mozzis Reviews

Viking (2007 TV Movie)

All style

[6/10 · 26 August 2018]

Evgeniy Sidikhin is fun to watch as a prototypical Russian tough guy with a soul. His character is introduced as a by-the-books, loyal patriot. This makes his transformation into a ridiculous caricature of a Terminator-style motorcycle-riding gangster (except his biker jacket is trimmed with fur) even more jarring. The rest of the movie is one action-movie trope after another.

(***Mild spoiler here***)

And can anyone explain how he and his girlfriend went from being bound for safe haven in the Canary islnds to that last, pointless chase by the police and military? (Note: the version i watched on Netflix was only 1 hour and 31 minutes long; apparently the theatrical release was 2:45 (!)

SEAL Team (2017–2024)

This is the best...

[8/10 · 6 February 2018]

...of the military-themed shows out there this season. Sure, Boreanaz was a bit wooden at the series' beginning, and sure, a lot of it is predictable. But Jace's emotions have really started to come through as story has progressed, and the plots are getting tighter as well. Above and beyond all of this, the characters and their interactions have an authenticity that is better than The Brave or even The Unit, to name a couple at random. (The last paragraph contains a minor spoiler) I want to address some of the complaints from other reviewers. First of all, the dialog. It _is_ brisk, it is salted with acronyms and military slang, and all in all has a ring of authenticity that once again outscores other military dramas that come to mind. If you can't hear it, I suggest you improve your TV sound, or it may be time to invest in a hearing aid. If you don't understand it, google-fu is there to help you out. Politics. You salty dogs who complain about "PC" in this series need to pay more attention. For one thing, PC culture has definitely infiltrated the military, but this show is definitely sending all kinds of signals that are contrary to that. The latest episode, Getaway Day, even made reference to the current administration's changes to the rules of engagement in Afghanistan, and in a subtly favorable way as well. The thing is, the politics in this show are done deftly and in an understated way that in my opinion is more effective than would be the case with too much boo-rah, and it definitely does not have the level of false equivalency and apology for the enemy that you see in, for instance, The Brave. They are much more respectful of the military (well, except for the "cake-eaters"!) than anything else I have seen in a long time, and that certainly includes The Unit with all of its manipulative "conspiracies in high places" and "you can't trust anyone" nonsense. Realism. Yes, this show gets some details wrong: weapons, uniforms, equipment, ranks and ratings, etc. All of this stuff is way less important than the story, the characters, the dialog, and the acting. And this series does very well in all of those areas, and continues to improve. It is really hard to get info on all of the details stuff that every military-knowledgeable person will agree on - at least partly because so many of us are arrogant SOBs who won't admit when we get it wrong ourselves. Listen, uniforms and equipment do change over time, top-tier SOP guys can often carry what weps they want, and everything is subject to the chaotic circumstances of conflict. At least this show is trying to tell stories about a real military unit, not some fantasies about a bunch of near-freelancers living in a bunker somewhere. In addition we should consider that too much realism in details might not be best for the security of the real operators.

I want to finish with a comment (here's the minor spoiler) on one scene from the last episode that really got to me. The team was on its way to a mission and came upon a set of flag-draped caskets in a hangar. No one said anything, but the looks on the faces, the body postures, said more than enough. This scene was eloquently set up, and then sprung with no warning. A series with even slightly worse writing would have had someone lash out with some cliché phrase about how "we're gonna get the bastards that did this", etc. But the approach taken here was so much more effective. When you see coffins like that, it is deeply affecting, and that is exactly how they played it.

Carrier: Full Circle (2008) Season 1, Episode 10

Good to the last drop

[6/10 · 9 December 2009]

This episode nicely wraps up the stories of the people we met during the course of the series. It continues the balanced presentation, showing both the good and the bad, joy and pain of the returning sailors and their families. I was surprised at how the show continued to draw me in up to the end. I did find the style of presentation to be a little too detached, and at the same time I would have liked more details about the equipment and surroundings of the carrier environment. But I don't know if that would have been possible without losing the personalities that came through from the personnel that we followed through the series.

Y2K (1999)

Hard to watch

[1/10 · 19 June 2009]

Very predictable. Myra's Russian accent is really bad.

Goofs:

Vince plans to send the missile into space. Nuclear missiles cannot achieve orbit, let alone escape it.

The Marines did not respond to the attack properly, especially if they were SpecOps guys. Then did not seek cover, they did not pick their targets, they shot while standing without moving, etc.

Where did Thompson's backup crew (the ones guarding the silo while they were re-targeting the missile) come from?

Vince's character yells a lot and is a real sissy until three quarters through when he is willing to die rather than change the target of the missile.

Seward would not have the authority to order an incursion into a foreign country.

Imagery and screens on the silo computers are not at all like 1969 era displays.

Higher Learning (1995)

Good for what it is

[7/10 · 17 September 2008]

My guess is that Singleton might be generally quite pleased about the amount of discussion this film has provoked, here if nowhere else. Indeed he deals with issues that are both divisive and very complex. Charges of oversimplification are inevitable, and many people are going to hate it no matter what the message.

