Rosettes Reviews

The Doll Squad (1973)

It is interesting where people come from.........

[4/10 · 22 November 2018]

.............for many say that "Charlie's Angels" took off from this movie but the way I see it, this movie took off from "The Ambushers".

Let's see, a criminal down somewhere south of the United States is threatening a new space program. He holds a group meeting of criminals under him with his plan to dominate the world. A female agent who has had previous dealings with him is taken to his private quarters for their next meeting.

Add to it lots of footage of a jeep in the desert, beautiful women, and a guard force that not only rarely shoots straight but is also easy to take out.

Now that could apply to a lot of movies but then again, back in the 60s, Michael Ansara and Albert Salmi were probably interchangeable for many parts.

It is the same movie, if a few points down on the quality, just with the male lead taken out.

Now, all that said, it's an okay flick if one is not expecting much.

Hansel & Gretel: Warriors of Witchcraft (2013)

Well, the 2nd unit photography was nice

[27 April 2018]

That's probably about the only good thing to say about this movie and even then, that's a stretch at times.

I must have picked this movie up during a fantasy movie kick buying spurge when the system recommended it to me. I only paid about $2.50 for it, before s&h, but even that is far too much. It is stereotypical in at least two ways. It is as predictable as a Robin Cook novel where one can easily pick out the foe and like certain fantasy novels, the art work on the cover leads one to believe that there is far more inside than what it actual has.

No castles, no swords, no warriors in stylish leather armor, and really for that matter, no heroes. Major players seem to be present more for their curves in their form fitting clothing than for what they actually bring to the story. Well, perhaps that is not quite fair for in their lines, there is some contribution but the cast does not deliver.

They cannot carry the show. One does not care about the heroes or hate the enemies or worry about the innocents.

There are, perhaps, suggestions of sub themes at work in the story but they are never developed so the viewer may be mislead by their presence. It would have taken just a little effort to illuminate them but that effort is never made.

In the end, evil is vanquished with hardly any effort at all which leaves one to wonder, then what do we need these special ones for?

The movie is vastly disappointing and its only redeeming grace is the hope that in some future, these now overconfident babes in the woods will get their heads handed to them by a worthy enemy.

But, of course, having been once bitten by the original, one is twice shy to watch any sequel by this production company.

Donovan's Reef (1963)

When you are left with a feeling like this, you feel as if you have met God

[10/10 · 4 July 2014]

WOW!

There are some movies that from the very start grab you and don't let you go......and this is one of them! Top Marks!

First of all,though, if it weren't for the cast, I might have never have bothered with the flick based on the cover art and back of the box (VHS) summary. Many a movie summaries, even when this one was put out in VHS, seem to either be completely wrong about the movie or give away the first half in a few sentences. This summary was the former and it was wrong for it was not a story of two old friendly brawlers competing over the new girl on the island............far from it.

The movie is dated. There are points here and there that would be unacceptable in today's politically correct world. Of course, some of them one might have needed to been in nautical service to pick up on. However, perhaps one should take a brief lesson from the flick, if only for a moment in "even though I believe in one, I still respect the beliefs of those before me".

It's a tear jerker at times but on a good note. It also brings back personal memories of where the senior government official for an away station would provide narration for the Pageant.

Technically, the movie moves smoothly along. There are some non smooth spots such as major players perhaps not being used as much as their fame would have and minor players supporting a particular scene but not much else. That in the latter case, though, is life for one can't be everywhere at once. In either case, they do not detract from the main thrust of the story. Further, the story does not give away all its secrets at once for there are some mysteries that the audience is finding out just about the time, if a little sooner, as the antagonist is.

When I watched movies at the theater, there would be often a feeling on exit, blinking in the sunshine, of what a wonderful experience that I just had. This movie has the same, even if I watched it on a large box TV, sitting in a den.

City Beneath the Sea (1971 TV Movie)

One has to understand what it was like to be a child back then

[8/10 · 1 July 2014]

When I first saw this movie, it was making its rounds through the armed forces theaters overseas. To me, it not only showed a nice future, of beautiful people to what it would mean to be adult, but also a connection to recent childhood fantasies.

I remember as a child that when a show was canceled or we moved away and could no longer see it, we thirst for any possibility of seeing that missed show again. I would watch other shows with the same actors, hoping to see something of the character again. City Beneath the Sea, however, went a step further in giving the devices from what was missed before, such as with the Flying Sub or the Aquafoil. The Flying Sub, further, was not just something we saw on TV but thanks to the Aurora Model Company, it was something that we had actually "owned".

