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ThomDerd
My reviews aim to be fair and informative and I am against spoilers.
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
W. (2008)
Watch this after watching VICE.
W. Was released in the wrong time. Probably 10 years too soon. If you stumble upon this film now, you will be entertained. Because this story and this character are just absurd. Politics aside, Brolin does a good job portraying W.
I suggest watching VICE first and then back to back this one and you will appreciate it more.
7,1/10.
The Office (2005)
What to say more.
I don't have much to say here other than the fact that I just watched this for the first time. Binge-worthy and hilarious.
Steve Carell should have won an Emmy.
It's one of these classics that you need to watch.
9,1/10.
Jack Ryan (2018)
Wendell Pierce.
Jack Ryan is actually alright. First season was excellent, second season had a few issues but in the end turned out great too.
I admit that I was sceptical at start but John Krasinski is convincing in this role. It somehow fits him.
The story is well written and builds up nicely towards the season finales and keeps you engaged throughout.
It's also shot in many beautiful locations and it's evident that they spend quite a lot on the production and time to put this together.
But the best part in it and possibly the glue which make this series look cool and slick and interesting is Wendell Pierce.
If you are a fan of "The Wire" then you ll be very happy to see him in Jack Ryan.
He does an excellent job in his character and also teams up nicely with Krasinksi.
In other words he gives credibility to the whole thing.
8/10 Good series.
Black Widow (2021)
This film is the epitome of...
...Average filmmaking.
Here are few words which can describe this film:
Unnecessary
Uninteresting
Disappointing
Re-watch another marvel film to shake off the dullness after you are done with black widow.
I m not saying don't watch it; but once you do, you will know!
By the way my reviews for black widow here keep getting deleted.
So here's another one...
Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins (2021)
If that's an origins film, then the origin is missing.
Bad writing, which killed the character development and eventually the character itself.
Regarding the origins film, the actual origin's story is almost missing here! Why is snake eyes already so skilled? Since it's his origin story, then why don't you develop it?
Average film. Only thing worth it is Iko Uwais.
3,5 / 10.
Ted Lasso (2020)
Be aware.
If you are into football then you should know that Ted Lasso is not only about football and it's a rather emotional series. It's a comedy-drama with 25% part involving sports. Football is not always in the foreground.
But that doesn't mean it's not good. In fact, it's a remarkable series, well-made with excellent dialogue moments and top-notch acting.
One of the highlights is the music tracks selection; they chose some great tunes to keep the pace going and the music definitely gives more depth to the entire series.
You can see the great effort making every episode in everything: the acting, the writing, the lines, the editing, the sound mixing; it all blends together.
1st season was great, 2nd season had a rough start but picked up halfway through.
Also, some of the episodes tend to be rather unpredictable...
9/10 Ted Lasso is worth it.
What If...? (2021)
Cool series with interesting twists n tales.
This is fun. I am enjoying every story.
Not all episodes are as good but overall it's worth it.
(The doctor strange episode for example was exceptional).
If you are a Marvel fan, you will probably like it, for these -and many more- following reasons:
1-Happy to hear all the voices from the MCU actors. Makes the starting titles interesting; you d wanna see who's in it.
2-The stories are captivating. There's some comedy, action, drama; a good range.
3-There's some great one-liners. New ones and also memorable ones.
4-The pace of each of the episodes is excellent. It really gets you into the story.
5-It does great tribute to MCU's pivotal points.
Give it a go, you will enjoy it.
8/10.
Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (2021)
Excuzzz me, what's the bad guy's plan again?
Banderas is now Greek. And wants to wreck havoc in the EU. Although the movie was (at times) fun and it's cool to see Samuel Jackson and Morgan Freeman in the same film, a star-packed cast can't get this film rated above 6. And 6 is already too much.
Where to start...Pace is inconsistent and compared to the 1st film there are some really boring parts. Action is focused on bang-bang and car chase, coupled with some extreme shouting from Salma Hayek. Acting is ok (if you can stand Hayek).
Storyline is outdated and exaggerated but keeps the European vibe of the first film, which is consistent.
Comedy is prevalent throughout the film and there are some good moments.
And of course...Antonio Banderas:
He plays the villain, Greek billionaire Aristotle Papadopoulos, but he doesn't take the role too seriously and he still is the one and only Antonio Banderas, with the one and only Spanish accent we all know. He delivers some funny one-liners mixed with a few popular Greek words and almost looks like a villain BUT with a really weak and bad plan.
Comedian Ryan Reynolds does well in comedy.
Frank Grillo is always a nice addition, even though his role in the film is not essential.
Nice cinematography, photography and great Italian landscapes. And some truly funny moments.
