Fellowship of Filming(s)

Binge-Watching Netflix: Supernatural

Supernatural is an American dark fantasy drama television series created by Eric Kripke. It was first broadcast on September 13, 2005, on The WB, and subsequently became part of successor The CW’s lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the two brothers as they hunt demons, ghosts, monsters, and other supernatural beings.
via Wikipedia

It took me quite a while to finish watching all 15 seasons of this series, but I will say that I loved every minute of it, and have plans to get the famous tattoo this show created (well, I also like and have tattoos, so…).

Each season has it’s own story line that wraps up at the end of the season. The last episode of the season also introduces the story line for the next season. There is quite a bit of religious mythology involved throughout the series, including Pagan Gods and Goddesses, Angels, Demons, Leviathans, Vampires, Werewolves, Wraiths, Ghosts, Poltergeists, Witches, Knights of Hell, Hunters, Prophets, Psychics, Purgatory, Death, Reapers, Zombies, the Anti-Christ, Nephilim, and the Apocalypse. God makes several appearances.

As with most long running series, I do believe some seasons were better than others, while I couldn’t pick out any season as being a favorite. Season 15 is the final season for Supernatural, and I do like how the story ends. It’s very fitting for the two brothers.

Eventually I will set about re-watching this series, or purchasing it digitally to watch at my leisure.

My Ranking: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Black Water (2018)

Black Water is an American action thriller film directed by Pasha Patriki. It stars Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren in their fifth collaboration, specifically the second time they appear as on-screen allies. The film was released direct-to-video in the US on May 25, 2018.
via Wikipedia

Honestly, I don’t remember much about this movie except that it’s a classic Van Damme action movie on a submarine that isn’t supposed to exist. I do appreciate Dolph Lundgren’s character though, who has a “nothing matters” mentality.

There’s a reason it was a direct to video movie and that is because it’s not very memorable. It’s a typical CIA espionage type plot with the main character as the scapegoat and then the ever complex series of actions to escape and clear his name.

It’s okay just not memorable.

My Ranking: ★ ★

The Martian (2015)

The Martian is a 2015 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon. Drew Goddard adapted the screenplay from the 2011 novel The Martian by Andy Weir. The film depicts an astronaut’s lone struggle to survive on Mars after being left behind, and the efforts of NASA to rescue him and bring him home to Earth.
via Wikipedia

Yes, I’ve been watching a lot of these types of movies lately. Stranded on a remote island, stranded on Mars, stranded on Mars again.

This one is different. This is not so much a stranded story as it is a survival and rescue story. I also quite enjoy Matt Damon as actor and appreciate this movie as he doesn’t a whole lot of acting recently. He does very well.

This gets political, in a way. Jeff Daniels is the head of NASA and is our antagonist. He is very good at it, I dislike his character. I like that Jeff and Sean Bean butt heads at the office about policy and procedure while back on Mars Matt is doing his damnedest to stay alive until he can be rescued.

I also really enjoy how the rescue comes about, it’s good, you’ll have to watch it.

My Ranking: ★ ★ ★ ★

Stranded (2001)

Stranded is a 2001 English-language Spanish science fiction film about a fictional first crewed mission to Mars. It stars Vincent Gallo and Maria de Medeiros, and was directed by Spanish filmmaker and actress María Lidón (credited in the English version of the movie as “Luna”), with screenplay by Spanish science fiction author Juan Miguel Aguilera. Lidón won the “Grand Prize of European Fantasy Film in Silver”, and Gallo and de Medeiros were named best actors at the 2002 Fantafestival in Rome.
via Wikipedia

If you want to Google this film make sure you Google “Stranded 2001” since there are quite a few movies that go by this name.

I do enjoy the eclectic cast of characters aboard the space ship as they all seem to be of several cultures and countries. Points for that, but minus points for the uncreative and over-used movie title. Most of the crew members are fairly likable but of course there has to be one naysayer that comes across as a bully.

I do rather like this movie, it’s quite good. It’s not jus another “stranded on an isolated piece of rock” movie. The crew deals with immediate death of their captain and then their own impending deaths. I’m not sure what I would have decided in their situation.

My Ranking: ★ ★ ★

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977)

The Island of Dr. Moreau is a 1977 American science fiction horror film about a scientist who attempts to convert animals into human beings. It is the second English-language adaptation (after Island of Lost Souls) of the 1896 H. G. Wells novel of the same name.
via Wikipedia

The Island of Dr. Moreau is originally a novel by H. G. Wells, but has made into a movie several times, the most recent one at the time of writing is a 1996 version of the same name. This story is not new to me, I’ve watched this movie before, but watched it again since it was free on YouTube.

It it obvious from the beginning that something strange is going on on this island, but it is kept quiet at least for a little while. Our protagonist struggles with this since he has no where to go, but plays nice to his host, not fully accepting what is going on.

I will say that this is a somewhat dated story, as cinema and storytelling has moved on from “mad scientists” and “deserted remote islands”, at least to a certain degree. It is decent enough background noise for an afternoon, however.

