echoman-net Reviews

Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023)

Out and out rip off of 7 Samurai, and the Magnificent 7

[5/10 · 22 December 2023]

This has a good cast, but it is not so loosely based on the Seven Samurai (1954), the first truly great western.

Poor farmers (although in this flick they all look pretty buff, rich, good looking thin, not poor, hard scrabble skinny.) bullied by space bandits etc, etc...."We'll be back in 12 weeks for your harvest, ... or else".... Sooo, the farmers send our heroine and one of their own on a mission to recruit 7 samurai to, well, .... just look up a synopsis of 7 Samurai (or The Magnificent 7) and you'll have this space version sorted. Space version, indeed...we've seen all the green screen cgi action/stunts before. Kind of a pity though, the performances are good, the cast is good, but the writing is not. Intended for the young kids....to bring along a new generation....and they are welcome to it.

All is not lost though, this is Inspiration to watch Seven Samurai again.

Amsterdam (2022)

Great if you are a fan of the Cast!

[10/10 · 14 December 2022]

If you are a fan of the cast, you will love this film. Everybody gets lots of "face" time and plenty of dialog, so you can really enjoy their performances.... Lots of beautiful women in this film,Wow!

Never heard of General Smedly Butler before, but after wiki searching I find his writings are spot on. Western militaries are more often than not just enforcers for Big Business....which is what this film was all about; The sacrifices and scars that the people who fight have to deal with for the rest of their lives, and the people and institutions that seek to control governments in the never ending quest for more and more..

Spencer (2021)

Better than expected!

[10/10 · 24 November 2021]

Not a body guard in sight, so it's not a documentary. The Film's makers did not let "facts" get in the way of telling their story. Performances are great. Is Kristen Stewart pretty or what? Her excellent, believable performance helps me understand why Diana behaved the way she did in her struggle to free herself from the Royals™ Plc. I'm old enough to remember her and I sometimes wondered why she was so miserable. There was so much secrecy surrounding them no one on the outside got a look in. Now, because at least one of her grown children has the same independent streak as his mother, the royals do not enjoy the same godlike status they enjoyed then.

The Wire (2002–2008)

20 years ahead of its time.

[10/10 · 17 September 2021]

Millennials will laugh at this time capsule of the 00's; Pay phones, pagers, the 00's cars, tiny flip-phones, cathode ray televisions...But this is GREAT TV! Excellent cast and production, story lines that are timeless, and still revelant. Great stuff !

The Gateway (I) (2021)

A mediocre B Movie with an A list cast....Could've been a Contender....

[5/10 · 4 September 2021]

B movie, mediocre even by network tv standards, with an A list group of actors, maybe drawn to this project by its truly noble attempt to protect children from the idiotic behavior of the adults around them.

But, ends up Jjust a predictable, excruciatingly slow paced film.....We see all the punches coming way too far in advance; like a spiraling, slow motion plane crash....

Nomadland (2020)

Baloneyland; a Fairytale

[1/10 · 3 May 2021]

Okay, so Hollywood is going to fix Anti-Asian bias in the US by giving this film Two Oscars?? But this story of aging, white Americans who have ended up living out of vans and campers wandering around western America made no sense until I realized it was made for Chinese audiences. I was wondering why all the nomads vehicles were painted white and found that in China the color white represents death and decay; Chinese wear white to funerals. Hence all the white vehicles of the elderly nomads would make sense to Chinese viewers while most of us westerners wouldn't notice. Would have to translate reviews from Chinese papers to have a clue as to what this is really about, but it certainly isn't the reality of homelessness in America. Its some sort of an art film dream state...Have to get the directors commentary blue ray...

Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

Captures the spirit of the originals for both Kong and Godzilla

[10/10 · 18 April 2021]

This is the best of the last 2 or 3 Godzilla films by far, the best since the 50's and 60's originals. Kids will enjoy and remember this fondly.

King Kong an expert with a battle axe?? Skull island inside a football stadium......Middle Earth??....Who knew?

Nobody (I) (2021)

Oh Yeah!!!

[10/10 · 18 April 2021]

This isn't any of that "Dark Knight", DC universe bull.... Nothing to complain about; a violent, bad guys get their due, paid in full, Action Movie.

Satisfying? You Bet.

Gone in 60 Seconds (1974)

What a ride!

[10/10 · 2 September 2020]

70's To a T. Especially the big hair, big cars, big mustaches, side burns, rayon bell bottoms...you name it from the 70's and it's in this flick. If anyone wants to see what that era really looked like, this film shows it all...A much, much better film than the 2000 Jolie/Cage version, (which was meant to be a tribute to the creator of this original; Mr. H. B. Halicki). Mr. Halicki's creative legacy has left his widow a very wealthy woman.

Yellowstone (2018– )

YeeeeHaaaww! Keep 'em coming Boys!

[8/10 · 20 July 2020]

Good 'ol two fisted Cowboy & Cowgirls drama, with sex and violence and cows and horses and fresh air and beautiful scenery and cattle rustling and horse rustling and land rustling and people rustling; plenty of sage brush wisdom tempered with Cowboy Justice!!

There was some bruhah over the true ethnicity of the female Native American lead (having recently dropped her last name of "Chow"), saying she was part "Eastern" Cherokee (the inside joke being "far east-ern"). Is this just a play to chinese/asian audiences, when this show is syndicated overseas? ?..The rest of the Native American cast just seem to be "Noble" window dressing...

