Change Your Image
Jim-Eadon
Hobbies: Creator of Denn Starr comic strip.
Culica game inventor
Technologist
Writer
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
41 (2012)
This is my interpretation
Spoilers
My interpretation fo the movie. This actually isn't a genuine time travel movie, no one travels backwards through time, as the movie itself points out.
First clue: if it's a real time-travel movie, then it's ridiculous and has tons of plot holes and absurdities that the script writers were surely cogniscant of.
So, what could make the apparent absurdities and plot holes actually make sense? For me, there's one sensible explanation.
In the middle of the movie there is a scene where the student chats with some lecturers about the idea of writing a novel with time-travel. They give him some advice. This is the key to the whole movie. Next what happens is what I'm guessing: that the lad went away and wrote his novel, which was bad, as most writing by amateurs (and even professionals) is. This movie was a film that very (bad) novel that he wrote.
This meta-movie plot is the only explanation that makes any sense to me. As the idea of a time-machine under a toilet in a hotel can only make sense this way. As can all the other absurdities.
This is the most satisfying explanation, but the movie was still bad. They should have hired a nice actress, whom we could believe he wanted to save so much. This one had no charisma at all. In fact most of the actors were uninteresting. However, its an amateur movie, so understandable.
Horse Girl (2020)
Dreary, no matter what the interpretation
I enjoy quirky movies with great twists, but this isn't one. The first interpretation is, she's schitzophrenic, in which case, it's not a very interesting movie. That does explain how she can't remember things she did. She obviously was the one who "stole" her car, for example, and she cannot recall conversations and initial meetings with people. If she has a kind of multiple personality disorder, then it's explained. But it's a pretty dull movie.
The second interpretation is more interesting. She was onto the truth, and was part of a game by aliens, including genuine time travel. That would mean the horse passing the shop window scene, at the start and end of the movie was real, she was travelling through time. It would fit with her posessing her granny's frock. It would expain the claw-marks (aliens did it). And, at the end, it means she genuinely went back in time to "be" her own grandmother (again). But then you get fridge logic, where nothing makes sense. Why would she act totally crazy? It reminds me of the joke about aliens only abducting crazy people, because no one would believe them.
However, this time-travel twist is a weak pay-off for such a laboured movie, with uninteresting characters. Sure it's a twist, but it was a twist that was revealed by her speaking her theory (telling before showing). So it was entirely unsatisfying. A time travelling granny is not very compelling, is it? X-files episode stuff without the charm of the actors.
Yes, that's mad, so then we must conclude that the movie was just about mental illness. Unsatisfying either way.
The movie also had weird dialogue preaching (left) political propaganda, so the woke-ness of it made it even more unenjoyable. Avoid!
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
Go woke, go broke
All modern Hollywood movies are PC, they're downright woke. For me, it makes them unwatchable, and I boycott these SJW movies, not just as a protest, but I genuinely find them intensely irritating. Disney Star Wars being a case in point.
Compared to classic movies, modern movies are dumbed-down, soulless and shallow too.
Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)
PC lecture on the 60s
This is what I would expect from woke film-makers trying to make a cool movie about the 60s.
The opening was promising, but, as is so often the case, nowadays, the movie loses its way. The characters are unsympathetic, except for one who shows up early, but is not around for long.
By far the most annoying character was the singer.
Also there was no chemistry between the hippy sisters and the hippy who turns up later. In fact, there was no chemistry between any of them. The movie was dead, an exercise in copying Tarantino, who himself went drastically downhill after his second movie.
The movie does not resonate at all with what the magical 60s were about, it's trying to foist the PC 2010s onto the 60s.
Ready Player One (2018)
Great opening, then downhill
I was greatly entertained by this movie at first. Up to the point where the lad won the first key, it was fine, absolutely fine, and I enjoyed the manic rendering of the VR game and the race.
That exhilaration, was going to be hard to beat, and, sure enough, the movie fails to beat it. The lad was likeable, but the rest of the cast were so-so. There was no tension, and how are we supposed to respect a villain, when a women who works for him insults him so disdainfully.
