jackbanister16 Reviews

Encanto (2021)

Not the most exciting storyline but solid music

[5/10 · 6 March 2022]

Watched this one with my daughter and I have to say, it was not in league with other Disney/Pixar movies and I'm glad I caught it on Disney+ vs paying for a theater admission! Not a bad movie by any means but I would not feel compelled to watch it again like I do with Moana or Coco. If I'm honest it was just a bit boring and lacked the depth you have come to expect with a Disney movie.

This was one of these "self discovery" movies with no real antagonist, but rather resolving family tensions and bringing back peace. Very nice message and fun characters, but anti-climactic in my opinion. Another complaint is that the origin of the Madrigal family magic seemed a bit flimsy to me.

The songs were catchy although the only one that leaves a lasting impression was "We don't talk about Bruno."

Overall not my favorite and I know that Disney is capable of much better work. That being said, I could see the visuals and music having broad appeal to young kids, so it might be worth watching with the little ones to keep them entertained for a bit.

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2019)

Writer should be ashamed

[3/10 · 9 April 2021]

Just read an article that screenwriter Chris Terrio wanted his name struck from the credits of Joss Whedon's Justice League because it was such a disaster.

How can he be ashamed of Justice League when he attached his name to this utter travesty. Just as bad if not worse. Disney pulled down their pants and took a fat, steaming dump all over the beloved original trilogy. Even Jar Jar Binks is hanging his head in shame at the laziness and cliche loaded "story" Disney pieced together to sell action action figures.

Just when you thought that Princess Leia force floating in the vacuum of space wasn't absurd enough, space horses galloping on moving spaceships.. yep, space horses.

Fatman (2020)

Story is a little lackluster, but acting makes it pretty good

[7/10 · 7 February 2021]

The story loosely draws on Santa's mythos, but presents Santa as having brokered a Faustian deal with the US govt. to manufacture toys with the intent of stimulating the economy. Unlike the normal presentation of St. Nick, Santa can get depressed and run low on Christmas spirit, and there are bills to pay to keep the toy factory afloat. At the end of the day though, this movie is basically a revenge plot between the kids who get lumps of coal and the big, red, fat man.

The actors are all top notch, truly. Mel Gibson is awesome as Chris Cringle with a gritty, but vaguely jolly Santa that has been brought down by the realities of life as a sellout. Mrs. Clause, played by Marianne Jean-Baptiste, is Santa's soft place to fall and brings a healthy dose of Christmas spirit to the table. The kid in this movie, Billy Wenan (Chance Hurstfield), is a truly diabolical villain, who in my opinion steals the show. He is almost a little too convincing in his sociopathic role; someone get that kid a shrink lol. A close runner up to the kid is his henchman, the skinnyman (Walter Goggins), who has also been "wronged" by Santa. All of the actors in this movie are very good at their jobs and deserve kudos for their performance.

The final scene is just excellent acting by Mel Gibson, who makes sure that everyone knows that Santa is making a list, and checking it twice.

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie, but I can't give this movie more than 7 stars because the climax was a little underwhelming. The movie builds a good deal of momentum and kind of peters out just when you hope they will turn the dial up to 10 on the action and drama. I'd definitely recommend it to a friend though!

Captain Marvel (2019)

This was a bland movie

[5/10 · 22 January 2021]

I saw this movie on a flight to DC last year and had been meaning to get a review in at some point.

This movie reeks of a money grab and a shoe horned origin story to try and drum up excitement for Avengers Endgame. Minus Samuel L. Jackson's amusing performance of an early Nick Fury, this movie is very bland. Minus a few minutes where her powers are restrained, there is never any real conflict in the movie as Danvers is extraordinarily overpowered and rarely faces a significant threat! Boring!

I am sorry to say it because she is easy on the eyes with that beautiful smile, but Brie Larson has the acting range of a potato, so this may be the perfect part for her. On the spectrum of emotion conveyed, she ranks slightly above Kristen Stewart. I understand she is part alien and supposed to be unemotional, but her performance is laughably wooden. The producers could have imbued her with even a slight bit of charm, but chose not to do so. Captain Marvel is supposed to be one of the more prominent members of the Avengers yet she does not fit in with the personalities of Stark, Thor, Spiderman, or even Captain America.

The Marvel origin story movies, originally fun and fresh, are becoming more and more formulaic in their obsessive attempt to connect story lines to the Avengers. I don't mind some the attempt to connect to the broader Marvel world, but not at the expense of good story telling.

