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ghaylock
Reviews
The Dark Tower (2017)
Only the Characters are true...
I only gave it 2 stars because the tech was pretty cool. At least that aspect of the movie was reasonable.
I can't remember being so disappointed in a movie. Stephan King must be rolling in his grave...wait...he's not dead yet! Well, Stephan, you will roll in your grave for eternity over this garbage. You sold out your loyal fans again. First, there were all those years between books and now this? The names of the characters and the "Dark Tower" are the only things that are actually related to the books. There is nothing! I repeat! NOTHING here for the fan of the Gunslinger books. You can't even say "loosely adapted" and expect anyone who's read the books do anything but snicker.
What a waste of quality actors on something that doesn't even deserve to mention "Spaghetti Western" anywhere in the film, much less on the marque backdrop in the final scene. Please, Sergio Leone was the man! The producers of this crap don't even deserve comparison. I only hope that was the final scene of this piece of crap excuse for a movie...please!!! No sequel!
1) This movie does nothing to develop the characters. 2) Jake Chambers is the main character - not the Gunslinger (Say what?). 3) The guns looked like the crappiest, wanna-be props from the back of the "throw away prop trailer". 4) With all the power the writers afforded Walter (The Man In Black), there shouldn't have even been a movie. He even had all of the seeing stones. 5) It seems like the director/producer wanted to blend as many schlock genres together as possible and see if people would still pay to see it. Sadly, I paid $20 bucks to see it. The only reason I didn't get up and leave is that I wasn't yet finished with my wine - thank you Cinepolis for at least making the experience somewhat luxurious. 6) Stephen King: What were you thinking? I mean, really, what were you thinking here?
I'd be surprised if this movie breaks even. It doesn't deserve to break even, it deserves to lose big time. Shame on you , Stephen King!
I have to go off and watch the "Lord of The Rings" again just to cleanse my mind of this wretched attempt at thievery of Stephen King's work...
The Da Vinci Code (2006)
What a disappointment
I read the book and couldn't put it down. Then I heard the movie was coming out, so I read the book again. I was utterly let down. Anyone who read the book probably agrees at how boring the movie was. What should have been a great thrill ride on the screen almost put me to sleep. The screenplay was ridiculous at how far from the book's dialog it drifted. The music was boring background noise that did nothing for the mood of the film. Tom Hanks was all wrong and I don't think he read the book. The monk was reasonably creepy but I think they missed who he was as character by a long shot - albino's usually have pink eyes and I thought Silas did in the book (I may be wrong here). The opening scene sucked and it goes down hill from there. I could go on and on about how awful it was, but I suppose if you've never read the book it might be an alright movie. I just hope somebody else directs Angels and Demons because that was a great book also. I'm just relieved that I didn't pay to see this movie or the DVD. What a waste of one of the best stories of all time.
El Cortez (2006)
Excellent acting in a tightly knit, fast paced film noir
This movie is one of the best I've seen in a long time. The actors all do an excellent job with their characters and the chemistry is definitely there throughout each scene. The setting in Reno is perfect for the whole show of all these character's messed up existences that intertwine so intricately. My only real complaint was that there wasn't really a clear picture of who Manny was before he got to the El Cortez, only a few well placed flashbacks, which left me with questions. I suppose that information was not particularly relevant to the situation that elicited the flashback, so it's no big deal. Through the years I have seen many good movies and read lots of great fiction. This movie is fast paced like so many of its big budget brethren, but unlike many of those big budget films that fall apart at the end, El Cortez keeps you on edge right to the end, like a good page turner novel would. You know the kind, the ones you read through the night to find out what happens at the end. Don't miss this one.
Harsh Realm (1999)
Excellent series to watch
I enjoyed this series more than anything I've seen on TV since X Files. Maybe because the same people did it. I thought it well scripted, acted and produced with the limited budgets TV gets. For Sci-Fi it was really pretty damn good. To bad it died on the vine. Maybe some other cable network will pick it up and run with it. The way it was set up it was a bit like the old Twilight Zone or The Fugitive, where the over arching theme of the show remains the same from week to week but there are different adventures from week to week. There were a couple of character links and disassociations that didn't make sense. That was the only thing I noticed - but hey! It's TV