terrextv Reviews

Replicas (2018)

Too much fiction makes for bad Science Fiction

[4/10 · 8 May 2021]

You have to suspend belief to enjoy Sci-Fi and most of us are willing to do that when we sit down to a movie. However, there is a point after which the gaping holes in logic begin to tear away at that world we've let the filmmakers create. Replicas destroys that bubble and then some.

The most egregious example is the 'missing' person. The protagonists' solution to it really pushes our tolerance of plot armor but its radiating effects are just too absurd to be ignored. Tragically, the entire subplot was seemingly shoved in for no fathomable reason. The film would have been just as compelling without that absurdity and would have been more believable, too.

I like Keanu but this was a terrible choice of film, my man.

Boys in the Trees (2016)

Just not horror enough to be horror

[2/10 · 8 May 2021]

This is a drama about childhood friendships that fray and tear more than anything else. In that, it is a reasonably good movie. Unfortunately, it clouds its purpose with the horror element which really does a great disservice to the underlying plot, the characters, and the cast.

Too much effort went into recreating kids' fantasies. It was almost as if the writers were force-feeding the script with bits of their own stories. That usually works when the audience can't tell it's happening as scenes unfold.

I did laugh out loud when the 'Man in White', ostensibly the dude who takes you to the other side, appears. One character says something pretentious like, "You see him twice. The first time you don't remember him; the second time, you don't forget." Only, they keep seeing him over and over again. LOL

The supposed plot 'twist' at the end was rather obvious with a number of incidents through the course of the film. Anyway, yawn-y stuff for a horror film.

Bloodline (III) (2018)

Dexter for the unimaginative, complete with Weinstein-esque vibes

[1/10 · 8 May 2021]

What if the premise behind Dexter was handled by clowns with no talent? In Bloodline, you have your answer.

When you have gone a few minutes into a film and more than half of it is still a grotesquely exploitative and demeaning nude scene, you know you have stepped straight into the disgusting Weinstein trashfire that is Hollywood's least talented and sleaziest crowd.

The ridiculous plot holes aside, Bloodline's entire execution was remarkably pedestrian. No character has any depth. No character's background is realistic. Everything hinges on amazing deductions by the people the writers want to give them to.

It is frustrating to watch Bloodline because we've all seen how good writing can take the basic plot elements to such heights with Dexter (especially the first few seasons). Here, everything is squandered by completely garbage writing and divisive casting. A really, really terrible movie.

Planet of the Humans (2019)

Your heroes lie to you... because you let them

[9/10 · 2 May 2021]

Many reviewers have gone off on tangents (rants?) criticizing Gibbs's supposed inability to see the bigger picture. He sees - and shows us - the Ultimate picture.

It is a distasteful one of 'green energy' oligarchs like Al Gore and Bill McKibben who are celebrated by the easily-conned masses but, in reality, work only for narcissistic self-gain. Gibbs said he specifically did not include Greta Thunberg because he thought her too young to be criticized. But the cold, hard facts remain.

Part of the reason that there has been such vociferous opposition to this documentary is explained by Mark Twain's quote: "It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled". People have invested far too much in the green movement mentally, socially and psychologically for them to accept that their gods are mortally flawed, their prayer houses just hollow shells.

You see that in the negative reviews. The aversion to even mentioning the green czars tells a tale of pained but deliberate self-delusion. Ignorance is bliss and far too many of our 'earth-loving' friends will somehow forget all that they saw and heard here. It is our responsibility to the planet to not let them. Talk about this film - Mother Earth is counting on you.

Feels Good Man (2020)

Populist fare told through a predictably skewed lens

[2/10 · 2 May 2021]

The funniest part of all of this was watching that guy proclaim that 4chan was made up of 'beta males'. I just looked at the guy on the screen who'd said that and burst out laughing - he looked like the kinda guy who'd ask his wife's boyfriend what he wanted for his birthday.

