Age of Ice
- Fundamentals.
- Title: Age of Ice
- IMDb: Users rated this 1.8/10 (1,207 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes:
zero ratings by critics returned
19% of users liked it from 62 recorded ratings
Critics Consensus: No consensus formed yet.
- Status: Released
- Release date: 2014-12-09
- Production Companies: The Asylum
- Tagline: The world's greatest desert now a frozen apocalypse.
- Budget: Budget estimate not available at review time.
- Revenue: Revenue figures not available at review time.
- Runtime: 85 minutes.
- Genres: Adventure, Science Fiction
- Written and directed by: Emile Edwin Smith.
- Starring: Barton Bund as Jack Jones, Bailey Spry as Amber Jones, Owais Ahmed as Tariq, Joe Cipriano as Dylan Jones, Jules Hartley as Diane Jones, Yaron Urbas as Capt. Kawar, Wilfried Capet as Simon
- TMDb overview: Massive earthquakes open the Arabian tectonic plate, resulting in unstable weather and freezing temperatures that will be unsurvivable by nightfall. Attempting to reach safety, a vacationing family in Egypt must battle the rapidly cooling temperatures that usher in a new Ice Age, covering the Sphinx, Pyramids, and Sahara Desert with mountains of snow.
- Setup and Plot
- We start with the American Navy in the eastern Mediterranean. All seems well, then a sequence of unexplained phenomena take out most of the USN ships and planes. Sure. This 'explained' (not) by referring to activity of the 'Arabian plate' which exposed magma to sea water which did something else between unlikely and impossible. Then a blizzard starts.
- We start following the Jones family. Father Jack, daughter Amber, and son Dylan are on a tour of Egyptian pyramids when the strange weather strikes. They get re-connected with mother Diane before the problems get really serious. Getting a plane out of Egypt fails. The train ride fails because Dylan jumps off. Camels work for a bit. Walking seems a disaster. Trucks were not all that safe either.
- Since the entire Jones family seems to be good at making bad decisions, will the locals end up helping them? Does anyone get out of this ever-worsening mess?
- Conclusions
- What is supposed to be Egypt was filmed in Detroit, MI, US. Brilliant. The American teen Amber knows more about Egyptian culture than the locals? I don't think so. Either child knowing more than both parents about every issue? No, just no. People jumping off a pyramid 50 times their own height and landing uninjured with unsullied clothing? No.
- There is nothing that this cast cannot ruin.
- One line summary: The Asylum strikes again; the audience loses.
- Zero of ten. Four black holes for screenplay, acting, cinematography, and contempt for the audience.
- Scores
- Cinematography: 1/10 Poor CGI, some shaky cam, ridiculous set design.
- Sound: 6/10 I could usually hear the dialog. The music was not always bad.
- Acting: 0/10 There was acting?
- Screenplay: 0/10 Stuff and nonsense.
P2
- Fundamentals.
- Title: P2
- IMDb: Users rated this 5.9/10 (24,482 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes:
35% of critics liked it of 69 critical reviews posted
36% of viewers liked it from 67,662 ratings
Critics Consensus: P2 is full of gore, but low on suspense, featuring a cat-and-mouse plot; has been done many times before.
- Status: Released
- Release date: 2007-11-09
- Production Companies: Summit Entertainment
- Tagline: No tagline found.
- Budget: 8,000,000 USD
- Revenue: 7,766,240 USD (Box Office Mojo, world-wide figure)
- Runtime: 98 minutes.
- Genres: Horror, Thriller
- Directed by: Franck Khalfoun. Written by: Franck Khalfoun, Alexandre Aja, Gregory Levasseur.
- Starring: Wes Bentley as Thomas, Rachel Nichols as Angela Bridges, Simon Reynolds as Bob Harper, Philip Akin as Karl, Stephanie Moore as Jody, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as man in elevator, Grace Lynn Kung as woman in elevator, Bathsheba Garnett as homeless woman, Philip Williams as Cop #1, Arnold Pinnock as Cop #2
- TMDb overview: Angela, a corporate climber, gets stuck working late on Christmas Eve and finds herself the target of an unhinged security guard. With no help in sight, the woman must overcome physical and psychological challenges to survive.
- Setup and Plot
- Angela is an executive in NYNY trying to finish up her high-priority tasks before leaving to go to her sister's house in New Jersey. A co-worker apologises repeatedly and profusely for inappropriate behaviour while drunk at the office party. Such things extend her stay at the office to the point where she walks out with one of the main security guards, Karl, as he closes off elevator access as they descend.
- She watches the last car, other than her own, depart the car park, carrying the Asian couple who rode the elevator with her and Karl. Then her own car will not start.
- There is (almost) no one in the structure except her and the security guard Thomas. Unfortunately for Angela, he has extensive plans for her.
- The rest of the film is the dialectic between the executive and the security guard in this mostly empty and strongly bounded environment. Who will come out better?
- Conclusions
- Boring, nonsensical, male-bashing, lukewarm non-thriller.
- One line summary: Lukewarm thriller with more than a touch of gore.
- Two stars of five
- Scores
- Cinematography: 5/10 OK, though nothing special.
- Sound: 6/10 OK, though nothing special.
- Acting: 4/10 Not all that engaging. If we had Anthony Perkins instead of Wes Bentley, this was have been an entirely different matter. As much as I appreciated Rachel Nichols' visual appeal, her acting did not engage me. She was the principal reason I lost interest in the SciFi series Continuum, even though its underlying structure was one I would normally enjoy.
- Screenplay: 3/10 The plot has its complications, and it hangs together somewhat. However, its execution did not generate much suspense or many thrilling moments. Also, the successful parts are neither new nor memorable. The ending was ridiculous beyond measure.
Tank Girl
- Fundamentals.
- Title: Tank Girl
- IMDb: Users rated this 5.2/10 (22,760 votes)
- Netflix: 3.2/5.0 based on 674,429 ratings.
- Rotten Tomatoes:
38% of critics liked it of 37 critical reviews posted
64% of viewers liked it, based on 49,400 ratings.
Critics Consensus: While unconventional, Tank Girl isn't particularly clever or engaging, and none of the script's copious one-liners have any real zing.
- Status: Released
- Release date: 1995-03-31
- Production Companies: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
- Tagline: In 2033, justice rides a tank and wears lip gloss.
- Budget: 25,000,000 USD
- Revenue: 6,600,000 USD
- Runtime: 98 minutes.
- Genres: Action, Comedy, Fantasy, Science Fiction
- Directed by: Rachel Talalay; written by Tedi Sarafian
- Starring: Lori Petty as Rebecca (Tank Girl), Ice-T as T-Saint, Naomi Watts as Jet Girl, Malcolm McDowell as Kesslee, Iggy Pop as Rat Face, Don Harvey as Sgt. Small, Jeff Kober as Booga, Reg E. Cathey as Deetee, Scott Coffey as Donner, Ann Cusack as Sub Girl
- TMDb overview: Based on the British cult comic-strip, our tank-riding anti-heroine fights a mega-corporation, which controls the world's water supply.
- Setup and Plot
- Set in post apocalyptic Earth, circa 2033, well after a moderate sized comet impacted the planet. It has not rained for 11 years, the film says. This is a politics-of-scarcity environment, with the most rare commodity being water, the next being public and private security. The law of the jungle has replaced rule of law.
- The protagonist is Tank Girl, who survives by finding water by whatever means and by helping guard the compound where she lives. The compound is breached early on. Her boyfriend is killed, and her tween female friend Sam is abducted to be sent to a house of prostitution. Tank Girl is enslaved.
