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Reviews

The Strain: The Fall
(2016)
Episode 10, Season 3

Fun series until it jumped the shark
I was really enjoying this show this season. It was really starting to get good despite plot holes and unbelievable actions taken by some characters. I could forgive all in the name of fun until that annoying kid pressed the button. Now I'm done. I'm going to forget the last ten minutes ever happened and just let the series end in my mind unfinished.

Why did they do this??? Palmer was finally showing some strength and becoming a bad ass. We even got his back story. Excellent until they immediately kill him off. And why didn't Palmer plan Eichorst's execution better? How about some UV light like he had in previous episodes. He could have set up hidden lights in the elevator knowing Eichorst would try to escape that way. Or at least a bigger, better ambush to prevent his escape and possible survival. Scratch my second favorite character. At least I still have Eichorst.

And why wasn't the nuke safely out of New York? Preferably in a location where they could have used it to vaporize the Master in his box instead of the ridiculous idea of sinking him in the ocean? Didn't any of them read The Stand? It always makes sense to use the bad guy's own nuke against him. Reminds me of Austin Powers... "Begin the unnecessarily slow dipping mechanism." We'll lock him in a box, drop it in the ocean, leave and assume it all went to plan, what? What? Oh and BTW... I think Feraldo would have wiped her face a little quicker this time. I mean WTF??? It's like she was determined to get another worm in that eye. Jeeesh. Good riddance to her and her terrible acting.

Then there's Zach. I've met some stupid kids, some messed up kids, but this is really pushing the limits of suspension of disbelief. How about running into his father's arms and crying? That would have made sense. After reuniting with Dad and joining the fight, maybe he could still have control of his pet strigoi. Could have been an interesting and useful twist.

Can anyone explain why the second nuke was so much more powerful? I understand that the first was underground. Yes, that would greatly limit its range, but an underground nuke of that power would still have caused more destruction and surely the remaining cops would have been talking about it.

As for the second nuke: Eph and company all looked at the fireball, so they would all be blind. Of course their blindness would never have been noticed because everything within the 5psi blast range would have been disintegrated instantly. But even if they were not in that range, the power of the shock wave as shown when it blew Quinlan away and rolled Eichost's car would have easily killed all of them, human and strigoi alike. If not, the heat blast would have incinerated them at that range also, but alas that never came so I guess the 10,000 degree heat was bearable... and I guess it didn't evaporate any water in the Hudson sparing them from the Tsunami wave that should have flooded Manhattan.

And since the Master escaped unharmed, I can only assume he took some survival lessons from Indiana Jones. Let me know if the Master shows up in season 4 wearing a fedora and carrying a whip. I won't be watching.

Oh, and I love how easy it is to get nukes. "Hmm, we'll take two please, suitcase type. And supersize one of them." If it was that easy, Iran would have blown up New York long before the Master showed up.

Plurality
(2012)

A timely warning - Please produce a full length feature!
Plurality is a very well done short, film. It presents an important message about the dangers of sacrificing freedom for security. This is a warning for all of us and it shows just how close we are to the point of no return, right here, right now, today.

The central idea is not new, but sadly, no one seems to be paying attention and I have not seen much, if anything, in film that hits the nail right on the head in this manner. The closest things out there exaggerate with hypothetical, fanciful future technology which makes the clear and present danger we are facing less real. Plurality, is different. Although the film does appear to include a far-fetched technology which is revealed near the end, it is only used as a plot device for the characters to deliver the message about the very real danger of what is taking place right now, all around us, with our current technology.

Plurality does not have great acting or dialog. Its futuristic "floating computer screen" special effects are well done but seem a bit overused - likely to show some flash within the short running time. This is not a polished work by any means, and it is not some "brilliant masterpiece," but for its budget and scope, it succeeds as an entertaining and thought provoking teaser film. By the end of this short, you will want to see more.

It would be nice to see this made into a fully developed feature film, but please do not let it near Hollywood - they would turn it into some kind of anti-corporate bastardization of what it is intended to be.

We need more people making films that encourage people to step back and think about the horrifying future we seem all too eager to embrace at the expense of our freedom. Freedom comes with a price consisting of responsibility, insecurity, inconvenience and even hardship and bloodshed. Some of us understand that and value freedom all the more for it. Unfortunately, most do not.

