vinniemac-57112 Reviews

Atlas (2024)

Pure escapism

[10/10 · 12 June 2024]

Okay its not perfect but then very few films are. This is a film that you can just sit back and let it tell the story. Its not a brilliant story by any means but if you want to be taken away for a couple of hours to another place and if you suspend dis-belief you will be entertained. The acting is ok, it wont win any oscars, the cgi is pretty good and believable for a welcome change. And it fits in with todays fears about AI taking over .Dont take it too seriously and you will enjoy it. I really cant understand all the negative comments, it as if the modern trend is for films to be slated just for he sake of it. Now I am just trying to use up the words for this post to be accepted... blah blah. Watch and enjoy.

Heart of Stone (I) (2023)

It wasnt that bad

[10/10 · 1 September 2023]

It wasnt that bad, I have seen far worse. The plot was different, and there were twists that I didnt see coming. As an action film it kept my attention, I didnt get bored or find my mind wandering. Ok, it wasnt something outstanding, but at the same time it did what it was supposed to be, a couple of hours of escapism. Yes there were things in it that were a bit silly, and you had to suspend disbelief in a few places, but no more so that many other films. It isnt meant to be a great work of art, its just meant to take you away from reality for a while. Yes there is the usual stream of armchair critics that pull it down and say its rubbish, but that is par for the course these days. I give it a ten just to spite the naysayers. Their opinions mean nothing, I prefer to make up my own mind. I like it and would watch it again. If you want a couple of hours of escapism there are far worse films to waste your time on.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022– )

Loved it

[10/10 · 5 November 2022]

I love LOTR and I loved this. There is a lot of negativity about this series but what I say is ..... get a life. I cant see what anyone has to complain about. I cant wait for series two. I love the characters, which are memorable. I like the way they have portrayed the various societies which is supposed to be 1000 years before . The scenery is fantastic and really makes the story come alive. I can understand there will be some that might not like it if they hang on every word and phase which toolkit had ever written, like they do with Star Trek and Star Wars , I really cant find anything to fault in this. It interesting that the story is seen from Galadriel's viewpoint.

The Testaments: Of One Fold and One Shepherd (2000)

Excellent evocative film.

[10/10 · 26 October 2022]

A very good depiction of the visit by Christ to the Americas as described in the Book of Mormon. The ending is especially emotional and very thought provoking. It is well acted and the storyline, although fictional as far as the characters are concerned, it is well conceived and presented. There are snippets of the story of Christ taken from the New Testament and portrayed and the raising of Lazarus is particularly good. The portrayal of the events from the Book of Mormon are well done and for such a small production there was a good effort to portray to ancient city, it was a very good movie set of the city Bountiful.

The Last Kingdom (2015–2022)

A Brilliant TV Series

[10/10 · 28 June 2022]

This is a world class tv drama series, better than GOT because GOT is just fantasy whereas TLK is based on historical fact. Cant fault it, cant wait for the film.

Star Trek: Picard (2020–2023)

It was ok, but its just not Trek

[7/10 · 14 June 2022]

It was ok as a standalone series, had plenty of action and a fairly decent storyline. Some parts were quite ingenious, some parts were quite silly, but in the end despite the uniforms and ships, it was just not Trek.

Halo (2022– )

Excellent series, love it.

[10/10 · 14 June 2022]

Never seen anything to do with Halo before, never played the game. But this is nothing to do with the game, its a different interpretation of the story.

I cant see what all the moaning and nay-saying is about. The characters are great, the effects are great, and so is the story. Its a sit back and forget about everything bit of entertainment. I loved it and I hope they dont cancel it halfway through like most other good series. Cant wait for series 2.

What Happened to Monday (2017)

Excellent movie, well worth watching

[10/10 · 1 May 2022]

Why is the rating so low, this was an excellent movie. Original story, good characters, good acting, kept me watching right to the end. It was a change to see something original with a twist that fitted in with today's problems. Well worth watching.

Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

Excellent

[10/10 · 23 March 2022]

Loved it, all of it. Loved the storyline, the characters, the fights, the effects. Kept me engaged from beginning to end. One of the best films I have seen in recent times. I really hope they make a sequel.

