rollstop Reviews

Locke & Key (2020–2022)

A bit weak, but holds your interest

[6/10 · 17 February 2020]

I just finished this series. It started out really well. It held my interest throughout most of the season. The cinematography was really great, which added a good quality to the show. Only 1 episode was meh and didn't really add to the series. For the most part it seemed to have good writing and the acting was great as well. Only a couple of times it felt like the director did one take and called it good mostly with the young kid who played Bode.

I didn't give it a higher rating because there were several WTH moments that just made no sense such as, Tyler had been trying to get with Jackie mostly from day 1 and then in one episode from out of nowhere he blows off the 5K fundraiser they've been working on together to go to a party and ends up doing another girl. Then by the next episode it's like none of that was a big deal and they're back together. The way the siblings sometimes just haphazardly shared their magic keys and powers with anyone around. You would think they would keep these things closely guarded and secretive. The mom is a bit annoying and doesn't really seem to move the show along. She's just kind of there. I was surprised that there was no major modern-day liberal agenda shoehorned in there like they seem to just have to do with every series anymore.

The climax was good, but very predicable. The last section where they give Ellie the crown key to take it home with her to get the crown - where the bad demon girl is?! C'mon not even a novice would do something like that and the siblings as well as Ellie have lots of experience with this demon. This was just sloppy writing. I get why they did it, so they could make the story move along, but it's like they couldn't come up with a better idea? Then when students throw what they think is the demon out the Omega door, which really turned out to be Ellie was very predictable. I knew something was off the minute they found the demon girl Dodge on the floor without the crown after her shadow dissolved.

Even though, I would still like to see where the next season goes. The show is very creative and has a lot of potential. Hopefully they don't get writers block and back themselves into the proverbial corner and ruin the finale like they did with Lost.

Runaways: Gimme Shelter (2018) Season 2, Episode 1

Lame Season Starter

[3/10 · 28 January 2020]

Wow, just sad to see where this, once interesting, mysterious show has gone. The start of season 1 was off to a great start. It was thrilling and had some serious mystery to it. Enough that I kept on watching past my I'll-give-it-three-episode threshold. Half way through season one it just started to take a nose dive and this first episode is affirmed that I don't need to watch any more. What were the writers thinking. They have to keep the liberal leftist nonsense in your face, just in case you forgot.

There's a long drawn out homeless memorial scene for some extremely minor character (Graciela) who was in the show about 2 times for 30 seconds or less and gave her a hero's funeral. What a waste of time. No one cares about this lady. We don't even really know who she is and there was character build up of her. The only scene that was good is where Darius makes Alex think he has to wack someone only to find out that it is just painting a bedroom.

Anyway this will be my last episode. I gave it 1 season.

The Walking Dead (2010–2022)

A Month Long Marathon Perspective.

[6/10 · 4 March 2018]

I have never watched the Walking Dead before and just started about a month ago and have slowly been on a marathon through the seasons. I am not much on horror or gore movies anyway, but I thought I would see what all the hype was about and since it was on Netflix I didn't have to wait each week. I was intrigued in the beginning and I get why it's been popular because it seemed like a "smart zombie show" with well-written drama and tension that entices you to keep watching. The character build up had been mostly good and if Frank Darabont was at the helm it seemed like it would have potential.

Made it about 25 minutes into 7.1 and turned it off. I have officially finished my marathon. I am done with this show.

The series in my opinion was already going down hill and I was really just forcing myself to watch the next episode because I figured I had already vested too much time in now to quit and I wanted to see who this Negan was. The last few episodes of season 6 where Rick and his group, become hired assassins basically, was pushing me closer to the stop button. But this last episode just finally did it in for me. I know, I know, it's gory zombie shtick, but shameless brutality is not how this show started out and I do not need to be watching it. And from what I have been reading there were many other outraged die hard Walker fans that turned it off too.

