The story might be bog-simple predictable (tho probably wasn't so predictable in 1934 I guess maybe) but this classic and highly acclaimed rom-com had me cracking up and very impressed with its acting and drama, with some truly touching scenes.
One Sentence Media Reviews
Annoyingly stupid, cheesy music, and badly written budget action flick in classic Luc Besson pattern (little girl turned revenge superhero); I couldn't get through it and I don't remember how it ended up on my list.
"Gut microbiome expert says (almost) every modern ailment is caused by gut microbiome deficiencies" ...news at 11.
Lee’s narration has a beguiling innocence that masks the sorrowful content; it is a children’s book and some parts made me wish I’d read it in school instead of now; perfect ending.
This movie typifies all the good bad and ugly of what happens when you give Tarantino too much money - the shots and cast, the music the set the acting, all really well done, and the plot, it's got that great Tarantino zazz that you have to love even if the man is super annoying, but the style, the cuts, the fourth-wall-breaking narration and random on-screen text, they're just too much, too inconsistent, and they take away from a pretty interesting idea for a story.
It's not the absolute most memorable heist / action movie of the era (I've seen it before years ago but only figured that out partway through) but it's got great leads, great music, and tons of that early 70s style I love.
Meandering is OK if that's your goal, and I'm glad I stuck through this artsy documentary because the meditative setting and tone were really lovely, and the theme (reusing garbage in general, and saving food from waste in particular) is one that's resonated with me my whole life.
This technical dive into geopolitics, currencies, and international finance had a tough balancing act to pull off, and it honestly did it pretty well - dry and technical enough to mostly explain its topics, cut through with a few choice anecdotes and name calling to not be super boring, broad enough to give a useful perspective overview without getting too abstract - I wouldn’t recommend it to someone unless they like thinking about interest rates and foreign currency exchange tho.
This impressively prescient viral outbreak thriller saw it all coming 9 years early, and for that it was well worth the watch, but as a movie it pulls its punches and spins off too many subplots and never really coheres into a great story.
I've watched two other movies recently that both had this problem of being a little too cartoonish and serious at the same time, like pick a lane - torture and murder don't mix so well with slapstick and superhuman strength - or maybe they do, if the tone is right, and Payback just has a bit of a tone problem, but I will say to conclude this very long short review that seeing early Mel Gibson, before he went nuts, you really remember why he was such a star.