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Aidonian
Reviews
The Final (2010)
great film
When I heard of this film, I was not expecting much. How can I? I mean, with movies like Saw, Hostel and the likes, torture is the way to go in film these days. I have read a lot of reviews on this and I think the most negative ones don't seem to get what this film is about. It's more about revenge for some bullying. It shows what happens when kids reached the breaking point and use whatever they have at their disposal to fight back. Their intent was clear at the end. They did not want to kill them. Even though it was optional. Their intent was to hurt them in the same manner they have hurt them all these years. They wanted them to live so they would remember the night. Few died. But most of them survived, even badly hurt. The irony lies in what happened afterwards. In a world were the focus lies on physical beauty, those who survived and were injured became the outcasts. It hits the spot well when the main outcast delivers those speeches. The bullied kids always asks themselves: why? What they do to deserve this? Now it is the bullies who are asking themselves those questions. While some act all brave, their true colours are shown in time of crisis. Granted, it wasn't a pure horrorfilm like we are used to. The horror was more subtle. Throughout the first act, we are hinted at what will come, so when it arrives we knew that this was the climax of everything set in motion. The actors did a excellent job in their performances.
Stargate Universe (2009)
great start
as a fan of BSG, I welcomed this new edition of Stargate. With Stargate Atlantis, they had the chance to go down that route, but chose to let it become a SG-1 clone instead with reused SG-1 plots,etc... What made BSG stand out is that it isn't as black and white as most people want it to be. The world isn't all black and white, there are a lot of shades of grey and BSG used that. SGU is so far using that now as well. Like season 1 of SGA, I predict that in season 2, they will go back to the way things were. People hate space opera's, but at least you get characters who are fleshed out, 3 dimensional. And here, they got a lot of work to do. Something they perhaps can do with flashbacks, like Lost did, but not overuse it to the point it becomes annoying. I look forward to the rest of the season. If they can keep up the work, we have a great show in store for us.
Heroes: Chapter One 'Orientation/Jump, Push, Fall' (2009)
a start of a new beginning
Season 3 definitely had its faults: with having focused on to much action, less on character like in season 1 and 2, a lot of fans were disappointed. But redemption, with 3 episodes underway is proving to redeem itself. I have already read several bad reviews on the first 3 episodes and in the end, it shows how spoiled these people are. Instead of giving it a chance, they turn their back on it, Redemption is back on track with the primary focus on characters instead of the action. We are introduced to new characters with new abilities, who aren't recycled ones. One plus to all this: it stops being about to save the world for the million time, which was getting old real fast. If you want characters behaving like in comics, running around in tights, think again. What I truly find interesting is Matt-Sylar-Nathan connection here. You would have to watch to see what I mean.
Heroes: Chapter Twelve 'An Invisible Thread' (2009)
not so memorable
the end of each volume is something to be cherished, remembered. The end of volume one was impressive as was the end of volume 2 and 3. The end of volume 4 was not so memorable. The fight between Sylar and the Petrelli brothers seemed epic, but we could not see it. The death of Nathan was a surprise, but not what happened afterwards. That they used Matt to convince Sylar that he is Nathan. The end of the episode showed promise to the duality of two different personalities within one body like with Nikki and Jessica. But the return of Tracy Strauss was predictable and annoying at best. I have grown tired of Ali Larter character switch a roo in the show and was glad she died. but now we found out she is still alive? all in all a average episode which was designed to be memorable was was not.
The Grudge 3 (2009)
not what I expected
having seen the first two Grudge movies, which I liked, I thought this would be a great addition to it. I was wrong. The movements of Kayako in the first two were strange and scary, but here, in the third film, it is downright funny at times than scary. With the exception when she crawls out of a painting. What we don't see here, like in the first two films, is when she grabs people. In the first two, she grabs people and somehow they become part of the curse as shown in the second movie. Here, Kayako becomes a kind of slasher ghost, which doesn't work at all. Characters; run of the mill, kind of what you expect in horror movies. Nothing noteworthy about it with the exception of Shawnee Smith - who seem to become a regular in horror movies and Marini Sirtis from Star Trek. Other than that, you don't feel anything for these characters. Plot, not that bad, at times they stretched it a bit.I can understand that the sister had a hard time believing Naoko when she told her about the curse, but when she agreed to do the ceremony, she stopped Naoko, because she didn't want her little sister to drink something? Please, her life was at stake, as that of her sister, you would think that she would let it end there. But no, she refused and enter possessed Max who goes after Naoko, killing her in a similar fashion as Kayako. The ending really sucked in my opinion. It's a classic let's bring the villain back once more so it could lead to another sequel. Sure, the other two movies had a similar ending, but those worked for it. Here it clearly doesn't. It was a cop out, a clichéd Hollywood ending for a horror movie.
