easy_eight Reviews

Arrival (II) (2016)

Not sure why many gave this a high rating. Not worth watching.

[1/10 · 26 November 2017]

The movie started off well enough, but I was confused by the ending and thought that the focus on the two main characters not very compelling. The guy who played the physicist did not act like a physicist. There was not much character development and the use of flashbacks was disturbing. And she was not that impressive as a linguist.

I am even more confused about why so many people gave this a good review.The discovery of the aliens language was not convincing at all. It seemed ridiculous. I still do not fully understand it. The movie Contact, on the other hand, showed the viewer how the language was decoded. It was exciting and the solution unfolded. And, in the end, I sat thinking, this is it? you have got to be kidding.

Also, the decision to use the linguist because she had clearance that was still in effect was ridiculous. It was as if the government had decided that one linguist would be enough. And the movie did not show interaction with the many academics that would have naturally been involved. She just did not measure up and was not convincing in her role.

And there were no other real characters in the movie, just the military guy who originally contacted her and the physicist. That was it. Oh,and the daughter, but even that was just a series of flashbacks and not very compelling. The other actors were really just extras on the set to fill up the screen - more of a distraction than anything else.

And I found the facilities with the plastic doors annoying and dismal. Made me feel as if the movie-makers used this vehicle to cut costs.

Also, the linguist's easy access to the alien spaceship seemed to be a bit of a stretch. She could just wander out to the spacecraft on her own. Sure, that makes logical sense. In real life, she would not have been able to get access to the spaceship without going through many security checks.

And the fact that she could just take off her suit and be fine was laughable. You mean the testing of the atmosphere within the spaceship did not matter? Why suddenly did it matter? And if the aliens came from 3000 years in the future, why wouldn't they set up an environment that was not lethal to humans. And it was never explained why a race of aliens so different would care about humans 3000 years in the past.

It all seems even more ridiculous as I try to piece together the movie in all its parts. And I am still confused about the gift the aliens were giving to the humans. The movie did not take the time to explain what exactly the gift was and how it was to be administered.

Also, the cell phone call was a stretch. I mean, to predicate the movie on a cell phone call. And it was interesting that she just happen to find a cell phone just lying around that had the type of clearance necessary to call a top-ranking Chinese general? And the guy whose phone she took would be constantly on it talking to all kinds of people. If he lost it, he would be in deep trouble. Why would he just leave it on a table? And what is the likelihood that she would be able to even find someone's cell phone lying on a table.

I doubt, if in the short period of time she had to find a cell phone to make the call, she could have every found one. The only way she could have made the call is if she had the help of someone at the highest levels. Sure, just pick up a phone and call the chief of staff of the Chinese army. Gee, I could do that if I only had his number.

And another thing, if these aliens were so powerful that they could influence her thinking and help he see the past and future, why would they even need her? And if they are so advanced, why wouldn't they just have been able to send a message or simply figure out a way to communicate with humans. Or simply prevent the disease or whatever was going to happen without even involving the humans (the prime directive?). I mean, if they knew about the calamity to happen to earth, they would have studied human language. If you can travel through time, communicating with an intelligent species with fully developed languages would be simple.

And if you know how the race of humans communicated, why could not just duplicate that communication? The whole premise of the movie is that the humans could not communicate with the aliens. If you can travel through time, I cannot see how you could not communicated with another intelligent life-form. So much time was spent on the issue of communication. Without the resolution of the communications issue, there would not be much left of the movie. I am betting the books was much more interesting and the film-makes did not do justice to the book. It would be interesting to interview the author and read the book.

And the acting was not particularly good. Amy Adams and the physicist had one mode of interaction and one mode of acting. They both just seemed numb. No laughter, no change of tone, no humor. Also, I thought that Amy Adams lost her daughter. That was also confusing. Did she later lose her daughter? Why did the daughter talk about her father leavings? Did he leave? It was never explained other than by Amy Adams saying that the father did not like what she was saying about what was going to happen in the future.

Do not waste your time.

Game of Aces (2016)

Don't waste your time

[1/10 · 25 November 2017]

Stupid plot that did not make much sense, lousy acting, predictable characters. I have no idea why this movie was even released. I could go on and on, but I have said as much as is worthwhile. You will be disappointed with this movie. This is one of those movies that you end up yelling at the screen in disbelief.

