marin1977 Reviews

Hawaii Five-0: Kekoa (The Warrior) (2013) Season 3, Episode 16

Very bad writing, good acting by Summer Glau

[5/10 · 21 August 2013]

I am just adding to the other reviews here and will focus on a very bad blunder by the writers.

The fight scene between Maggie Hoapili (Summer Glau) and Kat Carrigan (can't find her name in credits) is horribly written.

Simply put, if you throw a cold fighter into a pit against a warmed up and fully prepared one of equal skill, the fight is going to be a curb stomp.

This situation is even worse since Hoapili has been tied to a chair previously. Predictably, has gets her shoulder dislocated within 10 seconds from start of the fight (!).

The obvious plot hole here is that people apparently paid quite a bit of money to watch this and I can't imagine a 10 second fight is in any way satisfying to watch.

To make it worse, Carrigan then lets her opponent go and proceeds to lose the fight even though she is apparently a skilled fighter and her opponent is a cripple?! Cringe worthy.

Seriously, the whole "return from the brink of defeat" thing is old and dead and with these two actresses the fight scene could have been epic (SG is incredible in fight scenes and I assume the other girl has some kind of fighting skill for which she was cast).

*** This is not a criticism of the actresses, presumably they had no influence over the scenario.

As for the rest or the episode, Summer Glau does a fine job with her role and the rest of the cast is pretty decent. I found the Lahti/Williams scenes pretty funny to watch.

Zombieland (2009)

Pretty bad (unfortunately)

[3/10 · 8 October 2009]

I was really curious about this movie since I really like Woody Harrelson and the trailer looked so good. Sadly, what you see in the trailer is basically what you get in the movie when it comes to some kind of fun.

Main problems with this movie are: - a total lack of rhythm and coherence in the story - bad choice of actors (sadly, even Woody is nowhere near his best performances) - bad acting (cringe worthy) - ridiculous decisions made by the characters (the whole amusement park thing is extremely stupid)

One good thing in the movie are "the rules", which at least make sense.

Even the generally liked Bill Murray episode just induces facepalms... really, they let him go in and try to scare a man with a shotgun? What a wonderful idea.

I don't have the time and the inclination to really go through the plot and list all the problems with the movie. What I can give you is an advice - STAY AWAY from the movie if you have to pay money to see it.

If you can see it for free and you are curious, well I guess there is really no harm in that.

Man on Fire (2004)

A great movie

[9/10 · 25 January 2008]

This movie had only 1 "cringe" moment, and that is when Lisa (the wife) says to Samuel (the husband) she founds out has been involved "I love you! Tell me the truth!" That "I love you!" is so out of place it is unbelievable. Whoever I watched the movie with (and I watched it 3 times in different company) ALL cringed about that.

About the end - Creasy feels that he is dying from his wounds (current and unhealed previous ones) so that is probably why he agrees to give himself up (also maybe to die in an act of redemption). The only thing that he could have done is plant a bomb on himself in the same way he executed Fuentes, and take a few of the bad guys with him (now that would be likely for his mentality IMHO).

All things considered, this movie is pretty great - I gave it a 9/10 overall. It is hard to escape the conclusion that Creasy's way of handling the "proffesional" criminals is the only efficient way to do it.

"He will deliver more justice in 1 weekend than your courts in 10 years."

She Creature (2001 TV Movie)

The lost opportunity

[6/10 · 28 September 2007]

This movie evokes some mixed feelings in me... it is carried by the two female actresses in main roles, and that storyline (pretty much the only one anyway) should have been followed to the end. The mermaid is superbly played by Rya Kihlstedt, in difficult circumstances (topless, mostly in water, with no dialogue). She is beautiful, exotic, sexy, vulnerable and deadly - what more could one ask for?

It is a real shame that the end is a cheap ripoff of the "Alien" movies - totally unnecessary and pretty much ruins the movie.

It is amazing that this movie couldn't get financing outside of ridiculous "Creature feature" serial... With proper budget and improved scenario this had the potential to be a hit, probably instant classic of the genre (you can quote me on that).

I am giving this a 6 overall: Rya Kihlstedt - an easy 10 Rufus Sewell & Carla Gugino - around 7 each, Gugino had more screen time but wasn't really that good the script & directing - overall 6, but the end ruins it down to 3

House M.D.: No Reason (2006) Season 2, Episode 24

Am I the only one not thrilled?

[6/10 · 13 August 2007]

I read all other comments on this episode and was shocked by everyone's enthusiasm...

This episode shows some really disturbing symptoms of a decline of a TV series: - incredibly confusing script, in "style over substance" kind of way - unnecessarily excessive amount of gore, probably the worst I have even seen from non-horror piece of entertainment

I do have to agree that the scene immediately after House cuts the patient open is superbly acted (for 30-40 seconds), although it was obvious that the team didn't really try to stop him (a clear early sign that all scene was an illusion).

House M.D.: Safe (2006) Season 2, Episode 16

Unlikely ending

[6/10 · 13 June 2007]

I am a pretty big House fan, but this episode's ending left me hugely disappointed.

I found it unnecessarily over-dramatic and highly unlikely.

Since the girl's body was thoroughly checked at least twice, including the area where House found the "problem" (according to Foreman) - where did that thing come from? I mean, it is pretty impossible to miss something that large and obvious. Also removing it would be impossible in such a simple manner (some preparation is always necessary, otherwise the problem would be worsened).

Other elements of the episode are pretty good (as always), although the stethoscope prank and Wilson's reaction to it are also a little over-the-top.

The Descent (2005)

Mixed feelings about this one

[3/10 · 18 February 2007]

OK, I have seen this movie with high hopes based on some positive reviews from this site. I find that the movie has some qualities and it was an interesting watch but overall it is a pretty bad effort.

I have some serious problems with the logic of the movie regarding the creatures such as:

1. The creatures do not use tools of any kind. There is no way they would survive if they have to rely on their hands and teeth to kill deer etc. Even chimpanzees use "tools" such as branches or stones. There is LOT of stone in the caves and yet not even one creature uses it to fight with.

• How exactly do they hunt anything large enough to sustain the "tribe"? How can they overpower large prey at all without heavy casualties, especially on the surface?

2. Lot of controversy regarding their senses. - The creatures cant notice a grown person who is 15-30 cm away?! Not even by smell or touch (in one scene)? They do not even notice the body warmth? They apparently cant see anything (like red camera eye 5 cm from their face)...

• ... yet in fight scenes they know where their opponents are. Echolocation is not that fast or precise (remember, bats hunt insects and do not actually have to fight their prey), besides in the fights they don't even use it.

3. Near the end of the movie, 2 women fight and kill 3 male hunters. It is pretty clear from a previous scene that grown male creatures can overpower a woman in 1-on-1 combat (which is logical).

• Of course, if the creatures are blind, cant smell, don't have very sensitive skin to the touch or temperature, don't have good enough hearing to compensate and don't use weapons of any kind then there is a good chance they would lose the fight :)