pilgrimtom Reviews

Mortdecai (2015)

How do people not get this film!?

[9/10 · 6 May 2023]

This film will be a cult classic one day . . . MARK MY WORDS.

Depp shows his wacky side and makes us forget 'the Chocolate Factory' in this crazy romp. He is perfectly supported by standout Paul Bettany as Mortdecai's faithful man-servant, the dear, sweet, simple Jock and the rest of the cast is wonderful, even Paltrow whom I have really never cared for.

Reading the reviews and seeing the ratings had me wondering what I was getting into, but . . . Apparently . . . A lot of people completely missed the point of this hilarious piece of work.

I repeat, this film will be a cult classic. Many don't get it, but those who do will laugh and they will enjoy it!

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022– )

So far, so good.

[9/10 · 9 May 2022]

As one of the earliest fans of the character of Christopher Pike, I have been waiting for this one. Discovery season 1 was spotty, but I watched season 2 for Captain Pike. Anson Mount works as Pike . . . Which is saying something because I am a huge fan of both Jeffrey Hunter and Bruce Greenwood and their portrayals.

I am still not sure about Romijn as Number One; she is no Majel Barrett. I am also less than sure about the direction taken with Christine Chapel. Therefore, 9 instead of 10.

A solid first episode. Let's hope that the can continue to take us places we have been before but in a way that we have not seen before.

Cowboy Bebop (2021)

Again, Cowboy Bebop goes to prove . . .

[10/10 · 22 November 2021]

. . . that some folks just don't get it.

No, I never watched the original series nor did I read the Manga.

This show is the best thing that I have seen in years; Irreverent, engrossing, funny as Hell when it should be and a glorious, non-stop action event when it should be.

The music is awesome and the combination fills it with charm and style. Wonderful!

Reviews either are disappointed fans or they don't get what they are doing here. Try it, be open minded. Wonderful!

Star Trek: Lower Decks: Wej Duj (2021) Season 2, Episode 9

Kudos, Lower Decks!

[10/10 · 12 October 2021]

Best episode of this series ever. They have a habit of finding fun bits and pieces from Star Trek's past, but this episode added some really fun bits and was a HOOT!

Keep up the good work!

Star Trek Beyond (2016)

Well, not the complete dumpster fire that 'Into-Darkness' was . . .

[7/10 · 22 September 2021]

. . . but still not a highlight of the Star Trek films. Still, watchable.

All's Faire in Love (2009)

Seriously, I do love a good Renaissance Faire . . . . .

[6/10 · 20 October 2020]

. . . . . okay, this wasn't a good one, but it was still worth a few laughs.

Ricci is wasted in this film but she manages to play it fairly well, as does Lilliard. I'm not sure what Ann-Margret is doing in this, but . . . and a few others in the cast didn't embarrass themselves.

Much of the rest of the cast did their campy best in a production that was meant to be campy, so, it's hard to fault them. Benjamin is, well, not an actor and it showed . . . sadly for him, some of the best laughs here are at his expense.

Much of the filming did happen at an actual Renaissance Faire . . . fun for me but most don't enjoy that kind of stuff.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

Underrated and Undervalued in the Star Trek universe.

[8/10 · 30 August 2020]

Star Trek 'the Motion Picture' has been around for four decades now. The film was an attempt to restart Star Trek after nearly a decade . . . never a ratings powerhouse when the series premiered, it was a cult favorite for those who wanted to see more of Gene Roddenberry's creation. After the failure of a short lived animated series and an attempt to revive the series, a motion picture was finally approved and produced under the directorship of Robert Wise, and experienced and decorated director known for such films as 'Run Silent, Run Deep', 'the Day the Earth Stood Still', 'the Andromeda Strain' and 'the Sand Pebbles'.

Sadly, the film is known to many people, Star Trek fans and neophytes to the series alike, for it's uneven script, it's slow pacing and some odd production decisions and character inclusions. The rehashing of an original series episode as the main story line has also been criticized. It's problems, sadly, were many . . .

And, despite the problems, it is hard for a true fan of the original series, someone who had seen many of the episodes when originally broadcast and then again numerous times in syndication over the years between the original cancellation and the premiere of the motion picture, to fault the film too badly!

