Reviews

Look this final season was clearly liberal politics driven, not surprising given it's Amazon studios. They didn't have enough screen time for Africans Americans and so they created the BCR storyline out of nowhere in Season 4. And the final scene was obviously about..... Immigration! Now that America had been reunited as a country (except for the BCR who don't want anything to do with the American flag, sound familiar? Colin Kapernick and the NFL controversy), it's a desirable place for EVERYONE from EVERYWHERE to immigrate here. It's an anti-Trump political message for the finale folks. Now you understand. I personally don't like to get involved in politics so I'm surprised and a bit disappointed by that aspect of this season. But overall the season was excellent, really suspenseful. Admit it folks, you didn't see John Smith killing Himmler coming. And you were wondering the same thing I was, how the hell is he gonna get out of this without being shot on site? Anyways great season great series, a bit too modern day liberal politicking of an ending for me, but excusable.

M: "Goodnight, Goodnight are you there?"

Bond: "She's just coming sir"

Enough said.

Michelle Harrison, the actress who played the adult Anisha (who Chuck eventually found on the internet and tried to convince to reverse the spell), is actually the hottest woman in this film?

I just watched this movie again for the third time tonight and it blew me away just as it did the first time I watched it. And although it's cliche to say, it's absolutely true with this film that everytime you see it you'll catch something new that was missed previously. The story is brilliant and the acting by Ethan Hawke, Sarah Snook, and Noah Taylor was just top notch - each of them deserved an Oscar nomination (and no that's not hyperbole).

To all the negative reviewers, who either 1. Complain they don't understand the plot, 2. Thought the plot was "ridiculous", or 3. Claim the "twist" was too "predictable", let me tell you why you're all embarrassingly wrong.

The "twist" is not that the Barkeep and Unmarried mother is the same person, that was pretty much revealed in the first 5 minutes of the film when you see the burnt face of Jane in the explosion being surgically repaired to become the healed face of the Bartender. If this was intended to be the "twist", the storytellers would not have Jane's face be so obviously shown in that opening scene. This is where most people are wrong. Furthermore there was plenty of dialogue through the movie that slowly but assuredly reveal and reaffirm this plot point. Also the fact that he/she is the fizzle bomber is not surprising, but it was not meant to be surprising. That wasn't the payoff.

The "twist" was when Jane's surgeon explained to her after the Cesarean that she is a hermaphrodite (which is a REAL medical condition, so no the plot is not ridiculous). That was the climatic moment of the film, the "OMG" moment. It was a gut wrenching scene, one that Sarah Snook did an amazing job in, along with the subsequent scene when she was learning to change her voice and realized she could no longer call herself by her name Jane. What a performance. On first viewing of this film, no one, and I mean NO ONE, could've foresaw that coming. That is the twist, the ingredient, that sets this time travel movie apart from all others and actually makes it work. As Robertson explained to the Bartender, he is special, he is nature's anomaly that enables him uniquely suited for time travel. He has "no ancestry" or more precisely a circular ancestry. He is his/her own father/mother/child/grandparent. His whole life, every action taken, was predestined. In a sense his existence ensured there would be no time travel "grandfather" paradox. No Marty McFly changing his timeline here! And that is why he is so valued by Robertson and the Bureau.

While that was the most important twist in the story, there are 3 others: 1. When we see Jane's lover is herself in 1963, 2. When the Bartender traveled back in time to kidnap the baby to complete the temporal loop, and 3. When the temporal field kit suffered a seemingly unfortunate error/ "malfunction" and couldn't decommission. For those who are paying close attention, this was not an accident. This was in fact Robertson sending the Bartender on a final (FINAL but illegal) mission which is why Robertson left him the note "trace the timer". One could even take it a step further and suggest that Robertson knew all along that John is the Fizzle bomber, but that his "terrorist" acts are just the lesser of two evils, consequences that actually prevented even bigger tragedies and overall saving more lives than taken.

Again this a tremendous, all-time great sci-fi/time travel movie, that has you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. Screenplay, acting, directing, an amazing tour de force. Go see it again and again, I know I will.

You people are some kind of stupid. I mean the various bad reviews basically come down to the following explanations:

1. "Plot makes no sense" - hate to break it to the coco puffs who couldn't follow simple logic but the plot is ultra tight. It's very difficult to do a time travel movie without the usual paradoxes but bravo to the writers, there are no gaps or loopholes in this one. Betting on the day's races makes sense because you have the photo from the previous night telling you the next day's winnings. That next day you go to the track to bet on those names, collect your winnings, and then post the winners for that evening's photo. Why people are confused by this is idiotic. The only criticism I agree with is that yes instead of dog races they should have just picked something else like the day's stock prices. You can quickly turn a few dollars into a fortune using stock options. No one would care or get mad that you have a huge winning streak in the stock market. And no you can't do the lottery or powerball because those drawings occur usually much later at night after 8pm.

