alex-1250's Reviews

House of the Dragon: Driftmark (2022)

Season 1, Episode 7

3 October 2022

After the switch-up in cast for the queen and princess' roles, I am finding it hard to root for anyone character anymore. The scene with the kids fighting was the only memorable thing to take away from this episode.

Compared to the Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon rings a bit hollow to me... at least at this stage. It's more about the weirdness of everyone involved than about anything else. You just do not feel the love and closeness between the family members and allies fighting desperately for each other.. I do not seem to care what happens to anyone. The loyalty between certain characters is implied in the script yet the chemistry is not there in the actual scenes.

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House of the Dragon: The Princess and the Queen (2022)

Season 1, Episode 6

The 2 main characters went down the drain

27 September 2022

After 5 solid episodes, they decided to wipe out two of the show's main assets, and recast them completely unrecognizable. Sad.

I didn't know what I was watching until the horrible realisation slowly set in.

Milly Alcock and Emily Carey have been dispensed with, and there's no way back. Talk about shooting oneself in the face. That's the strongest two of the four actors in House of the Dragon that were of the true Game of Thrones ilk erased.

I haven't read the books, so I was expecting the storyline to be in the ascendency after episode 5, and yet instead the episode 6 was more like a maternity ward.

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Bullets of Justice (2019)

Crazy stuff start to finish

17 October 2020

The movie is jam packed with gross scenes. I am not sure how coherent the dialogue was, but the things actors are saying is almost as crazy as the visuals. Seemingly, the language and acting skills are of secondary importance here and I tend to agree with that. I found myself not really knowing why I was still watching this - I guess for me this was mainly a bizarre looking comedy. It did make me laugh once I got used to what I was seeing in front of me.

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Interreflections (2020)

Paints an Incomplete Picture of Humanity

13 October 2020

The film very successfully paints a very well grounded and very bleak picture of capitalism. It induces brain activity, Where it fails, is to realise that the utopian model it presented will never be attainable.

Human race was not ready for communism in Soviet era, it is not ready for it now nor will it ever be, unless that communism comes again in some form of brain-washed tyranny.

People will never be equally successful given the same conditions, and the more successful ones will thrive and pull away, while the less successful ones will either strive and work harder in order to succeed, or descend into depression. This is the backbone of any progress, and any society without it will drown in apathy.

Not to mention that the age of the AI is just around the corner, and this film is still very human-centric.

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Archive (2020)

Unexpectedly Good... great even.

10 October 2020

Finally a movie that takes you places you don't expect. Looks like any modern sci-fi movie, but it isn't just a shallow shell of a film. It tackles some of the most profound topics in life, but in its own, sci-fi way. In this era of superhero soups and social justice virtue-signaling failures, this film is surprisingly neither of the two. The cast is not stellar, but it's definitely adequate for their roles.

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Endgame 2050 (2020)

Some Truth In It

22 September 2020

I was expecting more about the dangers of AI , social engineering and so on. Global warmings have been happening before and independently of man. This show reduced nearly all our problems to just eating meat.

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Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)

More than just a bundle of simple fun

1 July 2020

This movie depicts goofy Europeans as seen through the eyes of goofy Americans, and yet it all looks and feels so authentic. Rachel McAdams is as delightful as ever, and that song is quite something too. Somehow it seemed to me that Will Ferrell was genuine when verbally attacking the american tourists in this movie. Compared to all the Marvel drivel we've been bombarded with in recent years, this is a 10 star movie.

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The Call of the Wild (2020)

A VFX Artist's Review

28 March 2020

Warning: Spoilers

It's unfair on H.Ford, but the CGI dog sucks. Holywood just have to CGI and politically correct everything. 21st century is a really bad time for movies. among other things.

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Men in Black: International (2019)

Very weak

21 July 2019

This one is totally lacking the buddy wholesomeness that all the previous MiB movies possessed. Rebecca Ferguson had the best/was the best part in this movie.She was great. The rest just wasn't.

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Hellboy (2019)

I thought it was pretty cool

11 July 2019

I think the script had a very nice blend of modern-day and fantasy scenes and elements, and it was all very well translated into the footage. It was interesting in a sense that no part of it was predictable, and it all looked great. I think that VFX were top grade, not sure how anyone could complain about the quality of CGI. 10 stars from me for the entertainment value.

