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Reviews
Scream Queens (2015)
Do we really need another show about all the bad caricatures of college students
This show has all the disgusting stereotypes you could want. If you want to see skinny white girls acting like stupid sorority idiots, gay jokes, fat jokes, black jokes, jock jokes, panty shots, and every other stupid stereotype? Can't we come up with a better plot for a college series? It isn't funny. It is disgusting. Find a better plot please. If we are truly like this we deserve what we get.
Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)
Pretty cliche
Direction is stiff and cliche. Actors are much better than they were allowed to be. We don't need reminiscences of Kill Bill, or Guardians of the galaxy or bad batman. This is more like the directors first cut of his first movie. Bassett, Yeoh, Gugino, and Headey could have had much more acting leeway. Gillian needs to do more than run around. Needs more humor in her delivery. The humor has to be funny. This was just cliche after cliche after cliche. This should be much more than the girl that waited. Doctor Who people should get the reference.
Extinction (2018)
Do little girls do more than scream and be scared?
If you want to make a remake War of the Worlds you don't need little girls to be constantly screaming to make your point. Three stars for Michael Pena and Lizzie Caplan. No stars for the script or the plot. No stars for the monkey.
Monsters: Dark Continent (2014)
A modern heart of darkness
If you haven't read it or understood it you will not really understand this. The Heart of Darkness is about the gradual loss of comprehension and understanding of the reality in which we live. In the original it was about a trip up a river in which sanity is gradually lost. In Apocalypse Now it is about the insanity of war. In this movie it is about the insane consequences of living in broken communities and loss of connection to the real world. Some parts of this are painful to watch. It drags on in some places. We never know what the aliens are doing to the world. We just dream of coming back to something that we can believe in, but we live in a world in which sanity becomes harder to find. It takes a while to figure this out. Persevere.
The Sleepover (2020)
Not another silly movie
This is a silly movie. Truly silly. And stupid.
Some questions: why is the bad girl a person with dark skin? Why are the kids mostly white privelidged idiots? Why is the lead white girl wearing really tight jeans? Why is the husband really stupid? Why is the plot marginally interesting? Standard US people are dumb kind of movie. Are we really like this? Do we really think it is funny to show ourselves as scofflaws who are comfortable running off with other peoples property and breaking things? Why do we think that it is acceptable to dress women in clothes that don't fit right right in the wrong places? At least the kids can act even if the villain's are less than convincing. The director uses the script well, but the script draws out all of the bad stereotypes about lack of responsibility and low moral responsibility.
Zoo (2015)
Might be entertaining, but sure ain't science, just really dumb plots of convenience
You know, they actors are great. The plot isn't. It presents science as something that is arbitrary. It presents scientific ideas as stupid. It presents things as true that demonstrably aren't. In the minds of some people this might be fun, but others don't know how to distinguish these stupidities as truth, which devalues science as a source of truth about how the world actually works. There are many films and books that use science as a background that don't need to present things we actually know about as stupid or wrong. The writers of this show apparently think we are all 12 years old in free play, in which anything can be anything, rather than living in a world where some things really are the way they are. This is a bad remake of the Birds, or Frogs, or Swamp Thing, or Shrews, or the Island of Doctor Moreax. These produced a vision of doing harm to our understanding of how this one works, without making light of the real one, without treating us as stupid. This makes no pretensions about knowing anything, or producing a vision of something possible. It does actual harm to our understanding of science by making it seem that science is whatever we want without evidence. All we have to do is have a strong feeling and it is true, as if we could nullify gravity by thinking. Shame on whoever produced this piece of trash. If I could give a negative rating I would. Phah. I don't even fart in your general direction. Idiotic drivel only for those who failed 4th grade. Worse than a c movie which we would only watch for the bodies of the actors. Filth. But with good actors. Nice babies, bad bathwater.
Hunted (2012)
Not as bad as some say
Not perfect. Certainly a British point of view on spy thrillers, which are normally more thoughtful, better written, and better acted than US drivel, such as the current version of Nikita or 24.
The characters were human and entertaining as individuals. They developed as individuals. The plot is a little convoluted but eventually you figure it out. There are no 180 degree twists to keep the plot going, just the gradual discovery of new information.
The acting was British but not to over the top. There were a few too many altercations that didn't result in damage whose effects disappeared too fast. They spent a lot of time setting up the next series, so it would be a shame not to see some of it at least.
Threshold (2005)
Silly premise, worse science
The poor cast was stranded with a bad script that barely made them human and always treated them as caricatures. The science in the fiction was stupid and unrealistic. Maybe hiring writers that know some science would have helped. The show bumbled along from one simplistic plot that showed the best talents the world has to offer as idiots barely coping with the situations the writers put them in. No wonder it didn't last a full season. Now, because there is a requirement that I write enough about this to fill ten lines I will go on the way the shows writers did writing about nothing to fill in the space. Maybe this is enough?
