Reviews

With today's standards anything that doesn't suck is good so "The Legend of the Seeker" looks like an award worthy show right now but all things considered it is a good watch for the lovers of sword and sorcery fantasy genre, it is a world filled with magic, spells, creatures and of course heroism, swords and action.

I like the extensive natural scenes shot in New Zealand (of course), most of the show was shot on location within the amazing untouched nature of that country, I like the escapism of a world of magic, and I'm in love with all the tall, beautiful, fit, strong women with great presence throughout the show that also remind me of how things used to be before the current ideological decline: here we have a TV show that elevates women as warriors without removing anything from their femininity or from the strength and character of their male counterparts, there is a measure of balance, relatability and believability that is lacking from today.

There is also a lot of cleavage, on every single episode, which I appreciate as a visual of femininity and a constant reminder that at the end of the day those strong powerful ladies are women, but the show loves its cleavage so much that we get to see a lot of male cleavage too, and Craig Horner was hitting the gym back then (maybe still is?) to satisfy that requirement.

I like the purity of the love story between the seeker and the mother confessor that can never be fulfilled because they put their duty above their feelings, and I like the wizard of the first order Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander that is played very well by Bruce Spence. Cara the mord sith is very funny without ever saying a single joke, Tabrett Bethell is cool and beautiful as is of course the mother confessor Bridget Regan!

It is a bit unfortunate the show was cancelled after two seasons 14 years ago but I'm always to happy to visit the past of nostalgia which is obligatory given the current situation. I've had good fun watching this show, and I'll miss those characters forever.

A lot of people praised Game of Thrones only to be disappointed by the last two seasons.. Similarly I found Legion to be mind bending, inspired, dreamlike, psychedelic, multidimensional, weird, unusual unlike anything I've ever seen on TV, I thoroughly enjoyed the excellent acting, the outlandish yet perfectly making sense characters, the weird plot, the extravagant scenes and the parallel dimensions of unconventional action. And as I was eagerly awaiting to find out what the series finale had in store I received a strong punch in the gut whe they ended the series (without revealing any of the actual plot) by blaming all men for bringing down women and making the previously heroic main protagonist suddenly look toxic, small and unlikable.

From my enthusiastic description above one may imagine how disappointed I was with that unexpected turn of events; obviously five years later such kind of writing has become the new Hollywood norm but in 2019 I almost cried when they tarnished a beautiful series with that ending. What a huge shame.

Some X-Files fans may not like this episode (or they may love it like I do) for being a bit less Sci-fi and a bit more spiritual, based on the widespread misconception that science has conquered metaphysics when in fact it is helplessly standing outside its gates having no clue how life is created. And this is the exact theme of this episode, the destination of life..

It is an absolutely fantastic episode that provides a (metaphysical) conclusion to one of the main plots of the series, after many years of searching for his disappeared/abducted sister into the mysteries of the unexplained and battling secret conspiracies Fox Mulder finally finds relief, peace and closure.

A beautiful script with beautiful metaphysical elements and depictions of souls transending death and finding peace in eternal existence. One must be pretty distracted and hardened by routine and religiously materialistic to dislike the message of peace, the transcendental tranquility, the otherworldly atmosphere and the amazing aethereal music. Which is what the psychic detective that helped Fox ends up doing (without revealing anything from the actual plot) and this antithesis adds to an already top notch episode.

Definitely one of the top episodes of the whole series and I'm kind of glad Hollywood is producing trash nowadays because I get to revisit the past of nostalgia and Hollywood greatness. This underrated episode is definitely one of those moments of greatness.

A few years back I'd probably given this comedy a 7 to 7.5 out of 10 but with 2024 standards this is a 10 out of 10 as today's Hollywood is simply unable to produce any comedy or anything of quality for that matter with a few exceptions so the only way to watch a funny movie is to browse the catalogue of old comedies and the 2000s is the golden decade for Hollywood comedy.

This movie doesn't disappoint, it's a funny comedy full of clumsy, farsical situations that one should expect from the mastermind actor behind "Mr Bean", it is well acted and directed with plenty of laughs and a simple yet effective plot. Definitely worth a watch for anyone looking to spent a pleasant hour and a half, and I sure miss the "old" pre-2016 Hollywood.

Long before Ryan Reynolds was known as the face behind the irreverent Deadpool he started his career with a string of successful comedies in the 2000s that was definitely the decade of Hollywood comedy (followed by the 80s) with so many decent comedies being released within those ten years and most of those are now forgotten, "Just Friends" being one of them, a funny gem from a Hollywood era that seems so far away and so alien 19 years later from the altered perspective of new declining Hollywood.

Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart and the 2000s comedy beauty Anna Faris give excellent convincing comedic performances on a movie that is an excellent description of male awkwardness and lack of courage that may lead to outrageous situations if a Hollywood script writer has anything to do about it. Excellently directed, it's an uplifting funny comedy worth watching.

A 7.5/8 out of 10 movie with 2004 standards but a definite 10 out of 10 with 2024 declining Hollywood standards, Van Helsing is a solid fantasy adventure no matter what grading system one decides to use. Set in the 19th century and featuring monsters (vampires, warewolves, Frankenstein's creation) and monster hunters participating in the good versus evil fight, it does have plenty of good action, good scenery and decent CGI although a bit too much at times, and good acting, including a much younger Hugh Jackman and the beautiful Kate Beckinsale who is playing the other lead role of the action oriented and courageous Anna that is also pretty, as already mentioned, feminine, and vulnerable, which gives her character plenty of realism and believability unlike the unrelatable and unrealistic Mary Sue's of today's flobusters. A good movie of the fantasy genre.

Clarkson, May and Hammond have been blessed with the luck to live the dream fantasies of so many men by having fun with cars, fooling around and traveling around the world experiencing new adventures all while geting paid good money to do that, and we have been privileged enough to live vicariously through their outlandish adventures. Not many people know it even though it has been only a few short years that under their helm BBC's Top Gear was the biggest "factual" TV program on the planet, that franchise never recovered their departure and it has now been suspended.

The "sand job" (an obvious play with words) proves that the magic is still there, the chemistry between them, the excellent sceneries and cinematography, the immature foolishness all work harmoniously in a high level production of good old TV, just a bunch of men and their cars driving towards glory and the end of their successful careers. Highly recommended.

The classic trio is back at it with yet another episode of mayhem and hilariousness travelling though central continental Europe this time. Spectacular locations, good fun and the good old chemistry we have come to enjoy throughout the years since they were presenting Top Gear on BBC and even though it is a clearly scripted program they somehow manage to keep the appeal and the interest intact.

The fans of classic James May, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond won't be disappointed as they still retain all the magic, it a well presented, well directed episode, a breath of fresh air and good old masculine banter in the arid landscape of today. Good TV 👍

In recent years Hollywood and the rest of western TV and film production entities decided that decades' worth of so called "harmful stereotypes" had to be erased and as a result Hollywood is in decline and film studios are in big trouble even though media are doing their best not to report on it.

Reacher is proof that those so called stereotypes are merely the content people want to see because it resonates with them so naturally the show is at the top on Amazon Prime streaming service who is producing it.

Just a straight up masculine guy doing his guy thing and a crew behind the scenes who was chosen for their competency and skills if we can judge by the quality of their work, even though Reacher is not the best show ever it is one of the best things in the arid desert of today. With decent acting, good cinematography and thank goodness spot on casting for a change, Reacher is a breath of fresh air along with "One Piece", another great recent show.

Just like "The good, the bad and the ugly" that was ignored and even ridiculed when released but today it is considered as one the best movies of all time and a top ten on IMDb's list, "Once upon a time in the West" is yet another Sergio Leone's masterpiece that encountered the same resistance upon its release in the US so it took some time in both cases for critics and audiences to catch up and recognize Sergio Leone's spectacular creations from 1966 and 1968 respectively.

Very much unlike the era of fast tik toks and "shorts" that jump quickly from one scene and frame to the next to satisfy short span attentions, "Once upon a time in the West" is a collection of almost static atmospheric images and sounds that Leone managed to freeze in time and space to capture a piece of eternity, dressed by Ennio Morricone's musical score that conveys both timelessness and inevitability.

It is a fictional story of little people whose very intense lives that no one will ever remember helped shape the American expansion following the building of railroads. These short lived archetypical figures are an Irishman wanting to capture the American dream but dies tragically before his plan materialised into a success story, the criminal outlaw, the coward snitch, the stubborn rich entrepreneur driven to succeed no matter what, the beautiful survivor ex sex worker that leaves her previous life to start over in the countryside as a homemaker wife, the accidentally heroic outlaw with principles, and a mysterious killer looking for vengeance and setting things right.

Fate brings these larger than life characters together to settle scores and to shape their lives forever but at the end none of it matters, it was all just a little side story against the larger backdrop of inevitable history and progress. We are all fireworks that burn briefly and spectacularly and then disappear unremarkably forever.