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Bird Box (2018)

It gets quite scary at times

24 December 2018

John Malkovich is brilliant, Sandra Bullock is her standard self. The movie reminded me a bit of the original Predator, with the cast being picked off by an invisible evil force. All in all, one of the better movies in the last few years.

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The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

In this day and age, this is a real gem of a movie

18 November 2018

Finally a movie that feels genuine start to finish and a movie that entertains. You are never sure where it starts and where it will end,all the characters immediately feel real without wasting any time. And perhaps most importantly, this is a movie that does not insult your intelligence like almost all other movies do.

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Tully (2018)

The best movie I've seen this year

21 July 2018

This movie is one of the few I've seen that manages to extract the essence of our everyday lives and show it to us in all its artistic glory. Charlize 's acting is just great in this movie, and the same can be said for the rest of the cast, children included. Finally a movie with female leads that are absolutely captivating even to us men as well.

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Ibiza (2018)

Gillian Jacobs is extremely pretty

28 May 2018

I was not sure if something could be both shallow and empty at the same time, but this movie is exactly it. It's not that bad though if you use it as background noise. On the other hand, should you decide to actually watch it, Gillian Jacobs is perfectly watchable throughout.

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Adventures in Public School (2017)

Lovely little comedy

29 April 2018

Judy Greer is a star. It would've been a decent teenage movie but she took it to another level and it's really enjoyable to watch. The humor is cute throughout and I laughed out loud a couple of times. Can't remember the last time it happened.

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Manifesto (III) (2015)

An artistic take on (mostly) art manifestos

21 November 2017

There is more art in this movie than in any of the mainstream movies you will find. It portrays passion for art and ideas humankind used to have in previous centuries. This passion was often expressed in a very radical language, as a result of the struggle between the driven artists and the establishment. All of that has disappeared in recent times, and all art has become derivative and compliant with consumerism.

Cate Blanchett's performance in various parts ranges from great to mesmerising. I've never really paid much attention to her work up until now but based on her acting in Manifesto, she's definitely the greatest actress of our time. She's got it all.

She could turn anyone into a Dadaist.

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Girls Trip (2017)

A pretty accurate picture of modern day feminism

4 October 2017

I think we have enough of this kind of thing in our daily lives ,why should anyone pay for a ticket to watch a movie about 4 useless chicks... oh wait, it's because it's ticking all the feminist boxes. How many movies will need to be made before everyone realises that this kind of thing is never funny?

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Hot Property (2016)

A fairly accurate portrayal

17 June 2017

Not sure what exactly in this movie is supposed to make people laugh or even smile, but it does give a fairly accurate portrayal of your typical shallow-water British brat,together with her lack of purpose, direction, values and morals.

There's more and more movies being classed as comedies that can only get one depressed, and this is certainly one of them.

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Tad: The Lost Explorer (2012)

I loved it

22 January 2013

I must say I expected a sub-Pixar animated feature,but Tad has surprised me on so many levels that I actually rated it higher than the recent Disney/Pixar films.

the characters are well developed and animated superbly,but I was particularly impressed by the set designs,although the whole production has been done with so much imagination and artistic flair...it's true that it's a cartoon-y take on I.Jones/TombRaider theme but the attention to detail in every shot is simply staggering,and on top of it all it is a very cute looking movie.

It'll take a second viewing to process all the details I must have missed the first time,as it's really fast-paced.

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Underworld: Awakening (2012)

another video games influenced movie

24 February 2012

I don't really care how well choreographed scenes of serial mutilation are,this movie offers very little value,and even Kate Beckinsale in it doesn't look all that appealing or impressive... In fact she was a lot more imposing as an actor and a person in Serendipity than in this drivel.

It makes one wonder whom these movies overloaded with gore and violence are made for - do people really find them interesting to watch? It seems that video games are driving the whole entertainment industry to its most vulgar and violent extremes.

Most people do not ever see a stabbing in their lives,yet on the screen that's like common courtesy.

The first three Underworld movies are a lot better than this one.

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The Inbetweeners (2011)

horrible movie about horrible British teenagers

1 January 2012

While I accept that the series might have provided a silly entertainment to a fan base of sorts,this effort lacks so much in so many departments that I wouldn't even consider it a film.

