Reviews

This movie has always left an impact on me ever since I chanced upon it in the theaters. The idea of leaving the world behind and going on an urban adventure to discover America and its people and the wilderness is just an appealing idea, I think to many people, but most of us don't have the gall, or one could argue that we have the good sense, not to attempt such a thing. For the many of us that only fantasize about such things we get to live our adventures out vicariously through stories and movies. Its not often, however, that you get to hear a story about this which is both true and modern. That is what Into The Wild is about.

Christopher McCandless grew up in a well off family in suburban america, got good grades, graduated college and had a seemingly normal life. What we learn quickly though is that his family is less than perfect. It seems like its a common story, although I personally can say that it was not my experience with parents and family. His parents kept secrets from him, fought incessantly, and its not a wonder that Chris would grow up seeing his parents as everything that is wrong with society; people who appear to have everything together on the outside, but are broken and hypocritical on the inside. He projects this resentment onto society in general and decides he wants to escape. So after graduating, he donates his college funds to charity and hits the road in his beat up old Datsun, never to be seen or heard from by his family again.

His adventures as a tramp take him down several paths and into the lives of many different people who he develops close relationships with, but one by one as he gets closer to them, he uses the excuse of his dream to live off the land in Alaska as a way to leave and run away. He finds a mentor, a mother, a lover, and a father, and while he learns much from them, his philosophies about happiness remain unchanged and his determination solid to get away and to be completely alone. He tells his friend Ron that he's wrong if he thinks happiness comes from human relationship. All along the way each of them tells him he is wrong and should consider forgiving his parents. I think this resonates with many of us as individuals in our paths in life. For various reasons, we feel that the reasons for our unhappiness come from human relationships and so we seek to get away and be truly isolated. No family, no friends, no one looking out for us. Completely independent and self-reliant.

Chris makes it to Alaska and is seemingly happy for some time. He's finally living his dream, running with the animals, living on the land, and happy as can be until one day as he reads from Tolstoy he realizes his mistaken logic about happiness. "A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour - such is my idea of happiness." Happiness doesn't come solely from a simple and secluded life, but from being of use to other people and doing good to those who are not accustomed to it. He realizes this is the life he had been living prior to arriving in Alaska and decides to return back to society. However, it is too late. He reaches the river he forded the previous spring only to find that it is now a raging torrent of ice cold runoff that is impassible and he is trapped in his isolation. As he slowly runs out of food his desperation and hunger lead him to eating a local plant he mistakenly identifies as edible, but is in fact a similar looking plant that is poisonous and will slowly lead to his death.

In the final scenes we see him write in Tolstoy the lesson he's learned and has cost him his life: "Happiness only real when shared".

Its both a beautiful and very tragic story, and serves as a warning to those who like Chris would cynically say that society is no good, even while being put face to face with only good people. "To forgive is to love and when you forgive, God's light shines on you." - Ron

This show had a lot of promise and a great premise for the first 3 seasons. It was dark and gritty like The Walking Dead. Some of the plot lines were less interesting, but it didn't dwell on anything for too long and tended to move the story along quite well. You got to see a family go from normal every day people, to being willing to do terrible things in order to protect each other.

The along came season 4. It started out ok enough, although it killed off arguably the best character, Nick early on. I thought it had promise with some of the new characters introduced, especially that of the likable cowboy, John Dorie. But then they killed off Madison, who wasn't really ever my favorite character, but they way she was killed was absolutely botched. I am not joking when I say that I honestly didn't even realize she had been killed. She runs back into a stadium full of walkers and we don't ever see her again. That's usually how you "kill" a character who you plan on bringing back later. In other words it was ambiguous.

From there, the show has tanked fast. The villains are weak and boring. I can't believe I'm saying this but the obnoxious crazy black lady was actually probably the best villain that the new show runners have come up with. The rest of the villains essentially boil down to a group that has more resources because they are willing to kill to take what they need, yet each of them for whatever reason won't kill our heroes who are unwilling to fight for anything because its not the right way or something.

There have been zero character deaths since Madison. There have been zero cool zombies, or cool zombie kills since... I don't remember. There is nothing scary about the show anymore. The Morgan group has taken to making insurance commercials promoting their helpfulness and the newest villain is basically little more than a competition insurance company run by a really annoying red head who thinks she is Teddy Roosevelt or something.

