hopebuild Reviews

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016)

Well made movie/sad subject matter

[9/10 · 9 June 2016]

The subject matter contained in this movie makes me sad and mad. Firstly I can't believe that these Americans waited so long to see the writing on the wall. I'm sure there is a lot more to the story that is "classified", but from what I saw they should have gotten the heck outta there sooner. It's a real shame that the executive branch of our government didn't see fit to help them out. A huge snafu to say the least. I'm mortified to see what happened there. The movie itself was well made and well acted. The things that go on behind the scenes with the CIA, our military, and our government have me shaking my head. God Bless the men and women who died there and the ones who survived the nightmare.

The 5th Wave (2016)

What the...?

[1/10 · 4 May 2016]

This is quite possibly the worst movie that I have ever watched. Take a horrible plot, throw in an idiotic script, add horrible acting, get a director who dares to try and make sense of this mess and presto you've got The 5th Wave. The real crime is that this mess cost $38 million to make and grossed $67 million worldwide. This is another one of those movies who tries to be like the Hunger Games or Divergent. Get the children to save us. I am absolutely amazed that pieces like this actually get made. What a sham. I used to like Chloe Moretz. If I were her I would fire my agent. This kind of a movie could kill an actors career. This movie was so bad that even Chloe was horrible in it. Usually she does a pretty good job in movies. I don't recommend this movie to anyone. Don't waste your time like I did.

Baskets (2016–2019)

What? No laugh track?

[9/10 · 10 April 2016]

I can't help it. I've come to love this show. The characters have grown on me. At first I was a bit taken aback at the style of the show. After about the first four episodes I was hooked. I can't wait to see what happens next to my dear Baskets family. The show is original, there is no laugh track, and it's more true to life than most television these days. Chip is a nice guy, an aspiring natural clown, and Bakersfield is a real town. What's not to love. I'll be rooting for Chip and hoping that the show is successful so that it will continue. Kudos to FX for airing this wonderful, refreshingly unique take on the American family. I think that the Baskets are more true to life than most people would care to admit. I for one have been in dire need of characters that are life like in a show. I hate to over analyze. All I know is that I love it. I hope there will be more.

Leprechaun (1992)

Where's Me Gold?

[7/10 · 31 March 2016]

Here is another one of those movies that I really have to hand it to. The estimated budget on this little gem was only $900,000. I so thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I knew going in it was probably going to be cheesy schlock. My boyfriend was quite resistant to watching it, but I prevailed. Back in 1993 when the movie was made I don't know what we expected in a movie. I forget. These days it seems like they rely so much on CGI. I'm not saying that I don't enjoy CGI, it's good too. There is just something about these little films that use puppets and make up to get the job done. I love the schlock. We both really enjoyed this film. It was so fun and funny to watch. I hope if they redo it or do a sequel that they leave the production quality and the methods the same. If they do I would welcome a sequel. I know that a Leprechaun Origins was made but I haven't seen it. I would definitely recommend this movie to a friend. P.S.- I always give an extra star or two to films that don't cost a fortune to make because they deserve it for using their creativity instead.

Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)

Sci-fi or comedy?

[5/10 · 29 February 2016]

I absolutely adore this movie because it made me laugh so very hard. It just has that ever so dated technology that cracks me up. If I ever get stranded on a planet other than earth I hope I find the following: an atmosphere that allows me to continually open up my space helmet, the ability to breath right out of the compressed oxygen tank without blowing my lungs up, a bunch of rocks that exude oxygen, and last but not least an aquatic plant that proliferates sausages! The movie gets better as it goes along as far as the scientific epiphanies go. Lucky is the earthling who gets stranded on Mars only to have it all. Do yourself a favor and watch this movie. It's priceless! P.S.- This treasure would have gotten at least one more star had Adam West not died so early on. I would have loved to have seen Batman enjoying the native sausage plant life.

May (2002)

This one is more than just a nail biter.

[10/10 · 23 January 2016]

This one had me biting my fingers! I appreciate movies that use creativity instead of millions of dollars to intrigue an audience. The characters were nuanced and well acted. This movie falls into a sort of sub-genre that I call little gems. The movie had a budget of only 500k! There are movies that cost 200 million that have me twiddling my thumbs and begging for the end to come. Inevitably these big block busters get rave reviews and make more hundreds of millions. I love little hidden gems like this one. I really have to hand it to the director who took a real good story and married it perfectly with the lead actress' ability. It brought forth a character that I absolutely fell in love with and a movie that rocked. Ten stars is a generous rating but I give extra stars because it was a little gem.

The Hateful Eight (2015)

A Polarizing Flick

[3/10 · 10 January 2016]

I had to wait four days after watching this movie to write this review because I was spitting fire It's simple THE FILM IS TOO LONG. I loved the cast. The acting was superb. I'm blaming the script. It isn't the commentary or the n-words. I like that part. It is the lack of editing. What was said, needed to be said, more succinctly. The constant babbling soliloquies made the film nearly three hours. It gives the impression that Father Quentin was being overly self indulgent. Perhaps it was my fault for going to a movie theater to see it. The seats just don't accommodate a 167 minute film, period. I think if I had seen it at home I would have at least been more comfortable for the onslaught. My biggest disappointment was that the film starts out with greatness and gradually tapers down to a slow, long, trickle..........drip, drip, ugh.

