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schak23
No chance I could ever name a favourite film, and there are far too many characters I found touching and tangible. If anything, the poetry of Terence Malick has never ceased to fascinate me in a way, and good dialogue will never stop catching my attention.
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Reviews
Scoop (2024)
Superb cast
Even if I am only mildly interested in royals and their affairs, this whole story is important, simply as it means that no one should be exempt from laws and morals.
Hence, the only ever show I watched about royals. Was it worth it? The film as such is good but surely the fact that you know pretty much all about it already affects it.
But: Romola Garai, Rufus Sewell, Keeley Hawes Billie Piper and of course, Gillian Anderson. God almighty, what a fantastic cast. Just these few people from the main cast make this film very enjoyable and will leave an impression with you.
In that sense, I get the slightly negative reviews about the film, but these actors and actresses are simply brilliant to watch.
3 Body Problem (2024)
Stop at episode 5...
.... and save yourself some disappointment.
I have read the first book and didn't mind any of the changes, actually I enjoyed the cast of the series more than the characters as I imagined them from the book. The scientist gang I quite liked and wouldn't have minded them being even more interacting. Wade is just a ridiculous character, and it is only the detective that saves this side of the ensemble from being endlessly boring. Jin's boyfriend is a pointless addition to the cast and serves basically just what the creators have in mind: milk this great idea into as many seasons and episodes as possible and create a typically US audience focus in style and plot(s). You know my argument if you had read some of my reviews before.... The soapification of everything.
Up until episode 5 it is exciting, drives nicely on the ideas of the first book and this story would have made for a very nice mini-series. To imagine that the spirit of episode 6-8 goes on for potentially 3 more seasons. Blimey, thank you, not my cup of tea. Everything that annoyed me about the first book in the end was amplified in the later episodes by a multitude and the actual suspense of they're coming and the idea of what that does to us looses all its momentum.
The slicing of the vessel will forever puzzle me. Why the hell would anyone come up with such a ridiculous idea? Just one of the many plot elements that I just found annoying. In the book as well as here...
Ted Lasso (2020)
Great show - had to ignore some of the politics though.
Heartwarming to say the least - Ted Lasso is funny, touching, interesting and offers more great characters than many other series. The clash of Ted and English football culture is just brilliant and although the series would have been fine with just two seasons, I still enjoyed watching it all the way.
Why would I only need 2 seasons? Simply because a lot of the substories are just not necessary and don't offer much to be honest. Keeley's love story with her investor, the coming out of their team mate and then the unbearable Sam with his political righteousness feel forced into the overall story.
Politically it just feels a little weird, that the Nigerians are portrayed as the heralds of liberal thinking. Let us all remember how gay people would feel about this and check what sort of laws Nigeria implemented to make life hell for anyone not heterosexual, hard core Christian or Muslim. So, please, leave it. Also, the coming out. Really, is this still necessary? Just portray it like it is not a big deal anymore, because it shouldn*t be. Period. It is 2024. You won't convert idiots by trying to constantly tell these stories in that fashion. Just normalise it, because it is normal to be gay.
Apart form that: 10 stars for first rate entertainment and a lovely overall story.
Vigil (2021)
Season 2 review. Oh well. soso.
I like many of the actors. Suranne Jones, Rose Leslie, Dougray Scott and especially Romola Garai I love to bits but they cannot save this show unfortunately.
It is so predictable and far too confusing at times. There are so many names and characters which never get enough screen time given how often they are referred to. And. The worst for me in this time and date: If there is a middle-aged white guy somewhere from the beginning, well, you have to be sure, it was him. Final reveal: it was him, with the help of a another, yes of course, white person from the UK military.
Oh well, where do you start by what is annoying about Vigil 2? Conflicts between Amy and Kirsten are just badly forced in writing, and the pressure in the BBC to construct a gay subplot into absolutely everything is becoming more and more a joke. Also, the depiction of critics of a Islamic phantasy state are so stereotypical and unrealistic, it is painful to watch. Of course, there are all great to women and very, very liberal. The fact that many of the revolutions in Islamic states in the last decade where only to a minority driven by democratic forces but predominantly by militant islamists? Ah, what do we care at the BBC. Just make sure that the bad guy in the end is a white, Western, middle-aged man in a powerful position. Job done. BBC. Clichés all sorted.
Boiling Point (2023)
Masterchef tv
It is 9 and not 10 starts simply because the conflicts which the series lives on are sometimes a little too forced and I really wouldn't mind if the immense pace was slighlty slowed down to have more depth.
