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The Lorax (1972)
Very closely follows the book with added evocative music
The Lorax from the 1970s is far superior to the 2012 movie version. In this original Lorax animated film, the story stays very close to the book material. Dr Suess himself (Theodore Geisel) was involved in the production of this version.
The animation is very similar to the drawings found in the book. The music is superb and draws viewers in. The music sets the tones and emotions for the scenes. Very well done on the musical score.
Voice acting is great, and Eddie Albert is perfect for his role.
The only downside is that the Once-ler is shown as a cigar smoker which has no place in a children's film, even though the addicted, self-centered, and self-destructive nature of tobacco smoking does fit the Once-ler's character.
My grade is a solid A. The 2012 movie version only gets a B- from me.
The Moderator (2022)
Dusgusting theme and poorly executed
The Moderator is a crummy film from start to finish. The only good part is in the first few minutes where the main characters shows compassion for her cat. After that the movies just is about ugly people doing ugly things to each other. Maybe some of the actors might look nice in still photos or something like that, but in this film they all are just ugly.
The script is nonsense. The plot is barley coherent, and that is being generous. The filiming is on the level of a midle school film project. Costumes are stupid.
Violence agaist women abounds, and the film is suppose to being about confronting that, but instead it glorifies it.
Repeated rape scenes are just disgusting.
I would give it zero stars, but that is not an option. WORTHLESS MOVIE.
Electric Dreams (1984)
Newly perfect movie.
Electric Dreams 1984 is a newly perfect movie.
READ the opening credits and watch to the very end of all the credit. Fun stuff there.
A fairytale for computers?
A love triangle between two people and an artificial intelligence system?
One of the early, and a very good one, discussion of artificial intelligence and how it will interact with people.
It has a great story that is well told. The characters are excellent and well developed and grow as the story movies along.
Actiing is superb.
Music is wonderful, from classical to contemporary (for the 1980s) and the music compliments the story expertly.
Mot of all, the movie is entertaining and fun.
Highly recommended!!!
Puppy Love (2023)
Horrible acting, foul language, mocking sick people, and vaping and tobacco
Yuck!
This movie is just a mess. One character has social anxiety and they mock him throughout the movie. Real funny, NOT! I suppose next they will knock over a crippled kid's wheelchair and laugh about that, huh?
Acting is just poor. Sounds like a first read of a curmmy script.
Add in some weird refereces to abortions, sex, and a bunch of foul language.
I was very surprised at just how bad the two lead actor/actress are. No really acting skill at all in this film. Maybe they are better in other parts, but this makes me not want to ever look about another movie with Lucy Hale or Grant Gustin.
The script writing should get different jobs.
Yuck, yuck, yuck!
Koneko monogatari (1986)
Liked when it came out, but times are different now.
A cute film, nice music, and sweet story, BUT very troubling aspects of how the film was made.
In the end credits, there is the statement: "The animals used were flimed under strict supervision with the utmost concern for their handling."
I am not sure what that even means. It does not say, "concern for the animals' welfare" and it does not say "No animals were hurt or injuried in the making of this film."
As others have pointed out, the animals in the film are obviously frightened and subjected to things they would not normally do. Even the best training cannot account for all the scenes where animals are subjected to fear-inducing situations. There is the cat striking a baby bird, the swimming dog being batted about by the bear. The cat falling from trees, falling into water, falling into a pit, and riding a box over a waterfall. The dog riding on a turtle. And lots more.
All those situations make me dislike the flim as I now realize how difficult it would be to make this movie and still keep the animals safe.
Joker (2019)
Not much more than a bleak extended smoking advertizement
I think this movie had potential, but the near constant tobacco product placements was super annoying. Acting was pretty good for the lead, but nobody else was anything other than adequate.
Sometimes the movie feels like it is trying to be in circa 1975 or something like that, which was okay, I guess, as a sort of period drama. In some ways it felt like cop drama trying to be gritty and meaningful, but it tried too hard in some areas, and othe rplaces just lacked depth.
The neighbor and her daughter could have been explored better, but that just sort of faded out as some kind of hallucination.
Plot was decent as a psychological drama and cautionary tale, but that is about all I can say.
