TheMovieRhino's stats
- Review count647
- Helpfulness votes412
- First reviewNovember 16, 2008
- Last reviewMay 26, 2012
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating3.9
Overall rating
2
/
5
Bad Teacher is Not So Good .....
PostedJune 28, 2011
... not horrible, for the genre, but not very good. The best parts of Bad Teacher are: a few very funny, raunchy scenes and it is only 89 minutes long. The bad parts are: under-utilized talent in Segel and Timberlake, no really big surprises so we know the complete movie from the trailers, not enough sustained comedy, sometimes the raunch overwhelms the potential humor .... I could go on. TheMovieRhino thinks that director Kasdan should head for the chalkboard and write "next time I make a movie comedy I promise to do better" 100 times. A rhino horn down.
No, I do not recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
3
/
5
Quarantine 2 - Better than expected ....
PostedJune 19, 2011
Quarantine 2: Terminal is not the greatest horror movie or deadly plague movie ever made .... but it does have it's moments. It is not as good as the first movie - "Quarantine". That said it is a passable horror flick that will get you to jump occasionally and keep you on the edge of your seat at times. It has a few twists and turns and some of the "surprises" are not always revealed as effectively as perhaps they could have been. I found it an interesting diversion and that may be due to the dearth of any kind of horror movies these days. Where are they? For the adult horror movie aficionados that can appreciate a low budget take on zombies, plagues and end-of-civilized-life-as-we-know-it independent movies - most will like this movie and find it worth seeing. A rotting rhino horn slightly up.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
2
/
5
Mr Popper's Penguins is Predictable PG Pablum ....
PostedJune 19, 2011
.... which will be fine for many families with kids under 12. Our kiddies are grown adults now and the grand kiddos do not live nearby so we decided to give it a go without the little ones in tow. I had a hard time keeping my eyes opened in this movie as the laughs are spread thin and when they "pop" up they wear thin. In essence this is a modern take on Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs. The movie title could have been "Mr Popper and the Six Penguins". When Popper was deciding names for the tuxedo-clad birds I half-expected to hear ... Dopey, Sneezy, Doc .... you get the picture. Bottom line - If you want a diversion watching your under-12's giggle at penguin's pooping, passing gas, playfully vandalizing and pecking people - then this movie might be your cup of iced tea. If you are an older couple without kiddies then it would be best to stay at home in your igloo and rub noses. An ice-sculptured rhino horn down.
No, I do not recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
3
/
5
Beware Green Lantern's Light ...
PostedJune 19, 2011
"... which, is to say, for this movie, it is far less than it should have/could have been. I saw GL in both 2D and 3D this last weekend. In my opinion the 3D version does not add enough visual punch to make the extra 3D ticket price worth it. The rest of this review is the same as TheMovieRhino's 2D review: The actors are well cast and there are several effects that are "believable" within the framework of the iconic comic book superhero ring-slinger's legend BUT that's just about where the joy ends. There is too much 2D in the dialogue, story, details, character development, editing and cinematography (so much looked like CGI and this is inexcusable as evolved as CGI is today). Perhaps the weak CGI is due to an over-reliance on it in this movie. Thor cost $150 million and you could see the value of that investment on the screen. GL cost $200 million and it looked more like a $75 million comic book flick. Very disappointing. It is only my fondness for comic book heroes that lets me give it 3 stars - the 3rd for effort and some of the scenes that were worthy (almost all of which are in the first 30 minutes of the film). A greenish-tinged rhino horn slightly up."
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
3
/
5
Beware Green Lantern's Light ...
PostedJune 19, 2011
... which, is to say, for this movie, it is far less than it should have/could have been. The actors are well cast and there are several effects that are "believable" within the framework of the iconic comic book superhero ring-slinger's legend BUT that's just about where the joy ends. There is too much 2D in the dialogue, story, details, character development, editing and cinematography (so much looked like CGI and this is inexcusable as evolved as CGI is today). Perhaps the weak CGI is due to an over-reliance on it in this movie. Thor cost $150 million and you could see the value of that investment on the screen. GL cost $200 million and it looked more like a $75 million comic book flick. Very disappointing. It is only my fondness for comic book heroes that lets me give it 3 stars - the 3rd for effort and some of the scenes that were worthy (almost all of which are in the first 30 minutes of the film). A greenish-tinged rhino horn slightly up.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
5
/
5
The Tree of Life - You will hate it or love it ...