Soul (2020)

This is a good movie!

[8/10 · 22 January 2021]

I have seen this movie twice now and can definitively say that it is a good movie! It has a great message to it and explores high level ideas that we all ponder at some time or another. While I really enjoyed it, I am not surprised to see negative reviews or criticism because this films breaks the Pixar mold in some ways. Chiefly, I believe that adults can relate to this movie more than children. It's not unusual for a Pixar movie to appeal to both adults and kids, but is unusual for the story and characters to be more adult in nature.

First of all, Soul is a bit more abstract than other other Pixar movies, even more so than "Inside Out" which tackled the concept of emotions very well but had a child protagonist and plenty of kid centered scenarios. On the other hand, this movie has an adult spin on before/after life, which is something kids may not relate to as well as a movie like Coco. References to historical figures such as Aristotle, Mother Teresa, Abe Lincoln and some of the humor will also likely go over the heads of the under 10 audience.

The movie features a likable character, Joe Gardener, whose life is cut short and is forced to face the fact that he never accomplished his ultimate goal in life: playing gigs as a jazz pianist. He spends the whole movie bouncing between the supernatural and physical world, trying to get back into his own body so that he can live out his dream only to discover that his ultimate goal does not define his life. The movie ends with the realization that you should enjoy the little things in life and make "living" your ultimate goal. It's not a hedonistic message, but more of a stop and smell the roses message which is very refreshing.

Technically speaking, the movie is gorgeously animated and features a great soundtrack. I don't think I'd go so far as to say that this is my favorite Pixar movie, but it's definitely a good one!

Cobra Kai (2018–2025)

Fun, fast paced, and nostalgic show!

[9/10 · 16 January 2021]

This is a very fun show with a healthy injection of comedy, nostalgia, and action! Run time of each episode is quick, about 35 minutes, so it's highly bingeable. Fair warning, there is a good deal more crude language in this show than the original Karate kid trilogy, so keep that in mind if there are kids in the room.

The most interesting part of the show, in my opinion is Johnny Lawrence's story arc of redemption, but Daniel LaRusso's struggle to make sense of difficult situations without Mr. Miyagi is also intriguing. The least interesting part of the show is probably the teen melodrama, which can be both saccharine and overacted to the extreme at times.

Personally, I find it refreshing to see a subtle push back on politically correct, woke culture that this show provides. Hopefully that doesn't change with Netflix now acquiring the series. It is big on themes of responsibility for ones' actions, which is something that is sorely lacking in our society. The show eschews terms like cultural appropriation and safe spaces as well.

Knock Knock (I) (2015)

Depraved but makes you think

[4/10 · 15 January 2021]

I did not enjoy this movie and do not need to watch it again, but it was an effective movie. This is how I feel about almost all of Eli Roth's films, which are mostly depraved, but force you to look at tough moral quandries.

Even the most milquetoast individuals, portrayed very well in this case by Keanu, have insane fantasies that look something like the first 20 minutes of this movie. The rest of this movie shows what happens when we indulge those fantasies; usually depravity and horror ensues. Maybe you glance at your wife with a smile while you're really thinking about hooking up with the hot girl in the yoga pants...Have you ever followed that scenario to its logical conclusion? What would you stand to lose? This movie, while almost absurdly overdone, makes you wonder.

There are also subtle winks and nods to the debauchery of Hollywood and how they "use girls" and toss them aside. This is interesting because it was right only a year or two before news about Weinstein finally broke out. You have to wonder if Roth was signaling some disdain with the perverse Hollywood crowd. Maybe that's a reach.

To the mechanics of the film, the plot is insanely far fetched and aside from Keanu, the acting was awful.

Tenet (2020)

Huh?

[6/10 · 14 January 2021]

After reading through some of the reviews, I'm glad that I'm not alone on this. I was confused, disoriented, and at times overstimulated.

I was able to pick up the general gist of the conflict, including how time travel/inversion worked and what Andrei was trying to do with it, but I felt like trying to follow the visuals of inversion and the ever changing nuances of the plot at the same time was highly disorienting and unenjoyable.

Furthermore, I am a guy who loves rumbling and loud sounds in movies (when it fits the scene), but this movie pushed my limits. I may be exaggerating, but it felt like there was a loud synthesizer blasting every other couple of minutes. Nearly every inverted fight scene featured loud synth blasting and it became fatiguing.

