lonnie-adamsjr Reviews

School Spirits: Madison's Body (2023) Season 1, Episode 8

KingSlayer99's review reveals ending plot twist DON"T READ IT!!!

[10/10 · 4 May 2024]

Never saw that plot twist coming! Thankfully I watched it before reading KingSlayer99's review. Loved the entire season!

One character did have me thinking it was them for quite a FEW episodes. I happy to see that I wasn't the only on that was blindsided by the season finale. The whodunnit style that ran the whole season, consistently and convincingly leading you in different directions were well thought out. Two thumbs up to the writers. Hopefully they are able to keep everyone that made this season so great. I can't wait to see where next season's journey takes us. FYI, I haven't been a teenager since the late 1900's... ok, the 1980's...lol.

Death by Magic: LONDON: Buried Alive (2018) Season 1, Episode 4

Street magic seems extremely staged

[4/10 · 27 April 2024]

Early on in the episode, magic is performed in a diner. Three items are placed on the table, the "random person" is told to do something with each object. Here's where my issue lies... Magician Drummond Money-Coutts gets up and moves to the table behind the original booth, interrupting the couple there. After he returns to his booth, they show ZERO interests in what part of the "trick" the played. They act as though they are the only people in the restaurant. The only redeeming parts of this episode are Carla, in the bone room, and Vanessa, in the bar.

(Fill to reach the required characters.)

A Nanny's Revenge (2024)

I'm gonna write & direct a movie for my wannabe actress wife!

[1/10 · 5 April 2024]

OMG! I've seen better acting at a 4th grade recital where the kids are fed each line before saying them. Caia Coley(director's wife), made all the "I'm crying" facial expressions for almost 10 minutes without a single glassy red eye or tear, on more than one occasion. The parents must have had their kids in their 50s. They aren't believable in the slightest.

All the good reviews on here, I'm guessing they are paid endorsements from the production company.

I'll be fair though, there are TWO really good parts.... The anticipation of waiting for it to start... AND... The relief that it's over..

Ghost Town (2023)

Forgive me for what I must say

[4/10 · 22 January 2024]

Let me start by saying I'm an insomniac, in a sense. I usually have two TVs on at once with about 20 tabs open on the PC. Mostly the TVs are on for distraction so I can actually think in peace. On to the review... This movie is a low budget western.... But this is the "A Clockwork Orange" of westerns. There's a hint in the title. The way the script was written, it also gives you that "The Sixth Sense" feel.

There are plenty of things wrong with this movie, but it kept me engaged enough to not write it off. Would I watch it again? Absolutely, I have more than 200 accepted "Goofs" entries, about 100+ "Goofs" corrections, plus numerous plot and credit entries.... I'm sure a second, dedicated watch will create more entries for me...

Bones: The Graft in the Girl (2006) Season 1, Episode 20

Ranks in my top five favorite episodes in the entire series!!!

[10/10 · 4 May 2023]

We rarely have a "live" victim. This one really tugs at the heart strings and pulls you in, making you feel as though the victim is family. It's hard to not get emotionally attached to her after hearing her story.

Bones and the team assist with the daughter of the FBI Deputy Director when they learn she has lung cancer. Having cancer is never easy for anyone involved. The way the tie in her cancer to an investigation about how it was acquired was well written.

I was even more amazed by the 2006 episode, after learning it was based on real events from the year before. As not to add spoilers, look up the case of Alistair Cooke or even the crimes of Michael Mastromarino.

BTW, my other favorite episodes in my list... "The Signs in the Silence" (alive 15yo deaf girl) "The Woman in the Garden" (Bones punches gang leader) "The Prisoner in the Pipe" (Bones gives birth) "The Man in the Morgue" (Bones helps with Hurricane Katrina)

The Night Agent (2023– )

I just don't get all the bad reviews.

[8/10 · 25 March 2023]

Yes, there are plenty of clichés involved. Here's the thing, how many different ways could you possibly write a political action movie? Seriously? What, there's like maybe 4 different possible plots?

1)The President, Vice President or their family is kidnapped.