Maybe since they're chasing a Greek, they should have done more shots in Greece, so it could have been more relevant. Because in the overall story the connection with Italy seemed rather weak.
To conclude, there's a few reasons to watch this film. But it's not as good as the previous one, so be prepared.
I personally enjoyed it but it's no more than a 6/10.
The Ice Road (2021)
Liam Cage vs Nick Neeson.
Not sure who is my favorite from the 2. But both seem to love the 1-man-show kind of films which have absurd and nonsensical stories.
The Ice Road is...just another Liam Neeson movie. Obviously Nick Cage would have liked to be in this one, but Liam got there first.
Realism went for vacation here. Trucks and truckers after having seen this film are probably furious with these completely wrong and unbelievable scenes.
But, that's the Hollywood magic.
So folks this ain't a documentary but an action film set in cold Canada involving trucks, mines, bad people and ice roads.
In fact, it's an enjoyable action flick.
It needs to be seen with the right amount of patience, to go through all the silly dialogue moments and the unreal truck scenes.
Maybe the cinema experience helps too.
So, switch off and you might actually enjoy it.
5,9/10.
Loki (2021)
Half way through, needs coffee breaks.
Yes, its Loki and he is a great mcu character, but hey, whats up with you Loki? You are doing well but this series needs to be watched while sipping coffee.
Episodes 1-3: It's ok, but sometimes it turns into a yawn-fest. It really lacks pace.
Some good things: The dialogue is not bad, there are some excellent parts and all Mobius & Loki moments are pretty good with lines delivered really well by both actors.
The world building seems interesting.
It's ok but it could definitely be better.
7,9/10.
A Quiet Place Part II (2020)
Nicely predictable.
Although AQPII is not bad, it does look like an attempt to cash in. There's a few problems with it and most of them are in the storyline. Here is an overall difference with the first film:
In the first one, there was a clear storyline, almost no plot holes, novelty and the right amount of tension.
In part 2 however , you kind of know exactly what is about to happen and that lessens the film experience.
For example, the tropes used in this film, are all the classics. Yes, they were used in the 1st film too, but at least then they were timed and deployed better, so the tension was nicely built and a sense of unpredictability was evident.
Now in part 2, I have a feeling that the story was a bit of a stretch. Also, the motives of the protagonists were at times unjustified, just to push the story forward.
So the story ends up with flaws, which disappoint mostly because of the predictability and the too many cliches. I would want to mention a few which I m sure many noticed but better not to spoil it. You will know once you see.
Also, it's not as quiet as the first film. Sound editing is great also in this one, but maybe there were more speech moments than needed.
Overall, the good parts: tension is there, cinematography is beautiful once again and we get to see some good acting.
I do hope that there's a part 3 and I hope they improve the story.
6,9/10.
The Tomorrow War (2021)
Entertaining, but...such a stupid plot.
Time travel movies are fun, aliens are fun and Chris Pratt is fun to watch.
But, there's a limit to stupidity. You can't leave a 2-hour-something film with these huge plot holes and these silly moments of dialogue unchecked.
Why do the studios approach their audience in that un-intelligent way? I find it unfair and as a viewer, I believe we deserve more.
It's actually a pity because they took so much time to build up the characters, explain the story, the enemy and the time travel properties in the first 30-45min, but then...what happened? HUGE plot holes and a couple of odd dialogue moments which literally make no sense. Don't want to spoil it; you will know when see these.
Some good points: CGI is good and the aliens seem bad enough. Score is also alright and helps the pace of the film.
And in fact, there are some impressive moments in the film, e.g the landing to the future...but once you finish watching this film you will understand the silliness of the story.
Regardless, I can recommend it for a lazy Sunday but don't expect something special. Just switch off and enjoy.
6/10 the story could have been better.
Loki (2021)
Half way through, needs coffee breaks.
Yes, its Loki and he is a great mcu character, but hey, whats up with you Loki? You are doing well but this series needs to be watched while sipping coffee.
Episodes 1-3: It's ok, but sometimes it turns into a yawn-fest. It really lacks pace.
Some good things: The dialogue is not bad, there are some excellent parts and all Mobius & Loki moments are pretty good with lines delivered really well by both actors.
The world building seems interesting.
It's ok but it could definitely be better.
7,9/10.
Zero Effect (1998)
Hellooow, I don't know...!
There is one thing that makes this film special and that is the persona of Daryl Zero. He is played in a spectacular way by Bill Pullman, who makes the script take life, making simple lines sound really funny and interesting!
Guy Ritchie probably copied a great many things from this film and from the way Pullman plays Daryl Zero in his Sherlock films with RDJ.
So yes, this is a film Sherlock-style with a detective and a sidekick investigating a case.
