Reviews

Hoping to learn more about the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986? This doc that takes the bulk of its sourced material from previously classified Soviet documents and film may well be of some interest to you.

First before I go on, if you're a fan of the HBO production you may be a bit disappointed in the content of this documentary. I want to state that though this is a fine film, almost none of the story as it was told in the mini-series or anything of the persons featured is expanded upon here. If that is all you're looking for, just save your time and give both it and the rest of my review a skip, hope this helps.

Personally after having taken a school trip to a nuclear power plant in Jr. High I've always had an interest in nuclear power, both its benefits and risks. Then just 3 or 4 years later while I was in High School the accident at Chernobyl occurred. A fairly obvious reason there as to why that interest (especially the risks and possible terrible effects of using nuclear material for power) continued for me. My fascination for the miraculous and disastrous atom was at its height after seeing the cataclysmic events in the news... well, as much as we were allowed to see at the time.

And that's where the heart of this feature lies is within the tuths, half truths and lies told by the Soviet government. What the Soviets said and did, what the short and long term effects were of that true, false and incomplete information handed out by them. This documentary gives us a good look into the former communist state's action and inaction and it's all coming straight from the sealed files of The USSR. Files that only came to light after the fall of the Iron Curtain and The Ukraine's switch to a free and open democracy.

So if that grabs you I think you'll find it an intriguing look into the Chernobyl accident. If you're lookin for more entertainment than info-tainment just check out the mini-series, I gave that a "10" if you're curious. Maybe afterwards you'll want more of the story. If so this video brings you a deeper look at the circumstances of the Chernobyl accident. A look that nobody except the most elite of the Soviet government was ever meant to see.

I think the copy of "How it Ends" I was watching may have had the ending cut off of it.

That seriously wasn't the ending was it?

In all seriousness, yeah I know this isn't really a review but, it's hard to review a movie you've watched for nearly two hours and just when you think it's getting somewhere, the credits roll.

I could be nice and say something good about the partial movie I just watched but, for reals, that was bull$h1+

The poop scene in "Human Centipede" was 100X funnier (and come to think of it provided more heart warming holiday joy) than anything Christmas (st)Inc. Has to offer.

Yep, it's that bad

The only reason my wife and I even finnished the first episode of *Christmas (st)Inc. Was, true story, we put it on while we were eating BBQ for dinner and neither one of us wanted to get sauce on the remote.

*"Christmas (st)Inc." If you thought that was funny you're either high or have no idea what humor is. In that case, please ignore my review, you'll probably love it!

... so it doesn't take me long to know garbage when I see it. I lasted 8:12 into this show and if you enjoy really good television, you won't even bother giving this show that long.

If you're a teenager that likes twilight and the like you'll probably enjoy this show. However if you're not, don't bother, this show us not for you.

Small Axe comes busting out of the gate with "Mangrove' and slows to a crawl in its 2nd episode 'Lover's Rock'.

Other reviews mention the outstanding soundtrack to this episode, gotta say I'm in 100% agreement there. The music is the star here (and provides 4 of the 6 stars of my rating) because the rest... well there really isn't much else.

Dialog is sparse, there's almost no character development and only about 10 minutes of actual plot and it's spread thin and sporadically throughout this episode's1:10 running time. The majority of this installment of 'Small Axe' is just people at a house party dancing, smoking grass and drinking.

If the point of this episode is to introduce someone that's never went to a rager of a house party to what they missed out on, then maybe it does its job better than I'm giving it credit for. However personally, I'd rather go to a party than watch it on the TV.

Really enjoyable, fun and at times quite funny detective/ time travel show. Nearly as good as *Life On Mars but, with a much better soundtrack.

*Watching Life on Mars (the English version, of course) first is pretty much necessary for a greater understanding of the plot of Ashes to Ashes... and this review.

Last week a student asked me for an example of an oxymoron.... if only I knew about 'Straight Edge Kegger' Ok this little movie isn't w/o a few charms, a sometimes fun (if you're bored enough or have always secretly harbored thoughts of taking out a few self righteous no-fun allowed on our watch X-edge bozos) though mostly underwhelming horror'ish flick. Mostly just blood n guts and senseless killing w/o any real heart or thought put into it. In the end nothing anyone will remember 10 minutes after the credits roll.

