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ronjohnston
Reviews
Love Lies Bleeding (2024)
I'm not sure this is a love story... unless you include the steroids.
I'm not sure this is a love story... unless you include the steroids. 80s steroid use gone awry.
Katy O'Brien is the standout performance for me. The arc was well executed; I felt the character's anguish and struggle.
I was a little disappointed in Kristin Stewart's character; no real flaws, just a little flat. Kristin was done better work.
Ed Harris' supporting character was well played, but not used enough to generate tension; I wanted to see more of the subplot between Harris and Stewart.
This film may be relying too heavily on the sex scenes. I think most of us are over the adolescent trill that is same-sex love scenes, and they did try to normalize it.
Any of the lead roles could have been played by another gender, and the story would have been the same... and I'd still want more Lou & Lou Sr story.
Pursuit (2022)
The small things matter
All the small things were bad! Makeup, fx, folly, supporting dialogue.
Hirsch couldn't hold character
Cusack was paid (best I can say)
At least the ending was predictable.
Daybreak (2019)
Zombieland meets Mad Max meets Scott Pilgram
Junk food for the brain - no pun intended.
Wastelands, zombies (not really), smart ass kids and even a message about getting vaccinated!
It is what it appears to be and it does it fail rly well.
Kiss Me First (2018)
Brilliant! I had hoped...
I was expecting Ready Player One meets Terminator meets Usual Suspects meets Jones Town... A Machine Learning, AI bot uses human psychology to befriend, indoctrinate and radicalize lonely gamers.
What we get is a seemly charismatic AI with an inferiority complex, childish angst and a mother complex creating a "suicide cult" in search of friends.
Here are some 'cliff hangers':
- An early plot driver, is ShadowFax's need for money; her Mother dies and she takes job a waitress and rents a room to a lodger. This need never seems to impact the flow even when the roommate can't pay rent. Why introduce this if there's no conflict?
- Mania's clinically depression is suddenly cured (no explanation)
- ShadowFax's computer hacking and electronics knowledge is justified with the statement "you always had a mathematical flare"; her ability to program/hack a global game system is apparently acquired over the course of the episodes. I guess a gamers are hackers too?
Unfortunately, the production company ran out of funds, I can only assume, and had to quickly find an end to story that was all middle.
Alas, a few hints of brilliance, with fairly strong young acting, trying to save an entire series; the actors deserved a complete story.
May be a good read to see if pages ended up on the cutting room floor.
The Rhythm Section (2020)
Uninspired rehash of mixed plots
Drivel wrapped in fish packing.
I was unable to feel empathy for the main character, could not suspend belief in their meteoric transition and generally disappointed in video game style off-screen instructions.
You could literally replace the lead with any actor of any race or gender and with minimal change in dialogue; personal pronouns included.
Person experiences tragedy, transitions to a revenge killer but is unsatisfied in the end.
Gemini Man (2019)
Loopers Meets 6th Day and Mr & Mrs Smith
If you're a fan of video game style cinema, plots pieced together from other films, then you may have found your way to spend a couple hours.