If you watch it in one big succession without the break between each week it gets really repetitive. There is no end in sight (Especially if the producers think they can go on indefinitely). There are no explanations on the horizon for what happened and no one in the story even seems to care. No one is even trying to make it to D.C. or some other official sector to find answers. And even if they do there is ALWAYS some reason why they can't. The car always breaks down or flips over or a horde of zombies materialize right before their eyes without the driver noticing and crashes through them. It has been reduced into a modern day B.C. tribal clansman battle with some added pesky zombies along the way. It's become wearisome watching the characters make one bonehead move after another. They seem to take all the experience with all their countless interactions with walkers and strangers along the way and chuck it out the window. Then there's the inconsistencies. Sometimes they exercise caution then later go wander on their own with only one mag of bullets? They don't learn from their mistakes. Sometimes sounds trigger zombies, other times it doesn't.

I read the synopsis and reviews on all the next episodes in season 7 and 8. Sounds like nothing but more of the same nonsense. Bad acting, bad CGI, no one can kill Negan though they have every opportunity, filler episodes, too many characters, and on and on. Glad I'm not sitting through 15-20 more hours of that.

In short, there's nothing redeeming about this show. Why have I been watching it? It's not mentally healthy for you and I'm not much for gore anyway. 7.1 said it best: "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be" watching the Walking Dead. Luckily it was only a month and not 8 years!

The Walking Dead: The Day Will Come When You Won't Be (2016) Season 7, Episode 1

The Day Came

[1/10 · 4 March 2018]

I have never watched the Walking Dead before and just started about a month ago and have slowly been on a marathon through the seasons. I am not much on horror or gore movies anyway, but I thought I would see what all the hype was about and since it was on Netflix I didn't have to wait each week. I was intrigued in the beginning because it seemed like a "smart zombie show" with well-written drama and tension. The character build up had been mostly good and if Frank Darabont was at the helm it seemed like it would have potential.

Made it about 25 minutes into 7.1 and turned it off. I have officially finished my marathon. I am done with this show.

The series in my opinion was already going down hill and I was really just forcing myself to watch the next episode because I figured I had already vested too much time in now to quit and I wanted to see who this Negan was. The last few episodes of season 6 where Rick and his group, become hired assassins basically, was pushing me closer to the stop button. But this last episode just finally did it in for me. I know, I know, it's gory zombie shtick, but shameless brutality is not how this show started out and I don't need to be watching it. And from what I have been reading there were many other outraged die hard Walker fans that turned it off too.

If you watch it in one big succession without the break between each week it gets really repetitive. There is no end in sight (Especially if the producers think they can go on indefinitely). There are no explanations on the horizon for what happened and no one in the story even seems to care. No one is even trying to make it to D.C. or some other official sector to find answers. And even if they do there is ALWAYS some reason why they can't. The car always breaks down or flips over or a horde of zombies materialize right before their eyes without the driver noticing and crashes through them. It has been reduced into a modern day B.C. tribal clansman battle with some added pesky zombies along the way. It's become wearisome watching the characters make one bonehead move after another. They seem to take all the experience with all their countless interactions with walkers and strangers along the way and chuck it out the window. Then there's the inconsistencies. Sometimes they exercise caution then later go wander on their own in the forest with only one mag of bullets? They don't learn from their mistakes. Sometimes sounds trigger zombies, other times it doesn't.

I read the synopsis and reviews on all the next episodes in season 7 and 8. Sounds like nothing but more of the same nonsense. Bad acting, bad CGI, no one can kill Negan though they have every opportunity, filler episodes, too many characters, and on and on. Glad I'm not sitting through 15-20 more hours of that.

In short, there's nothing redeeming about this show. Why have I been watching it? It's not mentally healthy for you and I'm not much for gore anyway. 7.1 said it best: "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be" watching the Walking Dead. Luckily it was only a month and not 8 years!

The Walking Dead: No Way Out (2016) Season 6, Episode 9

The Walking Inconsistenties.

