keithomusic Reviews

Batman: The Animated Series (1992–1995)

Good until season 4

[7/10 · 28 March 2024]

This is a good show, overall well done, the character art, the background art are all very good, the cars are a sort of blend of 30s, 40s, and 50s cars. The building and some of the police vehicles are 30s futurism/art deco. While Batman has modern equipment (at least for the 90s). The voice acting is good, although I object to using famous actors for the voice acting, certainly there are non-famous voice actors that can do as well if not better. MY main complaint about this series is season 4 which pretty much went over a cliff, rather than downhill. Season 4's art is absolutely terrible, Ive seen better art in 60s animes. And the episodes in season 4 are hard to figure out are they supposed toe be comedies? Because most episodes are ridiculous. There are maybe 3 good episodes in season 4. Certainly well worth a watch but not deserving of a 10 rating because of season 4.

Triple Cross (1990)

Action Packed

[4/10 · 24 February 2024]

Yes this movie had a lot of action, it is almost non-stop. But there are problems with the movie itself, too many plot twists being one of them. It is also poorly lit especially at the beginning, and it is so grainy sometimes it's hard to tell what is going on, it is a poor video tape transfer, you are probably better off watching it on VHS if you still have those. As I said ti does have a lot of action, plenty of martial arts fights and even guns, but no gun fu. I think this is one of Cynthia Rothrocks earlier efforts. It certainly provides entertainment, and is not intellectually challenging, just confusing.

Lady Dragon (1992)

It's fine for what it is

[5/10 · 24 February 2024]

This movie is fine, there really isn't much action, but a lot of conversations that would never happen in real life. Of course what happens is not something that would happen in real life, at least not the way it is depicted here. Miss Rothrock keeps getting her ass kicked, I don't think I have ever seen a martial artist get beaten so many times, it's a wonder that she didn't have a bunch of broken bones and permanent bruises. I used to love watching Miss Rothrock do her thing, but as I am re-visiting her filmography I find it a little disappointing. But the biggest complaint I have is that the Tubi version that I watched has a full 20 minutes taken out, especially the climatic fight scene at the end, so if you want to watch it don't watch on Tubi.

Fog Island (1945)

Decent film noir

[5/10 · 10 February 2024]

A good mystery, but it suffers because of bad lighting and a bad copy of this film. (probably old and not popular enough for a decent cleanup). A good revenge flick, the acting is good although George Zucco is a bit better than the rest. It's really a story about never ending greed and murder, but there is a bit of 'romance' in it, if you can call it that. The man said, I'm gonna pester you until you agree to go out with me, sounds like a stalker to me. And as usual they end up together at the end of the movie. (does hollywood ever get romance right) Then of course this being a movie there are a bunch of gaps in logic. It's actually a decent movie and worht a watch.

Gun Crazy (1950)

Just a crime drama

[4/10 · 10 February 2024]

This is not a film noir, it's a crime drama with a 'romance' in it. It's OK for what it is, although the story does not quite fit the premise about being 'gun crazy', just because people are crazy about guns does not mean they will go on a crime spree. The movie takes a half hour to flesh out the male leads character but nothing is really done for the female lead. These two meet and 'fall in love' but never act like a couple in love. There really isn't that much action, one good car chase perhaps, otherwise just the two MCs pointing guns and robbing banks. The acting isn't bad, it's adequate, the dialogue is pretty much bog standard except at the end where the male lead finally realizes what he should have when agreed to a life of crime.

And this is not 'a classic' or 'great', it's just a C grade movie that is very over rated.

The Ghost Blows the Lamp of the Longling Temple (2020)

It's acceptable

[4/10 · 27 January 2024]

Despite the obvious low budget this is an acceptable movie. It isn't an oscar winner nor is it the worst movie ever. It's just OK, the acting is good but not great. The special effects and backscreening are obvious but it's easy enough for most of us to suspend our disbelief. What bothers me the most about this movie is the annoying sidekick and the overuse of comedy. They try so hard to be funny that it just becomes almost painful to watch. I thought this was an action/adventure movie. There is no chemistry between the characters. And you don't really care about them. If you are a fan of B movies this is one to watch, not bad, not good just acceptable.

