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MrStabby
Favourite director is John Carpenter. I'm a big Joss Whedon fan. I have cerebal palsy. I walk on a cane, It doesn't effect my speech.
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Stay Alive (2006)
Stay Away from stay alive...Unless you have insomnia
Stay Alive. I rented this I didn't have high expectations. I wanted some gore, a couple of scares, maybe some jokes. This movie could not deliver.
The premise is simple you play a video game. Since the game contains the spirit of a homicidal countess if you die in the game you will die the same way hours later. There should have been some fun with this premise. The actors are quite good unfortunately the lead guy is the weakest hero I've ever seen and the premise was being taken very seriously.
"Why did you bring that game into our lives? Why?" "I'm sorry I didn't know." There is an old saying that what you don't see is scarier then what you do see. This film was made to be PG 13 so you never see anything! Ultimately I found myself struggling to stay awake rather then alive. This is a joyless no fun horror film for kiddies. Check the credits Agent Cody Banks is in it.
There is potential for this to become a series of Direct to DVD films like Wishmaster. But I really feel that this was a missed opportunity for a decent B grade horror film.
Battlestar Galactica (2004)
Newly discovered gem
Hi so this is the new Battlestar Galactica. Less then 50,000 of us and life is bleak. I wasn't a fan of the mini series. But I decided to take a look at this series on DVD. It's great. The series relies on tension rather then special effects. When they do use the special effects, WOW. Some of the best dogfights I've seen in a long time. The camera maintains a doco style and the picture looks a little grainy, in a good way. Sometimes rather then show you the battle your only allowed to hear it on the ships intercom, Very much like the black hawk down documentary that used the communications to tell the story. It's simple and effective storytelling at it's best.
The characters are all well drawn and motivated. If I had to find a flaw maybe the episode "Black Market" could have been scrapped. It's not as good as the rest of the series.
The biggest critique I have heard of this show revolves around the character Starbuck being changed to a woman. This in my opinion is misplaced. I think the actress is doing a great job and the character is better written and more human then in the original series. I think she's one of the better written women roles on television.
I am a fan of the original and I don't see why people can't like both. The older one is a product of it's time, Hey I have Richard Hatch's autograph.
I can't imagine the BSG all the people that dislike it wanted. I'd say have a look I'm sure you'll like it
River Queen (2005)
Something for everyone
I just saw River Queen today. It's not as bad as the critics are saying. But it's not as good as it could have been. The acting from the leads is good, Cliff Curtis proves how world class he is and it's great to see Temuera Morrison doing some acting again. And as unpopular a view as it might be I thought Samantha Morton was very good. The cinematography is amazing and at times breathtaking. But (come on you knew there was a but.). The voice over is just really annoying and seems to state the obvious when I'd rather the actors just be allowed to show us. I also found the first half hour or so really hard going, it seemed disjointed and felt more like a long short film. The action sequences were well done and captured the battles well without doing the shaky hand held camera work that everyone else is resorting to these days. Overall the film is worth a look I'm sure everyone will get something out of it.
Note, If your a fan of Kiefer Sutherland. He's really just there so they can put his name on the poster there are plenty of local actors that could have played that role.
Claustrophobia (2003)
Creepy little movie
Hi I have just seen this movie, I'm in New Zealand and a huge horror fan. It was Melanie Lynskey being in it that got my interest. Movies are all about expectations. I was expecting a low budget horror some stalking sequences and some gore.
Right from minute one my expectations changed. This is a DV feature and it reminded me of film school. It has an effective opening scene that was very creepy. The use of audio in this film was great and I liked that it was in the day for a change. Some of the acting seemed weak at the start. But it got better, I'm guessing this was shot in sequence so once the actors got warmed up it was better. I found it a little hard to believe that out of three women there was only one cell phone.
The story is about 3 women who have a slumber party, At the same time there is a serial killer who shoots people with a mini crossbow from the roof. Just as the girls are about to call the party off, there is a thud on the roof. What differentiates this from other films, The day time setting and these girls aren't stupid. I would really like to see what this director could do with more time and money.
The American accent took some adjusting to. It's not noticeable in mainstream features but it really stood out for some reason. This movie takes a while to get started but once it does it's really good. As with most good horrors the monster/villain is kept out of sight for most of it.
I can't quite recommend this to everyone. I think if you've seen DV before and it doesn't bother you, Then give it a chance. I'll score it a 3 out of 5.
Liquid Bridge (2003)
This movie is bad
I didn't even make it to the end of Liquid Bridge, I just gave up about 2/3 thru. It's very clichéd. The acting is bad, Some actors like Simone Kessel I've seen in other films and they're very good so I wondered if it was the directing or the lack of budget which meant they had to rush some scenes.
The woman hanging out the washing and getting struck by lightning was gut bustingly funny, I fell off the couch and spilt my beer.
I am incredibly perplexed by the positive reviews this films getting. I was just expecting some great surf scenes really and it didn't deliver in my opinion.