trackerzsuk

IMDb member since November 2015
    Lifetime Total
    25+
    Lifetime Plot
    1+
    IMDb Member
    8 years

Reviews

The Pike County Murders: A Family Massacre
(2023)

If you really know what happened ignore the podcasts and watch this instead.
This is a local story for me and since 2016 99% of the documentaries/podcasts have consisted of reporters interviewing each other or talking to peripheral members of the Wagner or Rhoden families and their friends. Early on the judge in this case issued a gag order so law enforcement and the lawyers involved were not allowed to speak. The genuine witnesses seem to stay off the media's radar too. This show was filmed AFTER George's trial and is the first program to feature BCI agents, local law enforcement and lawyers (including the prosecutor) involved in the case. The gag order has obviously been lifted so this not a show with a bunch of wanna-be-crime-solvers basely speculating. I was very pleased to see this finally.

I've noticed some other reviewers complaining about our governor being featured. DeWine was Attorney General when this happened and the crime was so horrific and such big news that he flew down to Pike county from Columbus the state capital the day the shooting were discovered. DeWine's handling of the recent train derailment disaster is irrelevant to his participation in this investigation.

Maybe because I've been aware of the case since 2016 and have followed all the news coverage, I don't find it difficult to follow how all the victims and perpetrators were related to each other. I thought the show did an excellent job spelling that out. Chris Newcome, Angela Wagner's half brother, provides excellent insight into the workings of the Wagner family, much needed if you want to get your head around the motive for these crimes.

I tuned into this not expecting good things at all and was very pleasantly surprised at the thoroughness and quality of this show. This is the first and so far only program I can recommend to anyone wanting to understand this case.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
(2017)

This should have been great
Fun concepts ruined by zero chemistry between the two leads, poor acting especially from Cara Delevingne . Lacks the great humor of the 5th Element too. Not for one second are you convinced of Valerian's passion for Lauraline. The only time there's any convincing connection between two characters is with Bubble and Valerian Rhianna and the Pearls are the only enjoyable things about this film.

Penny Dreadful: Demimonde
(2014)
Episode 4, Season 1

totally repulsive
Loaded with gratuitous sexual content intended solely pander to certain audiences and outrageous animal cruelty. Wrecked the series for me. I canceled my purchase order because of this episode,.

Unabomber: In His Own Words
(2020)

Excellent documentary series.
This is simply one of the best documentary series I've watched in years. I feel it necessary to post my own review, partially to rebut some of what I feel is erroneous information posted here by previous reviewers.

The series is well balanced in its coverage, It features Kaczynski's brother and sister in law, law enforcement who worked on the case, neighbors in Montana and people who knew him in his college days. . It also features profilers, journalists and psychologists. Several victims appear, some from old new coverage but others interviewed specifically for the film. In all, the series covers all the bases as far as viewpoints.

At the center of the film is a recorded interview Kaczynski granted.to Theresa Kintz, an editor of Earth First Journal in 1999. Don't be put off by other reviewer's complaints that the interview is hardly featured, that simply isn't true..Kaczynski pontificates at length and reveals himself as the sociopathic narcissist that he is. It's chilling to listen to his casual disregard and contempt he expresses towards his victims.

Finally, the experiment Ted participated in while he was at Harvard. At least one reviewer here gives the impression that the film makers use this to try to paint Kaczynski as a victim of the CIA. That simply isn't true... Though the experiment is covered, it is not covered in excess. Earlier parts of the documentary establish that Kaczynski had deep seated psychological troubles long before he arrived at Harvard. At most the film suggest that Kaczynski should not have been allowed to to participate in the experiment due to his age and already existing anti-social tendencies. .The film certainly doesn't imply that Kaczynski became a bomber because of this experiment.

One of my favorite parts of the series are the depictions of the FBI/ATF re-creations of Kaczynski's bombs. I've read several books on the case and have never seen so many of these re-created bomb mock ups. You can really see why he was dubbed "the Junk Yard Bomber" before law enforcement settled on the Unabomber moniker

If you are curious about the Unabomber case and don't feel like reading any books, this is definitely the film you want to watch. Kaczynski is adequately featured and is in no way depicted as a victim.

Dirty Money: Dirty Gold
(2020)
Episode 4, Season 2

Unwatchable due to voice over.
I simply had to shut this off. The voice of the woman/girl doing the voice over was as bad as fingernails on chalk board. It gets 3 stars because the young prosecutor.that was featured was very interesting.

This film should have been so much better.

Spycraft: High-Tech Surveillance and an Eye in the Sky
(2020)
Episode 1, Season 1

Interesting program profundly damaged by the narrator.
Dylan Berry, the narrator of this program, needs to stick to his first calling music. His delivery sounds like it's the first, or nearly the first time he's ever seen the script.. His pronunciation of some words and foreign names is simply awful. His pronunciation of Mata Hari is a hoot.

Don't take anymore narration work Dylan, please.

Neanderthals: Meet Your Ancestors
(2018)

Very dumbed down
Worth watching but prepare to have your intelligence insulted . Anyone interested in watching a program about Neanderthals is hardly a 5th grade drop out. There was no need for the producers to talk down to their audience so much. The CGI and motion capture frequently degenerates into stupidity. When they stick to talking to the scientists actually involved in Neanderthal research the program is worth while. The scientists featured probably cringed in embarrassment when they saw the final cut of this show.

Killer Women with Piers Morgan
(2016)

Facinating yet frustrating
Fascinating yet frustrating at times. I highly recommend this program to anyone who usually finds true crime shows poorly written and somewhat prurient. Morgan lets the women mostly speak for themselves and provides the basic facts of the crime. No psychological analysis of the women or their crimes. Every woman has been the subject of a book by true crime author M. William Phelps. I don't know how or why Mr Morgan should require some sort special backround to present this program. A lot of people seem to have strong negative feelings about him but you should set those aside and listen to these women speak about their crimes. What frustrating is what is not said. WHY did these women do what they did? I found myself having sympathy for only one woman featured. All of them belong exactly where they are.

Ancient Civilizations
(2017)

Pseudoscience rubbish for third grade intellects
Don't waste your time on this silly drivel. New age mumbo jumbo with zero credible science.

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