Change Your Image
phlexss
Reviews
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024)
The movie is better
Watching this makes me realize the movie wasn't so bad after all. It's just better made overall. Here most of the scenes in the first episode looked really fake and CG'ed......never had that feeling watching the movie. I guess Netflix gave them a lower budget.
Aang seems a rather cocky boy and I don't like him. I also don't think he's a very good actor. Aang from the movie was a much better fit for this role.
I actually couldn't get pas the first two episodes and I have no desire to watch more of it.
Can't really comment on the story because I don't know it other then what I know from the movie. It's a shame they never made a sequel.....
True Detective: Night Country: Part 6 (2024)
Is violence ok now?
I can't get over the fact that this show, in the end, just sends the message that it's ok to have your revenge and just kill the people you think have committed a terrible crime. I thought most civilised people agreed this is not the way and it's why we have a justice system. Not a perfect one but certainly better than people deciding for themselves (often incorrectly) someone is guilty and just plain kill or torture them......because that would result in total chaos, anarchy and a society in which no sane moral person would want to live in. Yet the writer/director clearly sends the message this is ok with her. This is no longer simple entertainment but dangerous "brainwashing". I understand we don't live in a perfect world and these things do happen, but the way S4 tells this story and even let the women get away with it is just wrong!
Reading things said by the director and some of the press who seem to think it's all great has me worried. Has the brainwashing already gone so far? Don't they see the harm in telling the audience it's ok to have your revenge and kill!? Also the way they showed people commiting suicide is very disturbing....just walk into the distance, let yourself freeze to death and all will be fine. You may even come back as some ghost to visit your loved ones. Really?
Would the same people who think this was all ok also feel the same if it had been a group of men brutally killing women? I think I know the answer because in the show a group of men did exactly that (well, one woman, not a group but who's counting) and I haven't read anything about people saying they were right to do so and should get away with it. So why should the women get away with it? Double standards?
I couldn't care less if the leads or criminals or victims are men or women and who looks strong or weak. I have seen excellent examples of female and male led shows and judge these based on the writing, directing and acting.....not gender.
True Detective (2014)
S4 is a fantasy horror show
I never thought this would happen, but S4 of TD is a fantasy horror show, not a detective show.
I absolutely loved S1, Woody and Matthew were truly amazing and the writing was superb. S2 I liked a lot less because I couldn't really keep track of what was going on.....and S3 I also really liked.
But S4.....apparantly it's now quite normal that common people see dead people or ghosts a lot of times and these dead people/ghosts even give real-life hints as to what is going on or where things are. Does anyone think actual sane people regularly see dead people walking or horror ghosts standing right in front of them? Or seeing (none existing!?) wet footprints on the floor leading to an important location? If this is supposed to be some expression of their subconscious then how can they see things they couldn't possibly know!?
And how about that one screaming corpsicle on the ice? Apart from it being very very unrealistic (just a cheap horror scare really), I still don't know if that person is alive or not.....I remember something about him being in the hospital? .....but they never came back to this so I have no idea.
It's such a shame that so much is about interpersonal (and boring) drama and not about the mystery of the crime....not much detectiving going on. So far we don't even know if there even was a crime.....just a bunch of people frozen on the ice....
I don't really care anymore how everything will be resolved in the end because of the way we will have gotten there.....
Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023)
Why a "Snyder Cut" now?
Overall I found the movie very underwhelming and disappointing....others have already said everything I want to say what is wrong with this movie so I won't bother here.
What I do want to say is this:
I understand why Justice League got a "Snyder Cut" because he (tragically) had to stop directing while filming so he couldn't finish the movie himself.
But now? He was in full control from start to finish so why will there be a "Snyder Cut"? It's on Netflix so a longer than usual runtime shouln't be a problem. Just release the "cut" you wanted to make right from the start and don't wait! What did I watch now? Wasn't that also a "Snyder Cut"?
I for one won't be viewing this new version.....this "not the Snyder Cut (?)" was so bad I have no desire to go through that again. If Snyder thinks the new version will be better: well, to bad. You missed your chance.....should have released it right away.......it now feels like a cheap way to get viewers to watch it again, but I'm not wanting more of it.
