Change Your Image
clonaris
Reviews
War of the Worlds (2019)
If the pets didn't die ,and their owners are dead and cannot feed them ,why don't we see these animals eating the flesh of the dead?
If the pets didn't die ,and their owners are dead and cannot feed them ,why don't we see these animals eating the flesh of the dead?Disappointed they didn't get a science fiction director,or writer,onboard.The pace of this series is dead slow.
Ghost in the Shell (2017)
Classic Science Fiction for philosophers.
I had attempted to view the original animation but could not. I am a science fiction fan and was very pleased with this movie. I began writing some of the quotes from the movie for example;1) we cling to memories as if that's what defines us.2) when we see our uniqueness as a virtue only then will we find peace. 3) what we do is what defines us.
As a movie it has the right tempo. It does not stall. Action sequences are well directed and paced.The computer graphics blend realistically with the live footage. The main character the major, played by Scarlet Johansson, is slowly brought to life in two ways . Her first birth is the melding of the brain and the machine. The second and more interesting birth, is that of her memory. As this memory is awakened we see the fleshing out of the character and the development of the story. This is what makes a good movie for me. The cinematography is also excellent so I am putting it in the 10 class.
I am glad I did not see the first movie. I am also glad that the Japanese actor "Beat" Takeshi Kitano spoke in his native Japanese language and not in a bad English accent. In the movie you will see why this is possible. This movie is full of science and full of little stories within it.I am tempted to seek out the original 1995 animation of the same title.The Japanese writers of science fiction seem to be making the most interesting stories concerning humans and machines. The writer of the story, Masanori Ota or Shirow Masamune as he is known now should be commended on this interesting piece of science fiction. As humans use robots more and more in the future stories such as this will be like the Iliad and Odyssey for future generations.
Northmen: A Viking Saga (2014)
They're Coming,Duh!
WARNING spoilers ahead.I watched this movie with the purpose of writing a review at the end of viewing.This is the only reason I finished watching right till the bitter end.This is another movie wanting to cash in on the highly successful "Vikings" television series.This movie is basically a bad guys chase good guys run type movie.
Huge waves shipwrecked but many saved their heavy unsinkable swords ha ha. Big beach stretching left and right but leader says "climb the cliffs" so they all climb the cliffs and don't bother to find any easier route inland ha ha. After practicing bare hand fjord climbing in Norway for five years this band of serious vertical cliff climbers, with no ropes, rigging, hammers or spikes make it to the top, all intact before sunset ha ha.
First Battle with the natives who have horses and bows and arrows but have not studied the Art of War 101 at school so go straight in rather than use their arrows from a distance at the mostly unarmed Vikings.ha ha.Predictably the Vikings get their weapons from the locals and proceed to carve them up.The box cart has a special Bertha in it worth a lot of money as a hostage as we find out the main bad Viking has a name the sounds like Urine,haha.
The forty or so heavily armoured mercenaries ride out to intercept the Vikings but we all know they don't stand a chance against 6 or 7 Vikings on foot,with one set of bow and arrows,no helmets ,shields or armour,in a foreign country they do not know the terrain of.Haha.
Bad Viking Urine gets called a turd (well that is how it originally sounded to me)and gets angry.ha ha.He lives all his life as a Urine and he loses it over one floating turd.Ha ha. As soon as they arrive at the monks bed and breakfast inn the order "and get a fire started " is carried out almost immediately in an era where matches lighters and other instant fire making devices had not been invented yet,ha ha.Mercenary throws fire on roof of stone tower and stone magically begins to burn .ha ha.
As the chase begins the Vikings in all their haste have time to construct mercenary killing traps to "slow them down".ha ha.The beautiful Lady from the Box is called Lady Ingham.In Australia that is a brand of chicken sold in shops for consumers.So this chick has the art of foretelling the future so she exclaims:"they're coming!" Duh and ha ha.
Ernest Borgnine Viking survives 1000m. fall to return and fight again.Wow,didn't see that coming.Final fight scene in a Scottish bog where main mercenary sinks to his death just like this movie.Hero Viking saved by chick Ingham just in time to witness Carpathian mercenary emerge from bog,Carrie like,to be smitten again obviously by the Hero.
