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reyalvarado-1
Reviews
Watchmen (2008)
Good Idea, Poorly Executed.
I have never rated anything a 1, but this is completely unwatchable.
The motion comic concept is great - take the original art and material and product something faithful to the original with lite animation enhancements, sound, music and voice overs. The voice overs are the problems here - there is only one voice talent, and so the feel is like an audio book... Just imagine Silk Spectere's lines being read by a man, and you'll know why I have rated this as completely unwatchable (OK maybe if you turn the sound off).
Again, a great concept, but a complete failure due to using the audio-book style convention which is completely jarring in this genre and utterly ruins the effect. The production company should have spared the budget for an expanded voice cast, and this would been MAGNIFICENT.
Prince Live at the Aladdin Las Vegas (2003)
Where are the Hits?
Prince's change of attitude in his later years has resulted in boring shows like this where he refuses to play older material.
The only stand out in this lackluster production is the Led Zeppelin cover.
As for the songs that are here - His newer material (I confess I have lost track, this stuff seems to be from the Musicology Era) all sounds poppy-jazzy-the-same. The Genius seems to be gone.
As a long time Prince fan, I was more disappointed than I can properly express.
They say Las Vegas is where washed up old Musicians go to die- and this video is an indication that the old adage may be true.
Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided (2003)
Constant Change Does Not Equal Improvement
This game started out as a very rich (albeit decidedly ALTERNATE) Star Wars experience, but later suffered from constant patching and rules changes for Character Classes, Galactic Civil War Rules, etc.
Some other weak points - As mentioned, this game would have to be taken as an "Alternate Reality" given the complete lack of continuity with films as to the number of Jedi running around for the Era (The Game Seems to be Stuck shortly after "A New Hope" and before "The Empire Strikes Back". This mechanic would have fit a lot better if the setting were a "Knights of the Old Republic" Era, rather than after ANH.
Finally (and this is one thing which was corrected to some degree in later releases) the biggest weakness of all was that the game tended to encourage people to be Millionaires. Don't get me wrong - the crafting and commerce system in this game is one of the most realistic of any MMORPG, the problem was that it grew to become the focus of game, so that in every major City, one would have to contend with "Spammers" hawking their wares and services, and nearly all characters would be involved in Mining or Farming Operations as a source of income.
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
The Most Disappointing Trek Movie Ever.
Sometimes in the history of a huge franchise like Star Trek, there is sloppiness in the form repetition of plot themes, or discrepancies in continuity, and that is forgivable. But this film seems to be have been made solely in the name of churning out product to keep the franchise going, and as a little vanity moment for Johnny Frankes.
It is very hard for me to write this review as a devout Trekkie, but when I try and think about what I liked about this movie, I keep arriving at "nothing".
The film's "moral" (if there is one) eludes me. It's even more poorly thought out than Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. The very title of the movie is misleading, as there is no great rebellion in the Federation, it's merely a few corrupt Admirals being exposed, as has happened time and again in ST:TNG.
In fact, the whole thing feels like a very badly written episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation... Except that it is so bad it is unforgivable.
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
The most unconventional movie I've ever seen.
I wasn't sure why I was so drawn to Midnight Cowboy after seeing it for the first time on the DVD Release. It doesn't have much of a plot, and it is quite depressing.
I thought maybe it was the bleakness of the film: you can almost smell the characters and touch the grit around them, but that's not it either.
I think what is so evocative about this movie and what resonates with everyone who sees it, is that it is merely about friendship and the connections that all us, even the most lowly and desperate, make in this life.
It is truly a landmark in Cinema History.