Dougie B's Reviews

The Idea of You (2024)

6/10

Well made, but hampered by a 2-dimensional plot

27 May 2024

The acting is great, as is the music, cinematography and overall feel, but the shallow story really brings it down a number of points.

At no point in the movie do we really get a sense of exactly why the characters are romantically connected or than a lustful connection. Which would be fine, however later on the characters react to their situation as if there has been some deep connection which we never really got a close look at.

The casting of Anne Hathaway was also kind of a double-edged sword, needing to be an actress that could convince the audience a 24 year old singer would be attractive enough to pursue. But because she in no way looks 40, it becomes tough to suspend disbelief on certain plot elements that address her age.

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Control (2022)

5/10

A callback to the days of the low budget, straight-to-video

19 May 2024

This is the kind of movie that had it been made 20 years ago it would have been seen late night on the Syfy channel or plucked from lower shelves of Blockbuster. And that's okay.

It's not going to have a lasting impact on anyone, you'll probably never need to see it again after watching it once, but it's similar to watching an 90's episode of The Outer Limits. It's decently entertaining for the duration you watch.

Sarah Mitich has some pretty decent acting chops which were nice to see, given how underutilized she's been on Star Trek: Discovery.

The title of the movie is a bit of an odd choice given how its 8th or 9th feature in the last 20 year called "Control," it feels like they were trying capitalize off the popular video game, which it has nothing to do with.

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I Saw the TV Glow (2024)

2/10

Ambiguous, pretentious, and overall dull.

9 May 2024

Warning: Spoilers

I really couldn't tell you the plot of this movie. I could tell you what happened, but I couldn't give you all of the reasons why any of it did. I honestly felt like I was watching an experimental project from a first year art school student who wouldn't even be able to explain the meaning of what we saw if asked.

Even if this movie was comprehensible, there so many odd things about it from a production standpoint. For example, the audio on the TV show the main characters watch is terrible, to the point of almost being inaudible. Old TV didn't sound THAT bad. The casting between young Owen and adult Owen (Justice Smith) is just jarring since they look nothing like each other, and they play each other only 2 years apart.

MINOR SPOILERS - I had to read an interview with the writer/director just to know that the movie is supposed to be an allegory for gender transitioning, and I never picked up on that, at all. One character was gay, and their struggles were portrayed, while the other came across as asexual, and very little of that was ever explored. Was their "sexuality" their love for this TV show? I couldn't tell you because the movie tells you nothing.

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You Can Call Me Bill (2023)

4/10

Comes across as an old actor rambling for 90 minutes

22 March 2024

To be fair, I'm pretty sure it was the editing and directing that made William Shatner comes across as a rambling old man, in the fact that the narrative jumps all over the place. The film is has chapters, but each and every one seems to fall short of telling a coherent story. We get some glimpses into his past, there are some stories that would have been great to learn more about, but instead of details we're left with just his reflections. The film also relies on a bunch of b-roll, some of which is great, but other times is pretty confusing or awkward. Sadly, I walked learning very little about the specifics of Shatner's life and career.

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First Person Shooter (2022)

2/10

Almost needs to be seen to be believed

27 January 2022

The script feels as thought it was written by a 16-year-old with no real-world experience, going off how they think the adult world works.

This movie is filled with absolutely absurd depictions of how adult relationships work, how the police handle threats and homicides, and how an actual company is run. It'll leave you wondering if this movie is real or if its some sort of Andy Kaufman-esque prank being pulled on everyone.

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Ultimate Trek: Star Trek's Greatest Moments (1999 TV Movie)

1/10

There's a reason you haven't heard of this...

19 July 2015

There's nothing really more to say about this other than it's lazily-cobbled together clip show of seemingly random moments hosted by horribly unfunny impersonators (including Jason Alexander's Kirk). This special saw one VHS release after it's initial air, and has never been seen or heard from again.

Funny enough, I was an intern at UPN when this was produced, and I remember them wanting it to be played totally straight. They wanted John Stewart and Jeri Ryan hosting it from the Voyager bridge, but both of them turned it down. Somewhere along the line, Jason Alexander expressed interest and a small network like UPN was ready and willing to allow him to do whatever he wanted on the special.

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The Story of Star Wars (2004 Video)

5/10

A piece of Star War history, but nothing to get excited about

30 November 2014

This special is basically a recap of Episodes I & II, and IV - VI, hosted with new footage of C3PO and R2D2. It was only available as a separate DVD if you pre-ordered Episode III from Walmart in 2005, and on the Video Now Color format which has been since forgotten.