- Tank Girl breaks free, of course, and acquires friends Jet Girl and Sub Girl during the film. Her main goals are survival, which includes obtaining water, and taking on Water and Power, which is a monopoly that no one likes, and are the folks who enslaved her.
- So, do {Tank, Jet, Sub} Girls find allies to make a dent against Water and Power? Do they finally end the sub-plot of Sam being in danger?
- Conclusions
- One line summary: You will likely either love or despise this one.
- Three stars of five
- Scores
- Cinematography: 5/10 The intro, credits, and long (hardly bearable) intertitles were done with comic strip style art with minimal animation. Woof. Ugly. The live action parts, by and large, were done beautifully.
- Sound: 6/10 The music is loud and not all that relevant to anything. Good luck with that. The dialog was comprehensible with some sort of normal volume setting, but then the intrusive music was so loud I would have to adjust the volume down. Then the dialog was not audible. So I turned on subtitles in Netflix. Sigh. The musical production of Cole Porter's 'Let's Fall in Love' was just horrible.
- Acting: 6/10 I liked Malcolm McDowell in his role. I usually like Naomi Watts no matter what, but not this time. Lori Petty was, as always, Lori Petty. That was just great for this role.
- Screenplay: 5/10 The attempts at humour are many and are easily recognizable, just not funny. I might have given this film full marks if had just been funny. The film's plot, such as it was, was done archipelago style. That is, an island scene here, followed by those terrible intertitles and overly loud music, then another island. The whole sort of lurches toward coherence, and sort of makes it.
DeepStar Six
- Fundamentals.
- Title: DeepStar Six
- IMDb: Users rated this 5.1/10 (6,388 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes:
0% from 6 critics ratings
23% liked it from 479 user ratings
Critics Consensus: Not enough critics' ratings to form consensus.
- Status: Released
- Release date: 1989-01-13
- Production Companies: TriStar Pictures, Carolco Pictures
- Tagline: No tagline found.
- Budget: Budget estimate not available at review time.
- Revenue: 8,143,225 USD (Box Office Mojo)
- Runtime: 105 minutes.
- Genres: Action, Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller
- Directed by: Sean S. Cunningham; written by Lewis Abernathy, Geof Miller
- Starring: Taurean Blacque as Captain Phillip Laidlaw, Nancy Everhard as Joyce Collins, Greg Evigan as McBride, Miguel Ferrer as Snyder, Nia Peeples as Scarpelli, Matt McCoy as Jim, Cindy Pickett as Dr. Diane Norris, Elya Baskin as Burciaga, Thom Bray as Hodges, Ronn Carroll as Osborne, Marius Weyers as Van Gelder
- TMDb overview: The crew of an experimental underwater nuclear base are forced to struggle for their lives when their explorations disturb a creature who threatens to destroy their base.
- Setup and Plot
- Project leader Van Gelder is driving most of the crew nuts. He's behind schedule on constructing an underwater missile platform for the US Navy. Unfortunately, pro forma sound checks reveal a cave beneath the seabed over which the platform was to be built. Van Gelder orders that explosives be used to collapse the cave so that building can continue. Burciaga and Collins register their objections due to structural risks. Scarpelli objects since she will lose any chance of studying possible life forms that normally reside in the caves. Captain Laidlaw sides with Van Gelder since the Navy is likely to shut down the project if there are any more delays.
- Hodges and Osborne set off the charges as ordered. When they send down a tethered remote unit to record stills and video, they manage to lose it. They detach from their tractor housing to pursue the remote, since losing it would be so expensive. The cavern is rather huge, and the likelihood of filling it in to continue construction looks bleak.
- That's when the elimination derby starts. The rest of the film is about survival: the crew versus whatever took out that the remote.
- Conclusions
- One line summary: Good actors who deserved a better script.
- Three stars of five
- Scores
- Cinematography: 5/10 Perhaps this was OK for its time, but then again, perhaps not. Compared to The Abyss, which also came out in 1989, it looks rather ordinary and dated, especially the models of underwater structures.
- Sound: 6/10 The actors were well-miked, so I could hear the dialog. The background music was typical of 1970s, 1980s film scores but toward the lower end of the spectrum.
- Acting: 8/10 The film had a competent cast. Most of the actors were more or less in mid-career, and their filmographies continue well past this property.
- Screenplay: 6/10 This was a rather ordinary entry. It's sci-fi set underwater with some nasty creatures. This one turns into a more or less by-the-numbers elimination derby, with none of the characters (except perhaps Snyder) showing any awareness of what was happening. It was just not that interesting.
Strippers Vs. Werewolves
- Fundamentals.
- Title: Strippers Vs. Werewolves
- IMDb: Users rated this 3.1/10 (1,456 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes:
29% based on 7 critics' ratings
14% of users liked it, from 216 viewer ratings
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
- Status: Released
- Release date: 2012-04-27
- Production Companies: Black & Blue Films
- Tagline: No tagline found.
- Budget: Budget estimate not available at review time.
- Revenue: Revenue figures not available at review time.
- Runtime: 93 minutes.
- Genres: Comedy, Horror, Foreign
- Directed by: Jonathan Glendening. Written by: Pat Higgins
- Starring: Adele Silver as Justice, Barbara Nedeljakova as Raven, Billy Murray as Ferris, Martin Compston as Scott, Sarah Douglas as Jeanette, Steven Berkoff as Flett, Alan Ford as Harry, Martin Kemp as Mickey, Lucy Pinder as Vampire Bride, Robert Englund as Tapper, Lysette Anthony as Basildon Cinemagoer.
- TMDb overview: Mickey, who happens to be a werewolf and a crime boss, gets all worked up and hairy during a private dance at a strip club. Justice, the dancer, grabs the nearest weapon and lands a fatal blow: her silver fountain pen right through Mickey's wolfed-out eye. This ignites a small-scale war between Mickey's group of werewolf mobsters and the sultry strippers of Vixens.
- Setup and Plot
- At first I thought I was trapped in a badly edited version of Guy Ritchie's brilliant piece, Snatch (2000). Then I realised that the seasoned, talented cast was missing as was the fine screenplay and tight direction. (Well, Alan Ford was in both films, as Brick Top in Snatch, as Harry in this film.) The artwork for the credits looked a little too familiar, and the props, language, and atmosphere seemed recycled.
- Instead of the wealth of fun and wry humour of Snatch, one has a jumbled mess about a deadly feud between those who work at a strip club and a gang of criminal werewolves. The fake blood was unconvincing, the fights were ridiculously bad, and the gratuitous full frontal female nudity (first third of the film) was 12 on a scale of 1 to 10. The werewolf makeup was not well executed, and I could have done without the werewolves masturbating.
- On the positive side, Robert England's performance was good, but also quite short. Lysette Anthony was OK in a cameo, and there were a few laughs.
- Conclusions
- Did I identify with any of the characters? No. Did I empathise with any? No. Were the few laughs worth the overall low quality of the film? No. Was the climactic battle interesting? Well, no.
- One line summary: No werewolves were harmed during the making of this motion picture.
- One of ten
- Scores
- Cinematography: 2/10 The sets were particularly badly done. The use of split screen was more annoying than helpful. The injected cartoon slides really marked this film as badly done.
- Sound: 5/10 I could hear the dialog, such as it was. The music was irritating.
- Acting: 3/10 Sarah Douglas, Robert Englund, and Lysette Anthony were fine, but they did not portray the main characters.
- Screenplay: 0/10 The main failure.
Abelar: Tales of an Ancient Empire
- Fundamentals.
