WAY too many plot holes; this director relied on weird camera angles and rotations, strange animal scenes (that had nothing to do with the plot) and constant, strained, discordant violins in the background to make it seem 'different' and stand out from other similar genres. It did - stood out as lazy - poor writing failed to take proper advantage of the underlying interpersonal house situation and the plot holes just keep you shaking your head. And then the ending - if you can make it that far, you'll see why it's so bad. I don't recommend you do try to make it that far. That was two hours and 18 minutes I wish I could have back.
Reviews
10 Reviews
Really lost its way
2 November 2022
They really should've just let the series end at the end of season four. Moss has proven to be a poor director. As many others have said here, she spends a good portion of this episode - even more than in others - on extreme close-ups, where she practices as many different facial expressions as she can. All the other actors get their turns at the close shots also so we get to count their pores. The plot has now become a chaotic, emotional roller coaster that really goes nowhere and doesn't make any sense. I lost interest after the first 10 minutes and have no desire to finish the season. Too bad. Her character, and the story, started out so interesting and went downhill after the first few seasons.
Snowpiercer
(2013)
The Worst Movie I have Ever Watched
26 October 2021
This is one of those movies that thinks it is artistic and if you don't like it then you don't "get it". I get it - it's an allegory to our society's flawed class system. But it also tries to be way too many other things - an action thriller, a sci-fi dystopia, but nothing adds up. Even an allegory has to make some sense. This is so full of plot holes it rapidly just becomes comically ridiculous - which is one of the one genres it was trying not to be. Just an endless stream of disjointed video tropes and cliches. One review said "don't think so much when you watch it" - OK, if you want to just feed your brain with a meaningless and violent video stream, this is just for you. I just wanted to get to the end - out of curiosity - and see how they would finish the story, and they didn't finish it. They just ended it. No kidding. I literally wasted two hours of my life that I will never get back again. I should have known with Harvey Weinstein as the producer...
First Man
(2018)
Leave it to Hollywood to take a naturally good story and totally screw it up.
7 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
It is an awful, awful movie. First of all, they made everything surrounding Neil depressing, morose, and dark. I get it - his daughter died young. That does not mean that he never smiled or joked again. Even, for example, the press conference that we have actual video of! I watched the videos of it that are available and do not see him ever say like a robot, "I'd rather have more fuel" when asked about what he would take in his personal kit. Even if he did say it, I'm sure he said it as a joke. He made other joking comments. If you watch the actual press conference, Aldrin is the one who sounds like a robot. From all the videos I've seen of Armstrong, he is a very normal, smart person with a good sense of humor.
Secondly, is how they portrayed all things in cockpits. That's one of the reasons I was interested in watching this, because it supposedly had good detail of the cockpits. I've never ridden a rocket, but did have an entire career as a fighter pilot, and the way they shook the cockpit around every time they did anything in the air was ridiculous. Yes there was some turbulence in the X-15 on the B-52 and after launch, but nothing like what they showed. Gemini launch? Actually if you read about it, it was one of the smoother rides. If things get really shaken like the idiotic director showed, the pilots/astronauts wouldn't have been able to read any instruments or flip any switches, ever. They over-dramatized the Gemini 8 spinning which was at about one revolution per second and the movie showed about three. There is no way they would have survived three revs per second. I've done two in a jet and all I had to do was hang on to the controls. They even screwed up the Moonlanding, shaking the lunar lander around like it was in turbulence. There's no turbulence on the moon! And astronauts describe the rockets as quite smooth. And again they changed history, by showing Armstrong taking over to avoid landing in a gigantic crater. Do you think NASA didn't know enough to plan a landing other than in a gigantic crater? He actually took over manually because the landing zone turned out to be in a field of boulders that weren't visible in photos taken to scout landing zones. There is a limit to dramatic license, especially with such a significant and well-documented point in history.