Today's Hollywood likes to demote men to secondary characters and has taken away their masculinity to make them shallow, insecure, confused, emotional caricatures like they did to the icon Samuel L. Jackson in "The Marvels" or the culturally important Indiana Jones in the "dial of destiny" where old Indy gets send into retirement with a knock out punch by Phoebe Waller's character! This is definitely not the treatment get in "Once upon a time in the West" that portays a classic, eternal, archetypical rock of masculinity that women love and men are inspired from. Sergio Leone's man is as stable as a mountain, a father, the leader of the family, decisive, stubborn, inventive, intelligent, risk taking, hard working, masculine, rough, honorable, shaping the environment to his will.

What a great timeless movie.

It's amazing how a b movie with a 7 million dollar budget featuring non-actors i.e. People with no acting training or credentials manages to be at least as watchable as productions worth hundreds of millions coming from big studios like Disney. And unlike those movies this one could have made 100-150 million at the box office thus turning a nice profit, something that seems to elude Hollywood these days, but due to poking fun at certain people, situations and ideologies it will never see the inside of a movie theatre or the catalogues of mainstream streaming services. And this is what makes it a bold comedy with plenty of balls. Needless to say don't expect to be blown away by the best movie you've ever seen but its definitely watchable and definitely funny while making a point that is missing from the one sided mainstream narrative, even if the movie is one sided itself, that's the essence of freedom of speech: having the choice of being able to listen to different points of view, instead of just one.

For what this is, it is a good all around movie.

You know a movie is going to be good when the leads are Robert Duval and Michael Douglas and this one lives up to the expectations. My title is sarcastic, "falling down" shows what the struggles of ordinary men can be contrary to the popular narratives of our days; Micheal Douglas's character is a man who lives a normal life with a normal family and a normal job but somehow things don't work out and the uncaring, faceless, chaotic society of the big city leads him to snap.. Michael Douglas is excellent in his performance as is the rest of the cast, the movie starts a bit slowly but picks up the pace along the way. It's a good watch, a decent social/crime thriller with plenty of social commentary, I actually found myself identifying with the main character's frustrations, this movie is portrayal of how easy is for people to lose it in this grinding machine we call society.

Here we have not just another financially disastrous so called "flopbuster" , but the mother of all MCU flopbusters to date with the movie scoring negative records. Marvel/Disney did it again, they managed to spend too much for an underwhelming final product that would have made sense only as a 30 million production going straight to streaming (in which case I may have awarded a higher score) not as an aspiring blockbuster, which begs the question if they are totally out of touch with reality there at Disney. The Marvels is a watchable movie only to stream while waiting for a pizza delivery or to take the kids to see but not good enough by a long shot to make mature audiences flock to the cinemas to offset the massive production and advertising budget.

The movie is trying too hard to be funny and lighthearted while wasting what used to be one of the most iconic Hollywood actors until he started playing such roles, Samuel L. Jackson, who is reprising a mere shadow of "Nick Fury" character that use to make billions at the box office not so long ago; now he is an inconsequential minor cheerleader orbiting an incoherent bunch of female spandex-clad superheroes fighting a badly cast, totally unconvincing, instantly forgettable female arch-nemesis. Simplistic shallow story that we've seen many times but done way better, no suspense, disconnected action, characters with the depth of a pothole no one cares to identify with or remember as soon as the movie is over, unnecessary messy CGI, with a badly done touch of sentimentality and feline cuteness, it's not worth the fuss, just wait for it to stream if you really need to watch a pretty average movie.

The "superhero fatigue" explanation cannot be the deciding factor here when the product is actually bad and not made to appeal to the masses and thus turn a profit.

The 2000s were the decade of comedy for Hollywood followed by the 80s; it is the sheer number of comedies that were produced during those ten years, the positive reception from the public and their satisfactory quality, but regardless, most of those comedies have slipped into oblivion with "mean girls" , now considered a classic, being one of the few exceptions still remembered.

A stellar ensemble of mostly young ladies lead by a charming and beautiful promising 18 year old actress Londsay Lohan, before her name became synonymous with trouble, this movie is iconic for it's portrayal of female aggression manifested as gossip and rumor spreading, and the pressures of teenage life seen from a female perspective with plenty of comedic exaggeration. Besides being actually interesting and funny, mean girls contains an important lesson of how peer pressure and the need to fit in can result in someone losing themeselves very quickly, and ends on a positive uplifting note of being comfortable with one's true self and kind to one another, it's pretty much the perfect comedy.