- Original Title: Tales of an Ancient Empire
- IMDb: Users rated this 3.1/10 (1,276 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes:
critics rating not found number of reviews too low
4% of users liked it from 169 recorded ratings
Critics Consensus: none formed yet
- Status: Rumored
- Release date: 2010-07-31
- Production Companies: New Tales
- Tagline: No tagline found.
- Budget: 1 million USD (source: IMDb)
- Revenue: Revenue figures not available at review time.
- Runtime: 89 minutes.
- Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller
- Directed by: Albert Pyun. Written by: Cynthia Curnan.
- Starring: Whitney Able as Xia, Kevin Sorbo as Aedan, Ralf Möller as General Hafez, Jennifer Siebel Newsom as Queen Ma'at, Michael Paré as Oda, Melissa Ordway as Princess Tanis, Matthew Willig as Giant Iberian, Sarah Ann Schultz as Malia, Lee Horsley as Talon, Scott Paulin as Tou-Bou Bardo, Olivier Gruner as Corsair Duguay, Sasha Mitchell as Rodrigo, Norbert Weisser as Xuxia, Victoria Maurette as Kara, Janelle Marra as Rajan, Inbar Lavi as Alana, Cazzy Golomb as Hekate. Christopher Lambert as x?
- TMDb overview: A princess is on a quest to unite the five greatest warriors to save her kingdom from a demon sorceress.
- Setup and Plot
- We start with a good 10 minutes of overview and backstory by Hekate, granddaughter of Ma'at, Queen of Abelar. The granddaughter was portrayed as having some sort of speech impediment, or else the actress was just very badly miked. I needed the closed captions. This segment was largely done in sepia cartoons. Artsy cartoons, perhaps, but still. In any case, Ma'at's mother hired mercenaries to put down Sorcerer Xuxia and his vampire daughter Xia, before Xuxia opens a portal to the netherworld. Duguay, Rodrigo, and Oda manage just that, but Oda introduces complications instead of completely finishing the job.
- Twenty years later, Princess Tanis becomes the centre of the light side, and Xia, the risen Vampire Queen, the leader of the dark side. The real core character, though, is warrior mercenary Oda, who slew the sorcerer Xuxia, reduced Xia to dust for 20 years, and fathered Princess Tanis, the mercenary Aedon, imperial assassin Rajan, and their sister Malia. Rajan had daughter Alana, whom she trained as an assassin. Besides those four, Oda fathered Kara by Xia, who gave birth before Oda, ah, dusted her off.
- At the final command of Ma'at, Tanis finds her siblings. The group goes off to find their wayward and fertile father, then put down Xia and keep the door to the netherworld closed.
- What could possibly go wrong?
- Conclusions
- If the sowing wild oats aspect had been better written, the film would have been helped. I thought it was quite humorous, but I suspect most will not appreciate the father-issue dialog.
- One line summary: Swords and sorcery, wretched visuals, and a poor script.
- One of ten; two black holes for cinematography and acting.
- Scores
- Cinematography: 0/10 I hate sepia. I hate similar filtration setups that essentially crush any visual richness and natural tones. The CGI varied between bad and very bad. The fake vampire teeth were obviously fake and caused the Xia character to have muddled speech.
- Sound: 5/10 I could discern words of most of the actors, but I relied watching on Netflix with captions turned on to get the dialog. The vampire fouling of speech was prevalent. The music in the credits was good, but was out of context with a period piece such as this.
- Acting: 5/10 The cast includes actors whose work I enjoyed in the past: Michael Pare, Lee Horsley, Olivier Gruner, Sasha Mitchell, Christopher Lambert, and Kevin Sorbo. Gruner, Mitchell, and Horsley were OK in very short parts. Michael Pare looked like he was at a first read-through Monday morning after a disastrous weekend, rather than in final take. I was on the look-out for Mr Lambert, but I failed to see him. Kevin Sorbo, at least, convinced me he knew he was on camera, and was delivering his lines while understanding the character's motivations. I'm not saying this was Oscar level work, merely that he was present in the professional sense. Mr Willig was good, but his part was also short.----The women characters were central to the film, much more important than the male characters. The actresses, though, were either inexperienced or just off.
- Screenplay: 2/10 Sigh. This was another under capitalised project. It shows. The number of dead-end plot threads was too high. Also, too much time was devoted to dreary conversations, then Hekate would narrate what should have been long action sequences in a matter of a few seconds.
The Ouija Experiment
- Fundamentals.
- Title: The Ouija Experiment
- IMDb: Users rated this 3.6/10 (831 votes)
- Netflix: 2.8/5.0 from 187,564 viewer ratings.
- Rotten Tomatoes:
critics rating not found number of reviews too low
17% of users liked it from 132 recorded ratings
Critics Consensus: not enough responses.
- Status: Released
- Release date: 2011-05-05
- Production Companies: La Luna Entertainment, Out of Body Films
- Tagline: Cross Her Heart and Hope to Die
- Budget: 1,200 USD (estimate; source, IMDb)
- Revenue: Revenue figures not available at review time.
- Runtime: 88 minutes.
- Genres: Horror
- Written and directed by: Israel Luna.
- Starring: Justin Armstrong as Michael, Swisyzinna Moore as La'Nette, Carson Underwood as Brandon, Eric Window as Calvin, David Clark as Joseph Wheeler, Leah Diaz as Gracie Mendoza, Miranda Martinez as Lisa Mendoza, Belmarie Huynh as Shay.
- TMDb overview: Based on true events, five friends who fall prey to the evil entities of the Ouija board. As they set about filming their experimental session, what starts out as bit of fun, soon escalates into a terrifying series of events as paranoia and personal demons are revealed…. and recorded.
- Setup and Plot
- Calvin and Michael are long-time friends. Calvin and Shay are boyfriend/girlfriend. Michael and Brandon are more recent friends. Calvin and La'Nette are siblings. Michael has moved to new digs that still contain many of the old tenants belongings, including a ouija board. Brandon is interested in filming some sessions using the board.
- Most of the five leads think that talking louder helps communicate with the departed spirits. There is an early laying down of rules about the use of the board. The only one that seems to count is, 'say goodbye to the spirit' before ending a session. Of course, this is violated multiple times. Reading off a laptop screen to the camera does not add much for me about believability or acceptance of context.
- There's a subplot about Calvin and Shay breaking up. This was aided by the spirits, who told Shay of Calvin's cheating. Calvin blames Michael for the breakup and takes the ouija board at one point. The camera is Brandon's, but ends up in the hands of various characters. This makes the plot even more disjointed.
- At 50 minutes in, I have yet to see anything dangerous or interesting or paranormal. How about that? That's when the mayhem and Internet 'discoveries' about the past begin.
- After such a slow start, will there be anything that redeems this effort as a horror film?
- Conclusions
- Apparently this one did not make it to the theatres. I'm not sure how this got to Netflix.
- Perhaps one should view this as comedy only, of the unintentional kind. Laugh with the foolishness, the lack of awareness, the pointless fits of pique.
- One line summary: The worst side of amateur efforts at making horror films.
- One star of five. Two black holes for acting and screenplay.
- Scores
- Cinematography: 3/10 Better than many sloppy-cam efforts, but not great.
- Sound: 3/10 Not well controlled.
- Acting: 0/10 Terrible.
- Screenplay: 0/10 Terrible.
Altar
- Fundamentals.
- Title: Altar
- Original Title: The Haunting of Radcliffe House
- IMDb: Users rated this 6.2/10 (2,811 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes:
critics rating not found number of reviews too low
70% of 346 RT users rated this 3.5/5.0 or higher
Critics Consensus: none available at review time.