So this movie came along while we were still children and we fell in love with it then and forever.

Would it stand up to time if seen for the first time now or seen with the eyes of an adult? No, probably not. Different era, different level of basic knowledge. It is like trying to read Doc Savage; if one approaches it only from the world they know now, it is very tedious.

See it with the eyes of a child who might see it as they might see their future.

The Betsy (1978)

This is a movie I'm glad I watched

[7/10 · 25 June 2014]

I must have picked up this movie during a Katharine Ross movie rush.....although I am also a fan of Kathleen Beller movies. Nevertheless, up to 50 minutes into the movie, I'm wonder why am I watching this, I was never into Dynasty, it's not my kind of movie, why am I watching this besides for the point that I now own a copy.

BUT......it grows on you. You get involved wondering what happened to various generations of the family, how they bought it. It's not much about the car at all ALTHOUGH as a young teen, I read the airport shop paperbacks my parents did and recalled a similar book of intrigue and paperback sex....just that car was solar powered. So perhaps this movie kept my interest from the innocence and curiosity of my childhood.

The sexual twists are fun if even shocking. The cast is excellent, from well recognized major players to young actors then who are now famous to old familiar supporting actors in parts best suited for them. One must keep in mind, though, of when this movie was made, both from the aspects of what was acceptable for an R rating and what passed for nude beauty way back when.

There are some quasi plot holes such as in why would someone with that much power be so consumed about losing a point that apparently less important. One must remember, though, that for the "villain", it is not about what a rational person sees but what he believes. Especially if he considers that the risk is worth the reward.

As an amateur writer and actress, I often see things from the viewpoint of how can I see myself in this movie. Does it give me a spot to get involved and take me away from my life for 90 minutes or so. This movie however, I was not so much taken to another world despite the energy it had. Nevertheless, once I was past that first hesitation, I was involved, I wanted answers to my questions.

Maybe all I wanted was not there on the first pass, but I was compelled to keep watching..........and maybe sometime again, I will be compelled to watch again, to learn more, perhaps even to be able to see myself on that screen.

The Desperate Mission (1969 TV Movie)

Could work as a Saturday afternoon movie

[6/10 · 23 June 2014]

Sunday is my Western day and I selected this one out of a collection pack of 20 movies. It starts off fast and interesting but after 5 minutes with the introduction of the rest of the players, it suddenly stalls with some weak acting.

Once the mission is assigned, however, it again picks up some speed which it is able to decently maintain through the rest of the movie. High points are that there are strong characters here and there, the villain is decent, and supporting characters, such as the friars, are believable.

There are weak points, though, as well such some major characters not being believable at all and some come close to being comic relief. This movie, further, doesn't have the energy that could enable one to become lost in its world for 90 minutes or so. The movie is not capable of taking the watcher out of the audience, so they can only watch and listen. The obvious breaks for commercials are distracting although they do provide an exit for awkward moments.

It was worth a look once, but I have many more Westerns to see before I'll bother to return to this one.

Snatch (2000)

Need to use the remote on this one

[5/10 · 23 June 2014]

It's not a bad movie......once the English subtitles are turned on. Without them, there is so much garbled dialogue that it is impossible to tell what is going on in the movie.

There are two other detractors. One of them is an incredible use of the F word. Practically every major male character uses it in every other sentence. Secondly, this is clearly a boys movie. There are 4 woman in notable but minor parts and half of them as well as any other woman in the movie serves most for eye candy.

But......other than that, it's an enjoyable comedy of errors with an occasional bout of violent cruelty. I give it about a 5 because without that ability to control the sound, it's worthless.

The Boat That Rocked (2009)

The movie just never gets going

[3/10 · 20 June 2014]

I hate to say it but I found this movie incredibly boring.

I had hoped that there could have been something to the concept of a "Radio Free Britain".

I had bought it in a buying sweep of Mr. Hoffman's movies after his passing, so I felt compelled, over 3 days, to finish so I would not always be wondering if something sitting on the shelf ever improved.

Unfortunately, it did not. It was like watching a TV series that never gets going in its season. Where it is February or March and one wonders what their crisis is, what point will they make before the season finale.

The jokes are predictable, there is never a build up of anticipation, and the antagonist as well as one or two other characters seem put in place just for convenience. They serve their need in the story and then disappear. We never learn of whether or not the antagonist gets the just reward. We know that the enemy has created their device to defeat our heroes, but in the end, the heroes win and we don't know how they overturned the enemy's device. We are "introduced" to the ship's crew far into the movie but we never learn their fates.

