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The Creator (2023)
Written by AI
I think i finally know why sci-fi movies are so bad lately. They are probably written by ChatGPT or some other fancy AI-tool that is so popular these days. There is simply no other explanation for the story being so full of plot holes and a story ending that you could see coming from the very start of the movie. I wish more sci fi film makers would choose story over explosions and good storytelling over special effects. This film often drowns in action, leaving the audience to figure out what the deal is with the leading characters. The ending is explosive, but felt so rushed that I started to get disconnected from the story. It left me emotionless and actually disappointed.
The Peripheral (2022)
Teal and orange...
...are the two colors this movie uses to create a dark and miserably future world. Cinematographically it's well done, but the atmosphere in the film is just dark and painful to watch.
The moment in the serie they started to pull eyes out, I wanted to pull my own out too. Thus it's also the moment I returned off the tv. It's not that I can't handle such things, but until that point, The Peripheral still hadn't delivered a gripping story. And together with the dark atmosphere I decided it's not worth the time. Sci-fi is more and more becoming a dark place nowadays. And that's a pity, because it didn't use to be that way...
Enfin, the serie is not for the faint of heart. If you like dark worlds and Zoe, then maybe it's for you. At least the graphics are awesome.
Geostorm (2017)
What where the creators thinking?! That A.I. would create a blockbuster movie somehow?
I'm just wondering what they did in the editing phase of this movie. Somehow they managed to grab a bunch of small scenes vaguely related to each other, throw them in the timeline of some advanced editing software, hit a button called 'auto generate movie (A. I.)', wait till the artificial intelligence has made something, then, without checking it, they just renamed the movie to 'Geostorm.mov' and hit send to all the cinemas in the world, thinking this random sequence of images is called a movie that people would like to see.
Now that I think of it, this movie is exactly what an Artificial Intelligence would create. Utter crap that is.
Maid (2021)
Best serie I've seen in a long time
There are not many shows or series that touch my heart, but this one did. At times it's hard to watch, because the topics (alcoholism, abuse and poverty) are so real in so many people's life. I wish I could help them all and fix all their problems somehow. Unfortunately I'm not almighty. But there is at least one thing I will take away from this series: in one of the episodes they talk about the invisibility of maids. Nobody seems to see them and care for them. That's something I can change in my own life, by seeing them and talking to them. To make their life a little part of my life and my story. I think that could make all the difference in this world.
The Wedding Arrangement (2022)
Endearingly funny love story
This is a really nice movie for a night on the couch, snugly under a warm blanket. That's what I did anyway. Yeah, I know, I'm a weird guy. For some reason I just love these kind of movies. They are lighthearted and funny, but also have some nice character development. Maybe that's why I like them so much.
Both lead actors in The Wedding Arrangement played their role well and for me at least very relatable. I even fell a bit in love with Violet - probably because she made me smile a lot and because of her love of nature. Or maybe it's because the lead actor is a nature photographer, which is something I very much inspire to become in the near future.
Some of the other actors (mainly 'Bolivia', lol) went a bit over the top, but that actually fitted the movie well. If you want to have a good laugh and at the same time have some romantic thingy bubbling inside you, than this movie is certainly worthy of your time.
Having said that, I'm going back under my blanket now. Yeah, I'm weird.
Invasion (2021)
Science fiction at its best!!
I know, it's a slow burner, but I think this is one of the best science fiction series in recent years. The story unfolds slowly, which many people apparently don't like according to the many user reviews on IMDB. But I absolutely don't mind such a slow pace in a science fiction serie. Nowadays all series seem to be 'boom-bang-kadeng' and are so fast paced, it's virtually impossible to see a story develop, let alone to see any character development. So, if you want to see a lot of action and a bunch of aliens, then you'll probably be dissapointed. But when you love stories with emphasis on character development, occasionally a sighting of aliens and all the time that suspensful tension of an alien invasion in the background, go check this one out!
Oh, and the music is pretty awesome too!
War of the Worlds (2019)
I'm wondering how it all ends...
Ever wondered how people would really react in the event of an apocalypse? The movies I've seen and the series I've watched always put the survivors against one another. They fight amongst each other and make all sorts of schemes to get into power.
The war of the worlds takes a different approach. We follow a group of normal everyday people that are confronted with extinction. They bond together to face the harsh reality and fight back against an almighty enemy. We witness their struggle to survive and their ways to cope with the situation.
Don't expect this series to be the next age of Ultron or something action packed like that. It's filmed more realistically and leaves much to your imagination. I think that's also the power of War of the Worlds. It's premises, it's character driven story, it's bilingual approach and where it all takes place (France, England and thus in Europe), make it in my opinion one of the pearls of filmmaking Europe.