Thirdly, and worst of all, the idiotic director used the ridiculous 'The Office' camera technique. The entire film was taken using unstabilized handheld cameras stuck in peoples' faces, and swinging around from one subject to another, as if that made it feel more personal. At least in The Office they made a joke out of it because the camera people were part of the story. Are we supposed to think that there were camera people in Neil's home and inside the cockpits? Can we not just enjoy the show and not pretend like it's a home-movie? They even shook the camera violently for the Apollo 11 launch long after it had cleared the tower. One of the reasons I wanted to watch it was to see the inside of the craft, but you couldn't see anything because the camera was always shaking. I read a first-hand account by an astronaut that described the Apollo launch like "riding a train on bad tracks." This director made it look like a train that had just derailed in a field of bolders.
Best director Oscar for the film? Just shows you how meaningless the Oscars are. I think an AV nerd right out of high school would have done a better job.
Secondly, is how they portrayed all things in cockpits. That's one of the reasons I was interested in watching this, because it supposedly had good detail of the cockpits. I've never ridden a rocket, but did have an entire career as a fighter pilot, and the way they shook the cockpit around every time they did anything in the air was ridiculous. Yes there was some turbulence in the X-15 on the B-52 and after launch, but nothing like what they showed. Gemini launch? Actually if you read about it, it was one of the smoother rides. If things get really shaken like the idiotic director showed, the pilots/astronauts wouldn't have been able to read any instruments or flip any switches, ever. They over-dramatized the Gemini 8 spinning which was at about one revolution per second and the movie showed about three. There is no way they would have survived three revs per second. I've done two in a jet and all I had to do was hang on to the controls. They even screwed up the Moonlanding, shaking the lunar lander around like it was in turbulence. There's no turbulence on the moon! And astronauts describe the rockets as quite smooth. And again they changed history, by showing Armstrong taking over to avoid landing in a gigantic crater. Do you think NASA didn't know enough to plan a landing other than in a gigantic crater? He actually took over manually because the landing zone turned out to be in a field of boulders that weren't visible in photos taken to scout landing zones. There is a limit to dramatic license, especially with such a significant and well-documented point in history.
Thirdly, and worst of all, the idiotic director used the ridiculous 'The Office' camera technique. The entire film was taken using unstabilized handheld cameras stuck in peoples' faces, and swinging around from one subject to another, as if that made it feel more personal. At least in The Office they made a joke out of it because the camera people were part of the story. Are we supposed to think that there were camera people in Neil's home and inside the cockpits? Can we not just enjoy the show and not pretend like it's a home-movie? They even shook the camera violently for the Apollo 11 launch long after it had cleared the tower. One of the reasons I wanted to watch it was to see the inside of the craft, but you couldn't see anything because the camera was always shaking. I read a first-hand account by an astronaut that described the Apollo launch like "riding a train on bad tracks." This director made it look like a train that had just derailed in a field of bolders.
Best director Oscar for the film? Just shows you how meaningless the Oscars are. I think an AV nerd right out of high school would have done a better job.
Black Panther
(2018)
Quite disappointed
26 May 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Just too many plot holes, and, as usual, too much reliance on special effects. But (spoiler alert) the worst part was the fact that the plot revolved around, and reinforced, the whole "the black man has been oppressed by the white man and now is our time for revenge" theme. Of course, the good black men triumphed over the bad black men in the end, but did not refute the above mentioned theme, although they changed it slightly to "since we have been better than the white man all along, we will now help them come up to our level."
I get it, it's a story. But all the black political undertones just spoiled it completely for me.
On the plus side, the fighter pilot saved the day in the end (as usual)!
I get it, it's a story. But all the black political undertones just spoiled it completely for me.
On the plus side, the fighter pilot saved the day in the end (as usual)!
The Interview
(II) (2014)
It doesn't get much worse
25 December 2014
I would not normally have watched this but spent the $6 to support Sony for finally having the courage to release it, and to simultaneously snub the North Koreans. And, it could have been just a silly, stupid Hollywood comedy, except that they intentionally inserted as much foul, crass language and content as they could cram into it. The story didn't need it. They actually could have gotten a decent movie if they had relied on creativity and talent.
So now after Sony has received so much attention from the hacking and now so many people like me have seen it, who would not otherwise have, I wonder if they are ashamed of the attention now? They should be. It's embarrassing. I'm embarrassed as an American.