Each character has a non-story now that drives them. Alicia's is that she likes painting trees. Really? Yes really. That was a riveting episode. Al is so obsessed with her stupid camera that she literally will save her camera before saving other group members. Daniel randomly reappears after being thought dead and is reduced to jolly abuelito. Dwight shows up from The Walking Dead and turns into mr nice guy with a really fake looking scar. This show is terrible. I'm done watching unless I hear they have new show runners.

As a stand alone movie this would probably still only get about 7 stars from me. I'm of course familiar with the original film and was looking forward to the remake. Many remakes take on the task of telling the story in a new or interesting way and that was what I was hoping to get with Pet Sematary. Instead what I got was a poor cover band version of the original. Which is fitting given they used a poor cover band version of The Ramones "Pet Sematary" as the credit song.

Let's start with what I liked. I really enjoyed some of the acting, especially John Lithgow as Judd. I thought he brought a deeper level to that character than the original, and I understood the character quite a bit better. The little girl who played Ellie also did a very good job playing first the sweet daughter and then the undead ghoul daughter. I also thought some of the effects were very cool and added an element of fantasy horror which was very characteristic of Stephen King. Specifically the parts in the dreams where Dr Creed would walk through a door into the forrest, almost like entering a different dimension.

Now things I didn't like. I didn't like some of the cliches that added nothing to the story. For example the funeral procession of the kids at the beginning with the creepy masks. Yes this was creepy and foreboding, but what did it have to do with anything? Where did the kids come from? Why did they wear masks? It all seemed a little cliche for me. I also disliked all the teases to things from the original. Like Gage running into the road (as if I didn't watch the trailers which show that its the daughter that gets hit by the truck).

Another super solid entry in the catalog of X-Files episodes. This episode brings us the return of Darin Morgan's iconic comedy episodes. What started with Humbug has become one of the more beloved style's of episode for many. I love that the teaser brings back the stoner kids from Quagmire and War of the Coprophages to be the ones who are witness to the were-monster attack after inhaling an instense amount of spray paint.(?) Dude...

A quick synopsis of the episode. Mulder starts out with a sense of mid life crisis and wondering if he's spent his entire life believing in hoaxes and children's stories and is convinced that there are no such thing as monsters. Scully is worried about him and through out the episode makes several comments about how happy she is to see him back in his element even if she doesn't agree with his theory. They are brought to find a lizard man who appears to be attacking people and biting their necks. The investigations bring them to one Guy Mann, played by Rhys Darby. At first he exhibits some truly strange behavior and Mulder is convinced that he is behind the attacks as a were-lizard. But he tells a different story. One in which a man who is a sociopath has bitten him, an unsuspecting lizard man, in the neck, and since then every day he turns into a human and finds himself engaging in terribly monstrous acts of menial human life such as going to work and waking up to an alarm clock and wearing a neck tie. I really like the play on the typical were-monster story here where the monster is the man and the fictional "monster" is the victim who now turns into a man due to being bitten.

There are some great moments in this episode both comedic and nostalgic. Some of my favorites are Mulder's reaction to discovering the hotel has secret peepholes into each room, a la Psycho. I love when Guy is yelling at his alarm clock and tells it "you'll never wake me up again" and tosses it across the room. Also the wonderful explanation of the latest phone model which contains 3000 gigberts of pixelbits and its shape is somewhat rectangular. The typical blah blah blah of technogibber haha. I also have to say that for someone who had been thinking that Gillian Anderson was looking old, she's still got it. Dang! Did anyone else's heart beat speed up when she said "I wanna make you say cheese"? And finally when the real killer starts explaining why he is the way he is as if he's reciting a profiling text book lol.

I was also surprisingly moved more than I would have normally expected when I realized the name on the gravestone that Mulder puts the flowers was that of Kim Manners. Kim was one of the major directors on throughout the original series and was also one of the main directors for the show Supernatural until he passed away in 2009. It was a great tribute to a man who brought us some wonderful stories and obviously had a significant impact on the people he worked with.

