mikecalla Reviews

Ricky Stanicky (2024)

Despite the terrible acting by ome of its leads...

[6/10 · 26 March 2024]

Despite the terrible acting by some of its leads there are still some laughs here. Efron's acting is terrible, Santino has never been great but he's pretty good here Cena, as usual, is charismatic and instantly likable. There's not too many low brow laughs, which is a breath of fresh air, and the laughs do come naturally.

The premise is quite unique, the story gets off the ground quickly, plus there's enough turns in the plot to keep the audience engaged and at times, tugs at the heart strings. However runtime is quite short and it feels a tad rushed.

All in all, not great but definitely not terrible.

6/10.

Road House (2024)

Terrible dialogue.

[4/10 · 21 March 2024]

Road House plunges audiences into a vortex of boredom and confusion. This film fails to deliver any semblance of coherence or entertainment. The characters are as shallow as a puddle, leaving viewers struggling to connect or care about their fate. The owner of the bar hardly makes an appearance and doesn't seem to care when she does. The dialogue is cringe-worthy, eliciting more eye-rolls than emotional engagement. The fight sequences are fine but nothing special.

MacGregor is terrible and no different to his reallife persona.

Save yourself the agony and steer clear of this cinematic sinkhole.

Chad (2021–2024)

What an awkward uncomfortable show.

[3/10 · 29 January 2024]

Couldn't get past the 2nd ep, it was hard to watch. The writing is awkward and the acting is not well directed. I like Pedrad, and have zero issues with subject matter but the execution of the writing makes it come off as extra awkward and makes for a difficult watch. I was watching with a room full of family members and each of us independently came to a similar conclusion: hard to watch & awkward

I don't sympathize with the main character and most of the time he's actually unlikable and quite annoying. As for Pedrad playing a young boy, there's nothing nothing wrong with it, at all. But because the show as whole is quite poor, the fact that this boy is played by adult female, is quite glaring.

Hard pass!

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Not the greatest sequel.

[6/10 · 12 May 2022]

I like Raimi. This was not a good vehicle for him. It seemed out of place among the MCU, as if it was not using the same sense of framing and composition. Xochitl Gomez was, well, not terrible.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)

Not good. Very thin on plot/storytelling

[5/10 · 4 October 2021]

The venom voice over is cringe, not funny. Acting is "phone-in" quality at best. The story is very thin.

Don't waste your money. Wait till it's on Netflix, and you need something to watch while you're on your phone.

Malignant (I) (2021)

Decent premise

[6/10 · 11 September 2021]

Kind of gets away at the end as it does a u turn and becomes more comical in the latter part of the third act.

Some may like that, I thought it deserved better.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

Spoilers: Beautiful....but...

[6/10 · 8 September 2021]

The first part of the first act is awkward due to the inclusion of Awkwafina. While i enjoy her in many other roles, her character here is executed poorly. Sometimes the scene calls for her to react with a little more reality, a little more urgency but you can tell she's staring at green tennis ball. This pops up through the rest of the movie.

It just didn't hit the emotional marks enough for me to care. The ending fell in to the usual tropes of too much on-screen mayhem.

It is gorgeous. The choreography is spectacular. It's still a fun spectacle

It may, like other MCU flicks, grow on me with repeated viewings.

Ted Lasso (2020–2023)

Not afraid to admit

[9/10 · 12 August 2021]

Seldom do sitcoms have the ability to make me laugh, smile and, sometimes, get me a little teary eyed.

Right now, only M*A*S*H comes to mind, but i'm sure there are others.

Ted Lasso has that ability.

Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)

It's pretty bad.

[5/10 · 21 July 2021]

Great cast. Terrible acting.

Gilliam is really bad. Aside from the mcu she hasn't been given a good chance in half a decade.

As for the others, we know they can act, so I always chalk that up to bad directing.

I know it's supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, but it fails. Nothing memorable about it this flick.

Terrible script. Terrible writing. I'm being generous in giving it a five.

The Mandalorian (2019– )

Terrible.

[3/10 · 2 November 2020]

I'm pretty sure it's a kids show. There's nothing distinctive about it. It doesn't feel like Star Wars save for a few token recognizable "background" characters from the Star Wars cannon. The practical sets are cheesy. the LED background sets are beautiful but they lack atmosphere.

Those would be forgivable if the:

• acting was good
• writing was good
• story was good

Sadly none of those are true.

Noah (2014)

cgi crap...I don't believe in any god, but this movie was hell to watch!

[1/10 · 3 April 2014]

I don't believe in any god, but this movie was hell to watch! Can't believe this is the same director who did PI, and the wrestler.

Bad script, talking rocks, some magic gold, Hannibal Lector and berries!!

Seriously though, it's a cgi movie... That's it. There was so much room for character development, and yet the characters were completely empty.

Stay home, Netflix Pi or requiem for a dream or the wrestler. These are truly great movies that will stand up to the test of time where as Noah will be on AMC as monthly filler!

I should have gone to see the Muppet's instead.

