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jbowslee
Reviews
Exploding Sun (2013)
The script in the disaster
Just wow. I came across this mini series and I'm wondering what the writers were thinking. If you are writing about science fiction, at least have some concept of science. But, that can be overlooked if there is a good story to support it. The story is preposterous. And even worse, the characters are written horribly. There is absolutely no likable character in this movie, and you could care less about any of them. If you are going to make a disaster movie, and all of your characters are unlikable, you've created the wrong type of disaster. And of all the love triangles I have seen on film, this is probably the worst that has been portrayed. I see some positive reviews, and there is no way anybody believes that unless they are part of the crew or their family. The biggest problem is that there was an interesting idea, but it was executed so poorly that this project would have been better shelved.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Imagination is key
This movie scared the heck out of me. What surprises me is that people I know who are scared watching any horror film thought this movie was boring. I believe a wild imagination is necessary to truly get this film. What scared me about this movie is what my imagination was doing every step of the way. What was happening while they were sleeping? What was happening when they heard screaming of their friend when he went missing? What was making those banging noises and why? Because this film does not show anything horrific, it is up to the viewer to fill in the missing spaces and this is what frightened me. I am sure what was going on in my mind could not have been portrayed in a film and still received an "R" rating. The unknown and what could be happening is what made this film frightening. And the true horror in the eyes and voices of the filmmakers in this film more than reinforced my worst fears. Overall, this film did something that has not happened to me since I was about 10 years old. It made me afraid of the dark and of the strange noises in nature that we hear every day.
10.5 (2004)
This was the first time I have seen a disaster movie and wanted the disaster to win!
I have got to say it, "I HAVE JUST LOST 4 HOURS OF MY LIFE THAT I WILL NEVER GET BACK!" This was easily the worst film/show that I have seen this year (probably pushing 2-3 years). I was sitting there watching this movie when a funny thing happened...I was rooting for the earthquake to take out as much as the city as possible. The acting was terrible (with the exception of the brilliant Mr. Bridges who could make reading tea-leaves exciting). The story was awful, and would someone tell me who wrote the part for Dr. Samantha Hill (our supposed hero)? I was so sick of her character by the first hour, that I was hoping she would be standing on the coast when the big one hit. The thing that irritated me the most was the waste of talent in this puppy. There were some decent actors in this film, but none of them were given anything to work with in the script. I believe that they knew it to, because they appeared to be sleep walking through this film. I suppose that is what you get for a television disaster movie. Well, at least they got the genre right. This film was truly a disaster...
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)
Not a masterpiece, but fun
When I went to see Scooby Doo 2, I was not expecting a revolution in the film industry. I was not expecting to leave the theater emotionally jolted. I went to have fun and laugh. And I did.
This was a fun movie. Let's be honest. Nobody goes to this film to watch Fred, Daphne, or Velma. We go to watch Shaggy and Scooby. They are the ones that make us laugh. They are the ones that take our minds off the real world for a couple hours. And they did their job.
Matthew Lillard becomes Shaggy for the second time. What he is able to do in this film is incredible. You forget he is Mr. Lillard because he fully becomes the character he portrays. That is the highest compliment you can give an actor (minus a 20 million dollar check).
Scooby again is a riot. The writing allows him to remain the lovable character we grew up with as kids. He alone is worth the price of admission.
The story? Well, I have eaten swiss cheese with less holes in it than the plot. But, who really cares? I can watch The Godfather whenever I want a flawless film. But, The Godfather does not leave me in a better mood after I finish watching it, no matter how great it is. I saw this movie relax and have a good old time.
I am not ashamed to say that my wife and I went to see this together. We have no children...WE wanted to see it. And we both enjoyed it very much. It was a pleasant way to spend the evening. But don't take it from me. Take it from the dozens of small children that were in there, laughing and shrieking through the whole film. You could hear how much they were enjoying themselves. Come to think of it, that was worth the admission price in itself.