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4/10
I don't know... a rambling discourse wondering about foolishnes vs. faith
31 March 2021
Warning: Spoilers
A friend of mine got really, really excited about this documentary, has begun looking for a CE5 group to join, and bought a copy of this in order to more efficently share it with others. Thing is, this is one of the most gullible and credulous people I know -- ithe innocent who has TWICE clicked on those pop-up ads warning that something is wrong with the computer but fortunately Microsoft was monitoring the situation in time to fix things, they only need access to the webcam the hard drive, a credit card number, and a copy of your government ID .

Twice.

Despite the fact that each time it meant a wiped hard drive, a compromised credit card, and a stolen identity. This is not a stupid human, no mental illness, just someone wanting to believe order will be brought to chaos, answers are going to come from someone who has been careully monitoring the situation all along, has already put safety nets in place, and will step in to heal the earth and humanity when we finally almost -- but not quite -- make that final mistake that will end it all. "Just a moment, excuse us, we'll just take it from here" the kindly doe-eyed, glossy-furred and oh, so gentle creatues will say. And they will, even if they maybe have to make a lot of angry people disappear, and we'll be one of those living-in-giant-trees perfect harmony cultures one sees when dystopian films end happily..

I want to believe that too. But I'm cynical. Let me also, however, point out that I have been watching a lot of those "there was a civilization on Mars" videos you'll find on YouTube if you hardly even try. And, I'm now way more than half-convinced that these folks are onto something. Rocks can take on odd shapes sometimes, but do they ever erode into perfectly proportioned gears, hollow curving pipes, geodesic domes or herbivore skulls complete with teeth?

Despite the fact that a Mars Conspiracy seems ridiculous, and is getting harder to believe with China, India and the UAE also hanging out up there, I still wonder, because ... well, go look for yourself, really look, and see what you might feel for just a moment. I don't even mind this foolishiness on my part. I think of it as Santa Claus for adults. I share this secret with you so that you know that while I might recognize computer fraud, I'm still entirely capable of believing things considered by most to be ridiculous.

Um... ahem. Still with me? No? Oh, a couple of you seem to be unable to find the 'back" button. Where was I?

I have enjoyed Dr. Greet's other documentaries, although he does tend to set off my alarm bells. Something about how many times he talks about "briefing" members of the government, including "every president since Clinton," when some of those officials have formally refuted his claims of "briefing." I suppose I can also brief a president if I send a document thtough the mail.

I enjoyed and was impressed by some of the footage produced NOT by Dr. Greer but by local groups. I was super-impressed by the glowing golden balls manifested by the Powers of Greer Himself during one of his pricey conferences... but he kept pointing out how un-flare-like these ships were, which made me wonder, and I found articles about flares on parachutes possibly deployed by a small, nearby, low-and-slow-flying plane. (Yes, these accusations could be seeds of doubt sowed by a sophisticated government agency devoted to discrediting Dr. Greer, but how deep must i go?) It's almost cartoonishly funny how Dr. Greer assures everyone at least twice and for no apparent reason that these are clearly not flares, I was just being amazed by what I thoguht was clearly Real Magic. .The "nope, can't be flares" thing was so unnecessary that it immediately made me wonder why he was so determined to point out that these. Were. Not. .flares. No. Otherwise you'd see smoke. And they'd disappear differently. And fly up high first, then arc down. Not flares, and no planes nearby. No way.

But, sadly, they do look very much like flares, stay lit the same amount of time, and do not sink into the ocean, despite him telling us they do..

But unless ALL of these people are doing some rather complicated and expensive fakery, or (I only just thought of this) the photos were only taken at the group meetings visited by Dr. Greer, something appears to be happening. My question, though, is what? Why on earth are these beings hanging out in spaceships all the time, and don't they have anything else to do?

