CinemaZealot57 Reviews

Mine 9 (2019)

A real movie about real life

[10/10 · 10 December 2021]

I rated this movie at 10. Across the US almost everywhere you turn on a light switch you're getting that power from coal. The people who have to go under ground to dig that coal deserve our thanks and respect.

Gangs of London (2020– )

Makes Braveheart look like a picnic

[10/10 · 10 May 2021]

This show is without doubt gruesome, gritty, bloody, realistic gang drama. Well written and well acted. Episode 5 is the epitome of gang violence. I've never seen a battle like this except for bona fide war movies.

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (2020)

Boring

[1/10 · 8 June 2020]

This next iteration of Penny Dreadful doesn't come close to the original. I made myself watch it until I got to about 5 minutes into the 7th episode. Just too boring. I'm done. Worst part is this will probably kill off the franchise.

Fullmetal Alchemist (2017)

Only spoiler here is the movie

[1/10 · 25 February 2018]

The animated versions are Full Metal Alchemist and Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Both are excellent animated series. Both are in the top of any grouping of animated series. Now for the movie. It SUCKs. It's horrible. It's so poorly acted it's embarrassing. I've seen school plays that had better actors than those in this so called movie. Do not waste your time watching this unless, 1. You're stoned. 2. You turn down the sound on the TV. 3. You turn on the stereo real loud. 4. You laugh at the stupidity on the screen while you stay stoned and listen to music you like. Other than that this movie has no redeeming values at all.

Salt and Fire (2016)

Terrible movie

[1/10 · 10 September 2017]

I saw where someone said 'capable acting' about this movie. Not as far as I'm concerned. This is a terrible movie. Poorly acted. Extremely poorly written and edited. After 30-40 minutes of screen time you still have no real idea at all what the drive is behind this flick. Unless it's a vehicle for terrible actors to just get paid for practice acting time I don't get it. And to see Lawrence Krauss in this flick is not only surprising it's extremely disappointing. This guy has no business in the acting world because he couldn't act his way out of a wet paper bag. When it comes to Planets and Space he has it going on. Like Jimmy Stewart said in a movie one time, 'stick to what you know'. Krauss needs to stick to what he knows and that isn't acting in movies. Excuse me, I said acting. And that's not what Krauss did in this movie. Remember Traci Lords in Princess of Mars? Well as bad as Lords sucked (pardon the pun there folks) she was far and away better at acting than Krauss. Every time I saw Krauss fumble around with that gun in the movie it cracked me up. It's obvious he may be a planetary egg head but he knows nothing about guns. I bet he doesn't even know which end the bullets come out of. This movie is the worst I've seen in a long, long time. Don't waste your time watching it unless you want your brain cells sucked out by the black hole known as 'Krauss and his amazing acting ability'.

Snowfall (2017–2023)

1st Seasons done

[8/10 · 7 September 2017]

To start off with I've decided to always mark a review that I do as 'contains spoiler'. How can you describe a show without some sort of spoiler and still tell a little bit of the story? Anyway I gave the whole season an 8 out of 10. It's a great show. When I first saw the previews for it I wasn't really interested in watching. I'm glad I changed my mind. The late 70's and all the 80's were pretty much party time for me. I did a few drugs just like everyone else. But I never heard of crack until years later. It was interesting to watch this show and get a look at how crack could have worked its way into American society. We all know the US government ran drugs to finance the Contras. Right or wrong gets a bit hazy when running empires, governments or sometimes ever a household or two. I'm not certain just how factual any even in this show is given the Hollywood propensity for bending fact to glorify/manipulate certain things. I know that our hero Franklin most likely would not have survived the first 3 or 4 episodes if it were real life. He took way too many chances. He had to know the bar owner Cissy Saint set him up early in the show. And yet he still did business with her. At least Franklin got a little 'get even' in the last show. I'm looking forward to next season.

The American West (2016)

Historically inaccurate to the point of being Appalling.

[4/10 · 27 July 2016]

There are spoilers in this review if you haven't watched the latest episode. This review primarily concerns the next to the last episode, "Frontier Justice". Redford IS rewriting history. I don't really think he's doing it with a revisionist attitude but I just can't figure out his motivation. Between him, all his money and no telling how many researchers and interns that had to be working on this I have no doubt they could have made this show entertaining and historically accurate. In other reviews I saw mention of many mistakes. Things like using the pictures from other shootouts for the wrong event/locale. In this last show I watched it shows Earp investigating the wagon train robbery and murder of one or two teamsters. Earp picks up a double barrel shotgun, breaks it open and says, "he didn't even have time to get a shot off'. Really? What I saw was a shotgun breech showing a 12 gauge shell in place with the primer dimpled. Anyone who knows guns knows dimpled primers means the shot was fired (or rarely a misfire). What ever it was it was ridiculous. The trivia section on this episode mentions the very same thing. And would someone please explain the Earp/Clanton $3600 deal to me??? I've never heard of that in my life. Even if it were true it's no different than using any other informant. The stuff they showed about the arrest of Billy the Kid was so wrong it was embarrassing. Everything I've ever heard and read about that escape said that Billy the Kid shot the deputy with the shotgun as the deputy was returning to the jail. Billy shot him from the upper window of the jail. When Billy got killed they got that all wrong too. A lot of the info on Jesse James is not accurate or true. The info on Sitting Bull is very sketchy. The way they portrayed the killing of Crazy Horse WAS a PC Retell. Everything I've ever read said that Indian Security at the Fort killed Crazy Horse. Redford obviously THINKS otherwise. To bad he can't stick to history. I know that all the people that have been involved in this show are aware of these stupid mistakes. So the question is why? Why would they spend all that money to put out a half ass effort that is historically so inaccurate it is laughable? There is a lot more that is wrong with this show. And that really points out the fact that there was enough money and experience involved here that they could have easily made this show a premier example of historically accurate Western documentaries.

