moviebuffchick Reviews

The Darkest Minds (2018)

Not a single thing you haven't seen before

[3/10 · 7 August 2018]

Revolutionary teens, political undertones, and forced love interests... nothing new to see here.

When it comes to Young Adult, dystopian future films, The Darkest Minds' only achievement is an unprecedented level of mediocrity... not a single scene that even remotely resembles a peak. That's especially unfortunate because the concept in and of itself... isn't necessarily unoriginal... it's the manifestation of it that becomes a bundle of cliché's attempting to capitalize on the mostly successful Young Adult genre.

Unfriended: Dark Web (2018)

Better Than It's Predecessor

[6/10 · 22 July 2018]

Unfriended: Dark Web loses the supernatural element in this standalone sequel to Unfriended (2014). Was this a good thing? Hell yeah. Because it had to at least be a little more grounded and there were more limitations to what COULD happen to these guys... So it had to be more creative... and the villain had to be a little more calculated and of course, realistic.

Positives... The idea of The Dark Web is terrifying enough is it not? Like, who can watch someone get tortured and abused? The idea that THESE are the types of people coming after you is in and of itself horrific. They have secrets to keep and nothing to lose.

Negatives... It takes a while for anything to really happen as time is wasted on character development. I say "wasted" because after all that time trying to make me feel a connection to the characters I STILL didn't. At least not that much. HOWEVER... it was interesting to watch the plot unfold.

For a B type horror movie it's not bad at all.

A Day (2017)

A Thrilling and Intense Ride

[8/10 · 11 May 2018]

A Day provides a fresh take on the "endless loop" story. My suggestion is to NOT watch the trailer... don't even read the synopsis if you haven't already. If you like loop movies and thrillers... just check it out! Even the synopsis on IMDB gives away information that I had no idea was coming during the film (I went in completely blind during a film festival).

Overall, A Day was very well-rounded. A great thriller that maintained high levels of suspense and intensity from beginning to end... even a few chuckles in there. It was such a fun and interesting ride. Watching everything unfold... and wondering what new secrets would be revealed as you got deeper into the story. The production, direction, acting, cinematography... ALL very well done.

Man Divided (2017)

Lots of potential - Yawn worthy execution

[5/10 · 11 May 2018]

I was completely sold by the premise of this movie. At it's core... it REALLY is a great plot... even as it continues to unfold. But there were opportunities missed to make it more enjoyable to watch. It's already a very dark movie... literally as well as figuratively. The grim tone of the characters moods and situation were reflected in the use of the dark and sometimes monotonous tones on screen. This in and of itself isn't a bad thing.. but you have to balance that with something a little more engaging for your audience.

Ultimately I still enjoyed this film for what it was. I'm glad I watched it and while I personally believe that it was excellent at it's core, I can only assume that the lackluster responses are a direct result of how unnecessarily boring it was at times.

Ask the Sexpert (2017)

Mahinder Watsa is Awesome

[10/10 · 8 April 2018]

Ask the Sexpert is an insightful look into sex education (or the lack thereof) in India, and one man's fight to educate people on some of the most basic concepts dealing with sex and human anatomy.

Mahinder Watsa is the 93 y/o Sexpert who's been educating and counseling on the topic of sex for decades. You'll enjoy his no nonsense, yet comedic approach to educating & coaching, people & couples... young AND old about sex... and their bodies.

It's hard to believe that so many people fight against promoting basic sex education. As pointed out in the film.... clearly everyone is doing it... how did all those millions of them get here lol... so why is this such a taboo topic?

While sex education may not be banned EVERYWHERE... many cultures experience the seemingly challenging nature of getting everyone to agree on how/when it should be presented to school aged children... and to what degree... So EVERYONE should be able to relate to this... and enjoy the educational and comedic tone in which it's presented. Mahinder Watsa is awesome... this was a GREAT documentary.

Find me on Twitter and YouTube for audio reviews

Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts (2017)

One Act Would've Cut It

[4/10 · 8 April 2018]

This movie got off to a REALLY strong start... then it kinda fizzled into a bunch of events that "just happened" with no real cohesiveness.

