rhyss-53011 Reviews

Turtles All the Way Down (2024)

A great adaptation

[8/10 · 4 May 2024]

I'll start by saying I'm a fan of John Green. I've read most of his books following the popularity of Fault In Our Stars and have enjoyed the movie adaptations. I can remember reading this book and not loving it - Likely in comparison to some of his others. But for what is maybe not his strongest story, this movie is a really good adaptation. I think it captures the character of Aza really well, and then changes made to the storyline help move the film along for the better. I think the young cast have done a great job, and whilst this isn't the type of movie that will win any awards, all in all it's a very solid film.

This Is Us: Forty: Part Two (2020) Season 5, Episode 2

Can we all agree Randall is the worse?

[1/10 · 17 March 2024]

I never watched This Is Us when it originally aired and it's currently available - in Australia - on streaming so I've been bingeing it. Season 1&2 were great and I really enjoyed Randall. But he has just gotten progressively worse. But now it's to the point where I actually don't think I can continue to watch. Taking out his anger and frustrations regarding BLM on his sister and family, telling Kate he's too exhausted by them, whilst at the same time still needing to control their mother and see himself as a saviour is just ridiculous. He is insufferable. They've just turned him into the most weak character and I hate him. Can see why many others gave up on the show at this point.

The Royal Hotel (2023)

One of the worst movies I've ever seen

[2/10 · 26 December 2023]

Firstly, I want to say the acting was great and the poor reviews are in no way related to the performance of the entire cast. Actually, they work very well with the minimal storyline they have to work with. The movie just goes nowhere. It feels like it's constantly building and building but there's no climax. It's really disappointing because it's so close to being something decent. -SPOILER- why the hell does former employee Jules (the British backpacker) call looking for a couple of the blokes? Literally had nothing to do with anything else that happened. Same as the cash flow issues of the pubs owner? Wasn't really vital to the story. Would've worked better with a good twist or big climax, or maybe even has a series with more time to explore each of the secondary characters.

The Bear: The Bear (2023) Season 2, Episode 10

A strong start turns into a ridiculous soap opera

[7/10 · 5 December 2023]

Opening the first half of the episode in a single take - like the iconic season one episode - was a great move and captured the chaos and coordination on opening night. But then the storyline with Carmen getting stuck in the refrigerator - not to mention the employee on meth - was utter ridiculousness. Then we have a whole second half of Carmen falling into a depression resulting in Claire hearing him say (through a refrigerator door) that he would be better off not in a relationship. Just ridiculous. I also can't handle how weak and timid Sydney is, yet she is allowed to be rude to the other workers but won't take it if someone is rude to her. Overall a very sad end to an amazing season.

Maneater (2022)

I feel like a 1 is very generous...

[1/10 · 2 June 2023]

Hahaha this was awful. I'm usually fairly generous with my ratings and reviews, but there's nothing good to say about this. Awful script. Average acting. The CGI and special effects are hilarious. May as well have been a high school film project.

Watch for a laugh!

Spoilers: Can we talk about how useless she was for a pre-med student. She didn't attempt CPR at all on Ty. She didn't assist with the retrieval of the other guy. Then when he washed up alive but bleeding out, she just casually strolled over, had a chat with him, wondered off for a medical kit. If she was my doctor I'd probably just make peace with the fact I'm about to die.

Totally Completely Fine (2023)

Glimpses of brilliance

[7/10 · 2 June 2023]

There are moments throughout where the dialogue and actions are so ridiculously unrealistic I was so very frustrated with this show. But, then, I'd be hit with a scene that was just so perfect it was hard to stay angry with this show.

The cast are brilliant, and even some of the more annoying characters (Hendrix, Amy) will grow on you over the course of the six episodes are you become privy to the depth of their characters.

The last episode, particularly the last half of the last episode is brilliant, and it both closes itself off nicely but leaves itself open for another season, both would be a fitting next chapter.

Praise Stan for putting money back into local, Aussie productions!

Below Deck Mediterranean: Reunion Part 2 (2020) Season 5, Episode 22

Malia and Sandy ruin another episode

[1/10 · 29 April 2023]

These two women are just awful. Such know-it-alls with an awful attitude. If captain Sandy still can't see how she treats Hannah differently to Malia then the woman is blind.

