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Rogu Horaizun (2013)
Watching wet paint drying is more interesting than this show. Good premise, RUINED by incompetent, bad writers, and RUINED by the laziest animators in the world.
***********MAJOR SPOILERS***********
Hello!
The "writers" of this show have absolutely NO idea how real people actually think or act. 30,000 people are instantly trapped in an online RPG (Role Playing Game), in a fantasy world based on Japan's geography.
Are they in shock? Do they mourn losing their friends and families? Do they worry about their real bodies? Are they worried about their relationships or marriages or jobs in the real world? Do they talk or think about returning to the real world?
NO! They do NOT! Not in the slightest! Not for an instant! Ridiculous!
Because of the good premise, I've watched 30 episodes hoping beyond hope for ANYTHING of interest to happen. In this entire time, just a few minutes TOTAL, have been spent on the above questions. Unbelievable!
The writers have absolutely NO idea how to develop characters. They willy-nilly introduce more and more major characters, now 15 total, making it impossible to keep track. The characters are one-dimensional, and poorly written.
If a world magic bomb went off, and killed off the lot of them forever, I wouldn't care. The ONLY character fleshed out in the slightest, is the Assassin girl, Akstsuki, who's in love with Shiroe (the supposed main character; though it's now an ensemble piece), who doesn't know she loves him, or ignores it.
NOR do the incompetent writers have the slightest clue how to write a plot arc, or have even the SLIGHTEST interesting thing happen. The "animators" are also lazy as heck. Examples:
If you love DULL meetings,where NOTHING much ever happens, this is the show for you! Over and over again, dull, ponderous meetings fill up episode after episode. However, this is GREAT for the lazy animators, who don't actually have to animate anything. Just people sitting motionless in chairs, with maybe an eye or mouth moving. OH! A favorite of the lazy animators, is to have the person talking with their BACK to the camera shot, so that they don't even have to animate the mouth moving! DISGUSTINGLY LAZY!
The writers, not having thought out their plot ideas in the slightest, constantly change how the magic works, to make it more convenient for their dull plots.
In a plot arc where the Adventurers (IE, the real people trapped in the RPG), go to the aid of the People of the Land (IE, the people who were originally non-player characters (presumably without souls, although no one has mentioned or thought of this even once)), when part of tens of thousands of goblins attack.
WOW! Looked amazing, right? NO. AFTER THE FACT, you get to hear this (paraphrased): "Gee, whiz! That was a heck of a battle! Gazillions of goblins coming after us all night long! Man, we're lucky to be alive!!!" BUT, what a boon for the lazy animators! Heaven forbid they'd actually have to animate this!
If the lazy animators are actually FORCED to animate a battle or crowd scene, you get a static single drawing, that they PAN the camera over, to give a partial illusion of movement. This is done over and over again. LAZY!
Neither the genius master strategist (NOT!) Shiroe NOR the other 30,000 other people trapped there, seemed to remember from the game that you always have to defeat the new Goblin King, to keep the goblins from attacking. Did they finally go and do what they should've done in the first place; defeat the Goblin King, so that the tens of thousands of goblins would slink back to their holes in the ground? Ho, ho, ho, no! They go off and have a FESTIVAL! Are they all INSANE???
Now, I am a big fan of planning and strategy, and would really liked to have seen something decent; but the writers are so BAD at this, they should just give it up, and have mindless action like everyone else.
A several episode "plot arc", had an evil Person of the Land plotting against Shiroe's home city, during a festival. (Man! They have a LOT of festivals, in this show; since the bungling writers can't think of a single original idea.) He brings a gigantic ship into the city harbor, supposedly with trade goods.
What's REALLY inside this gigantic ship? Troops? Magic weapons? Tons of explosives? Gazillions of evil monsters?
NO! He's forged a document, so that a Princess of the Land staying there would be humiliated that they didn't have warehouse space ready for his trade goods.
HUH???!!! WHAT???!!! HUH???!!! WHAT???!!!
THIS was the ending to a several episode "plot arc". I will leave you in the dark, as to whether or not the Princess was humiliated.
WHAT kind of LAME, WORTHLESS, INCOMPETENT, BAD writing is THIS???
One commentator here said that Log Horizon didn't have "...one dimensional forced romance stories...".
