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Reviews
Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023)
Not bad so far as pure entertainment
This film is not high art. The story is very simple and generally rehashing the poor peasant vs Nazi archetype. But where it excels is the incredible special effects and for those with strong stomachs - brutal gore. Compared to something like Star Wars, which spoke to people say already familiar with Nazis, Rebel Moon makes it very clear why the antagonists are the enemy. Frankly, I was shocked the first time I saw it, but saw the value after watching the directors' cut. There is a place for films like this, and it's valuable inclusion to the scifi library. It's worth a watch if you can stomach it.
The Dresden Files (2007)
Average magical series
When I look back over the history of film since Harry Potter, I almost tend to agree with religious fanatics that maybe Hollywood was taken over by Satan. Or something.
I remember when this series came out. I didn't watch much television then and Harry Potter turned me off to the whole Wizard and Witchcraft thing. Watching these series, I had it right. It's not that the production is bad, or the acting, or sets or another boring police procedural series...
It's the wizardry. And witchcraft. And werewolfs. Vampires. I just don't care. Since this series came out, there have been more productions than I can count with the same old tired stor concepts.
One thing that was interesting about the series is it is *overacted*. If there is one nice thing about the 2010s+, it's that acting became more realistic in a way.
House of the Dragon (2022)
I really tried to give it a chance, but it's just too boring
I agree with other negative reviews. The lead actors are clearly skilled. Costumes are good. Sets are designed well, but there are way too many scenes in the same dark castles. Ultimately, I gave up with Season 2, Episode 3 because it is just so incredibly boring. I lost track of what was going on, and a few seconds of dragon scenes per episode just wasn't enough to keep me interested. I also was really getting sick of the bleached blonde hair, the soap opera pacing and dialogue, and it is true - the music is just awful. For such a slow pacing, music could actually help a lot - but for whatever reason it's just not good. I guess this is an HBO cash cow and somehow will continue for many seasons to come, but I'm not interested.
Supacell (2024)
Fresh take on the superhero canvas
There have been a million series about superheroes and the powers of the main cast. Nothing new here. But, the overall story is unique. London is a nice spot. Showing us the different black immigrant classes is a very refreshing take - virtually everything I can think of set in London pretend they don't exist. The gangster undertones/stories are also interesting, if only to see how it differs from the US. I think the characterizations are pretty good, and the acting is excellent. All that said, this isn't a masterpiece of TV. But it is way more entertaining than the Marvel drivel of recent years.
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Incredibly boring. Special effects on par with video games
Amazed by the reviews here. The story couldn't be more boring. Same old oppressor/oppressed nonsense. The story is so incoherent, I can't even figure out what the sky people are all about or why they are on the planet of blue people. Even more confusing is the sky people are also blue. The special effects look like a video game. Nothing seemed particularly interesting, and like the original film, the blue people just aren't rendered in a convincing way. All the time watching it I wondered why 15 years was an inadequate period of time to improve these special effects. The movie did make me think about a beach vacation, and I eventually just pulled out my laptop and priced out trips to Hawaii or Cabo...
Altered Carbon (2018)
Years later, still one of the best series I can remember
The visuals are incredible. The fight scenes, among the most memorable. The entire concept of consciousness traveling from body to body and the inherent dehumanization is fascinating. How that dehumanization was tied to violent sex and rape was difficult to swallow, but was so prescient when the series was released. Only now are we seeing how depraved the rich and powerful actually are, and it's not so far off from the future depicted in the series.
I remember being very disappointed season 2 took years to be produced. While season 2 is not as emotional riveting and has much less of a message, it is still entertaining.
This will probably one of the last science fiction series to attempt to tackle a difficult social issue, which is a shame. Yeah, there is a lot of sex, nudity and violence. But I'm not sure how the story could have been told without it. And it's a story that needed to be told. Give it a go.
Infinity Chamber (2016)
Boring and uninteresting
I'm not sure who this film is really for. I guess it's movie/theater type snobs. There is something about the film that seems more like a life stage production; it is clearly low budget. But the story gets really old, real fast. The man is in a prison cell that is automated. Yet he has what seems to be flashbacks with some woman. Is it real? Is it a dream? We are never really informed of the truth. Worse, the imaginary woman ultimately has no relevance to the story. It's just wasted time. It isn't remotely romantic, so why include it? Who knows. The film ultimately is a reflection of the time it was produced and isn't really timeless. Back in 2016, people still worried about Guantanamo and similar human rights abuses. Now in 2024? Ancient history.