PostedJune 13, 2011
... I loved it. It would be easy to "over think" The Tree of Life. It is a patchwork of images, sounds, movements, lights and shadows .... sparse dialogue .... all designed by director Terrance Malick to make us think ... or make us "run away". Either choice is acceptable. Malick is known for not caring about what the audience thinks .... but he does want to provoke thinking. In our packed theater at least 20 or 30 people left at some point during the movie and about half of those that remained (perhaps more) were perplexed and frustrated. Many varied opinions emerged post-movie - was it a statement of promotion for evolution .... for new agism .... for Christianity .... for agnosticism or something else? Was it an exercise in purely indulging Malick's artistic ego? I saw The Tree of Life as a movie about how we prioritize the absolute amazement of life itself. How wrapped up we get with day to day moments without putting those things into the context of the diversity of life, the ocean's depths, the cosmos itself. There is scripture throughout this movie - on screen at least once - and almost always in the classical music that underpins many of the amazing visual experiments in cinematography. Malick states the subtext of his movie, I think very clearly, in the beginning - Nature or Grace. Throughout our lives we "bob up and down on the oceans of our lives" sometimes giving in to nature - sometimes rising up to ... giving or accepting Grace. Maybe Malick is being pretentious and all "Hollywoody arsty-fartsy" as I have heard some say .... but I don't think so. Malick takes his film-making pretty serious. He does invest a lot of time and effort into his works. I, for one, appreciate this foray into putting some of the central issues about the magic and purpose of life itself onto film for everyone to see. In the end I highly recommend you see The Tree of Life with the caveat that it is not for everyone and that it does ask something of the viewer unlike the vast majority of movies that are designed to simply wash over you quickly without leaving you thinking, engaged or changed. As one of my favorite mentors once said ... "how do you know you will or won't like the tea until you taste it?" A shimmering sunset silhouetted rhino horn up.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
5
/
5
Hesher is Gritty, Disturbing and Mesmerizing ....
PostedJune 13, 2011
.... and worth seeing if you are and adult film-goer that is not too sensitive to raw language and graphic descriptions of a "modern primal nature". At it's core Hesher is a morality tale of loss, forgiveness, guilt, materialism, selfishness, love, abandonment, misplaced priorities, passion and loneliness. Throughout the movie all of the characters seemed very real to me ... except for Hesher .... and that's okay .... as I took Hesher primarily as a metaphor for those things that often come out of left field in our hard times and moments of intense grief to shock us back into "working at living". Hesher is not for the "faint of heart" as many of Hesher's rants are porno XXX rated "visualizations". The "f" word is used generously but in context. Hesher is often offensive and a bit frightening but there is a "reason to the madness" that is best summarized by the last 10 minutes of the movie. Quirky, gritty, unusual family dynamic character study with an important message gets TheMovieRhino's 5star rating. A greasy, scarred, beautiful rhino horn up.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
3
/
5
The First Grader - A C+ Film about an A+ Event
PostedJune 13, 2011
The First Grader is based on a wonderful true story. There is much to admire about the movie - including many of the key actors, the cinematography and much of the dialogue. It is a shame that it is missing some of the "magic" that should be in a movie of this nature. It is lacking in punch and vigor and I think this is because of the pacing and editing more than anything else. The movie could have been 15 minutes shorter and with crisper editing might have connected some of the "emotional dots" better. Still a movie worth investing in. A rhino horn up.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
4
/
5
Super 8 .... or..... ET and Alien Have a Baby
PostedJune 12, 2011
Super 8 is a fun popcorn, summer movie .... a good movie. It is not a great movie and it is most notable for it's reverence for nostalgia and the classics of the genre from 20 years ago. This "movie stew" includes bits and pieces of honorarium to all of these great classics: Close Encounters of the Third Kind, ET the Extraterrestrial, Jaws, Alien, The Goonies .... and, likely, many more that I am neglecting to list. Super 8 is a love letter to Spielberg from JJ Abrams. The actors, plot, dialogue, cinematography and pacing are all above average. It's a fun diversion for 112 minutes. A rhino horn up.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
4
/
5
The Double Hour Keeps You Off-Balance - in Style
PostedJune 6, 2011
There are numerous times in "The Double Hour" you think you have it all figured out and then ..... wham .... you don't. This Italian Rubik's Cube of a movie moves quickly .... keeping you engaged and on your toes. There is a "film noir" feel to the cinematography and the camera angles which adds to the flavor overall. The acting and editing are exquisite. As much as I liked the film I rated it 4 instead of 5 stars because it got so "tricky" at the end I'm not sure I fully understood. Very enjoyable mystery-suspense-thriller that is worthy of your patronage. A double rhino horn up.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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