Grabbers
(2012)

Well balanced - Drink it up
I watched this movie expecting it to be a comedy. It is, but to a lesser extent than I was led to believe. Don't get me wrong, it has its share of humor, but if you take out the comedic elements, the film really stands up as a good low budget creature feature. Pleasantly surprising!

A simple script, no Oscar winning performances or intense dialog, but no over baked hams here either - except maybe in one or two spots where it's done intentionally for humor. The male and female leads were exceptional and they played their roles just right. They were endearing. The assortment of characters making up the island folk were spot on and I wanted to pop on down to the pub and buy them a round or two.

Although Grabbers borrows elements from a number of classic films in the genre, it never seems tired or cliché. I think that's due to it's understated nature and the originality it does have. Anything familiar is presented with respect and with it's own style.

A big nod to the writer and director on this one. Getting the balance this finely turned between comedy and horror isn't easy. American Werewolf in London had that, but not many others. I don't quite think this compares with that classic, but it's got that certain 'something' that will grab you.

Low budget is where you'll find the gems in this genre and Grabbers is top notch. A perfectly balanced, thoroughly enjoyable movie. If you like the genre, don't miss it.

RED 2
(2013)

Entertaining
Red 2, like the original Red, is not meant to be taken seriously. In many of my other reviews I come down hard for ridiculous plot lines and lack of believability, but this flick was never intended to be taken seriously on any level. It is a comical take on action/spy movies and so it matters not what liberties are taken.

If you enjoy Bruce Willis being Bruce Willis, you like non-stop action and you are in the mood for some mindless entertainment, it is worth a watch. No thinking required.

Personally, I enjoyed the original Red and I like watching the "old codgers" play it up on the action scene. Yes, Helen Mirren is certainly getting old, but she still exudes sex appeal (which has little to do with age or looks) and she is amazingly credible as an action hero. I'd love to see her star in some serious action/spy films.

Malkovich is his usual self and plays a small uninspired role. The surprise for me was Anthony Hopkins. He didn't have too much to do here, but more than I thought. He could have fluffed his way through a film like this, but he took the role as seriously as any other and his performance enhanced the film.

The humor in this one is not side splitting but it works. They could have hit us over the head with tired, old-timer gags but they were smart and didn't really go that route in this sequel. Overall, I have seen far, far worse in this genre.

Just remember this is an over-the-top kind of movie. It's not even close to a typical action comedy. This one has more unbelievable fights, gunfire, chases and general absurdities than five garden variety action flicks combined. I usually don't like super-action movies with nothing but explosions and bullets every two seconds, but in this film the action works and the light comedy keeps pace with it.

Watch Red 2 when you want to shut down your brain for a little while and relax with some good old American, explosive, violent, unapologetic, save-the-world, comedic entertainment.

Event 15
(2013)

So good they gave the film three titles - Awful Alert would be a better name
Anti-American flick with nonsensical portrayal of soldiers, even considering they are supposed to be suffering from PTSD.

I was hoping Captain White would die in this movie. She was a traitor and she should have died spitting in the eye of her captors. When she denounced our country I wanted to execute her myself. Being a mother is no excuse. Her kids would have been cared for. If that is how she felt, then she shouldn't have served.

She was the only character with no redeeming qualities. Diego defended his superior officer and cared for his wounded friend. Although Oldsman lost his head due to the drugs, he followed orders and was a good private. Blondie was simply weak and she disgraced herself again, betraying her country a second time in the conclusion of the film. Ugh. She should head to Russia with her commie kids and go marry Edward Snowden.

How did she become a captain? She demonstrated no leadership ability at all and she only cared about herself and her daughter. Oh yeah, and her meds. She was responsible for Diego's death. She should have seen how unstable Oldsman was - we certainly did - and subdued and disarmed him with Diego's help before things escalated.

Aside from all that, letting go of the fact that the movie had no hero, the plot was tired and clichéd, the actions of the characters were unrealistic, the dialog was severely lacking and the film was so predictable I almost fell asleep.

At one point she asks Oldsman for a screwdriver...."or shut up," she says, and then in a subsequent scene, she pulls one out of her pocket. Maybe it was on the elevator roof, but it sure looked like she got it from her pocket or pack.

When she was on the elevator roof, why didn't she at least try to open the air vent that was right in front of her? It appeared to be large enough for a person....and she did have that handy screwdriver to open the grate.

What was with the huge pipe wrench? I think that really was found on the elevator roof, but I cant imagine what use it would have in elevator repair. Maybe there are some pipes involved up at the motor, but left lying around on the top of the elevator?

