savageneedles Reviews

Jagged (2021)

Inspiring at times but needs depth and cohesion

[6/10 · 4 December 2021]

Isn't it ironic? This documentary only very superficially delved into Alanis Morissette, the person, but it was apparently "too salacious" for Alanis. I would like to have learned more about what makes Alanis the person who was able to create such wonderful music.

I had just finished watching the Anthony Bourdain documentary, Roadrunner. We got real insight into Anthony the person in that film, to learn about his beauty and his flaws, not about how great his TV shows were.

With Jagged, we got a film whose thesis is "Alanis set the world on fire with Jagged Little Pill and opened the door for women in rock." An inspiring message about someone who started on the wrong track (a Tiffany and Debbie Gibson wannabe) but was determined to find her own voice rather than what sleazy showbiz promoters of the moment needed her to be. There are similarly inspiring feminist messages throughout, but to some to some extent this film comes across like one of those DVD "extra" promo reels.

It just seemed to lack substance and purpose.

Star Trek: Discovery: Kobayashi Maru (2021) Season 4, Episode 1

Worst episode of the series; this show is in trouble!

[3/10 · 26 November 2021]

My thought was that this episode was written and directed by a Youtuber. Everything was "turned to 11," which would be funny if they were going for that, but it's outright annoying. It seemed as if they were just using the episode to show off how creative the production team could be with visual effects, non-stop dizzying camerawork, makeup, and action, without taking a breath. Acting somehow became noticeably amateurish, and the casting seems to have become an inside joke as well, at our expense. The most laughable part of the episode was the repeated close-ups of actors' faces showing various states of emotion: awe, shock, etc. The ratings graph already shows this series on a steady decline; I expect this episode to be the edge of the cliff.

Quiet Please... (2016)

Painfully repetitive

[3/10 · 1 December 2018]

I very much appreciate a documentary being made to raise awareness of misophonia. However, my wife and I were both practically throwing things at the TV every time someone said "fight or flight" or countless other endlessly repeated phrases and concepts. There are a few redeeming heartfelt moments with stories, but for f's sake, please create a "Quiet Please... The Compressed Edition" into about 20-30 minutes, so this film will become watchable.

School for Scoundrels (2006)

Funniest Parts are in the trailer--Wait for DVD

[5/10 · 23 September 2006]

This is a renter. There were some funny scenes, mostly all of them shown in the long theatrical trailer, which basically gave away most of the story.

The dude from Napolean Dynamite played the identical character from that movie; maybe he's not acting. He was still very funny, and Billy Bob was good as well. Ben Stiller had a small part, and his character was moderately funny.

I had high expectations for this movie. They didn't crash, but fell short. I liked 40-Year-Old Virgin much better. There were some really funny scenes, but recommend that you wait and rent this one.