To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was directed by Steven Soderbergh, I thought I might as well check it out. I have to admit that I haven’t seen a monologue from Spalding Gray but I did hear about them and they look actually pretty neat. The one thing that I really enjoyed with this documentary was that Soderbergh didn’t comment or interview anyone else to talk about Gray. Indeed, with such documentaries, it is rather usual to ask colleagues and family members to tell their opinions or some anecdote about the main subject but it is usually hardly interesting after all (for example, even though ‘Sly Lives!’ was a decent flick, it was rather weird that you barely get to see Sly Stone telling his own story). Here, it’s the opposite as you only get to see Gray talking endlessly mostly about himself which effectively turned this documentary into one of his monologues after all. The interesting thing is that I’m usually not really interested in stand-up comedians (I can’t remember the last time I saw one of those) but I actually really liked Gray’s style. Indeed, he has such a command of the English language and uses some elaborate language, and I could really identify with his neurotic manic way of thinking. There was also a dark edge to his work but there was no self-pity and always some kind of wonder about himself and life in general. Eventually, even though he didn’t say so, I think the guy was amazed that he managed to become so successful with his monologues which were just about him on a stage with a table and a chair simply telling his stories. Now, I definitely have one to watch one of these soon. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really groundbreaking, it was a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Spalding Gray’s work. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. It’s only after watching this movie that I discovered that Jeymes Samuel also directed ‘The Harder They Fall’. So, after directing a Western focusing on black characters, this time, he decided to deliver a biblical epic in a similar fashion which was definitely ambitious. Basically, the end-result felt like a mix of a Hood movie with a biblical drama which was intriguing. I think the idea I liked the most was that the popular common depiction of Jesus that we all know actually came from some random White dude who happened to be crucified around the same time period. Even if this approach was obviously satirical, since many people were crucified back then, it wasn’t such a crazy idea though. Above all, in such movies, you always get to see only White people when, in such regions, it would probably be more accurate to see more Black folks. Eventually, in such context, it isn’t such a crazy idea that Jesus might have been black after all. Anyway, it was an interesting and refreshing approach but, to be honest, I think it worked better with ‘The Harder They Fall’. Basically, in this movie, the characters kept switching between some period accurate language and some hood slang which was rather jarring. Eventually, it felt as if they never really figured out if it should be a serious thing or something satirical so it awkwardly remained between the two genres. Concerning the characters, there was a really interesting cast involved (LaKeith Stanfield, Omar Sy, David Oyelowo, Alfre Woodard, Teyana Taylor, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, James McAvoy, Benedict Cumberbatch) but, except for Stanfield, all their characters were barely developed after all. Concerning the main character, I always had a weak spot for LaKeith Stanfield and he was once again really charismatic but, to be honest, the trajectory followed by his characters was too generic and predictable. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in an original biblical epic. 

Since this movie had been a huge critical flop when it was released, I had some low expectations but, since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out anyway. Well, like many actors before him, Chris Pine thought it would be a good idea if he gave it a try behind the camera but, unfortunately, the end-result was just terrible. Basically, it seems that Pine had watched too many times ‘The Big Lebowski’ and ‘Chinatown’ and he tried to emulate somehow both movies at the same time but he probably should have tried to do something completely different after all. Eventually, I did give the damned thing a few extra points for its sheer ambition but I’m afraid it never worked whatsoever. The first issue was with the main character. Sure, most of us will agree that Jeffrey Lebowski is really cool but such characters are actually difficult to pull off and this movie was a perfect example why. Indeed, Darren Barrenman was maybe autistic, maybe psychotic, certainly obsessive but, in spite of Chris Pine’s charisma, he was always more pathetic and annoying than really interesting or entertaining. The supporting characters were at least less cringe-inducing but they were also all completely forgettable (except maybe DeWanda Wise but it was more because she looked so gorgeous and not because her character was so amazing). Concerning the story also written by Pine himself, it was just a boring mess. Did it really make sense? I’m not sure but I’m pretty sure I didn’t care one way or another. At least, it was a rather short movie so that was something positive. Anyway, to conclude, Chris Pine should definitely focus on acting in the future and you should probably avoid this movie. 

