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Reviews
The Flash (2023)
A triumph for DC
An engrossing film that lives up to the hype. Several emotional scenes. The CGI was not world class but imagine this didn't have the preposterous Marvel budget. DC needs a comeback badly and this didn't hurt that effort. Honestly I'm burnt out on superhero movies. What drew me here was everything that makes a regular movie great. I am a DC fan and will always root for them. I'm not an Ezra fan but he did a hell of a job. I would highly suggest ignoring the haters. This is a triumph for DC and needs ticket sales to drive further wins for the studio. Marvel has had their time in the sun. They've proven that multi millions can be pumped into a production as a formulaic success. DC has heart and for me that is a vital component in film.
The Son (2022)
Tragic yet realistic
This movie troubled me. As a father to a teenage boy it resonated deeply. Let me start off by saying that the effects of divorce on children can be massive. This is a fact based in reality. I've heard countless spiral stories including my own wife's where divorce was a cataclysmic explosion that nearly ended their own lives. Coupled with mental illness the result can often be tragic and perhaps impossible to recover from. In any case the acting here was brilliant on all fronts. Jackman was completely believable and the son nailed his part as a disturbed young man. I wanted so badly for things to end better but my rationale knew better. Would things have changed if the gun was removed from the picture? If the parents had left him at the psychiatric ward? Who knows. It could have merely delayed the inevitable. The boy was so troubled it would seem irreparable. In any case this film is designed with one grand purpose of that I am certain. To magnify and evangelize two colossal social issues: suicide awareness and mental health crisis. These are no joke and need to be addressed and berated even until we can attempt to find any cure. The film was a steady ascent up the mountain of doom and the climax was predictable. It simply didn't get better. The tragedy of what could have been haunts me. The scene where the son is at the hospital and cries out to his dad, "you know me!" nearly ripped me in half. All I know is that after watching this I hugged my son goodnight with a purposeful and emphatic grip that caused him to ask if everything was ok. I hope it is my little man. By God I pray it is.
Moon Knight (2022)
Let down
This show has the recipe for greatness but for me has not yet delivered. Casting is perfect, cinematography is excellent, the script is solid. Where does it let down? The screenplay my friends. To put it lightly the scenes are manic and leave me looking for Adderall just to keep up. One thing that can ruin even the greatest production is plot holes. This show is chalk full of them. Granted we are two episodes in but I'm already lost. Even worse I find myself not really caring anyway. The "Steve" version of Oscar's character I find infuriatingly annoying. Like cringe worthy on every level. I guess what exacerbated these problems for me was parallel watching this show with HBO's Tokyo Vice. That show is incredible and has none of the aforementioned shortcomings. The flow of events makes sense and leaves you begging to see more. Moon Knight leans towards a hot mess but with production quality that is so high it visually attracts you to the next thing but with your mind only. Your heart is telling you it's lacking that special something. Seven stars is being generous and speaks of a fan of these comics whose been let down.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
Huge Conjuring fan and loved it
Disagree with most of the reviews. One of the few times I was glad to dive straight into watching a film before letting IMDb discourage me. By no means the best in the series but held me the entire time. When I see comments saying it's not scary enough I wonder what viewers are looking for. More jump scares? It seems the horror film genre is chained to that style now. This is a quality story being told and in that it succeeds. No plot holes just a solid story from start to finish. Plenty of scares along the way. I honestly feel that we've become pretty desensitized to scares in general so the new director Chaves had perhaps an impossible task laid before him. Could Wan or my personal favorite horror director Mike Flanagan have done a better job? Perhaps but Chaves did a fine enough job here. Perhaps my favorite part of the film is the shift from generic possession to the concept of being cursed. It flips the script to where you as the viewer want specfic retribution whereas with possession it's harder to exact revenge because it's so ubiquitous. I though the ending was great so again going against the popular opinion.