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Reviews
Cobra Kai (2018)
the first two seasons carried this show to a sixth
Its almost laughable how this spiritual successor to karate kid went down the same path of lightning in a bottle beginning, to decent sequel to cheap replica follow ups. Because this show does not have much to offer after the second season. The first season is just brilliant, the writing and acting were grounded, intelligent, funny. The writing was so good, you did not even flinch when people were talking about dojos and karate rivalries in a serious mannr. Thats because you had a very heartfelt portrayal of individual daily struggle of a very relatable teenage and adult cast using karate as a projection tool rather than main narrative device. Sure there were nostalgia baity scenes and callbacks but it was never integral to anything and mostly enhanced most scenes.
The second season got a bit sillier but still felt obliged to tell a decent story with observable growth among characters.
But after that the series does fall into the same trap as many series fall, which is repeating superficial themes, relying heavily on soapy dialogue and love triangles, cartoonifying most aspects till every episode writes itself with cue cards. Many could speculate as how this phenomenon happens but it's just laziness, fear of losing money changing the formula or just going with the motions since a hefty cash check is already in the bank due to the shows commercial success.
The show just became a parody of itself and as cobra kai dialogue already is memefied as "the cringe dialogue" you could guess it's not a great watch overall.
Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets (2021)
perks of being a wallflower if it was bad
I was very uncomfortable watching this, not because the themes are.disagreeable but the depiction of mental struggle, teenage thought and the dialogue itself is just terrible to mediocre.
Many times you roll your eyes due to the lack of self awareness of the characters, the writers who writes the sentences the characters utter and ultimately the director who makes tonal shifts, cuts and transitions that take away from the possibly interesting moments and adds unnecessary distractions. I was already checked out when the chose teenage party score was techno swing from the 2010s as if it was still relevant in 2020. Credit where credits due though, although it falls flat and is way more shallow than all the early timothy chalamet, emma watson youthful introspective dramas, it still tries to be introspective and that deserves a thumbs up.
Kaos (2024)
Not terrible
This show encompasses everything mehh with tv- shows. They are not terrible, the acting is decent, the cast is there and there is a story to be told but everything falls -not flat- but short of being good which makes it possibly worse than terrible.
Shame because the premise sounds entertaining but when you got lots of scenes with cliche dialogue, goldblume being eccentric because that is his trademark modus operandi apparently and characters that really arent that interesting despite being greek deities it shows that this show lacked passion in its inception.
It is likely just a production a la -lets just make it happen and hope it sticks- , without vision, passion or real sophistication. Just like rings of power, it shows that mega corporations having media corporation branches with all the wrong people hired in them aren't capable of spotting or recruiting talent. Give it a pass, it committed the gravest of tv show sins, it is very BORING.
Unfrosted (2024)
not funny
Pretty much the worst criticism you can lay on to a comedian but it is true. The movie has a satirical premise with lots of comedian cameos and a loosely reality based success story of the kelloggs staple procuct pop tarts. The story or premise are never the focal point, just elements to start sketch like scenes with over the top acting and comedic lines. The sketches however are never very funny, the few celebrity cameos kind of fall flat and the overthetopness never reaches absurdities warranting so bad that its good status. I was not expecting a bee movie type landing on your feet happenstance but i was hoping for it after the trailer made it look like there was quality comedy involved yet the movie started out weak. But no real saving grace to be found here. Just very mediocre, very flat and unfunny.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024)
The best tv show that eve rexistd
This tv show is so good. I was so glad to see the bald hero with an arrow again. He is so heroic in this tv show. Very good action scenes. Very good dialogue. It is one hundred percent better than the m night adaptation because it is very very good. The best part is when the avatar goes into avatar mode. So goood effects it was mesmerizing. I really like the arrow because it is very shiny and blue. THey did a very good job with the arrow. Also very very good acting. The actors did a very very good job acting. I wish more actors acted like this. Also I really like the blue shiny arrow. Because it is good.
