amigajoe Reviews

The Ark of the Witch (2014)

Did we watch the same movie?

[4/10 · 4 January 2015]

The Ark of The Witch - Great title, sadly the best part of the production. I'm not overly critical as a rule, but I have to balance out the other 2 reviews a bit. I understand these are fledgling filmmakers; you have to start somewhere and it's a fine first effort. HOWEVER, the whole 'Art' thing the other two reviewers are referring to is non-existent. The film starts off about 100 years ago, then switches to the present; why oh WHY do they apply an 'old film' effect to the -entire movie-?! It makes no sense and adds nothing. Also, poor sound, the bane of low-budget film, is evident. Random double/multiple image shots abound which don't help make sense of what you're seeing at all. Special effect should serve a purpose; here it just seems like they thought it looked cool so let's throw it in there. I could go on (and on) but I think you get the idea.

The Secret Village (2013)

Who edited this mess?!?!

[1/10 · 17 November 2013]

Segments are clearly out of sequence, random bits of footage pop up for no reason, events are described before they happen, other parts are missing entirely. Obviously this was a salvage job, and not a very good one. Maybe production ran out of money, maybe key people quit(for not getting paid?), but for whatever reason, this was clearly not a complete film and what was there was thrown together with plenty of filler to pad it out to a sell-able run-time. There might have been decent movie in there but it wasn't finished and what was left was an incoherent mess that was thrown onto the market to try to recoup the loss from unsuspecting renters. Shame on the producers.

Exploding Sun (2013 TV Movie)

Not the best, not the worst.

[6/10 · 11 August 2013]

The reviews so far have fallen into the 'OMFG it's the worst thing EVAR' or 'OMFG it's a Stellar Masterpiece' camp. Both factions seem more interested in hyperbole than actual description. In reality it's not bad. Not great, but not bad. The FX for the space flight and solar stuff are actually pretty good. As for the rest, they did a decent job with a limited budget. Characterization isn't a mile deep, but hey, this is an action-drama, not Shakespeare. It's amazingly long, but that's not really a negative; you're getting more movie for your $;-). Current rating is lower than it deserves, it's a good 5.0-6.0. It won't change your life, but it's a decently entertaining flick. Watch without fear.