Feed the Beast (2016)

Finally gave up on it

[4/10 · 10 July 2016]

I was looking forward to this show. I kind of like Schwimmer. I nearly always use a DVR. So I watched the episode of their 'soft' opening a day or so after it aired. In that episode Pilar busts Dion on his not providing receipts then finding out the receipts are all fake. Dion has mostly abused Pilar since she showed up. Pilar is hot for Schwimmer. Pilar confronts Dion about the fake receipts. Dion acts like his usual criminal self. He ends up stealing kiss, she gives him a pretty respectable right handed punch to the face. And then of all things they end up screwing each other's brains out. I don't buy it. Schwimmers character may have been flaking on Pilar but that just doesn't add up to her having angry sex with Dion. While they were doing their business I called BS and erased the episode and dropped the series recording. What ever happened to reasonable plots???

Swept from the Sea (1997)

A movie of extremes

[10/10 · 20 August 2013]

This flick is one of the better couples movies out there. Loaded with romance from the heart. Two people that are outcasts (both undeservedly)find each other and the magic happens as they say. Oppression of the soul from others in the town. Cursed by townspeople for no fault of their own other than one being a foreigner and the other a despised beautiful young woman with a questionable birth right. This flick is loaded with moments when you want to reach out and punch people for the way they treat the featured lovers. Exceptionally well cast movie. The acting and emotional portrayals are true to the core. You just can't beat a really good actor or actress. And this flick is loaded with them. If you want a nice romantic night with your sweetie then watch this flick together. You will not regret it.

2012: Doomsday (2008 Video)

Worst Movie Ever

[1/10 · 21 October 2008]

Everyone always ragged on Ed Wood's movies....until now. I cannot believe that the people involved in making this movie would want their names associated with it in any way. It is truly uncomfortably, embarrassing. I've never seen a movie so bad. Truthfully, so much of this piece of crap movie is bad that I can't really pin down the worst of it. Maybe the part where the fat guy falls into the chasm? The part where the one and only hail stone to pierce the windshield is killer enough to go through the guys chest, or the part where the "actor", actually HAM, puts on his death show? I've been a Christian for many, many years and I have always wondered if I would ever get to watch a good Christian movie that wasn't 30 or 40 years old. The Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson was an excellent Christian movie. But not this flick. Mayan Temples? 2012? How did Jesus, the Crucifix, and the Rapture get tied into the 2012 scenario in Mexico? Anyone who knows Christianity and the truth about the 2nd coming knows that it will occur in the Middle East. In Jerusalem.

Rescue Dawn (2006)

Rescue Dawn is a deplorable and libelous movie

[1/10 · 31 October 2007]

This movie is a complete misrepresentation of a factual event. To make it even worse the libelous part is that an admirable and honorable man was portrayed as a scum-bag Charles Manson type. If you want to read about the REAL story check this out... www.rescuedawnthetruth.com/ at this site family members and two of the POW's make statements about their experiences. Deiter Dengler has passed on and one Thai (Pisidhi) is still living in Thailand. Both of these guys made video testimony to the quality of the type of man Debruin was. The base message of this site is the fact that Gene Debruin was an honorable man. In the movie he was portrayed as a Manson type. The Director was contacted several times by the survivors and family before during and after the making of the movie. He NEVER replied to them. NEVER got any facts. He made a typical movie from Hollywood. Isn't it wonderful to know that if you go out and serve your country and then conduct yourself in a true and honorable way some idiot in Hollywood will drag your name and reputation through the mud. I can only hope that the Debruin family can bring a lawsuit against Director Werner Herzog. Seems to me that they would be able to easily win. There is also a critique of this farce of a movie by Debbie Schlussel at... www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2007/08/what_happened_t_1.html Strangest thing is that the Manson look for Debruin in the movie is more that a little coincidental. The actor that portrays Debruin did in fact portray Manson in the movie Helter Skelter. How's that for slander?

Ben's Mill (1982)

Great water-mill powered woodworking documentary.

[10/10 · 2 May 2006]

I'm really surprised that after 25 years since this hour long show was aired that no one has commented on it. I know that the internet hasn't been around that long, but this highly informative documentary has. If you like all the old time nostalgia of a water powered mill this is right up your alley. It goes into great detail how the energy from the river is used to drive the multitudes of leather belts used to drive the various machines. The best part is the detailed showing of the steps Ben uses to make one of his white pine watering tanks. If you've ever wanted to build one of these just watch this show and you'll know what to do. You could always adapt one of these to be a jacuzzi you know. It's a good opportunity to watch something that shows the country side of Vermont. If you're interested you can Google "Ben's Mill" and you'll be able to find the days and hours and you can go see the place for yourself. I rated this a 10 because it is really a very good show.