American Gods (2017–2021)

Read the book and now waiting for the showdown

[10/10 · 19 May 2020]

Read the book afterwards and am now looking forward to the big showdown.

Better Call Saul (2015–2022)

Time to ditch "prequel" pretensions

[6/10 · 19 May 2020]

Six years removed from breaking bad its time to cut the umbilical and move on. Forget the prequel baggage and use this formidable cast and crew to create anew. Fly on your own steam.

Rust Valley Restorers (2018– )

All around good hearted stuff, the way the world ought to be, but seldom is...

[10/10 · 19 May 2020]

Once upon a time, in a magical valley, somewhere in Canada, where money doesn't matter and profit is just a dirty word to be scorned, lives a lovable, ragtag, rogue group of scamps, Mechanics and old car lovers, willing to drop tools at any time to rush across this magical realm to help out a competitor struggling to make a deadline, supplying hard to find parts free to boot......or building a rare muscle car out of an even rarer, and rarer, ever diminishing stock of old parts for anyone with a good back story and maybe a little bit of cash... All around good hearted stuff, the way the world ought to be, but seldom is... Keep 'em coming boys....

Dead to Me (2019–2022)

Disapointing

[6/10 · 19 May 2020]

This program continues to disappoint. With a fantastic group of talented actors saddled with mediocre writing and direction. Sometimes the dialogue just rattles on, apparently because there so many minutes left to fill with no ideas or inspiration to see them out. Keep hoping that somehow this program will get better.

Dances with Wolves (1990)

An American Classic. Perfect lock down viewing.

[10/10 · 18 May 2020]

I remember the first time I saw this film, those three hours of the original release passed so quickly. This time it was the Director's Cut at 236 minutes. The film just gets better and better with age. This version is as interesting, absorbing, and original as the theatrical version was when first released. A truly great film and the time passed just as quickly this time as it did back in 1990. Dances with Wolves is a treat no matter which version you choose. Ninety % of Netflix films are a torture to sit through at 90 - 100 mins. Treat yourself to this and enjoy.

American Gods (2017–2021)

Great History Lesson

[10/10 · 27 July 2019]

Lots to look at, how gods were replaced by religions who simply built on top of existing foundations.....including tech, the rise of artificial intelligence...

Repo Man (1984)

Outstanding Classic!!

[10/10 · 28 March 2019]

It has been stepped on and copied many times over the years, and as it is a product of its time, for those of us who had the pleasure to experience it then, it was, and still is, a great gem of a flick! To all the whiners,"kids", who weren't around to see this in the 80's, You missed out! There are no films like this these days, no one taking on trump, or anything else, these sad little millennials......

The Mule (2018)

Hey Old Man...

[1/10 · 23 March 2019]

This mean, stupid, old bigot has high jacked the real life story of a 90 year old WWII army veteran, (who was awarded the bronze star), named Leo Sharp who, after a 10 year career, was caught delivering drugs(into the US) and money(on its way out of the US). Because the 92 year old Mr. Sharp is now dead and buried, the 87 year old Eastwood (who was drafted into the army and whose REAL Korean war record was as a swimming instructor in California who didn't even have to leave his home state), is free to change his name and use his story to inject his own agenda of a self serving, mythical, 87 year old deadbeat dad, who is full of smiling racial digs and the subtle hate baiting and that reveals the true Eastwood for the pig he really is...

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

An hour should easily have been edited out....

[4/10 · 16 November 2018]

Cruise, running, and running, legs churning, high knee action, arms pumping, taking what seems to be forever to get to whatever rooftop edge he MUST get to......one could take a bathroom break AND get a popcorn refill, then settle back into ones seat before he arrives at his jump off point...All the woman leads fit the same casting mold; long, tall (standing next to Cruise) with beautiful nose jobs. The two brunettes could be sisters along with blondy from mi6, judging by her eyebrows....an hour should easily have been edited out....but as predictable and over the top as this film is, it allows for smoke breaks, leg stretching chats in the lobby, whilst still being able to pick up the action without too much trouble upon returning to ones seat...

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)

I hope there's not another one

[1/10 · 22 July 2018]

I'm no fan of abba, couldn't stand them back then and will never understand what all the fuss is about.

Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017)

Where's he from, Brooklyn, West Virginia????

[1/10 · 17 July 2018]

It took me half the film to realize this guy was trying to speak with an Oakie, hillbilly, coal miner, blue ridge, country roads accent. I don't know where he's from but Vince ain't from any of those places. Once I got the accent figured I realized this flick is just another stupid, crude, flimsy attempt at white trash prison noir.....

Tin Star (2017–2020)

Tin star is right! Very, Very overrated!

[1/10 · 17 July 2018]

Tin star is right! The biker bar scenes are a howl as the "(tin)star" is so short only his forehead on up would show if he were standing at the bar, (or belt buckle height) , so he has to remain sitting at the bar in order to approximate parity with the bikers...that horse he rides is about 3 foot tall, just like Mr badass. I'm not against short people but this guy yeah,...Predictable vehicle; Rip off lead from Breaking Bad, lots of overlong scenes (no dialog), a camera wandering around in an artsy, failed attempt to equal the cinematography of Twin Peaks...... Because Tim Roth always plays the same character,badder than the bad in all of us, and is the "(tin)star", we already know he will get away with anything and everything.....and in fairness he has to carry the whole thing himself as the rest of the cast (perhaps due to the cost of paying tim) are only adequate.

A Quiet Place (2018)

Laughably stupid....

[1/10 · 16 July 2018]

The entire cast in desperate need of some Charlie Chaplin training.........