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Reviews
Patriots Day (2016)
Great movie with just 1 flaw... well, maybe 2
Patriots Day is an overall excellent movie in just about every area. It tells the story of the Boston bombings in fast-paced, well-acted fashion drawing you totally into the action. The scenes are well-constructed, the photography first-rate, the leading characters compelling.
There was, however, one crucial moment in the film where it fell annoyingly, frustratingly short. The whole story of the Boston bombings hinges on how it was solved, and the climax of that solution should have been how, exactly, the investigative team determined that the guy in the white hat, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was one of the bombers. All we see is an agent looking at one of the sample videos who notices that the guy in the white hat was "the only guy looking the other way" shortly before the blast goes off. And with that simple, possibly random turn of Tsarnaev's head, the entire warehouse of agents, police and investigators spring into action because they know they got their guy.
As a crime-show junkie, I would have liked to see much more of the investigative evolution that took place leading them to Tsarnaev, because it undoubtedly was much, much more than Tsarnaev simply looking the other way.
How about including the guy in the hospital who actually looked into one of the bomber's eyes? The guy who scribbled a note from his hospital bed "Bag, saw the guy, looked right at me"? You could easily devote 2 hours of a documentary exploring all of the evidence that was reviewed before finally leading to Tsarnaev, but this film took a huge short-cut and devoted about 30 seconds.
But other than that flaw, a superior film that is highly recommended. Just be prepared for frustration if you're a forensics junkie like I am.
Oh, and I have to mention the silliness of Mark Wahlberg's character, Tommy Saunders, showing up at every dramatic scene of the film, from the actual bombings, to finding the car the Tsarnaev brothers stole, to the finale where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is found hiding in the boat, good ol' Sergeant Tommy Saunders is there. Wahlberg does a great job of acting, but, come on, the guy's everywhere.
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)
Enough corn to bury us all
I tried watching this on AMC today but just couldn't do it...I wanted to like it, but had to click off way before even half through.
I know older movies are heavy on the sentimental, mawkish stuff, sometimes to the point of being charming, but 30 Seconds Over Tokyo was just way too swell for me....gosh, it was swell.
All this absurd smiling and happiness that made WWII seem more like a senior prom than an actual war.
I tried watching this on AMC today but just couldn't do it...I wanted to like it, but had to click off way before even half through.
I know older movies are heavy on the sentimental, mawkish stuff, sometimes to the point of being charming, but 30 Seconds Over Tokyo was just way too swell for me....gosh, it was swell.
All this absurd smiling and happiness that made WWII seem more like a senior prom than an actual war.
Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County (2010)
Disappointing
This was a gritty topic that had the potential to be as good as other HBO documentaries in the category ("Aslyum", "The Best Hotel on Skid Row") but came nowhere close. It had no style, no technique, and little cinematic effect. Basically, it looked like the result of somebody wandering around with a camcorder.
There was no narration, which set it back immediately. "The Best Hotel on Skid Row" was narrated by Charles Bukowski (poet, novelist and short story writer) with a distinguishing gravelly voice that set the tone for the low-end world of skid hotels that the viewer getting a tour of. "Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County" was like watching a home movie.
After Earth (2013)
Solid Sci-Fi Movie
All the negativity heaped on this movie is totally misplaced, and can only be attributed to the herd mentality towards director Shyamalan. It's a classic case of The Emperor Has No Clothes and nobody wants to be the fool who actually likes a film of this director's. So like good, mindless, robots everybody marches in step and cranks out their required movie-bashing bomb critique, and walk away pleased and satisfied that they know their movies.
Well, they don't, or they wouldn't have given After Earth anything remotely close to a rating of 1 star. Did you even watch the movie? The film has ample special effects to please the eye, a compelling storyline and the same fine acting that made Will Smith a movie star. His young son Jaden turns in a very strong performance as well, as the story's hero.
Maybe people expected to be just blown away by the combination of Will Smith and a big budget, but it's not a "blow you away" movie. And maybe that's a big part of the appeal to me. It doesn't try too hard. There's not sub-plot upon sub-plot tangling everything up in an attempt to amaze you with the writer's genius. It's a clean, straightforward storyline with enough drama to keep you tuned in from start to finish.
I think IMDb should hold its on-line reviewers to a certain standard, and any of you who gave After Earth 1 star should be banned for six months because you either didn't watch it or are simply incompetent as film critics.