rtbradford Reviews

Poor Things (2023)

Difficult to Sit Through

[5/10 · 16 March 2024]

This movie was difficult to sit all the way through, mainly because of the musical score which was painful and unpleasant from the first cord until the last. Yes, the music was supposed to highlight the macabre nature of the story and a few discordant strains would've done that effectively, but it was constant throughout the whole film. It was just too much! The story was interesting and I somewhat see why the lead won best actress because she carried the film. The rest of the cast was strong. The cinematography was impressive too. If the score hadn't been so intrusive and off putting, I'd have given it a 7.

Damsel (2024)

Weak story; weak storytelling

[4/10 · 10 March 2024]

I was looking forward to seeing this movie based on the previews I saw in theaters. The plot was promising, if a bit obvious from the beginning, but the story itself, the dialogue and the execution of the movie were all pretty awful. It's basically aimed at 10 year old girls, but with graphic scenes that are too much for the targeted age group. The movie left nothing to the imagination. Everything was foreshadowed and then spelled out in the simplest terms. Like the bit where there's a map explaining everything that the heroine needs to do. It felt like a child's video game. The only redeeming features IMO were the dragon and the queen. The dragon was drawn to be a catlike creature with wings which was a nice variation from the lizard-like way dragons are often depicted in TV and movies today. And Robin Wright nailed it as the icy queen determined to keep murdering unsuspecting girls to keep her family on the throne. The rest of the cast was meh. Milli Bobby Brown was uninspiring and Angela Bassett tried to make something of the role, but her character just didn't have any depth, so it was a fruitless effort. The dialogue was pretty flat too. Also, the "kingdom" was basically a large village on a small island. Where its supposed fabled wealth came from is left unexplained. Despite being exceedingly tedious, it managed to feel rushed. At least this wreck of a movie went straight to streaming.

Dune: Part Two (2024)

Very loud and great visuals, but weak plot.

[7/10 · 1 March 2024]

I haven't read the novel, so maybe they just followed the plot, but either way, I found that parts of the story line didn't make much sense. Leaving aside the time worn trope of the white savior coming to redeem the backwards, darker skin people, and the evil villain who lacked any depth or redeeming qualities at all, the story generally was reasonable except for the end when the aged emperor, for some unimaginable reason, decides to personally accept a challenge from an upstart leader on a distant (though strategically important) planet by personally going to that planet to crush him. Why would the elderly emperor of galactic empire take such a risk when he could send his army to do it? Also, if anyone could become emperor simply by challenging the existing emperor, there would be constant challenges from the great houses trying to gain the throne. I found that glaringly irrational decision and nonsensical part of the plot difficult to overlook. And despite all the talk of Paul Atreides being some sort of messiah, he didn't actually do anything messianic except survive drinking poison. One final point: as much as I like Christopher Walken, he was terribly mis-cast as the emperor. I just couldn't buy it.

The movie was visually quite stunning in parts and the exploration of Paul and his mother's acceptance into the population of the desert people was well done. The battle scenes were really good and didn't look like CGI and the scenes of the people riding the giant worms were great cinematography. The music was way, way over the top. It was very loud and very dramatic, even in scenes that would have been better with more a more subtle musical background. I sometimes it felt like the soundtrack was overshadowing the actors.

On the whole it was enjoyable, though it didn't need to be almost 3 hours long. A passable, but not great flick.

Leave the World Behind (2023)

Great acting; poorly written story

[6/10 · 29 December 2023]

This movie is a taught thriller that manages to keep you guessing and interested right up to the end. Roberts and Ali deliver rock solid performances. The whole cast is very solid. The initial interaction between the two families felt very real and compelling. But the plot completely falls apart the more we learn about what's going on in the world. Some of it, like the internet going down and power grids going off line are believable (though someone, their house retains power for most of the film without any explanation like there being a generator). But the ridiculous business about the animals' migration patterns and behavior being affected was just absurd. Either it's a film about political breakdown and war or it's about some sort of supernatural occurrence, but it completely muddies the plot to try to have both. Ultimately the explanation is that there's a man made breakdown intended to cause the collapse of our civilization, so why the business with the deer? And there's no attempt to explain who is staging the coup or why. In the end, we see our own armed forces bombing NYC. Why on earth would they do that? There were simply too many huge holes in the plot to overlook. I found the acting top rate but the story extremely frustrating and poorly thought out.

