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The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Adrift (2022)
Not for the fans
Some have been disappointed but the initial episode, but this delivers good acting, a fair amount of character development, better than average costume and sets. It is only really let down by shaky camera work, which is always triggering for some people when it is obviously not an intense or action filled scene.
The press coverage suggested said they wanted to put their own spin on the works, but they should at least honour the source material, or it simply seems like a mindless cash grab. E.g. Everyone who has ever read fantasy knows dwarf women have beards, everyone that is apart from the people working on this show, who seem to care more about themselves than about the world they are portraying.
Not a bad episode, but it's not tolkien.
Monster Hunter (2020)
No dialogue and those cuts...
I've never seen some of those cuts. Like the slow zoom in to her face then immediately zoom out backwards away from her face to show her reaction to being in a giant cavern.
Exhibit A (2007)
I wasn't expecting that
This is honestly the most uncomfortable I have felt watching a film since watching Soft (2006). I am not usually fond of found footage films, but there are good ones and Exhibit A is as well crafted as it is mesmerising.
The story was pretty realistic for me, I have known people and families like that, and whilst this is not a horror film it was definitely horrifying. I disagree that the pacing was off, as it is clearly meant to be a slow turning of the screw. This will never get the recognition it deserves as no one in their right mind could ever recommend watching this because its that good at what it does.
[Cargo] (2018)
Depends on what your looking for
It starts terrible, the lighting and acting was poor. But for me it just got better and better. I do wish the they had cut the film a bit more, a few fades to black might have sped up the first half, and they should have edited the pliers out completely. It would have been even better if they had opened the door at the end and it turned out it was just the FBI pretending to get a confession out of him.
Doctor Who: Demons of the Punjab (2018)
Doctor Who?
This season has some great acting, good sets, fantastic dialogue, a few funny jokes and honestly hard messages, but it misses the point. Many fans tune in to watch a light hearted action adventure dripping with British sarcasm, not a social commentary on historical or quasi-political events. In the last few episodes we seen racism via Rosa parks, cooperate greed via Donald trump, and party political broadcast from the People's Front of Judea. This episode is neither comedy, action, horror or historical, which is why this episode falls flat.
It's good but it's just not Doctor Who.
The Evil Within 2 (2017)
Patch work game
For people who are used to video games, this title has nothing new, the bosses and puzzles are far to easy, ammo is abundant, saving is frequent, and whist the title has great graphics it lacks a coherent plot line.
Once again you take control of detective Sebastian Castellanos, to enter a STEM system full of twisted human like enemies. The game glosses over any reason for doing this or why the idyllic town called Union has fractured or indeed why their are enemies here, suggesting that it is a mystery that you need to investigate. It soon becomes clear that the typical enemies can be ignored, and the bosses are as weak as the plot that attempts to string the unconnected murders together.
Watch anyone playing the game and all you hear is them referring to other games like 'oh this is like...' where they have already been there and done that, as if the creators of the game have literally taken parts from other games they like and put them together patchwork.
Hitokui no ôwashi toriko (2016)
Pushing the boundaries of the technology
The level designs, lighting, puzzles and plot are a masterpiece in their own right, but in doing so the game clearly pushes the boundaries of the technology required a little to far.
This title not only gives you an AI companion that walks alongside you on your journey, but actually relies upon it to complete most of the puzzles. Any video game with an AI companion suffers from the issue of the Artificial intelligence falling far behind the flexible and rational intelligence that is expected, however, whilst it can be slightly frustrating the companion in this game is years ahead of other titles, it looks and acts in a rational manner and its animations are flexible enough to adapt to nearly all scenarios. Any issues can be overlooked but if the companion were another humanoid rather than an animal it would be more obvious. In this respect, when the boy your are playing as becomes unresponsive or performs an unintended action, it is far more frustrating. Similarly, although the camera follows your avatar without player control you are left to suffer some horrible and confusing angles at times.
If your are a fan of Fumito Ueda or linear-puzzle games then this is a must play game, if however, you are looking for fast paced action games then this is not the game for you.
Richard the Lionheart: Rebellion (2015)
Interesting
It is clear that this title received little funding, but given that it has some pretty good sets, locations, weapons, costumes and sound design.
