Reviews

Forget all those 'feel good' movies or comedy shows - for relaxing times, make it Stanley Tucci time...

this show is like Italian cuisine - simple yet beautiful, tasty yet very low-key. Walking with Tucci from joint to joint, re-discovering all those (in theory) familiar tastes is soothing and relaxing, and it leaves you with even greater appetite both for food, and for life in general.

Stanley Tucci himself strikes me as a reasonably (he's still a holywood star, mind you) humble guy, who still has this grip on reality, that is frequently, if not always, absent in people of certain status. There are no coerced laughs, no forced bonding, but we get a lot of "human touch" on this very basic, and - especially today - so much desired level. And I believe the credit goes equally to Tucci and all the people he meets along the way.

Combined with breathless shots, great recipes (most of them you can try to recreate at home... to a certain level of course) it's the ultimate show to relax, have a laugh or two, and regain some of that positivity that's definitely been lost during last 12+ months...

If you think about it, It's not the most original story, the main arc is 'same 'ol story', and the events are often easily predictable. yet, it's more rewarding than most of those ambitious, artsy shows, that want to seem to be too inteligent for you. Queen's Gambit has this "movie of the day" vibe, but delivers with top quality. it's most likely one of the best shows to binge watch, you'll likely feel rewarded after seven episodes straight, regreting it's only a mini-series..

the biggest applauze is due to lead actress, playing Beth, who's not just "pretty" or good looking etc. the way she and creators were able to portray her as sort of a Lolita, but without the sex angle (if that's even possible - well, guess it is!) is simply hipnotizing. her development throughout seven episodes is gentle, yet noticeable. and you can see that in her acting, these little expressions, tone of her voice, or that hair...she's a Joy to watch. namely, Anya Taylor-Joy.

TRS was probably never meant to be another take at Bond?Jack Reacher or god forbidd - M:I genre. not that those movies are bad - they do deliver, but (apart from Casino Royale, at least in most parts) in a rather 'out of touch kind' of way. if anything, imho it was steered more towards Spy Games, perhaps with a tad more psychological touch.

so has it worked out? yes and no. the movie could've benefitet from a bit more screening time - the first part takes time to develop the story, but once the main action kicks in, it ends quickly. I'd love to see more about Lively's character, Stephanie, development as an assasin/spy, although her first 'job' was really done well (cinematicly speaking). this movie was evidently cut to fit a given timeframe, and that leaves us with wanting to know and experience more about Stephanie.

same goes with Jude Law's character, that's insturmental but the movie doesn't really even scratch the surface of this possibly very interesting and deep character. the mystery man behind the bombings - that was too fast too easy too. we haven't really got to know them, which is a shame really.

at this point it would only be a 6, maybe 7-star movie, but Blake Lively made all the difference. her acting is superb, I had so much pleasure watching her playing without any false note. I hope this role is a breakthrough in her career, because she clearly can achieve greatness. it's easily a 9-star performance.

there were complaints about camera work or directing here too - well, I really liked how certain scenes were filmed, especially the car chase, where a 'shaky' camera corresponded well with Stephanie's clear lack of skills, confusion and sort of helplessness. I like how she's being portrayed throughout the whole film, having this semi-detached experession of hers collapsing into insecurity and fear in a matter of a single frame.

I bet if rewievs were kinder, this could be a start of a really solid franchise. I'd really like to see a more inteligent take on the genre, without a trillion-dollar budget, and all those "breathtaking" silly stunts, and mostly - a female lead character. but I guess my wish won't materialize, and I wonder how different viewers' and critics' response would've been, if this was another story about an ex-marine played by Wahlberg, Statham or someone like that...

anyway, 6/7 for the film alone and 9 for Blake Lively make it 7,5-8 in my book. it's by far the best action/drama movie I've seen in a very long time, and one I'll definitely miss not having a follow-on.

I get Ben has never been too picky about his films, and this is his yet another entirely forgettable role. apart from the fact we've seen this a bunch of times already - a team of underdogs/losers unexpectedly reaching for greatness - this one not only doesn't offer anything new, but actually gives a lot less than most of flicks of it's genre. main character is so shallow/predictable, and those who could make this movie interesting - like the kids for instance - are completely ignored apart from some minor cliches. the plot is useless too - just like that, out of nowhere, the team starts to shape up (because they've been yelled and cursed at? lol), and right before the 'climax' , the main character is being pulled out from the action, and the movie ends - just like that.

I never expect much from them 'netflix' flicks, but they are getting more and more sloppy. character build up, some sort of tension, tasty plot twists - nah, let's just tell it like it is, fit in 90 minutes and move on to the next. it's a perfect movie for a weekday dinner - you don't really need to bother with paying too much attention, and the movie arrives where it's supposed to.

