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Reviews
The Twilight Zone: You Might Also Like (2020)
Episode tried to be the worst of the season
It probably is the worst. It starts off campy in an intriguing way. I expected it to get creepy but never did. The mystery of the egg is entirely predictable to the point of being boring. The exact thing you expect to happen ... happens. The only funny part was the female alien. Had to be the ugliest looking ape like alien I've ever seen. I guess this episode was meant to be a comedy. The ending made absolutely no sense and was entirely unrealistic. Even after the main character fully knew what the egg was and the intentions of the aliens, she chose the egg anyway. Why? Just bad writing all around.
The Twilight Zone: Downtime (2020)
Awkward
I liked the premise of time standing still but the longer I watched the worse the episode got. First of all, I found it very unrealistic a married straight man would want to live life as a woman. I guess he was trans? Is that the point? How very "progressive". But seriously, imagine explaining to his children that he escapes life by pretending to be a lesbian living a rather mundane existence as a hotel manager in a simulated reality. I'm sure the writer did that to be edgy but in reality, it made the episode difficult to relate too since (shocker) most people are not lgbt. And the wife just accepted it as normal with zero questions asked which is also kinda weird. Instead, within minutes, she's literally making out with her "husband" who is now a woman. Yep totally normally (probably is in Hollywood). The other problems with this episode are already stated by others, such as the simulated world appears extremely boring so why would anyone want to be part of it? The ending was weak too.
The Twilight Zone: Among the Untrodden (2020)
One of the stronger episodes but still misses the mark
This was one of the better episodes. The plot is fairly deep and has a surprising amount of story arc for the short run time. My main complaint is none of the characters are likeable. The girls are all very hostile to the new girl in school for no reason, who is the only white student. Seemed kinda racist IMO and I question whether that was done on purpose (probably was). Anyway the new girl isn't likeable either because she's a total push over, willing to do anything to be accepted. The ending has a double twist, somewhat predictable but still fresh enough to be interesting. Still ... I don't like stories where bullying plays a large role like this one.
The Twilight Zone: A Human Face (2020)
Insults the intelligence of viewers
The problem with this episode is yet again it relies on stereotypes. For example, the man is the rational practical one. The wife is emotional and illogical. Now I think stereotypes are fine if done well. But the wife was ready to accept the alien immediately, even after knowing it had questionable intentions. Are women that irrational? Not most. Which makes the episode totally unbelievable. The wife was also annoying because when she wasn't behaving in a non-sensical way, she was constantly nagging and criticizing her husband. Overall not sure what the moral of the story was, love overcomes all? Not done well.
The Wonder (2022)
More Anti Christian Propaganda from Hollywood
I can't think of any Hollywood film that depicts Christians in a positive light so of course this film is all about how "dangerous" Christianity is. Ignoring that, the film isn't very good anyway. The entire 2 hours is based on a gimmick that drags along at a painstakingly boring pace. The treeless landscape looks nothing like Ireland. The homes are all extremely dark inside, even during the day. Apparently traditional Irish architecture lacks windows? But this is a perfect example of how Hollywood elites view poor religious people, as backwards, living in dark, dirty hovels, clinging to God while slowly killing their children. But luckily so-called "science" saves the day (eye roll). Bottom line for me is the film is full of tired, boring stereotypes with an equally boring plot.
No Sleep 'Til Christmas (2018)
Different in a mostly good way
The plot is a bit silly an unrealistic but enjoyable for the most part. The ending and the way she broke off her engagement was unfortunate. However, she never cheated on her fiance. There was nothing "immoral" about it. She was in a sleep study setting. Also the main character wasn't an alcohol. He got drunk once the entire film. Not sure I understand the hate directed at the 2 main characters from other reviewers. Josh had the personality of a piece of cardboard. That's because he was a secondary character. He had no backstory or motivation. He was simply there to provide context. That being said I can't defend the film too much. There is somewhat of a woke agenda but I won't get into that.
The Nightmare Worlds of H.G. Wells (2016)
Not very good
The first episode is the best, in my opinion, about body swapping. The rest are awful, especially the moth episode. Nothing happens. Some guy goes insane from a moth that no one else case see ... um, OK. And of course, British media has to include interracial relationships (like they do in every program) in 2 out of 4 of the episodes, even if the stories take place in early 1900s, over 100 years ago when it would have been non-existent.
Grantchester (2014)
Too Modern
For a vicar, Sidney drinks A LOT, I mean practically half the scenes in each episode and when he's not drunk, he's chain smoking. Despite this, I found his character mostly likable ... But of course, liberal Hollywood (or liberal British media in this case) couldn't help but inject 2017 social justice into a historical series. First the gay characters. I don't have anything against gays but how many gay story lines and characters can there possibly be in a small English village during the 1950s? Keep in mind this is a vicarage. A lot apparently. Even one of the vicars is gay. Then the writers had to include plenty of interracial romances. It's like a law in the UK, I think. Every British show has to have at least one (or many) interracial relationships in order to meet their diversity quota. It doesn't matter if the series took place almost 70 years ago. That's what annoys me, how unrealistic the show is. And the obvious modern PC agenda. I think, for me, I stopped liking Sidney when he cheated on Hildegard with a complete stranger. He's already an alcoholic / chain smoker. Now he can add cheater to the list. This poor woman left her country and returned to England to be with him, despite his modest salary. He doesn't even have his own place or own a car. He rides a bicycle. Yet she wanted him. And he cheats on her! A little too morally corrupt for a vicar in my opinion. Mediocre at best.