The movie, is undeniably nice to look at and visuals were on par with some of Nolan's best work, but story wise it felt like one of Nolan's weaker pieces. I enjoyed the performances of all of the main characters, including John David Washington, who I have never seen in a film before.

I did not enjoy Interstellar or Inception the first time I saw either of them, but I really came to enjoy them with subsequent viewings. Maybe that will happen with Tenet? Nolan has earned enough credit for me to give it another shot.

A Very Brady Christmas (1988 TV Movie)

A rough outing; needs a laugh track and some more Christmas cheer

[6/10 · 30 November 2020]

The lack of a laugh track on this, even though it's a feature length movie, made it a LOT less enjoyable. As most here, I've seen every episode of the Brady Bunch and loved it! It was nice to see almost the entire cast back in action, but the plot and some characters **cough** Marcia's little butt hole kid, Mickey **cough** left a lot to be desired. Part of what made the Brady Bunch sitcom special was its lighthearted and comical approach to more complex problems in life, but the tone of this movie is kind of a downer. Sure, the ending ties everything together, but it has little of the charm that made the sitcom so enjoyable. I realize that the kids are adults and now have adult problems, but it was a jarring change of style and pace from what we are used to seeing.

Back to the lack of a laugh track; The movie relied heavily on quirky expressions by Alice and one liners from Carol and Mike that would normally result in thunderous laughter from the laugh track. Instead, we are treated with awkward silence and pause from the other cast members. This could be forgiven if it was once or twice, but it happened a lot. Definitely questioning Sherwood Schwarz' decision making on nixing the laugh track and making it so dramatic.

One final complaint. If you are going to make the movie dramatic, at least take the time to roll out the problems and allow for a little conflict to occur to spice it up. The films spends the first 30-45 minutes unloading all the problems of each kid and their respective spouse, which are interesting. The problem is that the problems are quickly and neatly solved with hardly any conflict, which was a bit boring. I think this could have been pretty good as a limited TV series so that the problems could be given a little more depth and character development.

I am more than likely over analyzing a made for TV movie which serves as nothing more than a reunion episode, BUT I really enjoyed the sitcom and was hoping for more from this.

Suits (2011–2019)

Great show that went too long.

[6/10 · 28 April 2020]

I just finished season 8. Now, I am reflecting on the show that I have spent the last couple of months watching. Season 1 was brilliant, lightning in a bottle. The cast, dialogue, and pace were excellent. The courtroom drama was interesting and Mike's supernatural abilities were reminiscent of rainman minus the social awkwardness; I was hook and couldn't wait for more. Season 2 brought some gravitas with the entrance of Daniel Hardman and put some real stakes in the matter. I enjoyed seeing Jessica and Hardman duke it out.

Unfortunately, season 3 and the arrival of the British firm really started the decline of the show in my opinion. After this, I felt like the show repeated the same formula over and over: Firm or career threatening incident presents itself, characters bickering about it, and hasty resolution with minimal explanation. That along with the Donna drama became very tiresome.

Although it was initially charming for Donna to finish people's sentences and "know everything," it got old fast and she quickly became one of my least favorite characters. Season 8 was nauseatingly full of Donna being a know it all. The exit of one of my favorite characters, Jessica Pearson was a tough pill to swallow as I felt that she carried a lot of the weight of the show. Furthermore, the neutering of Mike's character was another tough pill to swallow. Not only did his supernatural memory ability seem to fade into the background, he just became a boring character. The drama with Trevor faded too quickly and he kind of devolved into a smarmy jerk.

I should be rating this show lower as it declined after season 2, but there were some great moments peppered throughout the series that kept me interested enough. I was surprised to look ahead and see that there is a season 9. I think I would watch it out of sheer curiosity, but I don't know that I'd expect anything different.

All in all, the first two seasons are worth a watch, but seasons 3-8 are anti climactic and don't carry the same weight as the first two.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Great fun!

[7/10 · 24 May 2018]

This was a great movie for the fact that you forgot your troubles for 2.5 hours and could watch some awesome heroes and villains clash in an epic war! I'll break it down as follows!

Reasons it was cool: Visually pleasing and smooth CGI (minus Bruce Banner's head in the hulk iron man suit [WTF?]) Thanos looked good though!

Great mesh of the different characters (Thor and Guardians of the Galaxy).

