incubus-0914's reviews

Yes!! Dion is more than handful and acts like he has ADHD though he probably doesn't. It's all because the mother lets Dion get away with things! Dion has no discipline because of his mother.

When Dion treated Esperanza badly, who's been friendly and loyal to him, the mother didn't only say anything to poor Esperanza, but also couldn't handle Dion because he threw a tantrum at her and her feeling was hurt.

However, she acts like she is the only person who can handle Dion (while she doesn't do a great job) and treat others who actually try to help like a crap. Moreover, although she cries for a help and call anyone at her convenience, as soon as they share their opinions, she basically tells them to get lost. What kind of mother is that? So rude and entitled!

I felt so bad especially for Pat being always there for them just to be a doormat.

I'm almost finishing season one, see how it's gonna turn out.

A round up 8 star for this thriller. More like 7.5-7.8 star if I could rate properly. I unexpectedly enjoyed it while knowing so little about the story before watching.

Maybe there's nothing new from a whodunnit aspect; everyone looks suspicious and the protagonist has to find out the truth by herself because she can trust no one. You can call it a cliché or a cookie cutter scenario or whatever, but that's how this type of movie works as always.

I'll lay the things I liked about this film.

-There is no unnatural misleading. When the story directs you to doubt a character, A fair reason or an explanation are displayed.

-The protagonist is relatable and not so dumb, at least her decision making didn't irritate me though there are parts I thought I might have made different choices if I were her. I can still understand why she choose certain paths judging from her circumstances.

Well... I would try the embassy if I can't expect much help from the local police while travelling abroad. However, it wouldn't make much difference in this story anyway.

-Some small details are reflected in later parts of the movie. They are not some meaningless tools to misguide the audience. I really want to write the examples, but I don't want to spoil your experience.

-The foreign country setting. It's not only giving a great cinematography but also helping create good suspense throughout. When you put yourself into the heroine's shoes, you can't help but feeling helpless especially when you are in trouble in a country where your familiar norm may not be shared mutually. You can imagine it escalates the distrust about everything around you and how confusing it can be when you have to make a right decision.

All in all, I don't say this is a masterpiece, but surely kept me engaged till the end. Horror/Thriller are my favourite genre and I found this movie entertaining enough. Hopefully, you'll see what I see as well.

It's still fun especially the future part, I love seeing the auto-size-adjust shoes and clothes, the hoverboard and 3D movie ad etc.

However, I can't help but notice the story is forced to create more events and arcs. The whole thing could have avoided if Doc goes back to the future when Marty buys the sport statistic magazine and just burn it or stop Marty before he buys it. I know if they did that, this movie would have ended there, but then I wanted the writers to sell me harder why Doc couldn't choose the path.

Some choices that characters make seem way too questionable and sometimes contrived and it may have convinced the audience back then like I was as a child, but it maybe cringy to watch if you don't take into account that this film was made more than 30 years ago.

Another thing is that many characters coexist with themselves at the same moment although that's the last thing you want as a premise. In Biff's case, he even interacts with himself, yet the incident doesn't mess with quantum physics at all.

Lastly, Biff is just so horrible as a human being. I mean he's clearly a sociopath. I can't believe how he manages without going to jail. His character should be a bit more redeeming to be entertaining.

Fans of Back to the future franchise will enjoy this sequel forever, but if you usually don't enjoy cheesiness of classic films, you may find it just okay.

Sorry I got bored close to the end. I usually don't mind slow burners, not only that I sometimes enjoy them. This film is so nuanced and subtle which I actually appreciate and understand its beauty. The dialogue takes rather minimalistic approach here, it feels like insinuating connotations, anecdotes and tropes all the time. This film doesn't come across pretentious or artsy in a way that other movies of this kind sometimes do. It is moving in the end and the lighting in the scene is just beautiful.

However, I couldn't help feeling bored. I found this film in horror section on Prime. That's the reason I decided to watch. The heroine maybe a paranormal investigator, but this ISN'T a horror movie. It is a drama.

If you are the person who enjoys films like The Son's Room (2001) or I'm thinking of ending things (2020), you may find this interesting. Though I'm thinking of ending things has a dark atmosphere and a confounding storyline, this movie doesn't feel dark or disturbing thanks to the score. I still think this isn't for everyone nonetheless.