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
Good CGI, Generic Characters
It took me awhile to warm up to the characters. Sure the CGI is fantastic, but the apes themselves look like the ones you might see at the zoo. I guess I was expecting them to wear clothes and have really cool armor and weapons. Nope. Most of them look identical. The plot is a series of one tragic event after the other, from the apes being imprisoned, then beaten, then tortured, then killed ... very few fun scenes which makes the movie depressing to watch overall. Lots of plot holes. For example, the military based supposedly is located on the border of California, yet it's constantly snowing ... a lot! (yet ironically a desert is supposedly located nearby) There just happens to be a large oil tanker with "highly flammable" in gigantic letters smack in the middle of the base ... really? Also, there just happens to be an underground tunnel system directly below the base the apes use to escape, yet no one else knows about this. Then when the apes do finally escape, instead of running away from the base, they run around it, passing every guard tower possible. Lastly an avalanche happens to wipe out all the humans. How convenient. WTF. What a stupid plot.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
Hard to take seriously but still entertaining
A lot of people criticize this movie, calling it racist. Personally, I find it difficult to be offended because it's hard to take this movie seriously. It's like the writers watched a cartoon and decided to make a live action version. For example, the skulls carved out of stone found in the temple. Really? Reminds me of He-man, Master of the Universe. Then there's the scene where the villain rips out his victim's heart. Very Mortal-Kombat like. So why get offended by a movie that is so obviously over the top? No one seriously thinks Indians eat monkey brains. And I didn't find the child slavery to be a big deal. Villains are supposed to be evil, that's why they're villains. But perhaps people were more conservative in the 80s.
The characters are borderline annoying but still fun. Yes, the female lead is ridiculous, but she manages to come around in the end. I found the Asian kid to be endearing. What makes this film great are the action scenes. The mine cart and rope bridge scenes are epic, some of the best in the series, certainly better than anything in Last Crusade.
The sets are done fairly well but some of them have an overly "fake" quality to them, especially the temple platform and pit, which reminded me of a show at a theme park. I kept expecting the camera to veer to the left or right and accidentally expose a "Universal Studios" logo.
Despite its flaws, the action scenes alone make this worth watching. Overall, a lot of fun as long as you don't take the movie too seriously.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Mediocre, toned down version of Indiana Jones
I can't help but compare this to Temple of Doom which many consider the worst in the series. It seems the writers wanted to recreate the magic of the first film, so again, Jones is chasing after a Biblical artifact and fighting Nazis. Gone is the silly, over the top plot of Temple of Doom. However, many of the scenes are boring. Jones spends too much time chasing Nazis around Europe instead of being in a tomb or temple, which is where the series shines. Too much time is also spent explaining the somewhat convoluted backstory. All we need to know is the Nazis are the bad guys. I don't care about the rest. Get on with the action already.
The characters are dull and forgettable, in my opinion. As soon as I saw Elsa, I thought, "You can't trust a face like that". She's too attractive. Of course she ended up being a bad guy. Extremely predictable. Extremely cliché. Then for the remainder of the film, (which is two thirds), she's hardly in the film at all. And that's the problem. Once Elsa disappears, the film lacks a strong female lead. Instead we are stuck with Indy's father. I kept thinking, "Can't Indy drop off his father at a bingo hall somewhere and get back to the action?" I liked his father but he got annoying toward the end. This leads to my next complaint. Why are all the main characters so old? It's like the director went to the local retirement home to do the casting for the movie. Indy's father is 70-80. So is their friend, Brody, and so is the villain. Really the villain is the most generic villain possible. He's basically an old guy who happens to be a Nazi, a complete 180 from Temple of Doom where the villain was a cartoon character brought to life.
My biggest complaint are the action scenes. Don't get me wrong. They're good, but the movie lacks an over the top, epic action scene like the earlier movies. Raiders of the Ark had the giant stone ball. Temple of Doom had the rope bridge and mine cart scene. The last crusade has ... nothing that defines the franchise. There is no single moment you remember ten years later. In fact, Jones spends very little time in actual tombs or temples dodging booby traps and solving puzzles. That's what sets Indiana Jones apart from other action movies. It's unfortunate the writers seem to have forgotten that. Overall, it seems the movie made an obvious attempt to reign in the over the top theatrics of Temple of Doom but in my opinion, went a bit too far. What you are left with is a good film but not a great film. One that falls short of capturing the magic of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Personally I prefer Temple of Doom over this. Yes, that film was ridiculous at times but at least it was more fun. This is more of a standard, all around generic action film.