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (2023)
Old Hugh Grant
This movie is yet another Jason Statham flick with Guy Ritchie on the helm doing another hit or miss movie. It has all the characteristics of a guy ritchie movie with the added bonus of very decent action sequences. Not that action being rare but the catchy dialogue was always on the forefront in his early work. The rest is cool/suave characters, every character having a lot of personality, intimidating villains and a hefty dose of quick dialogue comedy. It's all there but it all feels like a self parody at this point.
The characters lackluster acting did not evalate this movie. Everyone seemed to have brought their B-game, doing Guy Ritchie quips on auto pilot. Add to it that you have seen every character before in better Guy Ritchi movies with more dimensions to them, this movie quickly becomes an inexplicable bore. Inexplicable because the story is actually intruiging on paper. But it did not translate well here.
Cannot not mention Hugh Grant though, now that he discovered that being dashing and sarcastic may not be enough anymore he seemed to have reinvent himself as an actually acting actor person. That was what I thought when I watched him transform into a deliciously charming yet despicable papparazi in the gentlemen. But seeing him just recycle this character kind of disappointed me. He is really entertaining in this movie as well but knowing the character being a copycat took away from the experience.
All in all average flick that had potential.
Miller's Girl (2024)
stupid sexy martin freeman
There are many thing wrong with this movie. Let's start with my major gripes.
1) Not enough people
The movie is set in a literary college supposedly filled with students set inmidst a large college campus. You do see the crowds in the transition shots or setting up shots. But they never appear in scenes as actual characters. There is a severe lack of people talking besides Martin Freeman and Jenna Ortega. There is no college feel to any of the scenes besides the whole location it is shot in.
2) Age Gap
This is the lolita premise, but well, it is not that controversial since Jenna Ortega in the movie as well as in person is about 20 years old. So while it is kind of repellent it is in no way as controversial in real life as this movie likes to paint it to be.
One thing the movie gets right however is the intellectual gap and gaps in experience. Jenna does portray the naive and curious young student archetype perfectly(Geez I wonder why), so the dialogue + how it develops is actually interesting however this leads me to my final gripe:
3)No development
While the relationship starts as teacher/student, the very big hook of the movie, taking advantage of the young to taste the fruit, it just never goes anyway. This is actually the fault of Jenna, less so Martin who has the accurate description as an old white bearded sex hobbit coined by many critics. Jenna does not grows up in the movie but stays childish, curious, obedient without any real interplay that should have moved the story forward. The dynamic people are waiting for is the teacher facing a growing mind, rebellion and sexual awakening challenging the power disparity between learner and teacher. This disparity never really develops, Jenna continues to be timid, childish in demeanor, dialogue, even during the romance scenes. So the movie does become boring + stagnant although the plot + sex scenes should imply progress has been made in the story.
It is however not a terrible movie, I did like the acting and I did like the premise. I also just enjoy a story told with good editing, expensive looking nice college set pieces and pretentious dialogue.
There are still many points to criticize such as beforementioned pretentious dialogue, side characters being forgetable despite having their own side story, lack of boldness depicting the sexual acts, the lackluster soundtracks and more. However I'd prefer to end it on saying it is not terrible. Just underwhelming. Not a movie I regret watching but also not glad to have watched. So maybe watch it, maybe don't. At least it tried to be different.
It i.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2024)
people are misunderstanding this series
This series has nothing but the premise in common with 2005s mr and mrs smith. First of all the main lead while charming in his own right is no brad pitt, similarly the female lead no angelina jolie. The premise of the first movie was shallow, it was just 2 overly attractive film stars who were never seen together in a movie fawning over each other and displaying their sexiness, with some bad plot in the background. This movie actually explores the plot, two pretend married agents going on missions and step by step getting intimate. It is a blurry line they are traversing between the professional strictly lethal business and the attraction. It is complex,a very messy unconventional hands on movie i would very much like to compare to beef. You never know where the plot is going or how the relationship will develop. Its messiness does contribute to it losing focus, it is set up as a spy thriller but the dialogue is very much atlanta like, way more casual intertwined than any spy movie ive ever watched. This is however to its detriment sometimes because whilst the story, the progression are enjoyable due to the complexity it creates, you have a hard time buying either of the characters as stone cold killers they are supposed to be.
