I tried...I mean I REALLY tried to give this a shot. I have no doubt in any other circumstance. Jodie Smith would be absolutely phenomenal in a role made specifically for a woman of color. But to fundamentally change the ethnicity of the main character...that's asking a bit too much of a willing suspension of disbelief. Score another loss for "wokeness." Sorry, not sorry. Couldn't keep watching after 10 minutes and don't plan to watch anymore. Epic fail...
Reviews
15 Reviews
The Impossible
(2012)
A touching take on a natural disaster
5 September 2021
I hardly ever give films a 10/10 stars, but I had to for this one. I couldn't believe how well made this film is and how it makes you live the tragedy and recovery with the family. You actually feel the pain, suffering, joy, and relief of this group as they struggle to cope with a natural disaster. As an outsider to the actual event, I remember seeing it on the news and knowing it was terrible. But following along with the people in the aftermath really brings home the humanity, hope, and shear will to survive and see your family again.
Noelle
(2019)
Not the greatest, but definitely up there on the "Must Watch" list every year...
23 December 2019
Warning: Spoilers
So...here we have a story of Santa having kids (boy Nicholas and girl Noelle) and naturally, the boy is being groomed to be the 24th Santa to take up the reins (pun intended). However, as they prepare for the first Christmas without their father, Nick is expected to take over...and after some advice from his sister, he bolts, leaving a cousin to be in charge and be the next Santa. Noelle goes after him and they both discover that SHE is the one who inherited the "twinkle" to be the next Santa.
First off, Santa isn't a real person (sorry for those who still believe) so there's no strict code (as the Elder Elves stated) as to the requirement of a male to be Santa. That said, Santa - Father Christmas - is based on Saint Nicholas of Myra, also known as Nicholas of Bari, who was a 4th century monk who became the patron saint of children. So for 1600 years, Santa Claus (Sinterklaas) has been a man.
Second, this is Disney, and they have a habit of creating social justice stories out of things that are better left alone. That said, they did a pretty decent job of making this transition to a female Santa without the negativity associated with the militant PC Warriors we have in the streets instead of a hospital padded room.
I can't say for sure that's what the filmmakers were going for, but in the grand scope of things, I found myself liking the overall story concept, the execution of the plot, and the fact that it is left open for a possible sequel where Noelle and Jake are together and have a mixed child that becomes the first Santa "of color." As long as they keep the general spirit of Christmas in the film, I'd be up for watching it.
Overall, I liked this film. I only gave it an 8/10 because there are things I would have done differently (like have someone other than Shirley MacClaine in it anywhere)...but I didn't make the film and I enjoyed the hour and a half distraction. This will definitely be part of my holiday viewing list in the future.
First off, Santa isn't a real person (sorry for those who still believe) so there's no strict code (as the Elder Elves stated) as to the requirement of a male to be Santa. That said, Santa - Father Christmas - is based on Saint Nicholas of Myra, also known as Nicholas of Bari, who was a 4th century monk who became the patron saint of children. So for 1600 years, Santa Claus (Sinterklaas) has been a man.
Second, this is Disney, and they have a habit of creating social justice stories out of things that are better left alone. That said, they did a pretty decent job of making this transition to a female Santa without the negativity associated with the militant PC Warriors we have in the streets instead of a hospital padded room.
I can't say for sure that's what the filmmakers were going for, but in the grand scope of things, I found myself liking the overall story concept, the execution of the plot, and the fact that it is left open for a possible sequel where Noelle and Jake are together and have a mixed child that becomes the first Santa "of color." As long as they keep the general spirit of Christmas in the film, I'd be up for watching it.
Overall, I liked this film. I only gave it an 8/10 because there are things I would have done differently (like have someone other than Shirley MacClaine in it anywhere)...but I didn't make the film and I enjoyed the hour and a half distraction. This will definitely be part of my holiday viewing list in the future.
Another Life
(2019–2021)
I don't know what others watched, but this series is great...
26 July 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I only gave this series a 8 out of 10 because yes there were some campy moments that it could have done without. But overall, I would have to say that I'm REALLY hoping for a season 2.
