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toby-chi
Reviews
Five Nights at Freddy's (2023)
Highly entertaining
This little horror comedy is well written - tightly structured with classic elements that compose beginning, middle and end - a good setup in the beginning that smoothly, through the cleverly crafted middle part of the story that leads to a satisfying and redemptive ending, I was entertained throughout the entire film that is masterfully executed with great direction, cinematography, production design, editing and appropriate soundtrack. This film is way better than the overly hyped trashy movies - US, NOPE that was made by the one hit wonder and self-entitled so called "filmmaker" Jordan Peele. FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S provided fun and entertainment for my entire family. Well done, Emma Tami!
The Fog (1980)
A waste of time something that can't be unseen
John Carpenter should be better than this - making a horror show with amateur tools such as cheap shots of sudden loud sound effects which is disruptive to storytelling, the story does not pace well from scene to scene, making it difficult for viewers to invest in the characters and events, I expected much more from Carpenter, wish I had spent time watching other movies instead wasting time on this film of lower than student film quality. The only saving grace is Jamie Lee Kurtis' excellent performance. Do yourself a favor by staying away from this disappointing foggy mess, as there are many other horror films that have many more redeeming qualities and entertaining values that's worth a viewer's time and energy. My 5 year-old son had made better home-made stop-motion video that cost only a fraction of the budget of this piece of undeserving live action film. Hope this rant/review helps you to steer clear from this foggy shipwreck cheap horror joke.
Cabin Fever (2002)
The disease is the movie itself
Poorly written. Poorly directed. Poorly executed with cheap shots to scare the viewers with sudden motion and loud noise. Stay away from this brain eating disease infected junk. Don't waste your time and money on this movie filled with foul language and poorly developed story.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Pointless
Convoluted plot. Self serving. Damaging to the Spider-man franchise. Not rewarding for fans of the Spider-man stories. Not a film I would pay to watch, glad it is included in my cable TV STARZ package.
After Yang (2021)
Beautiful. Important. Poetic
This is probably one of the most impressive films that carries significant cross-culture and cross-intelligence (human-intelligence and artificial-intelligence) meaningful messages. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie for its story, acting, cinematography work, sound design, and music. Its plot unfolds slowly just like the motif that carried the stories - aroma and flavor that permeated from the process of tea making. A very important film for the current state of our society.
Here Comes the Boom (2012)
Entertaining and inspiring
Bravo! The filmmaker, cast and crew masterfully turned a very relevant subject matter into an inspiring story with good action to boot. We need more films like HERE COMES THE BOOM!
Addams Family Values (1993)
Family comes first
Entertaining positive message about family values wrapped in an explosive 94 minutes of fun. Great stuff! Especially the segment on Thanksgiving play at the summer camp - going to replace my family's Thanksgiving tradition of watching Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special with this excellent must-watch film. Great directing, excellent performance by the actors. Dazzling practical effects that still hold up today. This wonderful film might just be the perfect treatment material for family therapy sessions.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Wholesome imaginative fun
This film is a perfect blend of creative of stories, imageries, music and acting performance. The journey is composed of exciting encounters between extraterrestrial beings and humankind of different walks of life thus making the story emotionally charged. It's a movie that shall inspire and challenge storytellers to step up to make wholesome movies.
The Descendants (2011)
A brilliant spread of human emotions
A perfect juxtaposition of dealing with tragedy and grief in the midst of day to day human life dealings as a parent and business person. Well directed. Perfectly casted and acted. A movie with the much needed message of hope and redemptive closure.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
A disgrace to the superhero genre
As if Zack Snyder secretly disguised himself to get commissioned to manufacture lifeless footage to backup a pointless political opinion that is somewhat interesting in his own mind. This long winded piece is a perfect demonstration of how a poor storyteller can not only tarnish the reputation of film industry and single handedly take away the magic in moviemaking.
Ghost (1990)
Perfect love story
Perfection. Beautifully filmed. Good casting. Well directed. Great acting. A love story with redemption to bring a hopeful closure. Emotionally charged to make a grown man cry with warm tears.
Ying xiong (2002)
A bold stunning and poetic masterpiece.