The dialogues are strong,
the acting is strong by all the leads,
the music score is very nice,
and its definitely one of the 90s films that you will enjoy watching nowadays.
I have to say that I was surprised by Pullman; i had no idea he can act like that (judging him only from independence day and other mainstream films).
In this film he had an opportunity to make this character one of the coolest cinematic detectives I have seen.
Kudos to Jake Kasdan for directing and writing; this is solid film-making.
You can tell the enthusiasm in making this film by the camerawork, props, editing and ofcourse the delivery of the lines and the acting; all the actors are giving their best (and Ben Stiller is toned down to a normal person here...).
Highly recommended if you are looking to see something cool and funny. 9/10.
Infinite (2021)
Nick Cage would have liked to be in this movie.
You can tell that this script was taken from a book and was pressed into a 1h 45min runtime for Hollywood.
Result:
Unintelligent plot without enough character development, over the top acting, silly one-liners and too much bang-bang to cover up the plot holes and the inconsistencies.
Some good things: A few of the actors seem to have tried to take the material seriously. Also, the photography is up to par here with great sets and beautiful visuals.
And most of the action sequences are impressive.
So these are a few reasons to watch if you want to switch off and just kill some time with this mindless flick. I personally didn't hate it but...the plot...can't be saved.
Maybe if it was 2,5h long it could have been a bit better...? We will never know.
5,9/10.
The Producers (1967)
What a film.
Why this movie is brilliant and funny:
1-A hilarious Gene Wilder with his amazing freak-out moments. I think many actors copied his scenes from this film.
2-Excellent satire about hitler and nazis. Many lines from this film are recognizable and became a comedy standard.
3-Amazing performance by Dick Shaw as L. S. D and as the theatrical hitler. He is funny and subversive at the same time.
4-Great 1on1 scenes with the main actors, especially the ones which involve heavy physical acting.
5- It is intelligent filmmaking which shows how progressive and funny Mel Brooks was; and that was his first film...
Just watch it, it's 1,5h and it's beautifully funny! 10/10.
Voyagers (2021)
Average
Plot: Lord of the flies but now in space.
Some good points here: Set design is very good. Music is ok and helps the pace of the film.
Some bad points: The sub-story has holes bigger than black holes in space. And the acting is sometimes plain like watching teenage theater.
If you don't know lord of the flies, than you will probably find this interesting.
I didn't mind the watch but that's not more than a 6/10.
The Night Comes for Us (2018)
It's not The Raid. But it's good enough.
It's definitely a good martial arts/ action film but not as good as the 2 Raid films which are kind of similar style to this one.
E.g Some reviewers say that's the raid 3 but it is not. It's story and characters are unrelated.
It's mostly different because It Lacks Pace.
Also it looses points because of the effort to give some depth in the characters and a background story, which doesn't really work well here and makes the film longer than it should be.
However, it's still a relentless and impressive action film with a couple of memorable fight scenes.
Violence and gore are everywhere but somewhat less than the Raid. Still, be prepared.
But if you really like this film and have not seen the Raid yet...you d better get to it!
And if you're thinking if you should watch this film but still haven't seen the Raid... then skip this and start first with the Raid!
6,9/10 Iko Uwais is a master of the arts n crafts.
Army of the Dead (2021)
The reviewers say it right: this movie is just bad, sorry Zack.
(Netflix...once again) A stupidly bad film. So much money spent for this rather silly zombie flick and Zack Snyder got a nice paycheck for preparing and executing a script of a 10 year old. I don't even know where to start with this dumb script and scenes, let alone the enormous runtime of more than 2h, which completely killed this film.
I thought I will see something cool once the starting titles went in; I found that small part a great start for a nice, interesting and intense Zack Snyder film. But little did I know...The dialogue is so bad that it is not even funny, the motivation of the protagonist(s) and the character development are non existent. If you see someone saying this movie is fun then it's either Netflix social media writers or people that have never ever seen a zombie flick before. Because this is clearly not fun, but more of a money run! 2/10 just for the starting titles.
Monster Hunter (2020)
Never played the game, but this film is fun!
Great visuals, fast pace, amazing fight scenes and Mila Jovovich equals fun! No plot or anything like that of course but a great ride overall if you are looking for a monster-munch flick to watch! 7/10.
Serbuan maut (2011)
Suspenseful, top-notch martial arts action film!
This is a relentless and very impressive action/martial arts movie. The fight scenes are probably from the best ones I have ever seen and the understated performances of the protagonists fit perfectly here. I m wondering how did I miss this 10 years ago...probably because it's Indonesian! Written and directed by a Welsh guy -who discovered the Indonesian lead Iko- together with a tight editing and insane fight scenes (mostly Indonesian and some mixed martial arts) makes this a must to watch for fans of the martial arts genre and not only. If you want to stay bolted at your seat while watching an action film -and you don't mind of course the violence- then check this out. From the top 10 contemporary martial arts flicks out there, 9/10.