He's correct. Log Horizon has ZERO dimensional romance stories. ZERO marriages (after a year, not a single marriage?) ZERO newborn babies. ZERO sex. (How realistic is THAT?) ZERO adult relationships. Love struck women, make big cow eyes at their love interest, too afraid to actually say anything (sexist). Usually, the love interest either doesn't realize this, or ignores it (also sexist).
A several episode arc (partly) involved Shiroe and Akstsuki going to a big ball, where, presumably, they'd have their big dance. He asks her to dance. How much do the lazy animators show? ZERO! NONE! Set up for weeks! The little dancing they showed of others, was SO BAD, it looked like cut-out figures glued to popsicle sticks.
Sword Art Online, mentioned elsewhere, is vastly superior in every possible way to Log Horizon. The only similarity, is being trapped in an RPG world.
Log Horizon is drek, crud, garbage; WORTHLESS in every way.
You've been warned.
***********MAJOR SPOILERS***********
Wayward Pines (2015)
Are the writers smarter than 1st graders? Did the writers FINISH 1st grade? Adequate acting & photography, terrible train wreck writing. Ripped off from "In the Year 2889"
********MAJOR SPOILERS!********
Hello!
This is a difficult review to write. While, as others have pointed out, the acting mostly varies from adequate to very good (the standouts being Juliette Lewis and Melissa Leo), with decent photography and direction, the total end results are closer to a train wreck than a TV series. (I haven't read the books, but many have indicated that the series is reasonably close, so many of these comments will apply to the author and books.)
The series started out promising. A strange town, a mystery. As others mentioned, a combination of "The Prisoner", "Twin Peaks", and "Lost". Quickly, I (having read thousands of science fiction books), knew it would be one of three explanations: 1. suspended animation, 2. time travel, or the long shot, aliens. Several episodes later, guess what?- 2,000 years of suspended animation.
Soon I realized that much of this was simply ripped off from 1967's movie, "In the Year 2889". Mad scientist figures out the end of the world's coming, saving select people in a small valley with cliffs on 3 sides that the cannibalistic mutant humans with huge pointy teeth, can't get down. Model of the entire valley, talk of procreation, etc, etc.
Nowhere in this series do ANY of the characters in the town of Wayward Pines, act rationally, sane, or use logic in the slightest manner. I could list more than 100 irrational, idiotic things the characters did, given the situation, but there isn't nearly enough room.
Ummm... where is the food coming from? ...the cars? ...the houses? ...the electricity?
Some people defend this, saying it's all from immense storage areas inside the mountain. (It would have to be! There are no crops, no factories, no livestock.)
Ummm... how would you like a nice, heaping dish, of 2,000 year old ice cream? (Big favorite of the sheriff.) What about a nice dish of 2,000 year old cereal, with 2,000 year old milk? Running cars on 2,000 year old gasoline (gasoline's octane drops so low after 7 years, it won't run cars). Where do you buy those tires today, with that 2,000 year warranty? I'd like a set!
Ludicrous, ridiculous! Did the incompetent writers think ANY plot point in this entire story, through in the slightest?
Imagine this, if you would. Mad scientist billionaire sets this all up. Freezes everyone he's kidnapped over more than a decade. Freezes food. Now, ALL of this equipment has to run perfectly, without repair for 2,000 years, and automatically wake them up! How many items manufactured TODAY, will still be working even 20 years from now, let alone 2,000 years! WHERE is the power coming from, to run all of this power hungry equipment? Idiotic!
Most of these problems could've been avoided by using an old science fiction idea, a "stasis field", where time stops inside (seen in the TV show, "Red Dwarf"), where everything could have been stored.
The mad "scientist" billionaire, a biologist, who has set this all up, thinks nothing of having regular executions (murders, really), for the tiniest of offenses, in a town where no one knows it's 2,000 years in the future, with terrible monsters outside the electric fence! Though they don't know it, they are living on stores that won't last forever.
Ummm... wouldn't it make slightly more sense, to be figuring out a way to clear the monsters out of an area so that you could farm, and start building factories, BEFORE your storehouse runs out, and everyone starves to death? Instead of wasting a bunch of people monitoring everyone's tiniest move in town, and going through all of your limited stores? And setting everyone at each others throats bloodily demanding executions for the smallest, most insignificant infractions?
