Magellan Grey Reviews

The Eye (2008)

Jessica Alba Tour d' Force...

[7/10 · 4 February 2008]

Jessica Alba carried herself very well in this movie. Her characterization is very believable. This is definitely a tour d'force for her. The story is good and the supporting acting is also very believable. I have to question the violin playing coaching. Jessica's "playing" movements were very weak. The movement of the bow was totally unconvincing. She kept bowing up and down out of sync with the flow of the music. That is the fault of the coach. I've seen better fake violin and piano playing. But this is minor to the rest of the movie. As I said, Ms. Alba was wonderful in this film. The film itself had lots of great shocks and twists. When it comes out on DVD I am definitely buying it.

Cloverfield (2008)

Highly Unusual Film!!!

[9/10 · 21 January 2008]

Back in the fall of 2007 when I first saw the trailer for CLOVERFIELD I was very intrigued. The trailer was high tension. I was itching to see this movie.

I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED!!! I truly love this movie. Seen it three times!!! It was made to look like a video retrieved from what was once Central Park here in NYC. The movie starts with the U.S. Government blurb and logo. Its apparent that the footage was being viewed secretly by top military brass and members of our government. This the video begins. Its lighthearted and in many places funny before the attack. Its about one of the main character's Bon Voyage party and some of the insanity that takes place during the party. The there is the great explosion and insuring "attack" upon Manhattan. This is not a monster I've seen before which makes this extremely satisfying. Monster is NOT a reptile.

I understand the original title of the film was going to be PARASITE. I see why. WOW!!! But the military designation is even better.

Congratulations to Matt Reeves and JJ Abrams for bring us a highly original film.

Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)

Christmas and outlandish violence against infants and women in labor.

[4/10 · 2 January 2008]

This film is an atrocity! Either Shane Salerno has an innate hatred against infants, children and pregnant women in labor or its the two directors. Another thing is that this film was released on Christmas day which is the celebration of the Christ child birth. The film is loaded with the outrageous killing of newborns in the hospital nursery and the killing of infants in the womb just moments away from being born. The first atrocity was the face-hugger attack on what appears to be an 8 year old boy and the creature bursting out. HOW DARE THEY DO THIS!!! But when the attack happened in the hospital nursery and the later quick glimpse of the blood splattered area then the attack upon pregnant women, this was the destruction of any credibility the film and the filmmakers had! This film really deserves a big zero, because that is what it is worth. I gave it a 4 rating because the idea of the alien creature escaping into a small town was interesting, but the film turned out extremely bad...

The filmmakers and Mr. Salerno should be subjected to intense psychological evaluation for the atrocities perpetrated here and especially on Christmas which is the second holiest day on the Christian Calendar behind Easter. Let these men try some mess like this concerning Mohammed on Ramadan... Guaranteed they would wind up dead in a ditch somewhere.

This film was AWFUL!!!

The Mist (2007)

Stephen King a la Lovecraft

[9/10 · 26 November 2007]

I am not generally crazy about Stephen King movies, but this one I thoroughly enjoyed. I've never read the novella, but if what I saw is actually in the novella then this is an excellent blending of H.P. Lovecraft into Stephen King.

The acting was excellent. Thomas Jane fit into this roll very easily and his performance is highly believable. All of the actors were excellent. All. Marcia Gay Harden is excellent as the fanatical evangelist wannabe. Like I said ALL the actors were excellent.

The special effects are stupendous.

The atmosphere is of excellent quality with the very minimal music input made even more suspenseful and frightening. The music at the end of the movie added to pathos and the otherworldly divine and cosmic retribution atmosphere.

This is a very very powerful movie.

