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Reviews
Anthracite (2024)
Just....no
Total waste of time. While a premise sounds interesting the execution is a mess. Most of characters are annoying enough you want to strangle them (and those are just the protagonists), story takes forever to get going and with 6 eps that leaves ending rushed. Show tries to use red herrings about main villains but rather than "oh, nice trick" end result feels more like writers brainstorming various ideas and then not wanting to drop any they came out it (and all are so cliche), the twists and revelations from the past are not surprising but just there for the shock value and because such show needs to have them.
Show even failed to create a proper atmosphere. The town is neither creepy nor "so picture perfect it's creepy".
French TV has managed to produce good shows with "secrets form the past resurface when a new crime is committed in small, out of the way village/town" theme but this one is not one of them. Best to avoid it.
Mano de hierro (2024)
Has the elements to be an excellent series but fails to use them.
Show has the proper mixture of everything that make a good crime show. Crime family with tensions between members. Crime enterprise hiding behind the facade of legitimate business. Large shipment of drugs going missing. Various crime families circling each other "we are friends, we work together but we'll punch on you if we see you as weak". Colombian drug cartels. Undercover cops. Events from decades ago still casting shadows and secrets. But somehow it all fails to come together and leaves us with a disjointed story that is all over the place, betrayals that make little sense, people acting stupidly..... Too bad.
Folk med ångest (2021)
Enjoyable
A fun short series where one somewhat absurd situation follows another slightly less absurd situation. A bank robber tries to rob a bank that doesn't operate with cash. Then takes a group of people who visited open house hostage. Not the most competent police duo tries to deal with situation only to have robber/kidnapper vanish in thin air.
So what actually happened? The police duo don't suddenly get more competent trying to figure it out and juggling their personal affairs and a collection of quirky characters they muddle through investigation.
Overall this is not top TV. Every aspect leaves something to be desired but if you don't go in with too high expectations you'll enjoy it. Plus it's short, 6 25 minute eps so perfect for an evening binge.
Guida astrologica per cuori infranti (2021)
Quirky series that doens't take itself too seriously
This is a fun short comedy series. It doesn't try to be more than it is, so it ends up being a lighthearted comedy about romance, work and relationships. Against the backdrop of astrology. It doesn't matter what you think about astrology, series doesn't lean one way or the other. It doesn't claim it's real, or even science, but it doesn't mock it either. The idea for "zodiac dating show" is just an idea that network recognizes has marketing potential and allows our heroine to produce. Characteristics of signs are just "this sign has that traits, the person that is important in this ep has those traits". Of course there is a skeptic who thinks it's all nonsense but he doesn't treat people who are into it as idiots while others don't take it too seriously either.
So if you are looking for a bit of light fun and show you can binge fast (12 half hour eps) this is the show for you.
Girls5eva (2021)
Very enjoyable
On the surface it's a pretty normal story. 1990s one hit wonder girl pop band gets a second chance at fame when one of their songs get sampled by currently famous rap musician. Now grown women with their post band lives want to seize the opportunity for a second career. And then hilarity ensues. Show jumps from one absurd situation to another with a straight face. The more absurd the situation is the more normal everybody treats it. Person gets sleepy when he reads during a drive so when he drives he refuses to read road signs? Sure, nothing weird about that and only response is "you get what you pay for and he was cheap to hire"
Few social commentaries are there but are treated with same absurd-but-everybody-thinks-it's-perfectly-normal attitude.
You could say short seasons, only 6 eps per season, is a drawback but I think this allowed writers to keep the writing at high levels and seasons don't drag on or overuse the jokes.
Very watchable, hope there is a season 4.
The Gentlemen (2024)
Has its moments but generally fails
For starters rather than being a coherent story it's actually "(mis)adventure of the week" format, except with streaming format "the week" is "each ep". Each ep presents us with a story that follows a predictable format. A problem arises. Our heroes need to fix it. They make a plan about how to fix it. Plan fails. A new plan is made. New plan succeeds. It's mostly in these adventures that some good stuff hides. It's mostly skits and gags, rather than stories, though.
In terms of grant plot, so to speak, that's the weakest part. The mechanics are never properly explained, a lot of stuff simply doesn't make sense or even adds up and there are plenty of plot holes.
Entire series seem to be based around the idea of "it's a Guy Ritchie project so you know it's going to be good", "colourful characters in weird situations" and "ordinary folks getting mixed up with criminals and soon get in over their heads". But that's just not enough to carry the series.....
GLOW (2017)
Enjoyable
1980s nostalgia without being Stranger Things. It has a nice mix of comedy and personal drama. It has wide range of characters without feeling forcefully diverse. It touches on issues from 1980s without being too preachy or "woe was being anything but straight white male".
