Reviews

Pros: some excellent special effects. Heart stopping suspense if only 'cause most of it is filmed in the dark, so it's like a Halloween Horror Nights fun house.

Cons: Boring, bad casting, worse acting, pathetic direction/directing, laughable military team tactics, dumb and nearly non-existent plot.

This is easily among the five worst films I've ever sat through. (And I only watched it to the end so I could review it in good faith.)

The film surely would have benefited from a military tactician technical consultant. The interactions between the (supposedly) elite military team, were painful to watch.

What was happening elsewhere in the world, before and while all of this was happening? Why send such a small and woefully unqualified team on such a seemingly important mission? How many previous teams were there? Why would anyone waste the time and money to produce such a film in the first place? ... Watching Annihilation is what I image an LSD trip must be like. It is easily one of the ten worst films I've ever seen, and to be honest, I only sat through it so that I could review it in good faith. (Well that and I was hoping to figure out what was going on!) ... Yes, the opening is suspenseful and there are lots of cool special effects throughout - and I've always loved Natalie Portman - but very little of the story, casting choices, or directing make any sense. (It felt like the director was more focused on each individual scene, than on how they all would fit together to tell a story.) Oh, and I did not like many of the flashbacks.

I enjoyed it, but it felt kind of shallow as if lacking character development. In hindsight, I wonder if perhaps the movie died on the cutting room floor, i.e. In the editing process. For me, one of the high points of the entire movie was the brief scene with the hotdog vendor, the morning of Ferro's second day in NYC. I also wonder why there was no explanation of Diana and Pita's relationship, i.e. Why was Diana crashing on Pita's sofa? Or did I miss something? Also, pretty much all of the business dealings (on both coasts) seemed lame. A few bright spots were some of the supporting characters, even if they were a bit over-the-top.

Things go downhill when Holly and Connor travel to the north pole. Some of the casting and acting was better than my '2' rating, Uncle Mario in particular was a pleasant relief from what was otherwise a horrible production. My least favorite character was Jack, but it wasn't necessarily his acting. Rather, it was everything else about him ... casting, plot, writing, directing. (Why was he always in "their" home?) Casting for Santa (A.K.A. Nick) was particularly bad, as was Nick's fake beard. Santa and Mrs. Claus' acting was pathetic, although that is probably more the fault of the director rather than the actors. The only reason I wasted two hours watching the whole thing, was so that I could submit a review. I almost forgot to mention that both of the scenes at Connor's workplace were also pathetic.

Logan's Run is easily the worst movie I've seen in two decades. I was ready to eject the DVD in the first five minutes, and only kept watching so I could submit a review to warn others who were fortunate enough to have never seen it! Writing, direction, acting, editing, "continuity", and set design -- are all on par with what I'd expect from high school students? Particularly disconcerting are the "plastic" relationships between the lead characters, and their tendency to occasionally seem as though they're either on drugs, or are having some sort of manic attack. Oh, and the way the runners fired their weapons reminded me of kids playing with water pistols.

Pros ... loved the chemistry between the two leading characters (Lois & Clark). Loved the use of flashbacks in telling Clark's story. Loved the special affects.

Cons ... numerous weak story issues: Jor-El had no sense of urgency while preparing to launch his son to Earth; Jor-El didn't bother to ensure Zod was no longer a threat; Zod's prison seemed more like an expensive refuge from a dying planet, and his subsequent escape from it was completely glossed over; Lois' (mountain) climbing on the ice face wasn't credible; why would Lois position herself between Clark's space ship and the ramp at the back of the cargo plane, out of which the ship was about to be dropped? Most of all the crowd scenes -- when Metropolis was under attack -- were on par with junior high school maturity level in every aspect of their production.

This movie probably looked good on paper (i.e. the screen play) but it lost its way in production with the blame spread around between casting, direction, and perhaps also editing. Mostly, I think what was missing, was creative vision by the director.

Pros: Some tender moments. Several plot surprises. A few good laughs. Several commendable supporting role performances, most notably by: Ryan Gosling; Analeigh Tipton; and Jonah Bobo.

Cons: Most of the plot was boring, with the entire first half of the movie being painful to sit through. There were far too many contrived scenes, some of the more notably being parent teacher night, graduation, and the (cell) phone conversation about re-lighting the heater in the basement.

Mixed: Casting was all over the place, some excellent choices, some not so much.

A delightful movie. Excellent production, acting, direction, cinematography etc. Laura Breckenridge is adorable. (I fell in love with her.) Some of the writing seemed a bit of a stretch. Especially the justifications Wendy repeatedly gave her friends, as to why she couldn't tell Adam "that was her in the elevator". Oh and it was also a stretch that Wendy could tolerate her boss! No doubt the worst part of the movie from a production standpoint was the lip sync carolers. As a singer, I found the scene -- when the elevator doors opened -- painful to watch, and I can't imagine that anyone connected with this project is happy with how it turned out. The best part of the movie was the last three minutes and I would have loved to see more (than just a newspaper clipping).

P.S. Thumbs up to Elizabeth Rohm for her restrained and yet over-the-top supporting role performance.

Gravity was more of a comedy than a drama for me due to its laughably inaccurate technical aspects. Yes the special effects are visually impressive, but they could not make up for the movie's technical flaws.

IMHO this is science fiction 1930s Buck Rogers style. In spite of its technical flaws, an actual story might have saved Gravity from being a complete waste of time.

Pros: Sandy B. still looks hot in her underwear! (I hope that wasn't a spoiler!) Impressive visual effects when "persons" were inside the various spacecraft, especially the translation (movement) of "persons" through the various vehicles, and the individual floating objects that "persons" encountered along the way.

Cons: The depiction of all aspects of orbital mechanics, especially: the movements of the astronauts outside the spacecraft; everything about the orbital debris; and the damage caused by the orbital debris.

Live of Pi was so bad that I'm at a loss as to how to review it. Here's a list of a few things that were wrong with this production.

The way the story was told (as a flashback over dinner) could not have been more boring.

Filling the blackboard at school with digits added absolutely nothing to the story line and seemed like an afterthought.

All scenes with animals looked totally fake, including Pi's initial interactions with the tiger.

Pi's behavior on the boat deck during the storm made no sense and seemed like an LSD trip.

None of Pi's actions on the raft made any sense. It seemed as if he did everything he possibly could to ensure that he would not survive.

Nothing about the island made any sense.

In summary, it is as if everyone involved with this movie from start to finish was on drugs the entire time. There's really no other plausible explanation as to how something so bad could have ever seen the light of day.

A funny, charming, and touching flick.

Pros:

1) I loved everything about Darin Brooks performance, down to the way his hair was groomed.

2) Excellent chemistry between Brooks and Natalie Hall.

3) The screenplay wasn't totally predictable.

4) The villain's role (Ryan Doom) wasn't overdone.

Con:

1) George Wendt received top billing along with the two leading characters, for what amounts to an extra's role. (I almost gave the film a 9 (out of 10) rating instead of 10 because of this.)

Good acting, good cinematography, and good direction cannot save a boring screen play. During the first 85 minutes I wondered to myself several times whether it was worth it to continue watching. The only thing that kept me from turning off the TV was a made-up game I created, where I tried to guess the outcome.

I did enjoy the interactions between the three almost married couples, and the interactions between the three girl friends.

The three things that most detracted from the story were: 1) The dog. 2) The mother-in-law. 3) The ex-girlfriend. As written, these three characters were over-the-top to the point of being painful.