amethystjdhd Reviews

Afire (2023)

Why just 7 stars average and just one review? it's a really good movie!

[10/10 · 21 July 2023]

This is a really good and well made movie and somehow reminds me of French movies and Francois Truffaut to be specific.. I was first drawn to the music in the trailer and had a feeling about the film's delicate sensitivity and that I would like it. My intuition was correct. The main character is such as interesting leading man, interesting because he isn't a typical protagonist, not particularly attractive, nor charismatic, rather insecure and uncomfortable. For some reason I completely related to him and a viewer would care about what happens to him. (At least I did). (Something important in any good story line). .He is so quiet and yet one senses so much passion inside of him. (I will give no exact details as that would result in "spoilers".) Put it this way. He has written or at least is working on a book and very much hopes it will be approved of by his editor and others. This seems to be his major preoccupation and I think how he sees it as potentially affirming his very self-worth and existence. His connections to the people around him seem to shift though out the movie, and one can see his sense of how little he can control or even predict, as if the world and its people are floating and interacting around him. (I just love movies with shorelines of sandy beaches and long wide shots of the sea. Maybe that's why I gave it 10 vs 9 stars! ) There's much more to the movie than this, but I think you should watch it and see what happens and why it is called Afire. No spoilers here.

Is It Cake? (2022– )

Yes the host is unbearable, but the cakes are amazing

[6/10 · 8 July 2023]

I managed to watch both seasons, despite the consistently unbearable antics and unfunny jokes of the host. Why? Because the cake creations of the talented group of realistic object cake makers were so interesting to watch progress as they became amazing (and delicious) edible works of art. I did, however, find myself wondering how they found that group of people who not only were masters at making realistic object/cakes and at the same time were able to laugh so easily and naturally on cue at the host's horrible jokes. (Did someone hold up a "laugh" sign?). I found myself wondering if there were the applicants to be contestants who were great cake artists who didn't pass the laughing-at-unfunny-jokes test.

I agree with other reviewers who thought it wasn't right and also rather insulting to have the other contestants, artists in their own right, sit for the 8 hours as the chosen three for the episode made their cakes.

With all that hard work during the season done by unpaid contestants, I think there should have been a second place prize for the runner up. $50,000 is not actually very much for all the hours of work by those talented contestants and a number of them went home with nothing. It seemed like a low budget show and the prizes could have been larger. How about $100,000 for first place and $50,000 for second place...just an idea.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

Fell asleep

[2/10 · 11 March 2023]

Saturday night, I made a bowl of popcorn, and signed up for a seven-day trial period of Showtime (notating on my calendar when I should cancel if I didn't wish to pay $10.99). The plan was to watch "Everything Everywhere...", an Oscar nominated movie. It was going to be great!

The opening was promising, fast moving, colorful with multiple things going on, interesting characters, eating, talking, customers in the laundromat etc. I laughed and felt optimistic about the film. And then a family trip to the IRS, but I'll say no more so as not to ruin "the plot".

Jamie Curtis was funny, as some sort of odd cartoon-like caricature of an ugly, older woman, government official. But then the movie slips seriously into that alternate people, universes, broom closet, who know what reality......and then some sort of kung fu martial arts thing with people flying around in the air, and by that time I was losing interest. It's starts to get confusing..How does one get into that alternate universe? By chewing chapstick or pushing the green light on your headphone...and then looking at your cellphone for the GPS coordinates?. (Did the app come from the Apple store?).

You know how four year old children in nursery school like to dress up and run around acting out some plot, that no adult can understand, but makes perfect sense to them? One might have a cape on, the other with a fairy tiara and tutu, the other has found a toy sword and plastic knight's armor vest. They run around, calling after each other, hiding and pretending to fight some imaginary enemy. It's amusing for adults to watch for a few minutes, but usually the game goes on for about ten minutes or less, not one and a half hours.

That is how I feel about the characters and plot of the movie. It seems to turn into some sort of cartoon/action/matrix-like film and as another reviewer said, I think viewers in general don't want to admit it's hard to understand. At some point I fell asleep, unintentionally. That pretty much sums up the film for me. I might give it one more try before my "free trial" expires.

Uncoupled (2022)

Mildly amusing..set in Manhatten..Meh

[5/10 · 2 August 2022]

Except for a few explicit scenes this reminded me of films shown on airplanes, that kind of bland romantic comedy which never is very funny or makes one laugh. Yes, it is about two middle age gay men and their circle of friends, which makes it different from most Hollywood romantic comedies. However none of that crowd was particularly interesting or appealing and the acting somehow felt superficial and unconvincing.....at least to me. Without giving anything away..Season one seemed to end abruptly in the final episode and I felt very dissatisfied since there is no season 2 on Netflix. I was tempted to take a star off for that alone.

The Circle (2020– )

It had three really fun seasons but the fourth got so boring

[1/10 · 25 May 2022]

Is it the casting now that makes it so lackluster?..or the formula just seems tired? The original Circle had a fun, interesting and attractive American cast, then came Season 2 with a cast of colorful Brazilians, each with their own distinct personality and after that also fashionable and diverse French speakers for Season 3. In contrast Season 4, could be classified as the US "regular folks" cast, which seems to feature quirkiness but very boring quirkiness. It was moderately entertaining until the 9th episode when I found myself turning it off out of sheer boredom. I mean why watch when you don't care who gets eliminated? Then I tried it again, wondered why I was watching it and logged out after a short time. The next day I got to the part when Carol describes her trip to Italy, whatever..... The discussion and laughter which ensued over some photo of her was BORING and not funny.... I turned the show off again. Will I return to see who wins? Who knows? Who cares?

