botfeeder Reviews

The Ledge (2011)

pretty good drama

[7/10 · 24 September 2023]

Before I watched the movie I scrolled through the user ratings and it was about the most bipolar I have ever seen.

Clearly a lot of that is people judging it based on ideology. My take on that: I am nonreligious, and certainly was not sympathetic to the fundamentalist, but for secular reasons- namely, that he was psychologically messed up and for me it is incidental that it happened in his particular case to be manifested in the form of religious extremism. I believe religion for most people is something that helps them live a better life. That's at odds with the opinions the atheist expressed, so I didn't feel an ideological kinship with him either.

Stripped of ideology and just looked at as a drama, I thought it was pretty good. Gripping story, decent acting and directing. Unfortunately I generally don't feel competent to elaborate my basic impression of a movie beyond that sort of general impression.

Suspicion (1941)

liked it

[8/10 · 30 June 2023]

Stories about psychopaths are hard for me to take, but I thought it was very well done.

Some people seemed disappointed with the ending that apparently exonerated him. I didn't see it that way. There were so many cases of rotten behavior on his part and then suspicious potential incidents of heinous acts, which then had an innocent explanation, but you could never be sure. And the incidents at the end seemed to me to be just as ambiguous. Was the guy merely a really screwed up person, or was he a full blown psychopathic killer? To me the movie leaves that up in the air, and that was a satisfying ending in my opinion.

Under Suspicion (2000)

Ending schmending

[2/10 · 23 February 2023]

This movie happened to be mentioned on Viva Frei podcast. Lawyer Robert Barnes was saying that the most unreliable forms of evidence are eyewitness testimony and confessions. He mentioned this movie as an example of someone confessing to a crime he's not guilty of.

I'm not sure I got all the nuance of the ending which most people didn't like because I didn't like any of the movie at all and was just forcing myself to watch it to the end. Some people found the ending problematic, but I was far beyond caring what was in the ending by the time it rolled around.

There's only one movie I have reviewed before that I found as bad or worse than this one. (Meet Joe Black) Dull plot, dull characters that give you no reason to care one whit. Nothing really happens in the movie. Just some long drudgery of a rather boring effort of a policeman to build a case against the guy he believes is guilty. I like Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman and expected this to be a good movie, but I found it dreadful.

John Wick (2014)

disappointed

[5/10 · 25 August 2022]

I guess some people liked this as pure action, no plot, something to let your brain go and just watch a lot of shooting.

Personally I would have preferred a more interesting story than just- legendary action guy gets wronged and fights a lengthy war to punish those responsible.

Out of Time (I) (2003)

well written well acted

[8/10 · 24 July 2022]

I liked this film a lot.

I thought for the most part the plot was well crafted in that it for the most part all fit together- a lot of unlikely events all coming together, yet logically consistent.

One thing that does seem to me like a pretty major plot hole, though is: Could the two deaths seriously be faked like that? Even with burned bodies, wouldn't there be ways to make a positive ID, and wouldn't that have been done as part of the investigation?

Seven Pounds (2008)

Better than the critics say

[8/10 · 29 June 2021]

I found this movie very engaging most of the way through. Watching the pieces assembled and wondering how they would ultimately fit together. 80-90 minutes in I was ready for the ending and I believe it dragged on a little too long.

The ending was extremely emotionally intense. You don't achieve that without a lot of artistic skill.

Moral of the story? I don't agree with those who claim it glorified suicide. It was just depicting one man's fanatical pursuit of atonement for a mistake he made that had tragic consequences.

What about the plot holes? So what, as far as I'm concerned. They aren't very central to the story.

The Italian Job (1969)

Yuck

[4/10 · 23 January 2021]

I was expecting a sophisticated heist movie. Instead it was a clown show. The final nail in the coffin was that extremely obnoxious song "self preservation society" that droned on and on in the final minutes.

I generally give movies the benefit of the doubt, but this one leaves no doubt.

Vivarium (2019)

bipolar response

[6/10 · 22 December 2020]

I thought it was an OK movie but some of the positive reviews seem flaky to me. Namely the ones whose argument is that its apparent pointlessness proves how profound it was. Kind of like conspiracy theories- the absence of any evidence constitutes the smoking gun.

It was a sci fi along a fairly well-trod plot path but was pretty well put together. The story wasn't a total rehash of past movies, it had its moments, but it didn't venture into anything extremely original relative to what we've seen before.

Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

chilling

[9/10 · 16 December 2020]

A movie about an abject psychopath I would usually expect to be centered around someone like a mass murderer or violent dictator.

This movie shows the world of horror such an individual can create in a setting of supposedly civil society. The primary instrument being that of psychological abuse. The people around the psychopath become dysfunctional in different ways depending on their character- some become accomplices, others become afraid of their own shadow, and anyone who shows the slightest resistance is ruthlessly crushed.