The Island (2005)
Basically Logan's Run with unbelievable action scenes and a gas chamber
The first half of the film is Logan's Run, straight. But rather than escape into a war torn world, they escape into LA. All the way whole armies chase the escaped people. Endless battle scenes that just aren't believable. Some futuristic vehicles out of Star Wars. Unanswered questions, with a major premise being that memories are somehow stored in DNA, which is as absurd today as it was in 2005. The film is long, yet it seems like the only purpose was for battles and more battles. It got really old when the clones were going to be gassed at the end, Nazi style. Overall, a pretty average film. I regret spending my time watching it.
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Boring and incomprehensible. I didn't really care at the end.
I'm surprised by the accolades this film received. It's amazing reading through the IMDB reviews from yesteryear - so many fancied themselves leading film critics referencing other films and actors like that matters.
This film is a "who dunnit" type film about a mystery man crime boss whose name is recited at least once per minute. We are supposed to believe that a man of such power can existing within the shadows and who orchestrates vast, difficult and complex crimes. One such crime, hijacking a boat or something, befalls the main cast. We go back and forth with their drama, struggling with the demands of mystery man.
One of the cast is for whatever reason some kind of narrator. There are multiple flashbacks of the same scenes. So the plot is somewhat non-linear to the point I couldn't really follow it as it was so boring.
Big surprise, one of the main cast is the mystery man. This is finally revealed to the audience in a 1 minute montage that requires freezing the frames to catch its relevance. Yawn.
The best part of the film was the music. I had forgotten how even the simplest, low budget films had amazing scores.
Reacher (2022)
Way too long, Predictable, inverted morals
This was entertaining, but far too long. Reacher was an interesting and entertaining character, but the whole stoic thing got old. The blonde chick cop was pretty hot and I'm glad we got to see her unclothed.
But, by the end of this show, I was just bored. None of the plot twists were particularly interesting. The interesting moments were followed by long periods of time of stuff I can't even remember. The general premise of country white guys running a massive criminal enterprise that requires an army just doesn't make sense. The whole end just was weird and uninteresting. Why not have white collar crime? Maybe for Season 2.
I hope the naked blonde chick comes back for Season 2. Then I will watch it again.
Halo (2022)
Really surprised by the bad reviews
I never played Halo, so I don't care about the video game story. Special effects are very good for a television show, not sure the complaints. Acting is also much better than I expected and the lead Spartan is excellent. The rest of the supporting cast is good. Music is solid. The story is interesting to me, considering how little scifi is out there. This was really unique, and is one of the most intriguing stories I've seen for years. The only complaint I have is I have no idea where Season 2 is. It's been like 1.5 years. I hope this is a series that continues for a good 4-5 seasons, but that won't happen with those kinds of breaks.
Thanks for bringing this to us Paramount!
Jurassic World Dominion (2022)
I don't know the names of the actors, but it's boring
I never really got the Jurassic Park thing. This was sort of a way to tie it into modern genetics and give us a bunch of famous actors. But there was so much pointless dinosaur violence that just stopped being suspenseful. And another trope of the big bad corporation that was so predictable the whole time. Throw in a black lady with attitude, and it just seems like the goal was less telling a story and more appealing to constituents. And people are right. 2.5 hours is way too long for this simple story when nothing of significance warranted it.
I think the final problem form me was the now common story element: telling us our elected government officials can or will take care of a major problem such as corporate malfeasance. Yeah, right. Pretty amazing cynicism in this day and age.
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
Nothing to do with Part 1
Wow, I hadn't seen these films since I was a kid. First Blood was excellent, and Rambo's judicious and minimal use of violence versus this early depiction of our now universal militarized police was fabulous.
This film is just mindless violence, improbable events, and ethnic stereotypes that today seem very out of place. The ruthless Russians and vile Vietnamese who actually display some measure of humanity versus American treatment of POWs these days. But they both were portrayed as beyond stupid. By the end of the film, Rambo was portrayed not as someone skilled at tactics or combat, but just plain old lucky. Boring.
Sweetbitter (2018)
This was surprisingly underrated
It's hard to believe 2006 NYC is that far in the past, but this was a very good depiction of that time and the higher end food service industry. It even looks like they filled some kitchen scenes in the basement of someplace like Union Square Cafe, which is highly specialized.
The music was on point. Smoking was still a thing. Drugs are show almost LESS intense than they are even today. Sex is pretty accurately portrayed as less crazy as people imagine.
The characters are pretty accurate for the time. Honestly, it was very entertaining and felt like a small time capsule. Great acting, set design, costumes, etc.
