dakkini1 Reviews

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

We waited 3 years for this? . . .

[5/10 · 28 December 2020]

Disappointed beyond words over this film, the shinning bright moment was the portrayal of the secondary villain, perfectly executed by Kristen Carroll Wiig a.k.a. "Barbara Minerva" otherwise this was a non-believable, un-exciting- in-accurate film that fails to achieve that "suspension of belief" on all levels, Gail Gadot it still a beautiful-strong actress, Chris Pine is still an underwhelming mediocre actor and even though it sucked, we are all going to watch it! . . . Why? . . . I am open to answers on that, I really am curious.

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

You have to go see this film, if you like action films, this is the best action film I've seen all year

[9/10 · 13 November 2019]

I absolutely loved this film, great acting, casting and special effects. Engrossing from beginning to end. I find it absolutely strange that it's not a hit - Maybe it's because it does not follow the traditional "hero" path. You need to go see this film and make up your mind about it, social media has not been kind to it, but then again social media is now a tool to influence and manipulate, you can no longer find content that is honest and true to how things are. Don't be sheep-herded by special interests and make it a point to go see this film on the big screen, you will be glad you did!

Doctor Strange (2016)

Sushi Grade Fish Turned into Fried Fish Balls

[6/10 · 11 November 2016]

The film was "OK", we wanted to LOVE IT! - The film was like taking a beautiful, high-grade piece of wild caught tuna . . . Then, shredded it, added cheese, bread crumbs, and double fried it so as to have the most people out there kind of like it. Is it edible? Yes, it's edible, to people who just eat to eat, we actually like to enjoy our food. So Six Stars to a film that had (has) a story to claim Ten.

We had been looking forward to this film for months, it had every single ingredient possible in the story to make it stand-out from the now bland, predictable and no longer amusing Super-Hero movies that abound.

We love Super-Hero movies, I am personally a big fan or MARVEL and when the first Super-Hero movies started coming out they were highly entertaining, exciting, different . . . Now they all taste the same, they have been reduced to a formula that leaves out everything the industry believes will make the viewer be "turned-off" or maybe "think" to much. What do we turn to-super-Heroes for if not to make us think? . . . Make us contemplate? . . . Make us strive to evolve or be better?

This movie could have been equal if not better than The Matrix, and yes, it could have even been that big of a blockbuster - Why? Because it's the questions that drive us . . . What is the Matrix?, What Is Reality?, Are there teachers out there that can show us the way?, What is the way?, What happens when everything you know falls away or "gets taken from you"?, What do you do? . . .

"Marvel, they have their thing and there's a certain formula to it all which seems to still be working, but how many times . . ." -Tim Burton

SPECIAL EFFECTS: Over-Done. STORY: Rushed, they could not wait to throw Dr. Strange in with The Avengers, forget about the story, how soon can we have him share a scene with Thor? CASTING: Almost perfect, Dr. Strange and the Ancient One get an A+ The villain Mads Mikkelsen, makes a great Cannibal in Hannibal, but he could not project any sort of power to his character in here.

Thank you for reading.

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)

People are desperate for meaning . . . This was a bad movie with an old concept that once rang true

[3/10 · 23 December 2015]

Truly a BAD Movie . . . No magic, no re-approach, pure regurgitation, scratch that! Regurgitation done badly.

We wanted to see a movie, a good movie. No preconceived notions, no plans; we weren't hyped up; we were not waiting for it to come out desperately . . . It was just a Saturday and we wanted to enjoy ourselves, so why not pick the highest grossing movie out? All of those billions of dollars can't be wrong, right? . . . All of those people with dreamy eyes waiting in line must know that it's good . . . Well, it is NOT by any measure good. As close to a "B" movie that you will ever find. This production preyed on the desperate need of some people to find meaning and significance somewhere . . . Star Wars brought hope and a certain type of empowerment to a past generation, it's the HEROES JOURNEY, the validation of our existence and the validation that there is truly something else out there, something bigger than us! Something that we all have the capacity to tap . . . All of this was lost in this movie, it was a cheap, lazy imitation of styles of acting (or over-acting), musical score timings and the resurgence of old characters, old characters brought up for the sake of ticketing sales, old characters devoid of meaning and empty. I can't wait until someone WAKES UP IN Hollywood AND ACTUALLY GIVES THE MASSES WHAT THEY ARE TRULY LOOKING FOR . . . A shake up, a wake up, a connection to the greater Universe, a truly original, surprisingly good movie.