- Status: Released
- Release date: 2014-12-27
- Production Companies: Screen Yorkshire, Content Media Corp., Great Point Media, Pygmalion Productions
- Tagline: No tagline found.
- Budget: Budget estimate not available at review time.
- Revenue: Revenue figures not available at review time.
- Runtime: 89 minutes.
- Genres: Horror, Mystery
- Written and directed by: Nick Willing.
- Starring: Olivia Williams as Meg, Matthew Modine as Alec, Antonia Clarke as Penny, Steve Oram as Nigel Lean, Adam Thomas Wright as Harper, Richard Dillane as Greg, Rebecca Calder as Isabella, Jonathan Jaynes as Sean Donnelly
- TMDb overview: A young family finds themselves in serious danger when they move to an isolated haunted house in the Yorkshire Moors.
- Setup and Plot
- Husband Alec Hamilton, wife Meg, daughter Penny, and son Harper move to a large fixer-upper in the Yorkshire countryside. Meg has a contract to restore the house to its original state. Alec is an artist, perhaps separated from his muse. Meg hopes he can work well at the new location.
- Dust, no telephone signal to speak of, no running water, and it's cold. Nice start. Early on Alec and Meg force their way into a room that is not in the building's plans. As per horror cliche, the principal characters do not notice when they unintentionally make a blood sacrifice in just the wrong place. The viewers though, gets their noses rubbed in it.
- Meg is skilled in restoration, but loses her London team through accident and scheduling. She manages to interest a local builder, Sean Donnelly, to help her on a part time basis.
- Then the ghostly signs start showing up, and things get more difficult for the family.
- Conclusions
- Reminds me a bit of The Shining (1980), but the stakes are not as high, the scares are weaker, and the sense of terrible isolation is almost absent.
- It seems to me that the director blocked out the big stones in the plot before filming, but did not smooth out the transitions from one large plot point to the next.
- One line summary: Good production values, but the screenplay is too weak.
- Six of ten
- Scores
- Cinematography: 8/10 A bit too dark for my tastes, but has wonderful framing, focus, and set design.
- Sound: 8/10 Well recorded and nicely atmospheric.
- Acting: 9/10 No complaints here. All the cast did well.
- Screenplay: 2/10 Hmph. Bland and beautiful. The pacing is a bit slow, the building of dramatic tension is weak, and the execution is short on scares. For descriptions of the logical pitfalls in the script, perhaps try the reviews on IMDb.
Transcendence
- Fundamentals.
- Title: Transcendence
- IMDb: Users rated this 6.3/10 (136,413 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes:
19% of critics liked the film of 196 participating
38% of users liked it of 63,091 who rated it
Critics Consensus:
In his directorial debut, ace cinematographer Wally Pfister remains a distinctive visual stylist, but Transcendence's thought-provoking themes exceed the movie's narrative grasp.
- Status: Released
- Release date: 2014-04-17
- Production Companies: DMG Entertainment, Alcon Entertainment, Syncopy, Straight Up Films
- Tagline: Yesterday, Dr. Will Caster was only human...
- Budget: 100 million USD
- Revenue: 103 million USD
- Runtime: 119 minutes.
- Genres: Drama, Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller
- Directed by: Wally Pfister; written by Jack Paglen
- Starring: Johnny Depp as Dr. Will Caster, Paul Bettany as Max Waters, Rebecca Hall as Evelyn Caster, Kate Mara as Bree, Morgan Freeman as Joseph Tagger, Cillian Murphy as Agent Donald Buchanan, Cole Hauser as Colonel Stevens, Clifton Collins, Jr. as Martin, Falk Hentschel as Bob, Kristen Rakes as MIT Programmer
- TMDb overview: Two leading computer scientists work toward their goal of Technological Singularity, as a radical anti-technology organization fights to prevent them from creating a world where computers can transcend the abilities of the human brain.
- Setup and Plot
- Dr Caster makes some fundamental breakthroughs in artificial intelligence. He figured out how to upload human personality to a computer system. While giving a public lecture on the subject, he is accosted about wanting to create a god. Soon thereafter, he is given a fatal trace of polonium to his bloodstream. His wife Evelyn finds his research and decides to secretly upload Will's personality before his body dies. Max helps her do this, then regrets it as soon as it works.
- A terrorist group led by Bree kidnaps Max and works to get him to see their way of thinking. Meanwhile, Evelyn works furiously to make Will's expanded consciousness as independent of human connections as possible.
- Will invents nanotechnology that can cure almost any injury. However, it has other side effects: the cured people are not at all the same as before the injuries. Can humanity actually stand Will's new status? As Will rapidly evolves, is there anyway to stop him?
- Max contacts Joseph on the sly. Can the two of them plus unlimited covert government (and terrorist) assistance stop Will? If so, what are the consequences?
- Conclusions
- One line summary: A fine attempt to describe the impact of a transcendent being.
- Seven of ten
- Scores
- Cinematography: 10/10 Brilliant. I would give it a 27/10, but I'll have to stop at 10/10
- Sound: 8/10 I could hear the dialog, and the background music did heighten the tension somewhat.
- Acting: 8/10 Bravo! I thought almost all the actors did well, especially Mr Depp.
- Screenplay: 6/10 Well done, except for a glaring error. One of the new intelligence's first acts was to re-write its own code, part of which Max wrote. There was no way for the virus to work, or for any human-written virus to work. The virus would fail and the transcendent being would go on. Max was defeated before he even tried his subterfuge. The movie, however, took different approach, deciding the course it originally set was too difficult to handle. That is, it sided with the terrorists who murdered Dr Caster to begin with.
The Purge: Anarchy
- Fundamentals.
- Title: The Purge: Anarchy
- IMDb: Users rated this 6.5/10 (62,969 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes:
57% of critics liked it, of 118 who rated it
58% of viewers liked it, of 64,921 who rated it
Critics Consensus:
Gritty, grisly, and uncommonly ambitious, The Purge: Anarchy represents a slight improvement over its predecessor, but it's still never as smart or resonant as it tries to be.
- Status: Released
- Release date: 2014-07-17
- Production Companies: Universal Pictures, Why Not Productions, Platinum Dunes, Blumhouse Productions, 5150 Action
- Production Countries: France, United States of America
- Tagline: Welcome to America, where one night a year, all crime Is legal.
- Budget: 9 million USD
- Revenue: 109 million USD
- Runtime: 104 minutes.
- Genres: Horror, Thriller
- Directed by: James DeMonaco; written by James DeMonaco
- Starring: Frank Grillo as Sergeant, Carmen Ejogo as Eva Sanchez, Zach Gilford as Shane, Kiele Sanchez as Liz, Zoë Borde as Cali, Justina Machado as Tanya, John Beasley as Papa Rico, Jack Conley as Big Daddy, Noel Gugliemi as Diego, Castulo Guerra as Barney
- TMDb overview: Sequel to The Purge. The New Founders of America invite you to celebrate your annual right to Purge. The Purge: Anarchy, the sequel to summer 2013's sleeper hit that opened to No. 1 at the box-office, sees the return of writer/director James DeMonaco to craft the next terrifying chapter of dutiful citizens preparing for their country's yearly 12 hours of anarchy.
- Setup and Plot
- America, 2023, Los Angeles. Use of The Purge continues to eliminate people who live below the poverty line. The film starts at March 21 at 16:34; that is, 2 hours, 26 minutes before the onset of the sixth annual 12 hour Purge. The opening scene is at a diner. Various Latinos wish each other to 'Stay Safe' before they head to sanctuary and whatever weapons they have.
- Great opposition campaign slogan: We no longer worship at the altar of Christ, Mohammed, or Yahweh. We worship at the altar of Smith and Wesson.