Survivors so far;McHales Navy type,The Turd \Urine,Hero,Monk,and chick.Only one little part left when loving father and his army of kiltless Scotsmen(I did not see one kilt in the whole movie)emerge to intercept the fleeing party.So am I surprised to see this merry band of Vikings jump 1000m.from a cliff into a 5 m.swell and find a boat ready to take them to safety ?No ,I was surprised a flying saucer didn't appear to catch them mid air and spirit them away to Copenhagen as all good fairy tales should end.
Miller's Crossing (1990)
gangster film for morons
I am on a Cohen bros. binge at the moment having watched the BIG LEBOWSKI; BLOOD SIMPLE and FARGO just prior to Miller's Crossing.I have not written a review of these previous movies but would rate them in the 8,9,and 10's when I get around to it.That is how movies should be made.So when I saw the incredibly high ratings this movie received from the Users I just had to write in about this movie before the other better ones.I suppose I was lucky watching 3 classics before this shtinker.(sic). .And how this movie falls flat compared to the other Cohen masterpieces just mentioned .Miller's Crossing was like watching a badly written comic book with characters you would not care about because the writers did not flesh out any realistic characterisations.The Italian mafioso with no Italian henchmen? The Irish gangsters with no Gaelic accents?The Jewish fixer with a non kosher speech pattern? I mean WTF! Do your research and find out how they spoke ,then write it ,then get actors to pronounce it right.Are American audiences so idiotic they cannot tell the difference from 1930's speech patterns and 1990's forced idioms ?How many beatings does Gabriel Byrne have to cop before a bruise appears?The Italian mafioso who now runs the town,(Chicago) is stupid enough to listen to the smearing of his chief henchman from a gangster who only a week ago worked for the Irish mob and then to execute the great Dane like a dog without an interrogation?
Viewers have you seen The Godfather?You probably gave it 10 if you are a gangster movie buff.Then you give 10 to this candy floss also?Where is the in between?Where are the shades of grey with scores in the middle?Of course the movie was stylistically good.It looked pretty.That alone will not make a movie interesting.The accents were not realistic,the plot was too unbelievable,and the characters all unlikeable.The ending was nihilistic.Why kill the brother of his lover(and the proverbial leak) and then not rejoin the Irish mob?I mean where is Gabriels payoff?The money he pocketed from the lone Italian Boss' pockets to pay off his horse gambling debt?The trip to the cemetery to tell his Irish boss he won't be working for him after all?The approbation from his girlfriend after she just buried her brother? Why did he go there for the ending?Was he hoping for a bullet between the ears in the final seconds of the movie to put him out of his misery?That certainly would have been an ending.
Meet the Parents (2000)
Comedy or Romance?
This movie tried to be both and failed at both.Di Nero saves the movie from being a total failure. I perhaps laughed 5 times .So as a comedy it didn't hit home.The romance between the protagonists was lukewarm,no Romeo and Juliet stuff here.I fast forwarded the ending as it was getting all too predictable.American audiences are so easy to please the script writers are getting lazy.One of the characters completely disappears for the last half hour and he was the one that had the most potential as he was the main girls ex-boyfriend.The funniest moments were when the difference in jobs and status between Ben Stiller and the rest was being pointed out.No belly laughs in the mold of "Airplane " in this one.The comedy was portrayed as realistic but was not really successful at the attempt.
Alien (1979)
Science Fiction as it should be
I am still looking for something better but have not found it .Suspense builds up in a dark and creepy environment.Weaver plays a masterful and resourceful heroine.The monster is very scary and at the time was new.Many other films have taken it as a model after this.The fact that it spurred sequels is testament to its class.There is nothing predictable when you first watch it.The sound score does not telegraph when bad things happen.It actually complements the action.This is rare in movies nowadays and many directors and cinematographers would do well to study this for their own movies.I remember jumping out of my seat the first time I watched this in a movie theater.It really blends horror and science fiction better than anything I had seen before or since.The space shots are beautiful which you would want in a S.F. movie .The only other movie in this genre that comes close was 2001 a Space Oddessy.