It's ok. Not great, but watchable. Considering it came from the maker of the abomination Rings of Poop, I was expecting it would be horrid. And Amazon made the garbage Wheel of Time show too. Amazon has a history of ruining established IPs. But Fallout was passable. The story was typical for the setting; anyone familiar with Fallout would recognize the standard plot. The characters were acceptable. I thought Ella Purnell was decent in the lead role and she wasn't a total girl boss. At least they tried to explain her combat skills. Her performance was a little flat at times, but passable. Aaron Moten was decent. I liked his character's arc, but his performance was sometimes unconvincing. Like Purnell it was a little flat. I wonder if this was more about directing than acting. Walton Goggins was excellent as The Ghoul, definitely the best character in the show. I'm a fan of Michael Emerson and would have liked to have seen more of his character. More Dogmeat please! None of the characters made me want to stick a fork in my eye when they came on screen, which was refreshing for modern "entertainment." There was a little identity politics sprinkled in, but minimal compared to most movies/shows and it did not distract from the story. I probably would not have noticed it if not for the in your face saturation that happens in most shows these days. The ending was weak and really drawn out. Showing something slowly doesn't make it more meaningful. It was ok, but not great.
Reviews
124 Reviews
Van Helsing
(2004)
Fun and satisfying
10 April 2024
I thought this was a good movie. I liked the mixing of classic monster stories. The characters were all well written and the acting ranged from great to excellent. The plot was predictable yet satisfying and there was enough humor to balance some of the heavy themes. Yes, the stunts were at some points cartoonish, but this wasn't supposed to be a serious movie. And while Kate Beckinsale is attractive in everything she does, I think her character's style in this movie was gorgeous. Her hair and costume are exceptional. It was a fun action flick that was well acted and satisfying. I've watched the movie several times and I expect I'll see it several more.
Dolemite Is My Name
(2019)
Definitely worth watching
9 April 2024
Eddie Murphy can usually be counted on for a good time and this movie is just that. A good time. Granted, it's not Beverly Hills Cop or Mr. Church, but Rudy Ray Moore is a fun character brought to life by an absolute talent. And the supporting cast are all wonderful as well. This is a good movie that tells an interesting story, albeit predictable, with fun characters. My only complaint was the story felt rushed in some places. I would have liked to have seen more of Rudy developing his comedy and the duo with Rudy and Lady Reed. And I would have liked to have seen the movie crew's dedication develop (show, don't tell). I dig the music in the film. 50 years on and I'm still listening to funk. All and all this movie was a good time; definitely worth watching.
The Giver
(2014)
Blah
9 April 2024
It was ok; not great, but I did make it to the end. It's basically Brave New World light written for tweens. The movie might have been better if they had better actors for the younger cast members. The boy was atrocious; his character was completely unconvincing. Fiona was slightly better, but her critical scene fell flat. The adult actors were decent, but these children were blah. I've noticed there are very few younger actors coming up who have any talent or screen presence at all. Bridges, Streep and Skarsgard, even with his limited role, eclipsed the children without trying. Maybe the book is better, but I'd rather read Huxley.
Emily the Criminal
(2022)
slow and bouncy
18 March 2024
I like Aubrey Plaza and her performance started out interesting. I would have liked to watch longer, but the pacing and the camera work for this movie made it unwatchable. I do not understand why most modern movies are so damn slow. Are people just too stupid to figure out what's going on without dragging out scenes to the point of absurd? It's not necessary to show characters doing mundane tasks for extended periods. If it's important for the plot, setting or character then do it clearly and move on. There's no need to linger linger linger linger linger. See how boring it is to read the same word over and over for no reason? Also, whether it was intentional or not, the camera was bouncing too much. Whoever directed this movie (I can't be bothered to look it up) is incompetent, so obviously they work in the modern "entertainment" industry because it is filled with incompetent buffoons. It's sad that a talented actress has to work on lame projects. I think I'll watch Safety Not Guaranteed again. That was a good movie.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
(2023– )
Too much social drama
31 December 2023
The show started out with potential, but the more they added high school social drama, the less interesting it became. By episode seven I was bored. Most of the characters are not interesting enough for the drama to be anything other than tedious and annoying. Cate is decent and Anna Sawai is doing a good job with the role, and I like Kurt Russell's Shaw, but the rest of the modern characters are bland, generic and boring. Well Emiko Randa isn't bad, although she has a small part. The flash back characters are ok although unidimentional. The show would be better if they did more with the monsters, the science and the mystery and less social drama, especially about Kentaro and May's relationship drama. That is just effing boring. I don't care about those characters and I don't care about their drama.