We reach a major tense moment when the movie is more than half over which exists for a few minutes but it doesn't last and then the movie moves on to something else. The film seemed like a collection of stories that were only linked because they happened in the same place.

I gave this movie a 3 for wonderful photography/sound coordination, excellent sets, and for a cast that performed decently..............for the story they just did not have.

The Horror at 37,000 Feet (1973 TV Movie)

Remembering a simpler world

[8/10 · 17 June 2014]

I suppose it helps to remember when one first saw a movie, how it made them feel then, to be able to appreciate it when they see it again years later. For me, when I first saw this movie, it was late night TV, usually Friday night. It made a great way to welcome the weekend. How could it not for it was situated at night, it had its tense moments, and then it ended greeting the sun, the new day. A wonderful transition from Friday and the week to Saturday.

For the time period when I first saw it, it was the latter part of the 70's. My first 747 ride had only been 3-4 years before. Chuck Connors was still the Rifleman. William Shatner was still an unknown name (Doug McClure was more popular to me in the Barbary Coast). Russel Johnson was an occasional recognized face of "hey, wasn't he on...", but nothing more. Buddy Ebsen was barely seen as familiar since the Jed makeup was such a change (and we often did homework instead of watching TV on school nights). Roy Thinnes might have been recognized but probably more for "Black Noon". Paul Winfield would be an unknown to me for at least another seven years.

It was a time when cable only consisted of the local channels in your and other cities, so what syndication one did see was in the off hours of major network broadcasting. There was a thin slot in the afternoon, movies occupied the late night, stations only had a certain number hours to be on the air, and the massive bombardment of "ancient" shows wasn't happening yet. It was before the Star Trek 2nd coming and it was long before Airplane. It was a time when I knew that flying on an airliner was fun and exciting as oppose to the dread one might feel now.

I saw this movie for the story it told, for how the cast portrayed it, and not because of who they had been in previous productions, what they were known for. I watched the movie today to feel again the world I knew when I was a teen, to enjoy some time in another world, and not with an eye to criticize and slash with all I know and have experienced now.

If one comes from a time back then, then they may indeed enjoy this movie. If on the other hand, one knows of the world only in the present, then this will probably be their toy to abuse for 70 minutes or so.

Project Shadowchaser III (1995 Video)

A "pleasant" story to enjoy for 90 or so minutes

[8/10 · 10 March 2013]

(SPOILERS possible) Why do we watch movies? To be entertained? To engage on a bit of fantasy? Or to be critics? In my case, it is probably often the second and this movie certainly took me into fantasy for a while.

I won't deny that there are aspects in this movie that are so easily found in others. Leviathan, Deep Star Six, salvage themes of the Alien series, and so forth. But Edison, I believe, said there were only so many original stories and everything else is a retelling.

The high points: This movie, somehow, made me feel tinges of living on an oil derrick, tinges of fear of what it may have been like on Texas Tower 4.

The action is constant and can have some quite unexpected twists.

There is steady secondary theme that keeps one glued to the movie to the very end.

Character development for most of the cast is excellent, one can connect with most of them, think of them as friends, coworkers, or other wise.

There was the feel of oil derrick cabin fever, of what one does not to provoke anyone...and then how that all fell apart when the crisis started.

The movie ends on a definite feel good note so that if one were watching it in a theater, they could go back into the sun, feeling refreshed.

The low point: Those who died early, we never really knew. Therefore, it is difficult to feel their loss in the movie.

I picked this movie out of my collection as part of a sci fi movie watching marathon; I was not disappointed. Further, I gave this movie an 8 because although now seen, it struck me as the kind of movie that I could go back in the future to watch again and again.

Is it a stellar movie that they will say great things on about the cast and crew? Probably not. Is it a good movie that one can escape from their own world for a short time? Most certainly.

Death Proof (2007)

30% Fun......70% Boredom

[6/10 · 19 June 2010]

When one looks at the notes of why scenes were left out of a movie, it is often because "they needed to get the story going".

This movie, alas, has so much footage that didn't get the story going. For whatever reason why, one is sitting there wondering when is something going to happen.

The chase/death scenes are wonderful. The seduction as it happens is enticing. The popping of the surprise on the innocent friend is a beaut. The thoughts of a Texas Ranger who realizes that sometimes, the dragon wins are ideal. The villain is excellent.

