tranat71 Reviews

Shōgun (2024–2025)

This is how to remake a masterpiece

[10/10 · 14 March 2024]

This is textbook how to remake a masterpiece - you make it even better. A lot better.

You keep the story/characters more/less the same. But you improve on the acting, directing, editing, cinematography, picture quality, sound quality. Watching the 2024 version of Shogun is like watching a high-budget movie franchise that doesn't miss any details.

Some idiots think that when you remake something, you have to change it all up and make it "yours". That's because they're idiots and don't know better.

So not only is the remake better, but it also seems more authentic and actually truer to the source.

The 2024 Shogun is a masterpiece collection you want to keep for yourself. You can give the old Shogun collection to your friend or relatives.

American Fiction (2023)

Best Picture of the Year by Far

[10/10 · 2 March 2024]

I've seen every one of the Oscars Best Picture nominees.

Barbie - boring as hell.

Maestro- boring Holdovers - pretty good, but kind of long and boring Anatomy of a Fall - not as boring as Barbie, but nothing really good.

Oppenheimer- long and kind of boring Killers of the Flower Moon - pretty good. I love Native American themes, and I grew up in Oklahoma, so kind of biased.

Poor Things - interesting. Pretty good.

Zone of Interest- also pretty good, but nothing new to me.

And then there's American Fiction. If I were judging by the cover of the book, I wouldn't have even seen this movie. If this movie were not nominated for Best Picture, I would have never seen it. But wow, I was captivated. I was so interested in it. I don't think the topic is new. People being stereotyped. It could be African American, it could be Asian American, it could be Hispanic American, Native American, etc. But the way the story is written and directed and acted and edited, my gosh, this is by far the best movie of the year.

Oh, did I mention this movie is hilarious as hell? But it's not a comedy. It's pure drama. Real life can be more ironic and funnier than comedy and fiction.

Miller's Girl (2024)

Surprisingly good in more than way.

[10/10 · 20 February 2024]

This movie is surprisingly good in more than one way - as a good story in terms of plot/writing and as a great sound effects.

I am very glad I didn't listen to the negative reviews saying that this movie is one of the worst movies because it's just the opposite.

I can usually tell if a movie or TV series is going to be good or bad within the 1st 15 minutes. So within the 1st 15 minutes of this movie, I could tell that it was good.

It's basically about a weird high-school senior who is extremely academically intelligent, but is very obsessive and probably psychotic.

It's very sexual in content, but less sexual on screen. The subject is very uncomfortable and controversial, which is probably why a lot of people hate this movie.

I was very surprised how good the sound effects is for this movie. I didn't expect this from a drama piece. At one point, dialogues came from each speaker. The bass was really good as well - just unexpected. I didn't see it in ATMOS, so I will need to see this movie again in BD for the ATMOS sound effects.

The Descent (2005)

Neil Marshall is an idiot

[1/10 · 8 February 2024]

Neil Marshall must be an idiot.

Why do some people like his writing/directing?

I remember a long time ago when I first saw "Dog Soldiers". I was much younger and probably dumber back then - or maybe I just didn't care much other than watching some mindless nonsense action sci-fi/fantasy. So I when they remastered Dog Soldiers in 4K, I was curious and rewatched the movie. It's true that the new 4K video looks much better than before. But man, when I was rewatching this movie, I noticed all kinds of stupid crap happening in this movie. Like if there are a bunch of FAST werewolves waiting to kill you, why the hell would you climb down the window to distract the VERY FAST werewolves so that your other idiot pal can go into the barn (that likely has werewolves there waiting) to fix a car? Is Neil Marshall an idiot? That's just one example of the kind of stupid crap that only a dumb writer would write and a dumb director would direct.

So then I also watched his other movie "Doomsday" and see all kinds of stupid writing/directing also. People doing stupid crap. Like if some bad guys are trying to KILL you, wouldn't you just kill the , instead of just locking them up in their castle so that their men could free them so they can try to kill you again? There are examples. Stupid writing/directing.