There's not much new, aside from Anthony Daniels's new narration and a few in-between shots of C3PO and R2D2 on a new starship interior set. The first chapter, The Story of Anakin Skywalker, recaps episodes I & II, while teasing episodes III (also ignoring the part in which C3PO's memory got wiped). The second chapter, The Story of Luke Skywalker, recaps the original trilogy, also teasing Episode III at the end. All of this is presented in Standard Definition, 4:3.

Given the availability of the movies now, this whole special is practically pointless to watch these days. Like I said, it is a piece of Star Wars history, given the new footage of Anthony Daniels as C3PO. However, if anything, it'll only make you want to stop watching and pop in the actual movies into your DVD player.

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The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005)

1/10

There's "so bad it's good," "so bad, it's bad" and then there's this.

28 July 2013

Imagine a "Crow" movie in where Dennis Hopper appears as a Satanic priest who speaks like an 80's kid that is trying to emulate a 50's greaser (that's the best explanation I have). Macy Gray appears as... someone... in the Satanic church with about four lines who does... something. Danny Trejo's character, a Native American Christian minister, attempts to save the day by revealing his chest tattoo of a woman in a sombrero and while performing a Native ritualistic dance. I can't make this stuff up.

I honestly can't remember the last time I watched a movie with my jaw literally dropped. Thoughts rushed through my head throughout the entire film, wondering just exactly what the filmmakers were thinking. I have a feeling this a DVD of this movie is sitting on the shelves at home of all those involved, still in the shrink wrap.

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Computer Warriors (1990 Video)

5/10

Blatantly ripped off from Tron

29 August 2006

Only one episode of this was produced and aired as an infomercial in local markets. I had vague recollections of this and remembered it mostly because of short-lived toy line that accompanied it.

About a year ago I found out that this was written and produced by Carl Macek, the man behind bringing the series Robotech to the US, so I thought I'd track down a tape.

After seeing it again all these years later, I thought it made for a decent cartoon - something I would have liked to have seen when I was younger. It had some impressive CG for the time and while the story didn't have a lot of depth it delivered a lot of action.

Then, a few nights ago, I re-watched TRON and realized something: COMPUTER WARRIORS is nothing but a blatant rip-off of the concept. You've got good programs fighting bad programs, not to mention the main character's in COMPUTER WARRIORS is Romm, just like Rom from Tron.

There are way too many similarities for this to be coincidence. Had this gone to a series, I could have easily seen the Disney lawyers going after this one.

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Star Trek: The Experience - The Klingon Encounter (1998)

9/10

The older and better of the two rides

6 June 2005

Warning: Spoilers

I was actually at a bachelor party in Vegas when we decided to split up for a few hours and I rushed straight over to the Hilton.

It was great to be surrounded by all things Star Trek. In fact, you can tell the exhibit hasn't been updated much since 1998, as everything was referencing Star Trek at that time. But that was also when Star Trek was in its prime, so it really brought be back.

As for the ride itself, I could tell it was pretty dated but it was still fantastic. The only thing I wished was that they had upgraded to digital projection, as the images were all kind of dark. But all in all, it was fantastic. Reminded me a lot of Back To The Future: The Ride at Universal Studios.

****SPOILERS**** Okay, I have to admit I was totally taken by surprise. I was expecting a halfway decent shuttlecraft ride and was BLOW AWAY when I realized I was the Enterprise transporter room. THEN we got to walk through the Enterprise corridor THEN go on the bridge. THEN going into the to the turbolift on top of the was a real treat. I was totally able to wrap myself up in this world.

****END SPOILERS***** The only thing that I got depressed about was that the Star Trek franchise is at a standstill right now, and this reminded me of everything I loved about it

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Super Size Me (2004)

Overweight, underweight... See this movie

20 May 2004

It's only been an hour since I've seen this movie but I think I can say its already changed my life.

This guy didn't really need to perform this extreme stunt to prove his point, you can see that walking down any US street. But if anything, this thing made me stop and think about what I eating, and it kind of scared me. I work in mass media marketing myself and I never realized that I fell into the kind of trap that the big companies set out for me. I'm not the healthiest eater, and while I won't say I have anyone to blame but myself, I never realized how far into it I've let myself get into.

I really hope this movie has the impact on everyone that it did me.

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Superboy (1988–1992)

A mixed bag

21 March 2004

Most of my memories of this show are just that, memories. I was ten years at the time this show premiered and remember being really impressed, even though I could tell the special effects were low budget.