One thing I think most people missed is that the lack of over-explanation of every aspect of the show is part of the appeal. If you get that, great! If you like everything explained to you, then maybe you should stay away from this show...because it's classic in the sense that it makes you do some thinking on your own. Not explaining in detail how they have FTL travel and communications, artificial gravity, holographic AI...all that stuff makes for a good solid story. Also, spreading out the exposition into a 10 episode arc is how it should be done.
The characters aren't perfect because people aren't perfect. The science is iffy because the setting is the future...a genre where we've been making guesses for the better part of 100 years of television. People loved Back To The Future 2 and that movie was set in 2015. Did we have hoverboards or flying cars by then? No. But it was fun to dream.
There's more to this show than the negative reviews let on. Watch it and decide for yourself.
One thing I think most people missed is that the lack of over-explanation of every aspect of the show is part of the appeal. If you get that, great! If you like everything explained to you, then maybe you should stay away from this show...because it's classic in the sense that it makes you do some thinking on your own. Not explaining in detail how they have FTL travel and communications, artificial gravity, holographic AI...all that stuff makes for a good solid story. Also, spreading out the exposition into a 10 episode arc is how it should be done.
The characters aren't perfect because people aren't perfect. The science is iffy because the setting is the future...a genre where we've been making guesses for the better part of 100 years of television. People loved Back To The Future 2 and that movie was set in 2015. Did we have hoverboards or flying cars by then? No. But it was fun to dream.
There's more to this show than the negative reviews let on. Watch it and decide for yourself.
How It Ends
(2018)
So...how does it end? The world may never know...
8 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I've seen some low budget films in my time, and usually it's with no-name actors, writers, and directors trying to break into the industry. But when you have a film like this with big names - like Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker - you would expect something of better caliber. But that's not the case here.
Whitaker seemed to do this as a favor or for the paycheck. Theo James was alright, but I've seen him do better. What was Grace Dove (Ricki) there for...eye candy? If so, she's like those funky orange and black wrapped things you pray you don't get at Halloween.
So the film starts out pretty much as expected. Man is in love with a girl and wants to marry her. Man has to ask the father. Father hates the guy. Mother tries to be an intermediary. DISASTER STRIKES and suddenly everyone is fine with working together.
But then the trip takes too dang long... At most, a drive from Chicago to Seattle would take about 3 days tops. I don't know where this film's writer is from, but he needs a lesson on geography. 6 freaking days? That's just lazy writing, even with Tom's demise and Will burning the car. And speaking of...what the frak? THAT made no sense at all whatsoever.
As we travel with the Odd Couple across the "United States," we're treated to typical post-apocalyptic scenes of run down, graffiti-ed gun-toting, hillbilly infested yokels trying very hard to reenact Mad Max with gas suddenly being the ultimate commodity after less than a week.
Seattle looking like it got his by a tsunami (the boat in the middle of town), a nuclear bomb (EVERYTHING blown out), AND a volcano (raining ash) all at once? That's some next level alien invasion/annihilation attack or something. One disaster at a time, bro...
And then that ending. Wow...so that's "how it ends?" With Will indiscriminately killing the neighbor that saved his pregnant girlfriend and the happy couple driving off trying to outrun what looks like yet another volcanic eruption coming at them? I was half expecting their kiss to be the last thing you see before they get swallowed up by the fallout and their truck explodes. At least that would have been an ending I could have lived with knowing that their love endured and they didn't give up on each other even in the face of certain death. But no...they survive...
And with that, we don't find out "How It Ends." We're left hanging without knowing what the disaster was - even though they tried to shoehorn it in with the neighbor's half-drunk theory around the campfire.
Watch it if you want, but I want my 113 minutes back.
Whitaker seemed to do this as a favor or for the paycheck. Theo James was alright, but I've seen him do better. What was Grace Dove (Ricki) there for...eye candy? If so, she's like those funky orange and black wrapped things you pray you don't get at Halloween.
So the film starts out pretty much as expected. Man is in love with a girl and wants to marry her. Man has to ask the father. Father hates the guy. Mother tries to be an intermediary. DISASTER STRIKES and suddenly everyone is fine with working together.
But then the trip takes too dang long... At most, a drive from Chicago to Seattle would take about 3 days tops. I don't know where this film's writer is from, but he needs a lesson on geography. 6 freaking days? That's just lazy writing, even with Tom's demise and Will burning the car. And speaking of...what the frak? THAT made no sense at all whatsoever.
