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Agnes (2021)
It seemed to have potential
I enjoyed the beginning of this movie. The first 20 to 30 minutes or so seemed like it was setting us up for controversy, major excitement and a relatively major supernatural payoff. Somewhere around 1/3 to 1/2 way though the movie seemed to start to lose momentum and the ending was not how I expected this particular movie to end, it was a bit of a let down and it felt like if I was directing the movie myself that it wouldn't have been how I envisioned the movie going. In the first part of the movie, the cinematography, locations, casting and overall look of the film were very good for the most part. I could be very wrong on this, but I can only speculate that COVID may have played a role, or some other situation in the filming process caused this movie to be much less than what it was meant to be. I give credit to the cast and crew and the director for all that turned out well.
Army of the Dead (2021)
I wish I could give it a higher rating
Especially after watching the "making of" documentary on Netflix I am even more impressed with the technical aspect of this movie. There was obviously so much thought and energy poured into the filming process, the effects, the makeup, and post production, the crew. Super impressed by that. From that aspect of movie production I would say this movie is on the very cutting edge. I would also say Bautista was excellent in his part, and the actors did a good job given the script and writing, and production.
The sound design for the alpha zombies went a little over the top for me with it sounding a little more like the layered animal sound effects from "Jurassic Park" than anything alt-human/dead. Trills, rasps, clicks, deep vocalizations and wheezes all on top of each other. High and low. Monster sounds. Wow. Too impossible, fake, unconvincing for me. Just because you become an alpha zombie doesn't mean the size of your vocal tract suddenly becomes 40 times as large or you grow extra tissue in your windpipe or extra sets of teeth, or that you suddenly can gurgle long and deep like a Lucasfilm creature.
The photography was also unique with respect to the lenses, and focus and artifacts but I actually found the movie really not easy to watch. That said, I see what the director is trying to do here and give credit.
The biggest issue I have with this production is the story. I didn't care about any of the characters, dialogue and action between them seemed artificial, the way certain events the actors carried out was not convincing, characters were easily killed off and it just didn't matter to me. Additionally the zombie heist idea has already been covered in a couple different films, most recently "Peninsula" (to a more interesting degree I might add). I found myself leaving the movie to do other things, and I am sorry to say that's the first time that's ever happened to me with any zombie movie especially one where it is obvious so much money, effort and love has been poured into.
If there's a sequel to this movie, I hope that sequel can rescue it. It's a good technical execution of set, and special effects. At the end of the day the movie is probably worth a watch for very surface level entertainment but I am not going to watch it again. Which is sad, because I really liked "Dawn of the Dead".
War of the Worlds (2019)
Encouraged
While there are lots of inconsistencies and improbable situations in the television production, I do like this television series so far.
While it is a bit slow, this is a good production, easy to watch and compelling enough to make you want to watch the next episode. The acting is great, there are other aspects of the writing that are very good. I like that it spans across Europe and the locations are in both England and in France. Compared to most SciFi it's relatively slow, but that's OK. I enjoy it just the same.
The "robot dogs" as aliens do remind me of a Black Mirror episode and between that and DARPA / Boston Dynamics videos it has been one thing on my mind since this series came out. It's an interesting idea but I believe it's playing on a relatively recent fear. If anything it's making me wonder if the "robot dogs" are actually Earth creations.
This is (so far) different from other adaptations in that there are no alien tripod machines, there was no obvious fighting of note (most were killed off with some sort of electronic pulse as far as we know) and these little robot dogs are just running around doing cleanup.
Some work with regards to writing and producing needs to be done to rescue this series. I believe it's still possible it could be very successful. I hope we will see some spectacular episodes up and coming.
IO (2019)
By definition, Science Fiction but not so much entertainment.
I like this film. The actors did an amazing job. The filmography and special effects are great, like the score, like the locations, and the topic / subject matter.
It's not an entertaining film. If you are looking for action, or a fun time, a happy ending and whatever - maybe this isn't the film for you. This film is slower, and without a lot of action and depressing and that kind of thing.
I'm not even sure this film has a message for all of us. To be certain, we are currently destroying the environment, have done so for some time and will continue to do so for enterprise. Will it get so bad that humanity might not survive and have to leave the planet? Maybe. Will this create lots of problems? Sure. And... will the Earth and ecosystem actually have the ability to slowly adapt, recover to new conditions? Maybe. Humans might also have this ability. That is not a new concept.
According to the movie plot - the point is.... I guess, despite all odds, a human adapted to the new conditions and maybe that can result in the human race continuing on Earth. Good to know. And... modern art is important. And... we can relate to ancient Greek mythology. There is an intellectual side to humanity. Plus various side plots.
If you like dystopian movies, this might be one to watch. I don't think it's particularly notable but considering the options available, better than some.
The Midnight Sky (2020)
I believe this movie is worth watching but confusing.
