Despite being considered a classic, I find this dated 80s 'sitcom' a dreadful soap about a bunch of needy angst ridden and utterly unlikeable people. I can manage about 3 minutes of this before I want to throw a brick at the tv. No other show I have ever seen is there not one sympathetic character!
Reviews
4 Reviews
Jack the Giant Killer
(2013)
unintentionally funny
29 March 2016
Firstly look at that poster... see that scary monster on the front with those massive teeth? Yeah? Not in the movie!
There are monsters, some the size of dinosaurs and one more like Godzilla in proportions, but they are all the same species, a sort of short tailed 6 eyed bull like reptile. The big one is the same CGI model but scaled up.
The acting / dialogue is stilted and funny. It has a delightful amateur- dramatics quality to it. And the guy playing the general is hamming it up to Monty Python standards. Nothing about this is remotely believable but as another reviewer noted, the floaty castle is quite nice. Though powered by a fire that looked barely strong enough to toast marshmallows on. The CGI - is very bad, very 90s. Probably someone with a copy of some 3D software offered to do it for free. The worst is the whip effects of the beanstalk.
Anyway I highly recommend you don't waste money on this - if you can watch it for free and make a drinking game or something silly out of it then you may have a better evening than I did.
There are monsters, some the size of dinosaurs and one more like Godzilla in proportions, but they are all the same species, a sort of short tailed 6 eyed bull like reptile. The big one is the same CGI model but scaled up.
The acting / dialogue is stilted and funny. It has a delightful amateur- dramatics quality to it. And the guy playing the general is hamming it up to Monty Python standards. Nothing about this is remotely believable but as another reviewer noted, the floaty castle is quite nice. Though powered by a fire that looked barely strong enough to toast marshmallows on. The CGI - is very bad, very 90s. Probably someone with a copy of some 3D software offered to do it for free. The worst is the whip effects of the beanstalk.
Anyway I highly recommend you don't waste money on this - if you can watch it for free and make a drinking game or something silly out of it then you may have a better evening than I did.
Cloverfield
(2008)
people with weak stomachs should go watch Bambi.
11 February 2008
People who suffer from weak stomachs should stop complaining about Cloverfield. It is all rather pathetic. Do people with weak bladders complain about "the perfect storm" making them want to pee? No of course not.
For the rest of us who can manage roller-coaster rides or simulator machines, Cloverfield was a totally innovative experience. If it had been filmed in the traditional manner like Godzilla it would have been nothing special at all. In many ways it was similar to Spielberg's "War of the Worlds". We stuck with one group of characters, something "alien" was attacking us and winning and we knew nothing about what it was or why it was happening.
In an age where YouTube rules I am astounded at the lack of imagination of the people who complain about Cloverfields' camera style. It is a very modern movie and I think we can expect to see more and more films taking on board this very personal style of movie making.
So you'd better learn to live with it!
For the rest of us who can manage roller-coaster rides or simulator machines, Cloverfield was a totally innovative experience. If it had been filmed in the traditional manner like Godzilla it would have been nothing special at all. In many ways it was similar to Spielberg's "War of the Worlds". We stuck with one group of characters, something "alien" was attacking us and winning and we knew nothing about what it was or why it was happening.
In an age where YouTube rules I am astounded at the lack of imagination of the people who complain about Cloverfields' camera style. It is a very modern movie and I think we can expect to see more and more films taking on board this very personal style of movie making.
So you'd better learn to live with it!
Myst IV: Revelation
(2004 Video Game)
stunning graphics - tough puzzles -mediocre acting.
13 February 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I guess you don't have to be a great actor to star in a computer game, but I'd still rather see mediocre acting with real people, than 3D modelled cartoon characters in a game like this. So this is the last of the traditional Myst series that includes real people composited into phenomenally realistic 3D rendered environments.
Myst IV does break the mould a little as there is much more character interaction than before - especially if you include the weird and wonderful life forms that inhabit these worlds. This is one of the most immersive adventure games ever.
It is the last of the classic Myst series before they switched from pre-rendered to fully interactive. And when they changed to fully interactive I really think the Myst series really lost the way. What a shame it was also the last as not everyone wants to shoot aliens or pick up medipacks by running over them.
The game is slooowwwwwww. You have to stop and think, you have to go back over your tracks - and if you are a bit thick like me, you have to refer to hints once in a while (some of which are handily included in the game). The feeling I get when playing this and the previous myst games is that I am really there.
You begin your journey on a cable car accompanied by 10 year old Yeesha, daughter of the main character Atrus. After abandoning you, you get a little while to look around Atrus's study before he turns up and makes you tune his radio thingy. After that things go bang and of course it is up to you to relocate the power grid, charge the generator, empty the bedpans and reroute the power to the doobrie that makes it all go.
But things go from bad to worse as Atrus and Katherine's (the ever absent mother) 2 older sons escape their prison worlds and plan to do naughty things. Yeesha is kidnapped and it is left to you to find out what has happened.
So of course you have to be investigator, electrician and mechanic and general wanderer.
The think most Myst fans dislike about Revelations is the rather hippy level you end your chase on, which involves taking a "dream" with your "elemental" companion - think magic mushrooms with a cloud of steam.
But I never had a problem with it.
So if your perfect game is Doom III with extra gore, or solitaire then this isn't for you. If you fancy a journey to some pretty exotic locations, which will stay in your mind forever - then have a go at either this OR Myst III Exile - which features even more ham acting by non other than Brad Dourif (Wormtongue in The Lord of the Rings, the Two Towers.)
Myst IV does break the mould a little as there is much more character interaction than before - especially if you include the weird and wonderful life forms that inhabit these worlds. This is one of the most immersive adventure games ever.
It is the last of the classic Myst series before they switched from pre-rendered to fully interactive. And when they changed to fully interactive I really think the Myst series really lost the way. What a shame it was also the last as not everyone wants to shoot aliens or pick up medipacks by running over them.
The game is slooowwwwwww. You have to stop and think, you have to go back over your tracks - and if you are a bit thick like me, you have to refer to hints once in a while (some of which are handily included in the game). The feeling I get when playing this and the previous myst games is that I am really there.
You begin your journey on a cable car accompanied by 10 year old Yeesha, daughter of the main character Atrus. After abandoning you, you get a little while to look around Atrus's study before he turns up and makes you tune his radio thingy. After that things go bang and of course it is up to you to relocate the power grid, charge the generator, empty the bedpans and reroute the power to the doobrie that makes it all go.
But things go from bad to worse as Atrus and Katherine's (the ever absent mother) 2 older sons escape their prison worlds and plan to do naughty things. Yeesha is kidnapped and it is left to you to find out what has happened.
So of course you have to be investigator, electrician and mechanic and general wanderer.
The think most Myst fans dislike about Revelations is the rather hippy level you end your chase on, which involves taking a "dream" with your "elemental" companion - think magic mushrooms with a cloud of steam.
But I never had a problem with it.
So if your perfect game is Doom III with extra gore, or solitaire then this isn't for you. If you fancy a journey to some pretty exotic locations, which will stay in your mind forever - then have a go at either this OR Myst III Exile - which features even more ham acting by non other than Brad Dourif (Wormtongue in The Lord of the Rings, the Two Towers.)
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