I Am Legend (2007)
great movie
I love this movie. I love the apocalyptic movies as the next guy, but this one rocks. Like George Romero's movies, this one shows what happens to a man in time of great crisis. In this case, being the sole survivor of the human race. The Krispin virus, originally used to cure cancer has severe dangerous side-effects that spread from animals to humans. When it became airborne, mankind was in danger of becoming extinct. I think anyone who spends three years in solitude would end up crazy or kill himself, like the animated comic shows on the DVD for the girl in Hong Kong. But Neville has a companion, a dog. This movie brings a terrific message that humans should treat animals beter, because they can do wonderful things for us, especially our psyche. They can help us keep us sane. This is clearly demonstrated by Neville after he loses his dog to the Krispin virus. He forgets the cure and goes out to seek revenge. One thing I don't get is, the animals; the deers, the lions. How come they can survive, while they are most likely to be eaten by these dark seekers? When Neville and Sam where chasing this one young deer, how come the animal didn't know to stay away from the dark. If for the last three years, these things were killing them, wouldn't they instinctively know to stay away from the dark? Even when they are chased? Anyway, Will Smith gives yet another superb performance here and really shows his acting skills. I for one, hope they make a sequel starring Alice Braga's character and her son, trying to make a new life for themselves and at the same time, trying to cure as many dark seekers as possible.
Supernatural: Ghostfacers (2008)
not bad, but could be beter
in this episode we see the two stooges from season 1 hell house or was hell hounds? Anyway, they have formed a group whom they dubbed ghostfacers. Claiming to face ghosts where everyone else (including them) runs away from. They seem to have this idea that ghosts are friendly, but are really inexperienced when it comes to deal with ghosts. They don't know that salt keeps them at bay, nor that some ghosts can be very violent. In this episode, they are hoping to cash in on the reality TV shows running rampant in the world, by bringing a new format: ghost hunting. Here the episode feels more like Diary of the Dead than the average Lost style the show has adopted. On itself it wasn't a bad episode. Seeing how the rest of season 3 has been, this was more stand alone than the rest of the season. On the other hand, we see what happens if inexperienced people try to hunt ghosts, without the necessary tools to protect themselves if something goes wrong.
Who's Your Daddy? (2002)
not bad, but not good either
what promised to be a interesting premise, highschool boy who is a wimp becomes a playboy after he has inherited the fortune and company of a multinational corporation. Suddenly he's introduced into a world, he thought he never saw and experienced things he thought he would never experience. The introduction of the lifestyle of his late parents and the clash of his suburban lifestyle with that of a big city is done perfectly. He's in why over his head here and he knows it. While he first fantasies about Britanny, he know thinks he can sleep with Ali Landry's character. If they did, than that would be awesome. But she knows he's a minor and she doesn't do it. However, Patsy Kensit's character doesn't seem to have any scrupules. She even makes out with Chris' best friend to get to Chris, even though she is repulsed by that kid. Who can blame her. He's annoying and repulsing. Chris realizes he has a lot of power and money, but quickly loses it because of the actions of his uncle who wants his cousin out and he wants the company and the fortune. Soon he's back to be a nobody and with no friends to show for it. After that, it goes to a standard formula of guy wins back friends and fortune or girl. Even though he doesn't hook up with brittany, he does with Christina Lakin's character who has a crush on him, but he doesn't notice her because of Brittany. Which is typical for these kind of highschool comedies. Boy is in love with popular girl he can never have, but doesn't notice a girl who has a crush on him. Boy gets popular girl but somehow realizes she's not the one and goes for the dorky girl that has a crush on him. Sounds familiar? It should, we have seen it way to many times by now, we know what to expect from these movies. A movie with Marnette Patterson, Ali Landy and Christina Lakin, what more do you need? Well a good plot perhaps. Even though it has a plot, it was somewhat on the mediocre side.