Spellbound (2011)

Pay no attention to the rating

[1/10 · 26 January 2024]

What a horrible start to a story. First some busker notices a woman in the crowd that just doesn't smile, so he thinks he should find a way to make her smile. He chases her, and some door opens as she is facing it and suddenly he thinks she would make him famous. (???) Then suddenly he is a famous illusionist and plays to a large crowd. Then way after the show is over we see that woman has been stuck in a small space under that stage floor and only now is allowed to come out. WTF??? Then the illusionist invites her for drinks with hem and the rest of the crew after the show. He uses and abuses her, how is this romance or love? This is more like Stockholm Syndrome. I just turned this off after that, I don't like seeing abuse. What an awful start to what is supposed to be a wacky romance. Not recommended.

Injustice (2021)

This anime is an injustice

[3/10 · 22 January 2024]

What an awful story, there is a lot of political/moral messages here, but they are not well done, it is uneven and sometimes conflicting, I had a hard time figuring out what the messages were supposed to be. And then there's Batman, who I no longer have any respect for, he is constantly spying on his friends/allies and takes measures to contain them if they do anything that is not in line with his philosophy. Yet he seems to not have any contingencies in place for himself. He is arrogant, self righteous and thinks he is morally superior. Superman did what most of us would do if a similar thing happened to us. And as always there is hypocrisy and propaganda. The artwork is simple and the background tries to imitate the comics drawings, but the character art is poor and in some cases atrocious. This is one DC anime that should probably be avoided, unless you are a completionist.

The Consultant (2023)

What did I just watch?

[3/10 · 19 January 2024]

What was this about, it made no sense. There are no explanations for anything that happened, the whys an wherefores are totally missing. And what was that ending. The acting is fine, but I wonder why Christof Waltz is given such praise as he seems to be playing the villain Blofeld in a slightly different way. The dialogue isn't bad but the rest of the story is just nonsense. There are many questions that go unanswered, such as, why does the consultant have a solid gold skeleton?, Is he a robot/AI? How does he control people? Why does he need physical records of everyone? And some more technical questions, How much would a solid gold skeleton weigh? (the best answer I found was about 400lbs), If the consultant bleeds where is he getting blood from? How is it he can't go up and down stairs bur can walk without difficulty? Can human muscles really handle metal bones?

And who gave this show a comedy tag, I don't remember any jokes or humour in it. I'm not sure what the plot is supposed to be. There is a bunch of stuff not only without explanation but never gets followed through (except for Mama Sang). I just have so many questions about this entire show, that will never be answered satisfactorily. If this was an attempt to increase sales of the authors book, I think he lost a lot of readers, because if his book is as poorly written as this show, he lost a lot of readers.

Honestly this show was almost painful to watch, good thing the episodes are only 30 minutes long. It just wasn't worth my time.

The Visitors (1993)

Don't watch more than once

[5/10 · 14 January 2024]

I recently re-watched this movie because I thought it was a good movie years ago when I first saw it. It didn't age well, while it might have been funny to me at the first viewing, the second was a disappointment. The plot is fine, a French knight and his vassal are accidentally sent into the future, where they cause all kinds of trouble and confusion. Most of the jokes are scat and slapstick, that type of humour has its place, here it seems to be overdone. As I said it was good the first time I watched, but it lost its charm the second time I watched. I don't recommend viewing it a second time.

Bring It On, Ghost (2016)

I Tired Twice

[4/10 · 14 January 2024]

I Tired Twice to watch this show, thinking it would be about ghosts, but it is about a romance between a college student, who can see ghosts, and a teenage girl who is a ghost. There isn't any chemistry there, so the romance makes no sense to me.. The guy is fairly normal, except for seeing and being able to touch and hit ghosts and uses that power to exorcise ghosts. The girl is just a spoiled brat, who makes pouty faces and whines to get what she wants. The guy initially says no then gives in to the girl, who knows why he did that. Most of us would not tolerate someone who acted like a 5 year old. And that girl is the biggest reason I found this show untenable, that and there isn't too much about ghosts. Why does Korea shove romance into these TV shows.

