Can there be an even more unsubtle allegory of income inequality than this one??? If you can't think of something more imaginative than different classes of train passengers, you'd better stick to something realistic (oh, but how cheaper is using a "train"?!)
Reviews
17 Reviews
Happy Death Day 2U
(2019)
Like the First One - but Pumped Up on Steroids
16 March 2019
This is one of those few cases where the second movie is better than the first one. I really didn't think they had enough to go on to squeeze out a decent sequel, but not only was the film funny, I was practically howling with laughter in the cinema. So there you go, surprise, surprise!!!
Nothing is changed in the formula really, there is just more of it. More intense, more hysterical, harder, faster - and more innovative ways to die really. The sequel is like the first movie, but pumped up on steroids (plus several gallons of energy drinks). Jessica Rothe is like a fury, she has an incredible comedy talent!
Nothing is changed in the formula really, there is just more of it. More intense, more hysterical, harder, faster - and more innovative ways to die really. The sequel is like the first movie, but pumped up on steroids (plus several gallons of energy drinks). Jessica Rothe is like a fury, she has an incredible comedy talent!
Mortal Engines
(2018)
Cheesy Enough to Border on Grotesque
15 December 2018
The only good thing about this movie was the visuals. Period. Great special effects, great CGI, great (visual) concept. Which is the reason why I give the movie 4 stars and not just 1, which is what it deserves if we look at acting and plot.
Because the rest is so cheesy as to border on grotesque. The number of times people jumped off impossible heights and did not get as much as a scratch when they should have broken half their bones? A simplistic portrayal of good versus evil as if the movie is made for 5-year-olds? Impossible chains of events working, time and again, in favour of the protagonists? Heroics bordering on stupidity?
MOST importantly, having to watch Robert Sheehan contort his mouth and make pathetic faces for TWO hours??? Having seen him in Misfits and being aware of his tremendous acting range, it pains me to see him in this role. Because, buddy, I don't know care how much they paid you for this and how many people will watch it, this is a downfall.
Because the rest is so cheesy as to border on grotesque. The number of times people jumped off impossible heights and did not get as much as a scratch when they should have broken half their bones? A simplistic portrayal of good versus evil as if the movie is made for 5-year-olds? Impossible chains of events working, time and again, in favour of the protagonists? Heroics bordering on stupidity?
MOST importantly, having to watch Robert Sheehan contort his mouth and make pathetic faces for TWO hours??? Having seen him in Misfits and being aware of his tremendous acting range, it pains me to see him in this role. Because, buddy, I don't know care how much they paid you for this and how many people will watch it, this is a downfall.
Nightflyers
(2018)
Semi-Watchable Mess...
6 December 2018
You know what they say: if you want to see a book/idea/scenario completely and utterly ruined, just give it to the SyFy channel. Recent shows, among other things, Channel Zero have been proving otherwise, which is why I decided to give Nightflyers a go, but I guess we are back to square one with this one.
The show is, in two words, a mess of baffling casting, character and screenplay choices. Costume design seems to be a missing concept - whatever the actors had on hand is just thrown in and you go with it. The design of the ship itself is flabbergasting, with semi-lit corridors and cameras everywhere so that the captain can watch you even in the loo (???). It reminds me of cheap slasher movies where pretty girls go into dark basements because they have nothing better to do.
Screenplay, casting and acting are a complete trainwreck of nightmarish proportions. You want to make first contact, so what do you do? Send a well-prepared team of scientists, linguists and mathematicians on a dedicated ship? Of course not! You put a mentally unstable leader, a psychotic telepath and a supposedly "augmented" human whose only contribution has been to prance around and look "beautiful" on a weird colony ship captained by a peeping tom and crewed by bouncers from East End.
Gretchen Mol and Maya Eshet and, to some extent Eoin Macken, are the only who seem to "belong". Everyone else is completely miscast, to the extent you get the feeling the producers took whoever they found in the neighbourhood. Jodie Turner-Smith obviously thinks the show is about modelling, while the crew seem to have been told the show is about petty thieving in London's housing districts.
The show is, in two words, a mess of baffling casting, character and screenplay choices. Costume design seems to be a missing concept - whatever the actors had on hand is just thrown in and you go with it. The design of the ship itself is flabbergasting, with semi-lit corridors and cameras everywhere so that the captain can watch you even in the loo (???). It reminds me of cheap slasher movies where pretty girls go into dark basements because they have nothing better to do.
Screenplay, casting and acting are a complete trainwreck of nightmarish proportions. You want to make first contact, so what do you do? Send a well-prepared team of scientists, linguists and mathematicians on a dedicated ship? Of course not! You put a mentally unstable leader, a psychotic telepath and a supposedly "augmented" human whose only contribution has been to prance around and look "beautiful" on a weird colony ship captained by a peeping tom and crewed by bouncers from East End.
