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jakebredeck
Reviews
Movie 43 (2013)
Not entirely sure what I just watched
While I certainly give the writers credit for creativity, I'm fairly confident this film shouldn't even be considered a movie. A series of skits, ranging from a man with a scrotum on his chin engaging in a blind date, to a basketball coach confidently explaining to his all black team that they can win because they are black, the film captures a passerby's curiosity without fulfilling it. There is little to no substance, with zero plot, but it is mildly amusing throughout the entirety of the film and benefits from the variety brought on by the abundance of skits. It has its merits, but is not more valuable than series of amusing youtube videos as a replacement.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014)
2 Hours with little to no plot
This movie, as indicated in the summary, did not have a plot. When saying this, I am aware that the movie was produced from the first half of a novel, and is expected to omit the climax of the novel which will come in part 2, but this motion picture was simply boring.
From the very beginning, the film features slow cuts and a plethora of dialogue that nearly lulled me to sleep on a weekend night. In contrast to its prior two films in the series, Mockingjay had no combat, no conflict, and effectively nothing to do with the Hunger games.
For two hours, I watched Katniss walk around a deserted area completely desecrated from warfare, while she was filmed with the hope that she would say something inspirational. It was on par with a documentary of the world's worst group of advertisers attempting to shoot a commercial. At one point a child risked her life to save a cat, and the antagonist rained white roses around a building he destroyed after an hour and forty minutes of nothing. To top it off, the movie ends with the main characters boyfriend trying to strangle her, with absolutely no resolution.
It is clear to me that the developers of this film failed to recognize that a single novel has a fully developed plot, but taking the first half of it and creating a film, leaves out half the plot.
My advice is to wait a year, and watch the two movies together when part 2 is released, because this one alone is a giant waste of time.
Lottery Ticket (2010)
Charming but Predictable
The lottery ticket is full of appreciable characters from the very beginning, from Kevin's grandmother to Benny, and Ice Cube's resounding appearance as Mr. Washington. It creates a strong atmosphere throughout the story's community, and is very admirable on the surface. With comical close ups, low lighting in Mr. Washington's basement, and long shots of the neighborhood from building tops, the movie as a whole does a good job of provoking emotions from every spectrum. It also creates a strong contrast between the family oriented community, seen at the large cookout towards the end of the movie, and all the socializing throughout town, and the serious criminal activity found all throughout town.
The issues with the movie can be found in substance. The plot is entirely too predictable, with most of it being forced by obvious ill advised decisions being made by the main characters. With little to no plot twists, and a standard happy ending with a payout of $370 million, the viewer is left feeling rather empty.
There is merit to the movie as a whole, and mild entertainment value, but little substance making it only slightly above average.