I enjoyed the emphasis on Thanos as his story is quite interesting; naturally a stand-alone movie would be nice.

This movie raised the stakes! Maybe our heroes AREN'T as immortal as we thought?

Reasons it was not cool:

Criminal underuse and screen time for some of the cooler Marvel characters like Dr. Strange, Captain America, and Black Panther. I get that it is an ensemble film on steroids, but felt shortchanged with regards to them in particular.

Thanos seemed overpowered at times, not allowing for enough actual war or conflict

The ending (will not spoil) loses some of its impact when you realize the other Marvel movies coming out.

Game Over, Man! (2018)

Overtly horrendous and obscene

[1/10 · 27 March 2018]

Ok, Netlix. The Will Smith/Orc movie was cheesy, but this movie was agony.

If your idea of seeing Marv from Home Alone's penis and many other random, gratuitous butt and penis shots, you may have found your Citizen Kane.

From the first to last scene, this movie is unrelenting with potty humor, genitalia, and frankly terrible jokes.

I did not laugh, even once; I cringed multiple times though.

I am not a prude but this movie was just nasty. I thought some movies in the last 5 years were going too far, but this made those past movies look like teletubbies. This is not cinema, this is mindless garbage.

I mean seriously, this is the best you can put out Netflix? What happened to actually trying to make people laugh with an interesting story arc, complex dialogue, and good dialogue?

If Netflix is trying to go head to head with HBO, they just set themselves back a few steps with this garbage.

Downsizing (2017)

Not a comedy; disappointing

[4/10 · 26 March 2018]

This movie is disappointing on several levels.

• The trailers almost exclusively show the brief "Leisureland" part in the beginning, but conveniently leave out the other hour of the movie.

• This movie is not a comedy so much as a political soapbox

• The movie is TOO long.

• Global warming alarmist movie. This movie pulls an Al Gore and tells you that the earth is going to be underwater in a few years. Time and history have shown this is not true. Ice caps are melting in some places, yes, but they're also growing in other areas. I'm not denying a certain man-made aspect, but this movie goes over the top.

• The "overpopulation" is a global crisis shtick is brought out... Nevermind that Nazis and Stalinists used that as an excuse for eugenics to kill millions of people.

• Apparently, minorities are not allowed in leisureland, especially Mexicans. Only rich, white men are allowed in leisureland. How many stereotypes can this movie play on? Ridiculous.

I will admit that there were some entertaining moments, particularly the moment when Paul (Damon) is downsized.

Not a movie that I would want to watch again.

Game Over, Man! (2018)

Felt dirty after watching this... What's going on Netflix?

[1/10 · 26 March 2018]

The Will Smith/Orc movie was just cheesy but this was downright horrible.

The jokes were disgusting and in poor taste. I don't think I laughed once throughout the whole movie.

The genitalia were too much. Way too much.

Marv from home alone has been forever ruined for me now!

I really need to remember to check imdb before taking a chance on movies because I'll never get that hour and a half of my life back.

I need to go watch Bambi or something to cleanse me of this..

Daddy's Home (2015)

Mildly entertaining.

[6/10 · 2 July 2016]

The only thing that really stands out about this movie is the scene at the Lakers-Pelicans game; that was hilarious. The boss at the radio station was actually pretty funny as well.

Other than that, this is far from Wahlberg or Ferrell's best work. Ferrell plays the overachiever super dad (stepdad) who is trying desperately to win over his wife's kids while Wahlberg is the "edgy" and handsome biological dad who suddenly re-enters the picture. Basically the movie consists of them one upping each other to try and win over the kids' affections. The only problem is that the kids aren't likable, actually not many characters in this movie are.

It got pretty cringe worthy when penis sizes between Wahlberg and Ferrell were compared, but I kept watching. The ending ended up being cute and slightly funny BUT again you couldn't get into it because the kids had very little personality.

Overall, there was enough light humor sprinkled in with a few big laugh out loud moments to make it mildly entertaining. I also understand that a sequel for this movie is in production....Why? There is no way on earth I'd see a sequel to this movie. It will be along the lines of "Grown Ups 2" bad lol.

How to Be Single (2016)

Horribly long and very boring.

[4/10 · 30 June 2016]

This movie is about 20-30 mins too long and it truly takes forever to end. The ending was very nice, but everything that led up to it was atrocious. Probably the most unnecessary element of the movie was the terrible side story of Alison Brie aka Lucy which totally distracted from the main story, didn't add anything very funny, and COMPLETELY bloated the run time.

