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D-Gal
I wouldn't consider myself a professional critic, but I sure am good at watching movies! Seeing a new film is one of my favourite pastimes.
Failures make you humble.
I think, therefore I am..
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Fear the Walking Dead (2015)
It's okay, but it's easy to become distracted due to a boring dialog and dull characters
I am currently at the mid finale in season 2, and it's nothing special so far. I began watching this show because I watch AMC's "The Walking Dead" and although it is a good show, we as an audience don't actually know what caused the whole dead/undead outbreak, so I was hoping to catch a bit of insight via "Fear the Walking Dead"; as it turns out, I had high hopes because again, we don't know how it all began initially. It feels as if it's just a less entertaining "TWD" with less appealing characters. There's nothing new or exciting about it, which kind of feels a tad redundant and tedious at the best of times.
I am currently 13 episodes deep and so far I've only witnessed a compilation of drama, bad decisions and obnoxious or contemptible behavior, usually about who doesn't get along with who and how their families are so broken, blah blah blah. Most of the characters can be annoying with their petty behavior and childish decisions/logic which kind of just plays on a loop episode to episode, making you wish they'd leave the screen and never come back. Ever. I'd say 90% of the characters are unlikable and truly struggle to draw the viewer in. I do like the siblings, Nick and Alicia Clark for their quirkiness and likable essence. That being said though, Alicia doesn't get enough screen time and Nick's character is starting to become deranged and weird which is slowly ruining what little the show as has to offer, for me.
I'm hoping this TV show doesn't drag on for too long or else I will discontinue watching it. All I want to know is how the outbreak began; this will make me as a dead/undead fan, happy.
My current rating is 5.5/10, but slowly lowering. The show started as a 7.5/10, but after countless petty moments and ridiculous amount of obnoxious actions, the rating keeps dropping lower and lower, and doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. *sigh* Come on AMC, impress me. I really want to be excited by this show but you're not giving me much to work with here..
2015 through 2017 seems to be a bad few years for TV shows and movies. A lot of sloppy writing and seemingly rushed and unappealing storytelling *rolls eyes*
World of Tanks (2010)
A great strategic multiplayer game
World of Tanks is full of epic tank battles, furious skirmishes, and high-octane excitement. To ensure the highest rate of survival, one must play strategically by themselves or with a platoon to upgrade their tanks with equipment, consumables, skills and perks; playing with some friends in a platoon to ambush the enemies as a pack gives you the greatest chances of victory, depending on your battle strategy.
All tiered tanks (Tier I through Tier X) were incredibly well done when it comes to all aspects. Every tank from all tiers, countries and tank classes are different, all have their pros and cons, and though some tanks look similar, they are all individuals.
Deciding which tanks suit your play-style best while upgrading them for more efficient game-play is critical for absolute success in World of Tanks.
Light tanks are the eyes and ears of the team. You must use your superior maneuverability to spot the enemy, radio back to your team, and duck back quickly under cover before your opponents even know what happened. Always remember to keep moving! Your armor is very weak, so your tank cannot take many hits and survive.
Medium tanks are incredibly varied in their armor, speed, and firepower. Tailor your strategy to individual tank models and you'll find yourself taking on different roles from scouting, support or even front line attacks. Two is always better than one. Pair with another medium tank to take on heavies with double the effectiveness.
Heavy tanks are heavily armored and loaded with powerful guns, as a heavy tank you're a force to be reckoned with, and are generally feared on the battlefield. Though extremely powerful in comparison to the smaller tanks on the field, your tank may not be the fastest when it comes to maneuverability and fire rate, so never let your guard down. You may also be targeted first due to your potential effectiveness to your team, so stay vigilant always.
Tank Destroyers are well-equipped machines that are designed specifically for penetrating enemy armor from long distances, while remaining unseen. Find a good hiding spot, switch to sniper mode, and eliminate easy targets from across the map. These tanks are mostly hull-locked, so a good hiding place is critical, and an exit strategy is recommended for when you're in danger.