Even when Hannah tried to raise that both her and Bugs had a conversation about the rooming situation, Sandy says she never saw that... despite it clearly having taken place during one of the episodes.

Captain Sandy is a bad manager and bad people leader, and anyone that can't see that must not have been exposed to good leadership in their working careers.

Malia would do best to distance herself from Sandy and focus on growing her career through alternate avenues.

Below Deck Mediterranean (2016– )

Captain Sandy is the WORST!!

[5/10 · 25 April 2023]

I'm not usually a fan of reality TV but became absolutely addicted to the original Below Deck, and like many others was so excited when Below Deck ventured to some spin-offs in Mediterranean, Sailing Yacht and Down Under.

Sadly Bravos decision to cast Captain Sandy Yawn, and Captain Sandy's desire to make herself the centre of everything makes Mediterranean easily the worst!

She may be a great captain in a male dominated industry, but she is a poor leader. You could not pay me enough to work with someone like her, and it's taken all I have to push through the first three seasons Sandy appears in. What a disappointment it was when Sandy featured on season 10 of the regular Below Deck... and in true Sandy style gave no support to her Chief Stew, played favourites with the deck crew and jumped at the opportunity to fire as many crew as possible.

Awful human!

Nope (2022)

Worth the watch? NOPE

[3/10 · 13 April 2023]

I enjoyed 'Get Out' and I loved 'Us', so I was really excited for 'Nope'.

After a slow first 30-mins the film picked up, but still never quite got to where it was heading. The main character, OJ, was slow and unable to communicate, I didn't understand the point at all to Julie's backstory as a child star with the chimpanzee, and I also didn't understand the different chapters named after different horses.

I enjoyed Keke Palmers Emerald and the character of Angel, but it wasn't enough.

The whole thing was a decent concept but very poorly executed and not enjoyable to say the least.

I hope Peele isn't going to be the next M Night Shyamalan.

Outer Banks (2020– )

Don't waste your time

[3/10 · 25 February 2023]

I've never watched a show where the characters just act dumber and dumber with every decision they make. It is sooooooo unrealistic and the characters are just idiots. I can't stress enough how dumb these characters are. And not just the teenagers, the adults and police officers too.

I only got through the first season but I will not watch it any further. Nothing new. Nothing original. Just idiots doing unrealistic stuff. It's a shame I still have characters left because I've said all I need to say.

Cannot stress enough how ridiculous this show is. Do not waste your time! Plenty of other TV out there to watch.

The Reef: Stalked (2022)

The 4 is being generous

[4/10 · 10 February 2023]

I really wanted to like this film and even now I've finished I really think I'm trying to make out it was better than it was. The acting of the four leads is fine, I feel they make do with what they had. The acting of the locals on the island was terrible. And the CGI is hilariously bad. I assume there wasn't much budget.

This in itself can be forgiven if the movie was good but it was just weirdly paced. The girls announced they were going on a three day canoe adventure, yet the film takes place all in the first few hours. It does not seem they have ANY supplies with them, and no plans for if something were to have gone wrong.

I also have no idea where the movie was meant to be set (although filmed in Australia I assume we were on a pacific island somewhere?), and why did Nic keep having flashbacks to seeing her sister murdered... you weren't there when it happened?!

In a word, underwhelming.

The Ledge (2022)

I want to like it but... it's pretty terrible

[3/10 · 3 February 2023]

As an indie film with unknown actors I want to be fair. Yes of course this isn't go to have the big budget so the bad CGI can be glaringly obvious at times, but I do feel that all could have been forgiven with a good script - which certainly was not the case here.

The acting is fairly mediocre but I do think that is in large part to the awful script. The friend Zach who *SPOILER* gets stabbed in the leg halfway through is probably the only believable actor. The rest I'm sure do their best with this poor script but it feels very forced and unnatural.

The villain, Josh, is just an awful character. Do these truly evil people really exist? Where their mates are good deep down but don't know how to stand up to him? If so the world is a poor place. I also didn't believe someone who was so horrible and treated women so poorly (he didn't try and hide it from Kelly and Sophie) would be able to have an affair with his mates partner for years. What in the world was she attracted to?!

In a word, disappointing.

Great White (2021)

Not as terrible as most reviews are saying

[5/10 · 10 November 2022]

Ok it's not great - a shark attack movie is rarely ever going to be - but I don't think it's as bad as most reviews suggest.

Decent storyline, OK acting. Great job at building some suspense.