My favourite genre of movie is horror/thriller. It's my hobby and watch them almost daily basis. However, I often hesitate to watch the classics because they sometimes don't live up to their exceptional reputation anymore after so many years from their release in my opinion. Even when you watch '80s and '90s any genre movies, often times you have to have suspension of disbelief because of their dated storylines.

While the original TCM isn't bad at all, I believe this wouldn't become a cult classic if this was released now as it was, only with the modern setting.

Good: The hitchhiker starting off rather innocent and then suddenly turning into a creepy sicko. Succeeding in creating a foreboding atmosphere.

The crafts and furniture with carcasses. This artistic side of Leatherface gets less featured as the series goes on, but I think it's a very interesting characteristic of Leatherface inspired by infamous Ed Gein.

The way Leatherface "talks" with his family and The grandpa Sawyer sucking Sally's bloody finger. Once the whole family gets involved in the climax, it's so over the top that some parts look comical such as when the grandpa drops a hammer many times.

The maniacal dynamics at the dinner table.

Sally's guts to break out the window twice!

Bad: Flanklin. His childish manner dispite his age made me wonder if he was mentally challenged. Can't really have a rational conversation with this guy. How many times does he have to blow a raspberry? Quite annoying.

Pacing till Sally finally gets captured. I didn't mind the interactions between characters in the van, but when the characters get killed, it happens so quickly that it feels tame and insipid by today's standard. This is why I hesitate to watch horror classics. In fact, the number of people who get killed by Letherface's signature, the chainsaw is just ONE.

Excess amount of screaming. It is deafening. Also, too many close-up of Sally's face/eyes with super fast multiple inserts at the peak of the story. Some may feel it's effective, I found it very distracting.

The final girl is almost nonexistent until later in the film. As a matter of fact, it feels Franklin gets more screen-time than anyone.

Most of protagonists except for Sally appear dumb. I'd like to watch them fight back or struggle for the way out. Again, this is probably because I'm too used to the recent horror norm.

All in all, it is still entertaining and the antagonists' character settings are absolutely remarkable. I can only imagine how shocking this was 50 years ago, however, the gore is much less than modern adaptations and the storyline is very simple. If you don't forget that, you may enjoy this film quite a bit.

I was expecting good suspense like The Gift (2015), but with a protagonist who's a sympathetic innocent psychiatrist chosen to be a target of a deranged psychotic man. As turned out, this is a super mediocre, nothing but a frustrating TV movie with well known casts.

First of all, almost all characters in this movie make horrible choices to the point of absurdity. It gets really hard to watch without having disbelief in their actions. I have no idea how many times I rolled my eyes and I couldn't help feeling that just occasional simple communication would have prevented the whole thing from happening. The characters' decisions feel like they are forced to intentionally make their situations worse. Naturally, after while you can't sympathize with them anymore.

The second, there are too many plot holes. Can you start living in someone's house once you claim you're their family? And hire a realtor to list the house to sell? No one confirms your identity even when you check in a psyche ward? No police questioning once you admit that you are clinically unstable even though someone reported you for endangering a person? You can successfully escape from the psyche ward without seen, somehow retrieve your own car and be on the run without alarming anyone?

These are just obvious ones. There are a lot more if I focus on all the characters.

Lastly, I don't even know the twist was supposed to be "the twist" in this story because you could see it from miles away. In fact, you get so frustrated that it doesn't get revealed much earlier in the story.

The only good way to watch this movie may be with your teenage daughter to educate her how predators approach and manipulate young girls. Also tell her that any man who is much older than her and wants to hangout with an underaged girl privately is not right in any circumstances. Stay away from the man and talk to your family about him right away.

Since the last one was unexpectedly really good, I was looking forward to seeing this new one as well.

I've watched a handful of Christmas rom-coms and I found that the lines between really good Christmas movies and not good ones are quite thin. This 'A California Christmas' maintains the classic elements of a cheesy Cinderella story, at the same time ,it's not too fantasy like. The scenario seems more grounded; characters facing more realistic challenges.

I still don't like seeing some rather small quarrels treated so dramatic for the sake of the story arch (why don't they try talking out if they love each other?), but I guess that's also a staple of this type of film.

