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Nefarious (2023)
Sean Patrick Flannery Oscar deserving performance
Shame on the Oscars, Sean P. Flannery was brilliant in this performance. For a movie where 90% is in a prison common area and a conversation between a prisoner and a psychiatrist, you not only need a good script, you need 2 good actors to make it work. And it did work. I was enthralled by the intelligent script with regards to how mankind is progressively destroying itself, is consciously ignoring its role in promoting evil, and the legion is winning in its war on the creator. Bravo to the script writers. Listen carefully to everything the prisoner says (is he bipolar or really a demon possessed innocent man?). I gave this 9 starts not because it is some epic production but because of Flannery and the script, when a movie has me enthralled from start to end, well done.
Le Cinquième Élément (1997)
Masterpiece
Unique does not even begin to describe this sci-fi, action, drama, comedy. It is a fun film, keeps your attention to the end with a fast pace. Excellent cast. Gary Oldman should have received an Oscar for this one as the main antagonist. But acting was great by everyone, and i mean everyone, Chris Tucker really went all out, and Bruce Willis played his role perfectly. Considering when this was made, the production was fantastic. The religious element was a refreshing aspect with the Priest character and the 5th Element in the script (our creation entity is real) and the reference to 5000 years of earth history. More than enough action to qualify as an action film, particularly once they get on the cruise ship in the final chapter of the film. You have to go along for the ride in this one to enjoy it, amazing futuristic fantasy with even a few other worldly creatures (i loved the opera singer character, the vocals were phenomenal). The costumes were amazing, from the police uniforms to the flight attendants to the Mangalores. The comedic moments worked as intended. Kim Chan had a brief scene, he is made for movies. Luc Besson's masterpiece. I use that term for a movie i would not mind watching 50 times in my lifetime.
Dune: Part Two (2024)
Beautiful production, less than perfect script
As with the first film, the production was beautiful. I loved the opening scenes with the Harkonnen soldiers. The arena fight between Austin Butler and the last Atreides Robert Yuan (actors names) was fantastic. The battles with the harvesters were phenomenal.
The script, however, left me a little bit disappointed. What about the Guild Navigators? And how were the worms used after they came through the pass in the mountains opened up by the atomics? There was only one sequence of the initial charge (marvelous sequence when the gunships entered) but then nothing. The Sardurkar were not given enough respect in this film. There was only one scene that showed them respect and that was when they rose up from the fallen sand and rock debris and stood their ground preparing for the oncoming onslaught instead of panicking. Other than that I felt the film should have spent more time on tactical combat scenes in what was supposed to be an epic battle at the end of the film, maybe trim time off of the other dragged out sequences in the film. The first movie did a better job with the Sardaukar, you actually feared them. The epic battle at the end of this movie was less than epic. And poor Bautista, they should not have made him act like such a wimp, should have had a more glorious fight even in retreat.
As much as I like Walken, I thought he was poorly cast to be Emperor. The 1984 film had a perfect actor for the personality. This is Villeneuve's fault, he picked him.
The script also fails to emphasize that Paul is the Kwisatz Haderach at the end of the movie. Paul's initial ability to vaguely see the future comes from the centuries of genetic tinkering of the women of the Ben Gesserat, but after he drinks the water of life and not only survives but develops the ability to see an individual's past, as evident by the scenes in the Fremen temple where he looks at individuals and describes their past, and more clearly sees optional future outcomes, and after he actually fulfills all of the prophecies of the Fremen, the story is true, he really is the Messiah of Arrakis, justifying the religion, and he really is the Kwisatz Haderach, a man with abilities that no other man has. But the film appears to gloss over this. Shame. He is not just some populist charismatic man blamed by the likes of Zendaya's character for (perceived) fooling anyone to follow him and falling for the appeal of power and giving up his principles, he is more than that.
My critique of the first film was not enough emotion, well part 2 does a better job, especially after Paul survives the water of life and becomes the anti-hero, all hell breaks loose. And Zendaya's character being a more independent women than the 1984 film was interesting, albeit the combat skills or luck were not realistic unless you buy that the Sardaukar were that inept. Part 1 was a better drama than part 2, but part 2 has some great action sequences, besides the disappointments I mentioned earlier. Not a perfect film for this Dune 1984 admirer.
