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steven-rick-garcia
Reviews
Two Distant Strangers (2020)
I understand the intention but...
As a minority, I completely understand what they were going for in this short. However, the end just destroyed everything.
This short film perpetuates the idea that the cops are literally out there hunting innocent black folks. This short film deceivingly shows us the solution to the problems with policing in our communities, and then it destroys that solution by basically saying that if you're black, there is a white police officer waiting to kill you every day of your life.
Again, I understand that this film is trying to "wake us up" and show us what black folks face every day. I get it, yall are scared. But when you provide a solution to this problem in your film and then just completely destroy it seconds later, you are only perpetuating this idea.
This short film is dangerous propaganda. It is DIVISIVE. It doesn't offer a solution to the problem (it almost did, but then said NOPE NEVERMIND).
And I hope they enjoy their obligatory "woke" Oscar.
Instant Family (2018)
I don't understand some of these reviews
To those saying it was hilarious throughout, it had moments but it wasn't ever really "hilarious".
But on the other hand, how are some of these reviews going to say that the story is so cliché and fake when it's literally based on the writer's life?
And as a person who HATES the whole politically correct climate in this country, I really didn't find it PC at all. If anything, the movie JOKES about being politically correct. So I guess it makes sense that if a viewer who can't even grasp that concept, then is their review really worth anything?
In my opinion, the 7.4 rating this movie has on here is pretty accurate, though I will give it an 8 because it is one of the more touching movies I've seen lately (movie literally had me in tears). Maybe because I'm getting older and more sensitive, but this is a touching movie about the writer's life. The actress that plays Lizzy did a great job, and Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne perform well.
See the movie for yourselves. Don't trust reviews (I mean, you don't even have to believe what I say). Make your minds up for yourselves. But when Rotten Tomatoes shows me that both critics AND audiences enjoyed the film, are you really going to believe the 1 and 2 star ratings you see on here? Clearly some people saw a different movie. If anything, this movie should NOT score anything less than 6 stars.
12 Strong (2018)
Too Predictable? Probably because we already know the ending.
If you came here looking to find some gripping, well thought out war story, you came to the wrong place.
Sure, it was probably exaggerated. Yes, we don't know exactly how it went down. But the fact is that the TRUE STORY is that 12 men came in, got their job done, and all of them got out. So yea, the soldiers are going to look like they're immortal/invincible. But that's because they all survived.
It's a simple story. Team had a mission and executed. What else did you expect from a war biopic??
Now if you call this American propaganda, then maybe you just don't like the truth. Yes, it is an unbelievable feat. But it really happened. Does it make America the world's savior? No.. it just tells the story of 12 brave men who accomplished their mission. Lord knows we aren't saviors, given the fact that we're still there today.
Slumber (2017)
I want to give it a 6.5/10
I liked the idea of a horror movie based on sleep paralysis. It's completely different from nightmares while you're actually asleep and dreaming, so it's nice to see a new spin on it.
Maggie Q is great as always. The other actors are decent. Child actors are pretty standard child actors (nothing spectacular). The story drags along a bit slowly for my tastes but it is acceptable for me. However, there are a lot of pitfalls in terms of common sense in this movie that it's not quite right. Not a movie I'd recommend specifically, but if someone was looking through some movies and asked me, I'd tell them I'd watch it. Not a bad movie, just not a good one either.
SPOILER ALERT
My biggest criticism has to be the janitor and his father. It seems really randomly inserted and doesn't really quite fit in my opinion. They do not provide answers. They don't know more than what we all know. This is followed up by scenes where they're all just sitting there not doing anything. And the way the whole sequence happened with each individual's nightmares.. it just paints the family as incredibly weak willed and selfish. They even let a random stranger die instead of their kid.
And in the end, they let the doctor get taken away into a mental hospital? You've got to be kidding me. She saves their kid and that's how they repay her?
Natural Selection (2016)
Watchable.. I guess
This movie had a very "Lifetime" or "ABC Family" or "Freeform" type of vibe to it, though maybe a bit darker.
Very early into the movie, we all know what's going on. The one redeeming thing about this movie, in my opinion, is the antagonist Indrid. Great acting from him, although sometimes way too over the top. It's hard to believe, though, that NONE of the characters could figure out what his intentions were from some of the dialogue he has.
A few of the actors sounded like they were reading off of a script, but I guess that comes with the territory of what I'm assuming was a straight to dvd/on demand movie.
Overall, I'd say it was a watchable movie. Would I ever watch it again, or even think about it? Definitely not. But if you've got time to kill and have a Netflix account, no harm in checking it out. I don't find myself feeling like I want my time back from watching, so it's not too bad.