The Hills Have Eyes II (2007)
surprisingly decent
After watching Captivity and having seen Saw and Hostel, I got a bit tired of the torture in the horror genre. Specially when it's overdone. Here I went in expecting not much from the sequel of the remake I never saw. To my surprise I liked the movie. It was good. Like Wrong Turn the descent, this is pure survival horror. If the national guard soldiers completed their training, they would have dealt with the threat much better than they did now. They were lost without their sergeant and didn't knew what to do next. They wanted to stick together to fight their common enemy and wanted no one to be left behind. However, one mistake that is commonly made in these type of movies is that when you are going in enemy territory, a enemy that is stronger than you. It would be wiser to be silent and not yelling or knocking things down. That would attract unwanted attention. As far as mutants go, they were believable in the sense that they didn't just kill for fun. But for food and to reproduce by capturing women and raping them until a child is born. One wonders what they were feeding the pregnant women during their pregnancy? All in all a decent movie.
Captivity (2007)
terrible
Although I'm somewhat of a fan of Elisha Cuthbert since 24 (haven't seen House of Was because of Paris Hilton), I looked forward seeing her in this movie. I thought it was going to be decent, but I was disappointed. Elisha's character was somewhat believeble, but the brothers not so much. Even the story on itself wasn't that original. The whole idea of people being locked away and had to endure all sorths of trials to save their lives is being literally done to death. After Saw, Hostel, the tortue seemed out of place here. It didn't work for me. Elisha's performance and the performance of the other actors were great, but I couldn't get into the story. I cared for Jennifer and her dog and wanted her to escape and be reunited with her pet. Than they showed her her dog and she had to choice between her life or that of her dog. Naturally she choses hers. The killer was obviously playing with her when he showed her another dog just like her, confusing her whether or not she actually killed her own dog or another one just like her. I could get why the killer in Saw did it, or why the people in Hostel did it. But seriously, kidnapping girls, pretending to be captive as well so to play as a hero and than kill her? That is about the lamest reason ever if you ask me. I found myself hitting the forward button more so than in 30 minutes I saw the entire movie. I just got tired of the torture porn I guess. Especially if it's overdone like here.
Stargate: Atlantis: Adrift (2007)
good beginning of a great season
season 4 adrift starts out good where we were left in First Strike, it picks up here. The acting was good, even that of Torri who was in a coma for most of the time. They did good by introducing Jewel's character in season 3 First Strike. Otherwise it might felt weird to have her there and not knowing who she is. Now we know who she is and why she is there. Elizabeth. Well I have always had a thing for her and she was a good and effective leader of Atlantis. It is a shame that she is recurring during this season. Two things can be noticed of this episode. Zalenka being hit with a mini-asteroid. It should have punctered his leg as well. He should have been bleeding more. Those experts flying the jumpers for the first time, did it better than they should have. Another user pointed this out and he's right. It felt forced that they were so good at it, even though they had no experience flying the jumpers. In order to truly get this episode, you had to watch First Strike and the remainder of the seasons to get where they were coming from and what they are talking of. Still they were of on a good start for this season. Can't wait for the DVD to come out.
Stargate: Atlantis: Miller's Crossing (2007)
not bad but been there, seen it
It was not a bad episode, but it felt like I was watching a remake of a season 5 of stargate sg-1 story where Sam is kidnapped to help a millionair get better and heal his sickness that is going to kill him. In the end, a Goauld was brought in that not only healed him, but took control over him and killed most of his people. Now here Jeanie Miller, the sister of Rodney is kidnapped by a man who wants her to rescue his daughter from a illness that is going to kill her, with the use of nano-technology. It's the same story being done with a different setting and different characters. Instead of a Goauld we have nanites. There is no subplot of a rogue NID helping the Goauld here, but we have a Wraith helping Rodney. I'm not going to give away to much here, but it is a episode that is slightly better. The interaction between Rodney and his sister is right on the nose. It's always fun to watch them on screen. It's just a shame that Elizabeth isn't on Atlantis anymore.
