whose_your_daddy_1999 Reviews

24: Legacy (2016–2017)

More of the same but missing that nostalgic feeling

[7/10 · 24 February 2017]

Let's get the obvious out of the way, it's just not going to have the same feel without Jack Bauer. No need to go further, I know everyone's already mentioned it. That being said, the new lead does a pretty good job in picking up the torch and displays a wide range of emotions well, the action is interesting although at this point it's pretty predictable.

The first couple of seasons of 24 were pretty ground breaking at the time and explored lots of new territory, the problem now is that the show seems to be re-hashing the same plots and there's nothing really ground breaking about what has taken place. It's interesting no doubt, but it will not grab your attention the way the "good seasons" of 24 did.

The real problem here is that the characters lack the same sort of oomph that the original 24 had. While the series does focus on a select few individuals and most of them do have interesting plots, 24 was really able to make a wide cast of people interesting. Even the villains that lasted for a few episodes were great and interesting. This season just doesn't have that same level.

Overall I do think the show is addictive and a good watch, but they will need to find a way to reinvent the wheel here, it can just be the main character constantly butting heads with CTU, and then winning over the President and saving the day. If they can pull that off, I will give them credit. I do say let's give this a chance, we are only 4 episodes in.

Propaganda (2012)

Very.... interesting movie

[8/10 · 2 December 2013]

I recently watched this movie, despite other movies being made in North Korea that covered America, this one is much much different. In past films, silly claims would be made such as "Americans live in tents and they drink snow all day" (this is not an exaggeration either), this one contains a huge amount of footage of various parts of Americana and many of the criticisms would be deemed legit depending on who you are talking to.

Part of this leads me to believe that the movie may not have been made in North Korea - I am not sure and would be interested to hear various responses. Beyond this, many of the criticisms brought up also apply to North Korea (in most cases, far far more too). The documentary is well written and well produced, it makes me wonder how it's creators feel about their own country (which has committed some of the greatest crimes against it's citizens compared to virtually any other country in the world).

As I mentioned, many of the criticisms you may actually end up agreeing with yourself, perhaps not. The big picture is though that despite the world the North Koreans are living in, between the violence, starvation, propaganda and more, it suggests that the US citizens in some ways deal with the exact same things.

Some of the criticisms: - The US is dominated by two political parties which essentially share the same views on most topics, aside from a few different things that could be considered "trivial". In light of this, the citizens may not be able to actually elect politicians that match their views, as they end up having to vote for either the republicans leading choice, or the democrats leading choice.

• Religion being used as a tool to oppress people not in the majority, as well as for a justification for invading other countries and promoting US propaganda. The movie contends that our political leaders, who have never experienced combat themselves, send troops to foreign lands that kill the enemy as well as innocent citizens alike, and then these people go to church and pray so they are absolved of any wrong doing.

• 1% of the population is controlling the remaining 99% of the population, thru methods of heavily advertising products that most people don't need, so they stay in debt, through controlling government legislature, and through promoting their own beliefs (which benefit themselves) through media outlets such as on TV.

• The US is also criticized for invading foreign countries under the guise of bringing "democracy", when in many cases, those countries already had a democracy. It mentions that every time the US has done this, the situation has never improved after the US has left (it states this has been going on for over 50 years and not once was there an improved country).

These are only a few of the criticisms though, as you can see, the criticisms are ironic considering the acts that North Korea commits on it's own citizens, but it also shows that in some ways we may not be as free as we believe we are. You may agree or disagree, either way it's an interesting topic.

Beyond that, there are some graphic pictures, few are overly graphic in my opinion though. Worth checking out, but keep in mind this is a propaganda movie and the movie ignores the actual events that go on day to day in North Korea itself.

Serial Experiments Lain (1998)

Prepare to be confused....

[28 March 2005]

Allow me to start off by saying that Serial Experiments: Lain is not for everyone, this becomes apparent after the first or second episode. If you're a hard-core anime fan, looking for a deep intellectual thriller, or enjoy being freaked out, by all means watch this movie, otherwise don't put the popcorn in the microwave just yet.

