Jefe's Movie Reviews

  Hey guys! I just got done seeing Nope, by Jordan Peele. It's weird. I like Jordan Peele. I really enjoyed his last two movies, Get Out and Us. I realize he's done some other projects, but I call those his last two major works. Anyway, they were good. Original, imaginative, and genuinely terrifying. Nope has some really good elements. There are a couple seriously scary moments. And the main idea - that the thing in the sky might NOT be a spaceship after all - was really creative and interesting and freakishly horrifying.  I feel like this would have been a much better movie with better actors. The main character, played by Daniel Kaluuya, was not bad. He plays a character that is not always comfortable in his own skin, and he does that well. But since he's the main character, sometimes I feel uncomfortable watching his performance, and not in a good way. But his sister, played by Keke Palmer, annoyed the crap out of me. If they had had a different actor playing his sister ...

 Most of the time, when I see a movie on Netflix or in Redbox or on Amazon Prime and I've never heard of it, it turns out to be a lame movie and that's why I never heard about it. But every once in awhile, I find a rare gem. This is one of those gems. The movie has good production quality and good acting. The language is strong, but I don't think there's any nudity. I don't remember any. The scenes are beautiful because the setting is the northern island of Japan where there is snow most of the time.  I can't tell you much about the plot because there is SERIOUS danger of spoilers. All I can say is watch it. I can't even tell you why it's so good. Anything I say will lessen its effect. Just watch it. Trust me. It's available on Amazon Prime.

 Back in 1991, a movie came out starring Bruce Willis, Danny Aiello, Andie McDowell, and Sandra Bernhardt. This movie was a hilarious and genius work of art. And it has been universally misunderstood and underappreciated ever since. What's funny is that you will occasionally meet people who got it. Mention Hudson Hawk to a real movie lover, especially one who loves cult classics, and their face will light up. "Ah! That's a great movie! I don't know why everyone hated it!"  But they do. It is often found on "worst movies of the decade" lists, and even tops some of them. People just didn't get it! However, it's wonderful. It's Bruce Willis before he started cranking out terrible movies (which he seems to exclusively do nowadays). It's Andie McDowell in her most beautiful and lovable prime. Sandra Bernhardt and Richard E Grant play the strangest, craziest, zaniest bad guys you'll ever meet on film. They are hilarious. And when they and B...

 Ryan Reynolds has had a long career, in which he's played many different roles.  Then he played Deadpool, and that changed things forever.  Now he plays the Deadpool character in every movie, which some people don't like! I LOVE Deadpool, though, so it's fun to see Ryan turn his inner Deadpool up or down depending on the role he's playing. Sometimes he's VERY Deadpool, and sometimes he's just a little bit. He's pretty Deadpool in Free Guy, but with the kind of wide-eyed wonder of the main character in Lego Movie. You can imagine his character in Free Guy singing the "Everything is Awesome" song throughout the whole movie. So it's fun! If you like his sense of humor, you'll enjoy the movie. But it's more than that. It takes a look at AI and its role in society. It also asks some really interesting philosophical questions about why we're here and what our purpose is. It really makes you think if you let it. The only weakness, I think...

I saw Dune a couple weeks ago and I was really impressed. I liked it so much I then read the book, which I'd been meaning to do for years. Then I watched the movie again in IMAX. Now I'm reading Dune Messiah. I guess you could say I like this storyline. The movie is really well done. If you don't like slow sci-fi movies, you might not like this. It is slow. Long beautiful panoramas of incredible sets. Great attention to detail in the costumes. It follows the book very closely. Great acting performances by the whole cast. Many were disappointed that Zendaya wasn't in it more than the ten minutes or so that she's on screen at the end. But there will be at least one more movie, and she'll feature prominently in that one. The one disappointment I had was the box that Paul puts his hand into when he's being tested by the "old witch". It has pain in it, and his hand feels like it's being burned until his flesh falls off and leaves only bone. I unders...

 I just finished watching Vivarium. I hadn't heard of it three hours ago, but I found it on Amazon Prime and the premise was interesting so I watched the whole thing. The best part of the movie is the first twenty minutes. Jonathon Aris gives a fantastic performance as a real estate agent who is more than a little strange. His performance is worth the price of admission. I won't give you spoilers. The movie is a very strange imaginative exploration of the human condition. It was produced in 2019, but you'd swear it was written during the 2020 quarantine lockdown. It definitely gives you "stuck at home" vibes, along with the gradual unhinging that comes from being around the same people and doing the same things day after day. The ending is like something out of Stephen King, who is notoriously bad at writing endings. He even makes fun of himself for it. I was very strongly reminded of No Exit by Sartre. This movie is what life without hope looks like. If you want ...

 Don't go see Eternals.  I mean, you can do what you want. I'm not the boss of you. But if you value your time, I recommend seeing any other movie that came out this year. We've had some good ones... Free Guy, the new James Bond, Dune, and Red Notice are all bangers.  Eternals is not. It's kind of sad because it's got a good cast. I'm not a huge Angelina Jolie fan, but she usually does decent movies. Salma Hayak can be a little hit or miss, but generally not bad. Kit Harington was really good as Jon Snow, but apparently he really does know nothing because he signed up for this clunker. And Gemma Chan was really good in the show Humans, where she played an AI robot. From the previews, I went in with low expectations. But they were still too high. The writing is awful. The dialog is wooden and silly. The plot is ridiculous. It's a tired reworking of the old Roman and Greek god mythology, but with an attempt to make it modern an edgy. For example, her name is T...