Furie obviously is making a whole lot of money from his character. Don't let the morose face and "I'm a hapless comic artist" act fool you. Also, the documentary makers' bias - and cowardice - is on full display when you compare how they smear Trump supporters with a blanket brush but then tiptoe around the fascist Chinese Communist Party's actions in Hong Kong.

I wish we could return to a time when the ideological leanings and intellectual cowardice of documentary makers wasn't so blindingly obvious. Evidently, with the world's biggest corporations, Big Tech and government all batting for you, it is an easy (and profitable) story to tell. Eerily similar to the Nazi's rise to power with the state media's assistance.

Years from today, when these players are dead and gone, a different generation will look unbiasedly upon propaganda like this as we do the craziness of the Third Reich.

One star for being well put together, however picky with the facts. Another for the poor little kid who's growing up in a house full of stoners and will pay a heavy price in the long term. :(

Frantic (1988)

Pretty engaging thriller, if you can switch your brain off for a while

[5/10 · 10 April 2021]

I first watched this almost 20 years ago and, as a kid, the little bit of 'upskirt' action as Emmanuelle Seigner dangled from the roof set my heart racing. That is literally the reason the movie stuck in my head.

Watching it again in 2021, it's hilarious to see how excitable a teenaged boy is. Yeah, she dangles in her miniskirt but, damn, I'm laughing so hard at my teen self.

Anyway, the plot opens up very nicely and the disappearance is pretty well done. Ford captures the frantic, helpless husband persona well. Seigner does well to convey her sorta-ditzy, sorta-streetwise character.

The shockingly bad part of the plot is how casually everyone treats the thingamajig they are after. It's like children have been put in charge of national and international security.

So, if you're a teenaged boy, watch it for Emmanuelle's legs; if you're an adult, you may like the plot.

The Sinners (2020)

Ugh! Another shallow, preachy, unimaginative plot trying to tick boxes to be liked.

[2/10 · 10 April 2021]

As a non-Christian and, what's the hip term now, ah, 'person of color', I balk at the vitriolic hate with which Christians are depicted in film. It becomes really hard to watch when anyone with a particular religious identity is portrayed as a paper-thin caricature, even if I disagree with their religious beliefs.

These movies are written and aimed at the modern 'liberal' who is very loud about their hate for white people and Christians, but timid as a mouse - and perhaps even complicit - in discrimination otherwise.

I reeeally tried to enjoy The Sinners but when something is created around writers' hate for a group of people instead of the love of telling a good story, it shows. Jut check your discrimination at the door and write decent stuff, guys.

The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)

One of the dumbest movies I've seen in a long tme.

[2/10 · 7 January 2021]

Shouting every line in the Adam Sandler brand of comedy seldom works, even for Adam Sandler. Here, it just grates on your nerves and adds absolutely nothing to an already flimsy story. The Wolf of Snow Hollow is a disgustingly stupid way to spend a couple of hours. The film follows a ski town's police force as they investigate a series of grisly murders. Its main character is an unlikable idiot, and the secondary plotlines to reveal his humanity are wafer-thin caricatures that make him even less likable. The cop dad-with-rebellious kid trope shoehorned in here has been overdone and stinks of unimaginative writing. Then, there are his absolutely fantastical deductions, such as accurately declaring a missing strip of pelt on an animal carcass could only have been removed because of a bloody handprint. He has ridiculous outbursts at regular intervals that are supposed to be funny, some complete with idiotic slapfights. Often, there is little rhyme or reason behind his and many of the other characters' actions. Its depiction of the rural locals is the typical condescendingly elitist silliness we have come to expect of Hollywood's lazy and tired brand of writing. The final deduction of the killer's identity is so forced and ridiculously contrived that it seems to be imagined by a child. I can't believe I sat through this drivel. Ignore the pretentious reviews that give this undeserving movie a high score. Save yourself a heap of eye-rolling and frustration and don't spend a cent to have the stupidity unfold before your eyes.

