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ghostingthevoid
Reviews
This Is Us (2016)
Passable for 4 seasons, tanks in 5th
It was okay for a very maudlin four seasons, saved only by moments of funny and inciteful writing that kept me giving it a chance. Oh, the drama! It is obvious that this was written by women or gay men or beta males. The men in the show are totally unreal in their communication skills as they must have all read some sort of relationship book.
HOWEVER, there was enough of OTHER that let me tolerate it and watch with my wife. But oh my, season 5 just went off the rails. The fake C-vid narrative with the fake Can't breath narrative truly showed how lefty-moronic the writers are in their lack of original thought or anything that is real in this world.
Don't get me wrong, with the lame scripts the actors are provided, they do a great job, but man, make the men real in what they are supposed to be. I think Miguel is the only one that gets close to that category.
The Proposition (2005)
A totally pointless movie
A lot of names and a bunch of nothing. There was no point to this movie other than being brutal and weird. I am a writer and I appreciate good writing, but this wasn't it. Sure, the acting was good, but acting in a pointless movie doesn't add up to much.
I do not know why film studios insist on making such unrewarding, uninspiring, and depressing movies that entertain in no way whatsoever. There are plenty of violently entertaining movies with good acting and writing that serve some sort of purpose- this wasn't one of them.
It is sad that Guy Pearce labels this as one of his favorite movies to have done in his career.
Merlin: A Lesson in Vengeance (2012)
Lame and lazy character twist
There is absolutely no logical reason for Gwen becoming evil based on the previous episode. This is a ridiculous character change for no reason other than lazy script writing for a plot twist. There is nothing to indicate that Gwen suddenly became Morgana's pawn based on the dark tower mental torture. Ugh, I say ugh, when Arthur and his knights risked everything to save her, with her brother dying in the effort due to Morgana abducting her, that she should now try to kill Arthur.
I have struggle with this series based on its very loose storytelling with Arthurian legend, but there are some good episodes and I just pretended it wasn't realted to. But the writers have really jumped the shark.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
What about M?
So, I am a little late to the game with reviewing this title, but I did look through a lot of the other reviews- an interesting mix. However, I did see one thing missing- What about M?
This movie set up from the front about being in "Her Majesty's Service" yet no one seems to have caught the M character in the library. It is setting the stage for James Bond 007 much later on. It is basically an origin for the "M" position in the secret service, though much less supernatural.
Now, it is a strange conglomeration of characters from disparate backgrounds but in the end, it is fun. That is all I want from a movie- a little suspension of disbelief withouth the crude language and sex that unholyweird wants to thrust in our faces.
This is a movie of good fun, above par acting, and for the time good special effects.
Merlin (2008)
I would like it more but...
So, let's just totally reinvent the fiction that is Arthur and Merlin! I don't understand why they can't just create a story based on new characters instead of stealing and ruining literary classics. Merlin lived backwards and was old when he foud Arthur, hence how he knew the future. Arthur was a humble squire who stumbled into his purpose, not an arrogant knight. Guinvere was a princess, not a maid-servant.
Why did this show have to ruin what we have come to love instead of making something new that we can love. This is the issue with movies and shows today because they are creatively bankrupt in creating something fresh.
Also, in season 5, some seriouly bad script writing concerning time and distance. For exaple 5:8, Morgana is picking up a missive left for her many hours after Merlin left on a half-day journey, then she is there at the end to attack her, then she is back again at nightfall to talk to Gwen. Totally stupid.
SEAL Team (2017)
I like the show but...
Okay, I am only 6 shows in and really like, and as I writer I know some things have to be shortcut to make the story work; HOWEVER, after S1 E2, there would be no show as they are all DEAD.
You cannot go into a VX contaminated area, then come out and take off your mask and be OK, ignoring the fact that had beard or stubble which would preven the mask from sealing. Also, the second they opened the door, the whole area would have been contaminated.
And, atropine does not kill the agent, it only speeds up your system to deliver the Chlor Pam that burns it out of your system. No shortcut on that.
Nuts (1987)
Theater for movie
A good flick as a vehicle for B. Streisand but obviously a theater piece adapted for the screen- RD was great as well. Yes it was full of stuff that would never be allowed in court, but it was good fare for the most part. At some points I expected BS to burst out in song, but that was not the case.