This is an example of political correctness in movies destroying the movie. Yes, it panders to feminists, but it destroys the villain, who should be respected and feared, not put down and mocked.
We also get a tick-box set of nationalities as the cast, but there's no chemistry between the characters. All movies now are becoming the same.
Finally, there are a bunch of plot-holes, but I can forgive a movie like this for plot holes IF the movie is good, and sadly, after the first third, this was ho-hum.
The IOI corporation is mocked, but then again, but is corporate Hollywood any better?
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
Go woke, go broke
All modern Hollywood movies are PC, they're downright woke. For me, it makes them unwatchable, and I boycott these SJW movies, not just as a protest, but I genuinely find them intensely irritating. Disney Star Wars being a case in point.
Compared to classic movies, modern movies are dumbed-down, soulless and shallow too.
Line of Duty: Episode #5.6 (2019)
First three episodes were passable, five and six fell flat.
Aside from the tension of the scenes with the undercover cop early on, the series was dull. Episodes 5 and 6 were flat and anti-climactic.
Also the dialogue throughout was terrible. The acting was lousy too, possibly because the actors could see how ludicrous the plot was, particularly towards the end. Too many things did not make any sense.
Why did the undercover cop blow his cover in such a stupid and reckless manner? Why were the others expecting him to react like he did?
I wonder what happened to the female AC cop, she looks a bit haggard.
Having Hastings be the bent cop would have been the most satisfying and logical plot line. Having the obviously-bent lawyer bit-art lady be the villainess was neither here nor there.
Regarding the Hastings interrogation, wouldn't his serious protestations that he had been framed be investigated, prior to rushing to prosecution? It didn't seem realistic, in fact none of it was convincing, the more you think about it, the more nothing makes sense, nothing is plausible.
Every time "Dot" is mentioned, I was thinking about how lackluster this season was compared to the great couple of seasons.
Game of Thrones: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (2019)
PC preaching
The old magic is gone. What we have here is a Game of Thrones written by feminists. Preachy. Dull. Boring. Unrealistic. This is not fun, it's being lectured to.
Also the number of positive reviews, which are obviously written by shills, is shocking.
Line of Duty: Royal Hunting Ground (2017)
Bad plot
This season has unsympathetic characters doing stupid things. Any half decent professional detective would have found a million dodgy things wrong with the "murder", and figured it out immediately. But it took our heroes 6 episodes to figure out the obvious. Way too many plot holes. Evidence magically appearing, disappearing, people not asking obvious questions.
The first 2 series were great, then down hill.
Doctor Who: The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos (2018)
Bad writing is a consequence of a PC agenda
PC is the enemy of enjoyable writing, fun characters, creative language and exciting story telling.
So when people say, don't blame PC, blame the bad writing, the latter follows from the former.
You can have PC or you can have entertaining, enjoyable productions. Choose one.
The Gaffer: Goodbye (1983)
Great classic sit-com
From Britain when it was still Great! Wonderful characters. British humour. Clever plots.
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)
Midly entertaining but also irritating.
The best thing about the movie were the European locations. The movie is almost non-stop action and yet there was very little suspense. No doubt the direction was poor, but also the characters are invulnerable, there is never any doubt they will prevail.
Pegg was the comic relief but he always seems a bit forced to me. Like the bloke who played the Hobbit.
I never could buy the scientologist weirdo Cruise as an action guy, he's a pint pot mid-life crisis pretty boy. I was wondering how much this movie would be improved without him, he just seems to be on an ego trip.
Then there is the typical hollywood mythological woman who can kill assassins at will just by wrapping her legs around their necks. Yeah right. You might knock a gun out their hands, but they will have another gun, and you would be dead. And even if a knife fight - no chance.
Plus the plot holes and discontinuities are everywhere. The plans these guys have rely on million-to-one coincidences to work! The things these guys do really are impossible.
