Scorchedgoat Reviews

Do the Right Thing (1989)

Spike Lee's Rorschach Test

[8/10 · 29 October 2019]

I was born in the 80s but grew up in the 90s. I was aware of Spike Lee, but was way too young to watch or appreciate his films. I remember when I first heard of "Do The Right Thing". I was a freshman in college. I had wondering into a local used bookstore and found Lee's "Do The Right Thing Companion Book". Flipping through it I was it had his film journal about trying to get the movie made, and the script. I bought it and read the whole thing in one night. I instantly had to see the movie. I stopped by our local video store and got the tape, DVDs were semi-new at this time. Watching the movie, I was transfixed by what I was seeing on screen. It felt so alive and this was at least 10 years after it had already come out. Then came the ending...

Now for full disclosure I am a white male, my reaction at the end of the movie was one of confusion. In my mind, Mookie had NOT in fact done the right thing. Danny Aiello played Sal as a super likeable guy who loved his business and loved the neighborhood. To see Mookie, who Sal had in fact kept employed even though he was a terrible worker, throw a trash can through his window and help destroy Sal's was a mind-boggling decision, but like I said I am a white.

Its my opinion that Spike created a sort of Rorschach Test for the audience. Was I feeling this way because as a white person I had never had to face much oppression? That's why I think it was so genius. It makes you think about your place in this world and in the end he gives you an unanswerable question, What is the best way to deal with hate?

Jeepers Creepers III (2017)

Not great, but not terrible either.

[6/10 · 26 April 2018]

I can understand fans being disappointed. They waited so long and the film delivers on very little, but there is genuinely some great moments. Salva is a genuinely really creative director.

I know that he originally wanted to go back to the past and explore the Creepers origins, but MGM going bankrupt and his pedophillic past coming back to haunt him, he could never secure financing for the budget he needed to pull that off, which is a shame because I think that would've been pretty great.

I have a theory that he had to scale down a lot of his original ideas because the budget he secured was significantly less than what he hoped.

Now, I have seen some of the presentation and CGI complaints about the movie, but it looks like it has been cleaned up a lot for the Netflix release of it.

It was nice to see The Creeper again, I just wished it would've been with a different concept than one we've already seen twice already.

Game Over, Man! (2018)

Never gets the tone right.

[3/10 · 26 March 2018]

I was huge fan of the Workaholics tv show, so I wasn't very excited for this, but unfortunately I was completely let down.

The Mail Order Comedy guys seem like they are trying to make "Workaholics: The Movie, but you could tell that whatever producer they had on the TV show, who wrangled them in when their ideas got too insane, was most definitely not around here.

Anders is the only one who seems to be doing anything different. Adam and Blake are essentially playing the same characters, all the way down to the ambiguously gay character, and on that subject, can we put a moritorium on ambiguously gay characters? They quit being funny 15 years ago.

None of the cameos really add anything to the movie. They are pretty much wasted and unfunny. The only one I enjoyed was Jillian Bell's. She can make anything funny, even the tiny amount of screentime she has.

The violence was so over the top it quit being funny. They also break one of the cardinal movie sins, never kill a dog. I mean if you do then it absolutely must be funny, and it's really just not.

Next time the guys need someone to help tone them down a bit and maybe the result will be better.

The Most Hated Woman in America (2017)

A Wasted Opportunity.

[4/10 · 21 March 2018]

Unfortunately, the film collapses under the weight of its own subject, which is a shame because it wastes a great performance from Melissa Leo and also the story is fascinating.

My god whoever did the wardrobe and makeup should be fired. Poor Melissa Leo is not fooling anyone with her wigs and fake belly.

The director, who was also the co-writer, seems overwhelmed with so much information (the film is only an hour and a half and it could've been more). All the actors, beside Leo, are terrible and wasted.

I would love to see this subject in the hands of a capable director. It could've been so much meatier.

Victoria & Abdul (2017)

Why are these two so important to each other?

[4/10 · 6 November 2017]

First, let me say that this movie was gorgeous. Secondly, I'll say that Dame Judy Dench and Eddie Izzard are great, and...well that's about it.

In my opinion, Dench and Fazal have absolutely no chemistry. The whole movie I kept waiting for something to connect these two in a way that would feel meaningful, and it never came.

I kept thinking, "Why would this woman care so much about this man?" He seems to relish her presence and her his...but why?

He treats his friend like absolute garbage and he just seemed like such a selfish individual, even with his childlike wonder about royalty, he just never seemed to "get it".

Go back and watch Mrs. Brown to see a better Queen Victoria story.

Sticks & Stones (1996)

Hot Garbage

[1/10 · 8 September 2016]

Holy Jesus, where do I start with this abomination of a movie? I saw this on Amazon Prime and checked it out, and I have to say this is one of the worst pieces of hot garbage I have ever seen. They prominently display Kirstie Alley and Gary Busey as being in the stars in this movie and they're in it for a total of 2 scenes. The child actors are god awful! It's not totally their fault though, the script is horrendous. The parts of the movie where you are supposed to feel something about these characters are so pandering, that its embarrassing. I'll bet everyone involved in this movie wishes it would go away. This movie makes a Lifetime movie look like Citizen Kane.

Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

This was a Awesome Movie

[21 June 2002]

I hate it when people dont realize a great movie when they see it.I loved this movie if you dident like it then the humor was way over you head. My personal favorite character in this movie was Coop played by Michael Showalter i was cracking at the "i want you inside" line. I just have to say give this movie a chance. If you dont like it then you probably get the humor.