Reviews

I am absolutely amazed that someone could take the end of the world and a massive pandemic and make it so incredibly boring. In large part this is because the protagonist is so flat and boring himself. There is no reason to like this guy or find him interesting. He's not smart or funny and doesn't have any apparent talents or reason at all to be the main character in a story. At the very most he should be some sort of quirky side character. But instead we get to see him stare blankly off into space, stare blankly at other characters, and then go back to staring blankly off into space. Why? I don't know and I don't think the director or actor knew either. He's certainly not thinking deep thoughts.

The only reason it even gets two stars is the child actor does a good job. That's it. She's the only thing this whole episode has going for it. It'll put you to sleep.

For a show that was so good it is absolutely amazing to see how terrible it is in this season. Characters change their positions and alliances so quickly they don't feel like actual characters any more. There's no motivation or real emotions here. All their decisions feel like they were made by asking "What's the most irrational thing they could do next?" And there's no real consequences to any actions. No one significant ever dies no matter how dire their situation is. The whole thing is an absolute mess and if the series had started out like this it wouldn't have made it past the first season. It's just sad to see a show start so good and then turn into complete drivel. I just don't know what Bill Hader and the rest of the team is even trying for any more.

I watched the first three episodes waiting for ANY sign that this version of Ripley is clever or a talented con man or good at anything at all. And he's not. And no point did I believe he was going to be believable in manipulating other people or being more intelligent than them or any of the things the character is supposed to be good at. And look, Andrew Scott is very good at a very specific role. This isn't it. His dour expression goes nowhere with this character. Other versions of the character showed their ability to charm other people and manipulate them and be devious. None of that appears here.

On the plus side the show does have some nice shots and camera work. The music is good and adds a feeling of dread especially during the closing credits when all we have is the music and some sounds. That's pretty much it. It never ceases to amaze me that you can get so many otherwise talented people together and produce such a mediocre product.

Generally speaking I love Alex Garland and his work. Ex Machina is one of my favorite films and I've watched it about a dozen times. And he's written several others that I like. But... at some point he seems to have decided that "weird and unexplained" is the same as "creepy and terrifying." With both this film and his previous film Annihilation we get lots of weird stuff that happens and no real explanation for why it's happening. And I don't mean the central premise of this story, we don't need to know how that happened. By why do characters constantly make these random decisions without any reason? And whatever moral is meant to be conveyed is heavy handed at best. Add in the repetitive soundtrack and the whole thing just ends up bloated and collapsing under its own weight. The ending is gross (which again doesn't mean scary or anything other than gross) and getting to watch it several times while the protagonist just sits there staring and acting like a damsel in distress is just so very tiring.

I wanted to watch this before going to see his new movie and hope Civil War won't be another disappointment from a writer/director who is capable of genius.

I read in the trivia that the first draft was written in four days. That kind of explains a lot. I really don't know what the point of this movie was. It didn't say or do anything that hadn't been said and done better before. I think the director watched "No Country for Old Men" too many times and thought he could do something similar. He failed.

It feels like someone grabbed a bunch of words out of a hat and applied them to creating characters. Most of them have these random attributes or minor story points that just go nowhere. The sheriff has cancer. Okay. What does this add to his performance and the movie? Absolutely nothing. The protagonist has Parkinsons apparently. Again, this adds nothing to the story. The whole story and dialogue just wanders all over the place without really doing much. A complete waste of everyone' time, but those who made the film and anyone who watches it.

P. S. John Travolta is on screen for about 15 minutes total while Stephen Dorff is on screen for at least three times as much. They clearly made Travolta the face of it to capitalize on what's left of his reputation and I can only assume he took the paycheck and phoned in his performance.

It never fails to amaze me when you take a group of talented and experienced filmmakers and they produce a dull, boring, full of tropes, absolute snooze fest. I watched the movie all the way to the end waiting for some hint of David Fincher's abilities. Sadly, nothing ever happened. The character's third grade moralizing and monotone delivery of his various "rules" has been done to death and done so much better. I can think of a dozen low budget films that didn't have anywhere near this caliber of cast who nonetheless were at least entertaining and maybe had some good laughs in them. This whole movie is just Michael Fassbender monologuing in the same tone and trying to show less emotion than the Terminator. And again, that's been done and done better.

