messin18 Reviews

Family Guy (1999– )

Great show but lately it's getting far too political for my tastes.

[7/10 · 15 November 2008]

I own all family guy seasons so far and i have to say Vol. 6 has been the biggest disappoint of them all. There are still plenty of laughs to be found here but i think Vol. 6 like the last few volumes is slowly providing less and less laughs. At least for me.

The biggest annoyance i had with Vol. 6 is it seems to be VERY heavy in left wing politics. I'm a big believer in if you can laugh at other people you should be able to laugh at yourself but this Volume REALLY seems to shove their political view points down your throat and i think it takes a lot away from the show. Insinuated all conservative sates are horrible places, Insinuating we need more gun control, Insinuated school are under funded, Insinuated religious people are crazy, Bush is friends with the devil.. I could go on and this is just from the first three episodes.

Sure some of it was funny but there becomes a point when you're not making a comedy and you're really just shoving your political views on other people.

The Host (2006)

Fairly decent movie with a poor premise but strong characters and visuals.

[5/10 · 28 July 2007]

First I'm an American and i just watched this movie on blu-ray.

The picture and sound quality were fantastic. The movie itself was very visually interesting. It had a great look and feel to it.

The movie itself? Not all the great. I understand the high IMDb score as it's one of the biggest Korean movies ever but it doesn't exactly hold up to Hollywood.

The strengths? The characters were unique and like able. The family dynamic was interesting, believable, and moving.

There were a few very good stand out scenes. The first look at the monster attacking people, the break out from the hospital, and the brother getting away from the cops were all good.

The Weaknesses? The premise of the film is a big bad evil white American doctor forces a poor Korean employee to dump hundreds of bottles of chemicals down the drain because there is dust on them...

When your entire movie is based of of such a flimsy start it's hard to build from there.

The story doesn't get much better. Filled with a bit too much anti-US propaganda as well. It gets in the way of a realistic story imo.

The CGI on the monster is OK. It looks a bit dated but isn't all that bad.

The story kind of drags on. At times isn't very believable (this monster with huge teeth was able to "hold" the girl without harm twice) Like i said it's an OK movie with some great visuals. But if you're looking for a truly enthralling gripping story like Jaws this isn't it. Whoever put "on par with Jaws" on the cover should be ashamed.

The Last House on the Left (1972)

Horrible first half....Pretty good Last half.

[5/10 · 14 December 2006]

This movie has horrible acting, it's cut poorly, and several scenes don't make sense. But the last half of the movie is uniquely creepy.

Horrible Acting: Almost all of the performances are just plain bad. I've seen plenty of low budget horror movies with good acting so that is no excuse.

Cut Poorly: There are several parts of the movie that should have been cut. There are three separate mentions to "The phone is working now, glad you're phone is working now" Without any back story to the phone ever not working in the first place.

Also one of the scenes where a girl get stabs they cut back and suddenly she's in the middle of the woods by a tree... just a bad cut.

Bad pacing: The first half of the movie builds NO atmosphere or creepiness. They keep cutting to doofy music. After a brutal rape and murder (that was acted so poorly didn't seem very brutal at all) they cut to some comedic goofy scene of two cops trying to ride in a truck full of chickens... talk about killing any sort of atmosphere.

The last half: The last half of the movie actually gets better. The killers are staying with the parents of one of their victims. From this point on they atmosphere starts to build and it gets fairly creepy. They stop cutting to doofy music and it's actually pretty good.

Overall it's a great idea for a movie. This is one that should be re-made with better actors and a better editor. I'd only recommend it for horror fans that are digging deep to find horror

Stalker (1979)

Can't recommend it

[3/10 · 21 November 2006]

I enjoyed Solaris so i figured I'd also pick up stalker. Just got the recent US re-lease with US subtitles. The movie isn't all bad...it's very visually impressive and Part I of the movie is great. You're attention is grabbed early on and for the first hour or so you're slowly getting more and more information on what's going on and it gets more and more interesting. It's even a little bit creepy. The movie really works on your imagination because of how they present the zone.

But then part II comes. Extremely long, Way too much dialog, and no pay off. There is no reason it should have been a movie. It really should have remained a book with pictures. There was so much dialog and at the end this hyped up zone and room give us no interesting pay off. Visually interesting yes but there are 20 minute sections where the camera doesn't move and we just get very long slow dialog. Some of it i found interesting but the rest was rather dull.

The creepy "what in the hell is going on here" atmosphere that was built up in part I crashes quickly in part II and I'd have to say the movie flat lines at the end. It's even a stretch to call this movie a sci-fi. The most interesting super natural thing that happens is someone moving a glass nearly 2 and a half hours into the film.

Battlestar Galactica (2004–2009)

One of the best sci fis out now...but overrated and pretty full of holes

[2/10 · 30 October 2006]

I just purchased and watched all of Season 1. Still not sure I want to watch season 2 and if so it'll definitely be rented instead of bought.