The rational for this, is that in the first incarnation of the town, when the residents were informed of the real situation, they began committing mass suicide. Hogwash! In wartime, when cities were bombed into rubble (a similar kind of psychological shock), no such thing happened.
And being a biologist, he should CERTAINLY know, that the gene pool here is already almost too small to continue the human race. Each execution, POOF!, those genes are gone forever from the gene pool. Obviously, he should have frozen sperm, to guarantee genetic diversity over the coming generations, but somehow this simple thought eluded him (though I doubt that 2,000 year old frozen sperm would be any more viable than 2,000 year old frozen humans).
And THEN, he decides to kill off the entire town, because they've displeased him, and defrost a third group, to try again. Madness! Irrational! Bad, stupid, stupid, stupid writing.
I've saved the worst bit for last, the creatures, the "abbies". The creatures are supposedly mutated humans. The writers obviously don't have the slightest clue what a mutation is, or how they happen (randomly and incrementally), or what is required for the mutation to become widespread (advantages over their predecessors in a given environment).
Believe me, if "abbies" suddenly started being born everywhere (something that can't happen), they would overwhelmingly be killed at birth. They would not take over the planet, and kill all the normal humans. Again, bad, stupid writing.
Also, they can't survive as depicted. Apparently 100% males (ummm, how do they procreate?) Naked, without clothing, in IDAHO??? I don't think so! Hundreds of them, constantly, in tiny areas? WHAT do they eat? They would die out rapidly from starvation after clearing out an area of game.
There is a partial fix for this stupidity. That the creatures were a result of genetically modifying humans to create super-soldiers, and used in a war. Simultaneously, a biological weapon wipes out regular humans, leaving the creatures unscathed. (NOT original ideas.) But the ignorant writers didn't write this, or anything resembling competent writing, of course.
Garbage, drivel, terrible, waste of time.
You've been warned!
Karl
********MAJOR SPOILERS!********
Ballykissangel (1996)
GOD awful beyond belief- Committed the biggest SIN there is for a comedy- NOT funny at ALL!
*************SPOILERS EVERYWHERE*************
Hello!
This horrific garbage ticked me off in a way that no show has for a long, long time.
First off, this has got to be some of the worst series writing I have ever seen. I will critique the first episode.
Over and over, the writers put in scenes obviously intended to be funny, that fall flat on their faces, without even a chuckle.
Technically, I suppose, this was supposed to be a dramedy (IE, both a drama and a comedy), but there were numerous scenes that obviously were INTENDED, unsuccessfully, to be comedic.
A giant box falls off a truck, tumbling down a mountain, narrowly missing a bus carrying the new priest into town. This was OBVIOUSLY intended to be funny, but fell completely flat.
Ridiculous confessional being installed, with comfy chairs, "Occupied" lights, and a fax (would've been something that you might have seen in "Last of the Summer Wine"), that was continually played, UNSUCCESSFULLY, for laughs. Not a laugh, not a chuckle.
Not only were the writers utterly and completely incompetent at writing comedy scenes, the terrible actors were also completely incompetent at DELIVERING comedic lines. Again, not one laugh, not one chuckle.
The new priest was obviously meant to be the "hero" against the supposedly old and stodgy and hypocritical in the village, but, again, the writers were utterly incompetent, and had NO idea what they were doing.
The rich man funding the ridiculous confessional, became the new priest's arch enemy for virtually NO reason at all. The new priest's superior, Father MacAnally (I'm NOT joking, this is what the writers called him!) tells him outright that the rich man is a friend of the church, and to treat him well.
Well, Mr. new priest, there all of one day, not only IGNORES his superior's (presumably having lived there decades, with intimate knowledge of the area and situations) advice, but then declares the rich guy as priestly enemy #1, for NO real reason. (Yes, supposedly the ridiculous confessional would imply sins of pride and vanity, but, so WHAT? Presumably in this guy's congregation, there would be people committing a variety of sins as large, or larger. WHY did he single out the rich guy???)
And perhaps Mr. rich guy has previously contributed to the poor, or done other charitable acts? How would Mr. new priest, there all of one day, even KNOW this?
On the other hand, the unbelievably arrogant new priest committed MAJOR sins, all over the place, FAR in excess of anything that rich guy appeared to have done.
