Change Your Image
andymcguckin
Reviews
Chicago Fire (2012)
A disgrace to the Firefighting and EMT profession
When I was last in the US, I had the Honour of meeting firemen/women and EMT's and this program is nothing less than an insult to the great work these people do. Anyone who has served in the military will tell you they are not a hero, but the Police, Fire and EMT's are Heroes because they go into the the fight everyday, people, everyday. Fire is the most elemental of all fears in we humans and firemen/women go into burning buildings to pull people like you and me out everyday and they do it for, let's face it cr*p money, but they still do it, because they are dedicated people who work together as a team to save lives.
This program is a formulaic piece of trash that needs either serious input from a real technical adviser, i.e. a real Chicago fire-person and EMT technical help or cancelled all together before it insults firemen/women and EMT's all over the US.
There is too much emphasis being placed on young pretty faces in many TV series at present, youth has its place, but so does age and experience. Society is going to find that out at some point, because electronic gadgets are fine and dandy I love them, but, all it takes is an electromagnetic pulse to kill them if they are switched on and then you need the knowledge that is stored in peoples' heads' that has been gained by experience. This is why Fire and Police Chiefs are older and more experienced not young, pretty, shallow and callow.
Harry Brown (2009)
Superb film noir for the millennium
Harry Brown was always going to be compared to other vigilante movies such as: 'The exterminator' and the eponymous 'Death wish,' however the downbeat film noir handling of the film and the British inner-city setting add a realistic feel to the film.
This film was not intended to be a smash bang wallop Rambo picture, it was intended to show that an individual can make a difference and the bad guys don't have to rule the streets, we can take them back. Harry, was old, had health issues, but the skills attained whilst serving his country never really go away, speed goes and you are not as strong as you were while in your pomp, but you can always out-think your opponent to make up for what you lack. This film says so much more than people realise, it says that our older population is a resource that we need to use. Older people tend to be more vocal when complaining and are often NOT the ones taken advantage of, but it is our younger people that fall for, "you can't do nuffink about it can yer," types and situations. You, can do something, we can all do something we just have to have the will to do so; this film is an extreme example of what you can do and what motivation is needed for someone to act.
While a lot of young people see this as a crock, it is the simple act of standing up for oneself that can be empowering to a down-trodden and ignored member of society. I do not condone in any way the actions of the character in the movie, but society is producing a hive of yes men and women worker bees with no character or ability to stand up for themselves. This film says stand up for: yourself, society, friends and your family, don't be a doormat. However there are more positive ways to achieve this other than acquiring a gun.
In the UK and the US policing in inner cities tends to paper over the cracks of a problem in favour of high profile media arrest operations rather than tackling the problem at it's source and this is what the ineffectual police portrayal is saying. It is also saying that some senior members of police and other law enforcement organisations are less interested in making a difference like Harry in the film and are more interested in what their public and political image is perceived as vis a vis what effect this will have on their career path.
All in all wonderfully atmospheric film with an old fashioned film noir feel that is evocatively filmed and lit. Caine is always good value and he underplays this character perfectly giving us the viewer an insight into what it is like to be older in todays 'now' society.
Bones: The Tough Man in the Tender Chicken (2009)
preachy episode
I have been a fan of bones since I first heard about it from a friend in the US, before it made it to the UK, However I found this episode's 'Vegetarian Agenda,' unacceptable. I lived on a farm, I know where my dinner comes from and I have been to an abattoir and seen the whole process of how cows and pigs become beef and pork. As part of military training you have to be able to hunt,kill and eat to survive and I have no illusions about where my dinner comes from, NONE at all.
This preachy veggie theme permeated the whole episode and spoiled my enjoyment of a normally solid programme. I normally enjoy the byplay between the characters but all the other themes within the episode were subsumed by the 'in your face,' criticism of the meat industry. I suspect this storyline was suggested by one of the actors of who has a vegetarian agenda.
There needs to be better oversight of programs to prevent this type of bias reaching the screen.
Andy
Moonlight (2007)
Brilliant series
Moonlight is a brilliant series and should never have been cancelled as it is far superior to 'True Blood','Blade-the series' and 'Forever Knight' as well many other TV programs that shall remain nameless. I bought the region 1 DVD on a recommendation from a friend in the states and I can categorically say it was worth the wait. The sexual attraction between St John and Beth is obvious from the beginning and it was the only obvious thing about the series. The story lines had some refreshing twists with good acting and decent characterisation and the 16 episode run had me not wanting to get to the final DVD in the set and I don't say that about many TV programs.
A missed opportunity and a greatly missed series.
Andy
District 9 (2009)
Excellent film with a stark message
This film is one of the best films I have seen in many years because it asks the viewer to engage their brain and their conscience as well.
The film is about prejudice and the setting of South Africa is no accident as the eviction decree has the fascist bootprints of apartheid stamped all over it. The first ten minutes of this film are difficult to watch because of its eerily recalled riot suppression like in Soweto and other townships of the Apartheid era in South Africa. The MNU vehicles are all symbolic white as are their weapons again evocative of the apartheid era. Humanity's one fault over and over again has been the prejudice of difference and minorities. We see this starkly realised with the aliens, labelled 'Prawns', in the film being blamed for the rise in crime and we see signs of segregation where there are 'humans only' areas reminiscent of not only South Africa, but The United States as well.