Another con...Too much Rebel Wilson. I love Rebel, but she does her best work with minimal screen time and she's just too much in this movie. Her humor is not clever in any way, it's just loud and in your face; another example of this poor script.

The lead actress was good enough but the story around her was just not interesting so her talents go to waste. At one point in the movie, all the three guys that "love" her meet up in one spot but you realize that the love story lines were so poorly developed that they really have nothing to talk about; it's super awkward!

One of the few pleasant surprises of this movie was Leslie Mann! I normally can't deal with her roles as I find them whiny and shrill but she is very charming and funny in this movie. Her boyfriend, Ken also ends up being the funniest thing about this movie.

Overall just a bad movie. Nothing more, nothing less. Pass on this one.

Rubber (2010)

What?

[4/10 · 30 June 2016]

I went to the barber this weekend, who usually has a bootlegged movie playing and while I was waiting, this movie started. I probably watched a good 45 mins. before I left and I felt like that was more than enough.

Quite literally, this movie is about a tire that has telekinetic powers and can blow peoples' heads up. Even more odd are the people watching the tire from a distance with binoculars (and making creepy commentary).

I didn't see the ending, but truthfully I had no idea what was going on. There were odd and creepy sex jokes, heads blowing up every 5 minutes, and just no detectable plot in the movie. One minute the tire is at a gas station blowing someone up, the next he is taking a shower, then next thing I know the police are attacking each other?

There was another guy, about my age, waiting for his haircut and we both were puzzled as to why the barber was playing this movie. I've seen and enjoyed sy-fy channel movies and B-horrors that are way more tolerable than this!

Finding Dory (2016)

Good, but not Finding Nemo good!

[7/10 · 21 June 2016]

This movie's marquee was that it was one of the few sequels that was, "better than the original." I loved it, but *spoiler alert* - it wasn't.

Finding Dory picks up a year after the original film and gets to the point quickly! Through a series of events, Dory remembers that she has a mom and a dad and that they live in Morrow Bay, CA. Marlin and Nemo decide to help her and voila, we have our premise.

The movie wastes no time as Marlin, Dory, and Nemo meet up with the turtles and ride the East Australian Current presumably west where they land in the murky, garbage and kelp filled Californian coast. I won't give any more spoilers, but I will say that the trio quickly meets up with a villain who is unfortunately not as interesting as Bruce the white shark.

Without giving the plot away, I will say that the new supporting characters introduced in Finding Dory are just not quite as lovable, memorable, or funny as Gil and the tank gang. The slapstick humor was there and there are absolutely some laugh out loud moments throughout the movie! My daughter and I were cracking up!

The reason "Finding Nemo" was so darn successful was because of how simple it was. A neurotic, scared of his own shadow type of fish (Marlin) is forced into crazy scenarios because of Dory's reckless abandon and because the love of his son keeps him going. You feel the emotional attachment from the first minute the movie starts. Unfortunately, "Finding Dory," throws a ton of crazy scenarios at you without establishing a super strong emotional bond with the audience. While it makes for a good movie, it's not NEXT LEVEL good like "Finding Nemo" is. In short, Dory is a much more interesting supporting character than lead character (in my humble opinion). It's very hard to take her seriously with the whole short term memory loss thing!

Please don't mistake me for one of those guys who thinks the originals are always the best, I really don't think that way (Empire Strikes Back is the best!), but to me a superior sequel needs to both continue and improve upon the best aspects of the original which this movie did not do. Also, please don't view this as a negative review! I still loved this movie and will definitely be purchasing it when it comes out on DVD!!

The Revenant (I) (2015)

You only need to see it once, preferably in theaters

[9/10 · 10 February 2016]

**No spoilers**

Whoooooowee! What a great film! This is one of the rare excellent movies that in my opinion, you only need to see once. The only other film that left me with this type of impression was The Passion of the Christ.

This movie is emotionally and physically draining. Just watching a man get the hell beat out of him at ever turn is surprisingly tiring to watch. The message of this movie is quite simple: The power of vengeance to fuel a man's will to survive. By the time you leave the theater, you just want to sit by a fire and sip some hot cocoa.

The visuals are stunning. Panoramic nature shots, gripping close ups, computer graphics (The bear), and everything in between was fantastically done. The opening scene alone is quite literally THE BEST choreographed and shot battle scene I have ever seen.

