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Reviews
The Bad Seed (2018)
Rob Lowes remake makes for a good chilling and not gory movie
Firstly this is a surprisingly good remake of The Original Bad Seed which was a play and a movie from the 1950's.
Rob Lowe has updated it to modern times and changed elements of the original story.
Although some things in the film don't seem plausible and the investigators and law enforcement are dumbed down to the goings on, you got to remember this is a work of fiction, written to make it interesting and not reflecting what would have happenned in real life.
The plot line is simple and goes like this.
Rob Lowe plays a single widower father self employed as a business owner with a 9 year old daughter named Emma..but there is something mentally wrong with Emma.
Emma is a narcissistic, manipulative little girl who has no empathy for living things including other humans.
Young actress McKenna Grace plays Emma and it's a great convincing performance that is spooky and chiiling.
Emma kills people to get what she wants or eliminates those she considers a threat.
Emma kills another 9 year old student, Milo, a boy to get "The Citizenship Medal" which she thinks she deserves and makes it look like an accident, the problem is it arouses suspicion and the authorities are closing in on her.
To add to the mix, her father hires a new nanny, an Au Pair to look after her named Chloe.
Chloe ( payed by the lovely Sarah Dugdale from Virgin River ) is a somewhat shady 20 something girl who likes older men and takes an interest in Rob Lowe, but Chloe is also a somewhat hidden nasty person who can see right through Emma and knows she killed Milo and starts to play mind games with Emma taunting her which is a big mistake as she becomes a threat and becomes one of Emma's dead victims down the track.
Emma kills the investigative teacher ( to kill the investigation into her ) and Chloe in a series of staged accidents and the body count rises.
Suffice to say, her father becomes suspicious and realises something is wrong with Emma and that she is evil but does not want to turn her into authorites for fear of her becoming "institutionalised" as she is too young for criminal conviction and jail and also in the blind love of a father.
Suffice to say the end is tragic but Emma gets away with it all and goes to live with her aunt.
Yes some of the story is a bit contrived but it's not gory and in real life Emma would have been caught but Emma Grossman is spooky and evil to the core, well played by McKenna Grace.
View the movie as a work of fiction, when storys are larger than life, it is one of the better life time movies and makes for good entertainment, it does not deserve some of the low ratings here and it raises the question "are there bad seeds out there getting away with it"
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Top Gun Maverick..what a blast, edge of the seat experience, Tom Cruise Aces It!
Top Gun Maverick is a movie that needs to be seen in the big screen cinema to do it the justice it deserves.
Tom Cruise reprises his role as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in a fast paced well written story and he really aces it in his character acting.
In some ways a sequel to the original Top Gun but with new characters, this is a better story with no boring bits with less lovey dovey mush and more edge of the seat action.
CGI and VFX is fantastic and you feel like you are in an F18 cockpit with the pilots as they dog fight, fly through treacherous valleys almost scrapping the ground, dodging mountains, holding on by the seat of your pants.
I rate this film 10 out 10 for story telling, acting and visual effects and you leave the theater at the end with the feeling "wow what a rush!'
One of the best movies of 2022 and a better follow up to Top Gun with no boring bits, action galore and some tongue in cheek humour go see it and have an enjoying time out, don't wait for it to come out on Blu ray, needs to be seen on the big screen and loud to knock your socks off!
Star Trek: Picard (2020)
Why is this series so maligned, it's ok
It's Captain Jean Luc Picard in his golden years coming out of retirement to go on a mission to save lives and the galaxy.
I don't understand why there is so many bad reviews, people get old, Enterprise Captains get old but it does not mean they have to hang up their uniform and go to a nursing home, instead Captain Picard goes on an adventure, galloping around the galaxy.
Sir Patrick Stewart is a fine actor and he can be the only one to portray Captain Picard, nobody else can, people forget that when Star Trek The Undiscovered Country came out in 1991, William Shatner who played Captain James T. Kirk on the original series was also getting old and was 60 when he made that and was running around in action scenes fighting the Klingons.
This series holds my interest, get off Picard's back and let it develop as a series, it can't be Star Trek -The Next Generation, at least he catches up with his former crew in this series, showing that true friends grow old together but still have the fighting spirit and there does not have to be a Galaxy Class Star ship involved.
