scocope-654-771165 Reviews

Amber (2014)

no ending; 4 hours wasted AVOID!!!!!

[2/10 · 26 August 2021]

Good concept with no ending which totally ruins it.

After the second episode I was getting annoyed at just repetition of the story. You see how each element of the first episode expands into the other episodes but the story never moves and it's just about the same search over and over that never resolves itself. The show's co-creator, after the uproar at the lousy ending does share that she's dead by drowning but how or why is not even mentioned.

Which brings us back to the last episode and towards the end Dad's taking pictures of a new suspect; the guy on the beach with his dog. We are to wonder if that was a "possible" killer who supposedly drowned her (the fliers in the water was the writer's "clue" to the viewer according to the co-creator) but at this point I could care less and of course it never went anywhere because fortunately this was almost over

The plot had really cheesy "possible" suspects which now just looks like weak writing afterwards.

Honestly the concept of different perspectives sounded great but the weak writing and the unresolved ending that one spent 4 episodes to wrap up with at the end but didn't work as it kept you waiting (and not giving up) and turning the channel until you found out nothing. I so wish I could swear right now but that would not be very appropriate. Avoid avoid avoid!!!!!!!

Taggart (1964)

I've seen poverty row westerns better than this.

[3/10 · 27 July 2021]

If wooden acting deserved an award, Tony Young would likely win it with this "movie".

Duryea played his part well but he only shines when his part is not a one-dimensional killer like he had to portray here.

The sets were obviously from other productions and were not convincing with the half-hearted attempts to change them into what the script asked for. A "run-down" salon barely hanging on was sure in a nice clean shape as was a supposed "ruined" mission that looked like it was a really nice house with a few fake branches strewn about. The one in the pool (that had a blue painted bottom to look deeper when filled) did not hid an obviously modern looking fake pool. The stock footage barely matched the sets (occasionally) and the inserted cannon shot close-ups were horrendously fake as were the wigs on the Indians. I'm really happy the actors were able to keep their clothes clean and even looking pressed. Even the Indians looked as if the regularly laundered their clothes (which looked as if they bought then in the "fake Indian" section at the local department store).

Even the fight scenes seemed to have the actors sleepwalking and it seemed at points we saw the rehearsal because of the hesitancy as if the actors were waiting for direction or the other actor's move because they were still learning the choreographed moves of the scene The plaster fort was obviously fake because the plaster had seen better days in movies past and they did not bother to retouch the paint to cover up the white of the plaster that showed through everywhere.

I really believed Springsteen made better movies but this was terrible and disappointing.

Another Mother's Son (2017)

Good if you ignore the impossibility of the plot

[6/10 · 3 August 2020]

The acting was good. The sets were well staged for the most part but give me a break on the storyline. At the point when the escaped Russian POW started working in the grocery is when I knew the writer did not care or bother to even attempt to make it a realistic or even believable. Then he shows up at a public band concert arm-in-arm with his co-star held by the German occupiers that I knew the writer did not care if our intelligence was insulted. Ignore the complete impossibility of a escaped prisoner working in a public shop and attending German band concerts with his the woman who is hiding him and you might enjoy it. It is not the actors' fault the writer wrote this nonsense. It certainly was not the actors playing the Germans for their one-dimensional acting given the writing. If the acting was not as well done with what they were given, I'd give it 2 stars at most. The only thing that would make this work would be a vampire or two. Then no one cares about impossible plot lines.

Dublin Murders (2019)

No conclusion and the second storyline was pointless

[4/10 · 1 May 2020]

They combined two books into this for no reason. The secondary one where she goes undercover suffers being under developed to the point of plot holes plus it has no purpose in regards to the main story line. Then we do not even get a resolution beyond a slightly developed "evil spirit one" The only saving grace was the acting was good with what the actors were given. We also had the silly "let's be artistic" camera shots that reeked of film school "let's try that!!!" silliness at times. Plus they loved the quick edits but did not do it the expensive way; multiple takes of the scene, cut it all up into the few second shots then combine. Rather it was a bunch of short takes which always looks like a split second before "ACTION" was called. Facial expressions vary between clips and motion looks like it has just began. Perhaps the ending was "almost" there so a 2nd season is a possibility but unless it is a real resolution of the first I won't watch. I wasted 8 hours on this and between wasted time on a pointless secondary plotline and does not resolve anywhere past what I figured out in the first couple of episodes there is no reason to waste time on a second season that does not resolve either.