..............but there is so much darn meaningless talking going on, minute after minute, that one is ready to reach for the aspirin for the headache that is screaming at the dribble. It may be wonderful acting, but for a movie about murder, chase, and revenge, it's not wanted.

There is one other downer part of the movie. One wants to feel for the victims. What a waste, they didn't deserve that, and such. There were a few victims where that could happen.

But as the movie goes on, it seems the despicable level of the victims increases, making the final group not very likable at all and actually, something of a criminal. They do illegal drugs, they drive drunk, they put innocents in the path of danger, they don't care who gets in their way, they have no respect for the property of others, they have no remorse for their actions which hurts others. It may be that last element where they actually cross the line and become part of the bad and that's a deadly mistake in story telling.

A story cannot exist with bad fighting bad; somewhere on one side, there has to be an element of good. Bond may be ruthless, but he does so on orders of a government. In most if not all Death Wish movies, Kersey has an element of regret of what he has become involved in.

But when the good side of a movie starts moving with "We are going to do what we want and we don't care who gets hurt." then they start losing parts of the audience because the audience wants to root for the heroes, the good guys.

Quentin Tarantino may make some wonderful movies, but he has to remember that he is a movie maker, not a historian. He's got to remember that part of his worth comes from being known for making good movies and this was not one of his better ones.

The Astronaut's Wife (1999)

One or two good points.......and a mass of bad ones

[3/10 · 19 June 2010]

This movie first came to my attention when I found myself doing a lot of astronaut/spouse scenes and I wanted to study other actors doing it. The store didn't have the movie at the time of the scene but when I came across a used copy, cheap, the other week, I picked it up. As far as my need of it in the past, it is probably just as well I couldn't find it then.

The backgrounds are wonderful, the costuming is good, and the suspense, in the surroundings but not the characters, is decent.

Other than that, though, it's not that great of a movie. It keeps a person watching, but after wards, one wonders where the quality control was. One wonders what they were watching for, what they were hoping for.

There are small points that stretch the believability, such as a picture of a B-58, F/A-18's at an Air Force base, bad runway design, and a SAC patch. They aren't necessarily errors but one is left with the feeling that the person who put them in the movie was assuming that no one in the audience would know the difference.

A medium point or two such as having a room full of people who know how to handle emergencies in space but are absolutely paralyzed with mishaps that happen on the ground.

Then there is a big item.....those two minutes. For two minutes, no one knows what is going on, but then, everything is 'fine. Yet, in those two minutes, so many things are happening on Earth that for such to happen, they would have to be moving in the wink of an eye.

As far as the acting goes, it's not there. Neither Depp or Theron carry the audience; one really doesn't care what happens to them. Morton puts on a good show, though; one can feel the loss in him, both in his character and having been associated with this movie.

The movie does have one high point, a subject, that is believable, however. Women talking about their pregnancies and Theron in anguish as she stands on the cliff about forcing a miscarriage or not. In the latter case, the lines might have been terrible but her anguish was believable. Perhaps not moving but believable.

If there is a sequel, there was nothing in this movie that would make me even faintly interested to see it.

It's not a movie I would recommend.

Jumper (2008)

Someone's ideal, unrealistic life that was filmed

[2/10 · 4 December 2009]

Well, a few things ...... none of them particularly favorable to the movie.

First of all, if one understands the concept of 'tween (Dragon riders of Pern), then they under stand the workings of this film. With that, a lot of the excitement of this movie quickly vanishes.

Secondly, one is struck with the image of Reeve and Kidder in flight of the first two Superman movies.......and once that image is there, it is not only very hard to shake but it also predicts scenes to come. Curiously, though, I wasn't struck with the image of Piper and Leo from Charmed even though there is something of a (another) direct story copy from there, too! These two items take a lot out of the movie because one is very quickly left with the feeling that they've seen it all before.

Third, the greed, selfishness, and lack of love of the characters really doesn't say much for the young generation. If one sits back and thinks about it for a moment, it is possible to see something of a story of a kid in the candy store.....or someone doing their life on a holodeck.

When one realizes that they are watching someone who steals the money of other people, defaces ancient wonders for their own pleasure, leaves people in potential death traps ............. they are seeing a spoiled miserable brat. They may not be rooting for the 'hero' but for the villain to put him out of their misery.

