Change Your Image
davehead3
Reviews
Chad (2021)
Surely the other reviews are just hate-bombing for political reasons, right?
I was surprised by the low score, and a lot of the reviews were 1-star. Sometimes people give a 1 or 10 star rating not as an objective valuation of the work, but simply to change the average score based on personal feelings. I disagree with this method of reviewing, and think reviews should be based on overall quality, not how much you disliked your least favorite part. I had to watch the show myself to see if it really warranted such a low rating.
That said, this show is really bad. Which is a shame, because you can see glimpses of some real talent involved. It's generally well-shot, and the pacing and storytelling themselves are not inherently flawed (nor, I would argue, is the idea for the show itself). All the side characters are generally well-played. These child actors are clearly talented, and I hope they continue on to success in their work and their agents find better projects than Chad. In actual fact, lot of the scenes in Chad might get laughs if you described them to someone conceptually, but the delivery in this show jarringly destroys the humor every time.
As best I can tell, the show's main weakness is Chad himself, played by 39-year-old woman Nasim Pedrad. Whether it's Pedrad's overacted whining, hamfisted woke-speak interjections, or the creepy undertones of a 40-year-old actress touching 14-year-olds, something about Nasim Pedrad's presence in the show just sucks it dry of any comedic potential. In fact, her performance is the main reason this show is downright painful to watch.
Don't get me wrong, there are some funny moments in this show, but they almost always occur in the background, far away from our main character or anything he's doing. Or they're conceptually funny, but painful to watch (everything Chad does). This show's comedic style is cringe comedy, which is generally a style that's difficult to pull off without disgusting or annoying the audience. Chad fails tremendously at striking that balance.
TL;DR: There's no need to watch this show, but be on the lookout for some of the actors involved (other than Nasim Pedrad). There's some real (squandered) talent here, and I hope to see more of them in the future.
Color Out of Space (2019)
Better than the story
As silly as certain moments might be, Lovecraft stories tend to have an element of silliness to them, especially to modern cynical audiences. How do you adapt a story about the electromagnetic spectrum (which wasn't understood at the time) for a modern audience who already know about radiation and its effects? And how do you make it scary? And how do you make it engaging to watch for 2 hours? The answer to all those questions is this movie. It even adds an arguably more engaging ending than the original story had. This is how you adapt a Lovecraft story.
My reasons for not rating this movie higher are the same reasons as for most movies: The laughs/action/dialogue can fall flat at times, and the story itself can only offer so much even when properly adapted. All in all a solid Lovecraft movie!
The Unearthly (1957)
A fine, watchable film
The current rating of 3.0 is undeserved and kind of baffling. The Unearhtly may not be the most thrilling or interesting movie, but there's nothing technically wrong with it. There are no grating performances, no editing errors or breaks in continuity, no especially poorly-written elements. It's not painful in any way to watch. It's just fairly standard for the time. And there are some enjoyable moments and quotable lines with a passably gripping story, so it's not like it isn't worth seeing. While there are some cliches, it should be noted that they weren't nearly as cliche in 1957 as they are now. Overall it's a decent "mad scientist" movie that shouldn't be completely disregarded.
The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959)
A thoughtful look at loneliness and friendship in troubled times
I'm a little surprised at how little attention some reviewers paid to the plot of this movie.
Regarding the lack of bodies, we're told via newspaper headlines that: 1) The world has been decimated by radioactive poison, and 2) All the cities have been deserted. That's why there are no bodies in the cities. Could there be some bodies in the vehicles between cities? Could there be some traces of people who didn't evacuate and died in a corner somewhere? Possibly, but we don't see them, and that's fine.
Regarding the low number of survivors, we're told via shortwave radio transmissions that there are more survivors out there (possibly in Europe or South America), but we don't know how many. The idea that only 3 survivors would journey to the same part of NYC isn't wholly unbelievable given the circumstances.
The real meat of this story is in the personal journey of Ralph Burton, a miner whose skills make him a natural leader in the new world, but who could never have had the same status in the old world on account of his skin color. Ralph wrestles with the pros and cons of an empty world, but just when he's at his breaking point (RIP Snodgrass), a beautiful young woman Sarah shows up.
