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Reviews
Lauchhammer - Tod in der Lausitz (2022)
Fresh take on old plot structures
This first-rate noir production puts a fresh spin on the shopworn plot tripod involving a mysterious murder (yes, the victim is tragically young and very pretty), the detective(s) with a screwed up life, and "evil business"...oh, I forgot the corrupt cop, so that makes four legs. Yet, character development via superb writing and acting (female cop costar is a genius IMO), make it a most gripping and satisfying watch. The music is likewise as pitch perfect as the script. As an aside, one wonders for the millionth time why the writing for and acting by American child actors is so mundane/awful/unimaginative? Dustin, younger brother of the deceased, gives an amazing performance of a poignant character you won't forget.
Brokat (2022)
It's own animal
I find this series strangely powerful. The character development is quite good and the actors deliver stirring performances as it captures the emotions of three "classy" hookers who long for better lives in communist Poland of the 70s. I love the way it's shot, the somewhat garish color resolution suggesting a low budget film from 50 years ago triggering a highly nostalgic vibe....it's a period piece for sure. Some may not like the slow pace, but I believe this is a verite effect, as if you are there in the story. True to the Polish spirit, it's a melancholic watch with a heavy dark curtain casting a shadow even in lighter moments. It's sometimes a little hard to follow and there seem to be some loose ends that are unlikely ever to be clarified, but well worth it.
Olhar Indiscreto (2023)
Meh with gorgeous women
An ultimately silly and repetitious series feature one gorgeous woman after another. While I was drawn in at first, the writing's mediocrity became quickly apparent. It doesn't make sense that the protagonist, presented as THE voyeur, herself enjoys normal sex...a lot! To title a series after a pathology would do better to focus on it, otherwise it has no essential function to character development, only to launch the ho-hum plot, whose dreary, predictable coincidences seem contrived as opposed to spicy. Watched two episodes in one sitting, realized the next day that any residual curiosity had totally vanished. Note to self: visit Brazil soon on a "business trip", send wife on cruise with her friends. Just kidding, but those women ARE beautiful.
Good Night Oppy (2022)
Cheap style over substance
While it was great to see (and keep company with) the brilliant scientists and engineers responsible for NASA's massive achievement, this movie is a gargantuan disappointment and wasted opportunity. There is no room for the viewer to form their own attachments to the twin robots; the documentary does it all for you in smothering, sentimental fashion, relentlessly anthropomorphizing Oppy and Spirit from the first moments. The dreadful, cloying, music similarly sucks the remaining air out of the movie; with every corny overused musical cue, we are instructed what to feel moment by moment. They may as well have depicted the bots with those horrid Disney animations (not the old ones, of course), with oversized eyes gushing tears and winks. Grateful for the little I learned and some of the inspiring footage on display, but the movie is badly in need of substance. Isn't space exploration wonderful enough a topic without bathing it in the cheap sentiment??
The Morning Show (2019)
Eye candy?
Fun to watch to a point, but the two dimensional characters get quickly tiresome. A trusted friend opined that Jennifer Aniston had reached beyond her mediocre standard but she's the same vanilla ice milk as ever. Always love to watch Steve C but the cliche ridden script takes him down, too. The 40 something Reese Witherspoon can no longer play a 30 year old character, so it's just a lot of star power falling flat with only the Chip character offering some true delight amongst the cardboard cutouts. We grew quite bored by episode 5. The show itself is made of the same coarse cloth of the industry it pillories, so the satire falls flat by virtue of its sameness and myopic hypocrisy.
Kärlek & anarki (2020)
Its own animal
Never seen anything like this fresh quirky, wonderful series, superbly written and acted. The satire is fierce and funny as hell, merciless and welcome as it pillories The Woke, among others. The characters, wacky but somehow familiar, are so well developed(!) and beautifully acted thanks in part to the pitch perfect script. The Ying and yang of comedy and drama unfold supringly yet organically, just like real life. It's also one of the only shows I've seen where the sex scenes don't seem totally gratuitous. Don't miss this completelyoriginal, unfailingly well executed show, we loved every minute.
Neumatt (2021)
Deeply moving, superbly executed.
You cannot have superlative performances without a good script, and you can't make a good script out of a lousy story. Certain naysayers on this site do not seem to comprehend this simple fact, the A-B-Cs of a good movie or TV series. New Heights has all three. The story itself is organic and archetypal, here a drama focusing on internecine against the backdrop of the familiar topic of the new pushing out the old. New Heights doesn't exaggerate its points, but tells a story of human frailties and imperfections, in some cases gross imperfections...especially when it comes to families. Only one of the main characters is totally hateful; others, just like in real life, portray characters with both good and bad traits. Familiar? For those who have never acted "childishly" nor had the common misfortune of knowing others who have, I suppose you would not deign this series worthy of your narrow-minded attentions. Again, the acting is as good as it gets, with a particularly jaw-dropping performance be Jerome Hunn, who portrays Lorenz (Lolly) the saint-like human with the flaw of a marginal intelligence.
Atypical (2017)
Perfection
It's really a drama with a lot of life comedy and even a bit of satire. Organic, beautifully written and incredibly well cast and acted. Nothing is clean and simple, just like life. You like and care about all the characters immediately...just wonderful!!!
Der Usedom-Krimi (2014)
Just good enough...
...unless you can find something better. But seriously, it's decently done and somewhat interesting but a bit creaky (i.e. Cliché). Agree wholeheartedly with another reviewer, music is totally run of the mill and annoying.
Shadowplay (2020)
But for the lead
What a great show this could have been were it not for the aptly named Taylor Kitsch, who sports the worst "tough guy" Brooklyn accent this side of Chinatown and is otherwise as wooden and dull as they come. Does anybody really believe everybody from Brooklyn sounds like Jimmy Cagney?
Us (2020)
Spotless but forgettable
This is one of those "perfect" British productions (with exception of the trite, sentimental score) that you are nonetheless likely to forget without being sure exactly why. It's admittedly very "intelligent" but ultimately uninspired...and who cares about these people, anyway? It's not that they are not likeable; it's that we are supposed to care about them to the extent we have shared some part of their experience. That boils down to a harmless narcissism that ultimately limits this viewer's interest. Anybody who has sent their child off to college understands that singular sense of grief, but it passes just as your memory of the show is likely to do the same. And boy, does that gooey, generic music get on one's nerves!!
The White Lotus (2021)
Brilliant, original, funny, tragic, cringeworthy
This show has it all. Top drawer satire (no one is spared), but also poignant. Over-the-top excellence from writing to acting to direction. Music is also fabulous. Up there with Breaking Bad, Babylon Berlin and even The Sopranos.
Capitani (2019)
Excellent but not perfect
Engrossing, dark, beautifully shot and performed. Strangely, the lead is the weak link in the early episodes...he comes off as a bit too arch and a lot too self conscious. The music is sublime and haunting. Some complain about the slow pace but we LOVED it.
Shtisel: Akiva's Portrait (2013)
Perfection
As beautifully shaped and poignant an episode as you'll ever see.