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Centauri 29 (2023)
Proof that YOU can make a movie!
This flick has encouraged me to make my own sci-fi and fantasy movies. The cast in this are clearly doing this as favors and just for fun. The VFX are primitive but probably working with what they had, praying it would work. For this movie it does. Sets are cobbled together like an old episode of Space Patrol... and what camera gear they shot this with is anybody's guess.
But they made it happen. I'm not going to tear their efforts down, even if I see 30 different ways it could be done differently. Much respect to this bunch for actually making and finishing it.
I recommend this for all aspiring sci-fi and fantasy micro-budget filmmakers.
Heart of Stone (2023)
Fun romp with Gal Gadot but could've been more
There's a common issue with Netflix movies that bothers me and I think I finally figured it out. Despite a lavish budget, they play it too safe with direction and cinematography. Their movies so far feel more like a season premiere episode of a long running action series, not a movie. Character dialogue Scenes that could be beautifully blocked and shot, are instead done on-the-nose bland. Utilitarian. Even my wife, a non-geek movie fan, was talking to the screen, "that could've been a locked down shot-let the actors ACT!". I've seen Asylum flicks with more visual dexterity than what Netflix has pumped out.
Which is unfortunate, cuz Heart of Stone could've easily had a better presentation-if the people behind the lens actually cared or perhaps they have suits insisting on the bland. Well, it sure seems that way. I liked the movie, I just wish they'd take more chances and quit with this 'paint by number' approach to the filmmaking.
The Equalizer (2021)
Queen Latifa deserves way better
This show is a serious problem for QL...I've seen her acting and charisma in other shows and movies - and The Equalizer suffocates it. The cast are dealt no favors with terrible dialogue, idiotic 'plot twists' and poorly chosen stunt scenes just for the sake of having them.
It's as if a high school drama teacher is writing half-hearted fan fiction, based on atrocious, cringy after-school tv specials. It just sucks soooo bad!!
I really dig the premise, and even though the characters are written very shallow, they're all likable. It's just a shame that I've found better written and directed fare in dadgum comic books.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022)
A comic book writer could do this waaaaay better
I'm watching this, and really hoping it's good and yep, Tatiana is perfect as Jen. The VFX are nice and they've nailed her messed up personal life but all at the expense of excitement. This show has been incredibly BORING. And the short runtimes leaves one feeling ripped off.
John Byrne's run in The 90s is so well respected because he balanced the comedy, the mundane and the over-the-top bonkers-ness of the Marvel Universe in each issue. Yet a room full of writers can't find their way out of a paper bag.
The cast is great. The lead actress is lightning in a bottle but the scripts they're working with are inexplicably terrible.
Put different writers in charge next season (IF we get one -thanks for NOTHING you token hires!) and we might have better. I sure hope so, the rest of the SheHulk show sure deserves better!!!
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law: A Normal Amount of Rage (2022)
First episode is a winner! Can't wait for more!
The She-Hulk comic from the 90s is where this show gets its tone/vibe from And the show nails her PERFECT. I have been holding my breath for years, hoping they wouldn't mess her up by changing stuff around. This show embraces her silliness and dives right in. Looking forward to the rest of season one!
Encanto (2021)
Sweet movie, but what blew me away was...
Encanto's character animation sticks out from EVERYTHING I've seen from Disney in an unexpected way: their interaction, expression, movement and body language are SPOT ON for Latin Americans/Hispanics.
Every culture, every people, have dialects and vocabulary - both spoken, and in the way they express, move, interact. An authentic warmth radiates from these characters and it's amazing.
The scene under the bed with Mirabel and the young boy (before manifesting his gift) stood out- I see and hear the same kind of interaction among my South Texas Hispanic friends everyday.
Encanto is not merely a technical achievement-it's proof positive that when guided by the right people, CG animation can embody heart and soul .
Heartland (2007)
Female fantasy of limp-twisted submissive males
This show is disgusting. Every male is an over sensitive beta male, constantly tossed about by the whims of the irrational women. Best thing about the show are the horses. That's it.
I'm all for 'wholesome family entertainment' but this is microwaved pandering.
