A new segment…well, kind of. I don’t know if you have a little problem like me. I have Netflix and it takes me probably more time deciding on what to watch than actually watching it. So this is a little merge of what I used to do when I needed to be economical and stop buying movies with my DVD collection. I’d set a goal to watch as many movies as I can in alphabetical order. Now, we’re going to try this out with Netflix. Instead of doing all As then Bs then Cs (etc.) , I’m going to choose one movie per alphabet from A-Z. It limits my choices and it’ll empty out a little of My List (which will be primarily where I choose movies) unless its an obscure letter like X. Here we have it: Netflix A-Z! I already have two rounds of the alphabet chosen so unless the movie expires between the time I drafted it and get to it, we should be all set!
Ready? Let’s go!
ATM (2012)
Director: David Brooks
Cast: Brian Geraghty, Alice Eve, Josh Peck
Three co-workers, David (Brian Geraghty), Emily (Alice Eve) and Corey (Josh Peck) leave a office Christmas party. On the way home, Corey wants to go pick up some dinner but without cash at the late hour, they decide to stop at the ATM. There, they get trapped inside the secluded ATM building fighting to survive as a mysterious masked man watches them and prevents their escape.
I like these secluded, mostly one set piece sort of movies. I liked Phonebooth and Buried a good bit. Those were intense and engaging. What makes these things work is a good story. There are secrets, and there seems to be a point of why some person would do that. Some guy in their big winter jacket standing at the door while you stand in an ATM machine place doesn’t exactly do that. Not to mention ATM is pretty much pointless. I get at the end that this is just a serial killer or a lunatic who gets off on planning these intricate secluded places to trap and mess with their victims. [in an after thought, spoiler alert]You know, let them and their personality and their distress make them do stupid mistakes and cause their own misery in the end. Yay, danger in our messed up world. I already knew about that. You didn’t?
I’m sorry if this sounds like a rant. ATM truly felt like a waste of time. I watched it in two halves and during the first half, I eventually walked in and out of the room while brushing my teeth, packing my stuff, tidying up my desk at home. The deal is, forget about the crappy story, just forget about that. It was really predictable. Like you pull out your car keys in a transparent cube in front of a dude observing you and Mr. Lunatic goes to the car and does something. What could that be? Of course its to destroy the wires so you can’t start the damn thing if you happen to try and make and escape. But nope, they give that a shot right after. *shakes head* That’s just the beginning. Because these three are so stupid. I can’t even describe how these characters lack common sense.
I guess now that we’re there, we can talk about these characters. Other than Alice Eve, who I saw in Star Trek. Remember that scene that everyone was talking about?
We’ll start there. Keep in mind, no one in this is good. Alice Eve’s character, Emily was a little awkward and weird. For a moment, I wondered if she was in on this crazy thing. Then I quickly realized that this movie is not that movie. Its just not…sadly. We also have the two guys. One of them, Corey (played by Josh Peck) is ridiculously annoying. Like I wanted the Mr. Lunatic dude to just off him, somehow. Just stop him from talking, whining, whatever you want to call it. I guess the main guy, David, is supposed to be the guy we root for. Except he’s kind of a coward and not really sure how to stand up for himself. He has this hidden aggressive side or whatever but I didn’t really care for his character even if he might have had the most character development. These characters had no story, no reason to be there. It was just really bad luck that they ended up in that particular ATM.
I’m about to end this review because that’s enough ranting for one post but has anyone seen an ATM placed in such a location? Is that how ATMs in the USA works? I haven’t seen one in such a secluded parking lot, set aside from everything else before. For me, I just couldn’t believe that portion to start with so the movie was destined to go downhill from there.
Overall, ATM is a really bad movie. There was no story. The characters were unengaging and even slightly annoying and to top it all off, so extremely stupid. The bad guy feels a little pointless and while he may be aggressive and pretty much a serial killer, he just didn’t seem to have a lot going for him. Nothing here screams thriller because I definitely didn’t think about it when it ended except maybe the joy that the credits were rolling but then there were cut scenes in between and the end. I’m not sure how many people will stay to finish this movie till the end credits finished rolling although there wasn’t much to miss.
In the afterthought, this would have made a fantastic Shitfest post. Probably should have saved it up but fair is fair, with this first review done. Netflix A-Z is officially launched! Can you guess what movie I’ll choose for B (if you do, you are amazing)?
Have you seen ATM? What do you think of movies using mainly one location?
The movie was all right, nothing to write home about though. Good review.
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Thanks! In afterthought, I probably was a lot angrier because of watching a few meh movies in a row. The other one I didn’t write about yet though.
