supposed to be in the audience of, etc etc. If there was a commitment or date, you could be sure he'd storm off or not even show up in the first place. And yet, throughout, reference was made to how much money he had, how he could buy any house he wanted at any time if necessary. I kept wondering where all this money was coming from when he seemed to only have The Manny series which he dramatically quit at the beginning of This is Us.

Young Kevin was also a drag, always mad and mean to his siblings. And young Kate, once she became a teenager and after her father's death which understandably she felt responsible for, was constantly so utterly unpleasant to everyone it was no fun to watch her. (Funny too, she looked NOTHING like the kid who played the pre-teen version of her, but you learn to overlook these things. Same with Kevin's girlfriend/wife Sophie, the young one looked nothing like the older one.) Adult Kate I enjoyed throughout but, I found they gave her too many situations where she had to have that glum hurt expression...dramatic pause as she looks all sad and misunderstood.

I liked the 2nd to last episode and found the use of a train as a metaphor, and the surreal aspect of it all, to be interesting and effective. I also enjoyed the episode that looked back on Miguel's life. That's the one episode that actually made me cry, but I admit a soft spot for Miguel.

White Noise (I) (2022)

Oddly refreshing

[7/10 · 7 January 2023]

I actually liked this movie more than the other Baumbach movie's I've seen (I've seen most of his.) I chalk this up to the fact that it's based on a novel and not Baumbach's personal life.

I enjoyed the stylized 80s setting. A lot of the product placement from days of yore really DID take me back to the era. I liked the bright colors and I even loved the ending when the credits were rolling and there is the supermarket dance going on, a kind of slow sad brightly lit flash mob of employees and customers.

I guess you can look at all the negative reviews for the negative stuff, some of which I agree with. Few movies are perfect, and of course this one was not. But it held my interest. I particularly enjoyed the surreal aspects like when Driver's character and Cheadle's character, as two university professors, are co lecturing about different subjects, in a highly theatrical way, in the round no less, Driver's academic gown flowing wildly about him as he talks about Hitler and death. Indeed death is a big part of the subject matter and preoccupation of the main couple, Gerwig and Driver, so if you're not into death, maybe give this a miss.

Come for the latest Baumbach, stay for the colors, the stylish production, and the trip back to the 80s if you happen to be lucky enough to have lived through that era.

Drunk Parents (2019)

Meh

[3/10 · 30 October 2022]

Drunk Parents. Catchy title, sort of like Bad Moms. Wheee what fun this will be, let's get drunk and watch it!! Actually I happened to be having my 2nd glass of wine when I started watching. But I gave up fairly quickly on in, as I seem to have watched about 7 in a row of these Netflix things (movies or series) about a couple that was once wealthy and are now living beyond their means and in increased desperation as they are secretly maxed out and bankrupt, etc.

It gets tiresome to see this, as if the viewing world has an endless fascination for wealthy people and fancy homes, expensive clothing, etc. And I'm sorry but ever since Salma Hayek became a billionaire for real, I can't take her seriously in anything. Whether she's playing a poor massage therapist in Beatriz at Dinner, or a rich woman facing bankruptcy in Drunk Parents, I just think that, like Princess Grace she should give up acting and quietly enjoy her fabulous wealth and influence. Do some charity work, sure, lots of it, but we don't need to see you in anything, however easy on the eyes you are.

Anyway, enough time taken on this thing about rich people behaving irresponsibly and selfishly, as if this is the height of fun to watch.

(In all fairness I have no idea how it ends, having only watched about ten mins of it, so I am going to take a wild guess: They redeem themselves somehow, are taught some hard lessons in humility but, find a way to turn things around yet again and become wealthy all over again. And of course learn about what really matters in life, family. But with a side of fabulous wealth on the side to help wash it all down like an $800.00 bottle of wine.

The Watcher (2022– )

Worth Watching

[8/10 · 17 October 2022]

I enjoyed this series. I found myself laughing out loud throughout. I wonder if that was ever the director's intention. It was almost campy, with all those secondary characters who were such...characters!

Because it dragged on for quite a bit with twist turns false red flags, etc, I often forgot what the story was, regarding some of the lesser characters, like when in the final episode Neigbor what's her name, of the lawn chairs, mentioned her son being a murderer, I had forgotten how and why he was such, considering he spoke to Dean in one of the earlier episodes. Was he out on bail, had he served enough time for murder or did he simply never get caught and nobody seems concerned about that?

Disappointing that the case never gets solved and the viewer never gets closure. But unlike Dean, I won't be obsessing over that house but am happy to never see it again.

I have decided that the daughter did it. She even looks like "Pigtails" in the ill-gotten video. She got into Brown, so she must be smart enough to carry it all out. She's also mean and selfish enough, as we see with how she smears her parents in her tik tok video. Whoever crawled into bed beside Dean in the black and white video, what if he happened to wake up?? If it was his daughter she could have just said she was scared and, blah blah blah, he would never think anything ill of his precious little girl.

Anyway, normally I would have found the over-the-top characters a bad fit for something like this but, because I don't enjoy being too scared anyway, this made it a fun thing to watch this Halloween season.

The Desperate Hour (2021)

Gripping

[7/10 · 4 August 2022]

Surprised at all the low reviews. I thought Watts does an amazing acting job. (Jog, LOL.) Yeah we are on our phones too much nowadays but, to watch someone else on theirs, dealing with a terrifying situation, I actually enjoyed the fact that this was happening to someone else, not me.

Things became a little less gripping and more far-fetched towards the end as we make our way towards a happy ending. But a terrific unglamorous acting job by Naomi Watts!

