For a made for TV movie I thought it was pretty good! I enjoyed the concept even if it's reminiscent of The Librarian movies. I hope they make a second one!
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@roswellgeek HOLY FRIAR TUCK.... this was a MOVIE??? I'm almost done with it and somehow I completely missed that. I assumed this was a pilot for a show.
The clones thing makes no sense by even the wildest stretch of imagination. Like, sure, maybe you could do a bit of genetic manipulation to ensure male and female clones. But what about achieving the same exact skin tone, or hair texture, or tone of voice or even eye color. How do you plan for that when you don't even know who your clones will have to be turned into? Hair dye, plastic surgery and colored contacts would never be enough to make a person into the spitting image of someone else.
What if one of the kids was very proficient at playing an instrument? Or fluent in two or more languages? Those aren't things that can be achieved in a few months.
There are so many things about a person that can't be manipulated or faked. It's so nonsensical and unrealistic.
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@abtr So much worse than that. In theory if you have the genetic control to ensure the sex you wanted. You could maybe use that genetic control to throw in some melanin and control skin and eye color and maybe even hair texture. Honestly at that point there's no reason not to just clone your targets but that's a whole different thing.
But the premise here is that he already had clones of himself and then using the most brilliant plastic surgery procedures possible turned each of his teenaged clones into the targets. They mentioned things like bone shaping to get the structures and height right. That means he took a teenaged clone of himself and then using "the procedure" turned it into a visually undetectable clone of Sasha as an example.
What if one of the kids was very proficient at playing an instrument? Or fluent in two or more languages? Those aren't things that can be achieved in a few months.
Ironically this isn't as big a deal in this situation. They specifically select targets and presumably it's not JUST the wealth factor but the imitation factor. So a well behaved child that knows 6 languages and is a concert cellist isn't likely to be selected. Kyra was a loner hacker, Parker as a social media wannabe screw up. James was an anarchist rebel. Sure based on her accent Sasha spoke French but the plan was in motion for years. We don't know how long they had selected targets. It's unlikely but it's possible some like Sasha they had their eye one for a long time. But special skills... they don't have. But they don't need because the only people who would notice those missing skills is family and the show already demonstrated that the family was very good at noticing their kids weren't their kids and the program would just have the family killed. So maybe Sasha spoke French at home and English in public as many people do. But once the family is dead a strong French accent is more than enough to get started and the clone and duo lingo while they grow into power.
Omggg I had to take my kids to see Frozen ll... Otherwise this is my choice.. I'll watch it tho.. Sometime next week
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@rcarter25 it's been a few years you ever check it out?
Seeing this 1998 movie in 2020 makes me think it must have been mind-blowing when it was released. It is amazing.
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@arielrodriguez The crazy part for me is that I saw this on the SciFi channel one day randomly. No fanfare just showed up and that would have been a little after 1998. I got hooked and watched the whole thing. And then for a while I th ought maybe I had rose tinted memory. And eventually I found it again and dang... nope still a good film.
Review by wolfkin
Okay so let's talk about episodes 5 and 6.
Ron Pearlmen was an utter delight. I can't not say that. He always is. Just is. Even here in this lackluster role. That said the second half of the season is a noticeable upswing. I really like even this episode and what it's doing character-wise. Plot-wise it was nonsense but it's not like it's going anywhere anyway at least now I'm starting to enjoy the ride. The interplay between our leads is interesting even if the again the fact that they are spies is not. What I find fascinating is that there's more narrative flow and consistency in the titles and descriptions than there is in the show. It's like they prepared the show with the titles and synopsis long before they started filming. Because this
Couples Therapy (Naked & Afraid) - Oh, John. Oh, Jane. Our pair have been oh so bad at sharing and caring. Time to call in help -- John and Jane, get ready for: COUPLES THERAPY, what a gas!
Is an entire different level than what even this episode is. This is fun and goofy and comical in a way that not even at it's best the show is. Maybe on a scene by scene basis you might find something worthy of the type of gassing in the title/synopsis but most of it is very different. It's lazier, more laid back, less invested. Which to say yet again I don't put on Maya and Donald. They're solid but the writing and directing just don't care. It's weird to look at this show and say "Well at least True Lies the TV Show tried." I mean the True Lies show bombed like 70-80% of it's run time but at least they were going for something. The jokes were sometimes dumb but they came (a little too) consistently.