Revovling heavily on confusing concepts and bizarre (but not dark) imagery, Lain sets itself in a world that is driven by "The Wired", an updated version of the internet. Lain the main character, discovers a classmate has killed herself and despite being dead, she is able to contact Lain and claim she is still alive - through "The Wired" her soul still exists. This does not alarm Lain, although it does intrigue her. In fact, almost all of the characters show little emotion or show it at the wrong times through the entire series (although this is explained at times).

Back to "The Wired" though, although it is merely a version of cyber-space, it is quickly growing into a reality of sorts, on the same plane as the real world itself. Lain is finding herself increasingly addicted to the Wired and grows a personality to accommodate for it, one far different from her plain self. Her family and friends aren't too concerned, often saying "What's wrong with Lain?" but never attempt to truly talk with her. It's almost as if in this not-too-distant-future, technology and the media have devolved human beings, making them shallow and not concerned with much beyond the basic pleasures of life.

This is where Lain starts off and I will not give away too much of the 13-part series, but it does later get into Lain's other personalities (or other people's perspectives on Lain), attempts at fusing "the Wired" with the real world, and Lain's encounter with "God". The opening theme couldn't be better but the series can get too confusing at points and sometimes boring, but the payoff is pretty big if you're willing to wait. Overall, I liked Lain but it is extremely confusing. Don't forget to grab an ice pack for your brain before viewing.

Game of Death (1978)

One of the biggest disgraces on film

[1/10 · 5 February 2005]

***Possible spoilers*** Most are aware that Bruce Lee died shortly after filming segments of Game of Death, but unless you have seen this movie already, you will not be prepared to see what level producers will sink to in order to make money.

The original GOD premise was intriguing, Bruce Lee enters a 5-story temple and on each level battles a master of a certain martial art before continuing onto the next level (each more difficult than the last). Lee himself uses no martial art style himself, rather, he improvises and adapts to his enemies strengths and weaknesses, a philosophy he based much of his later life around. His opponents, on the other hand, symbolize their particular art and Lee uses each battle to explain how these styles, while better than others, are flawed compared to his style of "no style".

A rich plot indeed except for the fact that he died well before he could finish the movie. Instead, after being reworked, GOD was finished under a much different story. The new plot involved popular actor "Billy Lo" (Bruce's character) being harassed by a mafia of sorts into joining them for greater profit. Billy declines and battles ensue. Footage from the original movie is spliced in near the end, but disguised as Billy attacking the mobster's headquarters (he goes up stairs to the leader) instead of the original intent of philosophically displaying the disadvantages of martial art styles.

GOD is definitely offensive to Lee fans and ordinary viewers on levels beyond just the story. The 30 minutes of the original movie that was intact is drastically cut down to about a mere 10-12 minutes, leaving about an hour and a half of scenes of some of the most disturbing scenes in cinematography ever. All scenes with Billy Lo (Bruce Lee) have been set up in such a manner that you cannot see his face clearly. He wears dark sunglasses at some points, at other points he is far away or has his back turned. Worse still, some parts use cardboard cut outs of Lee's face or cut shots from early movies (where Lee's face is closed up upon, to avoid any problems with discontinued scenery).

Furthermore, Bruce's philosophies are left out of the movie entirely and the 15 minutes in which you do see Bruce is awkwardly placed at the end of the flick and makes little sense. Another grip, elements from the movie such as Billy being shot during the making of a film leave an extremely sour taste in your mouth considering that is how he died, not to mention the fact that they actually use film from Bruce's funeral. At no point do these elements ever come across as some sort of tribute.

Even more odd, if you leave out the brief footage of Bruce Lee himself, virtually nobody dies in the movie which seems bizarre considering the name of the movie is "Game of Death".

Lastly, I find it beyond coincidental that the story line revolves around show business thugs screwing over an actor, but the very movie itself does the exact same thing to Lee. It can be maddening wondering why the add-on film was ever created and how it got past the cutting room floor level.

This movie definitely stretches well beyond the line of shamelessness, avoid it, even if you are hard-core fan of Bruce Lee.

Ninja Resurrection (1997– )

An insult to anime fans...

[17 October 2004]

*Spoilers*

Not until I read other reviews did I find out that this is not a sequel to Ninja Scroll, an excellent anime that devoted anime followers and non-anime fans can enjoy. The reason I, along with countless others, were duped into believing it was a sequel was due to the fact that it had the same name as the original movie, with the word "Resurrection" added (which most would agree implies a sequel) as well as it's main character had the same name as the character from the original, that being Jubei.