All in all a great solid episode. Thanks Darin Morgan!

What a great way to springboard the MOTW style of episodes. I found myself cheering after a great teaser because I was so excited that The X-Files seemed to have indeed returned in true style. Jim Wong did a great job writing and directing this episode and did something I never thought possible: he made me care about Mulder and Scully's child William.

The episode deals with children who are dealing with genetic mutations and are in a program to try and solve their ailments. The doctor in charge of these treatments is secretly using alien DNA to try and cure these children and we find out in the episode that he has done tests on his own children, giving them supernatural abilities.

The episode begins with us seeing one of the scientists on the research team apparently being affected by some sort of loud screeching sound. These sounds lead him to searching for information on the lead scientist's location (the founder) and ultimately stabbing himself in the earlobe with a letter opener to stop the sound. As Mulder and Scully investigate, Mulder begins to hear the same sounds but reports that amidst the screeching he could perceive the words "find her" being repeated.

They seek out contact with the founder and ultimately find out that his wife is in a mental hospital for having allegedly killing her unborn son. This son, as it turns out, is Kevin, who was separated from his family at birth and is now seeking reunion with his sister Molly. Kevin is the source of the screeching and Molly appears to have her own abilities and is being kept prisoner by her father at the lab. They ultimately find each other and use their powers together to escape and murder their father.

The episode has a very Stephen King like feel to it where these children with telekinetic powers are able to take revenge on their captors. Think Carrie mixed with The Shining and maybe even Firestarter.

The episode connects on another level in the form of alternate reality dream sequences showing Scully and Mulder separately envisioning what their lives with William growing up might have been like. These sequences reveal a lot about Mulder and Scully's characters. They show the things that each would have truly enjoyed participating in with William. Scully imagines taking him to school and taking care of him when he hurts himself, likely drawing a lot on her background in medicine. Mulder imagines sharing his love of Sci-Fi classics and creating model rockets. They each also show their deepest fears and anxieties as well. Scully's are seeded in her fears of William having alien DNA while Mulder's are seeded in the loss of his sister Samantha. What's also interesting is that this episode allows for series to take on a new dynamic, where the original series dealt a lot with Mulder's obsession to find his sister, the questions about William bring him into this role which places both Mulder and Scully in the situation of their judgment being called into question on these types of cases.

Some observations: Two ape movies shown in the episode: possibly a reference to the leaps in evolution depicted in these movies? They managed to cram politics and product placement into a short two minute scene, I'm totally not buying a Ford now. Lol at Mulder almost getting a bj. "The truth is in here!" So the actor the played the founder was on Firefly and when he died by bleeding out like that I couldn't help but think "two by two, hands of blue..." Why didn't Scully ever hear the sound?

I am a happy camper tonight if only for the fact that I have just watched original content for the x-files since the movie "I Want To Believe" and while I truly enjoyed the movie, unlike many, it didn't stay true to the feel of the TV show. As soon as this episode began however, I felt like I had come home. It was true to the feel, the style, the production, everything I have come to associate with the show. It felt like The X- Files.

The episode starts with a voice over of Mulder describing the history of UFO phenomena, accompanied by clips and video footage of UFOs and different historical events involving the government and mass public witnessing and affirming the existence of UFOs. I don't know how much of this was taken from real reports and how many were fabricated but it's evident that not all of them are real. One of the things I've always liked about The X-Files is how it ties real conspiracy theories into its own purposes of an alien conspiracy.

Parts of the episode consist of flashbacks to the crash at Roswell and the appearance of some doctor whose identity is not revealed, and a man in a black suit, must be the original man in black. The UFO crash site is one of the most incredible sets I've seen on the show to date.

Similar to IWTB, the episode starts by someone trying to find Mulder and doing so through Scully. Scully encourages Mulder to "get out of his little house" so he does and when he actually becomes involved in the investigation she immediately jumps in arguing with him about the dangers of becoming involved, etc. Scully's character never ceases to frustrate.