But, only if you have time and are in the correct mood. This is not an action movie, it's not the kind of movie where you are going to get a quick, to the point message. Do not watch if you are looking for humor, or lightness or a solid and quick conclusion. There are a lot of quiet scenes. And the overall atmosphere is quite lonely / depressing. And it is slow, though there are interesting scenes. Once you realize the plot, you will understand the outcome is not going towards a "save the day" hero kind of film. All of that said - it is a quality production that is more than well made and the story and the acting are both excellent, it is the kind of movie that makes you think. Unlike some reviews, I do think there are a couple different messages this movie could be considered to convey and this is where it gets confusing to me. Throughout the movie, one message is that the theme of family (and friends) keeps coming up as being of the highest value in different ways. I wonder if they were trying to get across that our personal connection to family and friends is more important than anything else even in the face of the most dire or extreme situation. In contradiction, it clearly it required sacrifice of a family connection, consider George Clooney's character and the importance and focus he kept on his work vs. His relationship - and Felicity Jones's character, etc. And her focus on her mission - to potentially save humanity as we reach the end of the movie.
The Outer Limits: Nightmare (1998)
Not a good remake
Overacting and cheesy dialogue. Could have been so much better!
The OA (2016)
Excellent
I was skeptical at first and it took some time to decide to take the plunge but after watching the first part I have found this series to be excellent. The story is interesting. The direction, acting, and musical score very high quality... beautifully executed. Not necessarily fast moving but deep.
Sound of Nothing (2013)
Not bad - audio production / mix needs work
I liked this film, and the acting of the lead characters wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be given the budget. Even the zombie effects and makeup were not totally horrible, I've seen much worse. The locations were interesting and appropriate. The biggest production aspect I felt could have benefitted from improvement was the audio. I felt the dialogue mix left some to be desired and I could be wrong but my gut feel is that it comes from on location sound, it sounds like they were not using any wireless mics on the actors and only boom / shotgun mics because there is a LOT of room ambience and no direct dialogue sound. Looking at the locations, they are probably quite ambient. Also no ADR, many dialogue intelligibility issues could have potentially been addressed with ADR. As a result the dialogue is at times very quiet and sometimes not intelligible and I found myself bringing the volume up and down and even missed some lines. Anyway, I consider it a solid effort in the genre'. I look forward to the next release from this director, again a solid effort, it's not easy to make a movie and this was not bad at all!
We've Forgotten More Than We Ever Knew (2016)
Interesting
If you look up Liberty, NY, the filming location of this movie you will see it is in the Catskill Mountains and that may very well mean this was filmed in one of the abandoned Borscht Belt hotels, but I could be wrong on that. If true that is pretty interesting in and of itself. I think there are some great scenes that take full advantage of the filming locations and good for the crew/director for making use of that. The evolution of the story is slow, and it does not end with a bang. That's OK with me. I appreciate this movie for what it is, it's not predictable and that's cool.
Captive State (2019)
Lot of people don't seem to get the plot
After watching this movie in the theater I encountered a whole lot of people on the way out of the theater who were seemingly confused. I don't get it. Are people really that dumb? Clear as day to me. A resistance plot within a plot within a plot, etc. Humans were more than willing to sacrifice themselves and collaborate in unusual ways foreseeing the futile situation they were in.
OK, there were aspects to this movie that weren't well executed. The "hunters" felt like an afterthought. The existence of the hunters and relationship to the roaches went largely unexplained . Hated to see Vera Farmiga's character die so suddenly after not too much involvement in the story. D.B. Sweeney is an excellent character actor and only made a cameo (felt he could have had a major role), and WTF was up with the unexplained enormous automatons on the pier of the lake we see in several shots of the lake and spaceship. One could say all these things made the whole production more mysterious to an extent. May be an opening to a sequel.
I give this movie credit. It has a certain edge. Maybe it should have attempted to cover a smaller story scope and left us wondering about how characters ended up.
The Surface (2014)
WTF - Brigham Young University
As soon as I saw this was a film promoted and essentially produced by a prominent private religious university from Utah that pretty much nixed it for me. Sorry. Disagree with ANY involvement of religion in politics, media, entertainment and government.
UFO Chronicles: The Black Programs (2018)
Production needs work
Content wise this video could be quite interesting and appealing for some but the subject matter was quickly denigrated by the overall format and bad decisions in post-production. It is a long interview or narration style video interceded by many small breaks with some readable text for the viewer. Each break contains the same exact music as the last break as the last break as the last break as the last break. One might expect this kind of awkwardness at a technical convention, but frankly it got old at the second break. 1/4 of the way through the video I had to stop it was just not possible any longer to tolerate. I've seen this guy interviewed on several programs, maybe Ancient Aliens and some others. What he has to say here has some merit but this video is hard to watch. I hope his production team will improve on future videos.
Hellier (2019)
Nothing Burger
It's a fictional documentary. Don't understand where these highly positive reviews are coming from. Maybe paid reviewers or production team members. As advertised, to answer the question on the marketing - does it REALLY get weirder from the "three toed footprints" and mysterious email contact of a doctor who had to move himself and his family out of his home because of these creatures?? No, it does not. Not significantly. Well filmed it may be, the music isn't bad though at times annoying - and there may be deep mindfulness and consciousness topics covered, but past episode 2 this thing quickly becomes very slow with a few moments of useful story events stretched over several hours of blather and a lot of the subject matter is too slow and subdued. It becomes obvious the story is stretching out quite soon into the series. For me, the whole thing ended with a sort of "eh... who cares?" Whole thing could have been achieved in 2 episodes or single film and might have been more effective and more interesting that way.