Search
Search results
BookwormLea (3034 KP) rated The Umbrella Academy in TV
Dec 13, 2019
Contains spoilers, click to show
I only started to watch this because I loved Robert Sheehan in Misfits and I thought it seemed like a similar show. It starts off quite slow in my opinion with the 'death' of the father and the reunion of the siblings but it quickly picks up! You learn what powers they have and how they affected them. You find out each characters background and why they turned out how they are. I particularly love Diego and his wholesome relationship with the 'mom' robot. I have to say though, I hated Vanyas character. I thought she was a whiny bitch and she quite literally ruins the whole thing. I understand why she was important though. Also, R.I.P Ben, the poor guy didnt even get enough screen time.
Ross (3284 KP) rated Doom Patrol - Season 1 in TV
Jan 11, 2021
Brilliant nonsense
This series covers the formation of the band of misfits gathered together by Timothy Dalton's Niles Caulder, including a range of people with odd abilities after suffering unusual events. With the exception of try-hard Cyborg, they are all wonderfully flawed people just trying to find some purpose to their lives. Alan Tudyk serves as the antagonist for most of the series, as well as a wonderful forth-wall-breaking narrator and the source of most of the laugh-out-loud moments.
While I enjoy Cliff (the robot, former racing car driver), Jane is by far the best character. An extreme schizophrenic, she has over 60 personalities to call on, each with its own special power.
Good, daft fun.
While I enjoy Cliff (the robot, former racing car driver), Jane is by far the best character. An extreme schizophrenic, she has over 60 personalities to call on, each with its own special power.
Good, daft fun.
Gareth von Kallenbach (974 KP) rated WALL-E (2008) in Movies
Aug 14, 2019
To be honest, I didn’t put much faith in a movie about a robot who could only say, “Wa-AA-lleee….” Especially one that’s been by himself for 700 years. Then again, the last Pixar release of talking machines wasn’t exactly a stellar production, either. Give me talking rats or talking fish, at least they had personality. But talking cars? C’mon, now. But maybe Pixar learned from its mistake of verbosity in Cars and decided limited dialogue would bring back the luster of Pixar’s blinding three dimensional success. If that’s how WALL*E came about, then kudos to Pixar. WALL*E not only kept me fascinated, it made me giggle throughout and left me sighing.
In this new offering from the same team who brought you Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and Ratatouille, Earth is a virtual wasteland, and no longer inhabited by humans. The humans are all aboard a space colony called Axiom, pampered and waited on in robot-assisted existence. Left behind is WALL*E, a hardworking Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth class robot, has done what he was programmed to do, compact trash and stack it neatly, cleaning the planet one trash cube at a time. Apparently the passing of years all alone has given this clunky, rusty, dented and creaky machine, time to develop a sense of curiosity, a playful personality, and a love for “Hello, Dolly” showtunes and choreography. His best friend is a cockroach, he’s managed to amass a treasure trove of junk, is seemingly content, albeit lonely.
Then along came EVE. A sleek, state-of-the art egg-shaped robot deposited on earth by an Axiom spacecraft to scan its surroundings as an Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator. WALL*E is instantly enthralled and admires EVE’s speed, versatility and gracefulness from a tentative distance. She exudes efficiency and focus and comes with a laser she’s not afraid to use. EVE has a classified directive and WALL*E, after he’s overcome his fear of her laser, befriends her and inadvertently helps EVE achieve her goal. EVE has to return to the Axiom to report her findings, but WALL*E is desperate to build on this new found friendship. Who can blame him? If you’d been alone for 700 years, wouldn’t you be reluctant to say good bye to a new friend? So WALL*E becomes an accidental tourist of the galaxy, embarking on a thrilling adventure that makes him an anxious stowaway aboard a ship of advanced machines and lazy humans.
Under the direction of by Academy Award(r)-winning writer-director Andrew Stanton, the gifted storytellers and artists who brought charm and innovation to The Incredibles and Ratatouille, elevated their game by enabling WALL*E to convey in beeps and tones and soulful eyes a gamut of emotions that captivates the viewer. Limited dialogue was definitely on the menu, at least between robots. Which makes WALL-E all the more enchanting. It’s up to the viewer to draw on simple exchanges and the robots’ varying intonations of each other’s names to interpret their growing affection for one another.