As we travel with the Odd Couple across the "United States," we're treated to typical post-apocalyptic scenes of run down, graffiti-ed gun-toting, hillbilly infested yokels trying very hard to reenact Mad Max with gas suddenly being the ultimate commodity after less than a week.
Seattle looking like it got his by a tsunami (the boat in the middle of town), a nuclear bomb (EVERYTHING blown out), AND a volcano (raining ash) all at once? That's some next level alien invasion/annihilation attack or something. One disaster at a time, bro...
And then that ending. Wow...so that's "how it ends?" With Will indiscriminately killing the neighbor that saved his pregnant girlfriend and the happy couple driving off trying to outrun what looks like yet another volcanic eruption coming at them? I was half expecting their kiss to be the last thing you see before they get swallowed up by the fallout and their truck explodes. At least that would have been an ending I could have lived with knowing that their love endured and they didn't give up on each other even in the face of certain death. But no...they survive...
And with that, we don't find out "How It Ends." We're left hanging without knowing what the disaster was - even though they tried to shoehorn it in with the neighbor's half-drunk theory around the campfire.
Watch it if you want, but I want my 113 minutes back.
You were going good, and then...
18 June 2018
Warning: Spoilers
...you had to go and drop the ball(s), literally.
My wife and I waited over a year for this finale, and we were sorely disappointed with the wrap up. The beginning of the episode took some time to get re-versed in what happened previously, so there was about 20-30 minutes of asking ourselves wtf was going on. When we finally remembered everything, the show proceeded nicely. But then...
The Chairman coming in for just this episode made no sense (pun intended) and his sudden death made even less sense. It's like there was supposed to be this big grandiose character who meant something to someone, but in reality, he was a pointless waste of time.
The connections between the characters and their loved ones does require thinking, and the execution of that aspect of this episode wasn't bad, but the ending was way off base and completely pointless. I'm neither homophobic or transphobic, so the gay wedding in Paris seemed appropriate for those characters...but then you end it with everybody having one big massive pansexual orgy...and focus on a wet used dildo as the final shot? Seriously...what the ever-loving frak?!
If I could give this no stars, I would, because this final show was a disaster. And now looking back at the entire series, I realize that Lilly and Lana have become nothing more than porn directors trying to recapture their fame when they were Andy and Larry and actually made good movies. So sad, too... I used to like them...
My wife and I waited over a year for this finale, and we were sorely disappointed with the wrap up. The beginning of the episode took some time to get re-versed in what happened previously, so there was about 20-30 minutes of asking ourselves wtf was going on. When we finally remembered everything, the show proceeded nicely. But then...
The Chairman coming in for just this episode made no sense (pun intended) and his sudden death made even less sense. It's like there was supposed to be this big grandiose character who meant something to someone, but in reality, he was a pointless waste of time.
The connections between the characters and their loved ones does require thinking, and the execution of that aspect of this episode wasn't bad, but the ending was way off base and completely pointless. I'm neither homophobic or transphobic, so the gay wedding in Paris seemed appropriate for those characters...but then you end it with everybody having one big massive pansexual orgy...and focus on a wet used dildo as the final shot? Seriously...what the ever-loving frak?!
If I could give this no stars, I would, because this final show was a disaster. And now looking back at the entire series, I realize that Lilly and Lana have become nothing more than porn directors trying to recapture their fame when they were Andy and Larry and actually made good movies. So sad, too... I used to like them...
The Heat
(I) (2013)
What the heck did I just watch?
