Tired plots and cliches? Like what? I've never seen anything like this show and SF is kind of my thing. What I'm seeing is a show trying to do something brand new and original. Something so far out of the box it is both bewildering and intriguing. I can't compare it to anything. The Expanse? Dune? Show boasts a fully developed culture and technology that is unique to itself. I can understand how this won't be for everyone. It has the vibe of a science fantasy, but give it a try.
Reviews
18 Reviews
The Batman
(2022)
Good costumes, good cinematography....that's about it.
6 March 2022
The first hour of this movie held together pretty well. Then, after a major event, it seemed to forget what it was about. Suspension of disbelief went out the window (even for a superhero movie) and the plot derailed to sub characters and surprise, unrelated, events that were not twists and had little to do with the main story. By little, I mean nothing. No spoilers but in one scene The Batman wears one of those inflatable samurai suits they have in bars for play fighting when you're drunk. There is a random car chase that looks like it was filmed in the 80s that has nothing to do with anything except showing off the The Batman Mobile which looks like a redneck built it from a converted Corvette.
Pattinson is fine as The Batman and an Emo in eye makeup as Bruce Wayne. Kravitz is fine, but misused.
Superhero movies can be good. Most are these days. Why we have to keep hiring directors who don't understand the genre is beyond me.
Oh...and it was WAY TOO LONG!
Pattinson is fine as The Batman and an Emo in eye makeup as Bruce Wayne. Kravitz is fine, but misused.
Superhero movies can be good. Most are these days. Why we have to keep hiring directors who don't understand the genre is beyond me.
Oh...and it was WAY TOO LONG!
The Wheel of Time
(2021– )
I really wanted to like this, but......
21 November 2021
Fantasy is apparently difficult to capture on film. Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones are about the only successful attempts. I wanted this to be on that list. It just isn't. I haven't read the source material. My single attempt at reading Jordon almost made me stop reading fantasy. This reaffirms that 90s experience. Haircuts are all contemporary, costumes okay but "too clean." Entire show is plot, plot, plot. I don't even know the character's names. Things I liked: monsters, magic effects. That's it. Plot is moved forward by characters doing stupid things and we're supposed to feel afraid for them. Probably Jordan's fault. I don't know how to bring fantasy to the screen. It may be like the superhero genre where directors who didn't "get it" kept making bad movies until directors who "got it" finally made good ones. We're not there yet.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
(1994)
Worst adaptation of all
25 January 2021
I had watched about half of this for free on Amazon Prime and couldn't get through it. I I went back a couple of months later and they wanted to charge me for it. I went ahead and paid and, mercifully, it started me where I left off. I'm in a book club reading this now so I'm watching every available version from Edison's on. This is the worst. Even the made-for-TV versions in the 70s were better. They suffered low budgets but made up for it with engaging stories and interesting portrayals. Not this one. Keep in mind it has Robert De Niro, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hulce, Helena Bonham Carter, Ian Holm, John Cleese, and Aidan Quinn....it should have been one of the greatest movies ever made. It. Is. Not. It opens with 45 minutes of meandering build up of characters you do not care about. John Cleese is the only exception and guess what happens to him? By the time I got to the two minute scene of Dr. Frankenstein and the monster sliding in slime like they were in a naked mud wrestling match, I knew there was no saving this movie. I want my $2.99 back. No. I want my $2.99 plus $30 for the two hours I had it on in the background.
Let the Corpses Tan
(2017)
Good old fashioned artistic sex and violence
23 September 2018
I am a fan of author Jean-Patrick Manchette who co wrote the original story this movie is based upon back in the 70s. I love his European flavored pulp novels with their exaggerated violence and consciously sensasional plots. This movies holds up well to that motif.
There's going to be a lot of people who won't like Corpses/Cadavers. Two viewers got up and walked out during the screening I attended. I pretty much loved it.
The other reviews are accurate. It is reminiscent of an Italian spaghetti western except with modern day gangsters. The violence is sudden and brutal with metaphorical elements that tie the cinematography back to its art house foundation. Splattered blood becomes drops of liquid gold, as does well aimed streams of urine. Sexually charged scenes move back and forth in time to provide the viewer with a well intended sense of bewilderment.
All of these techniques are an effort to capture the nuiance of Manchette's prose. Although I have not read the story this movie is based upon, I recognize the characters and settings in Manchette's other works.
With that in mind, this movie actually exceeded my expectations.
There's going to be a lot of people who won't like Corpses/Cadavers. Two viewers got up and walked out during the screening I attended. I pretty much loved it.
