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wogears
Reviews
Vikings (2013)
Unspeakably Abysmal
This may actually be worse than the Lee Majors film from the Seventies, of which the late Desmond Ryan wrote, "They cross the ocean. This is accomplished by throwing water at the camera, and having {the hero} shout 'Row!' a lot." No characters, wooden acting and ridiculous historical errors make this almost unwatchable. I would, in fact, wager that there is more genuine history in _Ancient Aliens_ than in this series.
I could put up with some of this, if there was a plot or a character I could hang on to, but there isn't. I think that some of the writers like _Game of Thrones_ but can't figure out how to imitate it, while the rest are deeply enamored of Latin Telenovelas. There should be something that at least lets me distinguish between characters, but nope, no such thing. All that in a dreary, video-game inspired color palette, and with poor CGI. Perhaps Eric the Red's Freydis will appear and kill everyone. I hope so.
Letters to Juliet (2010)
Predictable
Okay, the acting is decent, although the notion of the Seyfried character writing for the _New Yorker_ is fairly absurd. Vanessa Redgrave is wonderful, as everyone says--she almost makes this worth watching. The problem with this movie is two-fold: it is completely predictable, so much so that you can previsualize upcoming scenes before they happen. (He climbs to a balcony at the end, a 'surprise' worthy of recent M. Knight Shyamalan films.)It is also without romance. Why is Sophie engaged to Victor? They pay no attention to each other, and have no interest in each others lives. The crusty Brit? What has he got? What does she have? I do accept the Redgrave/Nero characters' brief reunion. That part works, because the actors make it work. If there had been a literate script, the concept might have made it; as it is, don't bother unless you like gorgeous scenery.
Has anyone noticed how much 'chick flicks' resemble 'guy flicks'? Contrived situations, predictable plots, dumbed down language and hosts of non-characters. "Plot's bogged down. Show a Tuscan Sunset/Big Explosion."
Tales of the Vikings (1959)
Heck, I remember this one!
There was this time where the Vikings got stuck on this magnetic mountain. And another time they went to Spain where everyone wore 16th century clothes and fought with rapiers. They all had knitted chain-mail and Fifties-style haircuts. It amazes me that Max (Jethro Clampett) Baer was in this and I didn't recognize him later on. I think the "Beverly Hillbillies" was a step UP for him.
The theme song began, "From out of the North came an icy wind" but I don't remember any more of it. I think it had a few notes out of something Wagnerian, but I don't know which opera it came from. If there were an MP3 somewhere, I'd love to hear it.
Les