2. "Acting was bad" - sorry to all you Siskel and Ebert wannabes but the acting performances by each and every one of the cast was impressive. I mean reaalllly impressive. I was blown away by their emotions, expressiveness, and timing. Kudos to the director as well. Wow they hit every mark. The 3 leads did exceptionally great jobs. Forget about the fact that this was an indie film, if all indie films had acting like this, there'd be no need for big Hollywood productions. Shocked that the 3 leads aren't bigger stars than they are. Fire those lackadaisical agents. I mean George's performance of Jasper, a druggie who's desperate and has gone unhinged... brilliant. Danielle's performance of Callie, a frustrated girlfriend who feels unloved, and resorts to manipulation and deceit... moving. Matt's performance of Finn, the disillusioned painter who longs for inspiration and the level headed protagonist... spot on (the way he slowly took off Callie's ring.... so poignant and heartbreaking). And for Bradley King the Director, tremendous job on a limited budget. If it were up to me he would be picked by Disney to direct the rest of the Star Wars franchise.

3. "Didn't like the ending" - laughably wrong. The ending kept the entire story in place and was the payoff we needed and wanted. Remember the basic question of the story: "can you F- with time?" Finn thinks, after Dr Leidecker's revelation that Mr B died from thorium gas and not a causality paradox, that he can change his future irrespective of what the photo showed the night before. That he is the master of his own destiny. While Callie finally revealed that she had been a slave to the photos, the entire time, she at the end also thought she can perhaps change time to save herself from being caught in the window and ultimately having to kill Finn. In the end they were both wrong because of a slip of a piece of scotch tape. Time is cruel. You can't F- with time as Jasper warned and he was right. No gaps, no loopholes, no paradoxes. Brilliant ending.

... are clearly the white guys out there with an Asian fetish or the Chinese girls out there with a white fetish. I mean c'mon. The lead character is a chinese doctor (so presumably has a decent head on her shoulders) who is dating a grade school teacher with cheesy come on-lines earning minimum wage (and has to live in her house since he can't pay the rent in the pricey Oahu real estate market). Sooo in love is she with this dude that she shoots him down hard when he proposes, and breaks his heart saying marriage is "more than just love, it's about families coming together, kids", etc. Ok I hear you sister. Makes sense, a little harsh on the white dude but makes sense. The boyfriend is so distraught about being dumped that he loses attention of the road and crashes head on to a cement structure. Love hurts!

Strangely she wakes up no worse for wear, in satin sheets and undies in a gorgeous house with an outdoor heated pool, a Mercedes and a Bentley in the garage, and finds that she is actually married to a successful Korean doctor and has a cute little boy to boot. Hmmm don't wake me up from this coma! By all accounts the husband is tall and handsome, extremely caring, loving, generous, and gives her all the space she needs, and even treats her parents like his own.

But no.... this girl is apparently sooo in love with the white boyfriend that she rejects this new found reality, rejects even her child, and instead is rummaging through the forest at the site of the crash and a dilapidated house where she thought she lived, in order to find the boyfriend (hmmm the same guy who she refused to accept marriage to in the alternate reality she came from)? That makes zero sense. She searches for any record of this boyfriend but in this reality it seems he just doesn't exist. But everything else is the same. I guess when you have an Asian girl with a white fetish, this "nightmare" of a reality is just too much for her to handle. "I don't love you and I will never love you!" she exclaims to her "bizarro" world devoted husband in one of the final climatic moments. Wow. Really? Girl, you clearly suffered major brain damage. I won't spoil the rather mundane ending plot twist but that's basically the story line. A real face-palm through most of the movie.

The other things this movie doesn't have going for it: Michelle Chen's acting which is cringeworthy. I'm sorry, she sort of cute, but she gives off an air of snottiness that is seen in every character she plays. I don't know if that's the roles she gets or that's how she is in real life that comes through her acting. The acting from every other cast member is actually decent, and you can tell who's seasoned and who isn't. Michelle Chen looks like a newcomer but she's actually 36 years old so gotta get it together sister.

Also the movie just moved at a glacial pace. I kept looking at the clock wondering how this is a 90 minute movie, it felt like a 4-hour marathon of this girl crying on cue. The only time this movie had any excitement was when the husband and her parents had finally had enough and held her down to tell her she's crazy, stop obsessing over some imaginary white boy!

I'm giving it a 4 mostly for the acting of the other cast members, the high def images of the beautiful Hawaii landscape, and a little bit of suspense that was created at the start of the film.

When I watched Ned's head get chopped off and when Robb got stabbed at the Red Wedding, all I could say to myself was "wow what incredible courage it takes to write this"...