Yet, I will specifically address this to the moron who said she traipsed in her gown at the end and that it was false and she would have been back in jail- the judge SPECIFICALLY said that she was released on her own recognizance. Wake up and listen to the movie you are wathcing.
So now I have to fill the character requirement blah blah balh.
True Lies (2023)
Really bad
I could not even get through a third of the show. The casting and acting is horrible; the script writing lame; The main couple has zero chemistry and it all seems forced.
Normally, I give a new series a few episodes to find its groove, but this is so trite and stupid, I don't think that I could watch another.
I was looking for some fun but got only cringe-worthy disappointement. So, I need to type more words for this review to be posted, but I have made my point, so I will only add that a fat and out of shape dude in the support van is stupid as any operator would be required to be in shape.
Lonesome Dove (1989)
A HORRIBLE miscasting of One
It is a good mini-series but just such a horrible selection for Clara in Angelica Huston- totally doesn't fit the part. The beast of a woman is unattractive and would hardly be appealing to Gus, as she is bigger than him and unsexy.
Barbara Hershey was the perfect choice in Return to Lonesome Dove, too bad she was not the one in Lonesome Dove as well. And consequently, the later made prequels with Garner and Cardellini, fit Hershey as an older Clara so much better.
I know there are availabiltiy issues as well as top bill value to sell the show, but ugh, Huston was the wrong choice in the role.
Joe Pickett (2021)
Not Quite Longmire but...
It is a good show, it seems to push some things that don't really fit except for the titulation, but it is a good watch. Wyoming seems to be the new Alaska for TV, so to compare two Wyoming series' is fair- you could even throw in Yellowstone if you want, but it is not detective-based.
So, it is not quite the acting, writing and directing quality of Longmire; but it still has quality acting, writing and an interesting psyche theme to it. The Sheriff and his deputy are kind of cartoonish , which is a let down and their acting overdramatic- so is why only a 7. Totally worth a watch, although I am only 3 episodes in. It does seem to me, though, that this borrowed a little bit from Longmire as in the main's tenacity and the lawyer wife instead of the laywer daughter, and then the sub-plot of systemic corruption.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
A whole lot of not in the book
The last insatallment is nothing but battle and CGI. No plot, and a lame adherence to the book. I had thought Jackson was a devotee to Tolkein, but apparently not. So much creation to extend a seriously long and overdone movie and series. The eagles came far too late, as well.
I crave a great fantasy but apparently none can be made after the Lord of the Rings.
Fracture (2007)
What Hollywood forgot
This is a smart and entertaining suspense thriller- clever, well-written, very good acting, and the hero wins. So much today is just boring, agenda-fused tripe where morality is ambiguous and you don't feel very good about the victor such that I cannot believe people spent money to make that nonsense.
This, however, is a great flick with very little cussing and violence, yet very riveting.
Slow West (2015)
Well that was pointless
Another stupid modern western with no real point to it. It wasn't edgy, it wasn't unique, just pointless- just a meandering mess. Yes, I do understand nuance and moving-making, so don't think me some shallow movie watcher. Pointless movie.
The X Files: Rm9sbG93ZXJz (2018)
Why do AI bots need a tip!!
So is it the perception at not being treated like a human and receiving a tip what set these AI machines into homicidal behavior? I dunno, but what a wonderful episode. I laughed the entire time.
A very well done, understated episode, that used minimal dialogue, mood, no music, and only purposeful sounds to achieve its purpose. The subtlety of this episode is amazing and the director needs due praise for the execution of the story. If I had been a film student, I might know the technical term of what this type of episode (noir perhaps?) is called, but I don't.
The Terminal List (2022)
I have one thing to add
I concur with what everyone else has praised about. This series- the story and the actors, but they are all missing one thing. This story works and the main actors are wonderful but no one is talking about what a great job JD Pardo did in his role. He shucked off the the teen acting of Twilight and showed he can actually act. I was impressed by him in this series.
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
... command ranks first ones in
Sooooo, all the main leadership, including the doctor, are the first ones in- so the ship needs no other personnel (yes I grew up with the original, but this is more extreme and silly). And for spock to quickly invoke the "needs of the many" is ridiculous. JJ Lamebrahms, who has so ruined the- ST franchise- just like the woman who ruined the SW franchise- I just have to wonder WTF? Why can't you just make a good sci-fi flick without all the agenda BS?
Just asking.
A Quiet Place (2018)
Overhyped, glad I only spent $5 in Walmart bargain bin.