Overall, just a bleak smoker's paradise. I will not watch a sequel if they make one.
FUBAR (2023)
Just plain stupid, no funny, dumb action, with horrible acting, rotten stories
FUBAR is just stupid. The show is all fouled up beyond any repair. HUGE disappointment. The acting is like a first read. No emotional connections for any of the characters, and the story reminds of me some middle school kid trying to rewrite the old TV show Chuck. In fact, Chuck is better than FUBAR by a bunch.
SPOILERS BELOW, as if that could ruin a crummy show.
The set-up is that the Arnold character is a retiring spy with the CIA. He is divorced and his daughter is also a spy, but at first he does not know that. After he retires, he gets called back in to do an extraction (a tooth extraction without anesthesia is better than watching this FUBAR of a show), but when the Arnold character and his "wacky team" go after the mission, only then does Arnold find out that his daughter is also an agent. Big shock, huh? Not.
Bad acting all around, and the stunt doubles for Arnold are so obvious, it is painful to watch.
I made it through three full episodes (I guess I have a high pain tolerance) but after that gave up.
There are a plethora of shows with comic spies that are better than this drivel of a FUBAR show.
The only thing this show does right is its name. It is all fouled up beyond any repair.
The Predator (2018)
Some good special effects, but dialogue is just rotten
The Predator is the worst of the Predator series of movies. The acting is mediocre at best, except for Yvonne Strahovski, who is in a minor supporting role, but does give a good performance.
Plot is wandering.
Action is gory at times, but utterly impossible at other times.
Dialogue is rotten, with meaningless quips and inane commentary. F words abound, including from a child. One character is a heavy smoker, so did some tobacco company paid for product placement?
Unsatisfactory ending, and just left me feeling like I wasted my time. 4 stars for some scenery, some good special effects, and the predator dogs which were kind of an interesting addition.
Guns of Eden (2022)
Total waste of time. Rotten movie all around.
Guns of Eden is a very badly made movie. The premise is some campers see sheriff's officers murder a man. From there, it is a shoot and chase movie.
Positives:
Some nice forest backgrounds.
Does point out the "gun nut cult"
Parodies some current politicians as catering to insane ideologies.
Negatives:
Except for Alexandra Faye Sadeghian (the female lead) no one else in the movie has any acting ability at all. Extremely crummy acting, and stumbling thorugh their lines.
Dumb plot.
Production errors all over the place. People in one shot, suddenly have different equipment in teh next view. Bodies disappear as the camera angle switches, and a host of other junk like that. A high school film class could do better.
Inaccurate depiction of how firearms actually work. "Actors" frequently have fingers off the triggers, yet the weapon is firing? Really? The special effects are added in and are just stupid and inaccurately placed.
This film makes Christians all look like ignorant, gun totting, cousin marrying, murderous, idiots.
STRONG RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY.
Supposed to be gruesome scenes, but the makeup is not even up to 1950s standards.
MAKES POLICE OFFICERS LOOK LIKE TRIGGER HAPPY FOOLS.
Except for the single black character, who is a good cop, and is then murdered, the rest of the law enforcement people are made to look bad.
My grade, is a strong F. This movie fails, fails, and fails again.
Ferdinand (2017)
Not much like the book, but somewhat entertaining.
SPOILER ALERT;
I really like the original book, Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf. I previewed it before letting my grandchildren watch it, and I am very glad I did. I am not sure what age child might like it, for it ranges from silly to dark in its themes. Maybe for kids ten and over?
That being said, this movie does NOT follow the book much at all.
Positives about this movie.
Nice animation. Some scenes which are very close to the orginal art of the book.
Pretty music, mostly. A few tunes I did not care for, but overall sweet music.
Based VERY LOOSELY on a superb book.
A basic feel good ending which is somewhat related to the book, but not very well.
Negatives:
The plot falls apart as it stuffs lots of new characters, lots of action, and lots of filler to stretch the orginal story into a "madcap adventure" including car chases, trains, and sidekicks which were never at all in the book.
Ferdinand's mother is replaced by a father, and while the father is a nice character, just leaving the mother out bothered me.
The infighting between the bulls was over emphasized, and the fact that Ferdinand likes ot just sit quietly and smell the flowers was minimized. The end scene of the bull fight is not at all like in the book.