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Ha! Off to a really bad start with letter A! ATM sucked SO much. lol. 😉 Great idea, though, Kim! I am a HUGE fan of alphabetizing everything in life so I very much approve of your plan. 😉
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Haha! Its the easiest way to approach anything 😉 Glad you approve. I just watched my letter B so that should go up soon. At least it helps me watch movies faster. Sometimes I just give up and watch a series. At least that means at least for a few days I don’t need to decide again 🙂
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Hmm. Curious to see what B is! 🙂
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great idea Kim! I actually liked this more than most people despite normally hating this genre. ummm Braveheart? No clue whats available on netflix so it’s a huge guess 🙂
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Haha! No. Think animation 😉 I’m not a huge fan of movies like Braveheart but its one I should eventually see. I’ll jot that down. 🙂
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Beauty and the Beast?
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Nope. No Disney. Reserving those for my project (which is taking forever to wrap up even the first film).
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Bugs life?
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I promise the review will be up soon and you’ll know then. Its an animation in 2014. Not Disney or Pixar.
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No problem. Was fun trying to guess 😉
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I think I’ve narrowed it down quite a bit 😉
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Nice idea, I really should do the same. I’ve spent ten minutes before just staring aimlessly at DVD spines (ten minutes is a lot longer than it seems when you’re doing just that!) the stupid thing is, if pretty much any of my movies were showing on television – with adverts too! – I’d watch them.
I might start doing something like this 🙂 I’d probably even quite enjoy ATM !!!!! Good review 🙂
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Thanks Emma! 🙂 I had to do this. I just couldn’t make the decision and then my whole movie watching thing was getting hit pretty bad. So now, I’ve limited my choices so all I gotta do is just watch what I have listed 🙂
I might be a little harshes on ATM than I should but I had a streak of some bad movie choices, so it didn’t help.
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Solid idea. I often find that I spend as long looking for a film as I do end up watching it, then I fall asleep watching the one I’ve chosen!
What do you have lined up next?
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Haha! Are you my twin? That’s exactly what happens. By the time, I find a movie its already later than I first thought so I just crash.
Think B and animation 😉
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Bambi? Bugs Life? Barbi!?
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HAHAHA! I have a Disney/Pixar long term project so no. And eww..Barbie?Is there even a movie for that?
Hint: Think last year…
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Big Hero 6!
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Damn, now I want to watch that movie again…
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Haha! Nope. I already reviewed that right here: https://klling.wordpress.com/2014/11/27/big-hero-6-2014/
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Well I’m stumped then. Boxtrolls? There can’t be that many left!
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I think you’ve narrowed it down to one. Boxtrolls is no. I already reviewed that..Haha! Think Mexico? Produced by Guillermo Del Toro?
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Great idea for a blog feature! I haven’t seen ATM, but it doesn’t sound too good. I’ve never been to or seen a secluded ATM in the U.S. where it would be easy to be trapped and killed, but I try to avoid them at night regardless. Nothing good happens at ATMs after dark.
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Thanks! 🙂 I know, right? For one, its the middle of the night, and why would they choose THIS one. Even if you are a group, I’d never do that. Low lighting, empty parking lot, nothing around…have these people NEVER seen a horror movie in their lives?
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Kim!! HA HA!! I’m posting about this stupid movie tomorrow too!!
Great feature!
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Thanks, E!!! 🙂 Can’t wait to read it!
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x x x
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Fun review. Wasn’t an Oscar snub then? 😉
As for the letter B…hmmm…”Beverly Hills Chihuahua”?
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HAHA! You are funny, Keith. I cringe at that movie…unless you are telling me its good 😉
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Ummm…ahem….I’m not quite ready to put my seal of approval on it…not just yet.
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Haha! Phew…I was worried for a moment there.
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Great Idea, Terrible Film, i bought it on the cheap, but we don’t even have ATM’s like this in UK lol so i don’t understand why they are locked in a place that doesn’t exist.
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LOL!!! See, this doesn’t exist in Canada either. Its always attached to a bank or an alternate entrance to the mall or whatever. And there’s a good bit of security around, not like driving by 5 miles away.
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Haven’t seen the movie but I do exactly what you do with Netflix. I spent 3 hrs the other night putting additional films in my queue. For whatever reason I even put movies that I’ve already seen and some I even own, that I just have to spend time deleting later. Never mind that I’m also jumping to Youtube to watch trailers of the films – you would think Netflix could put up trailers of the films they are offering…whats the problem?
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I think Netflix used to have trailers for selected movies. I really dislike the new setup. Doesn’t have anything useful and its annoying. I don’t know if it happens to you but I can’t see My List completely sometimes. It just bugs out and shows me a portion of it. I can’t go on for an essay worth of what I dislike about it too. Like not seeing expiring movies. And yet, I’m still using it…haha!
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Its still a good service, faults and all 🙂
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