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Reviews
Enterprise: Carpenter Street (2003)
First Class Episode
The greatest thing about this episode is that it features Leland Orser who is one of Hollywood's most underrated actors; as usual he gives a superb natural performance. We don't see enough of Leland Orser like others of his ilk, because they're too good; they act as though they aren't acting and so most of the audience are so convinced that they don't realise what an incredible job they're doing - especially with the kind of characters that Leland Orser plays. So if you want to see a master at work, then watch this episode.
Apart from that the story works really well and is shot in a grittier hand-held style that suits the dark atmosphere and it's a big departure from the tight gloss of the usual Enterprise episodes - it's all about the characters; no CGI or tech-speak. Perhaps you could compare it to an episode of the X Files; it looks kind of similar and the plot would work in that series.
In total it's very enjoyable from the first scene to the last; it keeps moving, every sequence adds to the storyline and it keeps you glued to the screen right the way through. Over all it's a triumph and an episode you could watch as a stand-alone and get what's going on in this series. It was also good to see Archer and T'Pol out of their normal context; though I'm glad it doesn't happen too often - this episode goes along with the long tradition of Trek crews finding themselves on Earth in the past, or in pseudo Earth societies on other worlds.
Death Proof (2007)
Astonishingly enjoyable!
The most amazing jaw-dropping car stunts I've ever seen in all my 50+ years of movie watching! All of the 'holding onto the hood' sequence is worth watching this movie for, because it's beyond belief. I kept thinking, "This isn't real, it can't be real," because we're so used to seeing CGI these days that when good old genuine stunts appear and actual real car driving, it totally blows you away. I can't fathom how the hood stunts were done safely, because the sense of absolute peril and imminent death of the stunt woman was ever present... AMAZING!
Kurt Russell was as usual a phenomenal actor in this movie - he's so under rated - he really is so good at his craft/art. I'm not at all a fan of Tarantino as I hate the glorification of violence, so I wasn't looking forward to that in this movie; however, it didn't offend my senses at all - the gore/violence was pretty mild, plus it was appropriate and in the end justified as the bad guy got all he deserved, which was very satisfying. I imagine that Tarantino fans would feel let down though by the lack of focused ultraviolence.
The only thing that let it down big-time for me was that a huge chunk of the movie was just the girls chatting about zero; this was utterly boring and did nothing to move the plot along, and added nothing to it; it caused the flow to stagnate for a good long while.
Also; the girls leave their friend alone with the grunting hick that they 'borrow' the white car from and we never get to know what happened with that - or what happened about the car after they wreck it, or what the consequences are for the three of them after what they do in the end. I know none of this is ultimately important, but these are questions I would have liked tied up a little bit - even just by using stills or text while the credits were rolling rather than the inclusion of pics of random faces.
In total though this movie was a blast and I'll be watching it again. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes mild to moderate gore, plus knock out car stunts and real action. It was great to see strong tough women taking it out on their attacker and not simply being exploited victims.
Siberia (2013)
It grows and grows; but then it stops cold
It took several episodes; at least half way before I warmed to the characters and felt like I couldn't miss watching it to see what would happen to them.
Each episode contained elements that looked as though they had to mean something, but most of these turned out to be loose threads, which was very unsatisfying.
It's hard to believe that any viewer actually thought this was a genuine reality show, because the acting was so wooden from everyone until they began to relax after the series was more than half over - the final few episodes are definitely the best. Initially though all the actors were trying so hard to be 'noraml' and not to act in their attempt to seem like regular people that they over-played it, so the show came across as an obvious fake from the start.
However, this didn't spoil it for me, because the concept and the sense of impending peril combined with the continuous addition of unexpected elements, plus every character having hidden flaws that would occasionally be revealed made the show very compelling and interesting.
The fact that it ended so abruptly was terrible. I hate it when a series doesn't return for a new season - this one was surely worth the money - it's much better than Lost and many other similar shows.
Outlander (2008)
Watched twice; would watch again and again!
This film has EVERYTHING! It's genius and the writer is a genius for managing to take every good thing possible that makes a film interesting and then stitch all those elements together without making a mess of it.
It's enthralling from the first scene to the last. It may have a few flaws that other reviewers have picked on, but I was too dazzled by what I was seeing to notice any holes. It really is a visual feast and the acting is terrific too, plus there are real relationships/bonds created between the characters, meaning that it's not just all superficial action without any substance or reason.
Added to the solidity of the whole thing and its knock-out concept we're also treated to first class SFX and a fantastic creature! There's nothing more that anyone could want who loves watching this type of genre. I'd recommend it to anyone and I could watch it over and over!
The Victim (2011)
Mildly amusing in a jaw-dropping "What the ?" kinda way
I agree with what some of the negative reviewers have said that this was obviously made so that Biehn could have sex on screen with his middle-aged wife who could show off her boobies. I didn't know they were an item until I read the reviews here after the film, but it was clear watching it that he chose her for reasons other than any ability to act and gave her so much screen time for no reason.
It was also obvious that this was an ego-stroking exercise for Biehn who was very careful to show himself off as nude as possible, which I felt was for him his last hurrah to show the world his bod as he teeters on the brink of proper old age when there's nothing that can be done to maintain any appearance of the body we had in our youth. So he made the most of this opportunity - and so did his wife, because saggy-bagginess hits ladies far sooner than gents; so she also made the most of the opportunity while they had completely unnecessary sex every which way (and it's not even sexy).
She kept telling him how great he looks for 54 - I actually thought he looked 64 in a lot of the scenes and that's me being honest rather than cruel.
The film is very disjointed, which isn't helped by the pointless flashbacks that added zero to the plot and were simply time fillers. All through watching it I was expecting what I was seeing/hearing to mean something somewhere along the line, but nothing did - the whole thing just tumbled along in a very flabby way.
But probably the fact that I was waiting for things to gel and/or mean something as the story flubbered along to its end was the only reason I stayed with it, because I thought that it was going to get better and come good... but it never did.
I'd watch it again actually, because it's one of those films when after a few days I think, "What the heck was that? Did I miss something important, or was it really that bad?" So I'll take another look at least halfway to check my judgement. I wouldn't tell anyone NOT to watch it, because it's a 'curiosity' - though I can't imagine anyone genuinely thinking this is anything more than a mediocre film; and I'm a big fan of Biehn!