2)The President, Vice President or their family is in danger.

3)The Vice President plots against the President.

4)The extremists want to take over the country.

Pretty sure that covers all of them. So yes, this will be similar to several movies and/or TV shows. There's no possible way around it when there's only so many possible plots to use. I binge watched all ten episodes and I enjoyed it from start to finish. Don't let these bad reviews about clichés chase you away without even giving it a try.

Swamp People: Serpent Invasion: New Blood (2023) Season 3, Episode 1

I sure hope this works....

[9/10 · 11 March 2023]

I know y'all can walk right up and grab that snake easily, but we need some more excitement. Grab the snakes by the tail and get it mad before grabbing the head and bagging it.

Uh oh!!! Our simulated drama, shaky camera work, yelps, and fake fear aren't getting us the following we were hoping for.... We need a way to pump some life into the show and try to draw in some fans... Not even someone being bit every episode is working... Any of you guys have any ideas?

Hey, I have one.... Let's bring in the smoking hot Cheyenne "Pickle" Wheat. She might be able to get some of her fans to watch the show. You know, Pickle's bubbly personality, high octane energy, and love of tight clothing could be a really good idea.

FL native/hunter Tes Lee isn't hard to look at either. What if we add her to the mix also. Let's run with that!

Mayfair Witches (2023– )

Book fans....RUN for your lives!!!

[4/10 · 5 March 2023]

"The Witching Hour" is why I became a fan of Anne Rice. A movie adaption had been rumored since "Interview With the Vampire" did so well when it was released. I've waited a long time for something like this because Anne never felt that the adapted scripts did her book justice.

AMC's "Mayfair Witches" is not true to the book. It appears they shredded the book then picked through the scraps to see what parts they wanted to keep.

Alexandra Daddario is a wonderful actress, but she is NOT Rowan Mayfair. Anne Rice gave a vividly clear description, twice! She is described as tall and beautifully androgynous with ashen blond hair and piercing grey eyes. She is also said to have a very distinct raspy voice, what is called a "whiskey voice." She was a very skilled, fierce, driven woman that knew she had the power to kill. She was not the timid character being portrayed by Alexandra Daddario.

They've removed Michael Curry & Aaron Lightner. Two main & very essential characters of all three books in the series. Instead, they've been combined and replaced by a single character, Ciprien Grieve. He has Michael's psychic hands, was saved by Rowan, is Rowan's love interest, and father's the child that becomes Lasher. However, instead of being a contractor who specializes in the restoration of old homes, he works for the Talamasca like Aaron did.

Now on to Lasher. Or should I say the distorted version of Lasher that they have given us. Lasher is supposed to be tall, skinny, and so amazingly beautiful, that he is irresistible to both men & women. They gave us Jack Huston instead, I'm not impressed, at all!

They even screwed up the Mayfair Emerald.

They did a few things right: The house.

Harry Hamlin as Cortland Mayfair.

Beth Grant as Carlotta Mayfair.

Cortland and Carlotta are exactly as I had pictured them in my mind when I read it 30 years ago.

Tattoo Redo (2021)

Great Concept, Not So Great Host!

[8/10 · 19 February 2023]

As a fan of Tattoo Nightmares, I was so ready for this show. I love the whole tattoo before-after idea. The host, yeah, I could easily enjoy it more without her. Maybe have the client come in, draw a name out the jar, tell the artist how it happened, get inked... Midway through the third episode, I started muting the show just after the the client's tattoo was designed. I would then unmute it as close to the actual reveal as humanly possible.

I personally don't think she's as funny as she thinks she is. Most of her comments are things that really doesn't need to be said. When she comes out with the "walls" it's definitely muted.

M3GAN (2022)

Loved this movie.

[9/10 · 10 January 2023]

Everyone keeps comparing it to Chucky. I was never a fan of Child's Play, but my mother was, so I've seen them all. This I would watch again, all the Chucky movies were a one & done for me. I always felt he was a "My Buddy" doll rip-off. I personally would have liked to see M3gan stay an R rated movie, but it's still nicely done with the PG-13.

