Jeff's Reviews | Thoughts on every movie I've ever seen.

recent product reviews

Baby Mama (2008)

Reviewed on Jan 17, 2017

Cute with some funny lines. Fey and Poehler are pretty good, and a nice supporting cast.

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Not the Will Ferrell comedy I was expecting. He doesn’t have a single funny line, playing the straight man in a borderline sad story. Was Ferrell miscast? Or was he giving drama a serious attempt? I’m not sure how his OCD fits into the story. And it’s all a bit…

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La La Land (2016)

Reviewed on Jan 7, 2017

An impressive musical, with beautiful sets, dramatic lighting, nice photography, a great score with wonderful instrumentation and original pieces, lively dance numbers, and quality performances. Perhaps most impressive are the long takes of musical numbers, executed with a degree of difficulty that is probably unappreciated by the casual viewer. There’s…

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Once (2007)

Reviewed on Jan 7, 2017

Nice, simple story. The music and talent is great, though maybe there’s a bit too much of it and not enough dialogue and character development.

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The Light Between Oceans (2016)

Reviewed on Jan 7, 2017

Gently paced, cleanly told, beautifully shot. Some of the shots are subtle but carefully chosen and metaphorical. This is a polished, smart movie. Fassbender’s performance is wonderfully restrained, and the old age make-up and performance is spot-on. Vikander, with her wonderfully expressive puppy dog eyes, puts in a great dramatic…

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I’m Here (2010)

Reviewed on Jan 7, 2017

Spike Jonze is an interesting dude, isn’t he? He’s a genius, but something’s a little off-center with him. A strange, charming but nightmarish story. Nice effects. Why English accents?

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13 Hours (2016)

Reviewed on Dec 25, 2016

This movie oozes with Bay’s visual style. Scenes are overly color-treated and contrasty, characters are all good-looking, orange, shiny, each trying to out-cool the other with macho lingo. Editing is predictably kinetic and with predictable interludes of slow-motion. Good action, though, with firefights and explosions that are intense and believable.…

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Finding Dory (2016)

Reviewed on Dec 16, 2016

Nothing really stands out about this one. Basically an continuation of Finding Nemo, only the story is not as crisp and the comedy is not as funny. Dory’s memory issue goes from cute affectation to downright annoying. Isn’t the story more about Dory finding her parents than it is about…

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David Brent: Life on the Road (2016)

Reviewed on Dec 14, 2016

I love Gervais and Brent, but this one just didn’t have the engaging humor of The Office. Main reason for that is the thin plot, a lack of subplots, and a shortage of supporting characters with real personalities. Gervais is trying to carry this thing solely with Brent’s schtick, and…

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The Accountant (2016)

Reviewed on Dec 10, 2016

Well-structured, seriously and methodically and efficiently told, with carefully constructed flashbacks revealing character and the motivations for the story, obviously written by someone who knows a lot about the legalities of corporate accounting. This feels literary, almost Grisham-y. Affleck plays a character that’s a mix of Raymond Babbitt and Jason…

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