[5/10 · 2 March 2018]

The action and brutality can be the only reason for this episode's high rating. It is not because it has anything to do with logic and consistency. I have been on a marathon watch since season 1 and it is really getting annoying at what does and does not affect The Walkers (not to mention all of the idiotic actions the characters themselves do). I assume the makers of the show will hope that people will forget the rules of what happened the previous week. The rules darn near change every episode. In previous seasons the walkers do that...they keep on walking...unless distracted, but for some reason they have maintained their presence outside of Alexandria because the script says they should. However, in the same episode they totally forget about Glenn under the trashcan and move on for no apparent reason. Why not just stand there and stare at the fence and dumpster indefinitely? Then little Sam yells, "Mom" at the end of the last episode, "Start to Finish" making you think the Walkers are going to get him, but this shows opens with that and no change in their disposition. However, when he starts whimpering a little the Walkers decide to chomp into him and his Mom. So the guts do work, don't work? Talking sets them off, doesn't set them off? How can one keep up with the inconsistencies? In the next episode a Walker may totally ignore a blasting horn. Who knows?

Then when Rick, Jessie, Sam, Carl, Michonne etc. put walking dead guts all over themselves it's during the afternoon. From the looks of this town it can only be a few square blocks, yet it takes Rick and the others traversing their way to the armory until it is completely dark outside? What have they been doing the whole time? It's not that far.

And what were Glenn and Enid doing during this whole time as well? It was midday when they were in the church and headed out to execute their plan to save Maggie, yet it's nighttime before we even see them do anything about it. Furthermore, Enid is supposed to run up and save Maggie on the lookout, yet she uses a plank that goes along the wall. Well, why didn't Maggie just use that too?

I know the writers are just trying to create tension and drama and keep the viewers on the edge of their seat, but they certainly seemed to do a better job of that while keeping the story mostly grounded in reality in the first two seasons. I realized I wasn't the shows target audience when the highest rated shows are the weak one's for me while some of the lowest rated shows dealing with the characters are the one's that really held my interest.

This episode gets a 5 for action tension.

The Walking Dead: Not Tomorrow Yet (2016) Season 6, Episode 12

Assassins for Hire?

[4/10 · 2 March 2018]

This episode and the one before were rather disappointing. I get that the writers need to create tension and drama to keep its viewers, but the entire time we have seen Rick's crew they have only killed people when they have to in order to defend their own lives and the lives of their group. Now they're killers for hire (basically because they're doing this in order to trade rations with Hilltop)? There's another name for people like this - assassins. How in the world has Rick's crew stooped to become cold-blooded killers? It was actually sickening to watch the once pizza delivery boy, Glenn, kill guys in cold blood by stabbing them in the head with a knife while they slept. Why is he and all of the others OK with this? This makes no sense and does not coincide with the character they have portrayed so far. They are basically on par with The Governor from season 2 and 3.

Also Rick's crew just blindly believes Jesus and Gregory's group that Negan's team is demanding tribute. They have zero proof of any of this and are merely taking their word for it. Now, with all they have experienced thus far why in the world would they even trust this group with out investigating their claims before doing something as rash as becoming cold-blooded killers? Especially since Jesus tried to steal the truck of goods Rick and Daryl had while claiming he did so because his group was low on supplies, yet knowing this, Hilltop supposedly has enough supplies and food to trade with? I have to agree with Morgan in this episode in not wanting to kill.

The action in the episode was good and riveting. But I was no longer rooting for Rick and his team.

Stranger Things: Chapter Seven: The Lost Sister (2017) Season 2, Episode 7

How to Shoehorn an Epidose in

[3/10 · 2 November 2017]

What the actual? This episode came out of nowhere. It doesn't fit. You know when many deleted scenes end up on the cutting room floor because to keep them in would slow the pacing down and would add to the run time etc....well this whole episode belongs on that floor. On top of that the whole episode felt rushed. This one might be OK as a stand-alone, but in the context of the entire season and show it's way out of place.

The first season was only eight chapters long and when I saw that season 2 had nine I was excited there would be more. But regretfully season 2 is still just 8 episodes long. You really could just splice 6 and 8 and no one would be the wiser.

It seems as though the makers knew this didn't fit, but wanted to give a no-name director, Rebecca Thomas, a chance.

I see why this has such a low rating. Hopefully the makers will look at this and realize this is not working with their fan base. If I watch season 2 again this will totally be skipped. I give it a 3 for it's own content and singular story. It might be higher rated if it wasn't part of Stranger Things.