Shifting Gears (2018)

Very good realistic dirt track action

[8/10 · 2 January 2020]

This is not a R rated film but one you can actually take kids to. The actors were great with a very PG script (any one of the veteran actors can be seen in big budget films) with just enough hints along the way to kind help set up the ending without being heavy-handed and making it with a nice twist that one might not see coming. The best part is the use of a real track and it looks like they hired the local drivers and their cars for the race scenes with maybe 10 seconds in total of stock footage from the same track of actual racing to get some large crowd shots. Almost every shot looked like actual full speed racing especially on the corners. They actually looked like they were racing, trading paint and sliding in those corners. The fans were likely local race fans and there were quite a few of them so it appears the movie shoot was a big deal for the track, the drivers and their fans and they certainly came out when asked to be part of this movie. It appears that between the drivers and the movie director, they put on a show that enabled them to get some great crowd shots because the fans looked like any race night at the local dirt track. The director also did not have to use obvious movie tricks to make the crowd look larger (that always fail); that was a huge plus for this type of film. I can not emphasize how much better the race scenes are compared to the usual low-speed Hollywood fake stuff one normally sees in films like this. The only way it would have been more convincing would have been a lot more trading paint and intentional spin-outs, but it would have been a little more hard to make Ratzenberger into a bad guy if they really portrayed the kind of racing that would really occur when $50,000 purses are on the line. But I doubt the movie budget would have withstood the price the car owners would have wanted and the cost of the repairs to the cars after the movie was shot for that kind of racing to be shot.

Okhota na gaulyaytera (2012–2013)

Great historical drama on a budget

[8/10 · 10 November 2019]

If you are a fan of the sort of quality movie making Italian Westerns have or just like Walker, Texas Ranger type of quality then you'll like this. The scripts telegraph the storylines and a lot of the characters are one-dimensional to the point of farce. Yet, most of the acting is good with what the actors are given; it's not their fault that they are given these scenes nor lines. The shots of sets of the inside of offices and homes are very well done but you can really see the limits a small budget presented to the production in large crowds and especially in action scenes. Then why did I give it an 8? I cared about the characters and was interested in the storylines. The acting was well done despite what the actors had to work with. Ignore the shortcomings (and even chuckle at them at times) and you'll like this.

Trading Paint (2019)

Decent film but hampered by staged racing

[6/10 · 8 September 2019]

This really could have been a good film, it had the actors with Travolta, Michael Madsen, Barry Corbin; who played Sheriff "Buck Taylor" and Buck Taylor himself (that's a sign the actors had fun making the film) with the two biggest names actually playing leading roles instead of cameo parts. They definitely used location shots utilizing the shops of the cars that they used in the racing scenes which made for a convincing film and I bet that car dealership (that Madsen "owned") sponsored one of the cars in real life as well. It was those racing scenes that was the failing of the film; no actual race footage was used so no real trading of paint was seen. If they had the budget to follow a group of cars around to several tracks racing in actual races with real crowd shots (a few scenes with actual race fans as extras could have been interesting) interspersed with the actors in staged shots this could have been a very good film.

Bonanza: The Blood Line (1960) Season 2, Episode 15

Lee Van Cleef has fun in this one

[7/10 · 6 April 2019]

Bonanza is one of those shows where you can tell actors are having fun while guest starring on them. Lee Van Cleef certainly was having fun. As always Lee's up to no good and he has a twinkle in his eye as he says his lines. My favorite ones are when Diane Jordan says, "I've seen you in every mining camp and every tanktown honkytonk between here and Mexico; even though you don't have the same face or the same fancy duds, you have the same cold eyes, the same way of walking and the same stink of killing on them" Lee, "Now that we understand each other, I'll have that drink"

The next one is, "You see I was listening outside your door, and it's not socially correct maybe but it's the way to find thing out" Only Lee Van Cleef could deliver those lines with that sly grin of his; any other "bad" man those wouldn't work at all.

Joe Butterfly (1957)

Light hearted

[7/10 · 14 May 2017]

One of my favorite type of movies is a comedy that has actors that normally don't do comedies and this is one. One doesn't think of comedies with Fred Nadar, John Agar or even Audie Murphy but you can tell they had great fun with this. The fun is evident by the silly grins that the actors had in almost every scene even when the dialog didn't warrant it. Take a gander at the scene that introduced Burgess Meredith's character; the actor behind the wheel of the jeep had a big grin on his face until he slipped a hand over his mouth then lowered it. You could tell that most of these men had served in the war and were reliving their youth and were having fun doing it, likely both on set and off. Unfortunately the video quality on YouTube is not the best but if one can overlook that it is worth you time to watch it.

