A few reviews

[ThrowgnCpr]

Season 02 of X-Files remains spectacular, though.
I try not to rewatch too often, lest its magic go stale.

I completely agree

[Hymie]

X-Files S02 - 1995 - 8/10


The show went south for me after the location shifted to Los Angeles (closer to FOX money men perhaps?).
Much altered, not necessarily for the better.

The move was to keep Duchovny on the show.  Didn't last for long, but its clear that the show was not the same after the location change.

[Vultural]

Hello, My Name Is Doris - 2015 - 5/10

[Image: 293vviu.jpg]

Nice meeting you, Doris, now goodbye.
Sally Field plays 60+ shlemiel in Manhattan ad agency, everyone else is 20s and 30s.
A transfer arrives from California, 30 year old guy she develops the hots for.
She stalks him via social media, shows up at music raves.
The one-sided “romance” is not Harold And Maude.
Doris has zero vitality, has the fashion sense of a bag lady, and the social skills of a leftover bagel.
Her obsession is creepy.  Apologists cry that if men do it, so can she.
No, stretching two generations is generally beyond accepted norms, for either gender.
Secondary plot deals with the aftermath of her mother’s death, with whom she had been living.
Her brother (and wife) suggest she clean out the Staten Island house before selling - and what - share the proceeds?  Seems filmmakers dialed back that aspect so to make him more sympathetic.

[Vultural]

One Missed Call 2 - 2005 - 4/10

[Image: 2hdwhzl.jpg]

I bought One Missed Call 1 when it first came out.  It was OK, at best.
This was during the peak of dead wet girl films.
Part 2 offered less meals (victims), and the deaths lacked creativity.
There were a couple of rambling threads regarding the villain that went nowhere.
Predictable - formula - waste of time.

Warning - There is yet another sequel - 03, which is just as bad.
Even worse is the US remake which makes these look like masterpieces.
Avoid.  Don’t be an idiot like me and view crap - unless you have a taste for it.

[Vultural]

No Offence - S01 - 2015 - 6/10

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Police procedural set in Manchester.
There is an ongoing arc of a sexual predator targeting females with Downs Syndrome, as well as an individual one-off storyline each week.
Stereotypes in the roles (troubled detective, new insecure detective), but the boss lady is a force of nature.
Eight episodes, easy to take.
This is actually a very funny series, though the humour is gallows black.

Note - The Mancurian accent is pronounced.  Subs might be helpful.

[Vultural]

Afghan Star - 2009 - 7/10

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Afghanistan documentary.
The Afghanistan version of Pop Idol, American Idol, etc ...
Contestants compete for $5000 and the chance to be crowned Afghan Star.
For some, this meant risking their lives to sing.
Thousands try out, including two females, and navigate between tribal loyalties, religious decrees, threats, and many other difficulties.
Despite religious objections, the show was massively popular across all levels of society.
A bit predictable, yet a nice glimpse into a troubled country. For once, enjoyable reports.

[Gaith]

Let's Not Panic - 2015 - 4/10

https://vimeo.com/169644402

11-minute short about the very model of a modern privileged Brooklyn millennial who fantasizes about her psychiatrist. Then a large asteroid appears on a collision course with NYC: will twoo wove flourish when doctor/patient ethics are rendered moot? Will you care?Ah, yes, the rom-com apocalypse genre: a favorite of those with nothing to say, and no perspective to say it with. (That isn't me being haughty; I also wrote some of this while I was younger. Then again, I didn't go to NYU grad film school and keep at it.)

The heroine has a wry likability, and a certain resemblance to Arrow's Emily Bett Rickards. I found myself charmed by her low-key positivity and generally appealing persona in spite of her character's abysmal taste in men's fashion (10:23, if you dare). And then the credits roll... it's hard to forget a name like "Lyle". Turns out I vaguely knew this woman long ago. Small bi-coastal cultural nation! Indeed, I quite recall trying to chat her up once, to her utter indifference.

An inoffensive but entirely unmemorable short. People Kickstartered $15k for this twaddle? (Note that the director herself appears in a skimpy bathing suit cameo, and is called "perfect" by the heroine.) The fact that it was apparently picked up for presentation at several film festivals is disconcerting. Still, the lead does have a certain something. I wonder if we'll see any more of her; I certainly wouldn't object.

[dangermouse]

Wow. That was pretty... arbitrary. You're absolutely right, Gaith - she had nothing to say and so said nothing.
Well picked up about the director. She actually wrote the lines for the actor to say that she is perfect. Wow.

[TVs Frink]

I actually liked much of X-Files S6 and S7...I never cared for the connected aliens stories for the most part, so I tend to judge seasons on the more fun monster-of-the-week episodes, and although I'm in the minority I found I really enjoyed a bunch of the S6 and S7 ones.

[Vultural]

Let's Not Panic - 2015 - 4/10


11-minute short about the very model of a modern privileged Brooklyn millennial who fantasizes about her psychiatrist. Then a large asteroid appears on a collision course with NYC: will twoo wove flourish when doctor/patient ethics are rendered moot? Will you care?Ah, yes, the rom-com apocalypse genre: a favorite of those with nothing to say, and no perspective to say it with. (That isn't me being haughty; I also wrote some of this while I was younger. Then again, I didn't go to NYU grad film school and keep at it.) . . .

Thanks for posting this, I did watch it.
If I saw it during a festival, I would shrug and wait for the feature - and hope the feature was better.
I have seen my fair share of indie films, and many have the odd bonus short from whence the feature was based.
You never know.  Some money could appear for a 85" feature of this.