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jim_of_oz
Reviews
Sea Patrol (2007)
Pretty good show, but...
I actually enjoy most of the show. The cinematography and scenery is great. The ship looks very cool. The crew however is terrible. The Australian navy must be red-faced seeing how they are depicted. The crew seems to have absolutely no idea of operational security. "Spider" has gotten several of his crew mates wounded because of total negligence in duties. They constantly let the nastiest people on board with no security. People stowaway and end up wandering the ship like tourists in Disneyland. Sometimes I have to just fast forward past the worst scenes.
Invaders from Mars (1953)
Scary when I was kid 50 years ago
This was one of those movies that scared the crap out of me when I was a kid. That menacing hole in sand was something that stick in my mind for years. I think it's so scary to a kid because as a kid you see your parents taken over by Martians and you can't do anything about it. I just watched it and it's still a good movie.
Xian Wang de Richang Shenghuo (2020)
Pretty good
I'm not a huge anime buff, but I really liked this so far (ep. 6). It's funny and I like the way the hero is so low key. Enjoyable.
Tombstone (1993)
The perfect cast
I won't say much about the movie itself but the cast fits their parts as well as could be imagined. Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer are perfect. It's just an great, enjoyable movie.
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
The worst Connery Bond movie.
There is a lot wrong with this movie. Mr Connery looks and acts like an old man just trying to get through and paid. Jimmy Dean's voice is terrible. Overacting to the max. It's an embarrassment listening him. And as gorgeous was Jill St. John is her voice acting is almost as bad. If it wasn't for her bikini the movie would be a total loses. Even Bruce Cabot fairs poorly, like bleeding without a bullet hole. Wint and Kidd are totally out of character against 007. Leaving someone in an empty pipe on a busy construction site is hardly deadly. Huge disappointment all around (except for St. John's appearance).
The Outer Limits: The Man with the Power (1963)
Scared the crap out of me as a kid
Those isn't really a review so much as a statement of my reactions. My bedroom was off the living room where our tv was. I was very young; so it may have been when the show started in the 60s. I wasn't allowed to watch the show but my dad liked it. I snuck out and peeked out my bedroom door and remember seeing the storm cloud following Donald Pleasance. Scariest thing I ever saw. Gave me nightmares for weeks. Recently rewatched it. Not bad for its age, but I slept well that night.
The Outer Limits: Specimen: Unknown (1964)
Terrible scientific background. Nice space effects.
Actually the effects are pretty good for their age. Especially the space craft and station. There rest of it is pretty poor. How stupid can "scientists" be dealing with and alien life form that seems to kill in minutes. Pack them up in a coffee can and return them to earth.
The Outer Limits: The Man Who Was Never Born (1963)
Too many holes
The story was interesting but it had way too many plot holes. Girl gets terrified by monster then placidly returns home opens a book and leaves the door open. Astronaut flies over the Great Lakes and doesn't realize it's earth. He opens hatch to "unknown" planet and carries his helmet with him. Future earth librarian knows how to launch, land, and navigate space ship. Future earth guy infected with deadly bacteria returns to earth. There are more.
Isekai Izakaya: Koto Aitheria no Izakaya Nobu (2018)
Everything is cool about this
It's an odd setting. A small diner with the back entrance in modern day Japan and the front entrance opening up in a medieval fantasy land. Most of the fantasy inhabitants are overwhelmed by the Japanese style food. There's a recurring theme of people coming in to harm the diner, but end up eating and loving the place. The cooking takes a prime position in the show, and eating usually ends up sending the diners into ecstasy. I'm not a huge anime fan, but shows like this keep me watching and looking for similar types.
Backdraft 2 (2019)
Not great, but not that bad
I didn't think it was as bad as so many other reviews seem to think. It had its share of cliches; job/authority rebels, last chance to save career types, over-inflated bureaucrats, and sweep it under the rug bosses. The fire scenes weren't too bad and some of the techno-babble was OK. The dog was cool. Not the worst I've seen by a long shot. Worth a view.
Hotel a la Swing (1937)
Nice little feature
I liked it. It had some snappy tunes and good singing and dancing. The story line was meh, but that wasn't important. The Hades spot singer did a good job and the female in the dancing duo had a very energetic dance routine.
One odd thing though, and a little disconcerting, was the singers' tendency to looks off camera when starring. The singers at the switchboard did it--only the center singer seemed to consistently perform to the camera. The singing cooks did the same. I don't know if it was the style back then, but you wondered where they were looking.
Poor Mrs. Jones (1926)
Look beyond the story for early America
I found this a fascinating movie. The basic story is a woman fed up with farm work wants to move to the big city. She visits the big city and finds it not to her liking and returns to the country.
This is a propaganda flick made by U.S. Department of Agriculture in an attempt to keep folks down on the farm in the twenties. To that extent it glosses over much of farm life's downside and emphasizes city life's problems. Look beyond that to see a great slice of America in the 1920s. Skimming cream, root cellars, rural electricity and Brer Rooster heading for the pot are all here.
The part I enjoyed was the kid (and dad) who kept their ears stuck to the crystal radio set when visitors came. (I think that's the first actual crystal set I've ever seen in a movie.) Today, it'd be a video game or iPod, so things don't change as much as you'd think.