Change Your Image
BucktownJim
Reviews
This Giant Beast That Is the Global Economy (2019)
Love it, just wish each episode had more of a wrap-up at the end.
I thought the show did a good job of distilling complex topics into easily digestible (and entertaining) bites. However, each episode left me wanting for more of a wrap up. They'd spend 45-50 minutes going over the intricacies of something like counterfeiting, and then try to wrap it up in the last three minutes.
Great concept, just needs more summary at the end.
Sahara (2005)
Pretty Well Done
Some disclaimers:
***** I'm not a huge "I've read every book and have an autographed picture of Cussler on my wall" kind of fan. But I have read some of his books over the years, and was looking forward to the release of this film.
***** I feel like most movies released today are worthless, and are made to cater to the lowest common denominator, i.e. 13-year old ADD-addled kids.
So, I went to see Sahara hoping for the best, and expecting the worst.
And I was pleasantly surprised.
The movie was exciting and action-packed, but not overly-done.
Zahn as Al? I fully expected this to be the downfall of the movie; Zahn was going to be the stereotypical comic-relief sidekick. Again, I was pleasantly surprised. Zahn pulled the part off pretty well, with no "goofy sidekick" antics.
There were a few small shortcomings of course, but overall I highly recommend it.
Some things I was curious about though: Which one of the producers/directors is the classic rock fan? It seems like every other scene has some classic rock blaring in the background. sometimes subtly, like a soundtrack should be, other times not-so-subtly, were it ends up sounding out of place. (Grand Funk Railroad blaring while raising a statue from the depths of the ocean?) Gunpowder, fuses, chains, cannons still working on the USS Texas after 140 years in the desert? I'm not an archaeologist, but I find that doubtful.
An algae plume that covers the entire planet? I'm not a marine biologist, but again, doubtful.
As some other astute viewers pointed out, the Arabic text going from left to right, tires still inflated on the plane in the desert. As well as the fact of mounting that wing as a sail on the top of the plane. I'm not quite sure how one could do that.
But, overall, like I said, definitely worth the 7 bucks.