Pros: Very strong protagonist. Great lead actress (Marsha Timothy)

Cons: Disappointing supportive characters. Didn't quite flow right... after the first act, everything else was really choppy.

This would've made for a GREAT short film (the first act). I understand where they were going with the last 3 acts... but it was just too all over the place and a lot of it just didn't make a whole lot of sense. Definitely could've been better.

Find me on Twitte r and You Tube for audio reviews @MovieBuffChick1

Ruin Me (2017)

Fun horror flick

[5/10 · 7 April 2018]

No so much "horror" as just interesting (and sometimes fun) to watch unfold.

Pros: The premise was great! Paid homage a few classics. The best part of this film was the uncertainty... the protagonist reaches a point where she doesn't know what's real anymore... and neither does the audience!

Cons: Somewhat predictable at times. Subpar and unimpressive acting (all around) Relied a little to heavily on the score and jump scares.

Overall... as the title of this review suggests... this was a fun horror film.

Streaker (2017)

Lots of fun... laughed from beginning to end

[8/10 · 7 April 2018]

The short version... this is a really fun comedy!

You'll laugh all the way through this... you'll cheer on the bad guys (the streaking "gang")... and you'll be able to sit back and enjoy the simplicity of it all (it's just lighthearted fun). The plot is fun, the characters are fun, the overall idea was fun to watch unfold.

Lot's of crazy things going on here... all of which I enjoyed!

Summer '03 (2018)

Joey King Just Got a New Fan

[7/10 · 7 April 2018]

As a movie buff, I've seen Joey King around enough to know who she was before walking into this movie. But THIS role was seemingly made for her. From beginning to end, she did a phenomenal job.... effortlessly portraying Jamie.... a 16y/o girl whose rather blunt... (or RUDE - depending on how you look at it) grandmother revealed quite a few "family secrets" on her deathbed. A couple of which sent this otherwise normal family spinning out of control.

Various coming of age themes were explored (love, loss, virginity, sex positivity, friendship, growth, overcoming fears, fights with parents & friends, unforgettable summers, etc) with just a little more bluntness and vulgarity than you might be used to... particularly coming from a female protagonist (this was a good thing... trust me).

The entire cast was awesome... they had great chemistry and there were several scenes that you could tell they had a lot of fun filming together. This was a great coming of age film that I enjoyed much more than I could've possibly imagined. Great job to writer/director Becca Gleason... she nailed this one!

Acrimony (2018)

Better than TP's Usual Formula

[4/10 · 30 March 2018]

Ok... admittedly I wasn't expecting much from TP. I'm used to his 1D characters which are either all good or all bad... the main character who probably got wronged by some 1D man... and then finally some OTHER man comes along to save the day... a lesson of some sort is learned... and all is good

WELL... that's not exactly what happened here.

Taraji's character was justifiably angry... BUT 1. She really wasn't wrapped too tight to begin with. 2. Her husband wasn't necessarily "ALL" bad.... he had some bad qualities... but he's not your usual TYLER PERRY bad.

I will say this went in a few directions that I wasn't expecting, some of it didn't make sense AT ALL... it got a little silly at the end... and overall the movie should've been better.

I love Taraji... I think she did a great job... but the towards the end things started happening that didn't make sense. For the first 2/3rds of the movie, Perry took his time setting things up... then he completely rushed the last act which is when it climaxed and started falling apart at the same time.

Per usual TP, it's sprinkled with a few 1d characters, a bad wig or 2, some overacting, and quite a few scenes and events that would've been great with a re-write. Overall it was a decent idea... but needed some work. I give it 3.5

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

Great cast and decent plot... yawn worthy execution

[4/10 · 9 November 2017]

This movie got off to a VERY slow start… somehow got even SLOWER… and finally climaxed and all came together with like 17 minutes left. I found myself either bored or REALLY bored for the vast majority of it. It's not that it's NOT interesting... it just never REALLY grabs you like a mystery should.

Protagonist – The detective played by Kenneth Branagh – Very cliché character with a distracting mustache akin to a combination of the Swedish chef from The Muppet Show and the Monopoly Man.