Yesterday, I already saw ‘Paul Blart: Mall Cop’ and, even though I thought it was just really lame, since this sequel was also available on Netflix, I thought I might check it out as well. Was it really worse than its predecessor? Well, to be honest, I’m not so sure. Anyway, it was definitely not an improvement though. At least, it did make sense to take the character out of his mall and a convention of security guards in Las Vegas was maybe generic but it wasn’t such a bad idea though. Anyway, still nothing worked though. Indeed, the main character played by Kevin James was still really pathetic and not entertaining at all. Concerning the rest of the cast, only Raini Rodriguez playing Blart’s daughter came back but, in spite of her efforts, her character was not developed enough and therefore completely forgettable. In fact, 3 other actors came back (Gary Valentine, Steffiana De La Cruz, Jackie Sandler) but they all played different characters this time which shows how lazy the damned thing was. Apparently, Jayma Mays couldn’t come back due to some scheduling issues so her character was written out of this sequel. As a result, the poor guy didn’t have a love interest this time around. Instead, they added the gorgeous Daniella Alonso to the mix but her relationship with the main character was not exactly romantic but certainly really weird and rather bewildering. This movie is actually so bad that some guys advised to watch it synchronized with the album Dark Side of the Moon and this alter version is called ‘Blart Side Of The Mall’. This way, even if the movie is still a piece of sh*t, at least, you do get to listen to a classic Pink Floyd album. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was just lame and you should probably avoid it. 

To be honest, I actually wonder how this movie did end up in my queue. That’s the issue with my movie watching, it’s so obsessive that I watch pretty much the most random sh*t you could think off and, as a result, I keep wasting my time watching such drivel… Anyway, even though it was actually surprisingly successful at the box-office when it was released, the damned thing was just so lame. Back in 2009, only a few months later, they would release also the very similar ‘Observe and Report’ which was a flop but, compared to this movie, it was almost a masterpiece though. Seriously, pretty much nothing worked here. Basically, most of the jokes were about the main character constantly driving with his Segway in the mall, about the guy being fat and usually being pretty stupid. However, none of this was actually entertaining whatsoever. Of course, there was a generic and predictable romance with a character played by Jayma Mays but she had like zero chemistry with Kevin James and they didn’t even try to explain why this woman could be attracted to this specific man. Finally, something had to happen to redeem this character, so, there was some heist taking place in his mall and, of course, he managed to take them down which was rather pathetic and, above all, not entertaining at all. At least, it was cool that some of the action scenes were taking place in the Rainforest Cafe because I remember going to one of those (I’m not sure which one, it could be Atlantic City or Las Vegas, maybe). It was also wild to get a glimpse of Steffiana De La Cruz, Kevin James’s wife for more than 20 years. Even if his movie was pretty much awful, I have to admit that the guy did get something right though. Anyway, to conclude, this movie was a huge waste of time and you should probably avoid it. 

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from the damned thing and I was actually planning to watch it on Disney+ but Nick, my step-son, was really eager to check it out in the movie theater. On top of that, with Pixar, there was a chance that it could turn out to be a nice surprise after all. Well, unfortunately, even though it was an original idea, the damned thing still turned out to be rather lame after all. It’s too bad because Mabel Tanaka, the main character, was just so cool and charismatic. Indeed, I loved her energic vibe, the manga connection was neat and it was probably one of my favorite characters delivered by Pixar. Furthermore, the opening scene with her grandmother was emotional and magical, the stuff that made Pixar such a legend. So, it started all right but guess what they did? Well, they took this great character and stuffed her into some robotic beaver for most of the duration. Seriously, who gave the greenlight for this half-baked idea? Indeed, the Pixar gods went for the body swap genre, one of the most idiotic and above all least entertaining genres ever, and to make things worse, they didn’t do anything interesting with this concept at all. Another bewildering choice was to constantly switch between a realistic depiction of the animals with some dead eyes and a cartoonish version of the animals when you could understand what they said. This mix was just jarring but it felt as if they knew that talking animals is also such another lame trope in animated features. The fact that all the animals could understand each other no matter the fact that they were from completely different breed was also cheap and infantilizing. Anyway, to conclude, I have to admit that it was rather harmless and I guess it is still worth a look but there is no doubt that it must be one of the most forgettable movies delivered by Pixar so far.