Imagine all movies would get a "directors cut" after it's first release. What would be the point of viewing the "theatrical release" anymore?
It used to be a way to get people to buy the blu-ray but I guess in the streaming age that is not an option anymore.
My thoughts: release the best version you can make right away and if it's any good people will want to watch it more than once anyway.....I for one don't watch a "director's cut" in the hope it will be better than the "theatrical release".....I watch it to see new footage of movies I already really liked.....
The Creator (2023)
Everything wrong with the creator
...not in chronological order...3 stars because it looked good...
1. His wife survived an almost direct hit of a missile!?
2. What's the deal with this hole in the head of the robots and why are things spinning there? Just seems a bad design to me.
3. The US is allowed to hover a giant military ship over a foreign country without repercussions?
4. Why are robots behaving like peasants?
5. So the US is trying to eradicate AI and are looking for it in the jungle but completely miss the large towns and cities that are full of AI?
6. Why do robots (need) sleep and have an off-switch? We see they have their own factory where they make themselves so why include this simple off-switch?
7. So the robots can manufacture complex robots (themselves) and guns but can't design missiles capable of reaching Nomad!?
8. Why are there running bombs with arms and legs? Who thought this was a good idea?
9. Why do they leave "the weapon" all alone and unprotected apart from a vault door which is hacked within minutes?
10. Why does the weapon only use his powers whenever it's convenient for the plot?
11. What is the point of a giant tank when all it takes to bring it down is one sticky bomb? Really!?
12. How did they get this huge tank where it was anyway?
13. What was the point of the white laser shining down from Nomad? Just look cool?
14. Why design the weapon as a child? Did they think the US would change their minds because the weapon looks cute?
15. Why do the missiles stop when Nomad breaks down?
16. Where was Europe in all this?
17. Where was the I in AI? None of the robots seemed very intelligent.
18. Why can't robots shoot straight and/or hit anything?
19. How come the guy steps away completely unharmed from a serious accident?
20. Why wasn't there another human around to pull the plug on the wife if the robots themselves couldn't do this?
21. Why couldn't the robots pull the plug on the wife? They seemed to have no problem with killing other people!
22. Why did the/some(?) robots have religion? Who were they praying too? Human kind, their makers?
23. Why didn't the weapon use his powers to save the guy? He was able to manipulate other tech before.
24. Why did the robots eat and drink?
25. How did this tech guy reach his conclusion that the weapon would grow and become more powerful after looking one minute at the spinning things in the head of the weapon?
26. How can the weapon grow anyway with all this metal in his head?
27. Why was Nomad not protected by other aircraft when it turned out to be so fragile?
28. Why do cars have wheels but boats can hover above water?
29. How come the police robots have no faces but other robots do? I guess not all robots are created equal and have different standings in their society just like humans....what a shame.
30. What is the point of having a giant vault door when the vault itself also has a back-door which leads directly outside!?
31. Why was the weapon watching TV!?
32. How come Nomad couldn't see the dozens of metal hatches which were just below the ground?
....the list goes on and on....
It's such a shame this movie was written so badly because it looks so good and I was really looking forward to it. After watching it for a few minutes I knew it was going to be bad.....another militaristic violent stupid bulletfest with all the cliches that have been used before: white man bad, black man good etc.. How come so much of these movies need to be so violent? The real world is violent enough.....can't the writers think of something better (and intelligent) that would actually be enjoyable to watch!? Makes you think this was written by an AI and it's quietly laughing at how stupid humans are.
Secret Invasion (2023)
Written bij AI!?
I think it's not just the intro that was written by ai but my guess is the entire series was written by ai but disney kept quiet about this.
And based on the number of shows that have very bad writing I think this has been going on for a while now. How else can you explain that so much shows have such bad writing these days? I'm rather hoping this is the case and it makes studios realize that going ai is not the way. If the writing was done by actual live humans than this would actually be worse.
Overall I find there are to many shows out there with very poor writing and this is not due to the current strike because the shows in question were written before the strike.
Anyway, Secret Invasion is an excellent example of how NOT to write a show....