The Power of the Dog (2021)

Not a very engaging film

[4/10 · 12 February 2022]

A well acted film, but by heck was it slow and boring. I found I couldn't sympathise or care at all about any of the characters. They just didnt engage me at all. The storyline was very thin, not very exciting. Its not something I would want to watch again. To say there has been such a lot of hope abut it with oscars etc, I was very disappointed.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Outcast (1992) Season 5, Episode 17

Still Pertinent in 2022 as it was in 1990

[10/10 · 1 January 2022]

This is one of the best episodes of Trek. I dont normally go for anything to do with gay rights or LGBT, I am usually indifferent to anything like this. I have seen this episode a few times and never really thought much about it, but this time it seemed to register with me and I liked it for its inventiveness and the way it totally turns around the way of looking at same sex attraction. It takes the antithesis of same sex attraction and makes the subject no sex attraction, and being punished for opposite sex attraction. It puts forward the idea of it not being normal to be attracted to the opposite sex but of it being subject to ridicule, prejudice, and punishment, much like same sex attraction has been and still is in some countries. It certainly made me think about how gay people are treated and feel.

Rz-9 (2015)

A good tv movie, just accept it for what it is.

[10/10 · 21 October 2020]

Bad acting, poor special effects, awful dialog..... but I liked it. With a bigger budget and better actors it could have been better, but I have seen a lot worse. I give it a ten just to annoy all the naysayers that think they are god's gift to film critics. The actual storyline could be closer to the truth than a lot realise judging by what is going on in America today.

The Eastern Front (2020)

An underrated film

[10/10 · 26 September 2020]

I cant understand all the negative comments, people just like to be critical for the sake of it. Ok, it is a low budget film, Ok, it has lots of flaws, but take it for what it is, a bit of fictional entertainment that takes you out of it for an hour or so. I didnt mind the accents, they were there to show the men were just ordinary working class people, and anyone could understand they were supposed to be Germans and Russians, come on it didnt take a lot of brain cells to work it out. I preferred it like it was rather than having to read a lot of subtitles. Your mind fills in the blanks and you understand they are meant to be speaking different languages, but it makes it simple to understand what is going on. I thought the story was original and it kept me wondering how it was going to pan out, but I guessed the ending. I liked it, and if you accept it is no Private Ryan it is watchable and entertains. I have seen a lot worse coming out of hollywood.

Mulan (2020)

Excellent family film

[10/10 · 23 September 2020]

I really cant understand what all the bad reviews are about. This is a really good entertaining film, I was captivated by it right from the start. Loved the story, the characters, the acting, and the effects. And best of all there was no swearing or unnecessary sex. Some times I think people get a little too much above themselves in thinking they are some great film critic, or maybe they just want to pull anything down that is made by Disney. At some point I will certainly watch it again.

Star Trek First Frontier (2020)

A great trek film, despite the issues with the effects and sound.

[10/10 · 13 September 2020]

Yes, we all know there was issues with the sound, and some of the special effects were a bit below par, and the storyline had some holes in it, but this was a low budget film probably done on a shoe string. I give it a ten just for the effort and for the fact it was a true Star Trek film and kept to the true Trek world. I dont bother watching Discovery, but I would watch a whole series of this. Excellent. Love the Andorian, cant stand the flower comm badge.

The Courier (2019)

Excellent bit of escapism

[10/10 · 6 August 2020]

Films like this always attract the usual bunch of naysayers giving low reviews because they think they know something about films and how they should be made, and what people want to see, when in fact they know very little. The film has its mistakes and errors, but then they all do. Putting those aside I liked it, the classic tale of a character flawed, and vulnerable fighting to overcome evil and overwhelming odds. Hugely enjoyed it,. It was very easy to find yourself rooting for the main character of the courier girl. Loved the ending. Just sit back and watch it and stop trying to find faults. I have seen a lot worse.

Cats (2019)

Not for everybody, but definitely better than all these one star reviews

[10/10 · 7 January 2020]

I have seen the stage production and was really not impressed, I found it tedious in the extreme, but for me this was far better. For all the one star reviews that claim there is no plot, all I can say is you need to keep your eyes and ears open. You have to remember that Cats is based on a collection of poems and the plot is very simple. The acting is very simple because they are humans trying to be cats, not cats trying to be human. The dancing is superb,I liked the special effects and staging, the singing is ok most of the time, and the rendition of "Memory" is excellent. You have to realise that actors can rarely sing and dance and visa versa. Cats is a fantasy set to music and if you loved the stage version, then this is very little different. I really can't understand all the negativity about it, but then I find there is a section of people that will moan about any film you put up, no matter what it is, and as for film critics..... I never take any notice of those.