The Event (2010)
Big disappointment
You know, the initial concept was good, but the script writing was horrible, predictable, and poor. The main plot device was
I want to trust you but at the last minute someone else did something that makes it so I can't. Or.... how do I get you to do what I want in spite of the fact that you think I am lying to you...
The plot drifts. Parts of it never really make sense. The Event that the title comes from never materializes and it looks like it was supposed to be the main focus of a second season that didn't happen. The political aspects are completely unrealistic unless you are 12 years old and dealing with siblings. The "science" is silly and unrealistic or made magical. The acting is stiff. Towards the end the music becomes overpowering in an effort to make the viewer feel that the plot is advancing when all too often the episode is just filling space. Not worth it... don't bother.
24 (2001)
Much ado about not much
This is the standard constant angst supported by loud music conveying tension. The plots are transparent and twisted to make the full 24 episodes. The main message is that people are stupid, vacillate between bold and fearful, keep changing their mind at stupid points, continually look unprofessional and unintelligent, can't work well together, etc etc etc...The sideplots features characters that won't go away in spite of their irrelevance and that they clearly are just wasting plot space. Writing is often formulaic. Music even worse...attempting to create tension to make up for the lack of plot direction. Unrealistic to the point of not being believable in many places. Plot events that could be significant disappear almost immediately after they happen. MIght have been new when it came out. Now only lame.
Girl Walks Into a Bar (2011)
sophomoric and cliché
Sohpmoric series of silly skits without purpose, almost without plot, designed to titillate the senses with the cleverness of its turn of phrase but not with its turn of meaning, meandering aimlessly through dark rooms and clever turns of phrase phantasizing about the lack of clothes without any follow through, repeatedly regressing into prosaic prose without going anywhere. I think you get my drift....a college try to be clever that is clever in college but doesn't make it in the outside world where cleverness is only good for being clever, not getting anything done, finished, accomplished, or anything else. Don't bother unless you want to ogle the gorls...or was that girls....but don't expect more than titillation, for, the girl actually walks into the bar, but not much else happens...and thats that.....
Taken (2002)
A close encounter amplified and converted to religion
Steven Spielberg has two themes in his work...close encounters with things we don't understand, and heroes. This combines both of them, representing people as human, life as unpredictable and uncontrollable, except for those few moments in which we get to make a choice. Dakota Fanning's narrations are made with a fully adult command of her voice, and and a more than adequate ability to use her face and body to convey what is going on in her head. The other characters confuse us in the beginning, but we eventually find out that there is no great alien menace, only ourselves and how we treat each other. You should watch this. It is well done, has great production value, rarely asks you to suspend belief for no cause, is well executed, with great period props and mannerisms. Aside from only a very few moments, the acting and writing is superb. All in all, a possibly transformative experience for those who do not know how to deal with the unknown.
The Good Wife (2009)
Smart...doesn't get lost in the interpersonal relationships
This is a smart show. It has nice personalities, but doesn't get lost in the personality conflicts. It allows the outside stories of personal failing, corruption, miscommunication, parenting and politics to form an important part of the story.
The story is about humans being humans in a complex world with conflicting interests. The dialog is smart, the politics of the stories interesting and current, the personalities interesting, the dialog fills the time and is smart. The show does not devolve to shouting and missed And, the continuing story limps along behind the episodes just enough to keep people interested.
Most shows like this do not make it past the first season. It is a pleasant surprise that this one is still going.
Fringe (2008)
Nice Try
It took a while to figure out what the real story was, and there were a few really good ideas, but towards the end of season 3 the "Oh I can't risk losing you" even though the other option was the end of the world schtik got a little difficult. There are some episodes with really good science ideas that later disappeared and never were explained. Anna Torv did a really good job of playing two versions of herself, but she is the standout. Doctor Bishops assistant Anita is underused and was not afforded enough opportunities to make herself more than almost a character. The two Bishops got left driving the constant angst under beat that keeps the show from developing further in the plot and personality direction. Too bad that Leonard Nimoy only existed in some otherworld, and dies in the middle of the last season...watched it, but I think its overrated....
Rizzoli & Isles (2010)
cheezy
The two leads are much better than the writing they are given. They are really wasted in this what appears to be low low low budget attempt to do faux Dashiel Hammet. The writing is only bare bones, with the fewest dialog lines possible, and lots of meaningful camera angles, so you actually have to watch sometimes, and the characterization and continuity is very simplistic. The plots are pure cheese, and sometimes look like they are from social issues of more than 30 years ago rather than today, but there is an occasional real belly laugh. This isn't the Maltese Falcon.... but its entertaining enough, so if its late at night and you need something to put you to sleep give it a try.
Invasion (2005)
Huh?
The story is good, its just too bad that the script has to resort to all the soap opera tricks to get it over. Invasion is full of the following....
"I need to talk to you....." "I don't have time right now"...