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Not the Avatar I loved the first time
Although I was utterly captivated by the visuals, the more I think about the first movie the more I feel disappointed about this one. Where the first one left me utterly awed this one just made me mad about all the violence, illogical things happening and same overall story as the first one.
Why couldn't this have been a positive story without all the extreme violence, war machines, soldiers etc? I almost walked out of the cinema during the scenes where they hunted the "whale". I know humans are bad and brutal and whales are still being hunted today, but this doesn't feel like entertainment to me. And you would hope that humans in the future who need a new planet wouldn't start with burning it down, hunting it's wildlife and killing it's inhabitants. I found it quite unbelievable that most humans didn't seem to think one microsecond about what they were doing was bad.
Most of the storyline was cheap and transparent. Spirit seems a sort of tarzan, the "whale" is Moby Dick. Jake is ultimate good guy (although running around with a gun killing people doesn't seem particularly good), Quaritch is ultimate bad guy, Jake's family are like the Robinson's from Lost in Space. The sea Na'vi were maoris that do a haka.....very original and believable (not). So all in all not very original.
And as others have pointed out: where were all the sea Na'vi at the end of the fight? They were nowhere to be seen anymore when the Robinson's were still fighting and trying to survive?
I can go on and on about plot holes but my main argument is that I was very disappointed by all the violence and I would love to have seen a more positive and original story.....maybe about the Na'vi and the humans working and living together on Pandora......surely there are writers who have enough imagination to make exploring Pandora (or a new planet) interesting enough!? .....and not simply tell the story of the first movie again with even the exact same lines as in the first one at times!?
I sure hope the next movie will not be a "bad humans fight against the good Na'vi" again!
House of the Dragon: The Green Council (2022)
+5 stars because it looks good -5 because of bad writing
I think this episode contains so much illogical stuff that I just had to write about it.
1. why were Rhaenyra and Daemon not in the palace because it was clear the king was very close to his death. It makes no sense that the would-be queen would be absent when the king is so close to dying!
2. why were Rhaenyra and Daemon totally absent from this episode?
3. why did Ser Criston Cole get away with killing one of the council members? Regardless of the position of this council member it is not his task to interfere on his own and he should have been punished severely for this! If Daemon were there he would have taken his head off (I guess that's why he wasn't in this epsiode!) ...actually, Ser Harrold Westerling should have done this in stead of cowardly walking away!
4. The coronation felt like a very small and insignificant event where it should have been a great feast and a very big event....it was all very dark and gloomy and held just after dawn!? Where were all the nobles?
5. why on earth was Ser Criston Cole the one to crown the king? Really? I went WTF when this happened. He was the (fresh and temporary?) head of the Kings Guard....just a servant. This felt very out of place and not something that could or should happen.
6. what was this chase to find Aegon all about? It would have made no difference at all who found him, Team Otto or Team Alicent....what would be the difference? They both wanted him to be king and he is mad so can't be controlled by either one.
7. so Mysaria thinks that a promise from the hand to "look into it" is enough to keep the would-be king from abusing children? Wow....seems a little naive to me.
8. how was Rhaenys able to get to her dragon and find her armour so quickly?
9. why oh why did Rhaenys not kill team green when she had the chance? Does she think that because the dragon screamed at them very loudly they will make different choices in the future?
10. Why didn't team green run away because surely they thought they would be dracaris'ed!?
11. Why did the guards try to close the doors? It made no sense to do this.....locking everybody in with a dragon!
I'll leave this at 11 observations.
As a side-note: I found some of the music in this episode sounding a lot like the music in West World...which is ofcourse from the same composer!
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
So, so bad
I agree with most of the reviews here: I can't believe how not Star Trek this show is because of all the incompetent people who "serve" on the ship. 99% is totally unfit to be there.
I wrote in an earlier review (that apparantly didn't meet imdb standards to be posted, I guess they don't take criticism very well) that I find it very unbelievable that at the beginning of season 4 the show rated 7.1 and now after the last episode of S4 aired it still rates 7.1. How in the universe is that possible after reading all the (bad) reviews about S4? I guess the ratings for S4 are just ignored and not used for the overall rating!?