Lost in Space (2018)
It's not meant to be a 1960'S reboot, it's a modern uptake on a classic story
I have just completed watching the first series of 'Lost in Space" 2018, watched all 10 episodes over a few days.
This is meant to be a modernised version of an old story and I don't understand why it is being panned so much, it would have been utterly stupid to re-image the 1960's popcorn series as it was because it just does not fit today, the values, the political correctness ,the bigotry that existed in 1967 in the original series does not exist today and it is reflected in the writing and casting right down to the pack of Oreo's in the new Jupiter 2.
The cast make the best of the scripts and the villain Dr. Smith is a twist on the original in that she is played excellently by Parker Posey as the narcissistic, manipulative women that will do anything to get what she wants and save her own hide which proves the saying "women are the masters of sweet talk and lies", you love to hate her but at the same time you feel sorry for her in that she has copped a raw deal in life and is only doing what she thinks to survive. She is actually like someone I know.
Yes there is non stop disaster after disaster and the scientific know it all characters screw it up with bad decision making but even in real life, professionals screw up and don't get it right all the time...you only have to look to our politicians to see that.
The show keeps moving and is not bogged down by drab scientific dialog, it's meant to be entertaining and escapist fun and many reviewers are taking it too seriously.
It is 'science fiction", some suspension of the disbelief is required to enjoy it, I mean were 'The James Bond movies" panned this way where the hero James Bond gets such a bashing and pummeling from the villains that would put anyone in intensive care for months, yet be able to get up and strike his villains down like nothing happened and win the day...come on people, this is escapist fun like James Bond, treat it that way and turn your 'belief switch" off.
It is early days and the cast and writers are getting it together, don't go looking for a 1960's version of Lost in Space.
I remember in 1987 when I first watched the new version of "Star Trek - The Next Generation", I at first panned it because I was expecting a 1960's reboot of Star Trek and I thought the Next Gen, had more corn in it than Corn Flakes but as the show developed from it's early days it morphed into one of the greatest science fiction series ever made, over shadowing the original because it was modern and different for the time and I grew to love it and still do.
Lost in Space 2018 is a similar case, it is developing and has the potential to become a hip and modern series, give it a chance and stop being wet blankets people, because the time is now, it's modern and fit's with the times..we are not in 1967 anymore.
Killer Mom (2017)
Killer Mom - the ultimate narcissist who will stop at nothing to get what she wants
I watched this mad for T.V movie from Lifetime and was impressed with it's entertainment value.
Karen Cliche, who plays Jessica the estranged mother, is very attractive but is hell bent on getting hold of her daughter Allison's multi million dollar inheritance is one of the worst twisted narcissists and evil villains I have seen in a film.
Cold, conniving and calculating she manipulates people and gets rid of those that stand in her way and what she wants in the true style of a dangerous malignant narcissist and Jessica soon becomes a character you love to hate.
Sydni, played by actress Kirby Bliss Blanton, is the half sister of Allison is very street smart and does not trust Jessica from the outset and the movie becomes a showdown between her and Jessica in a battle of wits with plot twists and turns.
Yes the movie is an age old story of people motivated by greed and who will do anything to get it but is a well played,. enjoyable thriller, not a bad effort for a t.v movie.
Watching Jessica plan her schemes and the cold way she executes it, but at the same time putting on a pretend sweet side to her daughter Alison, is sickening but very convincingly played by Karen Cliche, put it this way I would not like to meet a person like 'Jessica" in a dark alley and be on her 'get rid off list".
Some may say this is a second rate movie with a story that has been re-hashed many times over, but it is done in the modern way and is a good 2 hours worth of entertainment, rate it a 7 out 10.
Don't under estimate a conniving, evil woman, they can be worse than bad guys!
