Jeff's Reviews

Thoughts on every movie I've ever seen.

recent product reviews

Dune: Part Two (2024)

Reviewed on Mar 7, 2024

I know it’s an old story, coming from Herbert’s 1965 novel, but I can’t help but see the parallels to other films with same story. I’m thinking of the search for “the One” in “The Matrix” and the outsider falling in love with a local and passing all the tests…

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Poor Things (2023)

Reviewed on Jan 29, 2024

A philosophical and erotic dark comedy based in some sort of steampunk alternate reality, definitely something different. It’s got much of the same whimsy as Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (especially the scene where Jim Carrey plays a baby version of himself), skies like impressionist paintings similar…

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Thirteen Lives (2022)

Reviewed on Jan 5, 2024

Good companion piece to The Rescue. This one’s basically the same, only with a bit of Hollywood polish. Beautifully shot. The cave scenes were surely hard to shoot and so claustrophobic that they’re hard to watch. Viggo and Colin, both playing low-key simpletons, do a nice job with the accents…

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Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)

Reviewed on Jan 2, 2024

Not good. The formula barely worked for the first film, now it’s totally done. Guttenberg is still painfully unfunny. In retrospect, it’s hard to believe Bobcat made a career of this schtick.

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Police Academy (1984)

Reviewed on Jan 2, 2024

I guess it’s an original storyline, but the comedy is very lowbrow, even for the 80’s. Steve Guttenberg is painfully unfunny and uncharming.

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Mooned (2023)

Reviewed on Jan 2, 2024

Not very clever.

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Migration (2023)

Reviewed on Jan 2, 2024

Animation is nice, but there’s nothing particularly funny or touching or clever about this one.

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The Boy and the Heron (2023)

Reviewed on Dec 24, 2023

The beautiful Miyazaki animation and Hisaishi score that we’ve come to know and love, but this one was totally weird. Many moments during the story when I had no idea what was going on.

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Leave the World Behind (2023)

Reviewed on Dec 17, 2023

A slow, creepy, suspenseful build that feels like a Shyamalan or Peele production. But the reveal is excruciatingly slow, and despite the promise early on, the payoff is not there in the end. Great cast. Roberts exudes tension and discomfort beautifully. How has Ethan Hawke never been pressured to fix…

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The Occupation of the American Mind (2016)

Reviewed on Dec 14, 2023

The film is neatly set up by the steady and surprisingly articulate voice of Roger Waters, but it does not fairly explore complicated history and motivations from both sides. The one-sided arguments are manipulative and dangerous, and overlaying everything with a eerie, droning score in a minor key makes me…

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