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Passchendaele (2008)
20 minutes of the actual battle, 75% romance drama in Canada
- 75% of the movie is a romance drama in Canada
- The actual part of the film at the battle of Passchendaele goes for only about 15-20 minutes and is only a very small part of the battle - the movie really should have been called something else
- The scale of the battle is described in text at the end - there's a reason why they say show, don't tell...
- The battle "tactics" are terrible and unrealistic - artillery fired even when the Germans are in hand to hand combat with the Canadians... waiting until the Germans were 20 metres away before firing despite having long range weapony which is silly as these weren't muskets
- The romance dialogue is dreadful
- The younger brother character is annoying
- The crucifixion scene made no sense and would never have been done
- The actors tried their best.
- The only cliche missing is that Sarah Mann wasn't knocked up at the end after her passionate coupling with Michael just before the battle.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
I don't understand why this movie is considered a masterpiecw
This isn't a bad film by any means and it certainly isn't conventional. The problem for me is that not much happens and thebrun time is filled with long shots where not much happens. A summary:
1. Apes live on earth and have their own territories they guard from others in a stalemate
2. An ape discovers a bone can be used as a weapon and gain supremacy over neighboring tribe
3. Apes discover the monolith
4. Doctor travels to the moon on a spaceship
5. Doctor talks to people at the moonbase and then is in a meeting where they discuss a discovered monolith that is 4 million years old
6. A group of six men visit monolith and just as they are about to take a photo it emits an annoying sound that makes everyone reel in pain
7. A five people (two awake, three asleep) are on a mission to Jupiter with a companion AI computer called HAL 9000
8. HAL tricks one man to go out of the ship and murders him, then the other guy not knowing he was murdered goes out to recover the body
9. HAL murders the three sleeping men by turning off their life support
10. Main guy is trapped outside, but gets in via emergency airlock
11. Main guy turns off HAL despite HAL's pleading and him showing the purpose of the mission I.e. To visit another monolith
12. MaIn guy arrives at Jupiter to a psychedelic lightshow
13. Main guy is in a room and sees himself older, then old and we see the monolith
14. Main guy is a baby in space looking at the earth
This is the whole movie that takes over two hours.
Dexter: New Blood (2021)
A solid show let down by the ending
The show overall was entertaining and had some great episodes, although I don't think it ever hit the heights of the original show at its peak.
There were too many annoyances for this show to be considered great:
- There were too many unrealistic plot contrivances required to get to the ending e.g. Bishop meeting Batista
- Bishop reached Batman levels of detective skills to determine Jim was really Dexter and then the Bay Harbour Butcher, yet floundered for 20 years trying to figure out what happened to all those missing girls, despite Caldwell always helping them out and visibly driving them away etc
- Dexter breaking the code to kill Logan was not believable, especially as he could have just choked him to unconsciousness (remember, Dexter was trying to get Logan to cooperate to get the keys more easily) then taken the key
- Harrison killing Dexter - as if this wouldn't mess him up even more
- Bishop making Harrison leave Iron Lake - why? She covered up for him, where the hell does she think he can go?
- Making Dexter sell out his code to fit the ending after decades was not believable
Ultimately, I wish they didn't make this show as the ending was worse than the original show. I don't have an issue with Dexter dying, it was the way he died.
F9 (2021)
Standard FF, but super over the top and unbelievable
This is your standard Fast & the Furious movie, except pulled down by the extreme number of far fetched and unbelievable scenarios that occur.
We're used to suspending belief in this series, but this time they've dialled this from 10/10 to 100/10. It would be 6/10 if it wasn't for this, so it is downgraded to 5/10.
I'm not a huge fan of this series generally, but do find them entertaining, so I'm not coming from a position of a superfan.
Locke & Key (2020)
Good Story Let Down by Plot Conveniences
Locke & Key is for the most part a really good show, with a big cast of distinct characters who interact well.
The overall plot is really good, however what brings this show down is the number of times characters do stupid things, or unbelievable plot contrivances occur in order to get the story from A to B.
Season 2 was an improvement over the first season, and I hope season 3 improves even more, although the implied villain seems to be more of the same.
It's worth a watch, if you can accept the occasion stupidity that occurs.
