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I.S.S. (2023)
A lot of mixed opinions
The average budget for a movie today is around $50M to $100M. Of course there are exceptions like Dune, Napoleon, Spiderman-3, etc., but those aren't the norm. I. S. S. Was just shy of $14M . So it came in far below budget than what we're used to seeing. This in turn impacts some of the special effects, the quality of the sets, and other little things we can nit pick to death. As for the story, I can see how things would spiral out of control over a very short period of time. I don't want to create any spoilers, but.you'll see what i mean if you watch it. The dialog was lacking in some parts. One part involving a space walk required a suspension of common sense. The depiction of weightlessness was a bit wonky. Again, all to be expected on a shoe string budget. That said, I enjoyed this movie more than I did Napoleon. That had a reported $137M to $200M budget.
At the end of the day this is an OK sci-fi movie. Not the best. Not the worst. It delivers more than its budget, but no contender for the big budget sci-fi mega-hits coming out once a year, or maybe once every two years.
Napoleon (2023)
The movie version of a tranquilizer
OK, let's start with the highlights. The locations are great. The estates, the fight scenes, costumes, etc., are all top notch. Everything I would expect from Scott. I felt like I was transported to France of that period. Great...all the good stuff is out of the way. Now for the lows. The relationship between Napoleon and Josephine had all of the excitement of watching paint dry. The dialog between them was painfully dull. Did Scott not watch the dailies? He had to have noticed how uninteresting their relationship came across on the screen. OMG, the sex scenes. Come on, was the intention to make them comedic? As for Mr. Phoenix, he never really dialed in his character. Who's to say what Napoleon was really like. It will remain a mystery. That said, Phoenix could have livened up the character a bit. So drab and stoic all the time.
Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023)
I've seen better, but also a lot worse
Sci-fi movies have pretty much run their course for story lines. This one is no different. Rebel Moon does suffer a bit from predictability. Let's just accept it. Putting this aside though, Sophia Boutella does a fine job as a warrior goddess (e.g., hot, sexy, athletic, mysterious, etc., all the things we come to expect from a warrior hero). Some people have complained about the slow motion elements of the fight scenes. I don't really mind. After The Matrix series of movies this cinematic style has been used a ton of times. No reason to hammer Rebel Moon for doing the same thing. The quality of special effects fall inline with what I'd expect from a feature movie. The supporting cast is solid. Overall I can't fault this movie for any egregious errors. The only downside is that you can see early on how certain story lines will develop.
Beacon 23 (2023)
Somewhere there is a story...I hope
Each episode is becoming progressively worse. Not a good sign for a new series. I can't help but wonder if the writers flushed out a full story before going to production. It seems like they have a vague idea for a story (e.g., a space station with a few people living on it, and some sort of alien being out there with them), but are meandering around trying to wrap it up into something cohesive and interesting for the audience. The first derailment was episode 4. The writers tried to inject a weak backstory to the AI. At the end I was left thinking, "who cares?" They tried to get back on track with episode 5, but then fell off the tracks again with episode 6. Another, "why should I care about these characters?" episode. Maybe the screen writers just can't capture the book version for a TV series.
I'm very surprised this got renewed for a second season.
Battle for Pandora (2022)
A new level of bad
Wow, who on earth...or planet Pandora... financed this movie? If I were told this was produced by, written by, directed by, costume and set design by in-coming middle school students I'd give it a pass. Easily the biggest shock is seeing Tom Sizemore. My God, talk about a fall from grace. To think he was in Saving Private Ryan is impossible to consider given this load of jibberish. That said, back to the movie. This movie misses all of the key elements for a solid viewer experience. Those would be a compelling story, great dialog, characters that you grow to care about, set design, costumes, and the MOST important...great acting. If these actors made it into a movie, then there's hope for me to become Hollywood actor too.
Foundation (2021)
A great sci-fi effort
Transforming classic science fiction books to the screen is quite a task. Foundation, a mega classic, would certainly be a challenge for anyone. If you've read the series you need to approach this with a clean slate. I think the people at Apple did a fantastic job bringing the spirit and message of Foundation to the screen. The cast is great. Lee Pace is perfect for this series. If you haven't seen him in "Halt And Catch Fire", look for it. Jared Harris, another solid actor, was a great choice for Hari Seldon. Over all, the entire cast did a great job. I'm really looking forward to season 2. I'm glad Apple TV decided to take on this project.
Black Adam (2022)
We need to demand more from Hollywood
Far too many action movies are released that follow the same theme: two minutes of insipid dialog followed by 15 minutes of CGI that we've seen many times before, then repeat the whole thing all over again. The art of telling a great story is quickly heading toward extinction. Black Adam is a perfect example. The first task in character development. Why should we care about this person? None of the characters in this movie give you a reason to care about them. Even the villains are empty. No pressing reason to hate them. As I watched the move I was wondering why The Rock signed on. I mean aside from the obvious paycheck, the only challenge was perhaps working on some facial expressions. I hope Hollywood gives this character a quick death and doesn't pursue a sequel.