Such productions are a reminder of what movies used to be before Hollywood was tainted with ideology; the girls are not seeking to be men, they are unapologetically girly and feminine and the diverse and inclusive characters are likeable and relatable thus serving the good agenda of bringing people together instead of creating division! Mean Girls shows how bringing people together is done properly👍

If comedy is one of the best forms of criticism and social commentary that any kind of establishment or oppression is not happy with then South Park is all too familiar with being an equal opportunities offender taking comedic jabs at everyone and everything throughout its long run. This episode made the news for this exact reason, since South Park, an established franchise is the first time ever the entertainment industry dared criticise the declining state of Disney and Hollywood in general, the mockery is intense and unmistakeable, yet tasteful and comedic. The title of the episode, "pander-verse" , is a portmanteau of the multi - "verse" and "pandering" ; it is common knowledge Hollywood is mass producing mediocre superhero movies and remakes that fail at the box office one after another and it is this exact phenomenon South Park is mocking in this episode while making social commentary on the changes AI is going to bring in society.

A great episode, great commentary, a must watch, my favorite scene is parallel universe Cathleen-Cartman Kennedy ordering at the Asian Wok restaurant, the scene is too much fun!! They nailed it!

While the 80s were not bad, the 00s seem to be the golden decade for Hollywood comedy; a large amount of comedies came out within those ten years and while none of them are considered classics nowadays they are still very good fun, good spirited, with positive good vibes and great to watch, which describes exactly "17 again", one of those hidden treasures of 00s comedy that have been largely forgotten.

Recently deceased Mathew Perry of friends is great in his rather small but essential role, the rest of the acting is flawless, the casting amazing, the plot flows effortly, the jokes are good and as a bonus we get an allegorical tale with a great practical and also philosophical message. A comedy that deserves a higher score, rest in peace Chandler Bing ..

"Hard to kill" is an apt simple title for a movie based on an equally simple concept: bad rotten cops doing injustice to a good cop that comes back to exact revenge. Cop is played by Steven Seagal who was a big star back then and his actual wife at the time, the 80s beauty icon Kelly Lebrock is playing his nurse and subsequent romantic interest that helps him in his difficult time of need. Both Kelly Lebrock and his film wife, "Felicia Storm" played by Bonnie Burroughs are super gorgeous women that have that classic female quality and radiating classic self respect that seems to have disappeared from our screens, same as the strong, tough, male lead characters such the one played by the convincingly manly Steven Seagal. Watching such movies help me keep my sanity by reminding me it is Hollywood that has turned on it's head in recent years, and although it is not the best movie ever it is still a good solid watch.

A "kill all the bad guys" action crimer thriller doesn't need much of a plot or character development when you have the hyper macho Jean Dlaude Van Damme oozing the kind of masculinity that would make today's female empowerment Hollywood scream in snowflake desperation. Jean Claude is packing the guns literally and metaphorically and uses them to rain down punishment to all the criminal lowlifes that cross his path. He kills people with ten bullets while kicking them in the face, he does go the extra mile to make sure they are definitely dead! If it sounds like I'm being sarcastic I'm not, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie with all it's clichés and a manly man as the main character. Hell yeah 👍

An unpredictable, gripping thriller full of twists and turns with excellent acting by the experienced Michael Douglas but also from the (back then) upcoming new actress Gwyneth Paltrow who is such a beautiful lady in her young age, twenty five years ago, but her acting and the plot was good enough to distract away from her obvious beauty. A good evening watch full of suspense that will keep you on your toes,mwith excellent directing, the film flows very naturally, and when it ended it left a void in me; why do we people act in such wasteful manners consumed by vanity, ego and emotion.

I'm so glad current cinema and TV are horribly unwatchable, gives me a great opportunity to go back in time.

Robin hood Prince of thieves looks like an expensive production shot in many different amazing locations with plenty of background actors and costumes and famous capable casting but despite all this it feels a bit rushed, not that it is a bad film but it could have been even better. That may be due to Kevin Costner being on very high demand in 1990 shooting back to back projects so there was probably not enough time to focus 100% on this one.

Still good and watchable, with an excellent Morgan Freeman, it is of course the classic story of Robin hood saving the damsel in distress Marian from the treacherous sherrif of Nottingham, and needless to say this classic folk tale would not have made it intact into a film of today. Hollywood nowadays is all about erasing and rewritting movie history for ideological reasons, case in point the small production of Robyn Hood (2023) that transformed Robin into Robyn, a black woman, so if one wants to see something that resembles the original story the only way to look is towards the past.

