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The Gamers: Dorkness Rising (2008)
Enjoyable!
I had my doubts about this one, but as it turned out, the production values were almost there! On the one hand, the special effects needed some extra oomph, but they weren't half bad. The writing was pretty good too! I really like the concept of a new player coming in and having done their homework to a point that regulars are thrown for a loop! The acting, itself, leaves a bit to be desired, but again- it was also pretty decent overall. I tremendoisly loved the humorous anecdotes, analogies, game-enthusiast jabs and jokes, and the relentless ability of the entire gaming group to conspire against the DM and his carefull laid plans (lol).
Actual problems I saw:
1.) The odd off-relationship between the DM and the new gamer girl. I don't see why that couldn't have been developed a bit more to add some actual drama and feeling to the real-world gamers.
2.) I feel like some of the dramatic "antics" were a bit over the top and could have been less -dramatized- and more -acted with real feelings- in order to make the gamers seem more like real people.
3.) The whole thing with making all the gamers eccentric was too stereotypical. {My opinion here: In reality, there's usually only enough psychological room for 1 eccentric in a group of gamers...2 eccentrics in a group causes too much friction and the group tends to fall apart because their egos can't handle the (we'll call it) "stupid".}
Stargate Origins: Catherine (2018)
3 stars for the title and props...no stars for anything else.
I love Stargate (Original, Atlantis, Universe, the Movie...) anything, but this can't really be called Stargate. I feel like it was all a bad dream. The dialogue was terrible and terribly forced. It was akin to watching a "woke" guy acting like he was trying to tell a woman to shut-up for half the film and then there were the homosexual moments that came out of nowhere as though they were a prank by the director.
The actors/actresses were terrible. The CG was terrible. The green screen was terrible. Everything was terrible.
Except for the title and the props.
Vincent n'a pas d'écailles (2014)
This is NOT a superher movie...AT ALL. Really. I promise.
"A superhero story you've never seen before: Vincent is a quiet man who happens to have secret superpowers. When Vincent falls for a woman, and she discovers his super secret, his life is changed forever." - Some IDIOT at Amazon Prime
The ONLY thing that the synopsis from Amazon Prime has to do with this movie is about how the quiet Vincent has superpowers and falls for a woman. This is NOT a superhero story. This is not a story of a man whose life is changed. This isn't even a story about a woman "discovering" Vincent's superpowers.
Here's what this movie ended up being about (whether intended or not):
Vincent is a quiet man that gets by in life, but he has a secret- he's got superpowers! He tries not to reveal himself, but he meets a woman and he won't stand idly by while a friend is beaten, so he gets sloppy. Now Vincent is on the run. Will he get away? Yes. And he'll just have to start over from the beginning- which is exactly what it appears he was doing from the start of this movie as well.
I wasted 74 minutes of my life on this awful movie because I figured- well, if he's a super hero, it can't be ALL THAT BAD. IT WAS.
He wasn't a superhero. He was barely "super"... In fact, he was ONLY super when he was sopping wet. On the one hand, this is a great premise for a superhero character. On the other hand, they did an awful job of making it any kind of a decent movie. The story fall completely flat. The "woman" that he likes ends up being particularly boring. She barely registers in the film. I'm pretty sure I saw a nut sack at one point :shudder:. At least we get to see Vimala Pons nude.
If anything, Vincent is actually a criminal- excessive force, battery, assault? Definitely destruction of private property.
Good Omens (2019)
Witty, intelligent, and a new take on Armageddon...
I love the take on heaven vs hell where the angels and demons just make assumptions and only one of each plays a role in the advocation of humanity. It's also brilliant that the Anti-Christ gets to have a choice just like the rest of humanity. I've never really put it together before, but Jesus, the Son of God, had a choice, so why wouldn't the Anti-Christ? It makes you really re-think the Armageddon prophecy.
Medici (2016)
Is it so much to ask, Hollywood?
I love the show. I think it's fantastic. However, Here is YET ANOTHER historically-based masterpiece that I can NOT watch with my family. Is it so much to ask that Hollywood make a clean show like this? A tiny bit more romance (not the kind with sex and nude bodies) would help develop the dramatic plot involving the characters' personal lives and let the historical developments do the heavy lifting! Homosexuality? I can watch a couple of guys kissing for a few seconds (THEN SKIP THE SEX - allude to it, trust me- WE'LL GET IT) with my family, but a couple of dudes going at it, (grunts, balls, asses and all) not a chance! My family (and most others) will not sit down and be OK with the characters on the show having sex. When a guy romances a girl or a girl teases a guy in a show- it can be comical, romantic, even tear-jerking... BUT WHEN SHE GRABS HIS DONG and they start doing to two-backed beast dance...that's TOO FAR.
So, it would just be nice to have an amazing show WITHOUT the sex. That is all.
Meskada (2010)
Honestly, great acting by all...but the ending is crap.
I found the story compelling and the cast's performance even more so. The grieving mother's displays of emotion feel far more realistic than most I have seen. I loved the setting, beautiful and dirty at the same time; just how a couple of small towns ought to look. I could almost smell the morning dew by the end of the movie or maybe that was the morning dew outside, seeing as it's 3am while I am writing this review. I thought that the director's choice of background music and accompaniments were splendid. Every stroke of the violin, every pluck of the bass, and every sound incorporated into the suspenseful moments of the story were excellently chosen. The entire movie long I was struggling not to yell at the screen, "He did it!", or "If only...". The scared and narcissistic bad guys (respectively) also played their roles well. I never hated either of them until the end. The only thing I didn't like about this film was the ending. I won't give it away, because there is no fixing it without re-shooting the ending of the movie, and I hate it when people post spoilers.