As for episode 6? Well honestly it's my favorite episode so far. It's fun in a way that few episodes have been until now. Holy snap it just occurred to me. Part of it is the missing intrigue. As I've said before this is a show with zero guile. I mean they're spies but spies in this world is a gig job. Anyone signs up anyone gets in and the AI runs you like an uber app. It's dumb and boring and uninteresting. But here... here they have to lie. They have to
explaintranslate and keep things up in front of a therapist who, imo, Sarah Paulson made utterly adorable "Yeah! Whatever DID happen to Mya?" I died. She was hilarious. It's amazing how just getting the formula right finally lets everything shine. The spycraft is minimized but it doesn't matter because I'm having a ball watching Maya and Donald rehash their relationship. A relationship I actually care about this episode. "The therapist episode" shows the potential of this series.loading replies
artificial reason for two strangers to be stuck together and have some kind of amusing relationship issues
Agreed. I just don't find their relationship issues compelling. It's too dull for a spy show and not meaty enough for a relationship show. and IMO most of the early episodes are just failing on all fronts.
Being spies is more just a running gag
Disagreed. mostly because of the word gag. it carries a tone of humor that this doesn't have.
the film versions
One film but before the film there was a CBS crime drama series starring Scott Bakula of Quantum Leap fame. But yes. In the film version (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie) it was definitely way more bombastic and action packed. From what I've read the CBS show plotwise was more similar to this. Two spies have to work as a married couple. In the movie it was two people who were a married couple but unknown to each other they were spies on opposite teams.
Okay, that psycho of a father put the girl in his head but where did Ian get his fighting skills from, all of a sudden?? Also, who have thought, that Adriana herself would have been victim to a loop? That ending is a open... Seems that they are angling for a sequel.
Fells more like an extended pilot for a show.
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@syntis in the beginning of the movie after the alcohol heist Ian goes to the arcade by himself. Now, if you watch that scene again, you'll notice that Ian does some training with a wing chun ? thing. The whole movie. I was wondering why he was why he did that and that's why it's to show that he does have the ability to fight. He had that ability from the beginning of the movie. Personally, I kept waiting the whole movie to see him fight and thought it was weird. He kept hanging back in the fights when in the beginning we saw he knows how to fight but that's why that's where he got those martial arts moves. They weren't out of nowhere. They were telegraphed in a very subtle way
Review by wolfkin
It wasn't bad. But honestly I'm very very disappointed this isn't a TV show. I misread the trailer and wasn't expecting a movie. I think this would have been amazing as TV show. It could have done what the True Lies tv show failed to do. It would have done what I expect the upcoming Mr and Mrs Smith show will fail to do. Kaley did a solid job as an action character. She's no Megan Fox in Rogue (2020) [awful movie but Fox was excellent] but she was solid. I'm not her biggest fan but I don't hate her and, respect where respect is due, her acting was more than okay. David however, like the plot, was under-fulfilled. I think he could have done more with his character of the straightman muggle husband. The script just didn't give any room for it. They did have more chemistry than I expected they would. I saw the trailer and in no way did I think I would buy them as a couple 100%, I was expecting maybe 60% buy in, but I kinda do.
Antagonists Bill Nighy and Connie Nielsen were enjoyably bad. Though Connie was under written. I didn't really get that slightly psychotic character from her the way the script seemed to want me to.
The tone of the movie was uneven. You're never really quite rocked out of the mood of the movie, but you've never sitting comfortable in it either. Mr. and Mrs. Smith the movie was very much a sexy spy "kill a bunch of guys" movie with likes of whiplash pans. True Lies the movie was very much an Arnold comedy with a bunch of one-liners and amusing growls. There are others that are more about the romance like say Mr Right or This Means War. Which are all very much comedic spy stuff with a heavy heavy dose of RomCom. The ingredients were there to make this the variation that focused on Romance with a capital R. I haven't seen one of those in a while and like I said they had the chemistry for it. But the movie wants to be an R-rated comedy so it tries to have it's cake and eat it too.
Almost every problem I had with this would have been resolved if it had been a full season length. Heck I might have even bonded with the kids. They could be given personalities and then maybe I'd care when their health is threatened.
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@great_vc I know it's not out yet but I'm not a fan of what I've seen of Mr and Mrs Smith the TV show. I'm not a fan of the changes to the character dynamics (everything seems to indicate they aren't hiding their spy-status from each other) and more importantly I don't like the chemistry of the show. I like the actors individually but I don't like what I see of them working well together. One thing I'll say about Role Play is that even in the trailers I was kinda pleasantly surprised at how good the leads looked together and the chemistry continued in the film. Even True Lies the TV show I think the leads had good chemistry. The writing was just not interesting unfortunately. It had moments but only moments.