To truly understand the filmmaker's intention to make this seemingly controversial film is to realize the fact that throughout generations of dynasties and empires of Chinese history, people of China - even themselves admitted that the Chinese people have been described as a plate of scattered sand. The filmmaker sends a message of "people must unite in their land under the sky" understand that the ultimate swordsmanship is to drop the sword to avoid killing but to sacrifice oneself for the sake of peace. This is a beautiful and meaningful film executed with the unity of talents and craftsmanship. Bravo!
Red Dawn (2012)
Poor imitation of the original
A reimagined version of the 1982 RED DAWN by John Milius. Poorly executed. Lots of shaky handheld shots to cover up the low quality of production design and poorly choreographed action sequences. Worst of all - there is no story. Characters are not set up properly to allow viewers to invest in their purpose. A complete waste of time.
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Powerful and poignant
Great directing. Great acting by Samuel L. Jackson, Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood. Powerful ending that's totally fitting. Good cinematography work. Good music. Made me realize Mr. Eastwood is a renaissance man - the perfect storyteller.
Cry Macho (2021)
Throughly satisfying
Great writing. Great directing. Good acting. Beautifully shot. A tale of redemption laced with tenderness and romance. Hollywood needs to make more movies like CRY MACHO.
The Shack (2017)
Spiritual medicine
As a person who has recently suffered a great tragedy - I suffered a severely paralyzing ischemic stroke the morning after returned from a filming trip to Thailand helping missionaries with their work. The stroke caused my relationship with my children - my son became deeply depressed and suicidal, my daughter didn't want to be associated with a wheelchair-bound father so she decided to isolate herself from the rest of the family. The message from THE SHACK helped me to start my healing journey in a spiritually - to not blame God for allowing tragedies to happen but to trust that God can make beautiful things happen out of terrible tragedies.
All Is Lost (2013)
poignant immersive experience
A simple setup executed masterfully. Definitely worthy of an Oscar for sound design. Should have been at least nominated for the category of best cinematography. Not an easy movie to watch yet definitely worth giving it a shot.
Shooter (2007)
Satisfying
Good plot. Good subject matter. Good acting. Majestic cinematography. Accurate weapon handling by the actors. Good ending with a profound message to boot. Highly recommend.
Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003)
The joke is on me
This sorry Excuse as a movie gets 2 stars for just getting funding to be made. Studio should've invested the money to help real children with special learning disability instead of wasting money on wasting the moviegoers' time and money.
The Mist (2007)
Expiation yourself
This sorry excuse of entertainment lacks everything that makes moving going experience worthwhile - uses every cheap trick to scare the audience - from loud thumping noise out of nowhere to sudden object appearing on screen to horrible dialogue to provoke emotional response from theologically incorrect religious freak - summing up to an ending with no redwing value at all. Save your money ad stay away from the mist of cluster of mess.
Dead Man Walking (1995)
Powerfully moving
The filmmakers masterfully told a story of heavy subject without being preachy. Through the tale of something ugly helped the viewer to experience something beautifully transformative. Real. Solid. Great acting. Cinematically mesmerizing. Redemptive and satisfying. A feel good tear jerker.
Crank: High Voltage (2009)
Terrible
Convoluted plot worsened by meaningless and foul dialogue It's a shame this piece of junk was funded by a production studio.
Drive Angry (2011)
Drive away angry
Should've went to an automotive museum to admire real muscle cars instead of wasting time on this sorry excuse of a movie.
Black Water (2018)
Murky water instead
Simple plot been over complicated unnecessarily - poorly executed storytelling sprinkled with dull action sequence - disappointing payoff at the end. One would expect much more from a movie with Jean-Claud Van Damme and Dolph Lundfgren teamed up. Due to the poorly written scrip and direction from the filmmaker, this, in my humble opinion, is a complete waste of time. I give it 3 stars for the efforts of making feature film happen within a reasonable budget.
Tenet (2020)
Not entertaining
Nolan is the master of throwing ideas together without constructing a logical story responsibly. Whether you watch this movie in normal playback or reverse none of the concepts presented in the story is properly executed - pacing-wise and character development-wise - making Tenet one of the most frustrating and unsatisfying movies to watch - no entertaining at all. I give it 2 stars for having it made - in this business - any movie gets made deserves to be celebrated.