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Reviews
Ender's Game (2013)
Change of perspective
Really good sci-fi movie, can't say the written novel was superior equal or neither but the movie did everything perfect... except where it shouldn't give a clue, which is the morals and pov of the main subject.
First time I watched it a decade ago I felt empathy for the enemy, for their defeat and for how ruthless was the human army, the training it gave meare kids.
Then I saw something different, the enemy attacked first and was hinting of a new attack... and the human forces acting accordingly, pushing boundaries training the best human beings possible to defend humanity, kids.
Then I saw reality, had to watch it three times and perhaps it was me who was changing what was needed to see it.
The enemy attacked reacting to a planet they thought was too primitive or inhabited... reacting to the defense, and reacting to the equation: there was no way of evading a conflict, surrender or negotiating would end up worse... loosing ended up worse.
Humanity didn't had any option, the enemy knew this, and had to prepare to fight to not only defeat the enemy but annihilate it... and all the enemy could do was to show remorse and stay back to defend from what they deserved, being attacked by earth.
This is what's horrible... to meet another civilization even in friendship means annihilation one or the other... time is too great, too unforgiving... the needs of one civilization, the politics of the other... it will always end up in war and annihilation.
This movie talk about that and the sacrifice both civilizations had to make in order to survive, or not and let the other destroy them.
An exercise in moral, ethics and survival to the extreme... and thru the eyes of a child.
Highlander (1992)
Good friends
That's what the series was about... seasons and seasons for character development, and audience too... and then we got this friendship of the immortals and a watcher.
Methos, Amanda, Duncan and Joe... and it was incredible, after a lot of pain and suffering and treason and lies of course, that's why it was real and strong on the screen.
There were bad episodes, or incomplete ones. Some foes were really great, others were pathetic and some felt to have been robed of script to shine. But still the series as a whole was great.
Losses felt horrible, triumphs felt vague... complicated for the audience who saw their hero weak, flawed, but also wise, virtuous and caring.
That was great up until then... and then the friends found each other and finally it felt down hill: a reward by the production I believe.
The Equalizer 3 (2023)
The best in the franchise so far
This is a true good movie, still carrying flaws like excessive amount of violence but at least the story and character development finally exists.
Thanks to the only important thing on the second movie, Robert loosing his friend, we get to see the start of a new contact and possible friendship... and Robert looking at people around him and showing what life is all about, what much value it has and then how important it is to defend it.
I never liked the race swap for the original 1985 story, not even if it was Denzel playing the part: he is great but there are limits to acting. I never liked the violence and how Robert seem to not have control of it: "I gave him a choice", NO SIR the choice is yours alone... acting like a sociopath doesn't get cured acting with remorse seconds after the violence.
But it seems this is what the audience of this ethnicity want to see, I hate to say it but that is not culture.
But it's a movie and I did liked it, the crash between cultures... a small parenthesis in the story was an extra positive thing.
I do hope a fourth installment of this story gets filmed, I might not be a fan but I did enjoy the movies specially this one.
The Equalizer 2 (2018)
Worse than the first, with a teist
This is the worst movie of the "saga"... the first one is the introduction, this is a continuation where a future character origin will be introduced, and the third will be the beginning of the real story for the main character.
Here I don't understand why but half of the movie should have been told in the start credits, while the second part which is where the main character takes revenge should have been but 15 minutes of the start of the movie.
Loosing his friend is the only important thing, a friend who is related to his future friend and contact with the agencies. That's all what this movie gave us, sadly...
Was it the poor quality of actor who plays the antagonist? Pedro Pascal is very mediocre actor, not sure if that was all or if the script didn't even gave him a chance... but Robert McCall got lowered in hero quality because of Dave York.
The stories around Robert's Lyft rides are also interesting, secondary to loosing his friend. The kid who paints got diluted into not much in the end, I guess the director tried to avoid comparisons to the other kid in the first movie.
Could have been, but it remains a movie for popcorn and to forget with out much guilt. The best one of the saga is the third one, which doesn't require one to view the first two... a YouTube review should be more than enough.
The Equalizer (2014)
DEI, but with good result
The only thing saving this first installment of a bad race swap of a story is the great actor Denzel Washington... perhaps it was meant just as an introduction but even then the excessive violence is so absurd, worse is the excuse the main character gives: "I gave him a choice"... the only choice is his, nobody else's ... but writer and director don't get this basic ethic and moral virtue, so they made their so called hero a monster in virtue.
Csokas gives a similar quality performance but as Washington's his "Teddy" is even more flawed, a sociopath which is not a good villain quality material: heroes are made by the situations the villains create, as such Robert is as much flawed as Teddy
Nothing more about the story, the movie itself, worth something... just the mechanic and flow of the dynamics of the situation, for that Mr Fuqua exhibits great competence but I am afraid he could have done a better job.
