Trinity-66 Reviews

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Visually stunning, but Cameron is borrowing from his earlier blockbusters

[5/10 · 10 July 2023]

The opening sequence already tells you how the movie will end three hours later. In other words I agree with what most people say about the lack of a decent storyline.

That said the visuals are stunning, so kudos to the animators!

Sadly a lot of those beautiful visuals are just do-overs. When Lo'ak enters the belly of the whale it lights up like stars, and I was transported right back to The Abyss (1989). The whole sinking of the attack vessel that brought the Sky People? Hello Titanic!

And what's with the character animations? They put a lot of time into Sam Worthington's Jake Scully and really caught the nuances in his facial expressions. He's the only one who actually moved me. Zoe Saldana's Neytiri? I didn't recognize her at all. All she does is shriek.

Kiri and Tuk were beautifully done, but I didn't recognize their actors either (although who wouldn't recognize Sigourney in real life?) So a bit of a mixed bag for me, and also a bit of a disappointment.

A Long Way Home (2003 TV Movie)

Daring movie

[7 September 2003]

This movie examines the fact that people who were abused by their parents are much more likely to abuse their own children. It takes a look at a family (mom, dad, teenage daughter and younger son) going through a crisis as the daughter accuses her father of sexually abusing her. The story follows the mother's therapy sessions and through this we find out that dad was an abused child and later on in the film that this was also the case with the mother. It's a daring movie especially because the abuser is not hidden away as he is in so many other movies we've seen about the subject. Robert Urich plays him as a wounded man who knows he did a terrible thing, but doesn't know what he can do to make it right again. Every gesture he makes towards his daughter is misinterpreted. Yet he has to learn to live with himself, as he fights his own demons. Meridith Baxter Birney plays the mother who can't believe she didn't know the man she loved dearly was abusing their daughter. She comes to understand her circumstances as she cries out to her own mother when she realizes she has "forgotten" her own abuse. The movie on a whole is slow and shallow and the 'technique' of filming the mother's therapy sessions as interviews makes it look fake. The daughter's feeling are not looked at in depth, but the focus on the parents makes the message come across.

X2 (2003)

I wish I could say it was better than X-men...

[7/10 · 1 May 2003]

It would even be really nice to say that it was as good as the first movie. You see I'm a really big actors fan and this cast is guaranteed to leave a wet spot in my cinema seat (Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and of course Hugh Jackman!). Sadly the talents of Mr. Stewart and Mr. McKellen are wasted here since they seem to have so little to do! The same goes for James Marsden, Halle Berry and even newcomer Alan Cumming!

In my opinion, it doesn't even come close to X-Men 1.

It lacks rhythm, action and tension.There were very few moments where I was wondering how a character was going to get himself out of the mess (s)he was in. The one exception to that, is when Wolverine gets his butt kicked by a girl.

There is an up side: The message is still clear and enough 'in your face' to be understood by the people it is aimed at. Any movie battling prejudices has my support, let's just hope that bigots are less demanding than I what action movies are concerned!

For the Future: The Irvine Fertility Scandal (1996 TV Movie)

Typical movie of the week, but with an important message

[8/10 · 3 February 2003]

This film holds all the ingredients for a typical movie of the week: a family being 'abused' by a doctor who feels he is God only because they desperately want children, but need help getting pregnant. RN's and embryonologists at the clinic turn out not to be licensed and the doctor cares more about lunches and golf than about his patients. Even the fact that it is a 'true story' fits the format perfectly. Although the acting is very good, the direction is average, with lots of flash-backs and a narrative, but it does get the message across.

It is clearly shown that when people ignore the warning sirens (they ARE that loud!) bad things happen! For example: the doctor never has time to speak to them, he asks for thousands of dollars cash up front to pay for medication, while he admits that insurance will cover all of the treatment itself and they don't get copies of any of the papers they sign. It could happen to you!