To see the entire crew back on the bridge of the Enterprise was a treat of the highest order. Despite the under-usage of Uhura and Chekov, we again saw Scotty complain about not having enough time to ready the ship for action, we saw Sulu conning the ship again and we got to see the ever delightful play between Kirk, Spock and McCoy . . . glorious!

New addition Stephen Collins is a favorite and he handled to roll of Decker well . . . although the fan in me would prefer to have seen some references to the character's father included. Sadly, I believe that Persis Khambatta's character could have been done without . . . a distraction that could have been avoided and other ways found to gain the V'Ger information.

The newly refit Enterprise was a sight to behold, and the fly-around that I have seen criticized numerous times was for me another treat . . . Wise is known for such powerful scenes in films like Andromeda Strain and the Sand Pebbles. Some the extra-long shots of 'the cloud' were a bit long, taking this love of this type of scene a bit too far . . .

This film created the new look of the Klingon people . . . it was a solid and powerful look and it was one that lasted throughout the many new series' that were to follow.

For me, though, the one thing that keeps me into the experience, even in the uneven scenes and through the problems, is the outstanding soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith. His music was near perfect, introducing themes that were used in every Star Trek series for decades. The main theme, the music accompanying the Klingon ships, everything musically drew me in and made me want to continue watching . . . Glorious!

All in all, despite it's problems, the film succeeds for the fans of the Original Series. I rate it an 8; a stretch, maybe, but a 7 seems a little low.

Abigail (I) (2019)

Abigail . . .

[7/10 · 8 August 2020]

. . . I normally don't review a lot here, but this one is better than the rating would have you believe. . . . does it have faults, yes. And some great visuals.

Premise: In a town suffering from a mysterious epidemic, a young girl sees her father abducted by the Special Department because he has the disease. That's all you need, no real spoilers here.

• Filmed in Estonia and Russia in 2017, the film was released to theaters in Russia in August 2019 and released straight-to-video in the west immediately afterward (my DVD is dated 2019).

the pros: 1) The story is a pretty good tale involving a lot of steampunk elements and a little psuedo-magic. 2) The cast is engaging enough with the token western actor Eddie Marsten shinning. A few of the other actors are solid, and there are a lot of spotty performances. 3) The locations in old town Tallinn, Estonia and St. Petersburg, Russia make up for a whole lot and help you (well, me anyway) enjoy the film. 4) The CGI is very good . . . up to western cinema standards with a few very minor exceptions. 5) The Steampunk elements are solid and believable, and in a world with few decent Steampunk films, this one has enough positives to make it worthwhile for fans of such fair. 6) The inclusion of Eddie Marsten (The World's End, Sherlock Holmes, Ray Donovan) was a good choice . . . he fit into the role nicely and added something familiar to a Russian production that was obviously intended for release the film in the English-speaking world.

the cons: 1) Amongst the mostly Russian actors, the acting varies from very good to fair . . . the lead actress is a bit spotty, sometimes quite good and at other times struggling, especially in her longer sections of dialog, but she looks the part of Abigail. 2) The story seems to wander at times, as though they changed some scenes during filming and didn't re-shoot other scenes to link up . . . or there was too much cutting in the Editing process to get the film down to it's 110 minute length. This was not overly jarring to me, and I have seen worse in western films with far better casts and bigger budgets. 3) The dubbing of some of the Russian actors was noticeable, more at certain times and less at others. Some of the actors obviously re-shot their scenes in English and others did not . . . Being a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki's films, I have learned to ignore that.

I rate Abigail a 7 . . . and my 7 means 'certainly watchable and enjoyable'.

• For those fans of the 'steampunk' genre out there, this is a must watch with plenty of solid CGI, fine looking toys and a fair to good story.
• For those fans of a good 'girl power' movie (I have a daughter and nieces!) this film has a good, strong heroine.

In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2007)

Oy!

[5/10 · 6 August 2020]

I really want to like this film . . . it has a great back-drop, a likable group of stars, a decent script that in other hands might have worked . . .

Oy!

Uwe Boll took all of that plus 50 million dollars and, well, failed to break through into mainstream fantasy cinema . . . he failed to make even a decent B movie!

His shot-selection and cinematography were slipshod and in some case flat-out awful, his direction either 1) failed to get the best out of actors who normally give good performances or 2) forced their performances down the wrong path (Sobieski, Lilliard, Liotta) . . . and then he created a laugh inspiring climactic battle that including faux-ninja's, piss-poor 'Krugs' being fired out of catapults, some of the worst fighting scenes in recent memory and a whole lotta, well, just weird stuff . . .