Gretchen Mol and Maya Eshet and, to some extent Eoin Macken, are the only who seem to "belong". Everyone else is completely miscast, to the extent you get the feeling the producers took whoever they found in the neighbourhood. Jodie Turner-Smith obviously thinks the show is about modelling, while the crew seem to have been told the show is about petty thieving in London's housing districts.
The Spy Who Dumped Me
(2018)
Crass and Over-the-Top, but Incredibly Hilarious
19 October 2018
Do not expect a life-changing experience or a cinematic masterpiece from this movie. This is a comedy in the best (or worst, depending on the point of view) traditions of the Wayans family: crass, disrespectful, camp, over-the-top, at times absolutely ludicrous, yet completely hilarious. I don't remember laughing so hard in quite a while.
In general, U.S. directors are so afraid of offending someone and being panned by one or another religious/racial/interest group that they strip their comedies of any creativity, until it all turns into bland lukewarm porridge.
This movie has no such qualms. Cutting off the thumb of someone and putting it into a lipstick case to unlock their phone over and over again? Why not? Sticking a flash drive into your private parts and then discussing the experience at length? Well, absolutely! This is what this movie is about, and this is what it does brilliantly. If you want to watch something refined and intelligent, just see something else.
I can understand - to some extent -the negative reviews and the backlash from some of the public, but come on, guys. This movie, quite obviously, does not take itself seriously in the slightest bit. Why should you?
In general, U.S. directors are so afraid of offending someone and being panned by one or another religious/racial/interest group that they strip their comedies of any creativity, until it all turns into bland lukewarm porridge.
This movie has no such qualms. Cutting off the thumb of someone and putting it into a lipstick case to unlock their phone over and over again? Why not? Sticking a flash drive into your private parts and then discussing the experience at length? Well, absolutely! This is what this movie is about, and this is what it does brilliantly. If you want to watch something refined and intelligent, just see something else.
I can understand - to some extent -the negative reviews and the backlash from some of the public, but come on, guys. This movie, quite obviously, does not take itself seriously in the slightest bit. Why should you?
A Star Is Born
(2018)
A Doomed Love Story with an Incredible Score
13 October 2018
This is a movie where everything - plot, acting, characters and soundtrack - comes beautifully together in a whole that is so much more than the sum of its parts. Despite some choppy editing in the second half, the great acting, minutely measured plot and the sheer beauty and tragedy of the love story, combined with a score that somehow reflects what is happening on the screen to the letter, is bound to leave you with a ball in your throat when the credits roll.
Even though the movie is called 'A Star Is Born', it could have easily been named, and just as appropriately, 'A Star Goes Out'. The ascension of Gaga's character to stardom is a mirror reflection of Cooper's own spiralling descent into oblivion. Cooper seems to have landed the role of a lifetime, delivering a poignant and heart-breaking performance as a masculine, yet extremely vulnerable ageing country rock star.
By the time Ally comes into the picture, the only thing that can fill the hole in his soul and keep him together is an enormous amounts of booze and pills. Ally's advent will shake him out of his vegetative state, but will also give him something very dangerous - hope. The decline of his own career, the ascent of Ally's and his own battle with addiction will create such strong centrifugal forces that his already fragile mental stability will soon start flying apart at the seams.
Lady Gaga also delivers a good - perhaps not stellar, but good - performance the is most striking by its sheer contrast with her on-stage persona. Her vocal prowess is remarkable, the songs are a sure Academy Award contender and the chemistry with Cooper's character is electrifying.
But the guy who steals the show is Bradley Cooper. It takes nothing short of a battle with addiction of your very own to be able to give such a credible performance of someone who is as damaged and broken as Jackson. I am perplexed by the number of people who have been bashing him for being over-the-top. You are lucky to have not seen mental illness or alcoholism up close, otherwise you would not be moralising this way.
Despite an enormous success with audiences and to some extent with critics, I do not expect the movie to rake in any Academy Awards, except in the music categories. These days, you either have to act in an autobiography or turn yourself into a monster (like Charlize Theron) to even get a nod. In this connection, Lady Gaga might as well get a nomination - just because this is perhaps the first time we ever see her without make-up.
Even though the movie is called 'A Star Is Born', it could have easily been named, and just as appropriately, 'A Star Goes Out'. The ascension of Gaga's character to stardom is a mirror reflection of Cooper's own spiralling descent into oblivion. Cooper seems to have landed the role of a lifetime, delivering a poignant and heart-breaking performance as a masculine, yet extremely vulnerable ageing country rock star.
By the time Ally comes into the picture, the only thing that can fill the hole in his soul and keep him together is an enormous amounts of booze and pills. Ally's advent will shake him out of his vegetative state, but will also give him something very dangerous - hope. The decline of his own career, the ascent of Ally's and his own battle with addiction will create such strong centrifugal forces that his already fragile mental stability will soon start flying apart at the seams.
Lady Gaga also delivers a good - perhaps not stellar, but good - performance the is most striking by its sheer contrast with her on-stage persona. Her vocal prowess is remarkable, the songs are a sure Academy Award contender and the chemistry with Cooper's character is electrifying.