That said I have very famously been wrong in the past. Heck I was super super against lady Starbuck and Black Spider-Man but in both cases I've been converted. I love the Spider-Verse films and was a fan of Miles shortly before they came out. BSG for like 3 seasons, was one of the best scifi epic shows not named Farscape. I'm definitely watching Mr. and Mrs Smith. I like Maya and Donald is usually fine. Maybe I'll be proven wrong and get to add another notch at the "I clearly can't predict goodness" belt.
Shout by shmosby
VIP4This was SO much fun. I knew almost nothing about Bert Kreischer going in, and I absolutely loved it.
I was expecting crass comedy. What I was not expecting was a massive John Wick influence.
Mark Hamill was great, and Iva Babić was fantastic. And it looks really good - dare I even say artistic? I can't believe it's only a $20 million budget. This movie has no right being this good.
Did I do that??
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@hgram I urge you to see his stand up routine. It really contextualizes the movie. If you like the movie you'll really enjoy the set.
3rd episode and once again, the Brit’s make the best exciting intellectual addicting crime dramas I’ve ever had the pleasure to observe.
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@wastedfish just FYI you got a bit lost you were looking for https://trakt.tv/shows/the-beast-must-die
This is the movie page for the werewolf murder mystery from 1974
Haven't read the book (or books) but if they're remotely similar to this movie, then the author should consider retiring. The story has all the tropes you would expect from a CW show (including the terrible CGI). Obnoxious characters, bad acting, obvious references to the HP saga... I could only watch for like 30 minutes and its runtime still had two more hours! No way, Jose. Charlize... Girl! What did you see in this script?
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@fzirit I'm about 30 minutes into the movie and I'm confused myself. And someone who read the books they are infinitely more subtle. To the point where I'm not sure what the point of this movie is because it loses every ounce of creativity and subtlety and interest.
Review by Chandramohan Kannan
Is there a rule in the US that 14 and 15 year olds have to be played by 20 somethings?? Always find that casting paradigm a tad silly...
Regardless, it is nice that the original authors are increasingly finding their way to being creators of show... and so it is equally perplexing to why they would change their own stories for the live motion format... Mickey's uncle Myron Bolitar is a major character in the Harlan Coben universe... why create a new character called Shira to surrogate for him... I'd understand if Harlan had a contract with a different studio, that has exclusive contract on Myron Bolitar and its usage... but here, he gets named and identified as an alum of the school with basketball records... then why replace that character?? Is it supposed to be some sort of misguided gender equality?
Update (Sep 15, 2023): Funnily enough the live motion format moves slower than the literary format of the book... the first 3 episodes could have easily been edited into a one hour pilot... there is nothing here that deserves a 3 episode run... the remaining episodes do pick up the pace... especially given the serious topics (child sex trafficking, adultery, etc.,) the story deals with... however it does itself a disservice by dealing frivolously with too many hard topics in a teenage setting...
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@chandramohan-kannan The pilot wrapped in 2021, the kid was born in 2003, hence 18. The rest of the series finished filming in 2022 so 19 then. That's where the 18 number is coming from.
That said it's a minor point in the face of, as you put it, the general observation. Hollywood parents let their kids do a surprising number of things so I don't think it's limits per se. I do think there's a bigger push for body types. Which is why all these fully developed six-pack abs jock types are played by dudes almost 30 because you need to be that age to get six pack abs like that.
There are also other filming considerations when filming with actual teenagers both behind and in front of the camera that makes it more preferable to film with older actors. In front of the camera they age faster and more. Behind the camera younger actors do have restrictions on their time and how MUCH they can film.
Review by Andrew Bloom
VIP9[7.7/10] I loved about 80% of this one, and it only gets points knocked off for ending the whole thing on such a miserable note. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen an episode soar so beautifully for most of its runtime, only to crash and burn at the very end like this.
Suffice it to say, putting the vamps and Guillermo into an HGTV-style reality show is a hoot. I thought it was a little odd that they brought in such talented comedians like the Sklar brothers to do the little ads for the home-renovation show that Lazlo watched regularly. It makes sense now! And they kill it! Both of them absolutely nail the saccharine sunniness and hollow positivity of those sorts of televised cheese merchants. There’s an “I’m your server at TGI Fridays”-esque faux-enthusiasm to everything that makes for an amusing juxtaposition of the darkness and vulgarity that pervades the vamps’ abode.
I’ll confess, I haven't seen a ton of those HGTV shows, but WWDitS absolutely nails the tone and rhythms of the few I have seen. The forced taglines, the false drama of the act breaks, the silly swooping shots, and the goofy graphics are all done to perfection. You don’t have to be an expert in this sort of television to appreciate the attention to detail in the presentation and how it exposes how ridiculous this sort of thing is by merely replicating it.