The mythology moves forward in a somewhat concerning way and is the only reason I have rated this episode a 9 instead of a 10. I'm very concerned about the direction the mythology has taken by saying that there never was an alien conspiracy but that it is a government conspiracy and the aliens are a hoax. This doesn't mesh with several things from the mythology that are already pretty well established, namely the alien bounty hunters, the rebel faceless aliens, and the black oil virus. Granted they aren't positing that aliens don't exist at all, but they seem to imply that the involvement of aliens was simply one of visiting our planet out of concern for our existence after the use of the A bomb, and since then all the UFOs have simply been a cover by our own government as a way to perform tests on its citizens. When Mulder has the conversation with the Old Man, he seems to imply that the faceless rebels are all part of the hoax, calling it "nonsense". This would imply that the black oil, and everything else is all part of the hoax. I'm not buying it and it bugs me that Mulder is buying it. Especially when the thing that seems to suddenly convince him is when Sveta tells him its men who took her. Its not like this is the first time we've seen men working under the guise of alien abductions. Part of the original mythology is that the syndicate was working under the guise to do human tests to find a cure for the alien virus by creating an alien human hybrid. Its not the first time Mulder has been led to believe that everything has been a hoax and he was proved wrong the last time so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Two questions I'm left with at the end of the episode are about who certain characters are in relation to the previous series. Sveta and the Old Man both indicate that they have had previous contact with Mulder but I don't remember either of them from the original episodes.

Tad O'Malley is an interesting character and I look forward to seeing more of his character.

A few observations: - The pencils are still there! :) - Mulder ruined his poster :( - CSM is still alive so does that mean that TLG are still alive too? (they are on the cast list for Babylon) - Scully has a Nexus 6 #nexusmasterrace - Who was helping CSM smoke through his neck? Wasn't the old Indian lady from before... - The countdown began in 2012 but no one knew, so is this how they are explaining the Dec 21, 2012 thing from the finale?

Rarely does a show pull me in like this one did. I watch a lot of shows that are entertaining enough, but this one has just jumped into my top 10. I loved the movie Fargo and have always been a fan of crime dramas and dark comedies. Each episode of season 1 had at least one or two "oh sh*t" moments and I mean like red wedding or pushing reporters onto train tracks kind of moments. Billy Bob Thornton brings probably his best role ever as the psychopath Lorne Malvo. I loved the many homages to some of the great scenes from the movie such as the "I changed my mind" moment at the parking garage and the money buried under a red ice scraper. This last one and several other subtle hints lead me to believe that these events all take place in the same universe as that of the movie and that there is some continuity from the 1987 story and the 2006-07 story. The soundtrack, the characters, the atmosphere, everything stays completely true to the movie without ripping it off. I absolutely loved the first season and am looking forward to more.

I don't get why you would make a movie about such an amazing individual and have the entire focus be on the pain and suffering he had to endure and then throw a two minute thing at the end with a few paragraphs about how he "made peace". I don't know about you but that's the most important part of the story for me. OK so he survived physically, but how did he finally overcome spiritually and mentally? Very disappointed we didn't get any of that in this movie. I only hope the book has more to offer than this movie did. The best part of the movie was seeing Louis at the end as an 80 year running in Tokyo. We missed his entire journey getting to a point of forgiveness and being able to do that.

I really enjoyed this show. It seems like the writers really did a good job of researching what it would be like if the US got hit with nuclear bombs and society broke down. I love the drama that comes out of the situation but I also love the fact that, unlike most shows, the good guys always come out ahead in this movie. Every other show there's some bad guy that gets away with everything and that never gets caught or whatever, but in this show, there is a pretty solid line between the good guys and the bad guys and most of the "situations" are resolved relatively quickly instead of drawing them out for an entire season. For example, in the first couple of episodes with the escape prisoners... I just knew that this was gonna be a thing now in the first season. They'd be out constantly trying to find the prisoners and the prisoners were gonna keep the girl captive for a long time and every scene was gonna be her trying to escape and getting caught again, etc for like 15 episodes until she finally gets rescued. But nope. Jake shows up and shoots them in the face and the story ends there. Thank you so much for killing an uninteresting plot before it got annoying.

Anyway, not everything is always hunky dory in the show either though. Good people die including many main characters. But their stories are so interesting that you live with them. The town goes from regular American town to civil war skirmishes in just 20 episodes. Brilliant! I've heard rumors that Netflix is going to pick the show up for continuation. I only hope it sticks to its original atmosphere.