The other reviews are accurate. It is reminiscent of an Italian spaghetti western except with modern day gangsters. The violence is sudden and brutal with metaphorical elements that tie the cinematography back to its art house foundation. Splattered blood becomes drops of liquid gold, as does well aimed streams of urine. Sexually charged scenes move back and forth in time to provide the viewer with a well intended sense of bewilderment.
All of these techniques are an effort to capture the nuiance of Manchette's prose. Although I have not read the story this movie is based upon, I recognize the characters and settings in Manchette's other works.
With that in mind, this movie actually exceeded my expectations.
Upgrade
(2018)
Great Post Cyberpunk SF
3 June 2018
Full of great surprises. A realistic future setting close enough to still feel like our own time. Anyone into Cyberpunk, bionics, the Six Million Dollar Man, etc. is going to love it. Not a superhero movie, dispite previews suggesting something along those lines. Not going to share a plot synopsis. I went in cold, knowing next to nothing about the film, and was surprised at several turns. Lower budget but you can't really tell. Was only playing on one screen in my town, but you should not let this one get away.
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
(2016–2017)
Objectively brilliant. Soon to be a scientific fact
17 December 2017
I'm tired of truth being subjective! Anyone who didn't like this is simply wrong. There's not two sides to the argument. It's brilliant, funny, imaginative, well acted, well written, well filmed, and all the other things. This review counts for both seasons. If you didn't like it, go put Tree of Life on an endless loop and enjoy that forever. Drink Pabst Blue Ribbon or whatever. I laughed so hard at parts of this I snotted. And I'm proud of it. Twist after twist, each episode one upping the previous. And the second season? OMG. No idea how they're going to top that. Love Dirk. Love the indestructible assassin girl. Love that the BBC did this but most of the characters are American. Maybe Canadian. I don't know. Angry at BBC for jacking with episodes. Posting them almost randomly on Sling. Rescheduled my Saturday Svengoolie tweeting so I could watch "live." It was THAT good. If you're a fan of anything, you will like this.
Star Trek: Discovery
(2017–2024)
Liked it but not Star Trek
7 December 2017
I found myself enjoying the series more when I wasn't trying to reconcile it with the Star Trek universe. This is NOT in the Prime universe, I don't care what the marketing claims.
Just ten years before STOS and not a fragment of a sign of anything from the original series. The tech is wrong. The bridge is wrong. The attitudes of Star Fleet is wrong. The saucer on the Discovery spins for god sake. Huh? Who came up with that bad idea? And why? Just because you could do it in CGI?
And the Klingons are the species that can cloak, contradicting Bird of Prey canon. Klingons got the tech later. Not here though. Been around for ten years, but nobody told original series characters.
Finally, there is the interesting, but completely "out of universe" Spore Drive. I LOVED the idea. But it ain't Star Trek. Was never mentioned by Kirk or Spock and has no shadow in anything afterward.
Also, something lacking in both this series and the Abrams series is any sense that these shows represent a blueprint for the future. Unlike Lost in Space, Star Wars, 2001 or any contemporary sci fi, Star Trek always presented a world and a humanity the way it SHOULD be. Here's what we could become. Here's what we can accomplish. Now it's all lens flares and laser beams. Pew! Pew!
With that out of my system....I still enjoyed the series. I like the long story told over several episodes. I love the characters. Captain Lorca. Michael Burnham. The one guy. They are great actors and great characters. They kept me engaged.
So long ranting review short. Great sci fi but the only thing Star Trek in it are the badges and the basic shape of the ships.
Just ten years before STOS and not a fragment of a sign of anything from the original series. The tech is wrong. The bridge is wrong. The attitudes of Star Fleet is wrong. The saucer on the Discovery spins for god sake. Huh? Who came up with that bad idea? And why? Just because you could do it in CGI?
And the Klingons are the species that can cloak, contradicting Bird of Prey canon. Klingons got the tech later. Not here though. Been around for ten years, but nobody told original series characters.
Finally, there is the interesting, but completely "out of universe" Spore Drive. I LOVED the idea. But it ain't Star Trek. Was never mentioned by Kirk or Spock and has no shadow in anything afterward.
Also, something lacking in both this series and the Abrams series is any sense that these shows represent a blueprint for the future. Unlike Lost in Space, Star Wars, 2001 or any contemporary sci fi, Star Trek always presented a world and a humanity the way it SHOULD be. Here's what we could become. Here's what we can accomplish. Now it's all lens flares and laser beams. Pew! Pew!
