thales-63045 Reviews

Foundation: Why the Gods Made Wine (2023) Season 2, Episode 6

Losing me

[4/10 · 26 May 2024]

As others have said this is loosely based on Asimov's books. The cinematography is excellent as always. The acting is superb but it still doesn't work well. The main characters of Gaal and Salvor (originally male in the books but we have the message nowadays) are dim. Very dim. This episode especially. However it is more than made up by the other characters. Especially the clerics and brother Day himself. Great acting and very good dialogue. The CGI in 4K is very good. Very believable, unlike the two characters mentioned earlier on. It's still worth watching but don't be tempted to read the books first. I personally find it annoying when the series just doesn't differ slightly but the writers change huge chunks.

By Dawn (2019)

Good premise not well executed

[2/10 · 23 May 2024]

This starts off well. But then the family is introduced and instantly you hope they end up dead. The mother is selectively deaf and stupid all the time. The two young kids near the end actually look scared. Better acting than the adults. The way the film proceeds it becomes too stupid for words. They'd rather shoot themselves and the kids rather than take their chances with the aliens. I'm no expert on US military uniforms but why would a lieutenant colonel wear a corporals uniform ? I never looked closely enough to see if the medals were genuine. The twist at theme has two. Firstly it's all in the main characters head. PTSD and DID at the same time. Sore one. Then we have an alien presence. WTF. Is their a part two? Anyhoo I watched it on a rainy afternoon. If you have chores to do the film can wait.

Thirst (III) (2015)

Usual hokum genre rubbish

[4/10 · 12 May 2024]

This film is unrealistic. Okay take away the blood sucking alien the film is still unrealistic. A friend found in the desert in his truck so badly decomposed that the lead female character is vomiting but still reckons said friend died due to losing control being drunk. The good looking kid finds dead friends phone but lead actress and actor don't want to look at it despite being told , "I've got his phone". After all that it's downhill. Too many stupid coincidences. Why di they always have the car/bike won't start scenario? Then there is the angry teenager who wants to fight. Not the alien but with the other characters. That boils down to lazy writing as the writers can't be bothered trying to weave a realistic story into the script. I'd say don't waste your time but hey you may like creature features full of coincidences and angry young people.

Eloise (2016)

Makes no sense

[4/10 · 29 April 2024]

WTF was this about. It made no sense unless you invoke magic. The idea isn't any different from similar genres. In fact it doesn't add anything new maybe except for confusion. A guy who's estranged father dies leaving a son (who isn't really his son) with a lot of wedge and a big house. But there's a problem. The 'dad' has a sister who they don't know if she lives. So he has to find if she's alive. That's the first problem. I'm no expert on US law but I would think as there is a sole surviving child the sibling has no rights. Anyhoo off they trot to an insane asylum and there the confusion starts. It jumps back and forwards in time (approx 30 years) with two of the characters actually not changing in age. It made no sense. No explanation forthcoming either. One character ends up drowning while spaced out on LSD. Some random down and out appears twice with no idea what that's about (maybe I missed something). Was this a horror? A paranormal ? Science Fiction? Time travel? Who knows. Too disjointed. Made no sense. Ending was a cop out.

Ultra Red (2023)

Travesty

[1/10 · 24 April 2024]

What a travesty. This had the beginnings of a good plot but the acting and script had me gnashing my teeth. From watching the NASA employee at the very beginning talking to her children you knew the acting was going to be bad. And so it came to pass. Filmmakers love the idea of a brilliant scientist/engineer being a bit of a lad. And so it came to pass. The dynamics between the characters is awful. And the storyline of the crew being NASA employees is an insult to NASA employees everywhere. Nobody would employ these plonkers. Two of the engine room staff don't get any lines and makes you wonder why they were there. The story has more holes than a Swiss cheese. The return to earth was laughable. How do we explain that asks the scriptwriters? Easy. Just ignore it. I guess we will never find out what the or who the alien was.

Settlers (2021)

Borefest

[1/10 · 24 April 2024]

One of the most boring films I've ever watched. Starts off intriguing but by 20 minutes or do you quickly work out what is going on. Then it's a case of editing for the characters to bump each other off. They had to because there wasn't a story if they didn't. Then the last one alive commits suicide by leaving the dome. Ah the dome. Well although it's never really explained they live on Mars under a dome. No mention of how the dome gets there, where the food and waste go, how the oxygen is generated and no mention of how they seem to have standard earth gravity on a planet whose gravitational field is around 1/3 of earths. Sloppy and lazy writing. A setting on a dystopian alternate earth would be more plausible. Maybe the story is meant to make you think, what would I do. Well if you did what the characters did you'd all be dead.