This movie was misrepresented first of all. I saw reviews comparing it to Rambo and other such great outdoor survival action movies. This movie is a little more like "The Road" in its storytelling. Very drawn out, not a lot of real good action other than people getting eaten by wolves one by one or dying in other ways. The movie definitely elicited a huge emotional response from me and I thought the ultimate message was a stirring one, to never give up even in the face of unquestionable failure. My main problem was that I was led to expect something that the movie was not and this by the people who were supposed to advertise the movie to me. Had I entered the movie expecting a tragic ending then I might have not minded it as much. Basically I'm led to believe that the main character (Neeson) at some point is going to start kicking some serious wolf butt and escape and survive. Instead, one by one each character dies and Neeson walks right into the wolf den and gets killed. I'd say this show is more like "Deliverance" meets "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas". Survival show with a pointlessly tragic ending.

This show started out decent enough, but it really needed to be done as a mini-series with maybe 6 episodes tops. There were a few beginning episodes to set up the story and the final few episodes tied things off pretty well although they follow the typical Stephen King cliché of having some kind of "ka-tet" of characters who are meant to come together to save someone in a portal of space-time and dimensional traveling. All the rest in the middle is just filler and at times it seemed like the same scenes were being shown. Like the headless corpse running around constantly or the anteater showing up and rambling off some gibberish that is supposed to be all profound and wise. Enough already!

I remember when this show came out I saw an ad claiming that it was 24 meets LOST. They were obviously trying to capitalize on all the fans of those two shows who suddenly found themselves without a favorite show on TV. Unfortunately, as it turned out this show was exactly that, however it was the worst of 24 and LOST. The never-ending cliff hangers and plot twists that left you beating your head against the wall. At first it was exciting until you realized that they didn't ever plan on addressing any of the mysteries directly. They were just going to give a couple episodes at a time and then go into another month or two long hiatus in which you are wondering why they just killed half of the main characters on a bus. I stuck with it as long as I could, but at the end, watching the show was just torture for me. There were some promising moments and the show even had a promising premise, but the writing never capitalized on them. Instead we were teased to the point of anger and hostility and finally abandonment.

About 4 or 5 months ago I watched this show straight through for the first time ever (excluding season 9 which I'm still debating if I should watch or not). I'd seen random episodes here and there throughout the years but I never really got the humor much. But there were enough small clips that I found funny that I decided to give the whole show a shot.

I immediately become hooked. To me Scrubs was like a lighthearted example of what life has been like for me over the past ten years. There are real life situations and drama, but it is all presented with an air of humor and joviality which seemed to remind me that similar situations in my own life were not worth getting so distraught over.

I fell in love with the characters because of their many flaws which I could relate to. Along with humor, the show is also very philosophical about life and mortality (naturally being set in an ICU) and I really enjoyed becoming involved in some of the patients' stories. We learned something different from all of them and we felt the same bittersweet feeling when they inevitably passed on. I will forever be a fan of Colin Hays because of this show as well, especially his songs "Overkill" and "Any Minute Now".

Finally, the final scene of season 8 ultimately sums up the show for me. As JD leaves thinking no one cared about his last day, he is overwhelmed by the memories of all the people who touched his life while he was there. We see many of his dead patients and other guest actors who have come and gone from the show telling him goodbye. And finally he steps outside and sees a flash forward of his future as he gets married and raises a family. It is such a great metaphor for what it feels like to move from one stage of life to another and ultimately how it must feel to pass from this life to the next. It hurts to leave but we ultimately take our experiences with us on to a bright future full of possibilities. That is how I will always remember this show ending.

Unlike many people, I didn't watch this movie a lot as a kid. I actually think I saw it once and I hated it because Pete is so mean and it doesn't seem like the ending gives much closure as far as him changing because you never see it, you only hear about it in the letter. That being said, this was a pretty entertaining movie and the actors in it are quite good considering the level of production. The actor that plays Pete was really good in this. The message of the movie is a good one for kids and adults in that it teaches that love and non-violence is always the best way to treat others. Not only that but Scott learns that doing so with an agenda to try and change someone else will never work, and he learns that by loving his friend unconditionally, he changes himself before he really makes an impact on Pete. The other thing about this movie that made it interesting to me is that it was filmed literally in the neighborhood where I have lived since I was 11 years old and I recognize much of the scenery and locations from having driven past them my entire life.