This is a tired plot device. Also features....
"I don't trust you" "We can't tell anyone just yet" " I need you to come with me right now" "I'm not sure that this strange thing is really strange" "I just want my kids to be protected" "I don't want my kids bothered by this" "Daddy doesn't really love me" "Wow you've changed since the event"
This kind of writing treats the audience as stupid. Real people don't distrust each other like this. Real people know each other much better than this. People don't get off work like this. Real people don't go in the water if they know it can change them. Real people don't ignore what is going on around them.
The story is interesting from a science point of view, but assumes so low a level of social and mental development in the characters that it is difficult to listen to, let alone watch some of the episodes.
Primeval (2007)
Silliest show ever
Show has great special effects, bothers to go through the trouble of actually knowing something about paleontology, and then tries to pass itself off as a stupid comedy for children. Hope it succeeds with them, because otherwise it is a complete waste of good concepts. One wonders how the producers got actors to sign on for this waste of their talents. One would hope that the network producing this would take the trouble to treat is audience as more intelligent. Otherwise we have to assume that the show reflects the intelligence level of its producers. Well...it is hard to find this much to say about something that could have been done much better with just a little bit more trust in the intelligence of the audience. Have I got to ten lines yet????
Caprica (2009)
Tries to be a complete world, almost succeeds, great scifi
This show rocks. It is even better than Battlestar. Battlestar is a shootemup that invented where it was going as it went along and didn't resolve many things at the end. Caprica is a fully fleshed out complete series with a beginning and an end (at least I expect) that contains real world struggles between possible people, of if not possible at least plausible from the fiction point of view while inventing digital technologies that are close to what might be available in the near future. One of the good things about this series is that it doesn't just depend on silly misunderstandings and unpleasantnesses that other series use to drag out and obfuscate their story. You will enjoy this.
Babylon 5 (1993)
Needed much better scripts and more accomplished acting
After 1.5 seasons.... Writing...aimed too low. Writing is stiff and simple. Characters could be developed so that they are more than vehicles to deliver words. Acting....would help if the cast could do comedy. Jokes stiff and too far between. Would have helped if writing developed their characters as more than scarecrows. Plot...seems to be wandering...again, development of characters and story very slow. Idea... really good concepts. Nice alien conceptualization...would have helped if plots had worked with more than the surface concepts. The actual science is underdeveloped. Characters act as if they are in a soap opera rather than science fiction.
Between 1.5 and 4.5 the show is superb. Must have changed writers, change of the commander is a good thing, Harlan Ellison as adviser makes the show coherent between episodes. The scripts test all of the moral and ethical questions of government, friendship, and war. The political messages are a good primer on the struggle between freedom and the desire for order. Entertaining and well worth watching for the sci fi fan. Much better than the many series that wander around without plot depending on special effects and strange aliens. The characters in this show develop along with the story line, which doesn't devolve back to the standard plots of "I cant tell you"..."I don't trust you"..."I wanted to tell you but I forgot". After the war to liberate earth the show loses some focus until it finds the need to explain the biology of Teeps...finally...
Terra Nova (2011)
Show insults the intelligence of viewers
The actors are fine, but why would a mother of three look practically the same age as her daughter? Casting didn't read the script?? The special effects are nice, but why are there only really dangerous dinosaurs, and why don't the writers know more about them than they are dangerous. The characters are unbelievably stupid. There has to be more to life than lying, being hurt, etc etc etc.... If the producers are going to go through the trouble to put this together they might at least have learned some of the science they were trying to present, or at least hired writers with a science background, or at least a background in physical reality. It is totally unbelievable that an 800 pound fish can't drag a 200 pound man over the edge of the cliff that he is fishing next to. More unbelievable when the fish is not supposed to exist for several tens of millions of years. Same for rhinoceros beetles, etc etc etc... Make the show believable from a story point of view or expect it to disappear like the dinosaur that it is...
Example.... \ episode 9 suggests that dragonflies have tympanic membranes on their antennae...silly idea....then the commander resists the obvious idea of finding the subsonic transmitter... then they do it stupidly by resuscitating the insect rather than triangulating with radio receivers...
NCIS: Los Angeles (2009)
A name does not a show make
I've seen a few of these, and many of this shows namesake. Either something is happening that I don't understand, or this show is bunk.
The characters are shapeless and formless, only having a corporeal existence. The humor is humorless, and does not make me smile.
Having an Oscar winner on the show that makes cameos irrelevant to the plot is not a good use of the Oscar winner.
There are too many irrelevant characters on the team that do little to move the episode forward. Having a hard body is not enough to make the show interesting.
The tech side of the show is taken for granted. It should add to the plot not exist as an appendage and taken for granted.
The characters develop too slowly. It is not clear what justifies having a large office of special projects when the episodes seem to only occur in LA.
Could be better, might be better, only NCIS in name, not in spirit.