Buried (2010)
Really?
What would you do if you were buried alive in a box while you were knocked unconscious during an Iraqi attack on your company's supply convoy, left only with a lighter, the clothes on your back, a flask of liquor, a cell phone, a writing utensil, some pills, and not much else? For crying out loud. I'm STILL watching this crap piece of film. Even as I write this review, I am painstakingly managing to live through this terrible movie.
I know, for a fact, that if I used a lighter to see that I was apparently buried in a box with a limited supply of air- the first thing I would NOT DO is I would NOT use my fricking lighter to burn away the oxygen. Another thing I wouldn't do is start breathing like I just finished running a marathon.
The entirety of the movie is filmed inside a box just slightly larger than the star, Ryan Reynolds.
He is made aware of a bag with glow sticks, a knife, a flashlight and a note telling him what to say in his soon to be self-filmed ransom video.
"F**k You, Dan."
I must say that the writers did add in some pretty good situational humor, but I don't really think Oh my god. He has anxiety problems. The pills are to relieve anxiety. He's breathing hard because of the anxiety and he hasn't thought to take a damn pill.
I have to say, the mistakes he has been making are almost worse than the mistakes made by hot blondes in horror flicks. Mistakes like running up the stairs to get away from a killer are foolish, but there are still options overall. Making the mistake of not conserving your air supply- that doesn't leave any options. You run out of air- then you die. Simple.
OK, I'm done writing this review. I have pretty much covered all of the first 50 minutes of the movie. This is a terrible film. Shame on you Ryan Reynolds. I love your work, but I wish you hadn't done this film.
I will say two positive things about this film. One, Ryan definitely brings out an A-class performance emotion-wise. Two, the writers have a pretty decent sense of humor.
Falling Skies (2011)
Falling Skies has it's good and bad points- like every other show.
I began watching Falling Skies about a week and a half ago. I thought it looked interesting, so I decided to check the premier out. I originally thought that the FX and the CG would be terrible, just like most science fiction shows these days, but once I saw how realistic feeling the skitters/cooties were I decided to watch the entire season.
I was disappointed in the season finale because of some of the graphics. I won't spoil it for anyone though, the show is still great regardless of the faux pas.
Throughout the show there have been numerous unbelievable circumstances. Surviving when they shouldn't have, making the most ridiculous mistakes, and even up-playing and shortly after down-playing some of the darker aspects of human nature are just a few of the mistakes made throughout the show. I even felt that they really didn't give a full enough feeling of a resistance because they split the surviving groups into the 1st through 5th Massachusetts and sent each group on their way without ever checking in on them. I understand that the focus is on the 2nd Mass, but there's a limit to how much you can focus while keeping the image of a resistance believable. Bringing in one or two key characters from the other Mass's every 3 episodes or so just isn't enough.
There's plenty of flaws with this show.
However, despite all the problems I have with this show, I love it! Falling Skies is brilliant. One of the good things about the show is that they aren't afraid to seriously wound or just plain kill off a main character. When a character gets shot- that character stays shot! I've seen so many shows where it is almost as if they think- "out of sight- out of mind". I have always hated it whenever a character gets a serious injury and a mere two episodes later that character is just fine and dandy and doesn't even have the slightest hint of ever being hurt. (No limps, no wincing from strain, no psychological effects of trauma.) Falling skies has also given a very good depiction of how (at least in my own mind) humanity would deal with such a ferocious and demeaning onslaught from an invading alien race that does what the skitters/cooties do in the show. I've really liked how the show develops the relationships of these people who have only known each other for a month before the beginning of the show.
When the show first begins and the groups separate, Weaver and Mason are thrown together in the 2nd Mass and neither one likes the thought of having to work with the other, but they follow their orders. During the course of the show you see their opinions of each other change, slowly, but surely.
I saw that another reviewer said that the show seemed to expect its' viewers to identify with the characters right off the bat. The thing is- it's hard to identify with any characters that aren't in a truly real-life situation that one has already experienced in their own life. The identifying with the characters should really only be from a standpoint of if you have lost a loved one at any given point in time and were distraught,and then a war broke out in your front yard essentially evicting you from your home and taking all the amenities of your everyday life away- how would you react? There is no correct answer and I believe that Falling Skies has done a wonderful job of showing how people in that situation would react in so many different ways.
One way or another, Falling Skies is a fantastic view. I recommend this show to anyone that likes a good suspense/sci-fi/drama.
Freedom Writers (2007)
This movie is beautiful..
All throughout this film the actors/actresses put so much feeling into their lines and their performances that they almost felt real to me.
The only problem I had was how quickly the turnover for the students acceleration was and how they all seemed to know how to use a computer even though none of them new about some of the basics of educational literary material.
Even that minor flaw, however, was overturned as I watched how the classroom became a safe haven for the students, and how even through trials and tribulations, Miss G. and her students triumphed over it all.
PS ~ Patrick Dempsey's a [ jerk ).