Furious 7 (2015)

Sharknado on Wheels

[3/10 · 28 May 2015]

"Hahahahahaha!" That's what I kept saying throughout this intellectually insulting and predicable movie. This movie came from the brain child of an 11 year old! Wow! They actually far exceeded my expectations of the ridiculousness I knew would ensue while going into this movie and all the typical phrases and clichés are present. It has the heart of Sharknado injected into the fabric of the F&F universe. I have seen all of the F&F movies. Furious 7, however, took the franchise to whole new level of preposterous.

The whole Furious crew is after this guy Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) because he killed the snack eating Japanese guy, Han. But in order to get to him they have to team up with Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) who is after some sci-fi tech called the God's Eye that was created by this hacker, Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), whom some private terrorist group have captured. This computer chip has the ability to see every camera, hear every microphone, ATM, computer, in the world to instantly locate anyone on the planet. For some unspoken political reasons all US agencies have been ruled out to find Ramsey and the chip, which is why, of course, they need Dom and his team. If the Furious gang steals the tech then Mr. Nobody will let them use it to find Shaw.

Of course the government affords them tricked out cars to go find this special chip. A 4x4 '69 Dodge Charger is the first thing that comes to my mind when I need to chase bad guys. Does Dom always have to drive a '69 Charger? He drives like 4 of them in this movie!

One of the many things that do not make sense in this plot is whenever they are after this chip, Shaw conveniently shows up as well, I guess, to get the computer chip too or he is chasing the 7 crew? We never know much about Shaw or where he is throughout the movie; he just magically appears whenever it is convenient for him to be in the plot. This happens more than once. But isn't the reason they are after the chip is in order to get Shaw? So why don't they stop chasing after this chip and everyone direct their energies at Shaw while he is there? No, they want to get away from him first, get the tech they need, to ultimately put themselves back in the same situation they were in when he showed up unexpectedly to then exact revenge. And if he is actually chasing the F&F gang (w/o sounding too logical :/ ) then why not just wait for him to show up instead of risking their lives for some computer chip?

The final showdown of this movie is too long to go into here as there would be too much to write. Basically it is one unbelievable piece of action after another. One highlight was when Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is in the hospital and flexes his broken arm in a cast to break it off. WHAT!? Later when he crashes the EMT truck over the bridge at the exact moment the drone is flying under to blow it up was when I seriously lost it and broke out in laughter! There should be a category for movies that are hilarious when they aren't meant to be. And just think, the first movie portrayed everyone (except for Paul Walker's character who was trained F.B.I.) as common street racing thieves in L.A. to this movie where they are now practically trained operative spies taking down mercenaries and chased by missile launching drones. Each subsequent movie becomes more out of touch with reality than the previous. But this one outdid the last and I wonder what was the director James Wan thinking when he approved of all this? What will the next one be named, "Fast and Furious 8 in Space"?

With all of that said, it was still entertaining to watch, like bubble gum for the mind. Even if there is no sensible plot it is still watchable for the laughs almost like Naked Gun (1988) or Airplane (1980). That is kind of sad considering they really can't make a spoof version of this franchise because it is already woven into the films. The characters do not need much development since we know who they are already, which allows for more time to focus on crazy stunts and absurd action. The cars are quite cool, though the focus is no longer on the cars or racing, but more on revenge, espionage, and heist and some short side-show soap opera scenes.

The very end was somewhat redeeming to this wacky flick and actually the best part of the whole movie; it kind of got to me. I felt they did an enduring send off for Paul Walker and his character, though it really didn't seem to fit with the rest of the movie. They created a smooth double entendre monologue to say goodbye to Brian the character while actually meaning goodbye, Paul. The top view shot of them in their cars riding side by side to then see them split on different paths was moving and fit perfectly with their friendship, passion for cars, and his exit from the series.

However good the end was, 5 minutes does not outweigh 2 hours. You cannot legitimately give this movie a 10 because of that. I think Paul Walker would have been shaking his head left and right and sinking further in seat if he were at the premiere. "Sorry Paul" is what the end should have said for making his last movie so bad.

3/10. 2 stars for action and entertainment. 1 star for Paul Walker tribute.

Duck Soup (1933)

80 plus years removed and it's still funny today.

