rdrain-1 Reviews

The Littlest Rebel (1935)

Aged like milk

[2/10 · 8 February 2024]

Movies like this cannot be undone. Nor should they be. It's a product of it's time and here today ... wow, I wonder if modern Germans feel this dirty when they watch old Nazi films.

Use it as a teaching moment. There was a time in our history when we tried to make the rebels the 'nice guys'. History was completely tossed to the side, and there are really interesting reason why this happened.

I'm glad I live in a period when we can look back on these movies and understand how they were all part of a massive propaganda push to attempt to make the confederates less horrible than they were.

Gone with the Wind is also in that camp.

Watch it, then teach.

Silent Night (2023)

It's fine

[6/10 · 22 December 2023]

Look, it's dreary this year. No snow, rain, cold, horrible. Who wants to go outside? Now if you have two hours to waste, this movie is fine. So long as you enjoy watching bad people, I mean people with zero redeeming qualities, die in a revenge flick.

And you can watch it with the volume down and do other things because, well, there isn't much dialog to speak off.

Get it? SILENT NIGHT.

Ah the writers found a pun and ran with it.

They didn't draw out the story though, has more holes in it that the bad guys at the end when they are shot and shot and shot. And Shot. Then he is shot again. Double tap.

This movie was made for streaming to people that need to do other things. 6/10.

The Creator (2023)

2023 was a tough year for films, this is one of the good ones

[8/10 · 30 November 2023]

There is a lot going on in this movie. You have the theme of AI, the danger of it to us, and us to it. You have the theme of lost chances and past mistakes and redemption. You have the theme of American interventionism and how that impacts so many. And you have the theme of fact vs. Narrative truth.

I'm not going to spoil this movie for you. What I will tell you that if you want to watch a movie that is beautifully shot and tries to cover a lot of ground in 2 hours, but does it well, then you'll enjoy the movie. The acting is great and like life there are no happy endings.

The one point that stood out is that AI is us, we create it. Mistakes made by AI are our mistakes. It's a coding error. So if AI makes a mistake do we blame it or us, and how far do we take that blame? If AI is a race, how far will we go? Then if AI is just like us in every way, if it has dreams and hopes, beliefs even, is it an 'it'?

Shrek the Third (2007)

The happy meal toys were better than the movie

[6/10 · 23 June 2007]

Shrek one was amazing, Shrek two was great, Shrek the third may have destroyed the series. Honestly I don't think they tried here, I think they expected us to go to the movie regardless of content. They got my 10 bucks.

They gave Batman nipples and they somehow made Mike Myers boring.

It takes a special kind of magic to do that, and Hollywood is magic.

I knew there was going to be a problem when (scene 2) the king died and the Wings "live and let die" song started and not one laugh in the audience was heard. It was quiet.

Pity too, Shrek was great. I'll buy it again on HD DVD when it comes out but this one I wouldn't buy this one VHS tape for 99 cents.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)

Not as bad as the first movie. First movie was very bad...

[5/10 · 23 June 2007]

This movie was simply not very good. It was OK but if you missed a nice sunny day in the park to see it you're at a loss.

It started off with a few jokes and degraded into a joke. When the humour turned towards the Thing and sex (rockslide..ha ha ha) it just kept the download path.

Jessica Alba looks like she really wanted to be somewhere else, and those blue fake eye colour contacts, what were they thinking? The Mr. Plastic/rubber guy, him I really felt sorry for because you could really see he didn't enjoy the roll at all, he was not into this film.

Special effects were OK, except for the surfer which was nice but honestly the T-2 movie effects were on par and that movie was made over a decade ago.

Oh yeah, the voice of the surfer...take the blue pill! All in all if you have nothing else to see and are below the age of 25 give it a shot.

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

What happened?

[2/10 · 8 June 2007]

What a sad way for the franchise to end, and after this I hope it ends. But if it does well they will make another, but the next one won't get my box office dollar.

Seriously, stay away. Poor plot, poorly acted, too much SF not enough story to keep anyone over the age of 8 interested.

Two stars, and I'm being nice. MJ and Spidy love story made Anakin/Padme seem like Romeo and Juliet. I don't get the Topher Grace role, and Sandman added nothing to the plot but an excuse for SFX. Wow, lots of tears from Spidy as well, get ready to cringe.

On the bright side, it does end, and the lights go up.

Bridge to Terabithia (2007)

Bring a Kleenex

[8/10 · 19 February 2007]

Wow, you expect Narnia you get something totally different. So, first off this is Not Narnia Redux, ego: fire the marketing guys. This is a movie that will have your kids asking questions. It's a story of two kids, a boy and a girl, and moving away from Hollywood form they don't fall in love, instead they develop a deep friendship and share their imagination. Then she dies, wow will that surprise you. The movie then goes in a totally new direction where the boy must come to grips with his best friends death. It's all done very well, very believable.