A few years ago I saw Gerard Christopher (the second Superboy) at a convention selling some episodes on tape, and I was compelled to buy them. I think the ten year old boy in me was star struck and couldn't resist. The episodes were not bad. Not great, but not bad.

Recently I picked up the original pilot at another convention, the one starring John Haymes Newton. This was HORRIBLE. Aside from the fact Superboy had a heavy east coast accent, the writing and dialogue were on par with the first season of Power Rangers.

During the first season I remember reading articles saying this show was supposed to be tied in with the Superman movies, but if that were the case, there wasn't even an effort made to do so.

This show was syndicated for one year after its initial four year run but rumor has it that Warner Bros. put a stop to it when Lois and Clark premiered. Whether or not anyone will be able to see it again (legally) remains to be seen.

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RoboCop (1988)

Almost had it...

12 February 2004

Back in the 80's, it was perfectly acceptable to adapt an extremely violent, R-Rated movie into a kid-friendly cartoon, and Robocop was no exception.

The stories couldn't carry over the violence so instead they relied on the whole "is he a man or a machine?" plot threads. While those aspects stories were done quite well, they were surrounded by simplistic "I wanna kill Robocop" plot lines that brought down the quality of the stories.

This show was a little more mature than shows like "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends," but not quite at the level of "Batman: The Animated Series," which many of its writers and producers when on to.

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Clerks. (1995 TV Movie)

Don't be confused... this is NOT the animated series

20 December 2003

Very few people are lucky (or unlucky) to have seen this pile garbage. They took the names and that was about it.

This sitcom looks like it was whipped up in about 3 days... the production values were extremely low and the plot looked like it had been re-written from a million other sitcom plots.

Finding a copy is real hard, even on the collectors market. Primarily, because no one wants to see it. Who knows? Maybe this will become the "Star Wars Holiday Special" of the Kevin Smith films.

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Robotech: The Movie (1986)

Finally got to see it!

20 December 2003

When I was a kid, and HUGE fan of the Robotech series, I kept hearing a promise of a Robotech Movie. Because I didn't live in Texas, I never got that chance.

The film was screened in one city in Texas, tested poorly, and never heard from again. Later, Robotech's creator, Carl Macek, denounced the film in his writing and interviews, saying he'd wish everyone would just forget it ever happened. But, I wanted to judge for myself.

They released a comic book adaptation of the film in 1996 which was honestly quite bad, and it wasn't enough to quench my appetite. I even found a copy of Megazone 23, the film in which this is edited from, but I still wanted to see the actual movie.

This has only been released on video Europe and after paying 30 pounds (around 50 dollars) I finally got my hands on it. My friend was able to dub it for me from the Euro format to the US format, but unfortunately it was transerred without any color. Oh well, at least I got to see it.

And, I can tell you that everything you've heard is true. The movie is filled with inconsistencies, bad dialogue, bad storylines, you name it. It should have never been made.

The only thing that bothers me is that had this film been readily available, I might have seen it once and dismissed it. But just because it's SO hard to find (it pops up on online auctions about two or three times a year) I felt compelled to hunt it down.

A good comparison would be the "Star Wars Holiday Special." You want to see that one last chapter of a series you love, yet the payoff is not worth the hunt.

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Shallow Hal (2001)

Hold on a second...

15 September 2003

You know, for all intents and purposes, this movie seems like it was written by a bitter overweight woman. Now hear me out before you accuse me of being as shallow as Hal...

Why were ALL of the overweight women somehow beautiful on the inside? I've known plenty of overweight women, and they weren't all beautiful on the inside. Some were, sure, but others were really mean.

And why was nearly every pretty girl shown to be hideous? Do good looks automatically make a girl ugly on the inside. Again, I've know some pretty girls who have had terrible personalities while some have been really nice.

My point is, looks don't have a whole lot to do with personalities. That's why I said this movie was seems like it was written by a bitter overweight woman. A bitter overweight woman who wanted to make women prettier than her (and the men who love them) out to look like really shallow.

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Pryde of the X-Men (1989 TV Movie)

not THAT bad!

24 July 2003

Why does everyone seem to hate this? Sure, the story was 100% generic, but it was definitely watchable. While the Saban cartoon that followed it around four years later was much more complex story-wise, its animation couldn't hold a candle to this one. If they were somehow able to combine this cartoon's animation with the stories of the show that came after this, we would have had a GREAT series.