Cobweb (2023)

Starts well then dies

[5/10 · 15 April 2024]

5 stars because the film started well. Up to 15 minutes from the end. Where did the poison in the soup come from ? Rat poison? If so it doesn't work that quick. Why did the father let the mother continue eating the soup? Improbable. The climbing of the walls. Total rubbish. Not enough power to weight ratio. No sunshine for years. Seemed impervious to being pierced by metal objects. The street must have been the only US street with trick or treaters. No-one heard the screaming. Teenagers tooled up to wreck a house. It was bad. Shame. It started well. It was atmospheric. Acting was good especially by the mother. But the ending ruined it. Totally. Must do better.

Fallout (2024– )

Adds nothing new to the genre

[6/10 · 12 April 2024]

I understand this is set on a video computer game from the late 90's. I watched the first episode and thought what a load of complete rubbish. But fate intervened. The next day it bucketed of rain so I thought let's endure the next 7 episodes. As it turns out it's a good yarn. Not as bloody as I was led to believe but those bits were obviously from the shoot me up game. The interesting bit for me was to see what transgresses with the vaults. How they came about . In that I think it could have been completed in two episodes. There was a bit of fallow humour. The parallels with the modern MIC was very good. A few messages that may have gone completely over the head of a less mature audience. (As in age). I liked the retro 50's look at times and I'm assuming it's an alternative universe but maybe I'm looking too deep. The ending was too obvious for me and in fact I guessed the premise from episode 1 when the father, Kyle MacLachlan gets kidnapped. However it was better than I suspected. It seems the fanboys of the game are divided on the film series. If like me you've never played the game or ever intend playing the game it'll be worth a watch.

Don't Speak (2020)

Oh dear

[1/10 · 22 March 2024]

When I watch films.i don't tend to pay attention to the rating as I've found a few gems in the past that were excellent. However this isn't worth the average 3.3. It really is awful. At the start I thought it was set in the US but the British number plate seems otherwise. As well as driving on the left and the quintessential English caravan. The accents though. They are a mixture of English, Australian and North American. What was the director thinking? The houses were very English village do I'll have to accept it is set in England. The acting isn't good but it's not too bad. Must be the only creature feature that nobody thinks of using a weapon. They just go like lambs to the slaughter. The film is disjointed. It doesn't flow very well. It doesn't make much sense. There's a lot of blood. That's about it. Not worth your time.

Beyond the Trek (2017)

Could have been a whole lot better

[5/10 · 21 March 2024]

Ok. It's low budget so the special effects aren't Star Trek quality but as the setting is effectively in different rooms then the cgi doesn't have to be top notch. The acting wasn't very good but was cleverly hidden by having wooden top genetically enhanced humans. That worked. I always find it amusing how film producers like to push this genre of genetically enhanced humans as perfect in most respects. (Hitler would be proud). They are stronger, higher IQ's, better heating etc etc but.......in these films they are dumb. Can't see what's in front of their own eyes. And this film is just that. No-one suspects the robot apart from us watching. The characters hide their ailments. Really? What a load of old tosh. Someone wrote there's a twist at the end. I watched and couldn't see any twist. A real twist would have been suck the blood out the survivor and go home.

Infestation (2020)

Not bad

[7/10 · 19 March 2024]

The average rating for this when I looked was 3.3 but experience has taught me that IMDB rankings don't mean much as do this turned out to be such a time. The story is very good. The cinematography for an Indy is very good. The script is good. The acting is a bit woeful I admit but looking past that overall it's an interesting venture. It's obvious from the start what is going on as the director leaves enough clues but the ending can go one of two ways. Thankfully it wasn't a happy ending. I'm glad I watched through the credits. I normally don't but by doing that it gave a bit of closure. If you like scifi without ray guns etc this may be for you.

Alien Conquest (2021)

Good grief

[2/10 · 12 March 2024]

Acting poor. CGI mediocre. Script poor. Emotional response dire. This is without doubt the worst film I've watched in over a decade and I've watched some stinkers. Nothing works in this film. It's bad enough how they've taken high school science and weaved a story around it. They compound it by putting in dialogue that makes the actors look like wooden puppets. The science is laughable but maybe good enough for daytime TV? The budget obviously didn't go to hiring more than a few actors. This is something that should be missed but if you are reading this you have already watched it and oribsbly wished you hadn't.