But it also injects the peculiar ridiculousness of the vamps in all of this. Lazlo as a starstruck superfan tickled my ribs. Nadja being against the whole thing until it nets her a golden toilet made me chuckle. Nandor being so amazed by a “Home Is Where the Wine Is” sign is adorable. Guillermo being against the whole thing for very practical reasons of avoiding exposure, until he realizes he can spin things to improve his “hidey hole” is a great bit. And I love the humor of Nadja hypnotizing the crew, editors, and other nerds not to notice they’re vampires or that one of the hosts was murdered in the first scene.
I also enjoy the subplot about Nandor trying to build a mancave to get away from Marwa. There’s genuine insight to the idea that having someone who likes all the same things as you sounds good on paper, but that in practice, having someone who never challenges you or complements you, only matches you, would be exhausting and unsatisfying. I also appreciate him being hoisted by his own petard, where the fact that he wants a mancave where he can be away from her means she wants a mancave where she can be away from him. It’s a nice twist on the whole thing.
But god, I’ve never liked Devious Simon, or Nick Kroll’s whole shtick for that matter. I can appreciate the absurdity of turning this whole production into a shaggy dog story where it was all a ruse to get Lazlo’s witch skin hat. I have to tell you, though, I find Kroll’s overdoing it as a vampire exhausting, and the “humor” of his parade of hangers on to be dead on arrival. There’s some more funny digs at home renovation shows, about how they’re only fit for people half paying attention in hospitals and airports (which is, candidly, where I’ve seen them). But delivered in this package, the whole thing goes over about as well as a big wet fart.
Overall, I love this one as a format bender and in its ability to mesh the show’s sensibilities with the nonsense of reality television, but the limp, annoying ending brings an otherwise quality episode down considerably.
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@andrewbloom fun fact it's becoming more of an open secret that the show are even more ridiculous than they appear as often people have made up their decisions before the show even gets involved. As in people buy homes and THEN get on home hunters where ostensibly they "search" for a home before settling on a home they already were going to get.
i don't really understand why this film is so popular - it's not bad and the fight scenes are enjoyable, but i don't think the plot really goes anywhere. it's quite obvious that bourne is some sort of spy/assassin from early on and there's not much development from there. none of the other characters are interesting in any way including the woman and their relationship with each other, the climax is hardly climactic, no comic relief throughout the whole movie, don't feel that it had any sort of message, etc etc.
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@mollyelton if you ever get the chance check out the book. They really simplified the plot in a certain way that kinda make it as you say "quite obvious" the books add layers to that. Even Marie imo was better developed in the book.
kind off an ominous choice to be a dentist with that power lol also why didn't kash just turn back time when they got mugged? or when they lost the car?
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@hugbear powers have only been around for I think they say five years so she would have trained to be a dentist first and then got the power.
Shout by whos_ur_buddha
Damn these British government people can’t be this stupid. If they were, there’s no way they would’ve almost conquered the world.
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@whos_ur_buddha Well don't fall for the meritocratic argument that those who conquered the world were the most intelligent. :grin:
Review by wolfkin
Oh man the copaganda is strong with this one. It hit me pretty hard in this episode. Had a bit of whiplash. I like Selena as a character but why is she allowed to be so close to this case? I think her entire character is written to be "gets too close to the case and flips out in appropriately so everyone can dress her down". It's silly. I don't blame this on the actress. Heck I don't even blame it on Selena. I blame it on everyone else who keeps letting her participate. It's ridiculous from the times she goes "I can handle whatever it is... tell me" and then right after finding out goes "NO... no... you're wrong". And then everyone dresses her down like "Hey Officer Juarez, be objective". Ironically they aren't being objective they're wildly speculating. Cops who do this are the problem IRL. But because it's TV their wild speculation is 100% on the mark with no errors. Her problem isn't not being objective. It's being emotional. Openly emotional. You could have an argument about the sexism in that scene but generally I don't think The Rookie has as big a problem in that area.
I like how this is the second cop show this week where I've seen cops threaten someone with rape. I don't know what else "or do you remember what it's like to be a pedophile behind bars" is supposed to mean. Oh maybe it just means assault. That's ... better?