In the Mood for Love (2000)

Beautiful, Elegant and Restrained

[10/10 · 29 January 2005]

I won't bore you with story and plot lines, as they have been presented many times already on this page, so… It's been along time coming since I have seen such a film. Beautiful, elegant and restrained, with a narrative pace to match. A film with sensitivity and understated qualities that is rare in these times of clichéd plots. The beautifully subdued photography, saturated in rich luxurious colors, and for lack of better words, each frame is filled with an air of tension. The settings and locations are used repeatedly but the film manages to breath new life into them each time they featured, there always seems to be a key prop, light fixture, or set piece to slightly clue the audience as to where we are in the characters world.

The acting reminds me of the "The Bicycle Thief", not the style, but the fact that you forget that you are watching two actors engaged in their craft. There is meaning behind every gesture and almost every movement has assigned significance to explain the inside world of the characters, the relationship, the feelings, and situation of the two lovers. The dialogue is sparse but like the rest of the movie, is imbued with meaning. Speaking of meaning, the soundtrack is infectious. Used here it becomes a story telling device. And although the film is of Chinese origins, even a song sung in Spanish by Nat King Cole imparts the film with subtle meaning. The orchestrated soundtrack is repetitive, but the repetition is what makes it comfortable. It is used in conjunction with the story, and not just a means to put music to action, or to cue the audience to feel a certain way at a certain plot point.

I would not recommend this film to anybody, I fear most people would be jaded by the calm flow of the story, but I would recommend it to someone who is looking for an alternative to the romantic schlock that fills the multiplexes on our side of the world. I must say that I was completely taken by this film, and continued to watch it night after night. The story takes time to present itself and bears repeated viewings as very few films in this genre are open to such a broad interpretation. A very beautiful movie.

Pi (1998)

Brilliant, unique indie feature

[6 August 2002]

After viewing and enjoying `Requiem For a Dream' I decided to give Darren Aronofsky's Pi a try. As an aspiring indie filmmaker I believe Pi is a clinic in directing for a low/no budget. Darren Aronofsky and Sean Gullette's writing is brilliant. A very simple story for a somewhat theoretical view of the value PI. A very complicated subject even in it simplest form, they manage to keep an aura of wonder going until the last minute without inundating the audience with nonsensical language, ala Star trek. Co-writer Sean Gullette is also the films star. Portraying a mad-genius, he is alone on screen most of the time, while voiceovers constantly delve deeper into his mind as the true meaning of PI eludes him. Next, the look of the film. The image on the screen rarely ever ventures into grey. That is to say the image is high contrast black and white and never in between. It lends the film an eerie quality that is emphasized by Matthew Libatique's handheld camera work and Oren Sarch's kinetic editing style. Basically the financial limits of the budget on a film like this calls for the filmmaker to find new and creative ways to exploit both image and story. And I must say this. This is one of the most unique films I have seen. Also a note to aspiring filmmakers, you will learn more from the DVD audio commentary than a month of film school.

Unbreakable (2000)

a consummate clinic in directing,etc.

[9/10 · 16 July 2001]

M. Night Shyamalan seems to be proving himself quite the auteur. Unbreakable was the cinematic experience I had hoped it would be, especially after The Sixth Sense. A quiet sense of wonder permeated each and every scene, accomplished with some of the finest cinematography I've seen in the last couple of years. Director of Photography Eduardo Serra's execution is subtle, understated and absolutely beautiful.

Cinematography legend Greg Toland of Citizen Kane and The Grapes of Wrath fame would be proud of what this film accomplished artistically. I also couldn't help but notice all the long camera takes this film had, reminding me of a few Woody Allen films that let the actors act without the intrusion of the film making process, i.e.; getting a scene covered from multiple and sometimes meaningless camera angles just so the director and editor have something to work with in post production. The characters seem at times to be acting for the benefit of the others on screen rather than "us", the audience, lending a quality of voyeurism to quite a few scenes. The directors intent is quite clear to anyone wishing to delve a little bit deeper into the story and characters while appreciating how such a vision came to breath on film.

With regards to the story, Mr. Shyamalan and his crew have constructed something so rich in visual texture while managing to keep the story subdued and character development full of deep-seated anticipation. Every plot point came perfectly without any extra connotations that usually creep into a story such as this (super heroes?). Without any melodrama both Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson give very authentic performances that help the film keep its "Any Town USA" and "Average Joe Six-pack" feel very much alive.

By virtue of ingenuity and most likely a meticulous preproduction period, Unbreakable manages to be a consummate clinic in directing, writing, acting, and cinematography. One of the best movies in the past decade.

High Fidelity (2000)

Drags On

[3/10 · 16 July 2001]

There was something about this movie that seemed to drag on indefinitely. The pace of the story seemed painstakingly slow and most redundant at times. As for the advertised hilarity, only the character of Barry (Jack Black) seemed to strain for laughs. John Cusacks character (Rob) was downright melancholic in comparison, and through repeated viewing (not by my choice), I find myself yelling insults at his pathetic character constantly obsessing over girl troubles all the way down to his childhood loves. Also, I realized that Stephen Frears used addiction, or love of, if you prefer, vinyl to contrast all the relationship problems, it just didn't come off as being honest enough. Instead of recommending High Fidelity try Annie Hall by Woody Allen, a superior in every aspect, including the dialogue delivered to audience.