2 August 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Oh...God... what a TRAVESTY!!! I waited to see this on my DVR after recording it on a weekend movie channel free-view - and had I actually paid to see this in a theater, I can guarantee I would have walked out and demanded my money back so I could go buy band-aids for my bleeding ears. Sandra Bullock is so much better than this and Melissa McCarthy is nothing but a foul-mouthed man-sogynist. Take this film and put two men in the lead roles and you would have feminists screaming and picketing all over Hollywood to stop this trash from ever being published. Seriously, how can one possibly find it funny to be subjected to every other word out of McCarthy's mouth being "F" and "GD" - and that's just in the first 10 minutes!!! It didn't get any better after that either!!! Really? People actually found this funny enough to nominate it - much worse allow it to win - any awards?? WTFrack!!! Sandra Bullock did make it funny at times and was just about the only redeeming thing about this film... except for when the credits finally started to roll and I could sigh with relief that my nightmare was over. McCarthy simply spouted every profane thing that she could think of trying to make up for her being a terrible actress. Is she trying to channel Eddie Murphy from the 80's and bring that into the new Millennium? I can guarantee that if you were to take this film and ratchet down the vulgarity to about a tenth of what it has, you might, just might, have a good film worth spending 2 hours watching. Otherwise, I think the heat should be turned up on this film to the point that ever single film print, DVD, and Blu-Ray is incinerated. Unfortunately, I can't sue the studio to get back the time I wasted trying to find something good about this...thing.
Elysium
(I) (2013)
What a waste of time! LOTS OF SPOILERS!!!
11 May 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Okay, once again I wasted my time watching a crappy movie just so I could write an educated review based on personal knowledge and not second hand information. My summary: I want my 2 hours back.
What a piece of crap! This is a blatant anti-anti-immigration film that is nothing more than an esoteric blast at America. Think about it...
SPOILER ALERT!!! DO NOT READ BELOW UNLESS YOU WANT ME TO RUIN THE MOVIE FOR YOU - WHICH WOULDN'T NECESSARILY BE A BAD THING, TRUST ME! Elysium (the word, not the movie) is defined as 1) Also called Elysian Fields. Classical Mythology . the abode of the blessed after death. 2) any similarly conceived abode or state of the dead. 3) any place or state of perfect happiness; paradise.
So the premise of the movie is that there is a gigantic space station orbiting the earth where there is nothing but happiness, bliss, and eternal life, care of machines that can even reconstruct your face if it is blown off by a grenade or completely cure you of leukemia. But, the "problem" with this station is that the only ones allowed there are the rich people who are only so because of their complete disregard of the deplorable working conditions of those on Earth supplying them with their riches. Those on Earth (which looks a lot like Mexico City where it was filmed - surprise, surprise...) are nothing more than cattle trying to eek out a living without access to proper medical care and who are treated like vermin by the robot police. To try and escape their plight, they board shuttles and try to illegally cross the border of space, land in paradise, break into anyone's home to use what doesn't belong to them, and then cry, complain, and moan when they are caught. Oh, and the one who succeeds in thievery are doing it for their child. How heartless we must be if we think this wrong... So, in a desperate attempt to save himself, the "star" allows himself to be turned into a cyborg to steal valuable information that will make every illegal legal so that they all have free access to what they didn't earn...and he valiantly sacrifices himself in the process.
Gee, really? Could this movie be anymore obvious? There are so many things wrong with this film, I don't know where to start or when to stop.
1) Why does everyone on the station speak French or with a French accent? More specifically, why does Jodi Foster even try? She sounds like she's chewing glass trying to get through until her merciful death.
2) Everyone on Slum-Earth speaks Spanish, English, or Spanglish.
3) The station's dwellings are pristine with marble steps up to immaculate mansions with clear crisp clean pools.
4) Earth is trashy, dusty, and just downright nasty.
5) The healing machines on the station never touch the patient. A magic want scans, diagnoses, and heals them in about 30 seconds.
6) The operation we are subjected to on Earth is the stuff of horror films, with power tools, rusty knives, and a tatted doctor wearing a butcher's apron. Oh, and blood everywhere.
Basically in a nutshell, don't waste your time. Elysium the film is nothing like the paradise it tries to emulate.
What a piece of crap! This is a blatant anti-anti-immigration film that is nothing more than an esoteric blast at America. Think about it...
SPOILER ALERT!!! DO NOT READ BELOW UNLESS YOU WANT ME TO RUIN THE MOVIE FOR YOU - WHICH WOULDN'T NECESSARILY BE A BAD THING, TRUST ME! Elysium (the word, not the movie) is defined as 1) Also called Elysian Fields. Classical Mythology . the abode of the blessed after death. 2) any similarly conceived abode or state of the dead. 3) any place or state of perfect happiness; paradise.