I think where it lets itself down is the characters - that awful abusive husband was almost too much of an a**hole to be realistic - and the CGI (if you can even call it that).

-SPOILER- I also didn't love the ending. I don't think he had to die, and it all happened so quickly. And then I want to know what happened to the women after. We're they rescued? Was that mainland or an island?

Lots of potential but not quite a cohesive movie in the end.

Blockbuster (2022)

Better than the reviews less you to believe

[6/10 · 7 November 2022]

I had very low expectations, both the premise and the reviews, but it's actually quite funny. Of course it's not going to win any awards, but it's some good light-hearted fun to have on in the background.

Sadly I think Melissa Fumero is just playing another version of Amy from Brooklyn 99; would love to see more range from her as I find her very likeable.

Overall give it a go, enjoy the laughs and don't take it so seriously!

Out of interest, is there even a blockbuster left in the world? I'd love to know who the last store really is haha. Wonder if the staff are as funny as this bunch. Also yay for diversity!

The School for Good and Evil (2022)

Should've been a series

[5/10 · 5 November 2022]

Yawn... this drags on for about an hour too long, and by the time stuff starts getting interesting you're so far into boredom and asleep with your eyes half open it's not enough to save this movie.

The paving is really weird. So much seems crammed into the movie that I feel it would've worked much better as a series.

The two young leads do a really good job and I hope they have bright futures ahead of them. On the other hand, I have no idea how this script attracted the star power of Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington, Michelle Yeoh and Laurence Fishburne. Having such big names mislead me into thinking this would be great. Oh, and Cate Blanchett is the narrator!

Avoid!

The Watcher (2022– )

If you know the true story... this is nothing like it

[3/10 · 19 October 2022]

Sigh... I'd heard rave reviews and was so excited to watch this series. Coincidentally I had just listened to an episode of casefile podcast that covers this "true crime" story. Unfortunately, I think that may have ruined it for me, because the story that The Watcher depicts is NOTHING like what actually happened.

I know that quite often true stories need to be edited for entertainment purposes, but this was literally a whole new story. And then knowing what really happened, the additions to the story in this version were just so unnecessary.

Meanwhile, everything was just so dramatic and the script so unrealistic. A waste of time.

The Twelve (2022– )

Boring stereotypes

[3/10 · 13 October 2022]

The murder case itself is interesting. I wish the focus had have been on that and in half the time. The jury however is just so boring and stereotypical.

The aboriginal boy being targeted by police. The domestic violence victim too scared to speak up. The white people refusing to eat the middle eastern food. It's all so easy and stereotypical, these characters needed more dimensions. Not only that, it's called "The Twelve" but half the jury are nothing more than background characters. An old lady who can't sleep at night. An overweight woman. An older "hippy" type. That's as deep as they go.

Has potential but missed the mark.

Mr. Harrigan's Phone (2022)

Wasted potential

[4/10 · 11 October 2022]

Don't watch this thinking it's going to be a horror, it's not. It is however classic Stephen King, which slowly builds with the creepy and spooky.

Unfortunately it's just very strange pacing. The start and setup feels like it goes on for over 45 minutes, there's also a weird music montage which feels like it should be the end of the film (despite nothing have happened yet), but it's not.

• Spoiler - I personally think it would have been a lot stronger had the first half been cut to like ten or fifteen minutes, and then the bulk of the film being him demanding murder of the bully, Deane and whoever else; drunk on power with this magic phone he can request murders from. And then it would've been a stronger ending if it felt like more of his character had changed when he finally disconnected from the phone and Mr Harrigan. Would've been a much bigger growth arc.

Wasted potential.

Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)

One of the better Disney originals

[7/10 · 30 September 2022]

In a time where Disney seems to struggle for new material, a sequel to a 29-year-old cult classic could've easily gone wrong. However, the movie is clever, enjoyable and the Sanderson sisters return is lots of fun.

Similar to the original, expect some camp witchcraft, spells through music and dance, and Winnie, Mary and Sarah once again on the hunt to be young, beautiful and to survive past dawn.

I watched the original earlier to refresh myself, but the movie does a great job of standing alone whilst also referencing key scenes in the 1993 film which have impact on the 2022 storyline.

Overall, a lot of fun for what it is and sure to be popular amongst those of us that grew up loving the original. A shame the kids from the first film didn't make a cameo!

