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gri666
Reviews
Foundation (2021)
I don't understand how can you make a show so bad
The show has very little connection to the book, so I won't go into all the Demerzel gender change, etc. - it doesn't matter because this show was so bad it won't have prequels/sequels so no point wondering how they'll change her back to male for the other books.
I just want a good sci-fi show with good actors and a plot that makes sense. But what I got was mostly mediocre actors which also look unattractive, nonsensical plot twists for the sake of action scenes, minimal world building, and cringe-inducing love scenes. I couldn't watch past episode 3, and I heard it doesn't get better, so thanks for wasting 3 hours of my life and not any more.
Foundation: The Mathematician's Ghost (2021)
Waste of time
This is one of the worst TV episodes I ever saw. Almost as pointless as the fly episode in Breaking Bad.
1. The unnecessary cliffhanger in episode 2 is barely even mentioned, why did I have to watch it then? It was all just a big dramatic filler?
2. Enough with the love stories. Years pass, people are still around so we can assume they reproduce.
3. OK we get that Hardin is special, it doesn't mean we have to watch her give everyone the attitude for hours.
4. The book tells a story of politics and culture influence over the years, it's not very suited for TV because the characters change as time passes. But this show is cramming some of them down our throat like if they're the most important people in history. And hinting they have superpowers.
5. OK we get the emperor succession thing - which wasn't in the books by the way - and we love seeing the only good actor in the show: Lee Pace. But where all this is going? We'd rather see the ordinary lives of Trantor citizens to get a feeling of the decline of the empire.
Connected: The Hidden Science of Everything (2020)
Great science series for people who can't read
I saw just one episode about Bedford's law. It was a roller coaster of excited narration, creative shots and useless interviews. The information I acquired was equal to 10 minutes of reading Wikipedia.
If you're looking for some background noise or inspiration for learning how to read, this show is for you.
Dauntless: The Battle of Midway (2019)
It is 2019 and I fell for a mockbuster, I'm just stupid
Are you reading this because you wanted to see Midway? Well this is another movie, and I just wasted an hour on it and even the beer didn't make it any better.
It's just horrible: bad CGI, bad acting, I didn't learn anything about the battle of Midway. I wish I could just see a 15 minute documentary about the battle and the 2 guys stranded at sea and whatever happened to them.
Other reviews say the depiction of the ships and planes was historically accurate, so I'll give it +3 stars for the CGI and battle scenes, +2 for the story, -3 for making me accidentally see it instead of Midway, and +1 star for helping me forget my problems and feel very sorry for everyone involved in this fiasco.
Lucy (2014)
I wish it was a remake of Limitless, but it becomes very silly very fast
I saw this movie a couple of years ago, and decided to review it now after reading a review about another movie that compared unfavorably to this one. How can a movie be worse? It's very hard to like Lucy after you've watched it to the end. It starts good - pretty much like Limitless - a failed adult is exposed to a drug allowing her to use 100% of her brain and she becomes super smart and capable in a short time. But then the choices this genius makes and the stuff she does and doesn't do to get out of a dangerous situation, are just plain silly. And after you've don't care anymore and just want this movie to end, it becomes silly on a truly galactic scale, but I won't say any more so not to spoil your face-palming.
Bird Box (2018)
It's bearable if you fast-forward half of the movie
All the gimmicks of a zombie movie and none of the plot and character development. Don't waste your time, just read the plot in Wiki and see for yourself how bad it is. There's nothing original except the nature of the threat, and it's the dumbest threat ever.
Vice (2018)
A hip drama about a boring politician with comic scenes and jump scares
I went to see it with a friend because we both love Christian Bale and wanted to see his new transformation into a fat old politician. And Christian didn't disappoint, his acting was great and the makeup team did a great work on him showing his aging. Other actors didn't get such a good makeup done, for example Steve Carell played Donald Rumsfeld who is older than Chaney, but by the end of the movie he looked much younger. Amy Adams was great as always.
I still don't understand what was the point of this movie. Usually when a movie is not enjoyable I wait till the end to see what's the point. I guess I never learn, because there's usually no point, and this movie wasn't an exception. The worst part: you know how in some movies 15 minutes before the end they MUST play dramatic music while showing you 3 scenes at the same time, trying to trick you into thinking that this movie "connected the dots" for you and now you realize something you didn't know before? Well, here they did it with totally unrelated plot lines which the viewer already knew how they end, and they were all boring, so it was really weird watching. It was a total waste of time like 90% of this movie and the only thing I could think of, was why am I so bad at choosing movies.
Even the election campaign part was full of short punchlines and totally devoid of anything that can help you understand how campaigns really look like, which is kind of important if you're making a political drama.
But I don't even know what was this movie supposed to be. Is it a documentary? It wasn't very informative and very long. Is it a comedy? It had some funny parts but no. Is it an action thriller? There were actually quite a few stunts and jump scares, totally uncalled for. The movie felt like they took a recipe to a Hollywood blockbuster and tried to make a political satire with the same ingredients. If you try to make a healthy meal using only ingredients found in a cake, you'll fail miserably. Go read the Wikipedia page about Chaney and save yourself 2 hours.