For anyone unfamiliar with the series,the characters and their respective actors offer absolutely nothing of any value,and neither does the "plot".

It just paints a very grim picture of British youth and deteriorating British culture,forcing the audience to watch the British humour being reduced to a mixture of awkwardness,scatology and frustrated bing-drinking twats desperate to indulge in mindless sex in any shape or form.

A truly horrible thing to watch and waste your time on.

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Rango (2011)

Pointless exercise.No substance.

4 July 2011

I give this movie 3 out of 10.

The characters and animation are really high end,everything else is not.

This is not an animated film for kids,the dialogues and humour are not suitable for children,and,lets face it,the characters are simply too rancid and disgusting looking to have your kids exposed to them.

And yet,the movie's story is so shallow that I don't see it suitable for adults either.In other words,it's just your regular empty-headed animated feature,and the audience is expected to be in awe just because there are digital characters rendered on screen and acting out real actor's voice over.

I'd say that Toy Story 1 conveyed more emotions and story than Rango,despite it being released ages ago and despite it being more technically ground-braking in terms of digital animation for its time.

Digital features have been around long enough for me not to be impressed by the 3D visuals only,I thought ILM would know better than that.

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Whiteout (2009)

what's the point?

10 January 2010

Warning: Spoilers

I love Kate Beckinsale in Underworld series,but this movie irritated me.

I don't understand how movies like this ever get the green light,and I wonder how many more of the same pointless projects will be funded,produced and then served to mindless audiences around the world.

5 minutes into the movie I thought to myself: Not another female American cop flick in which she cares more about her career than her own life,going into dark places where killers lurk armed only with the torchlight,and looking all-pretty even after days without sleep and loosing a finger? Who on earth wants to see more of that?

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District 9 (2009)

an interesting looking failure

11 September 2009

Warning: Spoilers

The Positives:

1. It starts off well,and the newscasts give it a certain sense of realism.

2. South Africa is a refreshing choice of location (not in America,for once).

3. the idea of aliens struggling here on Earth seems quite plausible.

4. occasionally,some eye-pleasing visuals are on offer.

The Negatives:

1. Alien creature design is flawed,it makes it very difficult for them to emote - which in turn makes it hard for us to relate to them until very late into the movie...quite frankly their look evokes disgust throughout,which lingers on for hours after the film.

2. No character (be it human or alien) was given sufficient depth,they just run around like in a cheap action movie.

3. The storyline is totally linear and thus totally predictable,offering the same kind of message as seen in bucket-loads of other action movies.Plot holes abound.

4. Visually,the sets are decidedly CyberPunk,whilst props,robot,weaponry and action sequences are mired deep in video game references...detailed and trendy but not original or groundbreaking by any standard.

5. Self mutilation and graphic injuries is another attempt to tick the trendy boxes...the time could have been better spent developing the character.

6. this is,in the end,just another alien movie - it would have been just another zombie movie if it had zombies in it instead of aliens - but it is cliché none the less.

7. Predator had only one alien,with a lot less screen time given,yet its character was infinitely more developed than 2.5 million aliens we saw in this movie from start to finish.

Weapons,costumes and CG explosions do not automatically make for a good movie...it isn't terrible to watch because it has its moments,but overall it under-delivered.

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Alien vs. Predator (2004)

good visuals,not much suspense

15 February 2008

I think that achieving the level of suspense from previous Alien movies was a tall order,simply because you cannot go on repeating the same scenario over and over again.

W.S. Anderson made a brave attempt to do a movie based not so much on the 2 franchises,but on the concept from a comic book instead...he also did make every effort to provide continuity and consistency with other alien and predator movies,but it was difficult to marry the two.

AvP at least has heaps of handcrafted art carved into the movie sets,it has bags of eye-candy not previously seen in any of the original movies - but was ruined by unconvincing characters/acting.

Although considerable screen time was given to character build-up,the viewer doesn't get to bond with either one of them.

The predator from the first movie also possessed hell of a lot more mystique and personality,compared to the ones in AvP.

All in all,Avp it makes for a good comic book to cinema conversion,and it looks very good.

8 out of 10 from me

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