With its breathtaking animation and deft rendering of heartwarming characters, CGI-animated features don’t get much better than this.
A fantastic voyage with an eco-friendly warning wrapped in a poignant love story, WALL*E restored my faith in Pixar’s well-deserved, acclaim.
In this new offering from the same team who brought you Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and Ratatouille, Earth is a virtual wasteland, and no longer inhabited by humans. The humans are all aboard a space colony called Axiom, pampered and waited on in robot-assisted existence. Left behind is WALL*E, a hardworking Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth class robot, has done what he was programmed to do, compact trash and stack it neatly, cleaning the planet one trash cube at a time. Apparently the passing of years all alone has given this clunky, rusty, dented and creaky machine, time to develop a sense of curiosity, a playful personality, and a love for “Hello, Dolly” showtunes and choreography. His best friend is a cockroach, he’s managed to amass a treasure trove of junk, is seemingly content, albeit lonely.
Then along came EVE. A sleek, state-of-the art egg-shaped robot deposited on earth by an Axiom spacecraft to scan its surroundings as an Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator. WALL*E is instantly enthralled and admires EVE’s speed, versatility and gracefulness from a tentative distance. She exudes efficiency and focus and comes with a laser she’s not afraid to use. EVE has a classified directive and WALL*E, after he’s overcome his fear of her laser, befriends her and inadvertently helps EVE achieve her goal. EVE has to return to the Axiom to report her findings, but WALL*E is desperate to build on this new found friendship. Who can blame him? If you’d been alone for 700 years, wouldn’t you be reluctant to say good bye to a new friend? So WALL*E becomes an accidental tourist of the galaxy, embarking on a thrilling adventure that makes him an anxious stowaway aboard a ship of advanced machines and lazy humans.
Under the direction of by Academy Award(r)-winning writer-director Andrew Stanton, the gifted storytellers and artists who brought charm and innovation to The Incredibles and Ratatouille, elevated their game by enabling WALL*E to convey in beeps and tones and soulful eyes a gamut of emotions that captivates the viewer. Limited dialogue was definitely on the menu, at least between robots. Which makes WALL-E all the more enchanting. It’s up to the viewer to draw on simple exchanges and the robots’ varying intonations of each other’s names to interpret their growing affection for one another.
With its breathtaking animation and deft rendering of heartwarming characters, CGI-animated features don’t get much better than this.
A fantastic voyage with an eco-friendly warning wrapped in a poignant love story, WALL*E restored my faith in Pixar’s well-deserved, acclaim.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Ikarie XB-1 (1963) in Movies
Jun 23, 2019 (Updated Jun 23, 2019)
One of those movies which has clearly been influential but remains relatively little-seen, certainly in the original version. XB-1 and its crew (mostly good-looking young people, a few rugged old character actors, and a fairly dreadful robot prop) blast off for Alpha Centauri but must come to terms with the strains of long-haul spaceflight and various dangers (radiation, dangerous derelicts, and so on).
Arguably the missing link between Forbidden Planet and 2001: A Space Odyssey (yes, that's a bold claim), with a strange mixture of pulp SF tropes but also downbeat psychological realism. Notably good and interesting sets, photography, and a memorable avant-garde musical score too. The story is a bit episodic and not exactly pacey, but the rest of the film makes up for this.
Arguably the missing link between Forbidden Planet and 2001: A Space Odyssey (yes, that's a bold claim), with a strange mixture of pulp SF tropes but also downbeat psychological realism. Notably good and interesting sets, photography, and a memorable avant-garde musical score too. The story is a bit episodic and not exactly pacey, but the rest of the film makes up for this.
James Marsters recommended Alien (1979) in Movies (curated)
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Alita: Battle Angel (2019) in Movies
Feb 20, 2019
Good visuals, not much else to recommend it
A few of my loyal readers recommended that I check out ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL in the biggest screen I could find, and in 3D. And...I'm glad I did for this film is a visual feast for the eyes, filled with eye-popping CGI and an interesting futuristic world on which the events of the film take place.
