Lost Continent (1951)

Major Joe Nolan (CesarRomero) leads a search in the South Pacific for a lost atomic rocket that went off course. As they fly over an island a strange force causes their plane to crash. Native girl points then to a plateau that she saw the rocket/ fire bird fly into. The plateau is the dwelling place of their gods and none that go on it returns. So off the party goes up the plateau to find the rocket.

50′s comic book like story with several good actors, but a fair/corny script. The special effects are bad even for this time. On the plus side I didn’t fall asleep and I got just what I expected in watching it.

“We are under orders not to break radio silence until we find the rocket. ”

Weak 50′s sci-fi movie, but if you like them, you like then—-03/10

The Matrix: Reloaded is the sequel to the hit movie The Matrix.  The same cast is back as Neo has become a master of the matrix and is empowering Zion in their revolution over the machines.

This is yet another horrible sequel.  It was all action all the time.  The great philosophical and intriguing aspects of the original were shoved aside for some kick ass slow motion CG junk.  When the attempts were made to expand the plot, it was laughable and confounding.  In general sequels just can’t bring the impact that their predecessors had because all of the originality and creative juice has been exhausted.  Unfortunately for us and the series itself, this was no exception.  The movie was one big car wreck from top to bottom.

“It’s like wiping your ass with silk.”  A decent line from such rubbish.

3/10

The Abyss (1989)

American submarine encounters unidentified submerged object causing it to sink. Fear that the Soviets will get there first causes the Americans to insert a SEAL team onto a privately owned experimental underwater oil platform. Platform designer  Dr. Lindsey Brigman (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) accompany’s the SEAL team. Her estranged husband, Virgil “Bud” Brigman (Ed Harris), is currently serving as the platform’s foreman.

At the bottom of the ocean, they encounter alien life forms and the film turns into Close Encounters at the bottom of the sea. Any realism is lost and the film really falls apart.

“Everybody just stay calm. The situation is under control.”

The ending really falters———-05/10

Inception (2010)

Dominic Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and  Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) preform corporate espionage using dreams to gain secrets from their targets.  Japanese businessman Saito (Ken Watanabe) hires them not to steal secrets, but to planet an idea in the mind of  Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy).  Cobb recruits Eames (Tom Hardy)-a forger, Yusuf (Dileep Rao)-chemist, and Ariadne (Ellen Page)-student they train to design dream worlds.

Really enjoyed the effects, they were in some cases spectacular and in others over the the top. It’s the story that has problems, you know where it going long before it gets there. The ending made me feel like I was in a third level dream and time was slowed. The last part of the movie should have me on the edge of my seat, instead I found myself hoping it would just end.

I knew Inception was possible because I’d done it to my wife.

Not great, but worth seeing——-06/10

Average Rating: 5.5/10 (2 ratings)

]]> http://damncool.com/2010/11/28/inception-2010/feed/ 1 http://damncool.com/2010/11/19/serenity-2005/ http://damncool.com/2010/11/19/serenity-2005/#comments Fri, 19 Nov 2010 09:10:50 +0000 Ghost in a Red Giant http://damncool.com/?p=1113

Movie finale from the Firefly television series.

I knew I would regret watching this about ten minutes into it.  Idiotic plot with some really badly choreographed action scenes.  Space Zombies that aren’t there for comedic relief.  These are supposed to be serious bad guys.  The acting was horrendous.  This was not something I liked taking sitting down.  True story, halfway down I thought, “This could be a really shitty made for TV movie”.  That’s exactly what it is.

“I don’t murder children.”
“I do.”  What a bad ass.

2/10

Contact was directed by Robert Zemeckis and is based on the novel by Carl Sagan.  Aliens send us a transmission with detailed instructions to visit them, or do they?

I was surprised at how much I did not hate this movie.  Jodie Foster does an alright job in it and there really wasn’t much that bothered me.  Usually this type of movie gets my blood boiling, but I really liked the agnostic message in this flick.  I especially liked how the visit to the aliens did or did not occur.  At the start, the religious McConaughey character irked me, but I was then reminded of my agnosticism and how the only truth we can ever hope to obtain is a subjective one.  However, the filming and style of the movie did it in for me.  It was too much like a blockbuster with a lot of silly filler scenes.  Great message in a bad movie.

“I had an experience.  I can’t prove it.  I can’t even explain it, but everything that I know as a human being, everything that I am tells me that it was real.”

6/10

Predators (2010)

Royce (Adrien Brody), wakes up free falling  into a jungle. After landing he discovers others that have arrived in the same fashion. Soon he has gathered a small group of killers that survived the landing, only to discover that they are  prey for the alien hunters known as the Predators.

This movie should have been the sequel to Predator it’s much better than Predator 2 (1990).  It’s man versus alien, where only the strongest can survive.  If you liked any of the other Predator movies, then this is a movie you don’t want to miss.

“Does this look like a team orientated group of individuals to you?”

Bad ass aliens hunting humans, if  your not looking for that–you should watch something else—-07/10

The Matrix is a sci-fi film done by the Wachowski brothers.  It won four Academy Awards and was a huge success at the box office.

The Matrix is a movie I definitely like.  It is based on a simple yet intriguing philosophy that everyone thinks about: What if this whole experience that we call life is not real at all?  This film provides the backdrop for that exact scenario.  It takes you on a pretty rad journey down the rabbit hole.  The action is all out, but for a reason as our characters are demigods within the matrix.  How is Keanu Reeves not annoying?  He usually rubs me the wrong way, but in this, I hardly noticed.  For a sci-fi action movie I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

“You know, I know this steak doesn’t exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize? Ignorance is bliss.”

7/10

They Came From Beyond Space

Group of meteors land in formation in a field in England. The scientist sent to investigate and all the people in the area  are taken over. That is all but Dr. Curtis Temple (Robert Hutton), he is immune to the takeover due to a metal plate in his head. It’s the classic man against invading aliens.

The special effects are more like 50″s than late 60′s, but it’s more about the story than it’s special effects.  Lucky for mankind there are humans like Dr. Temple ready to stop nasty alien takeovers.

Have you ever known meteors to land in formation?

Like Sci-Fi–give it a try—-04–10

M. Night Shyamalan directs and Mel Gibson stars in Signs.  It is a movie about an alien invasion of Earth.

Signs was somewhat intriguing, but mostly boring.  The main gripe that I have with this film is the lame theme, which is spelled for us in the dialogue, unnaturally shapes the film.  “Everything is a coincidence,  all things happen for a reason (even your wife’s grizzly death), someone is watching out for you, are you an idiot who thinks things are random or are you perceptive and know the creator has a plan for you?”  I will not divulge into why that theme sucks.  The film was wrapped around the theme instead of the two being interwoven.  An example of this is how the boy has asthma only for the sole purpose of not breathing in the poison in the last alien scene.  The girl leaves glasses all over, again, only for the last alien scene. It just feel unnatural to me.  All this aside, I really admire Mel Gibson as an actor.  I don’t know if I could have gotten to the end of it without him.  Joaquin Phoenix is the strangest piece of casting I have ever seen.  The weird sensitive guy is a minor league home run king?!  I liked the microcosm view of one of the biggest events you could have as subject.  We are only shown what the characters know.  I thought that was interesting and usually these sort of films do not go that way.  There were also some cool cinematography scenes and I like how it blacked out for a minute.

“It’s like War of the Worlds.”

4/10