kentor404 Reviews

MH370: The Plane That Disappeared (2023)

Don't waste your time

[1/10 · 3 April 2023]

I knew only the basics about MH370, so when I saw this "documentary" listed I decided to give it a watch. All I wanted were the facts and educated opinions from people qualified to give them. Going into it I was a little surprised to see it's a three part presentation. How could it possibly take that long to tell the story? Well, now I know. When you apparently have no time constraints and choose to devote most of the time to convoluted conspiracy theories with no requirement that they be rooted in reality, then it's no wonder the thing came out so long. If they had stuck to evidence it likely could have been wrapped up in an hour or less.

I'd be hard pressed to pick which theory was the most ludicrous, but when part three was devoted to the fevered ramblings of the French journalist (with a book to sell), I lost patience and gave up hope of it ever returning to a factual basis. I'm a USAF veteran with some insight into the things she was alleging, and they were so nonsensical I gave up and fast forwarded through the remainder of her time on screen, which took up most of part three. A couple of the interviewees who seemed more rooted in reality were given a brief rebuttal, and they could hardly conceal their contempt for her theories. Why wasn't the presentation more centered around people like them? Because sensationalism is what sells, not truth and honesty.

If convoluted, far-fetched nonsense (aka "Occam's Facepalm") on the level of one of those junk cable TV shows about Bigfoot, UFOs, or buried treasure is your thing, by all means, give this series a watch. For those with even a modicum of critical thinking ability, look elsewhere.

Patsy & Loretta (2019 TV Movie)

Enjoyable

[8/10 · 27 March 2023]

Although I doubt I'm in the demographic the makers of this movie had in mind, I happened to see the title and thought, why not? I'm not a big C&W fan, but I am a distant cousin of Lorretta Lynn and am interested in her life story. My mom was the same age as LL and grew up in that same general area before moving away after WW2 ended and dried up the coal related jobs in that region. I liked the Coal Miner's Daughter movie and have always thought Patsy had a wonderful voice, so I gave this movie a try. I'm glad I did.

I had never seen anyone in this movie in anything else or even heard of them before I watched it, so I think that made it easier for me to accept them in their roles. Neither female lead really looks very much like who they're portraying IMO, but they're close enough that I didn't find it distracting. I enjoyed their performances including their voices enough that I have re-watched this movie a few times in the past year. The fact they could both do their own singing also helped with the believability, versus the jarring "That's obviously NOT their voice" overdubbing found in similar movies.

There are a few minor boo boos with the timeline and aspects of the story vs. Reality, but nothing too egregious. It's not a documentary, but it's about as close as Hollywood gets to accuracy.

Operation Mincemeat (2021)

Inaccurate title

[5/10 · 13 May 2022]

A better title for this film would have been "Operation Mincemeat Plus a Load of Irrelevant, Fictitious Silliness".

It's not just that they included a fictitious love story that was simply implied in passing or that occupied only a scene or two. No, they kept going back to it over and over again and dwelling on it to the point where it nearly overshadowed the operation itself and, like other fictitious elements in this film, it ultimately goes nowhere.

The unnecessary subplots and repetitive, belaboring scenes related to the main plot frequently cause the story drag. At one point, judging by the main storyline, I thought the film had to be in its last quarter. I checked the running time and was surprised to see the film was only halfway through. Then toward the end there came a point where the main story is wrapped up but the movie kept going on. I again checked the timeline and was surprised to see that it still had several minutes to go. What could they possibly have left to talk about other than the romantic subplot? At that point I gave up and stopped it.

As all "based on an actual historic event" films tend to be more a reflection of when they're made rather than the time period in which they're set, this one is no exception in several aspects. There's never a point where I could forget that I was watching actors in 2021 pretending to be something they're not (and weren't) in 1943. This aspect was not helped by groan-inducing flubs in military decorum and protocol. The on-set presence of anyone who had ever been in the military could have taught them not only WHEN to salute (or not), but also HOW to salute. The awkward mix of American and British style salutes from supposed British officers never lets you forget you're watching actors who never spent a day of their life in the actual military in 1943 or otherwise.

The film does feature some very good actors but the materiel they're given to work with tends to be thin and flat. Of those actors are several who have played similar roles in many British period films made over the past twenty years, which can be another distraction. I found myself sometimes thinking "Oh, there's King So-and-So" or some other character from some other movie.

Overall it was the type of film that I didn't mind seeing once (for free) but would not watch again.