Three horses with weird German accents are added as some kind of comic relief or something, and they might entertain very young children, but tyhe dark themes of bull fighting and a slaughter house and way too mature for kids that young.
This movie tries to do something for everyone, and ends up being a mess. Too dark for small children, too silly in places for older kids, and way too drawn out with chases and additions which were never in the book, so that book fans will be disappointed.
Overall, I was very disappointed by the movie version of Ferdinand. Not recommended.
Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Adventure (2022)
Could have been great without the tobacco product placements, but still is decent
Apollo 10 1/2 is a great premise, recalling the year 1969 from a child's perspective, especially regarding the moon landing. I especially like the rotoscope style of filming, and that was done pretty well here. They used a variation of it on the historical footage which is shown on TV's and movies within the movie which ads to its unique flavor.
Yet, like so many Netflix produced movies, there is gratuitous tobacco product placements and character shown smoking cigarettes. Sure idiots smoked in 1969, just like idiots smoke in today's world, but I wonder who much money the tobacco industry pumps into Netflix to promote cancer-causing additions? Apollo 10 1/2 will appeal to children, by its child-focused main character, and its rotoscope style of filming, so why not just leave out the tobacco product placements? Is it because Netflix is paid to put that smoking nonsense into these films???? Probably.
I would give the film a 10 without the smoking, but because of all the tobacco product placements, the film only gets a 7.
The Book of Esther (2013)
Not the Biblical story at all. Just stupid.
This is a stupid story and not at all like the wonderful story written in the Bible. If some film company, Pure Flix, wants to make a movie, go for it, but do not slap some Biblical name on something that is not based in the Bible story. Huge waste of time.
Alphabet Roll Call (1974)
Fun stop-action animation
A jack in the box gives a lesson about the alphabet by having all the letters come forward and speak. A very sweet film. The letters are each sort of funny in their voices, and at the end there is a basic phonics lesson.
False Hopes (2020)
Surprisingly good movie
I started this movie thinking it would be a typical romantic comedy. It was that and more. I liked the spiritual elements. Those were added in appropriate ways which were reflective of the people I know in real life. It did not come off preachy or super religious, but just realistically portrayed.
Good acting. Nice music. Good plot.
I liked this movie a lot.
Cosmic Sin (2021)
Dreadfully poor movie
There is nothing positive I can say about this movie, Cosmic Sin. Poor acting. Rotten storyline. Overdone special effects. The required Netflix smoking scene. The whole movie sucks.
Agent Revelation (2021)
I turened it off
No setup for the plot. Cheap special effects. No introduction of characters. Poor acting. I turned it off after wasting some time with it. Not worth watching.
Solos (2021)
Fantastic writing and great acting
Solos is a wonderful series with superb acting and exceptional writing. It is for people who like thought provoking, challenging science fiction, and will not appeal to those looking for simplistic or action-packed cgi.
Each episode explores what it means to be truly human, and no simple answers are presented, but realistic characters are portrayed.
For me, a few episodes had a bit too many uses of the f word, but that was the only downside I saw of the whole series. Great cinematography. Appropriate music. Very compelling stories.
My grade is a solid A.
Love, Death & Robots (2019)
Season 2 really is really poor
Season 2 of Love, Death, and Robots just really sucks. I wonder how much money the tobacco companies poured into Netflix for so much product placement.
In many of the episodes the animation is really good, but the story lines are really poor, and in virtually every episode cigarette placement is obvious.
I wonder how people would react if this was a diet soda, oreos, or any other product. The near universal smoking in these episodes ruins the entire series.
Some decent voice acting.
Overall season 2 just nose dived into the toilet. Or should I say nose dived into the ashtray.
Invincible (2021)
Really stupid animated show.
The animation in this TV show is adequate, but nothing special. Voice talents are adequate. Plot is extremely thin and meager. Characters are flat and way underdeveloped. Feels like characters are cardboard counterfeits of some of DC universe characters. The first time the graphic violence happens it is shocking, after that it becomes so routine that it gets to the point of ludicrousness. I stopped washing after a few episodes because of the poor writing. Seems like a lot of political agenda is forced into the series as well. I do not recommend this show.