Badland (I) (2019)

Excellent western movie

[10/10 · 19 November 2019]

Cant understand why there are one star ratings for this movie, it was really good. Good story, great actors and plenty of bad ass gunfighting. Take no notice of the nay sayer, they obviously no nothing. If you like westerns watch it and enjoy.

Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2024)

This is not Star Trek

[1/10 · 23 September 2019]

I love all in incarnations of star trek...... except this one. It just isnt trek. There are too many inconsistencies with what has gone on before, the obvious one being the Klingons. They look like something completely different, and they look stupid. yes the effects are good, but come on..... a star ship powered by mushrooms? Most of the main characters are just simpply annoying to watch, and nowhere in any of the hundreds of previous episodes of all the series did it hint that Spock had a sister. Its just laughable. Total garbage. I really wanted it to work, watched all of season one, and three episodes of season two, then I gave up. The Orville is a far better series and is what a modern version of trek should have been like. I wont be watching any more and if the new Picard series is along the same vein I wont be bothering with that either.

Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2024)

Its not Trek

[1/10 · 25 March 2019]

The characters are boring, it is very difficult to feel any sympathy for them, they dont seem to gel together. The stories are improbable, with any sci fi you have to suspend disbelief, but this is just too much, I mean, come on, a starship powered by mushrooms, get real! But worst of all it has a blatant disregard for the canon of trek, it ignores so much established past trek history. In forty odd years Spock never mentioned he had a sister! And neither did his father! Its basically rubbish and any self respecting trek fan wouldnt waste time watching it. I watched the first season and part of the second then gave up, I didnt want to waste any more of my time. One star is way too much.

Brothers War (2009)

Good film, worth a watch.

[10/10 · 22 March 2019]

To say it was done on a slim budget I thought it was a good film, Ignore the low ratings, some people just love to slag films off just for the sake of it, when the truth is they wouldn't even know where to start making a film. Yes there were some errors, but I've seen the same on big budget films as well. 10 stars for the effort.

Ghost in the Shell (2017)

Nothing wrong with this

[10/10 · 16 March 2019]

What is it with people? The amount of negative comments about this film? People are just hyper critical. There was nothing at all wrong with this film, the visuals were good, the acting was acceptable, the story was good. Ok, it wasnt perfect but it doesnt deserve all the one and two stars given. Everybody harps back to the 1995 version which was rubbish. I mean come on, that was a cartoon. It was so boring. This version was much better. I'm giving it ten stars just to stick in the craw of all those genius amateur critics that love to moan and imagine themselves as god's gift to the cinema, as if they could do any better? This film is worth watching, two hours of escapism.

Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)

What is all the fuss about?

[9/10 · 6 February 2018]

When this film first came out I made the mistake of looking at the reviews listed on here. One after the other 1s and 2s star rating, so I thought this can't be too good I'll not bother going to see this, I'll wait till it comes out cheap on DVD or on the telly. But at the last minute just before it went out of the cinemas, I decided to go. I'm glad I did.

I can't understand what all the fuss is about. I saw the first film when it came out in the 1970s. I've watched every one since many times. (Yes some weren't so good) When I was younger I even collected some of the models and played X Wing v Tie Fighter on my pc for hours. The truth is The Last Jedi isn't that bad and it doesn't deserve a one or two star rating.

There was whining and bleating when The Force Awakens hit the screens, now its ten times worse. People crying into their pillows at night because their personal idea of what the Star Wars universe should be like doesn't correspond with the latest film. Shouts of, "Star Wars is over" and "The Legacy is ruined" or "Its an insult to the fans." GET OVER IT. Just because the film doesn't fit in with your concept doesn't mean the film was wrong. Just because the plot or storyline wasn't what you were expecting, doesn't mean it was a bad plot, it just means it was different.

If you go to see a film that is one of a long line of sequels with a preconceived idea of what it should be like, you will be disappointed. I think fans should stop trying to tell film makers what their creations should be like, else where is the space for imagination.

But the biggest problem fans have, (especially in the USA) is the fact that Disney are now making the films and it sticks in their craw.

I will be looking forward to seeing Last Jedi on DVD and look forward to the next film in the next couple of years.