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The Creator (2023)
5/10
Very weird description of a future world where humans and AIs are at war
15 November 2023
The movie is weird. In this alternate reality with lots of humanoid robots in certain parts of the world, the people around them still live either in backward environments like those Vietnam War era Asian villages, or in futuristic looking modern cities, but all have no meaningful method to protect themselves against a small expedition force from a foreign country. Even the robots are not as intelligent as we think they should be. They are more like a partially mechanized human with limited abilities in every way including no large scale industry capacities, no interconnected communication, no super speed or accuracy, or even no basic weapons like RPGs or MANPADS besides some light weapons. Some robots are also religious like many primitive humans do. For AIs built based on logic, science and reasoning? That's just ridiculous! Of course something similar may happen in the real world such as an ox pulling the rusted body of a beat-up car in some remote villages. But that's never normal or common. All in all, the storyline of the movie is very lacking in realistic or scientific prediction of a future world where humans and AIs coexist, or at war with each other If our offspring choose to be stupid, stubborn and violent as many narrow-minded humans in the movie or in real life.
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The Burial (II) (2023)
5/10
The arguments and the final court ruling simply don't make much sense.
7 November 2023
I usually enjoy movies on legal battles. But just like some other reviews said, the whole case's arguments and the final court ruling simply don't make much sense. Instead of focusing on basic legal principles, this case was jumping around on unrelated issues such as projected racism, emotions, even including dragging a certain person's grandfather's role in the history into the scenario. This drama goes very far from what a proper legal system should look like. The more ridiculous thing is that this movie is actually based on a true court case. I guess the only reasonable conclusion one can make from this movie is that businesses should avoid huge unpredictable risks by staying away from certain areas where laws and courts are not run based on legal principles but emotions and all sorts of strange things.
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James May: Oh Cook! (2020–2023)
2/10
You won't learn anything practical in your cooking from this show
7 October 2023
I really don't know what I should call this TV series. It looks like a cooking or cuisine show, but the main character is very clumsy and even clueless in his kitchen. That is probably fine as some of us are sometimes like that as well. However, the main drawback that makes the whole show pointless is that almost all the dishes he introduced are complicated ones with lots of ingredients and procedures which are not feasible in this modern busy life for many. It can be fun at certain moments, but then again those moments are few and far between. I'd rather watch a comedy if that's what I want. Basically it will be a waste of time because you won't learn anything practical in your cooking from this show.
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6/10
Reflects many realistic issues new immigrants are facing in Canada but doesn't go deep for any.
3 October 2023
It's hard to shrink a life's story into a 2-hour movie. It's even harder to divide that into many different sections such as adapting to life in a country as a new immigrant, relationship between parents and children, overcoming obstacles including discrimination and hypocrisy of the social norm, forging friendship and love, sudden discovery of a terminal disease, and making amends with past losses before the imminent end. These are all the topics that the movie tried to cover. And naturally as a result, one can only scratch the surface of every issue instead of digging deep into any. That is the impression I got after watching this movie. It does reflect many realistic issues new immigrants are facing in Canada but just doesn't feel that it goes deep enough to offer a good solution or good ending for any of them. I guess that's life.
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6/10
Enjoyable thriller but totally wrong in depicting the inherently evil Kremlin with a friendly tone
25 April 2023
It is an enjoyable thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. But remember that movies are a form of entertainment and should not be taken as a representation of reality, esp. This one. Some naïve leftist in Hollywood obviously believed that Russia had turned into a not so bad country after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. However, reality has proven this movie totally wrong about that. The hard and cold reality, especially the current full scale invasion into Ukraine proves that Russia is still a totalitarian regime and the biggest issue still lies with its antisocial head of state in the Kremlin. As long as there are powerful dictatorships like Russia or China in this world, the human race has to face the danger of big wars and even total extinction.
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The Whale (2022)
5/10
Dark, depressing movie about a self-defeating jerk and binge eater
27 March 2023
I don't like this movie at all. Because the whole film plays in a dark, depressing tone and an ugly, messy room from the beginning to the end. The male protagonist is gross to even look at. Except for the Asian female nurse, who is relatively normal, the other characters are all sorts of losers who made their own conscious choices to be like that. The story is simply about a guy who gobbles himself to be a big lump of meat worse than a fat hog. There are tons of other people in the world who deserve more sympathy and help than this kind of self-defeating jerk. Have to say that Hollywood awards are often inexplicable grandstanding.
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Outlast (2023– )
7/10
A survival showing exposing true ugliness in some of the human beings
12 March 2023
Warning: Spoilers
If you think that this is another similar survival competition with a big prize to win, you only get it half right. Turns out it has more dirty plays that exposes true ugliness in some of the human beings which hasn't been shown often in this type of survival games. Due to the lack of rules set up by the organizer of the prize winning game, some of the players started to use very unethical dirty tricks against other teams or members, especially those who just faced some obstacles that made them look weak in others' eyes. As an observer who has no skin in it, you can tell right away who are the dirty ones in the game. But in the show and just like in real life, those evildoers kept on finding all sorts of excuses proving that they had a right to do whatever they want and even bragging about their "righteousness". The grossest scene in the whole show is when one team was reduced to only one person and had to combine force with another weakened team according to one of a few rules, those evildoers attacked openly at that player's weakest time, as those two teams were separated by a river and it'd take them time to cross the river and combine their force. That devil just stood right at that single person's base and threatened to sabotage and destroy his base if he leaves his base to help receive the other team crossing the river, while the evildoer's other accomplice went to the riverside to destroy the opponent's raft. Well, if there's no rule at all as in the wild West, it would make total sense for others to subdue those evildoers by force or whatever means possible instead of watching them stabbing other players' backs without any consequences. That would make it a fairer.
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8/10
It intrigues and resonates, esp. with another unbelievable cruel war fighting in Europe right now
21 March 2022
Not sure why this movie was recommended as it just suddenly appeared. Neither I had any idea what it's about till the late half of the movie. But it intrigues and resonates, especially with another unbelievable cruel war fighting in Europe right now. Can't stop thinking that similar or even worse atrocities are currently happening in an original peaceful place just because an insane tyrant and his cronies cooked up lies and instigated a group of armed thugs to kill. This is a lesson that should have been learned long ago - The free world should never appease, finance and encourage dictators by cooperating with them under the banner of "only business". Autocratic regimes like Russia should be kicked out of the world trading/tech/financial system thoroughly & ASAP, so they can stay poor and backward instead of initiating cruel aggressions on their peace-loving neighbors.
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4/10
Mediocre movie with shaky cameras
8 January 2022
This is a very mediocre World War II concentration camp movie compared with other good ones in similar topics. One thing I don't like the most is the shaky cameras in many scenes. It gives viewers headaches and nausea for no good reason. Go watch other great movies such as The Schindler's List, and many more out there.
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Last Night (I) (2010)
9/10
Love doesn't last
24 September 2021
So realistic. Just watch the first 12 minutes & you'll know why relationships fail and love doesn't last in marriages. Joanna is an attractive woman. But she can turn her beautiful face into an ugly one in a split of a second out of unfounded jealousy. Nobody likes to have such a sullen face around. And this is just scratching the surface of all those issues out there. Stay away from marriages, or at least watch this before you jump into that sinking boat.
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Life on the Line (I) (2015)
8/10
Decent down-to-earth movie, much better than many big budget ones
7 December 2016
I reluctantly watched this movie after reading so many bad reviews here. Well, turns out it's not bad at all. It's actually much better than those xxx-man, new xxxx-war (even though I'm a big fan of other xxxx-war movies), or any mind-boggling ones which purposely disrupt natural timelines and make simple events hard to understand.

