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ken-1273
Reviews
Ad Astra (2019)
I'll say something nice. Some of the acting was good?
I kept waiting for the movie to come up to the level of "dull" but it never made it quite that high. I did sit through the whole movie, I guess because I kept waiting for something of interest to happen. It didn't. When it was over I was left with the thought of: huh? What did I just watch?
Exciting? Not by any stretch of any imagination in any universe.
It has some A-list actors but that's about the only draw and they don't really add anything. Well, the cinematography is actually quite superb.
It would have been nice if the sciencey stuff had gotten just a bit of attention. I guess the laws of physics just don't apply.
And the "plot?"
Spoiler Alert (kinda)
I gotta go to Mars to make a phone call to Daffy Daddy at Neptune (because all the payphones on Earth are gone?). Can we have a rest stop at the moon please, and quickly please? Ooh! Road trip!💡Bad idea! Arg matey! Moon pirates!
Ya know, this trip to Mars is getting long and I'm bored. Ooh look! A ship and it's calling our name! Let's go look (maybe they'll have snacks). Bah - the crazy space monkeys done ate all the goodies... and all the people too (here they could have added a kangaroo with a rifle for a touch of realism).
Whew. I'm finally at Neptune but for some of reason the crew didn't like me so I killed them to death. Oh damn. I shouldn't have parked so far away. Oh well I'll rip a skate board off this spinning thing and use it to fend off the miles and miles of rocks to get back to my rocket.
Now, how to get home? Oh I know! I know! I'll sit on a nuke and let it blast me home!
Ok I've landed on earth. Thank goodness a couple of men in black are gonna drag my ass, um, somewhere? I'm hungry. Where's lunch?
I didn't "hate" it; that's way too strong of an emotion. Actually, any emotion is too much emotion. I simply lost two hours of my life.
As mentioned, I watched the whole thing. Shame on me.
Legends of Tomorrow (2016)
Was really looking forward to the new season...
Now I'm just hoping it becomes tolerable.
) S4 E1 was mostly slapstick, and there are way better comedy shows out there.
) I could not possibly care less about the interpersonal relationships or proclivities of the characters unless they have a direct impact on the plot.
) Constantine has always been dark and mysterious; now he's a goofy gad about rake.
Unless E2 is just oh so much better I doubt I'll be able to keep Legends on my record list.
Manifest (2018)
Not series material
Could, possibly, have been a decent mini-series or a TV movie but it's very likely to get very dull very quickly. I'll give it one more chance (not two).
Supergirl (2015)
Becoming more like a soap
Season 1 was quite good and held well to the superhero genre. Season 2 started well but drifted deeply into interpersonal drama. Season 3 started the way season 2 ended, with less emphasis on the superhero and deeply into character emotions/relationships and social issues. These are important discussions, to be sure, but I watch superhero shows to see action and fun, not for deep emotion or for a critical societal exposé.
Frankly I don't care who's straight, gay, engaged, in love, depressed, happy or psychotic unless it directly relates to the villain:heroine story line. Supergirl has, seemingly, fallen to influences (pressures?) far from the original comic book universe. It has become a soap opera.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
No better than the short story
One of the 3 or 4 worst movies I've ever seen. Incredibly boring. Worthless plot. The original short story was boring and poorly written and the movie is MUCH worse.
If you have absolutely nothing else to do, it makes poor background noise. Plan 9 from Outer Space is better. Why this won *anything* is beyond comprehension. It starts without plot. It continues without plot. It ends without plot. The characters are uninteresting and the premise is abhorrent - just as the short story was. A must avoid.
It's boring. It's poorly written. Oh, yes, the acting is fantastic as would be expected from Brad... but other than his interpretation, this has zero to offer. It got stars from Hollywood because it's pure crap. I can't believe anyone actually was entertained by this.