I give them a star for not just making it a carbon copy of the original. I give them another for giving Zod a back story and some sympathy for the fact that he was just made that way. As for the rest...one of the issues with modern CGI is that by filming all the background on a coloured screen, one has to remove that colour from the rest of it - with the result that it looks washed out, which is appropriate for the characters. I liked Cavill in the Tudors, but he's not a patch on Reeve's interpretation. The plot, story, characters and everything else is terrible, and the CGI just makes it unbelievable. Lois knows who Clarke is already - so they lose that element of discovery that was such a joy in the original film.
Reviews
6 Reviews
Sorry, Wrong Number
(1948)
Not great in retrospect
10 May 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I'm only looking at this through modern eyes, having seen what's been done since, and in my view it now looks quite poor.
Some of the direction is way over the top - the bursts of dramatic sound when something happens feel corny after a while, as do the fade shots round a room for no particular reason. Some of the acting looks and sounds wooden, some of the dialogue is quite cliché - did Americans really talk like that? - and the accents are very mid-Atlantic. After a while one starts to draw comparisons with classics like Rear Window, and indeed wonders in how many ways Hitchcock would have done it better. It's not one of Lancaster's better works, and not the best bit of casting.
In fairness, it's of its time, and the plot is has a reasonable twist, but the build up and the dénouement don't really knit that well together. One can see what they're trying to do but for me, it felt a bit messy and not fully joined up.
Other than the curiosity of seeing a young William Conrad, albeit briefly, I would look for better examples.
Some of the direction is way over the top - the bursts of dramatic sound when something happens feel corny after a while, as do the fade shots round a room for no particular reason. Some of the acting looks and sounds wooden, some of the dialogue is quite cliché - did Americans really talk like that? - and the accents are very mid-Atlantic. After a while one starts to draw comparisons with classics like Rear Window, and indeed wonders in how many ways Hitchcock would have done it better. It's not one of Lancaster's better works, and not the best bit of casting.
In fairness, it's of its time, and the plot is has a reasonable twist, but the build up and the dénouement don't really knit that well together. One can see what they're trying to do but for me, it felt a bit messy and not fully joined up.
Other than the curiosity of seeing a young William Conrad, albeit briefly, I would look for better examples.
Kong: Skull Island
(2017)
CGI good. Plot different. Cast terrible
24 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The CGI is what one would expect, and one can give them credit for a different take on the plot, although missing the "beauty killed the beast" line is disappointing. The main issue though is the cast. Tom Hiddleston is just wrong. I'm sure there are clean-cut, posh ex-SAS members, but he's not at all convincing and spends far too much time just posing. There's a Chinese girl who appears in the middle of a briefing with no introduction or explanation (unlike the rest of the main cast), says very little and contributes virtually nothing to the film. Samuel L Jackson is doing his best "Schwarzenegger in Predator" impersonation. The rest might as well be doing Scyfy-channel mashups (piranhaconda, zombeaver, dinocroc etc) as there is little if any character depth. The IMDB goofs and trivia make more entertaining reading than the movie - once you notice the helicopter count and their ridiculous tactics, it's hard to take it seriously - then you get the giant squid in 10ft of water and you wonder why you bothered.
It passes the time, mainly waiting for something to happen that makes sense. There's an obvious intention to extend the franchise - one can only hope they stop soon.
The Love Boat
(1977–1987)
Just look who was in it though...
24 December 2018
One should always make allowances for the era in which something happened. Perhaps it was normal then for a cruise ship's crew to try to get off with the passengers. It was certainly normal to take every opportunity to decorate the set with as many fit young people in swimwear as was credibly possible. The main curiosity about this show for me, though, is the guest stars - those who were ultra-famous at the time (at least half the casts of Charlie's Angels, Happy Days, Brady Bunch, MASH, and John, Juliet and Hayley Mills all in the one episode), those who had been famous (Rowan AND Martin (plus some of their cohorts), Sonny Bono, Monty Hall, Milton Berle, Vincent Price) and those who were heading that way (Billy Crystal, Heather Locklear). Too many to list here but, for those who deride the cheesy nature of the plots, the contrived situations and the gratuitous flesh - well given the quality of the guest stars, it can't have been seen as too bad at the time. It's always interesting to see actors well known for particular roles showing up as something else, especially comedy.
PS I was going to include Leslie Nielsen, but I wasn't sure which list to put him in as he quite possibly qualifies in all three :)
Major continuity problem
23 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
There is nothing wrong with this episode per se...but the discontinuity between it and the end of the previous season is ridiculous. Season six finishes with Sue Ellen and Micky Trotter in an upturned car after a crash; we see no aftermath of that at all. This season opens with Sue Ellen having a small bandage on one wrist, and a lot of discussion about the ruin to Micky's life, but we only see him four minutes from the end of the episode. Miss Ellie (who is not seen in this episode) and Clayton have gone off to a resort (apparently without telling anyone); Southfork is being redecorated; Pam is about to sue for divorce with no discussion with Bobby. Whilst one can understand the need for a dramatic start, they skipped over some very obvious scenes (such as a 'will they survive?' moment for Sue Ellen and/or Micky, what prompted Pam to move ahead with the divorce and how Miss Ellie got to breakdown point). Holly Harwood barely gets a mention, as does the magic drill bit that was crucial to the Ewing feud.
Watching at the time, one may have doubted one's memory; watching one episode after another on DVD makes one wonder whether one has put the right disc in or clicked on the wrong episode.
Spectre
(I) (2015)
Like a spectre - lacking in substance
14 January 2018
The characters are sadly lacking in the gravitas and charisma of old.
Perhaps they're trying to move away from the past, fair enough, but baddies have to be evil and enjoying it.
Better than Quantum of Solace but behind the other Craig versions.
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