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oliverthered
Reviews
Up (2009)
I can't watch it
Well I've given it a ten out of ten and I can say that myself and a number of other people I know just can't watch this movie.
In short we can't get it out of our minds that they are all dead and so constantly feel the need to burst into continuous tears all the way through...
You just know the boy got run over by the construction vehicle, the old man had a heart attack and then just as he floats of to heaven the boy appears again, only to be greeted by the bird he was trying to catch prior to getting stream rollered.
Then to make matters worse they suddenly find another old man with loads of, yes, dead dinosaur bones.
I'm not quite sure what all the dogs have to do with this.
Stunning visuals and obviously a moving story but for me and other people I know too much to handle, in fact I have difficulty thinking about the movie without crying and I'm a 36 year old fully grown male!
If your watching it for a chilled night in with the kids and like balloons, this may burst your bubble.
I advise a quick prewatch before watching it in any company you don't mind bursting into tears around!
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
It would have been better if it had have been worse
What is it with the last few modern films I've watched, there seems to be a trend in very expensive b-movies and if you're making a b-movie at least you want to get someone like George A. Romero to direct it.
All of the budget of this film appears to have be spent on a disintegrated special effects combined with a mix of costumes from the wardrobe department equivalent of pound land, blue screen sets where the actors appear to have no clue what is going on around them or what they are doing.
Full to the brim with over acting and the attempts to pump up the action using fast paced, meaningless dialog.
Yes I remember the original star trek series and maybe the quasi b-movie style is an attempt to hark back at that but only resulted in a fail, like a mix between Barbarella and CSI.
If you like all you're Aliens with heavy American accents and something aimed at kids with content I personally don't feel is suitable for kids (bad language and violence etc...) then maybe you'll like it more than I did.
Return to Oz (1985)
As good at 36 as at 9
I dug this movie out because I've just met someone who has a child and I thought my step son may like to watch it as I did when I was a child and had my milk snatched from me. I never got to watch it with my step Son but I am sat watching it at home, on my own, with the lights out. This film immerses you in a world of dark emotion control and dare I say it, insanity. So real it's like looking out the window, so fantastic it's like reading strewlpeter for the first time. Do not be expecting this to be a continuation of the song and dance that was the wizard of oz, this is much closer to the books and far away from the rose tinted world of Judy Garland.
If you don't like heads this film may be for you.
Prometheus (2012)
Well I didn't fall asleep
Basically this movie is like a very expensive b-movie (though only one funny 'horror' moment) version of 2001 a space odyssey without the music or suspense and the end is the only bit worth watching.
I would elaborate, but it's hard to do without putting any spoilers in, since there is so little to this movie; probably 10-15 minutes that are notable, then the rest you'll have to get some matchsticks out to stop you're self falling asleep. I think it took approximately 50 minutes into the movie before anything happened ymmv.
The acting was a little dry and the scant plot elements where so brief that it became difficult to work out what had gone on in the few minutes that something did go on. On several occasions I was left thinking, did that actually happen, Oh I must have missed it.... maybe I did nod off, who knows.
The horror elements are b-movie esque with poor special effects that aren't in keeping with the polish of some of the visuals throughout the movie, though the visuals enough are not enough to create a kind of atmosphere you'd find in 2001 a space odyssey and the lack of, well anything, along with dry acting leave very little, if any, in the way of suspense through the long, slow parts of the movie.
If you liked the other films by this director you'll probably be very disappointed.
The Money Masters (1996)
quotes not so bad
I shan't cover the whole documentary, but as with any documentary verifying details is always worth while.
What I will cover is some of the criticism in another review posted, for instance at the start of the documentary is a quote from Jefferson about the banks being worse than standing armies. While the quote used isn't exactly what Jefferson said, it's exepionally close to a closing sentence in Jefferson's 28 may 1886 letter to John Taylor, "I sincerely believe with you the banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies"
So although it's true that some of the sources used in this documentary aren't spot on accurate, it can also be said that some of them are very very close.
This documentary certainly makes a very good starting point for further research on the subject, but as with anything, always cross reference and never take at face value.