Tomoosterbroek's Reviews

Tiger King (2020–2021)

8/10

A great look at a very decisive industry.

31 March 2020

This Documentary is very balanced. And will give you a lot to think about exotic animal abuse, what even constitutes it. How harmful or beneficial is it to Animals, and their preservation.

While this Documentary is balanced, none of the 'main characters' come out looking good. It seems to be all about money and/or influence in the end.

One thing that is at the crux of this matter for me is, quoting one of the interviewees, What is the best way to preserve an animal species? Make more of them!

Good food for thought. Joe Excotic is both marvelous dumpsterfire, you will probably get a few laughs from this one as well.

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Greatest Events of WWII in Colour (2019)

7/10

Great footage but in the end not all that accurate.

19 November 2019

If you don't now much about WWII this is a great documentary.

On many finer points these featured 'historians' can be so off.

Crystal Meth being handed out like candy? No, no, no American guy. The guy before you had it right. It was mostly issued to night fighters and Tank crews during long operations.

The Wehrmacht was not a collection addicts walking around high for 6 years.

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The Expanse (2015–2022)

9/10

Sci-Fi Noir in a well crafted world

12 January 2016

Warning: Spoilers

It has been a long while since we have seen a well crafted space sci-fi that instantly looks like it actually may go somewhere.

In the 24th century humanity has colonized the solar system. Earth is united under the world government of the United Nations, regarded by the non-Earthers as being decadent and wasteful of the natural resources they are privileged to. Mars is independent and the people of the outer planets are being exploited by both. Racism is rampant but now mostly centered on in how strong a gravity well you were born in.

It is a great setting, which the great production values of the show really brings to life. It is a very plausible depiction of what Humanity might one day be.

The episodes at the time of writing center on two main characters. Joe Miller, an alcoholic cop on Ceres who is charged with finding a rich girl run away from home. Thomas Jane does an amazing job. Many of his scenes are pure noir and a treat to watch. I did not now this guy could act this well.

The second main character is James Holden. the XO of a waterhauler who, together with 4 of his surviving crew seem to stumble into a conspiracy that looks to bring the different factions in the solar system to eachothers throats.

Only six episodes and it is already clear this is one of the best Scifi shows in years and in my opinion has only gotten better with each episode. Lets all just watch it so Syfy doesn't prematurely screw us out of an awesome series again.

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Avatar (2009)

6/10

A derivative movie with pretty CGI.

28 August 2015

This movie is basically Pocahontas, Dances with Wolves, The Last Samurai and several similar movies blended together, with a few hundred million dollars worth of Sci-Fi CGI mixed in.

Not terrible, but when looking past the great CGI, it is clear that this movie walks a very, very well trodden path. The predictability of the plot also makes it even more clear that this movie is about an hour too long, it is a really, really long sitting with plenty of dull moments. Other than the nice effects there is really no reason in particular to ever watch this movie, and I doubt you would ever care to sit through it for a second time.

Again, not a bad movie, but certainly not the masterpiece some people make it out to be. Probably Cameron's worst movie.

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Defiance (2013–2015)

10/10

Quality is going up and I'm warming up to it

4 June 2013

The show started a bit slow in the first 4-something episodes. In the past couple of episodes, especially 6 and onwards the show has really picked up. More stuff is happening, new plot lines are opening up and the characters are getting broader and deeper.

I would agree with those that say the show is not the best thing ever, and a lot of it still seems random or unbelievable. In my opinion this is mostly because of the lack of back story. The latest episodes have begun to give us some flashbacks, so I expect this particular complaint to be resolved soon.

In a day where Original Sci-Fi on TV are slim pickings indeed, I find the show to be a breath of fresh air.

The quality of the show is definitely on an upwards trajectory, so I suggest everybody that can't quite get in it yet,to bear with the series. To those who haven't given the show a chance yet, I suggest you do.

Watching Sci-fi is the only way to keep it on the air after all.

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Falling Skies (2011–2015)

Old fashioned and cheesy, but still very entertaining

5 October 2011

The best way to describe this show is a mix between The Walking Dead, V and the A-team.

I see a lot of negative reviews, and while I agree with most of the critique, the show is better than the sum of its parts.

The show is too friendly to be a convincing survival show. There's not enough (deadly) action to make anything that happens on screen have any weight. The drama is laughable at best as well.

Most elements on the show have been done before, and have been done better. V (1983) was better at the Alien invasion thing, and The Walking Dead does the whole surviving thing better.

I could go on about what's wrong with the show, but when all is said and done, I'm glad it's on the air.

With original shows getting rarer, in favour of all the reality/CSI/Cooking garbage, it's nice to have something with some production values for other tastes.

With no original Sci-Fi for this year, Falling Skies seems to fill a void that makes it stand out positively in my mind.

5 years ago I wouldn't have given Falling Skies much chance, but for a Sci-Fi fan the pickings are slim nowadays, at least (hopefully) for now.

I rate shows against other shows that are on the air. Compared to most of them, Falling Skies is good.

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Inception (2010)

7/10

Good but not what it's cracked up to be

29 November 2010

My feelings about this movie is probably best illustrated by the Southpark episode 'Insheeption', just because a film is complex, doesn't mean it's good or cool.

Making a film more complex and multi-layered doesn't necessarily make it a deeper and more engaging film. In the case of Inception, it generally only makes it more complex, and not in a way that is to the film's merit.

The complixity gets in the way of the film's plot a lot, which is quite frankly, not that complicated.

I can only call the film, an overly complex, though decent film, that just insists too much upon itself. It's a decent film,and although graded equally on IMDb, it does not deserve to be amongst the likes of The Shawnshank Redemption and The Godfather.

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