Movie Review: UNACKNOWLEDGED – this documentary on aliens and UFOs is entertaining up to the point where it turns into just another global conspiracy theory

Here’s the weird thing about me: I absolutely have no belief whatsoever in ghosts, monsters, aliens, psychic powers – none of that.  I also don’t believe too much in theoretical physics (hint: the word “theoretical” is why).  No, I can honestly say I’m a pragmatist at heart.  This doesn’t mean to say I’m somehow better or smarter than people who believe in things I don’t.  I fully acknowledge that pragmatism itself is a kind of belief structure – I want the facts spoon fed to me by people who have them.  What’s weird about that, you wonder?  Well, I happen to love all that other stuff.  My brain is wired to enjoy all these things, but more than that, I am wired to seek out the stories of people who claim to have experienced unusual phenomena.  Which is why I watched the “aliens are real” documentary, Unacknowledged.

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Movie Review: ASSASSIN’S CREED – video game adaptation fails to engage as a movie on just about every level.

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Given that I already knew Assassin’s Creed was a critical dud, why did I end up watching it?  I’m asking that myself, having witnessed it first hand.  I don’t usually read reviews of movies I’m going to watch in case they might influence my viewing and elements of my own reviews, and I didn’t with this one – one look at the Rotten Tomatoes aggregate score was all I needed to know.  As anyone who’s scrolled through my reviews knows, I’m largely a genre fan, so some movies I’ll watch regardless – that’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.

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Movie Review: OPERATION AVALANCHE – 60s-set conspiracy thriller, heavy on period detail, but light on drama

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If I’d never had Operation Avalanche recommended to me by an old friend, chances are I might never have watched it.  I’d seen some promotional materials for it, even read the synopsis early last year before it was released by Lionsgate, but a found-footage conspiracy drama about the faking of the first moon landing just didn’t grab me.  Well, cut to January 16, 2017, and I’ve just watched it.  There are a few things to like, but it does fall short of being a worthwhile 80 minutes.

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