Which leads me to "The Descent". Also characters doing stupid things nobody on earth would do in their god loving minds. So this Neil Marshall must be an idiot and I don't know why anyone would like any of his work - unless they were like me many years ago when I was much younger and didn't care about stupid things and just wanted to see some mindless nonsense action.

The Creator (2023)

Very disappointed

[1/10 · 15 November 2023]

Just saw The Creator in 4K ATMOS.

PQ. 99% of the TV series I watch look much better than this movie. WTF were these idiots thinking using a $4K Sony FX3 camera from Amazon to shoot a movie that supposedly had a $80 million budget. This movie looks like it had a $100K budget. Again, most of the TV series I watch look 100% better than this movie. It's really sad, sad, sad looking. I see some people say this movie "looks great". Maybe if the screen size is less than 100". I have a 150" screen, and this movie looks like crap - like it was shot using a $4K home camera.

SQ. About the only time I hear overhead effects were the intercoms overhead. Besides that, I don't recall much else from overhead. The bass is very solid, but for a SciFi movie with ships flying and explosions overhead, it is disappointing.

Story. It's okay. I give it a 6/10 rating. Nothing special. There are much better AI movies out there.

So overall I was very disappointed in this movie that was shot using a $3900 home video camera from Amazon.

Dark Harvest (2023)

A lot better than the ratings

[10/10 · 8 November 2023]

This movie feels like a Halloween episode on the Twilight Zone. Fictional small town where nobody leaves and nobody enters.

You have 2 options - risking your life by participating in "The Run" or getting killed by some organization. Damn if you do, damn if you don't. You try to leave town (not participating in the run) and they will kill you and your family.

The writer of this movie is the same writer of the new Dungeons and Dragons movie. So if you like his writing in D&D, then you will probably like his writing for this movie. I think this writer is a good writer. I liked his writing in D&D and I liked his writing in this movie.

It has character development. It has plot. It has the setting. It has a climax and resolution.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)

The Best X-Men Movie, one of the best movies

[10/10 · 2 November 2023]

I always want to tell people what kind of movies I like first before I give my opinion. I am a middle aged man who went to college for 7 years, obtained 2 college degrees, and works as a pharmacist in a hospital.

Movies I love: Godfather Trilogy, Shawshank Redemption, Green Mile, Edge of Tomorrow, Dark Knight Trilogy, Interstellar, Inception.

I absolutely enjoyed X-Men Dark Phoenix. I liked the story. I liked the writing. I liked the directing. I love the strong female characters. I love seeing Jean Grey kick butts.

I love the Dolby ATMOS sound effects - one of the best ATMOS soundtracks I've seen. Video also look awesome.

Now, I don't think Dark Phoenix deserves an Academy Award for best picture or anything. But I think it deserves best Sound Effects and Visual Effects. And I think it is a very entertaining movie that I will likely see over and over again.

Gran Turismo (2023)

Best Auto-Racing movie I've ever seen

[10/10 · 1 October 2023]

I was skeptical. I didn't even want to see it originally. I thought it was just another dumb movie based on a video game. I am glad I was completely wrong.

This movie has all the right elements that makes a great movie - great writing, great directing, great editing, great characters/acting, great everything. I was very pleasantly surprised at how great this movie is.

The writing is amazing. It is not just a car-racing movie, which in itself is absolutely incredible - amazing racing special effects, beautiful cars, stunts. It's a movie about love, determination, life.

I have seen many car racing movies. And this movie is the best one I've ever seen.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

Reminds of the Original Star Wars vs New SW

[6/10 · 8 September 2023]

Watching this final Indiana Jones movie reminded me of the comparison between the old original SW (Episodes IV, IV, VI) vs the newer SW. The old original SW and Indiana Jones movies were masterpieces The newer SW and Indian Jones movies were/are pure crap.

Everything is just boring as heck and completely drawn out.

I don't even know what else to say. I felt like this movie was written and directed by some idiots, but I know that this movie was written by some really excellent writers and directed by a good director. So I am not sure what the heck happened here.

Oh, shoot. I do know what happened. Disney happened! Disney will turn anything into crap.