The two become good friends but can't quite bring themselves to romance, primarily because Ralph knows that if there are more survivors out there, things could return to the way they were, including racism. Ralph is so resentful of this possibility that he starts distancing himself from Sarah in advance, much to her frustration. He can't risk becoming too comfortable in this new world, no matter how much he cares for Inger (the birthday scene is a perfect example of this).
The arrival of of third survivor, Benson, serves as an excuse for Ralph to cement the racial divide between him and Sarah, and to delve deeper into resentment and focus on his work. Benson, for his part, has no problem with Ralph and talks to him as an equal. Seeing that Ralph has no interest in Sarah, Benson grows closer to her over time and enjoys his time in this new world, which breeds further resentment in Ralph, who's reminded of the ever-cheerful Snodgrass (who he killed).
Ralph's repressed desires eventually become apparent to Benson, who becomes frustrated with both Ralph and Sarah who can't seem to make up their minds about where Benson ought to fit into this new world. Benson can't feel safe in a relationship with Sarah so long as Ralph is alive, so Benson chooses to escalate the tension to physical violence (World War 4) and force Ralph to make his decision: Kill Benson and have Sarah to himself, or die which allows Benson to pursue Sarah unimpeded.
Ultimately Ralph's choice is the peaceful refusal to choose, placing the men at the same impasse they were at before. Both he and Benson are prepared to wander off in frustration and defeat, but Sarah insists that they both stay. And thus, some new world begins. Is it a happier one? A dysfunctional one? One in which interracial polygamy is acceptable? We don't know.
This film has a lot to offer in terms of thoughtful reflections, dramatic encounters, and comedic bits, which are usually all intertwined in the same scene. Where it falls short is the unresolved ending and the fact that watching three people in an empty city can get, well, kind of boring sometimes if you're not in the right mood.
Game of Thrones: The Iron Throne (2019)
We finally got to GRRM's ending (sort of), but the nights spent getting there were dumb and full of errors
First of all, this episode is not a 1 out of 10. Not in the grand scheme of what's out there for fantasy.
This episode by itself is actually no worse than the past couple of episodes in this show. In fact, it almost borders on being better than the preceding couple of episodes, in that certain parts of it actually made a certain degree of sense. Unfortunately, this small success is overshadowed not only by the stupidity of these past few episodes combined, but also by its own senseless moments clearly added by the writers to evoke certain undeserved emotions, which simply don't work.
It's a damned shame this show has descended into the mediocrity that it will be remembered for. It used to be a show you could study and theorize about, and you could be sure the outcome would be rewarding and engaging no matter what it was. Well that element of the show started fading away at about season 4, and it sadly never recovered, leaving us with this mess of a mangled fantasy epic. D&D will probably never feel any regret for having tainted the public's perception of GRRM's magnum opus (especially since they made more money doing it than most of us will make in our lifetimes), but hopefully this kind of lazy writing eventually gets recognized for what it is and stops ruining once-great franchises.
Game of Thrones: The Bells (2019)
Not Bad for a Fantasy B-Movie
Let's set production value aside for a moment. And if production value's all you care about, then the highest budget show is almost automatically the best show in your mind, and there's no need to even read reviews.
Remember Game of Thrones Season 1? It blew people away like fantasy had never done before. It indulged in the tropes that made fantasy movies/shows fun to watch for nerds like me (e.g., sword fights, monsters, magic, etc.) while subverting the ones that made fantasy boring to the general public (e.g., simplistic characters, guaranteed happy endings, unrealistic scenarios, etc.). It was a near-perfect blend of realism (i.e., humans acting like humans) with fantasy (i.e., elements that change the game and make it more interesting without sacrificing the logic of the characters).
This episode is a pretty good example of how these later seasons completely reject the spirit that the show started with. Realism and logical consistency take a backseat to fan service and whatever cinematography the writers want to see happen. This episode attempts to tell an epic story, but inferior pacing and lore-breaking writing (both from previous episodes as well as this one) ultimately cause this episode to fall flat, with many of its attempts at depth and suspense instead coming across as laughably pretentious or just plain stupid. The characters behave pretty much how you'd expect them to behave if they were suddenly placed in any fantasy B-movie you've never heard of.