- Thread 1: Papa Rico, mother Cali, and daughter Eva are together in a small house. Papa announces he's going to sleep through it after boarding up his room, but he has a different mission to attempt. Will he succeed? How will the women do?
- Thread 2: Shane and Liz are a twenty-something couple who are trying to stay out of trouble, but it comes looking for them early: a gang sabotaged their car. They had decided to split up. They are squabbling over how to announce it when they discover the bad news about the car. Will they last long against the reaper gangs?
- Thread 3: will the opposition accomplish anything? Will they target the thug gangs or the rich?
- Thread 4: Sergeant roams the deserted downtown Los Angeles, looking for opportunities. He saves a few people from a circumstance or two by killing gang members. Will his early success continue?
- Conclusions
- In the first film, most of the characters may have been rich and privileged, but were too arrogant to live. In this film, some of the characters at least offer some meaningful resistance.
- One line summary: Class warfare in 2023 from the outlier POV.
- Three stars of five
- Scores
- Cinematography: 3/10 In most of the frames, 70% or so of the screen is out of focus. I have better things to do than watch amateur nonsense. Occasionally, the view is warm and clear and well-focused. Then there is the recurrent shaky-cam footage.
- Sound: 8/10 I could hear the dialog. The background music heightened tension.
- Acting: 5/10 All the actors were better than the child actors (the main saboteurs) in the original.
- Screenplay: 6/10 The script is ambitious, and the issues hot in the environment of 2015 America. Did the director engage me with the issues of the opposition? No. I never believed they had a chance, which is unfortunate. Did the director get me to care about the main characters representing the lower class? Again, no. Most of them were too stupid to live. So, what am I left with? Plenty of characters to despise or not care about, but no one to identify with or to empathise with.
The Purge
- Fundamentals.
- Title: The Purge
- IMDb: Users rated this 5.6/10 (110,311 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes:
38% of critics liked it of 136 critical reviews posted
36% of movie goes liked it, from 93,551 user ratings
Critics Consensus: Half social allegory, half home-invasion thriller, The Purge attempts to make an intelligent point, but ultimately devolves into numbing violence and tired clichés.
- Status: Released
- Release date: 2013-06-06
- Production Companies: Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, Platinum Dunes, Why Not Productions
- Tagline: One night a year, all crime is legal.
- Budget: 3 million USD
- Revenue: 64 million USD
- Runtime: 86 minutes.
- Genres: Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller
- Directed by: James DeMonaco; written by James DeMonaco
- Starring: Lena Headey as Mary Sandin, Ethan Hawke as James Sandin, Max Burkholder as Charlie Sandin, Adelaide Kane as Zoey Sandin, Rhys Wakefield as Polite Leader, Tony Oller as Henry, Edwin Hodge as Bloody Stranger, Tom Yi as Mr. Cali, Arija Bareikis as Mrs. Grace Ferrin, Chris Mulkey as Mr. Halverson
- TMDb overview: Given the country's overcrowded prisons, the U.S. government begins to allow 12-hour periods of time in which all illegal activity is legal. During one of these free-for-alls, a family must protect themselves from a home invasion.
- Setup and Plot
- Father James Sandin, mother Mary, daughter Zoey, and son Charlie are a nuclear family who are quite well-to-do. They live in year is 2022, after the actions of the 'New Founding Fathers,' who revamped the failed United States. One of their innovations is the 12 hour periods, once a year, when nothing is illegal. These periods are The Purge, when pent up anger results in massive loss of life, especially among the poor or the disconnected.
- James sells security systems that work 99% of the time. Great. The biggest threats to the family's safety are (1) Charlie, who lets in a wounded victim and (2) Zoey, whose boyfriend stows away in the home/fortress just before the Purge starts. Giving sanctuary to the victim results in the organised attack on the household by well-to-do marauders who want the victim so they can finish killing him.
- The film is about the outside attackers assailing the household, and the family's decisions on how to deal with it. Their target is not the family, but the family's stupidity turns the family into an additional target. Will the attackers break in? That's easy to guess. Will they leave anyone alive? Are they the only threat?
- Conclusions
- RT got it right, but they were not nearly harsh enough.
- One line summary: Yet another elimination derby, this time among the wealthy.
- One stars of five. Two black holes for cinematography and acting.
- Scores
- Cinematography: 2/10 Some of it is absolutely beautiful. Then there are the long segments filmed versus flashlight, some using shaky cam. Unfortunately, I am mostly reminded of the dreadful film The Blair Witch Project.
- Sound: 8/10 The music was useful for building tensions. I could usually make out the dialog.
- Acting: 0/10 The story and horrible camera work are so bad that acting is not all that noticeable. My already weak esteem for Ethan Hawke's work took another hit.
- Screenplay: 3/10 There are some interesting ideas here, but the execution just sucked. The only bright spot for me (the reason I gave it a 1/5 instead of 0/5) was watching Ethan Hawke murder half a dozen or so home invaders. That gave a few moments of feeling of righteous revenge, which was rather fleeting.
The Legend of Hercules
- Fundamentals, reception.
- Title: The Legend of Hercules
- IMDb: Users rated this 4.2/10 (39,524 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes:
3% of critics liked it of 72 critical reviews posted
34% liked it from 40,714 audience ratings.
Critics Consensus: Cheap-looking, poorly acted, and dull, The Legend of Hercules is neither fun enough to qualify as an action movie nor absorbing enough to work on a dramatic level.
- Status: Released
- Release date: 2014-01-10
- Production Companies: Millennium Films
- Tagline: Every Man Has a Destiny
- Budget: 70 million USD
- Revenues, in millions USD: States 18.8 (30.8%); overseas, 42.4 (69.2%).
- Runtime: 99 minutes.
- Genres: Action, Adventure
- Directed by: Renny Harlin; written by Daniel Giat, Renny Harlin, Sean Hood, Giulio Steve
- Starring: Kellan Lutz as Hercules, Liam McIntyre as Sotiris, Gaia Weiss as Hebe, Scott Adkins as King Amphitryon, Roxanne McKee as Queen Alcmene, Liam Garrigan as Iphicles, Jukka Hilden as Creon, Rade Šerbedžija as Chiron, Johnathon Schaech as Tarak, Luke Newberry as Agamemnon
- Setup and Plot
- Amphitryon and his army fight to the gates of Argos, Greece, circa 1200 BC. Amphitryon challenges the incumbent king to one-on-one combat to avoid hundreds of further deaths. Amphitryon wins and becomes king of Argos. Queen Alcmeme is not pleased with this result, and implores the goddess Hera for relief for her city from the conqueror. Hercules is conceived (via Zeus) in response.
- Hercules (called Alcide in the front end of his life) is second in line to his brother Iphicles for the throne of Argos. Bad blood arises soon enough over Princess Hebe, whom Hercules loves and whom Amphitryon promises to Iphicles. To separate the brothers, Amphitryon sends Hercules and soldiers to Egypt on a mission. This does not go well for Hercules and his ally Sotiris.
- Will Hercules extricate himself from Egypt, get back with Hebe, and fend off the challenges to their being together?
- Conclusions
- The RT rating is impressively bad, and the film failed to clear production costs, much less production plus distribution and marketing. After watching this terrible film, I can only hope there is no sequel.
- One line summary: Just as bad as the critics write.
- One of ten. Four black holes for acting, screenplay, set design, and direction.
- Scores
- Cinematography: 4/10 The set design was much worse than the camera work was good. The use of slow motion was ridiculous.
- Sound: 6/10 I could hear the dialog, which was nice, but the background music was rather bad.