My Ranking: ★ ★

Rogue (2007)

A handful of tourists looking for adventure get more than they bargained for when they cross paths with a massive man-eating beast in this thriller. Pete McKell (Michael Vartan) is a writer for an American travel magazine who has been assigned to write a story about vacationing in rugged Northern Australia. Pete signs up for a cruise along a river that’s home to a large crocodile population, with tough but pretty Kate Ryan (Radha Mitchell) serving as guide. Pete soon finds he’s roughing it in the Aussie wilds with an eclectic variety of travelers, including Russell (John Jarratt), who is dealing with the death of his wife; Simon (Stephen Curry), a tactless amateur photographer; and Allen (Geoff Morrell), a member of the British upper crust making the trip with his ailing spouse (Heather Mitchell) and their rambunctious daughter (Mia Wasikowska). While Kate’s former husband, who also works on the river, makes a pest of himself in the early stages of the voyage, the travelers soon find they have more to worry about when their craft is attacked by a massive 25-foot crocodile, who is just clever enough to know how to trap its prey before enjoying them for dinner.
via IMDB

Based on a true story (via another video linked below) Rogue is a creature feature with an oversized crocodile predator harrassing a group of tourists in Australia. While the real story did occur in Australia on the Finniss river which is so deep it looks black. Like most places in Australia it is prone to crocodile attacks.

However, as a movie it is not my favorite crocodile movie (that one goes to Lake Placid featuring Betty White), but I wouldn’t necessarily call it a bad movie either, it was entertaining to me. None of the actors are particularly outstanding either for their performances or notoriety. It’s not a bad way to spend an hour and 40 minutes, but there are better.

My Ranking: ★ ★

Missing 411: The Hunted (2019)

Hunters have disappeared from wildlands without a trace for hundreds of years. David Paulides presents the haunting true stories of hunters experiencing the unexplainable in the woods of North America.
via IMDB

Missing 411: The Hunted is a sequel to the documentary Missing 411. This one focuses on hunters that have gone missing or finding the unexplainable (while David Paulides does have an interest in Big Foot this documentary does not mention it specifically, just oddities that have no explanation as of yet).

Most hunters were tracking their prey and never returned, despite being avid outdoorsmen. Others encountered something they were unable to explain away, sometimes with corroborating evidence such as pictures or other witnesses.

As with the previous Missing 411 documentary, there is a playlist that continues to highlight some of the stories that David Paulides has documented throughout his research (and books!) which I continue to enjoy on YouTube.

My Ranking: ★ ★ ★

Missing 411 (2016)

A documentary that chronicles the similar disappearances of five children in the wilds of North America, across multiple decades.
via IMDB

David Paulides (wiki) is a former police officer, investigator, and author of a book series, Missing 411. These books chronicle missing persons cases from all over North America. This movie is a documentary focusing on a few of those missing person cases.

I found out about this documentary through another Youtube channel that has a primary focus on dark, disturbing occurrences that often feature missing persons. I did attempt to track down some of the Missing 411 books, but have yet to find any (I have a book review blog, if I do manage to find one, I will post there.).

Some of the missing persons are found alive, some are found dead, and some are not found at all. The weird part is how they went missing in the first place, and then where the person was found (if they were found at all).

Some persons are found several miles away from where they went missing, in a time period that does not allow for that amount of travel. Think of a toddler traveling several miles on their own within an hour or so. There’s little explanation.

The documentary features interviews with friends and family and the rescue workers and investigators that were involved in the disappearances with footage of the area where the person went missing. It’s a fascinating look at what can happen in the wilds of North America.

My Ranking: ★ ★ ★

Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)

Wikipedia:

Resident Evil: Afterlife is a 2010 action horror film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. The film marks Anderson’s return to direct in the Resident Evil film series, after the first film. A direct sequel to Resident Evil: Extinction (2007), it is the fourth installment in the Resident Evil film series, which is loosely based on the video game series of the same name, and the first to be shot in 3D. It stars Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Spencer Locke, Boris Kodjoe, and Wentworth Miller.

The story continues with Alice now targeting the head of the Umbrella Corporation along with her many clones. However, not all goes as planned, survivors are disappearing, and Alice herself has finally been cured of the T virus that has made her superhuman.

More survivors are holed up in a prison awaiting rescue from Arcadia, the ship and sanctuary promised over the radio. Alice arrives and of course all hell breaks loose forcing all involved to abandon the prison and make the dangerous trek to the Arcadia, only to find the ship seemingly abandoned as well.

The secret of the Arcadia is revealed, only leaving more questions rather than answering them altogether, but eventually giving everyone left a sense of hope for the future…

My Ranking: ★ ★ ★

Get it on Amazon

Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)

Wikipedia:

Resident Evil: Extinction is a 2007 action horror film directed by Russell Mulcahy and written by Paul W. S. Anderson. A direct sequel to Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), it is the third installment in the Resident Evil film series, which is loosely based on the Capcom survival horror video game series of the same name. The film follows the heroine Alice, along with a group of survivors from Raccoon City, as they attempt to travel across the Mojave desert wilderness to Alaska and escape a zombie apocalypse.

A continuation of Apocalypse, Extinction proves that the T virus has spread throughout the country and survivors keep on the move to stay alive, but there may be a sanctuary out there.

However, Alice is again detained by the Umbrella Corporation, she’s the only one who has successfully bonded with the T virus and they want to know why, thus her presence is a danger to anyone she encounters.

The numbers of the undead rise to include animals, and the danger is all too real. Will Alice escape a third time? Will the survivors continue to survive? The story continues…

I like this movie series in general, but my favorite is still the original movie, because I can rewatch it again and again and not be, well bored comes to mind, but I think movie lovers will know what I’m talking about.

My Ranking: ★ ★ ★

Get it on Amazon