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Reviews
Reno 911! (2003)
Nearly 20 years later... Defunded
After nearly 20 years and two revivals, they are putting out some of their best episodes ever. This 2022 season is destroying me. I'm sure the neighbors think I've gone insane after last night's binge watching of the first half of the season. Fantastic work. As long as the quality remains this high, take it another 20 years.
The Flash: Armageddon, Part 4 (2021)
What the what?
This is possibly the worst time travel logic EVER written. Not to mention that a 5% powered Barry can outrun a full speed Thawne... and somehow for no reason whatsoever, him running around the world now destroys things. Because W T F...
As much as I love the Flash... this show has run it's course and needs to end before any more sharks get jumped.
Switched (2020)
Been done before but surprisingly well done
I have seen all of them through the years. Body swap movies are not new. I can count at least 30 in the US alone in the last nearly 100 years. Everyone knows the big ones. Freaky Friday, Big, Vice Versa. They are formulaic and predictable for sure. And Switched doesn't do much to break out of the mold. But the two actresses playing the leads and the actors playing the parents make you run the gamut of emotions in this outing. You really can, if you allow yourself to get past the "oh it's another body swap movie where they learn about each other and themselves in the process" thought processes, to really get sucked into the lives of these two girls and start rooting for them. It has it's problems and loses some points just due to the fact that it HAS been done to death. But overall this is an enjoyable movie and worth the watch.
Fantasy Island (2020)
From a fan of this title in all of it's incarnations
This was a horror movie with a difference. It built upon a mythology that has mostly been upbeat and happy except for a few darker turns in the 1998 revival. I've always felt it had the potential for a dark twist and this movie did a great job of both paying homage to the original and finding it's own path. Yes, there was some cheese thrown in there as well, and a few plot holes... But overall it was a very good effort and I would greatly look forward to a sequel if there were to be one.
Ghost House: A Haunting (2018)
What.. is happening here???
This is almost certainly the worst movie I've ever seen. From horrible acting, to insane use of inset mini videos, to ridiculously poor camera work, there is literally nothing redeeming about this movie.
By ten minutes into the movie you've seen everything you need to about it. Sound editing is worse than any home movie you've ever seen. In one scene the sound might go from blowing you out of your seat to being so quiet that you can't hear the actors at ALL, and even at times having the actors drowned out by background noise. There was one part where a girl is sitting on a park bench and an old man. Wait... a young man in horrible old makeup/rubber mask... sits down next to her and she starts to ask him something and the video fades to a party and you can briefly hear her asking the rest of the question or stating something... and as the old man starts to answer, the sound is faded to the band playing at the party. WHY?! What purpose did that scene serve? What was it setting up? What was said by either character!?
This is one of the VERY few movies I simply could not finish. I try to give every movie a chance no matter how bad. But this was literally unwatchable. Stay as far away from this as you can.
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
It's sci-fi... good sci-fi at that. but...
I would give it an 8, but it loses two points just for being streaming only. If they would even delay broadcast a week or two I wouldn't mind, but a show of this caliber and this fan base should not be hidden behind a paywall.
I also, after having given it six episodes, have come to the conclusion as many have that no matter what the rabid fans (I can count myself as one having seen every episode of every other series at least once) want to believe, thus far this isn't Trek in any incarnation I've seen before. It doesn't seem to follow any of the philosophy that Gene laid out and it doesn't seem to care much about what has come before it in a canonical way. Characters do things I wouldn't expect to see in the trek universe. The technology doesn't fit with the time period as laid out in previous series. The alien races don't fit.
Again... I like the series. It keeps the viewer engaged and it has good story lines. I will definitely continue to watch it, but... It just doesn't seem to have the heart and soul of Star Trek.
Riverdale (2017)
This isn't the 1950s Archie...
But in case you haven't been paying attention lately. The comic books aren't your 1950s Archie either any more. Archie, Jughead and the rest of the gang have been updated and dropped into the "real" world both in the comics and now on television.
