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Reviews
Masters of the Universe: Revelation (2021)
Needlessly disappointing.
I think this show miscalculated on several fronts, angering traditional fans.
First of all baiting the audience with the first trailer and misleading them into thinking this was a show focused on He Man was bound to be a problem when the show was actually seen and it turned out that He Man is barely in it and it focuses on side characters. The accusation that this was a bait and switch is valid.
Second, having Kevin Smith repeatedly lie about the show being about He Man in an effort do damage control was counterproductive since the truth was going to come out eventually when the show was aired.
Third, I think the social agenda of the show is pushed in an extremely heavy handed way which was unnecessary unless the main goal was to lecture and turn off male fans of the franchise. One thing that was annoying was when Teela carried Adam's sword after it had been re-forged even though Adam was right there to carry it himself. This seemed to be a big indicator that Adam won't be the champion for much longer, that he doesn't matter as much as he used to, and seems like a prod for male fans to "get used to it." There has to be a way to create inclusive shows without supplanting or sidelining beloved characters like this. It's really just a matter of respecting people. Particularly people who are long time fans of your franchise and have been sold on something different from what you are delivering.
Fourth the main protagonist (clearly Teela) behaves in a very spoiled fashion and is hard to like. She is very different from the original show and seems entitled and selfish.
I think the worst part about this show is that it's not all bad. The art, music and attention to detail is great. The world building is great. I thought the ending was cool, but the bad parts mentioned above make it really hard to enjoy even though I really wanted to.
The best thing I can say is that my initial anger at how they handled the show decreased over time. So I may watch the rest of the series and see if Kevin Smith wasn't lying, but I doubt the rest of the episodes will be any better.
Hamlet 2 (2008)
Ha ha ha!
This is a good movie, it's original, unpredictable, funny, it's just fun to watch. The cast is great, I thought everyone was really funny. The indy actors were all surprisingly good. I really appreciated the way the movie got resolved. There were some unanswered questions at the end but to be honest, there's been a lot of un-funny lately and this was a really good piece. I liked the set design, the acting, the play at the end was really fun. I can't think of a lot to criticize, some parts weren't super funny I guess, but overall the experience was very gratifying. People need to learn to not take themselves so seriously.
I think the movie deserves a 7 but since it's at 6.5 right now I voted 8 to push it up lol.
Legend of the Seeker (2008)
Great! Like a fantasy BTSG.
This series is much better than almost every American fantasy series that has ever been put on the air. It's done very well, the acting is excellent, the effects budget looks like its pretty good, even though the series doesn't rely entirely on effects. I love the actors so far, and the story is actually touching. Visually, I love the art direction and the cinematography. My best comparison would be a fantasy Battlestar Gallactica (the new series not the old one). They use a lot of hand-held cameras which gives it a realistic effect. The series also doesn't rely on it's effects budget.
I used to watch Hercules and Xena when I was a kid, those series were fun, but they were never meant to be taken too seriously. This series on the other hand actually manages to be a fantasy series without being a parody and it actually shows that this team can make a real fantasy drama (Which makes me wish they'd done a better job with Hercules and Xena to begin with).
As long as you are not a huge and obsessive fan of the book storyline this series will probably work pretty well. There's some not to great moments, the scenes were the main character becomes the seeker, the naked wizard and the overuse of the main villain on camera were particular peeves, but worth overlooking. The pacing seems very quick, but overall this is still 2-3 times better than most of the garbage fantasy that's been made for TV in the last 20 years(including Hercules and Xena). Detractors have mostly been people who've become too attached to the book, so that should give you a good indication that most of the negative reviews here are biased because it doesn't match up with the book exactly and it's not overly gruesome or sexualized. But if you're interested in a decent story, played seriously, presented in a polished package and actually shot pretty well, this could be the series for you. I especially love the costume design on the bad guys, it has a really contemporary artistic style to it, and I should know because as a former fantasy illustrator myself I appreciate good design on all the visual elements. I've had a blast with what I've been able to catch of it so far.
Private Lessons (1981)
Erotic and funny. Love the early 80's look.
I thought this was a great movie. Obviously not meant to be high acting or anything. It's just plain old sexy fun. I'm extremely jealous of that kid. I know it's a little disturbing to see such a young actor shooting sex scenes with an older woman, but we have to keep in mind that there are evolving standards of decency and that this kind of thing was probably not as bad back then as it is now. We can't judge what people did twenty years ago in the light of our contemporary perspectives. Imagine if we were to show our contemporary fascination with internet pornography to people of the 50s and asked them to think that we're not perverted. Anyway I don't know how it is in U.S. but I'm Puerto Rican and this sort of thing still happens in Puerto Rico all of the time.
I recommend this movie for people who love obscure late-night cable erotica.
