The Sixth Sense
(1999)
I had always just liked (not loved) this movie. Recently I watched a review of The Sixth Sense on YouTube. Chris Stuckmann was doing a wrap up of several M. Night Shyamalan's older movies before Mr. Shyamalan's The Visit (2015) premiered. I was so affected by Mr. Stuckmann's review that I re-watched The Sixth Sense. After this recent viewing, I decided this film was worth 5 stars (my version of Mr. Stuckmann's A+ rating). Forget the twist at the end. This movie is superior on so many levels, directing, acting, cinematography, soundtrack, set design and script. Unfortunately with everyone so taken with THE TWIST, it probably affected Mr. Shyamalan's choices and certainly viewers' expectations. This movie is a primer for anyone who wants to tell an affecting and entertaining story. It is certainly a movie that can be watched multiple times with the enjoyment of catching little details missed on a previous viewing. I would recommend this movie to anyone over 12. While it might be a little intense for younger and sensitive children, watching this movie with an adult would probably be suitable. Everyone involved with this movie should be proud that they had a part in its creation.
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
iZombie
(television series on the CW channel)
Season 1 - 13 episodes
Currrently (09/2015) in Season 2
This is a clever, humorous procedural with supernatural themes. While elements of this series echo the plot construction of Tru Calling (tv series 2003-2005), I still found iZombie to be an enjoyable and involving series. iZombie has a subversive kind of humor. The characters are fully realized with personalities, jobs and backstories. Their interest in one either feels honest and believable. The title of the series is a big spoiler which is nice, so worrying about spoilers becomes a moot point. The beginning credits are pictured graphically giving the viewer a 60 second summary which will prepare the viewer for the basic universe in which this story is placed. The main character, Olivia "liv" Moore (the pun is obvious) is the titular heroine. She changed from cardiac surgeon to the morgue's medical examiner for metabolic reasons. The actress, Rose McIver excels at and seems to enjoy portraying different skills, attitudes and knowledge from one episode to the next. She helps the police solve crimes by using the zombie ability to absorb memories from the victims by doing something for which zombies are infamous. Her "condition" is mostly secret. This series is full of characters such as an ex-boyfriend, roommate, mother, brother, police detective, Liv's boss at the morgue and quite an assortment of criminals (from minor to quite bad). I have not read the comic book series (created by writers Chris Robertson and Michael Allred, published by DC Comic's Vertigo division), so I cannot say how the tv and comic differ. This streaming service only has season 1. Season 2 is currently (09/2015) being shown on the CW channel. Hopefully season 2 will be picked up by this service.
(television series on the CW channel)
Season 1 - 13 episodes
Currrently (09/2015) in Season 2
This is a clever, humorous procedural with supernatural themes. While elements of this series echo the plot construction of Tru Calling (tv series 2003-2005), I still found iZombie to be an enjoyable and involving series. iZombie has a subversive kind of humor. The characters are fully realized with personalities, jobs and backstories. Their interest in one either feels honest and believable. The title of the series is a big spoiler which is nice, so worrying about spoilers becomes a moot point. The beginning credits are pictured graphically giving the viewer a 60 second summary which will prepare the viewer for the basic universe in which this story is placed. The main character, Olivia "liv" Moore (the pun is obvious) is the titular heroine. She changed from cardiac surgeon to the morgue's medical examiner for metabolic reasons. The actress, Rose McIver excels at and seems to enjoy portraying different skills, attitudes and knowledge from one episode to the next. She helps the police solve crimes by using the zombie ability to absorb memories from the victims by doing something for which zombies are infamous. Her "condition" is mostly secret. This series is full of characters such as an ex-boyfriend, roommate, mother, brother, police detective, Liv's boss at the morgue and quite an assortment of criminals (from minor to quite bad). I have not read the comic book series (created by writers Chris Robertson and Michael Allred, published by DC Comic's Vertigo division), so I cannot say how the tv and comic differ. This streaming service only has season 1. Season 2 is currently (09/2015) being shown on the CW channel. Hopefully season 2 will be picked up by this service.
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010)
Netflix - 10/06/2015
Subversive, wickedly funny and suitably gory are all traits of Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. This movie was recommended by a friend and ETC News/Machinima (YouTube channel) so I decided to give it a try. Absolutely loved it. Only gave the movie 4 stars out of 5 because I did see the plot twist coming very early. I continued watching and consider my one hour and 29 minutes well-spent. I laughed and screamed (scaring my two cats deeply). Tucker (Alan Tudyk), Dale (Tyler Labine) and Allison (Katrina Bowden) played into the comedy by not acting self-aware and thus were exceptionally good. The "college students" were all somewhat 2-dimensionally stupid (but this fits the genre theme) with one very violent exception. I would like to see these two (or three, as Allison has therapy skills) in a sequel. Consider this a recommendation for new programming from this streaming service beginning with the letter N.
Netflix - 10/06/2015
Subversive, wickedly funny and suitably gory are all traits of Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. This movie was recommended by a friend and ETC News/Machinima (YouTube channel) so I decided to give it a try. Absolutely loved it. Only gave the movie 4 stars out of 5 because I did see the plot twist coming very early. I continued watching and consider my one hour and 29 minutes well-spent. I laughed and screamed (scaring my two cats deeply). Tucker (Alan Tudyk), Dale (Tyler Labine) and Allison (Katrina Bowden) played into the comedy by not acting self-aware and thus were exceptionally good. The "college students" were all somewhat 2-dimensionally stupid (but this fits the genre theme) with one very violent exception. I would like to see these two (or three, as Allison has therapy skills) in a sequel. Consider this a recommendation for new programming from this streaming service beginning with the letter N.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)