The plot is this, a large community of Christians are being persecuted by the Japanese government, who's army invades their well defended city. The Japanese army's real attack is not by it's normal troops however, but by an elite squad of warriors, lead by Jubei, who tactically enter the city through aerial means and proceed to easily defeat their Christian enemy. In the process, a messiah and the leader of the Christians, is duped into believing Jubei has killed the innocent children of the village by his right-hand man, a mastermind of sorts who worships the devil. This trickery turns the holy leader into a demon of sorts who then begins to attack Jubei and try to kill him.

Through the help of the other elite warriors, the demon is defeated though, but the real threat is not over, as the new demon proceeds to have sex with a female, and through this conception Satan enters the world.

Along with Satan's arrival are the resurrections of some of Japan's most elite and famous warriors in history. Basically the cohort in destroying the world and it appears that Jubei is set for some difficult challenges in his new opponents.

Right then the movie ends. No joke. I was stuck at my DVD player for almost an hour trying to figure out why the credits began to role at this critical point when I eventually discovered the movie was never completed. For all the grotesque demonic imagery and gore, and the story setting itself up for a predictable plot of Jubei battling the demons, and through brilliant strategy and discovering himself, he would eventually succeed over evil - nothing happens. NOTHING.

Why oh why does the movie end, especially with no mention of the future sequel (which looks like it will not come out)? The animation is no doubt great, but much of the gore and imagery is offensive, the plot doesn't exist without an ending, and you're left not knowing what to think about, especially since the movie doesn't allow any characters to develop except for Jubei. Even in this instance however, he only one scene of development is offered and it does very little, but I can't spoil everything, can I?

I would recommend not seeing this at all, as it's definitely a slap in the face of any anime fan, and even if it were not, it's still a terrible story.

Dragon Ball Z (1996–2003)

The King of Anime brought to America

[17 October 2004]

*Semi-spoilers*

Despite having flaws, many debatable, Dragon Ball Z reigns supreme over other animes in terms of longevity, popularity, storyline, and most importantly, action. The show's story line is so long that it would take about 2-3 hours of explanation to do it any justice, but an outline would be that Goku, the main character, along with the other Z fighters live in a universe of chaos, as they constantly face new and outrageously powerful enemies and must force themselves to overcome these warriors through any means possible.

One of the strongest points of the show is that even though it's obvious good will overcome evil, Dragon Ball Z is incredibly suspenseful and will always leave you at the edge of your seat wondering if each new villain can be stopped, and what will happen if they are not. Despite being heavily based on action, Dragon Ball Z's near 300 episodes often delve into story lines involving humor, strengthening their abilities for their newest opponents, and the psychology of each character. From Vegeta, a rebel hero who early on is an enemy, but allies with the Z team but leaves doubt if he will betray them to Gohan, Goku's son who aspires to become a hero like his father but who also secretly hates to fight and wishes to not do battle (which confuses his father), to lesser characters like Krillin, Goku's childhood friend who often is beaten to a bloody pulp by enemies or is flat out killed (which happens to many characters, and is often the base of how the characters find the necessary inner strength to overcome).

Speaking of multiple deaths, in Dragon Ball Z, death is not always final as the characters use the Dragon Balls, mystical objects that when collected can grant wishes. These wishes are used for a variety of purposes but are often bring dead heroes back to life. Despite the shows name being based on them, they play a minimal role (often only being used at the end of each saga - a series of episodes revolving around a powerful villain). Further, the balls are not always available for use and are also limited in the types of wishes they can produce, which in some instances does in fact make death final.

This adds a vast spin to the show, as later on in the series, the characters gain the strength of gods due to their new plains of existence on earth and in the outer world (heaven).

One of the best parts of the show also has to be with the main villains, all of which are well-thought out, given detailed story lines and just flat out play huge roles. The fight scenes are always creative and will have you stomach turning in suspense.

One of the only flaws with the show is that the story line is almost too big, albeit this is debatable, many fights are 5 30-minute episodes long (some even more, like 10 to 20) and there are huge gaps in the show where there is no fighting (rather just preparation for bouts, as well as some comic relief), which can be agonizing for fans who catch the show once a day. This can mean going a month or two of episodes and not seeing serious bouts, but when these fights do come, they are VERY worth the wait.