Kidô senshi Z Gandamu III: Hoshi no kodô wa ai (2006)
A good reinvention of a problematic series
This movie changes the original time line of the Universal Century Gundam Series (the one that includes: Mobile Suit Gundam, Gundam 0080, Gundam 8th MS team, Gundam 0083, Z-Gundam and Char's Counterattack). If you like Gundam ZZ don't watch it because ZZ is retconned out of existence. (in most people's opinion's though this is a positive aspect though). I think that it's very brave of the producers of Gundam to fix mistakes they've made in their Cannonical time lines. It makes the universes still relevant, available and gives the viewer more incentive to watch old movies. (There were some terrible UC Gundam Series... ZZ, G-savior were horrible). In fact if you go to the gundam official website you'll no longer see any references to ZZ-Gundam or G-savior. That being said the movies are good although they contain a lot of the problems you get from summing up a 50 episode saga into a few hours although the changes to Z Gundam in these movies make it much better and more relevant.
The Number 23 (2007)
Really entertaining and suspenseful
I'll try no to spoil the ending but I watched this film with a bunch of art school movie aficionado friends of mine and we almost all agreed that the movie was great up until the last scenes. The ending is a bit disappointing but even with that it was a really good ride more enjoyable for the journey than the destination and the acting was superb by all the people involved. The scenes felt tight and coherent and despite the complexity of the plot it was a really neat film that held together very well. The cinematography and settings were all very believable and some scenes in particular were truly dreamy and above par especially the ones that occur inside the novel. Jim Carrey did a great job of keeping his character serious and scary. The psychological torment of his character is very well told and very heart wrenching to the observer. There were a few cliché's and other minor imperfections but the movie seems to take a hip and savvy approach to old screen tricks which makes them seem less like deficiencies and more like witty directing and editing. This is probably the movie I've most enjoyed this year along with Pan's Labyrinth.
Just Legal (2005)
Great show, bring it back!
This was my favorite show of that years lineup for the WB. I don't understand why this show was axed. Don Johnson was great and the writing was excellent. Plus it was able to reach at different age groups with very young and more mature characters that seem relevant to almost anyone. I agree with much of the positive comments on this show and I just don't understand why WB (for whom I worked for at the time this show was about to come on) didn't decide to keep it. Don Johnson is almost always good and you should never drop good writing. I think this show could have been really great. "Doogie Howser" for lawyers. compared to some of the the things WB has put on the air it is still baffling that they couldn't see its potential.
Independence Day (1996)
Obviously meant to be a parody.
Any movie that has a president flying a fighter plane against an alien ship the size of Manhattan and winning is obviously not meant to be analyzed like James Joyce novel. I saw this movie when I was 14 and thought it was a lot of fun. I thought the "alien beating" strategy they come up with at the end was absurd but even then it was funny, somewhat shocking and had beautiful effects that haven't gotten old even today. I think the director did a wonderful job with the mediocre script he got and besides not every fantasy and science fiction movie has to be "Metropolis" and carry some overarching message for all of humanity. The cast was great and very entertaining. Plus Sometimes you just want to see Will Smith punch an alien in the face, a president flying a jet fighter and a big @$$ starship blasting NYC away in a single shot.
This movie is supposed to be seen as somewhat of an impressive parody not a serious "what would happen" movie.
To all of the people giving bad reviews, would you watch a fireworks display with such a critical eye?
Tsunami: The Aftermath (2006)
Terribly uninspiring
Bad acting, Over-reliance on emotions that don't get expressed properly, Offers no interesting/original story or point of view. I agree with others that it has too much of the inaccurate documentary and very little of the Thai people's suffering and grief. This film was truly disappointing for such an earth shattering event. One of the greatest natural disasters in history affecting millions of people seems truly small and the main characters concerns and tragedies feel like petty whining. The Tsunami was a much larger and important event than what this film manages to convey. It truly does not live up to the challenges set out for something of this magnitude.
Any amount of taste garnered by the dignified responses of the main characters is undermined by the films total focus on tourists as the main sufferers of this tragedy, totally bypassing what this event meant for the millions of locals who were affected.
As a person who is very well acquainted with the toll a natural disaster can take I was extremely bored and disillusioned with this portrayal.
Who Wants to Be a Superhero? (2006)
Strange yet Entertaining.
Well the first time I saw this my first thought was... "Oh god no...". But as I watched it, it slowly became quite enjoyable. Even though I do feel like Stan's philosophies are a tad outdated and his idea of what a superhero is can get a bit one-dimensional, his challenges on the show do seem to bring out the best and worst qualities in the contestants. I really liked a lot of the twists and elimination results as the show progressed. The challenges too were original and entertaining. I found Stan's performance as a paternalistic guiding host very enjoyable. The contestants too just seem like really nice and entertaining people (although some of them are a bit dorky, or obviously trying to score some acting points on their resumes, and half of them probably wouldn't make the cut for narcissistic reality shows like A. Idol or Real World). I think the only part I didn't like (aside from the corniness, bad music, "reality" acting, and weirdness of the cast.) about the show was the costume remake. Sci-fi should have spent a bit more money on those costumes. It really says something that some of the originals looked better than what was given to them on the show. It gives the production values a real blow when you can't even afford a decent costume designer.
Don't get me wrong though I liked the show, saw most of it in one night when Sci-Fi aired a bunch of episodes straight. (um... don't ask me why I was watching sci-fi... I um... was channel surfing)