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The Man from Earth: Holocene (2017)
Cheap sequel
This is somewhat of a disappointment. Most frustrating after you've seen the prequel, because you can't help expect something of a similar quality. In retrospect you should maybe view it as a stand alone movie. The concept is actually interesting because no matter how careful you are, you can get discovered. Especially in this day and age. It just needed more effort and money. The young cast seem untalented and it follows a weird script. Example: These kids believe this guy is the one and only Jesus, and then behave like this? Forcing him to open up, then leaving angry and disgruntled because he refuses to play ball. Then completely out of the blue one of the guys turns around and tasers him!? But not before the slutty teen tries to seduce him (Mary Magdalene?). And of course after it fails she starts crying. As I write this I'm wondering if maybe the director meant some of this humourously. All of this said however, the last part did hook me to the screen and lifted my spirits. A young boy is confronted with his believes, facing someone who claims to have been Jesus. For that and the rest of the cast I'm giving it 2 stars. The prequel is a gem, the sequel not so much, at least not to me, but the last 30 minutes or so you might like.
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Stargate Universe: Alliances (2011)
Unbelievable
Some good, some bad, like most episodes.
Wray. Again she's annoyingly arrogant at times. Treating Greer like he's some little kid. "Yeah, I get it. Your the perfect soldier." He's a marine master sergeant, have some respect.
"I think it's some kind of hologram", she says right before putting her hand through some kind of energy of plasma field around a bomb. Really? What's you're background again? Politics?!
"We're going to have to do this ourselves", she says in a calm and cool manner. Then goes in a frantic panic when she feels wires. Very poorly edited/acted.
It was noted that the bodies they're in are already dead because of the radiation, and they were also told which wire not to pull. But then they decide to just wait for it to blow to give most people the time to run away?
Greer often seems over-acted, but I think he did alright this episode.
TJ. Throughout the series I find her a depressing character, mostly playing victim, seemingly only interested in looking pretty but having the opposite effect. But in this episode all of a sudden she's all fun and smiles with the Lucian Alliance dude, being very supportive of him in front of the colonel, "I believe he's telling the truth.". (I actually needed a moment to register it all because it was like looking at a completely new character.) What made me smile was the colonel actually making note of that, "Oh, I know you do", and the hurtful look TJ gave him after he said that... Back to playing victim again.
Stargate Universe: Faith (2010)
What if ...
After reviewing it again it wasn't all that bad.
Some irritations caused by TJ Some drama, and the pregnant card being played last. We've seen it all in soaps, but it's a little unexpected in a sci-fi show.
Throughout the episode TJ is licking and pouting her lips more than usual. She's trying to convey something to the audience, not always succeeding, and your left wondering what's wrong with her. Handing out medication to Camile without diagnosing a lasting headache, a bit strange.
Chloe again tries to come of as strong. Annoying, but nothing new. I don't like her. She's bathing in a pond on a unknown planet, not very smart. I expected, or maybe hoped, a monster would pop up, or leeches. Some nonsense about maybe someone out there created this planer just for us to find. Really?
The "digging a latrine' scene was a bit weird, over acted by Greer or something. I don't understand why they don't redo short scenes like this.
Eli, the whizzkid, again seems the most sensible.
I think the most interesting scene was near the end. What if ...
Black Adam (2022)
Not all bad
Right at the start I had mixed feelings. There's the great cgi work and sound effects, a dark vibe and sense of reality, and the classic good vs evil theme. But there's also some bad story board and poor performance, definitely not by all of the characters. You might wonder if it's the writer, director or editor who's at fault here, or maybe it was intentional. Anyway, the humor is there to lift your spirits, if you let it, but at times you do feel like your thrown in the deep end before learning to swim, wanting to watch the scene again you just saw because you feel like you missed something. The movie goes to quick at times and needs some extra depth and time to explore the characters. Again, this could be intentional as it's not new thing with DC movies. So you could say this is a classic DC production, in the bad, but also in the good. Like and dislike are struggling a bit at times but, at least for me, worth it to watch it, and watch it again.