Dune (2021)
It's good but waaaay too long
Pitch perfect casting and performances, but this movie stretches 45 mins to over 2 1/2 hours. Now we have to (hope) wait they make/release a Part 2.
Ive enjoyed every Dune series, movie and comics-it's just this one REALLY went on too much.
What If...? (2021)
A HOME RUN! Gorgeous visuals and totally fun
As one who is tired of woke trash, forced politics and just really disappointed by Cap Marvel and the Loki series, plus all the other animated fare from Marvel in the past, I was really surprised at What If. The art style is stunning and mimics the modern, painterly look of the comics. The returning actors lend their voices and you can tell they were enjoying themselves.
The story is straight up classic Marvel Comics.
100% delighted, and can't wait for the next episode!
Superman & Lois (2021)
A terrible BORE! Generic drama with little excitement
Barely made it through the first three episodes before giving up. This show could be ANY random CW drama if you removed a couple of characters and half-effort FX. No, this is SUPPOSED to be a Superman series but it really isn't.
The whole Clark as a dad thing was interesting for about five minutes. Supergirl had more excitement and fun in 5 minites than three eps in this slog.
Only. CW could score so good with ecerything else and totally miss it with Supes. Thank GOD they'll never be allowed near Batman...
7th Heaven (1996)
This is the only show I actually HATE
Chalk me up as another hater-this show is mindnumbingly stupid and annoying. My wife cant finish bing-streaming this pile of trash fast enough.
Pearl (2018)
A visceral nightmare to behold
For a film about the most physically powerful and intimidating women on Earth, Pearl shows just how vulnerable and fragile these competitors are-and the opportunistic monsters who groom them for competition. Not a date-night flick and certainly not the kind of disturbing fare to share with children.
The two leads are perfect in the roles- Julia Fory is a natural on camera as Pearl, and Peter Mullan brings just enough sleeze as her motivational trainer/coach/rx. Those merits aside, I can't rate any higher-the entire film made me nauseated.
Last Man Standing (2011)
The Ryan character Ruins it, cringe every time
Every family seems to have a 'Ryan' - the kind of arrogant smart aleck who needs a few rounds as a punching bag, to drive home the notion.
The Fox transition is marred by executives muddying the waters. The original Mandy actress was smart to not come along on the train wreck this show has become.
Superman: Red Son (2020)
Messed-up adaptation and terrible animation ruins it
Wont complain too much about the flick veering off from the books, but the animation is horrible, and that is inexcusable. Many scenes were done with stills, and others were done with severely choppy, key frames (no inbetweens to flesh out movement). It's like DC us shuttering their animation department and they're kicking out the staff as they're still working...
Either that or the studio got stiffed and delivered only the absolute minimum. Either way Red Son suffers.
And is it just me, or did DC release this already a few years ago? Could've sworn I saw another animated telling of Red Son before...
Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020)
Wanted this to work, but it's a mess
Robbie's Harley is perfect but she's stuck in the wrong story. Expecting her to tell a tale straightforward IS a lot to ask, but the constant back and forth wore me out.
Would've worked better if the BoP girls were already a team, hunting down a jilted, unhinged Harley. As it is, the whole movie feels like it was a bunch of post-it notes stapled together.
And the whole "make it rated-R so people will take us seriously" didn't do this movie any favors, either.
Frozen II (2019)
Huge letdown
There was no way a sequel could match, let alone top, the first Frozen-but F2 was a mess story wise. Like others have said, the songs were bland and forgettable, aside from Kristof's hilarious riffing on Queen, Whitesnake and Peter Cetera (Chicago) all in the same tune...this movie was more of a visual showcase for the animators to flex than it was to enrich the story library.
Hard pass on this one.
Batwoman (2019)
So bad, this made Black Scorpion look good!
You know you're in for a rough time when the first 10 minutes has you longing for a Roger Corman cheese-fest from the 90s. Like many others in here, the big question everybody is asking "How the heck did this get made?!?"
I don't want to know the answer, just change the channel!
Another Life (2019)
If this crew is supposed to save us, PLEASE let us die!