Without writing a book, that sums up the show on the most general basis. Give the show a try, find out what the whole craze is about, I promise you won't regret it.

Darkside Blues (1994)

Pretty weak

[17 October 2004]

*Semi-spoilers*

Darkside Blues starts off with a fairly good plot, a cast of rebels wage a rebellion with a corporation so vast, that it owns 90% of the world and has governmental control. An original concept, what with corporations playing a titanic role in today's world. You are given the impression a true struggle as the corporation battles the only area of the world they do not own, and it all occurs within the first ten minutes.

However, this is when the movie falls flat on it's face. The movie has too many "main characters" and all of them never resolve anything throughout the story, as the movie delves into awkward fighting scenes that are sometimes enjoying, and at other times just weird - especially when one of the "main characters", Darkside, battles huge villains with psychological attacks that sometimes defeat the enemy and at other times do not.

This darkside character, who seems to have come from some other planet or something (they really don't explain or even hint and all other possibilities are non-existent) is viewed as an all powerful... errr... psychic fighter or sorts who rarely does anything in the movie. Why does he never fight the evil corporation despite having the power to actually compete with them? Why hasn't he ever done anything before? Where did he gain his powers from? These questions are never answered.

One of the other characters, a girl who is considered the leader of the free territory, is the main fighter against the corporation, along with a secret member of a rebel alliance. But even these characters do very little and more or less talk about their "darkside" and being "renewed" - these two topics make no sense to the viewer, as they are never explained and you never actually see them happen - despite being heavily talked about throughout the movie. How will a "renewal" save the planet from domination? We never know.

Even worse the villains in the movie do little as much, we see some scenes indicating their evil ways, but that is it. They are never confronted or encountered by the heroes until the end of the movie, where still nothing occurs or is settled.

The last qualm I had with the movie was that despite the word "Blues" being in the title, the soundtrack was pretty bland, and only at the beginning was there really any blues music. A major flaw, but only because the movie suggests that quality blues music would be played from the title.

You'll be left scratching your head, unless you, like many others, decide that the movie was never finished, for whatever reason (possibly a sequel?), but that doesn't appear to be the case since one was never released (as far as I have checked). Non-sensual action scenes, a plot that goes nowhere, and a lame soundtrack... if it wasn't for the style of animation, it would hardly be called an anime.

1/10

Bowling for Columbine (2002)

Extremely misleading...

[13 October 2004]

This review contains semi-spoilers. After initially viewing this film, I along with many others believed the Charlton Heston was a bumbling fool who made sure the NRA held two big events after tragedies (one being Columbine) to alleviate gun control issues that might erupt - and in the process mock the victims of those tragedies. I also believed Moore was right in that America has been lead by a frenzy of shock news programs (that use crime as a tool for ratings) as a tool for our culture becoming more violent.

Boy was I and many other people wrong. Documentary or mockumentary, Bowling for Columbine is dangerously misleading and paves over many ethical boundaries so that Micheal Moore's points of view are virtually spoon fed to all who view.

But first, a description of the movie, it is a twist on the common documentary we all have seen on PBS and heavily rotates on humor and shock to wrap viewers. The comedy comes from Moore and his interviewees, as he tries to settle the issue of Columbine and further, try to determine why so many gun tragedies happen in America in the first place. Towards the end, Moore delves in the media and common misconceptions (in his opinion) as to why these acts of violence occur.

Now to the fun part, Moore, in trying to prove his point often twists information and/or delivers imagery and scenes that are heavily cut on the editing floor to try to prove his point. Agree with him or not, a great deal of Moore's information is delivered in half truths and semi-subliminal messages, which is flat out wrong, even if you think he's telling the truth.

Where to begin? Moore's arch-nemesis in the film, Charlton Heston, is the brunt of Moore's under-minded tactics. Within the early stages of the film, Moore deliberately edits Heston's speeches to give the picture that Heston is an insensitive moron who will defend gun ownership even if he got shot himself. Heston's speech actually consists of multiple speeches, some parts were given a year AFTER the Columbine incident. Additionally, many parts of Heston's speech are edited between sentences, outrageously, one part is edited mid-sentence! The result leaves the viewer with a shockingly different speech from the one Heston actually delivered.