Kaguya-hime no monogatari (2013)
Not one of Ghibli's best
This isn't a bad movie by any means, with a unique, beautiful animation style, great acting and wonderful music. The main issues I have are: 1. It is too long - the story could easily be told in 90 minutes, and 2. What was the point of the story? There was no real lesson taught and it seemed like a pointless story.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
The Ultimate/Extended edition is much better
I've changed my rating for this to a 7/10. It's slightly better than a 7, but isn't an 8.
The extra half an hour explains things a bit better and pads out Superman's story more. It still has the major flaws of the normal version, such as Batman killing bad guys and "save Martha" etc. And thus will never be a great movie, however it's a big improvement and better than Justice League.
The Fate of the Furious (2017)
Utterly ludicrous
Wow, this movie sure was far fetched. Not a terrible film in that it is entertaining, but it is so utterly ludicrous that it prevents it from being good. I'm amazed at how far these street racers have come.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)
Not as bad as I was expecting
I went into this expecting the worst based on the Rotten Tomatoes score and the score on here (5.9).
The good news is that it's not terrible. The bar news is that it's not great.I think after the quality of the MCU, the bar for superhero movies has been lifted.
This is definitely better than X-Men 3: The Last Stand, however it doesn't hold a candle to First Class or Days of Future Past, and it's noticeably worse than Apocalypse.
This movie doesn't make me sad that the next X-Men movie well be by the MCU.
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Exceeds all expectations
Wow! At the end of this movie I just didn't know how to process what I had just seen - it was that good. For the last five years Winter Soldier had been my favourite MCU movie - today that changed. It is a rare occasion that I give a movie a 10/10 but this movie just blew me away and I felt many emotions throughout it. If you're a fan of the MCU go see it ASAP before it gets spoiled for you.
For those trolls giving it a 1/10 - come on, you're either a DC troll (you can like both Marvel and DC) or someone with no soul.
Shazam! (2019)
Fun movie, but not the second coming
This is a rounded up 8/10 and a step in the right direction for DC and their first funny movie that didn't have forced humour e.g. I'm rich (groan).
While I mostly liked this movie there are a few things that didn't blow me away:
1. Special effects - I don't know what it is, but they just don't seem to do it as well as Marvel. Some of the flight scenes and monster effects were very average.
2. Superman's Cameo - no face shot? Really? What a cop out this is - it would have been better without the cameo. Going back to the MCU, they'd never do a rubbish no face cameo.
3. The Marvel Family - it's a little lame in this day and age, however probably suitable for a family audience.
That said I really enjoyed the movie and glad they didn't mess up my third favourite supehero.
Captain Marvel (2019)
Much better than expected
Firstly, for those of you who think that Disney are going to 'Last Jedi' the MCU, you don't have to worry - this movie is much much better. I hated 'The Last Jedi' and I can honestly say I really liked this movie. It isn't my favourite MCU movie by a long shot, but it is all the hallmarks we expect from the MCU - characters with depth, humour and a good storyline. This isn't a rah rah girl power movie, and instead tells the story of a determined and resilient woman. Brie Larson does a great and demonstrates the range and personality you'd expect of an MCU lead and Best Actress Oscar winner.
I am very surprised by the number of bad ratings on this movie as it hasn't come out in most countries yet, but what can you do? I hope in time when more people review this movie its rating will climb. Give it a chance and be objective and you shouldn't be disappointed.
Venom (2018)
Okay movie, but not in the same league as the MCU
I'm a long-time Spider-Man fan and started reading just around the time Venom entered the picture, so I was curious to see how they would do Venom without the original Spider-Man origin.
The movie isn't terrible, but Eddie Brock is a dweeb and Venom/the symbiote is definitely the much funnier and better character. It was pretty predictable with a by the numbers plot. The movie picks up once Eddie and Venom meet with the symbiote having quite a few hilarious lines.
It's not a masterpiece, but it's a decent way to spend an evening.
Voltron: Legendary Defender (2016)
Starts well, but goes downhill
As many of the more recent reviews (Dec 2018) have stated, the last season (eighth) wasn't very good nor was the seventh which was when the show began its downward spiral.
I have downgraded my original score of 8/10 to 6/10 after seeing the conclusion to this story, so that shows you how much I disliked the end.
I'll leave this spoiler free, but just say the ending goes against the ethos pushed through the whole show that Voltron wins as a team and not as individuals.
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
Better than expected
Other than the first 15 minutes, the rest of the movie is a solid action movie. The cast do a competent job but no one is going to win an Oscar.
