arbyuu Reviews

Worst Friends (2014)

written by Inebriate with entertainment industry connections

[1/10 · 5 December 2014]

Was rated 8.3 by 23 people when I decided to watch this fertilizer-bomb. 22 of those people were obviously homeless alcoholics who were reward with a bottle of Thunderbird in return for a high star-rating. I was especially floored by the terrible actor who was cast as a grade D Jack Nicholson look-a-like. Please, you've only got one life, do not spend 2 hours of it on this wretched movie. Lilly, the physical therapist is cute. Too bad the actress had an early debut in this disaster. I am struggling to find anything else positive to day about Worst Friends... was about to offer, as a positive, that it is not subtitled, but if it were subtitled, we wouldn't hear the awful script.

Last Vegas (2013)

insufferable waste of good acting talent

[1/10 · 29 January 2014]

the script is at once, dreadful and unbelievable. Sam's wife (Kevin Kline) hands him a Viagra and condom as she drops him at the airport and tells him to go, "get it out of your system". And that is how this piece of trash starts out. It does not improve. Got two hours to burn? take a walk, read a book... watch Two and A Half Men if you crave some base humor, because this movie is worse. What a tragedy, that these great actors tainted their career by appearing in this disaster. I used to expect decent entertainment if De Niro or Kevin Kline were involved. No more, but I suppose anyone can be bought off for the right price. I am floored by the 6.8 IMDb rating for Last Vegas. Have the ratings been stacked by 13-year old kids?

The Butler (I) (2013)

story of a man's life, corrupted by over politicized fertilizer

[1/10 · 17 January 2014]

I read about Eugene Allen before filming began. I had looked forward to seeing the movie about a man who served so many presidents. When Barack Obama came on screen for an obvious photo op, as if he had anything at all to do with Mr. Allen, I felt betrayed. Why, for crying out loud, does this man have to pop out of anything that might cast him in a favorable light, in front of a (albeit shrinking) friendly audience? If MacDonalds were to undertake a large-scale publicity campaign for an anniversary, I think Barack would show up as Ronald Obama McDonald. I rented this movie from Redbox. I want my $1.31 back. I want my 2 hours back. What a disappointment, I bet Eugene Allen was a great man. He must have been, to have worked so well with such enormous egos. This movie lets him down, it lets his family down, it lets the audience down. Makes sense they made this piece of propaganda after Mr. Allen's death, he isn't around to protest. Oh did I like the movie? I'd say it was fair, although unfair to history. Nixon had his faults, but he was a champion of civil rights. Reagan did not dismantle civil rights legislation. LBJ also pushed for civil rights, but only as half our major cities were in flames and the country faced a real threat of anarchy. LBJ may or may not have personally favored civil rights, but he sure as hell was pragmatic. The political slant if this movie is abhorrent. Horrible, wretched little propaganda piece. In her review of the the Butler, Eliana Dockterman (Time), wrote "it's hard to determine which parts of the story are based on Allen's real life — and which parts are added for dramatic effect." Mr. Allen and his wife had only one son, Charles, who was never associated with the Black Panthers and who never ran for political office. The Georgia cotton field events? All dramatic embellishment. The real Mr. Allen was from Virginia. The terrible events about his parents were fictionalized. Did I say, "wretched"? Everybody associated with this piece of trash should be ashamed.

Enough Said (2013)

good script, sabotaged by a huge casting misstep...

[1/10 · 2 January 2014]

This movie had potential. A good and credible storyline, and a fine performance by the late James Gandolfini. In a story about two wounded, lonely hearts who find connection, Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a disaster in the role of a somewhat awkward middle-aged woman who has been hurt before, but who is willing to risk hurt and rejection for the chance of new romance. Louis-Dreyfus corrupts her character into a needy, unbalanced, self-absorbed nut-job (did I say unbalanced?). Instead of that warm romantic feeling we're supposed to have for these two, I found myself screaming at Albert (Gandolfini) to run like hell! The tragedy is that Gandolfini is well cast in his role and that he does an excellent job drawing us into his character. The movie is a bitter-sweet romantic drama, but Louis-Dreyfus plays it like an episode of Seinfeld. So sad that this was James Gandolfini's last movie. Enough Said, Indeed.

Hope Springs (2012)

predictable, one-sided script (written from a woman's perspective)

[1/10 · 5 December 2012]

Good actors. Nice setting (quaint town). This is a story about a stale relationship. These two people have turned away from each other and share equal responsibility for their wretched marriage. In the end though, the husband is forced to bury his pain and his own feelings of despair. Meanwhile, the wife is portrayed as the sensitive spouse who is in need of love and attention. This is a very dysfunctional script about a dysfunctional marriage. Too bad the writer took sides. She failed this couple, she failed the movie and she failed the viewers who might be influenced to believe that a man should be tough enough to not have feelings and needs of his own. "Comedy" was one of the descriptive adjectives for this movie. There is nothing funny about this movie. It is a tediously miserable film about tediously miserable lives. You do not have to watch this movie to become hopelessly disillusioned, just turn on the six o'clock news.

Year of the Dog (I) (2007)

Dreadful film about an antisocial, irresponsible pet owner.

[1/10 · 21 December 2010]

Plot never develops. In the end, there is no resolution, because there was no clear conflict. Is she looking for emotional connection with a person? with a dog? Is she trying to save animals from slaughter? the pound? lab experiments? Why does she demonstrate so much irresponsibility toward people and toward the animals she seems to care for? It would be more humane to shoot a dog than to put it in her care. The writer, it seems, can't decide which issue he is going to address. As a result, the protagonist feels like a crazy misfit. She is incapable of personal connection or of professional dedication. She takes no responsibility for the death of her puppy. Her dog might just have easily been struck by a car because she did not have it properly contained. In the end, she just runs away. Are we to believe she lives happily ever after eating (vegan) from trash cans? sleeping in her car? The folks at PETA wouldn't want to hire this woman, because she would never get along with her co-workers. There is no resolution, because there is no single conflict. There certainly is no cohesive plot. Ninety minutes into this disaster, I found myself wishing the protagonist could be euthanized, but the writer doesn't give us that satisfaction. This pathetic woman will end up on the public dole, riding around town on a metro bus, talking aloud to herself and we do not care. The writer has not given us a reason to care about her. There is absolutely nothing about this character that inspires empathy. This movie was a tedious, terrible waste of time. Several good actors reputations were laid to waste by this one.