But the guy who steals the show is Bradley Cooper. It takes nothing short of a battle with addiction of your very own to be able to give such a credible performance of someone who is as damaged and broken as Jackson. I am perplexed by the number of people who have been bashing him for being over-the-top. You are lucky to have not seen mental illness or alcoholism up close, otherwise you would not be moralising this way.
Despite an enormous success with audiences and to some extent with critics, I do not expect the movie to rake in any Academy Awards, except in the music categories. These days, you either have to act in an autobiography or turn yourself into a monster (like Charlize Theron) to even get a nod. In this connection, Lady Gaga might as well get a nomination - just because this is perhaps the first time we ever see her without make-up.
And So It All Turned into Mush...
14 July 2018
Well, this season has been a true cinematic marvel.
Marvel because 1) the quality of the writing has been dropping precipitously, with plot twists that are hard to swallow and and incongruous character development, all just to keep June in the Waterford Residence and maintain the conflict between her and Serena forever ablaze.
And marvel because 2) the acting, which was already mind-boggling, has become so OUTWORLDLY good that the actresses are capable of pulling off all of the writers' whims with such preternatural ease as to make each and every stupid writer stunt utterly believable. Just look at the number of Emmy nominations the show gets in the supporting actress category!!! (Fyi, my money is on Strahovski this year).
But the ending of the last episode... That ending and everything it implies... I don't think any show can survive the direction The Handmaid's Tale is taking no matter how good the acting, how talented the cast. That last look, after she puts on the hood...: "I'll take take you down, Gilead (with my bare hands). I'm a Jedi, I'm a Superwoman, nothing can touch me." Whaaaat???
I don't think the show will stoop as low as to picture June as a sort of a ninja-like Joan of Arc, but I think this is the general direction we are heading. A lot more like a cartoon, a lot more like Marvel's Universe than the dead serious and utterly believable show of the first season. A waste, really.
Marvel because 1) the quality of the writing has been dropping precipitously, with plot twists that are hard to swallow and and incongruous character development, all just to keep June in the Waterford Residence and maintain the conflict between her and Serena forever ablaze.
And marvel because 2) the acting, which was already mind-boggling, has become so OUTWORLDLY good that the actresses are capable of pulling off all of the writers' whims with such preternatural ease as to make each and every stupid writer stunt utterly believable. Just look at the number of Emmy nominations the show gets in the supporting actress category!!! (Fyi, my money is on Strahovski this year).
But the ending of the last episode... That ending and everything it implies... I don't think any show can survive the direction The Handmaid's Tale is taking no matter how good the acting, how talented the cast. That last look, after she puts on the hood...: "I'll take take you down, Gilead (with my bare hands). I'm a Jedi, I'm a Superwoman, nothing can touch me." Whaaaat???
I don't think the show will stoop as low as to picture June as a sort of a ninja-like Joan of Arc, but I think this is the general direction we are heading. A lot more like a cartoon, a lot more like Marvel's Universe than the dead serious and utterly believable show of the first season. A waste, really.
The Sinner
(2017–2021)
A Skinny Dipping into the Darkest Corners of the Human Mind
16 September 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Seven episodes into the season, I can safely say this is one of the most riveting thriller TV shows I have seen in recent years. Cora Tanetti, a seemingly over-tense and unhappy mother and wife, repeatedly stabs an unknown man on the beach because the music he was playing was 'too loud'. The story turns into a whydunit – or as the slogan of the show says: 'Everyone knows she did it. No one knows why'.
And this is a promise the show has so far managed to keep. The plot always manages to stay one step ahead of you and keep you wondering 'why indeed'. The clues we are being thrown along the way for her inexplicable behaviour (the hints of being sexually molested by her father or her strict religious upbringing by her mother) all turn out to be red herrings and dead ends. I expect the current ones (that she was a victim of human trafficking) to be equally misleading. What is more, Cora's statements also end up being either outright lies or – even when she does try to remember what really happened – unreliable memories where she mixes up actual events and real people with dreams.
This, combined with the dense and claustrophobic atmosphere of the series, does indeed make for a tight and exhilarating thriller. But the real success of the show is probably owing to something else – to the way it delves into the darkest corners of the human mind. Obsessive compulsion, addiction, guilt – The Sinner seems hell-bent on dragging all of our dirty secrets into the limelight in ways that would probably make quite many people really uncomfortable. There is not a single person in the leading cast who is not broken or somehow twisted, from Cora and her dark secrets and inexplicable guilt, through the police detective and his masochist sexual proclivities, to her ruthless ex-boyfriend/drug dealer and religious freak mother. The song that is the trigger of the murder and that is replayed time and again afterwards (Huggin & Kissin by Big Black Delta) forms the perfect background to Cora's mysterious past with its psychedelic tune and lascivious lyrics suggestive of wanton drug use and sex.
