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sciencguy
Reviews
Luther: The Fallen Sun (2023)
A missed opportunity for a good movie.
It started out promising, but quickly devolved. The psychotic killer villain was lifted straight from any James Bond movie you'd care to name. As usual, the villain apparently has unlimited wealth and unlimited access to go wherever he pleases. In one scene, surrounded by police, he simply runs into the tube and vanishes into tunnels with which he is somehow intimately familiar. He fights Luther, who we saw previously take on several tough inmates simultaneously, and holds him off. He even has a multi-million dollar villain's lair on a snow covered mountain, complete with tunnels and cells and traps below. Then there's the ridiculous final confrontation in a vehicle sinking in an alpine lake. A plot outline would make this movie appear to be worth watching, but don't waste your time. The writers took every cliche they could find in other action movies and made a complete hash of it.
Treason (2022)
Plot summary
Female Russian spy manipulates career of male British spy/ex-lover so that he winds up as the deputy head of MI5, then repeatedly blackmails him into doing favours for her. Meanwhile, his wife hooks up with newly arrived female CIA agent/former friend to investigate why her husband is covertly contacting his ex-lover/spy. More characters show up on both sides and everybody seems to be blackmailing and double crossing everybody else, and his wife acts like a bloody idiot playing amateur sleuth. BTW: There's practically nobody on the streets of London at any hour of the day or night other than main characters. Don't waste your time.
Jack Ryan: Star on the Wall (2022)
Where's the logic?
Super good through episode 6, then downhill all the way. Where's the real-world logic in CIA guys running around Moscow unhindered? How believable is it that the President of the Czech Republic is running around in tunnels under the Kremlin with two CIA guys and nobody notices? Real-world Presidents are tracked every moment they're in office. Greer had a bypass but he's out there engaging in fisticuffs with GRU thugs, and beating them (never mind he's obese)? And what about the Russian Colonel running around like an espionage operative shooting people! The final confrontation between the missile ships was too predictable. Episodes 7and 8 we're not so much written as phoned in.
The Orville: Future Unknown (2022)
An episode of The View would be more exciting.
So, a little gay courtship ritual, a robot marriage proposal, and endless, endless wedding talk, pre-wedding rituals, and lame humor. I got so bored I was ready to bail by minute 49, then Moclan Elvis showed up and I hit the STOP button.
Without a doubt the worst episode in all 3 seasons of this show. Even with the subplot of a waif rescued from an underdeveloped world and introduced to the technological wonders of the Orville, and the sociological norms of the galactic union versus the 21st century Earthlike norms of her home planet, it was a bore-a-thon.
I got the impression that the writers ran out of ideas and just threw this thing together in order to fulfill there obligations to the series and get it over with.
Keep Breathing (2022)
The story of a little girl who becomes a lawyer, and some other stuff.
If this had been a survival story as advertised, I would have given it at least a 7, but early on, the backstory and the survival story switched places. The director's decision to constantly insert flashes of backstory into, for instance, the scenes of dives into the plane, was annoying. The entire movie became an exercise in frustration. I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone. It would have been a good survival movie, but bad writing and bad directorial decisions turned it into a massive failure. Nice scenery, though. The lead actress is of Mexican and she's very pretty. How many lines does it take to make up 600 characters?
The Orville: A Tale of Two Topas (2022)
The Odyssey is off-track.
Is The Orville turning into a family drama? I appreciate the societal point of the episode, but it was practically the entire episode. That not what I tune into the show for. The first two episodes of the season seemed to heavily feature the doctor's personal problems. I hope the rest of the season is not headed in this direction. I want action, special effects, and plenty of interplanetary conflict. Add on all of the sociological problems you like, but don't make them the main feature of the show.
Lakewood (2021)
Suspenseful and so very timely.
Cleverly builds suspense right to the finale, with a little misdirection in the middle. Well acted and brilliantly written. Vastly exceeded my expectations. The scenery was one of the stars of this movie. The choice of Northern Ontario, where I used to live, was inspired. Given recent events, it really hits home. I appreciated the message during the end credits, but I was disappointed that there was not a single specific mention of guns in an otherwise inspiring monologue. We all know what he was railing against, but he never actually said it.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Elysian Kingdom (2022)
What in holy hell was that supposed to be?
What did that have to do with any iteration of any Star Trek universe? I don't think there's ever been a Star Trek episode that bad in any Star Trek series or movie. Outrageous overacting and witless writing. Whose idea was this, anyway? Might just as well have resurrected Q and had him manipulate the crew for the whole episode. At least try to make the fake science seem credible. This episode will taint my perception of all subsequent episodes.
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022)
A courageous performance by Emma Thompson
Why did I have to stumble upon this movie on Prime instead of seeing critics tout it on their platforms? A bravura performance by Emma Thompson in a 'small' character-driven movie that makes every superhero or thriller film look amateurish by comparison. Maybe I'm just partial to intelligent dialogue and rational, original plots. I have to wonder what Thompson's thought process was in deciding to take on this role. It can't have been easy for her, at age 63. Courageous! Daryl McCormack turns in an outstanding performance as a sex worker whose gentle professionalism and sensitivity is meant to set the retired teacher at ease. Highly recommended!
Outer Range (2022)
Outer Range: The Musical
If you like characters randomly breaking (badly) into song, and songs ill-suited to the scene playing loudly in the background and scenes so dark you might as well be listening to the radio, then this is for you. If they'd at least hired a competent director, we might have had a chance of figuring out from episode to slooooow moving episode just what was going on. I stopped caring about any of the characters around episode 5, but my son stubbornly insisted on masochisticically following it to the bitter, unresolved end. Prime, please don't ever, ever do this to us again.
