Sweethearts- For Thanksgiving, MAX released a raunchy college comedy. i didn’t realize this was actually themed for Thanksgiving, and was deep in the middle of awards season, so i didn’t watch this until around Christmas, and even then, it took a little bit longer before I even put my video review out. So now, during Spring Break, I’m talking about a straight-to-MAX R-rated forgettable mess that is one of the least viewed videos on my channel. If it didn’t have audio description, I’d delete the damn video, because 2 views certainly isn’t helping. But, there are reasons to like Sweethearts. One of them is the audio description, which doesn’t always feel like it told me exactly what I needed to understand a situation, but also really does lean into the rowdy core. Two friends who went to the same high school and now go to the same college, make a pact to break up with their significant others over Thanksgiving, and become each others support system. of course, it goes where you know it will. The male lead is the most forgettable person on film from last year, especially considering screentime. However, Kiernan Shirpka, who really goes through a lot of gross out stuff in this, is solid, and some of the supporting characters are surprisingly funny. The male lead has a roommate that made me laugh a lot, and our leads have a gay best friend from back home who goes on his own little journey. The film does have a lot of bumps, and the audio description has a few too, but I would actually lean positive on this. It is formulaic, predictable, and showcases a male lead that is decisively dull, but the supporting cast, the audio description, and little Sally from mad Men make it worth one watch.
Fresh: Final Grade- C+, Audio Description: B+
On Deadly Ground- 30 years ago, in 1994, Steven Seagal directed this action flick that also starred him. If that doesn’t reel you in, I don’t know what will. He’s not a great actor, so how could he be a good director? he’s not. But, like most 90’s action films, this is so cheesy it’s actually occasionally fun. It actually ends with Seagal, the same guy who has a bromance now with Vladimir Putin, giving a lengthy speech (in character) about how we are destroying the natural resources and beauty of our world. going in, I didn’t think I was going to have “Seagal Speech On climate Change’ on my bucket list, but that’s how this ends. It’s like he saw Free Willy, and was moved to make his own impactful film, the only way he knew how. He punched, kicked, shot, and blew his way up to a story about the audacity to mine in the beauty of Alaska. Heed Seagal’s warning. Climate change is real. I don’t really know what to do with the film. I think there’s a specific audience that enjoys a Steven Seagal movie. For me, while this was entertaining, I think perhaps Under Siege is still the better film in his resume, and there are fans who will walk into this expecting this to not be an awards contender. I don’t think it’s always fair to grade films against things that are great, but in entirely different genres. I’m not fully versed in the works of Mr Seagal either, to know if maybe this is his second best film, and everything else is hot garbage. The audio description gave me the cheesy action fun I required, and while this is in no way an excellent action classic, it was some dumb fun. And, to be honest, that ending was so cheesy, it won me over in that “drunk fun” kind of charm.
Fresh: Final Grade: C+, Audio Description: B+
The Six Triple Eight- The best Tyler Perry movie of 2024. He actually did deliver three films in 2024, so you actually have some weight in that comment. However, despite that, and its Oscar nomination, this film is swimming upstream the whole time. It is disadvantaged by its directors inability to coherently direct anything that doesn’t just ooze all the worst parts of Perry’s projects, and he attracts a very wide range of talent. based on a true story about African American women who contributed, against a lot of odds, to the war effort in World War II, despite pervasive racism and sexism, deliver mail to the troops. Kerry Washington is the lead here, taking charge of a group of young women, who are not particularly well cast, nor given dialog that consistently supports their performances. However, Washington was terrific, somehow managing to rise above the film, the typical racist white guys with southern accents, and that overly dramatic tone Perry just can’t shake. I did have Washington on my list of the Best actress Performances of 2024, and that was the only list this film made. The audio description was good, but of Perry’s three films, Mea Culpa had the best audio description. Someone better should have directed this. Washington isn’t the first actress to outperform a Perry movie, and she won’t be the last. Kimberly Elise started the trend by being far better than anything else in Diary Of A Mad Black Woman, and that tradition has been carried on in several of his films, with actresses from Taraji P. Henson to Keke Palmer. Tyler Perry needs to evolve as a director. There has to be more to him than this. I’m leaning Fresh because of Washington, and not Perry.
Barely Fresh: Final Grade: C+, Audio Description: B+
Coup D’Chance- Woody Alen seems to have lost all credibility. I found his latest film on Tubi of all places. It also had no audio description, and was entirely in French. However, like most Allen films, it has a really fun score to it. i did enjoy the music, even if I couldn’t follow the film at all. I think that Allen’s scores, or selections of music, have always been one of his stronger factors. he seems able to really land his music. I have a feeling this might be the last we hear from him.
Unwatchable Due to LAck Of Audio Description