AVPR: Aliens vs Predator - Requiem (2007)
great movie
Alright, finally a AvP movie we can be proud of. It's full of action, gore since it is R -rated and good battles between aliens and the Predator. The Strauss brothers did a great job at it. There is no stupid plot to explain the presence of the Predators on Earth or why they are even there. It begins where the first movie left of and is a fun ride. What's interesting about this movie is, that it's more of a Predator movie than a Alien and Predator movie. No teenage predators this time, a full grown, experienced hunter hunting down the xenomorphs and the Predalien. What's also different this time is, that there is no queen. The Predalien seem to impregnate a host with a xenomorph through its mouth, making eggs and facehuggers redundant. The humans, well, who cares anyway. 24's Michelle Dessler is in the movie and does a great job at it. She is the mom who wants to protect her child, after her husband was killed by a xenomorph. Her character is somewhat similar to that of Ripley's in Aliens where she wants to protect Newt from the xenomorphs. Honestly, who watches these movies to care about the humans. The fact that humans keep winning is annoying at itself. The Predator was about the win, when the bomb was dropped, making it impossible to tell if the Predalien or the Predator won. That on itself was a grave error on the brothers part. If their intention was to let the Predator win, they should have him kill the Predalien and and escape the bomb somehow. I must admit, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, more than the first one, where music and the one battle scene where the highlights of the movie. Not to mention, this time, there is no stupid tag line saying: whoever wins, we lose and ironically we, as humans, win, while the Queen is frozen under water and the Predators sent to Earth were dead. Than again, Paul W.S. Anderson has a gift of destroying good franchises such as Resident evil movies, Alien vs Predator. He's not that bad as Uwe Boll, but he's getting close. If there comes a third Alien vs Predator movie, let's take it back to outer space or on another planet besides Earth like with the Alien saga. Sure the Predalian was a warrior in the games, but in the movie he's something else. All in all, a very entertaining movie worth watching and is much better than the first one.
Xena: Warrior Princess: To Helicon and Back (2001)
just awful
It has the standard Xena plot, evil warlord will stop at nothing for domination or revenge of whatever useless plot they came up with now. When faced with her troubled past, there lies potential for the Xena character, but since this show is not about drama, as about action and people want to see Xena kicking but more than regretting over what she did in the past. This episode surely delivers, but screws up on the mythology departement big time. Bellerophon as the son of Artemis? Come on, anyone with any knowledge of mythology will know that Artemis like Athena and Hestia was a virgin goddess who had no children nor any relationship of any kind. It's not that I don't like feminism or strong female characters, but this is just way over there.
Charmed (1998)
terrible
well what can I say about a show that had potential, but failed to deliver in the area of story lines and acting. I do admit that some story lines aren't that bad, but executed badly. Up and till season 4, it was OK to watch Charmed. Even with at times bad plots, you still could watch it and not kick yourself in the head later for watching it. If the show set out to entertain people, they could at least make an attempt at it. It would have been redeeming if it didn't take itself to seriously, which apparently they did. In that aspect, they didn't even deliver. Watching it, made me remember Power Rangers episodes because like the Power Rangers series, Charmed became increasingly formulaic over the years. In the beginning, you had demons, warlocks and on occasion a criminal and/or bad witch. But the redeeming side of it, was the relationship between the sisters and up till the first half of season 5, this was still present but severely diminished. I did enjoy the introduction of Paige to the show, but I got the feeling that they ran out of ideas after season 4. Season 5 and 6 was terrible. First of all was the death of Cole, who became indestructible. They killed him of in the worst possible way by sending Paige and Cole to an alternative dimension where he's still a demon and not a