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
King Offal..it's a stinker, more bad meat out of the abattoir's of Hollywood (contains spoilers )
I was blessed with having the honor to go with a friend on a movie invite to watch Kong: Skull Island, my friend was great company but the movie was unrealistic crap. ( this review might contain spoilers ) I found to watch this movie to the end was a great strain on my "suspension of disbelief" , I really wanted to walk out halfway and get a coffee. Here we have a super sized King Kong, a walking thing the size of a sky scrapper, the biggest Kong, I have seen, he would have put a Blue Whale which can grow to 110 feet and apparently the biggest living creature the world has ever seen to shame in the size stakes, smashing helicopters out of the sky, knocking the crap out of a small army special forces soldiers at the near beginning of the movie. A B grade monster movie with an uncountable amount of humans being killed and gored by monsters ranging from dinosaur like creatures to giant ants made on a mega budget with cardboard actors and characters. It seems Hollywood is churning out more of the "bigger is better" type movies when a lot of them are not better but stink like offal like this movie does. I would like the movie moguls in Hollywood to make more sensible movies with realistic plots instead of these quick cash grab mega churners, this is a movie made to make a quick grab of the money cashing in on "larger than the Universe" type monsters, it's about as stupid as Superman flying around in outer space with his cape blowing and breathing air when there is no air in space..it's a vacuum...so is this movie, a vacuum for your mind. I am being nice giving it a score of 3 out 10, if your serious minded and want to see a movie that makes sense and does not require you to over stretch the imagination, this is not the movie to see.
Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)
Over blown action thriller, that does not hit the spot and requires too much suspension of disbelief
In the first 10 minutes of the movie, I found that for most people, too much "suspension of disbelief" has to be left at the front door of the cinema. I found the movie to be too futuristic to be set 20 years latter from 1996 to 2016, the harvested alien technology and it's use by man makes 2016 look like something out of Star Trek, it does not hold water to be accepted as the modern day and there are many plot holes hence my opinion "too much suspension of disbelief" is required to watch this movie. Yes, it has great action sequences and out of this world CGI but for it to depict the World in 2016 as some kind of futuristic utopia complete with all the "fly me to the moon everyday technology" does not wash. The theater goer is going to have to accept this movie is happening in a completely different parallel universe and disconnect completely from the reality of today. For me the plot, the futurism did not hit the spot and it has not stayed faithful to the original ID4 movie of 1996. It was made to bring in the audiences for the big bang of the CGI effects and too make money and for intelligent people, they are going to find this movie very corny, unbelievable and shallow. I am giving it a 5 out 10 for the mind blowing SFX and big blast entertainment but leave your mind at the front door of the theater before entering and turn your "suspension of disbelief" as high as it will go.
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
A Nostalgic reboot of "A New Hope" with new characters and old
I being a devout Star Wars Fan since childhood having seen the first installment in 1977 at age 13, have eagerly awaited this new film and I was not disappointed. In essence this is a reboot of good old fashioned "Star Wars" story telling from the first 3 films ( A New Hope, The Empire Striked Back and Return of the Jedi ) set 30 years after the Empire was overthrown in Return of the Jedi. We get quickly introduced to 3 new likable characters, who get thrown together in a battle to save the resistance. We get 2 new bad guys and there cronies, the dark side of the force has awakened and is threatening to destroy the peace in the Galaxy. We get our old original characters back to, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbecca and Luke Skywalker reprising there roles in varying degrees along with our favorite droids C3PO and R2D2 along with a new cute likable rolling beach ball like droid called BB8. It is an easy to follow story, a lot of elements are like a trip down memory lane but I loved it and the new characters. You get the action, space battles and tongue in cheek humour along with fantastic special effects. This is a great film to suite a broad range of ages and introduce the newer generation to the Star Wars franchise. I recommend the movie "Stae Wars: The Force Awakens" as time well spent in good old fashioned "escapism" and the battle between good and evil, just go and see it and enjoy it! I loved it and went and watched it again. On a footnote, there seems to be a lot of reviews panning this movie, my opinion on that is that people need to look at the bigger picture, you can't bring back the youthfulness of the original actors/actresses from 1977's A New Hope, they are very aged now and "old farts" ( no insult intended ) and you can't have a cast from 1977 galloping around the Galaxy, doing stunts and epic space battles, when they are almost ready for a nursing home, it just doesn't wash and is not credible to make a movie on that basis, this is Star Wars - A New Generation for a new generation which introduces young actors/actresses, my favorite is the heroine Rey, played by Daisy Ridley..talk about girl power
Bridge of Spies (2015)
Bridge of Spies - realistic cold war drama done by the masters of the craft
