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Reviews
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)
Too superficial
First the good. Solid work from the actors, particularly Efron, Parsons and Milkovich. The costuming and set design was spot on, especially the Miami court room.
Now the not so good, there is just too much to unpack with Ted Bundy to cover in 110 minutes. The movie has to gloss over so much material to fit time constraints. We only mildly see Bundy's manipulative skills. We never see the psychopathy. Without more detail and more insight into the crimes, the movie is really just flabby and flaccid.
To me, this movie would have been better served as a mini series so we could see the beginnings and evolution of Bundy and his relationships.
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)
Lock, Stock, and Excalibur?
I grew up a fan of the Arthurian stories and movies. This was a terrible disappointment. The dialog in this movie makes me think Arthur will claim the crown with a clever heist with some plucky mates and snappy slang. It has Guy Ritchie's fingerprints all over it. When does not feel like a bad parody of Lock,Stock and Two Smoking Barrels it feels like a rejected Game of Thrones script with some dance music thrown in.
The story could have been updated by giving us some gritty 8th century realism, instead we get camp.
I blame Madonna for ruining Guy Ritchie.
Worth a watch when you are sitting at home with your SO on a Saturday night and you need something on Netflix, as long as you have zero expectations.
Draft Day (2014)
Terry Crews and Sean Combs couldn't save this
I will start with the things I found accurate in this movie. I find it very believable that the Browns would have an owner that is a twit and would be willing to make silly transactions to get a QB in the 1st round that is destined to be a bust. I found it wildly believable that the Browns would trade 3 years of first rounders to take a guy they could have gotten had they done nothing or (gasp) still have gotten had they even traded back a few spots. I find it incredibly believable that Jacksonville would have a GM that is totally clueless and panics like Dewey is loose in the coliseum. Dewey loves sugar!
Nothing else in this movie was believable or likable.
The script was terrible from the perspectives of character development, NFL knowledge, conversation, tension, and plot development. There are no characters in this movie to which you want to develop an attachment. All are flat and two dimensional. Several characters are in the movie for no reason other than distraction like Mom, girlfriend, ex wife, intern, etc. The NFL stuff, where to even begin? I won't get in to it. If you are an NFL wonk you see all the stupidity. If you don't care about football you won't care about the lack of realism.
For the rest of the script where is the central conflict? Is the conflict sticking with a decision you had already made while your mom is in the building? Perhaps the conflict was how did the Browns owner get from midtown to Teeterborough, catch a flight to Cleveland and then drive to his office in a matter of 20-40 minutes of real time? Perhaps he was having a gun battle with angry fans along the way? Perhaps I just wrote the script for Transporter 8?
To go with the bad script the direction and acting were stiff and formulaic. Granted what can you expect when you cast Crash Davis in the lead? And I refuse to believe Ivan Reitman directed this. I believe he took the check and then sent the neighbour kids out to direct.
Don't waste your time on this. If you need to see a football movie that then throw in The Program.