FINAL Thoughts: 1. Could be fun to watch with friends as a foundation for a drinking game 2. Get over it, once you're legally old enough to drink its called 'sober' not 'straight edge'.

The first season was excellent and I gave it a "9". The second season was so bad I could only watch two episodes... so it gets a "2". Yeah I know hardly scientific but, let's talk about that first season... Whoa! It's a good one!

I'm sure you've seen other reviews or the synopsis, I'm kinda wishing you hadn't because this is one of those shows/movies where the less you know before going in, the more you're likely to enjoy it.

So I'm going to leave my review as just this: If you're one of the enlightened ones out there that really enjoys mysteries, monsters, thrillers, horror and sci-fi you are going to love season one! (You'll probably hate season two) But Wayward pubes season one is not to be missed. Oops, I just caught that. Obviously I meant to type "Pines" there in place of that naughty word... its funny what your auto-correct catches and replaces sometimes isn't it. Well, maybe that should've been the title of season two.

Make sure to check out season one though!!

I can't really give a whole movie review because I only watched six minutes and thirty eight seconds.

So, if I only watched 6:38 of the movie why would this be a review that could give you an enough info to make an informed decision as to whether or not you'd like to watch "Comimg 2 America "?

Simple because I'm trying to save you from wasting 6:38 of your life. I should've just stopped the movie when it said PG-13. Let's face it Eddie Murphy is at his best when he's being, for lack of a better word, offensive. Anything he's done that wasn't rated R was terrible.

I don't want to spend 6:38 writing this review either so let's just assume you're a movie fan... otherwise you wouldn't be here, right? You know when you're watching a movie and you can just tell 5 minutes in it's gonna suck? This is sadly one of those movies.

I was so very looking forward to this movie, I loved the original. What a bummer

There's plenty of reviews about the film, plot, locales, music ect. So no reason to go on about that stuff... the other reviewers here cover that enough (most do a very good job of that too) Ok here goes: First of all I would never ever give this film a "10" on its filmmaking merits. Honestly, probably a 7 or 8 though, it's a good story and told pretty well all things considered.

Where Another State of Mind deserves its praise is when it's viewed 20-30, hell now nearly 40 years later. For the kids out there discovering, what now passes for "punk/ hardcore" it's got to be a fascinating time capsule of what once was in our spikey, dyed and dirty little corner of the world.

A look back at a time when we didn't hear punk bands played on the radio let alone at sporting events or (grumble) in tv commercials. Guys didn't spike their hair, bed head wasn't a desired look and nobody except sailors, bikers and punks had tattoos. And you didn't walk down the street with green hair unless you could back it up... you would be violently attacked sooner rather than later (often by adults, even if you were a kid). The world wasn't ready for this type of music (or people) back in 1983. The financial woes alone involved with this tour more than illustrate that point. What you see when you view ASofM is a time capsule of what was back then and that's where this movie shines.

This is not such much a review as it is a plea for those out there that think only new movies (books, music or any artistic endeavor) can be really good to open their minds and experience something new.... even if it is very old.

This movie is 89 years old and still holds up. Its dark, creepy, violent and thoroughly twisted. Ok maybe it doesn't have any of the graphic language/ violence or t&a so many viewers seem to require nowadays. The watcher's imagination needs to fill in those holes but, Fritz Lang's direction and artistic approach to the killings and portrayal of a deviant mind tells the rest of the tale in a way that should get even the most hard to impress movie fans immediately invested in this story.

Not enough to impress yet? Ok last try. How about a movie about the hunt to find a seriously disturbed child killer? The city's police force can't catch him and short of clues and ideas they narrow the search to the local criminal world. This becomes a real problem for the local bad guys, they can't ply their trade(s) with the cops on their back can they? So that they can get back to making their illegal livings the underworld kingpins make the decision the only way to get the cops outta their hair is to catch the killer themselves. Eventually they catch up with the killer and in a really neat twist decide to try the murderer in their own criminal court, an actual court not for criminals but made up entirely of criminals. How's that for a plot!?

