just_an_oli87 Reviews

The Prince (2021)

What the Hell Is This?

[1/10 · 31 July 2021]

Satire is fine. Mocking the royal family is fine. But who decided it was was good idea to center this around children? Can you imagine being that age and finding out an actual television show has been created about you, much less to make you look like a shallow, pompous jackass, with other renditions of your family?

Had they centered it around the adults, left the kids out of it and handed it over to some writers who were talented and funny enough to make the jokes land without time sensitive cheap shots, this could have worked. As it is, you end up with an unfunny, boring and insulting attempt to take literal children down a peg. I feel bad for even giving it a shot with the three episodes I subjected myself to.

Skip this one, so hopefully it is canceled and falls into obscurity before those kids are old enough to stumble across it.

I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016)

Slow, Quiet But Has Its Charm

[5/10 · 1 November 2016]

The acting was subtle and well done, the story was intriguing (if its potential was never fully met), and the near silent tone of the movie was a strength more than a drawback. There will be unanswered questions, and that annoys a lot of people. If you are like me and prefer to leave with questions, you will appreciate this flick more.

I don't think the criticism calling it boring it fair. A lot is going on in the background if you pay attention. It reminds me of Victorian ghost stories. Not everything has to be extreme to be worth viewing.

All in all it has its problems, but worth watching if you don't mind a slow build.

The Happy House (2013)

Deserves More Love, But I It Isn't For Everyone

[7/10 · 21 September 2015]

This is a silly little movie, not scary, a little funny, and a bit uneven. It is understandable why the ratings are so low. But I still deserves a lot more love than it was given, even if it maybe didn't reach its potential.

First of all, it goes somewhere rather unexpected, which was a lot of fun. Second, the performances were actually pretty great, even working with what could be very cliché characters; they brought them to life in a way much more realistic than other (even better) films may have done.

But for me, what made this film was the likable nature of the characters. I find it hard to connect with a movie when I don't like the people in it. No such problems here.

If you don't mind something that doesn't quite live up to what it could have been, this is a nice, light watch.

John Dies at the End (2012)

A Surprisingly Good Adaption

[8/10 · 19 April 2013]

I agree with what many people have been saying: the negative reviews are probably from people who didn't read the book. There is so much going on in the novel that it is hard enough to follow, but trying to compress it into so little time strips it to its bare bones. If you don't know the source material, you are not going to understand this movie, at all.

When I first decided to watch it, I was sure I wouldn't like it. But I was impressed by the adaption, even if it missed a great deal. I had thought it wouldn't translate well, but it was enjoyable.

All in all, I would recommend it. But only after you had read the book it is based on.