Unfortunately...that is all that there is to this film, for the rest of the movie does not live up to the fantastical elements laid forth visually.
Adapted to the screen from filmmakers James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez, ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL is a combination of the first 4 of Yukito Kishiro's series of 9 manga books, and (hopefully) the first in a trilogy of films that follows a robot, Alita, who is put back together by the mysterious Dr. Ido. When she awakens, she does not know what her past was, but as events transpire, it soon becomes apparent that Alita is much more than the sweet, young girl robot that her outward appearance would suggest.
Rosa Salazar is winning enough as the completely CGI creation of Alita, but no so charismatic that she can carry the film on her own, she will need help - and that's where this film falls down. Christoph Waltz is mediocre in the underwritten part of Dr. Ido. Instead of being interesting and mysterious, he is bland and boring. I'm beginning to think that Waltz needs the words of Quentin Tarantino to shine (because he does shine in Tarantino films) but is just so-so when speaking someone else's lines. Jennifer Connelly is wasted as Ido's ex-wife, somehow connected to the power elite of the Universe and Marashala Ali (who will soon win his 2nd Oscar) is completely shutdown and "one-note" as the big bad guy. Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley (completely unrecognizable in voice or character as the CGI bad guy Grewishka) and Keean Johnson are all very forgettable as others in this world. Only Jeff Fahey (as a robot-Cowboy bounty hunter) is able to jump off the screen with what is the beginnings of an interesting character.
The battles, races, action and plot twists and turns are all "standard issue", pretty predictable and unsurprising. It is clear that Cameron and Rodriguez were so focused on the CGI and world building that they did not spend enough time on the plot, dialogue or pacing. And that's too bad, for besides the impressive visuals and graphics (and they are impressive), there is not much else to recommend from this film.
Letter Grade: B- (for the visuals)
6 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Unfortunately...that is all that there is to this film, for the rest of the movie does not live up to the fantastical elements laid forth visually.
Adapted to the screen from filmmakers James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez, ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL is a combination of the first 4 of Yukito Kishiro's series of 9 manga books, and (hopefully) the first in a trilogy of films that follows a robot, Alita, who is put back together by the mysterious Dr. Ido. When she awakens, she does not know what her past was, but as events transpire, it soon becomes apparent that Alita is much more than the sweet, young girl robot that her outward appearance would suggest.
Rosa Salazar is winning enough as the completely CGI creation of Alita, but no so charismatic that she can carry the film on her own, she will need help - and that's where this film falls down. Christoph Waltz is mediocre in the underwritten part of Dr. Ido. Instead of being interesting and mysterious, he is bland and boring. I'm beginning to think that Waltz needs the words of Quentin Tarantino to shine (because he does shine in Tarantino films) but is just so-so when speaking someone else's lines. Jennifer Connelly is wasted as Ido's ex-wife, somehow connected to the power elite of the Universe and Marashala Ali (who will soon win his 2nd Oscar) is completely shutdown and "one-note" as the big bad guy. Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley (completely unrecognizable in voice or character as the CGI bad guy Grewishka) and Keean Johnson are all very forgettable as others in this world. Only Jeff Fahey (as a robot-Cowboy bounty hunter) is able to jump off the screen with what is the beginnings of an interesting character.
The battles, races, action and plot twists and turns are all "standard issue", pretty predictable and unsurprising. It is clear that Cameron and Rodriguez were so focused on the CGI and world building that they did not spend enough time on the plot, dialogue or pacing. And that's too bad, for besides the impressive visuals and graphics (and they are impressive), there is not much else to recommend from this film.
Letter Grade: B- (for the visuals)
6 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Rickey A. Mossow Jr. (689 KP) rated Bumblebee (2018) in Movies
May 21, 2019
This was a good film (except for the scenes I couldn't see that included a certain wrestler.)