My best guess is that David Fincher is angry at Netflix and is deliberately wasting their money. He's got a multi-film deal with them and so far has delivered two steaming piles of crap. I don't think I'll bother watching the next one.

Pros: they worked hard to make a visually alien world. Voice acting is solid and it's a good premise.

Cons: Just about everything else, but mostly the writing. The aliens act more like a magic system and its definitely "soft magic." Basically things work however the writers feel like they should work at that moment. There's no real logic, science, or consistency to the alien ecosystem. And generally speaking I can't believe any of these characters has lasted for more than a few days in this world with the stupid decisions they constantly make. We even have a character with the old "I've been bitten by a zombie/alien parasite but I'm going to hide it from the other characters because no reason." I spent most of the show wanting to slap people for being so stupid.

And then there's Camen. At no point will you feel anything other than contempt for his character. Which... I guess is what the writers were trying for? Either way, I could do without all of his scenes. He is a minor character who doesn't deserve the screen time he gets.

Overall, you can just skip this show. It's trying but it's failing.

On the positive side this show has some phenomenal actors in it. Christoph Waltz can play this role like few others. Nat Wolff has great intensity and his characters always feel intelligent. Brittany O'Grady does just fine but doesn't blow me away.

Aaaaaand... that's it. That's pretty much all this show has going for it. I give it 3 stars for having such a good cast but they're almost completely wasted. This show acts like it is taking place in a normal human world but then throws in all these elements that are just not even slightly believable in a normal human world. Regus (played by Christoph) does things in the first episode that would immediately cause the company to be sued several times. It's not even slightly believable that any company would just hand control over to anyone with his complete lack of credentials, experience with the company, or anything else based solely on a single contract signed by the CEO. Any real company would immediately contest the validity of the contract and tie things up in court for years before just letting him Waltz on in there and take control.

And they just try so very very hard! Regus is creepy and mysterious. He is SO creepy and mysterious! How does he do what he does? No one knows because he's just so mysterious! Why is he acting like he does? Because it makes him seem creepy. And mysterious. And the other characters and actors have to go along with this. Why does a character cry/overact in the first episode while cleaning himself with a sponge and some water? This guy is acting like they're making him cut off a finger for absolutely no reason except that he's in this show where they're trying so hard to make it seem like there's more going on than there actually is.

And at the end of the day it's just boring. Is Regus the devil? I don't even care. Why did the tragedy happen in the first place? There's nothing this show can think up to answer the question that would make me suffer through another episode let alone another season to find out. This show just has nothing to say that hasn't been said already and said better. So I give them a C- for effort because they would be better off making Regus seem normal most of the time while occasionally doing something creepy instead of making him creepy and mysterious 24/7.

War is terrible. We've seen this in many movies and this movie has nothing new to say about it. We see hundreds of soldiers die but with the uniforms/costumes that cover them almost completely, they are all just faceless shapes falling down. I felt little emotion at seeing any of them die other than one or two main characters. The rest seemed more like figures in a video game than characters or people.

And maybe I am desensitized by other movies and games. But other films like 1917 have told this story and told it better. Much of the film felt derivative of others. Oh wow, the general is eating a great feast while the poor soldiers are starving! The Return of the King already did this and did it so much better.

There's about five good minutes halfway through the film where we see them advance on the enemy trench and see some sign of actual tactics and skill among characters who are supposed to be 18+ month veterans of the war. The protagonist after being in combat for all this time still acts like a fresh faced recruit unable to deal with anyone dying or being in danger himself. I found it quite unlikely that he would still be alive after that much time with what a whiny little punk he is. Yes, war is terrible and it takes its toll on soldiers but if you're going to have a nervous breakdown in the middle of combat you're not going to last 18 weeks let alone 18 months.

So I didn't find the characters believable, relatable, original, or interesting. And same for the movie itself. Do yourself a favor and watch or rewatch Band of Brothers.

First, kudos to Dave and his team for going into an active war zone to do this interview. I'm sure they minimized the risks but they're still going into a city that is under attack. And it's a long route to get there these days.

Second, what can I say to do justice to President Zelenskyy? The man is just so genuine and sincere in his love for his country, his desire for peace, and his courage in defending his country. Even after watching this interview I cannot possibly imagine how hard it must be for him every day to make the decisions to keep fighting and not trade the freedoms of his people for peace and an end to the battle. He is an amazing man and the world and the Ukraine are lucky to have him.