Spectre (I) (2015)

Two Steps Backwards from SkyFall

[7/10 · 11 November 2015]

Two Steps Backwards from SkyFall - We were waiting 3 long years with such excitement for Spectre to come out after watching what we thought was one of the best movies we've seen in years = Skyfall . . . So we went to the movies, armed with popcorn and soda, took our seats and then the opening music of Spectre began . . . Right there, in that moment, when the classic song and the graphics started I knew it was going to be not soo good . . . The song was unfitting - They gave us a man that wanted to sound like a woman since all 007 songs are sang by sexy women . . . The scenes felt choppy, not seamless and the characters felt shallow, unconvincing! . . . One of the things that sells 007 films is the crafting of a great villain, this villain is an afterthought, a copy of many other UN-original, lazy screen writers = "A long lost step-brother that surfaces and has always hated Bond for stealing the love of his father and has been out to get him for it!" . . . Same screen writers and Director as the previous film, not the same results. So please go see it and enjoy it for what it's worth!

Southpaw (2015)

One cliché after another - dull characters without chemistry

[6/10 · 30 July 2015]

One cliché after another. Dull characters drag it down even more.

I was looking forward to watching this film since I first saw the trailer. I'm a big fan of Jake Gyllenhaal, huge fan of boxing and appreciate Mr. Curtis James Jackson greatly. So off I went on a Thursday night.

The music on the trailer boasts M&M singing "I am phenomenal," The lazy character that Jake chose to portray is everything but. Choosing to play the "dumb boxer" stereotype with no depth, no charisma and no smarts leads you to not really form any type of empathy for him (Although the girlfriends of the guys that were watching the movie would disagree). The movie was called "Southpaw," which is the term used for lefty boxers, he was a righty (orthodox boxer). The scenes are disjointed, the characters are under-developed and therefore their relationships are non-believable. Sure the training part gets your motor running for a few seconds, but it leaves you unfulfilled and wanting more.

A poor attempt at re-inventing Rocky,

Poltergeist (2015)

The Destruction of a Fantastic Classic - A Flop

[3/10 · 23 May 2015]

I believe the original Poltergeist is one of the best movies to come out of the 70's-80's. Original story, great casting, chemistry found in the actors. You find unexpected frills and chills, it's unpredictable and it makes you feel, happy, sad, outraged and scared. I was very excited when I saw the trailer for the 2015 version, I thought that with all the technology available to movie makers now a days it would make a jump that would be visually stunning. But it did not. It's like they threw the original script up in the air, it got shuffled, they picked it up and then made a movie out of those shuffled, discombobulated pages, couple that with poor acting and casting and you have a FLOP. What a shame. I look forward to the time when someone picks up this story and injects it with some true originality and talent. Until then, keep your money in your pocket.

Dumb and Dumber To (2014)

We walked out of this movie - surprised these quality actors lended themselves to this

[1/10 · 24 November 2014]

We walked out of this movie - surprised these quality actors lended themselves to this. I have been a Jim Carrey fan for years and enjoyed all of his comedic movies to the point where we watch them several times, I never saw the original but decided to drop into this one last Saturday. We walked out less than 10 minutes after, nothing was funny, it was like they were trying to shock you into laughing by being offensive and just flat out stupid, it was like watching a retarded bully. If you want to laugh wholeheartedly, go elsewhere, this is like inserting your wet finger in an electricity socket and finding it amusingly enough to do it again.

Weekend (II) (2011)

Boring and done

[6/10 · 2 September 2012]

I was really looking forward to this movie, lots of good reviews and of course, it's gay and I'm part of the LGBT community. The camera shots are good and it does manage to impart a certain "atmosphere" but I found it slow to develop and quite predictable when it did. I was overall a bit bored, so much so that it made me want to write my first review.

Saving graces: Interestingly shot. Rough and raw.

Downfalls: Don't expect anything new. Slow pace.

Would I recommend it? If you are gay and just love and support gay cinema. If you are looking for a down-tempo flick to kill the afternoon.

Very much looking forward to the time when LGBT cinema moves from the tired clichés and into something extraordinary.