It's an old argument, but valid: Why don't these blobby ships ever have any detail, when I can set up a telescope in my back yard and count craters on the moon? Maybe they haven't completely "phased in to 3D", but why not? Are the aliens so afraid of us? These advanced "by billions of years" civiliazations, with technology that has apparently deactivated nuclear weapons from a distance and can perform impossible feats of speed and dexterity... these powerful wise beings become shy wallflowers, twinkling shyly from a distance before vanishing and reappearing and then whipping away as if scared half to peices by how close they came to those scary earth folks with the green laser pens (all of whom swear like sailors when they see UFOs).

And why do they need physical ships given that they can reach all points of the universe at all times, and can zip around however and wherever they want in their"light bodies?" If they need to be there in corporeal flesh, just "bi-laterally" manifest in two places at once, a skill I'm very eager to develop. And, since they're all mind-melded (I do not want that) why do they go anywhere ever? They already KNOW.

My sinking feeling sank deeper as I tried, and failed, to reconcile the discordant visions I was given: Ships appear to be made of fuzzy colored light inhabited by whispy glowing ghost-beings but we are sternly told these are NOT nebulous paranormal manifestations from a spiritual realm, but manufactured, solid, material high-tech machines inhabited by sentient people in breathing, eating bodies, just like us. I know I sound mocking, but I'm not entirely. I get how this could be a possible sort of thing... but it's not really explained very well in this documentary and it seems that when we see photos that look solid and real, they also look solidly fake... and the light blobs aren't something I can imagine anyone sitting and sleeping and going to the bathroom in.

I'm tired of all the alien flirting and winking, lights behind clouds, crop circles, fuzzy circles chasing airplanes, all these hints and whispers, but they never just walk over and say "hey, not to be pushy, but y'all seem a bit lost. Can we help? At least give you some tips and tricks? Or just let you know we're here, sorry about the time we took to just say it."

Why not just pop into 3D and fly down to the small group of nice people in New Mexico? Let them run their hands over the cold, smooth surface of the silver ship, let them touch your warm hands / tentacles / paws, maybe a bit nervously, and say "I'm so glad we finally get to meet in person." Be polite, damn it, or stop teasing.

Soon? Please? Because it feels like we're just about to push things too far, about to hear the final crashing rumble of everything falling apart at last and forever. We seem helpless to stop it. Greer tells us that most of us are good, we're just being led poorly, but why do we put bad people in power? Or do we become bad when given power? Why does it seem that the very worst get to do the very most? What makes them so hungry that they grab onto more resources than they could consume in a thousand lifetimes? They can and will do anything to keep you from getting any, but they cannot use it themselves, so what is it?

Would I be the same way? Maybe. As Dr. Greer has become better known, he seems to be getting an unhealtrhy hunger. Charging thousands to spread knowledge, so that only a very few can learn the magic. Selling a poorly-programmed app apparently needed for contact and communication among The Doubtless.

This is a poor review of the documentary, it's more about how it left me feeling, but this documentary is supposed to make you feel something, and so maybe that's the correct focus. I really want to just try,calling out, see what happens, but I've been warned, entering into this as a skeptic or with hostility, the space folk will not manifest. This is exactly what I was told as a kid in church when it came to any of God's more impressive manifestations, and so I never got to speak in tongues, see visions, watch healings. I Ico desert. .

And that just seems kind of petty. What, we should all just hand over our credit cards to the pop-up people?

You might enjoy the documentary, my friend certainly did. Perhaps when I hear stories about the lights and the healing aliens from somone I know so well, I'll finally believe myself. (Or maybe I'll manage to shut down the laptop before every bit of data is stolen.)
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I Care a Lot (2020)
1/10
Oh, I wish I'd checked the reviews two hours ago
22 February 2021
What an utter waste of my time, and an insult to the actors involved and my own intelligence. Don't even bother. I'm glad I had it playing in the background as I did other work.
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Lifechanger (2018)
1/10
I really wish I'd skipped this one
25 June 2019
Yet another movie I was lured into watching because I looked at the average rating, but didn't bother to look at the actual reviews. If I had done so, I would've noticed the usual oddly consistent, highly positive early reviews, followed by comments written by unhappy reviewers who seem to have seen the movie I did, not the marvel of modern filmmaking the early reviewers watched.