Inheritance (I) (2020)

Simply Awful

[3/10 · 17 September 2023]

The negatives: the script was absurd and terribly unrealistic. Whomever did the casting has no idea how old you have to be to be a seasoned states' attorney. The leads all looked about 10 years too young to be believable. The plot was silly and was so full of holes, it could have been a comedy. And it didn't need to be almost two hours. The pluses: The house where much of the story takes place is nice! The acting wasn't awful. Actually, Simon Pegg did a solid job with what was really weak material.

This movie would've been passable as an ABC Movie of the Week. As a theatrical realease? Forget about it.

Invasion (2021–2024)

Not Really About an Invasion

[4/10 · 31 August 2023]

This show isn't mainly about an alien invasion. It's not a sci fi movie. It's a drama about how several small groups of people react to an alien invasion. I'd guess that less than 20% of the time in this season was spent on the aliens. The vast majority was spent on the reactions of the main characters to the invasion. We learn about their past experiences with bullying, parental abandonment, domestic violence, infidelity and the death of a child. When the aliens attack, we see it mainly through the character's responses to the losses they experience. The dialogue is unrealistic and overwrought with overly expressive emotions. And the time spent on the characters' relationships seems odd in the midst of an alien invasion. Visually the show is appealing and it has a nice diverse cast, though the soundtrack can sometimes be intrusive. Not sure I'll bother with season 2. If I do, I'll be doing lots of fast forwarding.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

Better than Expected

[8/10 · 11 July 2023]

I went into this fifth Indiana Jones movie with low expectations after the disappointment of the last one. I was pleasantly surprised. It didn't capture the magic of the first two films, despite its many nods to both in the action sequences, but it did provide 2 plus hours of enjoyable movie watching. The CGI used to make Indy look younger was very good. That technology has made huge strides in just the last few years. And when they showed him at his current age, they let the younger characters do most of the action scenes which avoided repeating the mistake in the last film of having a senior citizen Indy performing feats that would challenge a fit 25 year old or fighting and defeating men in their 20s and 30s. The one exception was the scene with him on a horse and even then, he did more riding than fighting. Yes the story was entirely predictable, so there wasn't much suspense, but it delivered an outlandish tale with outlandish fight scenes and an outlandish plot in time honored fashion. It was like riding a favtorite rollar coaster ride one final time.

The Little Mermaid (I) (2023)

Beautifully Made Film

[9/10 · 31 May 2023]

My family and I thoroughly enjoyed this film. I always loved the original, and haven't thought much of some of the live action remakes, but went to the theater with an open mind. I glad I did. Halle Baille did a fantastic job as Ariel, and Melissa McCarthy totally rocked it as Ursula! The guy who played the king looked a bit out of place and low energy, but the rest of the cast was top drawer. The guy who played the prince was especially dishy. The songs and orchestration were wonderful, though they could have dropped that rap song. And the visuals were just stunning. I saw it in an IMAX and it was like being under the sea. Disney obviously did a lot of research nto sea life around the Carribean because they created a rich, vibrant under sea world with many realistic looking fish ad other marine animals. I was worried that it might seem overly long, but I found that the time went by quickly. On the whole, I thought it was a very well made film.

Mayfair Witches (2023– )

Disappointing

[5/10 · 25 February 2023]

This show had potential, but it became rather insipid really quickly. The first episode was very well done and I liked the way they slowly introduced the New Orleans family. But it was downhill from there. Rowan's character goes back and forth between being a level headed doctor grounded in reality to being a plaything of Lasher with no trace of her former personality. There's no transition. Nomgradual evolution. She just jumps from one to the next. And her relationship with Ciprien is the same. One minute she doesn't trust him; the next they're in bed having sex; the next, she's wary again. And in the last episode, she fully embraces Lasher as if her prior personality was entirely subsumed. The direction was terrible and the story was silly and soap opera-ish. Don't think I'll be watching Season 2.

Black Adam (2022)

Absolutely Awful!

[3/10 · 29 October 2022]

I was looking forward to this flick, but it was simply awful. If you've seen the clips, you've seen all the best parts of the movie. I wasn't looking for Oscar quality, but at least some semblance of a plot. And I've read plenty of comic books in my day, so I know what a decent comic book plot is like.

Visually, the movie was almost entirely CGI and it wasn't the best CGI either. The Rock basically did a few scenes where he showed an angry facial expression and the rest was CGI. And the story, if you can call it that, was sloppy. For example, how does a long dead guy in what I assume is somewhere in the Middle East get resurrected speaking perfect American English? And why does the Justice Society just attack him without finding out his story?