This entire experiment was supervised by only one doctor and one weak-willed lieutenant. No security, no armed guards, no other personnel at all. How did this lieutenant get picked for this assignment? You got me.

And of course, all office doors are left open and top-secret files regarding this controversial, experimental drug are left in plain view.

Oh, and how did they monitor each soldier's heart rates and vitals? They weren't wearing any sensors. If it was some advanced technology, sensing them through the elevator walls, then how did it so clearly distinguish each individual's readings when they were all moving around each other in close quarters and when Cap'n White was on the roof?

I loved it when the doctor unleashed "Event 15" releasing the elevator brakes. He struggles with the decision (while we wait in excruciating boredom) and then, when he finally enters the final "Yes" command, the elevator does not fall! No, we get to see a ten second countdown before the brakes release. I'm sure there was some valid reason for that in the elevator control system programming, but I can't seem to think of it right now.

The climax was even more ridiculous. We are supposed to believe she climbed up a greasy elevator cable to a height of maybe 50-100 ft and then grabbed the edge of what looked like a 2x4 glued to the inside of the shaft just before the elevator plummeted to the ground. She somehow managed to reach that 2x4 while dangling from the cable in the very center of the shaft. Then, holding on by her oily fingertips, she scales a flat wall, defying all known laws of physics, pulling herself 3-4 feet higher to the elevator door ledge. With her hands on the flat ledge she gets her feet on the 2x4 and manages to hold the flat ledge with one hand and pull open the double elevator door with the other. Wow. No really. Wow. I say, "Approve that damn drug and get it to the front lines now!" It turns people into superheroes with strong fingers. I bet she didn't even break a nail!

And by the way... The 2x4 was on the elevator door side of the shaft and there had to be a space for it between the elevator and that wall or the elevator would not be able to move past it. This means that when exiting the elevator, there would be a gap the thickness of that 2x4 where you step out. How does that work? It was quite funny seeing the 2x4 thing just stuck there. It served no purpose at all other than to provide her with a hand-hold.

I can suspend disbelief on a lot of things if a movie is entertaining, has a decent story or good character development, but none of that is present here.

This is a film made by people with no respect for the brave men and women who put their lives on the line everyday, defending innocent women, children and freedom loving people around the world from those who oppose human rights and freedom.

I support a person's right to express his or her beliefs in a film, but at least put some effort into it. Who knows? You might convince some people. The goal here was to get the message across with out doing any work or providing a compelling story. Might as well have just made a speech bashing the USA. That's become quite fashionable these days, you know.

Now You See Me
(2013)

Real magic is getting high ratings for this waste of film
So sorry I bothered to keep watching after losing interest about a third of the way through. I almost always keep watching bad movies just to see what happens, but after this one, I may change that policy.

First of all, this movie should be categorized as fantasy. It is not a crime story or thriller at all. I went in thinking it was going to be a real heist flick. This was more along the lines of an after school special or a "Shark-nado."

What was with the carousel? "Real" magic? The Illuminati? Yawn. A major cheat for the audience that insults the intelligence. I feel raped. Where did they go and how could they ever show themselves again? The four protagonists would have been arrested and prosecuted after the very first theft. Plenty of evidence and there is no way they would ever get back on a stage. They really get out of a surrounded building? I think not. The old "handcuff swap" in an FBI interrogation room, ah...no. Suspend disbelief? Gladly, I do it all the time, but the story has to be plausible on some level.

Hmmm...what else? Having the magicians be the actual people doing the real French bank/armored car robbery? Why? I would think they would have used real bank robbers - you know, people with experience and expertise at that kind of thing? But that's just me. Might also keep them off radar when the FBI starts checking into passports, alibis and other trivial stuff like that.

Morgan Freeman's case would never be brought to trial as they had much less on him than the other four and besides, the way his car was overflowing with money....would anyone believe he was smart enough and skilled enough to pull this off, but plans to get away with the dough like that? Please. He gets out, fingers Ruffalo, end of story.

Just about everything in this movie was boring and predictable - except the ending which would have been impossible to predict because it was absolutely ridiculous.

I was starting to believe that every single robbery was faked with the original French bank in on it, all of the audience that received money from Michael Caine's account, etc. This would have at least made some sense and been a great twist of misdirection - perhaps aimed at Morgan Freeman, perhaps to fool the FBI, to commit another robbery altogether or simply as as a means to fame.