Cady, the main character, was well portrayed by Violet McGraw. She made you feel she was a spoiled child with relaxed, free-spirited parenting, right down to not having attended any formal schooling.

Gemma, Allison Williams, did really well as her aunt. Though she designs children's toys for a living, she is completely out of touch with kids. She's never had any of her own and it shows when she becomes an instant mom to 9yo Cady.

The breakout star in this though, was definitely, Amie Donald, who plays M3gan. She knocked the creepy doll mannerisms out the park. I kinda wished the creepy dance she choreographed was longer.

Easy enough premise: Girl's parents die unexpectedly, childless aunt becomes instant mom, aunt creates a learning AI robot to help her cope, robot learns too much, robot develops feelings for child, robot over protects.

There's only so many ways you can write a story about an over-protective AI robot. So people will call that as cliché. Maybe those people should try to write their own version.

Bug (2006)

THE proverbial train wreck, on a good way....

[10/10 · 4 October 2022]

More of a psychological thriller than horror centering around SDD(shared Delusional Disorder) or "Folie à deux" ('folly of two', or 'madness by two').

*****

Lonely waitress Agnes, (Ashley Judd), lives in a cheap motel in Okalahoma. Self medicating herself with drugs & alcohol, while grieving the disappearance of her 6yo son, Lloyd, that took place ten years prior. She suspects her estranged, abusive husband, Jerry Goss, (Harry Connick Jr.), has been consistently prank calling her, since his recent release from prison.

When her coworker & only friend, RC, (Lynn Collins), introduces her drifter acquaintance Peter Evans, (Michael Shannon), to Agnes, she allows Peter to stay with in her in the hotel room. This is where things begin to really get weird....

Peter finds bugs in their bed, and discloses to Agnes, that he was a soldier in the Gulf War. He was submitted to experiments, by the army, and he is presently infested with bugs. Agnes soon begins to experience the same symptoms and the couple then believe in Peter's conspiracy theory of the American Government's experiments.

"Bug" was originally an off broadway play, that also starred Michael Shannon as Peter Evans. This extremely graphic story about paranoia and schizophrenia, is very well acted. Ashley Judd creates an amazing & believable interpretation, of a lonely woman with a tragic history, that needs companionship, and feels she finds it in a gentle man with delusional paranoia and schizophrenia, that is brilliantly performed by Michael Shannon.

IMO, it was well worth my time.

Girl Next (2021)

Not a bad movie if....

[7/10 · 1 September 2022]

First, you need to remember, it's an indie film.

Second, you have to go into this movie expecting a Stanley Kubrick, junior study, style movie. Think 'A Clockwork Orange' from the drugged out, brainwashed, victim side.

Third, it's more of a fantasy fiction than a horror movie. It's nothing even close to a typical horror in any sense of the genre. Suspense would be a more fitting term but still not the greatest description of what this movie is about.

It says, "Based on true events" which may mean that this might have been inspired by a story of a drugged out trafficked girl, with some government style brainwashing techniques tossed in also.

Transparent (2014–2019)

Started out great, then sort of fizzled out...

[6/10 · 31 August 2022]

When it comes to the last episode, there's ZERO reason to watch after the BIG news. If the last episode hadn't been the finale episode already, that episode would have killed the show for good.

The show started going into a downward spiral midway through season 3. The entire Rita storyline after the mall incident, Ali's rotating story arcs, the pilgrimage, Shelley's twisted life...

Towards the end, it was like they wanted to see how much sex, mental illness, and religion could be crammed into each episode. It's almost as though they were purposely trying to get the show canceled.

The "kids" were some of the most dysfunctional, self-entitled, needy kids that seemed to get worse as the show progressed. The deeper we moved into the fourth season, the more it seemed like they were trying to portray the show as a political statement.

Samaritan (I) (2022)

Not a bad movie...

[8/10 · 28 August 2022]

I don't get why this movie is rated so low. I think it's one of Stallone's better movies of recent times. I started it at dinnertime and it kept my 17yo off his PS4 for the entire 102 minutes it played (1h 42m). Long after his plate was emptied.