So the premise of the movie is that there is a gigantic space station orbiting the earth where there is nothing but happiness, bliss, and eternal life, care of machines that can even reconstruct your face if it is blown off by a grenade or completely cure you of leukemia. But, the "problem" with this station is that the only ones allowed there are the rich people who are only so because of their complete disregard of the deplorable working conditions of those on Earth supplying them with their riches. Those on Earth (which looks a lot like Mexico City where it was filmed - surprise, surprise...) are nothing more than cattle trying to eek out a living without access to proper medical care and who are treated like vermin by the robot police. To try and escape their plight, they board shuttles and try to illegally cross the border of space, land in paradise, break into anyone's home to use what doesn't belong to them, and then cry, complain, and moan when they are caught. Oh, and the one who succeeds in thievery are doing it for their child. How heartless we must be if we think this wrong... So, in a desperate attempt to save himself, the "star" allows himself to be turned into a cyborg to steal valuable information that will make every illegal legal so that they all have free access to what they didn't earn...and he valiantly sacrifices himself in the process.
Gee, really? Could this movie be anymore obvious? There are so many things wrong with this film, I don't know where to start or when to stop.
1) Why does everyone on the station speak French or with a French accent? More specifically, why does Jodi Foster even try? She sounds like she's chewing glass trying to get through until her merciful death.
2) Everyone on Slum-Earth speaks Spanish, English, or Spanglish.
3) The station's dwellings are pristine with marble steps up to immaculate mansions with clear crisp clean pools.
4) Earth is trashy, dusty, and just downright nasty.
5) The healing machines on the station never touch the patient. A magic want scans, diagnoses, and heals them in about 30 seconds.
6) The operation we are subjected to on Earth is the stuff of horror films, with power tools, rusty knives, and a tatted doctor wearing a butcher's apron. Oh, and blood everywhere.
Basically in a nutshell, don't waste your time. Elysium the film is nothing like the paradise it tries to emulate.
Happy Town
(2010)
Why I don't trust network executives...
5 July 2010
Every once in a while, a show comes along that promises to be a break from the norm - a show that makes you think and second guess your assumptions with each scene. Sometimes, these shows can be annoying because they tend to be plot less efforts at eye candy. But Happy Town wasn't one of them. It was one of the good ones - and ABC executives have decided in their infinite wisdom that shadows over the common man to pull the plug on this show.
This is why I don't trust the broadcast network hierarchy, and why I stick to satellite television reception. And it really doesn't matter which one you watch, either. ABC, NBC, and CBS all have the same mantra - premier a great show on a bad night, show two episodes, wait a few weeks until everyone forgets what happened, show a few more episodes, then cancel the show due to "bad ratings." Hello? What did you think was going to happen? Happy Town never had a chance. And it's a shame that good writing is wasted on the netherworld of broadcast stuffed-shirt politics.
This is why I don't trust the broadcast network hierarchy, and why I stick to satellite television reception. And it really doesn't matter which one you watch, either. ABC, NBC, and CBS all have the same mantra - premier a great show on a bad night, show two episodes, wait a few weeks until everyone forgets what happened, show a few more episodes, then cancel the show due to "bad ratings." Hello? What did you think was going to happen? Happy Town never had a chance. And it's a shame that good writing is wasted on the netherworld of broadcast stuffed-shirt politics.
Falls short of the truth...
28 February 2009
Warning: Spoilers
I must say, the only attraction for me with this movie was Haley Bennett. She's a cutie! But that's about the only thing going for this film. Other than that, it makes me sad the Hollywood continues to alienate it's biggest marketing draw - Christians who want to see good films.
The movie starts off with the premise that a mother has attacked and stabbed her daughter for some vague reason. We find out later that the mom was trying to "save her" from some terrible fate that awaited her on her 18th birthday because of a deal made with the Devil. (We are never told what this will entail, but we are led to believe it involves a touch of immortality...) While it's true that the Devil can come in many forms and offer deals, and that the best time to offer deals such as this one are during times of heightened emotions, such as a death, where fear of the unknown plays a big part...what this movie succeeds in doing is continuing to further the notion that Christians are the one group of people that you can misjudge, misquote, and mistreat and get away with it.
