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Reviews
Z Nation (2014)
Possibly the best Z show ever made
OK so my title might be exaggerating a bit. But unlike a certain other show featuring zombies, this one doesn't fall back on its own tropes.
One thing that really differs from The Walking Dead is that they almost never stick around one place for more than a few episodes. Some of the backgrounds are comedic, some cliche, some just weird.
The characters themselves are hardly developed beyond a few outstanding features, a kind of Flanderization that seems unavoidable in any good series... but you still end up identifying with them sometimes because it's those broad brushstrokes of characterization that make such great storytelling.
The Asylum may be most famous for it's mockbusters but they really nailed it this time. This show could easily go to 10 seasons... because it started off by the jumping the shark and never looked back.
If you're looking for great acting special effects and don't mind repetitive storylines, go watch the Walking Dead. If you're looking for ten thousand ways to kill a Z, watch this.
The Beyond (2017)
Medium-hard SF
People have gotten to used to blockbuster SF movies that they've forgotten what real Sci-Fi is. Isn't the true goal of SF to make you contemplate the meaning of life and where we - as humans - are going? If you're looking for big special effects and blue-screen action scenes, they're not here...
For some reason, this movie makes me think of the 70s Andromeda Strain movie and The Foundation books. Slow, careful, and full of meanderings regarding future tech ideas and the social implications of those technologies... even if it has little to do with the main story.
I enjoyed it immensely.
Lambada (1990)
Terrible... but some decent music...
This movie was terrible in so many ways. I can't believe that the writers and directors got away with churning out this crap. What started as a love story between teacher and student turns suddenly and painfully towards a stay-in-school moral. Not bad if perhaps you were forced to watch this in school instead of studying, but not even worth watching on TV.
But the music was filled with some decent typical 80s moments... especially whenever the music took over. And although you might think that JLo was in this movie after seeing it, you won't find her anywhere in the movie or in the credits.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
Typical but better than most
Haven't seen the original. After seeing this one, I will. It's not the greatest horror movie ever made, and admittedly some of the shock effects are merely cheap tricks: volume raised, continuous screaming, and chainsaws eating through things. But let's be honest that this genre has been so overkilled by cheap tricks and lousy acting that it's refreshing to see a movie that can at least do it effectively - without overusing it. Which isn't say the acting isn't terrible. Actually quite the opposite, and at least we get to see a lot Jessica Biel. The best thing about this movie was the scenery. Typical but terrifyingly imposing. The house was a character all it's own, more frightening than any of the characters. I just hope they don't remake a sequel.