panpiper Reviews

The Walking Dead (2010–2022)

Absolutely deplorable ethics

[1/10 · 14 March 2015]

I've got nothing against the idea of a series about a zombie apocalypse. The production values in this show are top notch, which I am sure has a lot to do with it's popularity. I wish I could watch this show.

However people form opinions about the world and society from exposure to such media, perhaps not consciously, but it affects them, it affects their philosophy and beliefs about humanity. If the characters in this series slowly found it in themselves to rise to their predicament, to attain some nobility of character that made them equal to their task then I would have no issue. However they do not, quite the contrary, they descend into utter savagery, eschewing any semblance of civilization or morality.

The producers and writers would have us believe that in the face of an extinction level event, where 99.99% of humanity has been wiped out, that the response of the remaining human beings will be to slaughter one another, to descend into a lord of the flies, dog eat dog nihilism. The morality of this series spreads the lie that each of us is in our hearts an absolutely despicable savage and the only thing that keeps us from being monsters ourselves is a society somehow imposed upon us by Big Brother, some overlord who for their own sociopath reasons 'forces' us to be civilized.

The ethics of the producers and writers foisting this sort of philosophy upon us in the guise of entertainment is so despicable, it makes me nauseous.

Tarzan the Ape Man (1981)

Watch for the end credits.

[3/10 · 2 September 2014]

This was an EXTREMELY unimpressive movie marred by, among other things, Tarzan's inability to act. However both Bo Derek and Miles O'Keeffe are EXTREMELY pleasant to look at. So when the movie was over and the end credits rolled, not a soul stirred in a fairly packed cinema, every last person sat bone still and glued to the screen throughout the whole of the end credits.

Now why one might ask would an audience do that for such an unimpressive movie? It's because Bo Derek and Miles O'Keeffe were engaged in passionate lovemaking, stark naked on the beach as a background to the whole of the credits. Most faces were at least slightly red as the lights came on and everyone could be seen as having watched the whole time.

I had to wait till everyone else had left the cinema, as my girlfriend had been wearing a sky blue cotton, skin tight shift that day. The squeal of embarrassment she let out after standing and discovering that a large patch of it had turned dark blue where it had been inconveniently moistened by her arousal, followed by her rapidly diving back into her seat, is to this day one of my favourite memories.

A one star movie is for me a movie that I walk out of. I did not walk out of this one, so that makes it at least a two star. The above however raises it's score to a three star.

The Lone Gunmen: Like Water for Octane (2001) Season 1, Episode 4

Monumentally ignorant!

[1/10 · 28 April 2007]

The writer of this episode, Collin Friesen, should be ashamed. The rational for what our heroes do with the object of this episode's search has got to be the single most unmitigated display of shear ignorance I have ever seen committed to television. People actually form opinions based on things they hear from shows like this. The tripe our protagonists spoke, as some sort of 'wisdom' to justify their actions, can only harm the world and our future. I've never been made so angry by a TV show. Collin Friesen is a Luddite of the worst kind, the kind that is in a position to influence others to think the same way, that seven billion people can freeze or regress progress, and NOT destroy the planet in doing so. Bilk!

*

Apparently I cannot make two comments and so I cannot rebut SilentJay32's attack on my post. So I am forced to append to my previous comment. Also, even more unfortunately, I cannot rebut without revealing completely the end of the episode, so if you've not yet watched it, consider reading no further.

Total spoilers follow; * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I can only assume SilentJay32 has not watched this episode. I completely fail to understand how any ecologically motivated person could disagree with my outrage. In this episode, the heroes find a working prototype of a water burning engine, an engine that can power a car burning only water. Such an engine would be able to power not just cars but also trucks, trains, airplanes and ships. It could drive generators, including massive power stations. It would mean the end of burning oil and coal for both energy and transportation, the end of human induced global warming! It would power water purification and irrigation systems that would be a huge boon to impoverished peoples. This list goes on and on. Our putative heroes decide that 'they' need to suppress this technology because someone might get rich because of it. Yes, far better that the planet die of heat death than someone get rich, heaven forbid!

Westender (2003)

An extraordinary achievement, given it's budget.

[7/10 · 12 March 2006]

If we are to judge this movie by Hollywood blockbuster standards, then it deserves it's average 5/10 stars rating that it has here on IMDb. This is not a great movie, but I have paid to see many out of Hollywood that are worse.

That said I am mightily impressed with the quality of result that was achieved with virtually no budget. This was largely shot with volunteer work, on a shoe string budget most of us could come up with by begging from parents and friends. This movie stands as an example to all of us that we really could make movies ourselves if we really put our minds to it.