Every one has a choice, and that choice is plainly explained in this film - a choice between service for God or for the Devil. But Hollywood has done it again by overtly hinting that God will inevitably lose the fight and we are all doomed to follow the inherent evil in us all. That is offensive to people such as myself who believe otherwise.
That's why this movie, with all it's clever scare tactics, failed in the theater and fails in home video because the writer couldn't decide whom he wanted to serve. The movie showed promise when it was portraying the baptism scene. What the Christian girl, Alexis, (typical nut case for Hollywood) said was the truth...but then she turned out to be hypocritical by trying to kill Molly for "what she was." Um...hello? Did I miss something? If Alexis had been a true believer of the Gospel that she proclaimed, she would have NEVER tried to kill Molly. The Bible says when a person is saved, they become a new creation...as Molly would have been after she said yes to what Alexis said, thereby negating any perceived hold the Devil would have had on her.
But then again, if that had happened, the movie would have been over.
This is a good concept for a film, but as I said, the writers needed to decide which god they wanted to serve. I give this movie 3 out of 10 for the cuteness factor of the actress, but that's all.
The movie starts off with the premise that a mother has attacked and stabbed her daughter for some vague reason. We find out later that the mom was trying to "save her" from some terrible fate that awaited her on her 18th birthday because of a deal made with the Devil. (We are never told what this will entail, but we are led to believe it involves a touch of immortality...) While it's true that the Devil can come in many forms and offer deals, and that the best time to offer deals such as this one are during times of heightened emotions, such as a death, where fear of the unknown plays a big part...what this movie succeeds in doing is continuing to further the notion that Christians are the one group of people that you can misjudge, misquote, and mistreat and get away with it.
Every one has a choice, and that choice is plainly explained in this film - a choice between service for God or for the Devil. But Hollywood has done it again by overtly hinting that God will inevitably lose the fight and we are all doomed to follow the inherent evil in us all. That is offensive to people such as myself who believe otherwise.
That's why this movie, with all it's clever scare tactics, failed in the theater and fails in home video because the writer couldn't decide whom he wanted to serve. The movie showed promise when it was portraying the baptism scene. What the Christian girl, Alexis, (typical nut case for Hollywood) said was the truth...but then she turned out to be hypocritical by trying to kill Molly for "what she was." Um...hello? Did I miss something? If Alexis had been a true believer of the Gospel that she proclaimed, she would have NEVER tried to kill Molly. The Bible says when a person is saved, they become a new creation...as Molly would have been after she said yes to what Alexis said, thereby negating any perceived hold the Devil would have had on her.
But then again, if that had happened, the movie would have been over.
This is a good concept for a film, but as I said, the writers needed to decide which god they wanted to serve. I give this movie 3 out of 10 for the cuteness factor of the actress, but that's all.
Boogeyman 2
(2007)
When will people learn that a sequel is more than a shared name?
29 January 2008
I give this movie a 2 out of 10 - but only for the cast.
When I sat down to watch this movie, I expected there to be, at the very least, the real Boogeyman from the first movie making a comeback. But, to my dismay, no such luck.
Instead, I was treated to a half-baked, poor excuse of a film that I will be glad to get out of my house.
The acting was fair, the overall plot could have used some work, and the gore should have been toned way down. With only a passing reference to Tim, the main character in the first Boogeyman, this film should not be classified as a sequel because when a second (or third) film in a series is made, there should be something there to make a positive connection. I didn't even catch that the Tim in #2 was the same Tim from #1 until I read about it here on IMDb.
If you like gore reminiscent of SAW or HOSTEL, feel free to peruse this title as well. But if you're looking for a continuation of the original, leave this DVD on the store shelf.
When I sat down to watch this movie, I expected there to be, at the very least, the real Boogeyman from the first movie making a comeback. But, to my dismay, no such luck.
Instead, I was treated to a half-baked, poor excuse of a film that I will be glad to get out of my house.
The acting was fair, the overall plot could have used some work, and the gore should have been toned way down. With only a passing reference to Tim, the main character in the first Boogeyman, this film should not be classified as a sequel because when a second (or third) film in a series is made, there should be something there to make a positive connection. I didn't even catch that the Tim in #2 was the same Tim from #1 until I read about it here on IMDb.