The Terminal List (2022)
Pretty good, but I wonder about a second series
The first episode put me to sleep twice in the same sitting. I gave it another go and it picked up in episode two. In all, an entertaining show with plenty of mayhem, explosions, fights and blood. All the stuff we've come to expect. (Russell Crow in The Gladiator "Are you not entertained?"). I read it got a thumbs up for a second season. I have to wonder about that though. Will this be the longest inoperable terminal brain tumor in the history of the world? Given the circumstances one season should be enough. Like the mini-series Devs.
Alien Apocalypse (2005)
One star was generous
If someone told me that the script was written by 5th graders and the movie directed by 7th graders I'd likely believe it. How on earth did this movie get funded? Astonishingly bad.
The Expanse: Why We Fight (2022)
Solid series, but a weak final
The powers that be really did a disservice by only having five episodes in the final season. Far too many unanswered questions at the end. No resolution to a number of the story lines.
The Silent Sea (2021)
Decent low-budget movie
The problem with making Sc-fi these days is that there are a lot of sci-fi movies. The bar goes up each year. That said, given the amount of per-release attention this was getting, I expected more. Overall it's not a bad movie. I think 8 episodes really stretched it. Five episodes would have been enough. The ending was wonky. The Silent Sea didn't earn a second season IMO.
Villain (2020)
Embarrassing ending
A cliche', cringe worthy embarrassing ending. The movie had promise, but the writers dropped the ball. I'm amazed when writers make endings so predictable. How can they do it with a straight face? If you end up watching this movie, you'll see what I mean. You're better off watching something else though.
Dune (2021)
A solid "C+" movie
Visually it's a stunning movie. But a movie is more than its visual component. A few noteworthy performances: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson and Oscar Isaac. Why Zendaya got such attention for this movie is beyond me. She had maybe 10 lines of dialog. The rest of the time was watching her walk on the sand or staring into the camera. The ending just fell off. If there's no plan to make a sequel it was a wasted effort.
Settlers (2021)
It's alternative title is "Coma"
This movie will put you into a coma it's so boring. Its only saving grace is Sophia Boutella to look at. The screen writers forgot a few key things. First, a plot. And second, characters people want to care about. Given that there's air on Mars this must have taken place a few million years into the future after terraforming. Oddly people are still using guns that we use this day. The worst part though is that the story is aimless.
The Tomorrow War (2021)
I feel asleep...
Then woke up about 20 minutes later. I don't think I missed much. Pratt seems like a nice guy, but the wrong actor for the role. Standard low budget sci-fi entertainment. Grab the popcorn and have a good laugh.
Halston (2021)
Ewan McGregor crushed it
A solid mini-series. I knew of Halston, but nothing about his life. Ewan McGregor did a fantastic job. This is very much worth your time to watch.
The Ice Road (2021)
I should have washed the laundry instead
This is one dog of a movie. Liam must have been biting his tongue reading the script. I imagine he thought, "Oh what the Hell, it's a paycheck".
StartUp (2016)
A great show!
Don't screw this one up Netflix. Get season four started.
For All Mankind: And Here's to You (2021)
Come on writers....
Seriously, Karen Baldwin doinking Danny Stevens? The son of her husband's best friend? Totally out of character for her. Overall this season hasn't measured up to the first season.
Honest Thief (2020)
Whao...this was pretty bad.
So, we have a bank robber who has stolen $9M in cash over a number of years. No one has a clue as to who he is. For all intent and purposes, he is a free man. He meets the woman of his dreams and wants to turn himself in to the FBI as well as all the money for a reduced prison sentence and live a clean life. As if this doesn't present profound and unbelievable stupidity, particularly from a guy who has evaded all law enforcement, he then proceeds to give his storage unit keys where all the money is hidden to two flunky FBI agents. It was this at this point I had to turn it off. Do yourself a favor and pass on this one.
Sound of Metal (2019)
A solid movie worth your time
Having once been a professional musician I can't image the shock of losing my hearing. It would be like walking off a cliff. Riz Ahmed gave a great performance. In fact, the entire caste really delivered the goods. A classic story of tragedy -> denial -> acceptance.
The Tunnel (2013)
Great show
This show turned into a binge watch. I loved the Elise Wassermann character. Each time I saw Stephen Dillane I'd have flashbacks of his role as Stannis Baratheon in Game of Thrones.
Star Trek: Discovery: The Sanctuary (2020)
Watch your pronouns in the future
Easily the most stupid episode of Star Trek I've ever seen. Who had the brain fart and thought it would be a good idea to bring up the use of pronouns? "Hey...let's put a ridiculous contemporary subject in an episode!" What's next? An episode about Antifa, the Proud Boys, maybe the US Senate and Congress not agreeing on a budget plan? This show has tanked. Get new writers.
The Midnight Sky (2020)
I should have picked options B or C
Whew...this is one slow, aimless movie. I had two other options to spend my time today. I could have pulled weeds in the yard, or I could have removed rocks lodged in the treads of my car tires. Either would have been or exciting. Even for a family friendly movie this is a dog.
Da 5 Bloods (2020)
This is a Spike Lee movie?
I think Lee phoned this one in. Moreover, the story line was pretty limp. Given the volume of Vietnam movies out there, one has really deliver the goods. This one didn't leave the post office.