avatar. Than came the introduction of all sorts of magical beings: trolls, elves, gnomes, leprechauns, etc.... Instead of re imagining them and be creative. No, they used the popular vision of all these creatures and put them in there. After season 6, it didn't make any sense anymore and it felt like the producers and writers were so out of ideas for the show that it resulted in using cliché plots. Safe to say that Charmed wasn't always quality entertainment, but after season 4, it became quantity entertainment and I start to think that the producers and writers knew this. Otherwise, they were insulting its viewers and look like fools for doing continuing the show like that. In my opinion, they should have ended with season 5 lame ending. Sure the introduction of the Chris storyline seemed interesting, but was badly executed. Season 6 was probably the lamest season up to date and the only episodes worth mentioning were the reality show episode and the Barbas episodes. He's always fun to watch and interact with the sisters. Season 7 had a redeeming storyline throughout the season and should have been the perfect ending for a very mediocre show. The introduction of the Avatars and Zankou was handled nicely to my own surprise. The Zankou character like Barbas made the show worth watching, because there was a demon that stand out from the rest and was hard to kill. He even makes the Source looks lame compared to him. Although they could have done it better to set up the last two episodes where Zankou wanted to shake the sisters to their core. If that is all what it took to be shaking up, I'm surprised that the sisters survived this long. Than again, the demons were your typical run of the mill villain who attacks the sisters, plan to kill the sisters and end up being killed themselves. It reminded me of those lame action shows where the villain has nothing else to do than try to kill the hero. Unfortunately, the only demons worth mentioning is Zankou and Barbas. They were true demon and played superbly by great actors. Season 8 sucked. Even the acting went downhill. The introduction of Billie was terrible. I mean, it was laughable. The scene were Paige meets the demon in the theater and Billie crashes in to attack the demon was laughable. Not only the acting went downhill, the writing went first and it was visible. I'm glad they decided to cancel it. Too bad people prefer quantity over quality when it comes to entertainment. Shows like this, only show the stupidity of the masses at times, just like with the reality TV hype.
Alone in the Dark (2005)
not that bad, but not a decent flick either
I gave this movie a 5 out 10. You would probably ask why I would do that. I'm in no way a fan of Boll's other movies. But this movie was great to enjoy if you are looking for a movie where you can shut down your brains and just look at it. I saw House of the Dead and I hated it. It was one of the worst zombie movies ever made. Having played the game Alone in the Dark, I did enjoy this movie. Sure allot of things were wrong: the plot holes, the directing, etc... It is great to see Tara Reid do things that she wouldn't normally do. Most directors wouldn't cast Reid as a scientist, but here she does play one and you have to respect her decision to do such a thing. I mainly rented this movie for the idea that this movie was based upon a video game and I wanted to see how he did it. Another reason were Stephen Dorf, Tara Reid and Christian Slater. I like seeing them on screen, so I wasn't disappointed in their acting abilities. They did give the best of their abilities under the direction of a director who isn't a A-class director. This movie can be compared to Van Helsing, the Mummy Trilogy and many other movies who are nothing more than mere entertainment and should be viewed as such. They aren't a masterpiece. Alone in the Dark is a action-horror movie with the emphasis on action and not survival-horror like in the game. It is great to see that Uwe Boll does take on the challenge to direct movies, mainstream Hollywood wouldn't do. Or the fact that Boll is not afraid to deviate from the game storyline. Perhaps in the near future, someone in Hollywood might come up with the idea to remake those Uwe Boll's movies and possibly even do it better than he does. But for now, we will have to do with Boll making movies based upon games. It's a acquired taste, this man's movies. I do hope that the next movies will be more quality than quantity, but I fear it would be the opposite.