And of course, you're dealing with a world where there is zero security, the heroes can access and wonder around anywhere with impunity.
All this means that you're just watching set-pieces that you've seen before, only done better.
I was not expecting better, I just watch daft movies from time to time to see what modern block-buster making looks like.
And the fake positive reviews on this site - oh my!
Death Note (2017)
Could have been great
I am a sucker for movies with gimmicks like this. But this failed for a few reasons. The protagonist was OK, but the femme fatale girlfriend was only so-so. There was no discernable bond between the cop dad and son either. The young detective was extremely annoying.
I hear that this is based on Japanese anime, so I'll watch that.
Then there was the exposition, the kid states he's seen an 8 foot demon. Yes we know, you showed it us! Never spell out what you've shown us, this is seriously infuriating. If someone is too dumb to follow a simple plot then so what?
The demon seemed to be there as a kind of voice over deus ex machina. He was unnecessary, and made the movie goofy.
The light twists in this movie were the best thing about it, but they were in a vacuum.
I don't hate this movie in the way I hate, say, the new Starwars nonsense, it was mostly entertaining. But mistakes were made that stopped it being fun.
Justice League (2017)
No heart, no soul, bad characters, terrible dialogue
This is a plastic movie, artificial, brain-dead and irritating (Flash, Wonderwoman etc. are irritating).
There is no heart, so everything that happens feels inconsquential. Why is Hollywood so bad? Because it's a corporate system, souless and dead.
Quarantine (2008)
Inept remake of Rec
Rec was Blair witch set in an apartment block with zombies. The horror in Rec was down to highly skilled movie crafting. The plot, script, direction and acting were great. It was a visceral horror movie.
All this movie had to do was copy that well. But it copied it badly. In Rec there were some stunning moments. This movie copied those moments, but the timing was wrong, the set-up was wrong. It was actually interesting how bad this copy was, it has given me an even higher appreciation of the original.
Also the actors in this movie were generic hollywood types. All very dull.
The lead actress seemed like she was trying to act scared. In fact, all the acting in this remake was unconvincing. How could they fail? They knew what to do before filming!
I did quite enjoy the banter at the start, which was the only engaging part of the entire movie.
The Sweeney: Golden Boy (1975)
A good old fashioned crime caper
The epi is, of course, about a crime, many a movie follows the same plot and tactics - but this is done in Sweeney style! It's more about the characters than the plot.
Europa Report (2013)
Suspense Free
Boring characters. They should have got rid of the Nasa woman completely, her naration was unnecessary and dragged you out of the movie. We did not need to be spoon fed what was going on. Don't tell us. Show us.
Particularly at the end they should have ended it with the ship sinking. That would have been effective. But then they brought on the talk woman again, saying crass things. We don't care how she found the footage, a brief computer screen saying "transmitting" would have been fine.
A far better movie, which this movie was copying, was Sunshine. That movie had a ton of suspense, sure it was implausible, but it was exciting. This movie, like so many nowadays, was dull.
The acting was not that great either, I didn't sense they felt as if they were in peril, that they were experiencing fear and terror. Indeed the woman outside the ship was in great danger, yet she went and took huge risks. Hey, there's alien activity and my resources are running low in an ultra-hostile world. Let's go over and investigate!
Also interesting was the reaction of the pilot to deaths. White guy dies - not much reaction. White woman dies - not much reaction. Chinese guy dies. She cries.
Anyway - the moral is, don't treat your viewers at idiots. Just tell a story intelligently, don't explain it to us like children.
Banshee: A Mixture of Madness (2013)
Slide into mediocrity
My initial enthusiasm for the show subsided badly. It became way too unbelievable and in the end we had suspense free, generic action. The drama did not work. All the characters were total cretins. Their actions made no sense. I was cheering on the bad guy mooks at the end, because if the good guys are so dumb, they deserve to lose. Bad writing.