Love Is Blind (2020– )

Really attractive people? Not this time, more like average, with some good points.

[5/10 · 31 March 2022]

Review of Season 2 - 2022 only. Having seen Love is Blind Brazil where pretty much all the participants were gorgeous and fun to watch (ie good personalities too), especially the women and Love is Blind Japan, where everyone was very attractive and did interesting work, and maybe Season 1 of the US version with basically attractive people especially the women, this Love is Blind (Season 2 of 2022) appears to have cast a much less attractive group on purpose. (Maybe just because of the criticism that everyone was so pretty and attractive). I would describe many of them as deliberately 'quirky' or a even a bit ugly in both looks and personality, definitely not what you would call 10s, more like 5-7s ie not classically very attractive men and women. (no models this time). I am surprised so many reviewers here complain about how "attractive" they all are. Because many also had odd personalities and insecurities (deliberately cast that way I believe),, there was much more rather boring drama and discussions throughout, than other seasons and actually fewer couples marrying at the end, but won't spoil it for you.

Jo (2013)

Not what I expected

[3/10 · 19 March 2022]

I was expecting a French detective show with some atmosphere of mystery in the genre of various other French or English police series. This just seemed stilted, both dialogue and acting. It's hard to care about any of the characters including the lead. (Although his drug habit was supposed to make us care, I believe). There seems to be no warmth between the characters, no real plot development, nothing for viewer to figure out themselves or have much of an interest in. I pretty much gave up out of boredom half-way through the second episode. Also other than being set in Paris, there is nothing particularly French (other than the lead) about American actors speaking English.

Ted Lasso (2020–2023)

Another 'comedy' I wanted to like....

[2/10 · 16 November 2021]

It became clear pretty close to the beginning that this series was not actually a comedy. Once I realized it wasn't going to be funny, although it is just chock full of saccharine folksy quips, I decided to try to enjoy it as a warm, light-hearted movie about an American hired to coach an English soccer team and not to let myself feel disappointed that it never made me laugh. I just needed to think of it differently, I thought. . It is about an American hired to coach an English soccer team. The same premise as the Producers became evident early on, but I will say no more so as not to be a 'spoiler'. Oh how Ted Lasso hated English tea (that good ole American boy) and how often I had to watch the woman team owner shove rectangular cookies down her mouth savoring every bite!! (so sensual) and how hard it was to understand the thick cockney accent of the young woman, a supporting actress I was supposed to be interested in (would have liked subtitles there but couldn't find them on Hulu). The best part of the movie is really about the the soccer players themselves and I admit I did get a bit swept up in the hope that they would improve and win games on the field. Ted Lasso was just always so full of folksy positive wisdom, and some of his quips and cute side-references just passed me by completely, like him saying something was as "unlikely as a man wearing a red baseball cap to a Planned Parenthood demonstration'. Was he speaking of a MAGA hat? (great joke! Lol) I made it though Season 1, but pretty soon into Season Two I gave up on the series completely.. Boring is boring and bland is bland.. I just couldn't care about that cast of characters or what happened to them. That this is a brilliant funny movie and merits ten stars and prizes seems like something which requires a big leap of faith to believe. Apparently there are Believers! I couldn't help wondering who the audience in the USA was that this down home movie was aiming to please.

Os Ausentes (2021– )

Brazilian? Why is it in Spanish

[3/10 · 30 October 2021]

In Brazil they speak Portuguese. Unfortunately the HBO max version seems to have Spanish dubbed in. I had been hoping to watch it in Portuguese as it is supposedly Brazilian.. It didn't grab my attention at all.

Only Murders in the Building (2021– )

Three great male comedic actors - Female lead with a voice that just drones on....Plot goes from amusing to boring pretty fast

[2/10 · 3 October 2021]

It was somewhat funny at the beginning with the interplay of conversations between Steve Martin and Martin Short and its amusing premise. In fact I signed up for hulu specifically to watch it as it was well publicized, anticipating something really good and funny. The monotone gravely (or is it nasal voice) of Selena Gomez with her flat, expressionless face (was that supposed to be funny?) and her character to me add nothing to the series. I don't find her the least bit interesting or amusing. (I guess one should give her credit for at least having lips that moved.). I quite enjoyed the first week's episodes. They were somewhat amusing and Martin Short occasionally said something that made me laugh out loud, but by the second group of episodes it just got both really complicated and really boring at the same time. I think when the Selena Gomez's mother starts speaking and going on about her daughter..(won't give any further details of the 'plot' except to say it was in New Jersey or was it Long island?) ...it just got unbearably boring and lost me. Given that Only Murders in the Buildling seems to have gotten "rave reviews" from both critics and viewers to me it is actually a bit of an Emperor has no Clothes situation. I don't see it deserving 5 stars. It certainly is being well promoted, yet it seems highly over-rated. Perhaps this is occurring because audiences love the actors so much and are expecting great things from them, so they dub it 'great' and are in a sense blinded by their expectations. It's working really hard to be funny and clever...but for me really just petered out and became more like an amateur high school creative play writing attempt. My perception is that it went so downhill in terms of script and even the acting of the secondary characters to the point I stopped watching it all together. Compared to the recent series "The White Lotus", which was well written and very funny, this just seems disappointing.