Still the dialogue is simply superb, the chemistry is there, the story is a thrill. You just need to remove the bradjelina glasses and enjoy the ride.
Ferrari (2023)
house of gucci is this you?
People love to give adam driver credit as an actor, mainly due to the roles he has accepted and played. Starting from star wars the force awakens to marriage story to house of gucci, always enjoying a high rated cast. In these movies we unfortunately have only seen 2 archetypical roles as of yet, the impulsive angry childish grownup and the stoic collected rich man. It is not a big sleight as i thought his role in house of gucci was very nuanced but as he repeats his character in this movie as well i had to draw attention to a possible lack fo range. The movie also plays like house of gucci but much much slower to the detriment of the pacing. It wants to feel sombre and expressive with lang drawn out atmospheric shot accompanied by music but it ends up more of a drag than anything. The story itself is compelling but the movie does a bad job telling it. I was really bored throughout and woulndt recommend.
Derry Girls (2018)
A better Inbetweeners
As i was perusing my netflix catalogue, looking for a solid comedy i stumbled upon this gem. It caught my attention with the thick accent and unhinged jokes right at the beginning of the preview so i clicked.play. The first joke of the first scene was then the last hook i needed, it was an annoyed teen girl dressed non-conform telling her friends she wasn't gonna be individualistic if she had to do it by herself. Just brilliant writing throughout and young actresses being mean, ruthless and limitlessly funny. I love this series, it is the best british teenage comedy since the inbetweeners and that one was a gem. Absoluteley a must watch.
Echo (2023)
bad
By no measure is this series a catastrophe, you have the high production value, you have vincent d'onofrio being a very decent actor, you have daredevil cameos and a fair share of action sequences. But they are all just worse, by a mile compared to their counterpart series in daredevil or even the falcon series. First being a very high bar, it has many unforgiven sins such as just very on the nose fake fights that are so bad that you can visibly identify a large gap between fist and supposed hit point. It is ridiculous. Just very awkward pauses between each hit and inexcplicable body movement that just very obviously is more 70s bad hollywood kung fu than convincing. I mean what happened ? MArvel literally has billions under its disposal but seems to only be able to produce low budget action movie material. I don't want to get too into the characters, I did like the main character but she suffers a lot from bad writing. Similarly King pin had the appearance of having depth in the trailers but no, we get the she hulk hawaiian shirt wearing version. Just a lot of disrespect to the shows that started it all, on top of that it is just a bad bore fest. Stay away from this one.
Saltburn (2023)
wow what a twist
NOT. The movie is good, the story: poor worker class family makes friends with rich boy and spends summer at his luxurious family estate with very eccentric family members. There he gets to envy the tip of the tippy top whilst battling his feelings for the hot rich new friend he just made.
As the story goes on the fellow turns out to be more adventurous and risky than initially depicted. He goes on seducing the whole family circle whilst keeping the appearance of a humble worker class family youth.
This is the whole story and to make a few footnotes the actors are incredible, excellent casting, rosamund pike one of my favorites of her generation, gorgeous.
Now to my beef with this movie: it has a twist at the end, and if you have read my brief summary you may have even figured it out for yourself. The movie however treats it like some kind of usual suspect mind-blown moment which makes the ending sadly more comedic than shocking.
It is a good movie however due to the acting and stellar cast alone.
How to Have Sex (2023)
uninspired
The movie is about a young girl spending the holiday abroad with her friends where she is hoping to explore more about herself. Here she discovers many aspects of life's brutality involving loneliness, the sexual chase, unfulfilled emotional expectations. It is an indie looking movie you would expect to come out every year, every year another young talent, another aspiring director armed with nothing but the truth.
A bland truth lacking any sort of creativity, out of the box thinking, just proud to be depicting teenagers being vulnerable. Problem with that is when your premise is that simple and out in the open you need good actors, good writing and complexity. This movie has none of that, the female main role is convincing enough as the uninteresting naive youngster driven by impulse, but that is not hard to pull off. The sidecast is even less interesting with even less dialogue to work with. You just never get to know anyone, there is a severe lack of dialogue and exposition. It is a boring dud.
