No spoilers...but I feel really really bad for everybody who worked on this. Especially for Amaryllis Fox who is really good on camera but in the wrong show.
Reviews
9 Reviews
Mulan
(2020)
This movie doesn't know what it is.
7 September 2020
If you've never seen an action movie before, the action will seem a tad better than the offerings the Arrow verse has. If you've never seen a historical fiction/fantasy before, the scenery, costumes, sets will seem cool. If you've never seen a King Fu film before, the martial arts will be neat. If you've never seen the Disney film Mulon before you won't be missing all of the things that movie did better. Of you've seen any of the above mentioned films before, you will be board, confused and disappointed. The movie fails at being everything it tries to be...a historical fiction/fantasy martial arts action film based on a beloved Disney musical. Without the stunning show stopping musical numbers, the poorly paced action and story is much more noticeable. The sets and costume seem right at home in a musical, but seem very stagey for a modern action film. The actors do the best they can with what they are given but nobody could make sell a Disney musical that doesn't have the music as realistic. Save your $$$. Hard pass.
Act one was a mess but it ended well
4 January 2020
The Witcher
(2019– )
Henry Cavill is the only decent part of this
31 December 2019
Henry Cavill was great in this. Like, really good to the point that after hate watching the season I was starting to cringe on his behalf every time I saw him in screen. The sets were cheap, dirt cheap. Costumes were of the caliber of those worn by extras in Game if Thrones. The story was nonsense, and how it was told was just pointlessly dumb. Adding to that, the VFX were about as good as the Teletubbies.
I Am Mother
(2019)
Acts 1 and 2 are steller, act 3 fall apart
20 July 2019
It's a good movie, better if you just stop playing when your see the ocean. Everything after that is both too clever for its own good and just stupid enough to undo all the good that came before. Up until that point though, it's a very good drama about a child being raised without human contact, yet one who yearns for it. The relationship between her and her AI caretaker is touching and tragic when it's torn apart by distrust and manipulations of a newcomer. It's unfortunate that the third act transforms all of this into an illogical mess that wastes too much time answering questions nobody has and tying up plot points that were better left loose. It ends up being about as good as a mediocre Black Mirror episode.
Dredd
(2012)
unrelenting-my 1 word summary
24 September 2012
First off, let me say that I am biased to this particular comic book character. I've been a fan since the late '80s and have wanted a film adaptation for a long time. I am not saying that I am pre-disposed to like this film. In fact, quite the contrary is true. I'm not only coming at this from the point of view of somebody who wants to see a good movie, but as somebody who will be judging this by its adherence to and respect for its source material.
I've been disappointed before. The Stallone version of the '90s failed this test on both counts. In fact, the only thing that movie got right was a few beautifully rendered hyper dense scenic shots of Mega City one. This film didn't have those shots. In fact, the scenic shots of the city didn't seem that dense at all...yeah there were tall building....but spaced far apart. It seemed almost like a quaint small city trying to be a big one at the edge of a dessert. That is...until we are taken inside the city.
This is one of the real coups the film pulls over on us. A few quick shots of the area around these mega blocks (big...REALLY big...More then twice the size of the Twin Towers big) reveal some familiar (especially if you are a New Yorker) buildings that frankly look like kids toys in comparison. When we are informed that the city has over 800 million people covering a land mass that stretches from Boston to DC, you have to intake air when you realize the true scale of the shots looking at the city from the dessert.
We are quickly given a day in a life type story focusing on two characters who have an importent yet oddly impotent job in the city. To maintain order. And it doesn't take too long until we realize how futile that task is in a city so enormous.
The plot details are somewhere along the lines of a Die Hard film from that point on, but the feelings this setting evokes in us are more akin to District 9. It's an all together beautiful and disturbing combination the filmmakers utilize quite adeptly.
At some point we are inside one of these big blocks, and the Judges (a hybrid cop/judge given powers to dispense instant justice) we are following through their sadly ordinary day had to shoot lots of people and utter caustic lines like "Defense noted" or "you have ten seconds to comply".
Did I mention lots of people get shot? Well... let me put it this way: LOTS of people get shot. And we are not spared one ounce of gore when this happens.
The film never really lets up, rather it moves at a brisk pace as our protagonists go about their job. The titular Judge Dredd is the experienced mentor, putting Judge Anderson through the ropes here. For those of us familiar with the comics, these are the two biggest characters in the world of Mega City one. While Anderson does go through changes, this film gives us a bit of her origins (placing this story actually BEFORE the comics really take place). While she goes from barely competent and wishy washy cadet to the beginnings of the kick ass PSI Judge we all know and love, Dredd himself never breaks a sweat. In fact, you get the sense that this particular day was no better or worse for him then the day before or the day after. His actions in the last scene of the film really hammer this home.
