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dave-2230
Reviews
My Bloody Valentine (2009)
3-D Bore, Bore
I'm desperate to see a technology with such promise to get into mainstream movies. Maybe this is the time...even though this isn't the movie. 3-D has been around forever but few directors have embraced a technology that's difficult to work with. (It involves two rolls of film combined together in one camera to give you that effect (which is why it's so fuzzy without the glasses)
My Bloody valentine sadly feels like an old pair of jeans that should have been tossed out long ago. The slasher film was such the rage so many years ago with some inventiveness such as "Halloween" and "Nightmare On Elm Street". My Bloody Valentine lacks such inventiveness. It's too bad because the 3-D technology has never looked better. Unlike most films, this baby gives everything in 3-D. Every scene, every title and even the closing credits spare no expense. Therefore, you really feel you're in every scene and you see what an extra dimension (z in addition to x and y for those math nerds) really does for a film.
It's just too bad the plot doesn't offer up the entertainment value. It's bad...really bad with an ineffective cast and mundane material. It's obvious because there are a lot of slasher scenes in this mix that are almost laughable in their horrid attempts to scare you. I could predict with ease what each scene was going to do and what was the outcome and how they were going to die. Added to that the actors are scripted to put "kill me" on their bare chested bodies from walking into traps to crying out for the death kill through obtuse and laughable survival skills. Cops walk into rooms without backup. Girls run into danger traps instead of out of them when danger comes and let's not forget the inevitable loud whimpering less our dumb killer misses its prey. That and the rubber gas mask bit with a construction axe for a scary look augmented with Dark Vader over-the-top breathing and you've got a great spoof on your hands -- but they all seem to take this a little too seriously. Hey, it's a paycheck.
So is it worth seeing? I suggest see it ONLY in 3-D and see it with a cheap seat and low, really low expectations.
Star Trek: New Voyages: World Enough and Time (2007)
Brilliant
James Cawley, who serves as executive producer as well as the Captain of the Enterprise has slowly and methodically built up a following with good effects and fine writing along with lots of Star Trek veteran guest stars. Having said that, he has also taken a lot of commentary on the acting, the effects and the clunky production values. I never felt a need to comment on those areas since this was a labor of love and he did it all through volunteers.
World Enough and Time however should silence those critics. Guest starring George Takei (Mr. Sulu) this episode is nothing short of brilliant. I actually was quite moved at the end of the episode. Nobody should complain about the acting. They've all come a long way especially Cawley himself who really sells Kirk and goes beyond an imitation and finally makes it his own. Everyone is running on all cylinders and the script works well.
You could argue the ending was a bit on the sappy side but I was moved and touched by it all. It took a long time to get this episode available but it was well worth it.
This is the stuff that dreams are made of!