TheRealJ-Ro

therealj_ro
Cinema Addict - 1482 Film Ratings
Member Since: 27 Jul 2008
Location: Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada
Age: 39
TCI: not enough ratings
Films in Common: 0
Not in Your Top 1000 TCIs
Bio: TWITTER @BlockBuster_Guy
YOUTUBE BridgewatersFinest

I rank in tiers of 5 (so every ranking will end in either 5 or 0), decided (mostly) by the following criteria.

100-90 is OUTSTANDING: I do feel like there is such a thing as a "perfect film", but I don't dole out 100s easily. The difference between a 100 and a 95 film is a certain intangible quality I suppose, something that I know will make me always come back to it no matter what. Any film that makes a 90 and up from me is one I would either recommend to anyone in a heartbeat, or one which I feel goes far above and beyond my expectations from it.

89-80 is QUALITY: A quality film for me is one which is often a strong recommendation, a film that does its job to a higher level than the next tier, often notable for overall performances and/or production.

79-70 is SERVICEABLE: A serviceable film for me is one which does its job and is good entertainment either within its own genre or as a stand-alone film. It may or may not be recommended viewing from me, but more often than not it will be.

69-35 is AVERAGE: Since the term "average" is so wide, here is how I define it. An average film falls anywhere between something that is not a total flop and has redeeming qualities (performance, content, production, etc.), and one which has the ability to entertain most people (while potentially not being a personal recommendation).

34-0 is UNDERWHELMED: An underwhelming film is one which is forgettable. It either has no redeeming qualities, or its positive qualities do not outweigh the negative ones. At their worst, movies in this category offend me as a movie-watcher.

more Recent Ratings

60 25% Ordinary Angels (2024) - Rated 14 Mar 2024
"I don't think this is a particularly great movie but it does have some things going for it. The two youngest performers do well with what they are given, and that's basically true for all involved. Make no mistake, this is a faith-based movie, but it's not obnoxiously religious; religious themes are there but rarely at the forefront of what's going on. The emotional content is strong and it definitely got me towards the end, but that's low-hanging fruit with me. It does its job for most viewers."
50 18% Imaginary (2024) - Rated 10 Mar 2024
"Is this just where 95% of Blumhouse pictures live now? In that meaty 5/10 part of the curve where they are unremarkable, but also not outwardly offensive or even displeasing? This is fine, in all the same ways that Night Swim was fine, and M3GAN was fine, and so on and so forth. The formula is starting to weigh on me, to the point that if you sat me down in front of a random horror movie I'd never heard of, I'm quite confident I could tell you in 5 minutes whether it was a Blumhouse or not."
90 93% Dune: Part Two (2024) - Rated 03 Mar 2024
"Dune Part Two is a definitive monument to the genre created by a masterful director and creative force at the peak of his power. While being more accessible than the first in its narrative, it nonetheless shines in telling its story. I love the progression of Paul and Jessica as characters, as they tumble down the spire of religious zealotry and personal exceptionalism. This didn't overstay its welcome or feel anywhere near its runtime, and needless to say, but Part 3 cannot arrive soon enough."
75 56% The Madones (2024) - Rated 19 Feb 2024
"So Barrie Dunn has legitimate talent as a filmmaker. Why is he not working WAY more? And Lucy Decoutere is absolutely dynamite as a semi-suicidal schizophrenic competing with the voices in her head. This family drama with black comedy overtones delivers heavily on intrigue with a solid screenplay and believable, if a little hyperbolic, performances. In the end, it all comes back to Dunn's vision and composed direction, even though the narrative does begin to struggle in the second half. See it!"
75 56% Bob Marley: One Love (2024) - Rated 17 Feb 2024
"Okay I now fully understand why critics are frustrated by this. It was absolutely their expectation, maybe rightfully so, that this was a rich, full-life biopic of Marley. It isn't. It hyper-focuses on the years leading up to the One Love concert and "Exodus". They wanted it to have more teeth. I can appreciate that. But I also deeply appreciate what this movie ACTUALLY is on the screen. Kingsley Ben-Adir and Lashana Lynch soar. An incomplete picture, most certainly, but a wonderful experience."
55 20% Madame Web (2024) - Rated 16 Feb 2024
"I think if you're not committed to disliking this (and a lot of people are), you can probably find the pathway to enjoying it. I don't love how it tells its story, it gives nothing any time to breathe, there's no subtlety in its execution - it's cheesy and quick and often suspect in its performances. It stops short of begging to be fast-tracked into the MCU, BUT, it isn't abysmal and it COULD go in interesting directions. Maybe. Ignore the NSA spy stuff, it's just kinda there and it's weird."
70 42% Lisa Frankenstein (2024) - Rated 10 Feb 2024
"Strikes me very much as a divisive movie - not because it's particularly challenging, but because I don't predict much middle-ground reaction-wise; you are either on-board with this premise and how goofy its execution is, or, you aren't (and you're probably gonna hate this as a result). I am on board! It's silly and it's trying to be, which is at least a moderate success, plus it achieves and maintains a fun tone even with murder, decapitation, and eventual corpse husbandry (literally). See it!"
75 56% Argylle (2024) - Rated 09 Feb 2024
"I rather enjoyed this! I didn't know it was in the universe that it's in, that's my fault/ignorance, but yeah, it's a lot of fun with an unconventional-for-this-genre lead in BDH, all the convolution you'd expect from a spy thriller, and Matthew Vaughn stylishness. Though admittedly, there was too much green-screening and CGI (especially with the cat) which did at times lend the movie the wrong kind of campiness and immersion-shattering. But I'm keen for what's coming next from this universe!"
70 42% I.S.S. (2024) - Rated 24 Jan 2024
"ISS mostly justifies its intriguing premise with its intensity, paranoia, and claustrophobia. This is probably getting a friendly bounce from me into green-spectrum, I just plain really dig real-world Sci-Fi (and space movies in general, let's not nit-pick here). Its brisk runtime could have stood an extra 10 minutes or so, a few extra scenes to flesh out the sinking terror of the decisions these characters are put in front of, and admittedly the third act is clearly the weakest. Still dug it."
60 25% Night Swim (2024) - Rated 20 Jan 2024
"Bryce McGuire gets his turn to have his short film adapted into a BH feature, and I continue my streak of starting new film years with average horror. At the very least, this is visually interesting (spending so much time in water helps), keeps its tension mostly intact throughout, and doesn't have a ton of wonky horror movie logic. Wyatt Russell actually does solid work with this material. It's made by people who actually care about doing a good job; more than a lot of modern horror can say."