vuileharry

I always have these thoughts that a group of people came together and they saw ME. And they said to each other: "Look at that poor guy withering away so sad, he doesn't like the Avengers, he doesn't like Succesion, he hates Two and a Half Men, he doesn't like American Football, he doesn't like ANYTHING, and he is dying! Let's make something especially just for him, so he can find some joy too!" And that's how 'Black Mirror' came to be... at least in my fantasies. So yeah: I'm a HUGE Black Mirror-fan, and I agree this was NOT Black Mirror.

I saw a few reviews calling on the episode 'The National Anthem' as an argument that this IS Black Mirror. But first of all, The National Anthem was the pilot and very often shows find their real swing AFTER the pilot so often the pilot is different. Secondly, I found The National Anthem to be VERY Black Mirror. Because it was all about modern technology, people being able to film each other everywhere, social media, and they took that concept to an EXTREME, which is EXACTLY what Black Mirror does!! I mean it went so far that politician had to get sexual with a pig online to save a person, how much more 'Black Mirror' do you want it? And how can you compare that to this episode..?

I have also never complained about the previous episode: 'Joan is Awful'. I don't get the hate for that episode, because yes, it was more 'fun', and way less 'thrilling', than usual Black Mirror, just like 'Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too'. But I really enjoyed both these episodes because even though they were fun(ny), they were DEFINITELY Black Mirror episodes to me!

But this episode..? 'Loch Henry'? I'm sorry, but to me this was just a typical 'whodunnit' kind of thriller, that could've been written by Agatha Christie together with Alfred Hitchcock. Where at the end you shockingly find out it was the Mother all along...

If there were any real Black Mirror elements to this I sure completely missed them! I saw at least one review argueing that this is Black Mirror because it had media and video's in it. Yeah, by that logic I can almost argue that The Fast and the Furious is also Black Mirror, because it has technically very advanced pimped up cars....

Now this was really GOOD, please don't get me wrong!! As a horror-thriller, I did enjoy it very much! In fact, if I would rate it just for what it is, I would've definetly given it an 8-star! But you understand: I had to take SOMETHING off for it claiming to be something it's not. At least to me. And that is Black Mirror.

Man, writing this review sure made me really good at typing 'Black Mirror' now.... 🙄

Honestly, this movie totally surprised me.

For all the many many reviews here that only complain about 'unrealistic climbing': maybe you missed some point somewhere..? This is a simple popcorn thriller movie, just meant for some mindless entertainment, we ALL KNOW it's not going to be realistic even before watching it! Let's look at great sensational movies that have set new bars in movie history: like for instance Jaws or Jurassic Park. You really want me to start reciting right here and now, everything that was 'not realistic' in these movies? No... no you really don't! And it doesn't make sense, because 'realism' is not at all the point or goal of such movies.

You should KNOW what movie you are watching. If you're watching something like Schindler's List then yes, you will definitely appreciate a little realism there. But if you're watching a popcorn flick like Fall or John Wick and start giving 'gun handling' or 'climbing' lessons you are more being posh about you having climbed in your life, than seriously reviewing a popcorn movie like this... With all due respect, this is my opinion.

Well, I DID know what movie I was about to watch when I started Fall, so I didn't expect realistic climbing lessons at all. I can certainly enjoy a brainless entertainment movie every now and then, as long as I KNOW what I'm about to watch.

So I went in this, expecting a very stupid and silly thriller, but still entertaining, like for instance The Shallows, or Horizon Line, which are both extremely silly but I both managed to enjoy. And I was in the mood for exactly that! But then I found this movie totally surprised me to be more entertaining and satisfying, and quite a bit better then those two. Not to mention gut-wrenching...

Yes of course the set-up of the movie is totaly cliche like we've seen a billion times already. NO efforts there, to be even the slightest bit original. But then, when the (unrealistic) climbing of the tower finally starts, it totally took a turn for me. It turned out pretty nerve wrecking and from that point, I didn't think the movie was so 'predictable' at all! In fact, from that point on I found the occurances to be pretty original and surprising, and they even managed to put a pretty nice twist in there I never saw coming.

I thought the 'social media' angle would annoy me a bit, but even that surprised me. I actually thought it was great and even gave the movie some taste of 'meaning'. Because people ARE getting more and more thrillseeking with social media, we all have seen folks doing the CRAZIEST life threatening things on youtube for views and we all heard the many stories we already have of people plummeting to their deaths because they wanted a spectacular selfie.

I think that concept was used beautifully in this movie and I also really liked all the stuff they made up with the cellphones.

So to conclude: is this movie GREAT, like Jaws or Jurassic Park..? No. No of course not, don't be silly. But if you like a nice bonechilling thriller and are in the mood to just sit back with some popcorn and be taken for a scary theme park ride while not thinking too much..? Then I am even willing to go as far as recommending this.

But if what you want to do is watch some 'realistic climbing' then renting a movie like this one might just not be the way to go for you... even though I humbly think you should've known that already beforehand.

What's up with that new thing that EVERY Family Guy and American Dad episode nowdays ALWAYS starts out with this ridiculously low rating on IMDb, like 2 stars or something, even before it officially gets aired? And then when I finally get to watch it, it is not nearly that bad at all or even pretty good..? EVERY time! And then slowly as time passes the rating goes up a bit.... What's up with that, I find that really weird and ridiculous.

THE GOOD: I really liked the episode. Was it the best American Dad ever..? No, of course not. But the Steve science project story with the hangover-free beer was definitely a fun enough way to pass some time. And weirdly: I even kinda liked that 'Stan fixing the shingle'-bit, that turned out to be absolutely nothing!! I don't know, it was ridiculous of course, but I thought it was kinda funny...

THE BAD: Those SONGS!!! We all fondly remember that first decade, when Family Guy and American Dad had GREAT songs! Just great. They had love and heart and you just wanted to hear them again! But those times of great songs have been over for quite a while now, haven't they...

Hey dear American Dad writers: us, your audience, are not stupid. We can tell when you're uninspired and therefore treat us to 5 minutes of 'song' to fill up time. Please, next time your story is only 13 minutes long, and you lack a good song, GO BACK TO THE TABLE AND WRITE 6 MORE MINUTES OF STORY!! And maybe even one more joke, would be nice. It is what you are getting payed WELL for.... And don't fill our time with 5 minutes of lazy nonsense song thinking we're too dumb to notice.

As I said: I liked the episode. I would have given it a 7 actually. But I had to take two whole stars off, just for boring me with those stupid songs.

And o yeah, to those leprechauns and goblins starting off every Family Guy and American Dad episode with silly two-star ratngs: where are you..? Who are you? SHOW YOURSELVES!!