To compensate for that, the two main characters have an amazing chemistry! They really look they care for each other, and willing to compromise for their partner's happiness.

Oh, I love Manny as a comic relief, he does it so well! That's a bonus.

The cleverly conducted 2016 thriller 'Hush' starring Kate Siegel performed well in another solid thriller here.

Some complains that the story is too predictable, but that shouldn't be a reason to trash the whole film. Yes, most likely you can guess who's going to be killed and some twists in the climax, however, there's a big room for audience to be able to embrace them because none of us can surmise every single detail of what happens next in the story.

If you know who's going to be attacked then you can have fun while thinking how it's going to be done and see if you are right. Chances are your guess will not be 100% correct and you'll enjoy finding out the differences between your guess and the actual outcome of the film. Well, I could tell that friends and the detective would be eventually attacked from the get go, but I didn't know how it was going to be, and also about the trick the main character is planted, I knew that was gonna bring the ark in the climax, albeit I couldn't guess when and how it was going to be kicked in.

All in all, I think this movie provides the relatable characters and good suspense which are what I ask for in thriller movies.

One thing is though Kate Siegel's hair looked like a wig and it was distracting. In the last scene, that was definitely a wig. She's beautiful and all, but gee can it be less synthetic? Lol.

I have been a fan of Mary Elizabeth Winstead for a quite long time and have watched many movies that she's in. One thing for sure for me is whatever a role she takes, she always gives a very convincing job, from an innocent cheerleader, and a charismatic girlfriend to a brainwashed cult member. This is no exception either.

Like some other reviewers say, this movie definitely has vibes of some of Luc Besson's works such as "Lucy (2014)", "Nikita (1990)", and also reminds me of "Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)" which centered a conscientious female hitman, and maybe tiny bit of Oren Ishii from "Kill Bill (2003), precisely her back story. The story of this film is pretty straight forward and probably you've seen something similar before, but Mary really carries this whole 106 min well. She's slim though not like skin and bone, her physique looks fit. She appears very much capable of this type of action more than many actresses I've seen in other action films. The fighting scenes are not full of grappling or jiujitsu which can be a problem when convincing an audience if the protagonist is a woman who weighs less than 120lb. What this movie has done right is portraying the female hitman as a skilled knife killer. She aims at opponents' fatal points accurately and makes sure to hit there multiple times. In this way, it doesn't matter how much she weighs, she just needs to be agile and lethal that I believe this film displayed very well. I really liked the action scenes and Mary Elizabeth Winstead handled them superbly.

I can tell many parts of this film was actually shot in Japan and most of Japanese are real Japanese actors, some (especially Kijima and Renji) are famous in Japan. Scenery and many of products in the background are genuine, and the cab which door opens and closes automatically! I appreciate that they try hard to stick to the authenticity.

There are a few gripes if I may... are that Ani (Miku Patricia Martineau) who's supposed to have grown up in Japan doesn't speak Japanese very well, the small izakaya filled back alley looked like a studio set, and one more thing is a magical auto-reloaded gun which Kate steals from a cop. I was worried that eventually Kate was going to run out of bullets, but it never happened lol Nonetheless, these are minuscule details, they aren't enough to taint this movie.

I don't believe this is a solid 10 star movie, but deserves 6 or 7 stars no doubt. Certainly fun to watch especially for a person who enjoys action films with female leads.

I started watching this show yesterday on Netflix and I'm about to finish the first season (Netflix only has 1 season so far). I love it!!! It's got everything I love; the good court drama, corruption vs. Justice, people trying to do what's right.

I just found out this brilliant show has canceled after mere two season. Are you kidding me? How the heck all those stupid reality shows are still on while this clever and touching show gets canceled. Something is wrong here. If there is a petition for 'For Life' to go on, I'll vote for it in a heartbeat.

Great show, highly recommend.

This is my kind of movie; drag culture, good-hearted people, characters trying to be the best of themselves and lots of sparkles!!

Yes, the story might be a little simplistic and predictable, but so what? I didn't expect any twists from this type of film. What I expect is a bit corny, but touching story that makes me smile and makes me feel good afterwards. And this movie gave me THAT!