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Teen Titans (2003–2006)

Definite style over substance

20 July 2003

Over ten years ago, Warner Brothers Animation produced a new Batman cartoon which was revolutionary. It was one of the first cartoons that showed all of the action that kids crave while delivering thought-provoking, meaningful stories. It was one of the first cartoons that didn't talk down to kids or underestimate their ability to comprehend a good plot. Over the years, that series branched off into Superman, Batman Beyond, Static Shock, and Justice League, all which held that tradition. Sadly, it seems to have stopped with the Teen Titans.

The anime-animation is also very different. I don't mind that, I like that a series isn't going to make itself tied down to what came before. But the story doesn't seem to try and appeal to anyone over the age of 13.

I know its odd, a grown man expecting to be entertained by a cartoon inteded for kids. But I feel that when you try to appeal to both, it gives off an extra spark of creativity that makes a story truly enjoyable. I hope this series accomplishes this some day.

PS - For all of you die - hard continuity freaks, this does fit into the Batman Animated Series continuity. Batman mentioned while guest starring in an episode of Static Shock that Robin went off to join the Titans.

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Spider-Man (2003)

Not perfect, but pretty good

12 July 2003

I guess I was expecting to be blown away, either because this was written by the same man who writes the great "Ultimate Spider-Man" comic series or because I waited so long for this to come out.

The story for the most part was good. Interestingly enough, it directly follows the film and we hear a few references when Harry Osbourn talks about how Spider-Man killed his father. But the epic scale of the film is toned down now to "villian of the week" formula. The first episode featured a villian right out of "Smallville," a taunted young man who (rather quickly and conveniently) falls upon super-powers that he uses to get revenge. The second features an assasain using a mystic sword who is hired to take out Spider-Man. Just like "Smallville," these first episodes showed the youth of the series while at the same time showing its great future potential.

One thing that caught me off-guard was the animation itself. It's one the few series that's completely computer generated while using a special filter to make if look as if it were hand-drawn. It works well when its done right, especially seeing Spider-Man swinging through buildings and climbing up walls. But as with a lot of computer-generated series, the animators can go a little overboard with the camera and make it constantly moving in awkward directions. I just wanted the thing to stay still! Also, some of it seemed rushed as I noticed objects that were supposed to be round had huge jagged edges.

Overall, the series shows a lot of promise. I only hope that MTV will commit to the time the series needs to become great. It will be interesting to see if it leads in to the next movie, although I doubt Sam Rami will be tied down the events in this series.

The previous Spider-Man (and X-men) animated series on Fox Kids felt like it was trying to cram over 30 years of comic book storylines into handful of tv episodes, but I see none of that here. It is what it is, and I'll be eager to see where it goes.

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T2 3-D: Battle Across Time (1996 Video)

Even die-hard fanboys like me will love it!

2 July 2003

I'm one of those fans who hate it when sequels don't match their original stories, I want everything to fit together. But with this, I didn't care a bit! I didn't care that the terminator didn't arrive naked, I didn't care that somehow the characters were able go into the future, and I didn't care that this won't fit into any future sequels! This is pure fun, plain and simple. I just hope that someday someone finds a way to put this on video.

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Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

SO many problems with this film (SPOILERS)

24 May 2003

Warning: Spoilers

I'm not one of those fanboys who love to criticize a move just for the sheer thrill of criticism (I even defend Star Trek V), but I feel so let down by this film. Other than the fact it felt like an episode with lots of CGI, there were still so many other things just wrong with this.

PRODUCTION DESIGN The sets, the costumes, the make-up, all looked no better than a current episode of the series. There were only about 20 people in the entire Romulan senate!

THE WEDDING We've waited almost 15 years for this and all we got was five minutes! Plus, Wesley Crusher back from exploring other planes of reality? Worf is no longer an Ambassador for the Klingon High Council and back in uniform? Pretty big Star Trek changes here that we're just asked to accept without explanation.

VIOLATING THE PRIME DIRECTIVE So, they find android parts on a planet that's not developed enough to have them. Rather than discretely retrieving them, they go down in their car blow the hell out of the natives. What the????

B-4 This is my biggest problem. Think about it. Shinzon creates an android that he knows Picard just HAS to come and get. Pretty big assumption. It looks exactly like Data (been done before) and its mission is to download important files from the Enterprise computer and bring them back. Why make it look like Data at all? There is no logical step for this. Keep in mind Shinzon never thinks that Data might find out and try to switch places with this android, which he does. Oh, it fits perfect with the story, Picard and his clone, Data and his, but it way `too perfect.' It feels like Shinzon just sat down with the writer who couldn't come up with a good subplot.