The movie was so bad even my 13 year old son left the theater saying it was one of the worst movies he's ever seen. Hawkman was the one redeeming aspect of the movie. It was nice to see him introduced to the DC cinematic universe.

If you want to see it, best to wait until it comes out to stream at home for a few bucks.

Wild Is the Wind (2022)

Compelling Film

[7/10 · 28 October 2022]

The film offers an interesting view of a South African town and township and highlights the continuing inequality characterizing South Africa. The town very much has the feel of a southern town in the US in the 1960's where racial inequality was stark, racial attitudes and privileges were potent and very much in your face, even as many in society tried to move forward. The take of the criminals in the black community justifying their criminality as a reasonable response to racism was compelling and the tension between the white and black cops felt authentic. There are no purely good guys in the movie (though there are a couple of good, very noble women) and only one irredeemably evil guy. On the whole I thought it was a very good flick, if a bit melodramatic. It didn't offer the relatively happy ending I was expecting, but it was perhaps more realistic as a result. Innocent people are sometimes railroaded, police do knowingly charge innocent people if they're under duress to produce a suspect and in South Africa and in the South Africa, murders of whites still prompt more vigorous efforts by authorities to find the killers than murders of black people. It isn't a pleasant film and it doesn't say much positive about human nature, but it's a good movie.

The Sandman (2022– )

Great first half; less than stellar conclusion

[8/10 · 21 August 2022]

I didn't read the comic version of Sandman, so I had no expectations. I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the series, but I think the story lost its way towards the end. And that 11th episode they added was awful. But although the storyline became extremely silly and was tied up too quickly at the end, the series was visually quite stunning, despite the abundant use of CGI. And I loved the rich diversity of the cast. On the whole, IMHO this is the best original series that Netflix has produced aside from Stranger Things.

Day Shift (2022)

Utter Crapola

[2/10 · 13 August 2022]

I love vampire flicks and I like Jamie Fox, so I was looking forward to this movie. But unfortunately it's bad. REALLY bad. The dialogue is just so awful that it makes the movie difficult to watch. There's barely any acting; the plot is so thin it's not really a plot and the vampire lore is just pitiful and incidental to the very trite storyline. It's hard to enjoy it because it's just so stupid. I guess Netflix is so desperate for content that they'll green light any script at this point.

Jurassic World Dominion (2022)

No plot roller coaster ride

[5/10 · 24 June 2022]

This movie is so bad, it's almost tolerable. It doesn't even pretend to have a plot, it's completely incoherent and the direction is absurd to the point that at some point you stop remarking on the nonsensical scenes - like someone emerging from an icy lake bone dry and completely warm - and just accept that it's basically, literally a roller coaster ride taking you from one contrived scene to another. No stars die, all the minorities are virtuous, the laws of physics literally don't apply (you can crash a plane and emerge unscathed), dinosaurs don't act like animals but like WWF performers fighting for our amusement, you get the point. This movie was cranked out simply to get your money. So lower your expectations way, way down because this is probably the worst movie of this franchise -and that's quite a low bar.

Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2024)

Bad plots and writing

[7/10 · 21 June 2022]

I think they tried to recreate the feel of the original Star Trek, but they miss the mark. The scripts are so simplistic and predictable and the overly emotional tone make it difficult to stay engaged. And the way everything is tidily wrapped up makes it almost cartoonish. It's almost a parody of the original. The great diversity of the cast and the top notch costumes and special effects are the saving grace of the show.

Morbius (2022)

Much too rushed

[6/10 · 14 May 2022]

This movie was worse than a network movie of the week. Yes, it was fun and light hearted and didn't take itself too seriously, but the story was way, way too rushed. Möbius' transition from upstanding scientist to vampire happens in a few scenes. His friend's transition occurs even faster. Instead of showing who people are and showing the way they relate to each other, we're just told. And no one seems to have any trouble believing in vampires - as if they're just a common everyday hazard. Yes, I know it's a comic book story and all, but compared to other recent flicks, this one seems cheap and shallow. Even Marvel's streaming TV series are much better made with much richer storylines.

Night Teeth (2021)

There was no plot

[2/10 · 23 October 2021]

That's it. There was no plot. Just a few vampires and hunters. The only thing close to a plot was the backstory provided by the narrator at the start. One of the worst vamp movies ever.

Chapelwaite (2021–2023)

Weak!