Special kudos here to Jessica Biel who not only plays her role with unnatural perfection, but also is an executive producer and seems to have been instrumental in bringing the show to the screen. A positive surprise for me is Bill Pullman, who I am used to seeing in far more 'commercial' and cornier roles. One thing bothering me though: I really don't know how The Sinner will sit with the more religious (and rather influential) sectors of American society. Some scenes are bothering even me (which probably means that there must be a lynch mob forming somewhere in Kentucky). This is one of the cases where even NC-17 might just not be enough.
And this is a promise the show has so far managed to keep. The plot always manages to stay one step ahead of you and keep you wondering 'why indeed'. The clues we are being thrown along the way for her inexplicable behaviour (the hints of being sexually molested by her father or her strict religious upbringing by her mother) all turn out to be red herrings and dead ends. I expect the current ones (that she was a victim of human trafficking) to be equally misleading. What is more, Cora's statements also end up being either outright lies or – even when she does try to remember what really happened – unreliable memories where she mixes up actual events and real people with dreams.
This, combined with the dense and claustrophobic atmosphere of the series, does indeed make for a tight and exhilarating thriller. But the real success of the show is probably owing to something else – to the way it delves into the darkest corners of the human mind. Obsessive compulsion, addiction, guilt – The Sinner seems hell-bent on dragging all of our dirty secrets into the limelight in ways that would probably make quite many people really uncomfortable. There is not a single person in the leading cast who is not broken or somehow twisted, from Cora and her dark secrets and inexplicable guilt, through the police detective and his masochist sexual proclivities, to her ruthless ex-boyfriend/drug dealer and religious freak mother. The song that is the trigger of the murder and that is replayed time and again afterwards (Huggin & Kissin by Big Black Delta) forms the perfect background to Cora's mysterious past with its psychedelic tune and lascivious lyrics suggestive of wanton drug use and sex.
Special kudos here to Jessica Biel who not only plays her role with unnatural perfection, but also is an executive producer and seems to have been instrumental in bringing the show to the screen. A positive surprise for me is Bill Pullman, who I am used to seeing in far more 'commercial' and cornier roles. One thing bothering me though: I really don't know how The Sinner will sit with the more religious (and rather influential) sectors of American society. Some scenes are bothering even me (which probably means that there must be a lynch mob forming somewhere in Kentucky). This is one of the cases where even NC-17 might just not be enough.
Elle
(I) (2016)
A Twisted Celebration of Female Empowerment
17 March 2017
Michele (Isabelle Huppert) is brutally raped in her living room. After the assailant flees, she casually wipes herself, then orders sushi. When her son visits her later and asks her how she got the bruises on her face, she says she fell from her bike. She is just as nonchalant about what happened when she tells her friends (amid some very shocked glances) as when she starts looking for the rapist herself.
The assault doesn't stop her from flirting with her married neighbour, nor from sleeping, yet again, with her best friend's husband. At some point, we learn that Michele is the daughter of a convicted mass murder, who slaughtered half the people in her street when she was little, and then it pretty much dawns on you: if this hasn't managed to break her, a mere rape will hardly do it. Meanwhile, the rapist strikes again, but this time Michele successfully fights back. She manages to stab him in the hand, tears the mask off his face and finds out who he is. Yet, not only does she do nothing to bring him to justice, but when she crashes with her car, it is him she calls to come and get her.
Michele is not the only one who is a bit 'off' in the movie ('off' here being an euphemism for 'twisted')—this can be said about pretty much everyone around her—from her 90-year-old mother, who has a lover 60 years her junior, through her son, who wants to be a father so much that he doesn't even bat an eyelid when his girlfriend gives birth to a black baby, to her most trusted employee, who, in his infatuation with her, creates porn animation where she is—well, of course—raped again by a demon from hell.
If you haven't guessed by now, the director of this lovely mess is Paul Verhoeven. No one other than him (or perhaps David Cronenberg) can concoct such a mixture of sex and violence and get away with it without being crass or vulgar. As despite the oozing sociopathic sexuality, 'Elle' is anything but vulgar. Quite the reverse, it exudes smashing, exuberant, despite-all-odds vitality.
Scene after scene, Verhoeven and Huppert successfully convince us that whatever it is that happens to you, however bad it is, if you refuse to be a victim, if you refuse to give in, if you refuse to surrender, you can survive and get over practically everything. An incredibly strong female lead and an incredibly strong role for Huppert. It comes as no surprise why the movie is simply titled 'Elle' (She).
The assault doesn't stop her from flirting with her married neighbour, nor from sleeping, yet again, with her best friend's husband. At some point, we learn that Michele is the daughter of a convicted mass murder, who slaughtered half the people in her street when she was little, and then it pretty much dawns on you: if this hasn't managed to break her, a mere rape will hardly do it. Meanwhile, the rapist strikes again, but this time Michele successfully fights back. She manages to stab him in the hand, tears the mask off his face and finds out who he is. Yet, not only does she do nothing to bring him to justice, but when she crashes with her car, it is him she calls to come and get her.