Manifest (2018)
Terrible acting throughout, horrible ending
This is one of those shows I leave on while working because the endless dramatic dialogue is just so bad. The lead Ben is so unbelievably dramatic, I can't believe he gets paid for this. The fourth season just dragged on into persecutorial tangents, with religious strife brought to a bizarre level. Overall, there were so many tangents, I could scarcely follow what was going on. There was the girl with the blue arms who everyone hated?
Then it finally gets to the end. The airplane people, after being hunted down, listening to 10,000 callings, joining religious cults, having babies... they FINALLY all come together.
AND Flight 828 pops out of the earth, everyone hops on board, then they have a mini-judgement day where Ben screams "We did our best!" and the horrible apocalypse is averted.
"Flight 828 taught us how to live, and what to live for!" Don't fear judgement day!
Siberia (2018)
Definitely not a 1 star film
I was really surprised to see this on Amazon with a great cast and a low 3 out of 5 stars. I decided to watch it. This is more of a pastiche film, where the story is less relevant than the journey and experiences of the lead. I enjoyed the interactions, especially the romance. It has been a long time since I saw erotic sex scenes where everyone was mostly clothed. And there were a lot of sex scenes. It's nice to have noir romance that isn't revealing and leaves something to the imagination. I would say give this film a try, it's a solid 7 in my book. Great cinematography, directing, and actually acting.
Continuum (2012)
10 years later - incredibly prescient and more relevant than ever
As others have said, this is a story with no clear protagonists or antagonists. Back in 2012, this was pretty radical. But now in 2023, it's pretty clear that sides are not so clear in all aspects of life. The centrality of technology as a tool of oppression, yet a really cool and fascinating one, also seems much more relevant today than in 2012.
Back in 2012, Google and Facebook dominated the cultural landscape and the idea of a corporate syndicate ruling over us all seemed quite farfetched. Now, as the Big Tech companies stagnate and seem to coalesce around control and AI more than technology that that improves our quality of life - this presents a much more clear vision of a future that now appears all but inevitable.
When I watch other earlier time travel science fiction series like Fringe (ending with Nazis, really?) and Lost (I'm still lost), Continuum stands out as being truly innovative.
Also, I feel like the hot lead in this series was well-cast. She is not simply beautiful and superficially smart but portrays female and motherly strength in a way that is not so common. The lead actress hasn't gotten anywhere near the accolades she deserved.
After Earth (2013)
This is really not that bad
I'm sort of perplexed by the bad reviews. Maybe people thought Will Smith had a more important role than he actually did? This film is fundamentally the story of a boy becoming a man, with a unique backdrop trial-by-fire of a sci-fi post-apocalyptic world.
The scenery is pretty interesting, as are the depictures of the natural world. The action scenes are actually fairly realistic as opposed to over-the-top. The boy who is the start of the film does a great job of depicting what a typical, talented boy would be like in that environment.
There were some interesting scifi elements, like the carbon nanotube stuff everywhere.
Maybe some of it was too sentimental, but it's not unheard of for a scifi film. Overall, I thought this was above average.
Sweet Tooth (2021)
Started off OK like most Netflix series
It seems like Netflix always has series that are quite good for the first few episodes, which garners great reviews, then it goes downhill. At least they gave it a second season and didn't cancel it, but it really wasn't that great.
The pace of the series was really slow, and the protagonists just weren't very endearing given the apocalyptic story. The second season really had none of the visual magic of the first season, which was one of the redeeming qualities of the series. I guess it was too expensive to film in New Zealand.
Towards the end, I just really didn't have much sympathy for the hybrid children and sort of wished the antagonists would succeed in their plan to save humanity.
Zoey 101 (2005)
An interesting time capsule
Somehow, Amazon recommended this series to me presumably because my dog is named Zoey. I didn't have cable growing up, and never knew shows like this were made for tween/teen kids.
It's really cool seeing how every gizmo (like cell phones) prominently change from the early season. The gender conflict is at times amusing, though also annoying heavy handed. While some early episodes are risqué, it becomes less so as the series progresses.
The supporting cast is generally pretty good. The biggest problem with the series is Zoey is just not a very good actress. Each of the supporting cast members are unique in some appreciable way, but Zoey is the most successful and desirable girl on campus - yet she isn't really that interesting or memorable. Pretty weird.