This show and other cop shows want you to think if you just talk to cops and you're empathetic enough cops will believe the words coming out of your mouth. Never talk to the police more than required. Never volunteer information. Always get a lawyer. Cops will use what happens on TV to trick you. On TV the cops will just ask you to talk to them and just tell them real quick and they'll let you go and find the real guy. In real life if you say anything that can be used out of context to make YOU look like the bad guy they'll just do that. It's easier and they don't have to hunt down someone they might or might not find. After all cops love to talk about how many crimes they solve. Doesn't matter if they solve it correctly. That number doesn't get publicized. Cops will convince you that you don't need a lawyer and if you talk now it won't be as bad for you. It will be as bad for you. They're under zero obligation to treat you better because you were cooperative. That's just something cops say they do on TV. Like asking suspects to just confess.... because?
The cops find a convicted pedophile they're legally allowed to harass any time they want for zero reason (and yes that's harassment but because it's a pedophile we're supposed to think "well good. He deserved it. They need this power to harass scum like that" but IRL this get used against a single mother with two kids working three jobs who doesn't even have time to get sexually assaulted by a PO today but hey whatever). They find this guy. He's super cagey. He has mementos of the missing child. Then, when they bring him in, he acts shocked and they stop thinking he might be responsible. Now they stop looking at him for the crime because it has to be the stand-up cop who has no evidence against him. Nah couldn't be the pedo where the only evidence was found. And of course again, because it's TV, there is a super tight conspiracy where a cop does everything right and frames someone while committing horrific crimes repeatedly every year like a criminal mastermind. That's way more plausible than the guy who did it repeatedly and shows zero remorse did it again. The hidden message of this portion is that cop guts are how policework should be done. The cop suspected another cop based on gut instinct. The cop let go of the creepy man based on gut instinct. Honestly the irony of "We can't arrest him. That starts a 72 hour clock after which we have to let him go if we don't have a charge" and then they solve the mystery and find the girl in like 5 hours just baffles me. Cops do this stuff all the time. But because it's a fellow cop he "knows all the procedures". Cops don't have special procedures. Cops don't even have good procedures. What they have is money and numbers. LAPD Patrol isn't some silent hero-team doing elite work on the streets that no one appreciates. They do what they want, when they want and they have the legal authority and weaponry to get away with anything. On top of all the random legal corruption and illegal corruption, there are semi-organized gangs within law enforcement and no one has the authority or will to do anything about it. They rape, they murder, they kill pets, they steal but The Rookie wants me to buy that one of the most infamous beats in the nation dresses down their rookies for being "not being objective".
And that final showdown? I don't know what I supposed to take from this except that cops want to kill you. Because there's no reason to breach an empty abandoned house RIGHT AFTER the only hostage was freed. They keep talking about wondering if they could have talked him down and whether it was necessary and honestly. It wasn't. There was no rush. No urgency. no concern and yet they ran in as soon as possible. Who was he a danger to? Himself? Well lucky he didn't kill himself then. Oh he was suicidal guess we should bum rush him. And this is how they treat one of their own.
And Officer Juarez forgiving her mother saying it wasn't her fault it was her sickness when two episodes ago she was saying functionally how dare her mother blame this on her sickness and it was her fault. Pick a lane sugar (I'm trying to pick a pejorative to her age not her gender), either you understand addiction is a disease or you don't. You don't get to pick and choose when you care. More specifically you don't get to pick and choose and then dress down everyone else for not understanding when your understanding is conditional. You just know before this arc started she would have dressed down anyone just like every other TV cop who refused addiction as a disease. I mean how the mighty have fallen seeing Wesley talk about how he can "sell" a scenario where one person did the crime and not the other one in spite of zero evidence is gross. It's exactly the kind of prosecutorial overreach that Wesley used to talk about when his character was introduced. It's entirely the sort of thing that leads to people getting convicted for crimes they didn't do.
There are far too many people in /r/TheRookie who seem to love Schmitty. He's an awful character but he is everyone's favorite incompetent does something effectively and efficiently.
In another show these wouldn't be a big deal. Cop shows are cop shows and they're lies from the opening credits to closing credits. Everything about them is a lie from how much they hate IA, to how cops will lie to other cops about whether they're being investigated, to how cops will sit across from you in an interrogation room, to how cops won't lie and make up evidence to get you to convict yourself. We all know these are laws and every cop show since the dawn of the cop show in the 60s or 70s has been feeding us this lie to the point where too many people don't understand it as a lie until they're faced with the reality.
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Just sit and wait it out?
Yes. That's my point. It's an abandoned building. not a maze. There's no secret tunnel exit. They have plenty of time and man power to just stand watch at the exits. Call in a hostage negotiator and get him to come out alive. Because that's part of their job. To get the criminals in jail ALIVE. Forcing a stand-off is stupid. They knew it was a cop. They knew he let go of the only person in the house. They knew the cop might be emotionally unstable. There's no reason not to consider he might take "the easy way out" as it's often put in cop shows when criminals self-terminate.
