Can you still find that (SF) movie, or has Enshittification (TM) taken over full force?

Science Fiction

Let's try to watch some SciFi...

Note: this isn't a 'top 10' kind of list. I was just wondering where you could watch them (legally)...

Note that I'm based in The Netherlands, and availability strongly depends on the region you live in...

Chronical: 2067

Movie Review

2067 (also known as Chronical: 2067) is a decent SciFi movie that more or less flew under the radar. Don't expect mega blockbuster style VFX and CGI, huge explosions and robust heroes. This isn't one of those.

Netflix - Damsel (2024)

Movie Review + Netflix

First you see a dragon. Then you're watching some royal intrigues for 35 minutes, and only then the action starts.

Which doesn't make Damsel a complete disaster, but it helps to know what to expect.

Countdown to 2025 - #4 - The MCU Multiverse versus The Kang Dynasty (and my Top 3 MCU movies)

Countdown + Movie Review + Series Review

In Marvel MCU terms there is little difference between alternate timelines and alternate universes, so I'll group them together.

And - even if you dislike Jonathan Majors - there are some multiverse installments worth watching.

Countdown to 2025 - #5 - Disney+ - The Marvels (and my Top 3 of how humanity will fail)

Countdown + Movies Review + Disney+

The preceding show Ms Marvel isn’t that bad, except for an overly short season. This one though… yeah, this one didn’t work. It’s a pity because it had some promising elements, but the end result is a hasty mess.

The verdict? Skip it.

Disney+ - DeadPool & Wolverine (2024)

Movie Review + Disney+

Largely entertaining, but not as good as the previous two Deadpool movies. The ending was a bit of a cop-out (with the typical super villain about to destroy the world) and I found the second half of the movie somewhat predictable and boring.

Though it is entertaining...

Netflix - Rebel Moon 1 & 2

Movie Review + Netflix

Rebel Moon is... a mess. Take Star Wars, add a bit of B-movie stuff like Krull, try to incorporate elements of the different 47 Ronin movies and it's descendants (The Magnificent Seven, Seven Samurai, and even Battle Beyond the Stars).

Next, spend a lot of money on effects, tits, and gross-dom, and call it the 'Director's Cut'...

Netflix - Atlas

Movie Review + Netflix

J-Lo and Netlifx at it again. After the by-the-numbers (but still watchable) The Mother here's another Lopez flick, and this time she's venturing into Science Fiction territories.

In a nutshell: young girl watches her mother and half the world killed by an AI developed by that same mother, and returns to the fight 28 years later, having to overcome her fear of AI.

Appleseed

Anime Review

With four movies and a thirteen episode television series many of us must have caught at least a glimpse of Appleseed. Or at leats of one of it's main characters: Briareos. Aka bunny-ears... Just kidding 😇

Disney+ - Free Guy

Movie Review

Ryan Reynolds is a busy bee. Here’s a high-octane, big FX take on The Truman Show (which is better) with a bit of The Matrix thrown in (which is better).

‘Guy’ lives inside a video game, and helps the programmer to recover code and discover love.

The verdict? It’s okay if you said goodbye to your brain cells two or three years ago.

Netflix - Akira

Anime Review

I think my first encounter with anime was back in '95. Yeah, I'm getting old 😔

(I know some people will hate me for my take on this classic, but it's like Jack Burton always says: "Give me your best shot, pal: I can take it.")

Netflix - The Mother

Movie Review

Standard action flick with Jennifer Lopez as a former agent who went undercover to protect her newly born child, and has to protect the orphaned kid fifteen years later.

For a standard Netflix action flick, it’s surprisingly good (if a bit predictable). But the most important question isn't answered: how the hell does Jennifer Lopez keep in shape?

Alice Hoffman - Practical Magic

Audiobook Review + Movie Review

"The Beloved Novel of Love, Friendship, Sisterhood and Magic". Right. They missed a single word in that description: boring.

Because, I'm sorry, but because that's what it is. Boring. It starts somewhere, it goes somewhere, and it ends somewhere. I made it three quarters through, trying to figure out what was so great about the story, and gave up.

Fortunately, there's also a movie... is there?

Do you know who's losing the streaming wars? You!

Column

With Netflix continuing to increase their pricing, the offer of HBO Max looked pretty good... Who doesn't want a lifelong 50% discount, great series and a bunch of movies? And so, I subscribed.

I might cancel any day now. When HBO Max becomes Max, and all the good stuff disappears in exchange for crappy reality stuff... 

Netflix - Bushwick (2017)

Movie Review

Violence. Explosions. Dave Bautista. And a movie without a point. Not even much of a plot.

I am completely unsure what to make of this one. It's just a movie, with lots of violence, supposedly about Texas separating itself from the rest of the US. It's not entertaining, and the only message it sends is that war kills. And even then it sends that message poorly. 

Netflix - Spiderman - No Way Home

Movie Review

Maybe it's formally not part of the MCU (as in being more of a Sony than a Marvel property) but hey, it fits nicely, and Doctor Strange does a good job making things worse.

The movie is enjoyable if a little forgettable. Tom Holland is great, as usual. I'm still not convinced by Zendaya (a little overhyped) but the best participants in this movie are the faces of old...

Netflix - Outside the Wire (2021..2022)

Movie Review

What could have been an interesting movie is nothing but your typical over-the-top robot-gone-bad military-are-good direct-to-video.

It's a pity, because some of the CGI is pretty good, and the movie does contain some very interesting elements. It's just that it doesn't work.

The Dark Crystal / The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019)

Series Review

The Dark Crystal is an absolute classic. If you have never seen it, then go and watch this movie. Jim Henson (of Muppet fame) created it... and in its own way, it has stood the test of time.

There's a great prequel to it called The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance which (unfortunately) was canceled after a single season, in spite of good reviews. And still, I suggest you go and watch it. It's absolutely worth your time, even if we'll never get our second season.

Dredd (2012)

Movie Review

The 2012 movie Dredd has no right to be entertaining, and yet it is. Also, it may be one of the few movies that's actually good in 3D. For the record, I pretty much hate anything 3D (can't stand the glasses) and this is one of the few exceptions. I normally pick the regular versions when visiting the cinema, but back then I accidentally picked the 3D version.

To my surprise, it's even entertaining when re-watching it, years later, in 2D. Just don't expect anything to exercise the brain 😅

Netflix - Along with the Gods (2018)

Movie Review

Subtitled The Last 49 Days, it’s the modern day equivalent of A Matter of Life and Death).

This isn't a bad movie either. Nothing earth shattering, but still interesting to see a Korean take on the ‘defend the good / bad guy against gods and their lawyers’.