Reviews by BAMF

I really wanted to see this when I originally saw the trailer. Then I just kind of faded away from it. Besides that I constantly noticed bad ratings and not really any good comments. Anyways I finally got the chance to go ahead and check it out for myself. Stacy Title also directed part of Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror so I guess I shouldn't be so surprised about how this turned out to be. This is the third movie written by Jonathan Penner and the first in at least 20 years. This is the only writing credit for Robert Damon Schneck.

So let's start off with the characters and acting. Douglas Smith clearly doesn't have the same skills as his brother Gregory Smith of Everwood and Rookie Blue fame. I think he tried, but he mostly came off as silly. I liked Lucien Laviscount and he was easily my favorite part of this movie. He is always interesting to watch if you ask me. Now I have never heard of Cressida Bonas, but I'm glad to see her even if she is in this pile of crap. She has a unique voice that sounds to me like something from 60s or 70s films. It also helps that she is fairly hot. Doug Jones is pretty cool, but his part here is so limited that it almost feels like he is just a cameo. Michael Trucco did great for his small screen time. Jenna Kanell is not that great of an actress, but she was nice to look at. Other bits of acting felt forced or just really way too campy. The cast wasn't so much the problem though.

I watched the unrated cut which I'm sure is much better than the PG-13 crap they probably spewed into theaters. Though I seriously doubt it is by much considering how terrible this was. I mean the idea was great, but it was just executed so boringly. The deaths were bland and uninteresting. I did like the gun toting psycho stuff though. The CGI was really awful in some moments. Some of it just felt kinda repetitive. Anyways I'm so disappointed with this, but I should have known. Don't waste your time folks.

So I saw this on Netflix and thought it looked amusing. So I gave this as an option from a few others for my wife to choose. This is the one she picked. I do admit I like the cast. Sure Marques Houston doesn't really pick great movies, but I figured I would give it a shot. Chris Stokes also wrote and directed the Somebody Help Me films, No Vacancy, You Got Served, and Battlefield America. No Vacancy was the only one not starring Marques Houston. This is the second film written by Marques Houston after also previously working on Battlefield America. This is the first film written by Chaz Echols. I adored Karrueche Tran and yes even Chantel Jeffries (don't judge me). One thing I will say about Chantel Jeffries is she seemed to be caked with makeup at times. I also really liked Suzanne Whang here as she was just too adorable. Besides I got a soft spot for foreign women lol. This was basically Meet the Fockers and Meet the Parents all in one film. It's a bit predictable though. The jokes were pretty cheesy and raunchy. I have to be honest though I was laughing through the whole thing. Of course this won't be everyone's idea of a good time, but it will hit your funny bone when you least expect it.

So I didn't know much before I watched this. I didn't even know this was based on a graphic novel. It's directed by Shawn Crahan who is a member of Slipknot. Joe Casey also wrote Big Hero 6. It has a few good actors and then others that weren't so much. Shawn Crahan plays a role in the plot as well with three other members of Slipknot throughout. This reminded me of Maniac Cop, Dredd, and even Robocop. It doesn't take itself seriously and neither did I. The chaotic over the top was funny, but at times it got a little too annoying. I would have liked if there was like a montage of deaths of Officer Downe considering the storyline. Instead it mostly focused on the rookie cop who was even near as entertaining. The Zen Master Flash stuff was a bit too silly and felt too dated. It could have been more fun, but they didn't even seem to care for this as a whole. Exploitation films are supposed to be silly, but this just didn't quite make the cut.

I think my dad was the one who showed me the trailer for this one before it had come out. I thought it looked like fun. With the name I was expecting there to be the typical Monster Truck rally situations. That was in my mind a neat idea. The cast was an interesting mixture especially with Rob Lowe who isn't seen often anymore. Chris Wedge is mostly known for being Scrat from Ice Age and making movies related to Blue Sky animation films. Derek Connolly wrote Jurassic World and the under the radar Safety Not Guaranteed and some upcoming sequels for Jurassic World and Star Wars. Matthew Robinson also wrote The Invention of Lying and that's all I know from him. Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger have worked on parts of the Alvin and the Chipmunk films, the Kung Fu Panda trilogy, as well as a few others. So with all that in mind this movie could really go any which way.

Well that wasn't what I was hoping for. There is one monster truck rally and it's only one you see briefly on TV. That was a pretty big let down. It's really just your typical monster gets hunted while becoming friends with a local boy movie. It's been done many times and it really doesn't do all that much to be different. The characters weren't all that original and the acting is mostly corny. Lucas Till was an alright lead here. I even like Jane Levy here to be honest. She kind of sounded like someone else here though I can't place who I am thinking of. There are some neat moments here and there. I even admired the ending to an extent. It just wasn't really well thought out. It had potential, but they went with formula.