Michele is not the only one who is a bit 'off' in the movie ('off' here being an euphemism for 'twisted')—this can be said about pretty much everyone around her—from her 90-year-old mother, who has a lover 60 years her junior, through her son, who wants to be a father so much that he doesn't even bat an eyelid when his girlfriend gives birth to a black baby, to her most trusted employee, who, in his infatuation with her, creates porn animation where she is—well, of course—raped again by a demon from hell.
If you haven't guessed by now, the director of this lovely mess is Paul Verhoeven. No one other than him (or perhaps David Cronenberg) can concoct such a mixture of sex and violence and get away with it without being crass or vulgar. As despite the oozing sociopathic sexuality, 'Elle' is anything but vulgar. Quite the reverse, it exudes smashing, exuberant, despite-all-odds vitality.
Scene after scene, Verhoeven and Huppert successfully convince us that whatever it is that happens to you, however bad it is, if you refuse to be a victim, if you refuse to give in, if you refuse to surrender, you can survive and get over practically everything. An incredibly strong female lead and an incredibly strong role for Huppert. It comes as no surprise why the movie is simply titled 'Elle' (She).
Jessica Jones
(2015–2019)
Beautifully Dark and Witty Show
9 January 2016
Superhero shows/movies usually make my stomach turn, so I watched the pilot as an experiment I was sure would end prematurely. The description of the show ended up being completely wrong (do not trust it), the last thing this is is a superhero show. No, Jessica Jones is a beautifully dark, witty and suspenseful drama about what makes us human and about the daily choices and internal fights all of us have between being good and being evil and making the right choice.
Krysten Ritter seems to have landed the role of a lifetime. Walking around the episodes with a permanent snarl, a bottle of whiskey and a sardonic remark up her sleeve, she is the true star of the show, in a that role fits her like a glove. David Tennant is equally good as an enamored sociopath and probably the first mass murder I have ever seen in film/television who is genuinely amusing (whenever he is not repulsive). The interaction between the two is a good enough reason to watch the show alone, and the amazing writing is only matched by the skill of the actors delivering their lines. Ritter is a true queen of snappy repartees.
I expect the show to be a tough contender for the Emmies, and I will be really disappointed if Ritter and Tennant do not get at least nominations.
Krysten Ritter seems to have landed the role of a lifetime. Walking around the episodes with a permanent snarl, a bottle of whiskey and a sardonic remark up her sleeve, she is the true star of the show, in a that role fits her like a glove. David Tennant is equally good as an enamored sociopath and probably the first mass murder I have ever seen in film/television who is genuinely amusing (whenever he is not repulsive). The interaction between the two is a good enough reason to watch the show alone, and the amazing writing is only matched by the skill of the actors delivering their lines. Ritter is a true queen of snappy repartees.
I expect the show to be a tough contender for the Emmies, and I will be really disappointed if Ritter and Tennant do not get at least nominations.
Hallelujah
19 December 2011
Well, the producers finally had the guts to do this. Hallelujah! Finally!!!
Did it hurt? Did it leave you any permanent scars? Did the network sack you? No. Then what took you so long?
Now if you could turn back time and do this at the end of the last season (and fix that disastrous season finale), things would be really perfect.
But this will do too. I really hope that next season will be about something else than Dexter chasing a serial killer because we have seen this god knows how many times and it has become really old.
Did it hurt? Did it leave you any permanent scars? Did the network sack you? No. Then what took you so long?
Now if you could turn back time and do this at the end of the last season (and fix that disastrous season finale), things would be really perfect.
But this will do too. I really hope that next season will be about something else than Dexter chasing a serial killer because we have seen this god knows how many times and it has become really old.
The cow is waiting
19 December 2011
Warning: Spoilers
What a crock of s***.
So what was building up so beautifully all fall came up to this? I honestly don't believe the show's screenwriters are as brainless as to produce such a disappointing piece of 90-minute filler.
The reason for the apathetic piece of nothingness I saw earlier today is much more trivial. It is coloured in green and has the pictures of dead American presidents on it. Namely, if things came to a natural end in the final episode of the first season, there would be no need for a second season.
But hey, the show has been extended for a second season, the cash cow is ready for milking so we have to patch up some tur* called "season finale" and extend what could have been one episode into a whole season. The cow is waiting!!!
Guys, while you have been so fixated on your cash cow, do you think you might have, you know, accidentally shot yourselves in the leg? Because you may indeed have that second season but it is quite possible you won't have any viewers for it? At least that is my reaction and the reaction of the vast majority of people on the boards today...
A real pity, the show was really good until now. Nonetheless, I hope Claire Danes gets an Emmy for her performance, she was indeed outstanding. But the show is in the toilet. Sorry.
So what was building up so beautifully all fall came up to this? I honestly don't believe the show's screenwriters are as brainless as to produce such a disappointing piece of 90-minute filler.
