Change Your Image
poolofzenda
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Part 2 (1996)
Not as good as the firstl, but still a good watch.
This sequel lacks the original's star actor and does not quite measure up to it, but "Mask of sanity" is still well worth a watch.
Set ten years after the first film it stars Neil Giuntoli as Henry, Rich Komenich as Kai, Kate Walsh as Cricket and Carri Levinson as Louisa.
Henry continues his killing spree after getting a job at a porta-loo company and he moves in with fellow worker kai and his wife Cricket.
Ignore the low scores, for a fan of indie cinema this follow up is pretty decent. Pretty much a rehash of the plot of the original, but well done, decent acting and cinematography.
7/10.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: A Shadow of the Past (2022)
A not bad start....but we've been here before.
Episode 1 - A Shadow of the Past.
Forget everything you've known....
A young girl that is the key to everything....
Destroy the past, kill it if you have to.....
The usual tropes that are here, the bulldozer ideology that have seen the destruction of franchises like Star Wars, Doctor Who, Star Trek, every comic book you have read....they are all here doing the same thing in a different setting.
It's difficult to believe this series was produced for any other reason than to call its detractors names and no doubt we will be....but I'm gonna give it a try anyway.
"I hear Galadriel is a warrior now father" says the old man to the priest from across the stone wall.
So after the obligatory intro of Galadriel being bullied at elf school we fast forward to the arrival of middle Earth and a fellowship that is led by our heroine who is the only member who seems to know anything of what is going on like a nursery school teacher go in search of Sauron.
So after a long search they end up in Orthanc? In a fight with a Snow Troll....the situation looks hopeless and the outlook grim....then Galadrial overpowered as expected dispatches the troll within seconds of her sword being drawn.
This remarkable show of strength is not enough to stop a mutiny as the pale, stale males of the company announce they are all going home.
So we leave this scene to a cornfield where a couple of travellers look to be on a Harfoot hunt, but those pesky proto-hobbits manage to outwit them by hiding and we find ourselves in a Hobbitoneque scene being introduced to a diverse bunch of little people.
It looks like a warg is going to cause trouble before we pivot back to the elves is a idyllic forest dwelling Lindon, capital of the high elves. Elrond the only half-elven seems to have been left out of the high council due no doubt to unpure bloodline and he is being elfsplained to by Galadriel back from her sojourn in the darklands.
Back to the straight out of Donegal Harfoots "Elenor Brandyfoot" (not Brandyfeet!!!) and we get our first name check of our gener-swapped Bilbo/Frodo no doubt heroine to be who expresses a desire for goings-on outwith the enclave they find themselves in.
Pivot to the Elven high council for a crowning session declaring "days of peace" where it in anounced by David Cameron 3 of them including Galadriel are going home to the Grey Havens.....she does not look chuffed at this news and after a wee emotional chat with Elrond who tries to dissuade her announces she is staying in middle Earth to chase Sauron.
Onward to a village Tirharad in the Southlands, the lands of men and two cloaked figures make their way to the local tavern. One of them is revealed to be an elf, Tuvok or Arondir or something I forget which and the barkeep asks where he has been the past couple of weeks.
Arondir is subject to some racial slurs about his "knife ears" from a young lad but it is soon over and he goes in search of the pretty landlord's daughter type Bronwyn who left the tavern when he entered.
Arondir and his companion get notice that their outpost is disbanding and they will be leaving.
Arondir then searches out his love interest who appears to have a son with his ears overtly hidden so I'm going to assume he is going to be half elven and possibly Arondir's son....but we shall see.
Cue to a farmer who calls about a sick cow with black ectoplasm coming out her udder and something is afoot and our couple are off on a quest.
We now go to a ship with Galadriel doing her best Yara Greyjoy impression and then to Elrond and David Cameron who turns out to be Gil-galad moaning about her going off on a jaunt when she should be mincing about a wood messing with mirrors.
Back to the proto-Hobbits and Sadoc (Lenny Henry) stating to Elanor She is a bit tookish in her makeup.
Bronwyn and Arondir find the village they are going to Michael? Hordern on fire after having a chat about how unloyal the townsfolk were and how she is Arondir's "only kind touch of all his days in this land".
Back to Galadriel who has seemingly decided to sail to the Grey Havens after all and the heavens part to a glorious light and it seems something has fallen to Earth? While we see a meteor cross the skies near the Harfoot encampment what is this wizzardry?
The end scene shows Elanor finding ground zero of the meteor and a chap with a grey beard lying in it's fiery middle.
Ultimately.... I enjoyed this....even though I kinda didn't want to after the dreadful trailers it piqued my interest, the characters seemed curious enough for me to go onto the second episode.
I'm sure I'm being conned in some kind of bait and switch where the big-bad will end up wearing a red cap shouting make mordor great again just in time for the mid-terms, but we shall see.
4/5.
Das Boot (2018)
Missed oppertunity
The Good....
Acting and the Score.....
The Bad....
Cinematography....lack of suspense.
The Ugly.....
Modern sensibilities.....
I'm halfway through the second season and I'm struggling to finish it....the onshore storyline seems like a bad take on "Secret Army" and the Boat lacks any of the claustrophobia of the original.
Funded by the EU so I was expecting a sanitised social justice type affair and that's what I seem to be getting.
I shall battle on to the third series which seems to have better rating but I'm hoping it is all over soon so I can rewatch the original.
Such a disappointment....history told the way those funding wish it to be rather than what it actually was.
House of the Dragon (2022)
Production good, story lacking.
Good sets, the acting is promising, the characters mildly interesting.
Once bitten twice shy.....I am reluctant to invest time and thinking in this series given the debacle that was the Game of Thrones wrap up....but I will give it a chance.
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
Long, Boring, Unfunny.
Long, Boring, Unfunny.
The cast, scenery, cinematography and score are all there to make this of a similar standard to "Time Bandits" or "Life of Brian" but the plot is a meandering load of guff and all the characters shallow and unlikable.
4/10 - Missable.
Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020)
Star Drek
Unfunny, chaotic, vapid, unwanted.
This does not even merit the name "Lower Decks" which is a fine TNG episode.
Star Trek has went the way of the Dodo, like Star Wars and Doctor Who the people who are custodians of the franchise clearly do not understand it.
The Orville: The Road Not Taken (2019)
They stopped parodying Star Trek...
....better than Star Trek can do Star Trek.....and are doing Star wars better than Star Wars can do Star Wars.
I'm only half-way though the episode at the time of writing....it was so good I had to stop for a breath.
I'm betting on this episode just getting better....The Orville makes us rich beyond the dreams of Avarice.
Back into the fray I go!!!
* Finished....what can I say? No superlative seems adequate.
Captain Marvel (2019)
Not terrible, but not great.
I might have enjoyed this more with a likeable lead actress, 2 hours of watching her look like she is chewing a wasp does not endear me to the character.
90's nostalgia was fun, but not enough to make me buy the blu-ray.