Caffeine free diet Star Wars
23 December 2023
Caffeine free diet Star Wars i.e. Colored water with bubbles. The plot was transparent and bland with a 100% predictable "twist." There were a couple of interesting characters, but mostly it was filled with clichés, particularly the cliché 90lb girl who takes out half a dozen men twice her size. So dumb! And of course the ending set up the "sequel" i.e. The same movie all over again. By modern standards (Rings of Poop, The Marvels), the movie was tolerable, but in relation to the well told stories of the past this is a two at best. Truly we are suffering through the dark ages of entertainment.
The Dark Tower
(2017)
Disaster
2 November 2023
As a fan of the books, I found this movie highly disappointing. Other Stephen King novels have been adapted reasonably, although not always great, so I had hopes for this one. Nope, not even close. Granted, adapting the Dark Tower to a movie was a challenge, but it's like they didn't even try. This is more like something that was loosely influenced by. I think a TV series would have had a better chance, assuming it was well done by people other than the ones behind this fiasco. Was this based on the cliff notes? Is this supposed to be a parody? I usually like Idris Elba's work, but not this time. If fact, I didn't like any of the characters. Ugh, this movie was a disaster.
Barbie
(I) (2023)
The core message was to support each other
6 September 2023
I thought Barbie was an ok movie, especially by recent standards. It was a whimsical, borderline funny movie that presented both femininity and masculinity in both toxic and healthy versions. Part of the movie that isn't brought up much is that during the first few minutes, Barbie World, which is completely matriarchal, is shallow and plastic. Life in Barbie World is boring. Which is why after Ken brings the patriarchy from the real world almost everyone is on board. It's different and fun. Then when Barbie returns, Barbie and a couple of others use deception and manipulation to win back power. Just like some aspects (some, not all) of the patriarchy, deception and manipulation are evil too. Then after Barbie finally sees Ken's dilemma, instead of only focusing on herself, she supports him. It's Barbie and its Ken. The message of the movie is not down with the patriarchy, nor is it anti matriarchy. The message of the movie is life is hard, with ups and downs and then you die, so we should support each other. Just like how some women see sexism everywhere or how some nonwhites see racism everywhere; I think the prevalence of anti-male propaganda in modern "entertainment" has led some people to see male bashing everywhere. I think this movie was balanced in its fault finding and the core message was to support each other.
Babylon 5: The Road Home
(2023 Video)
Absurd plot device and copy/pasted dialogue. Disappointing.
16 August 2023
Babylon 5 is one of my favorite sci-fi series; I've watched the entire series multiple times over the years. Sadly, Babylon 5: The Road Home is unacceptable. The premise is absurd to the point of stupid. No one reads press releases? WTF? That is just stupid. And a lot of the dialogue was just copy/pasted out of the show. I sincerely hope this is not indicative of the possible upcoming Babylon 5 show. I had hoped the new show would be worth watching, but if it's filled with absurd plot devices and copy/pasted dialogue then it's no better than She Hulk, Rings of Poop, and all the other garbage that's come out in the past decade. I'll give it a two rating for nostalgia, but in reality it deserves a one.
Hijack
(2023)
Acceptable compared to most shows these days
26 July 2023
This is a decent show; better than most shows these days. The writing is adequate, although there are several glaring plot holes, and the acting ranges from adequate to excellent. But the story is unfolding too slowly. I think this would have been better as a movie. There's not enough material for mini-series. Many scenes are drawn out and there are quite a few extraneous scenes. The pacing definitely feels like butter scraped over too much bread. Additionally, I think if this show had been made during a better era in entertainment I wouldn't rate it as highly. Hijack is acceptable, but not excellent.
They Cloned Tyrone
(2023)
They Cloned Tyrone is worth watching
25 July 2023
They Cloned Tyrone was one of the best movies I've seen in a while. It's a sci-fi, comedy, action, mystery and very much worth watching. In addition to mixing genres, the setting is also a meshing of the 2000's with a 70's aesthetic, which was interesting and enjoyable. Additionally, the writing was good, it had an excellent theme, the acting was solid and the movie was well directed. I'm surprised to see the industry is still competent to make an enjoyable film. Sadly, it wasn't marketed very well and I only came across it by accident. The folks who created this movie are some of the few in the industry who deserve a raise and also access to better marketing. Unlike most movies and shows these days, They Cloned Tyrone is worth watching.