Banshee: Always the Cowboy (2013)
The show has lost me
The first problem, I feel, is that there isn't much - in some cases - no - chemistry between the leads. Possibly the problem is with the lead female, who seems a bit, unlikeable. As she's so unlikeable then there's no drama really. Her husband will be better off without the lying witch, and ditto the anti-hero. The Rabbit character is way too chatty and the menace that the character had to start with has gone. The scene where he infiltrates the family home was supposed to be deadly tense, yet felt forced and unconvincing.
Also there are the plot holes - characters acting in completely irrational ways. And the lead females face would be bruised and extremely swollen after the pummeling she got, not just scratched. Not to mention all her other injuries.
I also lost interest in the anti-hero somewhat. It all went downhill after the superb episode 3 (I think it was). Still, it's not terrible, but I was hoping for more.
Banshee: We Shall Live Forever (2013)
Nonsense - this really killed my respect for the series
This episode expects us to believe that a professional assassin and nutjob cannot defeat a weakly-built female, who somehow is able to survive a pasting from a muscle-bound psycho. You see this a lot in modern movies / series and immdiately it kills my suspension of disbelief and I begin to dislike the movie / series.
Banshee: Meet the New Boss (2013)
Incredible epi
This series started well and now is going off the scale. Incredible! This is, at least 3 episodes in, by far the best series I've seen since Game Of Thrones, Breaking Bad and Hannibal. The protagonist is up there with anti-heroes like Dexter, Dr House, Hannibal Lecter and Walter White. The rest of the cast are great too.
And, oh my, I cannot remember an episode getting me this pumped up! It's manipulative stuff, but it's so well done!
Banshee: The Rave (2013)
Gripping stuff
This is more like it! A story and script that are superb. Here we have great drama and superb characters, nearly all of whom you care about. I really miss this kind of show, which is so rare these days.
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
This is Disney trash, not Star Wars
This movie was, like the Abrams movie, horrible. We need a rebellion against Disney nonsense: these are movies presumably made by a politically correct HR committee. Bland. Man-shaming, whites-hating propaganda.
Luke Skywalker was reduced to a coward. And they also have the bad guy be a coward, all this man-shaming means that there is no tension. Even the guy who saves everyone is shamed by snotty female characters. Where's the Star Wars magic. I actually enjoyed the prequals. But here, none of the "hero" characters were engaging, in fact they were just anoying. And the script was dire. Terrible plot. Terrible lines. "You can do this", "We've got to finish this"... Avoid this movie unless you like some SFX eye candy, but, casino scene aside, even that wasn't great.
Britannia (2017)
Fun spoiled by Political Correctness
This is a series evidently inspired by Game of Thrones. But unlike the earliest and best seasons of GoT, this British series is too politically correct. This kills all the fun. Whenever one sees an ethnic character who is completely out of place from a historical perspective, it tears one out of the story. Every time you see weak women defeat professional soldiers one is thinking about the feminisation of the media, which is all about man-shaming, making men look stupid compared to women all the time. This kills the fun, it's painful to watch.
The Great Gatsby (2013)
Mixed feelings
For me the most enjoyable element of the movie were the nostalgia-like reconstructions of the historical city. Sure some scenes seemed slightly fake in places but the CGI was generally remarkably good and I loved the feeling of going back in time. Of course watching Black and White movies really do take you back, but, and I hate to admit this, colour does add that extra dimension. The rest of the movie fails somewhat. Modern Hollywood movies are generally acted pretty well except for one vital element - chemistry. Chemistry is missing so often in modern movies I'm wandering what the matter is. The leads seem somehow miscast. Toby M. seems too wimpy, the lady was not charismatic and Gatsby lacked presence. Tom was the only actor who did seem genuine. As for music, that was horribly judged. They put all the effort into the visuals to make us feel part of an historical world, then yank us out of it by playing modern crap like Rap. Note to filmmakers, Rap is cliché now, pretentiously besmirching a movie with it does not make your film hip with the kids. It just makes you look desperate. After the build up the movie didn't really seem to have much to say and was not at all moving. But the loving reconstruction of the old City was incredible.