Fourth, it's a bureaucratic, forensic, and greedy world, but these conditions have been conveniently left out so the 'hero' can have his fun.....and believability suffers because of it. It is very hard to move in the normal world without ID. The 'hero' removed himself from the bureaucratic world but still manages to exist it it, have the necessary papers. He has no problem with cash ..... and the minor people around him accept that without question, without suspicion. It may be true that money can buy anything, but have too much of it somewhere at one time and others will want it, will want to steal it. The 'hero' really isn't smart enough to realize this, to take defensive measures to hide his wealth.

As one goes through the movie, they expect for these things to show up, such as using the wrong currency in a country, but they never do. It especially stings when the villains do have ID, when the movie "states" that it is a bureaucratic world.

Now, one might say that he "Jumped" and solved any such problem, but that produces at least two serious backlashes. First of all, it creates a plot hole by contradicting a major principle of the movie. Secondly, to do so, one is left with the feeling "just making it up as they go along".

Which is what this movie will basically be remembered as. A near perfect fantasy of someone who made it up as they went along.

Near perfect since we do have a villain but here again, how it is done resembles so many things before, such as "Highlander" or The Key concept in "Buffy". Further, the villains are professional and dangerous only when the story needs them to be but rather incompetent otherwise, such as having vital data at one point and then conveniently forgetting about it at another.

It's an okay movie for an empty evening for someone who has never seen it, never heard of it. On that, it may even be worth its 99 cents. Its flaws should not stop someone from getting thru its short length but after wards, one is struck with its emptiness.

The Stranger (1973 TV Movie)

It is not a timeless classic, but it was made in a certain moment

[8/10 · 11 September 2009]

I suppose it depends on when one actually sees the movie for the first time that their impression is formed the way it is.

I saw it as a child on TV back in 1973, when it was "The Stranger" and I loved it. Such was the time when the space program to the moon was a reality, when shows like "Search", "UFO", and "6M$ Man" were showing a child of 12 of what the world could hold in their future. Adventure and technology.

You got to see shows only once and that was when the network aired them. The only way people could slash your shows was by making their own parody of it; they didn't get to take your show and add in their own comments over it.

I did not know what this concept of a "pilot" was. I saw the movie and was hoping thru out that Stryker would get home; did not know that there was a possibility of it continuing beyond two hours.

Back then, would I understood what so many people hate about the movie now? I doubt it because I don't remember it as such. Do I understand now? Not really for to understand the story, one must not see it from their perspective but rather from that of the characters in the movie.

If one is watching as an American, it might be humorous about the lack of security in a police state.....but if one is a subject in that state, then compliance could be expected and security can be less. When things are suppose to be perfect, perfect to an extreme degree, perfect that one is not suppose to doubt, then one is not likely to question as quickly when things are out of order.

The subplots of the movie are interesting such as the old man who remembers the time before but watches his words since he suspects that there are spies everywhere. Or that the police state values knowledge to some extent for they are careful about how they control or harm their brain power.

These days, one is likely to know exactly what the movie is about before they see it, so much of the suspense, surprise is lost. But the duet between the astronaut and his doctor at the beginning of the movie is a perfect exchange if one considers that this movie was made well into the Cold War and the astronaut's biggest fear is that he has crashed in the USSR. One gets quite a distance into the movie before it becomes apparent that such a possibility is the least of his concerns.

This is the primary difference between "The Stranger" and "Doppelganger". The latter can be considered timeless since any comments it has about the USSR are comparatively minor and lost early on in the movie. In the former, those links are through out the movie, supposedly directly in the beginning and then as a theme variation after wards.

All that said, despite my fond memory for the movie, it is rather easy to see that it would not have made it as a series. Each week, Stryker would make friends, Benedict would chase, Stryker would get away. Eventually, Benedict's society would get rid of him. Someone else would pick up the chase. A rut would develop. There might be a jab at something new such as perhaps another crew member from Stryker's mission showing up, but it probably would not be enough to keep the show going.

If one goes in with the knives that others have used to slash the movie, odds are they will slash it as well. But if one remembers that this was made during the Cold War and what fears and estimations of the other side were during that time, of what the popular environment contained for the viewer, then they may find some entertaining and intellectual themes in it.

ABC Afterschool Specials: The Last of the Curlews (1972) Season 1, Episode 1

Once, long ago

[10/10 · 12 March 2009]

Ouch.

Up to two days ago, I did not know that what I had come across as a child was this. I had caught it maybe halfway thru and the memory of the last 5 minutes of it has been with me forever, yanking at the heart strings with each time I remember.....though I remembered them more like sparrows and not like snipes.