The Batman (2022)
Needs back story
Writing and choreography seemingly intentionally bad, many scenes just don't make sense. Half the movie is silent or playing only music, which only a few well made classic movies can pull off. It's as if the director was stoned or something. Many moviemakers these days are either unskilled or seem to want to rush to profits. There's no soul in it. Now if only there was humor, it could've been saved, but The Batman takes itself way too serious. The focus of the movie seems to be on the romance between brooding Batman and confident cat lady, but it feels forced. Cliches everywhere, and because the movie is so boring you'll get irritated by things you normally could look past. Batman and cat lady are not likeable at all. Also, the cat lady could never ever pull up Batman. Even the average guy couldn't do it. If there's one thing I hate is when filmmakers disrespect the audience's intellect. At least the cop, penguin and crime boss were worth watching. Colin Farrell was surprisingly unrecognisable! The Ridler also suffered from not being likeable. The audience needs at least some back story.
The Little Things (2021)
Better than nothing
It starts out bad with a girl driving her car getting freaked out by another driver. So much so, she decides to get out of the car at a closed gas station/diner, while further up the road in the background you can see lights of a town. And instead of running back to her car she runs out in the fields to return later to the road further on where she happens on a truck passing by. Perfect start of a lame ass scary movie.
Then it seems okay for a while, with Denzel Washington doing his thing as Joe Deacon. But you'll find something isn't right, in the little things, like the title says. And you'll start realizing the movie isn't going to be a very good one.
The movie is carried by some, and others are done over the top, like the woman Joe needs to talk to for boots in LA.
Rami as the smart rookie replacement of Joe, acts like a creepy robot, and my first thought was that he's gotta be the killer, but probably too obvious.
Then we meet an even creepier weirdo, played by Jared Leto. He's supposedly the real killer. At least he tries so hard you'll start wondering why he isn't in jail already. Clearly the guy isn't right in the head, you can see that a mile off. But the rookie doesn't see it until Joe points it out.
Leaps of logic would be a better name for the movie. Joe wants to check the weirdo's house, so the rookie calls the weirdo to say he's sorry for taking him in for questioning and that he likes to make it up by meeting at te local bar, just so Joe can check his apartment. Then the rookie decides not to meet and leave the guy hanging in the bar so he can honk the car if he returns. Really?! Of course this plan goes to hell.
The next day they're staking out the weirdo's house, clearly visible. Their logic is to just let him know they're there. Obvioulsy he isn't gonna do anything if he knows you're there!
Later that evening the rookie can't stay awake and his buddy Joe goes out to get a watch battery. LOL. So the sleepy rookie can fall asleep and get murdered by the weirdo. Oh sorry, got a little carried away there, that didn't happen. No, instead the weirdo calls a public phone, conveniently placed near their car, because he knows the rookie is now all allone and he wants to hang out or something. Rookie goes haywire when he suddenly sees him standing there and start shouting his lungs out "hands in the air!" and all that other nonsense. Buddy, chill out, you can see his empty hands. He's just teasing you because he knows you guys are there. Remember? You talked about that earlier.
Then after they chat a little the rookie decides to go with the weirdo to see the missing girl he kidnapped. He doesn't wait for Joe to return because the empty handed weirdo calls the shots. Then they ride of just as Joe returns with coffees so he can follow them. Blegh. At least the weirdo drives a cool car.
While on the road the weirdo says, "You know, you're not really good company." then "You know, you and I are a lot alike. In another lifetime... uh, we could be friends. Isn't that crazy?" Yes, it is crazy... crazy writing! But it's true, they're both creepy.
Recommended only because sometimes you will get the good Denzel movie vibe.
Tian jiang xiong shi (2015)
A blend of East and West.
Great cast. First time I've seen Jacky Chan in a serious role, it's refreshing.
I think it's an hour short, and I would've liked to see more background and character building. Could've done well as a series I think. The big fight near the end seemed chaotic at times and made me lose focus.
The acting was good and the little boy angelic. Adrian Brody plays a very convincing bad guy, you'll start to dislike his character very quickly.
The latin song was inspiring and gave me goosbumps.
I'm going to say it's a good movie with a few hick-ups. I'm glad I watched it and it's going in my collection.
Recommended.
Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
What did I just watch!
I'll start this review with apologizing and say thanks to ALL ACTORS that were involved in this travesty.
Notably: All transformer voice actors (old and new), Anthony Hopkins, Gemma Chen (She made an impression, and I love the Borg Queen.), Glenn Morshower, John Turturro, Josh Duhamel, Mark Wahlberg.
You are not to blame!