[8/10 · 31 March 2015]

I just finished watching Duck Soup for the first time ever. Though I am 82 years removed from that time and culture I still laughed quite a bit at the craziness going on. There is something about this era of comedy movies that I really like and the comedians like Abbot and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, The Marx Bros., and my favorite The Three Stooges. These guys were the pioneers of the jokes and slapstick in the early days of film that would eventually become cliché; however in their time it was cutting edge and original.

Someone else said that if somebody turned out movies like this in the '90's it wouldn't be funny or sell. Of course it wouldn't be funny because it would have been comedians of the 90's doing cliché acts. Sometimes there are moments in history where all the factors are only applicable to that exact time period and they would not work in another era if debuted for the first time e.g. silent films being made today exactly as they were in the 19-teens or 20's will not be your biggest seller at the theater. But the generations of the future can look at the past and respect the work that was done because it paved the way for the efforts put forth in modern times. Comedy of the 90's (or any decade) that will stand the test of time will be that which is original and clever. Ghostbusters or Goonies of the 80's is an example of original material of that decade still popular today. So in the same vein Duck Soup is a classic of the 30's, but not only that, it is a classic comedy in the annals of film history.

The Marx Brothers just mesh really well together and the lines that are delivered were just hilarious, like when Groucho says, "You know you haven't stopped talking since you got here. You must have been vaccinated with a phonograph needle." Harpo just did some weird stuff and it seemed absolutely random, like using scissors on everything. There was some quick wit coming from these guys that just worked well. All of the random acts that would happen just kept you guessing and wondering what is going to happen next. This kept the movie unpredictable in some areas. Some jokes were predictable, but that is because they have been used so many times since then.

I wonder what it would be like to see this for the first time in the theater in 1933. It probably would have been far funnier to me. I think this will be one of my new favorite classic comedy films. If you have a little over an hour to spare, I highly recommend just sitting down and watching this funny piece of history.

Dark Angel: Red (2001) Season 1, Episode 9

Absurd Dialogue and Bad Acting

[2/10 · 26 February 2015]

Dark Angel is an OK show, but not to be taken too serious I don't think; it's simple entertainment. Most of the shows are predictable, but entertaining nonetheless. Jessica Alba and Michael Weatherly do a good job of acting.

This is one of the dumbest episodes out of this series. The writing is too silly for believability even for this show. But the biggest downfall is actually the actor Douglas O'Keeffe playing Bruno Anselmo. For being some ex-bad guy henchman he is the most bumbling idiot full of ridiculous antics and everything that comes out of his mouth is so unbelievable for a guy who supposedly is in the witness protection program. Max "kidnaps" him from the police witness protection because Logan thinks that this guy isn't safe with them and they need to keep him safe for the next 24 hours before court the next day. So Logan has Max take him to his own safe house. While Max and Bruno go into the new safe house he starts whining about there being no TV or radio and he just won't put up with that. He acts like he's going to leave so Max pulls out some handcuffs and tells him to come over. Then he actually thinks she wants to get kinky with him, yet everything he has witnessed and experienced from her is disgust with him. How could he actually think that she is trying to seduce him? She of course handcuffs him and goes out to get pizza. When she comes back he somehow has two strippers dancing around him. YEAH RIGHT! So they have to leave and go to a hotel where again he keeps saying the most asinine dialogue. In the hotel room he says he has to take a shower, so she lets him. After awhile Max wonders where he is so she goes in the bathroom to find out he escaped out the window. She later finds that he went to some underground UFC match accompanied with pool tables and sees him playing pool with some random dude. Bruno runs his mouth there which means Max has to throw down on some tough guys. The whole scenario and more situations that follow are just unrealistic and absurd that I'm surprised there wasn't calliope music playing in the background. If this guy was really scared for his life and wanting to be in protection for the next 24 hours anyone with half a brain would stay put. But he never acts like anything serious is going on in his life at the moment. It's just plain bad writing, bad directing for this actor and bad, bad acting. For the most part the shows are good enough to suspend believability, but this one was borderline insulting to the viewer.

2 stars.