This characterization is what really makes the film work. The sense that this is the norm in this city informes us of the prevailing fatalism that must soak into every citizen. It is a very bleak dystopian view of the future, that sadly looks all too understandable and real. We are never told how the human race came to be in those cities, or why they still exist there. It's only that they ARE there. And it's left up to us to fill in the importance of that.
I've been disappointed before. The Stallone version of the '90s failed this test on both counts. In fact, the only thing that movie got right was a few beautifully rendered hyper dense scenic shots of Mega City one. This film didn't have those shots. In fact, the scenic shots of the city didn't seem that dense at all...yeah there were tall building....but spaced far apart. It seemed almost like a quaint small city trying to be a big one at the edge of a dessert. That is...until we are taken inside the city.
This is one of the real coups the film pulls over on us. A few quick shots of the area around these mega blocks (big...REALLY big...More then twice the size of the Twin Towers big) reveal some familiar (especially if you are a New Yorker) buildings that frankly look like kids toys in comparison. When we are informed that the city has over 800 million people covering a land mass that stretches from Boston to DC, you have to intake air when you realize the true scale of the shots looking at the city from the dessert.
We are quickly given a day in a life type story focusing on two characters who have an importent yet oddly impotent job in the city. To maintain order. And it doesn't take too long until we realize how futile that task is in a city so enormous.
The plot details are somewhere along the lines of a Die Hard film from that point on, but the feelings this setting evokes in us are more akin to District 9. It's an all together beautiful and disturbing combination the filmmakers utilize quite adeptly.
At some point we are inside one of these big blocks, and the Judges (a hybrid cop/judge given powers to dispense instant justice) we are following through their sadly ordinary day had to shoot lots of people and utter caustic lines like "Defense noted" or "you have ten seconds to comply".
Did I mention lots of people get shot? Well... let me put it this way: LOTS of people get shot. And we are not spared one ounce of gore when this happens.
The film never really lets up, rather it moves at a brisk pace as our protagonists go about their job. The titular Judge Dredd is the experienced mentor, putting Judge Anderson through the ropes here. For those of us familiar with the comics, these are the two biggest characters in the world of Mega City one. While Anderson does go through changes, this film gives us a bit of her origins (placing this story actually BEFORE the comics really take place). While she goes from barely competent and wishy washy cadet to the beginnings of the kick ass PSI Judge we all know and love, Dredd himself never breaks a sweat. In fact, you get the sense that this particular day was no better or worse for him then the day before or the day after. His actions in the last scene of the film really hammer this home.
This characterization is what really makes the film work. The sense that this is the norm in this city informes us of the prevailing fatalism that must soak into every citizen. It is a very bleak dystopian view of the future, that sadly looks all too understandable and real. We are never told how the human race came to be in those cities, or why they still exist there. It's only that they ARE there. And it's left up to us to fill in the importance of that.
Exorcist: The Beginning
(2004)
Let's keep this to the point
23 August 2004
As somebody who grew up with nightmare of Linda Blair, I am happy to say that I've found have a cure. ETB!
While Herretic was wholly unwatchable it still had those creepy scenes with Linda that still freaked me out and just the thought of her in that ghastly makeup is enough to keep me awake at night. This film however, was able to entertain me for awhile before putting me down to a nice sleep. For that, i can never hate this film. It has "exorcised" my Linda Blair nightmare by offering a by the numbers spooky lullabye that will forever rank up there with Jason X for Most calming chiller. While it didn't have all the laughs that the Jason series has, this did not hurt the film in my eyes. In fact, it helped me slip into my slumber with the all the ease of warm milk.
I enjoyed seeing Stellan take on the Devil (and the SS Briefly) as Father Merrin, as did I like the careful plotting by Mr. Harlin whose lack of attention to detail and plot made this film so much easier to ignore. All in all, if you're like me and want to get over the anxiety caused by Freidkin's original, but can't sith through Heretic, this is the film for you.
AD
While Herretic was wholly unwatchable it still had those creepy scenes with Linda that still freaked me out and just the thought of her in that ghastly makeup is enough to keep me awake at night. This film however, was able to entertain me for awhile before putting me down to a nice sleep. For that, i can never hate this film. It has "exorcised" my Linda Blair nightmare by offering a by the numbers spooky lullabye that will forever rank up there with Jason X for Most calming chiller. While it didn't have all the laughs that the Jason series has, this did not hurt the film in my eyes. In fact, it helped me slip into my slumber with the all the ease of warm milk.