Priscilla (2023)
offensively boring
This is a dangerous premise that can be explored deeply if you are bold and insightful. Sofia coppola is neither as her career demonstrates. Her most interesting movie was a go at a psychological deep dive of the mind of a middle aged celebrity coming to terms with his limited happines in the later stages of life. Here we have a movie with a similar attempt of catching the same sombre, slow and immersive shooting style where actors are left a lot of room to breathe and "act". A lot of pauses, a lot of silence, it can be immersive as it also allows the viewer to observe the character without any of the plot pulled into the forefront. You get to take in the human experience, at least that is what long pauses and empty silences left in a movie is for. But when the actors are not scarlett johanssen or bill murray, when they have nothing interesting to show or possibly say then the movie becomes this. Even if your characters ARE elvis presley and priscilla presley you never reall care. The fault lies in both the actors and the direction and the script.
First of all as I mentioned this is a dangerous premise, the script yet never takes any real risk in showing the confusion, the power disparity, the innocence or corruption that may take place with such a controversial couple. Instead the script plays it safe and keeps those formative years of them short, brief and under the rug.
The actors do a decent job, both elvis and priscilla convinced me of their roles. Still as the script they are not showing a whole lot of range required for their complex characters, if anything you would think of an conventional dysfunctional couple without anything sticking out. It is difficult to differentiate where the script hindered and where the actors but it is underwhelming nonetheless.
Finally the gravest sin of the movie is the boredom. Movies ought to.fulfill one viewer expectation at the leaast and that is being entertaining. Since the movie aimed to be as family friendly as possible with the unfriendliest premises it fails miserably being both. Neither family friendly nor edgy. It is just meh, a mediocre piece of media failed from the beginning due to the direction lacking any umpff or courage.
Family Switch (2023)
not the worst
I have seen worse bad movies and this is a bad movie. It is cookie cutter christmasy freaky friday with the added twist of the whole family switching bodies. Shallow, dumb, unfunny and.catered for children who have and never will discover nuance. Still it is not the worst. Mainly because the whole cast is quality a-list actors, including the kids who know how to work a script no matter how unbelievable or hallmark-y it is. The jokes do not land, the story does not grip but you still somehow buy it and get a bit immersed at times even believing for.a second that the bodies are indeed switched. That is however the best you can say about this movie. Recommended if you have family over and want to watch a flick that is as harmless as can be. Besides that skip it, you wont have missed anything of substance.
May December (2023)
why should i care again ?
Another self-aggrandising piece from hollywood. Tmz worthy material made to look like a shakespearian tragedy when the actual message should be "that's life I guess" since there is little to be talked about.
The main actresses do their best to give their roles a heaviness, some solemnity but it falls flat when confronted with the reality of the script and premise. It is a Hollywood cheat scandal drama personified in a movie. Old famous celebrities choosing their pick from the young flock and enjoying their rich lifestyle. Only this time the old celebrity seems to have some conscientious. Doubt. Well what a twist. That did not need 2 hours. Curb your own narcissism and keep us sober audience alone with your self absorption please. Thank you.
Good Burger 2 (2023)
good kind of bad
This movie can be seen very similarly to the first movie. It is goofy, the characters borderline cartoony, the "vibes" are always present. The main cast hasn't lost its charm, they are still playing off each other and creating just dumb hilarity. It is a good "dumb" movie that you can a good time watching if you do not care much for plot, character, real development or cohesion. The first movie in that regard was way more consistent in telling a narrative with somewhat real stakes and payoff. The underdog story of a burger shops rise to fame thanks to a magical sauce. This movie's plot is mainly there to move sketch like scenes along for the audience to laugh.
Still the sketches are good enough, it is dumb humor, it is humor you are ashamed of admitting made you laugh but it makes you laugh nonetheless.
Napoleon (2023)
Great battles, weak napoleon
This movie has many faults, as you can probably already deduce by the low rating. Let's get the positives out of the way. Ridley Scott knows how to direct a battle. Whilst I am not familiar in detail with all of Napoleons battles, I could appreciate the famous tactics shown by the french general that did stick with me from pop culture. The battles are very transparent, very atmospheric and with very little limitations on gore. It is kind of a shame that most of them are limited to 3-4 minutes without too much detail but still amazing shots all around. Another positive is Josephine which is a very big part of the movie. Her and Napoleons relationship is explored deeply with a lot of cheerful chaotic scenes, confrontations that add a lot of depth to both characters and the background narration taken from their correspondence to each other before every battle. I loved her character and her impact was not understated. Maybe even overemphasized at times.