This is the type of show that reminds me what sucks about TV. They just drag on the same annoying story lines FOREVER. Star Trek wasn't very linear so each show was usually a unique story. I thought maybe I'd enjoy the more linear story but was truly annoyed how long this show drags on the same old and tired story lines. Some episodes accomplish absolutely NOTHING and take a long time to do that. I'm so sick of the storyline with the Baltar and the hot blonde (number six) constantly appearing. There is no logic to it. Baltar knows who the Cylon on the ship is yet he doesn't turn her in. At the same time he's warned something is going to happen on the ship and is all afraid and wants to stop it.. HOW ABOUT TURNING IN THE Cylon YOU KNOW IS ON THE SHIP??? I'm guessing this show is so hyped up and overrated because there isn't really any good sci fi out there.

The holes in the first season really annoyed me too. The humans can easily detect nukes on other ships by the Cylons can't? The captain was ready to close his doors and jump without Apollo and starbuck in the 2nd episode but a few episodes later he's going to risk the entire fleet, use 45% of his fuel to try to find starbuck? How about when starbuck is in the Cylon space ship.. If they're so advanced how can the ship be flown by pushing a few levers. Secondly how would you repair a huge hole in an aircraft and by able to fly it under pressure by putting a bag in the hole. Lastly and most silly is when the captain says he isn't able to jump because the enemy craft is too close. This after we see the ship jump over and over again with craft closing all around it.

All that being said I LOVED the mini series. And one or two episodes were actually interesting and weren't all that annoying. But the majority of season 1 so far is truly annoying. Please tell me season 2 gets better?

The Forgotten (2004)

The preview for this movie ruined it.

[5/10 · 17 July 2006]

I had seen a preview of this movie and it looked very fast paced, intense, and interesting. After watching this movie in DVD i was sorry to find out the preview had given away all the the most interesting points to the movie and had even shown the best scene in it. There are really only two scenes in the entire movie that really stand out and one of them is shown in the preview.

The movie is definitely average and you'll find yourself getting pretty bored. The story does come together at the end but the ending leaves you with a feeling of "that's it?...".

The most annoying part for me was the horrible acting from the kid. They showed flash back after flash back after flash back of the little brat and his horrible acting was amplified.

White Noise (I) (2005)

Trys too hard to be scary

[5/10 · 17 July 2006]

This was a movie that seemed to have a lot of potential but tried too hard to be scary. The EVP part of the movie was very interesting and enjoyable. However you'll find yourself CONSTANTLY turning the volume up (trying to hear what the recordings are saying) and down (they constantly blare out very loudly some sounds and words).

Too many of the "scarey scenes" where just very loud noises at a moment of calm.

The story is interesting and i love the take on evp. If you watch closely you'll take away the fact that most people only hear what they want to hear out of the evp.

High Tension (2003)

Great first 40 minutes then.....

[7/10 · 16 July 2006]

Wow where do i start. The movie starts off GREAT! I'd have to say the first 40 minutes of the movie are the most intense, "high tension", and scary than in any movie I've ever seen. Unfortunately it starts going downhill after that and basically flatlines at the very end. If the movie had ended after the first 40 minutes I'd probably give this movie a 10 star review.

However the slow end and bad ending almost ruin this movie. I'm kinda sick of every movie having to have some twist at the end.....

If you are squeamish in the least bit DO NOT watch this movie. The movie is extremely graphic.

First Blood (1982)

Wow deleted scenes are great!

[8/10 · 15 July 2006]

I just bought this DVD at best buy for $4! I remember seeing it on TV a long time ago. I LOVE the movie and it's one of thoes flicks that really gives the viewer what they want.

They set up the cops to be total jerks that have it coming... And when it comes WHAM! very cool. This is definitely the best movie in the series.

Anyway there are two really good deleted scenes on the DVD. One is a VERY shocking alternate ending and the other is rambo having a flash back having sex with some woman. Scene has a good deal of nudity.

BUY THE DVD if you're a fan!

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

Soooo many holes...

[1/10 · 10 July 2006]

This movie feels so EMPTY. IN every scene in the movie the maximum number of actors on the screen is like 10. Because everything was shot in front of a blue screen there are never really any extras and the movie just feels weird.

The ACTING was HORRIBLE! It's so obvious this was in front of a blue screen because all of the action scenes you can see the actor/actress wondering around half running when they should be running for their lives.. Looking at the floor for their marks...

Spoilers: Also you'll find yourself banging your head watching the movie. At one point at Sky Captain's home base they have like 100 planes sitting on the airstrip. They have advanced warning an attack is coming... So what do they do? nothing. All of the planes get blown up and yet again the ONLY person fighting back is the Sky Captain...

THE ENTIRE world is under attack and he's the ONLY person ever fighting back. At the very end of the movie you see hundreds of plains taking off finally... but what do they do? Nothing... the movie is over...