Character development – The only one with any real character development was the Protagonist. The opening scene to demonstrate how great of a detective he is was extremely forced… mainly because the point of it was just so painfully clear.

Cast – great but grossly underused (considering the talent that was all there).

Costumes – Great. One of the best things about the movie.

Plot – Murder mystery on a train… I love a good mystery… but this plot was long and drawn out. I do believe that the end had a (slight) payoff. But if you've seen the original there's no payoff for you.

Score – Lazy and unimpressive…

Visually – Well the train scenes were pretty cool.

Pacing – Went from slow… to slower… to OMG please hurry up and find the killer so I can go home.

Overall I wouldn't recommend running out to see this in the movie theater. Even if classic murder mysteries are your thing this can definitely wait for Redbox. I give it a 4 out of 10… I don't think this was a pointless remake, I think they just missed the mark.

Find me on Twitter and YouTube for audio reviews @MovieBuffChick1

The Snowman (2017)

Impressively Boring

[2/10 · 20 October 2017]

I haven't been THAT bored in a movie theater in a long time. This film is disorganized, choppy, and seems to not even know what story it wants to tell. At some point (VERY early on) I no longer cared anyway.

Remaining dislikes:

Long and underwhelming - I really just wanted them to find the killer so I could go home.

Missed character development opportunities - Mainly with antagonist Harry Hole played by Fassbender. His character just exists... and sometimes he does stuff. The way he goes about life seems kind of strange but you have no idea why he lives like that.

The detectives just make lots of dumb decisions and put themselves in unnecessary danger.

The villain was cliché, weak, and did I mention cliché?

The climax/end was amateurish and silly

Val Kilmer randomly shows up looking like a drunk version of The Godfather.... his character's behavior is strange.

The only exciting scenes were in the trailer and none of them found their way to the movie.

This wasn't good at all. I don't recommended it. Not now, not ever, not on redbox, nextflix, or TNT. Just pass... unless you need something to put you to sleep.

Follow me on Twitter @MovieBuffChick1 Find me on YouTube for audio reviews https://youtu.be/5xOh2QFy0c0

Leatherface (2017)

Completely irrelevant and grossly disappointing

[1/10 · 24 September 2017]

I'm shocked at the amount of good reviews thus far. There's the first 10 minutes of this film... then there's the last 10 minutes... NOTHING in between contributed to an acceptable origin story of Leatherface. We got a brief look at his childhood (first 10 min)... eventually we learn how he became disfigured (last 10 min)... but how he became this giant, semi-mute, monster... there's NOTHING about this story-line that explains this or gives us ANY additional insight. For the most part we find out what we already knew (in the first 10 min)... his entire family is sadistic and insane... THAT'S how he became Leatherface... not anything you're going to see here.

This was nothing but an attempt to tell a story that ultimately has nothing to do with the origin of Leatherface. The leap from how this guy became Leatherface is astronomical and nonsensical. What we already knew was sufficient and should've been the focus of an origin film.

THIS was just an opportunity to take advantage of a successful franchise with a story that was FORCED to tie into the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Complete with a bunch of forced twists and turns in attempt to appear to have more depth than it actually does. This was pure garbage and the only thing good about it was Lili Tayler, who wears "psychopath" very well.

Look for me on Twitter and YouTube for audio reviews. MovieBuffChick1 https://youtu.be/XwrSFnaEymA

What Happened to Monday (2017)

Worth the watch whether you're a sci-fi fan or not

[7/10 · 20 August 2017]

I won't call this groundbreaking, life-changing cinema... but it was good for a Saturday night Netflix & Chill (whatever that may mean to YOU).

LIKES:

Noomi Rapace is great as 7 different women though there wasn't much character development... but I can forgive that because there's SEVEN of them. In order to REALLY get to know each of them this would've had to be a series.

Good action throughout the entire film. Fight scenes, chase scenes, etc.

Not too predictable... I literally gasped at least twice. Definitely some good shock value.

DISLIKES:

Glenn Close was under-utilized as a villain.

Became a little more cliché and predictable towards the end...