I can't really add further to what has already been written. You don't survive over 400 days by being stupid, yet they did. Pregnant? Really? The stupidest subplot of the movie. Barefoot all of the time with the chance of stepping on something to make you cry out? STUPID. Tell you kids not to move after breaking a lamp that will attract the creature to the very spot INSIDE your house (as if they could really hear it over all the natural noises outside)? Stupid.
Love and Monsters (2020)
A Great Heartfelt Movie
This is a unique movie, it totally took common story lines and made them better, with great special effects to boot... but that is just surface treatment. The acting is very good, the story deeper than the obvious, and the dog needs extra treats.
Movies are meant to entertain, as this does; they are meant to seem real, as this does; and in the end, you are supposed to feel like you have had an experience, which this does.
Now You See Me (2013)
Fun but not Great and more...
Great fun, wonderful casting except for one flat tire. If you are going to cast the manipulator of all the magic events, then you need to cast someone who seems intelligent.
Ruffalo is a doorknob and I am not referencing the character. The person is a doorknob and exudes no intelligence, so the end falls extremely flat. If you had an actor that exudes intelligence, say, maybe, Guy Pearce to randomly pick someone better than Mark, it might have worked better to complete the story.
The 13th Warrior (1999)
Great acting, scenery, and flow
I don't know the difference between McTiernan's and Crichton's shoots, but this movie is well laid-out, suspenseful, good dialogue and action. Sure you have to suspend disbelief a bit, especially Ibn learning nordic viking language- one of the hardest to learn- by mere campfire, but that is minimal. And sure, Ibn could not have made his sword the way he did or have the knowledge to do so, but that is minimal as well.
It is fun, adventurous and entertaining without treating the viewer as an idiot, which is good film-making.
The Blacklist (2013)
So those who don't comprehend.
While Elizabeth was annoying to no end; and while "Reddington" was annoying with his stupid secrets; most people missed the reveal, I have not seen it yet written- so here it is for the clueless viewer.
"Reddington" IS Katarina Rostova. Several hints throughout the show have indicated this; hence why "he" has been so invested in moron Elizabeth. KR had a gender surgery, which in the end, makes me feel sad these lost people.
Home Run (2013)
Listen to the message, not the source
Those down-rating this movie based upon its religious text is just juvenile. Whether or not you are religious, this is a good movie that is well-acted and directed. It has a point, purpose, and resolution that is readily identifiable with- not some convoluted, life is depressing or futile trope that hollyweird and indie films are pumping out. It is also entertaining, which I can't say about a lot of films these days with their CGI-filled, over-produced and over-hyped crud.
Arthur & Merlin (2015)
I have seen worse that were Oscar winners
It is not the worst and it is not the best, and maybe it is an 80's movie brought forward in time, but it is better than a lot of Oscar winning and nominated movies- Babel comes to mind, an atrociously boring and convoluted movie. At least this movie entertains.
But, the premise that a Druid is evil, is totally false. They revered life and nature. They should have made him something else, like a Catholic priest.
As for those that criticize the name alterations, keep in mind, they made them more Celtic, so had to change the spelling to get rid of the roman/english aspect.
Fury (2014)
A bunch of cow dung
The tank battles are good, but the scene where Pitt forced the new guy to shoot a german- total nonsense, especially with everyone cheering.
Yes, soldiers get jaded in war- how can they not? But these characters are totally one-dimensional, cliched, and unconvincing.
This is like Norman Jewison's Roller Ball, where he made the movie ultra-violent in order to protest against violence. Projection is what it is. Leftist love violence, and make violent movies, then proclaim they made it to expose violence. What a joke.
Pitch Black (2000)
A Most Perfect Movie
Vin Diesel's best movie past and present, no refutation required. He is not a great actor but this movie was his to own and he did. All the actors did their parts to perfection, but this was a diesel powered vehicle.
ANY person who gave this less than 7 out 10, truly does not understand great movie-making and should be ignored. They do not understand the subtleties of the script and direction, or the nuances of acting. It builds, it teases, then it executes. In my estimation it was more worthy of an Oscar than Babel and so many other worthless and forgotten titles. Seriously, I can't remember any others and I can only remember Babel because it was so boring and bad, and I watched it, which is time I cannot get back.
This movie only has one flaw that I will not mention, because lefties will have a fit, but other than that, enjoy and appreciate this fine film.