I had the privilege of going to view the new Stephen Spielberg drama "Bridge of Spies" on it's opening night in Australia on 22nd October 2015. I sat in my armchair premium seating at the theater and went on an intriguing ride. This is historical drama at it's best, directed by the master of the craft Stephen Spielberg starring Tom Hanks as the lead character "James Donovan", who does a splendid job in a role suited to him, just an ordinary everyday honest man that has to do the extraordinary. This is not an action film but a true historical drama told with suspenseful story telling and wit. Many of scenes were shot in the actual places in Germany were the true events took place which added to realism. You can feel the American paranoia and intrigue at a time when the world stood closer to blowing itself up in a nuclear holocaust than it ever has been, it has clever plot turns and twists and maintains an easy to follow story that at times has you on the edge of your seat. This is a movie for intelligent people who want realistic entertainment that does not require "suspension of disbelief", its just plain old fashioned good story telling and comes highly recommended, it is Academy Award winning material.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
Dawn of the Planet of Apes, a masterpiece in film making
I bought a Blu Ray copy of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes as I missed seeing it on cinema release and heard about the great special effects and story telling and looked forward to watching it. After I watched it, I was not disappointed, within the first 15 minutes of watching, I was immersed in the story and as for the CGI SFX, wow, it was state of the art, best CGI effects and realism I have ever seen in a movie to date, you can tell this movie cost big bucks to make and no expense was spared to make it the astounding realism and quality it is. I don't understand why some pan this movie, with science fiction, you have to suspend your disbelief and let the movie do it's story telling so you can appreciate it for what it is, great entertainment with special effects that will knock your socks off, it looked good on my tiny 32 inch full H.D LCD screen and I am disappointed I did not see it on the big screen in 3D at the theater because it would have been a better experience than Avatar 3D which I did watch at the theater and went away, with a wow, that was great feeling several years ago. The movie is more than worth it's place in an a science finction fans movie collection, get the Blu Ray, watch it on the biggest LCD screen you can find and pump up the surround sound system and get ready for some fun and excitement, great movie, great story, not to be missed.
After Earth (2013)
After Earth - I don't understand the caustic criticism leveled at this movie
I had the pleasure of watching the blue ray of Will and Jaden Smith's joint effort of "After Earth" and suffice to say I liked the movie. I can't understand why many including the so called "movie critics" have panned this movie. I found the movie itself entertaining and found myself rooting for Kaia ( Jaden Smith's character who plays Will Smith's son in this movie and is his son in real life ) that he has success against all the adversities he encounters while attempting to have himself and his father rescued from a space craft crash on a wild uninhabited and toxic Earth, 1000 years into the future. I don't want to give too much away in spoilers as this movie is worth seeing, but Will Smith does great in the role he does, it is a departure from his action roles while his son, Jaden does all the action in this movie. Jaden is a fine up and coming actor who is still young and still developing and polishing his acting skills, he put's in a very good effort and can't understand for the life of me why the critics are picking on his acting skills and his father Will act's appropriately for the limited character role he has in this movie...the critics are not being open minded about this movie and far too judgmental trying to compare this to sci-fi epics such as "I Robot" and "Independence Day" that Will Smith has done, this movie is in a different vein of the science fiction genre. I am giving this movie 8 out of 10 for personal and family entertainment value, definitely worth watching and be open minded to it's plot and the limitations set on the characters, especially Will Smith...this is Jaden's movie and he does a great job carrying it...forget what the critics say here and make your own mind up.
Falling Skies (2011)
Falling Skies: A down to Earth and very watchable series
I really don't know why some people are trashing this series, it is not pure science fiction as such, it set in the current time with the concept of an alien invasion (Like V the miniseries from 1983) but after the aliens have wreaked destruction on most of the Earth leaving a small band of humanity fighting for survival and to try to rid the planet of them. It is gritty, tough, emotional, doesn't rely on special effects and constant battles and action to get its story across. Instead its characters are explored for all there strengths and weaknesses and shows the true human nature and emotion in the face of hardship and insurmountable odds in the war against the aliens. I look forward to watching this show weekly and collected all the episodes thus far, while some episodes seem slow, others leave you on the edge of your seat with cliffhangers so you must impatiently wait a week for the next exciting installment. The main characters are likable and believable and although some of the CGI seems second rate, this show is not done on a mega million dollar budget and you don't watch it for the special effects...its unique and different and captivating..don't bag it!