Yes Day (2021)
Really fun movie for the family
I really enjoyed "Yes Day". It has a nice story, great acting, and it is just heartwarming and fun.
Savage Planet (2007)
Bad plot, bad special effects, fair acting.
Savage Planet has some of the worst writing I have found in a movie. Plot holes abound. Science fiction is indeed fiction, but should be driven by well-crafted ideas and plots. Not found here. A few attempts to explain deep space teleportation, but those few attempts are feeble and just dreadfully poor.
Special effects are bad.
The clips of the bear attacks are all pasted together and look very amateurish.
Fair acting by some decent actors, but with the script they have, I doubt they could do better.
Almost no entertainment value.
The Young Messiah (2016)
Based mostly on material outside of the Bible, yet a very inspiring film.
The Young Messiah is a fine film which looks at the time in Jesus' life from when his family brings him back from Egypt to Nazareth. The settings of the film are beautiful, the music is sweet (a bit minimalistic), and the acting is very good. There is an interesting plot and some very poignant moments.
Some critics have written that this film is not based on the Bible, but I would say that it "writes into the gaps" which the Bible does not address.
The Jesus in this movie is 7 years old. The Bible says that on one occasions, when Jesus was 12, they went to celebrate the passover and Jesus got separated from his family.
But do not think this film is messing with that, because it is not. It describes a different trip to celebrate the passover. The Bible says that the family made yearly visits.
Luke 2:40-42 "The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him. Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival." and Luke 2:52 "And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor."
Those passages which speak about Jesus growing in wisdom and stature, are what this film covers. Yes, some of the events described are only written about in non-canonical ancient writings, or from historical accounts, but the flavor and tone of this film is very reverent.
The virgin birth and angelic visits are discussed by Mary (Bible based). The massacre of the innocents is mentioned numerous times (Bible based), and the multiple crucifixions on the road to Sepphoris (a historical report) are all in this film.
The demon (Satan) is portrayed in a very creepy and effective way.
The new King Herod is also written as an interesting character.
Joseph is well done.
Mary is a sweet and loving mother who radiates warmth for her child.
I had hoped that this film would show the fact that after Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph had other children (via the typical method of procreation). As one can tell from reading the Bible we know there were younger brothers and sisters of Jesus. Mark 6:3 "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?"
Overall, I found this an entertaining and inspiring movie, but one needs to keep in mind it was not trying to tell the exact biblical story, but an entertainment film which has biblical themes.
Ad Astra (2019)
Dreadfully poor movie.
This movie has some good special effects, pretty music, and an All-Star cast.
Those are the only good things about this movie. Horrible plot, with plot holes.
I understand it is science fiction, but the scenes in microgravity, and the lack of any reference to how real physics works, just made me cringe. The moon does have lower gravity, but the characters were walking around as if it did not. Mars also has lower gravity, but again the characters just walked around like normal. So many other plot holes and inconsistencies made this movie feel like it was put together by people without any science knowledge at all. The majority of the dialogue was voice over by Brad Pitt.
Incredibly boring.
Dreadfully poor movie. My rating, F
The Legend of 5 Mile Cave (2019)
Great movie. Superb acting. Nice scenery. Good story.
"The Legend of Five Mile Cave" is an anjoyable film. The actors are very good. The scenery is nice and appropriate to the setting. The plot and story are well done.
There is a voice-over narration which some might find overdone, but it worked for me. Otherwise, a great film.
The Wrong Missy (2020)
Could have been a very funny movie, but...
The Wrong Missy has a great premise and does have some funny moments, but the movie was ruined by a number of factors. The F word is frequently used, so much so that it was distracting and spoiled the whole film. To me, using the F word so frequently is just a sign of lazy writing. Tone and atmosphere and emotion can be shown in a myriad of other ways, but The Wrong Missy's writing makes all the characters sound basically the same.
Lots of alcohol and some drug use.
The acting is fairly good.
Scenery is nice.
Not much for a soundtrack.
Some memorable comedic moments, but overshadowed by the foul language.
Overall, if a wider variety of terms and phrases were used and the characters had some more development, this could have been a good movie. As it is, it misses the mark.
My grade is a C-