If you're looking for a s02 of the "Young Pope" prepare yourself to be majorly disapointed. all the qualities of YP are gone and replaced by a tedious, boring and rather daft piece of tv, that seems to be the opposite of the show that brought us Pope Lenny. first and foremost - there is no story and the script looks like a swiss cheese, filled with continuous, empty and entirely pointless dialogues that seem to drag forever, only briefly interrupted by some out of the blue scenes that bring nothing, mean nothing, but are supposed to look the part (which they don't BTW). and what is this obsession with young, naked women? is it an italian thing - after watching some of Sorrentino's work, I gotta say it looks odd, and despite it served it's role in the YP, here it's uncalled for. the cast does it's worst too - Malkovich is so exhausting I couldn't stand his mumbling and face expression. Voiello's english is beyond comprehension and needs subs, that is if you really need to grasp what he's talking about - beacause honestly, you don't, it's just a constant jabber anyway. the only thing that saves this show from a complete disaster, is Lenny - every scene with him brings a whiff of fresh air and allows you to regain your strenghts to plow through this show. hardly ever you get rewarded, as there are entire episodes without Jude Law's character - and they feel like filmmaker's cry for help. IMHO this series shouldn't have been green-lighted anyway, because the only thing it does, is leave a bad taste after the "Young Pope" - one of the best tv and movie productions ever. what a shame...

Let me start by saying I loved season 2 of JR - interesting and well paced story, combined with creat cast and some really great looking shots - what more can you wish for from TV entertainment? it's also far more engaging than season 1, although obviously not perfect. I'd wish for more screen time for Noomi Rapace, her character and relationship with JR begged for more development. other than that, it was a solid 9 star show for full 7 episodes, but then the final one happened...

and in matter of minutes JR went from a gripping modern tv show into 90's "Delta Force" kind of thing, where a handful of invincible and immortal US soldiers brings down entire army - heck, even entire country! - and flies off into the sunset.

it could've been a classic, a benchmark for all action drama tv genre, but somehow the desire to end it all with a "happily ever after" got the better of the creators, and the whole realism, a solid quality of this show, just collapsed.

so, seven 8/9-star episodes, and the final one - 3 star at best - makes it a solid 8 anyway. but that doesn't really mean anything, because JR S02 is like a great meal ruined by a lousy desert.

This movie isn't even on par with the weakest Breaking Bad episodes. The whole concept of creating a closure for Jesse might've been tempting, but creators evidently lacked ideas and it shows - it's a 2-hour long piece that could've easily fit into 20-30 minutes of a longer, final BB episode. Total waste of time..

...and if I lasted more than an hour, I'd probably come up with more adjectives

this is THE worst superhero movie in a line of really bad films. all the 'old' cast (who reeeaally got older throughout the marvel cineverse) looks like they've just came to get their final paycheck. it just feels forced, like a bad commercial, or like a prog rock song that should've ended few minutes ago. none of what we see makes any sense, there's no sensible plot , even "fun stuff" comes off as rather sad. and that's the word that describes the final (?) avengers movie the best way - sad...

...but it's too long, too dull, and not really engaging in any way. even by euro standards, this is just inedible. perhaps a shortened version, that was supposed to be released, could sort of uncover the potential this movie has

Being a huge Banshee fan, I had high expectations towards Warrior - the first trailer suggested we oughta prepare for another fast, explosive and kinda twisted series. but instead, this one's a dud. I've watched first two episodes, praying they end asap. if you've been lured by the names in the credits section, prepare to be disappointed - there's no pace, no story to make you hold your breath and wait for the next thing to happen, main character seems really dumb, and generally speaking, neither the cast, nore the script doesn't shine. I'm sure it's gonna find it's audience, but it's far, far away from Banshee, and it can't really do as a substitute... pity!

While there's probably no single rock or pop star, whose life and career isn't entertaining and very "movie-ish", creators of Bohemian Rhapsody made the ipossible - they took an icon and turned the story of his (their) success into a shallow, complaisant film. It lacks credibility, grip, depth and 'cojones' to show anything even remotely controversial or 'dark'.

Why? The answer is simple with this one - May&co, the rest of Queen, acted as producers on "BR" - instead of getting deep in order to explore this great potential of band's rise and Mercury's life, they basically made a puff piece about themselves.

Cast isn't great as well, Malek's a bit bizarre and over the top with his prominent jaw (it really looks bad and artificial), the rest is as shallow and forgetable as - that's right - a wiki note.

Good movie for a sunday evening, but if nothing more.

Despite it's 2019, and even your fridge has an access to the internet, the creators of Hanna decided not to bother with petty things as geography, facts, accuracy, etc. Hanna starts somewhere in Romania, but later on we're supposedly in Poland - sure, for someone with a brain of a dog, these two might be connected with "100 miles of forrest" but.. no, they're not. AFAIK finding a 100sq miles forrest in the middle of Europe... no, not a chance either. There are other bloopers all over the film, and I'm only talking the first episode ("Arvo" .. what kind of made up name is that?).

Look, it could've been a great series. Hanna and her dad could've been more "Mr. Fantastic"-like, because how on earth do you get a jacket without ever surfacing from the woods? It could've been placed in Canada, to save producers any language or cultural issues, and after writing a script, they could've sat together asking questions like "does it take few hours to find a cave in a 100sq miles forrest". They could've done that, and many more, but they haven't. Why? Perhaps they thought any turd with big names attached is a worthy tv show - but clearly it's not.

If you're looking for a show, that doesn't treat you like an idiot - best go look elswhere..