Dredd (2012)
A poem to violence and justice
Great adaptation, exceptional Urban performance and exceptional production.
The dark and somber foe, "the least we know about her the more it makes us afraid" is magnificent.
I really wish this movie had become a franchise, but the genre is difficult to understand and the audience was quite pathetic when the movie was released... quoting one of the main negative things "but the hero didn't even show his face", geez!
Hopefully this concept will be given a second opportunity in the future, I doubt Urban will be in it... or Thirlby for that matter, but hopefully the production and story will be on par to this one.
Tombstone (1993)
Movie for boys? Apparently
I saw this one back in 93, felt like a bad joke... saw Wyatt Earp after and what a difference. I am a fan of literature and movies around the Earps and the duel, my preferred one before Costner's production was My Darling Clementine: Henry Fonda did a great job.
But this nonsensical Hollywood movie, which everybody (boys) loves, is pathetic!
Nice to see Biehn and Booth on the screen but the assault to the Mexican town is ridiculous: it's a shame Pedro Armendáriz jr wasted his talent there, but I guess everybody did in the movie.
A guy walking with cards on his boots, geez! Even dressed as if they were going to Mass after a long shower... when they were riding for hours if not days, it hurts!
But perhaps a single thing like the duel this movie got right, which I doubt, and all the so called experts claim to be the best... I challenge their credentials ha ha.
A movie for boys: no character development, no context, no reason ... just nonsensical action. No wonder boys love Clone Wars, and thus the feminists in charge destroy that sci-fi franchise... how sad.
I really recommend the previous iterations on the screen of this story, its characters and especially the historical context. Tombstone sadly is a waste of time, better to watch Transformers I guess.
Liaison (2023)
In crescendo 😲
Same formula used before, adapted for modern times, with grey shade characters who get incremental development for a really exciting and impressive finale.
Cassel and Green are great for these characters, at any point in the first chapters they could be the villains of the story. Athos and De Winter in the new movie about Dumas novel, one I have to watch as well
The series is 65% French, 30% English, and the last 5% is Arabic, which might take some viewers by surprise: French is spoken faster than the English subtitles, and has little phonetic relation at times, like with other languages of course. There are scenes when they switch between the three languages while inside an SUV, which is impressive as it sound and looks organic.
I really like the idea Apple produce a second season.
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
The story of a small isolated town
I have read a ton of reviews from this movie and a lot claim it is an abuse of the racist theme from the 60's and 70's... it could be the case, but I think the movie goes beyond that.
A small town, with a good yet lazy sheriff and very small minded deputies... and the rest of the town are even worse. But the situation and Officer Tibbs create a wave of awakening to everyone around him, more to Sheriff Gillespie himself. This is the what the movie is trying to explore.
Director Jewison dissects normal people living in normal towns thru the use of a normal person of a big modern city: Poitier's character could have been portrait by Martin Landau and the effect of being from "a modern city" would be nearly as sharp as it was with Poitier.
Distraction, what I sensed after watching it for the first time... that is how I see all the racist theme from the movie, a tool for the storytelling.
Being racist means being human, "to be afraid of anyone who looks/thinks/speaks differently to ourselves"... same as it is for being superstitious, all part of being human (evolutionary traits). Sociology and Marxism nonsense aside these characters from a small town in 1960's America are human beings, perhaps not modern enough to learn to control those psyche human traits but human still.
And that goes for the white people as they also went for the black town people as well.
The Last of the Mohicans (1936)
Excellent adaptation ...
... from an anti French war propaganda fiction novel: Montcalm got awful slander, when in fact he was a great general who pushed to the limit the lack of support del the French crown... up until his last defiance against Wolff in the siege of Quebec's Citadel on the plains of Abraham.
This classic though transcend that as well as time, and this movie in particular did the same to the point of not only being inspirational to Mann's newer version... it also provided the script, at least a primitive version of it: Hollywood writers and their plagiarism are silly.
Once again we get to see Alice and Cora swapped, the proper place for the Ottawa nation in the war (only mentioned in 1992's), and so on.
Randolph Scott was too old to play Hawk Eye... but alas that's Hollywood's way to secure the box office.
A must see, a lot of movie history and also a bit of real history found in this movie.
The Diplomat (2023)
Another leftist propaganda political drama, with a good twist
Awful political propaganda, now for two nations (the right conservative = evil)... even worse than the ancient West Wing because it promotes even less values.
But the dynamic between the protagonist's marriage is quite refreshing: a need to fail because of new reasons, a desire to stay together because of the wrong reasons... but then there might be something else perhaps, love? Nah... just political ambitions... or is it?