Cooties (2014)

Funny, edgy, and a bit creepy

[8/10 · 23 December 2015]

I love these types of movies. I mean the kind that don't have to have a ton of special effects, CGI, or magnificent stunts to get me going. First of all I loved the cast. It was an eclectic mix of characters that worked. It was also funny and had me laughing out loud quite a bit. I appreciated this movie in it's simplicity. The comedy was unique (not the same old tired bits that are always used). I was pleasantly surprised at how funny it was. Even though it isn't "big box office" material I enjoyed it thoroughly. Even though it didn't do that well at the theaters, I am sure that it will do great at Netflix, Hulu, etc.,. I will definitely recommend it to family, friends, and coworkers. I rated Cooties an 8/10. A bit higher than it actually may be, but I give extra stars to movies because they aren't blockbusters, but are still good. It isn't fair to compare a movie like this to a movie with a $100,000.000 budget. So I give these little gems an extra star.

Norbit (2007)

I laughed so hard all through it

[9/10 · 9 October 2015]

I absolutely loved this movie. I have seen it three or four times now and I still laugh all throughout the movie. The movie is just hilarious and Eddie Murphy does a great job in playing the various rolls. I am saddened to read some of the reviews where people are offended by the humor in Norbit. I guess those people are a lot more sensitive than I am because I thought the humor was fine. I am a big fan of Norbit and would recommend it to anyone as long as you are not over sensitive to fat jokes or racial acknowledgment. I hope that Eddie Murphy keeps coming out with these hilarious movies where he plays multiple rolls because I love them. Norbit reminds me a little bit of a fairy tale.

Unfinished Business (I) (2015)

A waste of an hour and a half

[2/10 · 5 September 2015]

Movies like this absolutely insult me. It was an unbelievable farce and I hated Franco's character, Mike Pancake. He was too dumb to be believed and was so dumb it made me angry. There was nothing funny in this movie. I know it was supposed to be funny. It tried very hard to be funny. But I know that it wasn't funny because I didn't laugh. I am insulted by movies like this. I feel like the director just throws the movie together and couldn't care less about the viewers' sensibilities. I can't believe that someone financed a movie like this to the tune of $35,000,000. I will forget about this movie right away except that I'm angry that I can't get the hour and a half back. Don't waste your time watching this unfunny, unbelievable, schlocky, drivel. The quality of movies coming out these days has gone down hill, but this one takes the cake.

The Jack Bull (1999 TV Movie)

Decent Story Sloppily Directed

[3/10 · 11 August 2015]

The sloppiness I blame on the director. My friend said, "...who cares it was made for HBO...". I care and if it were my name associated with the movie I would at least make sure you couldn't see the harness cable behind the head of the man being hung. You could totally see it. They could have shot it from another angle and then we couldn't have seen it. Also in the scene in court they show women and a black man on the jury. Not even. In 1890 not even a state yet Wyoming no women were sitting on the jury. Anyway this movie is fraught with ill fitting scenes, motivations, and had lots of goofs. I saw John Cusack move his arm when they took him down from the gallows. There were many goofs. I would never put my name on something this sloppily made even if it were only for TV. I feel insulted when movies are this sloppily done.

Seventh Son (I) (2014)

A Decent Fantasy Movie

[9/10 · 3 July 2015]

Overall I really enjoyed the movie. Granted the plot wasn't richly developed and the green screen shots contrasting to the real life Canadian outdoor shots was obvious. Sometimes I just want to be entertained and I will overlook the shortcomings of a film. Lately a lot of the movies that have came out have had so much that bothers me in the way of horrible dissolving plots, bad acting, bad casting, etc. This movie didn't have anything that insulted my intelligence, so I'm grateful for that. For me the simple plot worked. It was a decently entertaining film that I plan to watch a couple more times. I am hoping that there will be at least one sequel.

Palo Alto (2013)

Yawn

[3/10 · 18 May 2015]

This movie had me bored. There was not one likable character. I was surprised to know that throughout the movie the main characters were supposed to like each other. There was absolutely no indication of it. Also what angers me is the amount of smoking. I can't help but think someone from the cigarette industry sponsored this movie. Isn't it enough of the smoking in movies. Actors lighting a cigarette in a scene has become a crutch to give them something to do. It's so overdone. I guess the movie is supposed to be a slice of life. The scenes were SO low energy. Also the music score was blah. If you haven't seen it yet, don't bother.If I had to say one word about the movie it would be YAWN.

The Black Stallion (1979)

Beautiful movie, beautiful story

[8/10 · 2 March 2015]

I read most of the books in the Black Stallion series when I was a young girl of 8 or 9. The story is a great one. An epic tale. This movie captures the spirit of the first book of the series. Visually this movie is stunning. I would definitely recommend it, especially for horse lovers. I may even go back and read the books again. The book goes into a lot more detail than the movie, of course, but the magic of the story comes across beautifully here. The boy who plays the lead should have won awards for doing such a great job throughout the movie in interacting with the horse. It is a shame what happened to the boy actor who played the lead. In real life his career was cut short by tragedy. I love movies about horses and this one is up there on my list.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

Everything that's wrong in film making today.

[2/10 · 1 January 2015]

This movie didn't "transcend" anything for me. I can't stand when movies make people seem dumb. It's not that they just did unintelligent things. The script: "...spare me the hippie-dippy sh**..." Yeah talking about virology is hippie-dippy. The plot was full of holes, the script idiotic, even the sets were unbelievable. When I think of how good the original Planet of the Apes movies are it makes me want to cry. The people did such dumb things like just standing there with their mouth agape when the apes come to speak to them; if you haven't been able to contact anyone by radio in ten years why is it an emergency now; why wouldn't you move the arms to where you are living; why wouldn't you use solar, wind, or even bicycle power. It seems like they built this movie around a couple of key scenes and let the rest of it rot. Not a fan.