I fell asleep at one point for 15 - 20 minutes, and didn't even bother to go back and watch what I'd missed -- I'd already seen the same basic scene played out three times, didn't really need to watch number four to get the idea of what had happened.

When I woke, I paused to see how much time was left, and if there'd been more than 15 minutes, I wouldn't have bothered to finish. Alas, I did finish.

The ending annoyed me so much that I wish I'd stopped before I got there. One of those "deep" endings that I suspect is written because no one can figure out how to end the movie. It explained nothing, resolved nothing and in the end, this was for me another utterly bland, unoriginal, dull movie I watched only because Netflix pushed it a bit and suggested I'd like it. I guess I did get a short nap, so some good came of this.

I know a lot of people put a lot of time, effort and money into this, and I wish for their sake and mine that it had paid off. I guess it did, for them -- at least they got money for their effort.

You and I are just about finished, Netflix.
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The Incident (2014)
1/10
Seriously??
5 May 2019
Another piece of dreck promoted by Netflix. I was lured in by the 6 star rating, and started the movie with genuine anticipation. Less than 30 minutes in I got that sinking "have I been conned again?" feeling. The best part of the entire experience was reading the elaborate over-the-top sycophantic 9 and 10 star reviews, written to pad the ratings. I think the producer would have been better off hiring these writers to put the script together instead of the reviews. The result may have been some pseudo-Victorian / Shakespearean mishmash of convoluted hyperbole, but it would've been a hell of a lot more watchable.

In short: you've been warned. It ain't worth it. Not even a little bit. If you want something well-executed with a not dissimilar sort of storyline, watch "The Endless" instead. . There's an example of a low budget but compelling film.

Since not everyone here saw this movie on Netflix, I'll save this bit for the end, since it's no longer possible to express opinions on Netflix. This is the third movie in as many weeks suggested by Netflix that turned out to be not only bad, but INSULTINGLY bad. And I'm paying to see this?
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Into the Dark (2018–2021)
2/10
I've surely got better things to do
10 October 2018
I'm exactly hallway through this movie, and just said to myself "why the hell am I still watching this?" I like this kind of film, I'm not even all that picky. This .. I don't even know where this muddled, dull, mess of boring characters is trying to go, and I do not care to find out. I'm disappointed at 41 minutes, and have seen too many movies in my life to think this is going anywhere even mildly interesting.
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The Midnight Man (III) (2016)
4/10
Most of the good stuff is gone too soon...
15 September 2018
This movie startzs with a fantastic intro. If you're reading reviews to decide if the movie is worth your time, I suggest you at least watch the beginning: Three very young people playing a game much too dark and dangerous, in a massive unlit pile of a home, with a couple of excellent effects.

The rest of the film, not so much. I enjoyed it for awhile, then began to get restless, then annoyed, as the plot began to utterly lose its way, the monster began to sound more crabby than scary, and the toneless drone of the main character's voice began to annoy me, particularly when she attempted to display any strong emotion. (She raises her voice, and contorts her features slightly. It's up to the viewer to guess the emotion based on the context in which it is displayed.)

I didn't even finish watching, although, to be fair, I'm sure I'll wrap it up today...maybe the end will be as strong as the start. Even so, this isn't a great movie... But it's not all THAT bad, and with a better script, could have been quite good.
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Caught (I) (2017)
2/10
I should've read the reviews first... save yourself
24 July 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Look, I get the whole idea of a film that doesn't spell out every detail for the audience. I have thoroughly enjoyed such films in the past. I did not enjoy this. The sad thing is, I saw a preview for this movie some time back, and have been trying to recall the title for months, because I really thought it looked like a great movie. By some conincidence, I was thinking about it again this evening when suddenly my desire was made manifest, and an ad for the film-- on a no-charge streaming channel!--suddenly appeared on my television. The fact that it was nearly 1am didn't stop me from watching immediately, even though it wasn't likely that the film would vanish overnight. If I had waited, and the film had vanished, I would be well-rested and not annoyed by having wasted my night's rest on a half-baked, unresolved and ultimately frustrating movie experience.