Oppenheimer (I) (2023)

Boring old news trapped in the past

[7/10 · 24 July 2023]

I used to have respect for Nolan before I realized he doesn't embrace the change of times. It' very simple. You either embrace great changes, grow, and become better or you just become old news trapped in the past. And this is the case with Nolan.

While all the great directors like Scorsese, Coppola, Cameron, Kosinski, McQuarrie, etc. Are shooting their great movies in 4-6K resolution digital IMAX cameras and Dolby ATMOS and DTS:X sound, Nolan is still trapped in the past with his stupid analog films and plain DTS-HD MA.

And his story telling is just getting worse and worse and more boring. It's all part of the same symptoms of people who are just trapped in the past and can't learn to improve. You just can't teach some old dogs new tricks.

Simulant (2023)

I liked it a lot

[10/10 · 16 May 2023]

It's not the first AI movie ever made. Not the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or even 30th. So it's not going to be original at all.

But judging it by itself, this movie is pretty good. It has the right formula.

It has good character development. It has a good setting. The climax and resolution are not that exciting, but they are there.

What would you do if you woke up and realized one day you were an AI? Happiness? Family. Purpose? It make sense. How you feel is real. Anger. Insecure. Frustration. All that.

Anyway, I really enjoy watching this unoriginal AI movie. It has look looking characters. Some good action. Good story. All there.

Great Expectations (2023)

One of the dumbest series of all times

[1/10 · 16 April 2023]

They need to never hire the writers and directors of this series for making one of the worst TV series of all times .

How can anyone screw up a masterpiece novel that most of the world love so much? How on earth?

I know how - hire the dumbest writers and directors to do it. That's how.

Let's add stupid crap into the series.

Let's change all the characters around. Let's make Estella and Havisham ugly as hell. Let's make Pip dumb as hell and get him doing drugs and drinking alcohol. Let's add a bunch of F-bombs to the dialogue. OMG.

Let's just screw up everything as much as possible.

Hard to believe how anyone can possibly royally screw up a masterpiece novel.

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Very Good, not the best

[10/10 · 30 March 2023]

Avatar 2 - The Way of Water in 4K/ATMOS streaming.

PQ. Absolutely awesome. But everyone already knew that. This movie was shot using the Sony Venice 6.5K-Resolution IMAX digital camera with a production budget of almost $300 million.

SQ. I had to increase my master volume by about 8dB. After that the ATMOS soundtrack was very good. There were some good overhead sound effects, but I didn't think there were any incredible standout scenes. Bass seemed very good. Just very good overall, but not REFERENCE DEMO in my book. Absolutely nothing compared to "Moonfall".

So maybe Cameron or his team has something to learn here. Cameron is great with the video, but not as awesome with the ATMOS.

The movie/plot/writing: not as good as Avatar-1 IMO. Very basic story like everyone already said. It is a good movie IMO, but not THAT great. Nothing compared to "Edge of Tomorrow" IMO.

So, after seeing this movie and looking back, I don't see how this movie made $2.3 BILLIONS! :eek: :D

James Cameron must know some magic.

Box Office: Titanic: $2.25 Billion Avatar 1: $2.92 Billion Avatar 2: $2.30 Billion.

Cocaine Bear (2023)

Surprisingly Great

[10/10 · 17 March 2023]

The title of the movie made me think this was another dumb movie. I didn't even plan on watching it until I saw Elizabeth Banks and the Cocaine Bear at the Oscars.

This proves what a good writer can do for the movie. Time will tell if Elizabeth Banks is a great director. But if she continues to work with good writers and directs like this, she will become a great director.

This is a dark comedy. It's a monster movie about a bear and her 2 cubs who became addicted to cocaine thanks to the drug cartel who spilled cocaine on the park. It's meant to be darkly fun. Lots of blood and guts.

I am still kind of in shock at how good this movie is.

Wolf Pack (2023)

I didn't expect this series to be as good as it is

[10/10 · 11 March 2023]

I've tried to watch the "Teen Wolf" TV series several times in the past. But I kept on turning it off because it was so stupid. I kept on thinking these writers must be idiot teenagers.

Then I recently saw the Teen Wolf movie. It was a piece of crap - every bit as stupid as the Teen Wolf TV series. Made for idiots or something.