Silk Road (2021)
It's a 6. The writing is a bit dull with many cliches.
Aside from the uninspired writing, I did enjoy watching Silk Road. Story is familiar to most; the story of the guy that created and run the illegal website via the tor network which was selling all kinds of illegal things online... parallel to that was the story of a corrupt cop who was after Silk Road.
The movie connects both stories and gives us a bit of the cliches that we are used to in this kind of fast-illegal-success story which ends up bad for the protagonist.
I don't have a particular interest about the clear depiction of this story and how truthful it was presented on screen; I m only interested in the quality of the film and how entertaining it was.
It is still just a film and not a documentary so adjust your expectations.
Overall, it's an interesting film to watch on a sleepless night or on a Saturday afternoon and get an idea of the Silk Road story. Also Jason Clarke gives a decent performance here as the cop and makes this film a tad more interesting. However, the writing could have been much better and create a background for the ideological base of the protagonist. Also the dialogues are dull at times and the editing is not helping either. Maybe some more info on the way he created Silk Road would be more interesting for the viewer and also the way he hid himself and the website from the authorities for that long. There are indeed mentions on all the above throughout the film, but they r brushed off rather fast.
The backbone of the story is nevertheless interesting, so if you start this film, you ll probably stick to it wanting to see how it's gonna play out, even if you kinda know how...
Mildly interesting and entertaining, 6/10.
Mortal Kombat (2021)
Not bad. 1st part of a trilogy.
Great visuals, excellent fight scenes, good choices on most of the cast (e.g Kano, Scorpion, Sub-Zero) and just a fun movie overall. If you are familiar with the game, you will like it.
Keep in mind that it's a trilogy, so this first film tries to add some background! Luckily there's not much time spent on meaningless conversations and the scenes get into the action parts faster than you would expect. Runtime of 1h 50min is works well; you will not be bored.
Fight scenes get more rewarding halfway through, closer to the game style.
Also, the idea to rotate this film's story around the rivalry between scorpion and sub-zero worked; it gave some background. Maybe the lead protagonist is not that interesting compared to the other characters but he seems necessary to keep the story moving forward.
So, this first film does the job and although not everyone from the game is in it, I m sure all the other favorite characters will appear in the next 2 films and I m looking forward to that.
6,5/10 good effort bringing the game on film screen.
Invincible (2021)
I don't like it, I love it.
Great voice cast and a very good story makes this series a must if you are a fan of the superhero genre . I know this is from a comic dated around 2003 but i never read it and it doesn't matter. You can enjoy this without any prior info; its still pretty darn good.
Maybe you will need to be a bit patient for the story to clearly develop at the end of the 1st episode. From that point on, it's a winner.
The story arc between mother, father and son is excellent. And further on some of the characters which you will encounter are just phenomenal; Machine head, Robot, Rexplode and Cecil are just a few. They are also voiced by an amazing selection of actors which will entertain you. Let alone the world building; one of the best in the superhero genre.
And yes...it's super woke, but so what? It didn't affect the main story line and the connection between the characters.
Just keep in mind that this is an adult show due to the violence.
9/10 for the great voice cast and good story. Give it a go.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)
It's a 6,5 and that's probably too much. Main problem: The PLOT.
Marvel has spoiled us fans in the past. But this series is just not as good. Its not because of politics or of political correctness or of racial mentions; its because of the PLOT.
Which kinda sucks. Inconsistent and at many times just pointless, the plot seems uninspired and forced, in order to make this series' story move forward.
Here's a few: What exactly was Carly's main motivation? What makes the GRC so bad for Carly? Why don't they work more on the idea of the shield as a mantle? That could have been a great opportunity here.
Why get into the power broker story arc in the first place and not further develop it?
And why spend so much time in the political issues? Is that because the script is just non-existant? Maybe...
The dialogue at times is also incredibly stupid...which makes me wonder about the way marvel/disney approach their audience nowadays.
Wandavision was not perfect but it was smart and well made with good dialogue and world building. But this one is more closer to a messy, character-lacking and backstory-missing series.
Now why 6,5? 1-The action sequences are good and the start is impressive. Also there is a few more action sequences further on which are worth it. 2-Stan and Mackie are good action actors and look alright on screen, so its fun watching them and their chemistry is ok. 3-because i m a fan like most people here and i still like watching these stories and I appreciate the effort needed to get these done.
I would just like this one to be better...
6,5/10 for the action.