Monster (2022–2024)

Niecy Nash deserves all the awards

[8/10 · 29 September 2022]

So of course I had heard of Jeff Dahmer, but I didn't know the full extent of his crimes. As a gay man myself it hit quite close to home and the nature of the crimes was disturbing. But the most disturbing of all was the underlying homophobia and racism which allowed this monster to keep killing over such a period of time.

Shining light amongst all the horror is Niecy Nash's portrayal of Glenda. What a better world we would be living in if everyone was a Glenda. Long time fan of Nash and I hope she gets the recognition she deserves for this role!

Negative would be that ten episodes felt a bit like overkill. Could've been done in 6-8. But loved the highlighting of the victims stories and their families.

Pinocchio (I) (2022)

Oh it's not good

[3/10 · 11 September 2022]

I must caveat by saying I don't really enjoy the story of Pinocchio in general, so was always gonna be a hard sell to get me to enjoy this. But it's just not good. I will say it strikes a nice balance between the real and the CGI and still a better remake than The Lion King (2019), but that's where it ends. Tom Hanks can't sing, Pinocchio is still as frustrating as ever, and so much happens in such a short space of time and doesn't really have any resolution. And because it's not a cartoon I don't think it'll charm children.

I will say that I did like the Blue Fairy, but felt more of a cameo than an actual character.

Look Both Ways (2022)

Honestly, much better than expected

[8/10 · 21 August 2022]

I thought this might be another B Grade film Netflix had rushed out, but was presently surprised. Reinhart really shines as Natalie and I back her to do big things once she moves away as being seen only as a teen star on the overdone Riverdale.

The movie is cute, charming and fun, and Reinhart gives a believable natural performance.

-SPOILER- I was a bit confused by the ending. I didn't like that she ended up with a different guy in each timeline. Is the lesson that there is not just one person out there for us? But the right person at the right time? I also thought the whole split of timelines should've been based around a decision Natalie made (to have or not have the baby, maybe?) as opposed to something she had no control over.

Aside from that, much better than expected.

Licorice Pizza (2021)

Creepy

[3/10 · 31 July 2022]

I actually don't understand how the whole movie could be a love story between a 25-year-old and a 15-year-old... was that cute in the 70s? Is it meant to be ok because the female is the older of the two? That was just creepy. If they hadve been of similar age I think it may have been cute, but I could not get my head around the age gap.

The Guilty (2021)

Assessing as I go

[3/10 · 3 July 2022]

I'm gonna review this as I go because I feel like my thoughts are going to drastically change...

32 mins in... Joe is nasty and I really hope we aren't meant to empathise with him because so far I do not. No sense of what it's like to work as a team to achieve a common goal.

49 mins in... **thought** I wonder if it's a cheaper budget because it's just one set and mainly voice actors. I think Emily is gonna be the guilty one in a twist of fate.

54mins in... as if the husband hasn't thrown her phone away. Like would you abduct someone and so far they've called 911 four times and you still let her have her phone?!

1hr00min... Well we picked that twist didn't we? And like Joe on the phone to Rick... just respond. This is a frustrating movie.

1hr04min... at a higher level it's a commentary on how America gives no support to those in need until it's too late.

1hr07min... he's so rude to his coworkers. I hate him. Joe should go home and get some sleep because he is doing a poor job today.

1hr11min... imagine this was all a setup to get Joe's confession haha. I can't decide if I think Jake is doing a good acting job in here or not.

1hr14min... I feel like the team or the supervisor should be doing more here. Like... are these operators really just left to their own devices? And eww, is the vomit scene really necessary?

1hr22min... not sure what the message is here? Bad people can be good too? Meh

Overall... pass.

P. S. Ethan Hawke was apparently one of the cast (voices?)! I feel like his leading man days have truly disappeared.

Last Night in Soho (2021)

Strong film in a tricky genre

[7/10 · 26 June 2022]

Dark psychological thrillers have a tendency to be really great or really poor, and pleased that this one really held its own. The film itself is very aesthetically pleasing and handles jumping timelines and visions with ease. The costume design team have done a brilliant job at recreating 1960s London and the soundtrack is great. There are a few cringe moments - SPOILER - like when Ellie knows she's having a vision yet is still running around screaming in the library resulting in everyone thinking she's a lunatic, but aside from that a really strong film with a clever twist.