Babylon 5: The Lost Tales (2007)

The new B5 TV movie

[7/10 · 22 August 2007]

I found the Lost Tales to be very interesting. Unfortunately, it left me hanging. There are great openings for continuation of the two stories that appear in the movie, but there were not enough meat on the bones to satisfy the watcher. I loved the idea of Londo sending the regent prince to B5 to be with Sheridan. Mr. MacIntosh's performance is wonderful. Beautiful to watch. I wanted MORE out of the segment. The first half of the movie is about a worker becoming possessed by fallen angels. A novel idea for the B5 universe. The idea that the fallen tried to seduce a human priest and Colonel Lockley (she got a promotion... good) to send the possessed out into space so that they can escape their earthly prison. The idea that they were "seeded" amongst the stars in the void awaiting human venture into space is a different approach. Unfortunately, again, I WANTED MORE. I was unfilled. Oh well. I hope JMS will take this up and expand upon what he introduced before more of the cast dies. I loved the reference to GKar and Dr. Franklin "exploring beyond the Rim" together. It was a very nice touch honoring them since the two men passed away.

The X-Files: All Souls (1998) Season 5, Episode 17

All Souls

[9/10 · 12 February 2007]

All Souls is one of my most favorite episodes of the X-Files. Of course, this is the writer's spin on the legend of the Nephilim. The story of offspring of "fallen angels" go much further than what the X-Files presented. The global accounts of "giants in the Earth" is part of the Nephilim story. The writers of the bible called these "giants" the Nephilim. In other parts of the world and other cultures these "creatures" were called by other names, but described in the same manner. There is "talk" that the nephilim are still amongst us. All in all, the story is very touching and in some parts very heart wrenching. Gillian Anderson gave a stunningly superb performance here.

The Giant Claw (1957)

One of the WORST monsters I've ever seen.

[4/10 · 5 February 2007]

Personally, I have no problem with the acting, nor the script. I do have a problem with the giant bird. It was simply AWFUL. Plain and simple.

One's first impulse is the roll around laughing when one sees it. What were they thinking!? Budget be damned. The monster bird was a monstrous joke.

Of course, in my opinion if the producers could obtain actors such as Ankrum, Corday and Morrow, then they would have the special effect people come up with a much better beast. Oh well. What is done is done. This will be the case of the eternal joke on them that was unintended.

Alien vs. Predator (2004)

An Extremely Interesting Treatment of both Franchises

[9/10 · 1 February 2005]

I thought this was a very excellent treatment and bringing together of the two franchises. Of course this movie is based on the extended novels, comics and video game. I found the idea extremely intriguing and entertaining.

Sanaa Lathan is excellent as the Expedition Guide to the newly discovered subterranean pyramid where the Hunter/Warrior race battled the creature as a "rite of passage" test for young warriors. Her later teaming up with the Hunter was done tastefully so that it didn't appear corny. The Elder Hunter Chief honoring her at the end for her brave stand and fighting along side the slain Hunter against the Alien was a wonderful touch.

This opens the door to a host of new sequels and possible TV movies based on all of this creative material.

I congratulate Paul W.S. Anderson on this excellent film.

Babylon 5 (1993–1998)

Excellent Program with a Heart Wrenching 5th Season

[9/10 · 20 April 2004]

I came into watching the series after the first season. I only saw a few episodes of the first season. The subsequent seasons of B5 were excellent. All the episodes seem to be two stories winding around each other with one main story holding it all together. The characters and actors were of high quality and calliber. The stories down to earth and believable. Michael O'Hare only being with the show for one season left an indelible mark and Bruce Boxleitner bring up the rear as Capt. Sheridan was a powerful force to be sure. The shadow war kept the views riveted to the show all the way to the confrontations with telepaths and Psi-Corp. J. Michael Straczynski a master craftsman guided the show as its primary writer to a tear jerking and heart felt conclusion in Season 5 with the death of several main characters through the horrors and atrocities of war and occupation, to the disbanding of the senior staff of B5 and the death of Sheridan. The final pang came with the destruction of Babylon 5 station not through war but through Earth's budget cuts and the sense of redundancy. But that demise was portrayed with love and honor. A most excellent series.

My congraduations to J. Michael Straczynski for an excellent show and Christopher Franke for a heart felt musical score.

The Day the Sky Exploded (1958)

The Movie METEOR as a spin-off of this film.

[8/10 · 25 February 2004]

An interesting film. I saw it in 1958 when it came out in the U.S. It was nicely done. Different Italian film effort, but interesting. Some really good special effects for atmosphere disturbances caused by the approaching meteors. I especially enjoyed the affects of seeing a giant dark spot in the sky over New York City with a halo outlining it. There were other nice ones. The meteors were destroyed with every country in the world sending up rockets to pulverize them.