Examples: 1. Intentionally doesn't tell rich guy that the newly delivered confessional fell down the mountain, a fact hidden by the delivery people, who would have been liable. (By the way, HOW did it fall hundreds of feet down the mountain, WITHOUT an apparent scratch on it??? Even GLASS inside it, was shown to be intact! MORE bad writing.)
2. Intentionally and publicly, during the middle of a service, humiliates the rich man, not once, but TWICE. (Also, the writers don't seem to understand how electricity works. Priest has rich guy unplug the confessional, moments later, the fax kicks on, so rich guy can be humiliated publicly again. HUH??? With NO electricity???)
3. Tells police man to "shack up" (way rich man phrased it) with rich man's daughter; that it's OK as long as they don't have sex. MORE bad writing. Even if this is technically OK , it is stupid, ignorant, and naive beyond belief for a priest to say this! BAD writing!
4. FORGES A LETTER, using a faxed invoice intended for the rich guy (WHO sends invoices by fax???), to intentionally fake that the rich guy was trying to bill the church, for his "gift" of the confessional, instead of it being a real gift. NOT ONLY is this a TERRIBLE thing for a priest to do, it is probably criminal, as well! MORE horrible writing!
And YET, this new priest is supposed to be a paragon of virtue, against this "evil" of the rich guy, and Father MacAnally.
MORE bad writing: new priest and rich guy are trapped in confessional when electric doors jam. (AGAIN, obviously meant to be funny. Not one laugh, not one chuckle.) Solution? Pull the confessional through the roof, with THEM STILL IN IT, by a crane. A real laugh, right? NOT! Ummm, haven't the writers of this heard of a crowbar, or a saw, to open the jammed doors??? PLUS, I have NEVER seen an electric door that you couldn't open by hand, say, if the electricity or something else failed.
MORE bad writing: the confessional is WAY too large to go into any building, through any normal door. By luck, for some stupid reason I don't remember, there was a large, convenient hole in the roof, where they lowered it in by crane. (Must make this confessional a real big seller!) The BAD writers obviously did this, for the "funny" (NOT!), scene later where they are lifted out by crane, still in the confessional.
UNBELIEVABLE!!!
GARAGE, TRIPE, REFUSE, DRIVEL!
AVOID at ALL costs!
Karl
*************SPOILERS EVERYWHERE*************
Parental Guidance (2012)
A script that insults the intelligence of a 5 year old, with EVERY bad cliché about families ever invented!
Hello!
First off, I would like to say that EVERY potential film director and script writer should watch this film...
...they should watch this film to learn EVERY POSSIBLE mistake that you can make in writing and filming a family oriented movie.
Don't get me wrong, I like Billy Crystal, Bette Midler, and Marisa Tomei, the three principal actors, quite a bit. Billy Crystal's small performance in "The Princess Bride" as Miracle Max, is hilarious, and one of the high points of the movie. There are a number of other movies that they have done solid, good work in.
Unfortunately, though, this film wasn't one of them.
Billy Crystal would seem to be most at fault here. He is listed as one of the "Producers", so presumably he had some control over the final script. How he let this script abomination get to the filming stage, is beyond me. He made this film at the age of 64, and I would say this turkey has just about tanked his fading film career; and he has taken Bette Midler and Marisa Tomei along with him.
The characters in this film act like sub-grade morons, and somehow manage to insult just about every age group there is. In itself, this would actually appear to be a minor achievement, as I don't remember ANY other movie that I have seen, actually insult so many age groups in a single movie.
If you have seen other family movies, don't worry, EVERY BAD cliché you have EVER seen about families, is in this movie. They have neatly collected them all together, for your viewing displeasure, so you don't have to watch dozens of other bad family movies, to see them all.
For a comedy, you might call it "comedy light" or "comedy free", as there were virtually NO funny moments, or laughs over the entire movie.
In the end credits of the movie, they said that 14,000 jobs were created by this movie, with over 600,000 man hours spent in the production.
WHERE did all this time and effort supposedly GO? This movie was worse than even an average made-for-TV, very low budget, family production.
600,000 hours to make this God awful STINKER? GEEZ! It staggers the imagination! Frankly, if I were involved with the production of this stinking pile of you-know-what, I WOULDN'T plaster my face all over the end credits, as they did with the actors, their families, and the production staff, and their families, in this movie.
