Change Your Image
piersoncayla
Reviews
Terrifier (2016)
Not Recommended
There are scenes in this movie suggesting and/or implying that this is a gay or transsexual killer. It's nearly 2023 and still the film making industry wants to portray lgbtqia people as being somehow "broken", "wrong," or "insane." If you support lgbtqia rights and its people then tell your friends and family to ban this movie until the film industry and the rest of the world understands how socially and morally unacceptable this behavior is and the damage it can causes in the real world. They've already made a sequel and people are actually watching this crap. Be Aware. Be Vigilant. Be Safe.
1899 (2022)
From the creators of DARK comes this thrilling new series
If the second season of this incredible new show is even Half as good as what I just watched then we have ourselves a winner! Wow! It's a little bit like Dark, in the way that it spans the universe and has some of the same actors from shows such as Dark and Rain. Both of which I loved. You should check out the Special Features also because it shows the Making Of and how it was they were able to film in all those countries during CO-VID, plus there's some audition tapes and other goodies. It's about time Netflix started giving us our money's worth. So long as they keep giving good content, I'm happy to pay.
The Black Phone (2021)
King & Son Come Together
Based partly on Stephen King's title character from his Gwendy's Dream Box series and additionally on Joe Hill's novel of The Black Phone which includes the inception of little Gwendy whose just begun to experience her dreams for the first time.
I appreciated the coming together of King and Hill with an already well-known character and bringing her to the silver screen in her inception. It was also rather interesting to see Ethan Hawke in the role of a villainous character again. I don't know that he was quite so scary to adults but i think children would surly take heed to see him wearing that mask.
The Boy Behind the Door (2020)
What Can You Say About a Movie Containing Abuse Against Children?
These are definitely some strange days we have entered into the past twenty years: The Milleninum opened with the dumbest guy seated in the White House, 9/11, The longest war to ever be waged in history, WikiLeaks Scandals aplomb, The biggest Mouth to be seated in the White House, the first ever global pandemic and yet another war being waged. So I suppose this movie shouldn't be that much of a surprise. Children of the new Milleninum have had to deal with some very harsh realities far too soon and yet I can't help but wonder, is it because we're feeding it to them in large doses or simply because the world has changed?
Silent Night (2021)
Too Soon for Laughs
After 9/11 both the film and publishing industry refused to put in print anything about that disasterous day. It wasn't until ten years later that the film was made depicting those events. They did this out of respect for both the living and dead. This is something Silent Night could take some pointers and hints from because to make a film about global deaths and impending war at a time when the real world is still on the brink of these very real issues and then to attempt to make light of those issues is just ignorant and selfish.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Three Spiders for The Price of One
The best of the Holland-Spider-man films! After breaking the Multi-verse the young Spider-man needs some unique help in fixing his mistake, enter Spider-man (Tobey McGuire) and Spider-man (Andrew Garfield.) It was great to see McGuire whose always been my favorite of the Spidey but then to sweeten the pot with Garfield and have the three of them fight, cry and joke together was the cherry on top of this sumptuous dessert. An excellent ending to the Spider-man trilogies!
Manifest (2018)
Are You Lost on The Island of The Returned?
Manifest - What a stupid AF show! And in case you think you're watching something unique and original, I hate to burst your blissful bubble but if you've seen the shows LOST, The Island or any one of the five other versions of The Returned and you feel a sense of deja Vu every time you watch an episode of Manifest that's because you've been Bamboozled into believing you're watching something new when it's really just same old manufactured programs being recycled under the disguise of a different premise. Thank you Hollywood. You suck.
Vikings (2013)
Season Six
Seeing the end of an era and the fall of the Lothbrook clan is a disheartening experience. This is a family we have come to know and love (or love to hate) over five seasons and several generations and saying goodbye to them has been the hardest thing to do this year but perhaps the coming of Valhalla will spawn the next generation.
Pieces of Her (2022)
One Sentence Is All It Takes
If you knew that your own life and that of your child's could be saved with a simple sentence why would you wait over twenty years to say it? The behavior of Colette's character doesn't match the known danger she and her daughter now face. She's so calm and collected it's aggrivating to watch while her daughter is out there digging into her every secret. She knows these secrets could get Her killed so why remain silent to the knowledge of daughter's whereabouts from the beginning when telling the people whom have helped them from the start is what could save her now? Yet she walks back into her own old life as though she never left it and allowing her daughter to do the same without any knowledge for the danger she faces. What kind of mother does that?