Overall this was really a great film. It's one of those movies that sci-fi fans AND non sci-fi fans will enjoy. I give it a solid 7. Netflix did a great job!

Audio NO SPOILERS review https://youtu.be/s06K_gJNNZQ YouTube/Twitter @moviebuffchick1

Eden Lake (2008)

STOP requesting predictable horror fairy tales

[7/10 · 16 August 2017]

After reading so many negative reviews I felt I had to write a review. I can't believe how many people are giving this a bad rating simply because it doesn't have a happy ending. It just goes to show that the average person WANTS to be repeatedly fed predictable and formulaic entertainment. And those of us who appreciate this film… it doesn't imply that we like watching people get tortured without consequences. It means we're able to give this film the credit it deserves for taking us through so many raw emotions to the point that at the end I was literally mean mugging the character on the screen. I wanted to personally kill that boy… I was FURIOUS... and I can assure you that the writers, directors, etc. were very deliberate in drawing that reaction out of me… and THAT means they did their job. As reality hit me that this was just a movie… so did the reality that the good guy doesn't always win.

None of this is to say this movie is perfect… and some of the negative reviews pointed out various imperfections… but there are reviews literally titled "This is a mean movie" and their ONLY gripe is that the bad guys got away. Almost EVERY negative review still manages to complain about the ending, the violence, or claim that it glorifies the actions of very disturbed kids. Listen… this movie doesn't glorify what those kids did JUST because they didn't get what they deserved… Somebody wrote "justice should be present in every movie." Are you people serious?!?! Furthermore… nobody is saying "violence is cool" … it's just a different outcome from the horror movie recipe that people are used to… which just PROVES the average person DESIRES predictability and staying on the safe side. Which is dumb because MOST of the time the bad guy kills 99% of the cast before he's killed and only one MAYBE two people get away. But since THESE guys get away with it all of a sudden the movie is promoting sadism and deserves a ONE? REALLY?! This is why there are REAL critics!

Yeah there were clichés, some bad decision making, some painful plot conveniences etc. but there were things that made up for it too. I'd recommend this. I give it an 7/10.

Naked (I) (2017)

Had it's moments....

[4/10 · 11 August 2017]

A movie about a man reliving the same hour over and over is expected to be silly. It starts out lighthearted... then it hits you with some painfully cringe-worthy stereotypes that promote struggle love and are impossible to overlook. It's also cheesy and goofy... all of these movies are though.

Overall this is something silly that I wouldn't rush to see. I give it a 4 for giving me a few LOL chuckles... but most of them were really random jokes that kinda came out of nowhere and caught me off guard.

Full audio review with NO spoilers on YouTube/Twitter @moviebuffchick1 https://youtu.be/aImUbooigPw

Kidnap (I) (2017)

OK it was better than I expected

[5/10 · 30 July 2017]

I had considerably low expectations for this movie. It LOOKED like something straight out of Lifetime. But guess what... it's better than that. Not TREMENDOUSLY better... but definitely better.

Likes:

1. The protagonist's (Karla) behavior is believable. She's not unrealistically smart and/or lucky (well SOMETIMES a little "lucky")... but she's not unrealistically dumb either. There's balance, which gives this a more "realness" quality than most films of this type.

2. Karla is faced with countless decisions and you can literally SEE the wheels turning in her head...clearly weighing her options and trying to figure out what to do next. This also contributed to the realness.

3. The intensity was great and well paced... there weren't really slow or dull moments.

4. It wasn't as predictable as I expected it to be

5. Halle was good in this role. I honestly thought it would be terrible for her. I need her to step her game up sometimes and chase down better roles with the same intensity she chased down her child in this movie. HOWEVER... this wasn't so bad.

Dislikes:

1. Karla WILL annoy you in the earlier chase scenes. It gets better... promise.

2. There were some things at the end that didn't make that much sense but not enough to ruin the movie.

Overall I must say I was pleasantly surprised. It's not "Run out to opening night and pay full price" good. But it was a decent watch... I give it a 5

https://youtu.be/Ij-5o5arfXI

Audio reviews as well as discussions provided on YouTube/Twitter @moviebuffchick1. Follow me.