It makes me not trust imdb ratings anymore. Anyway, this review probably won't make it through but it feels good to write it anyway.
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger (2022)
Did they decide to change the episodes?
I think disney read all the bad reviews and decided to pull the rest of the originally planned episodes and replace them with episodes from The Mandalorian S3.......how else can you explain 2 episodes of The Book Of Boba Fett without Boba Fett in it!?
The Book of Boba Fett (2021)
Rated far to high
I've been reading a lot of reviews and as do a almost all other reviews state: I also find this show to be extreeeemely bad.
So why on earth does this show still rate an 8!? .....only in a galaxy far far extremely far away would this show be worth an 8....when viewed and rated by a mentally challenged alien species.....pfff.....
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 2: The Tribes of Tatooine (2022)
Just silly
Looking at an old man doing silly things in the dessert is boring......I loved the Mandalorian but I won't be watching any more of this.
These tuskan raiders aren't so tough after all and sound like donkeys.
Tenet (2020)
What a mess...
Don't feel stupid if you can't make sense of Tenet.....because there IS NO sense!
For me it's clear Nolan dreamt up something called "time inversion" and how cool this could look in a movie. Then he spent 5 years trying to work this into a coherent script for a movie.....and failed! Even making the dialog very hard to follow as some sort of cover-up was not enough to make this work.
This is so far beyond anything credible, the term "science-fiction" would be to much honour and only "fiction" more or less applies. I just call Tenet a "fantasy" movie.
If very early on in the movie you are told: "Don't try to understand it, just go with it" you know it's going to be bad and nothing credible will happen. That's fine if you know you are looking at a fantasy movie but for a movie from Nolan that takes itself so serious it's quite bad.
There are so many plot-holes in it which have all been talked about in these comments. Although I don't know the term "plot hole" really applies because for that "hole" to exist there would also need to be a "plot".
I remember being said it would be very bad to run into yourself in a another (reverse) timeline.....but he does and nothing happens.
The final fight scene made no sense to me: I had absolutely no idea who was fighting who and why? Just a number of people running and shooting and blowing stuff up.
I could go on but I'll leave it at that. Others have already said it.
I won't be watching this movie again.
The Witcher (2019)
Can't watch this anymore
I'm a big fan of sci-fi and fantasy and I love the way this series looks! Also Henry Cavill plays an excellent Witcher.....but....these writers! Pfff....in season-2 I already had no idea what was going on, who was who and who was a bad guy or a good guy.
Season-3 this is even worse and I have no idea anymore what I'm looking at. I've actually fallen asleep during every (3) episode I've watched. You might say that is why I have no idea what is going on, but the truth is it is just that boring and poorly written. Everything just feels off, feels disconnected and you don't feel anything for any of the characters.
So this is the end for me, I won't be watching this anymore....
Dune (2021)
5 stars for visuals, zero for story
I really, really wanted to like this movie. I have read all the Dune books and have seen the David Lynch version several times (all versions of it) I think the DL version is brilliant and receives not enough credit (apart from the ending which is truly awful).
This version just feels off. Nothing feels right. A lot of the backstory is missing, important things are not explained or missing and what we do see feels forced somehow....and I actually got bored at some points....which was amazing because I so much love the books.
I'm a big fan of sound/music in movies because it can really draw you into the film and set the correct feel for the scenes. For me the music doesn't do this at all and it really starts to bother you after a while.
As many others have already stated, I also don't feel much for most of the characters, so anything that happens to them doesn't carry any weight.
It's a real shame this long playing time wasn't used to better establish the personality and backstory of all the main characters. I think David Lynch did a much better job with his version and he actually told the whole story of the first book, not just half of it.
Still, I really hope part-2 gets made because otherwise part-1 will have been a total waste and hopefully part-2 will be good enough to redeem everything that is wrong with part-1....
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
Far better version.
Thoroughly enjoyed this version!
But is it just me or is Ben Affleck not real (CGI) in de last extra scene? Can't find any mention anywhere of this though...
Gold Rush: White Water (2018)
Beyond stupid!