The movie METEOR is based on this 1958 film. Unfortunately for METEOR they used a weak sentimentality of some sort of pseudo solidarity between the U.S., the USSR and Communist China which I found campy. The 1958 film mainly showed missiles being fired toward the heavens from many countries on the globe who are capable of doing so.

A good movie.

The Lost Missile (1958)

The idea is terrifying... but the movie was good and entertaining.

[9/10 · 25 February 2004]

I saw this film when it first came out. I found the idea frightening in a way since we humans don't know what is REALLY out there. Life most certainly is out there and at all levels of development. This movie is about an alien rocket that got away from its "owners" and heads out into the galaxy. We never see the alien owners, but the story is centered around earth's scientists and astronomers seeing the object approaching earth at a fantastic speed and about to hit the earth. The German government decided to launch rockets up into space just as the missile approaches and inadvertantly knocks it into earth orbit at a very low altitude. As the missile passes over land and sea the one million degree heat and shockwave it creates as it passes obliterates and burns to cinders all in its path. There are some really notable and scary scenes showing this effect. It took a nuclear device to destroy the missile.

If you get a chance to view this film it will be worthwhile.

Excalibur (1981)

Entertaining and Pure.

[8/10 · 10 February 2004]

Very operatic and stylish in its presentation. It strikes one as an direct interpretation from a book of legends complete with the syntax. I am not totally familiar with the legend of King Arthur and the sword Excalibur but I truly enjoyed watching this movie. The excellent usage of Richard Wagner's operatic classic Gotterdammerung. This ovature added to the pathos of the story. It magnified the mystical glory of the death of Arthur at the end with his body being born away into the west by the three spirits (graces?) as Perceval watched from the shore. That scene in itself sent chills through me.

A very enjoyable film.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

A Fabulous Film

[10/10 · 18 December 2003]

Although I read the books many years ago, I have always had a fondness for the third book: Return of the King.

Peter Jackson's treatment of the trilogy and the end story especially is something for future history. It is an extremely sensitive and insightful translation of the story from book to silver screen. I enjoyed every moment of it.

The ending is a golden moment and the care and sweetness of the film ending does the book justice.

This is film history.

Congradulations Peter Jackson.

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

One of the All Time Great Trilogies

[9/10 · 29 October 2003]

Matrix Reloaded is visually stunning as it is philosophically and psychologically challenging for the viewer. It will go down in the movie history as one of the great theatrical trilogies of all time.

Warrior Queen (2003 TV Movie)

Excellent Material under Utilized.

[4/10 · 13 October 2003]

Nothing wrong with the choice of actors, but the history itself was underutilized. The rape of Boudica's daughters were overemphasized to the point of trauma to even the moderately sensitive viewer. Just knowing that the girls were raped was enough. The producers didn't have to actually show quasigraphic on public television. Basically it would be called disgusting.

Anyway, the fighting was well done, but teh ending was too abrupt and left the viewer wanting to know what happened after the battle. All in all, the show was about 90 minutes.

I was at best disappointed.

Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

The End.

[23 May 2003]

Well this is the end for the Star Ship Enterprise E as we know it. An interesting story and a sad one. There isn't much that can be said about this film. I have grown old with Star Trek and it drives home the enigma of time. Everyone is old now, more or less. It's also a franchise that have grown old. This is the tenth film. I think it was done nicely and with good taste.

Aside from that, its a shame that Berman and Braga are not going to do films utilizing the crew of Deep Space Nine, nor Voyager who are still young enough to make future ST films work. There is life in the franchise but not according to Berman and Braga. They are letting it fold.

Star Trek Nemesis is worth watching.

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

A Most Excellent and Entertaining Film

[9/10 · 21 May 2003]

What can one say. It was purely entertaining and even educational in some political way.

On the human level I give it an A+ for human racial diversity. I have never seen a film that had as much racial diversity in it. All together in a single scene. And nearly every age group.

An excellent film.

The Ring (2002)

An Interesting Movie... Interesting Concept.