I will say that some of the supporting cast need to work on their acting skills, but it's still not enough to warrant the rating this has received.

Thirteen year old Sam needs a hero. Sam puts his faith in a hero that's supposed to be 10 yrs dead. Then he starts to believe that the eccentric old garbage man next door, might actually be the dead hero.

In the opening sequence we learn that, there were twins, once best friends, that choose different paths after their parents are burned alive because of the superhuman strength of the twins. One chooses the path of good as Samaritan, the other choose the path of evil as Nemesis, his arch rival.

They start an odd friendship but when Sam gets in trouble, will Joe turn out to be the hero he needs, or just the old garbage that lives alone?

I'm Not Ashamed (2016)

What's the purpose?

[6/10 · 23 August 2022]

There's a definite religious push to this movie, but why change details like her prom date? They changed her date from a Caucasian to an Asian . Why change details like whether or not one of the shooters drove or was taxied around by the other?

Even as an Atheist, I can ignore the religious agenda, because it was supposed to be the story of her life, taken from her journals, family, and friends. She was essentially a "born again Christian". Even though it's not my thing, it was her thing and needed to be in the movie of her life.

But changing details, that essentially change who she is, for the sake of cinema, makes if feel like the film has more of an underlying agenda. Her real prom date isn't even in the story, in any capacity. Why not just tell the story as it really happened?

The Neighbor (II) (2017)

Thriller, not even in the minimal sense

[3/10 · 21 August 2022]

This is a snooze fest from beginning to end. The best parts of this movie are shown in the trailer.

Best advice I have to give, watch the trailer and skip the movie.

Patient Seven (2016)

Overall. I liked it!

[8/10 · 21 August 2022]

Looking at some of the other reviews, they seem pretty harsh. I think the reason for that is they came in expecting a classic horror movie in it's truest form. That's not what this is, nor do I think it was supposed to be.

To me, this was more of a "Tales from the Crypt" type movie. Which Michael Ironside was a cast member for two episodes. It's six different short stories that get tied in together by Patient Seven's story. Don't go into it expecting a "Saw" type of movie and you won't be disappointed.

Gallowwalkers (2012)

You'll never get your time back!!!

[2/10 · 3 August 2022]

The best part of this movie was the trailer and it wasn't even that great. It's in a freefall spiral that starts with the opening credits. It crashes into the pavement soon after.

Wesley Snipes must have agreed to this film because he needed the money to pay off his tax fines. There's no other logical reason that I can see.

Expedition Unknown (2015– )

Take it with a grain of salt

[7/10 · 25 June 2022]

This show is absolutely entertaining, don't get me wrong......

The show is peppered with historical facts and anecdotes, but at times, it seems overly scripted for the shock & awe factor it gets.

I binge watched about 36 episodes over a 4-day weekend. A common thread that seemed to occur, when looking for "proof" that corroborates his episode's subject, out come the metal detectors and "period" coins, nails, bullets, buttons, etc, are always found, just not exactly what they are looking for...ie the treasure.

Several times, I noticed things that contradicted what was said on screen with what was shown onscreen. Planks covered with mud when they are "only able to walk on the roots of the trees", or "we continued for miles searching for the exact site, then we found it." yet it's clear, that it's a slightly different angle of the same shot originally shown.

"This placed was searched by the FBI, FAA, NTSB, but we'll search for clues." (50 years later.) Then 10 min later, "Wait, I found something.....Whoa, this is a clasp for a briefcase, it's pretty corroded, and it fits with our time frame." (Might not be an EXACT quote from the DB Cooper episode, but it's close.) The episode also said stewardess Tina Mucklow, was given the note. All historical accounts identify Florence Schaffner as the actual recipient.

There are plenty of creative liberties taken with this show, but it's still on my auto-record DVR list.

Expedition Unknown: Legend of the Crystal Skull (2019) Season 6, Episode 6

So many "revealing errors....

[3/10 · 25 June 2022]

This episode absolutely screams "scripted". The 2"x12" wooden planks just below the surface is clearly visible as they are only "walking on the roots" of the mangrove trees in the swamp.