Marebito (2004)

Not what it seems. (spoilers)

[6/10 · 2 January 2024]

I have a completely different view of this movie. Many people here focus on the girl and that he was 'saving' the girl. I see something that most probably won't agree with. What I saw, after watching more than half of the movie, was someone who is probably a serial killer, and also a child abuser. First, about half-way through the movie we find out he had a partner/spouse at one point, Later she mentioned they had a daughter, and her name was Fuyumi, probably the girl he was calling 'F', something he said he would never call her to her face, that right there is a form of abuse. Also he mentioned that the girl was probably fed only blood from a young age, how would he know that? He also regularly fed her blood, some of it animal, but we don't know if he used human blood or not at first. Then he kills two humans his ex and a random prostitute, we don't know if he killed more or not. And he kept her inside, and chained her up after she escaped once, It looks like he is being kind by buying her clothes and allowing her outside, as long as she was handcuffed to him, but that is just appearance. And at the end he cuts his tongue allegedly to feed the girl, I think it was a suicide attempt. (in Asian lore if you bite your tongue off you will bleed to death). I think this guy was not only a child abuser but a serial killer as well, And the movie is a look at how he sees the world. Still it is a decent movie, and worth a watch.

Exte: Hair Extensions (2007)

Creepy, but not scary. (major spoilers)

[7/10 · 31 December 2023]

I think we can all agree that this is a weird movie. It's probably the only movie about haunted hair extensions. It starts a bit slow, then the really creepy guy is introduced to us, and he is really creepy, he works in a morgue and has a hair fetish. Which I never knew is a real thing. He also makes human hair extensions and sells them, even has a couple of awards for best extensions. Things start happening when he gives his hair extensions to a couple of local salons. When someone puts the hair extension on weird things happen, hair start growing in places it shouldn't, like eyeballs or your forearms, then it just takes over and kills whoever. There are a couple of subplots, one about a physically abused child and another about the police investigating the strange deaths involving hair and also a missing corpse, guess who stole that. But there is a happy ending. I'm told this is a comedy, but I saw no humour in it, maybe it is a parody of the Asian ghost trope of the woman dressed in white with the long black hair, I see it as a weird creepy movie. I really enjoyed it.

Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018)

Gonjiam: Boring Asylum

[2/10 · 30 December 2023]

I watched this on freevee and the ads were always a relief, never thought I would say that. It's pretty much a found footage film, not my cup of meat, but I tried anyway. Some young Koreans get together to explore a haunted/cursed asylum with the intention of broadcasting it live, and probably because the leader did not want to risk what happened to Geraldo Rivera when he opened Al Capone's safe, the guy rigged the game, and created a few scares. Most of the scares in this movie are self-inflicted, like in those ghost hunter TV shows. Since this is filmed in a dark place most of the time the lighting is terrible and you can't really see what is happening. Everything goes fairly according to plan, then things start to happen that were off script. And eventually all kinds of things go wrong. Then there are a bunch of real scares for the participants, but since I couldn't clearly see what was happening they weren't scary for me. If you enjoyed movies like Troll and Blair Witch you might like this one, otherwise I wouldn't bother.

Island (2022– )

OK, Entertaining. (major spoilers!)

[5/10 · 28 December 2023]

I had no problem with the acting, the scenery is nice, the story is novel, for me. But there are some problems for me, first is I don't like the inclusion of catholicism, it seems like its promoting it and the priest not only has magical powers but has pierced ears (is that allowed?) And he dresses like a hip, young Korean, I don't know if that's the ego of the actor or just laziness from the director.

Second there are way too many 10 star reviews, even if they're sincere it looks fake.

Third there is a subplot that is not well explored and doesn't really need to be there. It seems to be there to set up a second season/sequel and no other purpose.

The first ending is perfect, if they had stopped there I would have given it a higher rating. Then they went and added an ending that like I said was to set up a second season/sequel. And it was just awful, the MC and the priest turned into Batman and Robin, it ruined it for me, they had a perfect ending why ruin it? If they wanted a second season they could do a recap of the first season, it would be a year or more for a second season anyway, by that time we would have forgotten or lost interest.

As a fantasy show it's good entertainment and worth a watch.