As for the other bit. I maintain I'm right and you're wrong but that's because I don't think you understand what I was saying. Shock and surprise don't have any thing to do with what I'm referring to.
Decent actors, acting poorly, terrible dialogue, terrible sound track and audio effects, terrible stunts and visual effects. Must be embarrassing for David Rodriguez to screw up so badly. He should definitely look for a different line of work. I’m sure the actors and the crew hate him for adding such crap to their resumes. Some scenes are so bad they seem like spoofs. The inception folding city scapes are particularly hilarious. It starts off bad and gets worse and worse… I was very tempted to turn it off at minute 110 and I should have. The end is mind bogglingly pathetic. They actually have a final “twist” that would make you think there could be a sequel lol. How is this movie even possible… didn’t anyone read the script before agreeing to participate?
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@hirkiti minute 110? but the movie is only 94 minutes long.
What a stupid movie, couldn't' Madeline still organise a hit on Tom since she's still the Trustee.. the actors playing Sam and Sandre had no chemistry.
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@guyduke she was only the trustee if Tom died. Since Tom was not really dead. She actually did not have access to the money which was the whole point of the fake death. She would have been unwilling to send the money to the foundation otherwise.
a lot of question pop up in my head after watching this. but what I want to know the most is, as Kang the Conqueror has been exiled by his other variant because he deem as dangerous, then why, at the end of the cutscene, we see many kang variants trying to plot a revenge? isn't his death worked a favor to his other variant too?
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@abyhape I believe the idea was Ant-Man Kang was dangerous. So dangerous and so opposed to the other Kangs they exiled him. But they know Kang an they know it's possible he might find a way out. His life kept them back even though he was trapped in Quantum-Zone that's how powerful and dangerous he was. Now that he's dead they can really get down.
Review by Jordy
VIP8Denis Villeneuve is the man!
There’s only one word that came into my mind after watching it: finally.Finally, a blockbuster that isn’t afraid to be primarily driven by drama and tension, and doesn’t undercut its own tone by throwing in a joke every 30 seconds.
Finally, a blockbuster that puts actual effort in its cinematography, and doesn’t have a bland or calculated colour palette.
Finally, a blockbuster with a story that has actual substance and themes, and doesn’t rely on intertextual references or nostalgia to create a fake sheen of depth.
Finally, a blockbuster that doesn’t pander to China by having big, loud and overblown action sequences, but relies on practical and grounded spectacle instead (it has big sand worms, you really don’t need to throw anything at the screen besides that).
Finally, a blockbuster that actually feels big, because it isn’t primarily shot in close ups, or on a sound stage.
And of course: finally, a blockbuster that isn’t a fucking prequel, sequel, or connected to an already established IP somehow.(Yeah, I know Tenet did those things as well, but I couldn’t get into that because the characters were so flat and uninteresting).
This just checks all the boxes. An engaging story with subtext, very well set up characters, great acting (like James Gunn, Villeneuve's great at accentuating the strengths of limited actors like Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa), spectecular visuals and art design (desaturated but not in an ugly washed out way), pacing (slow but it never drags), directing, one of Hans Zimmer’s best scores: it’s all here.
I only have one real criticism: there’s too much exposition, especially in the first half.
It can occasionally hold your hand by referencing things that have already been established previously, and some scenes of characters explaining stuff to each other could’ve been conveyed more visually.
Other than that, it’s easily one of the best films of the year.
I’ve seen some people critiquing it for being incomplete, which is true, but this isn’t just a set up for a future film.
It feels like a whole meal, there are pay offs in this, and the characters progress (even if, yes, their arcs are still incomplete).8.5/10
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finally, a blockbuster that isn’t a fucking prequel, sequel, or connected to an already established IP somehow.
nobody tell him.
The show not as bad as people are making it out, Yes there are a lot of similarities to teen wolf maybe a bit to much but we will see where it goes. Hopefully we will steer away from the teen wolf story and into its own. it is clear on what characters you will be following from the get go. Yes okay the acting is not perfect but its not terrible lets not forget the acting in teen wolf was pretty awful to begin with. now i will say that i can agree with the other comments that the fondling is probably a bit too soon in the show. The romantic connection is also too early given that the two have only just started talking and really knew nothing about each other prior
i think the best way to look at this is Teen Wolf LA until it picks its own story uploading replies
@stockhall10 I mean honestly the fact that there's multiple people really changes up the dynamic of the show. Teen Wolf at it's heart is about a solo werewolf. Yeah others got added but it's mostly the story of Scott. At the very least I expect this to be closer to Bitten. But hey this is apparently an MTV production so who knows in the end.