It was unfortunate for L. A. Confidential to run at the Oscars against the Titanic that won 11 categories allowing L. A. Confidential to win only two, in fact the Titanic won every single one of the seven categories L. A. Confidential was nominated for and didn't win.

L. A. Confidential in an excellent recreation of the 50s era without any of the ideological liberties current Hollywood would have taken, thus a great movie that wouldn't have been made today. Spot on casting, amazing acting, directing and plot, it's a story of police corruption and of strong, determined traditional masculine characters (another characteristic unlikely to feature in today's flopbusters) struggling and eventually succeeding in putting an end to it. It's the real events behind the scenes the public will never know as that knowledge would undermine perception of the institution, leaving one wondering how many narratives the public may have been fed as the truth was too graphic for widespread consumption.

The movie was quite successful, with then relatively unknown Guy Pierce and Russell Crowe making big names of themselves by shining as the main protagonists.

I have pretty much turned my back on the current entertainment industry only watching good pre-ideological takeover material and thankfully there is decades' worth of it, enough to outlast this storm of low quality. In this period of mediocrity "One Piece" is a hopeful bright ray of sunlight shinning through the darkness, a much needed oasis in the desert, a surprisingly good production, a fantasy adventure in a world full of quests, hidden treasures, pirates, heroes, villains and monsters that has similarities to 16th century Europe, the show is full of hapiness, hope, humor and courage in a world were the good guys are not always good and the bad guys are not always bad, Monkey D. Luffy is an outlaw pirate that helps people and does good by his friends.

The acting is spot on, the casting is spot on, and the over the top colourful cinematography is very suitable for a manga adaptation, apparently all thanks to franchise creator Eiichiro Oda who kept creative control and forced !! Netflix to reshoot certain scenes because they weren't good enough. And the result shows. Simply amazing, can't wait for more seasons.

That Amber Midthunder, the protagonist, is a beautiful lady and she can act too, she was great in this movie as was the rest of the cast, the acting, the scenery, the atmosphere and plot, a good work has been done here. But the movie did not turn out a profit maybe because casting Amber was not appropriate for the role due to her not quite looking the part.

I understand nowadays Hollywood is making one remake after the other replacing old iconic masculine roles with "strong female characters" that best men at being warriors and soldiers as is also the case with this one, but I don't get how they expect the audiences to be drawn to a tiny, frail female protagonist playing the role of a warrior kicking the ass of much bigger male warriors as well as kicking the ass of an utterly lethal and supremely skilled alien predator based mainly on the strength of her non existent muscles? Why on earth do they not cast warrior looking females for roles like this, or focus on other attributes like intelligence and cunningness to compensate for the lack of physical size? Sure Arnold Schwarzenegger, the protagonist of the original movie had convincingly huge muscles, but also females like Sigourney Weaver in the Alien were very convincing as warriors like so many other women heroines in the history of cinema who were powerful and didn't have to put men down to prove it.

Divulging nothing about the actual plot this episode, which is a continuation of the previous one, is interesting in predicting the unrest following Saddam's demise and a global pandemic 10 years later, even though it actually happened 13 years later, but goes too far in predicting a nuclear war.

An equally interesting element is the philosophical and very realistic question posed about secret agencies and the US government going in bed with dictators, some of them violent. The two contrasting points of view is that some of them keep global stability and keeping them in place ensures the continuity of that stability and the other point of view is that it is all a power game for global control and dominance.

Generally speaking I find Nikita interestig for being somewhat odd and a bit outdated, and there are a few good episodes, this and the previous one being good examples. I doubt many people will bother watching, but now that the film and TV industry has gone downhill I will definitely be revisiting decades' worth of old material.

A solid cliché action movie of nearly indestructible protagonists surviving bullets, knives, collisions and explosives while getting disposed of the "bad guys" by the dozen is hardly surpising, but seeing a male lead is, the very butch and masculine Chris Hemsworth playing soldier quite well actually, same as he did in the first instalment.

This film is all about non stop action and less about everything else, the acting and filming locations are good but that's just about it, plot is simple, cliché and predictable, and there is no character development which is fine. A decent 7/10 evening action movie, I gave it an extra 2 points for daring cast a traditional masculine male action lead that doesn't end up being ridiculed or killed by a woman. Splendid.