Artillery have thin armor, but possess immense firepower. With the ability to hit targets anywhere on the map from nearly any location, even under cover, artillery tanks can turn the tide of battle in the blink of an eye. But, think before you shoot! You might have the biggest gun on the team, but it can take awhile to reload so choose your targets wisely. Firing at the wrong time can also expose you, leaving you vulnerable for the imminent incoming barrage of shells.
Wargaming were very smart when it came to World of Tanks; they released it as a free game to download so that anybody who has an online account can play for free. Because this game has the potential to be addictive, they knew they'd make more revenue releasing as a free game considering that if you want the best of the best when it comes to tanks, equipment and rewards, you have to pay real money to access those which a lot of people do.
An online game only, and an excellent game to play with friends who also like strategic game-play. 8/10
Commander, out.
Triple 9 (2016)
What was the point?
A couple of months ago I saw the teaser trailer to this movie and thought it could be absolutely amazing! I just got around to watching it, and to say the least, I was pretty disappointed.
The list of actors cast for this movie was amazing, and the potential that could've been is astonishing (if the screenplay was much better). It's a great shame that so many well known names were put to waste.
It started very strong, and was a potential 9/10 rating! It was running at a steady pace and the characters seemed like they could very well be likable characters. As the story progressed, my rating for this movie was dropping one notch at a time..
The connections between the characters were confusing and very uninteresting, and the characters themselves were beyond paper-thin. There wasn't a single character that demanded the utmost attention from the viewer. Also, because we as members of the audience learned little to no details of the connections between these individuals and the full reason behind their motives, all connections felt seemingly pointless and out of place.
I found myself checking the run-time a lot, hoping that around the three-quarter mark there'd be an epic twist and it'd give the film some flavor; it never came... As soon as the credits came, I was totally and utterly gob-smacked. I sat there in awe, and said to myself out loud "Really? Are you kidding me? That's it? Wow.."
What was the point of this film? Maybe it made sense the people/person who wrote it, but to me? I had little to no clue what was happening. It was going this way.. it was going that way.. Nope, changed direction again.. Okay, there's a new character. Who is that? Oh you're not going to tell us who it is and what their connection is? Okay, then..
The acting was excellent. That being said, that's the only positive I can find to express this film as a whole.
I look forward to never watching this film again. Ever.
There's my biggest disappointment for 2016. 4/10. Sub-standard.
Chronicle (2012)
Tried really hard to love it, but felt it was lacking in many areas
I confess that I am a pretty big fan of found footage films, and if the screenplay is really good, the movie can be absolutely epic! I really wanted to love this movie because it had so much potential, but it didn't quite get there for me.
The idea of a large underground, glowing, foreign object that has the ability to give people telekinesis while being within a certain vicinity of it is an interesting and intriguing concept, but the story-line was very 2 dimensional. It was heavily based on the lives and actions of 3 protagonist teenagers whom possessed telekinetic abilities after contact, and the film never veered back to this object underground. We learned absolutely nothing about this object whatsoever. We don't know if anybody else discovered this object or if it ended up in government possession; we just don't know. Toward the end of the movie it felt like just another revenge/betrayal film as one of the teenagers turned on everybody and ended up feeling all too cliché for my liking.
The special effects weren't horrendous, but they weren't amazing. In saying that though, you can't expect pure greatness with only a 12 million dollar budget. I do praise the film for its ability to accumulate 126.6 million USD in the box office off of only 10 million USD.
I think a reboot of this movie with an altered story-line and a higher budget could be phenomenal. Bring in depth and sense of intrigue with better characters, an extremely enjoyable cast and limited cliché moments and you have yourself a stupendous film.
I personally feel that IMDb's rating of 7.1/10 is a little overrated for what, I feel, the film is as a whole, but I have a bad habit of looking too far into a movie; I always wait for and want the moments that truly blow me away so I'm okay with being picky.
All in all, it is an OKAY movie that you should watch once just for the sake of it. Everybody's preference in movies varies, but it's good to hire for a one time watch (to me).