Here's a new cozy crime investigation series with a bunch of familiar faces, and oh, look.....it's Erika Christensen from 20 years ago Swimfan! all grown up and lookin' fine :smiley:
To me it takes a few easy on the eyes cast members, an acceptable plot, professional videography and comfortable lighting to decide on whether I'll be moving forward with the show or not. I'm all cozied up with this show....let's see how it'll hold up.
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@typongtv Real Recognize Real. I was gonna skip this show after the description but then I saw Erika in the cast and I had basically the same thoughts. My SwimFan bae. I always make time in my schedule to check out something she's in.
Breakdown 9/10
The Vanishing(original) 8/10
Last Seen Alive 7/10
The Vanishing(Neeson) 6/10
Not bad but if you like it then there’s two better similar films out there to watch!loading replies
Breakdown 9/10
The Vanishing(original) 8/10
Last Seen Alive 7/10
The Vanishing(Neeson) 6/10
Are you sure you have those right? I can't find a The Vanishing with Liam? Neeson.
Based on what some of the reviews say I presume the Original you're talking about was the 1988 version but the 6/10 version ... not sure what that is or if maybe you mixed up Kurt and Liam.
What was the point of the flashbacks with Suleiman and his brother? They were boring. And I didn't care about them. It's like they're trying to make the viewer not hate Suleiman. It's not working.
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It was context for two things beyond the obvious that you already mentioned. 1) it shows why Suleiman would be so dedicated to his brother 2) it shows a relationship marker that Jack fails in the text chat "Peace be with you" "Not if she's been with you first"
I’m still confused, is the cp his son’s or not? Maybe i missed something, the wife seems to make it even more confusing and makes it leave towards it being for their son . From what i remember it should be for the guy at the church that gave him the drive. Is it another drive? That would be one hell of a coincidence.
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@j_345 The drive and the contents belongs to Edgar the church member. Vicar Harry took the drive from him and kept it. Apparently THIS is the stuff his mother was berating him for.
When Harry realized his son gave the teacher the flash drive he said basically "oops it's porn" and the kid played along to try to take the fall for Harry "Oh that's my porn I'm a growing boy lol" not realizing what kind of porn it was.
What's unclear so far here is how much Harry and his wife knew about the situation. It SEEMS like they knew Edgar had a porn issue which is why as a vicar's wife she might be aware that Edgar has an issue with pornography. It's unclear whether or not they knew it was a c porn issue though it's clear if they didn't know before Harry told her now.
My confusion is why Janice would be so quick to presume that the porn was Ben's not just because he said it jokingly but she refused to believe a literal vicar when he tried to say it belonged to a parishioner. Do they not have the Seal of the Confessional in the UK? Priests keep secrets. It's what they do.
What are you guys talking about it wasn't even that bad?
Disclaimer: I did not see the original.
Yes, the CGI was fucking hilarious but the rest was good. What do u want from a spy movie?
Dominic Sherwood and Jacky Lai were miles ahead of the other actors. Honorable mention to Eddie Ramos.
I'm watching the original movie right after this one and I'm coming back with the comparison.Welcome back, everyone! It's been 1 hour and 54 minutes for me and I think you got a big ass case of nostalgia. What the fuck was even that? The rhino CGI was for sure an homage to the original. The reboot was a step up. The original one doesn't hold one bit. To be perfectly honest I don't get Arnold Schwarzengegger's charisma? Sue me. I don't think he's that good of an actor. The banter wasn't good. I couldn't give less of a shit about the weapon or whatever, it's been done to death. I liked seeing Rina just fucking girlbossing throughout the entire movie. The fighting scenes were done a lot better than in the original. Yes, the original was made in 1996 but man Titanic was made in 1997, they could've done a lot better. From a rewatchability standpoint I would totally watch the reboot again.
I'm back with some Arnold Schwarz slander, that man can't act for shit.
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@irina_elenamn For the record I wasn't comparing it to the original. I remember really enjoying The Eraser but honestly until after I saw the movie I remained pretty convinced the title similarity was just coincidence. I thought it was a mockbuster until I checked it out. I don't think it's a poor movie because it's a poor remake. I think it's a poor movie all on it's own as a movie.
Arnold is a terrible actor but what he does have is screen presence. Honestly he'd have to just based on the sheer body of work he had at that point. He'd had more major movies than Dominic Sherwood had in total by the time he did Eraser. That does have it's own value even in someone who at that time (and still now) is a pretty bad actor otherwise.
What do u want from a spy movie?