Won't Back Down (2012)

Waaay underrated film

[8/10 · 13 August 2020]

I don't get it. Why would a film that tackles such an important issue fail so badly at the box office. Where are the celebrity endorsements and media buzz for an effort to rid the dismal education system of its leeches. There is a glut of reviews for this movie, particularly by 'experts', that say it 'oversimplifies' the issues. As compared to what film that tackles an important topic?? Are the corrupt teachers' unions that they can sink a film? Why won't celebrities who are supposedly so interested in the youth of the nation not speaking up on this issue? Probably because lower-educated people buy their music and watch their films, I suppose...

Midsommar (2019)

Predictable and, thus, boring.

[2/10 · 1 August 2020]

Okay, tell me what happens when a group of outsiders go to a remote village filled with unusual residents who practice strange customs? Eggg-zactly! The only beautiful element of this movie is the beautiful Scandinavian countryside. What colors, what space! Coming back to matters of substance to a review, the plot is a simplistic rehash of films like The Wicker Man. There are no real surprises, no major deviations from the theme, nothing that would pique the interest of anyone who has watched horror/thriller films before. I don't understand why filmmakers today cannot give their characters any depth. There is always that stark divide of black-and-white where the protagonist is depicted as completely justified in whatever they do. There was a really intriguing concept about the main character's family history that could have been woven into the plot. To have a circular journey with that concept would have blown minds, I think. But no, just ham-fisted tedious drivel here. I want my money back.

Doctor Sleep (2019)

We waited all that time for this?

[1/10 · 1 August 2020]

Ugh! It seems that Hollywood really does want to just commit suicide by creating drivel that sinks careers and millions of dollars. The storry is that Danny Torrance could have gone on to so many things but the visions have left a deep psychological impact and he is just running. A victim to a whole slew of vices, he finds a reason for redemption upon discovering a kid who has similar powers. Unfortunately, the new kid is a complete Mary Sue. The film begins with much promise and the villains play their part quite well (except when up against the Mary Sue, whereupon they become clueless buffoons). You know she's always going to win... because plot armor. For something this long in gestation, Doctor Sleep should have been a slam-dunk. Unfortunately, it is a lumbering, pretentious mess with no soul that will wilt in our collective memories in a manner that does a great disservice to The Shining. What. A. Waste.

1917 (2019)

I am rarely blown away but, damn, this is an excellent movie.

[9/10 · 1 August 2020]

A lot has been said about the cinematography, particularly the single-take illusion but the story itself is, by far, the best thing about this movie. There was a bit of overt the 'guys in the other uniforms are irredeemably evil' shtick to it, for which I felt that it does not deserve a '10'. However, there is some good depth given to some characters (particularly an officer whom it initially seems we should hate) that pushes it to a '9.5' in my eyes. Individual performances are superb. The actors did an excellent job of portraying their characters with the honesty and emotion that makes a movie. The tone and manner in which the film ended was heartbreaking, even though we know very early on that the heartbreak is coming. I will have to muster up the courage to watch it again sometime.

Room 6 (2006)

Created an IMDb account simply to review this

[1/10 · 13 May 2020]

This has got to be one of the stupidest movies ever made. I literally created this account just to review Room 6 because it took one of my favorite underrated actresses, Christine Taylor and plonked her into this unintelligible mess. The wafer-thin plot seems to be the first draft of a horror movie that the writers simply did not want to finish writing. There is some ridiculous 60 seconds of nudity thrown in, just to assure you that this was indeed made in Weinstein's Hollywood. Christine Taylor plays a grade school teacher with a phobia of hospitals. For someone we are supposed to empathize with, the script makes her act pretty darn callous where her boyfriend is concerned. However, that changes when he is supposedly hospitalized after an accident but can't be found. Chloe Grace Moretz, another one of my favorites, plays a student who has a connection to the supernatural. Great acting in a limited role in a terrible movie. Random inexplicable behavior by random actors in bit parts make this film especially irritating. Wow. So this is my hate-review of Room 6. At least I now have an IMDb account to make up for the time lost in watching this garbage. Avoid like the coronavirus!