I had this movie for a couple of years in my queue so I wanted to check it out at some point, especially since it was directed by Rob Reiner. Reiner tragically died only a few months ago (and was probably killed by his own son making the whole affair even sadder than it already was) so it was good to pay tribute to his work. The fact that Reiner actually played one of the main characters for once (I can’t remember the last time he did that for one of his movies) was another bittersweet circumstance (it seems that he had to replace Alec Baldwin at the last minute). Anyway, how was the damned thing after all? Well, since it didn’t get much love when it was released, I wasn’t expecting much but I was surprised how strong the material was after all. Seriously, it was some fascinating stuff. Unfortunately, with all respect to the late Reiner, I’m afraid the movie itself was so flat as a pancake after all. Of course, they tried to go for a modern version of ‘All the President's Men’ focusing on the propaganda around the war in Iraq back in the 2000’s. Well, if you would compare the two movies, you will see that it is not so easy after all to make a movie about 2 journalists spending most of their time on the phone investigating some huge governmental conspiracy. One issue with Reiner’s movie is that, with 90 mins, it was just way too short to deal properly with all the characters involved and, above all, to properly display what happened at the time. Obviously, the focus should have been on Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel and their journalistic work but they added some other characters but most of them didn’t work. This young black man (I can’t even remember his name which shows how much impact he made) and his tragic fate didn’t work at all, even though the biggest victims were indeed the poor soldiers who were sent to die in Iraq for some bogus reasons. Even more pathetic was Jessica Biel who had such a useless and thankless role playing the neighbor/lover of one of the two main journalists. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was another half-baked flick, it does show once again that Rob Reiner had his heart on the right place and, in spite of its flaws, it is actually a really important story so I think it is worth a look. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was for ages already in my queue, I thought I might as well finally watch it. Well, I thought it was rather hard to judge the damned thing after all. Indeed, on one hand, I really liked the concept, the whole thing looked really slick and Jared Leto was a perfect choice to play the lead. On the other hand, there is no doubt that it was another half-baked Netflix production. The funny thing is that, since this movie has been released, the Netflix productions have actually been even more disappointing. I mean, this one was at least definitely ambitious. Indeed, it was a cool neo-noir film taking place in Japan in the 50’s so there was definitely some potential. Unfortunately, in spite a generous running time of 2 hrs, nothing much noteworthy really happened. As a result, the whole thing felt like style over substance. Basically, the whole idea was that the guy did end up working for the Yakuza but it never became really fascinating at all. Eventually, his motivation for working for them and their motivations for them to hiring him were always rather murky (basically, it would be cool for a Netflix flick, it’s the only reason I can think of). Concerning Jared Leto, he did look the part but, unfortunately, he really struggled to do anything interesting with his character, except looking mysterious. Sure, you could say that he was not really helped by the fact that we didn’t get to learn much about his character but I don’t think it was the issue here. Indeed, at least, not thanks to his stiff and boring performance, but thanks to this lack of background information, his character became automatically more impenetrable and more intriguing. The best example was the short (and rather useless) scenes involving Emile Hirsch which did give some information about this gaijin but this extra information had very little added value after all and it could have been easily removed. However, even though it was cool that they committed to the concept by hiring a bunch of Japanese actors who always spoke Japanese together, none of these characters was developed whatsoever which felt like a missed opportunity. It was also rather pathetic that the main character fell in love with the only Japanese woman with some lines (at least, she was really cute). Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch, even if it was completely forgettable like most of Netflix features. 

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from the damned thing but, since it was starring Mel Gibson, I thought I might as well check it out anyway. Even though Gibson took a step back from acting back in the 2000’s, he is much more productive nowadays (he was even involved in no less than 6 movies in 2022). Unfortunately, all these recent movies were some lame direct-to-VOD garbage and this movie was a perfect example. For starters, even though Gibson was displayed prominently on all the promotional material, in fact, he was playing a psychiatrist and all his scenes were shot from his office (I wouldn’t be surprised if all his scenes were shot during one single day). In fact, it was even more bewildering for Tyrese Gibson. Indeed, Gibson was also on the poster but he showed up for even less running time and was gone after only 10 mins. Seriously, his character had eventually no impact whatsoever on the story. Eventually, the main character was actually played by Scott Eastwood and, well, the guy was seriously pathetic here. I mean, the concept of the lethal super skilled soldier with some mental issues was nothing new (see also ‘The Accountant’ for example) but the concept can be entertaining. However, it was actually rather cringe-inducing how Eastwood completely failed to do anything interesting with this character. It was also lame how the makers first started by making the guy choose to not kill anyone but they never really committed to this approach and, during the final act, he became once again the usual boring unstoppable killing machine. Finally, the plot barely made sense at all. For example, Dylan used to be some kind of mercenary, his brother Sean was some kind of history buff who needed some money and got in touch with Dylan’s old mercenary buddies but why? Loan sharks and mercenaries are two completely different things and how did Sean end up working with his brother’s former colleagues? Anyway, the damned thing was really idiotic and, above all, barely entertaining and you should probably avoid it.