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Reviews
City of Ember (2008)
Plagiarism
This movie is example of bad plagiarism. Shurely, it is based on some literal piece, but unfortunately which is also based on computer games classics. Not to be subjective, this is classics i'm talking about, not some brand new popular shooter whose fame people like Uwe Bohl like to exploit and make a crappy movie. I'd like to think that it's meant for people who doesn't know about these games, but again it's a mere shadow comparing to them. It could have been easily titled Bioshock; underwater... ups, sorry underGROUND city, utopia that went wrong, retro-future scenography like we've already seen in Gilliam's Brazil. Or it could have been titled Fallout; nuclear holocaust, experts build sanctuaries, 200 hundred years life support (the same amount of years, total blasphemy!!!), and most of all a small cubic briefcase with instructions in it mented for the generations who will build the world once again (did someone said G.E.C.K. (Garden of Eden Creation Kit). And for a big finale, the movie has the same story as first hour of Fallout 3 - we're born in the vault, we live in the vault, we die in the vault; same quasi-religious relationship, just the vault is replaced with generator. Bad acting, boring storyline, lame music. As for me, if I was CEO of Bethesda I would sue them!
House M.D. (2004)
Hard Core Medics!
Ever thought what people who save lives really look like inside? Dr Gregory House will answer you that, and more. This is not usual boring clone TV drama you used to watch. This is not ER or Chicago Hope because in real life doctors are not that moralistic. This ain't Anatomy either which is more like Beverly Hills in white coats mix up. Young doctors on Discovery crying after they failed to cure terminal cancer patient - untrue directed crap! House is real as far TV show can be. Unique!
Dr House will show how dark and repulsive main character can be, and still can be a hero type. Maybe you won't like him, but that's because he is more like you and me and less unrealistic high moral TV icon. Hugh Laurie plays him with brilliance, and if there are complaints about him being English or about his English accent, know that he was about to be rejected by the producers because his American accent was 'too perfect'.
Other reason you should watch the show is because it is full of funny situations of patients and their diseases, and the major/plot ones are really something you (if you are not a medical worker) never heard of, or never thought it is still active in civilized areas. And you won't get miracles either like in Chicago Hope when patient without left side of his brain moves right hand and speaks fluently (which is impossible).
Other characters are perfectly written also. Everyone has his own agenda and opinion which creates true professional conflicts, and as in real life - no one wins.
So in the end, you can watch three absolutely the same CSI shows, another bad clone of Seinfield or Friends or you can watch something good!
Firefly (2002)
Imagine
Everything you need to know about Firefly is already written about Buffy. The difference is this is Joss Whedon's magnum opus. This is what he wanted to do all his life, and wanted people remember him for. If you liked Buffy, or just respected it, you can find it all here again but in higher levels - lucid acting by mostly anonimous crew; perfect directing; amazing soundtrack; and genius script. I'll say no more...
Imagine, imagine just for a second that Firefly had network support and money of another canceled show called ST: Enterprise which was on the air for 5 seasons (I could be wrong) and was a disaster from the beginning. Imagine...
Serenity (2005)
End of All Hope
Serenity is fine example of ending a saga. For those who haven't seen Firefly TV series, movie is another story. They cannot comprehend how amazing this series could become. But someone in TV network decided people are not interested in space cowboys, real human personalities - not white, not black, but gray; and true power of different opinion! The movie has excellent story, effects and atmosphere. It ends the series but not in a way of 2 hour episode. This is exactly what other directors or producers should do with their work one day, whether their series are canceled or else. But who exactly follow Joss' steps? Approximately no one. You have things like 'Lost' which goes on and on forever, getting deeper and deeper into the matter and not explaining things or have some real plot, and eventually will become something like 'X-Files'.
A must see!
Dom durakov (2002)
Russians still can do it!
Elementary basics in film art school - old Russian movies. Maybe not something for ordinary man, but this is the picture on both sides. It's amazing how amongst everyday blockbuster clones this brilliant piece slipped in. Get everybody's attention and make them watch it.
The only thing I want to concentrate here is the difference between American and Russian mind. U.S. had lost the war in 'Nam but there are billion movies about successes and victories; today after the 9/11 patriotic element is in every, but every movie, whether it is political or not, and on the other side you have guys like Clooney who create opposite thing like in Syriana. They call it 'the truth' but many claim he is traitor. But this is not a political disscusion. The thing I want to point out is that Konchalovsky stays in the middle. Checheny is big thing for Russia, but he is political in a way it becomes apolitical movie, because common man is after all apolitical - too small to apprehend borders, power, money and war! Bravo!
Sunshine (2007)
THE worst of all time!!!
Now this is crap I haven't seen a long time. Maybe because I was expecting a big hit considering the quality of "28 Later" and "Trainspotting". To me, this is just the cause of sci-fi genre is considered second grade genre, or explicitly - not to achieve goals as other genres can, and I'm not talking about sales. Story begins with great tension, but as the movie goes it becomes such a cliché which I was certain it would avoid. OK, the actors got a education of what is to be an astronaut so everything was going to be realistic, but then passion, madness and pathetic slips in. How realistic is that one of the other crew members becomes a monster. Literally!!! IT is immune to 30000 degrees, it can see even in the dark, it doesn't eat, and mind that it is sabotageur (which is perfectly fine) - it is ill person talking to God himself and his zealot. Killer in space! Hah, a parody isn't it. I wonder how he got into a position to be a NASA captain. Beside the plot, realism is conflicted with ridiculous things all the time. Icarus has a shield to protect it from the sun beams, and all you can say to this is WOW! But what about gravity??? Even in the end, in that comic cube falling into the sun gravity is unbelievably everywhere. Air too! Now Star Trek has a canon and you can respect it, but what the f*** is explanation here??? And please, please, stop making all that sound in space! There is no sound in it. There's no air to conduct it! And you don't need engine to travel, just to speed up/or down. What will stop you or slow you down once you achieve desired velocity?
After all suspension thriller in cosmos - not bloody likely, Earth is perfectly good for that kind if movie.
Watch it if you really don't know what to do.