TELEPATHIC RAPE SCENE Been done before in an episode, almost exactly the same

THE ENDING - Not only taken directly from Star Trek II, why does EVERY TNG film have to end with Picard in hand-to-hand combat while a clock counts down to something disastrous? This is more formulaic than a James Bond film!

The writer says he was a huge Star Trek fan and went on how it was a total honor to write it. It just seems that he subconsciously took elements from every movie and episode and blended them together. I liked certain parts of this, I thought Shinzon was perfectly cast, the special effects were great. But overall, not a fitting end at all to the TNG crew.

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Batman (1989)

A flawed milestone

24 May 2003

While this movie was leap ahead for comic book movies (and the comic book industry) it is so flawed when standing on its own.

Jack Nicholson getting first billing should be the first clue. This movie is basically structured to tell the story of a criminal, Jack Napier, whose criminal past catches up with him when one of the victims of his crimes comes back for vengeance. The story of Bruce Wayne becoming Batman is only the secondary story here.

While this movie did prove the general public that comic books were not just a reflection the 1960's camp version of Batman, it's no wonder Michael Keaton got out when he did. He was just sick of being a title character who was being overshadowed in his own movie.

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X2 (2003)

A review of the DIGITAL projection

10 May 2003

I was lucky enough to see this film digitally projected (I've read that there were only 35-45 theaters in the US that are doing this.) Living in Los Angeles, you have to deal with smog, freeways, and attitudes, but at least you get digitally projected movies!

Having watched the movie projected on film the week before, I already knew what to expect from the story, so I probably wasn't as blown away as I should have been by certain sequences, especially the opening with Nightcrawler. But what I got was a perfectly crisp picture - no film scratches, no annoying reel changes with "cigarette burns" followed by an audio pop. If you don't know what a "cigarette burn" is, see "Fight Club," but I warn you - you'll always be conscious of it every you see a movie in the theater.

There were however at times, when the picture was a little too perfect. Some shots looked blurry, like they had blown up the film a little to get a closer shot. I don't know if they actually did this, but that's what it looked like. A few times when there was A LOT of action and camera movement, there was some SLIGHT blur and picture jumping. And by this I do mean SLIGHT. Unless you were looking for it, you probably wouldn't have noticed it. Also, some of the edges on objects on the screen seemed a little jagged at times, but then again, this wasn't that noticable.

Don't get me wrong, these are only minor criticisms. Do I prefer the digital projection? Definitely. This is the third digitally projection film I've seen, the other two being Episode II and Toy Story 2. The biggest differences here is that these two movies were created digitally while X2 was shot on film and transferred. The picture was still superior, but not mind-blowing (and it made Mystique and Nightcrawler's make-up jobs look a lot more like make-up)

While I preferred the digital projection, I wouldn't tell you to plan a road trip to seek out a theater that has it like I would have for Episode II and Toy Story 2. If you're going to see it, and there is a theater around that does have it, then go for it!

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The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978 TV Movie)

Not even "so bad it's good." So bad, its BAD!

8 May 2003

You know how there are certain bad things to watch that actually turn out to be inadvertently hilarious? That's not the case here. And trust me, I tried to like this for the "badness" factor by watching it around three times in the last ten years.

My story surrounding this "movie" started when I was 12. I was talking to some guy who was 19 about all things Star Wars when I mentioned the Ewoks made-for-TV movies. He went on to tell me that the best Star Wars TV movie was the one about Han Solo going to the Wookie planet.

For two years I tried to hunt this down until I finally found a copy at convention. After I paid for it, I notice the vendor had on his monitor a video an old man, dressed as a woman, with multiple arms, cooking. I asked the vendor what was on the monitor and he said "That's what you just bought." I couldn't beleive what I just paid for.

Well, the rest is history. The guy who told me it was "the best" ended up having no friends, getting plastic surgery and marrying an unattractive woman who rules his life (true story). Come to think about it, I would choose his life over seeing this movie again.

I know that sometimes you absolutely just HAVE to see that one chapter of a series you love so much. But trust me, in this case you don't. Watch the cartoon, you'll be happy.

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Bionic Six (1987)

Am I the only one?

15 April 2003

Am I the only one who notices the ridiculous fact about this show that no one in the story could seem to figure out who the Bionic Six were? I mean, come on, not only did they NOT WEAR MASKS, but they were a family consisting of two Caucasian kids, an African-American and an Asian kid. Kind of hard to miss, yet it seemed in every episode people would be asking "Who are the Bionic Six?" Did the writers think the kids watching were complete morons?

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Dougie B

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