Jackie Weaver is brilliant as a Texan lady who has somewhat a timid exterior, yet has got balls when she needs them and I loved that performance. The tone of her voice when she is holding a gun is just fantastic. I believe women in southern states have strong cores like her character does. The conservative part, though, wasn't depicted very well, it just showed that she was Christian and sort of a leader of a choir in her church. Nonetheless, I did get that she loved her son so so so much. It ends up leading her to open up her heart to a new world and touch many people's hearts as well. Who wouldn't love that story!? In reality, people don't change so easily in a good way, but I do hope that all the close-minded people would change and everyone gets along. So isn't it nice to put that hope into a work and make a movie like this?

I also wish this film would help people who have lost in touch with their families get an idea to call them up before it becomes too late.

Don't overthink, just watch. You'll love this if you like a funny heartwarming movie.

Oh, I didn't recognize her at first with the trashy blonde look. I personally think Lucy Liu did a good job as a supporting role.

This show doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. Thriller/horror is my genre so naturally I gave this a shot. I had a really bad feeling while watching episode 1. It isn't intriguing at all, in fact, it is quite annoying. Frankly, I thought it was poorly executed. The story seems to want to point at one particular character to be the killer, but it also seems that doesn't want it to be too obvious. As a result, I couldn't tell if this show wants to mislead the audience to let us guess who the killer is or if it is taking the style of the classic detective series "Columbo", which makes the audience enjoy witnessing the process of how Det. Columbo cleverly hunt a murderer down. I wanted to be entertained the way this show intended to, but it felt like that opportunity was never offered.

It was quite challenging to keep watching because of the unlikeable characters and messy storylines, but I don't write reviews unless I finish the whole thing. I had a feeling the killer wouldn't be caught in the last few episodes, however, I was really hoping that all the loose ends were going to be cleaned up and season 2 would never be released. Unfortunately someone wrote that season 2 will be coming next year and I'll probably pass.

This show can learn a lot from the solid detective show like "Unbelievable" which is also a Netflix original series.

Lastly, can't anyone make a show involved family without infidelity? And one more thing, if they don't share or talk about their issues between families, how on earth are they calling themselves a family? Don't lie to each other, share your thoughts and work on the issues together. Is the shape of the family extinct?

Oh, and what's with these high school girls flirting with a teacher? Is that normal these days? It's disturbing.

Season 2 requires a lot of improvement; perhaps forget about the family drama, just focus on solving the case.

Detective Sarreto is never really depicted likeable, but in this episode he's being really annoying and even his moral code is questionable. He says that everyone lies and then he forces his partner to lie. He fools around behind his wife. His son clearly needs him and yet, he never tries to meet his family a half way, his needs and work come first all the time. Even at work, he seems to see only what he wants to see.

Giving characters a depth is fine, however, it is quite difficult to keep watching when they are not so sympathetic.

Sorry, I'm being very frank here. Yeah, I know Dave Franco himself is famous. Is he a fabulous actor? Hmmm.. Could he be a celebrity without his brother being so successful in the industry? Hummm... A good director? Not yet, for sure. This is his debut title, and is not memorable. Like others say, nothing new, nothing really shines.

I started watching this without knowing that this is directed by Dave Franco. Since horror/thriller is my genre, I must've briefly read the synopsis and kept it in my watch list sometime in the past. I found this title on Prime video today and began watching with the assumption which some ill-intentioned person/people would bring a horror to protagonists. Well.. I was right, but it took a while to get there because this movie spends 2/3 of its length for relationship dramas between the main characters. I don't care the quarrels and a mistrust brought by their infidelities. Creepy stuff is happening so let's get the story going and show me who's behind this! How are they gonna resist to surrender to this sicko! Unfortunately, you won't see those. I am so disappointed. There is no arc, I got bored since I wasn't intended to watch a soap opera and then all of sudden, Boom! The killer strikes! What!? Let me have a chance to invest emotionally into this psycho in order to enjoy the suspense!

Some reviewers pointed out that characters should be younger for better explanations for their poor decision making and childish acts. I totally agree. I think the reason why these characters are older than it actually fits the story is because Dave Franco wanted to use his wife as one of the main characters. Maybe he felt more confident working with someone he knows quite well in real life. However, that didn't seem to turn out so well in this case.

The cinematography is watchable, but nothing special, in fact, some parts are hard to see what's going on due to the lack of light.