I enjoyed seeing Stellan take on the Devil (and the SS Briefly) as Father Merrin, as did I like the careful plotting by Mr. Harlin whose lack of attention to detail and plot made this film so much easier to ignore. All in all, if you're like me and want to get over the anxiety caused by Freidkin's original, but can't sith through Heretic, this is the film for you.
AD
Manhunter
(1986)
Is possibly the best TV movie adaptation of Harris' novel
2 May 2003
I grew up with a horror fanatic Dad who loved suspense thrillers as well as chillers. I remember us rushing to the video store once Manhunter came out and watching it together. We both agreed at the time that William Patterson was engaging and got us into the film. He was very evenly matched by Cox as his personal bane. But even then, back in the '80's we were very satisfied... that we rented it.
Back then we didn't know who Michael Mann was. We didn't care. But we both knew what Manhunter was... a really good TV Movie... or a pilot for a spin-off of Miami Vice (rather prolific of us considering CSI & CSI Miami). As far as the films Merits, there are many. Good acting, directing, cutting, and shooting are abound, but they come in isolated (yet memorable) moments and unfortunately don't add up in the end. But that's okay, because they're really engaging and, well for the most part very evenly spaced, (every 12-15 minutes) just in time to give a TV aud. a little cliffhanger to hold them through a commercial break.
About ten years ago I came across Manhunter (then re-titled "Red Dragon") on television and I was surprised at how well the film's structure translated into a two hour TV slot. It is quick and flashy enough to keep us looking at this small screen, and the over the top acting, seems very proportionally sized when looking at the action on a 27" screen.
Overall, I am still rather glad that I never saw this in a theater. There I would be forced to notice (and be annoyed by) the various technical glitches (Boom Shots, out-of-focus shots, camp acting, and Lector's prison which looks like it should be a modern art museum-annoying, not scary). If I saw this in that environment, I am sure that I would not be keeping a moderately good opinion of the film. But now, I can turn on cable, flip through the channels until I hit the USA network and watch with relish Miami Vice or Manhunter... it doesn't really make a difference to me.
AD
Back then we didn't know who Michael Mann was. We didn't care. But we both knew what Manhunter was... a really good TV Movie... or a pilot for a spin-off of Miami Vice (rather prolific of us considering CSI & CSI Miami). As far as the films Merits, there are many. Good acting, directing, cutting, and shooting are abound, but they come in isolated (yet memorable) moments and unfortunately don't add up in the end. But that's okay, because they're really engaging and, well for the most part very evenly spaced, (every 12-15 minutes) just in time to give a TV aud. a little cliffhanger to hold them through a commercial break.
About ten years ago I came across Manhunter (then re-titled "Red Dragon") on television and I was surprised at how well the film's structure translated into a two hour TV slot. It is quick and flashy enough to keep us looking at this small screen, and the over the top acting, seems very proportionally sized when looking at the action on a 27" screen.
Overall, I am still rather glad that I never saw this in a theater. There I would be forced to notice (and be annoyed by) the various technical glitches (Boom Shots, out-of-focus shots, camp acting, and Lector's prison which looks like it should be a modern art museum-annoying, not scary). If I saw this in that environment, I am sure that I would not be keeping a moderately good opinion of the film. But now, I can turn on cable, flip through the channels until I hit the USA network and watch with relish Miami Vice or Manhunter... it doesn't really make a difference to me.
AD
Rules of Engagement
(2000)
Insight and Drama
15 January 2003
Headed by two unnerving performances, this film takes us on a journey through the gray area that is our military morality today. We live in a society insulated from realistic depictions of war. We get censored CNN and FOX news. We rarely get anything insightful, so it is a pleasure to have HOLLYWOOD offer up one of the most moving anti-military films in the past ten years. While the courtroom drama is by all means standard, the most unique attention is paid to the changing perception of TLJ's character. In his journy to defend, he comes to an all too real understanding of a culture whose leaders have no problem sending our boys to die, yet they themselves are either ignorant of the reality, or to politically motivated to be moved by it. In conclusion, this is an alienating film because it presents an alien culture that lives by its own moral code. That alien culture isn't middle eastern... it is our own military.
One more point; Watching this film post 911 gives it an all too creepy reality.
One more point; Watching this film post 911 gives it an all too creepy reality.
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