The Uninvited (2003)

Not A Horror Movie

[4/10 · 27 December 2023]

As others have said, this is not a horror movie. There are some supernatural elements but nothing really scary. There are some disturbing scenes, but not really scary.

This is a bunch of dialogue, and this makes the movie very slow, the movie doesn't really address the issues it brings up. Which are suicide, depression, mental health issues, and child abuse. It also mentions narcolepsy, which doesn't seem to be treated properly in this movie. This movie is from 2003 and should know that narcolepsy can be treated.

Honestly this movie is a bit boring, I wasn't really looking for a slice of life movie with some supernatural elements. The one good thing I'll say about it is that the ending is fairly good. But, overall the movie is about 40 minutes too long.

Ghost Squad (2018)

Another weird low budget movie from Japan

[6/10 · 15 October 2023]

Yes, it's low budget, and the acting is just adequate, but it is sort of fun. There is a lot of comedy, but it does contain some serious subject matter, that isn't graphic but does touch on some stuff that might affect some people negatively, so there is your trigger warning. What is graphic is the gore, it is not too bad, but it might be something you don't want to see, most of it is at the end.

Just when you think you have a handle on the rules, something changes, which is probably a good thing, you never know what to expect. The girls are made up in white make up to appear as ghosts and have blood trails on their faces which sometimes change places. It does help you imagine that they are ghosts.

The movie is at least 15 minutes too long, and you can tell where they stretched out some scenes. They also spent more on special effects than on scenery, the special effects are good though.

This movie is enjoyable, it is weird and fun.

(there should be a trigger warning for those who might be affected by the serious subject matter and the gore)

The Living Ghost (1942)

0 to annoying in less than 5 minutes

[2/10 · 6 October 2023]

I have no idea what this movie is supposed to be about. In the first few minutes it managed to annoy me with its ridiculous attempts at humour. James Dunn is supposed to be a great detective, but I never saw how, as all he did was make assumptions. And his attempts at humour were lame and annoying, the dialogue itself was also annoying, it just didn't do what it was meant to do. Joan Woodbury is fine as the 'romantic' interest, she's a fine actor, but she in in the wrong movie here. And the 'romance is awful and unnatural as with most Hollywood movies, there is no rapport between her and Dunn and the age difference is quite obvious. This movie has more plot convenience than you can shake a stick at, and the plot seems to be all over the place. I think it's supposed to be a comedy/whodunnit but it doesn't make it as either one. The lead man is annoying, doesn't fit the role, the dialogue is annoying and the plot, what there is of it, is annoying, the movie is just annoying. Don't bother.

Poirot (1989–2013)

Usual fare with unusual detective

[6/10 · 7 September 2023]

I have not read the novels, but I think David Suchet did a great job of portraying Poirot. I also don't know how well the videos match up with the novels. Still, most of the stories are interesting, however after a while the formula wears thin, a murder occurs we are introduced to the suspects, near the end Poirot finally figures it out, then all the suspects are gathered and Poirot gives us a monologue that points to the murderer, then the culprit is revealed and easily taken into custody. The last 20 minutes can get really boring with the monologue, and it is quite unbelievable. The first 3/4 of the episodes can be interesting and sometimes there are some (mostly surprising) twists, but that last part can be anti-climatic.

The production values are great, the antique decor, cars, etc...are great. The directing is good until the last few seasons where the director gets a little 'artsy' and most of that seems like filler.

I do have some other problems with the last few seasons, for one Poirot suddenly drinks tea and cocktails both of which he absolutely hated in the first seasons, also suddenly there is some emphasis on his religiousness, which was not really apparent in the first seasons.

Another thing about these stories is that Poirot not only seems to investigate murders exclusively, he only seems to be a detective for the rich, there are only a few episodes where he helps someone who is more or less 'normal', that gets a bit tiresome. The support characters are a bit odd, Inspector Japp is probably the most realistic, and Miss Lemon is quite efficient, but I have no idea why Hastings is there, he seems to be very rich but has no job, and I can see no reason why Poirot and him hooked up, at least he is not as useless as Nigel Bruce's Watson.