I'm a white guy, but I know from friends and acquaintances that it often seems that whites just do not get what it is like to be non-white in our society. I also think that the discussion may be more open and honest in the US at present than nearly anywhere else. So if this movie seems biased against whites, at least it expresses how many African Americans really feel, especially if you realize that for some, they are much more of a minority when they arrive at college than they ever were at home.

I would like to note that the movie actually did take a couple of pretty heavy swipes against the Black Panther crowd. First was the scene where Fudge orders one of the girls to go shopping. The other was when Deja and Malik are watching the boys rehearse their battle with the skinheads. Deja's open-mouthed shock underlines how primitive and violent their behavior has become.

So I like this movie because it is provocative and real, expressing a point of view that we should at least know about, even if we don't totally agree with it.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)

Excellent film and book adaptation

[8/10 · 22 June 2008]

Rather than write my own complete commentary let me just add to what I've read so far.

Many commented that the four principals' characters did not seem to have developed adequately since the first movie. Note that they have been thrust back into their original lives for over a year. Who knows how real people would react to that situation? Given this, I thought the portrayals were convincing overall, and Moseley's in particular seemed realistic. Keynes was underused but with an ensemble like this in a series you will probably have to see some "taking turns" as to character emphasis in the plots. I think that both Anna Popplewell's role and her acting were much improved in this film. And I appreciated the much better sword choreography, due no doubt in part to the physical growth of the actors over the last couple of years.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008–2009)

Terminate it

[3/10 · 13 January 2008]

Just watched Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on Fox. Ewwww!

(References to the movie are to Terminator 2: Judgment Day, since that is the only movie to feature the character of John Connor in the time period before the holocaust. Though many people are under a different impression, there was actually no third Terminator movie ;)

(Mild spoiler in third paragraph below, but if you went to the web site for the show (or watched one of the ads) you already know as much as is "revealed"...)

John Connor

In the movie, John Connor was a street-smart, p****d-off, juvenile delinquent with a smart mouth. He was quick with a knife or a computer, good in a crisis, and good at handling people.

In the show, John Connor is a whiny, angst-y football player who begs his mom to stop the Terminator(!) because he "can't keep running any more".

Sarah Connor

In the movie, Sarah Connor is a tough, tight-lipped woman with the biceps of a Marine. She has a devilish sense of humor and a single-minded devotion to raising her son as a military leader.

In the show, Sarah Connor is a slim soccer mom, about 11 years older than her son, with no sense of humor, and a single-minded devotion to protecting her "little" boy from the bad things out there.

Protector Bot

It's hard to say much about the protector robot characterization in the show vs. the movie, since the part in the movie was played by Arnold and it is easy to see how trying to duplicate that characterization would be a mistake. The bot in the show, is, however, not very believable, because of the lack of physical bulk (or any compensating technological improvement) and because of the uneven portrayal.

Terminator

The Terminator robot in the show was probably about as good as you are going to get, unless you hire a major talent for the part (what is John Rock up to these days?) For that matter the actor playing the role in the show may have a lot more to offer than he could demonstrate in the limited exposure he got.

Overall, this show belongs on the CW network with all the other angst-y teen dramas. It is little more than a thin puree of the movie.

Ultraviolet (2006)

Not so bad for what it was

[5/10 · 18 March 2006]

For a movie that is currently at 3.8 out of 10 stars, it certainly has collected more than its share of comments; so *something* compelled people to go see this. Perhaps it was the lack of anything outstanding in the theaters this month. For me, this was just the sort of thing I was in the mood for. Some of it could have been better, but it is hard to beat Milla for cool style.

As to gadgets and technology: "gravity leveler" is an intriguing term and in some way more believable than "antigravity" or "pseudogravity" would have been; "flat space device" is really cool sounding; I have no idea if such a thing will ever be possible but I wouldn't rule it out; and the changing colors of clothes and hair could have been the outcome of some nano-technology effects that have been demonstrated already.

S1m0ne (2002)

Yes, the idea's not new, but the movie's wonderful!

[11 September 2002]

Although it's the continuous and outrageous irony that really grabs you, this film has so many other beautiful little touches: (symbolism) how Viktor's words are literally echoed by Simone, the giant poster of her that dominates the scenes (and the other actors) in the studio lot, and the characterizations of the tabloid reporters; (imagery) wonderful scenes like the one where the swarm of studio carts advances menacingly from the background, the funeral procession, and the pigsty. There's a great bit where Nicola, reading in an audition, *has* to wow Viktor in order to make the point of the scene - that Simone is now limiting Viktor. The challenge: we know she is trying to act, we know she is going to try to impress the director, -and- just for good measure we know it's Winona Ryder; but darn if she doesn't pull off a pretty impressive 30 seconds of dialogue nonetheless. Niccol's fascination with simulation of reality puts a real edge to a great comedy.