You can tell that DiCaprio, Hardy, the supporting actors, and the crew went through absolute HELL to make this movie and it is definitely worth watching.

Sicario (2015)

Mas o Menos....

[6/10 · 29 January 2016]

Entertaining enough film which kept my attention for a couple of hours, but at the end of the day, wasn't fantastic.

The film had some very nice shots by Roger Deakins (which I suspect is why cenophiles are having orgasms over it)and made excellent use of "la tierra" in Mexico, the USA, and the desert between them. This is not Deakin's most impressive work, but it is a nice looking film.

The plot was straightforward and something we've seen many, many times in network TV shows and other movies...A do gooder, top of her class type Federal Agent gets involved with the (CIA?) and is shocked and horrified to learn her employer is working with the Medellin cartel (Benicio del Toro) to bring down a Mexican cartel, since apparently the Colombians are less crazy and chaotic than the Mexicans at smuggling drugs (lol). Naturally, the US of A wants to keep the operation under wraps which is where the conflict comes because the do good agent (Emily Blunt) doesn't approve of the methods.

The performances were good, but again, ruthless killer for a cartel (Del Toro), federal agent with a moral compass (Blunt), slightly eccentric, yet ruthless agent type (Brolin)? All are cookie cutter characters we've seen before so I just couldn't get into it. The one pleasant surprise was Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice) making a nice cameo. It didn't wow me, but it was refreshing.

Either way, this film didn't make me feel anything particularly special. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. See it for yourself and make your own decision!

The Visit (I) (2015)

M. Night is making a comeback.

[8/10 · 8 October 2015]

I went into this movie knowing nothing about the film so when I saw, "an M. Night Shyamalan film," I let out a frustrating sigh having been disappointed by him for years. This movie was different though.

There are no viral outbreaks, no creatures chasing Will Smith, and no air benders. It's simply two kids visiting their grandparents while their single mother goes on vacation.

I've noticed that M. Night does his best work when he puts the focus on ONE main story and lets the other dynamics and plots unfold around that story. In Signs, he focused on Mel Gibson's crumbling family life with an alien invasion as a backdrop. In this film, he puts the focus on the two children's relationship and lets the rest of the film follow suit. Anywho, enough about that.

This movie has the essential elements of a creepy movie. House in the middle of the woods, crazy lunatics for grandparents, and a couple of tech savvy teenagers.

The film is shot in found footage style which has definitely been done to death, but is not "in your face" in this movie. M. Night cleverly writes the teenage girl in the movie as a film buff who focuses on cinematography and "setting the mood," which allows him to use depth of field, good lighting, and good framing unlike other FF style movies like Paranormal Activity, etc which are more jumpy and gopro-ish. The visuals and camera work are refreshingly crisp and smooth, given the method of filming

From day one, you can tell that something isn't right with the grandparents and the kids decide to set up cameras and capture the action. Long story short, things get crazy.

The most surprising thing about this film is how naturally comedy, suspense, and overt horror are blended together. Nothing really felt forced or unnatural in acting, pace, or action. At some points the horror felt a little campy, but that can't really be avoided with so much humor in the movie and most of the people I saw the movie with were cool with that.

Looking back on it, the twists were somewhat predictable but at the time I was so engrossed with the movie I didn't even notice the plot twist creep up.

Great movie and I really hope M. Night can continue with this excellence! see this movie if you can!!

The Martian (2015)

Worth it.

[8/10 · 8 October 2015]

Took a flyer on this movie because I hadn't really heard the hype and had only seen one trailer, but I thought it looked good so I bought a ticket and went in.

Long story short, it WAS good.

Visuals were STUNNING with the exception of one scene where Mark Watney is being rescued, but Mars looks 100% real and is very believable. The visuals were on par if not better than Ridley's other film, Prometheus, which I thought was also a great movie. Ridley Scott knows how space needs to look, or at least how it should look on a movie screen. I will be shocked if this doesn't win some kind of design awards.

Lead acting was excellent by Matt Damon (as per usual), the crew was fair to midland with Michael Pena being the highlight, Jeff Daniels was a little too wooden (complete opposite of Dumb and Dumber haha), Chiwetel Ejiofor was fantastic in his role, and the rest of the cast got the job done.