The actors are amateurs, and whilst there are some terrible performances (including a few bad attempts at the French accent) many of the actors are pretty good, and the camera work is well framed on the actors and their motions.
There clearly is a plot although I couldn't tell you what it was.
As far as films go this is an amateur production, but as far a amateur films go this is a pretty good effort.
Kung Fu Quest (2013)
Very interesting look in to Kung Fu philosophy...
The series revolves around individuals who travel to interview and train with grand masters, who not only speak with authority but demonstrate their well practiced and impressive skill. The host themselves are clearly proficient martial arts themselves and pick up on (and point out) some of the more subtle techniques used by the Grand masters.
Whilst these episodes are in Cantonese, the English subtitles are very good, and following the in depth training an interviews is easy, you soon forget that you are reading subtitles at all.
The reasoning behind the series remains clear throughout, that whilst Kung Fu has a long history in China, the martial arts within each school (with its own profound uniqueness) is being lost in mainland china, in favor of Western / hard technique martial art forms.
Shelter (2015)
Well worth watching
I am a massive fan of films set in one room, because it drives both the writers and the actors to the top of their game. I have seen a lot of films and I like to see an original script. OK, people in a post apocalypse bunker is nothing new, but I have to say that the script, the music, the acting and cinematography was on point.
I wish they had descent sound equipment because the volume was all over the place, and the cover art is beyond terrible, but overall I thought it was a great effort for a low budget film, and with a tag-line of 'One Room. Five Strangers. No Escape.' it delivered on what it promised, without stupid twists or dumb blondes.
Amber in the Shadows (2013)
Half way through, and I give up...
Essentially, Amber in the Shadows is the video diary, of an aspiring actress, Amber Sym, who finds more than she bargained for on the set of a new show called 'Florida in the Shadows'.
After recently enjoying The Vault (2011) I thought I would give this web-series a go. It has a lot of promise, the style, the pace and acting is pretty good. However, unlike other web shows this YouTube series only has one playlist, over 107 videos long, which not only includes the Vlog but also includes both the 'Florida in the Shadows' bonus content, such as the shows they are filming, as well as the documentary style on-set and the behind the scenes content, making the current series pretty much unwatchable as it stands.
Either wait until they make a playlist of 20 Amber Sym episodes before attempting to watch it, or try to find the alleged feature length version, Vicarious (2014). It would also be much better to see the series balanced by more videos from Landon's perspective.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
Where did Foster go?
The first half of this film is a beautiful story of humanities place in the world, about why should stop fighting with each other, end all war, throw our guns in the lake and live in peace and cooperation. You marvel at the cast of ape who in spite of being unable to speak and using made up sign language portray some real emotion.
The film slowly builds and build from an average film in to a great one, then from a great film into the possibility of being the best film you have ever seen, then for no reason at all of the apes learn to speak English overnight, despite many of them never seeing a human before, all of them pick up guns, and use them without any training, even those who were against using weapons and killing, and every female character is written out of the script. Without giving much away the second half of the film was beyond terrible.
It had so much potential to discuss war, crime, prisoners of war camps, the meaning of life, but instead rewrote the script and million times, until you feel like you are watching a different film. Frankly, between edits they actually forgot several of the main characters, I still cant figure out what happened to the token black guy, I cant believe that the actors put up with it.
Honestly, go and watch this film but as soon as you see Koba the bullet-proof ape, impervious to fire, charge a tank on his horse, throw whatever is left of your popcorn on the floor and leave thinking that you have just missed the end of an amazing film.
Rest Stop (2006)
An honest review
This movie is not a good movie, but the reviews are clearly divided. I hate people that tactical vote and this film is clearly a battle ground of false votes, it is not a 10 and it is certainly not a 1. I watched this film because it came up on several profile lists of favourite horror films. I watched it. I get it. There is no great unexpected twist plot or unresolved issues, the acting is not bad, nor is the camera work, the sound track is in keeping and the plot is OK.
However, this film is a slow burner, you watch it and you think about it, and keep thinking about it, until you find yourself staring blankly out of the window. If you like to think, then watch this, if you chew gum then don't bother. I honestly could not decide what to give this movie, it breaks what ever your personal rating scale is, just for that fact I would give it a 6/10 and challenge anyone who enjoys rating films to watch it and grumble that your system can't handle it.