So when I heard the "same people" were doing a new show spinoff of Teen Wolf, I thought for sure it would be just as dumb as the Teen Wolf series and movie.

But I decided to give it another shot. Maybe 3rd time's a charm. And I am glad I did. I mean there might have been 1 episode or 2 that were stupid - probably the same writers as Teen Wolf. But the rest of the episodes have been very good - like they were completely different writers. They have to be different writers because I actually think these episodes are really good.

So anyway, I am hooked.

Mayfair Witches (2023– )

I think Mayfair Witches is fantastic

[5/10 · 1 March 2023]

I think the Mayfair Witches series is very good. It's much better than the Interview with the Vampire series, which I think is completely stupid.

I definitely see Rowan's character development, although it seems a little bit rushed. They probably wanted to move things a long and not spend more time developing Rowan's character.

The writer of Mayfair Witches also wrote the "John Adams" and "The Pacific" series, which are also very good series. So they do have talented writers, unlike "Interview with the Vampire" which has dumb writers.

I will look forward to season two of Mayfair Witches. I hope they will bring back these writers. If not, then hopefully they will bring on other talented writers.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

Bunch of fake reviews and ratings to give this movie more than a 6.0

[1/10 · 3 February 2023]

Whoever wrote and did this movie should not be allowed to make another movie.

Black Panther 2 is pure crap from beginning to end to end. Even the ending after the credits was pure crap. Goodness gracious.

Boring beyond belief. No focus whatsoever. They basically made this movie just to say (again) that it was another "breakthrough" because it was mostly all Black and Hispanic American actors. Give it a rest already.

They tried to make this movie all "serious" by showing us 2 unnecessary boring pointless funerals that were supposed to be sad and heartbreaking, but they were just stupid.

Terrible plot, terrible writing. Just terrible.

To be fair, this movie isn't the worst movie. Wonder Woman 2 is much worse than this movie. But this movie should not be rated more than a 6.0.

Alchemy of Souls (2022– )

The absolute best sorcerer fantasy series to date

[10/10 · 6 January 2023]

Harry Potter has his wimpy little wand. Boring as hell. Gandalf has his little old wooden staff. Boring as hell. Alchemy of Souls have powerful sorcerers (male and female) who wield their weapons with magic. So instead of using sticks and stones, these mages use deadly swords, spears, knives, etc., as their magical weapons of choice.

Instead of boring us to death with talk, these mages kick serious ass with martial arts. Very exciting. Very addictive.

Take the best writers and directors like Joseph Kosinski and this Alchemy of Souls could be the absolute best sorcerer fantasy movie franchise in the world.

Barbarian (2022)

How do movies like this get more than 7-Stars rating?

[1/10 · 4 January 2023]

This movie is just plain stupid. I'm sorry, but the characters do stupid things that nobody in their gods loving mind would ever do. Typical of the "horror" or "slasher" genre.

Let's see.

I am scared to death for my life and this idiot wants to venture down the creepy as hell basement for his stupid amusement, and I'm going to follow him?

My new roommate is scared to death of this creepy as hell basement and she wants me to leave this creepy as hell house, but I am going down to this creepy as hell basement anyway?

So stupid a$$ things these characters do - only in these stupid a$$ movies.

Emily (2022)

The Best Movie of the Year

[10/10 · 15 December 2022]

Emily 2022 is the best movie of the year in my opinion.

I have no idea how accurate this movie is compared to the real lives of the Bronte sisters - Emily, Charlotte, and Anne.

I have no desire to watch or read their novels Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë), Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë), The Tenant of Widlfell Hall (Anne Brontë), which are considered to be masterpieces.

But find this movie greatly entertaining. It has good character development, good plot, good setting. It has good writing and directing. Just all good.

I think the classical music soundtrack is also fantastic.

I hope Emily 2022 gets released in 4K ATMOS. I bet the outdoor scenes (rain, wind, birds, etc.) will sound awesome in ATMOS. And that awesome classical music soundtrack will also sound awesome in ATMOS.