Katee Sackhoff and Sam Anderson (Danny Pink -- Clara's dead boyfriend on Dr. Who) are their usual delightful selves in somewhat familiar roles. The REST of the group tho? You could toss those fools out an airlock and I wouldn't miss 'em.
I'm only half-way through the series, and the tremendous amount of swearing is draining every ounce of entertainment value here. There's a time for 'spice' and 'fire', but this is like some nightmarish curry-addict's binger. Enough already. Even the milque-toast congressman made an aside about it. You KNOW it's bad when the characters are complaining about it.
Then there's the whole -- WHY DID THEY SEND THIS GROUP OF DELINQUENTS on this mission? You send experienced, senior officers and hands, not these pink-slips from Forever 21.
Summer of '42 (1971)
Well made but painful to watch
I guess movies like this aren't my thing, but the 1940's era flick made in the 70s intrigued me. Music is wonderful, the cast is good but the whole thing is a slog to get through, especially with older geezers next to me cheering on the painfully awkward teens.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Really enjoyed it!
I've never liked the Spidey films until this one. Makes me wish Marvel would make a LOT more animated movies, and treat them with this level of thought, care and exceptional delivery.
Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)
Retread of the last three films, excessive profanity kills fun time at the movies
More of the same over-the-top hijinx, action set pieces for the sake of action. And a LOT more swearing. Almost got up and walked out mid-way. In their bid to create excitement and thrills, they went the easy route by throwing a bunch of daring-do when it wasn't really smart or necessary.
Compare this one to the very first MI flick, and the differences are abundant. Wasn't a fan of the tv show or the books, but there are better ways to make an MI movie and they already did it the first time around.
Maybe I just prefer my spy movies to be more about the spy-game and suspense, rather than all-out warfare. Henry Cavil makes for a good villain and the bathroom fight scene early in the movie was hilarious. But -- other than that, it was just business as usual with this one.
PASS.
Wonder Woman (2017)
This is as close to PERFECTION AS IT GETS
Of all the comic book, superhero and heroic fantasy films we've been fortunate to have these past 20 years, WW is the pinnacle of the mountain. The sound I kept hearing in the cinema, aside from the cheers, laughs and applause, was the huge sigh of RELIEF they got her right.
Not just 'right', but perfect. The final proof was at the Comiccon signing line, where a very young fan teared up when she met Gal Gadot. That's how awesome this movie is -- it leaves that kind of impression on even the youngest of us. Also, Gal's response was what I'd always imagined how the comics WW would respond to her. This was REAL.
Negative Fanboys, obscene SJWs and the rest of the haters can go jump into a black hole -- the Wonder Woman film conquered everything that's come before it, and is the new gold standard all others should be measured by.
Inhumans (2017)
Good cast and score, terrible script
Dialogue and plot pacing should be invisible to an audience. These first two episodes took me out of the flow -- it was that terrible. This cast is fine, I've seen them in other movies and shows; when given proper material, they're fantastic. Marvel shows have been solid performers -- Agents of Shield is consistently good, and it came out of the gate winning. This show has a troubled start, that's for sure. Was it network meddling? Disney messing with what works?
Marvel hasn't laid an egg on TV yet. Here's hoping Inhumans isn't a big duck.
Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
Epic story marred by choppy editing and vulgarity
I couldn't watch this without pausing and giving my eyes a rest. Scenes which would be awesome as sweeping shots are chopped up and broken needlessly, style over substance thing here. There's a time and place for that, but not here. The pervasive cursing and vulgarity were even more distracting than the frantic visuals. This could have been working wonderful in another editor's hands. Here's hoping the next film focused on Bumblebee leaves this formula behind.
Zhong guo chao ren (1975)
Totally BONKERS and Fun!
After stumbling across the insane poster, I just knew I had to see this movie. Found it on Google Play, got it and made it through all of it -- laughing my butt off and crying. It's not a comedy, but oh mah gawd, you can tell this is where some of our more recent pop culture hits got their inspiration.
Imagine a fever dream with knockoff PowerRanger baddies and bad Korean anime. That sums it up fairly well. EXTREMELY entertaining and hammy acting... the 'Dragon Mom' villainess and her co-horts will give you nightmares of the pizza variety. Makes you wish they'd make movies as fun and crazy as this again!