Outside the Wire (2021)
I was rooting for the bad guys.
I was rooting for the bad guys. Sadly I got dissapointed as usual with American movies. Somewhere a movie director should stand up and end a movie like this with a really loud bang. That would make up for the bad story plot and mediocre acting and action.
The last half an hour you could just skip if you picture a nice explosion when they find what they were tracking. You'ld miss some dialogue and the reason why everything leads to that point, but in the end there really isn't much to suprise you about that.
So, if a bad plot, mediocre acting and nice visuals is your thing, go watch it. If it's not, then don't 😉
The Midnight Sky (2020)
It's art.
The Midnight Sky is probably one of the best movies I've seen this year. It's not as action packed as most blockbuster sci-fi movies of late, although it has some rather nice action sequences in it. It is actually rather slow-paced - which I like very much!
The story centers around an old dying man (Clooney) and a little girl he finds at the abandoned research station where he's living. The earth is devastated by an extinction level event and he is one of the last remaining people on earth. His mission? To establish contact and possibly save an exploration vessel coming back to our beloved planet from a 2 year exploration trip to one of Jupiters moons.
First the bad: the story isn't very spectacular. There are similar movies (like Interstellar and IO) which have the same kind of backstory cq. setting as The Midnight Sky. The end of the movie is interesting, but also not very original - it's all done before (although not in a sci-fi movie, as far as I can remember). And some of the action sequences are just nuts in terms of science.
But why then, do I think it's a piece of art? Probably because it sooooo well filmed and edited! Together with the superb music and acting, the movie engulfs you in a type of tension I've not experienced in a long time. I think that is one of the main reasons why you should watch this movie. Not because of the action, not because of the great story, but because of the atmosphere it sets and the way it's filmed, edited and acted. For me, it is a piece of art.
Liu lang di qiu (2019)
Impossible story that's all over the place
I am a deeply hurt, damaged and insulted man after watching this garbage. The acting hurt my eyes, the science my brain and the plot hurt everything else in me.
I'm never ever going to watch a Chinese movie again in my entire life.
Liberal Arts (2012)
Whole stupid movie changed in an instant.
OK, this one is awful. Which is strange, because the acting is very good, the characters well played (although sometimes a bit over the top) and the struggle of a 35 year old falling in love with a cute 19 year old is very real.
But something happened in the movie which totally broke it in my opinion. Hence, the spoiler: when 19 y/o Elizabeth invites Jesse to have sex although she's still a virgin, he refuses because of some moral dilemma's. A very real problem if you take the age difference into account. She was still in diapers when he went to high school. And, well, she's still a virgin.
Jesse tells her that sex is a big deal and that he cannot do it because he learned in the years after college how special it is. Zibby (Elizabeth) is hurt, cries because of his refusal. I think it was the very best scene in the movie, because it showed an incredible precious en vulnerable moment. I loved it!
But then the whole film got totally ruined by the next scene: Jesse meets his old English teacher, forms for some reason suddenly a very good connection with her and finds himself in bed with her after wards. For some reason I cannot begin to fathom he doesn't give a thing about the age difference anymore. Apparently, everything he just told Zibby was a complete and utter lie. His moral dilemma non-existent. His feelings for Zibby totally gone.
I just couldn't watch it any further. I don't believe I've ever been any more turned off by a movie than this one. It's horrible. Don't watch it. It's total crap. Don't waste your time. Please.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
Love the visual effects, hate everything else...
Falling buildings, a very hot girlfriend and a lot of running, jumping, diving, falling and shooting. That's what sums up this utter piece of crap.
I never ever saw a movie this bad in my entire life. Even the superb visual effects couldn't cover up the lack of storyline and well constructed dialogs.
Maybe I can say something about the acting skills? Nope. There simply were none. It's really sad, because Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is one of the hottest girls I've ever seen on screen (at least when she doesn't purse her lips trying to look hot).
Overall it's a pity Michael Bay was in charge, because I remember the transformers cartoons as having an interesting storyline where you could really connect with the characters. In this movie, I couldn't.
Dark of the Moon lacks those same characters. Bay didn't even try to give them personality like the cartoons did. The action was to rapid, the scenes to short to get to know them on a deeper level.
And yes, even the action was horrible. As I said, the scenes were really short, jumping from one scene to the next without waiting, without explaining, without giving the watcher something to understand. I still don't know what was behind the dark of the moon... Something really creepy I think.
OK, I need to stop dissing this motion picture. The visual effects were at least great. But Dark of the Moon sucks on soooo many levels, I get angry every time I think about it. The creators of the cartoons didn't deserve this crap.
Please don't watch it!