Everything in this movie was beautifully executed, especially the acting.

Waiting for Guffman (1996)

good, not great

[6/10 · 13 December 2020]

Somewhat humorous film about the delusional aspirations of ordinary Americans to be successes in the dramatic arts. To me its main weakness was pounding too singlemindedly on that one theme.

One of its strong points was that it did humanize the characters, showing them to be fundamentally decent if flawed human beings.

The best part of the movie in my opinion was the gift shop humor at the end, e.g. My Dinner With Andre action figures. The drama establishment is a richer target for a talented satirist.

Shattered (1991)

way better than it gets credit for

[8/10 · 11 December 2020]

I usually find I agree closely with the IMDB rating on movies (except for ones I consider rotten that always seem to have cult followings that lead to a better overall rating than I feel they deserve)

But this one seems to me clearly deserving of at least the upper 7's, not mid 6's.

The entire movie is engaging and the plot twists play out in a very satisfying way.

Being a resident of pacific northwest, one reason I decided to watch it was that some was filmed on the Oregon coast. As far as I could see the only part filmed in Oregon was at the end. Not sure why they didn't just do the whole thing in California. Maybe there was a better site for running the car off the cliff onto the beach, or maybe it was easier to get a permit for that.

Anyway, it's always a pleasure to watch a movie that beats expectations.

Frequency (2000)

increases its IQ as it progresses

[8/10 · 26 November 2020]

For me the first half hour dragged on and I didn't see much promise for the rest of the movie. But it picked up and just continued to get better. After the first half hour I was ready to rate it a 3 or 4, after an hour or so a 6 or 7, and finally an 8.

The way the time travel concept was executed I thought was excellent. In the latter part it transitioned into more of a conventional crime drama, but with the time travel storyline still in place, of course.

Finally it ends in a happy ending, a perfectly suitable finale enabled by the fact that with alternate time-lines the film maker is free to make the ending into anything he wants.

Highwaymen (2004)

ok action movie

[6/10 · 25 November 2020]

This movie seems to get closely paired with "Transit" in the "you might also like" department.

Appropriately so. They're both average caliber action movies. Decent acting, decent story but not extremely creative, just your basic fare.

Both star Jim Caviezel whom I wasn't familiar with. I'd say he is comparable to the well-known action stars such as Jason Statham.

My favorite part of the movie was the last line.

Transit (I) (2012)

decent action film

[6/10 · 25 November 2020]

As most reviewers have pointed out, it's a pretty garden variety action film, no interesting plot twists.

But the acting and action were not bad. It's pretty much a middling caliber film for the action genre.

To me the main weak points were:

1). A couple of stupid plays by the bad guys early in the movie. Reckless driving on the interstate, awfully conspicuous to drive the wrong way on the freeway and such. Maybe in a real stretch one could argue that was the only way for them to not lose track of the family. But certainly when they were chasing the family shortly after that it made no sense. You want to stalk your prey without knowing you are, not scream from the mountaintop "I'm chasing you".

2). Biggest disappointment. One of the bad guys should have gotten chewed up by an alligator/crocodile toward the end of the movie. Maybe they figured doing a believable alligator mauls bad guy scene would be too challenging. If you're going to do a run of the mill action movie I think the audience deserves that all the conventional bases be covered.

The Mothman Prophecies (2002)

oh boy

[3/10 · 3 November 2020]

Some supernatural being predicts disasters, makes creepy phone calls, frightens the natives, and bores the audience.

But I'll give this director another chance by watching Arlington Road.

The Imitation Game (2014)

great movie, but ...

[8/10 · 2 November 2020]

As a piece of cinematic art this film deserves a high grade.

As has been heavily documented by critics, there are numerous significant deviations from the real-life story that constitutes its subject matter. Some give it a lower grade because of that. I don't, since I believe those who made it had the right to craft it with the mixture of truth and fiction that they felt would make for the best film.

However, it seems to me that many of the details that were fictional could have been kept true to the real story and produced a film every bit as good. So I do think there may have been quite a bit of missed opportunity in that regard.

Nevertheless, it was a fine movie.

Serenity (I) (2019)

come on man

[7/10 · 1 November 2020]

This movie really was not that bad. I admit that a lot of it felt like trying to cram a round peg into a square hole. But it was entertaining to watch. Personally, I was glad that it took a turn into sci fi land rather than being just a plain crime drama. It seemed to me there were a lot of good ideas that the story was built from, although they weren't woven together with a lot of finesse. The end result being in my opinion definitely not a great movie, but a decent one.

Secret Window (2004)

not bad, not outstanding

[6/10 · 11 October 2020]

A decent thriller. The ending was OK, but didn't strike me as the brilliant twist some viewed it as.