With that out of my system....I still enjoyed the series. I like the long story told over several episodes. I love the characters. Captain Lorca. Michael Burnham. The one guy. They are great actors and great characters. They kept me engaged.
So long ranting review short. Great sci fi but the only thing Star Trek in it are the badges and the basic shape of the ships.
Under the Skin
(I) (2013)
A great film I wish I could unsee
22 May 2017
I couldn't wait to get on here and make a joke about thinking I'd paused the film when -- NO -- I hadn't it's just that "lingering" on each shot. You think Kubrick doesn't know when to say cut? Honestly...it's like...you know...you paused the video.
With that out of my system, there are some beautiful shots in this movie. The silent stretches of some scenes somehow adds to the anxiety.
I watched this move about five days ago and it's still haunting me. There is a drowning scene toward the middle that is so realistic and horrific I hand't experienced anything like it since the video tape scene in Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer. And quite honestly, I don't want to feel that. I want to be anxious, startled, frightened, etc. I don't want to feel like I just witnessed an actual death.
Anyway, it's good in a slow, bloated, art house way. I just wish I could forget I saw it.
With that out of my system, there are some beautiful shots in this movie. The silent stretches of some scenes somehow adds to the anxiety.
I watched this move about five days ago and it's still haunting me. There is a drowning scene toward the middle that is so realistic and horrific I hand't experienced anything like it since the video tape scene in Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer. And quite honestly, I don't want to feel that. I want to be anxious, startled, frightened, etc. I don't want to feel like I just witnessed an actual death.
Anyway, it's good in a slow, bloated, art house way. I just wish I could forget I saw it.
Alien: Covenant
(2017)
A little better than Prometheus but franchise is in trouble
20 May 2017
It wasn't ridiculously bad, like Prometheus, but I'm done with the Alien franchise. I found the movie less driven by horror and more driven by despair. The films seem to be in a constant state of retconing and rebooting. At this stage I'm not even sure the aliens are aliens.
The cast did a great job, although I found the heroine a bit pixie- ish, but the script, oh man, there are scenes where they didn't even try. The flute/recorder scene was just weird.
The big twist is so obvious you can see it a mile away.
I think my biggest problem is the absolutely complete bummer these movies have become. Just huge downers where the heroes are always going to lose. Where's Ripley when you need her?
I can see how, if you love the franchise and are forgiving of moronic characters, you'd really like this film. From here on out any new Alien movie will be on my "wait for the DVD: list.
The cast did a great job, although I found the heroine a bit pixie- ish, but the script, oh man, there are scenes where they didn't even try. The flute/recorder scene was just weird.
The big twist is so obvious you can see it a mile away.
I think my biggest problem is the absolutely complete bummer these movies have become. Just huge downers where the heroes are always going to lose. Where's Ripley when you need her?
I can see how, if you love the franchise and are forgiving of moronic characters, you'd really like this film. From here on out any new Alien movie will be on my "wait for the DVD: list.
The Strain
(2014–2017)
Well photographed, nice sets, art direction, but uneven character and plot
14 July 2014
I just appreciate somebody trying to do something well.
Most of this show, I loved. The premise, the story, the pacing, the tension were well done. The special effects were awesome, frightening. Props and sets, "neo-Lovecraftian." Even the lighting is noticeably great. This is a completely unique and well-produced series.
Some of the negative reviews are accurate. Characters do sometimes behave bizarrely for their circumstances: a pair of air-traffic controllers go running out on the tarmac to inspect a mysterious passenger jet and drop lines about how "a plane is like a house with wings!" as if they've never seen one before. A painfully two-dimensional hired con acts inappropriately aggressive toward a money-paying client, etc. Some of this behavior left me scratching my head.
In the end, however, these shortcomings did not ruin the show for me. I still enjoyed it immensely. It is well done, terrifying.
A worthy addition to Sunday's line up with Game of Thrones between season, Mad Men down the line and True Blood coming to an end.
Most of this show, I loved. The premise, the story, the pacing, the tension were well done. The special effects were awesome, frightening. Props and sets, "neo-Lovecraftian." Even the lighting is noticeably great. This is a completely unique and well-produced series.
Some of the negative reviews are accurate. Characters do sometimes behave bizarrely for their circumstances: a pair of air-traffic controllers go running out on the tarmac to inspect a mysterious passenger jet and drop lines about how "a plane is like a house with wings!" as if they've never seen one before. A painfully two-dimensional hired con acts inappropriately aggressive toward a money-paying client, etc. Some of this behavior left me scratching my head.