If you enjoy whodunits at least give it a try.

Red Dwarf (1988– )

What?! This isn't from the 60's?

[1/10 · 19 August 2023]

I have only watched 1 1/4 episodes, but they were just horrible. I had heard how this series was so good and funny, man, was I disappointed. The jokes, most of them were not funny. I think a lot of the dialogue was ad lib or at least meant to sound like it. This is obviously a low budget show. The opening reminded me of 1968's 2001: A Space Odyssey, so I thought this was from the 60's or 70's, I was quite surprised when I learned it was from 1988, the BBC must have lost its mind to do something like this, and it didn't have any money obviously. And the laugh track was the worst, why were they still using laugh tracks in the 80s, I don't want to be told what is funny, I can decide for myself. This is just a few people popping off one liners that mostly aren't funny.

Lupin III: The First (2019)

It's OK but nothing special

[6/10 · 11 July 2023]

It's a typical Lupin plot,at least it starts that way,then it turns into an Indiana Jones movie. That was both unexpected and disappointing. It was faithful to Lupin's movements and attitude. His usual crew accompanied him through most of the movie, but didn't really seem to be a part of it, more like they were there for plot convenience, same as in the anime.

Incidental music is good, but much louder than the dialogue, it's too much of a contrast. The character art is not that good, all the men have the same face, with minor differences, the two women had the same problem.

I watched the Japanese version with English subtitles and the subtitles were kinda bad. A lot of grammar and pronouns were wrong, as were some of the translations. There were more than a few sentences where I went 'what did they just say?', so a bit confusing here and there.

Not a bad movie, lots of action and the characters move like they do in the anime, but nothing really special.

The Vast of Night (2019)

Interesting and engaging

[8/10 · 25 June 2023]

This movie kept me interested the whole time although it does start out as a typical 50s movie, about 20 or 30 minutes in it starts going somewhere. The actors were great, played their roles well. It is very much dialogue, so don't expect action, because there really isn't any. And that dialogue is what keeps you watching. I always wanted to know what would happen next. At first you wonder what is going on, then when you think you figured it out you start having doubts. It's like a retelling of the Roswell incident. It does take place in the 50s not the 40s, but does take place in New Mexico. Worth a watch if you don't mind it being dialogue heavy.

Baba Yaga (1973)

HUH?

[1/10 · 4 June 2023]

What is this film supposed to be about? There is no plot, nothing makes sense, there are a bunch of still shots that I think are supposed to imply things, but I don't think anyone has figured that out. I think this movie was supposed to be about some comic book. If there had been more nudity that could have made this movie tolerable. And it looked like some of the nude scenes were cut. It also looks like some other scenes were cut. Sheesh, Italian art house films make as little sense as French art house films. NOT RECOMMENDED!

(I think most of the 3 star and above ratings are trolling people) (I watched this movie on Amazon)

The Wandering Earth II (2023)

Great movie, a bit slow in part

[8/10 · 27 May 2023]

The plot got a bit confusing at times, probably because of the frequent time jumps. But an epic like this needs those time jumps to convey the story without being bogged down too much in the numerous interpersonal stories that are in this movie, The acting is great, the costumes and the CGI are also great. There are a lot of realistic scenarios in this movie, at least the emotional ones, the science scenarios seem a little iffy, I think they might have gotten some of the science wrong. There is action, but not a lot of it, what there is of it is plenty intense. It's a great sci-fi movie and worth watching.

Batman: Bad Blood (2016 Video)

Batman: Bad Dialogue

[4/10 · 14 May 2023]

There is so much cringeworthy dialogue here you would think the writers used every cliche/trope in the book (if there is a book for that). And the backstories, sheesh, everyone has a tragedy that made them become a superhero, bloody hell, can we just lose that trope, and stop putting batman's origin story in every movie. And must the male characters all look like heavyweight bodybuilders? Can we get some that are a normal/average weight and still have muscularity? The teenager in me doesn't mind the tight outfits on the busty women. Anyway the animation is good, the action scenes are action scenes and not quick cuts. The character art is good, the voice acting is good, but those things don't save the horrible dialogue and confusing story lines. Why are there so many villains? Not recommended!