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northstarseeker
Reviews
The Third Day (2020)
You'll be reminded of other cultish movies you've seen...
The acting is great. Jude Law has quite an incredible range here. At some points he's charming and at other points he's terrifying. The kids in the second half do a great job, too. The visuals in the first half are stunning. Some events in the story make you roll your eyes a few times, which is why I gave it 7 stars.
You'll see pieces of Wicker Man, Midsommar, and other sacrifice/cult movies you've seen before. This one has a few new ideas thrown in to make it just different enough.
The Alienist: Angel of Darkness: Belly of the Beast (2020)
This season isn't just about the mystery of the stolen babies.
I see some people complained because they don't know what more could be done in this season to solve the mystery. However, this show is about more then the mystery. It's about the relationships between the characters. The love scene at the end is beautiful and was so obviously directed/designed by a woman, thankfully. The show is called the Alienist because it's about psychology and profiling, seemingly of everyone, including the lead alienist. Solving a mystery is simply the vehicle the show uses to showcase the use of psychology and profiling in criminology. As for the mystery of the stolen babies, we still have yet to see how/if the culprit will come to justice.
Door in the Woods (2019)
Great supernatural, scary story!
After seeing some of the ratings and reviews here I was worried. Now that I've seen it, I feel compelled to write this review to balance all the lower ratings and negative reviews.This movie has nothing gross or shocking for fans of horror movies who need those things. The acting is good, and the horror is subtle, building the mood, creating dread, and ending with a great twist. I quickly loved the characters and their quirks. The use of the deaf psychic feels like an homage to Stephen King and the helpers he often has in his stories. The unique use of sign-language symbolized for me all the supernatural things around us that we can't easily communicate with. I was impressed with how empathetic the parents are with their son's difficulties and how well the parents work together, something I wish we could see more of in movies. I also liked that the tension in the story isn't within the family, it's between the family and the Evil Thing, where it belongs. This movie is simple and relatively short, but it has heart and a great sense of foreboding. I love how the last scene left me satisfied, but also felt like something Evil had given the audience a slow wink with a creepy smile. I won't look at a slim, bright red door the same way again... Well done.
Jamestown (2017)
Nice sets and costuming, but no originality.
I love period pieces and hoped this one would be entertaining. I also count on PBS to provide drama without disturbing story lines. Unfortunately, in less than a half hour of the 1st episode, one of the women is raped. Now, I'm sure most would see this as somewhat inevitable at some point in the story, as the plot is about the 1st women to settle Jamestown after the men have been there for 12 years. However, using rape as a way to stir up drama and emotions to get people interested in a show is a misogynistic, superficial plot tool. I felt the same way when it was used in Downton Abbey even though I love that show. The writers on Masterpiece should do better.
The Martian (2015)
Good enough that I didn't notice the Over-2-hours movie length!
I don't think I have any spoilers here, but now I'm worried because people see things differently, so I'm marking this with at least one possible spoiler. My review is best for those who read the book & are curious about how the movie compares. The movie did a good job of condensing the book so many challenges Watney faced could be felt/seen, even if all the details couldn't be told as in the book. As a science geek, I loved the book. Luckily the movie also did a good job of feeling like it could actually happen - a neat trick for sci-fi. All the tension can be felt in the action of Matt Damon & the direction of Ridley Scott. The great scale of things is well portrayed. (Possible spoiler ahead.) It's Watney's sense of humor that keeps him from going bonkers & Damon did a great job of showing this. But as someone who read the book, I missed some of the tension built by knowing just how dire things really were for Watney on Mars - how little he had to work with & how much mental work/physical exertion he had to expend for the smallest victories. Many of those details were lost in the movie - they must be for the sake of time and story- telling. Overall -Enjoyable!