In the end, however, these shortcomings did not ruin the show for me. I still enjoyed it immensely. It is well done, terrifying.
A worthy addition to Sunday's line up with Game of Thrones between season, Mad Men down the line and True Blood coming to an end.
Albert Brooks is usually funny
4 July 2014
Just caught this on HBO several years after its release. Albert Brooks goes to India (?) to find out what makes Muslims laugh, but bombs terribly. Could be funny but watching Brooks actually bomb was painful. I had to mute some parts because I was embarrassed for him.
Brooks' confused, why-is-this-happening-to-me, persona is intact, but the vehicle is too awkward, the script and approach uneven. I would almost have preferred something over-the-top than this too-close-to-reality handling.
Oh good lord. I have to have 10 lines for this review to meet IMDb requirements so you can stop reading. I'm just typing lines to meet length their requirements.
I wonder if I do this If it will fulfill their arbitrary guidelines
Brooks' confused, why-is-this-happening-to-me, persona is intact, but the vehicle is too awkward, the script and approach uneven. I would almost have preferred something over-the-top than this too-close-to-reality handling.
Oh good lord. I have to have 10 lines for this review to meet IMDb requirements so you can stop reading. I'm just typing lines to meet length their requirements.
I wonder if I do this If it will fulfill their arbitrary guidelines
The Leftovers
(2014–2017)
Hope it picks up
30 June 2014
Don't want to slam it too hard because the premise is good and sometimes shows need two or three episodes to ramp up (Spartacus). But the first episode did not grab me.
First of all the figure of "2 percent" is tremendously underwhelming. If any happened to 2 percent of the world's population we'd all kind of sit around and go "wow, that's horrible." I don't believe we'd start cults or change our society around it. Would have to be 10 percent for that to happen! So there's a suspension of disbelief out of the gate for me.
Otherwise I'm with the above reviews. Characters are all kind of jerks. Haven't grabbed me. I'll stick with it and hope it is not one of HBO's missed beats (Enlightened).
First of all the figure of "2 percent" is tremendously underwhelming. If any happened to 2 percent of the world's population we'd all kind of sit around and go "wow, that's horrible." I don't believe we'd start cults or change our society around it. Would have to be 10 percent for that to happen! So there's a suspension of disbelief out of the gate for me.
Otherwise I'm with the above reviews. Characters are all kind of jerks. Haven't grabbed me. I'll stick with it and hope it is not one of HBO's missed beats (Enlightened).
Jodorowsky's Dune
(2013)
Fascinating, inspiring, funny
2 March 2014
This is the only movie I watched twice at the True/False film festival in Columbia, Missouri in 2014. I am a fan of Frank Herbert's Dune and was pulled into the epic mythos of this 1970s film that never was.
Although the story of this "failed" project is fascinating, it was Jodorowsky's passion and drive that made me pay to see this movie twice. This is an absolute must-see for sci-fi fans but should also be viewed by artists, writers, film makers, sculptures, dancers, foley artists or anyone who has creative passion.
It is inspiring to see a man, albeit a near lunatic, with such vision, scope and ambition.
Although the story of this "failed" project is fascinating, it was Jodorowsky's passion and drive that made me pay to see this movie twice. This is an absolute must-see for sci-fi fans but should also be viewed by artists, writers, film makers, sculptures, dancers, foley artists or anyone who has creative passion.
It is inspiring to see a man, albeit a near lunatic, with such vision, scope and ambition.
Her
(2013)
Jonez will be know as one of America's greatest filmmakers
9 February 2014
This film is almost perfect. Jonez's introduction of characters and setting was seamless. The arc of the characters' relationship, the resolution, the climax, the ending, the sets, the costumes, the special effects, the music, even the character's pants....I've got nothing bad to say about it. An almost perfect film by the same man who produced Jackass for Christ's sake.
Despite the fact I didn't see this movie until it had been out for a while, I was not prepared to see one of the best SF films of the past 10 years. No aliens, no space ships or time machines. In fact, my kids and I had a healthy geek debate over how far in the future this was supposed to take place, with guesses ranging from ten to 40 years.
The realistic continuation of our engagement with technology was one of the strongest secondary themes throughout the film. While I viewed the movie as an allegorical love story, the philosophical questions the film addresses about what defines love will likely be questions we will actually have to deal with one day. Can you fall in love with your Operating System? In "Her" is was a common occurrence.