The Transformer movies have steadily slid into convoluted messes of CGI and plot holes. So, heading into this one I didn't know what to expect. This still had the robot fighting action you expect but seemed to take a step back from the other films and focus on a well-written story. Hailee Steinfeld is good in her role. She along with the ET-esque Bumblebee carry the heart of the film and force the audience to care about the "Robots in Disguise," something earlier films in the series seemed to have forgotten about. John Cena is also decent in his role. Overall, it's a cute and fun story of loss and rising from the ashes of that loss to return to life again. In my opinion the best one in the series.
David McK (3349 KP) rated Foxtrot Hotel (Harriet Walsh #4) in Books
May 23, 2021
Entry #4 in Simon Haynes's 'Harriet Walsh' series; a series which I actually started reading after picking up Hal Spacejock (sometimes also known as A Robot Named Clunk) and was completely unaware that the two characters would cross-over in later books (I haven't reached that point yet in either series).
Unlike the previous entry in the series - Sierra Bravo - (which is pretty much a siege story), this is back to being more of a whodunnit, with Harriett and the Peace Force (what there is of them ... ) investigating when a dead body turns up at her favourite beauty spot, which just so happens to be about to face an important governmental vote on whether it can have an apartment complex built on it ...
Competent? Yes.
Enjoyable enough? Yes.
A few unforeseen twists and turns? Hmmm ... that depends upon how familiar with the genre you are!
Unlike the previous entry in the series - Sierra Bravo - (which is pretty much a siege story), this is back to being more of a whodunnit, with Harriett and the Peace Force (what there is of them ... ) investigating when a dead body turns up at her favourite beauty spot, which just so happens to be about to face an important governmental vote on whether it can have an apartment complex built on it ...
Competent? Yes.
Enjoyable enough? Yes.
A few unforeseen twists and turns? Hmmm ... that depends upon how familiar with the genre you are!
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) in Movies
Oct 3, 2019
Oringal Sci-Fi Classic
The Day the Earth Stood Still- is anethor classic sci-fi movie that came out in the early 1950's. With this film, the thing from anethor world and the war of the worlds. The early 50's was on fire with sci-fi movies.
The Plot: When a UFO lands in Washington, D.C., bearing a message for Earth's leaders, all of humanity stands still. Klaatu (Michael Rennie) has come on behalf of alien life who have been watching Cold War-era nuclear proliferation on Earth. But it is Klaatu's soft-spoken robot Gort that presents a more immediate threat to onlookers. A single mother (Patricia Neal) and her son teach the world about peace and tolerance in this moral fable, ousting the tanks and soldiers that greet the alien's arrival.
This film and the other that i mention are must watch.
The Plot: When a UFO lands in Washington, D.C., bearing a message for Earth's leaders, all of humanity stands still. Klaatu (Michael Rennie) has come on behalf of alien life who have been watching Cold War-era nuclear proliferation on Earth. But it is Klaatu's soft-spoken robot Gort that presents a more immediate threat to onlookers. A single mother (Patricia Neal) and her son teach the world about peace and tolerance in this moral fable, ousting the tanks and soldiers that greet the alien's arrival.
This film and the other that i mention are must watch.
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) in Movies
Jan 6, 2022
There's a point in TGC where the two main characters are storming an enemy base, stylishly dispatching, blowing up and shooting all manners of henchman, robots, robot dogs, and cowboys with electric whips, all whilst Elton John's "Saturday Night's Alright" blasts out in the background, and then the actual Elton John fly-kicks some poor fucker in the face, and everything is so off-the-rails bat-shit that it all clicks into place.
Sadly, it's takes two hours of often fun, but definitely bloated runtime to get there.
It lacks the finesse and hard hitting impact of the first entry and it's memorable set pieces and doesn't feel as tight.
It's still entertaining mind, but the finished product comes across as a little wayward in it's pursuit of non-stop absurdity, and no amount of spy-fingering at Glastonbury Festival can mask that.
Sadly, it's takes two hours of often fun, but definitely bloated runtime to get there.
It lacks the finesse and hard hitting impact of the first entry and it's memorable set pieces and doesn't feel as tight.
It's still entertaining mind, but the finished product comes across as a little wayward in it's pursuit of non-stop absurdity, and no amount of spy-fingering at Glastonbury Festival can mask that.
