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Reviews
The Last of Us (2023)
Great so far.
It matches the game, in tone, and story, in every way so far.
I am so glad they didn't allow it to be made into some garbage blockbuster summer movie, like they did with World War Z, that was the plan, and the creators refused, and held out until the opportunity to stay true to the source was available.
I won't give any spoilers or reveal any of the storyline. If you liked the game you will like this. If you never played the game but like the first two to three seasons of Walking Dead then you will like this. It's well acted, dark enough to be realistic, and doesn't pander with canned emotion manipulation.
Im Westen nichts Neues (2022)
One of the better war films
WW1 has been overlooked by film and television compared to WW2, yet in some ways it was a far more tragic and because of that interesting war.
This remake did everything right. From the sense of dread and foreboding to the meaningless of the death, all perpetrated by a small groups of politicians and elites who never got muddy and blood drenched. The music and sound effects alone in this movie did an amazing job of conveying the tone, not to mention the cinematography. I am so glad it was made by Germans, stars Germans, and is in German. Nothing is worse than the days of Hollywood were everyone speaks English no matter what country it takes place in. Even well made modern films such as The Last Duel faltered by using Americans to play medieval Frenchmen and speaking in English. If some people are bothered by subtitles then they need to practice their literacy. And perhaps not watch films that depict things outside their zone until they do.
Anyway, bravo for the film makers and actors of this. We need more well made films featuring the views of others around the world, and in their own languages.
Shantaram (2022)
Been waiting for a screen adaptation for over a decade
There were rumours about a movie years ago starring Brad Pitt as Lin. I wish they had made it, even better I wish they had cast a real live Australian for Lins part, Charlie Hunnam does the worst Aussie accent. It's painful. I don't think he is a good actor all around either, bless his heart. Very wooden, and canned. If this hadn't been a story I was waiting for years to see and I saw that he was the lead I would have passed and not even given it a chance. SOA was prime time schlock. He suits that better.
Anyway, aside from that casting disappointment I am happy so far with the series. It is true to the book, with no huge deviations. When will they understand that if you title something after a beloved source and then rewrite it a bunch then it's just gonna piss off every person that went out of their way to see it because of the source name. Interview With a Vampire is a perfect example of that hubris.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022)
Added an extra star to combat basement dwellers
Thus far I would give this series a 7, the acting is great, the effects are good, episode 2 is more compelling than the first. Is it 100% accurate based on the lore? No, so what, get over it, stop being disappointed by things that don't tug at your childhood just the way you want. There are no other books, so it is written with only side notes as a reference.
People moon and bray over shows like Stranger Things, when this show is clearly more well done, and less ham fisted and canned.
Don't enter this expecting Peter Jackson, he wasn't part of it. Tame your expectations and you should be happy. Rewatching LOTR it's not that different, especially in the beginning, before sweeping and epic events had time to realise. I went into this very carefully and didn't have high hopes. It was better than I expected.
The Anarchists (2022)
Has zero to do with Anarchism
This poorly titled daytime television pedigreed show is about spoiled, selfish, greedy, and immature Libertarians.
It has as much to do with Anarchism as it does with good production and narrative. Which is to say nothing.
If you want to make a show about parasitic and sophomoric quasi cult troglodytes that's fine. But do not label/title it like you have never met a dictionary, or thesaurus.
Loot (2022)
Tone deaf
The days of making billionaires protagonists or hero's are long gone. And a cheap richoganda series is tacky and tone deaf to the world as it is and the quickly growing inequalities. Brought about mostly by, you guessed it, billionaires.
The Old Man (2022)
Elder Jason Bourne
But done right. The exhaustion and pain in the fighting scenes are spot on. Anyone who has been in a real street brawl with life at stake knows how fake and nonsense most tv fight scenes are. Only a few shows have ever gotten it right. This is one of them. Another notable realistic tv fight scene was in Deadwood, Hearst's man vs Swearengen's man, the emotion, exhaustion, and desperation. A real drag down brawl is a slog, not a dance.