The only laughable part of this movie is that the Chinese would actually try to help one of our stranded astronauts...That's how you know this is fiction. Either way, I enjoyed this quite a bit more than Interstellar, thought it was a bit better than Gravity, and is in a class of its own as far as Mars films go!

The movie has a light tone overall full of humor, but there are definitely some tense moments that will have you on the edge of your seat.

This was actually worth seeing in the theater for the visuals, highly recommend it.

Dexter (2006–2013)

Dexter is finally on my table...

[7/10 · 19 August 2015]

Sorry, I've been wanting to use that line for a while..

The show stopped being heart racing after season 2 with the death of James Doakes. Season 4 aka the Trinity killer is the closest the show came to regaining the magic of the first two seasons.

Season 1 was fantastic and like all new shows, immerses you in the world of Dexter Morgan, who we quickly find out is one of the most prolific serial killers in recorded history. What makes it even more interesting? He works as a blood spatter analyst in the Miami Metro HOMICIDE dept., the irony is definitely not lost.

On the surface and to nearly everyone except J. Doakes, Dexter is a good looking, oddly charming, and efficient worker. It's cool to see the transition from forensic analyst to cold blooded, psychopathic killer all in one fowl swoop. The supporting cast are all hilarious, lovable, and in the case of LaGuerta and Cpt. Matthews, hate-able. One character who really sticks out is Debra Morgan, Dexter's sister, who plays a potty-mouthed, blood hound of a detective. Vince Masuka also frequently provides comic relief to the show.

With no further ado, I'll mention a brief synopsis and critique of each season...

Season 1 - Great season. Everything including the characters and story line is fresh. It is fascinating to see Dex hide his dark passenger from his girlfriend, sister, and coworkers (who's sole job is to catch killers). The Ice Truck killer being Dexter's brother was a surprising twist and he proved to be a bone-chilling killer.

Season 2 - Fantastic season which really took the best things from S1 and ran with them. James Doakes, Lila, and Frank Lundy all appeared to be closing in on Dexter. I truly believed he was going to be captured. Lundy was a fantastic character and made a great addition to the cast. This is easily my favorite season.

Season 3 - I love Jimmy Smits, so I thought he was a great addition, but this season was rather lackluster. Although I like Rita as Dexter's girlfriend, the whole getting married and settling down thing wasn't entertaining, but it is a logical progression. Overall, there were some entertaining moments like the cat and mouse game between Miguel and Dexter, but the other subplots were boring.

Season 4 - This season was the closest to Seasons 1 and 2 in excitement and intrigue (at least in my book). John Lithgow was genuinely scary as Arthur Mitchell aka the Trinity Killer. Lundy made a special appearance to track down Trinity, but was gunned down too prematurely. I think it would have been interesting to have Lundy, Mitchell, and Dexter all hit a crossroads. Season 4's final twist is a shocker that no one could have predicted.

Season 5 - Probably the worst season I watched. I didn't find Lumen, Jordan Chase, or any of the 5 rapists and killers in the least bit interesting. This is where I started to also notice the writing start to slouch as far as dialogue and story line. There was no suspense or element of mystery to this season.

Season 6 - The kills made by the Doomsday Killers were probably the most interesting kills in the whole series, but unfortunately the killers played by J. Edward Olmos and Colin Hanks turned out to be dull and uninspiring after the first few kills. The only interesting thing to come out of this season was Dex being discovered by Debra as a serial killer.

Season 7 - This season was pretty bad overall. Dexter wasn't Dexter anymore because he had Deb breathing down his back and the main villain, Isaak Sirko was way too suave to be taken seriously. The main gist of season 7 was Cpt. LaGuerta figuring out that Dexter was the Bay Harbor Butcher (which ultimately resulted in her murder by Deb). Season 7 was better than 6.

Season 8 - I did not watch anything after the first episode of season 8. I looked up a synopsis because the show had declined so much.

Some of the things that bothered me about the show...

Quinn. He had some potential to really rattle Dexter's cage, but he kind of just faded back into his cement head detective role. He also got weirdly skinny and got a Donald Trump tan after season 3...Wtf?

Dexter's seeming immunity. The closest we got to seeing Dexter get unraveled was season 2, but then the writers took a step back. After that, you NEVER really sensed that Dexter was in any kind of danger. How Batista and Quinn could overlook the events of season 6-7 is BEYOND me. A more interesting season 8 would have seen a final confrontation with Deb and Dex which would have made me cream my pants.

