noladoll Reviews

The Tree of Life (2011)

Wish I could get the 15 min of my life I gave this scam of a "film" back !

[1/10 · 5 January 2012]

This total scam of a "film" literally made me want to vomit.

Unbelievable (and I am using that word in it's truest sense). That they actually allowed this to be released. And after they did, it was criminal to put it out on DVD. I have never ever, in all my entire life, seen anything this horrendously bad. This makes every single bad movie I have ever seen worth a second look.

Not just a bad movie...it shouldn't even be called a "movie". There was no dialog whatsoever, unless you count occasional unintelligible whispers or mumbles. Must have been an easy script to memorize.

There were no scenes - just snippets of faces - brief glimpses of people, hypnotic, droning music, intermittent flashes of fire literally. Intermittent senseless nothingness. One brief "scene", Sean Penn in a high rise, mumbling a couple sentences, then flash to Sean Penn walking in the desert, in a suit, saying nothing. Total senselessness and the combination made me literally nauseated.

The people who made this "film" and the people who "acted" in it and the people who gave it any kind of award should all be sent to Guantanamo

And, the worst offenders - whoever wrote the movie write-up who claimed it was about "a mid-western family in the 1950s." Sounds harmless - how bad could it be?

I would say don't watch it - but I actually wish everyone could see 15 minutes of it - just so everyone could see what I am talking about and so everyone could rise up and speak out on this atrocity.

Man, wish you could get an instant refund from cable movies on demand

White Irish Drinkers (2010)

Wonderful, rich character study

[9 September 2011]

So few films today provide such a rich and gritty study of both human frailty and human spirit and redemption. White Irish Drinkers is definitely one of them.

I loved it. I saw it last night and I have thought about it several times since - a mark of a good film.

I am going to act like I didn't see it and watch it again with my husband tonight. Don't think you can get a better endorsement than that.

Only very minor issues:

It is a coming of age story. All the characters are tremendously real with Karen Allen the exception. She was too cliché and wasn't able to pull off enough suffering commensurate with what she was actually going through

Ha....can't believe I actually did see a blooper. It is set in 1975 and in the opening credits scenes, there is a picture of a molded white plastic chair...which didn't exist back them. I am surprised no one noticed...especially 3 minutes into the movie.

Shameless: But at Last Came a Knock (2011) Season 1, Episode 9

Absolutely, Positively Love This Show

[10/10 · 1 March 2011]

If this show doesn't get the attention of the Emmy's and Globes it will be a mortal sin.

I would venture to say it's the most unique show since All in the Family shook TV up.

It's deliciously absurd. The family breaks all conventions and beats "the system" - like scamming the Social Security Administration with a fake aunt to keep checks rolling in, stealing toilet paper out of a public restroom, or meat off a broken down delivery truck. All known illegal acts - but somehow you end up rooting for them - possibly because it is all done "not for profit" but to allow them basic necessities to survive and stay together.

If you are a totally by the rules, regimented person, this is probably not a show for you. But, if you are someone who loves absurdity, and who thinks it's funny to get away with non-violent improprieties you will ADORE this show.

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)

This movie has the coolest vibe

[10/10 · 19 June 2009]

It's alive - at a slow rambling pace - you can hear its steady heartbeat.

I love it, I love it, I love it.

Favorite part - Ellen singing "Where or When." Most realistic scene (if you have kids). Tommy telling her this long convoluted joke in the car and Ellen loses her patience. Exactly what kids do, exactly.

Harvey Keitel was brilliant. And a looker back then.

I really wish the would make these kind of movies again. More character study. Think about it - when is the last time you saw a rich movie with brilliant acting - subtle. When is the last time you saw a subtle movie??

The Hunting Party (2007)

I didn't ask my husband to pause once when leaving the room

[3/10 · 31 May 2009]

This film was schizophrenic. It was trying to be a cliché sidekick action flick and make a serious political statement at the same time. It failed at both.

First of all, you would never believe the two of these people (Gere and Howard) would ever be friends. Howard, who is a witness to Gere's pregnant girlfriend's brutal murder, doesn't act like this matters until half way through the movie. Then, it hits him. The acting and dialog is hideously weak by all parties. The fact that these three people overtly roam around a dangerous country, unarmed, haphazardly, is just beyond believability.

Secondly, there is nothing in this film that truly educates the viewer about the horrors of what happened there.

That being said, it is just this side of watchable on a Sunday night with no better choices.