Andy K (10821 KP) rated Frailty (2002) in Movies
Jan 4, 2018
Matthew McConaughey walks into the office of FBI agent Powers Boothe and begins telling a very unusual story. When he was a kid, his dad said he had a vision which gave him the ability to see "demons" within human beings. He is then given the task of "dispelling" the demons in front of his two young sons.
The film creates quite the moral dilemma for the audience as you feel for the boys and the dire predicament their father places them into. You also wonder whether he can really "see" the demons or he is just losing his mind.
The 3rd act of the film takes some interesting turns as the true nature of some of the characters is revealed. You will not see this one coming.
A real standout in the Paxton legacy.
Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated Boom Town in Books
May 15, 2018
The only characters we truly get to know this time around are Kim, Brady, and their immediate family. There’s no real attempt to establish their home town outside of the flea market, and aside from the main villain, Alan, the focus on the alien-like creature invading the small town is minimal.
I wanted really badly to like this novella, but the plot progression felt a little too slow; it seemed like things were hung up on a budding romance between Brady and Kim which, at the stories conclusion was for a reason and did have its intended impact, but was something that I, as a reader, could have done with out. Over all, this is not one of my favorites of Rolfe’s work and I would not consider recommending it to other readers unless they specifically ask for something with aliens and earthquakes.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Justice League (2017) in Movies
Feb 9, 2018 (Updated Feb 9, 2018)
Now, you can scratch your head at some of the creative choices made here - Why the all-pervading atmosphere of heavy metal gloom? Why these particular characters? Where's Green Lantern? Why not use a better-known villain? And so on - but on its own terms, this is a competently assembled film, for the most part. (This may be due to the fact that credited director Zach Snyder departed the production prematurely and was replaced by Joss Whedon.)
I stress 'for the most part' as there are still bits of this movie which just plain make no sense whatsoever, and there's a 'plot twist' (in the broadest sense of the term) which feels contrived and tonally wrong on pretty much every level. But at least they seem to be trying to treat these iconic characters with respect, and while this isn't up to the same standard as Wonder Woman it could have been much, much worse.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Battleship (2012) in Movies
Mar 7, 2018 (Updated Mar 7, 2018)
Utterly dimwitted action blockbuster and Michael Bay pastiche; the weird thing is that Michael Bay pastiches are marginally better than actual Michael Bay films, mainly because if your starting point is a Michael Bay film the only way is up. This is still insultingly stupid. The actors deserve some kind of credit for getting through the film with straight faces, given it includes a laboriously contrived sequence where the characters are basically playing real-life Battleships against the aliens. Somehow made even worse by the way it fawns over members of the military (subtext being that it's unpatriotic not to like this movie). The special effects are not too bad but considering this is a movie with a $210 million budget that's like saying they remembered to put film in the camera.
Ross (3284 KP) rated Annihilation (2018) in Movies
Jul 8, 2019
The focus of the film was on the set piece visuals, which at times were stunning - such as people-shaped bushes, crystal trees and the final scene. However, choosing to cram these into a loose sci-fi plot was the wrong decision. Sci-fi fans (the only people likely to watch this based on the description) need a water-tight plot that makes some amount of sense, while leaving some aspects open to interpretation. This film is the latest in a worrying trend of films who make no effort to explain why things happen, and instead cling to a loose premise.
While the film kept my interest enough, it left me very disappointed over the second hour.
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