51 Nevada (2018)

amateurish hokum

[3/10 · 8 March 2024]

Like a lot of Indy stuff, this had a semi decent story but was extremely poorly executed. The dialogue was plain and simply awful. The acting worse. Camera angles were all wrong at times. The close in out of focus didn't work. But the acting was definitely the worst bit. Shame. Could have been a good one. One of the scenes that made me laugh was the selfie and one of the characters noticed something in the background of the photo. Instead of turning around to look back into the sky as any normal person would do she continues to look at the camera photo and zooms in. That sums up the whole film. Improbable acting.

Prisoner X (2016)

Simplistic Drivel

[3/10 · 5 March 2024]

A sci-fi that seems intriguing but fails so miserably on the dialogue and story. It seems to be written by a teenager who has watched too many conspiracy theory movies. For lovers of pure scifi not grounded in any kind of reality then this is for you. If you like realistic scifi this won't be for you. All I can say is watch the scene where one of the characters is sneaking weed from one room to another and nobody in an ultra high security building can smell it. Really? You can smell that stuff in a passing car with the windows wound up. The rest is hokum. If life was that simplistic it'd be a revelation but hey this is a movie and the director doesn't want to confuse the audience. And the ending? A Jihadist who is afraid of death ? And what's with the yellow suits ? As I say simplistic drivel.

Open Grave (2013)

Good film if you've never seen the genre

[7/10 · 3 March 2024]

I do like Sharlto Copley as an actor so this intrigued me. Although it starts well it doesn't take long to work out what's going on. However that said it's watcheable and passes 90 minutes or so. It's not particularly gruesome but it does have some slightly yucky moments. The acting is good. The cinematography works. The dialogue is good. What else is there to say? Not a lot really. If you have seen similar then no surprises. If not then you may enjoy the suspense of what it is all about until the end. Sometimes 600 character minimum is too much for a film like this. What else does IMDB want us to say?

Fail Safe (1964)

Excellent

[10/10 · 15 February 2024]

This along with The War Game and Dr Strangelove from the same era are the three best anti war films (in my humble opinion) that have come from film studios. The acting is very good. No modern histrionics. The technical side is a bit dated and as history showed the Soviet Union wasn't as stone age as the film makes out but expectedly so as the nuclear side of things is more than Top Secret. However it gets the message across. As most Scifi writers have written about for many years the electronic side of warfare is too much for the human mind to keep up with. Walter Matthau is the best playing the war hawk. The others play excellent parts but Matthau is outstanding. For a low budget film with stock footage this is how films should be made. No CGI. The only message being nobody wins a nuclear conflagration (contrary to Matthau's character) Just good did writing with great actors.

The Black Hole (2006 TV Movie)

Really! Who writes this?

[1/10 · 1 February 2024]

Who writes stuff like this? I'd like to know what they start with? An idea? A premise? Someone see the headlines on a Scientific America cover? The acting is woeful. The premise is woeful. The science is laughable. The script is awful. Although some of the one liners are hilarious, not that they are supposed to be. It's looking for a high energy source as the creature travels along a fully energised high voltage transmission line. What do they think the lines are for? It also seems in hours of a national emergency every US high voltage, high energy or particle physicist is on holiday and can't be found. So we will have a broken alcoholic scientist ti save the day. What utter utter nonsense.

Play Dead (2022)

Unbelievable

[5/10 · 29 January 2024]

Watch this and suspend all belief. Let's start by saying that whoever thought this up has never seen a dead body. C'mon. Dead bodies cool down and turn grey. The coroner never noted the toe of the young girl was warm and not cold? Her eye was too alive. Dead people eyes are totally different. And that's just the start. The rest is as improbable including getting into the morgue in the first place. If you want mindless drivel to wait out approx 2 hours then this is the film for you. If you want to be mindlessly entertained without too much thought. This is the film for you. Otherwise....!!!!!!!!!