- Acting: 0/10 Watch it. See for yourself.
- Screenplay: 2/10 The words Hercules, Zeus, and Hera had a bit of similarity to common usage. The story is nonsense, beginning to end, with little to do with any of the usual versions of the history of Hercules.
Scream 4
- Fundamentals.
- Title: Scream 4
- IMDb: Users rated this 6.2/10 (93,033 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes:
58% liked it of 173 critics
55% of users liked it of 75,607 ratings
Critics Consensus:
The franchise is showing its age, but Scream 4 is undeniably an improvement over its predecessor, with just enough meta humor and clever kills.
- Status: Released
- Release date: 2011-04-11
- Production Companies: Dimension Films
- Tagline: New Decade. New Rules.
- Budget: 40,000,000 USD
- Revenue: 97,138,686 USD
- Runtime: 111 minutes.
- Genres: Horror, Mystery
- Directed by: Wes Craven. Written by: Kevin Williamson.
- Starring: Emma Roberts as Jill Kessler, Hayden Panettiere as Kirby Reed, Adam Brody as Detective Hoss, Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers-Riley, Rory Culkin as Charlie Walker, Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott, Mary McDonnell as Kate Kessler, David Arquette as Sheriff Dwight 'Dewey' Riley, Anthony Anderson as Detective Perkins, Erik Knudsen as Robbie, Marielle Jaffe as Olivia Morris, Nico Tortorella as Trevor Sheldon, Roger L. Jackson as The Voice (voice), Justin Michael Brandt as Film Geek, Nancy O'Dell as TV Host, Dredan McFall as Cocky Student, Marley Shelton as Judy Hicks, Alison Brie as Rebecca Walters, Lucy Hale as Sherrie Marconi, Shenae Grimes as Trudie Harrold, Anna Paquin as Rachel, Kristen Bell as Chloe, Britt Robertson as Marnie Cooper
- TMDb overview: Sidney Prescott, now the author of a self-help book, returns home to Woodsboro on the last stop of her book tour. There she reconnects with Sheriff Dewey and Gale, who are now married, as well as her cousin Jill and her Aunt Kate. Unfortunately, Sidney's appearance also brings about the return of Ghostface, putting Sidney, Gale, and Dewey, along with Jill, her friends, and the whole town of Woodsboro in danger.
- Setup and Plot
- Threads, 1. The high school group (Jill, Kirby, Trevor, Olivia, Robbie, Charlie) will inevitably stumble over each other while dealing with the slasher. The Stab-a-thon was quite an opportunity for stumbling.
- Threads, 2. The older crew (Gale, Dewey, Sidney, Judy) still have some unresolved issues after ten years. Gale's books spawned the Stab x films, which were roughly about Sidney's life. In response, Sidney has re-invented herself as an author, but the return home poses some contention. Dewey and Gale are together, but for how long, given Deputy Judy's presence?
- Threads, 3. Just who is the slasher this time? Will we get a full resolution, or is another sequel in the works?
- Threads, 4. How far will the screenwriters go in heightening the 'meta' experience? Apparently pretty far, considering the meeting Gale and Sydney had with the school film club. That was hardly the end of the wallowing, unfortunately.
- Conclusions
- It was wonderful to see a great-looking, fine-sounding film done by professionals who chose a cast of real actors.
- On the other hand, there was enough boring self-referential bovine scatology (er, 'meta') to last a decade.
- The series is showing its age, all right. The same gag has been done too many times.
- I did like the bit with Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell, but that was the acting, not the meta.
- One line summary: Sidney Prescott returns home; bad things start happening.
- Eight of ten
- Scores
- Cinematography: 10/10 Very good.
- Sound: 10/10 Outstanding.
- Acting: 7/10 Emma Roberts, Neve Campbell, and Courteney Cox were excellent. David Arquette and Anthony Anderson I could have done without. Marley Shelton did 'creepy classmate' rather well.
- Screenplay: 4/10 The writing skills were clearly present, with plenty of wit and intelligence. However, because of the constant harping on the meta theme, the result was mixed, to the point where the superior production values were blunted.
The Grand Seduction
- Fundamentals, reception.
- Canadian live action feature length film, 2014, PG-13, 113 minutes, comedy, remake.
- IMDB: 7.0/10.0 from 7,906 audience ratings.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 59% on the meter; % liked it from 5,810 audience ratings.
- Netflix: 3.8/5.0 from 158,671 audience ratings.
- Directed by: Don McKellar. Written by: Ken Scott, Michael Dowse.
- Starring: Brendon Gleeson as Murray French, Taylor Kitsch as Paul Lewis MD, Gordon Pinsent as Simon, Liane Balaban as Kathleen.
- Production cost: (IMDb) 12.7 million USD.
- Revenues: (Box Office Mojo) States, 3.43 million USD (100%).
- Setup and Plot
- This is a remake of the French Canadian film Seducing Doctor Lewis (2003), original title La grande seduction, directed by Jean-Francoise Pouliot, filmed in New Brunswick.
- The current film is set in the fictional fishing village of Tickle Head on the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The film's opening details 'the way it used to be', with hard work, enough rewards, and life with a purpose. Then the movie jumps to the present, where all the able-bodied men are on welfare from the government. The sense of purpose, at least, has been lost.
- Our protagonist, Murray, has been collecting welfare checks and losing self-esteem for some time. The mayor has a tentative deal with an oil sludge reclamation company, which will go forward provided the town has a resident physician. The mayor takes a job in Toronto; by arranged chance, he intercepts a physician, Paul Lewis, and blackmails him into coming to Tickle Head for a month.
- While Paul is on the way, Murray and company spruce up the town to give Paul a good impression. The lies do not end there, by not by any means.
- Will their plan actually work?
- Conclusions
- Some of the bits are funny, such as the locals trying to learn cricket post haste. The sentiment at the end was carried off fairly well.
- One line summary: Politics of scarcity in Newfoundland fishing village.
- Six of ten
- Scores
- Cinematography: 9/10 Well done; fine natural scenery.
- Sound: 9/10 No problems. Much of the music seemed appropriate.
- Acting: 6/10 Brendon Gleeson, Taylor Kitsch, and Gordon Pinsent were fine.
- Screenplay: 5/10 It's a remake. Movies about the consequences of lying are grating.
Snowpiercer
- Fundamentals, reception.
- South Korean live action feature length film, 2013, rated R, 126 minutes, action, thriller, scifi.
- IMDB: 7.0/10.0 from 119,571 audience ratings.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 95% on the meter; 73% liked it from 49,659 audience ratings.
- Netflix: 3.6/5.0 from 1,391,721 audience responses.
- Directed by: Joon-Ho Bong
- Starring: Chris Evans as Curtis, Kang-Ho Song as Namgoong Minsoo, Ed Harris as Wilford, John Hurt as Gilliam, Tilda Swinton as Mason, Jamie Bell as Edgar.
- Estimated production budget, 39 million USD. Source: IMDb.
- Revenues: States, 4.6 million (5.3%); overseas, 82.2 million (94.7%). Source: Box Office Mojo.
- Target demographic: fans of class warfare stories set in dystopian futures.
- Setup and Plot
- Well before the film's start, humanity attempted to reverse global warming using machinery of some sort. The machinery worked too well. Results were not as expected: the planet descended into an ice age.
- As the film opens, the remainder of humanity rides on a single train that circles the globe. The cars that make up the train are strongly typed by class. In upper class cars, the food is good and there is light and colour. In the lower-classed cars, there is much darkness and foul-looking bricks that pass as food. The wretched food is distributed by armed and armored thugs who treat the riders in a cruel and authoritarian way.
