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Crusade: Visitors from Down the Street (1999)
A bit of an X-Files spoof
An obvious bit of a spoof on the X-Files. But it seemed somewhat half-hearted. They could have really run with this, made it really humorous if they wished. But it feels like they couldn't really decide what they wanted to do.
Regardless, it is an interesting take on the "UFO Sightings" phenomena. It's a little of a "what if...", almost along the lines of a couple Twilight Zone episodes. Not completely bad, but this could have been far better than it was. I did like it when one of the characters introduced themselves as "Special Agent".
Perhaps JMS will have an opportunity to remake not only Babylon 5, but Crusade as well, cutting out some of the cheesiness, improving on both series' weaknesses. At that time maybe he can give this episode the push in the right direction.
Righteous Kill (2008)
Stellar talent, but atrocious storytelling
I really wanted to like this movie... I mean how could you go wrong with Pacino and De Niro? But somehow something did go wrong with this movie, despite all of the great talent included. Pacino and De Niro played their roles well, they have great chemistry on screen. But the story, the pacing of this movie was just awful. Just felt like a chore to get through this movie.
The idea was a good one; vigilante police, jaded cops and how they continue to, what happens if one loses faith in his job. But it just wasn't put together well. I also felt like there was no surprise to this movie. The movie makers tried to give us some red herrings, but ultimately the big reveal wasn't much a surprise.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)
I just don't know wtf these people are thinking anymore.
Lucas and Lucasfilms just keep selling off more and more of their souls and creative talent to the devil. I just don't know wtf these people are thinking anymore. I's not like the original three movies were the holy grail of science-fiction. They were light adventure fare. But they were fun, with interesting characters. Even the prequel movies weren't as bad as the drooling fanatics would have one believe. Hell, they were the exact same friggin' stories as the original movies. But this Clone Wars movie lacked any kind of charm, interesting dialog, and... umm... where was the story amidst all that mind numbing action? I enjoyed the visual style of this movie. That was about its only saving grace. And while I enjoyed the scenes with Obi-Wan... it just seems that Anakin's role never gets a break. As it was in the live action movies, the same holds true here; He's just given really bad dialog and horrible actors to portray him. The sparring between him and his apprentice was shallow, annoying, and had nothing of interest to offer. The apprentice herself was like stereotyped cutout of an obnoxious kid trying too hard to be clever but failing.
I like a good light saber battle, and who doesn't like to see things blow up? But good grief... the action in this movie just went on and on and on... like this review. Where the hell was the story? Yes, we get it, the little huttlet is sick, you have to get him back... I understood it the first time it was said, and I understood it the hundredth time it was said. Now how about trying some character development? Some of those nice deep plots and interesting political intrigue that made the other movies a little more entertaining?
Miami Vice: A Bullet for Crockett (1988)
Nothing but a clip show. bleh
Clip shows will never gain favor from me. This is even worse because a potentially interesting and suspenseful story is cut with clips. Something like this should have gotten its own complete story.
This episode might have been suspenseful during the original run. At that time people might not have known whether the series would be returning in the fall. Now though, it's just annoying having this kind of event occur within a clip show.
But regardless, this could have been a really serious story and plot spanning multiple episodes. And if during its original run with only a couple episodes remaining you give the audience this tragic event and fill it up with clips from previous episodes I would be really annoyed if I had been a fan. Given the ease with which this episode was resolved, this was a complete waste. Season 4 all around was pretty bad.
Clip shows are just nonsense.
Miami Vice: Missing Hours (1987)
This isn't just bad Miami Vice, it's bad Television and bad storytelling
This isn't just bad Miami Vice, it's bad Television and bad storytelling and awful, awful music. I don't know wtf they were thinking when they made this episode. And what a waste of Chris Rock and James Brown.
It's too bad Olivia Brown was featured so strongly in this episode. It's not often Olivia and Saundra Santiago get "their" episodes. To waste one on UFOs and a paranormal bs, especially on a series like Miami Vice...
Saundra had Heroes of the Revolution at the end of season 3. That was a pretty decent episode for Miami Vice. Hopefully Olivia gets one more chance at a spotlight episode in the fourth season.
A Scanner Darkly (2006)
This was Philip K Dick from beginning to end. An interesting story, dark and twisted.
Robert Downey Jr pretty much stole every scene he was in. He's always been a gifted actor, truly lending personality and character to the roles he's given. Here though, he really shone. And I was really surprised at the performance by Rory Cochrane. Who would have thought an ex CSI:Miami actor could really get down and dirty like he did. Great job by this guy. This should lend a boost to his career. Keanu Reeves was okay. But honestly, it's not like the role demanded a whole lot from him. So meh there. Winona Ryder's performance was also very well done.
This was Philip K Dick from beginning to end. An interesting story, dark and twisted.
Visually, I'm a nut for anything that offers interesting visual appeal. I really like it when movie makers take chances with visual style. In many cases, this actually elevates a mundane movie to a much higher status for me. I really thought I would love this movie more for its visual style than anything else. But I have to say... while the approach taken with this movie was interesting and appealing at first, the appeal quickly wore off. I know why though. It's because I wanted to see Robert Downey Jr and Rory Cochrane and Winona Ryder. I wanted to see their facial expressions, their body language. Their performances were so great, particularly Downey's, that the animation seemed to distract... to muffle them more than anything else. Every time Cochrane or Downey came on screen I wanted the animation to go away so that I could really get to see these characters shine.
I don't think it's something I could watch again. The appeal of drug induced existential conversations no longer holds any great interest to me. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was interesting once, but I'll never watch it again. Same with Naked Lunch. For A Scanner Darkly though, it's more than that. The visual style will annoy me on further viewing attempts because I'll be wanting to see the live actors unshielded doing their thing.
This was an interesting movie nonetheless. It was worth seeing once.