Alien Code (2018)

Good idea

[7/10 · 27 January 2024]

As others have said not much budget in this film but the idea, execution makes it worth watching. The acting is very good and I think the clever use of the camera positions made sure not much cgi was needed. The storyline is very good to a point. It becomes a bit convoluted at times and tends to twist itself into time/dimension knot but ignore that and just accept the premise and it works. No closing ending as such but in this type of genre there rarely is. Not much else to say. Unfortunately IMDB demands at least a minimum amount of characters but some films don't require it so please feel free to edit this.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters: Beyond Logic (2024) Season 1, Episode 10

Absolute nonsense

[1/10 · 26 January 2024]

I wonder what this show classifies as? It's not SciFi. It's not fantasy. It's not historical. It's not really fiction. It is dribble though. Why are the Gen Z actors involved? They bring nothing to the story except for whines, moans and tears. The whole show of ten episodes can be concluded in 2 hrs max. The monster lovers may like this episode as you got to see three of them. The rest of us who like a good story were sadly disappointed. Again. The graphics are good but I dare say they spent all the budget on that and there was nothing left for the script. Kurt Russels appearance was more cameo than anything else. Maybe trying to entice older viewers? Again they'd be sadly disappointed. I confess I watched a total of 15 minutes of this episode by fast forwarding big chunks. Maybe I missed something. Then again I probably didn't.

The Blackout (2019)

No wokeness in this film

[9/10 · 25 January 2024]

Let's start by saying I'm a keen viewer of Russian made films and series and regularly watch (Mosfilms.) but somehow this one passed me by. So I downloaded it to my Apple device and was disappointed to find it wasn't in Russian. It was dubbed in English with American English idioms. That lowered the score for me. However not the filmmakers fault. This is a typical robust Russian movie (I didn't get the series). People get killed. There's no emotional outbursts and crying. The CGI is good. The acting is good. The storyline, although not original, is still done differently. I liked the music. I thought it went well. I'd like to see the original series as others have said it's 300 minutes duration. This movie was only around 125 minutes.

Invasion: Breakthrough (2023) Season 2, Episode 9

How inept is the US army?

[2/10 · 19 January 2024]

Wow! Filmmakers in the US love portraying the US armed forces as totally inept. Are we to believe a high security facility can be breached by an ex-soldier and a bunch of amateurs?? Well apparently so. It's cringeworthy and the love story (ies) with a hint of scifi continues. The story is becoming weaker episode by episode and the way the chain of command is regularly broken to keep the agenda going is laughable. By the way where's all the dead bodies? Are we to believe the whole of the U. K. or European population is holed up in small enclaves? Hundreds of millions of people? What rubbish. Where's all the starving dogs, cats etc. Even when the characters travel there are no farm animals. I'm sure the CGI could 'draw' them in. By the way writers. Any soldier who leaves or loses his radio will report it and the crypto will be changed. Also why did they make the mother so unlikeable. I've never watched a series where I've rooted for one of the characters to be knocked off. Why do they make it so unbelievable. Anyhoo only one episode of this absolute trash to go.

The Thirteenth Floor (1999)

2024 crime rate at an all time low

[7/10 · 8 January 2024]

Well they got that wrong back in 1999. The future LA looks wonderful compared to our 2024. Anyhoo snide aside this is a very good film but the twist, if it was meant to be a twist was a bit obvious. The acting is very good. The scenery department did an excellent job with 1937. As a fan of scifi I'm disappointed I missed this back in 1999 as 2024 when I watched it made it a bit dated. It's worth watching though. It's a good concept but I suppose it got lost due to The Matrix. I viewed it on Amazon Prime (yes prime does have a few good films). And think it's worth recommending to others. Worth its 7 stars.

A Cure for Wellness (2016)

A bit of hokum

[5/10 · 7 January 2024]

Story wise it's not new. Similar to QA, Shutter Island to name a few. The acting is good. Very good. The cinematography is very good. Is there a twist? Not that I saw. Because of its similarities with other films of the same genre it's a decent enough film to watch on a rainy Sunday afternoon. (As I did). Some have described it as a psychological thriller. I can't see that myself. It's not scary in that sense. It's scary in whst human beings will do in the pursuit of medical science. Just like real life I suppose. Anyhoo. If you haven't watched any of the forementioned then this could be for you.

Battle Los Angeles (2011)

Mindless entertainment

[3/10 · 1 January 2024]

Gung Ho rubbish I'm afraid if you don't want to think too deeply. There are so many things wrong with the depiction of warfare to make it laughable. Fir instance. The Hubble space telescope being used to track meteorites? C'mon. The US, China and Russia have military satellites looking outwards. An interstellar species uses mindless drones controlled from a central agency? C'mon. The marines can still communicate with Edwards air force base? C'mon. What's the first thing that happened during Gulf War 1? The CinC was taken out. I think even an alien species would know that as the first rule of warfare. Why attack a city? Go for the weapons plants. Like all this genre, it starts by humanity, in this case the US, getting its butt kicked then through tenacious and heroic marines the tide is turned. Like I said if you don't think too deeply and want mindless entertainment this is the flick for you.