Heston's delivery of abuse doesn't end there, at a later point in the film Moore actually interviews Heston in a 5 minute segment (but if you look up at the clock in the corner, you can see the span of 23 minutes actually passing). Although there's no way of proving it, Moore has probably edited this segment, again heavily, so that Heston looks not only like a desensitized idiot, but also as a racist. This is definitely not true however, as Heston was fighting for civil rights alongside Martin Luther King in the 60's - one of the many facts Moore intentionally leaves out of the movie so you get as one-sided of an opinion as possible.

Other heavily edited or misleading scenes are when Moore suggests the KKK and the birth of the NRA are linked, a scene in which Moore buys a gun from a bank, and when he suggests that Heston, with the NRA band-wagon, visited Flint, Michigan shortly after a 6-year old was murdered by another first grader (actually, he visited as part of a Presidential campaign, nearly a year after the tragedy).

On another interesting note, Moore visits a Wal-mart and protests their sales of bullets and claims there should be a limit to the amount customers buy. He implies we should boycott big franchise stores where such unethical actions take place. However, Moore's movies can be purchased at many of these stores, which makes you wonder why Moore would allow this to happen. The reason - money. Once the smoke is cleared it becomes very apparent Moore takes moderately controversial topics that a great deal of folks agree with (but not the whole consensus) and profits off of them with sensationalized movies.

The bottom line, Moore's movie is heavily one-sided and omits facts that clear up many of Moore's strongest points. The man has the right to make a movie anyway he wants, but the result is you are served a viciously misleading and often false movie. If you do watch the movie, read many reviews.

Most Extreme Elimination Challenge (2003–2007)

The reason to watch Spike TV now that the WWE is boring

[6 June 2004]

Most Extreme Elimination (MXC) is a hilarious and creative show that will leave you begging Spike TV to have a marathon for the series. The show was formed off of a much older show known as Takeshi's Castle, a popular series in Japan that ended in the late 80's or early 90's. The original show casted volunteers to take on a variety of different and often dangerous tasks while trying to not get eliminated. Few of these volunteers would make it to the final rounds and even fewer actually won the show.

MXC has revamped the show to give the appearance of two teams battling each other out, such as the lawyers vs. the addicts or the sports teams vs. the unemployed. On top of that, everything is dubbed over (from the hosts to the contestants) for humor purposes.

The result is one of the funniest shows in years, especially if you're tired of the run of the mill crappy sitcoms and reality TV shows. You'll wonder why a show like this hasn't come out sooner. The combination of watching ordinary people perform various stunts (and more often than not failing miserably) and the sometimes sophomoric, sometimes witty dubbing of the show is tremendously effective. If the right fist doesn't get you, the left one will.

Definitely keep track of the times this show is aired in your area if you're looking for something innovative and still hilarious.

Cowboy Bebop (1998–1999)

You have no idea what you are missing

[6 June 2004]

Cowboy Bebop will break any prejudgement you've ever had on anime. Simply put, the show is amazing. From the art, to the music, and most importantly, the story line - Cowboy Bebop delivers. Although most reviewers have summed up the storyline fairly well, I'll give a brief overview.

In the not so distant future, many planets have been colonized and huge technological advancements have been made, but enough with the obvious. Two men, Spike and Jet meet up with future comrades Faye and Ed and team up (or fly it solo) to form the most effective bounty hunting team in the universe. Technology benefits both bounty hunter (known as Cowboys) and criminal as the crew of the Bebop Ship try to make an honest Wulong (the futuristic form of currency) while each member encounters shades of their illuminous past.

A huge bondship amongst the characters is felt almost from the start, despite on-going tensions on the Bebop. Furthermore, each character is given at least two whole episodes, which elaborate on their past, which intertwines oddly with the present (an on-going theme in Cowboy Bebop).

Their pasts are as diverse as their personalities and at some points you'll have a hard time even figuring out who the main character is. One is a former worker of a crime syndicate, one a former police officer, one a thief, and the last a computer hacker. Some similarities do exist though, namely stylish outfits and attitudes, but even then, these similarities are VERY few.

The coolest thing about Cowboy Bebop is it's ability to give you something drastically different each session (don't call it an episode, it's a session). Some sessions wrap you up in action, some make you cry, still some sessions will make you roll on the ground in laughter. One thing for sure is you will get a very satisfying feeling once the credits hit.