Better writing. ESPECIALLY for a spy movie. In my review I tried to highlight that I wasn't just dinging it for the low budget and the awful CGI or the questionable fight scenes. Comparing either movie to the insanely budgeted and successful once in a generation film like Titanic is kinda silly in my opinion. Titanic was not a general marker of films from 1997.
Even looking at the prologue in both films. (I'm not taking the time to rewatch the entire of the original right now). In the original the Eraser saves a guy, splattered him with blood and then crafts a narrative using body doubles and photographs, a firebomb that he ensures is seen by officials to create a narrative that the guy died. It's a simple cohesive story. Is it the most believable thing you've ever seen no but it's cohesive and you understand what happened and why. In this reboot, the eraser saves a guy and then shoots him with a blood bullet by surprise. That's it. Both scenes end with an action-movie one-liner "You've been erased". But in the original we see how he's been erased in the new one you're mostly confused why he shoot him with a blood bullet without telling him. His mask was already off so it's not like he was doing it for a video (which would have been a nice update and honestly fixed the entire scene). Not to mention shooting people with blanks isn't like paintball. You can kill someone with that (But I'd be willing to concede that as a nitpick). It's just a silly underwritten scene that could have gone far to show how cool and slick the Eraser is and instead just kinda limps along cutting out half way. One of the many reasons for that scene is to justify that one liner "You've been erased" the original film does make that case. The newer film doesn't.
Horrible, just horrible. Everything wrong with modern tv shows
This is some of THE worst writing i've ever encountered. I don't know who took over from seasons 1 & 2 but they were hell bent on making this an almost unwatchable joke of a show. I actually finished it as painful as it was.
There is literally nothing redeemable about this.
I don't even know where to begin. It's offensive to watch. The actors try to do their best but its just such horrible writing.
The woke gay stuff in the beginning is so over the top that it's repulsive. There is something very strange about the costumes for the pretty girls. Why are they always showing the midriff and having them wear such bizarre pants? Its just weird. Then there are these bizarre musical interludes. The plot is beyond stupid. There were rules supposedly governing things but that only depends on the scene.Usually I write something cohesive and logical but between the rum I needed to get thru this and the bad writing all I can say is this is pure shit.
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@ranchpig wait... by "woke gay stuff" do you mean the wedding? and what musical interludes? The only musical scenes were in the mind of the dying guy in the finale episodes.
I’d just love to know why in this season they gave so much space to that annoying little brat genius wannabe. Was that nepotism or something?
And that haircut. You’re not Sheldon Cooper, Bode. You’re simply a whining moron.
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@jecht-sin I would argue almost ever word of this. First of all "simply a whining moron" almost perfectly describes Sheldon Cooper. Bode wasn't that annoying and he certainly wasn't genius or perceived as such.
Did he get too much time? ehh maybe but considering how lackadaisically the whole season was put together. I'm hardpressed to be annoyed at Bode. After all he is the youngest and thus the most in tune with the magic and most irresponsible. Kinda makes a macabre sense that he would be at least a major focus.
Effectively the worst season ! THe back story was not So bad, but the crappy love stories was completely unusefull AND SO UNnOYING!
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@looluan "annoying" and honestly it wasn't that bad and barely had any effect on the narrative. Tyler's love interest did so little she might as well have not been there. You lost a few minutes watching Tyler doing nothing but :shrug: it's basically nothing. Nothing hinted, nothing lost. Kinsey's love interest was slightly more complicated but they never really did anything dramatic with it. She missed him he was living his life and.... that was it. They didn't fight or break up and make up or cheat on each other.. just nothing.
The only romantic love interest that had any narrative juice was the Nina, Bode, Josh. Bode getting upset at his mom for dating is so cliche even the characters (all of them) recognize it for what it is. But it never really bogs down the plot. Bode being mad is never used to make him do something stupid.
whait who is becky butler???
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@mahaddiction Becky Butler is the subject of the podcast that made Cinda Canning popular. The gist is that throughout the series we've learned a little about Cinda and primarily that they came into prominence after blowing up the case, and solving the murder of Becky Butler in the podcast All is not Okay in Oklahoma. As a viewer you assume that All is Not Okay in Oklahoma is just the case that made her popular but the reveal in the ending of this episode is that Cinda has ALWAYS been pushy. Cinda had something to do with the painting and Cinda befriended the Detective Kreps to get the inside scoop and used that connection to get the case closed on the murder of Becky Butler. Also that Becky Butler was never murdered in the first place and she's secretly been Cinda's producer the whole time and Det. Kreps planted evidence that got whomever sent to jail for that crime.