If one can pass the left disgusting propaganda, then there is something interesting to watch here. I could, and I enjoyed the ride up to the end hoping there will be a new season.
Netflix has done a mediocre to good job here, they just couldn't left their Marxist nonsense: I am taking about the writers and their story, not the characters they created.
Making Mr. Right (2008)
Gender swapped Pygmalion
Another adaptation of the playwright, in my opinion of course, of the bet about change and civilization which ends in love of the changed subject.
Mr Cain does a good job as always, a bit rushed character development by the script... but the magnificent Christina Cox is perfect as the powerful executive looking for a challenge to advance her career.
Wyatt Earp (1994)
history of movie critics, funny stuff
I remember how back then the movie critics dismembered this Kasdan film by being presumptuous and snobs...
These days they do the opposite and praise the worst in production, acting and story telling because Marxist reasons.
Critics are never correct, and if they ever are suspicion and skepticism make nobody believe them... good riddance.
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
Horrible!
What intersectionality can do, destroy... a postmodernism view... and make heroes look and act even worse
John Carter (2012)
An excellent start to a great franchise destroyed by circumstances and bad critics
The movie is great, the scrip corrected some issues with the literary written text... and made some character flaws.
Fans of the booklets/comics perhaps didn't like the movie because of that.
IMO and with my dad being a fan in the 30's and 40's and telling me all about this universe I was nicely surprised when I first saw the movie.
It's a shame he didn't had a chance, he would have liked it.
I don't get it: I am an astronomy and physics expert and... the action in this movie is more passable than SW's fantasy and nonsensical story (today).
JC: The Princess of Mars should have been the title... the rat company were afraid of it, since then their nonsense hurt fans.
And someone please tell critics they need to dig a hole and jump head first inside, please!
Togo (2019)
Best Disney movie in years
Perfectly paced story, an historic event and how a Norwegian migrant and his dogs saved a town in Alaska which was suffering from a terrible pandemic.
It's the story of a couple who bred sled dogs, and one in particular who was the greatest hero and friend.
The script is really good: the friendship between the protagonists, the sacrifice and the endurance... the performances are really good.
Fans of history, family values, dogs and nature are not going to be disappointed watching this movie. And if you happen to have two Labrador retrievers as part of the family they will reward you for letting them watch the movie with you.
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
Not as bad, still too much intersectional
Movie is entertaining, specially the first 2/3 until things start to happen with out logic: like the military help.
The scenes from Mexico are quite wrong: the "tamal" is actually a French bread (bolillo) sandwich, outside Mexico City is a huge forest region all around not desert, car models are American with station wagons never sold there and colors quite impossible south of the border... but the worst part were the accents: some of the people spoke American Spanish, probably from LA and the worst part originally or defendants from Central America, not Chilangos from El DF. This is ridiculous, as if Die Hard 1 was filmed using Chicago and nY locations and landmarks, with British accent by the civilians.
The best character is the T101 with its humanity... Grace's character is not bad but the last third is wasted with out of logic script.
Sarah Connor is entirely nonsensical, and the reason why the movie is guilty of misandrist feminism... just too nasty human being, lack of values and pointless.
The girl, not a migrant but a refugee (running from that thing!) would be ok... would make sense if Sarah Connor was not around in the movie.
I thought the movie was awful, but it isn't. I saw it because I was a fan of the original 2 movies, but mainly because I have a crush for Mackenzie Davis... almost too much butch, but that was almost perfect IMO. But contrary to looks the actress is all feminine and straight... I respect that.
Demolition Man (1993)
Predictions becoming reality in 2020
A vision of the future, almost as if Orwell wrote 2020 instead of 1984.
And indeed "the action scenes are not as exciting", like a bad critic said in 1993... however they were that way for a reason.
Great performances, the most difficult to appreciate is Snipes' as he understand who the real villain is
Uchu Senkan Yamato 2199 (2012)
1974 pre Star Wars science fiction remake
As always Anime has the best amount of characters with perfect development, this time with as little superstitious nonsense.
Besides some near impossible science and engineering achievements the story is possible, but who cares the characters are real... even the enemies are, some one feels sorry for... all trapped in terrible circumstances. Nobody is pure evil or good, all have flaws and feelings.
Shame 2202 was a terrible thing
Cliffhanger (1993)
Bad editing and acting, not from Stallone or Rooker...
Turner and the bad guys acted as rookies, or worse. Harlin's editing is also awful cutting down on character development.
Rooker, Stallone and Litgow did great, as were the visual effects and stunts: 27 years after they look real. Stallone here beats Denzel Washington's in every movie except training day. Hollywood sucks and needs to die