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giglio187
Reviews
The Batman (2022)
Had potential
The opening sequence had me thinking that this Batman had potential to stand up to Nolan's Batman Begins, but it just didn't pull it off. Pattinsons portrayal of Wayne/batman just didn't work for me. He had the brooding Batman character down, but Bruce Wayne is supposed to be a handsome, playboy type when he decides to go out in public. Not the same brooding, goth like character that Pattinson portrayed him as. I also felt the story itself lacked any depth. It was very long, and not much character development happened. Even detective Gordon was portrayed as a depressed, brooding type. It was a bit overplayed. As for the story itself, it's really not much, the riddler just kills off crooked political figures one by one, leaving little riddles for the Batman to figure out each time. By the time the riddler pulls off his grand finale, from a padded cell in the looney bin, there's not much suspense. I only watched this because I gave The Penguin a look on MAX and it was so good I figured I needed to watch The Batman to understand the back story. I was wrong, penguin is a minor player in The Batman. If your in the same boat as me don't waste your time. Just stick with Penguin, which is an excellent series so far.
The Union (2024)
The Cliche
This flick should be called the cliche. Just imagine every spy action flick you've ever seen and throw in a girl boss and that's why this movie was. Total cookie cutter, or paint by the numbers story. Same old tired action sequences. Same old tired dialogue. Same old tired twists. Super secret undercover team america agents that are trying to save the world. I mean the CIA doesn't know they exist, they're that secret. Of course they operate there missions in broad daylight in foreign countries and come and go from some giant eyesore of a building in London, but hey, they are super secret agents and all. This movie is basically an awful waste of time. Like others have said, I'm pretty sure the entire thing was written by AI, although I'm not sure 90% of Hollywood writers could do any better these days anyway.
As I Lay Dying (2013)
True to the Novel
This movie may well be the best adaptation of a novel I have ever seen. And anyone that has read the novel can tell you, it is not easy to follow the first time through. Between the dialect, and the same event being told from different perspectives, it could get confusing. The movie lays out the story almost to the word, and does it in a wonderful way. The acting was very strong. The split screen, while sometimes annoying, was probably the only technique that could best bring the feel of the novel to the screen. If I were an English lit teacher, I'd almost make this required viewing as a sort of cliffs notes of the novel. I also think the ending gets misunderstood by many, it is actually a very dark comedic, yet tragic twist that is easily missed if you have no appreciation of the story. Very well done adaptation, bravo to James Franco.
Griselda (2024)
Trash
Good job by the creators of this show to turn an ugly, psychotic, evil monster into a compassionate girl boss that just cared about her little boys. Pathetic. And the makeup on Sofia vegara to try and make her look ugly is so bad, like SNL skit bad. Take a look at what the real Griselda looked like, a 5 foot tall ogre, nothing like the gorgeous vegara. Aside from that the story itself is probably maybe 25% accurate. Her entire back story and why she ended up in Miami are all fiction in this series. This show sums up the current state of Hollywood, poor writing, idiotic plot lines that have to be full of girl bosses, and a bunch of bumbling men that don't know anything. I made it through 2 1/2 episodes and gave up. Hard pass, don't waste your time. Watch cocaine cowboys for the real story.
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
Way too long
First off, like most reviewers have noted, there were some excellent performances in this movie. Leo was really good as usual. Deniro had one of his best performances in years. And the cinematography was excellent as well. The story itself was basically a snooze fest. No tension, no character development. The run time was overly long and totally unnecessary. The timeline was also hard to follow as apparently years skipped by in the change of a scene. The story progressed at a snails pace, and since by the first hour you knew exactly what was going on, the next two hours were a slog. The last 30-40 minutes the pace picked back up when Jesse plemmons shows up with his fbi team to help crack the case. Then the ending is rushed, and the viewer is left with the insult of getting a synopsis as a member of a theatre audience. An audience that is watching some sort of live radio show telling and acting out the story we just watched. I had no reference to the book, and didn't even know until afterward that this was a true story. Scorcesee did the author, and the real life players no justice with this telling. If it weren't for the acting this love is a 2-3 stars tops. A poorly told and poorly executed movie.
Breaking Bad (2008)
modern tragedy
This was like a well written novel, not TV. The tragic story of Walter white was a breathtaking journey filled with loss and sadness at every turn. The more Mr. White took on his alter ego "Heisenberg", the more those he cared about the most suffered. The depth of the story increases with every episode as Walter continues to justify the often brutal decisions he makes as he becomes drunk with power, paying no mind to the obvious effects of those he supposedly cares so much about. Once his DEA agent brother in-law Hank, whose has been tormented by trying to track down "Heisenberg" finds out the truth he becomes so filled with rage, as a viewer you knew he would only wind up like all the rest. In the end Walt gets the only sort of personal redemption that was left for him. When the camera cut away in the final scene with Walter laying in a pool of blood in a meth lab it was the perfect ending to a masterpiece. Kudos Mr. Gilligan for this work of brilliance.