Nightshade85 Reviews

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

Outdated CG and so-so story

[5/10 · 18 June 2023]

I did play Dungeons and Dragons for a short while as a teenager and later Mutant at an adult age - so I've had my fair share of pen-and-paper role-playing games.

I watched this movie with low expectations because quite frankly: I don't remember any lore.

I must say that the movie was mildly entertaining: it's something you can watch once just for some entertaining. But I wouldn't watch it again. The CG is completely outdated by over 20 years and is quite bad. Atmospherics and lighting is OK, but materials and VFX is just terrible (especially the gas simulations just look so misplaced). It's obvious that the production chose to spend money on signing these big actor names for the movie rather than investing in proper computer graphics.

I would not recommend this movie.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo (2022)

A charming yet honest portrayal of an amazing woman with autism

[9/10 · 18 October 2022]

I'm on the spectrum myself, although quite not as deep in as attourney Woo.

I usually dislike movie/TV-show with characters on the spectrum as they often are exaggerated, depicted in a very negative please-feel-sorry-for-him/her -way - or simply contain a ton of inaccurasies or downright incorrect things.

So having seen a lot of movies that still "quite don't get it", I must say that this show comes as a fresh breeze. It accurately depicts the social struggles of people with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Woo comes off as cute, charming and innocent and as such, keeps surprising the people around her with smarts.

No matter if you are into legal shows or just want to see an honest depiction of people with Autism, this show is a must-see.

Jane Wants a Boyfriend (2015)

Surprisingly accurate

[7/10 · 20 May 2016]

"Yet another inaccurate and stupidly exaggerated feelgood movie about a person who is a bit into the spectrum" or so I thought to myself when I first heard about this movie. But in all honesty, Jane Wants a Boyfriend is something of a fresh breeze compared to all the other movies that have been made about people on the spectrum (Rainman not included - it's in a category by itself).

The movie isn't flawless. Many parts of the movie and the main character felt phony, emotionally implausible and just not right. Especially the first 15 minutes or so of the movie. Maybe they took these shots first and it took a while for Krause to sink into her role? I don't know, but overall I think she did a pretty good job with Jane. Like the other movies on this topic though it is (sadly) rather patronizing and paternalistic - although not to the same extent as all the other movies such as the "There is no feelings in space" - which I really disliked because of extreme inaccuracies.

But, Jane Wants a Boyfriend also does a lot of things right. Being a man diagnosed with Asperger's disorder myself makes it easier for me to identify with the characters in these kind of movies. I've seen and I've met a few people with autism and I think it's hard for "neurotypicals" to understand that this is disorder and not a personality! Some very accurate stuff in this movie includes: - Jane's facial expressions, body language, problems with tone of voice and lack of eye contact, etc. -Her preoccupation and high skills within a narrow range of interests. -Sensory over stimulation. -Social problems: Jane doesn't like crowds, parties, she has problems initiating social contact, problems with social chit chat and doesn't appear to have that many deep connections (relationships) other than to her immediate family.

To sum things up: If you are after a romantic feelgood movie that touches on the subject of the social issues involved for someone on the autistic spectrum, then I would recommend this movie actually. It's decent! Actually it's a bit more than decent: it's good - but it could've been better! But if you are after a 100% accurate depiction of a true aspie character and their experiences with dating - keep looking!

The Man from Earth (2007)

A story made to blow you away

[8/10 · 26 August 2012]

While watching this movie I felt that it was the twin brother of TV- adaptation of Stephen King's "The Stand" that came out in the early 90's. It is VERY noticeable that this is a budget movie. Bad casting, bad acting, crappy background props/environment, bad soundtrack - just like The Stand.

But the story is AMAZING, and unlike The Stand's post-apocalypse setting, should apply to everyone. It is the story of a man claiming to have been born 14 000 years ago during the stone age. During the story telling you are kept on the edge all the time: Is this man telling the truth or is he just making it all up, trying to pull off some insane prank on his friends?