Some people mention 'The Strangers'. Yeah, I can see the resemblance. Personally, I think 'The Open House' has a more similar feel to this movie. Although I didn't find those films so interesting, they gave more screen time for the psycho character(s). For that, I have to give more credit to them than to this film. If you don't like those titles, you may not find this one enjoyable either.

Not super terrible for a first attempt, but easily forgettable and the characters are annoying as hell.

Hmmm... I always thought the people with Asperger's shows much more subtle behavioural patterns than the one depicted in this film. To my knowledge, they act like anyone, but you occasionally wonder if they fully understand what you mean or if you're having a mutual understanding on the topic while having conversations with them. That sort of thing.

Anyways, I understand why some people say this movie doesn't seem to know what it wants to be, thriller? Drama? Or Romance?

Thriller and horror are my favourite genre and frankly I was pretty bored throughout.

As a thriller, it's half baked. You can guess who killed the lady early on and you'll find out that you're correct midway through . There's no twist either. No guess work involved in the identity of the killer or a catharsis of finding who the killer is with this movie.

Drama/Romance wise, the script doesn't describe the characters deep enough. I need to see more character developments, and get familiar with their perspectives and motives and where they're coming from. I can see the female protagonist is a lonely troubled woman, but I couldn't know her well enough to comprehend the reasonings of her actions, and also unfortunately, you cannot expect viewers to agree with everything happening in this story just because the main character has a spectrum; I mean some parts appear to be a little too convenient for the sake of the story to go on.

The ending is somewhat confusing. There is a flashback of previous scenes which makes it look like the main character is perhaps the culprit, but we already know who the killer is by then so what's the point of that?

Although I can only speculate on what state of mind he is in while wandering in a mall, it also felt weird to close the movie that way especially after the 'misleading' gunshot.

Lastly, I wanted more screen time of John Leguizamo and Helen Hunt. I can't deny that it feels a bit of a waste to see those two seasoned actors playing rather small roles.

All in all, if you are a huge thriller fan, you may not be satisfied. If you're interested in to know what Asperger's is, you may or may not find some insights here. If you are a fan of Ana de Armas, possibly worth watching since she steals every scene while she's in the frame. She's just adorable.

As I wrote on the title, this is not really about Richard Ramirez per se, it's the deeper insight of the people who had to deal with one of the most notorious serial killers in U.S.A. There are tons of materials about Richard Ramirez out there like many reviewers pointed out. I'm also one who's been quite familiar with his cases since I'm drawn to true crime stories. If you've read about Gacy, Dahmer, Bundy, Kemper etc., most likely you've known Ramirez as well. He is that infamous. So if you wanna know about this pure evil, just google him, no need to watch this documentary and talk trash about this well-made docuseries just because it was not what you thought it was prematurely. However, you may come back to this title and appreciate it after your thirst to know about Ramirez is satisfied and ready to know more but from different perspectives.

There are many films, documentaries, and books in which killers analyze themselves or someone else analyzes them. Why don't we give a spotlight to the people who are not serial killers sometimes? I love to learn the process of how the investigators finally catch the criminals; there must be obstacles, conflicts, struggles and some miracles behind the scenes. Sometimes detectives have to fight their inner demons during the investigations. You see drama here. It's raw. That's what I like about this type of documentary. It's also very emotional when you hear a story from victims and their families. I almost cried when I listened to one of the survivors who was molested when she was six by Ramirez talking in front of the Camera courageously. I am amazed what a formidable woman she became and that she didn't let this dire experience take down her spirit. You wouldn't be able to see it if this was a documentary about only Ramirez.

I saw some people on the Internet say that this documentary went too far for its graphic images. As a person who often sees these types of documentaries and films, I didn't particularly think this was any more shocking than some of the stuff you see on the internet. First of all, the director didn't use those photos for shock value, just to show what really happened: how demonic what Ramirez did to his victims. And don't forget the people who were involved in his crime have to live with the images for the rest of their lives. You can't help noticing how many lives were destroyed by him here.

If you think you are not up for real crime scene photos, this isn't for you.

If you find this docuseries is interesting, you may enjoy 'Real Detective' which is a TV series based on the actual events. I stumbled upon on Netflix and thoroughly enjoyed it unexpectedly.