[9/10 · 13 May 2003]

I found the film very intriguing being that the concept of this type of killer video is relatively new. I've seen the original Japanese version of the film and find both of them delightful to watch. The American remake added other storyline which is fine because it adds another dimension to the horror/drama. Instead of just spirit photography, this is a form of spiritual rage video where the outcome is horrible death. Very interesting and different.

If one wants to see another movie that had to do with a kind of killer video then one should view VIDEODROME.

Ring 0: Birthday (2000)

Somewhat Carrie-esque but Entertaining.

[9/10 · 13 May 2003]

The prequel is very interesting but it had me wanting more. I wanted more explained but it was not forthcoming. A question asked in two films already: Who is Sadako's father. Not answered. It had your mind spinning several senarios. Again the material was treated intelligently but I fear it's a little too tame for the American psyche. But nonetheless very entertaining film to watch. The fusion at the end of the story was shocking and the subsequent murder of a group of people was also shocking. Even scary at one point. Still, all in all, the film is worth seeing. It is also somewhat Carrie-esque.

Ringu (1998)

A Fascinating Concept.

[9/10 · 13 May 2003]

I find this concept of a murderous puzzle video very intriguing. A video that kills in 7 days if it is not copied and the puzzle of its content solved. Indeed the content didn't have to be solved, but one had to copy the video and share it with another in order to avoid horrible death. The content and material of the story was treated very intelligently and very well by the director. It is a very entertaining film to watch along with the sequels and prequel.

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

A Darkly Entertaining Film

[8/10 · 4 February 2003]

An Australian based film about the "end of life as we know it". No law and no higher ethics in a world after a major nuclear global confrontation. A tale of survival in the wastes. A young Mel Gibson gives the viewer the sense of a protracted malaise of despair in a dark world where the players are holding on to shreds of humanity while the rest are plunged into an abyss of human savagery. A world in the not to far off future. Very applicable to today building situation in the early 21st century. A very good film. An excellent sequel to MAD MAX.

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

A Darkly Entertaining Film

[8/10 · 4 February 2003]

An Australian based film about the "end of life as we know it" subject. No law and no higher ethics in a world after a major nuclear global confrontation. A tale of survival in the wastes. A young Mel Gibson gives the viewer the sense of a protracted malaise of despair in a dark world where the players are holding on to shreds of humanity while the rest are plunged into an abyss of human savagery. A world in the not to far off future. Very applicable to today building situation in the early 21st century. A very good film. An excellent sequel to MAD MAX.

Signs (2002)

The Best Invasion Story to Date.

[9/10 · 5 August 2002]

This is one of the greatest alien invasion stories to date. An excellent execution of story and tension using the well known crop signs that have in reality appeared in many parts of the world, Shyamalan spins a story of incredible power. Mel Gibson playing the part of a minister who loses his faith after the horrific death of his wife and Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal of his younger brother were powerful characters of the movie. This is war of the worlds taken to a higher level that only M. Night Shyamalan can take it.

Congradulations Mr. Shyamalan on a very excellently executed film.

Reign of Fire (2002)

Very Interesting Concept...

[9/10 · 22 July 2002]

This movie is very different and very interesting. It has a concept that, as far as I know, has never been exploited on the silver screen before. The movie has excellent execution of story and the acting was superb. The concept that dragons are sleeping in the bowels of the earth waiting for life to replenish itself thus replenishing the food supply for this ancient life form. Then awakened by man's digging and drilling, they reemerge to gorge themselves on flesh and burn the world to ash (which is also necessary for their survival). 20 to 30 years later they remaining humans fight a desperate battle to survive. A very dark film with a bright ending.

The Lost Missile (1958)

Haven't Seen It Since It's Release.

[9/10 · 10 July 2002]

I found it a very interesting film and at the time a bit frightening. Not a dull movie at all, but I would love to see it again to see if I feel the same. I have great appreciation for science fiction and horror films of the 1950s. They show great imagination even without the hype of technological advancement. They are creative because they had to be innovative with what existed at the time. This was a cold-war era film about a missile that got locked into a deadly low earth orbit by the Germans trying to shoot it down at it initial close approach. With the speed the missile was circling the earth at, the shockwave and the frictional activity created air temperatures in excess of one million degrees.