My main gripe with the movie is that Han doesn't feel like Han from the original trilogy. It also doesn't feel like a Star Wars movie. It does however feel like an action/caper movie set in the Star Wars universe and that is how I am reviewing this and I am pretending that the main character isn't Han Solo.
Definitely much better than The Last Jedi though with at least a story line that makes sense.
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
This movie is Star Wars in name only *SPOILERS*
I've debated writing another negative review of this movie as there are so many out there already. However, the more I think about the more I feel compelled to write this as I believe that Disney don't care about the soul of Star Wars and instead have stripped away the mythos of Star Wars (the Jedi, the Force etc) in order to make movies indefinitely until they have milked the cow. Star Wars should have stopped at three movies and left the rest to our imaginations.
Firstly, I don't understand how so many people love this movie. Even objectively as a sci-fi/action movie it is mediocre. This is the plot of the movie:
- Space battle
- Rey/Luke "training" (no training actually occurs)
- Space chase
- Pointless side plot espousing how evil the 1% are (not that I disagree, but this was ham fisted)
- Last stand on a salt planet
If this seems pretty threadbare, that is because it is. To add to this there are a lot of dumb scenes that people would complain about if it wasn't a Star Wars movie:
- Bombs in space falling like bombs in gravity
- Leia Mary Poppins scene (she was unconscious and how the hell didn't everyone else not get sucked out into space once they opened the door to let her in)
- Holdo not telling anyone her plan (how is this good leadership?)
- Rey being more powerful in the Force with no training (Anakin was an immaculate birth and was the chosen one and yet he was pretty average with the Force after years of training)
- Rey being a better fighter than Snoke's guards who would have been training their whole lives (Rey is at best a raw street fighter + remember Luke was pretty useless at hand to hand combat after a week of knowing about the Force like Rey)
- Rose crashing into Finn and them not being blasted into smithereens while travelling back to the base (they got back pretty quickly too)
- Mediocre humour used at inappropriate times (some of the humour was good though)
- Captain Phasma and Snoke utterly wasted
The main travesty though is what they have done to the mythos of Star Wars:
- It isn't consistent with the standards of the universe as set by the previous movies
- The Jedi while flawed were interesting and are an integral part of Star Wars. I truly hope ghost Luke actually trains Rey in IX to be an actual Jedi
- The Force can't be mastered so easily. Hundred of generations of Jedi had to train for decades to display the proficiency that Rey does in mere days. Anakin was an immaculate birth via the Force and the chosen one and took almost a decade to be 10% as proficient as Rey.
Disney don't care about the core of Star Wars - they care about money. If they released this exact same movie and it wasn't Star Wars it wouldn't make close to the money it will make and the critics reception would be far less positive. Disney are setting this up so they can make an infinite amount of films (until the cow is well and truly milked) and to do that they have to make the Force more accessible and far easier to master as the current audience don't have the patience to wait for three movies for the protagonist to master the Force and to not be a useless liability,
The Red Pill (2016)
Eye Opening and Definitely Worth Watching
Firstly, thank you Cassie Jaye for making this film and I can't apologise enough for the hatchet jobs the media did in Australia on your visit here to promote your film. I loosely align with MGTOWs and MRAs and like you recognise that there are victims on both sides. Despite what many feminists think, MRAs exist to promote men's issues - not to bring down women, just like feminism exists to promote women's rights - not to bring down men. Obviously radicals exist on both sides that seem to be the loudest voices and do no favours for their respective groups. Ultimately this movie explores the journey of Cassie who at the start is a feminist as she explores the world of men's rights and how she learns that there is another side to the story. I think most reasonable people agree that both men and women are suffering in different ways and that we need to work together to make sure that both genders can live in true equality. This does not promote misogyny despite what many biased organisations may say.
Death Proof (2007)
Death Inducing
What can one say about this movie that hasn't already been said? This movie is torture! The completely unsympathetic female characters are all irritating as hell, all smug as can be, thinking that they are all so hot to trot (which most of them aren't). Dislikable characters I can take, but then to have to endure 95 minutes of vapid, try-hard cool dialogue was unbearable. I don't mind dialogue heavy movies as long as they PROGRESS the plot. The dialogue in this did nothing of the sort and was a demonstration of Tarantino on an ego trip trying to demonstrate his "talent" for writing witty dialogue.