Mediocre. Not for me. 5/10
No Escape (2015)
Captivating and suspenseful - Started very strong! Ending was nice, but below average
Most of the movie was a complete thrill ride and I did enjoy it; it had many depths and left me hanging on for the ride with sheer suspense. I didn't pick out many cliché moments, and certain scenarios left me in awe wondering what was going to happen because I couldn't predict what was going to happen. Look one way, it goes the other. The characters were likable and the protagonist family felt like a real family, which made me sympathize for them. I thoroughly enjoyed Pierce Brosnan's role and was pretty disappointed to see him go out, but he made sure he went out with meaning which was good.
In saying all that though, I was originally going to rate this film an 8, but the ending I felt was quite sub-standard. It was touching, but it wasn't a good way to conclude an entire film. As a member of the audience, I wanted to see the family return to the United States as a recuperating family slowly recovering from their traumatic experience, Owen Wilson's character to seek a new career path and world wide news coverage on television reciting the mayhem that had just unfolded before finally concluding.
All in all an enjoyable 100 minutes. Good screenplay. Good acting. Likable characters. Disappointing ending.
6/10
Wild Card (2015)
Started as a 7, ended as a 4 - Great performance by Jason Statham - Ordinary plot
I'm usually quite intrigued by Jason Statham's movies because he has this likable essence about him, and he usually plays a super bad-ass (If I'm allowed to say that..) but I feel that this movie was lacking in many areas.
Most of the characters were seemingly 2 dimensional and hardly believable; the only 2 characters you really learn a bit about is "Nick Wild" played by Jason Statham and "Cyrus Kinnick" played by Michael Angarano; beside these 2 individuals, everybody else felt so paper- thin and out of place.
There were a lot of scenarios in this film that seemed quite pointless because they didn't exactly fit in and the characters also felt pointless, and we had no idea who these individuals were as people because we didn't learn any details about them; they felt like small-time scenes to fill the gaps to meet the runtime requirements.
I liked "Cassandra", the blonde waitress whom Wild seemed to fancy, though the chemistry between those two never really went anywhere because at the end, Wild got into a car and drove off, followed by credits. I was hoping for a more in depth conclusion, but it felt rushed, which made it uninteresting and unexpected (in a bad way).
The most entertainment I got from this film was Statham's fight scenes. Once again, his "don't mess with me" vibe was brilliant to watch, but besides these moments, the film as a whole was a pretty big flop (in my opinion)..
The film had potential but felt rushed and messy. Disappointing and sub-standard screenplay. 4/10
The Condemned 2 (2015)
Wow... I wasn't expecting much, but really? That was awful...
I have seen "The Condemned" a few times since its release because although it has its obvious flaws, it has a lot of entertainment to it; on IMDb I rated the first film 7/10, which is pretty good in my books. I was looking at the related films section on IMDb and saw that there was a "The Condemned 2" movie and I had no idea! So I thought to myself, "awesome! This should be reasonable". I just got around to watching it last night, and well, my goodness, it was dreadful...
Character development: What characters? These people are practically nameless. We know almost nothing about them.
Acting: I have seen juniors on their first produced film act so much better. Most of the so called "characters" acting were so shallow and barely believable. It was painful to watch.
Screenplay: *groans* I think whoever wrote this script jotted the whole rough copy down on paper in a maximum of 2 hours and stuck with it..
The predictability in this film too! Everything that happened, you could see coming a mile away. There seemed to be excessive explosions.. ALL THE TIME.. Excessive amounts of gun fights.. ALL THE TIME.. and not to mention, slooooooow moooootion.. ALL THE TIME!...
If the screenplay of an action flick is done right, you should have a balance between pure action, drama and character development. You need a build up and intrigue toward characters, so that the suspense of the action grabs you, sits you down and makes you watch with anticipation. This film failed as an enjoyable action flick, in every possible way.
