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jeffturner1988
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Coherence (2013)
Notice all these reviews are for the same movie, yet every review is different... THATS THE ENTIRE POINT THE MOVIE MAKES.,
Waste the time, effort, and emotional currency you and those around you have arguing over the inconsequential details of the unchangeable past so as to dodge major responsibility for the current state of events (and in doing so knowingly force someone else to bear the repricussions of the outcomes you caused and expect them to be fine with it when you yourself refuse to be- wtf?!? Right)
OR
Own the past, admit fault, seek forgiveness, and move forward towards a contentful, trusting, joyful future. Leave people in the past who can't let the past go, EVEN IF THAT PERSON IS U.
The movie btw does a great job as an analogy to how no two realities are exactly identical because no two people will ever comprehend the exact same thing in the exact same way. In fact, the more details people recall about the same events, the wider the variations get, not the narrower. Reality is never fixed. It changes moment by moment, purely by the infinitely subtle differences in perspective of those observing.
The 4400 (2004)
Good but not great.
Binged the entire series recently on Netflix. The show premiered in 2004 and has 45 episodes listed across 4 seasons. TV series production at the time was still firmly based on the network broadcaster 22 weekly episodes format, but the 4400 was produced with half that count (or less) for it's run.
The actors and production quality meet or beat any expectation one could have for a tv series. The script on the other hand...
The lines are well written? Yes. The characters believable? Mm.. yeah. Cohesion of plot points episode to episode? eh, that's my only nay.
The episodes though produced on a 10 or less count per season, often felt disjointed, like there were 21 other episodes to disperse character behavior that in 10 episodes became implausible at times.
No spoilers, but seeing protagonist hubs of characters flip to the behavior of antagonists when it's suits personal needs while hammering out justice to total strangers for doing the same things more or less is by far the writers not grasping the shorter season format and fluidity of storyline it calls for. Today, 10 episode seasons are common, and production is basically one long, continuous movie. Not having an episode to episode script continuity leaves characters in hypocritical situations again and again and again. l
Wanted (2008)
Its a FANTASY FILM BASED ON A COMIC BOOK, geeze, just have fun with this vehicle or you will miss the present inside the slick wrapping!
Every now and then a movie comes out that has elements which fly completely over the head of many otherwise savy film buffs. From the polarized reviews here, "Wanted" is clearly such a work. The differences of opinion in reviews remind me very much of those on IMDB for "The Signal" with Lawrence Fishburn. So eager to say why they think this or that is wrong or bad, they pick apart a movie in it's literal sense and choose to completely miss what the movie's trying to convey. A jaded perspective that demands a movie be strictly confined to our reality will serve nothing for a viewing of a fantasy film, thereby losing the perspective that puts everything in a context the director and writers don't feed or preach to you but offer up the clues that allow you to open your minds eye as well. Either way, you won't feel like you wasted your regularly scheduled movie couch time at the end of Wanted unless you whine about "that cant really happen" ... no chit, it's a fantasy film - but maybe like me, you may give it several watches and enjoy the fourthwall piercing narratives which are the lens to the higher plane the movie conveys. I also enjoyed the humor - disdain as comedy is squeezed in rather well, complimenting rather than distracting from the roller coaster ride. And like a good thrill ride, the movie is meant to be fun - don't look for finger nail biting tension or characters to cry for because they aren't here nor are they meant to be. Look for characters whose roles are more metaphoric to the internal conflicts sparring for position in the heart and mind of a typical everyday person. You can think about doing what you wish you could and be defeated by your own doubts and addictions to your status quo, or you can choose to listen to the one idea for a life less ordinary as you define such - and not just answer the question "why am I here?" But actually get up and fulfill it. Or you can choose to watch it as a technical critic with jaded tunnel vision (imagine being in line for a ride with that guy, telling you why everything about the ride should be different or isn't just right... No thx mr. buzzkillington, I choose not to miss whole point.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
"Mad Max" may be the title, but Theron is the Road Warrior.
Watched Mad Max. Keep in mind the sequel to the original "Mad Max" was a movie called "The Road Warrior" released in the early 80s which single handedly defined and ushered in the genre of post apocalyptic survival in worlds gone mad. There was always however, clearly defined lines of who is good and who is bad that the audience can cheer for, sympathize with, and as well hold contempt for, despite the "good guys" often having to do things just as bad as the bad guys.
The new "Mad Max" throws no pretensions of righteousness on the audience. This movie, its director, and its screenwriter understand that in such a world.. everyone is bad. This is not a "fun" movie. This is not a "feel good summer flick" ... its a two hour journey into hell with a devil on both shoulders. And its brilliant.
I won't give spoilers.. but had the movie been called "The Road Warrior" then beyond any doubt that Warrior would be Charlize Theron rather than the actor who does play "Mad Max" for which other than being "who" is in the first scenes of the movie, is no more fit for survival than any of the other characters. He is the one whose perspective is often used to relay events that Theron invokes but no one is the actual center of. Instead an array of characters collide again and again as the three primary roles fight their way across the wasteland. This eclectic mix of personalities and bizarre personas are played out relatively small amounts of screen time, but by actors and a screenplay so perfectly on target it only takes those few minutes to attach ourselves to them and realize the madness they call normal life.
The score transcends the movie. There are times when the most intense moments of wanton death are accompanied by passages of orchestra matched with cinematography that shows a requiem to insanity which laments those dying rather than making them prop pieces blown up for us to be "thrilled" by. We the audience witnesses the only reactions characters in such a world can have when hope is not the reason one lives, but the glee of dying gloriously for a cult of personality one believes will carry them after death. This readiness to die... ITS the reason we sympathize with them. The wasted loyalty is sad.. their joy at death the ultimate symptom of how truly mad the world is... our sympathy for the devil as it rears it head over and over makes us come face to face with the fact that the devil has no where else to go either when the whole world is hell.
Spare Parts (2015)
Well worth the 83 minutes of running time.
Life is consists of moments going by one at a time. What we choose to do with each moment can cause barely a ripple in the next, or it can completely change our life and the moments yet to be had. When Hollywood is able portray real examples of how such decisions in fact HAVE changed lives for the better, the movie itself has TWO qualities that must be considered. The first of course is the quality of production, script, direction, soundtrack, and so on that makes a movie viable or relegates it to B status. This movie PASSES such standards. Can you pick it apart technically in some regards? What movie can't you? I appreciated the non-patronizing, non-melodramatic script and the low key, down to earth portrayals of people who in fact are High School students and their teachers, not Ghandi or the American Sniper. The second aspect to consider with this movie is the balance of making it so their story can be told though within the constraints of budget allowed or not making it at all. I very happy they did make it and I would recommend it to anyone. Pick it apart to death if you like.. so what? The events really happened, regardless of whether this movie was made or not. yet some will still focus only on the production, and not the story.. sad...
The Signal (2014)
What you think you are watching is not. Look for the hints.
It's clear there is a big divide on this movie's rating. There is one particular scene that you either get or don't get to which your rating may fall. That is when trying to escape the facility in a wheelchair the protagonist can't reach the numbers too high for him to input a code. If you understand how that one scene summarizes what is really going on, the entire movie opens up into a masterpiece of sci-fi.