I was actually extremely happy when the first (better looking) group of girls were slaughtered by Stuntman Mike. I was hoping that would be the start of mayhem and murder, but no, instead we get introduced to another bunch of girls who are even more detestable then the first group. I just knew they were going to win as Tarantino seems to be on some sort of mission to provide the 21st Century with Alpha-Females (if I can borrow a term a fellow reviewer has already used) to kick the ass of macho men the world over. I'm sorry, but this is getting really annoying. I am all for the demonstration of strong female characters, but not at the expense of making men look whiny, desperate, evil, perverted and just all round pathetic. Is Tarantino a feminist in disguise?!?!? Anyway, this has all been said before by others, but let me give you some advice, watch Planet Terror, it's infinitely more entertaining. There is more entertainment in the first 5 minutes than in the whole of Death Proof. It is a pity that a character like Stuntman Mike was wasted on a film like this. While I've never been a huge Tarantino fan, most of his other movies were generally quite good. Let's hope this movie is an exception for Tarantino.
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
Mutilated adaptation of a literary classic
Well, what can one say about this butchering of a literary classic? It is not often that I feel compelled to comment on a movie, but in this case I couldn't stop myself. While the average movie goer who hasn't read the novel may find this movie to be entertaining (fair enough, as the acting and production values are all decent), anyone who has read the novel will be appalled. Now I don't believe a movie adaptation should follow its source verbatim, it should at least maintain its spirit and focus.
Firstly, the focus. As many on here have already stated, the novel depicts the human struggle against the supernatural Dracula, the movie has invented a "timeless" love between Mina and Dracula. This is bad for two reasons, firstly it destroys the real timeless love between Jonathon Harker and Mina that was fundamental to the ultimate victory against Dracula. Secondly, it humanises Dracula and tries to excuse his fall into damnation because of love as well as inventing Mina as the reincarnation of Dracula's dead bride.
Next, the characters have all been distorted beyond recognition. Lucy has been turned from a classy, lovely lady whom one could believe that three distinguished gentlemen such as John, Quincy and Arthur could all fall in love with, into a trollop and whore whom repels whenever she opens her mouth. Mina I have already mentioned, but when in the movie she openly volunteers to become a vampire and drink Dracula's blood, I wanted her to be slaughtered with him and get what she deserved (although I knew this wouldn't happen). The other characters, most notably John Seward have been stripped to bit part roles in order to support our timeless romance. If I was Harker, I would be getting a divorce quick smart.
The ending of the movie was most painful. The hackneyed chase scene (understandable for entertainment purposes), Quincy's death was handled without the dignity the character deserved, the farcical redemption of Dracula with Mina at the end, I could go on. Don't remind me of the Vlad that Impaler introduction, it was cringeworthy.
I could go on, but ultimately, this movie is only insulting to those who read and appreciated the novel. I didn't not give this movie a '1' as many detractors have, as the movie is far from unwatchable from a neutral viewpoint. It is by no means a masterpiece even then, as it was very overblown, especially the Dracula special effects. Personally, I couldn't wait for the movie to end and I will most definitely never watch this movie again.
Batman Begins (2005)
WOW! Now that's what I call a movie!!!
Firstly, let me say I have been a life long Spider-Man fan and love both of the recent movies, but after seeing this, I am finding it hard to decide which I prefer the bat or the spider. I guess it will all depend on my mood as they both have significantly different atmospheres. Of course no movie is perfect, and only 1 movie has ever scored a perfect "10" but this came damn close. Great acting, writing, directing and a realism no other superhero movie could possibly match. Mind you Batman isn't a superhero in the true sense of the word as he doesn't actually have any super powers. The whole origin was superb. His training, his gadgets, his fears and torments, they are all feasibly realistic. And best of all, no cheesy nipples on the costume! I hope for the love of God that we will not be inflicted with a Robin or Batgirl in any of the sequels because that will spoil the mood. In closing, if you haven't seen this movie yet, do it!!!
Hide and Seek (2005)
Same Old, Same Old...
Well, what a disappointment this movie was. Hyped up as a supernatural thriller, it was anything but! All the initial good work of the first two-thirds of the movie destroyed by an unoriginal, overused so called "twist". For me the movie was never going to be excellent but I was reasonably entertained until the "twist". Once revealed, the movie lost all its tension and thrills. From then on I simply didn't care. The four "alternate" endings were nothing special and were all pretty unsatisfying. Anyone of them could have been substituted for the original and it still wouldn't make a difference to the overall movie since they are all pretty much the same. Probably the only redeeming feature of this movie was the acting, which was uniformly excellent. It's a pity that it's wasted in this B-Grade thriller in disguise!