Ode to My Father (2014)

Forrest Gump meets Korean Drama

[6/10 · 4 February 2015]

Ode to My Father was an interesting Korean movie. When a movie has a good enough story and plot behind it, the peripheral aspects that might not be that great such as acting, subtitles, or graphic effects can be forgiven in spite of their deficiencies. This movie contained some of those qualities. Since it was in Korean the majority of it had to be read with subtitles save the parts of dialogue from American G.I.'s. However the movie draws you in that that was not a hindrance as it was easy to forget that you were even reading what was being said.

Ode to My Father is sort of Forrest Gump (1994) meets a Korean drama. We see the story focus on Duk-soo's (Jeong-min Hwang) life from the time he was a young boy fleeing Korea during the Korean War, along with aspects of his life throughout the 60's, 70's and 80's all the way to the present when he is an old man. This movie seems to use Duk-soo's reality as a representation of the many struggles and hardships of life that a lot of Koreans went through following the Korean War. Its sub-point of intent may have been to point out these struggles to the young Korean generation of today in order that they would have some realization with what their grandparents sacrificed so that they may have the life they do today.

One thing this movie has is a lot of heart and it is clearly portrayed by the actors, many times in an over-the-top manner. It is definitely melodramatic. But that may have been the directors intent to try to get the point across for how hard this guy's life was. There is one scene where everyone on screen is crying and wailing away and a woman says, "I miss my mommy" to the point it wasn't coming across as to stir empathetic emotions rather it was comical and unbelievable, unfortunately. There were some comic relief moments throughout, but even those scenes were cheesy and accompanied with what sounded like clown music. One actress American audiences may recognize is Yunjin Kim who played Sun Kwan on the series LOST (2004). She was probably the best actor in the movie while the other main actors did a decent job; however there were some bit-part actors that were not believable at all as their acting seemed on par with a bad high school play. The special effects were pretty good and cinematography not bad. Though there were some silly moments throughout the film these can be overlooked when focusing on the story. Boredom or tiredness never set in while watching this as it held my interest the whole time.

It is a movie worth checking out. Koreans for sure will relate better to it than some foreigners, but it does offer an insight into Korean life of yore for the non-native Korean. I give it 6 out of 10 stars as it was little better than your average movie.

Ip Man (2008)

A martial arts movie you can take serious.

[10/10 · 27 September 2014]

When rating a "10" for a movie there needs to be some careful consideration before haphazardly telling everyone "Oh man! That movie was TEN!" Quickly rating every movie you see as a 10 diminishes its value. A 10 means it is a movie that should be original or has an original take on a story, good cinematography, directing, casting, storyline, editing, music, etc. It should be a movie that makes you think/reflect or perhaps learn more about the depicted topic or story. Overall an excellent combinations of parts that come together to produce an amazing whole. It is actually a rare thing in Hollywood.

In the category of martial arts movies there is no shortage of bad cheesy forgettable (or memorable for the wrong reasons) over-the-top flicks that quickly fade into history. IP Man actually breaks away from the norm. This is a martial arts movie that can be taken serious. There are no Chinese people running on top of trees or obviously hooked up to wires. It is loosely a biographical story on the life of Yip Man (who later trained renowned Bruce Lee). It takes place in a real world setting of China in 1930's during the Japanese occupation prior to the break out of WWII. IMDb sums up the plot nicely with, "In 1935 in Foshan, south China, there are martial arts schools on every street corner. Ip Man is the undisputed martial arts champion, yet he has not devoted himself to teaching. Despite this, it seems that all the kung fu masters of the city are eager to fight him to improve their reputation. Written by Riccardo Amadori" Added to that the Japanese invade causing a depression upon the town. Yip's grand estate is taken from him and he, his wife and child must move to more humble means. During this time, he along with many other towns' people are driven to slave labor in order to survive. The head Japanese commandant, Colonel Sato, has competitions amongst the Chinese and the Japanese. If the Chinese win they get a bag of rice. Yip initially refuses to fight; however a bad incident in one of the challenges causes Yip to get angry and request to fight. He then takes on 10 Japanese and of course beats them all. Since the commandant considers himself to be the best he is intrigued by Yip's win and from then on wishes to challenge him. Yip continues to refuse, but is eventually captured, which leads up to the climax of Yip vs. Sato. This was a really well executed ending. The choreography was amazing and I found my heart racing fast during this epic scene where Yip totally schools this Japanese colonel. This is definitely a scene that is worth repeating and for watching the whole movie to see.