And on the other hand we have Putin. I will not sully this beautiful interview by saying anything about Putin except that is he is the exact opposite of Zelenskyy. He cares nothing for his country, has no desire for anything other than power, and it takes no courage for him to order the deaths of millions of people he cares nothing about.

Thank you to Dave and his team for getting us this interview and thank you Volodymyr Zelenskyy for reminding us how a real man behaves himself.

I've been a fan of the Amazing Johnathan for some time now so I was interested in watching this.

But, about 20 minutes into the documentary it stops being about the Amazing Johnathan and turns into this director Ben Berman being a whiny little loser because Johnathan allowed a second crew (that, let's face it have much better credentials than Ben) to also shoot a documentary about him. And rather than being cool about it and being professional and focusing on doing his own show and finding something different to say about Johnathan, Ben just keeps going on and on about this other crew and how butthurt he is about the situation. Which wouldn't be so bad if he would just come out and say it and get it all out of his system and then get back to focusing on Johnathan. But after 15 minutes of his passive aggressive bellyaching I turned the show off. I'll just go find that other documentary where I assume they'll actually talk about Johnathan and not waste my time crying about how unfair life is to them.

If I had known this was the team who did Paradise PD I wouldn't have wasted time on even one episode. They so desperately want to be funny and have absolutely no talent at it. How about a penis joke? Wait, we've got another penis joke right behind it. Then we'll swear and show someone's penis. Wow, look how edgy and cool we are! Desperate for any sort of reaction from their audience. But all it amounts to is boredom. There's nothing funny, original, or interesting about any of it. The animators had a little fun making some weird looking characters and that's about it. Even hiring some good actors to do the voices just highlights the lack of talent from the writing and directing.

This movie just tries sooooooo hard to be shocking and show people acting like savages that it fails to portray anyone as acting remotely plausible. It's like watching a music video. There's no character development and no choices really being made because their actions and choices are just absurd. We end up with violence and chaos that is cartoonish. I think if you asked the director why a character is doing something the honest answer would be "I don't know." Why does the cashier pick up the book about learning French and learn French? I don't know. Why is the protagonist suddenly obsessed with painting his apartment? I don't know.

Strangely the most unrealistic scene was when the heavily pregnant character complains to her husband that he doesn't spend time with her and he tells her she should be more like the beautiful, skinny, blond upstairs neighbor he clearly lusts after and instead of smashing in his skull his wife responds by smiling and letting him kiss her condescendingly on the forehead. C'mon man, a Stepford Wife wouldn't have put up with that one.

Just a huge waste of the time and talent of everyone involved. The ladies get to see Tom Hiddleston almost completely nude and the guys get to see Sienna Miller's boobs and that's sadly about the only thing this movie has worth seeing.

I watched this movie in the theater because there wasn't anything else worth watching (that I hadn't already seen, Encanto and The King's Man are both excellent films) so I wasn't expecting too much. So I was pleasantly surprised by how good this movie is. It's got a few slow moments and gets a little ... for lack of a better word Japanesey at points. Which is to say, if you're not used to Japanese stories it might be a little weird but if you ARE used to them, you'll understand what I mean.

There were two different scenes that really hit my emotions. Without spoiling anything I'll just say the first being when we see what happened to her mother and second scene being when we find out why the Dragon has his bruises. That second one made me cry my dang eyes out.

Is it perfect? Of course not. I would have liked to see more of Belle in the online world and see her character having a longer life there before the rest of the plot comes charging along. It wasn't really clear to me how exactly Belle became such a huge hit. I think I understand but it was a little confusing. And it's a little bit cheesy at times but that's okay sometimes.

It's not for everyone. If you don't enjoy this kind of movie you won't enjoy it. But I did :)

I enjoyed Dune. I'll say this: I think it's as good as you can do while following the novel. The novel has SOME elements that translate well into a movie, which is why people keep trying to make movie/tv series of it, and it's a great story, but it also has a LOT of stuff that doesn't make for a very interesting movie. So I think this version of it is as good as a movie could do of Dune without starting to make serious changes from the source material.

Of course, it's not for everyone. What piece of art is? I'd like the movie critics who give it a bad score to explain what THEY would do that would make the movie better and I guarantee that whatever changes they make would disappoint more people than they would please. So... go see it if you want to see a good movie adaption of Dune. If that doesn't really interest, then don't go see it!