The reason for the apathetic piece of nothingness I saw earlier today is much more trivial. It is coloured in green and has the pictures of dead American presidents on it. Namely, if things came to a natural end in the final episode of the first season, there would be no need for a second season.
But hey, the show has been extended for a second season, the cash cow is ready for milking so we have to patch up some tur* called "season finale" and extend what could have been one episode into a whole season. The cow is waiting!!!
Guys, while you have been so fixated on your cash cow, do you think you might have, you know, accidentally shot yourselves in the leg? Because you may indeed have that second season but it is quite possible you won't have any viewers for it? At least that is my reaction and the reaction of the vast majority of people on the boards today...
A real pity, the show was really good until now. Nonetheless, I hope Claire Danes gets an Emmy for her performance, she was indeed outstanding. But the show is in the toilet. Sorry.
Slow but Inexorable Sinking
15 November 2011
Warning: Spoilers
5 minutes after I started watching this episode, I said to myself, "Hell, haven't I seen this somewhere? Yup," I replied to myself, "You've seen this in the first episode of Season 5. Dexter thinks there is no light in him, so he decides to ditch everything and do some very bad, bad things, but hell, something suddenly happens and he realises that some part of him is good and he returns, bla-bla, very interesting."
What is worse, I think there might have been similar episodes in Seasons 1 through 4. Luckily for both the show and I, I don't remember too well. Unfortunately for both the show and me as a viewer, this episode is very symptomatic for the whole season. Rehashed, reheated, rearranged and everything that starts with re- and has to do with repeating (again re-) stories and themes from Seasons 1 through 5 + complete lack of imagination and creativity.
The writers had an excellent chance to change the premise of the show in the last episode of Season 5 (you can see what I mean in my review of that episode) and have one final season where they really push things to the limit and go with a bang. It is really good to know where you should stop before turning everything into a lukewarm porridge. The producers and writers of Six Feet Under knew this, the producers and writers of Dexter obviously do not. They obviously intend to bore their audiences to death and then quietly pull the plug of the show when no one really cares any more. Well, guys, the plan is definitely working.
What is worse, I think there might have been similar episodes in Seasons 1 through 4. Luckily for both the show and I, I don't remember too well. Unfortunately for both the show and me as a viewer, this episode is very symptomatic for the whole season. Rehashed, reheated, rearranged and everything that starts with re- and has to do with repeating (again re-) stories and themes from Seasons 1 through 5 + complete lack of imagination and creativity.
The writers had an excellent chance to change the premise of the show in the last episode of Season 5 (you can see what I mean in my review of that episode) and have one final season where they really push things to the limit and go with a bang. It is really good to know where you should stop before turning everything into a lukewarm porridge. The producers and writers of Six Feet Under knew this, the producers and writers of Dexter obviously do not. They obviously intend to bore their audiences to death and then quietly pull the plug of the show when no one really cares any more. Well, guys, the plan is definitely working.
The Secret Circle
(2011–2012)
Mediocrity and plastic surgery
7 October 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Boring and mediocre. The only reason I keep watching this show is the lack of better programming (The Secret Circle may be so-so but is Ivy League compared to, say, Terra Nova).
First of all, the casting and acting are terrible. Britt Robertson (Cassie) seems to have had a lip job which has frozen her expression into a state of permanent puzzlement. She looks as if she says "Oh!" all the time. She is supposed to play an emotionally vulnerable teenager who has just lost her mother and is a loner (haha) but the only thing she does is pout and look puzzled.
Then we come to Thomas Dekker who looks... screamingly gay. Nothing bad about it, but for a guy who is supposed to be torn between two girls, this is not exactly the vibe you wanna give out. The worst thing is that he is actually much more suitable for Cassie's role than the lead actress.
And here I should praise Phoebe Tonkin (Faye) who is the only one who actually GETS her role right. She and Adam's Dad (can't remember the name of the actor) are the only ones who deserve distinction, the rest of the actors are just filler (sorry, guys).
Then, the plot. The only thing I remember from the first three episodes can be summarised in two short lines: Eager witches: "Come on, let's bond the circle". Model pretending to be a shy witch: "Oh, I am too little for this, I have to pout with my new lips".
So Cassie pouts and looks puzzled. Adam pouts and looks gay. There is a lip job and a couple of good-looking teens. There is a mystery. The good-looking teens get some new abilities.
Damn, teenagers will love the show;-)
First of all, the casting and acting are terrible. Britt Robertson (Cassie) seems to have had a lip job which has frozen her expression into a state of permanent puzzlement. She looks as if she says "Oh!" all the time. She is supposed to play an emotionally vulnerable teenager who has just lost her mother and is a loner (haha) but the only thing she does is pout and look puzzled.
Then we come to Thomas Dekker who looks... screamingly gay. Nothing bad about it, but for a guy who is supposed to be torn between two girls, this is not exactly the vibe you wanna give out. The worst thing is that he is actually much more suitable for Cassie's role than the lead actress.