US movie industry has lost its sight for many years. Instead of making decent movies reflecting dramas in our daily lives, it bets on high flying (read "unrealistic, full of logic holes") ideas such as all kinds of ridiculous superheros, or fancier remake (read "copy & paste with nothing new in plot at all") such as the new star war movie.

Guess this is the ugly truth of the new reality. Building things one brick at a time is not fancy any more. Instead, creating billions out of nothing with weird financial ideas (read "cheating/stealing from others") makes you the king of the street.
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Pure Genius (2016–2017)
10/10
Uplifting & show the possibilities of where technology may take us
27 November 2016
Watched and really enjoyed it.

Read a few negative reviews from some other viewers, who mainly are not happy at all kinds of "unrealistic" technologies shown in the episodes. But I have to say - they are wrong, for they're either unaware of new frontiers in technology, or too narrow minded and lack of imagination. Somewhat like medieval priests screaming at anyone claiming that the Earth is not the centre of the universe.

Some of the viewers may have medical backgrounds, and are picky at whatever detailed procedure isn't like what it should be in their opinion. Well, first of all, this is not a medical education visual study. Plus, the current way may not be the best way or even the right way. Think about what medical doctors did in 19th century. I'm sure they got all kinds of "right procedures" in their handbooks. But now who cares what is the right way to put a leach on a fever patient?

Remember, this is a drama, not a documentary. And it's a good drama!
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6/10
Not bad. But there are better ones out there.
23 April 2008
The movie is touching, even though it is a little bit slow. The main drawback, in my humble opinion, is that it became too religious in many places. It might make sense to very religious viewers. But it's totally nonsense and waste of time to repeat dozens of times that "He will take care of us".

To anyone who wants to know the hellish suffering Jewish people endured during the 2nd World War under Hitler's ethnic cleansing policy, I highly recommend some better movies such as "Schindler's List" and "Life Is Beautiful". Those movies are made in late 1990s, with better plot, technology and directing.

Well, if you have enough free time, this movie is still worth watching.
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