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In my opinion, the negative reviews are the most honest of them all. These people don't stand to gain anything from it, unlike the glory writers who're getting payed for the lies they write. Of course there's always some idiot who sees a pretty face and think it's the best movie he's ever seen.
I personally liked (in declining order) all previous transformer movies except this one. I've read a dozen negative reviews and I agreed with all of them on most points. So I'm mostly going to write about things they didn't cover.
(I don't know anything about Transformers other than the movies.)
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It's stupid to think that humans can upgrade transformers, but I was hoping to see the new transforming techniques from the 4th installment incorporated in The Last Knight, possibly "upgrading" all autobots. Instead we see Bumblebee auto-collect his broken of parts and rebuilding himself! Where the hell did that come from?! Or did you want us to go like "Oh Bumblebee... Don't die... *sob.*". Surprise? And why is Bumblebee suddenly so strong that he can face Optimus Prime in his "best" day and survive? Oh right, I forgot, he's indestructible now. Sure, we all love Bumblebee, but... Whatever.
Don't get me wrong, I hoped for self-repairing transformers right from the 1st movie. After all, they can transform right? Think about the huge Allspark cube in T1. Even though the physics are idiotic, when you can compress a metal like that, without losing it's properties, why not self-repair? If The Borg can do it, certainly the much more advanced cybertronians can.
I actually liked the part where OP gets brainwashed by a Quintesson, played by Gemma Chan, but it was totally ruined by the rest of the movie.
Isabela Moner. Casting was completely unnecessary.
Laura Haddock, Jerrod Carmichael. I hated arrogant stuck-up Vivian from the start, and Jimmy wasn't funny. Both were terribly miscast Imo.
If they're going to make a 6th, I'm definitely going to watch it because it can only get better after this mess.
I'm going to stop now because it's all been said enough, and this late review is likely not going to be read anyway. Just in case, read another 1 star review and don't spend your money on this movie. Instead, watch the 1st - 4th Transformers again and let Optimus Prime fly away into the unknown with your blessings and any leftover interests.
This installment should be rebooted.
Wonder Woman (2017)
clichéd, under-performed mess.
How is it that these days a movie like this can be made? I'll tell you why. It's simply another money grab!
The main actor runs around casually lifting her arms up now and then to deflect bullets. First of all, she never even trained for that! She practiced sword-fighting and athletics, and suddenly she can follow bullets using eyesight and deflect them? She's also acting like her mind is miles away. "Do I even look good while doing this?" "What would my friends and family say when they see me in this suit?" "Omg, I'm going to be so famous!" Girl, get your head straight. You're ruining your performance by not being in it!
The fighting scenes are very poorly choreographed, it's almost as bad as Jessica Jones.
Story line is full with holes and one big cliché. Girl discovers her powers, finds a handsome guy, falls in love and follows him while pretending to go out and save the world because it fits the story. Handsome guy dies, fueling her rage so she can kill the bad guy. It's almost like this travesty of a movie rolled out of a factory. There's even a sex scene to top it of, even though Wonder Woman tells the handsome guy that they don't need men to pleasure themselves. Feminists must have loved that scene...
The handsome guy is way to under-explained, so are his buddies. I never cared for them at all. But whatever right? After all, I should be looking at WW. But the sad fact is, I don't care for her either! We see a few scenes with her as a little girl, and a few scenes with her as an adult before she goes out and steals the so called "God Killer" to run of with her new boyfriend.
Now, I don't know anything about WW, but this "God Killer" is supposedly an ancient magical sword to be used against Ares, the bad god. This actually made sense if it wasn't for the fact that it's a dud, and the true "God Killer" is WW herself. Surprise! And her mother obviously knows this, so she doesn't even care to make sure WW actually has the sword before she almost callously waves her only daughter farewell forever. In turn, WW herself doesn't care for her mother enough to reassure her she has the sword which would give her at least a fighting chance against Ares. This complete disregard of the sword, and emotionless farewell ruined the whole movie for me. Everything else simply added to my frustration.
She apparently knows all about the outside world, speaks like 2 dozen languages, knows all about sex without ever having had a real man in her life, but then acts like a little lost girl when she arrives in London. Apparently they forgot to educate her on "modern" society and how to conceal a sword and shield. And while we're at it, they also forgot to educate her about the world war that's been ravaging humankind. I mean, what the hell is that?! How do you protect humankind without knowing what's going on? Without ever having the chance to return home once you leave for battle? This is too stupid to even discuss.