Oh and check it out: since this is a true story it's about real people and one of the real people in the real trial is Sen. Tom Hayden (played by James Sutorius), who used to be married to Jane Fonda.

The Spanish Apartment (2002)

Unexpected greatness, for those who don't mind reading subtitles

[10/10 · 10 July 2002]

A young Frenchman uproots himself as he becomes an Erasmus exchange student in Barcelona and comes back a better man. Sounds boring? No way! The movie is filled with colourful people, all of them stereotypes (the British twat and her racist brother, the sexually liberated Dane, the ultra-organised German,...). In this case though, the stereotypes are brilliantly done. You feel like you know people like that (I for one know an arrogant doctor and his trophy wife, and they're just like the characters in the film!), they feel like REAL PEOPLE!

Go see this movie and enjoy the subtitles!

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

Much better than Episode I

[5/10 · 16 May 2002]

***Spoiler warning***

After Episode One I thought the Star Wars realm would never recover. Yes, George Lucas likes to showcase all the special effects ILM can produce and, Yes, Mr. Lucas couldn't direct a romantic scene if he had help from The Force, but on the other hand, this is a much more exciting movie than the last one! Like he overdoes the effects, he also overdoes the romantic scenery (lakes and waterfalls and meadows! I expected Maria Von Trapp to start singing 'The hills are alive with the sound of music' anytime...), but the lightsaber fights are excellent. Everyone has a go (even Yoda) and of course Anakin loses a hand (like Luke lost a hand in 'The Empire Strikes Back').

Hayden Christensen plays Anakin as a spoiled brat, with a violent streak and thereby lays the groundwork for the next installment where he will become Darth Vader. Ewan MacGregor gets the flex his muscles as Obi Wan Kenobi gets a bit more action and Natalie Portman is just simply gorgeous as her Senator Padmé Amidala never wears the same gown twice (and isn't it wonderful that even when you're travelling as a fugitive, you can still find the time - and the hairdresser - to get your hair done!!!).

This is definitely one for the freaks, like me...

A Change of Heart (1998 TV Movie)

How not to react when you find your husband in bed with another man...

[10/10 · 9 July 2001]

Jean Smart's character acts like an absolute bitch to absolutely everyone after her discovery. Everyone who crosses her path gets the full load but she can't even say the words... I realize it's probably your worst nightmare to find out your husband's bisexual, but - as one character aptly puts it - it's better than finding your husband in the arms of a 25-year old bimbo. Hats off to the people who dared to make a movie about the subject! If this means that one more person feels it is now easier to talk about it, this movie has done it's job! If there is an underlying moral, it must be; TALK ABOUT IT! Keep the channels of communication open!

Illusions (1983 TV Movie)

Keeps you guessing, even though it's a little dated

[7 July 2001]

I recently got a chance to see this movie on the Hallmark Channel and it kept me glued to the TV for at least the first hour! Karen Valentine gets to play the naive woman once again (she has the big deer eyes to pull it off) in this story of a young widow who finds out that she doesn't really know her husband of two years at all. She follows his trail all over Europe (it feels like an American guide to Europe in ten days - London, Paris, Stockholm, Amsterdam) and with the help of an Interpol Agent eventually discovers her husband is still alive - even though it's just long enough for her to be there when he dies. It's schmaltzy and very dated (it looks more like a seventies movie than an early eighties one), but it kept me interested on a lazy afternoon.

Baryshnikov on Broadway (1980 TV Special)

For the fans of Misha and musicals

[8/10 · 23 January 2001]

If you add Mikhail Baryshnikov's dancing to Liza Minelli's singing what do you get? In this case, a 'Best of Broadway musicals', sort of... I liked it, but then, I'm biased because I've been a Baryshnikov fan for as long as I can remember. In this show the biggest Broadway dance numbers get the ballet treatment, but Misha also shows he can handle the lighter stuff. Remember: this was way before Baryshnikov's knees gave out and way before Liza started going the way of her mother.