thehullsmt

"All the Light We Cannot See" turned out to be a good series, though after the first episode I wasn't sure if it was worth continuing.

For me, the series improved with each episode. Initially, it felt a little bit like watching a Hallmark channel attempt at a war movie. It was a bit melodramatic, the characters were predictable, and the acting felt forced. But the primary reason I enjoyed it more as it went on is that Mark Ruffalo's screen time decreased and Hugh Laurie's increased.

Mark Ruffalo seems terribly miscast in his role as Marie's father, and I almost felt second-hand embarrassment for him as he uncomfortably tried to act the part. He really doesn't come across as believable in any of the facets of his character. He almost ruined the whole thing for me, honestly.

Hugh Laurie's portrayal of Uncle Etienne, however, is excellent, and he really breathes life and adds intrigue to the series beginning with the second episode. He really is a fantastic actor.

It's certainly not the best WW2 series out there, and it's full of good guy/bad guy cliches, but it's not bad. If you're thinking of giving it a watch, stick it out through the first episode and it'll get more interesting from there on.

Good news. I may have found the holy grail of "so bad it's good" movies.

This baby has it all: a few Mad Max inspired vehicles, talking motorcycles that respond with cliches, cars that blow up before impact, pistols to the groin, machine guns that go pew-pew-pew and yet somehow also manage to make ricochet noises, good guys in bright white jumpsuits, spiders that sound like squeaking Styrofoam, cave dwelling mutant zombies, sexy 80s jazz and weird studded leather entertainment at the club utopia, hilariously incompetent bad dudes in black ski goggles who die three at a time, some sort of kung-fu meets roller derby girls meets trailer trash fight in a quarry, a mind-controlling tanning table, Fred Williamson popping in and out of the movie at leisure, car chases along abandoned roads, dummies falling out of towers and helicopters, a conveniently placed pyramid of fuel barrels right where the bad guys get run off the road, and a bored and sort of sleepy evil mastermind portrayed by the predictably average Donald Pleasance.

Warrior of the Lost World was really bad, but it was also just so darn entertaining. Keep your expectations low - I mean *really* low - and you'll enjoy all 90 minutes of it.

So, I'm 45 years old and I'm watching this movie for the first time ever, some 40 years after its release. I figured with all the recent Dune reboots or sequels or whatever they are, there must be something of substance in the original movie upon which they are based.

Boy, was I wrong. This movie is simply not good. The acting is horrific, the storyline is convoluted, and the scenes seem to be haphazardly pieced together. After the first 40 minutes, despite a genuine effort to stay engaged, I had almost no idea what was going on. But I kept watching, thinking surely all of this random information and angst must be leading to something interesting.

With an hour still to go in the movie, I shut it off. I was just bored with it. It was horrible; on par with the low budget, lame-effects, poorly acted, sci-fi trash that MST3K and RiffTrax thrive on. But unfortunately it's not one of those "so bad it's good" type of movies. It's just bad.