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Reviews
The Wave (2019)
a cross between fight club and hangover
This is a narcotic version of "hangover".
Truly a great screenplay - the visuals in the movie are awesome and so is the soundtrack. It's on limited release but I'm sure this movie will absolutely accelerate once people Get to hear about it. Truly a great story and very dark !
Cedar Rapids (2011)
A little funny, a little cute, thankfully quite short....
First of all, I like Ed Helms - I think he was brilliant in The Office and Hangover. I'm not an Ed Helms fan though. Watched this last night - in effect, this is about an insurance agent from a very small town who goes on a trip to Cedar Rapids to an insurance conference.
This could have been hilarious. The idea of a small town guy taking his first ever business trip is actually a pretty good basis for what could have been a "business hangover". Unfortunately, this movie fell short of the mark - it wasn't THAT funny, there were several parts in the movie that really didn't need to either be in the movie, or made sense. There were a lot of stars playing bit-part roles - again, was this the studio making the movie sound as if it was a "business person version" of The Hangover ? Because it certainly wasn't.
However, somewhere along the road, the director realized that the movie didn't have that many jokes - so they cut it down to 1'26" in length. Just long enough to be a movie. Barely.
A very forgettable movie for everyone involved. But it was a cute story and could've been a much bigger hit...
The Hangover Part II (2011)
Yes its the same as The Hangover....
OK - its the same story. I mean, really, same exact story - but with slight differences.
First of all, The Hangover was probably one of the funniest, most surprising movies of the past decade. It was a total shock, from start to end - brilliantly conceived, wildly imaginative and wonderfully told - the movie is probably going to be one of the funniest comedies of all time.
So how do you improve on that ? How do you beat that ? The answer is, "You Don't !". But the fans of the first hangover wanted more, tens of thousands wanted a sequel, so the producers had to do something - and anything that fell short of the original would like detract from the original.
So, instead of writing a new story - why not take the exact same story, and just film it in a different location ? And thats what Hangover Part 2 is - the same story, with enough changes to make it somewhat different from the original - and with a few new jokes to keep the fans wanting more.
And rather than quench our thirst, we're now all wanting a Hangover part 3. Brilliant marketing.
I loved hangover. It was like taking the ultimate vacation. Hangover part 2 was like trying to relive the same vacation - its not really going to be anywhere near the original, but its still going to be fun !
1066 (2009)
An excellent documentary and movie
I'm going to give this 9 out of 10 - only because I'm unsure how exactly historically accurate this was - but it WAS about 90% accurate. I'm also knocking some off for being a little strangely anti-norman - I'm not sure exactly what that was all about, but I'll explain this.
However, first of all - who ever is wondering why there are no Lord of the Rings elves or wizards - this is a HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY. Its not a fantasy, and it portrays the MIDDLE AGES (though why the History Channel calls it "Middle Earth" is a little strange). I'm also unsure with the "Orc" references - it seemed a little bit of a stretch and lots of wikipedia editing it seems to get those references.
However, as a student of the run-up to the Battle of Hastings, I found the movie entertaining and certainly an interesting perspective. There are a number of books - one of which is called "1066 the Battle of Hastings" which talks about the battle in the perspective of an average commoner of Anglo-Saxon England - and to be honest I was hoping for a little more of that perspective BEFORE the battles. But I guess that would have made the movie a little longer and a little drier.
Now, the battle scenes aren't exactly totally gruesome - but they are gruesome enough. What comes across is that this is a violent time and men were thrust into battle with very little training or expectation of what to expect.
Not sure with the portrayal of either of the Kings - one wasn't even shown, and the other was really very strange - a little too fantasy-like...
OK - spoiler alert, for those who don't know the history of England and Great Britain...
Yes, the Normans were French. Yes, they invaded and beat the Anglo-Saxons. Yes, they were brutal and "laid waste" villages and towns. Yes, they ended up "owning huge tracts of land for the next thousand years" etc etc But what was PAINFULLY missing from this documentary was the fact that the Norman Invaders became so INTEGRATED with Anglo-saxons that within one lifetime, England was changed forever. What was missing was the fact that prior to 1066, England was a number of warring shires - and that William, by conquering Britain, united the people under a single banner and created the first true monarchy of England, which links the British Monarchy for the next 1,000 years. What was missing was the fact that 1066 was the last time anyone successfully invaded England - that all technology, tools and foundations of defense stemmed directly from this new "invader".
I missed the politics of what led up to the Battle of Hastings. What should have occurred was that they should have followed the tapestry from beginning to end. I was saddened to not see Halleys Comet even make an appearance in the movie (one of the most important "portents" and one which was in the Bayeaux Tapestry).
I'm giving this a high mark, because more historical based movies should be made - knowing where we come from is always important. But, like my old history master used to say on my report card "could do better"...
Reality on the Rocks (1995)
This is an excellent documentary that explains quantum physics and various theories to the lay person
If you are pondering your existence, and wondering why you "exist" at all, then this documentary might provide some answers ! Ken Campbell is a "duffer" and provides an interesting documentary on what all the "boffins" are up to with our universe. He manages to get time with many fascinating personalities - including Dr Stephen Hawking and some of the chalk-boarders at places like CERN. In effect, this program is a very good analysis of reality and chaos theory, predictability as well as the theory of relativity. He does this in a "low brow" way with lots of diagrams and animated examples - and manages to inject some humor along the way.
I saw this program when it first came out, and still refer people to it when they inevitably "wonder" about things like the big bang. It might not be totally up to date (it was created 14 years ago) - but it definitely goes a long way to explain who we are...
Scooby-Doo (2002)
MST3K would have a field day
I'm going to ruin the plot here for you
What am I talking about ? Theres no plot, in fact theres no humour, no drama and absolutely no reason for this films existence except to drive revenues to the studios.
From Scrappy-Doo urinating all over Daphne to Scooby and Shaggy having a farting competition (oh, yeah - dog DOO doo really is funny for 4 year olds NOT) this movie is so bad I rated it worse than Manos, the Hands of Fate (which I had to be tied down to a chair, and toothpicks affixed to my eyes to watch).
Be afraid - be very afraid