Jeff's Reviews

Thoughts on every movie I've ever seen.

recent product reviews

Paris, Texas (1984)

Reviewed on Feb 18, 2022

Definitely something different, maybe one of the better movies to come out during a very awkward time for movies. Wasn’t sure I was on board at first, with things moving so slowly and Stanton’s vacant, emotionally unexpressive performance leading the way. Stanton has never been one of my favorites, with…

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A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)

Reviewed on Jan 4, 2022

Surprisingly dark, not the story I expected. But the biggest issue is that the story and characters are a little too simple. There’s not much going on in this movie. Mr. Rogers, who by all accounts really was a great guy, is a little too perfect here. Chris Cooper is…

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Don’t Look Up (2021)

Reviewed on Dec 26, 2021

Like McKay’s The Big Short, it straddles between being a dramatic story and a farce. Screaming rants by Mindy and Dibiasky, seriousness by Teddy, ominous scoring, and impressive visual effects make it seem like we should really care about what is potentially an end-of-the-world situation, but then idiotic, over-the-top behavior…

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The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

Reviewed on Dec 25, 2021

Interesting twist on the story, probably the best they could do after all this time. Similar to original in theme and style. They did capture some of the magic of the first movie, but it’s hard to make that kind of impact on a viewer again. Love that Keanu shaved…

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Klaus (2019)

Reviewed on Dec 23, 2021

A very neat take on a traditional story, stopping just short of being a literal origin story for Santa Claus and Christmas. Creatively, beautifully animated and kind of funny.

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Palm Trees in the Snow (2015)

Reviewed on Dec 21, 2021

A steamy, romantic, beautiful story about forbidden love in a faraway place and time, epic in scale and in length. A wonderful surprise. As a period piece, the scenery is exquisite and the sets are wonderfully authentic. It feels like we were really there, with only CGI ships and planes…

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Sing (2016)

Reviewed on Dec 20, 2021

Wonderfully animated, nicely paced, good characters, and great singing voices from an impressive cast. Newcomer Tori Kelly makes an impression as Meena the elephant, and McFarlane shines as Mike the mouse.

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The Forgiven (2017)

Reviewed on Dec 13, 2021

Poignant story about the political and psychological power of forgiveness, redemption, and compassion. Whitaker is really good. His embodiment of Tutu seems a little more jovial and silly than it should have been, but his performance is spot on when it counts. Bana plays hate very well but can’t seem…

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Clifford the Big Red Dog (2021)

Reviewed on Dec 6, 2021

Camp as Emily Elizabeth was smarter-than-her-years interesting at times, but very ordinary at others. Whitehall was pretty good, with light laughs and expressions and delivery that reminded me a bit of T.J. Miller. Everyone else was annoying. The dog effects are mediocre, soft compared to the sharp details in background…

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Red Notice (2021)

Reviewed on Nov 24, 2021

Pretty people, beautifully shot, nice effects, and decent action scenes. But with the plot bending on itself every few minutes to throw yet another twist at us and every scene filled with people trying to outcool each other with dialogue, I didn’t care about the story or any of the…

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