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Reviews
Call Me by Your Name (2017)
Absolutely Beautiful
I tend to avoid LGBTQ2S+ films mostly because I find the themes rehashed and cliched but found this film recommended on youtube so I decided to give it a watch. I'm glad I did as it is a complete gem.
No cliche or pretention or moralizing. Just a simple slice of life film that's so unassuming in its portrayal.
Timothee Chalamet is brilliant in his performance of Elio. He manages to convey the feelings of desire, confusion, hope and insecurity so well. No melodrama or over the top acting here.
The story is beautiful, the setting is beautiful and the tone of the whole film is beautiful. Watching this has renewed my hope that there are really good LGBTQ2S+ films out there if you take the time to look. If you haven't seen it, this should be on your must watch list as it is just done so well.
Now I have to find the book as I'd like to read the source material for myself.
Away (2020)
Drama Overload
This tries to be a character study but comes off as a melodrama. While not as ridiculous as Another Life, it is hard to believe Astronauts on the way to Mars could be that unprofessional along with Houston Command. Netflix shouldve invested their money into keeping compelling series like Altered Carbon going instead.
RoboCop (2014)
Another Recycled Trope
This has such forced social commentary it falls into the realm of trying way too hard to make its point it becomes laughable.
Everyone is so one dimensional I didnt really care if they lived or died. Hollywood also needs to just stop using the "you threatened my family so now i have to kill a bunch of people" trope. It's old.
This is just more lazy filmmaking.
The Predator (2018)
Just More Trash
Hollywood really needs to stop taking old action movies and beating them beyond death. This is by far the worst and most amateurish of the lot. It's like they gave a prepubescent Uwe Boll lots of money and this is the result.
Terrible plot, inconsistent tone, bad acting and a movie that doesnt know whether it wants ro be an action, comedy or cheap slasher film.
Save yourself the pain and just watch the original.
S'parta (2018)
Weird, Entertaining, Disjointed Mess
So I high schools drama about a charismatic teen who essentially takes over the school, a teacher "suicide" and a cop recovering from a stroke determined to prove that the teacher didn't commit suicide.
It's apparently focuses on a video game called Sparta that is tertiary to the plot and really has little to do with the mystery. Much of the story is told in flashbacks which seem to be a very Eastern European ex machina device to fill in plot holes.
I'm 6 episodes and wondering if this mystery is ever going to be solved. It just seems drawn out for no reason and some of the relationships in the story are pointless and soap operaish.
Despite all this, I couldn't help but to continue watching this mess and hope everything gets cleaned up by the final episode.
1983 (2018)
A Slow Burn
While some of the dialog can be stunted and unnatural they are trying to build up a world of alternative Poland and the screen writers are using exposition a little too much to explain circumstances.
Ive noticed a theme that is prevalent in Eastern European Sci_Fi that is repeated here. That one almost irredeemable character that's a muck raker, epitomized by the Detective. Must be a cultural thing influenced by the many years spent under the so called Communism of the time. It permeates this heavily so western audiences may not fully understand that the psychological impact that has even today.
A good effort and I hope that there is a 2nd season.
Luchshe, chem lyudi (2018)
Way Better Than Expected
Although I found the starting of the story a little choppy, it smoothed out nicely. I gave it a try since I found another recently released Netflix Sci-Fi abysmal and thought let's give this a try.
This is the kind of Sci-Fi that Netflix seems to focus on and produce more of. An interesting story with many sides, nicely executed CGI that was used as an enhancement, not a substitute for real environments and characters you became invested in.
Just like any show there is a suspension of disbelief but sometimes I thought that the main corporation featured has terrible security.
A great effort and hopefully Netflix won't take 2 to 3 years to give us another season. If you like well done Sci-Fi, this should be on your Netflix list.
Another Life (2019)
Generational Pandering
This show is trying so hard to bring in younger viewers it falls flat on its face, breaks its nose and shatters the cellphone screen. Twenty minutes in and I already had to quit.
This should've been called Babysitting Whiny Millenials in Space and been a satirical comedy instead of desperately failing at being Sci-Fi.
In Space, No One can hear you Groan.
White Chamber (2018)
Not Bad, Not Good Either
Worth a watch for a waste of time, yes. Nothing that happens in the film is memorable and you'll forget you ever watched it an hour later. The chamber looks like it was built with various left over parts from Ikea. A wholly forgettable experience.