I was never much of an Archie fan, leaning more towards the superhero and horror genres when I was younger, but I was aware of Archie on the periphery of my comic book reading habits. Occasionally I'd read a book or two but they never struck me as something I wanted to read regularly. So when this series was announced I went in with a little bias and actually didn't want to like it. I had too many shows competing for my time as it was. But I decided to give it a shot. I wanted to see what this updated, teen drama Archie had to offer.
Immediately, with the murder mystery I started getting a Rob Thomas Veronica Mars vibe from it and that is not a bad thing. Riverdale was suddenly layered and mysterious, yet still filled with characters you knew from Archie and Betty, to Pops and the Pussycats. These were people you could identify with with actual personalities beyond the pulp four color comic book world you remember them from. And they were eyeball deep in a mystery that had real consequences. And we got to learn about not just the "gang", but also their parents and some periphery characters that were rarely touched on in the comics. And best of all, the goofy sidekick Jughead is a much more interesting character and the narrator of the series showing him to be an intelligent person far beyond the hamburger munching cartoon of a character he is in the books.
I have just finished the season finale and look forward to the next season. It far exceeded my expectations.
Expedition Unknown (2015)
It might be light on archaeology but it is definitely fun
If Mike Rowe is the people's everyman host, Josh Gates is the host you most want to be. Who wouldn't want to travel the world investigating odd and unusual stories and historical mysteries? And not only that, Josh never seems to have a bad day. Perhaps it's just the magic of television but he genuinely seems to have fun with everything no matter what situation he seems to find himself in. He seems to genuinely enjoy his job and it comes through in every episode.
The show thinly veils itself as being about history and archaeology, but it really is about Gates and his adventures and misadventures around the world. Occasionally you will learn something and they will find something archaeologically interesting, but that's really not what the show is about. Being on the Travel channel, it's as much about the travel and experience as it is the science. Perhaps more so.
The show is well worth the watch.
Jem and the Holograms (2015)
I really wanted to hate this movie but...
As a fan of the cartoon, I was thrilled beyond measure when I heard that it was going to get a live action movie. Then as information started to come out I jumped on the "gonna hate it" bandwagon. I did not see it in theaters and hesitated once it was available to watch outside of theaters. I now have to admit I was wrong. If you watch the movie and don't try to compare every little thing to the source material it is not that bad. It has it's flaws with the story, but the pacing was good. The music was fun and even sounded a bit like how I remember the TV series, yet more modern. The usage of faux social media inter-cut into the movie was a little gimmicky but it works and the message is a good one. Overall I just have to admit that I liked it. It's not going to win any awards, but I might just watch it again some day.
Last Knights (2015)
A good fantasy hack and slash lacking a bit in the hack and slash...
This movie had a bit too much buildup and not enough action for the first two thirds of the movie. And yet I was still drawn in and it held my attention. So when the action did come it was fast and tense. I think the "professional" reviewers have given this movie far too bad a rap. It isn't going to win it's actors any academy awards but for what it is, it does more than passingly well and a lot better than most that have come before it. Even though this movie is based on the Japanese legend of the 47 ronin and transplanted into a pseudo medieval European style fantasy film, it still manages to make the story feel somewhat fresh and the inevitable ending makes you wonder if it's the one expected or not. For me, when a movie makes me wish there was just five more minutes, then it has accomplished something and gets bonus points. This one did so.
Apartment 1303 3D (2012)
Poor remake
Poor production values, poor acting, poor dialog, poor special effects. This movie suffers from the low budget rush to remake Japanese horror film syndrome and it shows. It's at the lower end of the B-movie scale and is barely passable. It's not the WORST movie I've ever seen but it's certainly trying very hard to be in that category. Rebecca DeMornay has never been a great actress but she's better than this and should be ashamed. Everyone else sort of just plods through the scenes like robots. The story itself, stripped from the original, is the only thing that saves the movie from being a total loss.
CGI is at a minimum, which leads to some of the creepier moments looking more like a bad Halloween haunted house display. Normally I'm more for the less is better school of thought when it comes to CGI, but when you are trying for a certain style and can't totally accomplish it, some post production cgi can help. And the CGI that IS in the movie is mostly really bad.
I wanted to like this movie, being a fan of Japanese horror. But this one unfortunately doesn't pull off the cultural conversion well at all.