One Under the Sun (2017)

watch it for the moments not the flaws

[7/10 · 19 March 2017]

Most of the reviewers are right, the technical aspects suffer from the low budget; the sets aren't perfect, many of the actors are one dimensional without nuances (maybe a additional writer could have provided better contrast), the clothing has that off the shelf newness about it and the necessity to use close ups because the budget would not allow expansive views can be annoying. However if one pays attention to the script it works but be aware attention is required. Do not view this as a Sci Fi film that focuses on special effects instead of a story, but rather an exploration of a story set in a Sci Fi film.

We Always Lie to Strangers (2013)

It never could make up it's mind

[6/10 · 27 August 2016]

What could have been 3 different documentaries got thrown together into one without much purpose. For some reason what could have been several distinctive stories lost themselves when put together no matter how connected they were together. We start with the Lennon and Priestley families and what could have been an interesting exploration of their rise to almost royalty in Branson was barely touched and when it was, it wasn't chronological, showed how they grew in prominence or even showed how they and their shows evolved; it was just jumping back and forth from past to present randomly. Then we are treated to the "newcomers" I guess to contrast (and that likely was the original idea behind all of this), but without actually showing contrast other than success and the impending failure. But at least they also had the added benefit of the contrast of "wholesome" established shows and a potty-mouthed performer in unguarded personal moments. The third story-line was a homosexual relationship and how difficult it was for one of the gentleman who had joint custody of his children from a prior marriage. That one could have actually had been a very interesting all by itself, (even a whole documentary could have been done about it) but it was as if the producers had just chanced upon it and just could not help themselves and decided to include it. They also decided that the viewer would find interest in a medical emergency, Republicans vs. Democrats and tourism dollars; semi-interesting footage but just because one has it does not mean you have to use it. That is what does not work with this, I'm pretty sure the idea was to contrast a successful show and the "glamor" that a established families had in giving them then show a contrasting story about a struggling show, however they got bogged down with subplots and footage that they loved but should have never included.

Mechanic: Resurrection (2016)

Come-on People it's a Statham movie!

[8/10 · 21 August 2016]

What I really dislike about some reviews is that the reviewer wants a "Gone With the Wind" epic blockbuster movie but goes to see a movie that never promises to be one. This is an escapist movie, there are going to be times that one needs to suspend belief. There are going to be holes in the script (or perceived ones if you don't pay attention; the script is the type where one needs to pay attention AND remember things). Sometimes the special effects may not be as realistic as one hopes (remember this is a movie not an documentary),but the editing is tight The stunts can be crazy; for example he jumps upon on top of a hang glider early on (it's telegraphed a couple of minutes prior to it happening so this is not much of a "spoiler").

If you want an full-on action movie in which Statham "resurrects" (get it?) his mechanic role you'll like the show, but if you want to see a tight great script with nuance maybe you should just stay home.

X Company (2015–2017)

it's a live action cartoon

[5/10 · 15 August 2016]

I love well done historical dramas even those that takes liberties with facts. This unfortunately is not well done. The actors try their hardest with the material they have and a few of them seem to given slightly better material than the others but their parts are pretty much are hampered by the poor writing. I understand that the youth of the actors is for the target audience so that can be forgiven (and the fact they all look like they were models previously) but who ever is in charge of wardrobe must be hampered by the budget. First season is in 1942 in occupied territories but everyone is wearing clothing freshly laundered (soap by then was scarce)and looks as if it was bought recently. Even the soldiers looked as if their uniforms were just issued (likely new is cheaper than used-looking in budgetary terms) Vehicles all look as if they've been leased from collectors than from suppliers that specialize in supplying war-torn vehicles to the industry. All of this could be forgiven if the writing was better. A couple of examples; they parachute into France to exchange real atom bomb research with phony stuff because that will hamper the German effort?!? They supposedly know exactly what the papers look like (so they produced exact copies with screwed up equations to substitute with) and knew where the guy with them would be so they could do the switch. However, even knowing all of this they had no idea he was gay which almost screwed up the operation! Next episode in occupied France (once again) and their contact was a jazz singing African American lady that somehow the "Master Race" allowed to continue to perform. The leaps the viewer is asked to ignore are numerous; large groups such as these were almost never inserted into Axis territories and certainly not to do what these are tasked to do. The death rate of agents was horrendous and certainly few were as lucky as these. Insertion and removal at such a frequency never occurred (would have been much more believable if they remained in occupied France. Hesitation to kill is just a silly plot device. The captured team member plot line is just silly as well. Hopefully the actors can overcome the cartoon they've been given to perform along with the amateurish production values and once they go onto new projects they will flourish.