I'd wear a paper bag over my head, instead, and pretend that I had nothing what-so-ever to do with this movie.
The script is SO, BAD, BAD, BAD, that it is a little difficult to figure how bad the acting was. Billy Crystal, Bette Midler, and Marisa Tomei were obviously NOT in top form, however, the dialogue was so reekingly BAD, that it was difficult to tell how much was bad acting, and how much was the terrible script.
I pardon Bette Midler a bit, here. Even though she was listed second in the credits, she was given virtually nothing of importance to do in the movie. I expected some hilarious moments between her and Billy Crystal, but there were virtually NO humorous moments between them.
Andy Fickman, as director, deserves more than a few barbs, here. Billy Crystal, Bette Midler, and Marisa Tomei are decent actors, but it sure wasn't obvious from this movie. I would say Andy Fickman was instrumental in the reekingly BAD quality of this movie.
Run, don't walk, as far away from this stinking pile of... "film", as possible.
My 2¢ worth.
Karl
Shin seiki Evangelion Gekijô-ban: Shito shinsei (1997)
Incomprehensible Mess Released Simply to Grab More Money- and YES, I've seen the whole TV series!
Hello!
AS A MOVIE, this is simply GODAWFUL.
(YES, I have seen the entire TV series, which I considered quite good overall.)
This movie was slapped together with zero thought, effort, or money, and was released ONLY to GET MORE CASH. NO other reason.
As far as I can tell, the first 2/3's of the movie is simply an incomprehensible mishmash of sections of the TV anime series randomly strung together.
I am NOT joking!
A section from the end of the TV series will be followed with a section from the beginning, then the middle, in a nonsensical way without rhyme or reason.
One scene from the series, was split into two or three different parts spread out through the movie, with them trying to pretend that it was a different scene, every time! (Since I've seen the entire TV series, YES, I understood completely WHERE each scene was taken from, and what it's importance was within the TV series, BUT, the way it was edited together for the movie, made no sense whatsoever!)
Robot battles would erupt with no reason, and end. A scene would occur BEFORE a required scene setting it up; which would only show up later.
The last third is the first actual new stuff (Yes, yes, some die hard fan will point out that maybe a couple of minutes of new stuff was added to the first 2/3's of the movie, to which I say, so what? The extra couple of minutes added NOTHING.)
Now the LAST third, the new material, was almost watchable. HOWEVER, the movie ABRUPTLY ends, right in the middle of a scene, with no resolution of any kind, NOTHING! Just BLAM!, over! (presumably because they were too cheap to add any more.)
AND, since the cheapskate, lazy, tightwads that put this garbage together, completely REPEAT this NEW section IN IT'S ENTIRETY, as the beginning third of the next movie, "The End of Evangelion", you don't even need to watch that part!
So the final word?
Watch the complete TV series, "Neon Genesis Evangelion". (WARNING: Many people don't like the ending of the TV series "Neon Genesis Evangelion".)
SKIP the incomprehensible garbage money grubbing movie "Evangelion: Death and Rebirth".
THEN, watch the movie "The End of Evangelion". (WARNING: Many people don't like the ending of the movie "The End of Evangelion".)
I GUARANTEE, you WON'T miss anything worth watching. You'll save yourself from watching endless, cheapskate, lazy repetition after repetition with no point whatsoever (except to make the lazy, greedy filmmakers extra money).
DON'T believe the people who say that this movie is too complex to follow without having watched the TV series. That is absurd nonsense. I think they're only saying that to sucker more people into watching this garbage, along with them.
Don't be suckered in!
My 2¢ worth.
Karl
Prometheus (2012)
Proved ABSOLUTELY! The Three Stooges are GENIUSES compared to the Prometheus Crew!
SPOILERS!
Hello!
My wife and I saw "Prometheus" (2012) after watching "The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze" (1963).
I made humorous comments to her about The Three Stooges versus the Prometheus Crew. After thought, I realized that The Three Stooges were more intelligent, and also the plots were remarkably similar!
Don't believe me? Read on to see The Three Stooges VASTLY superior intellects!
1. Memory and spacial skills:
Stooges: The Three Stooges (and Phileas Fogg III) see a map ONCE, and successfully navigate 24,000 miles around the world!