The actor, Donnie Yen, does a superb job of playing the title character. The character is not running around with his shirt off to show muscles or acting cocky in hopes to start a fight. He is an unassuming kind modest man that at first you would not think to be a grand master of Wing Chun. Donnie Yen's own skill shines through the character.

Though the movie is entirely in Chinese and must be read with subtitles, you quickly forget that you are reading it since the story, choreography, action, and cinematography is that good. Within the genre of martial arts movies, this has to be one of my personal favorite. I have watched it several times and have recommended it to many people who like martial arts movies or even if they don't, they may like it for the history and biographical sense and get to see some great actions scenes in between. I give this movie a 9.5.

Locke (2013)

Intriguing to watch if you are in the right mood.

[5/10 · 18 September 2014]

Movies clearly have more of an impact on someone depending on their setting while viewing it i.e. at home or at the theater (where one might have just spent $15 on one ticket), their current mood while watching it, how old they are and the experiences in life they themselves have had. I watched this on a whim while at home by myself in a chilled out mood.

I'm not sure that many of the people rating this movie a "10" truly understand what a 10 means. It should mean that this is one of the greatest cinematic features you will have ever seen in your life. It should be a film that will be remembered a long time from now for various reasons and one that you would recommend to everyone.

This movie is not a 10. It should not really be categorized as suspense or thriller or a drama because, as many reviewers have stated, it is just a guy in his car on the phone for the entirety of the movie. I think the word it should be described with is "intrigue." Though he is just driving and talking on the phone I found myself wanting to keep watching merely because I was intrigued at how he was going to solve his problems and I liked Tom Hardy's calm demeanor.

One aspect that seemed almost far-fetched was that he would go to the aid of a woman he had one fling with seven months ago to be there for their unborn child while risking losing his job during one of its most historic and important contracts as well as fracturing his relationship with his family. And how does he know for 100% certainty that it really is his child? It is not born yet to perform a paternity test and how could he seriously know that she is not just a loose woman playing the field? Why should he trust this practical stranger? Because she told him that she does not sleep around? Also why does she have his phone number? He will not tell her he loves her, he tells his wife it was just that one time, so we know that they have not been having a phone affair. He acts distant on the phone to this woman, Bethan, so his only reason for going to her is because of this baby that he believes is his, not really for her. The only part that makes this scenario somewhat believable (and why the writer had to add this component) is his psychological contention with his late erstwhile father. Apparently he felt abandoned by his father as a child and thus feels some extreme moral obligation to be there as his child is born, which could not wait till the next day after his important concrete pour was finished.

There are a lot of correlations between Locke's personal life and the concrete that he works with daily. Especially when he tells Donal, "You make one mistake, Donal, one little (expletive) mistake, and the whole world comes crashing down around you." This may be the main message that the writer and movie are trying to get the viewer to really ponder. Just as the foundation of a building is the most important piece and if the concrete is not mixed right or is inferior that cause cracks to appear then the whole building is in jeopardy of being damaged or worst case scenario, collapsing. Likewise in a person's life the foundation in a person's relationship with another is paramount and making wrong choices can damage that relationship(s).

I think had I watched this back when I was 18 years old I would have given this a rating of 1 and would have been upset that I wasted my time. I give it a 5 because I did not hate it nor did I really like it, but indifferent. It had some interesting elements to which an average person could relate. But I also think someone who has dealt with serious issues in their life and has had various experiences may relate more to this movie than someone young, inexperienced, and no real clue to why this movie was made.

Tom Hardy is becoming a favorite actor of mine and is really the main reason I even decided to watch this movie. He does a good job of carrying the film in spite of its limited setting. The voice acting of the other characters were done well and believable especially from Andrew Scott (Donal), which you may remember him from "Sherlock" as Moriarty. The night driving scenes were actually soothing to me and filmed with good quality.