Anyway. Top rate actors, Bridges and Lithgow, and realism make a generic plot exceptional. Well done.
The Kids in the Hall (1988)
They still got it
It still has the same style of humour. The same zany and self deprecating off the wall comedy.
I can only assume that the two bad reviews I saw must be by the Tik Tok generation of vapid 60 second content addicts.
Love Kids In The Hall and am so glad they are back.
Reacher (2022)
80s style action. Enjoyable, but dumb and unbelievable.
It's a cheap filler romp of action. One that has more plot holes than most, none of the characters are believable. From the Boss Hog mayor, to Reacher himself that is supposed to be a badass and yet gets beat down just enough every time, like a Rocky movie. He is also utterly unbelievable as the quasi genius they portray him as.
This is basically a reimagining of Roadhouse, but Swayze is way cooler.
The high reviews baffle me, my fellow man must be even dumber en mass than I thought.
Is it worth watching? Sure, as throw back to the Commando style 80s action that was dumb but fun. Is it worthy of such high reviews and praise? Hell no.
1883 (2021)
Would be a lot better without the constant inner monologue
It's basically a rip off of Lonesome Dove, it's a good thing I like Lonesome Dove. The constant inner monologue by the daughter is obnoxious and boring though. She has a bad fake accent, and keeps trying to channel Walt Whitman with poorly written romance novel poetry. Her acting and character is good otherwise. But man, I don't want to hear some prattling ode to the Texan bounty and color scheme, not constantly. I live in Texas. It's not resplendent in the ways she describes, never was.
Sam Elliot is the series saviour, and the cameo by Billy Bob makes me wish he was a main character. Tim McGraw is good also. But you can't beat the aforementioned other two.
Will keep watching. Hope Elsa loses her inner voice though.
Station Eleven (2021)
Ignore the low ratings
It's a very well done and atmospheric series, thoughtful. It's based on a well written novel. It is not an action series, there are no zombies, it's not about survivor groups in conflict. It's about humanity. Introspection, survival in those terms, not machete wielding wasteland wanderers.
The apocalypse is a platform to explore characters. It is the light used to frame the centrepiece, not the centrepiece.
If you want to watch an intelligent series about humanity then this is for you. If you want to watch constant desperation, action, gore, heroism then stick to Walking Dead, or Mad Max, or even The Road.
The Reagans (2020)
Reagan is the reason America is now a failed state
He was a corporate puppet whose legacy is ruin.
Ignore the insane reviews left by sycophants who need demagoguery in their world, if you already didn't know of the harm Reagan did then you must be willfully ignorant, but this doc will show the sordid details in a stark light.
Sh'at Neila (2020)
Unwatchable in its current state.
This series was just released by HBO, and looks amazing. Unfortunately whomever is in charge at HBO decided they would only upload a dubbed version, with no option to watch it in its original language and English subtitles.
What a giant mistake.
Dubbed movies or TV show are terrible. The connection between characters and their speech is obviously disjointed.
I get that HBO wants to cater to folks that don't like to read. But for gods sake give everyone else the option to watch programs how they are made.
What a huge disappointment.
I am currently looking for pirated versions in the original Hebrew.
Get it together HBO.
Romulus (2020)
We need more Bronze Age to series
The fact alone that this entire show is in Latin is impressive, and that it don't slide into an overtly cheesy flow, like so many other historical shows, is also great.
I have no idea why so many people gave it a low rating. But people as a whole are stupid (the list of garbage shows with high viewer ratings is long), and often motivated to give their impression of shows from bias, and expectations that are silly.
So far I like the show a lot, ITunes needs to acquire it so I can give them money.
White Wall (2020)
So far very engaging
Can't wait to see what happens next. Just the right amount of Nordic Noir and Sci Fi.
La valla (2020)
Good show
So far an engaging series. Why anyone would ever want to watch anything that's been dubbed is beyond me. If you are literate enough to write a review then subtitles should not be a problem. Dubbed is always worse. Thank god Netflix allows you to choose.