Prometheus: Milburn and Fifield get LOST inside the alien spacecraft, and can't go the mile to their ship, EVEN with mapping drones showing the spacecraft's interior and their exact location!
Clear winners by 24,000 miles, The Three Stooges!
2. Simple instinct of self preservation:
Stooges: Thrown into a jail cell, which has a cobra snake in a basket, The Three Stooges show caution, and take protective action.
Prometheus: Milburn teases a cobra-like alien snake REPEATEDLY, ending up (deservedly) dead. Fifield gets a horrible infection.
Clear winners, The Three Stooges!
3. Patience, and appropriate situational action:
Stooges: Phileas and Amelia show patience during courtship, and forgo sex; appropriate for the situation.
Prometheus: TWICE, inappropriate sex occurs, with horrifying results. Holloway and Shaw have sex after Holloway has foolishly exposed the landing party to possible alien infection. Shaw gets impregnated with a squid alien.
Captain Janek abandons his post for sex with Vickers. During this time, Milburn is killed. Fifield is infected. One of them might've been saved, otherwise.
Clear winners, The Three Stooges! (and Phileas)
4. Caution and observation prior to entering dangerous alien environments:
Stooges: Hiding in steamer trunks on the dock of an alien country, Moe carefully surveys the area with a periscope for possible danger prior to entry.
Prometheus: They barge onto an unknown alien planet regardless of possible infections, possibly dangerous aliens, or anything else! Entire expedition dead (except one).
Clear winners, The Three Stooges!
5. Appropriate antibacterial precautions:
Stooges: Curly Joe stokes up a stove with a hot, roaring fire to safely cook food before serving. Moe serves wine from a freshly opened bottle. Possible infections stopped BEFORE contamination.
Prometheus: David serves Holloway wine, with alien bacteria as a "secret" ingredient. Holloway's later burnt to death by flamethrower to stop the bacterial infection. Fifield's also burnt to death to stop infection. Infections stopped only AFTER contamination, leaving two dead.
Clear winners, The Three Stooges!
6. Appropriate reaction to injury:
Stooges: When a falling steamer trunk hits Moe's head, he lies there until recovering. Larry and Curly Joe show concern, and take appropriate helpful action.
Prometheus: When Shaw's belly's sliced open by the electronic "doctor", to remove the squid alien, she runs around like an athlete. NO ONE notices the foot long belly incision (even though dressed only in panties and bra), that she's covered in blood, or offers help of any kind, other than David giving her a coat (VERY little help!).
Clear winners, The Three Stooges!
7. Ability to work with and help others, and achieving your goals:
Stooges: Throughout, everyone helps everyone else achieve the goal.
Prometheus: Throughout, almost everyone is at each others throats, EVEN THOUGH they supposedly have the same goal.
Clear winners, The Three Stooges!
8. Thrift, and being able to work within a budget:
Stooges: Traveled 24,000 miles, WITHOUT spending a farthing on transportation costs, using their wits.
Prometheus: Cost of trip: one TRILLION dollars!
Clear winners, The Three Stooges!
9. Taking appropriate risks for large goals:
Stooges: At the end, The Three Stooges crash a police lorry into The Reformers Club. Result: no injuries, and the large wager's won, preventing bankruptcy. Phileas and Amelia Carter are united.
Prometheus: At the end, Captain Janek crashes his ship into the alien ship. Result: all dead on board, but the alien ship is downed. (The alien's motives cannot be fully known, but suspicions were that it'd destroy Earth.)
Winners, The Three Stooges! (Everyone on the Prometheus died, but the Stooges were alive and kicking. Shaw's not united with boyfriend Holloway.)
(If you think that saving Earth outweighs winning wagers, The Three Stooges ALSO saved Earth, in "Have Rocket -- Will Travel"!)
Similar Plot Points:
1. Stooges: A dangerous long journey's undertaken due to obsession of rich man. Prometheus. A dangerous long journey's undertaken due to obsession of rich man.
2. Stooges: Repeatedly exposed to life and death danger in alien environments. Prometheus: Repeatedly exposed to life and death (usually death) danger in alien environments.
3. Stooges: Larry uses a flute to control a cobra AND Curly Joe (who reacts violently to, "POP! Goes the Weasel"), to escape jail, and win at sumo wrestling. Prometheus: Aliens use a flute to control their spaceship.