Now to the negatives. Joaquin Phoenix is just awful. It is a problem arisen by the actor and the writing. There is just not a lot of features that distinguises him from partially neurotic, temperamentel characters he played in the past as seen in Inherent Vice or even Her. This is the man who came up with the Code Civil, one of the most significant piece of law ever created, this is the man who came up with brilliant battle tactics, forcing europe to its knees. However in this movie it all seems like he stumbled upon success by accident every single time. His performance lacks conviction and confidence, so when you do get to watching him execute brilliant battle tactics you can barely believe that it is him who came up with them.
Another aspect is the politics, they seem to be added for complexity but are just a very small part of the movie. Interactions are limited to a few ambassador scenes and mutual compliment exchange between kings.
Another complaint is going to be the lack of military. By that I mean the interactions necessary to depict Napoleon as a competent military leader. He was infamous for having fret like relationships with his soldiers, having a very hands on approach and bonding with the troops as a roman general whould have done. Almost nonexistent which is a real head scratcher, as his armies were the main factor of his power.
Lastly I would like to adress the fluidity problem with this movie. It is divided into stages of his rise and fall. The revolution, his crowning, his exile, his comeback and lastly exile again. The one bounding factor of all these stages being Josephine, you can see their bond grow and change over the years but apart from that little is explained about the transition, one scene he is a lowly captain, another scene a general, and another a crowned emperor. These transitions happen way too quick in the first 30 minutes of the movie. You don't see him evolve, not as a person at least, all you see is him getting a new title and change of scenery. These kind of cut offs happen throughout the movie and are a real immersion breaker.
So I do give this movie a 6 because despite of all the flaws, there is top notch production quality, a captivating Josephine performance and just great battles.
Julia (2022)
meryl who ?
People are going to compare it to the oscar worth performance of meryl streep and it would utterly justified. She dazzled with her performance and even if not completely accurate her presence on camera was captivating. Now this is a though act to follow but follow she did. I really liked her more grounded represantation of julia child as this series does her life story justice. You not only see her camera work on tv but also very niche and neat domestic scenes that tries to deepen people's understanding on her character.
The show has very good pacing and every episode adds more to the character. Filmed with a lot of love and humor this is a good watch.
Your Lucky Day (2023)
dumb, idiotic, dumb
I was suprised when I first saw the initial 7.5 ratings, bad b list actors, very rage baity premise and a title with very little imagination. This ought to be a below average thriller flick direct to tv and I was right.
It is about a group of people hostage to a violent young thug who is trying to convince them to stay quiet about his violent theft of a winning lottery ticket. The premise is actually intruiging at first as you see the hostages being swayed by the promise of millions of dollars in lottery winnings. A lot of happens in the middle of the movie and the ending is very lazy, expected social messaging. It's that kind of movie, a movie with the premise as a hook and nothing to show for it. It is supposed to be, you would assume, a study on human nature and how morality goes out the window if the stakes are high. Very little of that, the actors wouldn't have been able to pull it off anyway, still what we get is cheap action instead. What a waste. What a bad movie.
Dumb Money (2023)
dumb movie
You can just smell it, how out of touch the writer, director, entire cast was about internet culture the first few minutes in.
It is kind of laughable seeing people dramatizing simple click and talk funny meme posting turn into life and death financial deicisions. The famous reddit posts were never about changing lives or toppling the system, it was more about seeing if it was possible and trying it for the heck of it. I seriously doubt anyone had any real stakes invested in turning a fortune by investing into a long dead video game business. It was a well done demonstration of market manipulation with very juvenile intentions. The movie feels like the social network in that it takes itself too seriously, only the social network managed to pull the serious tone off with self awareness and just too cool to fail slick scene directions + acting. This movie fails in its attempt to be both the social network in its dramatic depiction and being the big short in its informativeness. It is summarized in one internet zoomer slang term : Cringe.