Taken (2002)
Starts promisingly but spirals ever downwards....
Well, what can I say? As a sci-fi fan and I was really looking forward to this series and after watching the first two episodes things looked promising. This review may contain spoilers so continue at your own peril! Unfortunately this was the best it got and each episode got progressively worse, clichéd and illogical. Worst of all there was so much filler it was at times excruciatingly boring. This series would have been better served if it had been half the length.
I know this is a series about aliens so how can it be logical, but I'm not talking about that aspect of it. There was the highly improbable relationship between Mary Crawford and Dr Wakeman, that was just offputting, then said Ms Crawford shooting Wakeman in the back while he was on the phone talking quietly with the music turned up - how the hell would she know that he was betraying her? When her dad was in charge of the operation why would his men listen to Mary and kill him? It wouldn't happen. Why would Allie and Co. go to their old farm house in the middle of Texas when they are trying to hide - talk about obvious! Why didn't Allie heal her alien great grandfather after he had been shot? And how the hell did the alien with its scrawny, fragile body survive all those gunshots at near point blank range? One bullet would have ripped any of his limbs/head off that's how thin he was! Don't forget they have already told us that the alien body is more fragile than a human's and I can't think of any human surviving that barrage!
Granted, there were some things that were well done, the acting was for the most part solid and the set design for the different eras were spot on as far as I could tell. But in the grand scheme of the series, there were too many bad points to make it recommendable for me.
I did not like this series, but there are plenty out there who do, one glance at the IMDb rating will show you. I preferred the 4400 even though that too was clichéd ridden and predictable, but to me its major advantage over "Taken" is that it was much shorter and got to the point without all the pointless exposition. Watch it if you like sci-fi, see what you think, but for me personally I won't be rushing out to recommend it or see it again.
The Bourne Identity (2002)
YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!
what does one get when one of his favourite books gets made into a movie starring one of his favourite actors? awesome entertainment! i was surprised at the casting choice of damon as bourne, but i was defintely not disappointed. the movie kept me riveted for its whole duration and i was glad(and surprised) to see a lack of special effects, and instead a character driven action movie. no saving the world here, just a man fighting to survive so that he can discover who he really is. This movie ranks at number 4 of my favourites for 2002, just behind minority report, LOTR, spiderman, and just edges out signs.
Spider-Man (2002)
Wow!
after being an avid reader/collector of the spider-man comic series for 15 years, i was desperately hoping not to be disappointed when production of the movie was announced, thankfully i wasnt, quite the opposite in fact! tobey maguire as peter parker was an inspired choice! after seeing him in movies like cider house rules, pleasantville and wonder boys, i knew he'd be the perfect peter. kirsten dunst(my fav actress) is again excellent although she doesnt look like the mj i had always pictured, but this is was never a problem for me. the rest of the cast ranges from solid to excellent. the story is excellent, lively and humourous - exactly what one comes to expect from a spidey yarn. although some lines come offas corny, remember this is a comic book movie, not schindlers list(another excellent movie). overall i gave this movie a solid 9 out of 10, and ranks in my top5 movies of 2002, just behind minority report and the LOTR: The Two Towers.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Awesome! A worthy follow up to FOTR!
Firstly let me say that i loved TTT, but not quite as much as FOTR. As other people have already commented, although spectacular, it lacks the heart of the first movie - a necessary evil just because of the sheer nature of the story. i do not have any problems with the changes PJ has made to the original books, and i do not think that just because i have the read the books that makes me a better judge of the movies. all the tolkien nerds out there who cant handle any changes - grow up, there is more to life than reading LOTR 365 days a year. a movie is a movie, not a book. imagine if we had tom bombadil in the first movie, it woulda dragged on and on and we would have never gotten to rivendell. arwen's extended role(as much as it is criticised) is an effective movie device. through her we are given an insight(and a means) into seeing what is going on with the elves. romance does occur in real life(as much as tolkien geeks hate to admit it due to lack of romance in there own lives). i couldnt be bothered going on, so ill wrap up now. TTT gets a 9/10, while the FOTR got 10/10.