Napoleon (2023)
Not enough
Too much Josephine and not enough epic drama. The Waterloo act was fantastic, i was almost rooting for the British as they had a charismatic leader, as was the Austerlitz battle act. The rest of the film spent too much time on his relationship with Josephine. What about the Germany (Prussia) campaign? Italy? His life before Toulon? Not much character development to care about anyone other than the 2 protagonists. You watch a film like Gladiator which was a masterpiece, or Kingdom of Heaven, with no sex scenes and no vulgarity and with tremendous drama and intensity as quasi historical epics, and then suffer disappointment with Napoleon. I expected better from Ridley Scott. Maybe the time constraint posed a problem as usual.
The Equalizer 3 (2023)
Nice italian scenery, forgettable film.
This 3rd film suffers the same problems as the 2nd, it is forgettable. The first film was almost a masterpiece, why? Because the antagonist was well scripted and acted, and in addition the entire cast was good and performed well, producing many memorable scenes. If you do not have a good script and charismatic antagonist, the movie fails. Denzel will do his part, that is not in question. Equalizer 3 almost began to develop an interesting antagonist with the young mafioso collecting the dues but that ended too quickly. The unrealistic invincibility also wears thin by the 3rd film, at least in the 1st film one of the russians puts up a fight at the Home Depot. Yes Denzel suffers a shot in this one, but it is from his own recklessness or willingness to trust someone. The italian scenery was nice to look at, sure, but most of the film is shot indoors or in the square of the town. The only memorable line for me is when the doctor says "only a good man would give that answer" (in response to Equalizer being asked if he is a good man or a bad man and answering "i dont know").
Sound of Freedom (2023)
Better direction than i expected
I went in thinking this might be a made-for-tv film but boy was i wrong. If this director does not get an academy award for this effort and editing then i will continue to have no respect for the oscars. The cast was great, and how in the world did they get those kids to act with perfection? The production felt authentic. I was tearing up multiple times in this film. Based on a true story, and i appreciated them showing real photos of the events and people, true history. That agent is a hero, a bigger man than me. A must see film for anyone who cares about human rights of children and stopping sex trafficking. Mr. Caviezel, well done.
Pandorum (2009)
Underappreciated film
This is one of the best sci-fi horror movies ever made. I was pleasantly surprised, and scared. The dark setting trapped inside a spacecraft was very well produced and presented, and really made the horror theme work for getting the viewer to feel like he was on the ship.
Watch this with the lights out and no distractions, trust me, if you want to enjoy the terror.
The cast/acting was great, and the creature effects were terrifying. This is a gem to find if you enjoy the escapism of sci-fi-horror. Bravo to the directors and producers and actors etc. I did not realize the one hallucination until it became apparent later in the film, signs of a good script. My only criticism was the concept for the, umm, creatures, i dont want to spoil, but that was pretty far fetched from a scientific perspective. But put that aside and this film is a scifi-horror classic. The action pace was great, you will not want to get up to miss a second.
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
More memorable than 3, but not perfect
I consider John Wick 1 and the 2 the better films, 3 was forgettable because of the turn to more hollywood pop and too much comic book type scripting (instead of the darker more realistic 1 and 2 with some comic book touches of lack of realism), although the action at the end of 3 with the famous asian martial arts experts was enjoyable (but not realistic) and the casting was good. This 4th installment was also a little hollywood pop or comic book for my taste, BUT, some of the action sequences were unique and fabulous: (1) the arc de triomphe sequence (street fighting in traffic), (2) the overhead no-cut sequence with the HE shotgun rounds, wow, (3) fighting a disguised Scott Adkins, very amusing if you know who he is, watch him in Avengement and the Debt Collector (1 and 2), those were great films, and (4) Donnie Yen sequences. The blind man capabilities were ridiculous of course, they should not have made him blind in the script, maybe half blind? The entire casting was great. The historical european sites (or sets?) were beautiful. But alas no perfection because of the lack of realism in too many scenes. Apparently Mr. Wick has unbreakable bones.