The Dig
(2021)
Worth watching
19 July 2023
The acting was solid, the directing was mostly good and the writing was decent. There were too many scenes of characters doing random mundane activities while music played e.g. Walking. Outside of those the story flowed well. The kid was annoying, but otherwise all the primary characters had depth and the performances were decent. I particularly enjoyed Ralph Fiennes and Lily James. Carey Mulligan was good too. Early in the movie Mr. Brown was in danger and I was genuinely concerned for the character. It dawned on me how quickly I had been compelled to care about this fictional character. Kudos. I thought Lily James did a great job non-verbally conveying the struggle her character was facing.
Angel City
(2023)
Started good but devolved into noise
22 May 2023
I enjoy women's soccer (it has more finesse and team work and less flopping than the men's game) and Angel City is one of the teams I like to watch, so I expected to like this series. The first episode was interesting while episode two was mediocre. Episode three was mostly people yelling and random comments. Very little story; just noise. I turned it off. I think the story could have been completed in two episodes instead of trying to stretch it to three by editing in a bunch of noise. Or perhaps include a little more detail about the individual players' journey. People screaming is not good story telling. Random comments edited together is not good story telling.
Cliché
2 May 2023
Oh, they said Baldur's Gate. Oh, they said Neverwinter. Bah, stupid, stupid, stupid. References are not good writing. References do not make a movie/show worth watching. This movie is another poorly written atrocity out of the modern "entertainment" industry. They purchase the rights to an existing IP because they lack the creativity to come up with anything original, and then write an abysmal script filled with cardboard characters, uninteresting stories, a cliché plot, and stupid member berries. Oh look, I used a reference, which means my writing must be ready for the entertainment industry. What's even more absurd is apparently they believe they deserve more money for doing a $#!& job. We are living in the dark ages of entertainment. So little of what they put out is worth watching. And they want a pay raise. LMAO. Modern "entertainment" writers need to be terminated. Incompetent, greedy morons.
65
(2023)
Uninspired and boring
11 April 2023
I expected this movie to be boring but decided to give it a try in case I was wrong. For about five minutes I thought I might have misjudged it. The opening dialogue wasn't bad, but that was all the movie had to offer. My original impression was correct; this is a boring movie. Far too many drawn out scenes of random behavior similar to movies where characters brush their teeth or just drive around. Granted this wasn't teeth brushing or driving, but it's the same kind of filler scenes used because they didn't have a story to tell and had to film something. I don't care for Adam Driver and I didn't like the girl's character either. She was the stereotypical obnoxious child that's in almost every movie/show these days. The writing was uninspired, the directing was boring and the acting was blah.
The Night Agent
(2023– )
Not great, but watchable while you play a video game
1 April 2023
By modern standards this show isn't horribly. To be clear, I'm not saying this is a great show, but considering the state of the modern entertainment industry, it's watchable. The writing is barely passable, although the characters are all cliché and the plot is predictable. It's more like rewatching a show you've already seen instead of watching something new. The acting and directing are acceptable, not great, but acceptable. There's too much sex and violence. I think writers fall back on those tropes when they can't think of anything else. They didn't have enough story to fill up the episodes so they threw in a few fights and some sex to fill in time. If you are looking for something mindless to watch while you play a video game, this show is an acceptable option.
M3GAN
(2022)
Mediocre
30 March 2023
This movie is mediocre. The danger of AI is a relevant but thoroughly explored theme that has been better presented in other movies. The writing is below average, the acting is uninspired, the plot is completely predictable and the movie is no way suspenseful or scary. It might have been better if they had gone for a comedy horror (with actual comedy), but as it is, this movie is just blah. The characters are all over the place. They shift throughout the movie, but it's not character development, it's just bad writing. And the toy is so poorly made that a glass of water is a problem? Really? Like they didn't realize a child's toy might get wet while designing it? Then suddenly it's almost indestructible. Just like the human characters whose personalities shift depending on what the plot needs. More garbage writing from the modern entertainment industry.
This show is worthless.