If you're not a fan of old movies just because you've never given them a shot this might be a good first one to try, old movies really don't come much better than "M"

I get it, props and location for live action shows cost money as do traditional and/or computer animators for animated features. Netflix sure saved plenty of dough by cutting out the bulk of the above and going with the cheap'o scan route they took.

The Liberator would have been greatly improved by either real live action or the talented hand of real animators. And that is too bad because despite Netflix's choice to go economy, there's still a really good story here. It's no Band of Brothers or Saving Private Ryan but, The Liberator still managed to hook me from the get-go. It's a shame you got a "9" of a story here but, cuz it looks so mediocre the story doesn't shine as it should.

So, do the visuals completely ruin it? No, it still really is a great story. But, it could have been much better. If you enjoy a good comrades in arms or WWII tale I think you could do a hell of a lot worse. Though it is a shame because Netflix could have done a hell of a lot better.

I'm giving this show an 8. Its not a cumulative score its a score for just the 2nd of the two stories in The Creepshow Animated Special. I'd give the 1st story a 5 but, that's only because I liked the animation.

I'll keep this short. There's two stories here one about a Dr./drug smuggler (Kiefer Sutherland, whose voiceover skills are wasted on this turd) trapped on a deserted island which was more boring than it sounds. Well maybe not that bad but, kinda gross and only worth watching to make sure you don't ffwd through too much of the 2nd story....

Now that 2nd story, I dont want to give any of it away. So let's say it's about a boring family roadtrip that doesn't stay boring for long. I'm just gonna say if you enjoy horror and animation, this ones a winner.

Ok it ain't a great show, despite a few bright spots it's pretty damn disappointing.

That being said it's not because many of the stories lean liberal. If you're one of the dozens of reviewers that says, oh the show is terrible because its so liberal boo-hoo ect ect yadda yadda ad infinitum please remember the original show without argument had a totally liberal view as well. Anti-war, anti-predujice, anti-corruption/ greed and many other themes that if made today would undoubtedly be decried for trying to sissify the viewer. Oh yeah and you could add two or three anti-nazi / anti-Hitler episodes to the original Zone's iberal pedigree.

So if you are under the impression the show has any anti-"Orange Hitler" undertones to it, it's probably not an accident and well within the spirit of the original. If you're gonna rag on the show, atleast do it 'cuz it's a crap show not 'cuz it's part of some ding-dong crazy Q-anon conspiracy to turn you into a pussy... we all know how tough you are, a TV show ain't gonna change that

This show has its funny, pretty funny and well mostly not too funny moments (and the laugh-track pee-yew!) As a whole I'd probably rate it about a 6 (like a C+) worth it for horror fans and especially for fans of Dee Schneider and Gwar (nice to see Oderus alive and well, so sad)

But this episode is absolutely gut busting hilarious. Most notably a scene with some naughty shaped talismans had my wife and I practically in tears. Don't give up on this show until you make it to this episode!

Ok in an effort to keep this short as possible I had a longer review pointing out that this film has pretty much been done before. I mean c'mon how many set-ups can you use for an anthology horror movie before you need to rehash older themes. How many times has the funeral director/ crypt-keeper/ grave-digger/ pathologist/ mad-scientist ect. telling horror stories thing been done? Countless, right?

But, one thing those others didn't necessarily have was.... Clancy Brown, if the name doesn't ring a bell think of the hardest screw in Shawshank. Yeah, that Clancy Brown. And he is fantastic as a very low-key yet perfectly gnarly old funeral director.

So, does having one of the arguably finest character actors of our time (maybe even all time) save this movie from the horror movie scrap-heap? No it does not. In fact, it didn't need saving, yeah Clancy Brown is as always great in this but, he's just the cherry on top of this pretty damn good little collection of horror stories. Admittedly there's nothing particularly new here but.... So flipping what!! Its a fun horror movie. There's some twists, jumps, laughs and more than enough blood and gore to satisfy even the more jaded horror fans out there.