Ender's Game (2013)
Bad movie, nice special effects
When I first saw the trailers, I thought I was going to see a great movie. I'm disappointed in the end. The whole movie centers around Ender, a young boy who's lack of emotions is disturbing. He fights his way up the ranks and the movie follows his path to glory.
Enders goal is to protect earth against an unknown enemy, but they could easily have been replaced Nazis's or Americans for that matter. It's a nameless and almost faceless enemy and I didn't really care much about them at all.
Instead, Ender does. Which is strange, because he's depicted as a stone cold killer with only a hint of compassion in his body. Yes, I know, he has some trouble with bullies, seems to care about a dude who gets hurt because of his actions and he seems to love his sister, but the acting didn't convince me of that at all.
To me, Ender is too one dimensional, a boy who lacks emotion and compassion. In the movie he's a cold and calculating boy and I didn't really care about him. And that is the main problem with this movie. It's almost impossible to picture yourself in the footsteps of the main characters. That makes this a movie I don't care about. At all.
Battleship (2012)
Nice action, nice special effects, non-existing storyline.
Five alien ships arrive at earth. One of them, the communication vessel, is destroyed when it hits a random satellite orbiting earth. The other four land near an armada of battleships. The aliens try to establish communications with their home planet to call in reinforcements. A race against time begins to stop the aliens from succeeding. The aliens seems to want to destroy earth, but only God knows why.
It's just a bad storyline, but the movie has great special effects and a lot of action. If you just want to see some action, then this is a great movie for you. But don't complain about the story...
Trust (2010)
Heavy theme made plausible
Loved this film. It's about a teenage girl (Anni) who gets raped by an idiot sex offender. It has a deep impact on the girls mental health and also sends shockwaves through her family. Dad goes nuts and mother tries to be there for her daughter, but can't really handle the situation.
David Schwimmer, the director, created a remarkable movie which deals with some very serious stuff. I discovered at least two themes in it (there are others, but I want to mention these). Here they are: First, it's the story of a girl who gets raped, but denies it even when she is confronted with almost all the evidence. I think much children who have been through such a situation in real life will think the same way. They really do see their raper as a kind and wonderful guy who knows them and loves them and think that they are pretty. They even will try to protect their attacker when the thing eventually comes into the light. It's wrong, it's sick, but try to explain that to such a person...
Second, it's about tearing a family apart because of this. I think a lot of people, including myself, won't know how to handle such a situation properly. Dad gets obsessed with finding the attacker. It's his way of handling everything. It's certainly not the right thing to do, but understandable considering the situation. Mum tries to be there for Anni, but she also doesn't know what to do.
I think David Schwimmer tries to say with this movie: please, don't loose yourself when such a horrible thing happens, but be there for you're loved ones. Don't be angry with you're girl, but try to understand her or at least try to be there for her. And maybe it's good to check on you're daughter every now and then and try to understand what she's doing on the internet or with her girlfriends or boyfriends...
Overall, it's a superb movie which I would recommend to everyone!
Greta (2009)
"Nothing like Juno"
I like movies with Hillary Duff. Acting is not one of her strong points, but she lookes great and sweet and beautiful no matter what movie she's in. Yet it's a pity I couldn't give 'Greta' a better vote. The movie was just really, really bad. (I'm sorry Hillary, you looked great anyway! Wondering if she's ever gonna read this...) Duff plays a sweet, troubled child called Greta who's father killed himself when she was much younger. Her mother can't handle the child growing up and sends her too her grandparents (off course, it's a Hollywood movie and therefore not very original). Her grandparents are sweet folks who wouldn't hurt anybody. Greta hides herself behind a mask of sarcasm and tries really hard to shock almost everybody arround her. She even thinks of killing herself. But that though mask of her begins to break when she meets a boy...
The movie did make me smile a lot. There was a lot of melodrama and the acting was sometimes really awful (which in turn is very funny ;-)). Earlier reviewers compare the movie with 'Juno'. That is a comparison I totally disagree with. The scetches in 'Greta' vaguely remind me of 'Juno', but that is all. The acting in 'Juno' was great, the characters well played and the theme far more interesting en well thought of than 'Greta'. So, in my humble opinion, you can't compare these two movies with each other. And to end this review: Greta is just bad. That's all, folks!
Last Night (2010)
The power of Lust
This is one of the best movies I've seen this year (2011). The acting is superb, but the best part of the movie is it's truly powerful storyline.
Last Night handles about a married couple, Joanna and Michael Reed, who get in a small fight after Joanna finds out her husband is attracted to another woman. Their ways get separated for a few days, days in which both get tempted to cheat one another.
The whole movie handles about the themes lust and faithfulness. What would people do when they get tempted to cheat their respected other half? Everything in and about this movie is screaming one big question mark: what would you do if you were them? The answer could be very surprising after you've seen this one...