And here I should praise Phoebe Tonkin (Faye) who is the only one who actually GETS her role right. She and Adam's Dad (can't remember the name of the actor) are the only ones who deserve distinction, the rest of the actors are just filler (sorry, guys).
Then, the plot. The only thing I remember from the first three episodes can be summarised in two short lines: Eager witches: "Come on, let's bond the circle". Model pretending to be a shy witch: "Oh, I am too little for this, I have to pout with my new lips".
So Cassie pouts and looks puzzled. Adam pouts and looks gay. There is a lip job and a couple of good-looking teens. There is a mystery. The good-looking teens get some new abilities.
Damn, teenagers will love the show;-)
Disappointing End to an Otherwise Great Season
13 December 2010
Warning: Spoilers
After a whole season of twists, turns and a gradual build-up of suspense, yesterday's season finale just... fizzled out like a pricked balloon. May be my expectations were inflated by last year's season finale, may be the series of 5 or 6 consecutive episodes that were simply great led me to believe that the finale could be just as great, but The Big One was simply not on par. It was a rip-off of the final episodes of the first three seasons - and a bad one at that.
Dexter (the show - and, to same extent, the main protagonist) seems to be stuck in a rut. Dexter finds a psychopath, Dexter tries to make friends, Dexter finds that the psychopath is actually not a kindred spirit, Dexter kills the psychopath. At the same time - cop hunts Dexter, Debra is close to discovering the truth about Dexter, Dexter miraculously escapes. This is what happens in every season. Then the slate is wiped clean in the finale and we are back to square one in the next season. The scheme is actually great and it worked gorgeously in the first season, but by the fifth season, the whole format is beginning to grow a bit stale.
I actually thought that the producers had figured this out - considering last year's magnificent finale (which broke all rules and conventions) and the setup with Lumen this year. Unfortunately, I was proved wrong. With some minor modifications, we got the same scheme as usual - clean, neat, predictable, familiar and boring as hell.
Everything was wrapped up so nice and clean - Chase was dealt with in five minutes, Liddy/Quinn in even less, Lumen just woke up and decided she was a Mary Poppins again and couldn't be chums with serial killers (yeah, right), Debra didn't see anything again (this is getting extremely original). Well, real life is not nice and clean but messy, confused and confusing and the failure of the producers to see this is getting extremely annoying.
Take a look at this season's finale of Breaking Bad - it is simply mind-blowing!!! It is messy, unexpected, unpredictable, FANTASTIC. Hell, take a look at your own season finale last year. Let Lumen be Dexter's girlfriend. Or let her leave him - but after some serious character development showing exactly why she wants to leave him (inner conflict, guilt, whatever), not because Julia Stiles' contract expires and you have to kick her out of the show in the fastest way possible. Let Debra finally find out about Dexter. Play with her reaction to it. This can give you at least half a season of GREAT episodes. Do SOMETHING with the characters at last! There is zilch character development, I have the feeling that all of them are permanently stuck in season 1. Stop being so afraid of doing something. You will simply bore the audience to death. There are just so many times you can repeat the same thing again and I am afraid you have already reached the limit.
4/10 - and that is even generous of me.
Dexter (the show - and, to same extent, the main protagonist) seems to be stuck in a rut. Dexter finds a psychopath, Dexter tries to make friends, Dexter finds that the psychopath is actually not a kindred spirit, Dexter kills the psychopath. At the same time - cop hunts Dexter, Debra is close to discovering the truth about Dexter, Dexter miraculously escapes. This is what happens in every season. Then the slate is wiped clean in the finale and we are back to square one in the next season. The scheme is actually great and it worked gorgeously in the first season, but by the fifth season, the whole format is beginning to grow a bit stale.
I actually thought that the producers had figured this out - considering last year's magnificent finale (which broke all rules and conventions) and the setup with Lumen this year. Unfortunately, I was proved wrong. With some minor modifications, we got the same scheme as usual - clean, neat, predictable, familiar and boring as hell.
Everything was wrapped up so nice and clean - Chase was dealt with in five minutes, Liddy/Quinn in even less, Lumen just woke up and decided she was a Mary Poppins again and couldn't be chums with serial killers (yeah, right), Debra didn't see anything again (this is getting extremely original). Well, real life is not nice and clean but messy, confused and confusing and the failure of the producers to see this is getting extremely annoying.
Take a look at this season's finale of Breaking Bad - it is simply mind-blowing!!! It is messy, unexpected, unpredictable, FANTASTIC. Hell, take a look at your own season finale last year. Let Lumen be Dexter's girlfriend. Or let her leave him - but after some serious character development showing exactly why she wants to leave him (inner conflict, guilt, whatever), not because Julia Stiles' contract expires and you have to kick her out of the show in the fastest way possible. Let Debra finally find out about Dexter. Play with her reaction to it. This can give you at least half a season of GREAT episodes. Do SOMETHING with the characters at last! There is zilch character development, I have the feeling that all of them are permanently stuck in season 1. Stop being so afraid of doing something. You will simply bore the audience to death. There are just so many times you can repeat the same thing again and I am afraid you have already reached the limit.