Battle Los Angeles (2011)

Cool alien design but so much else is lacking

[6/10 · 27 April 2011]

The good things first: I really liked the alien design in this movie. Right when you first see their ships you get the feeling that these are not the ordinary Independence Day -aliens with space-lasers and massive energy shields - they are parasitic consumers like the human race. Their weapons are projectile based and they get hurt if fired upon. And unlike the aliens in so many other world-invasion -movies: they didn't "park" their ships on top of the white house or empire state building - no, these aliens appear suddenly and attack suddenly without any remorse.

They have more than just an air fleet, these aliens also got infantry. And this is about the coolest thing in this movie: watching the human infantry fighting the alien infantry. There are a lot of cool firefights and effects, but that's about it.

The bad things is that the movie has a lot of plot holes, the ending really sucks (if you thought that War of the Worlds had a bad ending, wait till you see this one), the character "depth" is really bad with the exception for the main actor who has a bit of background.

The movie COULD have been a lot better if they had cut down on all those infantry vs infantry -firefights. Yea they are cool but 1,5 hours of that is too much, really... They should have cut out on that and given us a better ending instead.

REC (2007)

One of the best horror movies in years

[8/10 · 9 November 2008]

REC is one of the best horror movies I've seen in years along with SAW and the new adaptation of Dawn of the Dead. I've never really been a fan of the horror genre, and for good reasons: There is such a huge amount of poor horror productions out there and I really can't be bothered watching 10 horror movies only to find out that 9 of them sucked. Im glad I watched REC though, because this is a really good movie - even if you are like me: not really into the horror genre. It's a bit hard to talk about the plot this movie without spoiling all the surprises, but I'll give it a try: REC follows a young TV reporter - Angela - and her cameraman who are recording the daily (or I should say: nightly) lives of some local firemen. The firefighters get a call about an old woman who is locked inside her apartment, and from there hell breaks lose. When they appear on the scene they find the woman crazy and all covered in blood. Pretty soon after the firefighters and the TV-crew has arrived, the entire building is put under a quarantine and no one is let out under any circumstances. No one knows why they are being trapped, and as everyone's frustration increases they try to break out of the building. Pretty soon though, they learn that they have other kinds of problem to worry about other than just getting out of there: They have to stay alive against an unknown threat as well.

Felon (2008)

One of the best prison movies ever made

[8/10 · 27 August 2008]

I must say that I didn't expect much from this movie. There has been a lot of TV-series and movies with the prison theme ever since Shawshank Redemption came out, and not half of them is worth watching.

I was in for a big surprise though. The plot is rock-solid, the acting is awesome, and the realism... Let me put it this way: When you watch it you will have a weird feeling in your stomach, the feeling you get when something is not right, when something seems hopeless. This movie really manage to capture the horror that "just an ordinary guy" feel when he's sent to prison with the bad guys. He goes there, thinking that he can sit his time in peace by just staying low and not getting involved with the other inmates. He quickly realize that things are not so simple on the inside as he first thought, and that every day is a fight for survival.

V.I.P. (1998–2002)

Worst show ever made

[1/10 · 17 March 2008]

Imagine a manual containing all the movie and TV-series clichés in existence. Then take the worst kind of actors there is, a completely idiotic storyline and then you follow this cliché-manual to 100 percent. The end-product would be a TV-show called V.I.P. that is so bad that even a pervert wouldn't use it to stimulate themself. This show was meant to be parody - thats what everyone is saying. But the thing about parodies is that they contain humor (often so much that you grow sick of it) - but V.I.P. doesn't even have that. I would rather spend my time in a doorless, padded room, staring at a blank wall for years rather than watch all episodes of V.I.P. No sane nor insane person would give this show more than 1 star out of 10. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)

One of the worst commercial movies ever, ever made in the entire history of man

[1/10 · 6 December 2006]

Im a huge movie fan. I've seen maybe 3000 movies in my life (voted on 450 on IMDb at this moment) and this movie is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Sure it has some good/talented actors, and some good SFX/CGI (from time to time) but the story is just... DUMB! I've never read the novel it's based upon, but I guess it must be a novel for small children, so I can't really say if it is any better or worse than the book. But I can imagine that they are both extremely repulsive to any sane adult.