Whatever...
Siren (2016)
A sexy and brutal love story.
I can understand people expecting a "run of the mill" horror are disappointed with this movie. It's more of a fairy tale kinda movie, a blood and gore love story, which at times reminded me of "The Beauty and The Beast", or "The Phantom of The Opera". Except this creature is a female demon from hell, a Lilith, who sings songs of captivation, hence the title.
They did a very good job casting Hannah Fierman to play Lilith. Her big eyes and a pretty little face, weird and sexy. She played the part really well. I also liked that particular sex scene between her and Chase Williamson. Brutal and erotic.
Justin Welborn also did a good job playing the creepy/weird Mr. Nyx.
Concerning Lilith action, the camera and lighting could've been better, I'm not a fan of quick dark and flashy fight scenes, but I found it a decent movie in spite of that. Overall acting was good and the writing original, at least I've never seen a movie like it. As a pure heart stopping horror it should have a bad rating, but as a fantasy/horror/romance it deserves at least a 7.
10 stars minus 3 for bad camera/lighting.
Jessica Jones (2015)
I don't understand...
Instead of trying to be original Marvel, should've stayed with the tried and well received. I've always been a fan of Marvel, but this show is outright insulting the public's intelligence.
I don't believe any DC or Marvel fan likes to watch a superhero show without showing virtually any superpowers, aside from the fact JJ is nothing like in the comics. Invulnerability? Flying? Increased regenerative properties? Nope, none of that. Tell me, would you watch Spiderman if the only powers he had were heightened reflexes? No, of course not. Such a production would've been slaughtered. Yet JJ only seems to have increased strength. But even that they did wrong.
First of, the action scenes were appalling, but then there are so few of them you almost overlook it. Maybe the creators were aiming for that? I've seen normal action movies were the hero would defeat a group of guys because the hero has some sort of special training. But JJ and that police guy lost a fight against several normal guys when she's supposedly super strong? She has trouble dragging a teenage girl when she can lift a freaking car without effort? And how can she get hurt by brawling when she can twist and rip of a hang-lock without so much of a scratch? Are the creators of this show stupid? If you have super strength, you need to have some invulnerability! And you can't hit through a goddamn wall without a scratch and then have cuts and scrapes after fight with normal people.
So, what's the point of this supposedly superhero show? Increased bourbon sales? She can drink bottles of that stuff without being affected, but she wakes up seemingly having a hangover? And if she's not affected by alcohol, why does she need it in a stressful situation? Or is it the sex scenes? Personally, I never like to see those unless I'm watching a porno, but hey, I could live with it if the thing I'm watching actually has something else to offer. Not the case with JJ.
And what's the deal with her having sex with Cage before telling him she killed his wife. I mean, what is that! She's riding him so hard even the bed breaks. Is she insane?! The first sex scene is somewhat understandable because of the Purple Man's voice in her head. I get it, he made her do it. But all the sex after that simply seemed consented and of their own free will. I can't stand bullshit unrealistic drama like this. In real life, if you killed someones wife, you don't have sex with that someone before explaining what you did, unless you're psychotic. I do not want to identify with such a person. It's disgusting!
Anyway, I don't dare to watch Luke Cage now but I hear Daredevil is actually good, so I will give that show a shot, even though I hate superheroes without superpowers doing things only superpowers could justify.
1 star because I couldn't go lower.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016)
I had some laughs, but some annoying parts ruined it for me.
The title is called, "Out of the Shadows", which is a lie. They should have added, "But Not Really ;) ;)". In my opinion, the fact that there's a giant doomsday device coming in pieces through a dimensional portal, building itself like a some sort of transformer, all of which the whole world sees by the way, would be enough for people to also accept green talking turtles. But instead they decided to stay in the shadows after all. It's much cooler that way.
Megan Fox is again annoying me. She's not acting properly! She doesn't put her heart in it. I mean, she finished acting school right? You can't convince me she did that while "acting" this way. The only thing she does, again, is try and look pretty. Which for me fails because of the annoying part. Yes guys, it's that hot chick who played in the transformers flick, lip pouting her way through the movie. At least she not repeating that here. Although I can remember one scene, where she pouted her lips right before she turned into the camera. Really annoying. And I'm a straight guy! Come on Megan Fox, I'm sure you can do a better job. Get your heart in it. If you do that and you still want to pout your lips I would be okay with it.