My son was 6 and loved it, my daughter was a bit too young (4). The wife was in tears and I had to breathe heavy and think of work to stay strong.

There is some CGI, not a lot. But the actors in this movie are all great, from the boy to the girl, to the little sister. A true classic. This one will be played for years. I'll buy the DVD when it comes out.

The Time Tunnel (2006 TV Movie)

OK, I was impressed

[8/10 · 5 December 2006]

I rented the dvds of the original series more for nostalgia than anything else...and found this gem.

Honestly I had not heard of a reboot of the series but when I watched it I was impressed. The story hit hard, having a great-uncle who fought in WWII (but made it home). I'm not sure why the series was not picked up, I do not know the details.

The acting was good, many first rate inside jokes...I do not want to give anything away but the idea of sacrifice for the greater good is very strong within this show. How it would have played out? Would you be willing to sacrifice what you love the most for ... what?

Honestly, rent the dvds to watch this episode and think of what might have been. Maybe Sci-Fi will give it another chance.

....galatica made the idea of a reboot possible...

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)

Familiar plot lines but a pretty good movie for the kids.

[7/10 · 25 March 2006]

Recently we've started watching movies with the kids (ages 5 and 3), and that means we've been watching movies that my wife and I otherwise missed over the last 15 years; Willie Wonka, Chitty Bang Bang to name two.

Several weeks ago we watched a movie I thought I'd soon forget about titled the Worst Witch. My daughter loved it, but my daughter also likes eating gooey food with her hands. Then the other day we watched Harry Potter and the memories of the other movie came back to haunt me; was this movie a remake? Now I move on to review Harry Potter, but you could also consider this a review of worst witch, the two movies are that close in plot and character.

Mildred, I mean Harry, is a kid who does not quite fit but is at a school to learn magic. He had his antagonist, Malfroy (blonde ... all he's missing is the German accent) his friends (Ronald and Hermione) and a cast that employs more British actors than Gosford Park.

Mildred, I mean Harry, is better than he thinks he is, and has skills he doesn't know he has and must only learn to have faith in himself. There is a bad guy and my guess is the rest of this series will involve harry fighting this bad guy ("he who must not be named"). Oh, the bad guy killed his parents so I'm pretty sure Harry will one day end up standing over the bad guys dead body. But not in this movie, there are several more out there to watch!

The cast is brilliant; even the young actors do well. The effects are great as well (they spared no expense). But the story is predictable, if you find yourself surprised and amazed at the twists and turns you need to watch a few more movies.

Anyways, if you have kids who are out for a simple mindless movie, pick this one up. If you have a group of people over the age of 20 watching they'll all feel like their watching a very expensive remake of other things past.

7/10 for the kids. 4/10 for the rest of us.

My Name Is Earl (2005– )

Yes, it is a really funny show

[10 October 2005]

You can read all these comments or just give it a try with an open mind. I was expecting some "dukes of hazzerd" like crap. I was wrong.

There is really nothing else like it on TV right now. So if you think that we're in a great age of great comedic TV you might not get this show.

All the actors play the parts well, and the parts are at times endearing and other times they're frightful.

There is not a whole lot else I can say about this show, but since IMDb has a min. 10 lines of text rule I add one point. If ever a dysfunctional family appeared on TV...it is Earl's ex-wife's new family. Watching this show will scare people into staying in school...

r

Testament (1983)

Very Powerful, a story of a family at the end of the world

[8/10 · 24 April 2005]

Even though the fear of nuclear war has greatly subsided (replace by other fears) this movie is very powerful.

The breakdown of normal, the way this family tries to hold it together (thru the strength of mom) as everything around them falls down, very gripping.

** here is a spoiler ** There is a scene where the mother bathes her youngest son so gently, then wraps him in a blanket and rocks him while singing. The next scene is that young boys funeral and the mothers panic over the boys missing teddy.

If the above did not have any impact on you, you have a lot to learn about humanity. Gripping.

I'm far from a softy, but that was incredible, well done.

Not a light film, but worth a watch.

Barbie as The Princess and the Pauper (2004 Video)

The wee tykes will love this movie, and you won't mind it either

[25 March 2005]

Five years ago if you told me I'd be watching a Barbie princess movie I would have slapped you. Today my daughter is going through her Princess stage and I was getting tired of the (well crafted) Disney stories (Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty etc) so I picked up this movie.

Kai was humming along to the songs within moments of the start, the tunes are (like beauty and the beast) mindlessly catchy.

The story, for what it is, is not too bad. The animation is standard CGI, not Pixar level, but not too bad.

If you're looking for high brow opera this is not a movie for you, however if you actually want your daughter to have an enjoyable 70 minutes then I recommend this movie.

rob