Reviews by BAMF

Initial Thought: Yes I am watching this. Yes the first one was pretty awful. I just have a glutton for punishment. Oh my I didn't mean for that to come out like that. Well it's out there now. The addition of Kim Basinger is certainly a plus in my book. Can it be worse or better?

Characters/Acting: Anastasia is still such a nonsense character. Her decisions make no sense and everything she says she ignores herself. Dakota Johnson though has this girl next door attractiveness about her though which I do admire. Christian Grey is still uber creepy, but it does seem Jamie Dornan is trying this time for some reason. Eric Johnson is still the crybaby Whitney from Smallville after all this time. Rita Ora and Maxt Martini need more screentime please. Jose just keeps getting creepier so I don't understand how he is a friend. Kim Basinger in my opinion can still keep my attention. Will be curious how she is dealt with in the third and hopefully final part.

Story: Um Twilight again without the glitter vampires and replaced with Sadomasochism with a guy who needs serious help. It kind of reminds of the sad bit I hear when women don't want to leave their abusive lover due to how he treats her when he is in a good mood or something like that. It's just the first one again with no real difference other than adding a few new crazy characters. They try to put in some drama near the end that really has no effect. In fact it could have been better had they ended it without that resolution.

Directing/Writing: E.L. James has to be the luckiest fan fiction writer there is. To have her stories become wide sellers and become movies is insane. I give her props for that, but they are just as awful if not worse than Twilight themselves. James Foley is known for directing Fear and Perfect Stranger which actually fit well along with this. They both dealt with psychopaths and infatuation or "love". It's too bad because those were awesome and this just isn't. I don't blame Foley for that as he does have talent. This is the first movie written by Niall Leonard who will be writing the next one as well. Here's to hoping they can do something interesting with it.

Final Thoughts: Yeah I knew it would be bad. Still Dakota Johnson is cute enough to keep my attention and I like Kim Basinger a lot. So I guess it could have been much worse. Surprisingly it's not awful, but I still don't understand why some actually like these. In my opinion this shouldn't exist, but hey it gives people like me hope if I were to actually finish something. It's worth only a skip unless you are into this sort of thing.

Initial Thought: I knew nothing going into this one. The premise is what caught my attention as I scrolled through Netflix. Plus it had a few names I was familiar with. I decided to give it a shot and see what's what.

Characters/Acting: I thought everyone did a decent enough job here. Nothing quite amazing, but nothing negative to say about them either.

Story: I don't even know where to begin here. It's something strange and different. Nothing is ever truly explained and pretty much only hinted at. That's the most frustrating bit. The concept of what they are trying to do is a good idea, but wow is it so poorly executed. It's not what I was expecting at all. The ending did nothing for me.

Directing/Writing: I have never heard of Nick Gillespie before this. I'm not sure I will be looking out for him after this either. His script is so incoherent. Better luck next time I guess.

Final Thoughts: The concept from the hints is unique. The only thing is we really get no why or anything like that. We just get what the characters get which is absolutely nothing. The acting is fine enough, but with a plot so messy it takes away what could have been a nice new watch. I would have to say skip this one.

Initial Thought: I didn't know what this was going to be. All I saw from Netflix was the name. I thought it was going to be some kind of dramatization of Rodney King.

Characters/Acting: Roger Guenveur Smith doesn't get many big roles, but you would recognize him from many things. Here he does something rather remarkable. A performance that is more like a long monologue that does a lot with the words used. Smith doesn't get the notice he should and after this I hope he will.

Story: So this one is a different sort of story. It isn't your typical film. It's a performance. It's a really intelligent and well thought out one too. The ending was a tiny bit odd, but that didn't take from how much I enjoyed this.

Writing/Directing: This is a different path from Spike Lee yet it fits right in with his style. It's definitely one of my favorites of his work from what I've seen. Roger Guenveur Smith writes his performance though with this being his first written film

Final Thoughts: It's a captivating one man piece. There is no action, yet it keeps you on the edge of your seat. Words can be powerful if done right as I've witnessed here. It's definitely worth checking out for something fresh and interesting.

Initial Thought: I didn't really know anything about this before watching. All I knew is that Nicolas Cage and Willem Dafoe are in it. I don't expect much from it to be honest. I don't think it was in many theaters or for even that long.

Characters/Acting: Willem Dafoe was the best thing about this. He played his part well. It's definitely a different way for him to go as an actor in my opinion. Christopher Matthew Cook was pretty good as well. He had a few interesting moments that proved to show a deeper character than what belongs in this sort of movie though. Nicolas Cage I find to be quite annoying, but here he really pissed me off. Throughout the movie his character constantly says he has been told he looks like Humphrey Bogart! Hell to the no! I can't believe they would disgrace my favorite classic actor that way. They even try to say he sounds like him at one point. There are some other actors here and there that are decent and even some recognizable. Really though they are the only ones that really get any focus.

Story: I hated hearing the narration as told by Nicolas Cage's character. It was just plain irritating. The opening was an interesting precedent of things to come. I didn't even know what would happen which was good. Too bad it didn't stay that intense or interesting. It has moments that were unexpected and different. It runs a little long for no sense. The ending itself is pointless and dark.

Writing/Directing: I have seen a few of Paul Schrader's movies The Canyons and Dominion: The Exorcist Prequel. This guy even wrote Taxi Driver! I have never heard of writer Matthew Wilder however. This duo does not work well together. Maybe it would have worked better with someone who wasn't Nicolas Cage (at least someone who could be considered as similar to Humphrey Bogart) as well as a different director.