Also, this film is barely a sequel to the first and it scars "The Condemned" name by claiming to be a part of it. The first film was mentioned once for a brief moment in the entirety of the film.
I didn't have high hopes because of the rating, but Jesus. What were WWE Studios/Lionsgate thinking?
This film is only rated 4.2/10 and it is STILL overrated; that is depressing. Absolutely horrendous and extremely disappointing. 1/20
Surf's Up (2007)
Genuinely funny - Enjoyable cast - A great way to spend 80 minutes - Awesome, duuuude
I really liked this movie! It was quite unique and far from cliché like a lot of other films, and the humour in it was totally admirable! For a children's movie, it was genuinely entertaining! It has this imperfect nature about it that made it almost perfect, and for that I applaud the writers and directors.
The characters were all enjoyable to watch except two, "Reggie Belafonte" played by James Woods, and "Tank 'The Shredder' Evans" played by Diedrich Bader, but in saying that, every film needs its villain-like characters, so it's totally cool.
I really loved the character "Chicken Joe", played by Jon Heder; he was always amusing to watch and he had this stoner, peace-and-love, hippy surfer dude vibe about him, and he was always so mellow and carefree! I love it! And not to forget, hilarious!
I'm actually astounded that it's only rated 6.8/10 on IMDb because I feel as if it deserves a little more recognition than that. It's a complete stand-out and not just your average animated drama that tends to have a lot of "seen it" and "been done before" moments.. I guess people love cliché..
Overall, a totally enjoyable film that I'd definitely re-watch, especially with my nieces and nephews. I'm not sure if they've seen it or not, I'll have to ask them, but I think they would love it!
Radical, dude! 8.5/10
Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
Action packed - Gripping performances - Unrealistic, though highly entertaining
This is the second time I've watched this film, and I liked it just as much as the first time I watched it.
I've always been a logical thinker since I was able to understand things in life fully, and some of the things strike me as highly unlikely or improbable in this film, but though as seemingly far- fetched and unrealistic as "Olympus Has Fallen" is, it's a great film to just shut the logical side of your brain off, wind down and simply enjoy the thrill-ride of sheer action and suspense.
The film is predictable and somewhat overly patriotic at times (especially the ending), but it's still awesome fun and leaves you hanging on for the ride.
The scrip was pretty good, the acting was excellent and the characters were kind of 2 dimensional but the atmosphere of the film itself makes it feel less important.
I was pretty bummed about the special effects to be completely honest though. For a film that had a 70 million dollar budget, you'd think they'd put in a little extra time and effort making the special effects look somewhat real at least; surely the actors weren't paid so much that cuts were made to CGI. It seemed a little, how do I say it... Cartoony? Oh well, the special effects were only a tiny portion of the film, I guess.
I'm yet to watch the sequel to this film, "London Has Fallen", and I'm not expecting a flawless film at all, but although it may be just as far-fetched and implausible as the first film, I'm hoping my point of view will be very similar; fun-filled, action packed goodness.
If you're a person who enjoys some excellent shoot 'em up scenes with a story that makes sense though as improbable as it may be, then this film is definitely for you! If solid action doesn't particularly fit in your area of enjoyment, then avoid this film and watch something else.
8/10. Great fun!
Time Lapse (2014)
I love science fiction, but why oh why is it so hard to find a good sci-fi movie!
To put it lightly, this movie is quite overrated. It lacked many depths, the main two depths being character development and sense of intrigue.
The idea of a camera that could take snapshots 24 hours and beyond into the future is pretty cool I must admit, but the storyline/plot was appalling and uninteresting.
1. Everything's fine. 2. They discover this time lapse camera. 3. Everything starts to spiral downhill. 4. The friend turns rogue and tries to kill the couple. 5. Two people die and one gets arrested. 6. The end.
Oh, how exciting. Just another love triangle/betrayal movie.