It's powerful, powerful in memory and powerful in that now I have located a source, I'm not sure I could bear to watch it, knowing what is to come, even though it has been 20-30 years since I've seen it. Of course, as an adult, I can use all the compensating techniques that comes with being adult........but I wouldn't want to.

Unlike the others who have commented here, I never talked about it the decades before. I suppose being able to do so "now" changes the impact for in the 5 minutes it has taken me to write these 2 paragraphs, being able to see it again becomes an easier thought to approach.

Which is probably part of its impact; it is about being alone and being alone is such a terrible thing. One needs to share something at least.

The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)

Comedy with a touch of seriousness

[9/10 · 3 February 2009]

For some reason in the Pink Panther movies, this one has a particular turn that many of the latter ones don't; it's actually serious at points. If Sellers is in the scene, it is comedy, but if he isn't, then the movie takes on an entirely different tone. This may be because it is a thief movie which the follow on Pink Panther movies are not.

This makes it more enjoyable to me since it is not one attempt after another at slapstick but rather, has a feel similar to "The Thief Who Came to Dinner" or "Topkapi". Henry Mancini's music, as when used in the former, gives the tension feel to the serious scenes. But tension has not much of a place in a comedy.

Afterwards, the latter movies went to pure comedy, which is okay, but I hardly ever watch them. This is the movie that I return to time after time. Which may be what the point is, if not the crucial error in the series.

This movie and the first movie do concern the title in that it is the diamond "The Pink Panther" which is the focal prop at the very least. All of the movies, of course, are about Clouseau ...... but not all the movies are about the diamond. While "The Pink Panther" is the trade mark of the series, it is really only in this movie and the first movie where the title has meaning with the film.

Sliders (1995–2000)

Been going down memory's lane with the DVD's............

[7/10 · 12 July 2008]

............of a show that started off beautifully and ended up quite dismal.

What went wrong? (IMHO) First of all. it as on FOX. It came in as a mid season replacement and at the end of the season when people including yours truly was hooked ........... they canceled it. They did bring it back but between the long delay and this habit of giving the audience a taste and then yanking it away, it can sour the audience to a degree.

Secondly, they added a common enemy that as the show went on, became more and more frequent, changed the emphasis of the show from exploration and fun to war, evasion, and not so fun action. The show started losing the good feeling it had with the audience. GRANTED, a lot of shows do that, focus on a common enemy, such as DS 9 or other Star Trek ...... which is why to me the earlier episodes are better.

Third, they brought in the eye candy. First of all, the female lead of before, Wade, was then regulated to a role of a house plant. Secondly, the militant theme that the show was taking on was reinforced by the eye candy being a soldier, a pilot. None of the original characters were military or at least not active in their present, but the new member was and as such, she thought frequently like a soldier.

Fourth, the original characters were happy, more or less, go lucky adventurers......but if they knew the fates that ultimately was to befall them, they might never have stepped thru. Death, enslavement, obliteration, bitterness. This was a far cry from the playful spirit of the first season, but it is what the show turned into.

Fifth, the writing went from sci-fi "what if" to rehashing this or that movie plot. While movie plots usually operate on the basis of "what if" to pull on that story almost directly without any changes tends to be a cheap way to present a story ........ a way that can make the audience feel cheated.

Sixth, one ended up the characters that they didn't start with. Tell a sci fi story about travelers from your Earth, people that you might know or even identify with and one can have something. Replace them with people from alternate Earths, who don't have the same history, the same basis for their point of view, and one loses what they started off with. If that loss causes disappointment, then the show can potentially lose viewers.

One character did make it thru the entire show but a description about them I heard from another at the end illustrates what the show went thru, what it turned into. The character started out happy, optimistic, even cunning ......

but in the end, they were just very bitter.

Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002)

Lots of guns, hurt, boom, action, villains, ..everything a movie needs......

[5/10 · 20 June 2008]

...........it even has a thin story line, it even has a believable subplot, .............

.............but it's more of a movie for the boom and the brass flying than for anything else. Further, a movie that depends on a video game for recognition can lose potential audience members. I've never heard of this game "Ecks vs. Sever" before today. Picked up the movie more for its femme fatale classification.

Hence, those three factors, of boom and guns, of based on a video game, of good looking babes, means that this movie was probably made for the adolescent male.

Come to think of it, aside from the femme fatale, the injured lover, and the hooker on the street, I can't recall any other woman in this movie with a speaking part.