Some see this film as funny in places, I don't! I realise that this film is telling us about how we will use anyone to get what we want these days. The weapons testing scenes are saying that the Military Industrial complex will do anything to make money. MNU, the company at the heart of the issue had chosen a scapegoat to go into District 9 and enforce the eviction order because the people higher up the corporate food chain needed someone to blame if it went badly. However Van De Merwe our anti-hero or accidental hero is contaminated and begins to transform into an alien and the old adage that you have to walk a mile in someone else's shoes before you understand them; this is his predicament and it comes crashing down on him as he realises that his own kind want to vivisect him and the only place he finds to hide is district 9 where he begins to understand the alien point of view. The substance that contaminated him is a fuel source that will enable the aliens to launch a rescue mission to their home system to eventually save the aliens and Van Der Merwe in 3 years and he will see what it is like to be an alien in this time as he will be one of them.
I believe this film is intended to show how easily prejudice occurs and before you realise it you are complicit in the oppression of another people, country, religion or just a minority with different views to yours. Van Der Merwe goes from being a tool of oppression to being saved and accepted by the oppressed people, a salutary lesson indeed.
I did find the Cloverfield documentary style a bit irritating, even although it is an aid to story exposition.
In the beginning Van Der Merwe is a man with a clipboard throwing his weight around and is not likable and the final scenes show a change. The change has the pathos of Frankenstein, with the now transformed Van Der Merwe making flowers and leaving them for his wife to find because he feels she wouldn't be able to accept as he is now and a sign of his love for his angel.
Impact (2009)
Brown Dwarf - Ha Ha
This film from the point of view of family relationships is quite good, but it completely fails once it enters the realm of science, and is not even good 'Science Fiction.'
The fragment that hits the moon is reputed to be from a brown dwarf, brown dwarfs are astrophysical objects that are intermediate entities between planets and stars. Stars like the sun are not immensely dense, in fact the density of our sun is comparable to that of water and 'brown dwarfs' are of the order of .1 of a solar mass so the film as usual for Hollywood and TV is based on a failed premise. I think they meant to use a fragment of a 'Neutron Star,' as this would have fit with the effects described and even the goofs section is inaccurate about the suggested effects of an impact with the moon of a brown dwarf fragment. The author probably read about brown dwarfs being the size of Jupiter with a mass of between 20-50 times that of Jupiter and assumed that they were superdense objects. Brown dwarfs are failed stars/suns and if they were broken up they would diminish due to molecular reactions because gravity would no longer keep the fragments together and they would most probably combine with other molecules and elements to form conglomerate meteor/asteroids that would not be very dense at all. It is because they do not have sufficient mass to become stars that they become brown dwarfs in the first place. There are times when I wish that Hollywood or the TV commissioning editors would at least check that the science is at least plausible before allowing projects to go forward.
I know that science has been dumbed down, but this is going too far! So although this films scores on how relationships cope with extraordinary situations, it fails as a premise in my opinion and anyone with a better than high school education will realise that, but in the US and in the UK most people don't have a clue about science, and neither do film makers apparently.
Andy
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
An opportunity Lost
I so wanted this film to be different from other remakes and be decent rendition of either the original 1951 film or the short story 'Farewell to the Master,' but it was neither. Adding superior effects does not make a better movie because, 'The Day the Earth Stood Still,' is a movie with a message and the message was lost in this hopeless remake.
As humans we have to learn to understand our way out of problems rather than use violence to change hearts and minds and as we eventually reach other planets and stars other possible Alien races would see us as a terrible threat to peace. This film does ably illustrate this as the first reaction in the film is to shoot and bomb anything that moves and the military characters are flat idiotic caricatures. The Politicians are just as bad, they are badly drawn and unlike most 'real' politicians have no concept of negotiation or bargaining that would be the case in the real world. The original film had the secretary of defence as an apologist for human immaturity and our propensity for violence. This film has violence on both Klaatu's side and the human side and this displays the message that violence is necessary when it is not.
Klaatu is a portrayed as a violent entity and a harbinger of destruction whereas in the original film violence in all its forms was abhorred and Gort was the ultimate weapon against this violence not Klaatu.
The actors in this movie were unconvincing with no real empathy for the situation although to be fair the script is terrible with all characters being caricatures with no depth. The secretary is a caricature based on Condeleezza Rice who is known to be hawkish in her attitude is one example.
This film fails to convince due to an awful script, poor acting and direction that loses the message that we as humans need to change before we destroy our environment and ourselves; also that we will not be allowed to export our violent nature to other star systems.
MythBusters: Mega Movie Myths (2006)
Sword cutting sword, not busted
I normally enjoy this program immensely, but the sword experiment to investigate the myth of whether one sword cutting through another was plausible. Most of the experimental work was OK, but they forgot to consider that in a sword-fight the other swordsman's sword woudn't be stationary. The old adage that 'attack is the best form of defence,' holds true here because to block a sword you need to meet it with equal force or it will be forced backwards. In a sword-fight, both swords would be moving and if we consider the maximal vector case, it is possible for both swords to be approaching each other with maximum velocity. The velocity used in the program was 48 MPH, this means that the swords would meet at a combined velocity of 96 MPH. This myth cannot be considered busted until this case is investigated.
regards Andy MCGuckin BSc (Physics)