Jefe's Movie Reviews

 I saw M3gan tonight. It was better than I expected. Most of the reason I liked it was the performance of Allison Williams, whom you might have seen in Get Out or in A Series of Unfortunate Events. She anchors the show very well and makes it feel more real and plausible. The girl who plays her niece didn't exactly carry the show. She's OK, and her acting is probably just like what a girl would be like in the situation, but it didn't draw the viewer into the show.  M3gan is a very good main character. The three actors who play her really nail it.  I'm not going to give any spoilers, I'll just say that the show gives us a very entertaining look at what would happen if AI became just a little too protective. There are some logical errors in what happens, but I won't point them out in this review because it would require spoilers. I'll suffice it to say that the things that M3gan does, especially at the end, don't make any sense from a "let's help A...

 I saw Missing tonight. I have mixed feelings about it. Overall, I would say that if you see it, rent it. It is DEFINITELY not a big spectacle that you need to see on the big screen.  The acting and production value are decent. The writing isn't particularly clever, but it's not cringy. The way the director tells the story IS clever. Most of the movie is shot through various modern devices, like cell phones, websites, ring phones on people's doors, etc. Easily most of the movie takes place on the little windows on the screen of the main character, seen in the picture above. She does an OK job in the main role, though I felt like she underacted a few times. Some very traumatic things happen and she's like "OMG" rather than freaking out like I think someone would in that position. I got bored several times while watching it. It relies too heavily on "big reveals" that aren't always that interesting or devastating. Though I do admit that there are a...

 I saw plane. It wasn't the best movie I've ever seen. There was nothing wrong with it really. The writing, plot, dialog, acting, and production value were all fine. Gerard Butler gives a decent performance as the protagonist.  The title is apt, because the movie is plain. It's nothing special. Ten years from now I'll have trouble remembering if I saw it or not. There is nothing that really stands out. The tag lines on the ads are misleading - the plane doesn't exactly crash, it just lands in an unusual place. There's nothing particularly "survive together" about it. The movie is OK. I don't recommend that you see it or avoid it. If you're looking for something decent to kill a couple hours, it's not bad. I would recommend renting it, not seeing it in the theater. It's rated R for violence and language.

 Someone who reads my movie blogs requested that I review Fatherhood with Kevin Hart. I like taking suggestions on movie reviews, and this was no exception. I enjoyed the movie. This is because I like Kevin Hart. One of my fav things in Hollywood these days is the silly, goofy friendship of Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart. I can watch the interview where Dwayne says that if he's Black Adam, Kevin should be Honkey Pete and they both lose it, over and over and never get tired of it. I like them both individually, and I think they're hilarious together.  And I find Kevin Hart to just be a likable guy. He's funny, but not TOO funny. He's a talented actor and believable in all of his roles. The supporting cast in this movie is not great. The girl who plays his daughter is just a tad too angry looking most of the time. His goofy white friend from work, played by Anthony Carrigan, comes across a tad creepy and never quite finds his stride. His main friend, played by Lil Rel Howe...

I just started watching this. I'm about five minutes into it. it already grabbed me. this is gonna be good.  UPDATE: So I finished this one and it's a masterpiece. The SUBJECT of the story is twisted and interesting. One character, pictured on the right above, decides one day that he doesn't like another character (played by Colin Farrell, pictured on the right). He tells him to stop talking to him. The Colin Farrell character refuses to stop, so the other guys says every time he talks to him, he's going to cut off one of his own fingers. That's the kind of twisted I mean. I'm not going to give you any more spoilers. But the tone and setting and mood of the movie is the real reason to watch it. You get TOTALLY drawn into the life of these simple people living on an island off the coast of Ireland. It's a beautiful and tragic movie that explores human relationships and their importance and limitations.  I highly recommend it, though it's not for the faint...

 I saw Avatar: The Way of Water tonight. I expected it to be visually stunning and weak on story and dialogue. And that's EXACTLY what it is. The story is very VERY similar to the first movie, except without (I'm afraid) the best part of the first one. To me, the genius of the first movie was the AVATAR aspect - that Jake Sully and his friends got into the pod thing and became the big blue people. It was amazing to go through that transition with him. Kind of like when Toby McGuire becomes Spiderman for the first time. We feel like we're along for the journey. Well, in this movie, they're all blue people all the time. We see a couple flashbacks or "Great Mother" moments when we remember or revisit normal humans. And there are some normal human bad guys. I don't want to give too much away, so I'll just say there's one normal human who may or may not be a bad guy - the main bad guy from the first movie's son. Sort of. I'll let the movie expla...

  Hey guys! I'm taking suggestions as to what movies I should review next. If I haven't seen it, I'll watch it and review it. I had a TikTok viewer recommend Girl, Interrupted. I hadn't seen the whole thing, just parts. So I watched it. And I was shocked at the star-studded cast! Of course Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie were good in it. But they weren't just good. Winona played a more serious version of her journaling self from Heathers. And the song Que Sera, Sera from Heathers was in this movie, too. Angelina Jolie gives what is probably the best performance I've seen from her in this movie. She's raw and edgy and crazy and mean, but also playful and silly and lovable. Her character is so complex, and she plays it perfectly. But we've also got Whoopie Goldberg, Jeffrey Tambor (whom you probably know from Arrested Development), Elizabeth Moss (from Mad Men and Handmaiden's Tale), Brittany Murphy! (whom I didn't recognize in the role and then wa...