It's okay; the photography is wonderful and some of the angles are fantastic; it's 91 minutes of non stop action without really that much blood although for the amount of bullets flying at the hero and heroine, one would expect that at least a stray shot might hit.

But it is hardly memorable. Major supporting characters are there then disappear from the rest of the movie. It's an endless supply of professional Federal SWAT who don't stand a chance against the heros and as the movie moves on, turn out to be quite the amateurs. And while the villains probably succeed in getting the audience to hate them, the heros fail in getting the audience to love them. There is no sympathy for the innocent and they might as well just be a picture on the wall.

A World Without Thieves (2004)

One step after another, it's a surprise

[10/10 · 20 June 2008]

First of all, avoid seeing the trailer first. It gives away two instances which should be experienced.

This was another film I picked up for the femme fatale replacement of daytime TV. It's that, but it is more than that. It's more than 'Bullet to Beijing', 'Cassandra Crossing', 'Murder on the Orient Express'. or 'Silver Streak' or other movies of trains.

It's about people who aren't what they seem to be, that those who seem to fall into classic parts, aren't. In the end, those who are in the classic parts deserve all the emotion, good or bad, that is directed to them. It's humorous at times and heart wrenching at others.

The photography is wonderful, top of the mark, like National Geographic.

It's only potential downfall is that for English, there are only subtitles. This however, may not be a flaw because subtitles require that one pays attention and one should pay attention in this movie.

Thriller: A Cruel Picture (1973)

It's interesting but it does have its flaws

[8/10 · 18 June 2008]

The tactics are sound. The pimp picks up the young girl, plays nice, gets her where he wants her, hooks her, destroys the path home, uses hard ball punishment to ensure she behaves. Standard white slavery, human trafficking methods.

Slightly disfigured, the life she knew before gone, the heroine finds the means to extract revenge. She starts taking out those who have harmed her. Okay, nothing wrong there.

What is wrong is that she doesn't care who else she takes out in the process. She steals from those who believe in her, she kills police just doing their job, and anyone who gets in her way, usually innocently, is dead meat.

And this is okay inside the movie since the heroine is heavy heroin addict; who knows what is going on in her mind. But it isn't okay in presenting the movie to the audience. The audience knows that the villains are bad, they are the people who used her, who destroyed her innocence, they deserve whatever is coming to them. They know that the heroine deserves her revenge, that she is the "good person" .............. but when the "good person" starts killing those who have not harmed her, especially without regret, especially when killing bystanders without seeing them at all as people ................ then she's just as bad as the villains she is killing.

One can't have a lesser bad against a greater bad. It doesn't work, it alienates the audience. The heroine started off good, but in the end, she is all bad without any redemption of good at all. And this is where the movie fails.

Otherwise, it is something of an art movie, even humorous at parts such as when at one moment in her revenge, it is almost like a shooting gallery. It communicates emotion excellently; one can feel the heartbreak, the betrayal. The photography is excellent at points, almost like a Kodak moment.

But it does have its flaws.

Bloodsuckers (2005 TV Movie)

At the extreme low end of "Worth a Look"

[3/10 · 17 June 2008]

I picked this movie up to replace the dismal choice of daytime television and to go with my thirst for femme fatales. Well, for the previous, it is better than daytime television....though I'm not sure how much.

It does have its points but after about the first 20-30 minutes, the good points pan out and one comes to the conclusion that they are watching a made for TV movie that was put together with not much time to make something that will hold together. In short, a terrible Sci Fi channel type movie.

It has its points such as the future is dirty, like "Blade Runner" showed ..... of course, this is no "Blade Runner". The Captain looks, sort of feels like actor Robert Forster, the kind of person one might want to be around.

But unfortunately, it rather ends up feeling like a bad "Andromeda" rehash where the muscle of the crew consists of poor copies of the smart gunners of "Aliens", the mystic is vampire Willow sexually intensified, and the new Captain might as well be like Jan-Michael Vincent running around on "Danger Island" in the "Banana Splits"; he only put on the uniform with the epaulets; he's got very little right to it. All of them running around with their version of force lances inside a ship that looks very much like the 'Eureka Maru' as they are fighting a class of 'people' who occupy the universe and are broken up into several different tribes or sects of different evolutionary qualities.......just like the Nietzcheans in "Andromeda".

It might have a redeeming feature with Michael Ironside, but after a while, one gets the feeling that he took the part as a hoot! He probably had fun doing it, but it doesn't help the movie much.