Near the end, I figured Ruffalo was the mastermind, using previously faked robberies by the magicians to cover the real, final robbery. If the previous robberies were proved fakes, and with no physical evidence for the final heist, it would have been nearly impossible to convict them. Perfect misdirection.

At one point I thought Morgan freeman was the leader, doing these fake robberies to swindle Michael Caine out of the ten million, but it was far too early in the film. Had they waited with that, it would have made the most sense - get Caine all bothered by misdirecting him with fake robberies? They could have temporarily faked the bank computers, so Michael Caine and his bank wouldn't immediately know. Perfect swindle and no real robbery ever gets committed. Hey, I'm not upset that my scenarios were wrong - the movie just sucked. I would have accepted almost anything but the path they chose. Jeeeesh.

This was an interesting premise and although the actors and dialog were obnoxious, I was willing to roll with it and enjoy. Too bad it got so lost on its way to the absurd ending.

I almost always root for the crooks and criminals in movies, but these guys were so damn smug and annoying, I was begging for them to be caught. I would rather root for bad guys who shoot bank tellers than these spoiled brats.

Now You See Me makes Tower Heist look good. Tower Heist isn't so full of itself and its not even half as silly.

Think I'm going to stop trusting the star ratings and start looking for specific, competent reviewers on this site. Far too many bad films with over seven stars.

Alien
(1979)

One of the best films ever made
Not much to say that hasn't been said about Alien. I am doing my small part to pump the rating up to a solid 9 where it belongs.

I saw this on the big screen during it's opening week when I was 11 in a REAL theater - huge (holding 1075 people), packed house, spring-rocking seats, 70mm film, six track Dolby...wondrous. I have watched Alien at least 50 times since and I will never grow tired of it.

The overall mood of the film is chilling and suspenseful. The detail and sheer beauty of the Nostromo's interior is stunning. I could easily watch an entire hour of slow, sweeping pans of the rooms and corridors alone. Nothing before or since has ever come close.

The special effects in Alien are fantastic by any standard. Yes, there is one scene in which someone attempts to stand something upright on a table and another where something appears to be moving on a dolly that reveal some limitations, but these are more than acceptable trade-offs for the realism of makeup versus CGI. I am sure the editors wished they had a few more takes to work with, but they did their best with the shots they had and these very minor flaws do not detract.

I would have thought that by now, CGI would be a match for "old-fashioned" silicone and makeup, but sadly no. CGI still looks fake and has never produced a single, believable, creature or superhero in all these years. Ever. I find that very sad. I don't know if it is because the technology for realism just isn't here yet or if it is simply a lack of human talent in adding in the "imperfections" that make things look real. I suspect it's a combination of both plus a lack of budget for the time it would take and I don't think we will see real-looking CGI for at least another 30 years. I wish more films today would shun CGI altogether. Models, silicone and makeup are far superior. Come on CGI effects teams - CATCH UP!

Well, that's my rant on CGI... But although the sets and effects are wonderful, Alien is not a special effects film. It is pure suspense and horror in a sci-fi setting, done to perfection.

Alright that's enough. If you are the one person alive who hasn't seen this, what are you waiting for? If sci-fi or slow suspense is not your cup of tea, so be it. It takes all kinds to make a world, but give it a shot - give it its due. Alien is truly an amazing work of art.

Monsters
(2010)

Not again...
Yet another anti-American propaganda film. Sadly, nothing I read prior to seeing this mentioned it so I ended up wasting time on this boring movie. Wish I'd have read a few reviews here first.

The best part of the movie was seeing the wall (from a Mayan ruin miraculously displaced by 1000 miles or so). I said, "Wow, that's awesome - exactly what we need and should have built at least 25 years ago." Looks different from the outside? Sure does. That's the point. It's a shame we need it. It's sad that folks want to come here essentially for our laws which provide the freedom and benefits they seek, but their first act here is to break the law. We have a procedure for legal immigration. If folks want to come to our exceptional country, they are welcome. Do it right and become US citizens. Sorry filmmakers, I don't feel the need to apologize for protecting the rights of our citizens whether they have been here for one generation or seven. Build that wall to protect our oldest AND newest citizens.

On a non-political note, I really didn't care whether the aliens attacked only when provoked. The truth is, they're aliens and don't belong here. They are a major threat due to their size alone. Further, they upset the ecosystem, displacing local species including humans. Thus, they should all be destroyed.