- Snowpiercer is the name of the train as well as the film. The train has to clear the tracks of falling and drifting snow in order to continue its trek. This is probably the most absurd part of this film. Anyone who has experienced living for prolonged periods in snow country would reject a train being able to do this. Also, in such a long circuit, avalanches somewhere on the route during 17 years would be certain.
- During the film, the classes war upon one another. Will this violent dialectic produce any forward progress?
- Conclusions
- The movie's backdrop is ridiculous from beginning to end. The proposed source of food looked like it would support one person, if they promised to eat every other year. There is no possible route for this train to trace around the globe. The map presented of the route includes long segments that are only supported by ice. Just how was such a thing constructed after the massive failure of the world's economies? Answer: it was not. The power source for this train? Never revealed, unfortunately; at least I would have had something to laugh at. The implementation of the 'closed ecosystem' was a joke.
- The film was produced as an English-speaking film with American/British/Korean actors, based on a French graphic novel (Le Transperceneige, 1982; English translation, 2014), and executed by a South Korean auteur. This movie reminds me of a relay foot race where the baton was dropped at every stage.
- The only real energy I saw in this movie was the mutual class hatred. Perhaps this is why this dreadful film receives any positive regard. Some like class warfare. I do not.
- One line summary: Class warfare in a totally absurd dystopian future train ride.
- Zero of ten; one black hole for screenplay.
- Scores
- Cinematography: 2/10 Poor, ugly, repulsive, pointless. The plus 2 was for the mountains toward the end of the film.
- Sound: 5/10 I could hear the actors' words most of the time; some of the music was good.
- Acting: 2/10 I still like John Hurt and Ed Harris, despite their being in this debacle.
- Screenplay: 0/10 My usual high regard for Korean directors/auteurs ratcheted down two full notches.
Godzilla
- Fundamentals, reception.
- American/Japanese live action feature length film, 2014, PG-13, 123 minutes, science fiction, action, thriller. The spoken word is in English, with some sub-titled Japanese.
- IMDB: 6.6/10.0 from 239,012 audience ratings.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 74% on the meter (average 6.6/10); 67% liked it from 171,052 audience ratings.
- I saw this film off DVR from Cinemax.
- Directed by: Gareth Edwards.
- Starring: Bryan Cranston as Joe Brody, Ken Watanabe as Dr. Ishiro Serizawa, Juliette Binoche as Sandra Brody, Sally Hawkins as Dr. Vivienne Graham, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Ford Brody, Carson Bolde as Sam Brody, David Strathairn as Admiral William Stenz, Elizabeth Olsen as Elle Brody.
- Demographic targets: Godzilla fans, action fans, international market.
- Estimated production budget, 160 million USD. Estimated gross revenue as of 01jan2015: States, 200.7 million USD (38%); overseas, 328.0 million USD (62%).
- Setup and Plot
- In the opening sequence, Joe Brody, his wife Sandra and son Ford are in Japan. Joe and Sandra work at a project that aims to contain some unexplained phenomena involving huge amounts of energy and a partially buried large object. The object turns out to be living, breaks much of the containment apparatus, and causes widespread tragedy. A heavier blanket of secrecy is applied.
- Jump forward to the present. Ford is grown up, is in the US armed services, and has a wife Elle and son Sam in San Francisco. Ford gets a call from Joe, then goes to Japan to get him out of jail. While Ford helps out Joe, the object (a 'muto') revives, breaks free this time, and flies away, leaving even more destruction and death than in years before.
- A second, larger muto awakens in Nevada. The two mutos are tracked by the US Navy, which is now actively involved. The mutos' activity awakens Godzilla from his long slumber in the Pacific.
- Ford and Dr. Serizawa are drawn into the military's quest to contain the mutos. Elle and Sam are at risk as the three giants converge on San Francisco.
- Observations
- True to tradition in Godzilla movies, human activity is depicted as futile. Most human efforts against giant monsters have no noticeable effect. The rest of our efforts catalyse the monsters to rain down more destruction on human cities and military personnel.
- In a few of the many Godzilla films I have seen, a child is rescued, or a trapped helpless person is released. But for each such action, thousands of human lives are lost, and tens of billions of dollars of real estate value are zeroed out. The contrast accentuates the helplessness of the human race against forces it cannot control and never will control.
- In a slight departure from what I'm used to in the Godzilla universe, a human being does something that will make the survival of the human race more likely. Watch the film; you can't miss it.
- Godzilla causes a huge amount of property damage and loss of life, though not nearly as much as the mutos cause. The case could be made that Godzilla in this film, as in many others, is indifferent to the fate of the human race. He does in the mutos in order to get back to his snooze beneath the Pacific.
- One line summary: Godzilla saves humanity from the mutos in an 8 minute appearance.
- Six of ten
- Scores
- Cinematography: 8/10 Some of the SFX were cheesy, but most were fabulous.
- Sound: 7/10 Few complaints. I could hear the dialog. The music was not too irritating.
- Acting: 6/10 Bryan Cranston, Ken Watanabe, Juliette Binoche, David Strathairn, and Sally Hawkins were fine in their limited roles. Aaron Taylor-Johnson's performance was both boring (beginning) and believably heroic (toward the end), so I ended up liking him.
- Screenplay: 6/10 The director stayed true to the franchise, but with updated SFX and a few other adjustments. The holes in the plot, though, seemed endless.
Divergent
- Fundamentals, reception.
- American live action feature length film, released in 2014, 139 minutes runtime; action, adventure, scifi.
- IMDB: 6.8/10.0 from 223,546 audience ratings. Estimated budget, 85 million USD.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 41% on the meter; 71% liked it from 132,716 audience ratings.
- I saw this on HBO.
- Directed by: Neal Burger.
- Starring: Shailene Woodley as Tris, Theo James as Four, Ashley Judd as Natalie, Jai Courtney as Eric, Ray Stevenson as Marcus, Zoe Kravitz as Christina, Miles Teller as Peter, Tony Goldwyn as Andrew, Ansel Elgort as Caleb, Maggie Q as Tori, Mikhal Phifer as Max, Kate Winslett as Jeanine.
- Setup and Plot
- The film is set in the remains of Chicago in a post-apocalyptic dystopian city state. Society is segmented into five factions (dauntless, abnegation, erudite, candor, amity) plus the Factionless. Those in the factions are privileged, while the Factionless are impoverished. The abnegation faction controls government. The film, in short, involves the attempted mutiny of dauntless and erudite to replace abnegation as the rulers.
- Young people in this society are faced with a choice in their late teens: to choose a faction. Each teen is given a test to help determine the faction, but the teen's choice is the determining factor, not the test.
- Tris (well, Beatrice), daughter of Natalie and Eric, sister of Caleb, gets an inconclusive test. Tori, who administered the test, advises her to just leave and say the test was flawed. Tris does this. On the day of choosing, she chooses dauntless over her family's faction, abnegation.
- The story follows Tris' acclimatisation into dauntless and her involvement with the unspoken motives of dauntless and erudite against abnegation. The other central theme is her flawed test. What really happened there?
- This is the first installment of a trilogy, and some of the first moves of dauntless plus erudite against abnegation are detailed.
- Conclusions
- This is another exercise set in a dystopia that is simply not possible...so who cares?
- There was nothing to balance that: nothing and no one to bring identification, or empathy, or involvement.
- This film is in the YA female demographic.
- One line summary: Teen's coming of age in a factionalized future dystopia.
- Three of ten
- Recommendation: fine if you are in the demographic.
- Scores
- Cinematography: 8/10 Reasonable skill was shown.