The acting was mediocre to good, but the character development was atrocious; also, all 3 main characters were irritating at the best of times. We learned that the female of the situation just wanted her boyfriend to notice her and to not be so distant toward her. We learned that the boyfriend wanted to be a painter. We learned that the friend of the two just wanted to gamble his money away and was a greedy individual who had little to no regards for anybody else. Besides that, we learned nothing of these people.
Why is it so hard for most of these science fiction movies to bring absolute fascination, and have the ability to draw you in with sheer curiosity? The only curiosity I got while watching this film was looking at the timer to see how long the movie had left so I could go do something else with my time because the film with just taking too long to come to a conclusion.
I was looking forward to watching this movie because a 6.4/10 average rating is pretty good for a sci-fi film, but I ended up leaving gravely disappointed.
Substandard. 4/10
The Revenant (2015)
Phenomenal acting - Praiseworthy scripting - Oscar worthy performance
I love that this film allowed us to see things from the Native American's perspective as-well, and not just the New-American hunting teams perspective.
What many movies lack nowadays is the ability to really showcase character development, though I feel this movie succeeded in this. If you can grow attached to a certain character in a film, then the development of that character is portrayed correctly. I like that.
Leonardo DiCaprio is my favorite actor of all time, because he is able to smash any role he plays with pure believability. I haven't seen all of Leo's films, but my favorite performances of his were from the movies "The Wolf of Wall Street", "Inception", "Shutter Island", "Blood Diamond" and now my all time favorite performance of his is "The Revenant"; he absolutely dominated this role! His ability to portray a character with such depth is stupendous. He has previously played many good character rolls, yet no Oscar; if he doesn't not get an Oscar from the most in-depth character yet, then I have no idea how he will ever get an Oscar.. Give this man and Oscar already! HE DESERVES IT! 10 TIMES OVER!
I'm not usually one for slow paced films because they tend to drag on and on for eternity, but for the slow paced film this was, it was very intriguing. I love a film that can capture you in the moment and really bring you in on their story. Although, I do believe The Revenant ended prematurely. Though this movie goes for 156 minutes, I feel as if an extra 10-15 minutes could have been added to create a superb ending, making for a near perfect film.
If you struggle to stay enticed by a slow paced film because it doesn't have fast pace action and/or story movement, then I recommend you steer clear of this movie because it's most likely not for you. For those who don't mind if a movie is slow paced because it has a phenomenal story build-up and admirable character development, then I'd recommend the watch!
8/10
Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997)
Poor storyline - Okay acting - Overall, an extremely ordinary film
I didn't expect much from this film because the rating on IMDb was so low, but I just thought people were being overly harsh critics toward this movie because it slightly didn't live up to the expectation of the first "Speed" movie; turns out, the rating is actually quite generous for what the film is as a whole.
The movie started off okay and at a steady pace, and I was somewhat enjoying it! Then as the movie progressed, section by section, it rapidly declined and I was constantly checking the runtime to see how long the movie had left, because I wanted it to be over.
The storyline was so sloppy, uninteresting, and there was little to no character development. I didn't grow attached to one character; not one. That's sad.
Toward the end of this movie, I actually started to root for the bad guy, John Geiger (Willem Dafoe). As sadistic as it sounds, I was hoping the cruise ship would collide front on with the oil tanker at full speed so they both exploded, and Dafoe would get away with his jewels and live happily ever after. You know a movie is pretty ordinary if you're not rooting for the good guys, and you want a disastrous ending instead of a happy one. At least it would have made the movie somewhat exciting.
And what was with the scene where the cruise ship became beached on the towns edge? It was just a little excessive. For how little the ship actually went inland, it seemed like it went at least a km, because it dragged on for quite a long time. Also, was the entire township made with a wooden ground? The ship was at least 50 meters past the docking area and wooden planks were still being ripped up by the ship. I don't understand...
I don't plan on ever watching this movie ever again, because there are better ways to spend 120 minutes.. In all honesty, this movie went for 2 hours and 1 minute too long, though still not the worst movie I have ever watched.