28 March 2023
I wrote a term paper on Great Expectations in school and while it has been a while, I'm still fairly familiar with the story and themes. I had doubts when I saw the trailer, but I thought I'd give the show a try in case it was better than I expected. It was worse. We are suffering through the dark ages of entertainment. Not only do modern entertainment writers lack the ability to create anything original, they also lack the competence to copy stories from their betters. Somehow the writing for this show is atrocious, the acting is weak, the setting looks fake, and the plot is boring. This show is worthless.
Moonhaven
(2022)
Dull and boring
19 March 2023
This show consists of characters staring off into nothing, taking forever to pick up a random item, and pointless long pauses in slowly delivered dialogue. Clearly, they do not have enough story to fill up the episodes, so they are dragging out every scene to make up for incompetent writing. Also, I'm bored with moody, snarky, condescending characters. Most characters in shows/movies these days are stuck in teen angst regardless of their age. This show is as dull and boring as almost everything else produced by the modern "entertainment" industry. We are living in the dark ages of entertainment.
Blank
(II) (2022)
A short story trying to be a novel
16 March 2023
This movie is what is sometimes referred to as a slow burn, which is a show/movie that has very little story and doesn't know how to add world building or character development material. So instead it's a string of long, boring, drawn out scenes. Characters walking across the set, cars driving down a road, characters staring, and long pauses in dialogue. They are essentially trying to turn a short story into a novel by adding pages and pages of pointless filler material. A story that unfolds slowly can work, but it requires interesting characters and an intriguing premise to make up for plodding along. That is not this movie. This movie is trying to be a metaphor for the writer feeling like there's a script trapped inside their word processor. I think this movie would have been better left inside.
The Man from Earth
(2007)
Simple and brilliant
16 March 2023
I usually do not like movies where people just talk. Typically, the dialogue is boring and characters are not interesting enough to keep my attention. And those kinds of movies usually suffer from a lack of story outside personal drama. To be clear, I'm also not into movies that are all action. Those moves are all spectacle and noise. Instead, I prefer a balance. But this movie is a welcomed exception. The dialogue is really well written and intelligent, the characters are interesting and well portrayed and the story is intriguing. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I wish more scripts were this well-crafted. Additionally, I enjoyed the simplicity of the plot.
Cocaine Bear
(2023)
Meh, it was ok
14 March 2023
I was hoping for a comedy, but this movie was mostly stupid and not in a humorous way. The bear character was entertaining, but most of the human characters were superficial stereotypes. I was rooting for the bear to kill them. Those scenes were the best part of the movie and the ambulance chase scene was the best scene in the movie. So much of modern entertainment has such abdominal characters that it's more entertaining to root for the killer/monster. Also, modern feminists apparently believe elevating women by tearing men down is equality, but they are mistaken. That's called bullying. They are being toxic and hateful. Instead, showing men and women working together as equals would be depicting equality and provide a healthy example for society.
Quantum Leap
(2022–2024)
Meh, it's ok
2 March 2023
Compared to most of what's on TV these days, this isn't bad. But it's also not great and compared to some of the great shows from the past, the Quantum Leap remake is weak. I like the music (I'm a Bowie fan) and it seems like the cast is giving it a go, with mixed results. The same is true for the writing; it vacillates between decent and mediocre. I like the relationship between the leads, although I think the writing for Addison could use some polish. I think the cast is too big for the story. I like Magic and Ian isn't bad, but the other characters need more personality which suggests the story could do without them. The writers could easily meld skill sets together and go with four main characters. I think that would help the story and lower production costs. If this show was competing with good shows I would not watch it, but since that's not the case, I'll probably keep going, until I get bored.
Edit: Season one was watchable. Season two became increasingly boring. By episode 10 I was done. Too much relationship drama and identity politics.
Edit: Season one was watchable. Season two became increasingly boring. By episode 10 I was done. Too much relationship drama and identity politics.
Sanctuary
(2008–2011)
A definite must watch
2 March 2023
Sanctuary is an excellent series. The world building is interesting, the plot is thought-provoking, and most of the characters have depth and are well portrayed. Helen Magnus is a phenomenal lead and an example of a strong female character that most shows fail to produce. She is a strong Female character rather than a female character wearing man-face. Amanda Tapping portrays this superbly. Additionally, there are several well written, well developed and well portrayed supporting characters. The series tackles many wide ranging topics such as racism, classism, family and the benefit/dangers of science, among others. This is a definite must watch.
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