"But it's imaginative" you might say. Yes, imagination is good, without it we wouldn't enjoy any books/movies at all, and I have a huge imagination myself. But at some undefined point, imagination fades into stupidity and later insanity/delusion. And "the League" has greatly passed this undefined point and gone straight through the roof of insanity/delusion. Even after a few minutes watching the movie I was thinking: "What the heck is this?", and later on me and the people I watched it with where starting to ask ourselves if this movie was a joke and "when will the real movie start?". Sitting there in the sofa I twisted myself in agony for a little over an hour before I had to shut the movie down - I just couldn't watch anymore of it.

Any, I repeat: ANY, 7 year old could come up with a better story/better characters than this commercial. I can't see how people see the author of the novel as a "brilliant person". What exactly is so brilliant about stealing characters from other novels, and mix them together in a chaotic and dumb story. Ladies and gentlemen, "The League" is THE prime example of commercial Hollywood stupidity - Don't watch this it!

Hemligheten (2005 Video)

The worst movie I've seen in my entire life

[1/10 · 18 August 2006]

Don't watch this movie - it will forever ruin your opinion about Swedish films.

The movie is about some exchange students (wow, that's funny coz they all speak extremely bad English with a Swedish accent... Even the girl who is supposed to be from the UK can't speak properly) who goes to Gotland for some summer trip or whatever. And there a lot of dumb stuff happen.

The acting, the props, the plot - everything IS a big joke. It looks exactly like a high-school production. Some examples that made me wanna throw up my pizza: 1) Main characters who severely lacks acting skills, who are supposed to be foreigners yet they speak English with Swedish accent. 2) A police scene where they have "painted" the letters "Polis" on a rusty old white Ford Escort. You don't even have to be a native swede to see that it's fake... and the officers, the officers are wearing some blue coveralls. It's just saddening. 3) Some Arabian guy riding a horse on the beaches of Gotland. Shooting a desert scene on Gotland and pretending it to be a desert is pathetic.

After maybe 15 minutes I couldn't stand watching any more of that filth, so I turned it off. Anyway, if you have ever wondered what they torture prisoners of war with, then this movie is your answer. No sane person can watch this movie to the end without turning insane.

The Stand (1994)

One of the most poorly made mini-series of the 90s

[2/10 · 1 February 2006]

Being a huge fan of anything "King", and a huge fan of "The Stand", this movie (or TV-series) was a huge disappointment. Poor acting, melodramatic acting, pathetic special effects, bad filming and a shitty excuse for a soundtrack are a few reasons to why I'll never watch this again.

The characters in the book are a gazillion times more interesting, attractive and deep than they are in movie due to the poor acting (with a few exceptions... Gary Sinise and Jamey Sheridan are okay). And sometimes it goes to the extreme, turning into pathetic melodrama, like whenever Julie Lawry appears on the screen (Shawnee Smith) or when Frannie gets her "emotional outbursts".

The special effects seems to have been made by some high school student. Randall Flaggs magic tricks makes you wanna laugh... but you don't, because your hearts is being knifed at the same time and you ask yourself wtf went wrong.

The filming and lighting is way below average, and most of the time the camera stands still or make minimalistic movements.

And the soundtrack... the lovely soundtrack. I got the feeling that it was being played by a one-man orchestra while they filmed the whole thing. Stupid piano loops and other lousy music constantly draws your attention from the story.

In short: Anyone who knows anything about film-making will ask him/herself what the heck went wrong in the production, because the quality is simply not there. People have done much better movies with half the economy they had for this series.