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Reviews
Fringe (2008)
Fringe over loves "pseudo science" and grotesque ways to destroy the human body.
I've watched episode after episode in trying to see the attraction of this show, but what I said in the title of this review stands.
#1) A crowd of ordinary people are dissolved and turned into disgusting corpses on an airplane. #2) A crowd of people are killed on a bus like flies trapped in gelatin amber. #3) Person after person is gruesomely "exploded" by a radioactive human "experiment." #4) Person after person is murdered for a piece of their brain, and we are "treated" to the ugly pictures. #5) Many people die after a man is transformed into an unknowing human electric chair.
I have almost certainly mixed up some of the numbers, but you get the general idea by now...
This show tends to be just as much about bizarre ways to mutilate the human body as anything else, and I have zero interest in that.
As for "science," the idea that LSD introduces the lead doctor to a parallel universe, like most things in this show, is too absurd to suspend my disbelief, though Star Trek and The Twilight Zone made that easy.
Unless something radical changed in later seasons, I fail to understand why anyone would like this.
Radius (2017)
A Twilight Zone tribute worth watching.
The reason some people give this movie a low rating is likely that the Twilight Zone has been forgotten. As I read professional reviews, I was satisfied that my own comparison of Radius to the Twilight Zone genre was hardly unique.
Anyone who appreciates the strange morality tales of the old black and white TV show will probably be inclined to pause and reflect on the lessons of Radius more readily.
Those who expect to meet a rational, neat, and tidy explanation for what is happening in the movie may be disappointed.
You may not meet with E.T. or some elaborate scientific explanation of events, but as someone taking a trip to another Zone--don't let that bother you. Have an open mind on such things as "cosmic justice," and you will find the movie more worth while.
Loving the Bad Man (2010)
One of a kind, far exceeding expectations!
Having seen this described as a "faith-based" movie about a young woman's choice to bear and keep a child born of rape, I didn't expect very much. Perhaps I thought it would be poorly acted or overtly "Bible-thumping" in some way. What a surprise!
The movie's content is only partially described. Everyone knows what it's like to start a movie thinking, "I'll just give this a few minutes and see..." My family was glad we gave it a chance, because it didn't take long for the complex web of characters and strange story-line to become gripping. In 30 minutes time, we were engrossed in this bizarre tale, somehow held together (with growing believability) by writing and acting talent we hadn't suspected! For example, it sometimes rivals "The Shawshank Redemption" in its gritty portrayal of prison life, while never leaving the primary theme. Every effort was made to be as accurate as possible about the young woman's ordeals and struggles as well. Her parent's family dynamics were not overlooked either...
Though anyone seeking the loftiest ideals of Christianity would be interested in "Bad Man," so would a larger audience: those in the fields of counseling, corrections, teaching, female- victims, or parents concerned about their daughters. Even those who have committed that particular crime...might just want to see this strangely unbelievable yet compelling exploration of the value of one life: one innocent child, one young woman, her father and mother, along with several other links in life's chain, --not excluding a not so innocent rapist...
Paradise Recovered (2010)
Little different from most movies of this kind...
Today, movies about sincere and highly intelligent Christians are nonexistent. This movie continues that trend. Esther, as expected, "gets religion" when troubled and heads straight for a mind-controlling "fundi" cult. When she gets a job outside, the movie is praised for avoiding the "liberal salvation" bit which would turn her into a smarter, cooler (or "hotter") atheist, saved to liberalism. But being "different" isn't enough for a movie to be genuinely good.
The intelligent Christian who thrills to the Gospel, knows theology, church history, and has a passion for things "Christ" will probably be bored. Face it, we've read C.S. Lewis, Solzhenitsyn, Bunyan, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and other genius Christians. Take Richard Wurmbrand, for instance. He left atheism (with his wife) to become the Jewish/Christian Romanian pastor and folk-hero who, after 14 years of torture, founded a human rights organization to protect Christians. He spoke over ten languages. These "faith movies" really need to try harder--a lot harder.