• The music did nothing to help matters, as it seemed almost appropriate at times . . . and then was either a screeching mess or completely inappropriate to the scene.

Oy!

Speed Racer (2008)

Speed Racer . . . Childhood favorite transformed . . .

[9/10 · 2 November 2016]

First things first . . . I began watching Speed Racer when I was 8, and for a kid from a family of amateur races, it was a religion for me. This film had to overcome the memories of my childhood and, to my surprise, it did.

The filmmakers took every cheesy bit from the series and recreated it in the film. They created a story that would have fit right into the series. They stocked it with cartoon-like villains which were EXACTLY what the film needed. And, most importantly, the cast of the film was almost flawless.

Not a huge fan of John Goodman, but he was the absolute embodiment of Pops. Susan Sarandon, Paulie Litt and Kick Gurry were perfect, and Matthew Fox was a surprise as Racer X. Christina Ricci (with the support of a wonderful Ariel Winter) . . . was . . . Trixie! Trixie was my first crush as a kid, and I was in love all over again.

Sadly, the only minor flaw was Hirsch as Speed. He was good, I'd almost say very good . . . but . . . he was missing something that the other cast members provided. He somehow failed to display the emotion of the original character. Sigh.

This film was made for the fans of the series. Outstanding!

Ice Twisters (2009 TV Movie)

A pleasant surprise for a SyFy movie . . .

[7/10 · 23 April 2016]

Most days, I've learned to avoid SyFy channel movies. Most are utter garbage . . . this one was pretty decent.

Many of the reviews note the similarity with Twister, and there is some of that. They then added in a few of the standard themes of SyFy movies, mostly the pseudo-science that fills most of these types of films, whether done for release in the cinema or released straight-to-video/TV. Still, they mostly made the premise work in this one.

The result was a engaging story with some pretty good (and some awful) FX. Most of the acting was pretty good, with Mark Moses and Ryan Kennedy providing strong performances.

In conclusion, I would watch it again given the opportunity.

Crossworlds (1996)

Crossworlds . . . worth a viewing.

[9/10 · 23 December 2015]

The first time I saw this movie it was on late night TV a few years ago. I've heard it was a low budget made for SyFy movie originally . . . if so, this was one of their few successes.

Basically, it's a story about a college student who is dragged out of his normal life because of his dead father, an Indiana Jones clone you see briefly. Joe becomes entangled in the search for the pieces of an ancient staff and he finds that the pendant he wears has powers that can cross worlds.

Rutger Hauer and Josh Charles (both favorites of mine) put in solid performances. Jack Black plays well in a pre-fame role as drunken buddy, and Andrea Roth as the eye-candy is decent enough. I love the use of older vehicles in the film . . . they used some real relics.

Three things really make this movie work for me: 1) Stuart Wilson, a veteran actor, shines as Ferris; 2) The soundtrack is one of the first of Christophe Beck, a Canadian composer who has composed the music for A list movies over the last ten or fifteen years; and 3) the visual effects are very good, and they allow you to immerse yourselves in the story.

I hope this helps anyone looking for a good fantasy/sci-fi film.

The Contract (2006)

Solid acting by two greats highlight this sleeper . . .

[9/10 · 7 February 2008]

Drawn by the cover showing Morgan Freeman (great actor) and John Cusack (my all time favorite!), I grabbed this one from the bargain bin. Bruce Beresford is a solid director, although I'm not a huge fan of his stuff, so this was a plus. Went in holding out some hope, but expecting the worst. To agree with a previous reviewer, I did not like Cliffhanger. However, I tend towards the lower key movie when the theme is the same. For example, loved Deep Impact, disliked Armageddon. This movie is (almost) everything Cliffhanger ain't. Morgan Freeman as an assassin and John Cusack as a (not so) out-of-his-depth father on a hiking trip with his son lead this otherwise B-movie cast through the paces. Everyone turned in at least a good performance, with Alice Krige, Bill Smitrovich and Anthony Warren outperforming. Yes, there were a few obvious contrivances. No explosions or massive stunts. However, the action was relatively realistic and the effects were solid. I'll be watching (and enjoying) this one again.