If you like gore reminiscent of SAW or HOSTEL, feel free to peruse this title as well. But if you're looking for a continuation of the original, leave this DVD on the store shelf.
Power Corps.
(2004)
Worse than a train wreck!
27 January 2007
Oh, my God. I can't believe I wasted my free movie rental coupon on this sorry excuse for a high school fantasy! I barely watched five minutes of it before asking my wife for the remote to turn it off.
Stunned silence followed - and a never ending feeling of hopelessness as I thought of all the ways I could make this disc unplayable for anyone else.
A half-naked sex scene just after the credits, terrible sound quality, bad lighting, bad acting - the list is endless of overt mistakes. The first and foremost being the writer and director ever being given actual money to make this garbage. If I were the production house, I'd ask for a refund.
Save yourself! Don't watch this movie!!!
Stunned silence followed - and a never ending feeling of hopelessness as I thought of all the ways I could make this disc unplayable for anyone else.
A half-naked sex scene just after the credits, terrible sound quality, bad lighting, bad acting - the list is endless of overt mistakes. The first and foremost being the writer and director ever being given actual money to make this garbage. If I were the production house, I'd ask for a refund.
Save yourself! Don't watch this movie!!!
Mercy Streets
(2000)
Not 100% Awesome, but comes VERY close...
11 July 2006
Christian films are still in their infancy, and this film, while great, proves a point. Hollywood is still the "big dog" on the block and it's hard for a film with a positive message such as this to find a better place at the table. MERCY STREETS has a few good things going for it, starting with the acting. It's not a stilted as you'd expect from a religious-themed film. The writers took great care to avoid unnecessary and gratuitous cursing (even though the violent content garnered a PG-13 rating) and also to avoid being too "preachy" with the message. Writer/director Jon Gunn and co-writer John Mann bring a message of hope and deliverance to the screen in a truly artistic way. So, while the gun-play might be a bit much for young viewers, I think this film is a worthy addition to any home library.
Signs
(2002)
Signs...of a typical M. N. S. film.
6 August 2002
Strike another mark for M. Night Shyamalan on the running success board! I heard before going into this movie that it wasn't that great and that I would leave the theater disappointed with the lack of ET references and a sudden ending. Those who haven't seen, or have yet to comprehend MNS's style are like those who still don't fully understand the genius of Picasso or E. A. Poe. Before going to this film, I would highly recommend seeing Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, MNS's other works of art. Get them on DVD and listen to the director's audio commentary. It explains so much as to the voice he uses in these films. Don't go into the theater looking for an Independence Day "shoot 'em up" with space ships flying everywhere. And DEFINITELY, don't look for a Mars Attacks crapolla-fest. Instead, look for the spiritual references of a man struggling with his faith and finding it while going through a world-wide crisis. I consider myself an agnostic when it comes to alien life; I believe in the possibility, but I have yet to see any real hard evidence of that existence. On that vein, so what if the alien looks like your typical man-in-a-rubber-suit? Who's to say what aliens look like? They may even look just like us. GO SEE THIS MOVIE!! You won't be disappointed.
Reign of Fire
(2002)
Overall good story idea, but not put together well.
16 July 2002
This story, based on the legend of dragons, puts an interesting twist on the current thought of post-apocalyptic horror. The concept is good- how would humans fight back against this awesome threat- but the movie is put together very sloppy. It's almost as if the writers decided to take turns seeing who could come up with the best action while forgetting to check with each other for continuity. What we get is 90 minutes of choppy action sequences mixed in with a little exposition and little explanation of the basics. For instance, the Brits fight to keep their garden growing and in one attack by the dragons, it's gone. How could they keep it going so long out in the open like that with the dragons all around? Then the Americans show up, beat up Quinn, conscript soldiers, go to what's left of London, and get turned into toast with only Van San surviving. And to top it all off, when the trio of 'heroes' get to London again, how does a Kentucky Redneck grunt know so much about a town square he's never been to; and wouldn't a bull dragon have something better to do than fly a predictable pattern over this square? Hardly... I guess my main point is the story is good, however it looks as though novices were given their first chance to write action and their enthusiasm went unchecked. Hollywood has done better. They should have sent this movie back for a few more rewrites instead of rushing it through production.
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