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Florin-C
Reviews
The Wheel of Time (2021)
This is just NOT a good adaptation
I was not expecting a faithful adaptation, nor did I want it (the books have their share of shortcomings), all I wanted was a GOOD STORY based on the books, that cut on the bad stuff and added on good stuff (that could have counted as new WoT content). Instead they did the opposite, cut down on important plotlines and characters (like Thom, they could have used him to "bring to life" WoT lore and stories, not make him a throwaway character) and replacing them with lenghty, useless and meaningless (on the bigger scale) character relationships and drama.
And they are bad AT THEIR OWN WRITING, like, "oh, the arrogance of men thinking they could cage the Dark One", to Moiraine taking the Dragon alone to the Dark One (Dana the Darkfriend couldn't have done a better job) to do WHAT??? Defeat him? Or "oh, you Aes Sedai have turned down the old Wisdom because of her ragged clothes" to a fisherman's daughter becoming the Amyrlin Seat, to Rand, who refused to give his coat to Mat when he was cold, sperging at Egwene that she never thought much of Mat.
I give this a 7*, because I don't want it to get cancelled, maybe the producers are reading this and change it for the better in the next season, but in truth, it doesn't deserve more than a 5* rating.
American Gods (2017)
Only good for entertainment
I am going to join the crowd that says this is an overrated show (intellectually speaking) . I'm not as much disgruntled with the form of it as I am with the content, and with what it is trying to push onto the audience (although I agree with it's political stances).
To make it short, it looks to me like the main idea is that the "old" gods are somehow preferable to the new ones just because these latter ones are played by a snotty teen, a TV star and George McFly. Well, tell me when these ones were responsible for wars and human sacrifices and I will perhaps agree. Until then, just 5*, just for the cast and production value.
À ma soeur! (2001)
Awful.
This is one of the movies I could easily rate as one of the most hateful movies of all time. I saw it some time ago on TV, as the last thing on that day, so, luckily, it couldn't spoil much of the rest of my day.
But I imagine myself what would have been had I seen this on big screen, having paid for it. I think I would have asked myself: "Did I really need to see this ?" Worst thing is it doesn't get that bad, to make you walk out on it, until the last few minutes, but, when it gets bad, it gets obnoxious.
I wonder what made the director want to do this movie, then, I remembered that this species of film directors exist for quite some time, who want to stir controversy at all costs, and who live on the hype, and not on the money their movies make.
Having said all that I think that this movie could have been saved at least partially, if that last sequence of events had been set only in the imagination of the young girl. All the movie is about the build-up of hate from the main character towards her sister (and her mom, for her indifference), so I could have understood it. But then the director said: "Well, let's make it real. Just for shock's sake. I bet every film critic will have something to say about this."
1* (because 0 is not an option on IMDb, unfortunately).
Avatar (2009)
Just a technological accomplishment for IMAX and 3D from Cameron, this time
but story-wise,this movie has gotten all its' Oscars in 1991, when "Dances with Wolves" was in competition. I'd say James Cameron wanted to reinvent 3D cinema, and not cinema, as it's been stated so many times. In this aspect, Cameron delivered, indeed. The 3D landscapes and rides on top of dragon-like birds are the strong points of this movie.
But is there any chance that this will become a classic ? I don't think so. This movie has more clichés than a crime-mystery book of the '50ies. If you saw "Dances with Wolves", or "The Last Samurai", then you know already everything this movie wants to tell you.
Visually, you can see remnants from "The Abyss", warfare machinery from "Matrix Revolutions" and in what acting is concerned, the only two performances that caught my attention were those of Stephen Lang (colonel Miles Quaritch) and Zoe Seldana (the CG character of Neytiri). Disappointingly flat performance from Sigourney Weaver (can't help to mention that she had the only "avatar" that actually looked like her). About Sam Worthington, if you saw him in "Terminator Salvation", you will notice that he only made it from supporting role there, to leading role here. Same-o, same-o.
So my advice is, go see it only if you have a 3D cinema near you.