Despite the fact I didn't see this movie until it had been out for a while, I was not prepared to see one of the best SF films of the past 10 years. No aliens, no space ships or time machines. In fact, my kids and I had a healthy geek debate over how far in the future this was supposed to take place, with guesses ranging from ten to 40 years.
The realistic continuation of our engagement with technology was one of the strongest secondary themes throughout the film. While I viewed the movie as an allegorical love story, the philosophical questions the film addresses about what defines love will likely be questions we will actually have to deal with one day. Can you fall in love with your Operating System? In "Her" is was a common occurrence.
Sarah Silverman: We Are Miracles
(2013 TV Special)
Hilarious
24 November 2013
I didn't discover Silverman until her Comedy Central show and then, of course, realized she'd been around for a while. I'll say upfront I'm a fan so when I saw this was coming out I was really looking forward to it. Well, I loved it. Silverman's insightful, crude, awkwardly shocking, highly structured approach to comedy always gives me a bucket of LOLs. Like Louis CK she approaches some subjects with the intent to disturb. 911, rape jokes, gang bangs, etc. are not meant to make you go "it's funny because it's true!" Rather they're kind of ushering a meta level where the spin is "It's funny because it's AWWWWKward." Anyway, her choice to film in a small venue adds an intimacy and texture that makes the special stand out from most other HBO specials and if you like funny, insightful comics, Tivo it.
Hello Ladies
(2013–2014)
Genuinely unlikable character
19 October 2013
I had high hopes for this series. The old "loser can't find a girl" plot/theme appeals to me for personal reasons. Unfortunately, the main character is so intensely unlikable I have absolutely no sympathy or compassion for him. I don't want him to win. He not only deserves what he gets, I want worse things to happen to him. Unlike, say, Dwight from The Office, who's a widget, yet you want him to catch a whiff of enlightenment, the main character in this series actually angered me. And they're telegraphing the "friend who is a girl, but has potential to be a lover" troupe like a pirate flag. There were so many ways to tackle this approach. Heck, all of the Seinfield characters were horrible people yet you still laughed at them. While I think Stephen Merchant may be talented, and perhaps even funny, the character he plays in this is too big of a poo-poo head to invoke my compassion.
World War Z
(2013)
Surprised by high reviews. I thought the movie uneven and not very scary
23 June 2013
Brad Pitt's performance was fine and I loved certain scenes and concepts (like the episode in South Korea) but overall I felt the movie was uneven and could have used a better edit. The biggest problem I had was the inclusion of some highly improbably events.
The cutbacks to Gerry's family slowed the movie down like speed bumps on a straightaway. I would have been fine with leaving them on the ship and not seeing them again until the end. Their subplot did nothing to progress the film and stopped the action at least twice. His wife's main contribution was to place an ill timed phone call that gets two men killed.
At one point Gerry drags a Israeli solider along with him for no apparent reason. Just kind of brings her along where she plays no role in the plot that couldn't be filled by an anonymous extra.
His miraculous survival of a plane crash is where my suspension of disbelief gave out. And the fact the crash occurs within wounded- walking distance of their destination didn't help.
I'm split on the "cure" for the zombie attack. It was unique and clever but Gerry's execution and test of the solution was telegraphed thirty minutes before it happened.
I did not jump once in this movie. I was never scared or on the edge of my seat. Some of the action was hard to see in 3D and one of the crucial zombies in the lab was supposed to be scary but ended up being comical, if not stupid.
I am shocked to see so many people giving this more than a C.
The cutbacks to Gerry's family slowed the movie down like speed bumps on a straightaway. I would have been fine with leaving them on the ship and not seeing them again until the end. Their subplot did nothing to progress the film and stopped the action at least twice. His wife's main contribution was to place an ill timed phone call that gets two men killed.
At one point Gerry drags a Israeli solider along with him for no apparent reason. Just kind of brings her along where she plays no role in the plot that couldn't be filled by an anonymous extra.
His miraculous survival of a plane crash is where my suspension of disbelief gave out. And the fact the crash occurs within wounded- walking distance of their destination didn't help.
I'm split on the "cure" for the zombie attack. It was unique and clever but Gerry's execution and test of the solution was telegraphed thirty minutes before it happened.
I did not jump once in this movie. I was never scared or on the edge of my seat. Some of the action was hard to see in 3D and one of the crucial zombies in the lab was supposed to be scary but ended up being comical, if not stupid.
I am shocked to see so many people giving this more than a C.
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