Reminds me of that other stinker, District 9. Another movie where the aliens should have been/would have been wiped out as soon as they arrived.

Man, what an awful flick.

Source Code
(2011)

How it should have ended - Still a great movie
Late to the party with this, but I thought the movie was excellent. Far better than expected. The ending was poorly thought out, however, and it could have had the same kind of "Hollywood" finish and still made sense. This movie is old and I am not reviewing it - all has been said. Just want to share how I think it should have played out. SPOILERS...

After the freeze frame, Sean's consciousness returns to Sean's body and we now "see" him as Sean. Sean has no recollection of the past eight minutes and wonders how he came to be standing there kissing Christina. Because he looks a little lost, Christina looks at him puzzled, wondering if he didn't like the kiss and questions, "What?" Sean pauses and says, "I don't know...I just have this feeling that...'everything will be okay.'" He smiles.

Sean is taken aback and has some lasting impression, a feeling of goodness that has changed him in some way, but no knowledge of anything that happened while inhabited by Colter. Being lost in the moment with Christina, he doesn't immediately talk about this memory gap. He doesn't even know how much time he lost yet and he may never really know. For now, he will simply go have coffee with Christina and go to Millennium Park to look at "The Bean" with her. Maybe he will tell her about his lost time later and they'll have a quaint story of how their relationship began - who knows. All he knows right now is that he feels a change in himself and perhaps he appreciates life a little more. He was unknowingly "touched" by this brushing of minds.

In the final parallel reality described above, Goodwin gets the text sent by Colter during the eight minutes he was in Sean's body and she starts to figure things out - exactly as the movie portrayed it. In this final reality, the Colter in the box has never been sent into anyone's mind, so Goodwin will piece together that a Colter from an alternate reality (the narrative reality) sent the message while visiting the reality this Goodwin inhabits (the movie's final reality). No problem. Stands as written and makes sense.

Dr. Rutledge was wrong about how everything actually worked. If it really was only memories, then Colter couldn't have done anything Sean didn't do. What the Source Code really did was send a mind into a shared past (a la Back to the Future) where it could affect reality for eight minutes. Any changes made would simply effect the future of a new parallel universe, not the narrative universe who's future has already played out with the train bomb exploding.

This fits with what Rutledge said - no matter what Colter did, he could not change what happened in the original, narrative universe. Rutledge was right in that regard, but he failed to see that what Colter did each time he was sent into the Source Code would have real tangible effects in other possible future realities.

Rutledge believed that there was only one real universe - one timeline, and this doesn't make sense for the character. If he created the Source Code he should have at least understood something of the "Many Worlds" theory. Once he realized that Colter could take actions that revealed truths about Rutledge's "real" universe - Rutledge's current reality, the narrative reality - he should have realized that Colter could, in fact, change the outcome of possible alternate future realities. Why?

Because, while it is true from Rutledge's perspective that Colter can't save anyone on the train - can't change Rutledge's past - the very fact that Colter could do something like find the bomb tells him that "a" past is being changed or more correctly, a "new" past is being formed. Surely Rutledge wouldn't believe that Sean actually found the bomb with no impetus to do so and then stayed on the train to die - and Rutledge knows Sean did die in Rutledge's reality, likely without a clue of what was going on. He must then realize that Colter is creating a new past - just not the past of Rutledge's present reality. From the moment Colter enters Sean, a new past, one that is no longer Rutledge's, gets created. Rutledge should then surmise that if Colter can create new events in "a" past, that new past will have a real, viable future - an alternate reality.

Instead, Rutledge believes that Sean's mind "afterglow" contains things that Sean didn't even know (and thus, by extension, the state of the entire universe or at least everything knowable within eight minutes of Sean), and that Colter's mind can connect and manipulate that construct to reveal new information. Wouldn't it be more logical for Rutledge to believe in the Many Worlds theory than this idea? Although this Rutledge couldn't have known, Colter's text would end up proving the Many Worlds theory to the Rutledge in the final reality.

Continuing with my ending... Colter's mind returns to his body in the narrative reality and dies in that reality, as promised by Goodwin. This is the happiest ending possible for him. He created a future for Sean and Christina by stopping both bombs in their reality, he stopped the dirty bomb in his actual reality and he got his final contact with his father allowing him to go to his rest in peace.