Hannah McKay. I simply did NOT find her interesting in any way, shape, or form. Lila and Rita were fantastic, but the love interests should have stopped there. Lumen and Hannah were just annoying subplots that distracted from what IMO could have been more tension between Dexter and Miami Metro.

Overall, The acting was mostly first rate, writing was good for about 4 seasons with flashes in some of the other seasons, and the premise was in general a good one. Do you ever really know what's going on in someone elses' head? If a team of homicide detectives don't, how are you supposed to know? Dexter could be anyone, that's the scary thing.

Alright it's time to M-99 this review.

P.S. I had a great review but the 1,000 word limit really messed that up. Good going, IMDb.

Ant-Man (2015)

It's pretty rare nowadays...

[9/10 · 23 July 2015]

...That you actually enjoy a movie you pay $10 for... Other than "Jurassic World," the last couple of trips to the movie theater have been underwhelming, especially movies from Marvel.

I couldn't help but doubt this movie with the bitter taste of Captain America 2, Avengers 2, and Iron Man 3 in my mouth, but I decided to go see it with a friend; at the very least we could make fun of it.

Long story short, the movie rocked!

The objective of the movie was pretty similar to other Marvel origin movies: Flawed, underwhelming character becomes a superhero then is thrust into action to save humanity. This movie changed the original Ant Man (Hank Pym), to Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and in my opinion WORKED very well.

The movie was just fun all around. Funny scenarios, funny one liners, some of those "I Love You Man," moments, funny lip reading situations, and just a great supporting cast including Michael Douglas, TI, Michael Pena, etc. This movie didn't take itself too seriously yet it still managed to have a serious note, some solid Avengers references, and some good action.

I was tickled pink when I got home and found that Edgar Wright had contributed to the script...There are several moments in the movie, particularly the Michael Pena involved scenes that are Hallmark- Edgar Wright.

The action, animation, and effects were awesome. The final climactic fight on the Thomas the Tank Engine toy set was both epic and hilarious at the same time.

You won't hear me say this too often, but I would HIGHLY recommend you see this movie in theaters.

McFarland, USA (2015)

A bit political, but a feel-good movie.

[5/10 · 29 June 2015]

This was a pretty decent movie. It had sports, humor, good acting, and a good story behind the action.

The subtle political digs the movie got in were a bit annoying and in most cases, pretty unrealistic. I'll list the most unbelievable things in the film.

1.) When Mr. White or Blanco (Costner) goes to the Diaz bros. house to try and convince their parents to let them run, he and the rest of the family gorge on what seems like hundreds of flautas and enchiladas, there are even left overs. Outside, The Diaz father says something along the lines of "my boys running means less help in the fields which means I can't put food on the table..." Well sure, when you eat a freaking 10 course meal, it's going to be hard to keep food on the table..That made me laugh out loud at how unbelievable it was.

2.) After the Whites' daughter is attacked in an apparent gang retaliation, the mom seems more concerned about what the locals think and not coming off as "prejudiced," than her daughter's safety. I don't know about you, but if my daughter got stabbed in the leg, I'd be a whole lot less concerned with what the locals thought of me than getting the hell out of dodge.

3.) Javi or Thomas Velez' cousin claims that he is not a gangsta after Coach White apologizes for stereotyping him, but then is attacked in a gang retaliation...Hmmmm. Yeah...not a gang member at all..

4.) The female teacher/administrator, whatever she is... (besides an atrocious actress lol) seem to serve only to lay out the plot and make fun of Mr. White. It is a lame plot device that serves no purpose other than exposition.

As for political statements...We get it...White people can't work in the fields and "immigrants," do jobs that we could never do.

Except no...Ever read "Grapes of Wrath," or been back to the Midwest or Northeast? Plenty of white people and families work their own farms and have for hundreds of years so PLEASE, Enough with this crap. Many Mexican illegal immigrants work hard, but they also undercut wages and take jobs of citizens who used to work in those professions (hospitality, agriculture, fast food industry, etc). I'm not buying that broad statement from politicians, popular opinion, OR in this case...film makers.

I want to leave this review on a positive note. I loved the message of getting an education and misguided youth striving for greatness. I could have done without the overt illegal immigration messages, but overall McFarland was an entertaining, feel good movie with likable characters. I won't watch it again, but I enjoyed watching it with my family. There are better sports movies, and there are far worse ones.