Night of the Living Dead (1990)
A very good remake of a classic
When you start to watch this film, it never gets boring. For those who have seen the original, you can see that Romero stayed very close to the original movie with alterations of course which looked like politically correct moves if you ask me. I will get to that later. From beginning to end we see what effect it has on a small group of people locked inside a house. Here the characters are very much like in the original with the exception of Barbara. Her character has changed while the girlfriend of Tom behaves very much like Barbara of the original, even though in the original the girlfriend acts totally different. The characters aren't very likable but we do begin to like to them because they do whatever they can to stay alive during this tragedy. Harry Cooper being the arrogant prick who wants to be in charge, but is defied by Ben who soul purpose is to stay alive and help those around him to stay alive as well. Barbara is the only character that has changed and had adapted to our social standards. At first she get's into shock over the tragedy of losing her brother and being attacked by creatures who appear to be not to be alive at all. But after she meets up with Ben, she starts to change to become as dominant as Ben is. I don't mind that, but it did the original some injustice by turning one of the leads into a dominant lead while in the original she was in shock throughout the movie and get's killed. I think most people might agree that of fear of being called a sexist or being un-PC, they changed Barbara's character. Like I said, I don't mind, but lately that is all we get shoved down our throats in horror movies these days. In most modern horror movies, the men and woman start as equal, probably the men being the dominant, but when tragedy strikes, the women take charge and survive while the men die. The feminists may complain that the original was to sexist because it portrays women as weak and defenseless. Whether or not the Barbara character was altered out of fear of being attacked by feminist groups, I don't know, but I do know that too many horror movies these days are about though, dominant female leads who survive the tragedy that befalls them while the men succumb to the tragedy. It is like women have to prove themselves that they can be emotionally and physically strong. We know that there are both men and women out there who are either one of those and sometimes both. But what is the point of killing of all the characters except of one female one? Oh well, it is probably my fault for not being politically correct all the time. I don't really care if I'm PC or not. Okay, I stop ranting now. Anyway I do recommend this movie to every horror buff in the world and fans of the original. There wasn't much gore present, but than again, there wasn't much gore either in the original. They insinuated the gore instead of showing it. although I do prefer seeing the gore, but the insinuation of it works very well. Afterall Alfred Hitchcok made his career from making movies where everything happens in the human psyche instead of on screen.
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
it grows on you
Being a fan of the original Dawn, I have to admit that when I saw this movie, it wasn't that bad. After seeing the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, I knew remakes these days suck big time and here it was no different. Than again, what can you expect from a guy who along his major screen credits is Scooby Doo. When the movie starts, the plague is already starting, but only the next morning we get to see the bubble burst and have the zombies attack every living human being. As a fan of zombie movies, I was disappointed with the low level of gore here, although hinting at it is fine. But this is a zombie movie, and in it we need to see more gore than there we could see. After the first 15 minutes, the movie starts to weaken. What they have build up in the first 15 minutes, they lose afterwords. The characters were believable, but the zombies aren't. If you think how long it takes for rigor mortis to kick in, how come after 2 weeks, these zombies could still run like in the beginning. It made no sense. Of course zombie movies usually don't make sense, but there is still a kind of rationality to it, that we don't see here. I might add that the first 15 minutes of the movie had me shaken in my boots sorth of speak, but the rest of the movie didn't until they leave the mall. Hell, the news program we can view on the DVD of this film is scarier than the entire movie combined and it only lasts about 20 minutes. Judge it yourself as you watch the movie.
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995)
I loved it
When I first saw the TV movies of this show, I fell in love with it since I was a mythology buff by that time. The TV movies were great as were the series. Kevin Sorbo did a great job at bringing Hercules to the screen, as did Michael Hurst in the roles he played, but we know him best as Iolaus and as Charon. It was one of these shows you watched not only for the beautiful women that come on it, but for the storyline as well. The plot of every episode was terrific, although by the end, they had the tendency to become formulaic, but it didn't mind. The show was enjoyable. It had everything a great show needed: great actors, good plots, beautiful women, nice scenery,... Anyone who had missed this show, missed a jewel.
Still Standing (2002)
great show
this show is one of the better shows I have seen in a while. I put it in the same category as Friends, Wil & Grace, Seinfeld, Yes dear and Married with Children. I watched Everybody loves Raymond, but after a while it starts to grow on you. Still Standing is better than Raymond or King of Queens. If you watch it you can see it has gotten their inspiration from Married with Children, but the family is not nearly that dysfunctional, even though the oldest son has lot of common with Bud Bundy, but he's no Bud Bundy. In my country, they show it every evening, with the exception of the weekends. It is one of the few things I actually stay home for in the evening and when I'm not home, I tape it just to not miss one episode. What is refreshing is that they don't try to be to moralistic like most comedy shows try to be. Here is what I think the married with children influences pay off. I mean, if you want lessons in morality, go to your religious leaders, not TV. Anyway, Brian is quite likable, like his younger sisters, Lauren and Tina. They are quite funny as are their parents. It doesn't feel forced at all and it doesn't need to grow on you. The sister of Judy; Linda is funny in her way, but here is where the drama part come in. Linda is kind of the outcast at work and in her family. Her family doesn't want her, neither does her co-workers. You do feel sad for her when she is being dumped or being ignored by her parents. I just love this show