- Sound: 5/10 I could make out the words that the actors spoke. The background music was between insipid and irritating.
- Acting: 3/10 I liked the performances of Ashley Judd, Kate Winslett, and Theo James. The rest of the cast was well worth forgetting.
- Screenplay: 0/10 Boring, not involving, not believable.
Agency of Vengeance: Dark Rising (original title, Dark Rising 2: Summer Strikes Back!)
- Fundamentals, reception.
- Canadian live action feature length film, 2011, NR, 93 minutes, SciFi, camp.
- IMDB: 3.3/10.0 from 125 audience ratings.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 'No Tomatometer score yet...,' 'No score yet' from 7 audience ratings.
- Written and directed by Richard Cymek.
- Starring: Brigitte Kingsley as Summer Vale, Landy Cannon as Jason Parks, Cory Lee as Holly Wescott, Kyle Buchanan as Daniel Evans, Mike Nahrgang as Bulo, Michael Ironside as Colonel Haggerd, Matty McLean as Weeber, Richard Cymek as Kyle, Julia Schneider as Renee.
- Setup and Plot
- Before this sequel started, Summer Vale had been killing monsters in the 'demon dimension;' she came to our dimension through a portal with the assistance of Jason Parks, an agent of the Rising Dark Agency. By the start of the current film, Jason and Summer had broken up, and Summer was about to marry Kyle.
- As the second film's narrative begins, Jason, Daniel, and Holly are chasing a sandworm. They track the worm down, but are not able to save Kyle from being eaten by it. Summer may have lost her groom, but she dispatches the worm.
- Back at headquarters, Colonel Haggerd advises his black ops team that there is more than usual supernatural activity near the portal. The point of the movements is preparation for the return of Mardock to our dimension from the demon dimension. A mysterious agent X is leading this effort. Haggerd advises Jason separately that the Book of Shadows has been stolen, and that the thief must be apprehended as well as the Book returned.
- X strikes rather hard, converting Holly to a demon, killing all but eight of the agency, and taking Summer back to the demon dimension. Summer gets to meet an old acquaintance on the other side.
- Will Jason and company be able to turn the tide, rescue Summer, return the Book, and seal off the portal? Will we get to see the face of agent X?
- Conclusions
- One line summary: Director made an art of making the actors look stupid.
- One of ten
- Scores
- Cinematography: 5/10 Basic shooting, not so bad. SFX, not so much.
- Sound: 2/10 Sadly, I could hear the dialog often during breaks in the sound track, which was entirely too loud.
- Acting: 1/10
- Screenplay: 0/10 Poor dialog. Well, times 1000.
The Coalition
- Fundamentals, reception.
- American live action feature length film, 2013 (video), rated R, 95 minutes, comedy, romance.
- IMDB: 4.3/10.0 from 384 audience ratings. Estimated budget, 1 million USD.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 'No critic reviews yet...', 53% liked it from 64 audience ratings.
- I saw this on Showtime.
- Directed by, Monica Mingo; written by Monica Mingo and Terrell Suggs.
- Starring: Denyce Lawton as Skylar Hathaway, Eddie Goines as Prime Alexander, Adrienne Bailon as Katilina Santiago, J. R. Ramirez as Lonzo Ramirez, Ingrid Clay as Autumn Singletary, Sant'e Andrews as Dallas, Nadine Ellis as Kennedy Lorenze', Shanti Lowry as Dylan Singletary, Nicole Garza as Carnegie.
- Setup and Plot
- Prime is a sports hero who enjoys time with his male posse, Dallas, Kalif, and Lonzo. The quartet enjoy publicly and privately embarrassing the women that they date. Some of these women include Autumn, Carnegie, Skylar, and Katalina; these four have their women allies in tow.
- The four men seem to think that the wronged women will never meet and talk to each other. Of course, that does happen, and the women eventually find common cause for revenge. The tipping point came when Autumn took Skylar to a park where Prime was with his wife and kids.
- Will the ladies break up the pack? Will the men defend themselves?
- Conclusions
- One line summary: Chick flick cliche extravaganza, plus foibles of the idle rich.
- One star of five
- Scores
- Cinematography: 8/10 No problems. Looks like very high end video.
- Sound: 4/10 Unfortunately, I could hear the sound track. I could hear the dialog, which was a mixed blessing.
- Acting: 0/10
- Screenplay: 2/10 It has a plot of sorts, but there is nothing new, nothing interesting, nothing engaging, nothing touching.
August: Osage County
- Fundamentals, reception.
- American live action feature length film, 2013, rated R, 121 minutes, drama.
- IMDB: 7.3/10.0 from 47,908 audience ratings. Estimated budget, 25 million USD.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 64% on the meter; 66% liked it from 37,309 audience ratings.
- I saw the film on Showtime.
- Directed by: John Wells.
- Starring: Meryl Streep as Violet Weston, Julia Roberts as Barbara Weston, Ewan McGregor as Bill Fordham, Margo Martindale as Mattie Fae Aiken, Chris Cooper as Charlie Aiken, Sam Shepard as Beverly Weston, Dermot Mulroney as Steve Huberbrecht, Abigail Breslin as Jean Fordham, Julianne Nicholson as Ivy Weston, Juliette Lewis as Karen Weston, Benedict Cumberbatch as Little Charles Aiken, Misty Upham as Johnna Monevata.
- Setup and Plot
- Violet Weston's husband Beverly walks off one day, and turns up dead later. Violet gathers the family. Daughter Ivy was already there helping out. Her sister Mattie Fae and husband Charlie show up early, as do daughter Barbara with her husband Bill. Jean is the daughter of Barbara and Bill. Violet's daughter Karen (with fiance Steve) get there before the funeral. Showing up after the funeral is Little Charlie, son of Charlie and Mattie Fae.
- So, let the drama begin. Violet is a long time abuser of prescription medicine. Barbara and Bill have separated; Jean is seemingly out of it. Charlie and Mattie Fae can hardly stand each other. Little Charlie is a foulup. Karen is concerned about her career and her upcoming honeymoon, and not so much about her family. Her fiance, Steve, is a major pothead who tries to tempt Jean to start using.
- The film is set during a hot August in Oklahoma, where beef cattle are a cash crop. Jean is a vegetarian. That's a subject of derision at the dinner table. Violet is high, and she rags on her dead husband, then the fiance Steve, then on 'cowboys and Indians,' then on to Barbara and Bill's separation. The heart of Violet's complaining is her comparison of the tough childhood that she and Mattie Fae had versus the upbringing that her daughters enjoyed. Barbara, in turn, is bloody sick of Violet's drug addiction.
- To add to all the drama, Violet has cancer of the mouth. Barbara decides to take control of her mother's life. Lots of unfortunate truths receive more light than they have seen in a while.
- Will the family dysfunction continue, or get worse?
- Conclusions
- One line summary: Tense family dinner after a funeral forces secrets out.
- Eight of ten
- Scores
- Cinematography: 10/10 No problems.
- Sound: 8/10 I could hear the dialog, except for Cumberbatch's mumbling. The sound track did not add much.
- Acting: 8/10 Most of the performances were quite good: Chris Cooper, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Juliann Nicholson, Juliette Lewis, Sam Shepard, Ewan MacGregor. However, several of the characters had little screen time and few lines. The presence of Cumberbatch in an otherwise good film was curious at best.
- Screenplay: 5/10 There is nothing new here, and little interesting, in terms of story and plot development. A dysfunctional family has a chewy weekend after a funeral. Streep and Roberts get some acting exercise here, but the rest of the cast is underused to the point of being wasted.