As seems to be the case with most these shows, we have a bunch of characters who are so stupid it's impossible to believe they've survived long enough to be in the middle of a zombie outbreak. None of these morons would have survived the first 24 hours. I give them a tiny bit of credit for casting a deaf actor in the role of a deaf character but then they make him so stupid he doesn't know that drums make noise. Unless he's been raised in a cave his whole life any deaf person is going to know what a drum is. But don't worry! Another character with fully functioning ears decides to drum a little for absolutely no reason because the only thing more stupid than one character in this story is another character in the story.

I watched three episodes in horrified fascination to see what stupid decision would be made next. There's no shortage of them. I can't believe so many people can be involved in a show and not produce something better than this.

I only watched this because I like Amy Acker and David Arquette and that's really the only reason to watch it, and sadly, is not enough. The script is boring and lifeless. I don't even know why it's listed as a romantic COMEDY because there is zero attempts at humor (beyond naming the Donkey Quxiote). But more than just dull the script is predictable. Once you find out David is playing a writer if you predict that his first book was very successful but that he's struggled since then and after moping around the whole movie it will conclude with him finding a fresh perspective on life and re-committing himself to his writing, then you're right. It's not a spoiler to say that's what happens because it's so clear from the start that that is what is going to happen. That's how the whole movie goes. She'll be temped to cheat on him, he'll make a big romantic gesture, blah blah blah. Just google "romantic comedy tropes" and go down the checklist if you bother to watch this.

I wish these two charming actors would be in a movie I could endorse but this movie is just a complete waste of everyone's time. Sorry!

I can only assume that the writer or director had some idea for some scenes and said "Let's make a movie out of these scenes and find some reason to create that scene." "Should we bother with a plot or character development?" "Nope. I want a scene where a lady is in a field and is hiding in the plants from a zombie." "Why would someone in the middle of a zombie apocalypse be out there without a weapon?" "I don't know and don't care. Then I want a scene where a lady drives into a town and turns on her car radio to attract zombies, she kills one, and then drives off." "Why?" "I DON'T KNOW AND I DON'T CARE!"

This is one of those movies where it's impossible to imagine these characters surviving for five minutes. They constantly make stupid decisions for no reason at all. And the zombies can apparently teleport and go from being 500 feet away to 5 feet in a matter of moments just so that they can get in a cheap jump scare and kill another character. The good news is the characters are so flat and boring you won't care.

What we're left with is a movie with a lot, and I mean A LOT, of shots of people standing around staring. The zombies stare. The character stare. And after some staring they either chase or fight each other. But I can only assume that their budget couldn't cover any decent special effects so it's a lot of people being killed off-screen.

After the first twenty minutes I was just watching it in a sort of fascinated horror waiting for any sort of hint of a plot. But none ever arrived. Spend your time on ANYTHING else.

P.S. The character who is blissfully unaware of what is going on was kiiiinda a funny idea but the idea that the main characters wouldn't even bother to tell him was just as stupid as the rest of their decisions. Especially since he too can teleport like the zombies do and apparently cannot be seen in the side view mirror on cars.

I only got around to watching this movie in Feb of 2015 so I'd heard some friends cheer for it and others criticize it. I loved the movie "Monsters" so I was really hoping that this movie would be as good and be a solid step forward for the director. But this movie sucks. I mean the CGI was very impressive but other than that there wasn't a shred of logic to it, the characters were boring, I hate to say it but Bryan Cranston was overacting like crazy for pretty much his entire role, and the government and military were just stupid stupid stupid the entire movie long. There were dozens of good choices they could have made to fight these monsters but they clung to doing what had already failed them because it was convenient to the plot. Their complete inability to keep track of the movements of a giant monster despite having satellites and super-sonic aircraft at their disposal was not believable in the slightest. The science was a complete joke and the movie would have been much better off with them just saying "Yeah, we're not really sure what's going on... something with radiation we think" and just leaving it at that. Overall it felt like a movie where the writer or director came up with a bunch of "cool scenes" (like Godzilla swimming under an aircraft carrier) and then tried to just string them all together into a story.

Just a complete waste of everyone's time and money and another failure to produce a decent Gozilla movie. I give it a 3/10 for the pretty CGI and the visually impressive sequence of them dropping into the city in the final act of the movie (y'know, the sequence they showed in the trailers for it).