The soundtrack for the entire series is another high point. Virtually each session is entangled in some form of sophisticated music, usually Jazz, which is a welcome breeze from the stagnation of today's modern music.

Compared to other anime, Bebop reigns supreme (along with a couple of others), and puts kids shows like Dragon Ball Z (which are virtually plotless in the light of Cowboy Bebop) to shame. This is definitely worth viewing if you're looking for something new to watch, but worried you might just fall victim to another piece of trash reality show or sitcom. Your previous conceptions of anime are about to be shattered.

Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003)

When Harry Met Bad Reviews

[7 December 2003]

Few films live up to their title the way "Dumb and Dumberer" has. Consider this movie to be the god-father of the seven Police Academy movies, four Lepracaun movies, and every other nostalgic movie that had a s***ty sequel. With problems like the original cast being gone, the 1986 setting in the movie being non-existant, and jokes that lead no place you'd swear that most scenes were comprised of auto-biographies about the Director, Troy Miller's real life.

After seeing this movie, you'll hate the original even, which makes one wonder why the film ever got past the cutting room floor in the first place. The reason: money. The plot is simple, Harry and Lloyd are in high school and their prinicple has staged a special education class in a scheme to make easy money. From here you're treated to 80 minute of torture that contains more bad jokes than a late night marathon of America's Funniest Home Videos.

Not surprisingly, Bob Saget's in the movie. Ironically, Bob says the only funny joke in the movie, comprising of him repeatedly screaming a four letter word that could easily sum up the movie. I'll give you a hint, it rhymes with "hit". Beyond that, every one-liner and gag you see in the movie comes across like a bad "yo-mama" joke. I'm surprised they didn't use the "yo mama so stupid, she returned a donut to the shop cuz it had a hole in it" line.

Nothing from the original is incorporated into the prequel, except for a few jokes that Jim Carrey did that his inferior counterpart attempts to redo. As stated earlier, the film takes place in 1986, yet the settings are more bland than a packet of 3 year-old Tang. Worse still, unlike the original movie, the ending is incredibly predictable. Even more odd, why the hell does the school only have about 7 students that are continually shown throughout the film.

Watching the movie will sap creative ideas out of you, as we're starting to notice while writing this review. To put it plain and simple, this movie just sucks. We didn't even watch all of the ending.

Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003)

When Harry Met Bad Reviews

[7 December 2003]

Few films live up to their title the way "Dumb and Dumberer" has. Consider this movie to be the god-father of the seven Police Academy movies, four Lepracaun movies, and every other nostalgic movie that had a s***ty sequel. With problems like the original cast being gone, the 1986 setting in the movie being non-existant, and jokes that lead no place you'd swear that most scenes were comprised of auto-biographies about the Director, Troy Miller's real life. Troy, we understand that it takes a special kind of person to make a movie this bad, I'm just guessing that your Dad got you the Director job or there was some sort of affirmative action scheme in Hollywood involved.

After seeing this movie, you'll hate the original even, which makes one wonder why the film ever got past the cutting room floor in the first place. The reason: money. The plot is simple, Harry and Lloyd are in high school and their prinicple has staged a special education class in a scheme to make easy money. From here you're treated to 80 minute of toture that contains more bad jokes than a late night marathon of America's Funniest Home Videos.

Not surprisingly, Bob Saget's in the movie. Ironically, Bob says the only funny joke in the movie, comprising of him repeatedly screaming a four letter word that could easily sum up the movie. I'll give you a hint, it rhymes with "hit". Beyond that, every one-liner and gag you see in the movie comes across like a bad "yo-mama" joke. I'm surprised they didn't use the "yo mama so stupid, she returned a donut to the shop cuz it had a hole in it" line.

Nothing from the original is incorporated into the prequel, except for a few jokes that Jim Carrey did that his inferior counterpart attempts to redo. As stated earlier, the film takes place in 1986, yet the settings are more bland than a packet of 3 year-old Tang. Worse still, unlike the original movie, the ending is incredibly predictable. Even more odd, why the hell does the school only have about 7 students that are continually shown throughout the film.

Watching the movie will sap creative ideas out of you, as we're starting to notice while writing this review. To put it plain and simple, this movie just sucks. We didn't even watch all of the ending.