The Outfit (2022)
A rare gem of a movie.
Like putting together the pieces of a bespoke suit, this movie builds its well-crafted story piece by tiny piece. It's a small movie that could have been a stage play, as characters come and go in and out of the shop. Great acting, great writing and directing. I can't say enough good things about this movie.
Moonfall (2022)
What-a-turkey!!!
Three stars for special effects only. Nothing else in this turkey is worthy of praise. It makes the disaster movie 2012 look like an apocalypse masterpiece. Bad writing, bad directing, bad acting, bad.... everything. The science is ridiculous. Did the writers and the director just not bother consulting physicists or astrophysicists or any other kind of scientists? There's 2+ hours of my life I'll never get back.
Bosch: Legacy (2022)
Sloppy writing.
Disappointing compared to the original series. The writing is somewhat sloppy, with pretty poor justifications for various actions and loose ends all over the place. Bosch and Honey constantly do things that are illegal and unethical, without consequences. Some scenes seem to be written just to bring in characters from the original. Still a good show, but now closer to the level of an ordinary network crime series.
Law & Order: Organized Crime: Lost One (2022)
Trees grow, you know!
Consistently a great series. Well written and superior acting. However, are we to believe that the bullet would still be exactly where it was 40 years before, and that Stabler would find it immediately? Trees grow, you know, upward and in girth. Give us some credit.
Real Time with Bill Maher: Bob Odenkirk/Mary Katherine Ham/Caitlin Flanagan (2022)
Ignorant and uninformed.
Bill continued his ignorant, uninformed, mean, and vicious attacks on people who choose to wear masks. Health care workers wear masks, and so do immunocompromised people. If people choose masks as a totem, what business is it of Bill's? Bill needs to get a moral compass and a sense of decency. Other than that, the show was pretty good.
Bill Maher: #Adulting (2022)
Bill is morphing into a real dick.
Maher has some very funny material, but it is unfortunately overshadowed by his determined dickishness on the masking issue. Some of us have legitimate reasons for wearing masks outside, or wherever we damned well please. The cold winter air makes it difficult for me to breathe outside, and the warm pocket of air in a masks eases that difficulty. Many immunocompromised people fear ending up in hospital or with long Covid. Maher's persistent asininity is just making maskers an object of ridicule and contempt and making it more difficult for us.
Star Trek: Picard: Monsters (2022)
I don't like fantasy mixed in with my sci-fi.
Did they import writers from Discovery for this episode? It zigged and zagged randomly, broke their own rules of time travel, and ended in confusion. Could it possibly get any worse? I was enjoying Picard until now.
Star Trek: Discovery: Coming Home (2022)
STARSHIP CAPTAINS DON'T CRY!!!
Waaaay too many dramatic face to face conversations about regrets at critical moments. Too many unnecessary dramatic speeches. Most importantly, starship captains don't break down crying during a crisis!! Of course, this particular character cries in almost every episode. Hope they're not planning a season 5.
Star Trek: Discovery: Species Ten-C (2022)
An episode for science nerds - and that's a good thing.
Loved the detailed progression of first contact. Totally credible and well-explained. I would have given it an 8, but for the relentless and unnecessary drama, especially the screaming scene.
Snowpiercer (2020)
Season 3, Episode 7
What's up with this? Did the writers go on vacation and leave it up to trainees to fill out the storyline? Boring and irrelevant. One more episode of lazy writing like this and I'll be forced to watch Dancing With the Stars for entertainment, and nobody wants that. Fast forward through the boring parts. You won't miss a thing.
The Unforgivable (2021)
Outstanding!
Sandra Bullock does it again, with an outstanding performance as a woman trying to rebuild her life and reconnect with her daughter. Hope she wins awards for this one. She is so unglamorous as to be practically unrecognizable, as befits the role of a woman beaten down and in pain, when society turns it's back on her. Well worth watching!
The Silent Sea (2021)
A disappointment.
I was going to give a 6, mainly for special effects, but I cut a point for the crappy ending. An android that can walk barefoot and unsuited on the moon's surface in a vacuum, but is also supposed to be a human-substitute test subject? Seriously? And the female lead seems practically devoid of the ability to emote, having a single facial expression throughout, except for a single smile. And the characters all appear to be very slow to realize what's really going on despite overwhelming evidence. Only watch if you're desperate for entertainment.
The Expanse (2015)
Sci-fi for adults.
Easily the best sci-fi series ever on TV. First rate special effects, intricate plots, intelligent dialogue, and solid science. It eclipses the likes of Star Trek (especially Discovery).
Invasion (2021)
Reconsidering my previous review.
After viewing later episodes, it's even worse than I thought. So many static scenes of people talking, talking, talking. One episode almost entirely in the dark. All I could see was moving shadows, hearing alien chittering, lots of screaming and heavy breathing. Even in daylight it's still so dark. Supposedly thousands of aliens invading, but I've only seen three. They crossed the galaxy, but they're naked, without even a tool belt to hold their ray guns. Where are the bodies of millions of people? Deserted streets and highways. Worst, most boring, most badly written and directed SF series I've ever seen.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
What a disappointment.
A standard format plot stocked with cardboard characters completely lacking in appeal or charm. Nobody you could really care about. Loud, frenetic music to boost the 'excitement'. Poor editing. Hundreds of flash cuts in the action scenes. You might as well be watching a series of photographs. Not recommended for viewing by people with a functioning cerebrum.