If this took it's concept and put in monster truck rallies it would have been a much more enjoyable movie. It's just way too formulaic and corny. Jane Levy is one of my favorite things about this though and Lucas Till isn't a bad lead either. I just found this to be a bit too childish and inside the box. I can see why it failed. It's not the worst thing ever it just lacked being too much fun and original.

I was pretty nervous about checking this one out. I liked the idea of a war movie with sharks, but with Nicolas Cage as the lead and Mario Van Peebles helming the project I wasn't impressed. I don't have a problem with Van Peebles other than the fact that his movies are usually more amusing rather than emotional and intense. There are bits of the cast that were interesting to see involved and others that were kind of silly. I've never seen anything from the writers, but I have heard of one of their other films. Anyways let's see if they can pull this off.

Yeah no that was a waste of a good story. The fact that some of the actors had family who were on the Indianapolis is a shame. They really should apologize to their families for being in this. I mean don't get me wrong there were a few of the unknown to lesser known actors who actually did a decent job like Matt Lanter. Tom Sizemore was ridiculous and somehow more comical than even Nicolas Cage! I thought the addition of supernatural elements thrown in made this way too corny. I know why they wanted to put it, but it made this more of a joke. The action was pathetic. If this was made by somehow who cared about the true history and making a decent movie this could have been an excellent story of bravery. As it stands it's a cheap shark movie that takes place near the end of World War II. The concept was great, but the execution of the whole thing is just really underwhelming. I did like the ship sinking and the shark attack stuff yet they did the moments much too quickly. The CGI wasn't all that good and the shark attacks were bland and unseen. For a movie this absurd I was expecting to see more than just blood in the water. The ending itself was pretty bad. I did like the real footage they added, but with a movie this bad it just tears this movie further.

The cast really should have reconsidered being a part of this. Especially the ones with family who were on the ship. The acting is wishy washy. Some people actually tried and others were just bad. It has some moments that were interesting, but as a whole this was a really sad attempt to bring a great tale of bravery to the screen. Don't waste your time on this one.

Well it looks like WWE studios has brought us another The Marine sequel out of their ass. At least The Miz is a consistent star. I don't know why, but I kind of enjoy him in this role. I think of all wrestlers as a joke except for ones that actually try acting and aren't that bad. In fact action stars themselves aren't always great actors either. Anyways it seems as this series goes on they lose big stars more and more. The recognizable faces become less and less known. This one manages to get a few, but it looks like most of the main cast would only be familiar with wrestling fans. James Nunn actually directed two other films I liked which were Tower Block and Green Street Hooligans 3. Scott Wiper also returns from the previous two films as one of the writers. The other two writers I have never heard of. Could this be as good as other work from James Nunn or has WWE just lost interest in caring about these films?

Well to be honest the concept here was actually interesting. I went in expecting this to be just plain ridiculous, but I was pleasantly entertained. I liked some of the new characters. The action was fun and brutal. I thought the bartender joining the hunt for the shooters was a little silly though. I have to admit WWE Divas are pretty nice to look at though so I won't complain too much. The acting was pretty corny from the villains. As for The Miz I have to admit he seems to improve as he goes in these films. It gets a bit cheesy with fakeout moments near the end. They end up taking the fun of this down.

I don't know why, but the more they make of these the more entertaining they get. I was surprised to find myself getting a kick out of this one. It's a corn festival, but it's a fun one. Turn off your brain and take into consideration that this shouldn't be taken too seriously and you might enjoy it. There are way worse movies than this one for sure.

Well M. Night Shyamalan is one of those cases where you want to like his new stuff, but you are also very skeptical of them. Ever since The Village he goes up and down. There are ones that some like and others hate. There are also some most hate and some even like. Really though it's hard to tell with him on which part of the spectrum his new stuff will be. With the cast here though it's hard to say know, but I did wait until now to finally check it out. After I heard quite a few positive things and some thoughts from people I know I decided to go ahead and see if he finally brought back his spark.

That was absolutely excellent. M. Night Shyamalan has finally come back to us. Anya Taylor-Joy who is a rising star because of The Witch as well as yes Morgan was a great decision here. She really holds her own. James McAvoy is remarkable and really shows a huge amount of talent. To play so many personalities so well has to take practice and dedication. The friends were interesting although they weren't a huge focus. The backstory added a bit that made the story even more thrilling. It's not as scary or intense as I was expecting, but it was more a psychological thing. What the characters dealt with in life and how it has shaped who they are. The ending though was really what gets you excited. When Bruce Willis shows up at the end and you see that this was the start of a new super-villain you just have to applaud Shyamalan for a job well done.