The Greatest Lie Ever Sold: George Floyd and the Rise of BLM (2022)
Informative
I give this 10 stars not necessarily because the production is anything fantastic, but because this was very informative. Candace Owens covers the stories that the mass media does not want to. BLM stole millions of dollars from supporters by spending lavishly on themselves (yes be wary of anything called a "non-profit", they show no profit but they pay their staff ridiculous salaries or embezzle most of the money, this is why i do not give to many "non-profit" organizations that enrich their staff instead of demanding volunteerism of their own ownership). But BLM is not even a charity, it was a scam, as revealed in this film. Look at where the BLM owners live today, in houses and properties worth millions. Anyone who gave money and time to BLM just enriched people underserving of their charity. Companies that give to BLM should be ashamed.
The George Floyd story is sad but the entire truth needed to come out, which this documentary achieves in doing. This is investigative journalism, something lacking the past 2 decades because of the political control of mass media mostly by the Democrat party. We do not have journalists anymore in the mass media, just political pundits expressing their biases. We need more Candace Owens type investigative journalism, and less political opinionated punditry in those pretending to be journalists.
1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
Great production, script lacking, he was more Christian than this
I really enjoy listening to the title score by Vangelis, very nice ! The production was fantastic, the ships seemed authentic (functional and dirty, not fake), the costuming was very good, again dirty and functional where appropriate, elegant in Spanish royalty. The cast was obviously very good, you will recognize many good actors.
Columbus was indeed a visionary in the sense he (and some others) wanted to sail west to find Asia when many others said it was not possible. The problem for me was the script. I wish some time had been spent showing how Columbus first gained experience and knowledge of the Atlantic winds and navigation sailing along west Africa. Where was the grandeur of coming back with a fleet of 17 ships? Where is the founding of several towns on different islands? Where is the story of the 3rd voyage when he actually landed on mainland America? The 4th voyage? I realize a film has to be limited because of time constraints, but they could have cut fluff from the beginning of the film. Columbus was a practicing Christian (and never used profanity), the film script shows the opposite in terms of his faith, even questioning faith in one scene through a violent rant, probably because of bias by the makers of the film (notice their unnecessary emphasis on the inquisition in the beginning). There are moments in the film where bringing Christianity to the people they encounter is mentioned, but the faith was notably absent from the film when i expect to see more. So thumbs down for the script, but visually and audibly the film was enjoyable, which i expect from Ridley Scott. That is why i give it 7 stars.
The Tomorrow War (2021)
Magnificent
From the perspective of an action-scifi-horror genre fan, this movie was fantastic. From the script, to the special effects, the casting, the acting, the creature effects, the production, the direction, the creature design, the music scoring, it was all very good. Yvonne nailed the beach scene (i had tears running down my face) and the intense dramatic action sequence from the moment they started going down the stairs to the end of the city scape scenes were the hardest hitting dramatic moments of the film, i was blown away by that sequence. It was great seeing Chloe from 24 in a blaze of glory sacrificing for the others. It was fun seeing JK Simmons in this one, and Chris Pratt played his role well. The values of keeping family together, putting family first, and sacrificing yourself for others were prominent and made the drama work. The negative reviews are ridiculous in my opinion, this is action-scifi-horror entertainment with a story condensed into 2 hours, there is only so much they can present in terms of story. If entertainment was the goal they succeeded. Bravo to everyone involved in this film, everyone in my family thoroughly enjoyed it. I watched it 3 times. It is also impressive that this was not a theatrical release, it was a streaming release (Amazon prime). It should have been in theaters. I only had a couple of thoughts of what i would have changed in the film but it was still worth 10 stars based on my reaction to the film. Although James Cameron's Aliens will always be my favorite action-scifi-horror film of all time, The Tomorrow War still blew me out of the sofa. As with other such films you have to watch with the lights off and no distractions.