Blue Eye Samurai (2023)
loses focus
A tale of a young woman disguised as a male samurai seeking revenge against the foreign opressers who made her upbringing a living hell. It is a simple, easy to follow story with a very complex character as the lead. As she disguises herself as a male samurai to receive training in both swordsmanship and swordcraft she grows up to be a capable killer.
The story picks up in the middle of her journey of finding the foreign lord, her father who bestowed upon her accursed blue eyes. Yes, the premise is pretty xenophobic but it is rural japan, what did you expect.
I really liked the first few episodes as they introduce her with a lot of intrigue but the flashbacks, the explanations for her motivations, all of it became a lot more convoluted and unbelievable as the episodes amassed a mess of a backstory, therefore character. It boils down to ridiculous sadness, unfortunate events to a satirical extend.
Further this lack of transparancy of motivation combined with a problem id like to compare to cyberpunk edgerunners. Another animation relying heavily on very liberal art directions, explosive colors and blurry narratives. Whilst the style there somehow fit in with the going on drug abuse theme, here it feels out of place. I was utterly content with the lone samurai story consisting of clean blade duels and bloody adventures. Instead what we get is plenty of dreamy sequences where reality is indistinguishable from fiction. As the motivations were already unclear, the story as well does not go anywhere. So what we are left with is a gorgeous incomprehensible show.
Pain Hustlers (2023)
people are being rough
I was entertained by this movie, which should be one of the higher compliments you can give a piece of media. The acting was decent, the story was curious enough and pacing left me hooked.
I have seen people call it a wolf of wall street clone. Accurate description to be fair. It is just done to death, cautionary tales with rapid rise to success and last minute redemptions. Wolf of wall street did it best with very raw performances and spot on humor. Here you wont find very little of either. While Emily blunt gave her best, she is just very one dimensional and not very interesting. Same for Chris. Still all the same, if you do not like to read and just want to get some idea of the corrupt pharma world this can be your fix.
7(10)
Blue Beetle (2023)
worker class success story turned dc movie
One of the many grave sins of hollywood is the marginalization of class struggle. The bud of the joke are most of the time the favorite opressed individuals, immigrants, different religious backgrounds, niche artisans with low income etc. Dc like Disney or Marvel, with executives that are as close to working class struggle as the sun is to the moon love to think of themselves as educators and illuminators when forcing such narratives down the writers and directors throats. So we as the consumer are supposed to get inspired by the very unlikely success stories again shoved down our eyes. It is cheap, it is disingenous and always backwards in any human capacity. So this movie is not different in that sense only with the slight off premise of the social climber becoming a super hero. Stop mass producing backwards narratives please.
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
old
This movie feels like it was made in the 90s when just having a string of events following one another without craftful editing and just loosely connected dialogue succeeded bringing in millions when you just got the casting right. Nowadays this type of filmmaking indicates outdatedness.
The good points of this movie :
robert de niro is fantastic, he plays the two faced smiley greedy villain character to perfection. He has you questioning his real intentions right to the end without revealing too much about his undisguised personality while also being ruthless. Lily gladstone also strong contender for main actress awards, just loved her portrayal of non non-sense but vulnerable portrayal of Mollie Burkhart.
The cast all in all very good.
Furthermore the whole story shown from a wide range of narrative angles is very captivating, as you are watching a murder mystery unfolding from multiple angles whilst also being given the answer from the very beginning.
Bad points:
The obvious one, it is way too long with a lot of scenes consisting of slowly spoken dialogue and exposition. The movie feels like a drag one hour in and you wish you had spared yourself the movie ticket for a comfy and pausable streaming experience.
Di caprio as the dimwitted but sinister husband was uninspired. If you have ever watched a dicaprio movie you will frustratingly notice that his range is very limited. It is Leo just using lines of dialogue explaining to you that he is another person whilst never really putting any effort into changing voice, posture or gesture. Different clothes, different dialect and different lines of dialogue does not change you into another person unfortunately.
So all in all very decent movie to stream, not worth a movie ticket though.