trainmaster-1

This is one of the very few movies I ever have tried to watch that I simply could not continue to watch to the finish. The story line is absolutely ridiculous. If such a creature was ever discovered in the real world, the scientific community would guard it so heavily that no one like the brutal keeper would ever get near it. There would be observation 24/7, and the military would never get near it. And the Cleaning Lady? In what fantasy world would the cleanup staff have free access to such an incredible scientific find? "Oh, it's only a movie, and it's here to tell a story and the story is Soooooooo relevant...." Please, spare us the platitudes. For the Academy to choose this picture for Best Picture once again shows that they are completely out of touch with those of us who actually go to the movies to watch them. Each year when I see which films are nominated, I scratch my head in wonder at how they can continue to nominate movies that almost no one has ever heard of, or are contrived to suit some crusade the director or producer is championing, or is a thought-provoking sketch about some social ill. How about some day we get back to nominating movies that people can enjoy watching? I long for the days of movies like Gone With The Wind, or Ben-Hur, or The Ten Commandments. Instead, Hollywood gives us garbage like a reformatted Ghostbusters with a female crew of specialists, or the seventh remake of The King and I. There appear to be no real new ideas for movies anymore. Some of the remakes are okay, but few really need to be made. Time to get some originality back in the game and stop the idiocy of more silly films nominated by an increasingly out-of-touch bunch of so-called professionals in the Academy. How about some real people out here having some input into the process?

In the genre of ghost/horror movies, there occasionally comes a truly wonderful picture that doesn't rely on gore, special effects, and shock to tell a truly gripping tale. It is a mystery story of why John Russell, the widowed composer/teacher is haunted by a spirit who is only explained once he sees to having a medium come to his house to communicate with the ghost. It was discovered who the ghost really was after the seance, and the rest of the story consisted of finding out what the spirit really wanted. Slowly, the bits of the story come together as one clue after another is added to the whole mystery, and it all begins to add up as the people in the film are revealed for who they truly are, and what their motivations end up being. I won't spoil it with revealing the ending. All I'll say is that the OUTSTANDING cast makes this a very watchable picture, with a very satisfactory ending which leaves nothing to the imagination concerning what it was all about. Unlike many movies of this type, which try to titillate us with squirrelly endings that don't fully explain what it was all about, this film didn't fall into that trap. It doesn't have to explain anything, because following the plot is not at all difficult. You don't have to continually try to figure out what's happening, which is a welcome relief from all the films of this type that feel they have to make us figure it out as we go along, and then leave us hanging at the end with a silly plot twist, or some completely "out of the blue" scene that leaves us unfulfilled and scratching our heads as we leave the room. This film delivers completely on all counts. Great story line, great acting by a truly professional cast, and nothing left to the imagination, except "why don't they make more movies like this?"

I managed to get all the way through this really poor movie, thinking that at the end the writers would at least have the decency to explain what it was all about. For some reason, movie makers like to leave cliff-hangers where the audience leaves the theater, or walks out of the room at home, scratching their heads and wondering "What the ??? was that all about"? This turkey managed to survive a weak plot and not be Tooooooo bad until the final scene. The writers did not see fit to explain whether Alice was just writing about her own experience and imagining all the videos, or if it was all true and she wrote about what was on the tapes, nor did it really explain why she was scared of being laid on that bed at the end of the show. The true nature of the relationship between her and REbecca was never explained. Were they lesbians? The only thing that ever was explained was Ben. At least she allowed his call where he apologized and told her he'd leave her alone. But, the writers managed to screw everything up by putting in the final scene and left everyone hanging way out in the breeze. Nothing was confirmed or explained. And, the writers left us with a new element of Rebecca on still another video, lying in that bed. I think writers who write scripts with this little explanation should be sued by the watchers and forced to explain themselves, AND THE PLOT!