Battlestar Galactica (2004)
It was innovative for its time in some ways, but it's not excellent
The best part of the series are the realistic scifi elements, which others have described. Production values for the time were above average. But overall, the story is muddled. So much of the convoluted story is specifically about politics of the early 2000s, which now seem like a distant memory. Specifically, the dominant allegory is the 2003 Iraq War. Terrorists, terrorism, religious differences, waterboarding, torture, democracy. The problem is these were largely media creations of the time, and no one cares about them as depicted today.
At the same time, other elements unrelated to Bush II criticism can be somewhat interesting. While I have no doubt the Cylon/Human religious conflict was sort of grounded in Islam/Christianity(or West), it's cool they use the Greek Pantheon. I actually like the blonde Cylon angel women in the doctor's head. Sure, she's hot. But it's a plot device I've never seen before and it's not a bad break. While the Cylon sleeper agents were definitely supposed to be Muslim terrorists, they turned it into an interesting story that was compelling.
I can't help but acknowledge that the show set a new bar. It was probably the most innovative scifi series since Star Trek TNG or Babylon 5. So, for that reason it is worth watching.
Godfather of Harlem (2019)
Surprisingly good
The characters are well done, with the major ones being excellent. Bumpy is very good so far as showing the mixed morals of a black mobster in Harlem during the Civil Rights era. Malcom X is a fantastic, well-spoken character true to the real-life figure. He provides a unique moral compass in the overall story of... immorality. Adam Clayton Powell is also excellent. The corruption of politics, even of a figure central to Civil Rights era legislation is extremely well down and acted. Contrasting him with Malcom X is something so rarely portrayed.
Period details from fashion to cars to music are all fantastic. Language is also amusing. EYE talians!
The Last of Us (2023)
A pretty average zombie series
I'm really perplexed by the gushing reviews. Ok, so it was made about a video game? Wasn't that already done before with Resident Evil? The first episode was OK. Good production values. But nothing amazing. Versus other zombie flicks, this one is caused by fungus. That is about as significant as it goes.
As the story progresses in Episode 2, I see nothing surprising. The potty mouthed 14-year old from Episode 1 doesn't stop cursing. Monsters appear sporadically. Lots of walking and such in ruins. Creepy music. Wrecked buildings.
Edit: An entire episode to beardsy gay marriage and euthanasia. And it has nothing to do with the plot, at all. Why?
I'm bored just writing this review because Episode 2 was so boring.
Hanna (2011)
A unique action film that will stand the test of time
This is a film filled with brilliant cinematography and emotional scenes all tied together with a great Chemical Brothers soundtrack. It is not a deep story and is not intended to be one. Hanna is more like a music video, and one of the best attempts at the genre I've yet to see. The acting is superb, the action sequences are not overwhelming and are choreographed well. The interludes of other characters are all interesting. There is a unique style all that leads to a choreography that is rare.
Even the essential story - Hanna being the product of genetic engineering - is as factually accurate today as it was in 2011. Hanna is a female because the XX chromosome provides redundancy when the genome is edited.
An excellent female lead in that respect all around. She is simultaneously a young girl with innocence and love for her father, and at other times a vicious killing machine. Definitely not a story that has been done before.
Emily in Paris (2020)
Most get this wrong - it's a satire of American culture and values
I'm really baffled by the negative reviews. This series is clearly satire. Emily is a stereotypical college educated American female who is obsessed with social media, so much so that it is her job. A constant theme throughout the series is how trite and irrelevant social media actually is. Most every episode portrays Emily as uptight and embracive of the popular American values with respect to sex. It is actually funny. Men who are simply friendly and portrayed as sexual suitors in her mind, revealed later to be anything but. When a television series brings up sexual harassment in a workplace setting, it is satire. When an advertising campaign involves a nude woman, obvious satire.
I walked away from this series overly aware that America is not a great place to live. People are not sexy and spend too much time seeing violations of sexual morality everywhere. Americans work too much. They don't know how to enjoy life in terms of socializing, restaurants and of course sex. They place far too much value on social media while the world passes them by.
It was beyond hilarious when Emily's boss instructed her to delete her Instagram account. Wise advice to everyone!
Edit: After finishing the series, I increased my rating as there were so many twists and the satire so insidious, I thought the show was very clever.
On one level, this is an entertaining show simply due to the Paris setting, incredible fashion costumes, and the bubbly personality of Emily.
But every episode has a subtle criticism of American culture that is rather poignant. I thought Season 2 ending with Emily's pregnant boss visiting from Chicago, with all her vulgar Americanisms hit that point home very well. It was as if the writers read the reviews on IMDB and decided to beat the viewers over the head with what Emily could be in 20 years simply to make the point.
This is the most subversive comedy I have seen in a long while.