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Reviews
Passengers (2016)
Could have been a dark psychological masterpiece in the hands of somebody like Kubrick...
But instead the film goes all fluffy and wishy washy with the morality of the protagonist and what he has done. There could have been real empathy with the protagonist's solitude and his resulting actions, followed by scenes dripping with tension combined with internal psychological battles regarding his decision and the third act should have been one of pure revulsion. Anyways, where is Kubrick and what has he been up to lately? A movie that does have some parallels to this and is true sci fi worth seeing is Aniara.
Swamp Thing (2019)
Another dumb comic tv show
I was intrigued after seeing the trailer and seeing the obvious references to St. John Carpenter's THE THING. I read some reviews which also said it was more of a horror than a comic tv show so I gave it a shot. The visuals in the first two episodes are great, very much influenced by The Thing and that was cool. But a literal five minutes into the first episode and you basically know everything (who, what, where) so there was no mystery. No mystery bad guys, no mystery cause of the swampy weirdness. At the end of the first episode the only mystery was that the main protagonist supposedly killed her friend. Ok, that's intriguing, except mid way through the second episode you learn that maybe she didn't. Ok, end of mystery. You can infer that the protagonist did not kill her friend. There goes the only really interesting plot point introduced in the first episode. That's bad storytelling! Well at least there are the visuals. The swamp looks great but the show does nothing to pull you in, nothing to make you feel as if you were actually in the swamp. It's just a cool background while the cardboard characters do their thing. I guess I didn't realize that the story was about a man turned to monster, a humanoid monster, not a Lovecraftian monster as I was hoping. I lost interest sometime in the second episode and turned it off. What a waste of visuals though.
Aniara (2018)
Great
I'll cut to the chase: if you like traditional simplistic Hollywood narratives and big splodey things you might not like this. Add in subtitles and you'll probably hate it. But don't fret! Apparently comic and giant monster films are considered sci fi these days and those are for you!!! But for the rest of us who can appreciate a slow narrative (especially one that spans years), nuance, atmosphere, and a more complex thought provoking narrative this one's for us!
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
Tolien wept
I grew up on Tolkien, I read every word of his I could get my hands on including the all the scraps and outlines of his mythologies of Middle-Earth released posthumously. For the most part I enjoyed the LOTR movies. I was on an international 24 flight to India and this "Hobbit" movie was available for viewing... I couldn't make it past the first 20 minutes, it was absolute insult to Tolkien's work.
TerrorVision (1986)
I could really go for an 80s style microwave pizza right now
Featuring a Bill and Ted prototype, special effects ranging from the surprisingly good to the straight out of the intro from MST3k, a hot girl with big 80s hair (which apparently I still have a thing for)... this movie is an 80s junk food fest. What more could you want?
Citadel (2012)
The usual breakdown of who likes this vs. not
If you like your movies heavy on slow burn buildup with the overall focus on mood, tension and a feeling of dread this one's for you. It definitely has its flaws and at least one gaping plot hole that kind of left me shaking my head but overall I definitely enjoyed this well directed flick. If you like big splodey things, lots of gore, Hollywood fake boobies, bombastic soundtracks and prefer energy drink adrenaline rush pacing you might want to pass.
The Titan (2018)
Not bad but not great
This is a half-way decent sci-fi flick that, thankfully, takes itself seriously. It's most definitely not perfect but with all the other comments saying it was derivative of other films I was expecting something along the lines of the original Stargate which literally lifted scenes out of other films and redid them within its own story. If you like your sci-fi a little slow burn and takes itself seriously you might want to give this a try. I've seen some truly horrible plot-holed "sci-fi" more deserving of the one star reviews that others have posted for this film but this film deserves better.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Dumb and an embarrassment to Tolkien's legacy.
Dumb and an embarrassment to Tolkien's legacy. There's really not much more to say. It might even be worse than "The Prequels".
The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)
Good slow-burn moody sci-fi
So all the people who were expecting big splodey things and giant monsters were quite disappointed. That's not surprising but hey there's a glut of superhero movies for them. For the rest of us who appreciate slow burn moody sci-fi this one's for us. I'll admit its not as riveting as Cloverfield nor does it have the character tension and surprise third act that Cloverfield Lane had, but its definitely a solid sci-fi flick. If you liked the 2002 version of Solaris you might want to give it a chance (no, its not a masterpiece like Solaris). If you were all gonzo about Pacific Rim and the comic book movie of the week you might want to pass.
Dead Set (2008)
Seriously funny
This show is awesomely brilliant! It can be watched as a typical zombie horror flick due to actors' deadpan delivery and directing style, but the more you pay attention to the dialogue the more of a comedy it becomes. The script by Charlie Brooker is witty and full of biting cynical social commentary. It's also a much better entry into the zombie genre than anything since the original REC. I could be wrong about this next point, but I believe Joplin to be Brooker's doppleganger. Plus if you watch Charlie Brooker's screenwipe you can see some of the characters Brooker parodies in this show. Three out of two thumbs up!
The Thing (2011)
The Thing
This movie is everything I expected but hoping it would not be. Its a big dumb Hollywood action film just like any other big dumb Hollywood action film. Two things made the original a classic: the mood combined with outrageously gruesome and creepy special effects. Where the original had a quiet soundtrack which created a tense atmosphere of introverted and lonely paranoia, the new has a LOUD orchestral soundtrack that makes me want to pound 5 hour energy drinks and kill computer animated monsters in a video game. There are also so many English speaking characters with American accents I forgot we were supposed to be watching the events that took place at the Swedish (or was it Norwegian?) station. The CGI actually looks like total crap and just because the Thing moves faster doesn't mean its scarier, quite the opposite actually. :(