Lie with Me (2005)

Completely Concerned With Sex

[6/10 · 30 July 2022]

Remember those warnings they used to have: "Completely concerned with sex." ? Well that about sums up this movie, too! How any of the main characters get anything done whilst being in a constant sex-addled state, is a wonder (but then again we don't see them doing much, besides each other. And dreamily day-dreaming about their next encounter.) It's watchable because, besides being decent eye candy (the settings as well as the people) it's not your typical Hollywood style movie. Indeed I had never heard of any of the actors before. The main actors do a great job with such uncomfortable material. The minor characters are also very good, to the point that some of them didn't seem like actors at all but real people going about their lives on the edge.

Take This Waltz (2011)

Very Toronto

[7/10 · 1 May 2022]

Not for everyone. What I liked about it was that it wasn't typical. I liked the warm colours and the narrow Toronto character homes. I liked the music. I liked, nay loved, the Scrambler ride on Centre Island and that entire scene.

Many reviewers rave about Michelle Williams's beauty. I thought she looked kind of messy and oily in this movie, but that could have been by plan. I also found, while her acting was good, her character didn't seem to have a lot to fall in love with, besides being really cute.

The movie showed the agony of longing, really well...all those charged moments when people are falling for one another and it's "forbidden"---in this case because Margot is Married to Lou and doesn't want to hurt him.

Some far fetched elements, like, If Daniel, the handsome newcomer on Margot's scene, is a rickshaw driver, not only how does he afford a decent spacious home across the street from Margot and Lou, but what does he do in the nasty Toronto winter months? We don't find out that much about him except that he's also an artist but too shy to try to exhibit his work (which seems odd as he's not a shy guy, pursuing Margot.) Similarly we find out that Margot, a travel writer, wants to be a real writer, presumably of fiction. But she doesn't share any profound or interesting thoughts, so perhaps she's better on the page than in person. And Lou, as played decently by Seth Rogen, is a cookbook author of entirely chicken recipes. And yet, only at the end of the movie do we see his new cookbook "Tastes Like Chicken" in a store window, indicating that this is his first book. They'd been married around five years, how have they been able to live comfortably all that time if he's only written the one book? And how does he develop his recipes in a small dimly lit kitchen?

Okay, Okay it's a movie, not everything is has to be completely believable but it's nice when it is. The emotions are believable, Michelle Williams' longing for Daniel seems real. The scene where Daniel ends up giving Lou and Margot a free ride in his rickshaw is wonderfully loaded.

I wondered about the sex scene towards the end, with the threesomes (other women in bed with Daniel and Margot) were they supposed to be real, or some kind of dream-like montage symbolic of something? I assume the former, as nothing else in the movie was supposed to be surreal like that. In which case, I have to wonder, why is Margot staying with Daniel if he's not that into her, if he needs more women in his bed? And since everything seems to make Margot cry, it seems she will never be happy and satisfied anyway. I certainly would get sick of her if I were either of the two guys hooked up with her in this movie. Still I came away from it feeling refreshed somehow, like I'd had a sorbet to cleanse me of the usual Hollywood stuff.

Sarah Silverman as Lou's sister is really wonderful. Funny and real.

Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It (2021)

Mixed Feelings

[7/10 · 15 October 2021]

I have mixed feelings about this one. Rita Moreno seems to have had and continues to have, it all. She admits that becoming a movie actress was ridiculously easy, she just showed up and LB Mayer said "you're hired!" based on her latina-tinged resemblance to Liz Taylor which she shrewdly cultivated in her getup for the interview with LBM.

But then of course nothing is going to be that easy, and like anyone, she had her struggles. The sexism she suffered is sad but happened to pretty much all female stars (and of course continues to, today, though thankfully to lesser degree, less blatant...It was the fifties, for heaven's sake!) When she talks of her several-year-affair with Brando, she gloats a bit saying, "he was the biggest star in the world and he loved...ME!" (Lest anyone miss the fact that he was a big star? But of course Brando had scads of women so, Moreno seems to have over-inflated opinion of her own important position in his life.) Moreno laments all the typecasting she suffered, always playing the Island Girl, Polynesian, Native American etc etc. I could not help thinking, "well I am sure there were some actual Polynesians and Native Americans who might have appreciated the opportunites that Moreno was given!" The Latina typecasting, OK I grant her that, though of course she IS latina. But yes, those were smallish roles for a very talented actress to be saddled with, in her early years. It seems to me, that she had been and continues to be a very lucky actress with her numerous awards to show for her fortuitious career.

Another moment of self importance, she mentions being there when MLK gave gus famous "I have a dream" speach. Moreno grinds in the fact that she was there, only several yards away from the great man when he gave his speech. LIke that is the most important thing, that she was there. Not what he said or what it meant to her but that she was there for a moment in history, yay me! She even mentions when she made a speech at a human rights event, how she loved all the attention that making that speech gave her.

And, when RM accepted any of her numerous awards, she always gave a self-absorbed speech, one of which was, along the lines of "I wish you out there could be me." like, nayah nyah, losers weepers?

But the most shocking example of self absorbed callousness is when her seeming beloved husband of many years dies and she is...relieved!! She immediately goes home and toasts his death with a large amount of wine and feels just great, like her life of selfishness can finally beging. And her late husband's faults? Loving her too much and not being fun spunky and spontaneous like she is.

Ok I had to Moreno-bash, because the woman has been clearly given, and gone and gotten herself her share of good things in life, she can survive an unknown amateur reviewer's gripes. I see that Rita was super spunky, adorable and yes, sometimes quite self effacing and vulnerable. Also a very talented actress and vivaciouls life-loving personality. So, I did enjoy getting to know this living legend.

Everybody Knows (2018)

Superb Acting

[8/10 · 17 December 2020]

Stellar acting, particularly by Penelope Cruz whose acting here is 100% believeable. Beautifil timeless Spanish setting and lifestyle...(downright idyllic if not for the kidnappings.)