I'll be generous and give this movie a 3/10
Pearl Harbor (2001)
Superb film - Believable acting - Well written - Severely underrated
I seriously do not understand the utter hate toward this film by critics when writing their reviews. "Historically inaccurate" or "Just another love story" or "boring!"... If you want to see a film that is totally historically accurate, watch a documentary for heavens sake. This movie goes way out of proportion to what really happened that day in Pearl Harbor, but it is a MOVIE! Get over it. It's not supposed to be real.
The film as a whole is brilliantly written; it's not too soppy with the romance and not too over the top with pure action. People are saying that it's just too much shoot 'em up and too many explosions. Well, I got news for you... They're at war! Bombs will go off and guns will be fired from all places possible. If you want to see a movie that's not so explosive, watch Twilight.
To me personally, character development is very important in a movie and I believe Pearl Harbor succeeded with this. I grew attached to individuals and felt vulnerable as a member of the audience at the best of times. Absolutely superb watch, and I'd highly recommend it! If you're offended by a film not being entirely accurate, steer clear and stick to your documentaries.
9/10! Excellent!
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Overall an enjoyable film - Could've had a more in depth conclusion
I love this film and have loved it since the first time I watched it 10 years ago. It has great acting, great CGI for a film that is 11 years old and could be a somewhat plausible scenario; an ice age has occurred in the past and may very well happen again. I love that it highlights the problem of excessive pollution to our atmosphere by burning fossil fuels at an extraordinary rate and the damages that may come into effect if this issue continues for years to come. The overall plot was brilliant...
...BUT! In saying that, as a member of the audience, I really do WISH the conclusion was better written. The film goes for 120 minutes as is but it didn't feel nearly that long because it has an intriguing and empowering plot with the ability to really lure you in, so there would have been no harm whatsoever adding an extra 20-30 minutes onto the film to fulfill a greater overall conclusion. I would have liked to see nation wide search and rescues, survivors being reunited with their surviving relatives and loved ones, and time passing (months to years) after the cataclysmic event to showcase the ultimate rebuild of western civilization. I feel this movie ended way too prematurely, which lead to many loose endings and unanswered questions. Where there are unanswered questions, a sequel is recommended and/or desired, but you cannot create a sequel to a movie such as this because it's a scenario that would likely happen once in a substantial amount of time, so the writers/directors were fools not to conclude better. Such a pity really; this movie is great, but it had so much more potential. Instead of being a "great" film, it could have been a "10/10! Stupendous! Highly recommended!" film. Nevertheless, still an overall good movie to watch at least watch once.
8/10
Beneath (2013)
I wish I didn't spend 90 minutes of my time watching this
This movie started off as a 7/10 and I thought "oh yeah, I'm in for an interesting movie", then it gradually degraded as the minutes passed.
To me, this movie is in no aspect a horror movie. There were no scenes that left me on edge, intimidated me or made me jump; it is a thriller, at most, and even that's pushing it. I honestly don't know what genre this movie should be... It was extremely sloppy, poorly written, very predictable and in no way alluring; the characters were also extremely mild, and I've forgotten most of their names already...
There was only one character I wanted to survive because I liked her and that was Deb, yet she was killed off first. I'm the type of person that likes to see at least one survivor in a movie, so they can tell people the ordeal they have been through and maybe even skip forward a few weeks or months to see how they're holding up, yet every character on the boat dies, and nobody but the old man knows what happened. It then cuts to credits...
There was also no solid plot with both loose endings and unanswered questions, such as: Why were they at the lake to party in the first place? Why did Johnny take his friends to the lake without telling them about the suspected creature that lurks within? If this group of people were "friends", why did they show little to no remorse when their friends were sacrificed for the benefit of the remaining survivors, or just died in general? To me, this movie was not at all believable, or enjoyable.
I regret watching this movie, and shake my head that it is characterized as a "horror" because it is in no way scary.
The only reason I'm rating it a 3/10 instead of a 1/10 is because it started as a reasonable movie; other than that, it was unbelievably dreadful, not worth the watch in my opinion and I wish I could get my 90 minutes back.