4. Stooges: Cavendish and his henchman try to kill The Three Stooges throughout. (Completely fails.) Prometheus: Aliens try to kill the crew throughout. (Almost completely succeeds.)
5. Stooges: Emotionless, rigid man learns to love. (Phileas/Amelia) Prometheus: Emotionless, rigid robot almost learns to love. (David/Shaw)
6. Stooges: The rich man realizes that there're things much more important than his original goal. Prometheus: The rich man realizes that there're things much more important than his original goal.
7. Stooges: The finale involves intentionally crashing their vehicle into a specific target to achieve goals. Prometheus: The finale involves intentionally crashing their vehicle into a specific target to achieve goals.
So, PROOF POSITIVE, The Three Stooges are GENIUSES compared to the Prometheus Crew!
Also, you can see how the "Prometheus" script has stolen numerous plot points from "The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze" (which, by the way, is better)!
Hope this was helpful!
Karl
A Christmas Carol (2004)
Everyone associated with this movie, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.
Hello!
Though I have visited the IMDb.com site for many years, this is my very first review here, because I felt a strong moral obligation to warn others about this movie.
I have seen perhaps 15 movie versions of "A Christmas Carol".
Without a doubt, this awful piece of garbage ranks dead last, even after bad half-hour animated versions.
Everything is so appallingly bad, that it's difficult to point out anything in particular.
Kelsey Grammar, who I have not hated before this movie, turns in one of the most dreadful performances I have ever seen, anywhere, in any movie! I was stunned by the ham ridden, exceptionally poor performance, in what should have been a drama. Don't expect much more from the other "actors", many of whom act as if they are on drugs (I blame this on the director, Arthur Allan Seidelman. SO many actors can't have turned in such bad performances, without the director being hugely at fault!).
The script has been dramatically changed from the original story, every time, making this movie worse, and worse, and worse. Now, I understand that most stories or novels can't be translated directly into a movie without alterations, HOWEVER, that doesn't excuse the butchery of the original story that was done in this movie, with no point. AND, "A Christmas Carol", by Charles Dickens, READS almost as a screenplay. Many adaptations have stayed very close to the original source material, with sometimes very great results.
The music varies from inane, to horrible. I know that Alan Menken has done decent stuff before, but this certainly has to have been one of his poorest efforts.
Rather than continuing to harp on the vast shortcomings of this unwatchable piece of crud, I will list the versions of "A Christmas Carol", that I consider best, in order:
1. "A Christmas Carol", George C. Scott, 1984, long version. 10 star movie. Brilliant performance by Scott, probably the best of his entire career, even better than in "Patton". He portrays Scrooge as a textured, real person, rather than the over-the-top performances you see by most actors. ALSO, this version is closest to Dickens original story "A Christmas Carol", of any of the movie versions that I have ever seen (and I sometimes READ the story, along with the movie, while it is going on!) Also, this movie has the strongest supporting cast of any of the movie versions. Particularly memorable, is Edward Woodward as the Ghost of Christmas Present.
2. "A Christmas Carol", George C. Scott, 1984, 101 minute version. Almost as good as the longer version.
3. "Scrooge", Alastair Sim, 1951. Sims puts in a good performance as Scrooge, but not as good as Scott's.
4. "Scrooge", Albert Finney, 1970, UK version, 120 minutes. I consider this the best musical adaptation of "A Christmas Carol". Finney, unfortunately, was too young for this role in 1970. He's probably the right age now, and I would suspect he would put in a better performance, now (2011)!
5. "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol", Jim Backus, 1962, animated musical. I consider this the best version for children. The story has been simplified a bit for children, BUT, does not pull any punches. It also focuses on the children in the story a bit more. Good music by Jule Styne, that I understand was originally written for a Broadway show that fell through, but it found a good home here. Better music, I think, than in the Finney "Scrooge".
6. "Scrooge", Albert Finney, 1970, US version, 113 minutes. The seven minutes cut from the UK version really butchers the ending.
7. "A Christmas Carol", Patrick Stewart, 1999. 2nd best supporting cast out of any version I have seen. Unfortunately, Patrick Stewart was the weak link, here. He really did not seem to understand the character of Scrooge at all, and put in a remarkably flat and dull performance.
My 2 cents worth.
Hope this was helpful.
Karl