Change Your Image
Ru
Reviews
Myst III: Exile (2001)
Go and buy a new computer
The previous comment of "wow" hardly covers it. This series just gets better and better. There are very few cast members in this, but those who are there do their job just fine. Picking Brad Dourif to have another go at his familiar nutcase role was a good idea, and as his is the character you see most of, this has payed off excellently. If you don't have a computer with a good enough spec to run it, go and buy a new one.
The Hitcher (1986)
Effective, if unoriginal, shocker
Above-average thriller with a rudimentary plot, it's basically a remake of The Terminator without the sci-fi trappings. Unfortunately, this shows up the gaping chasms in the logic of the plot that sci-fi can cover more easily (no-one would really behave like that - and I mean Halsey not Ryder). Still, it's effective enough to be scary; Howell is very good and Hauer's only been better once. A worth-while rental.
The Matrix (1999)
Cyber wonderland
This is an action film that makes you think, at least a little. The plot doesn't stand up to much scrutiny (I can't believe it was supposed to), and borrows quite a lot from elsewhere, the backstory from The Terminator being the most obvious, but having said that, there is a great deal more going on below the surface. What is reality? How do we know that what we see is real? Does Fate exist, or do we just think it does with hindsight?
As Neo follows Alice's route through a dystopian Wonderland (following the white rabbit, the pill/potion and cookie/cake, the cat, the teaparty in the messroom complete with Mouse, the people who turn into a pig, although not one quite like the Duchess's baby, and others you can spot for yourself) the real becomes the surreal, which in turn becomes all too real. In the end we emerge from the rabbit hole to wake to our own reality, good or bad.
See this film. Marvel at the effects, but think about what it's saying.
Troops (1997)
A very clever short.
This is a very clever short film showing the basic events on Tatooine in A New Hope from the perspective of the stormtroopers. It manages to clarify a few things from the actual film, and if it doesn't quite make you symapthise with the troopers, it at least makes you think about life in the Empire for the ordinary majority of its citizens. I've only seen this on an internet site - it deserves some sort of proper release and proper credit for a smart bit of work.
The Quest (1996)
This film is so bad it's funny. Almost.
This is the worst film I have ever paid money to see, and that includes "The Lawnmower Man". It's so bad it's funny, which is its only selling point. The prolgue/epilogues (all of them!) are totally pointless, and just make it even more of a shambles that it already is. Even the fight scenes are poor: this is a van Damme film, it's the fights we want! The best performance in the thing is from Roger Moore - it's that bad.