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msheckleberg
Reviews
Gojira: Fainaru uôzu (2004)
What a fun movie!
I haven't watched any Godzilla movies made after the early 90s but am binging them now. I avoid any spoilers so keep it kind of vague.
This was really well done. Some callbacks to the earlier movies, as well as plenty of the monsters. The Matrix was obviously an influence here but that isn't a bad thing, it influenced most action and sci-fi movies around this era and they did a good job with it.
I'm not sure if the White guy was supposed to look like a beefcake Stalin, Mike Haggar form Final Fight games, or a roided-up Tom Selleck but he was an enjoyable character loaded with 80s action movie bad-assery. The over-acting of the main antagonist was great as well.
Good fights, old school action movie logic, and just a fun movie. I watched the English dub and I would recommend it as they did a good job of it. I feel like it added to it in its own little way. I have nothing against subs and may check it out that way eventually but its not a bad dub.
I wish I would have watched it sooner, they just don't make movies with this sort of vibe to it anymore.
Cheaters (2000)
Casual TV to pass the time
Watched this since it was new. I am not sure of the story but the original host Tommy Grand aka Tommy Habib was replaced by Joey Greco fairly early in the series. I hear there was some possible backstabbing involved.
Tommy was, in my opinion, by far the best host. It was hilarious listening to him trying to act sympathetic while egging things on.
Joey was kind of dull and stiff. He would occasionally try to act like a tough guy but couldn't pull off the intimidating role. He did way more episodes than any of the other hosts and did managed to get stabbed in one. He didn't ruin the show but it lost something when they got rid of Tommy.
Clark Gable, grandson of the legendary actor and has a strong resemblance, was the next host. He was actually pretty good. Much better than Joey not as good as Tommy but he was entertaining.
I can't say about Peter Gunz as I haven't seen one of his episodes yet.
The premise is simple, and insecure significant other contacts cheaters who tails and investigates their spouse/bf/gf.
They show some damning surveillance footage and usually an excerpt from a phone call between the suspicious partner and their cheating significant other. This usually shows them lying about where they are or what they are doing. The footage shows dates, romps in parking lots, visits to hotel rooms, and sometimes there will be a camera hidden inside the house of the couple and you may get to see pixelated nudity. Seriously, if it doesn't say uncensored, there will be large squares or fuzzy ovals covering up all the naughty bits.
They show all this to the suspicious partner and then take them to confront the S. O. and the person they are cheating with. Sometimes its yelling, fighting, crying, or even a calm talking but usually it is a mix of 2 or more of those things. At they end of the show they will tell you if the couple ultimately stayed together or not.
As far as it being scripted, there are some that definitely seem to be staged. I think most are real but sometime after Joey took over there was one season that there were just too many weird ones happening. Like Jerry Springer weird, and you would wonder why everyone wasn't arrested. I believe the show was facing cancellation and they just went for it. I think it backfired and straightened out. I don't recall the season number but the scenarios were getting far fetched and I quit watching for a few years. This wasn't an issue in the old ones and the ones I am talking about were mixed in with what seemed to be authentic cases.
I work very closely with body language and human behavior and most of the interactions come across as genuine. There are some reactions you can't fake and people acting tend to have conflicting body language making it easy to spot.
Its a fun show to watch. Good for a laugh and something that isn't going to require you to follow a complex plot. Introduction, evidence, confrontation over and over. If you want something more for sound or just to occasionally glance at, this is pretty good.
Automation (2019)
Better than it has any right to be. Certified watchable
Obviously going in to this you know it is low budget and some of the acting may be a bit stiff initially. Everyone seemed to settle in better as it went on.
This movie made me genuinely sad more than once. That is not something that usually happens to me. The shifts in tone come on fast and work well.
Its not an overly complex movie, it doesn't take itself too seriously. Its just something to entertain you, maybe think a little, and go on a roller coaster of emotions.
I would say if you're sitting around the house looking for something to watch it would do the trick and seems like something that you could watch with your lady.
In Defense Of (2018)
Dishonest, decent production otherwise
It wouldn't be bad except its pushing the typical narratives the mass media has pushed for years and not revealing the actual details. There's nothing much new here and most of it is blatantly false. This is easy to verify with even minimal independent research.
Remember, a commercial media companies are there to sell advertising, not to tell the truth or be meticulously accurate. Their own research shows that if they coordinate stories and push the same narrative, they all enjoy increased revenue. It is why they plaster the same quotes and manipulative adjectives in the headlines and why documentaries like this repeat whats already been said while ignoring the truth.
The entire systems is rotten. Te left is rotten, the right is rotten, they're all in it together and they're ticket to power it to keep you thinking in terms of left vs right.