As always, the audience who can watch fantasy without a critical mindset will probably like it and be emotionally invested in it, and good for them. But for those of us who look at our fantasy fiction perhaps a bit too closely, this episode only adds to the disappointment this season set up in previous episodes. This show truly had the potential to be something great, something to remember fondly and to share with future generations. But instead, the writers decided to drag it through the mud until we were just waiting for it to die.
Game of Thrones: The Long Night (2019)
The "Ironclad" of Game of Thrones
This episode was clearly written according to what would evoke emotion from casual viewers rather than what would make sense, but that's pretty much been the case since they ran out of book material to adapt. It's just a shame to see it all culminate in the sheer stupidity that was this episode. Casual viewers who don't think critically about fiction or have basic understanding of battle tactics will love it, but for critically-minded viewers, this episode pretty much kills all hype for the show's finale and for repeated viewings. The writers don't seem to care anymore, so neither do I.
The VVitch: A New-England Folktale (2015)
A VVell-Meant VVaste of Time
VVhile this movie might have better production value than your average student film, it is in no vvay as intelligent nor as engaging as one vvould hope. The characters are largely stereotypical of the average modern person's understanding of the time period, and are also insufferable (especially one in particular who only ever vvhines and flies off the handle in every single scene). I get that it's trendy to exaggerate historical Christian paranoia nowadays, but A) This depiction of it vvas vvholly unbelievable and inaccurate to this type of scenario, and B) The paranoia in this movie clearly isn't baseless, so the message fails anyway (not that vve get to see much of the evidence of the paranoia being baseless mind you, because that vvould be too exciting).
The movie is filled vvith long sequences of a character slowly vvalking from one side of the screen to the other, painfully melodramatic outbursts that drag on vvay past the point of credibility, and creepy music that dramatically builds up to accompany... nothing at all happening. This is an annoying movie made vvorse by people's recommendations of it.
In terms of meaning, this movie is a confused mess. It vvants to scare you vvith actual vvitches because vvitches are scary, but at the same time it vvants to make a point about religious paranoia and misogyny because vvitches aren't real. But also vvitches are real in this movie, but also they're not. Nothing matters in the end, vve vvill all float on, roll credits, enjoy disappointment.
Kudos for at least researching the setting a bit though. Most period pieces of this genre vvouldn't bother.
American Cyborg: Steel Warrior (1993)
A decent and imaginative low-budget action flick
While this film seems to be unpopular on this site, it has several redeeming qualities for the crowd that's into B-action movies. The people who think this movie is hilariously awful or the worst movie ever made need to watch more movies, because there are far worse movies out there with far less effort put into them than this one.
Without giving too much away, I feel I should point out a few things I noticed about this film. For one thing, the plot bears a passing resemblance to Terminator, but goes in directions the first two Terminator movies did not. Second, the music is great, and suits this type of movie perfectly. In fact, the music combined with the overall feel of this film reminded me somewhat of some of the older John Carpenter movies (not that it can't be enjoyed on its own merits). Also noteworthy is that the main characters are relatively likable, which can be a rare thing in B-movies such as this.
In addition, I actually found the cyborg in this movie (John Saint Ryan) to be more intimidating and menacing than Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator. This is likely partially aided by his non-Austrian robotic voice, partially by the sheer acting power of John Saint Ryan (seen in his face, which is left unobstructed through most of the movie), and partially by the occasional robotic glow we see behind his human-like eyes (reminiscent of Westworld, for those who have seen it). In addition, this cyborg, unlike most other movie cyborgs, is self-healing. This aspect of the film allows for multiple gory "deaths" of the cyborg, which is great for gore and action fans alike.
So, on the whole, this movie is fun for those who like B-movies, but naturally it has flaws. However, this is far from the worst movie of this quality and genre, and it is certainly more entertaining and stimulating than many others. For those who like watching obscure, interesting, and possibly cheesy action movies, give this one a watch. For those expecting this to be their next favorite film, you might be disappointed.