4/10 - and that is even generous of me.
Lost in the rabbit hole
3 December 2010
Warning: Spoilers
I am officially lost. I don't understand any more what is going on in this show. And even more importantly, why. Considering the plummeting ratings this season, it seems that I am not the only one who is frustrated. I find the "attraction" between Erica and Adam to be puzzling and absurd. The writers must have been very desperate for ways to get them together if the only thing they could think of is strand them on an uninhabited island?!?
Adam Fergus is not exactly "eligible" for a male beauty pageant, but I suppose that given a better role, he could have been likable. However, he is not - he is repulsive. I guess the writers were aiming for a "bad boy's image". Well, reality check, Sebastian Pigott did it much better although he was 15 years younger, 20 kilos lighter and did not beat up people for a living. I can't believe he was written out of the show so that Adam Fergus could take up the place of Erica's "object of affection". Hell, Ethan would have done a better job. Or Ryan. Or even Dr. Tom.
And speaking of writing out, the other character that seems to have been written out is Erica herself. And in the rare moments that she is on the screen, she is not herself. She is someone else that I don't recognise from the first two seasons. And she is scarcely any more likable than Adam is.
The show could have taken many different directions since The Rabbit Hole. I feel that it has probably taken one of the worst. This is indeed such a pity. I really liked this show.
Adam Fergus is not exactly "eligible" for a male beauty pageant, but I suppose that given a better role, he could have been likable. However, he is not - he is repulsive. I guess the writers were aiming for a "bad boy's image". Well, reality check, Sebastian Pigott did it much better although he was 15 years younger, 20 kilos lighter and did not beat up people for a living. I can't believe he was written out of the show so that Adam Fergus could take up the place of Erica's "object of affection". Hell, Ethan would have done a better job. Or Ryan. Or even Dr. Tom.
And speaking of writing out, the other character that seems to have been written out is Erica herself. And in the rare moments that she is on the screen, she is not herself. She is someone else that I don't recognise from the first two seasons. And she is scarcely any more likable than Adam is.
The show could have taken many different directions since The Rabbit Hole. I feel that it has probably taken one of the worst. This is indeed such a pity. I really liked this show.
Being Erica
(2009–2011)
Great first two seasons, disappointing third
3 December 2010
Warning: Spoilers
I really enjoyed the first 2 seasons for reasons the other reviewers have already stated. However, season 3 is completely all over the place. It has no focus, the writing is mediocre and Erica is turned into a supporting character in her own show. It actually feels as if it is a completely different show and a one that simply doesn't cut it.
The show now seems to be more about Adam than about Erica - they could have also renamed it "Being Adam". Despite the fantasy elements, Being Erica used to be a realistic drama and this is what made it good. Now it simply doesn't know what it wants to be.
Two-thirds of the screen time is devoted to secondary characters. The romantic subplots seem contrived, in particular, the one between Erica and Adam. Several important characters repeatedly break character - in particular, Julianne. The attempts at comic relief (mainly Ivan and - I don't understand why - Julianne) are completely out of place. And what is with the Kai character? He should have either been written out at the end of season 2 or his (probably impossible) romantic involvement with Erica should have been made a prominent element of season 3. Nope, he just pops in and sleeps with Erica who seemingly forgets about it on the next day and goes on to pursue Adam in the next episode. What is the point of the exercise?
What is the point of season 3 at all? I don't get it. The writers do not seem to get it, either. Episodes seem to be produced for the sake of production. I am disappointed and the way things are going, I am probably not going to watch season 4. But then, the way things are going, there is probably not going to be season 4 because the show will be cancelled.
The show now seems to be more about Adam than about Erica - they could have also renamed it "Being Adam". Despite the fantasy elements, Being Erica used to be a realistic drama and this is what made it good. Now it simply doesn't know what it wants to be.
Two-thirds of the screen time is devoted to secondary characters. The romantic subplots seem contrived, in particular, the one between Erica and Adam. Several important characters repeatedly break character - in particular, Julianne. The attempts at comic relief (mainly Ivan and - I don't understand why - Julianne) are completely out of place. And what is with the Kai character? He should have either been written out at the end of season 2 or his (probably impossible) romantic involvement with Erica should have been made a prominent element of season 3. Nope, he just pops in and sleeps with Erica who seemingly forgets about it on the next day and goes on to pursue Adam in the next episode. What is the point of the exercise?
What is the point of season 3 at all? I don't get it. The writers do not seem to get it, either. Episodes seem to be produced for the sake of production. I am disappointed and the way things are going, I am probably not going to watch season 4. But then, the way things are going, there is probably not going to be season 4 because the show will be cancelled.
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