Lost in Space (2018)
Merely Meh
Lost in Space, the old Sci-Fi that nobody can do a good remake of. In the effort to become family friendly-ish, the story pacing and character development suffers terribly. I was just staring at the screen sometimes wondering if anything was ever going to happen during some episodes.
The characters are inconsistent but show no real growth most of the time and the few times they do, that growth is reversed by their very next action. Everyone is pretty much a cliche or archetype of some kind and barely ever go beyond the boundaries the writers have set.
The visuals are good and Lost in Space is great if you just want to kill time. If you want great Sci-Fi, go watch the other Netflix series Altered Carbon, just don't let the kids in on that one.
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
Butchered by Disney and Johnson
It has taken me a week of mulling things over for me to finally come to conclusion that TLJ is about as good as Revenge of the Sith. What was Rian Johnson thinking? The plot is all over the place with no cohesion to it. While TFA was criticized for being derivative of A New Hope, it felt like a Star Wars movie and JJ Abrams paid homage to the OT. I didn't like Rogue One at first but it grew on me as a stand alone feature in the Star Wars universe and it is way better than TLJ.
** SPOILERS **
One of the worst parts of TLJ IMO is the whole Maz Kanata/Code Breaker/Casino sequence. It is completely pointless and reminds me of a mash up between the Hunger Games and The Matrix: Reloaded Key Maker motorcycle chase. Its whole purpose being to make the movie longer while adding nothing to the plot at all. What's worse is it reminds me of the over use of CGI in the prequels which made them so bad.
Why were a bunch of new Force powers introduced with little to no back story? Leia may be the daughter of Anakin/Darth Vader but she has never used the Force in ANY appearance up until this one when she Mary Poppins her way back onto the ship. Long distance Force teleconference between Kylo and Rey and then Luke Force projecting himself across the Galaxy? This isn't a Marvel superhero movie yet it was treated as such.
There was inconsistent character development and traits. Poe just wound up turning into some macho blow everything up guy instead of being Leia's trusted Captain and Leia never would have kept Poe in the dark as to her plans. Johnson just seemed like he wanted to create drama for drama's sake like some insipid Soap Opera by creating tension between characters where there was none and it was not needed.
The Porgs or whatever the hell they're called only appeared so Disney could sell toys to children this Christmas.
The Lizard nuns on Luke's planet are yet another example of characters existing for no other reason that an attempt to provide cheap humor and seemed out of place, especially since Luke's whole purpose was to isolate himself from others.
Also, you can't have a good Star Wars movie without the involvement of Droids in a big way. Here, BB 8 and R2-D2 were more like footnotes that just had to be put somewhere rather than integral characters. And BB-9E didn't even have to appear at all since it essentially did nothing except look suspiciously at a moving box.
I have watched the OT, TFA and Rogue One numerous times and will continue to. However, TLJ I can only see myself watching it a 2nd time when it comes out on DVD/Netflix and then never watching it again since it just doesn't feel like it belongs in the Star Wars universe (just like the prequels).
The best thing about TFA was that it wiped the stench of the prequels off the Star Wars universe. TLJ brings that stench back.
The Man in the High Castle (2015)
One of the Best Shows Available
The Man in the High Castle just proves that the best shows are not on conventional television. Amazon has certainly got this right with the atmosphere, little details and extrapolation of what the world may have been. The actors really inhabit the roles and the characters change and grow.
It's great being able to watch something smarter. I'm sure a big thank you has to go out to Ridley Scott, who seems to be a Phillip K. Dick fan and really knows how to interpret his writing for the small screen.
How long do I have to wait for another season? Hopefully not long. If you're tired of mindless shows, definitely watch TMITHC.
Sunshine (2007)
Really Ain't That Great
This is bad science fiction trying to pass itself off as a character study and in the end it winds up a pretentious failure.
Astronauts are screened quite rigorously and yet they all manage to become psychologically unhinged. One or two, a maybe, but all of them? Did the Psychologist who evaluate this crew get their diploma off the back of a pop tart box? You can't connect with the characters at all and I couldn't have given a crap who died in the end. They were nothing more than stereotypes making every bad decision in the book to advance a weak plot.
This isn't even bad science fiction. Bad science fiction is good in its own way. This is mediocre and forgettable, which is a far greater sin.