BigMak2012 Reviews

I Origins (2014)

The whole movie is a travesty

[15 May 2016]

This movie is a travesty. The concepts they show are utterly flawed. The protagonist want to show that the eye evolved "as a fact". That's the basic concept that is built on - that you can prove something as a fact. But in science nothing can be proved as a fact. And it's not a bad thing. Why and how - that will need a lengthy discussion and is out of scope for a movie review.

Now you can argue, "so what the concepts are flawed? It's a movie for crying out loud. We watch it for entertainment." Which is my very next point - it has zero entertainment value. I have seen 5 minute videos were more event occur than in this entire movie. They honestly could have fitted it into 5 minutes. That's what they should have done and not wasted my time.

It is full of clichés. So the movie has a spiritual bend to it. Where else to go other than - India. That's right. It would have been better had it been a comedy but the movies takes itself too seriously and ruins itself. It's mind numbingly boring and stupid.

The Mentalist (2008–2015)

A dumb show that pretends to be smart

[6 March 2016]

Patrick Jane can come to know things by mere observation, much like Sherlock Holmes (I am talking about the original character by A.C. Doyle). It's a really nice concept and it would make a great show. The only problem is, the conclusion he jumps to from his observation are wrong. In the real world he would make a lousy detective. About 10 minutes into the very first episode he says something like, "an innocent man would have punched me by now." It was really idiotic.

Let me give you an example. Let's say a husband gets the news that his wife was murdered. Which reaction would be more suspicious - 1. If he cries and is hysterical or 2. He is calm and stoic. If you think it's the second one, you're wrong. Most people would pick 2. Different people process emotions differently. That's why the comment, "an innocent man would have punched me by now" is laughable.

Bottom line: If you don't know much about human behavior, you might actually like the show. But if you understand it even a little bit, the flaws will just stare you in the face for you to enjoy this show.

Jack Reacher (2012)

A little disappointed

[7 June 2015]

Seeing it has 7 out of 10 rating, I was expecting a lot more than it delivered. For a movie to have that high rating, you would expect a solid plot-line with some good action.

The movie starts out brilliantly, the suspense builds gradually and things get more and more interesting up until about half of the movie. But then the plot unfolds into an anticlimactic resolution. The story line is weak, sloppy, and unsatisfying. It felt like they focused so much on building the suspense, they gave little to no thought on how to drive it to resolution. The bad guy needs better motives. He didn't have much to gain for all the trouble that he went to. The action is at least better than the plot. It has its moments - car chases, gun fights, fist fights.

The movie is more like 5.5. It definitely doesn't deserve a 7. It is worth watching if you have two hours to kill and nothing better to do. There are definitely worse movies out there. Any movie is a good movie if your expectation is low enough.

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (2014)

I almost didn't watch it because I thought it was "just another science show"

[15 May 2015]

I have watched many a shows on science and the universe and thought this series wouldn't provide anything new. So I almost had decided not to watch it. I am so glad I did.

This is a brilliant show and THE BEST science TV show I have ever seen. I have seen 10 episodes so far and there are 3 left. I learned a lot! It talks about so many different things. It's not just about the universe and white dwarfs, black holes and supernovae. It talks about important findings and scientific milestones and also shows how some of the scientists came about finding out the things that they did.

This is one science show that everyone should watch. And I do mean everyone. It lives up to the hype completely. And did I tell you how gorgeous it looks!

I am so glad they made this. It's a masterpiece.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

At least the action was good

[4 May 2015]

Even though it's not as great a movie as its predecessor it is IMAX 3D... ahem... worthy. (Pun is bad and I should feel bad.) The special effects were awesome and I loved every bit of it. But I was confused by the storyline. Actually it's not so much confused by the storyline as confused by the lack thereof.

Confession time - I have never read a superhero comic book. The first time I heard of Ultron was the time I heard about this movie. When I got to know it's AI, I was like "Supercool. It will be like Skynet." If the AI program exists on the Internet, that means you would literally have to smash every piece of electronic on this planet to get rid of it. So I was expecting a really complex plot line.

So here is the actual story of Avengers: Age of Ultron -

*fight fight fight*

*middle part where you can check your phone and go get some more popcorn because nothing interesting happens.*

*fight fight fight*

Oops! Sorry I forgot to say spoiler alert.

How the Earth Was Made (2007 TV Movie)

Very good, although I expected a little more

[16 July 2011]

This is an informative and brilliantly presented documentary as it takes us on a ride through time covering almost any major topic on the evolution of the planet Earth and peeks at what the future possibly holds. It lacks on certain aspects though like people have pointed out different topics that didn't get the devotion they deserved such as the effect of human advancement on climate change etc. I agree with them and in addition I found one question conspicuous by its absence. It tells us how the atmosphere of Carbon Dioxide engendered at first which later got filled with Oxygen but it doesn't even mention where did all the Nitrogen come from that 78% of our atmosphere is composed of. But you can't really blame them, after all this is only a one and a half hour video.

All in all it was a great documentary, warts and all, and I will recommend it to anyone who is curious to know about our planet's past.

Disclaimer: Although I have lauded this film, I don't have expertise in geology and can't confirm the accuracy of the data presented in this documentary.