As to acting, most everyone seems to agree Depp did a good job and I would concur. Less agreement on other characters. I thought Timothy Hutton did fine, he did a good job portraying a dork, which fit the plot well. The actress who played Depp's wife did fine also- playing someone changing directions in life after realizing that the intensity of a writer's lifestyle was incompatible with her own temperament.

The Village (2004)

had to research what "the twist" was

[7/10 · 10 October 2020]

After watching this movie, I saw all this discussion about "the twist". Many critics apparently didn't like it, a lot of reviewers here apparently did.

I could not for the life of me figure out what was this "twist". So I did some googling and found a review that discussed it.

Apparently it had to do with the village not being in the 19th century but rather in the present. But I never had a preconception about what time period it was, I figured for all we know it could be a contemporary community sort of like the Amish. When Ivy was headed toward town one notion I had was that she'd wind up at a Walgreens.

Anyway, overall I thought it was pretty good. A lot of times I agree with the other reviewers and this is one case, I was on the border between a 6 and 7 and gave it the benefit of the doubt.

RED (2010)

"this is so bad"

[3/10 · 9 October 2020]

Minute 58 was about the point I could stomach no more. And Mary Louise Parker uttered the phrase I needed to hit the exit door. "This is so bad".

Yes indeed.

It is I guess supposed to be a comedic thriller. But the humor is lame and the thriller is lame. The plot is so corny and artificial. One good example is the conspiracy nut who Bruce Willis recruits- the guy's such a hackneyed stereotype of a conspiracy nut it's just one more "roll your eyes" aspect of the movie.

I am amazed that some people gave this good reviews. There's nothing in the last half of the movie that could resurrect it to even 4 out of 10 stars.

The Horseman (2008)

go with the sixes

[6/10 · 8 October 2020]

I originally gave this a 7. After reading other reviews I concluded it was more at the level of a 6. Interestingly I found that the people who gave this a 6 showed a better understanding of this movie than the other reviewers.

Pluses: Excellent acting, and as others have pointed out, a more nuanced message than in a simple "good guy pursues a don't get mad get even" movie.

Minuses: The movie was nevertheless still mostly about violent scenes with decently composed but rather conventional mechanics- "good" guy lands a lot of good punches, occasionally the tables are turned, but good guy regains the upper hand by improbable means.

Frailty (2001)

very twisty

[8/10 · 7 October 2020]

I first gave this a 7, but after reading some reviews I realized an important part of the story blew by me, that the "demons" really were demons. I rewound to the spot where I wasn't paying attention- that showed the "demons" were in fact murderers.

That the psychos in a psycho film would turn out to be exacting what appeared to be deranged rage against people who turned out not to be innocent victims but evil people seems pretty original to me, and puts this movie way outside the standard formula of the genre. It seems to me there's no need to peg Adam and his dad as good guys or bad guys, the supernatural element of this movie, the ability of the two to "see" that people have committed murder, renders them unjudgeable.

However, the murder of of an innocent person, the sheriff, as a byproduct of their demon hunting imperative, does put a stain on their character that can't really be washed away.

What about Fenton? It would seem to me he's a good guy. He didn't see the demons so he reacted as a decent person would to the behavior of his father. Unless he committed his own spree of murders, which Adam mentioned to the detective, but I assumed that was just part of Adam's deflection of his deeds onto Fenton.

The Hidden (1987)

crime and sci fi

[7/10 · 29 September 2020]

Dual genre film, and it's a good one in both.

Different plot than The Terminator but one thing in common, the evil being is incredibly hard to kill.

A United Kingdom (2016)

Does justice to an incredible story

[9/10 · 10 September 2020]

Movies about monumental historical events present a high bar for those making them. When the movie is up to the task, it's a beautiful thing. to me, Schindler 's List is the gold standard in that regard. In my opinion, this movie is one that similarly lives up to its demanding subject matter.

Firefly (2002–2003)

diamond in the rough

[8/10 · 14 June 2020]

What a great sci-fi series! After watching the first episode I gave it a good review but didn't feel it was as good as Stargate SG1.

After watching the whole series, yes it holds its own with other great sci fi such as SG1.

The plots are good and avoid being formulaic. For example, a typical film or series with a character possessing unusual abilities would typically present that person doing ever increasingly astounding feats that save the day for the crew. River is made a much more complex character. Her abnormal brain often renders her problematical and raises apprehension among the rest of the crew. However, she occasionally does something amazing and beneficial. But she remains an enigmatic character rather than being elevated into a superhero.

It's a shame this didn't run more than one year. Running the episodes out of sequence seems utterly idiotic. People watch series to follow the story. They want to see a progression from one episode to the next. Not playing them in that order seems like a good way to kill a series no matter how good it may be.