Looking for new blood to add to this years creepy crawly movie binge? The Mortuary Collection is one of the better new offerings for Halloween 2020

Ok here goes as quickly as possible. Better than most zombie flicks. The fun gets started about 15 mins in so not a lot of character development, back story or too much scientific mumbo-jumbo as to what starts the plague off. Lots of gore both the gross-out and funny variety. The special effects provide plenty of gore and fill your TV bright red . And finally like I said the fun really gets going about 15 minutes in so if you're not into by then you haven't wasted too much time but, if you're a zombie flick fan you'll probably be into it 'cuz its better than average for the genre. Hope this helps

I'm gonna say I doubt Zombie is shivering with fear at the prospect of his musical hero supplanting him as the top horror rocker turned filmmaker... atleast if Verotika is the best Danzigs got to offer.

If there is an older, crankier, more out of touch and or more out of his depth old fart trying to create anything new or cool or anything nearly as good as he made nearly 40 years ago (and still milking that past greatness) other than Glen Danzig it may be his old band mate Jerry Only.

But this isn't about the Misfits, this is about "Verotika" an absolute turd of a movie.

Danzig has truly lost all sense of what made him such a good and bright spot... err umm oops, I mean evil and dark spot for so many of his fans back in the early 80s. I don't know how he could even put his name on this thing

Coming in with a 1.9 rating (I honestly think the lowest I have ever seen on IMDB) I'm gonna say is maybe even a bit high for a movie that is so pretentious and boring no amount of boobs and gore could save it from stinking like the dog-park garbage can of a movie that it is. It's that bad it's not even worth watching for HOW BAD it is.... seriously don't make that mistake, I'm spending time to write this review to save you from your own curiosity.

Oh well, you've been warned.

One more thing about this movie's 1.9 rating to put it into context. "Plan 9 From Outer Space" widely considered the worst movie ever made, is clocking in currently with a mighty 4.0 rating, that oughta tell ya how bad Verotika is.

Yet another 'mock'umentary that, albeit not a bad film, gets your hopes up to explore a mystery that goes no further than say a short Wikipedia search.

I don't want to dissuade anyone out there from viewing this movie and I'm going to make a point here not to give any of the plot away. It really isn't a bad film just turn your brain off for an hour and enjoy!!

Another reviewer said something along the lines of "LA Rage du Demon" really makes you want to see the original. And that was true for me too. "Fury of the Demon" really does get your hopes up to go out and and do your own search for any possible way to see this long lost film despite this little mock'umentary's warning of its dangers...

However sadly no matter how hard you search for the original "La Rage du Demon" you'll never come across your own copy because, it never existed to begin with.

Scroll down to see my list of the don't miss hits: Im still giving this an 8 even after my title of "hit and miss" because well that's how it is with just about every horror/ sci-fi/ fantasy/ anthology show ever. Even the biggees like twilight zone and black mirror put out a their share of real dog-fart episodes. The new Creepshow is no different, let's hope it sticks around long enough to produce a healthy list of its own classic episodes.

One thing that does stand out and is a constant throughout every episode is the artwork. Especially for comic and art fans and it's well worth your time if you're a fan of either. The animated comic book filler material between the stories really does a great job of setting the look and mood of the show, and will surely have you rewinding and pausing to check out all of its rich material. As professional artist myself I think they did a really fantastic job on it!!

Below in my opinion (for what it's worth) are the real standout stories. Oh one more thing before I get to this list, I'd probably not let the first story in episode 1 turn you off of the show. I don't know why they opened the series with what might be its weakest episode and a total waste of Tobin Bell (Saw) Adrienne Barbeau (The original Creepshow and too many others to list) and Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad) but, they did. And speaking of wasting actors in bad roles, or maybe just bad acting, sadly expect more from Jeffrey Combs (Reanimator, The Frighteners, Would You Rather ect) in ep2 pt 1. Other than that the acting ranges from not that bad to pretty damn good like DJ Qualls in ep2 pt 2.

Ok heres the don't miss episodes, the hits that i think outweigh the misses:

Episode 1 Pt 2: 'The house of the head'

Episode 2 Pt 2: 'the finger'

Episode 3 Pt 2: 'man in the suitcase'

Episode 6 Pt 1: 'skincrawlers'

If you're a big time fan of this sort of show I think you'll find plenty to enjoy in most episodes but, if you're just in the mood for a little mini-creephow I think most of you out there should get be able to get your creep on with the stories I listed above. Hope it helps!

