Jon Loder's Reviews
Worth the watch. Not as good as the original.
Created: 07-28-2025
Season one is bait. Season two is hardcore agenda
We enjoyed the first season and looked forward to the second. This is the first time I recognized the liberal agenda bait-and-switch that is so common in TV. The first season was just as good as any adaptation of Montgomery's novels. The second season went off script. Anne was immersed in what was portrayed as wonderful sub-culture, a secret society of be-what-you-want-to-be people. This is probably the most agenda-driven TV programming I've ever seen. It's utterly disgusting! Keep the kids away from this one.
Created: 07-22-2025
I concur
If there's a record for the most catch phrases in a movie, this is the hands-down winner. If you disagree, Ni upon you! Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
Created: 07-22-2025
Good, not great
It's definitely worth the time to watch. The tic on the wokeness meter is due to the typical scenario of a strong boss woman with morals going against an arrogant white dude. Actually, that's a half tic rounded up. It's tolerable. Most of the best parts of the movie are in the trailer. The swimming pool scene was classic. The final showdown against the bad guy was clever. The acting and directing are top tier.
Created: 07-16-2025
What has happened to M. Connelly's stories?
I've read every Michael Connelly novel and short story. Most of them at least twice. There's no apparent agenda in any of his written works, or even the movies, such as Blood Work, and The Lincoln Lawyer. The TV series have been getting progressively worse. In Ballard, the story starts up when Rene is in Cold Cases. That's book 5 in the series. That's too bad. There are some great stories in Rene's night shift times. Maggie Q does a great job of portraying the character from the book. Her supporting actors in her ragtag group of volunteers do a great job. The wokeness became apparent a couple of episodes in. A strong, masculine character was revealed to be married to another man. In following episodes, he became more apparent. Also, Rene was attacked in her sleep by a combat-trained bad guy. He's an ex-cop working for cartels. He's bigger, stronger, trained in fighting, and has the advantage of starting the attack by strangling her while she's sleeping. She still bests him, lethally. Connelly stories are great material. It's depressing to see the agenda ruin the show. The character in the book got by with her patience, wisdom, determination, and intelligence.
Created: 07-13-2025
F1 is to Formula One racing as Rocky is to Boxing
The Karate kid (the original one) had teenage combatants in "legitimate" competition winning with kicks to the face. F1 is kind of like that. You need to leave the "realism" behind and just enjoy the ride. If things like this happened on a real track, the driver would lose his super license, the team would be fined severely, and the penalty would be DQ. that said, they did a great job with the story. The action was very real. They merged real racing into the movie somehow. I'm still wondering how much was staged, CGI or cleverly edited mix with real race footage. They did get a lot right, such as the implications of cold tires, virtual safety cars, pitting strategy, etc. That's not surprising since this was produced by Lewis Hamilton, the second-oldest driver active. A lot of real drivers, team principals, team owners, etc. were featured. Some had speaking roles. The only thing that may be considered woke is a petite, female, pit crew member on the tire gun. I don't consider that woke for one main reason: she flubbed it and punctured a tire. A woke movie would've had her be the hero somehow. The acting? top notch. From Brad, to the supporting cast, and even to the cameos by F1 people, it was award-worthy.
Created: 07-04-2025
Good watch, but... Petite girl kicks butt on powerful beings
Possible spoilers...
Early in the movie, it was mentioned that whatever is in the gorge defeated an army of thousands. When Drasa and Levi met up with them, the petite Drasa fought off multiple monsters and occasionally rescued Levi from peril. Other than that, this movie was non-woke and a lot better than I expected. As the plot unfolds, it becomes less "supernatural" and more Sci-Fi. It's worth the watch.
Created: 07-02-2025
Good, clean movie
As you can see from the trailer, it's obviously somewhat predictable. Sports movies normally are. The action was great. I would've preferred to see more real-time bull-riding instead of the slo-mo mix they used for every ride. With the exceptions of Mcdonough and the reigning champ character, all of the bull-riders were real. Some had speaking roles. Neal played his part to perfection. The supporting acting was top-notch. The story had enough depth to be interesting. I did notice a kissing scene between Joe (McDonough) and his wife, Rose. He's noted for avoiding that sort of thing because it cannot be faked. While walking out of the theater, I had to check the credits to see who played the part of Rose. Her last name is McDonough. Neal is a man of conviction. I don't regret supporting his projects.
Created: 05-23-2025
Typical sequel. Almost as good.
The first Accountant is a high standard to live up to. That was the first time since Good Will that I actually liked Ben's acting. The Accountant 2 is one of those movies where most of the good stuff was in the trailers. I would've liked it a lot more if it wasn't for the too-forced situation. The big showdown was at a compound that was holding a dozen or so kidnapped children. They need to be rescued by The Accountant (and his bro). They were being guarded with enough fire power to coup a small nation. Why? I know better than to look for reality in a John Wick style action flick, but, why guard 12 kids with 30 commandos? EDIT... to address the woke elements others have reviewed, the female "commando" type is a result of some brain damage that caused her to be highly aggressive and capable of violence. I didn't put that in the same category as the "woman who beats up men" scenario that's so common in movies and TV. I didn't really see an agenda in it so it didn't register on my woke-meter. I can definitely see how it could, though. Decide for yourself.
Created: 05-06-2025
Zero woke agenda! Great writing and acting!
The premise is, the borderline agoraphobic identical twin of a missing detective needs to impersonate his brother to solve the mystery of his disappearance. The actors play their parts to perfection. The writing and directing are top notch. After watching season one, this is one of the best series I've ever seen. I hope season two is good. They have a lot to live up to.
Created: 05-02-2025