Overall I think the story is experimental, try to get the viewer to think, and for novelty.

Elementary: Ancient History (2013) Season 2, Episode 5

Some elementary writing

[4/10 · 28 April 2014]

I really like Elementary even though it is not really true to Sherlock Holmes and more of a renamed CSI program, but it is still entertaining if you can suspend yourself from the original stories.

This is probably one of my least favorite episodes. Sherlock is bored because there are no recent murder cases, so he and Watson to the morgue to look for any possible assignments. Of course they find one. Based on a dead body, Sherlock discovers that the deceased man had murdered someone the day before. He further investigates that this man was connected to a Russian mob and a deal gone south. They eventually find out "who done it."

The thing I really did not like about this episode was the sub-plot. The story opens with Watson at the market with her friend. During their conversation her friend, Jen, opens up to Watson that she had a one night stand a year ago. That was the only time she ever met him and she has not seen him since. She asks Watson to look into finding this erstwhile man, Tony, because Jen thinks that this one-night-stand-man is "the one." C'mon seriously!? I know there are girls in this world who are probably that desperate or stupid to believe a one-night-stand is their dream partner for life, but it seems a stretch that Watson would hang around such a naive girl like this. Joan Watson is a very smart person, an ex-surgeon and now an aspiring detective. So, not only does she offer to help find "Mr. Right," but as she is digging into it (against Sherlock's judgment), Holmes reveals later that the one night stand was him. Somehow he knew who she was talking about and when this happened etc. though it does not show any this in the show, it must be assumed they talked about it at some other point. At the end Watson has coffee with Jen to which Watson realizes that Jen met up with Holmes again for another rendezvous. It is at this point that Jen discovers that he is not "the one" as she recognizes that Sherlock is a bit too weird for her.

An example of frivolous writing. The writers missed the mark with this irrelevant side story.

Les Misérables (2012)

Sing this review out loud.

[1/10 · 13 January 2014]

I seriously cannot understand all of the good reviews for this movie and how in the world did this win Oscars? I am scratching my head. Everyone must admit that if they had never read the book or watched the Liam Neeson version of Les Miserables (1997)(which was a great movie) they would be totally lost on the plot. There are movies that are called musicals like Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, Singin' in the Rain, that have dialogue along with some songs thrown in the mix and these are great fun movies to watch. But C'Mon! Did they really have to incessantly sing every word in this long-winded spectacle? It was so overused and detracted from what is really a great story.

The Imax version was all that was available at the time so I spent the extra dollars, only to be wasted when I was so "miserable" that I left about half way through it was that bad. But my time is worth more than wasting it in that movie theater. I felt like I was being Punk'd while sitting there. I wish I could rate ZERO stars on this interminable disaster. It's too bad too, because it really is a great story.

Phantom (I) (2013)

American Soviets in a movie made with Soap Opera cameras.

[1/10 · 13 January 2014]

When you are on a 12 hour airplane flight you will try to do anything to keep your mind occupied from being bored. The 40 minutes or so I watched of this movie made the flight longer. Luckily the plane was a 787 which each seat had it's own TV screen with a myriad of options to watch other great titles, like, "Miracle" and even the slightly cheesy yet somewhat funny "In a World".

This movie was so horribly done. I know they have to make the movie in English for us Yanks, but C'mon, at least add a little realism by making the actors portray a Russian accent. Maybe it was the director's fault, but I think Ed Harris played a better German in "Enemy at the Gates" than he did as a Russian in this flick. The film looked as though it should have gone straight to DVD or debuted on cable TV. It's 2013. . . How is it that "Hunt for Red October" had better submarine effects in 1990 than this misfire? Actually, if you want to see the best American vs. Soviet submarine movie, that is what you should see, again if you have to - Hunt for Red October.

I see other comments on here from Russian reviewers or historians saying that the communist guy couldn't have gotten married in a church or other anachronistic failures, but I'll have to take their word for that because I did not grow up in Soviet Russia nor am I a Russian history/culture buff, which is probably who the movie's target audience was intended. Even in my ignorance I could still sense this movie did not have a Russian feel that it should have along with a boring story and plot. Doesn't matter anyway. I turned it off.