Titane (2021)
Thoroughly Disgusted & I Liked It
Deliciously sickly-twisted, sometimes gross & definitely disturbing tale of a car model who get's up-close and way too personal with one of her cars, goes on a violent spree, poses as the missing son of firefighter (who has a few loose screws of his own) and then gives new meaning to the phrase "birth of an auto."
Les animaux anonymes (2020)
Where's The Beef?
A delightful and humorous perspective. While it may not stop us from eating meat, it certainly makes you think twice when you see a truckload of humans being rounded up like cattle and sent to the slaughter.
South of Heaven (2021)
Unbelieveable Plot
This movie's plot could have solved in two minutes had Sudakis's character done one simple thing: gone to the authorities and reported his no good parole officer who was more than likely already on their radar. And for a woman who supposedly has only a year to live Evangaline Lily's character sure appears healthy as a horse.
Beautiful Something (2015)
Seeking Beauty In Every Moment
Some people say this film has little or no plot but then you are missing the point of the movie. This is not about sex yet rather a single moment in the act where something beautiful takes place whether it be the act it self, a shared emotion during sex or what takes place after the act is completed. That moment of bliss. Some spend the rest of their lives trying to chase it repeatedly (Brian/Drew,) while others run away in fear or denial (Jim/Dan.) Or maybe you want to share in someone else's adventure(Bob/Sergio?) However you choose to seek and find your bliss hopefully you discover it with someone you love.
Mainstream (2020)
Garfield Is The Movie
Yes, ok the premise of this film is kind of dumb but that's also the point its making - there is no point! People livestream themselves eating dinner in a restuarant because they want everyone to know what they're doing every hour of the day. There is no point to any of it unless count LIKES because when it comes down to it, isn't that really what you're looking for? Acceptance, Awareness, Approval and if you can get some money out of it, well all the better. Either way, Andrew Garfield burns up the screen with his Say Nothing/Do Nothing antics and damned if you can't help but look and listen.
Dear Evan Hansen (2021)
Two and a half stars
I never saw the play or read the book but I found this movie to be emotionally powerful while the music was just okay. Perhaps seeing it live on stage would have benefitted?
Dune (2021)
This is Dune?
That was the thought running through my head while watching the most anticipated movie of the year go down in flames before my very eyes! My second thought was Thank God I didn't pay for this!
Is it visually stunning as people reportedly claim? Uhgn. It's ok. Appealing to the eye would be more correct and that's about all the good I have to say. The soundtrack is rattling, disruptive and far too noticeable when it shouldn't be. The costumes are an unimpressive, stark hinderance and hurt just to look at the poor cast members attempting to move in them. And if by "slow" action you mean non-existent until the last half hour then yes, Dune is slow. Slow enough in fact that I had time enough to clean my whole apartment and still not miss a single moment of said action.
Pose (2018)
POSE: Season Three (or the sinking of the Titantic)
Season one of POSE was brilliant, raw, enthralling, enticing and bitter sweet. Season two was somewhat less of all of those things but still good. Season three was clearly just a work of getting to the Finish Line before the show was cancelled and it was felt in every episode, that rush to get things done and Wrap. It was sad disappointment to see a show that was originally created by Falchuk and Murphy become what POSE did in the end, a passing trend no longer in fashion. It deserved a better season, better care and handling than what it got.
Speaking of Falchuk and Murphy, where were they while they're precious cargo was going down like the Titantic? They were so hands on in the first season that even Evan Peters had joined the cast. I was hoping for some sort of twist with MJ and Blanca winding up guest stars in some twisted AHS season, American Horror Story presents POSE? Or maybe Evan Peters comes back to MJ as his dead twin or some sick storyline as such. But no, we did get a dead man in the chest storyline though. I guess that's the least they could do.
Malignant (2021)
The Matrix Daughter Gone Smithy?
If Neo and Smith of the Matrix had a child it would be Gabriel/Madison. That's not a compliment though, in case you're wondering. It's the punchline to the joke that makes up James Wans supposed horror flick, Malignant and of which you will be hoping to be excised from its mundane and atrocious plot should you ever pick it up.