Soldier (I) (1998)

Great movie: Haters are dead wrong.

[10/10 · 3 January 2012]

I have watched this movie about 50 times and enjoy it every time I see it. I disagree vehemently with the haters. I tend to be very hard on movies but just do not get why some people found this movie to be bad. One comment about not being a good plot I think is ludicrous. Kurt Russell was great (Connie was also excellent as always) as always transitioning from the unfeeling soldier to becoming more human. His demise and his rise from the ashes of the trash heap is stimulating and thought-provoking. And the action sequences are great, well-thought out and very clean. I never understand why crappy movies get good reviews and great movies get crappy reviews. I had a recent conversation with a very bright Harvard grad who spoke classical Greek, was a Latin scholar, among his other credentials and an avid movie goer. He trashed all the recent movies I liked and had wonderful things to say about movies that were terrible. I guess people look for different things in film as in other aspect s of life. I think the reason why I liked this movie so much is that in the end the jerks who were in command got what was coming to them and revealed themselves as inferior to the soldiers of both kinds (the new and the obsolete) because they were indeed heartless and lacked backbone.

I suppose one could criticize the people command as being a bit too stereo-typical and predictable and one-dimensional. But their part of the movie is incidental to the plot. They are supposed to be heartless bureaucrats, people you love to hate.

Another reason why I love this film is because just about every scene is memorable. There is nothing you need to fast forward over. I can list the scenes and every one is fun to watch and moves the plot forward. My point is that each scene has substance and makes one or more points for viewers to think about as the movie progresses toward its ultimate conclusion:

1. Opening scene with new soldiers compete with old 2. Kurt Russell (soldier) dumped on the junkyard planet 3. Kurt meets Connie and family and begins the process of shedding his motionlessness 4. Kurt saves ones of the settlers 5. Kurt lays groundwork for a new generation of settlers who learn how to better to defend themselves in difficult environments 5. Kurt cannot conform and is expelled 6. The troops arrive for maneuvers and attack the settlers 7. Retribution via Kurt 8. Redemption for himself, his fellow comrades in arms, and the settlers and a new life and a new family (Kurt gets the girl and becomes a father)

It works for me. I know that there many who disagree. I did not realize that this director did Event Horizon, another great film. I like them both equally as well.

The Italian Job (2003)

Awful, improbable waste of time, deserves a 0

[1/10 · 30 December 2011]

I believe that there is some ballot stuffing at work here. This movie does not deserve a 6.9 rating. I think most people who saw this movie thought it was crap. There should be better policing of the responses because there is manipulation at work probably from movie distribution companies to improve the rating.

In the movie, in the early scene the team of crooks are double-crossed by the wimpy villain who attempts to murder the rest of the crew after the original heist for reasons that are not shown.

In real life, they would have tracked him down, tortured him, took the gold and that would be it. I had to turn it off (saw it on cable) when the villain starts to manhandle Theriz Theron in the restaurant and the others show up to protect her. They just walked away. They should have waited for him outside the restaurant, beat the crap out of him, and wimp that he is, gotten the gold from him, then made him disappear.

The whole plot is absurd from start to finish. The whole good guy robbers thing just does not work. Probably the reason why the movie is so bad is that it lacks any kind of passion.

Some other reviewer made the point that if these guys were so cool and so "good" why would they disrupt traffic in the middle of the day in a busy city and not stop to think that many innocent people would be killed.

Also, Hollywood thinks that anything is possible technologically. One smart guy can hack into the traffic system of a major city and control it for ten minutes. Ridiculous. So much of the slop that comes out of the movie industry just does not make sense.

Also, the way the car expert walks up the cable woman who is drop dead grogeous and is a look-alike the Theron is ridiculous. What are the chances of driving up to the cable parking lot and finding the right person. Why even waste time on that part. It seemed so silly and trivial. And what could he have said to her anyway? This scene was totally unnecessary and obviously was just a filler because they had to stretch out the movie.

And the acting is atrocious. Theron is like a manikin. Walberg is not convincing as a crook and seems like he is playing the role in his sleep. The rest of the crew is even worse.

It is not even worth watching on cable.