D&D did quite a number on us after they ran out of source material from GRRM. They didn't even have the guts to do an "inside the episode" for the finale to explain themselves. Apparently they also went into radio/internet silence during and after the finale because they knew they would be completely roasted on social media.

Now all I keeping saying to myself is what cowards.

This episode was written very cleverly and raises the biggest question of all for our heroes: if you slid into a world that was nearly identical to yours, is it "good enough"?

It was never made clear before Rhys-Davys left the show, but there was a critical clue left by the writers which Professor actually slid at the end of the episode. Wade in this episode said "I didn't know the professor wore glasses?" which implied their Professor doesn't wear them. But in future episodes, we see the Professor needing bifocals to read a book or document. This was the clue that indeed it was the other Arturo who slid. This was confirmed years later in 2009 by the producers of the show.

If you're going to show Alibaba's IPO in the final few minutes of this documentary on Chinese fraud companies, and then imply there's something nefarious going on with Alibaba's accounting, then you must conclude the film by telling us whether you are short Alibaba stock. Otherwise what's the point, based on everything that has been said in the film.

First of all to the haters who post about why Ken constantly brags he's rich: are you people really that dumb? That's the joke. Ken Jeong is one of the most humble and approachable celebrity in Hollywood. You're really taking him literally when he's "bragging" about how he's rich and famous now? C'mon man, get a clue. Too much cursing? Really? In a stand up? Banish the thought. How does Bill Maher get away with it every week? Ken's stories of his former medical career and the transitions and contrast between it and his acting/comedy are gold. The uniqueness that is Ken Jeong is precisely his transformation from being a doctor who had to be at his absolute serious when he dealing with life/death issues in his patients, to now a complete foul mouthed slap stick silly improvisational genius on stage grabbing his junk. Understand the man, understand the context. This isn't rocket science or brain surgery. And maybe it's lost on some other parts of the country but his irreverence with Kaiser Permanente, the largest healthcare system in California, was spot on. Many of his fans loved, and got introduced to Ken through, his character Mr Chow from The Hangover movies, so of course he's going to reference that a lot, especially when he tells the reasons why that franchise meant so much to him. This special was intended to be somewhat biographical as he makes fun of himself and others, and I learned a lot about this actor/comedian, his relationships with his family, and anecdotes with other celebrities that were equally revealing. This was very enjoyable all around. Great job Ken. Can't wait for the next special.

Had heard for years about this series and how it had a loyal fan base. Big fan of both John Cho (who like Jason Bateman has both comedic and dramatic range) and Karen Gillian (loved her in the horror flick Oculus). Having said that, what interests me the most is that these two very attractive people, who couldn't look any less "alike", have some of the best chemistry I've ever seen on film. I don't know at what point the writers knew the show was being canceled, but assuming they didn't when they wrote the last episode, it was a wonderfully poignant ending to the series. Gillan's character Eliza is at her peak maturity and self assuredness after the mentoring of Cho's character Henry. Meanwhile Henry finally realizes his affection for Eliza and states "next time I'll be ready!". I know many were disappointed at the cancellation but it was not a bad way to end a very entertaining (short) story.

Didn't watch the series when it originally aired on ABC but binge watched it on Amazon prime recently. Huge fan of the original 80's series so was curious how they reimagined this one for the current generation.

The series I thought was brilliant with great plots, fantastic writing and acting by all, and very good special effects. Morena Baccarin, the actress who plays "Anna" (and of more recent Deadpool fame), is the highlight of the series stealing every scene she's in. What a great choice to play the reimagining of the iconic "Diana" from the original series. Guest appearances from Jane Badler and Marc Singer were real treats (if they had managed to get Faye Grant it would've been perfect).

The series only lasted 2 seasons which is a shame. But it's obvious to me after watching the entirety of it that the writers knew the show was being cancelled and decided to go all out "Anti-Hollywood" in the finale. Watching it my jaw dropped. What a courageous ending... bad guys win, good guys killed or disbanded, and the Priest who for the entirety of the show remained steadfast in his beliefs of the Almighty, succumbed to a new devotion to the aliens which he had fought against. Wow. It doesn't get much more "F you" to the network executives for cancelling the show. Loved the bravery and creativity of the writers to end the series this way. Bravo.

I think this is an amazing film, even more so given that it's an independent low budget film. The story and acting were just superb. Truly a great piece of sci-fi that seems to already be a bit of a cult hit on streaming.

My only problem is this plot hole: Remember Ivan had broken their old fashioned clock and they had to replace it with a digital one? The old photo of Jasper/Callie coupling while Finn was asleep took place weeks ago so it should have the old clock in the photo. You'd think Jasper and Finn would notice that upon first seeing it and know it could not be a photo of the next day's events.