The tonal shift in S3 took a while to find its legs and get going and I can see why people dislike it. But honestly, some change was needed and season after season of same old would get boring and get complaints of being stale.
It does end on a something of a cliffhanger(s) but overall you can consider story well enough closed.
Rita (2012)
Good overall, kind of fumbles the ending with last season
The series has a good enough idea, an unconventional teacher who navigates modern day Nordic school system and deals with fellow educators, superiors, parents and teachers while also dealing with 3 children.
It's a nice blend of drama, comedy and some social commentary. Show could do a bit more with exploring/explaining Rita's relationship with her mother and ex husband. The way it is it feels like it's there to show how not everything is perfect nor goes as planned but not for much else.
I didn't like final season much because it changed the tone too much. While first two seasons are similar in concept and third one explores her background last one feels off. I don't know enough about Danish school system to say if that plot is realistic, even if exaggerated for some laughs but overall it's just too much of a change and tonal shift for my taste.
Worth a watch, just don't expect it to be a full on sitcom series.
The Chosen One (2023)
Good enough, could be better
I haven't read the comics the series is based on so I can't say anything about the changes and whether they are good or not.
The pacing is a bit slow, entire thing could easily be trimmed by an ep if not two. When things start to happen certain suspension of disbelief is required, mostly about how and why this is contained to this small Mexican town, geography seems a bit of of whack and too many relationships are forced and don't make much sense.
The growth of main characters, his doubts and coming to grips with what's happening is done well enough. If some characters are cliches and act in cliche ways for such a story is forgivable.
It's good entertainment that doesn't delve too deeply into matters of faith and so it doesn't get bogged down there nor does it raise any controversial issues.
Norsemen (2016)
Starts off well enough, takes a nosedive fairly quickly
"What is we take modern problems and attitudes and mix them with 8th century Vikings?" Sounds good on paper and had some good ideas but entire thing feels like writers had a glass of creative juices and diluted that into a big jar.
First season is decent enough and whole idea and parody of Viking/medieval setting does work, after a fashion. But things that are throwing entire thing off start to show early on. Scenes drag on too long with gags that should have been been one liners are stretched into speech and dialogue. Jokes get overexplained and same supposedly funny point gets repeated time and time again, often in the same scene. Less is more in this regard. It doesn't help that a lot of acting is just stiff, though I admit it seems that is due to actors not using their native language and scenes feel as if they are thinking in one language, translating it into English and then saying it, followed by other actor doing same in reverse.
None of the characters are actually likeable. I get that comedy needs a host of various types, but "bad" guys are supposed to be funny in their own ways. Here nobody is good and with main protagonists are just bullies. The use of random violence, both against their own serfs and Saxons, is supposed to be funny and you can see why writers thought it is funny but it's just cringe. And then you remember these are supposed to be the good guys!
As the show progresses it feels like writers stopped trying to be funny and just wanted to be as bizarre as possible while inserting as many poop/piss jokes as possible.
Good on Paper (2021)
Too serious for a comedy, too much humour for a serious movie
The movie starts as a comedy. Jokes about expectations, lowering your standards and scenes that are funny. But then it flips and becomes a serious movie about incels, lying and men's entitlement. Sad thing is either concept could work by itself but the mix simply doesn't. It feels like a bait & switch, get people interested by playing up the comedy aspect and then hit them with "it's actually a commentary on modern dating and expectations".
Movie does have good parts and at least early on the story is funny but rather than end result being more than a sum of its parts it's just a blend of elements that don't mash.
The Escort (2015)
Somewhat interesting idea ruined by overrelaince on tropes
The whole "guy meets a prostitute and develops feeling for her" is an old concept. This movie manages to insert a fresh angle (it's a journalist who is writing an article and gets involved in the work) so that's that. But once the originality of the idea is exhausted, which happens about half an hour into the movie, the movie falls back on well established and well worn cliches and tropes about prostitutes, people knowing prostitutes and sex work.
At that point you can pretty accurately chart the remaining story, the turns, the "twists", the conflicts and of course the ending.
This is not a sex comedy, a comedy about sex work(ers), sex in modern age or anything like that. What it is is a predictable story and a waste of time.
Everyone Else Burns (2023)
Too much drama for a comedy, too humorous for a drama
The show starts as a parody of religious cult with over the top depiction of life within it and family dynamics. Jokes and situations about it abound and humour is based on clash of cultist mentality vs modern world. But then about half way through it flips and turns in a drama show depicting same issues in serious tone and rather than making fun of the life it becomes a serious criticism.
Either option would work on its own but mixing them simply creates "worst of both world" situation and it feels like writers wanted to draw in audience with humour and once hooked sprung drama on them. Too bad, really, show had potential.