Cave (2016)

The trailer is better than the movie

[3/10 · 1 June 2017]

This film isn't NEARLY as thrilling as the trailer makes it appear. Not even close! A couple and their old friend (her ex) go cave diving in attempt to find an exit to a cave. There isn't an exit indicated on the map... but this is what adventurous cave explorers do! OK cool!

Likes:

1. AWESOME scenery and cinematography.

2. The characters were really adventurous, smart, capable/experienced, and had a really cool background.

3. Overall it was a pretty intriguing set up (basically it started out good).

But when we talk about what's "waiting for them" deep beneath the ground? Well... not much. The trailer just uses good music and scenes to make you think this is a good thriller. But it's not.

Dislikes:

1. The couple was kind of annoying... well the guy was. They didn't have a lot of chemistry either.

2. A couple things happened that are only used to make you think something worse is coming... but nah. These incidents are either unrelated or they did a poor job of making the connection.

3. The third act was poor. After the second act there was still a chance for this to be a decent movie... but they completely dropped the ball here.

If you're at home and bored on a Saturday afternoon... go ahead and check it out... I wouldn't say it's a COMPLETE waste of time. Otherwise don't bother. This is not something I'd recommend.

Audio review... no spoilers ohttps://youtu.be/XToxIdMJxus @moviebuffchick1

Lake Bodom (2016)

Flawed but worth the watch.

[6/10 · 18 May 2017]

The first half of this film is unimpressive. It's filled with clichés and grossly overused horror movie tactics… like jump scares, strange sounds, filming as if it's the point of view of someone watching, running off into the darkness, etc. It's pretty much EXACTLY what you'd expect from a movie about teens in the woods. At some point… all that changes though. Once the film reaches its climax… It kinda hangs out up there for a minute… you just KEEP getting hit with things you either didn't see coming, or didn't see them coming in that particular way. And by the end you're just like… "Boy that escalated quickly."

However, it drops the ball with character development. You don't really identify with or have any sympathy for these kids. You're just kinda waiting for whatever is gonna come and ruin their little lives. They just weren't that interesting.

Overall I enjoyed this enough to recommend it to horror fans. Full commentary WITH spoilers on YouTube/Twitter @moviebuffchick1

https://youtu.be/YaYzIrO1zNw

The Girl with All the Gifts (2016)

Great zombie movie that's not really about zombies

[9/10 · 13 May 2017]

I'm really aggravated by people who think this was a "boring zombie movie" that "wasn't scary." Look... the movie is called THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS. It's a movie about a girl... who happens to be a zombie... and her desire to come to terms with who she is, and her right to live in spite of it. NO it's not full of scares and gory zombie kills... that's not what it's about. If you can appreciate a good story about a little girl who happens to be a zombie then you'll see the beauty in this film. There still GREAT zombie action though... It was very well done, had an excellent cast, and Sennia Nanua shined.

Full commentary WITH spoilers on YouTube/Twitter @moviebuffchick1

https://youtu.be/wwm1nWFOwBI

Phoenix Forgotten (2017)

If wind, sand, and flashing lights scare you...

[2/10 · 1 May 2017]

Somehow... I'm pretty sure there was more found footage in the trailer than there was in the actual movie. I've never seen a "Found Footage" film take so long to get to the found footage. All the scenes from the trailer were taken from the last 15 minutes of the movie... so I feel like they advertised this movie as something it wasn't. I was expecting to see footage of 3 kids lost in the desert but it took the film a whole hour to get to that point. And when it got there it wasn't even good... let alone scary... unless of course you're scared of heavy winds, flashing lights, sand, and falling rocks.

The premise (even though it was a blatant Blair Witch ripoff) STILL had potential though. To take that long to get to the good part then RUSH the potential good part! What were they thinking?! Don't bother... this wasn't good at all.

I give it a 2 for having real footage of the governor of Arizona in it... but that's it. Full commentary WITH spoilers on YouTube/Twitter @moviebuffchick1

https://youtu.be/nWnkj-tlL5U