Season 3, Freds team: so they think the best chances for gold are directly below the bigger waterfall upstream. What do they decide? They go downstream and work slowly upstream towards the waterfall. So in stead of immediately going after the best chance for gold they decide to waste lots of precious time on the places which are less likely to have gold.
Does this sound logical to anyone?
This show is beyond stupid now.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019)
Is this what Disney is doing now
Wow....so after hundreds/thousands have been killed and the faeries are gassed inside a church all is fine and forgotten again after a happy touchy feely wedding? .....without any thought for those who have been killed? ....is this the message that Disney wants to tell now? I'm amazed AJ wanted to be associated with this....
The Handmaid's Tale (2017)
Loosing interest fast
I'm now halfway season 3 and loosing interest in the series fast. Too much of the same is going on over and over again. Slowmo shots of june looking angry or sad or whatever. She also obviously has real strong plot armour because she is the only one who gets away with almost anything without any real consequences.
I also start to wonder what it is the writers are trying to tell here. One moment the Waterfords are portrayed as some psychos who we should have no compassion for, then we get some shots about how Serena and Fred are maybe warming up to each other again with all touchy feely music in the background.
It also feels like I'm watching a show that would appeal well to sadists, because of all the horrific things that are going on without any progress to "getting back at the bad guys". This doesn't feel like "entertainment" anymore. We get it, June has been abused and humiliated....how long can you go on with this? Well.....apparantly very long.
When are we going to see some real resistance and the start of how they go about beating Gilead. There is no clever underlying plot....no real direction.....nothing about the history of Gilead.....in short, no progress.
Chernobyl (2019)
Simply brilliant
....it felt like watching a very good documentary.
Game of Thrones: The Iron Throne (2019)
Poor Cersei
...everything has already been said here... I just want to add: what was the point of having Cersei in this season? As one of the biggest characters of the show she was absolutely of no importance in this last season. Almost no screen time.... no clever tricks or anything.... just staring grim faced from a balcony. Sad.
Gold Rush: Parker's Trail (2017)
They are not on their own
Nice scenery and interesting locations, but who believes this "we're on our own" bs?
I rarely (if ever) see their cameraman actually holding a camera and their security guy really isn't their security guy.....it's obvious there is a complete other team around them for filming and security. That's ok but don't pretend otherwise......viewers are not stupid.
Also whats up with showing the same previews of whats to come over and over again!? .....and endless recaps....
Game of Thrones: The Bells (2019)
Just plain silly
Apart from characters doing things completely out of character and plot twists seeming to be introduced just for shock value.....this season just has too many silly things happen.
To all the people (or few people) out there defending the last couple of episodes: I might believe that dany goes completely mad and kills everyone....although it still feels that it goes against everything she believes in and against everything we have seen so far......but how can you explain away that it seems all it took to conquer kings landing was one dragon? Why all the seasons long trouble of rounding up armies if all it took was one dragon. The armies were completely useless and unnecessary......and there is so much more that doesn't make sense. Great music and visuals can never make up for a stupid storyline.
The 100: Damocles: Part Two (2018)
Nice episode
I didn't like season 5 very much. It contained too much boring fighting, a lot of betrayal and stupid unbelievable stuff....not a lot going on.
Also I don't see how anybody could still trust Clarke because she is betraying people and friends left and right and seems to be perfectly willing to torture and/or kill anyone who gets in her way. I keep hoping someone puts her out of her misery so we can move on. How she can be a/the main character is beyond me. Some real-life dictators have nothing on her and her.
The next season looks promising and I hope they quit the tribal fighting and constant betrayals. It's time for something new.
The Curse of Oak Island (2014)
Last episode was enough
I just watched the last episode of season 5 and I found out that it contained all I really needed to know about the entire season;
- nothing really interesting was found
- there was no proof that the things they did find have anything to do with the so-called treasure
- they bored a new giant hole which again led to nothing concrete
- as usual 95% of the episode was full of repeats and things we already knew
- the count for the lines "Rick and Marty Lagina....", "the team..." and "could this be..." now stands at 57823 times...
sarcasm-on It is however an amazing show because it appears that ALL the mysteries and treasure in the world is located on- and centered around this island. But why oh why is there no real evidence for any of it? sarcasm-off