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

Another depressing war movie

[1/10 · 13 December 2022]

This is another depressing World War I movie. We see some dumb German kids going to war, thinking they would get some glory.

But we all know how the Germans faired for both WWI and WWII - they got their asses kicked.

So yeah, basically, the Germans got their asses kicked, they get killed during the war, blah, blah, blah, how tragic. And then once the war was over, they get killed for stealing chickens and eggs from some farmers. Idiots.

This movie is long as hell. It seems to last forever and I was watching the clock.

Just boring as hell and long as hell. Completely nothing new here. War sucks. War is tragic. Add in some human stupidity. What's the point of this movie?

Black Adam (2022)

My new favorite comic book movie

[10/10 · 23 November 2022]

I just watched "Black Adam" 4K ATMOS Streaming.

PQ: superb as expected from the 4.5K Arri Alexa LF digital camera. Black level looks awesome. Colors look awesome.

SQ: Very good. Hopefully the BD version will have better Atmos effects.

My Rating of the movie/writing: 10/10.

I think this may be the MOST ENTERTAINING superhero movie of all times.

I disagree with the negative reviews. We're talking about the comic book superhero genre, not serious drama like Godfather or Shawshank Redemption.

I'm not saying it's Oscars level for writing/story. But I think it's excellent for this genre.

The salient thing for any movie regardless of genre is that it has to be very entertaining and re-watchable. This movie fits the bill 100%.

"Black Adam" makes the movie "Shazam" look like a children's book. Wait, it is a children's book.

Black Adam (BA) is a much darker antihero who will kill the bad guys who are trying to kill him or other people. If the bad guys can kill, so should the good guys. It's called self-defense. He's not one for putting guys in jail so that they can escape and kill thousands of people. BA is no boy scout and definitely no mammas boy. I enjoy watching him kill the bad guys and blow things up.

In conclusion, BA is now one of my favorite movies of all times that I will rewatch many times, like "Edge of Tomorrow".

Definitely wait for the very end after the credits. Black Adam meets the other "most powerful" DC Comic super hero from another plant.

Rosaline (2022)

Better than Romeo & Juliet

[10/10 · 25 October 2022]

Rosaline is much better than Romeo and Juliet. It's much better. Haha.

It makes fun of Romeo and Juliet because the plot of Romero and Juliet is just dumb. Makes no sense - just ludicrous.

Rosaline is much smarter in story than Romeo and Juliet.

Like most people, I've read Romeo and Juliet and other Shakespeare novels. When I first read Romeo and Juliet in high school I thought it was dumb. I hated Shakespeare.

I wish I had seen "Rosaline" after reading Romeo and Juliet back in high school.

So while I don't have any versions of Romeo and Juliet in my Kodi movie collection, I will keep Rosaline in my Kodi. There. 600 words. Jeez.

Vampire Academy (2022)

Really stupid

[1/10 · 18 September 2022]

I don't care about the skin colors of the actors or their sexual preferences or whatever.

I just care about great writing, directing and acting.

And this series has absolutely none of these.

The writing is atrocious. Things don't even make sense. For example, the reason for having a strong big security gate is to prevent intruders or prevent your enemies from easily attacking you. So what do these idiots do when they hear some strange sounds outside the gates? They freaking immediately open the gates so that intruders could easily attack them. So stupid.

The directing is atrocious.

The acting is atrocious.

You get the point.

Everything is just terrible.

The Dark Tower (2017)

One of the best movies I've seen

[10/10 · 18 September 2022]

I have no doubt the main reason so many people hated this movie was because they made the main protagonist Roland an African American, instead of using a Caucasian. If they had just used Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt or some other white actor, the ratings and reviews would have been much better for sure.

It doesn't matter to me the color of the actor's skin, sexual preference or whatever. All I care about is the WRITING and DIRECTING.

And the writing and directing of The Dark Tower is excellent. The story is also excellent.

Now, of course, they can't just cram years of books into one movie. That's impossible. So to complain about that is just stupid.

All the writers/director can do is give us ONE SMALL story. And they did a fantastic job.

So if you don't care about the color of the actor's skin and all that, and all you care about is excellent writing and directing, then definitely watch The Dark Tower.