It's ..... "okay". Okay in the way that one might watch the DVD once without turning it off; if they watch it with commercials, they will probably change the channel. One might watch it once .......... but a few hours later, be wondering what it was that made them watch it all.

For me, that was the femme fatale ............. when she was fighting.

Soul Searcher (2005)

As a diversion, it's worth it

[7/10 · 7 June 2008]

This was, no puns intended, a movie I picked up to watch in replace of daytime TV during my off time from my graveyard shift job.

It has two downing points to it. First of all, it's theme could be related to BtVs or Angel. Seeing it that way, one can be left with the feeling of an unbought pilot. Secondly, the monster special effects, the route to hell and such are rather cheap. On the other hand, if one can accept that images and projections from hell would be difficult for a normal human mind to accept, would not be like a multi million dollar Hollywood production, then they are "acceptable".

But unlike most horror movies which are only good for one pass because afterwards, the shock is gone, this is good for a few watchings. It's a horror movie that doesn't depend on shock or scare to work, but rather a decent story to tell, to get across.

It has all the right elements. The underdog good guy, his watching elder, the best friend, the love of his life, a fairly psychotic enemy, the heartbreak, the salvation, the ace in the hole.

It's worth a look.

Planetfall (2005)

It does get better as it goes along

[7/10 · 7 June 2008]

I had to watch this movie in two sittings. The first one, I stopped after 20 minutes, unbelieving how bad it seem to me. But then I scanned the comments here and decided to give it another chance. I thought I would go on and on, thinking that it would always get better but..... surprise, surprise, it did get better, couldn't put it into pause.

The special effects aren't that great and it obviously borrows from other films in parts, in theme, and line style; sometimes in a pretty poor imitation of more famous productions. But the villains are lovable and the heroines are independent. It may be ridiculous at parts but it's not really a comedy but it's a few steps short of serious. Being in between, it's not a failure as with other productions that never really decide what they are trying to accomplish. It has a goal, it tells the story, and it completes it in an enjoyable view.

The Lost Room (2006)

See it on TV, not the DVD

[7 June 2008]

Afraid I can't tell you much about the show. I picked it up at the movie store, thinking it was a movie, quite unaware it wasn't. When I got home, there were 2 diskettes. I put one in, told the machine to play all the stories ...... and felt like I came in the middle of the show. So I switched them out and tried the second in the same procedure ...... and felt like I came in the middle of the show.

It's probably a great production if seen on the TV, but on the DVD, I gave up on it, leaving with the feeling of someone wasting my time for 20 minutes. The disks don't start one off at a menu but at scenes for other shows. Fortunally, the disk system recognized the >> control; but it left me upset that the DVD makers didn't recognized the advantages over tape. Bad setup methods is a killer!

Earthstorm (2006 TV Movie)

Movies wouldn't be fun if they were all about reality

[2/10 · 29 May 2008]

Character development at the blink of an eye without reason, wonderful equipment for the sets that lacks reason for being there, mismatched sets where no one has changed the backdrop for "hours", a villain who becomes decent after all, misplaced planetary physics ................

.................. but all in all, it's "ok". It's certainly not a movie I would want to keep a copy around of but on the other hand, it moved fast enough that, provided one decided that dismissal of a lot of belief was the way to go, that one didn't turn it off in pain.

The cast is decently beautiful, the acting is sufficient, there is a decent attempt at the sets. Further, the work of the cutting room moves the film sufficiently along so the story is told ....... and at a decent pace that one doesn't have time to comprehend the errors for certain unless they are watching the DVD.

It's "ok", probably classifies as a decent DVD movie to watch when one works nights ...... and the only other alternative is dismal daytime TV. It's best benefit is if the watcher has never really seen the much more massive "Armagedon" flick.......I'm probably the only one. But since I don't have that to compare to it, probably the closest thing would be an episode of "LEXX", it's okay.

Belief is an interesting thing. Having watched various sci fi movies over the decades, I know that for movies set in the current era, it is often that the spacecraft or other developments of that era will be used. "Marooned" used Apollo and Lifting Bodies, "Countdown" and "You Only Live Twice" used Gemini, "Lifeforce", "Return from Mars", and "Moonraker" used space shuttles.

It looks like a space shuttle ..... BUT is it the actual space shuttle in use? No; there are modifications here and there. Hence for a movie I am willing to believe of a basic shuttle design that, when modified, MIGHT have artificial gravity, that might be capable of lunar missions, and so forth.

Because, after all, it's just a movie.