acemacleod Reviews

Star Trek: Picard: Farewell (2022) Season 2, Episode 10

Absolute garbage!

[1/10 · 15 March 2023]

This is a spit in the face of Star Trek fans, cannon, cast, and accomplishments. At its best, a 2 & 1/2 year campy, low budget series, changed the world. Real space ships were named after fictional ones. Actors inspired future astronauts and became space travelers themselves. It spawned a $ Billion + franchise spanning TV, Movies, Books, Video Games, Comics, Trading Cards, Toys, a Las Vegas attraction, fan fiction and more.

Rodenberry addressed racism, sexism, tyranny, addiction, depression, mental illness, war, abuse of power and more without ever making me feel like a child or an outcast. I still don't know his personal politics (I can assume) because his show never beat me over the head with it. This show, and the other contemporary series, did both and more.

This shows sins? Killing Q. Dragging 90 year old Sir Patrick Stewart through garbage in a cash grab, AND ruining the BORG! The BORG Queen murdered trillions and assimilated or destroyed over 10,000 alien species because she was LONELY!? All it took was a white woman to talk to her?

Let ST: TNG go down as some of the best 7 years of television and a few entertaining movies. Leave the aged cast to cameos. Develop Will Wheaton (Wesley Traveler), Alexander Rochenko (House of Moug), ECheb, Q2, and move on.

Terror on the Prairie (2022)

Great 1970's movie, only good for 2022

[7/10 · 3 July 2022]

This is worth a watch. It is a little slow but so were the times it portrays. There's no CGI Aliens or super trick shot cowboys but it is a solid Western. Gina Carano is under utilized but a outspoken, beautiful, MMA fighter would be really out of place so I feel that was by design.

I think the main problem with this movie, and some reviews, is unfamiliarity with the context. It isn't as easy to shoot someone, mentally and physically, as Hollyweird would have many believe. Decisions were made differently than we might make them today. Armchair quarterbacking is easier than getting on the field.

Is it a bad movie? No. Could it have been better? Probably. I recommend it and will rewatch it but it won't make any of my top ten lists (unless its a Daily Wire top ten).

Wolf Warrior (2015)

A decent action movie, propaganda aside. Please see below.

[5/10 · 19 March 2019]

Politics is people being polite, or impolite, and everywhere. Movies as entertainment reflect in varying degrees the politics of their creators. I disagree with Mayijie that America bad, China good. We are different and reflections of our histories. The PLA is the military arm of the PRC and is built for that, not just defense. When and if China becomes the premier world superpower, their foreign entanglements will mirror those of America, Soviet Union, Britain, Germany, Ottoman Empire, France, Spain, Rome, Greece, Persia and beyond. All of which can be made into entertainment and propaganda.

Conversely, I was sad to read another review about the disaffection of Chinese youth and that this movie was blatantly meant to address that. Aside from the fact that Chinese youth have much to be proud of, feel good movies are as an integral part of entertainment as tear jerkers and political (internal) exposes. It's made in China, it should be "Chinese". I prefer smarter viewers to censorship. To me, awareness of context reflecting history overcomes the biased themes.

I liked the action. The final fight sequence with Scott Adkins, the ending plot twist, the realistic tension in the land mine scene, and some of the fight sequences made it a worthwhile watch. Since my Wing Chun training didn't include Cantonese, I do wish it was dubbed. I always have to watch twice so I don't miss the movie for the subtitles. And as I speak some foreign languages, I realize how bad subtitles can be.

Btw, watch the outtakes, they are great.

The IMDb Show: Take Five With Kevin Smith (2018) Season 2, Episode 94

He never names the top 10!

[1/10 · 24 December 2018]

He never names the top 10. He just tells stories about 3 or 4 of them.

Jupiter Ascending (2015)

Not as bad as reviewers make it out to be.

[6/10 · 22 May 2018]

Sadly I fell for the bad reviews and bad press. Even the first time I tried to watch it I filtered it through the noise and didn't give it a chance at all. At $7.88 as a Channing Tatum and sci-fi fan I bought the blu-ray and gave it a chance. It's worth every penny of that. It's no Black Panther, but it's no Battlefield Earth either. It's more watchable than Dune, not as fun (or campy) as Starship Troopers, and either a low A or high B grade by my book. The story is no more or less complicated than other space operas. The pacing alternates well, and is above medium as a whole. Some scenes slow down but not as severe as some press stated.

The special effects are pure Wachowski and fit the story. Bad special effects are exemplified by the almost 5 minute Enterprise fly by in 1979's Star Trek. There are many huge effects but they are not celebrated at the detriment of the story or pacing. Some have complained about trivia such as wings too small to support mass and I disagree with that sniping in general. We don't have gravity boots, dog men, bee Sean Beans, cannibalistic immortality potions or laser swords and nobody complains about those, so get over the wings. The character effects were better than most.

The acting was well done. Eddie Redmayne was terrible in Fantastics Beasts. I wanted to scream look at the camera, look people in the eye! His being unrecognizable in this role is a compliment and Beasts may not have been his fault. His voice was less annoying than Bale's Batman but not a plus. I am not a Mila Kunis fan but she did well in this role. Sean Bean always lives up to his body of work and amazingly survived this film. At least the Wachowskis don't kill Starks when they get mad at fans. No one dominated like a Cumberbatch, Serkis, or Weaving but they all filled their roles. As a martial artist the fight scenes were as real as a dog man fighting a flying dinosaur could be. The attempt at realism versus CGI is evident.

If you haven't, watch this. You may not buy it or rewatch it like a 14 year old in 1977 watching Star Wars, but it's worth any genre fan's time. For transparency I loved Valerian and am not a real fan of the last two Transformer's movies.

Black Lightning (2018–2021)

Absolute waste.

[1/10 · 19 May 2018]

I tried hard to like this. I've watched more lousy super hero sci-fi shows because I love the genre and this is one of them. The acting is poor. The fighting is bad even for a TV genre with bad fighting. The pacing makes no sense. The scenes seem contrived. Yes, the racial stereotypes are overdone, and contrary to a previous reviewer, they don't just apply to one white cop. They apply to almost every character, especially in the first show. To quote Bruce Lee "Don't waste yourself."

The Midnight Meat Train (2008)

Surprisingly Good

[6/10 · 13 October 2017]

This movie was surprisingly good at all levels. Well written with plenty of surprises and twists. The production value was higher than I expected. Be prepared for a good amount of gore, definitely not for the squeamish. Worth the time for any true horror fans. The acting is done well, Action scenes are gory but strangely believable.