Westworld (2016)
Season 1: best sci-fi series I've ever seen
Can't wait for season 2.
Perfect acting, amazing character development, best plot I've ever seen. My only concern is that they won't live up to this standard in season 2.
This series really makes you think and gives you clues about the hidden truth, but keeps you in the dark until the end. Then you get an explicit explanation to all the stuff you wrote off as weird, and you understand that almost every scene involving the main characters is important to their personal development and story. Then you want to go right back to watching a few of the previous episodes to really understand the important scenes and how they slowly changed the characters into what they become in the end. I enjoyed watching it 2nd time even more than first time.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)
I'm a huge sci-fi fan and this is one of the worst movies I've ever seen
Plot: I can forgive bad acting, arcade game looking effects, but this plot? It's so boring and contains so many irrelevant scenes that my mind was in pain 70% of the time while watching this. Looks like the plot was a thin excuse for the special effects.
Visuals: Nice foreign world building, almost like Avatar but it lasts only 5 minutes. Then we're transferred to a big space station that looks like a bad computer game. Look for Star Trek if you want good visuals.
Acting: the female lead was annoying and the male lead forgettable. Both actors look too young for their roles. Clive Owen played well though.
Please do not watch this film if you didn't give Batman vs Superman 10/10 for plot.
Passengers (2016)
Loved it. Hard science fiction, slow pace at the beginning lets you connect to the characters
The movie shows two passengers dealing with their situation of waking up too early from hibernation on a 120-year flight.
As other reviewers said, it's not a Star Trek style roller coaster with tons of special effects, dozens of forgettable characters and absurd antagonists. It's a mix of a love story between two unfortunate passengers of a malfunctioning ship, and a realistic and plausible science fiction action in the second part, maybe a little too fast paced.
Acting: it's good, which is emphasized by lack of other characters - there are basically just 2 characters that fill this movie with life. I guess there could be better picks for both actors but they did good.
Visual: I loved the design of the ship and the 3D effects. In the 2nd part there's plenty of action scenes. It's a big budget blockbuster without the shaky camera and absurd monsters - what more could you want?
Story: The first part shows human coping with a difficult situation. Second part provides an explanation to the malfunctions of the ship, some action scenes and a closure. This part is a bit rushed and over the top, so you lose some of the sense of realism you got in the first part.
Overall 8/10
Total Recall (1990)
Still one of my favorite movies
Acting: 10/10: Arnie, Sharon Stone and Michael Ironside, all in one movie!
Plot: 10/10: Excellent quest for discovery of past secrets. The protagonist doesn't know why he's being hunted and as the movie advances we discover the complexity of the world he lives in and his past. There are many plot twists and they're all plausible. It's just so much more complex and better than contemporary movies. I watched it when I was pretty young and loved it, and after a few years I watched it again and found out many things I didn't understand or didn't notice, so I enjoyed it even more.
Action: 10/10: Gunfights, chases, fist-fights, Arnie.
This movie is so much better than the remake on all parameters, except maybe the special effects. I'd love to see a sequel with comparably good plot.
Serenity (2005)
Great movie, especially for people who liked the Firefly series
This is a good space adventure movie. The world in which this movie takes place is a very interesting world, somewhat akin to Star Wars. An evil empire, renegade protagonists on the run from authorities. The different settings and characters explored in this movie complement each other like in any good sci-fi, reminding us we're a product of our environment and there's no absolute truth and no good or bad people. This is exactly what was great about the original series, and this movie explores many more parts of this world and provides explanations for its riddles.
Character development lacks a little bit in my opinion, as the transition from reclusive survivor to hero is a little too rushed. But there are many characters and many of them evolve in interesting ways.
If it was a standalone movie I think I'd rate it 8 or 9, but for a fan of the original series it was such a great experience to go back to the characters and their world, so I give it 10 stars.
As a side note, I believe it's OK to watch the movie before the series if you can't commit to the series before seeing what they're about in a focused 2 hour session. But better watch the series first.
Starship Troopers (1997)
Loved the book, loved the movie!
Totalitarian human society fights a total war with huge alien intelligent bugs, what else can you ask for?
Directed by Paul Verhoeven (Total Recall, Basic Instinct) this movie represents for me everything I like about Sci-Fi action movies: space travel, war, realistic cruel society, alien race. The society in the movie resembles Nazi Germany but rather mockingly: the news broadcasts look like propaganda, soldiers are sent to death without much thought. However I think that in case of a war with an alien race this is the kind of society humanity will need.
This movie is based on a novel by R. Heinlein, which I recommend to read even if you've already seen the movie. The movie covers a rather small part of the book, and the book is just so much more interesting!
What I didn't like is that they didn't dress the soldiers in muscle power magnifier suits with jet engines like in the novel. This raises the question why didn't they use tanks against the bugs. The novel provides an explanation: those suits are better than tanks. But anyway, for year 1998 the special effects and computer graphics look just great.
Definitely one of my favorite movies.