Goodwin, in the narrative reality, gets court-martialled for sabotaging Source Code, but accepts her sentence knowing she did the right thing. Yes, Goodwin is truly a "good one."

Anyway...that is how I would have liked to see it happen. It allows the tidy, happy ending they were going for, without the plot holes.

And yes, it could have ended on the freeze frame too without tidying everything up. Still an enjoyable film and worthy of some stars.

The Last Push
(2012)

Good premise, but far too many failings
Had a bad feeling from the start. The main character came across as the last person anyone would select for a long term mission. He seemed to lack enthusiasm for what should have been the adventure of a lifetime. In fact, he seemed to lack any emotion at all.

I guess they were showing a contrast in the personalities of the astronauts to suggest that they would be a complimentary pair. There is something to be said for that, however, there is a limit to that reasoning and I felt sorry for the other guy who would have no one to laugh with on the whole trip. Death was a blessing.

The main character was so unlikeable, it was difficult to empathize with him in his plight. I did not see change in him as he went through his ordeal since he seemed just as miserable on day one.

His inability to deal with the death of his friend to the point of not being able to return to the hibernation module when it was optimal for the mission again showed just what a poor candidate he was for such a trip. Any decent selection process would have kept him on the ground.

The schematics for the gravity assist trajectories were all wrong and for a movie with no special effects, this surely could have, and should have, been presented properly. There were a few other gaffs too that should have been corrected.

When he repairs the hole from the micro-meteorite, he only repairs one hole. I think it is likely that there would have been an entry and an exit hole.

In a rotating artificial gravity environment, trajectories are skewed. Ping pong balls would be nearly impossible to hit unless the ring was at least double the size. (Minor error - very nitpicky.)

When the ship loses power, he gets cold. In the vacuum of space, the problem is usually dissipating heat generated by the body, the equipment and from the sun's radiation on the hull. I could be mistaken, but he should have been too hot. He probably would have been choking on carbon dioxide too, because it seemed that he lost all power.

On such a long journey, wouldn't there be some redundancy or a back up system? In the beginning, they made a point of saying it was a rushed and perhaps under-budgeted venture, but is strains credibility that anyone would send such a small crew and small ship on a journey like this. The chances of failure would be far too great. No matter how important the trip is to Mr. Moffitt, what's the point if it's going to fail? They had such a nifty ship, with a two-in-one descent module/inflatable ground habitat no less, and one would think the trip would have been better planned for success.

Why can't he turn the monitor or comms off? Pretty simple to have a switch and probably necessary in case of fire or repair. All electrical systems should have an off switch, if only to save power or wear.

Light from the sun takes only 8 minutes to reach Earth. Even if his ship was almost on the opposite side of the sun, communication could only have a 16 minute delay each way. 32 minutes between exchanges might make it difficult, but on such a long exile, there would be no reason for him to be so alone. He could even have multiple conversations at a time, listening to and then responding to five people in a row, and this would keep him occupied and sane. But then, he was not much of a conversationalist. Where was his family? Friends? Could have added some interest and made me feel for him more.

To me, he was more than merely resigned to his fate, he actually seemed to be making an effort to be as lonely and miserable as possible. I am not talking about him not wanting to watch the videos - that I understand - just his overall attitude. He didn't even try.

I was confused about him "seeing" Venus. I finally realized that he simply donned the suit and pretended, but why didn't he do a quick EVA?

For someone who learned to appreciate life again, I really don't see how he could choose to continue the mission. If it took three years just to get back to Earth, it surely would have taken two or three times that (at best) to travel the much larger, incredibly vast distance to Jupiter. I'm not going to bother looking it up, but it is much further than a round trip through the inner solar system and would have taken far longer regardless of the gravity assisted speed. He would certainly go mad on that trip and communication would take hours.

And even with the premise of reconstituting feces for food, the astronauts were supposed to be in some kind of hibernation and there is no way he would have enough food, water and oxygen for a fully awake journey. I also did not understand why the condition of the reentry vehicle mattered. Surely a Soyuz could have been sent up to retrieve him. They had three years.

Now that I have completely bashed this film, I will say that the premise was good and it is always nice to see a low budget film that skips the special effects and tries to present something real that has meaning. The film did convey the sense of isolation and boredom very well.

Mostly, I am disappointed that it failed on so many little details that would have cost nothing to correct. Its biggest failing, however, is the lack of any visible change in the character's appearance and in his mental state. I blame it on the script and direction more than the actor.

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