Gonna make this real short: Just for reference I think I've only given a dozen or less "10" ratings all time on IMDB, I gave one of those 10s to the Original Twilight Zone. So yes, I am a major fan of the original.

OK here goes, I watched episodes 01, 02, 08 and 09. They ranged in my opinion from meh down to bleh. (Ok to just plain sucked). But, ep. 06 "Six Degrees of Freedom". That was the only episode of the five I watched that "felt" like an actual Twilight Zone episode. Fans of the original know that "zone feeling" I'm talking about. That's my short review, take it however you like.

Ok so it took a few more movies than its namesake but, Kevin Smith has finally (and quite sadly) entered into M. Night. Shamalama-land*. It's the destination where a movie maker that starts out with so much promise, potential and one or two fantastic (or maybe even more) movies to their credit ends up after either running out of ideas or the humility to realize they should have given up long ago because for whatever reason they're at a point in their careers where they're just making garbage film after film. Kevin, hang it up. All us Jersey fans want to remember you as one of our success stories not just another stupid New Jersey joke.

*A subdivision of Fat-Elvis-Land

Ok not just by Russian WWII movie standards (which after seeing quite a few of them) can be about as hit and miss as some of tbe German shooting is usually portrayed in them, this is not a bad movie.

I'm not gonna go into a long review here but, as someone that's seen a lot of these Russian war movies (thank you prime video) I can say honestly that "Tankers" deserves more than a 5.1

I'll just say the acting/script is pretty average but, the action scenes are not at all bad. And as someone that knows a pretty fair amount about the war on the eastern front, historically they didn't do a bad job there either.

Bottom line there's alot of crap out there in this genre and this isn't crap. It's not oscar worthy but, if you enjoy the genre, and are looking for a streaming wwii movie you havent seen yet, you shouldn't find it an hour and a half totally wasted.

So I'm going to give it a 2. Hey, maybe it gets better after the 8 minute mark.

I'm going to keep this as short as possible to save you and me time. If you are the type of person that demands verisimilitude in any piece of historical fiction don't let yourself be tempted to watch "The Last Rescue". Nothing looks or feels right, the vehicles, the tanks, the uniforms, the locales, the dialogue. This movie is a mess. (Speaking in terms of historical accuracy)

If you're anything like me and just pick apart every inaccuracy and end up spending more time counting the anachronisms than enjoying a less than mediocre piece of historical fiction do youself a favor and don't bother.

Here we have an incredibly laughably bad story of a starry eyed dreamer immigrant and his family coming to the United States in search of a better life. (Nothing wrong with that but, at the sake of editorializing, it appears within 3 wks of entering the US theyre already living and working illegally) Our hero the son in the family was a hockey player back home in the Czech Republic and wants to play professionally so, he chases his dream to play for the LA Stars. And Holy $#!+ is this short movie freaking awful! So bad Im going to skip the in-depth review and since it's a sports related movie, I'm just going to score it:

1: Luckily this thing is only 21minutes long but yet I still found myself ffwd'ing through half of it -2

2: The "professional hockey team" only has seven players that all appear to be over 40, out of shape and can barely skate. As a lifelong hockey player myself absolutely none of the hockey related dialogue sounds like anything you'd hear anywhere near a hockey rink -2

3: The dialogue (throughout, not just the hockey speak) sounds like it was written by an 8yr old... a very slow 8yr old -2

4: The acting... goodgoogly ooogly jeez Im tongue tied trying to explain just how awful the acting was. Good thing hockey sticks aren't made of wood anymore 'cuz I'd have a hard time telling them from the actors -4

5: The camera work and direction was not as bad as everything else. You expect with a flick this bad you'd see a boom mic, cut an actors head half out of frame or watch scenes out of focus +2

There you have it folks "Czech Mate on Ice" the hockey movie that makes the "Mighty Ducks" look the "Citizen Kane" of hockey movies