Reviews

5 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
The Langoliers
The Langoliers (1995)
3/10
Tighten it up!!!
20 July 2008
One of the things that makes low budget scary films fail is glacial pacing, and this film is a prime example.

Although the basic premise for this film is interesting, and there are a number of strong elements in it, the film founders in a sea of unnecessary side trips and very loose editing. Cutting 45 minutes out of it would have done wonders, but as it is the poor audience has to endure endless trivial scenes that should have been cut way down or eliminated. It wallows in irrelevant dialog and loses the dramatic focus it needs to be effective.

The cheesy effects don't help much either.
0 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Surface
Surface (2005–2006)
5/10
Great idea, poor execution...
10 January 2008
This series had potential, but maddeningly weak writing, acting and crude digital work made it a disappointment for me.

I know it probably didn't have the budget necessary to pull it off properly, but simply creating some believable characters, and giving them some decent lines and direction would have made a tremendous difference. As it turned out, the characters are two-dimensional, and seem to have a penchant for hysteria and irrational behavior.

The effects, which were the critical element for a show like this, were incredibly lame. The tsunami which inundates the town in the last episode is a perfect example. It was just a crude composite of a big hastily rendered wave, and a wide shot of the town's main street. No texture layers or finesse. At least the producers had the wisdom to portray it in exceedingly brief cuts, leaving the hapless viewers stuck on reaction shots of their nincompoop band of heroes. Throughout the show the editors seem to use very brief cuts of the digitally rendered creatures, weather phenomena and general havoc, because they knew the shots wouldn't stand up to much scrutiny.

With what they had to work with, I think the producers could have cut this concept down to a decent two episode miniseries, which would have fit into their budget and capabilities, but... they didn't.
2 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Ragtime
Ragtime (1981)
8/10
Well Done!
25 September 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I read the book years ago, and am glad I finally got around to watching the movie. It is an engrossing and well crafted story, beautifully set in the final years of the American Gilded Age. On the surface it appears to be a wonderfully happy and enthusiastic era, but the tensions created by the different racial groups and social classes of that time show that, aside from the wonderful architecture, manners and wardrobe of the well-to-do, most people of that period suffered the same challenges and woes as they always have. Same crap, better packaging.

I was originally unhappy that they didn't do more with the character of Evelyn Nesbit, played by the captivating Elizabeth McGovern, but I finally understood that her character wouldn't let herself get involved with the many nasty situations that happened. She just floated away to the next soirée when things got ugly. All the other characters got sucked into the many interrelated subplots because they cared, and wanted to deal with the challenges and problems - not simply move on to greener pastures.

Some of the less enthusiastic comments here indicate some viewers didn't care for the film because it didn't contain all the characters and sub-stories that were in the book, but to me that is irrelevant. The movie stands well on its own merits. It is a powerful and thoroughly enjoyable film, with a great ending. As Evelyn elegantly waltzes around in dreamy bliss with yet another beau, we see that all the efforts of most of the other key characters to solve their problems and find happiness have turned to doo doo. It ends with a shot of a newspaper headline announcing the start of World War I. The Gilded Age is over.
6 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Armageddon
Armageddon (1998)
5/10
Die Hard meets Irwin Allen meets The Three Stooges.
27 May 2006
Thrill to ultra-schmaltz, juvenile behavior and Space Program professionals acting like cheerleaders at the Super Bowl. Marvel as science, the laws of physics and any shred of believability are tossed out the window as the goofball space cavalry rides to the rescue of the entire Earth! Endure oodles of heartwarming music, tear jerking drama, and hideously cornball acting.

The great poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge once wrote that a successful creative work depends on its ability to create a willing suspension of disbelief in its audience. I have to say my disbelief won out big time on this one. I did watch the whole movie though – as the film progressed, I found myself rooting for the asteroid.

* scenes depicting Bruce Willis laughing on his way to the bank were deleted from the final cut
0 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10.5
10.5 (2004)
2/10
If they give an Emmy for Worst Script in TV History...
3 May 2004
If they give an Emmy for worst script in Television history, 10.5 has my vote. The show is an unbelievably hokey mix of implausible and melodramatic situations, grade school writing, and nausea inducing camera work (the camera shakes, jerks and snap zooms ALL the time - not just during the earthquakes). A laugh track and a couple of pie fights might have made 10.5 into a decent parody of disaster films, but as it is, it is pathetic, even by network TV standards.

On the slightly plus side, there are several minutes of decent special effects. I got to see my home town of Santa Monica fall into the sea. That was cheery fun.

Producer Gary Pearl said he was inspired to do this by nightmares he had as a child. He should have gone into therapy instead of producing.
1 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Clear your history

Recently Viewed