[4/10 · 18 October 2021]

Started out promisingly, but went down hill pretty quickly. The story itself - an ancient vampire seeking an unholy book that can bring about a vampire apocalypse and a family's bloodline tied to the book leading every adult in the family to become an insane maniac - was just too much. The way the story unfolded was poorly thought out and rather incoherent. The constant whispering of almost every line was annoying. The way the vampires were super strong one moment yet easily knocked down the next made it hard to keep watching. There was little suspense or sense of drama. On the whole a very disappointing series. Not very good storytelling at all.

The Tomorrow War (2021)

Amazon needs to hire better movie writers

[4/10 · 28 July 2021]

The action was fun, but the plot was so stupid that it was hard to enjoy the flick. Amazon seems to have figured out how to make decent TV series like Man in the High Castle, The Boys, The Expanse(yes!) and Mare of Easttown.

But I've yet to see a single Amazon original movie that was anything better than adequate and most aren't even that. This dud had a great premise and top drawer special effects. I liked Chris Pratt and the diverse cast. But the plot! A good movie needs a decent plot! It needs to make sense. Also, some of the editing was sloppy so some of the fight scenes appeared disjointed. Characters that were about to be overrun one second were suddenly in the clear. Stuff like that. But the main issue was plot stupidity.

Amazon, please take some of those writers working on the TV series you produce and have them work on your movies.

Army of the Dead (2021)

Weak!

[3/10 · 22 May 2021]

Weak and predictable story. The comedic parts weren't funny. Give it a miss.

Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)

Much Better Movie

[8/10 · 29 March 2021]

This version is so much better than the originally released movie. At first, I didn't understand what all the excitement and hype were about when it was announced that the Snyder version was being released, but now I understand. The originally released movie was pretty awful. The storyline was disjointed and the character development was almost nonexistent. The Snyder version provided us with full storylines and character development for Cyborg and The Flash as well as eliminating some extraneous material that didn't add to the movie. If you like DC comics and were disappointed with the 2017 version of Justice League, go and see this version. You will be pleasantly surprised at how much better it is than the original.

The Long Song (2018)

Frustrating at times, but a good story

[7/10 · 5 February 2021]

Just finished the series and while it was frustrating, painful and heartbreaking at times, it is well worth watching. It touches on so many issues that remain relevant today - colorist, the arrogance of privilege, the desire to escape racial boundaries, yet the risks that can come when things go wrong. I felt the series did a good job of showing the casual brutality and sadism of the slave system and the utter immorality of the whites who owned slaves. The story of July was frustrating because she was clearly clever, yet seemed utterly unaware of the duplicity of the whites around her, including her "husband" and master.

Despite these shortcomings I found it compelling and well acted. Several commuters have claimed the actress who played July was too dark to be of mixed race or be a house slave. Neither is true. It is not the case that all mixed race people are fair skinned or that all house slaves were fair skinned.

Hereditary (2018)

What?

[3/10 · 25 October 2020]

Sorry, but I thought this film was absolutely awful. The storyline made no sense. It was as if there were two movies: a well made drama about a family dealing with significant unresolved issues and 20 minutes of silly, non-sensical horror grafted onto the end. I have no idea why so many people gave this movie such high ratings.

The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)

Huh?

[2/10 · 11 October 2020]

This is the worst acted movie I've seen in quite a while. I know it was meant to be a comedy/horror, but it was just so bad that it wasn't even funny. The acting and direction were terrible and the storyline was disjointed and stupid. I see what the director was trying to do, but it just didn't work. Maybe the star shouldn't have tried to star in and direct the movie, though in truth his acting was really, really bad and the direction was pretty awful too. All around a major disappointment.

Antebellum (2020)

Stupid Movie

[3/10 · 20 September 2020]

OK, I thought this was supposed to be based on Octavia Butler's novel Kindred and that's how it was marketed, but that's not what it was. It was basically the most implausible mass kidnapping movie ever made. And even as that, it failed. First, it was internally inconsistent. The main character is branded in "the past" and then wakes up in her own bed in "the present" and the brand's gone. Makes sense if it was a dream or she actually was time traveling, but makes no sense if she was just kidnapped. And if she was kidnapped, why would she think it was a dream? Why wouldn't she remember being serially raped? And why on earth would so many modern day people just accept being enslaved when they were being held only a few miles from civilization? The whole premise doesn't work. I like Janelle Monae, but this movie is just plain awful.