It's a beautifully filmed movie with a lot of fascinating moments, but ultimately I felt as if I'd overheard an interesting snippet of conversation before moving out of earshot -- never to know how it began or ended, and ultimately, not caring much.

Yes, the acting is quite good. Yes, the movie has some thoroughly creepy moments. But it was in no way satisfying for me. I also didn't at all understand the motivation of those who sent "Mr and Mrs Blair" to the house. If the .. er ... aliens? Mutants? Other-Dimensional-Beings? knew they'd been photographed, and for whatever reason this was a huge problem for them (maybe they shouldn't hang out around inhabited sites with a military presence?) why didn't they just scrabble and lurch over to the copulating couple, vomit and spit on them a few times (eventually giving up on the venomous saliva idea), bashing in their heads with a convenient rock and then scuttling away with the camera?

Why send heavily disguised agents to spit on, torment, scream at, show flashes of near-understanding that humanity could be a beautiful thing, hint at a hive mind, puzzle over voice recorders and music players (but they understand cameras? and can put together perfectly lovely (albeit short-lived) human skinsuits?) wait patiently for photos to be developed in order to see the one that proved their existence or whatever it proved (we never get to see it, another fun chance for YOU to use YOUR imagination)... and yet they seem incapable of understanding or even having an awareness of human military, human journalists (or hobby photography), journalism, babies, families, and never do understand that drooling thick gray saliva onto someone is not ever going to do what you're clearly hoping it's going to do, so you may as well give up and grab a rock.

May I say that my one moment of startled, unrestrained laughter was when we saw the small boy fleeing for his life with his baby sister in his arms? There is a young man who does not understand the concept of "run" in any way.

Not sure why I wrote this review. I guess so I could vent a bit of spleen, since I'll now work to forget I saw this after trying to remember it for these many months. Oh, and perhaps to push some version of me into making better choices for his or her evening.
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Stephanie (I) (2017)
7/10
I thought it was good
13 June 2018
I genuinely enjoyed this movie. It was a bit different than I expected -- the reviews I read described scenes that are no longer in the film. Apparently the movie initially cut back and forth between Stephanie at home alone, and what was happening in the outside world. Limiting the story to the house and to Stephanie is a definite improvement. Heck, just watching little Stephanie preparing her meals in the adult-supervision-definitely-required kitchen was terrifying.

At least one review on here mentions unresolved plot lines that were most definitely covered, so I wonder if even the reviews here are spanning different versions.

Personally, I thought it was an enjoyable movie. Sure, the story has been told before, but it's a good story, told well. I thought things began to drag a bit once Stephanie's parents arrived and tried to bring things back to normal, but not so much that I lost interest in what was happening. I was particularly impressed by the acting of her mother (Anna Torv). Frank Grillo as the father struck me as rather wooden and one-note in his role, especially when it was time for his character to show some genuine pain and sorrow. And Shree Crooks was incredible -- particularly given that a goodly portion of this film is a one-kid show... just her, the stuffed toy turtle Francis and... well... ugh. You'll have to watch it to find out who else (or what else) might be keeping sweet little Stephanie company.
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2/10
Ugh... save yourself some time, mooooove on
8 May 2017
Okay, I would probably give this three stars except for the glaringly obvious fake reviews that bumped the rating points enough that I wasted time trying to watch this clunker. It's not good. It's really not.

I get how incredibly time-consuming, complicated, expensive, exhausting and exhilarating it must be to make and be part of the community that pulls any production together. Maybe by the time it's all over and the people involved get to watch what they've made, they can't help but love it.

I wasn't one of those people. I'm one of the people who watches films like this and wonders who on earth invested the time, money and talent and still ended up with something so dull and clichéd. It must be worth it at some point -- but it's surely frustrating for people like myself who wanted to invest a quiet weeknight in an enjoyable movie, and instead got suckered into a time-waster like this. It's not even that I'm particularly picky or jaded -- this is just a dull movie with slow-moving scenes, and the kind of plot you can predict the next scene or twist with nearly 100% accuracy.
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