Bill is the first to "discover" the limestone formations from behind Josh, even though they weren't hidden from Josh's view as he points them out.

You call also tell, that they are in the same location, when they show the first image of the limestone formation at 33:44, as they are, after "walking for miles" while looking for the cave, when they show the image at 34:30. It's just a slightly different angle from the original image.

The visible tree on the left side of the first image, is the tree in the center of the second image. The cave they "identify" and match to the picture in the book, has the same infield baseball diamond shape in both the original limestone formation image & the second "this is it" formation image.

Homefront (I) (2013)

Giant gaping plot hole

[8/10 · 19 April 2022]

After shutting down a biker's meth operation in New Orleans, a DEA agent, Phil Broker(Jason Statham) resigns and moves to a one horse town also in Louisiana. His 9yo daughter's schoolyard fight with the nephew of the local meth dealer, "Gator" Bodine. This puts them on the radar.

(Gaping Hole) While searching Phil's house, the Gator finds the one box, in a stack of 15 or so boxes, with about 30 files in it and conveniently pulls out the one file, of the last case Phil worked. In an amazing stroke of luck, Gator also happens to be dating one of the former groupies of the biker gang.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a great movie and I'll probably watch it again.

The Book Thief (2013)

Not my normal movie choice

[8/10 · 16 April 2022]

Bear with me a sec... I love history, don't get me wrong. I have Asperger's and was told in 7th grade that my IQ was above 145. With that said, I have a tendency to just play movies and things so that I have something else in the background to help keep my mind occupied while I do needed tasks. I also retain more through hearing than I do through seeing and reading. I used to "watch" two TVs on different shows.

This was my intention when I turned on this movie, background noise with an occasional glance. What I heard early in, had me looking up more and more. This ended up turning into tasks not being done and me staring at the tv waiting for my lottery numbers to appear. This show had my full attention. I'm glad that I clicked my record button, just to watch it again, just in case I missed something.

Palmer (2021)

I was pleasantly surprised.

[9/10 · 13 April 2022]

Ryder Allen, at 7 years, absolutely stole the show from everyone.

I was a little apprehensive about the child being gender-fluid, or nonbinary, whichever you chose. I figured it would be a bigger part of the story. Although it WAS a big part of the story, it was more about him being bullied for it, than it's acceptance being forced down your throat. It was almost a non issue, almost.

It was more about the coming together of two people that didn't know needed each other, yet managed to save each other when they both needed it the most. 100% enjoyed this movie. Gave it 9/10 stars, because there could have been more closer at the end.

Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958–1961)

Loved this show, in the 80s as a preteen/teen

[9/10 · 27 June 2021]

I used to catch every rerun of this show I could in the 80s. Came on very late at night. I always said I would own a "mare's leg" one day, I still plan on it.

I loved that Randall tried his hardest to always bring them in alive. He would even defend them against those that wanted them dead in order to ensure them a fair trial. He stood for justice.

I had read once that Steve McQueen hated being on the show, even danced a jig when it was cancelled. I never understood why, until I binge watched all three seasons this past weekend. In about 90% of the episodes, he was knocked unconscious. He's supposed to be a big tough bounty hunter, however, he always seemed to get bushwhacked. Then there were some very questionable episodes in the third season, "Baa-Baa", "Witch Woman", "To The Victor",... etc.

Only reason I gave it 9/10 stars.

Hansel & Gretel (2013 Video)

Both my stars are for Dee!!!

[2/10 · 27 February 2021]

The script seems to have been written as part of a 9th grade writing assignment, from the 1st period class, by the kid that is habitually absent, and usually late when he does show up. Dee Wallace did her best to help save this movie, didn't work. Even the description is messed up and inaccurate: "In this modern retelling of the classic horror tale, teen siblings are enslaved by a psychotic recluse within her gruesome house of horrors in the woods."

TEEN: Actors look like they are in their 20s RECLUSE: The witch owns/runs a popular bake shop in town.

Don't waste your time, I've seen better acting from opossums playing dead!