Final Thoughts: I knew this wouldn't be all that good going in, but it managed to piss me off. Some of the ideas are just plain stupid. Now it's not the worst thing I have seen. It has cool moments spread throughout. Two out of the three main actors were good enough in their parts. It's just really not worth the time.

Neutral Notes:
*I wonder if Dead West means zombies or the like?
*There is literally no one recognizable here.
*I'm beginning to lose faith in this one seeing as it's almost 2 hours long.
*This is the only work from Jeff Ferrell.
*So let's see what is going on.

Positive Notes:
*It tried to be different.
*I thought the main character was interesting enough.
*They did a few things I wasn't expecting.
*At least the women were attractive.

Negative Notes:
*All the kills happened off-screen.
*It's way too long and drawn out.
*The acting was pretty awful.
*There were no zombies or any of that kind of thing.

This was really bad and boring. It's way too long and has no real payoff. It's definitely not worth two hours of your time. Don't waste your time like I did.

Neutral Notes:
*I remember seeing the trailer and thinking it looked fairly amusing.
*The cast is also interesting enough.
*It wasn't a top of my list type of movie though.
*Anyways I decided to watch it since it was on Netflix.
*This is the directorial debut for Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel who also wrote Yes Man.

Positive Notes:
*The acting was pretty good.
*It was interesting to see how everything played out.
*The ending was decent.

Negative Notes:
*It wasn't even funny like the commercial made it off to be.
*The focus of the movie was just kind of lame.
*Not sure how I felt about the message of the movie.
*I mostly found myself bored.

This movie was not what I expected it to be. It was made out to be funny, but it felt way more serious. The acting was good though. I just wasn't entertained with the premise or anything. It was just too bland. I would say skip this or maybe going in realizing it's more of a drama will help.

Neutral Notes:
*I was pretty skeptical about this one as I've never heard of it.
*Something caught my eye about it and decided to give it a shot.
*There are a few pretty good actors here among some pretty bad ones.
*I didn't realize this is directed by Darren Lynn Bousman who also did the Saw films and Repo! The Genetic Opera.
*I have never heard of writer Christopher Monfette though.
*Anyways let's see what this is all about.

Positive Notes:
*The idea itself is original and intriguing.
*The haunted house was pretty cool and different.
*The acting from the main couple was great.
*Some of the deaths were pretty intense and unexpected.
*It had some good twists.

Negative Notes:
*Lin Shaye is in this and still awful.
*The villain is kind of lame.
*I felt misleaded by the concept and was bored with the lead up to the house.

From the guy who brought a well known series like Saw and the Repo! movie you would have expected something better. The concept of it and all the bits in the end were great. It actually reminded me a bit of Murdered: Soul Suspect (a video game) that had a similar feel to it. Anyways it wasn't bad just not great or what I expected.

Neutral Notes:
*I don't quite remember a trailer for this, but I was pretty curious about it.
*The plot sounded quite interesting for sure.
*Plus the cast here is a really great selection.
*I have only heard of one of director Charlie Mcdowell's films, but I have seen his shows Dear White People and Silicon Valley.
*Justin Lader also worked with Charlie Mcdowell on his other film The One I love.
*So let's see how this premise folds out.

Positive Notes:
*The storyline is actually pretty captivating.
*The characters are truly interesting and fully developed.
*I love Rooney Mara and Mary Steenburgen.
*It has a good dash of mystery to it.
*The twists were well thought out.

Negative Notes:
*Not enough Mary Steenburgen.
*I was kind of expecting an apocalyptic sort of tale involving suicides which it wasn't.

This is definitely worth a look. It's an interesting take on love and death. It's very interesting and really pulls you in from the very beginning. I really wonder what the world would do if this actually became a reality. Check it out whenever you can as it really is worth the time.

Neutral Notes:
*I have been wanting to see this since I saw the trailer and clips.
*The characters looked fun and interesting.
*Also Russian superheros is a pretty fun idea.
*I've have not seen the work of the writer or director before this.
*Seeing the ratings makes me a bit nervous about finally checking this out.

Positive Notes:
*The characters and actors were pretty interesting.
*The ninja character was the coolest.
*The fight scenes were excellent.
*It did have a few ideas that were pretty interesting.

Negative Notes:
*It's way too short.
*They manage to pull out a huge amount of superhero cliches.
*The villain was so generic.
*The CGI is lacking some of the time.
*It wasn't as violent as I was expecting it to be.
*There is a really random scene after the credits that really doesn't work.
*I can see why people were annoyed about the bear man's pants.

This isn't even close to as bad as many people say it is. It's just very cliche. The characters and acting keep you entertained though. Plus the fight scenes are typically pretty cool. It's a simple story, but it's worth it even if a bit cheesy.

Neutral Notes:
*The story sounded like a fun idea.
*It's also free on Amazon so I figured I would check it out.
*I've never heard of the director or writers before.
*Interesting to see a face here I recognized only from Walking Dead though.

Positive Notes:
*There are a few kills near the end that were kind of interesting.
*The creature design was interesting.
*I liked some of the characters.

Negative Notes:
*The CGI is awful and like something you would see on SyFy.
*The acting was pretty terrible.
*I can't believe some of the decisions that were made here.
*There is a scene after the credits that I don't think should encourage another film.

This was an awful film that had an interesting enough idea. It was just executed poorly and really lacked interest. If it didn't feel so much like a SyFy movie I'm sure it could have been better. Don't waste your time.