I used to watch this movie all the time when I was a kid. I loved it because it has some really good adventure in it. Its about a group of kids who decide to go on a road trip to find their Uncle Jack after their mom dies. They run away from foster care in LA and set out for Arizona with an LA detective on their tail and only $9 in their pockets. Luckily in 1988 that at least buys them a decent lunch for a day. They face a number of challenges along the way including being stranded in the desert, and facing bullies after hitting a jackpot on a slot machine. They also make friends with a school teacher on vacation who agrees to help them even after they steal her car.

As an adult, having just rewatched this, the movie has even more to offer than simply nostalgia as I was expecting. It truly is a heartwarming movie about family and friendship and doing what is right even when it doesn't fit in with "the rules" or is inconvenient for you. I found myself in years multiple times thinking about how hard it would be for me now to lose my parents, my dog, and be separated from my family all at once. How much harder would that be for a group of children? I can't help but wonder what I would do if I were in Peggy's position.

Anyway, this is a great family movie. One that I remember watching as a kid and I'm sure I will be sharing with my own children in the future.

I love this show. It has, in my opinion one flaw. That is that it appears to the layperson to be a movie with a deep complex meaning that it is trying to get across. The truth, however, is that it is a movie with a very simple and basic message to share, and it does so in a very unique way, which is why it is so easily misunderstood.

The simple story is about a guy and a girl who become bored with their relationship, have an argument, and happen to live in a world where one can erase their memories. When Clementine erases Joel from her memory, the pain is too much for Joel to bear and he decides he wants her erased from his memory as well. The unique part of the movie is the way the couple's relationship is told. We see their relationships as memories inside of Joel's dreams as they are being erased. So we are at the same time seeing the past and present, such that the two blend together. During the procedure, Joel quickly passes through the bad memories and as he starts to relive the good ones, the keep being taken from him. This prompts him to change his mind, but unfortunately he is unable to wake up and stop the procedure. He tries to hide with Clementine so he can save a part of her, but the doctors keep catching up to him and in the end he loses. He wakes up the next day with no recollection of who Clementine is or anything. On impulse, however he decides to ditch work and go to the beach where he and Clementine first met. Lo and behold, Clementine is also there. They meet again and fall in love again. But when they get home they find out what they have done by receiving their files from a disgruntled secretary. As they listen to themselves talking about how miserable they were with the other, they almost decide not to give it another chance. But the last moments they decide that they don't care about that.

The show's appeal to me is mostly emotional. It is truly tragic to watch as Joel's memories are taken from him. Especially when he wakes up but can't speak to tell them to please stop and as they drug him again all he can do is cry. I'm reminded of Alfred Hitchcock where the guy is paralyzed but they think he is dead and he is forced to lay in a coffin with the impending threat of being buried alive. There is a similar story by Stephen King except the man is forced to sit through his own autopsy. The simple message is that good memories are worth reliving, even if they lead to pain. Pain can be reconciled and worked through. There are other messages one can take from the show, but to me this is the one that resonates with me. I do also love that they end up falling in love again and are subconsciously drawn to places that have special meaning to them both. I don't believe in the theory that there is only one person for everyone (soulmates or whatever) but I do believe that when one finds their match, then there is only one person that can define what love means to you.

The other thing about the movie that appeals to me is the very original and unique way of telling the story. The story is the same old love movie yes, but the writing is amazing. The idea very one of a kind. It is the type of movie that you probably need to watch at least twice to really follow, but once you understand that everything is happening in the present, including the memories, then it is easy to following along and enjoy the story.

A few more tidbits about the other story lines. That Lacuna company has some serious ethical issues. They have sex while working on clients, inter-office relationships, stealing panties and identities, not to mention the ethical and moral issues brought up by the whole premise of erasing people's memories. Also, Kate Winslet was pretty good lookin in those white gogo boots and that 70's dress. All in all a very entertaining movie. I give it a 10 out of 10.