Jon Loder's Reviews
No woke that I can see.
Funny and somewhat predictable. Most of the good stuff is in the trailer.
Created: 07-06-2024
A subjective review from the viewpoint of a christian...
I like Sci-fi. I like time-travel stories that make you think. That's why I watched this one day when I was bored. I didn't realize it was a religious movie until I was immersed in the story. The basic premise is that removing Christ from moral teaching will cause a kind of social drift away from Biblical teaching. When a Bible professor gets a chance to visit 21st century America from over 100 years in the past, he encounters the outcome of such concepts. When people are left without a moral anchor, they drift away in the currents of rationalization. The slow changes in social morality over a century can be shocking if experienced all at once. This is definitely a B movie. The acting and directing are not bad. It's just obvious that it wasn't made with the level of production we've become accustomed to. I would recommend this to anyone, Christian or not, who is interested in American sociology.
Created: 06-25-2024
Great resolution to the series
I had never heard of Serenity or Firefly before seeing this on a streaming service on a day when I had nothing to do. It was a very enjoyable sci-fi adventure. Afterward, I learned about the series that spawned this movie. I binged that and had a better understanding. The cancellation of Firefly was a huge disappointment to a small but intense (and rapidly growing) fanbase. Reasons abound as to why Fox pulled the plug before the first season was completed. The result is the same. Unanswered storyline questions outnumbered answers by far. This movie remedied that with a resounding last-hurrah of the ragtag crew. The acting and directing were superb. Every character is played to perfection with a combined chemistry that rivals any casting, ever.
Created: 05-31-2024
No wokeness that I could see.
It's a remake of a cult classic that was very campy. The over-the-top, fights breaking out every night, idiots with knives, etc. is expected. It's fiction, enjoy it. That said, I was pleasantly surprised. Dalton (Jake G.) had some great one-liners. Connor McGregor broke new ground in character acting. JG's history with Brokeback (which I only heard about) is hard to ignore, especially when he has the blue, equal sign tattooed on his neck. If that's a woke element, it's the only one I noticed. It's worth a watch in my opinion.
Created: 04-15-2024
Is the novel the standard? If so, it missed some important points.
Part one was reasonably well done with the blatant and unnecessary substitution of Dr. Kynes. After all, the original story has women controlling the political and social structures through the Bene Gesserit order. Also, the Fremen women are just as vicious fighters as their men. in the book. Part Two has a more troubling change. Chani isn't the devoted supporter of Paul that the novel portrayed. The novel has Chani gladly accepting her role as Paul's consort while he's married, in name only, to the Emperor's daughter. This movie has Paul intentionally leaving her behind to fulfill his role as Kwisatz Haderach and Chani growing more bitter. The movie ends with the implication of some major conflict between Paul and Chani. The movie also left out the characters of Paul and Chani's son as well as Jessica's daughter. That changed things. I'm not impressed.
Created: 04-15-2024
A little hard to watch but, worth it
The director seems to like the scene were there's a lot of emotion and everybody involved is trying to talk over everyone else. That happens at least 3 or 4 times every episode. that's why it's hard to watch. Building tension to the point of stressing the viewer is the norm. Other than that, the story unfolds a little too slow sometimes. The acting is tops. Every character is realistic and believable. The long story threads through the episodes with pleasant diversions into the individual characters with everything coming back together at just the right time. The language is continual f-bomb and violation of the Third Commandment. I'm expecting cooking schools to experience the kind of surge that the chess clubs got after Queen's Gambit. The culinary aspects appear to be genuine and interesting. I learned how to make a better omelet. I didn't expect a story about a Chicago restaurant to be this entertaining. SEASON TWO EDIT; About that slow story line, they found a lower gear. The entire season was one big buildup of tension that was never resolved. After a few episodes, the tension wasn't even building anymore. It was just held in anticipation of the big reveal that never came. I'll probably watch season 3 when it releases but not with the anticipation I had for starting season 2. I hope it gets back on track quickly.
Created: 02-14-2024
Surprisingly entertaining
Dahl's book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, has been rehashed in the movies a few times without being able to outdo Gene Wilder. Side note: the title of that movie, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was used instead of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory because Quaker was sponsoring the movie in preparation for their new line of Chocolate products, which failed miserably because of poor quality. But, I digress... This movie started out as a musical and ended as a musical but, the part in between was a well done prequel to the story we're all familiar with. The acting was top notch. The CGI was state of the art and the screenplay was very well written. It was hard, at first, to accept Paul Atreides as Wonka but, his superb acting quickly settled that into place. It's worth the watch.
Created: 02-14-2024
Surprisingly good
This movie has a social agenda. The difference between this and the typical agenda-driven movies, is that it's not based on deception or, even exaggeration. The agenda is to portray the ludicrous idea of men competing in women's sports using trans ideology. Funny? absolutely! After ruminating on this movie for a couple of days, I've come to the conclusion that the key character is Gwen, the Journalist.
Created: 12-13-2023
Perhaps predictable but, very watchable
No woke. None. The Equalizer franchise is unrealistic but, it's fiction. Enjoy it. Denzel plays a character that's best described as a super hero type, dispensing satisfying justice to the bad guys. It's a typical vicarious storyline. We all want to make the bad guys suffer for their wrongdoing and stand up for the weak. The third installment didn't disappoint. As usual, the first in the series was the best. As far as sequels go, they did a pretty good job of following through the success without wearing out what made it so good in the first place. Definitely watchable. Enjoy.
Created: 11-13-2023
Enjoyable movie
As a pool player, this is an essential. As a Walter Tevis fan, not so much. The pool culture was a little overdone. If a player acted like Vinnie did in this movie, he would've been shunned, not applauded in a real poolroom. The high points include some real players used in the movie. Keith McCready was a consultant for the character of Grady Sessions. He was so good at demonstrating, he was asked to play the role directly. He did a great job acting the part of a realistic top player. Another real player, albeit a cameo part, is The Miz. Steve Mizerak played (lost to) Fast Eddie in the big tournament. His "I didn't deserve that" line still comes up as a poolroom cliché now and then. As for the story, it is my opinion that this has the record for the movie differing the most from the novel. The only similarities with the book would be the title and the name of the lead character. Nothing else in the story is even close. Walter Tevis actually wrote a screenplay for the movie deal. Scorsese rejected that and opted to use the title and lead character with a completely different story. I would love to see that screenplay surface as a miniseries. Netflix did a great job with Tevis' novel "The Queen's Gambit." The bottom line is that this movie is entertaining and worth watching. You can also read the book without fear of spoilers.
Created: 08-03-2023