No, I'm not some prudish person who can't take it. But it was so unnecessary, and yet so typical of Hollywood these days. They rely on school-boy trash to titillate simpletons. Embarrassing.
So now after Sony has received so much attention from the hacking and now so many people like me have seen it, who would not otherwise have, I wonder if they are ashamed of the attention now? They should be. It's embarrassing. I'm embarrassed as an American.
No, I'm not some prudish person who can't take it. But it was so unnecessary, and yet so typical of Hollywood these days. They rely on school-boy trash to titillate simpletons. Embarrassing.
The Words
(2012)
Could Have Been Better
10 January 2013
The Words is a story within a story within a story. I absolutely loved the story within the story. A masterful telling of an intriguing situation with wonderful acting and believable emotions that, at both levels, tugged at my heart strings. However, the third level added very little, or should I say distracted from the rest. It was meant to put a twist on the story within the story, to make the viewer think and wonder, but it was mostly a distraction, and the acting was far inferior to the other two levels. The producers should have seen this but instead, they took something great and made it good. Another reviewer said somewhere that negative reviews were from people who "didn't get it". That's pretty conceited by them to think that they were the only ones who got it. Trust me, I got it, I just didn't like it. All that being said, it was still worth watching, if only for the two inner layers.
Centurion
(2010)
Fantastic movie if...
7 November 2011
Fantastic movie if all you want is an ultra-gory slash-fest-chase movie with no real story or character development. Like seeing heads chopped off, throats cut and blood spurting every 20 seconds? This movie's for you! Seriously, the scenery and photography was awesome. Beautiful wilderness shots.
Like a Roman movie that shows even a little representation of what was real history I.e. the way they actually fought? Like a good story? Like a movie to seem real, where a 110 pound girl can't defy the laws of physics and knock a 250 pound fighting man back with her fist or a 10 pound thrown axe doesn't reverse a man's direction making him fly back, then forget it. I couldn't even make it all the way to the end myself. Decided I'd rather go to bed.
Like a Roman movie that shows even a little representation of what was real history I.e. the way they actually fought? Like a good story? Like a movie to seem real, where a 110 pound girl can't defy the laws of physics and knock a 250 pound fighting man back with her fist or a 10 pound thrown axe doesn't reverse a man's direction making him fly back, then forget it. I couldn't even make it all the way to the end myself. Decided I'd rather go to bed.
Monsters
(2010)
Lacks the most important element.
5 September 2011
Fantastic cinematography (though a little too much "hand-held effect), amazing special effects (for the budget), it had a good flavor and the acting of the extras was good, but it lacked the most critical element - a good story.
It was almost there...the idea of a monster/alien invasion film after they are already well-established, as a background for a two-characters-thrown together-under-extraordinary-circumstances theme...it could have been developed into a real story, but it just wasn't. Give this guy a real story and he will probably do amazing things...I look forward to his next film (if it has a story).
It was almost there...the idea of a monster/alien invasion film after they are already well-established, as a background for a two-characters-thrown together-under-extraordinary-circumstances theme...it could have been developed into a real story, but it just wasn't. Give this guy a real story and he will probably do amazing things...I look forward to his next film (if it has a story).
A Secret Affair
(1999 TV Movie)
I wouldn't bother watching...
11 November 2007
Where do I start? This was bad on so many levels. First off, the story was, well, boring. I don't mean because it lacked action - it was a love story after all, but it was just blah. The characters were not likable. We (my wife and I) couldn't empathize with them at all. The acting was mediocre and stiff. The cinematography was amateurish with lots of harsh back lighting, even during intimate moments that you would expect to be soft and gentle. The story was entirely and oh so predictable with, again, amateurish aspects that rendered it entirely unrealistic, and worst of all was the sound track. The dialog was difficult to hear and understand to begin with but they overlaid a CONSTANT musical score that was mostly out of place and rendered the dialog even more difficult to hear.
I think I could have done better with my digital camera and PC than the folks did with this one....
I think I could have done better with my digital camera and PC than the folks did with this one....
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