Zvyozdniy razum (2022)
Missed opportunity
The CGI was very good (spacecraft exterior, wormhole, space, planet scenes) and the production sets and costumes were fine, and the music score was good enough, but alas the poor script and editing and direction wasted a good opportunity for a good film. The surprise ending elements were interesting and i enjoyed that part of the script. It tried to emulate the environment of Prometheus / Alien films or Event Horizon, to some extent but it is not the same story and didnt come close to Ridley Scott type direction. The concept of the sphere and the trojan creature were not explained well enough in the script, and some elements such as the ridiculous slime presence, the annoying fade-to-black transitions, and stiff acting to forced acting made this a forgettable film. The protagonists wife seemed like a good actress. The actors and director should have rehearsed and tweaked the scenes over and over instead of rushing through this with uncertain/stiff performances. Which is unfortunate because the CGI was good, in particular the ship/wormhole scenes. The script and editing did not pace well. Sometimes the human behavior and script seemed juvenile (unrealistic) for professionals hand picked for a deep space mission. They also should have left the actors speaking russian and used english subtitles. If that was face/lip CGI to english i am thoroughly impressed. Just watch the ending credits to see how many people were involved in the CGI and you will understand why the russians are good at it. Now if they could only script/direct/edit then their movie industry might get some respect. I gave it 5 stars for the CGI and attempt at a good story, but that score is still a disappointment. Try again russian hollywood.
Collateral (2004)
Underappreciated film
For me this was a fantastic film, the casting, the acting, the action, the plot, the score, the drama, the script, almost perfect and a unique film. This is what i expect from a Michael Mann film (from Miami Vice TV fame, and the classic film "Heat"), too bad we do not see more of it. Tom Cruise gets credit for taking on the role of the antagonist, i did not expect that of him. I could watch this film every year and i bought a Blu-ray copy, a sign of a new classic for me. The only flaw was how unrealistically slowly the club evacuated during the shootout, but other than that i was blown away by this movie. Well done to the entire cast, the production, the script writers, and the direction.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)
Good movie
If you are a fan of the horror-videogame genre of movie you will enjoy this one. I was highly entertained. It grabs you by the collar from the beginning and does not let go (fast pace). Have to understand the game setting to appreciate the production, but the production was good. Acting was fine, i understand the critiques of the Leon character but i am not convinced the script writers are not fooling us, we will find out in the next film. Two hints convinced me he was not who was claiming to be (practical police rookie that landed there to get away from an embarrassing situation). The way he handled a pistol reload in the jail and the way he handled that rocket launcher might indicate he is more than he appears. I also enjoyed the Mila initial Resident Evil film and the 2nd and 3rd and 4th films, but they were of a different tone, they were more fun to watch, whereas Welcome to Racoon is actually terrifying (an actual horror movie). I cannot count how many times i jumped. The film scoring was good and the sound editing was loud, constantly had your attention. Bravo to this first installment of the reboot, i really enjoyed it.
Run Hide Fight (2020)
Entertaining indie film
For a limited budget independent film this kept my attention and was entertaining. The casting of Isabel May was perfect, her protagonist acting would make or break the film and she was fabulous. The direction succeeded in setting moments of drama that captivate the viewer. The acting by the antagonists was good as well. Was not expecting a redemption moment for one of the young terrorists, part of a relatively good script. The pace was perfect, enough action and drama to keep you enthralled. My only critique would be to question how the long gun at the end could be left unattended at a crime scene, in the words of NFL TV commentary, "come on man". This is a great initial work for film production upstart The Daily Wire, keep em coming.
Prometheus (2012)
Masterpiece
Prometheus is a sci-fi horror masterpiece. I was floored by the cinematography, the acting, and the horror. This is arguably one of the best sci-fi horror movies ever made. The Christian protagonist is a welcome change in a positive role. The story and film-making were as good as you can expect. The cast and acting were excellent. Ridley Scott met my expectations after his Alien film and James Cameron's Aliens. Although Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection were tolerable and entertaining, Prometheus returns the high quality film making and script writing, and problems associated with artificial intelligence robots, back to the franchise. My only disappointment was the portrayal of the geologist, does not appear realistic. This is supposed to be part 1 of 3 in a series of prequels to Alien 1, which explains why we do not see the recognizable "alien" or xenomorph until the end, but other horrors precede this. Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender were spectacular.