msdsc Reviews

Aftersun (II) (2022)

Not recommended

[3/10 · 2 November 2022]

I read the other reviews, beforehand, and based on the glowing ones I decided to see it. DON'T TRUST THE GLOWING REVIEWS! This movie was not worth wasting over an hour and a half on.

About the only good thing about the movie was the little girl. She's absolutely adorable, and she acts like an absolutely adorable 10-year old.

But, there's basically no action -- the movie moves like molasses in January (in the northern hemisphere :-) -- and the plot is just that the girl goes on vacation with her dad with whom she doesn't live (and who seems to live someplace distant from her). A thin thread of bonding runs through it, and the father is quite paternal, but I never felt a strong love connection between them -- though they can be somewhat affectionate.

With all that time to sit with my own thoughts and emotions -- I had to do something during all those slow parts -- I had a few flashbacks to touchstone times in my childhood, but they still didn't make the film worth sitting through.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

I hope I never see another movie as bad as this

[1/10 · 22 September 2022]

I agree with all the other 1 ratings. (Wish I could have rated it a 0!)

This movie had no redeeming value. And, the only reason I sat through the whole, excruciating, 2 hours and 12 minutes of it was because I thought my friend wanted to. (Turned out she thought as little of it as I did.)

How anyone in their right mind could find anything interesting about this film is beyond me.

I'm no aficionado of martial arts, but even that didn't seem well done, to me. Years ago, I saw several Jackie Chan movies, but, as I recall, the martial arts scenes were captivating; the ones in this movie just seemed like senseless violence.

18 Presents (2020)

Wonderful, heartfelt, film

[9/10 · 23 January 2022]

I would have given this a 10 but it wasn't quite perfect. It was, however, a glorious, emotionally wonderful, film. It reminded me of The Night of the Shooting Stars, in a way. It struck me deeply in how loving and tender it, and everyone in it, was. The pure sensuality of the Italian culture pervaded it all.

Don't Look Up (2021)

Basically a stupid movie

[6/10 · 16 January 2022]

It's obviously supposed to be a parody of the government under the previous administration*, and, if it had been made with any intelligence it might have worked. But, it had a weak plotline which was beaten to death for over 2 hours.

-- After originally writing this review, I subsequently found out that the movie was supposed to be apocryphal. With that in mind, it makes some more sense, but I still think it was poorly done.

*But there was a minor attempt to imply that the president, in the movie, was Hillary: Meryl Streep (the president, in the movie) is a blond woman, and, in one of the scenes, there's a picture of her embracing a younger woman who's obviously supposed to look like Chelsea. And, btw, I'm no fan of the previous administration.

The Leopard (1963)

Boring

[16 July 2019]

Other than the meager amount of history, and a little bit of historical scenery -- I'm not even sure it was shot in Sicily -- this movie has, seemingly, nothing to offer.

The plot goes nowhere and there is no ending. It's way too long -- could have easily been cut down to less than 90 minutes -- with scenes that go on endlessly, whose length adds little to either the plot or the context.

Claudia isn't as beautiful as they make her out to be, and she certainly can't act. The best acting is by Burt, and the priest.

(Full disclosure: I watched the Italian language version. And, I was amazed at how well Burt spoke Italian!)

Don't Drink the Water (1994 TV Movie)

Just annoying

[2/10 · 9 October 2016]

Let's get one thing straight right off the bat: I LOVE WOODY ALLEN MOVIES. So, I think that gives my review at least some credence.

Now, about this film: I feel that it wasted my time. There was virtually nothing redeeming about the movie. The acting was almost uniformly disappointing. It has an all-star cast but Woody managed to make them look like amateurs.

The love interest – Michael J. Fox and Mayim Bialik – is completely unconvincing. Fox never once shows any real attraction. In fact, it feels more like he's trying to avoid her than to get together. And, though Bialik is well cast in that she looks like she could be the daughter of Woody and Julie, she's entirely miscast as a love foil for Fox; they look like an unlikely couple.

Surprisingly, there was one scene, where Woody and his wife (Julie Kavner) connect – she starts to cry and he attempts to comfort her – in which there was a poignancy which I felt, and which allowed the jokes to really penetrate. Other than that, I think Woody took what could have been a terrific farce (in the positive sense) and turned it into a real farce.

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010)

Woody just keeps getting better at what he does

[9/10 · 3 March 2016]

This movie seamlessly portrays a lot of what is Woody Allen: His takes on relationships; his, seeming, fascination with how people can be taken in by the occult; his, usually sinister, plot twists – how his relationships usually devolve into negative territory; and the lack of real malice in – the innocence of – his characters.

And, in this movie, the acting – and, presumably, the directing which precipitated it – is flawlessly executed. (Though, I must say that I was a little disappointed in Philip Glenister's performance. I don't think he could convincingly shed his usual visceral nature, to effect the required innocence of an Allen character.) Even though I wanted to, and expected to, not believe some of the characters – Josh Brolin, as Sally's husband, Roy, comes to mind – I wasn't able to do it.

Woody's actually expanded his usual milieu by including two ingénues – Naomi Watts, as Sally, and Freida Pinto, as Dia – instead of the usual one. And, one could argue that there were two minor ones, as well: Lucy Punch, as Charmaine, and Anna Friel, as Iris. All were convincing, though Watts was particularly good – and, quite stunning. Gemma Jones, as the pathetic mother, Helena, stood out for a particularly brilliant performance.

The juxtaposition of the different stages of relationships was also genius. There was the incipient, represented by the engagement of Dia and Alan (Neil Jackson); the mid-stream, represented by the marriage of Sally and Roy; and the past, represented by the broken marriage of Alfie (Anthony Hopkins) and Helena. And, Allen's casting was superb in the respect that they all looked exactly right for the parts – Hopkins, as the aging, nay, old, man with the mid- life crisis, is the apotheosis.

The age disparity in the relationship between Alfie and Charmaine, and the inherent problems with that – e.g. Alfie needing to take Viagra to keep up with Charmaine – brought to mind Woody's actual situation in life with his much younger wife.

My one qualm was the ending: I felt like more should have been resolved. However, Allen, like the Shakespeare he paraphrases at the beginning – "Life was full of sound and fury, and in the end signified nothing." – and mirrors at the end – "It's time to close the book on our little tale of sound and fury signifying nothing." – says that life just goes on.

America's Ballroom Challenge (2006– )

Wonderful world of ballroom dance, marred by commentary

[7/10 · 26 February 2008]

I'd give this program a 9 if it weren't for the insipid commentary during the performances.

The performances themselves range from good to great; some of them are quite thrilling. But -- and this is a major flaw -- the commentators constantly talk over them. These are works of art, and they should be contemplated as a whole, without the intrusion of verbal chatter. This is not a ballgame; it doesn't require constant narration to keep one's interest and pique their excitement. If you were at the performance, in person, and someone next to you was talking during it, they'd be considered boorish, and you'd probably move. Unfortunately, you can't get away from the commentators if you want to watch the show on TV -- I've tried turning off the sound, but, without music, the dance loses something :-) So, please, producers, if you're reading this: PLEASE, lose the commentary during the individual performances. (During the mass performances, when several couples are performing at once, the commentary is more tolerable, and, I'd even go so far as to say, warranted. This is the section of the show in which the commentators can add value.)