Pig (2021)
Moody Foodies
When acclaimed chef Rob Findley's prized truffle pig is stolen in the middle of the night it forces him out of his hermitage in the country and on the trail of a former customer. Rob's revenge is best served with wine and a meal, literally on a platter and from which neither man will walk away with what they want. This isn't Guy Pierce in The Rover or Keanu Reeves in John Wick style of revenge. This is a foodie movie of revenge.
Reminiscence (2021)
Hugh & Thandiwe
An unusual pairing with this cast, although it was nice to see Thandiwe Newton on the big screen again. The last time I saw her was in the failed series Rogue which was sadly cancelled.
This movie was lauded as being something like Tenent and Inception. It's not and whatever critics are comparing it to those films clearly hasn't seen either of them. It's more like Minority Report (as much as I hate to use this reference) wherein a crime has been committed and Hugh's love interest is somehow involved and now she's missing. He goes on a Truth Seeking mission to discover the culprit or culprit's responsible and uncovers a web of lies, deceit and murder. It may sound intriguing.but it's really just like every other suspense movie you've ever seen: Come And Find Me for example which was also a better movie of this genre. So my suggestion would be to go and find Come And Find Me and wait for Reminiscence to come to cable/streaming and save your self some much needed money.
Good Joe Bell (2020)
I don't think Bell knew what he was doing
The performances of Wahlburg, Sinise and Reid Miller were stellar in this film about a young teenager being bullied for trying to find his roots in the backend of a Bible Belt town it does seem a bit slim. The father in question being Joe, whom although claiming to love his troubled son also does nothing to ease his pain and even adds to it after being told his son is gay. But you know how that old saying goes, "Don't know what you've got until it's gone." So maybe he did learn his lesson but it seemed more like he had no clue what he was doing. And maybe he didn't. But maybe he got his message across to the right people at the right time and that's what mattered. Either way, this movie was hopefully a learning lesson to lot's of parent's because Joe may have thought his message was Inclusion but I think it was more about Bell and his son and he learned what he needed to and passed it on.
Nine Perfect Strangers (2021)
Not Very Thankful
I can't believe I wasted my days and nights waiting to see this show. Either Hulu did some serious snip-snap it in editing or it's truly just as boring as it seemed. Just binge-watched the first season in about an hour and a half because I wound up fast forwarding nearly episode after the 2nd one. This is how I chose to waste my Thanksgiving.
Respect (2021)
Aretha vs Respect
In the National Geographic's Genius series of Aretha we saw a more positive perspective of the artist's life rendering. Cynthia Erivo gave us a strong-willed, open-hearted and confident Aretha. In Respect Jennifer Hudson gives us the problematic, flawed and troubled soul who didn't show up there and although it's an interpretation of Tracey Scott Wilson and Callie Khouri's own imagining's it also hits the beat of the heart of what was missing from Genius' true story. How much of either is based on fact, it still lends a more humanistic portrayal.
Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins (2021)
Has bro, or not?
Henry Golding of Crazy Rich Asians and Monsoon takes the lead while Andrew Koji of Bruce Lee's Warrior is forced to be handled as Storm Shadow, the almost-brother-turned-venomous enemy in this modern day origin tale which doesn't really tell us much.
The scope of the relationship between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow in the old series and movies implied a much deeper connection, yet here it seemingly spans all of about a week's time (okay, no dates were given but it begins and ends abruptly.) The connection between COBRA and Storm Shadow's past is really the only thing that seemed surprising, not to mention illogical given his final words to his family before 'storming' off.
All in all, Spiliotipolous and Schwentke's version doesn't stand up to the original and fails to find anything new to say.
All in all, Schwentke's version
All in all,
The Stand (2020)
Didn't hate it...
But also didn't love it either. Every adaptation has it's own interpretation and King has been well adapted so many times it's easy to lose sense of the originals. However, The Stand has only been adapted once before and fans of the 1st version are likely to disagree with the 2nd. King added a coda to this newly adapted version that was not included in the 1st and some may be up in arms with it's new ending. The rest of the series follows fairly closely to the 1st, although shortened in explaination, as most have become familiar with the character's and how they come together. However, with the removal of these adventures, such as that of the Five, it also loses sense of the character at heart. Their hardship's were what made them more real, it showed they're arc and gave us a reason to both love/hate them at once.