Megan's character, April, who has no fighting skill whatsoever, crawls into a small room, without having a way to escape, with two murderer mutants who will spot her right away. Only to grab a vial she didn't need in the first place! After all, she already had the used syringe. Yes, I know she had to do that because obviously they wanted a chase scene with her where Casey Jones can come to her aid. They needed them to bond because they had to get romantically involved. Still, it's completely idiotic writing.
Why is it that trained assassins are so easily defeated by 3 normal people. Oh what the hell, it's a kids movie right? Except, kids aren't stupid. Although the creators of this movie must believe they are.
Last point. A container that closes its doors by pressing an external button? Do these things nowadays come with electrical systems with servos or hydraulics? If so, why did I only see mechanical doors with normal hinges? You are lying to the audience.
On the positive side. I had some laughs. The story line surprised me with that whole teleportation thing. I liked it. The turtles and the rest of the actors did a good job although some actors were a bit short on lines/scene time. It's always a pleasure to see Laura Linney, and I found it cool, but a bit weird, to see Stephen Amell in a different role. To me he'll always be Green Arrow. And that's a compliment.
It's not a complete failure, so I'm giving it 6 stars.
Now, it's pizza time!
The Green Berets (1968)
The last section, "Points in other reviews." contains some moderate spoilers.
I do not really understand the negative reviews and complaints. This is a 1968 movie, and you can't hold it against today's standards. I've seen war movies of later date that I couldn't even finish or were filled with impossible feats, turning it into a fantasy instead. Not so with this movie. So if you are one of those that only care about pretty girls and superhuman feats, I suggest don't bother watching. But if you like to see a old war movie with a honest script, then I say go watch it.
Minus 2 stars for overly abrupt scene endings and starts, and minus 1 star for overall acting, I gave it 7 stars. The storyline pulls you in and doesn't let go until the last scene. I loved the "Ballad of the Green Berets" at the start and end. The movie definitely made a memorable impact on me, and even though it isn't perfect, I would watch it again. To me that's a good sign, and I'm inclined to call this a good "B" movie.
And I have to mention the great performance of Craig Jue, "the little boy".
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Points in other reviews:
- Critiques about 1968 special effects is idiotic.
- Comments about the rain scenes and seeing wet and dry areas on the ground with other people walking in sunlight not bothered by the rain is total nonsense. Just look at the sky and you'll see rain clouds everywhere. So even if the rain was artificial it looked okay to me.
- It was mentioned that the sun was setting in the east in the last scene. But who told you that was the east? Have you looked at Vietnam on a map? The south point has a coastline facing east, south, west and even north. Aside from that, the east coast is littered with bays facing all kinds of directions. The one at Vung Tau is almost about 20 miles across facing west. Studies have proved that the average human can only see up to 3 miles across the ocean while standing on the beach at an eye height of about 5-6 feet.
- And pro Vietnam war? How so? You mean to say that soldiers should simply refuse to follow orders whenever they see fit? How would you feel if your military would refuse orders to defend your country. Soldiers go where they're told, no matter what. If not, they wouldn't be of any use. Politicians carry the responsibility of an unjust war!
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Passenger (1993)
Good episode but the ending puzzled me.
Even though I liked this episode, the ending made my jaw drop. I was perplexed for several minutes trying to justify what I just saw.
Ty kajada, standing next to three federation officers, executes Rao Vantika without them even blinking an eye. Further from it; these officers were eye-browing one another with a hint of a smile on their faces! It's strange how 3 federation officers who are subject to the prime directive, which holds sentient life in very high regard, can so easily choose to ignore it.
What were the writer and director thinking when they made Ty Kajada pull the trigger? Rao Vantika has no body so there's no problem if she executes him without a trial? Is this what we want to teach the viewers? It's alright to kill a sentient being if it has no physical form? There's lots of star trek episodes that show otherwise. The federation even has a robot and a hologram in its ranks who both are classified as being sentient. Granted it took some effort and several hearings to get to that place.
So what is it that made Rao's life so worthless in the eyes of the writer/director. Is it because he's a murderer? No. Because even murderers deserve a trial in the star trek universe.
Shortsighted is the only answer I can think of.