Hopefully M. Night Shyamalan continues on this comeback and makes it a streak of great new films. This was a huge surprise with a great new story. The cast was excellent and the characters kept you interested. The story wasn't quite as I thought it to be, but it was still pretty captivating. The subtlety of some of the themes is a bit unsettling at times. Anyways fans of early Shyamalan rejoice for he has returned from his slumber. It's definitely worth a watch. As for newbies I think this one may go over your head.

This is another one of those movies that played at my theater that I never got around to seeing. I have to admit though I did really want to see this one. So when I saw it on Amazon Prime I got excited and knew it was time. I think the cast is very interesting and Jamie Dornan has proven that he is much better than Fifty Shades of Grey crapfests. I did hear this was trying to grab for the Oscars, but it obviously didn't make it. I have heard of Sean Ellis' films and I think I saw parts of Cashback, but this will be the first I know I've seen. As for Anthony Frewin he was really involved with Stanley Kubrick for some things. Anyways let's find out if this was any good since it failed at Oscar baiting.

This was different than I was expecting. I never even knew about this story in history to be honest. It was really interesting though. I liked not knowing what would happen so it kept me invested. If I knew the story I might not have been quite as intrigued. I didn't see things coming which really helped it for me. There were some brutal moments which of course I figured might happen, but didn't expect them when they did. What is it with Toby Jones in 2016 movies? He committed suicide in Morgan and this. So it apparently doesn't have all the facts of what went on which may be one of the reasons it was passed over for the Oscars. I thought the cast did a great job though and the characters were interesting. I thought the ending was really well done and wasn't what I expected.

Overall this was a pretty solid film. It was Oscar bait for sure, but it wasn't executed quite as strongly as those that usually get nominated. It had great performances and good characters though. For someone who didn't know this part of history I was intrigued. It may not be directly correct, but not many of these sort of films are these days. Anyways I still think it's worth at least one watch.

I'm a bit late on seeing this one sadly. I have only ever seen the ending scene of this because it was playing at the theater I work at. I know I know I should have seen it while it was there. I just can't seem to really want to stick around and watch movies at work when I'm off anymore lol. So anyways I saw it on Amazon and knew it was finally time to see what all the fuss was about. To be honest I'm not a huge Paul Dano fan, but with Daniel Radcliffe and Mary Elizabeth Winstead you can count me in. Daniel Scheinert and Dan Kwan did only one other film of which I've never heard of. So let's see what this offers us.

This has to be one of the grossest, most absurd, and yet extremely beautiful buddy films I have ever seen. I actually was quite impressed with Paul Dano who I typically think is just an average actor. The chemistry between him and Daniel Radcliffe was superb as well. I never realized that private parts and fart jokes could make for such a powerful and well done story. I saw someone compare this to Weekend at Bernie's and Cast Away which I wholeheartedly agree with. How many ways can someone think of to use a body for? Well this movie answers that with some of the wackiest ideas you probably wouldn't even dream of unless you are as quirky as the two Dans who made this. It's somehow still a very artsy beautiful looking movie despite having such gross moments throughout. There are moments and lines that will stick with you long after the movie is over. The ending was oddly beautiful and satisfying.

This is one of those movies that you have to keep an open mind about. I can understand why people hated it, but there are so many reasons to love it too. The acting was incredible. This movie changed my feeling about Paul Dano's acting skills. While it heightened the awesomeness of Daniel Radcliffe. That dude just can't stay away from the weirdo roles which is what makes him so interesting. Don't let the anatomy jokes scare you away from a story that's actually really well told. I highly recommend this since it's so much more than the crudeness onscreen.

I hadn't seen this mostly because people said it had been pretty bad and also I didn't even know it had been out. It finally popped up on Netflix so I figured why not. What's the worst that can happen? It has a pretty interesting cast although Usher is an odd choice, but let's not pre-judge here. Jonathan Jakubowicz also wrote and directed another film of which I've never heard of. Anyways time to see if this as bad as people say or just went under the radar.

Well that wasn't all that bad. It's a bit different than I had expected which is good. The fights were fun and intense. Acting wise Usher was a bit of an odd choice, but there were moments that worked in his favor. Ana de Armas was a doll and I adored her moments. Ruben Blades is too cool. Edgar Ramirez and Robert De Niro did great with their roles. There were a few pacing issues I noticed and random acts that just felt out of place even if they did happen. The story was overall decent enough.

Is it a great film? Not really. Is it a bad movie? No it's just an slightly above average one. The acting was a bit off with some. The characters were interesting. The story encountered pacing issues and the writing was jumbled about. It could have been better had they really worked on it. For the boxing I enjoyed it though. I would say it's a bit of a hit or miss and I can see why it flopped. I still found it entertaining for the most part.