Anything Else (2003)

Stupid says it all. I cut out when DeVito has a heart attack...

[14 October 2011]

Actually, awful says it all. Even the character that Woody plays is bad with a few funny one liners. The girlfriend is pathetic and the main character is worse. Don't waste your time. It tried to submit and had to enter 10 lines which is ridiculous because this movie is not worth ten lines. The mother is not very convincing. She overreacts and the scene with her young boyfriend doing cocaine is offensive. It just goes to show how low Woody had gone to try to get laughs and make the movie current. I felt as if the movie were a metaphor for a failing famous old actor dating a 18-year old fawning female fan. All the characters were miscast. It just lacked the magic of earlier films and many later films. Woody is still producing excellent movies. This one is just a bomb. But remember how many great movies Woody has produced and he can be forgiven. And he recovered from this flop and produced many good movies after this one.

Dead of Winter (1987)

Awful says it all. Ridiculous plot but Mary S. is pretty good.

[1/10 · 11 October 2011]

Awful says it all. I switched to another channel when the police came and did not take Mary S. with them to the police station and did not try to verify her story.

And if she had called 911, they would have been able to trace the call.

The movie is ridiculous. Another failed attempt by Hollywood to present a credible storyline.

If you think about most movie plots and break them down, they just do not make sense. Pure entertainment and fantasy. I like to be challenged mentally when I watch a movie and more often than not the challenge is to figure out why plot is ridiculous. But many people simply go to movies because they have nothing better or more interesting to do and let the movie makers do their thinking for them. It surely is still a good excuse to sit and eat a big container of popcorn and a Diet Coke with your significant other and friends even if the movie is awful.

When you think about moviegoers as educated consumers, you can see why most of what comes out of studios today is garbage. On the other hand, there are enough rare exceptions to keep our interest. This is one of the throw-aways.

However, Mary does do a nice job of acting. Her mistake is not throwing the script back at the filmmaker and asking for a rewrite. On the other hand, she probably had fun making the movie and got a big paycheck. But it surely was a waster of talent and money.

Also, another reviewer mentioned that the Director took over from a neophyte who got fired. It does seem like a half-hearted attempt by the Director to clean up a pretty awful mess. Of course, he got paid for it, so the only ones who suffered are the investors and the viewers. I had the good sense to switch channels. Fortunately, I did not pay to see this trash in a theater.

The Fastest Gun Alive (1956)

How anybody can give this movie more than a 1 escapes me

[1/10 · 1 March 2011]

Ridiculous plot. No one in the town has a gun even for hunting? The crooks are running for a posse that is 2 hours behind them and they will probably be lynched when the posse gets them, so they stop to burn down a town because Broderick Crawford is obessesed with being the fastest gun in the West. You have got to be kidding! And the townspeople are just going to let the crooks burn down the town without doing anything about it. No one even thinks to go to another town which has a sheriff to get some help and there are some nearby. Then we have to subplot with Crawford slapping his partner and trying to force him to draw. How anyone could say this is not one of the stupidest Hollywood farce's they have ever seen is beyond me. And then there is the overacting across the board. Glenn Ford is pathetic is a one-dimensional nut-case who walks around like a zombie, or a drug-addict. This movie may have been popular in the 50's because movie-goers may be a bit starved for good entertainment.

Many Rivers to Cross (1955)

Who is writing all these positive comments?

[1/10 · 2 March 2010]

I agree with the other poster who wonders where all these positive comments came from. This is the worst movie I have ever seen. The female lead is so obnoxious and annoying that I am surprised the male lead doesn't just either kill himself or kill the entire family. Neither Rod Taylor nor Eleanor Parker seem to be able to act and are terrible in their respective "comedic" roles. The dialog and plot is ridiculous and the characters are ill-conceived and not believable. And the soundtrack is one big orchestral cliché. This movie was painful to watch and predictable. The theme is dated and I believe is an insult to women. I would love to talk with the people who liked this movie and find out more about them. If this movie were released today, it would last one weekend, if released at all. Interesting enough, many of the actors and actresses in this movie have done fine work in other movies and in the Theater. The fault falls upon the shoulders of the director and the producers. This is a movie that should never have been made. I had stop watching this movie because it was so bad.