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Black Adam (2022)
Disgarding source material
The script is a total mess... so don't be surprised if you begin to lose interest at the 10-minute mark. They obviously blew the budget on special effects... but to what end? How many times can our "anti-hero" (as we're constantly being reminded) toss Intergang thugs into the sky before it gets old? They're expecting waaaaaaay too much of their audience to be emotionally invested in forgettable characters like Atom Smasher and Cyclone. Now the fanboys (and Dwayne Johnson) might argue that this is just mindless junk to appease the insatiable appetite of comic book geeks... so don't even try to discuss it objectively. That whole shambolic SHAZAM universe is best left to Alan Moore, whose Miracleman.reminds us how good this could've been.
Out of Shadows (2020)
Strictly for Q brains
Although the outlet gave the documentary a favorable review, the conservative outlet The Vigilant Citizen highlighted some of the claims in the documentary, saying, "The documentary does sometimes go into unverified 'conspiracy-101' territory (i.e. the origins of the word 'television') which may detract from its overall message."
A negative review of the movie from the liberal Daily Kos read in part, "The so-called documentary is merely a mask for a hodgepodge of conspiracy theories associated with QAnon and its linear ancestor, Pizzagate."
Swamp Thing (2019)
ran out if swamp gas fast
Got off to a good start but scripts degenerated into soap opera.
As putrid as brackish water. No wonder DC axed it at the gate.
The Last Sharknado: It's About Time (2018)
Who needs this?
We need dung-heaps like this to remind us how truly awful America can be.
Runaways (2017)
Unimaginably awful
So you begin with a great comic book story.
Then you hire various hacks
to write 10 progressively worse scripts.
Then you hire dull directors
with no imagination
who are willing to direct actors
with no talent.
It's a fairly large ensemble cast
and not even one of them can act?
And Brian K. Vaughan let them get away with this?
The Men Who Built America: Frontiersmen (2018)
Curiosity is natural to the soul of man
And interesting objects have a powerful influence on our affections. Let these influencing powers actuate, by the permission or disposal of Providence, from selfish or social views, yet in time the mysterious will of Heaven is unfolded, and we behold our conduct, from whatever motives excited, operating to answer the important designs of heaven.
-Daniel Boonel
Trumping Democracy (2017)
How Democracy dies
Nothing here we didn't already know a year ago
but very well done nonetheless.
Their hypothesis has been tested.
All these facts have been checked
by diverse sources.
Anyone who lives in those swing states
knows the election was rigged.
We experience it directly
so this is empirical evidence.
Un bambino di nome Gesù (1990)
One of the best movies about Jesus
This totally original "biblical" film (actually focusing on extra-biblical events) boasts an incredibly innovative screenplay, subtly and vividly directed with an excellent cast (including Matteo Bellina, Bekim Fehmiu and María del Carmen San Martín) in magnificent settings.
Most surprisingly of all: A Child Called Jesus is never didactic or overblown and totally credible, based on what we do know of that region from biblical archeology (as the Gospels are frequently problematic in this regard).
The challenge here is: How do you tell a story of Jesus (or any religious figure) as a boy without offending fundamentalists. Here they actually address a few of the biblical discrepancies that don't match up with other historical accounts (eg. the so-called Massacre of the Innocents which has never been corroborated by Palestinian history).
Ostensibly, the writers Vittorio Bonicelli, Franco Rossi and Francesco Scardamaglia must have consulted with rabbinical experts to get all the cultural details right. There is a verisimilitude here seldom seen in similar films.
This was actually made just BEFORE The Last Temptation of Christ and there's nothing presented here that would scare off "secular" or non-Christian viewers.
Best of all is the memorable score by the legendary Piero Piccioni. Looking forward to seeing the original Italian version with sub-titles, though they actually did an excellent job on the English-language version!