tmkara Reviews

The Last Man on Planet Earth (1999 TV Movie)

Surprisingly thought provoking

[22 January 2017]

This made for TV movie takes a large chunk of inspiration from Huxley's Brave New World - natural reproduction is replaced by cloning (and in the case of the dual protagonist, Adam, by "synthesis"). The new society strives to be utopian, but has a grim, dystopian side. The plot is unique, though, in that it deals with dark aspects of militant, lesbian feminism. Camille Paglia would appreciate this story! The most telling line in the film is where Adam says "violence is not genetic" (meaning actually, "not determined by gender"). Another intriguing aspect of the film's social commentary is its take on conspiracy theories and official truth, and how politics is politics no matter who is in charge. From the standpoint of cinematic excellence, this is clearly not Academy Award material. Of course, it was made for TV and presumably didn't have a large budget. I was surprised though, at the depth of ideas and the acting was good. Worth seeing.

Hell or High Water (II) (2016)

An unoriginal story with little to redeem it

[1/10 · 22 January 2017]

The movie fails due to lack of originality - of plot, of script, of presentation (I'm talking about often muffled dialog, so bad that I actually turned on the English subtitles when turning up the sound didn't help). There is truly little that isn't a cliché. While there is plenty to criticize in modern American society, the story overemphasizes stereotypes. One is given a picture of rural dysfunctionality on par with a Trump stump speech. This is particularly evident when the two brothers are confronted by young punks at a gas station who for no reason verbally assault them and then threaten them with guns. At a time when conceal/carry has become commonplace (especially in places like Texas) this encounter is worse than stupidly suicidal. More importantly, it adds little (or nothing) to the already lacking plot. Robbing banks to pay off the mortgage isn't much to start with,but I'm sure someone with more imagination could have come up with something better than the weak twist we're given at the end.