In that sense, Boilling Point almost rushes because it needs everything is so hectic in its setting to make the relationships equally stressful.
But, that all apart: Brilliant, brilliant and brilliant.
Wonderful cast downright to all roles; stories full of heart and feelings and fun. I could easily watch this every day, maybe every second day, just to recover a little.
I really hope this gets continued.
UFO (2018)
possibly a gem?
If a film manages to keep me tense and excited to watch through maths, yes, maths, then the filmmakers must have done something right.
Yes, this is a film made for tv and that probably with low budget and not too much expectation in mind. But it works! The story is great and frankly, it is a sincere reflection on possible contact.
I enjoyed it. Short, good and decent regarding filmmaking. I have been searching for the soundtrack ever since but it is not available. If anyone knows how to get it, please give it to me. I loved it; great 80ies synthie stuff.
They probably blew their budget on Gillian Anderson but even if her role is slightly annoying, she equally plays it well.
The Essex Serpent (2022)
If only they knew what they want to tell....
It troubles me a little that I haven't read the book and hence do not entirely understand if the story of the series and of the book are comparable.
So, this is about the series in terms of plot and development. And with this in mind: What the deuce happens here? There are 200 subplots that are confusingly important in the one moment and completely vanish in the next.
The cast is outstanding! The premise of the story as well; some of the substories are just wonderful (Stella's process) and some seem forced. But if you manage to bring it all together, it works.
That is, it could work. The Essex Serpent on Apple+ doesn't though.
Go on, watch it. You will see wonderful acting and equally wonderful scenes of love, friendship and mystery. But it is like watching a photo album, not a coherent story.
Example? The girls "raising the serpent" through either sin or some ritual. This vanishes completely from the story. How did Gracie die? Gone. Luke's story? Hastily wrapped up.
Overall a missed opportunity....
Invasion (2021)
Frodo moments all over.
First of all, what is a Frodo moment?
Do you remember how often Frodo fainted, struggled with the ring and the burden it presented? Countless times in my memory. Don't get me wrong I loved LOTR and perhaps even the immense length of the films has its value.
Still, I couldn't stop frowning when I saw Frodo in slow motion falling over, doubting, crying, etc, etc, over what carrying the ring did to him. I got that. I would even have understood that if had happened only once or twice.
Invasion feels like Frodo all over. There are endless minutes of Frodo moments in all of the different subplots. The acutal story - the invasion is almost neglectable in many episodes. You see people doing things, falling over, fainting, nose bleeds, fainting again, waking up, grieving, etc. Over and over again, yet nothing really happens.
It is beautifully filmed and aesthetic for sure. But, why? Just to milk out as many episodes as possible?
I am halfway through season 1 and will check some of the reviews here to make a decision. I love slow storytelling. Yes, storytelling. This so far is frodoing. Argh.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
Suprisingly bad!
After I watched the movie I was expecting a tirade of bad reviews from the audience here on IMDB. I was quite surprised to see how well it had been received though. I find this strange to say the least.
Do so many people not see how quite bad the film really is?
Plot, character development, ghosts: Dear me how very shallow and empty. There are hardly any other characters apart from Rudd, the kids and the mother. The rest of the town, the sheriff, the shopowner: emptiness throughout. Even in the few action sequences it is almost as if the town really is swept clean from other people.
This takes away all the fun as there is practically no interaction between the main characters and their surroundings or people in town and the Ghosts? Yep, and ghosts? Hardly any.
Apart from the lovely cast (wasted) this is soulless and full of forced references to the original. Editing is awful. There seems to have been a lot of material being filmed with no overall major plan.
Plot? Holes as deep as the well in the mine.
Ghostbusters is such a great general idea. This is quite hard to get wrong - Afterlife unfortunately does exactly that.
The Sixth Commandment (2023)
Excellent
True Crime has never really been on my list. I often feared that it would be sensationalist, far too focussed on the culprits and unnecessarily stirring up pain for victims and their loved ones. Whilst I didn't have any background information of that case and neither know how the victims families feel about the series, I must say that this could easily be the best thing I have ever watched on tv.
All the actors, regardless if they lead or not, are superb, the writing is phenomenal and the balance between crime series and psychological study is spellbindingly brilliant. I cannot stop thinking about it as it explores so many things and this could have gone on for much longer. Condolences to the families and my deepest respect for everyone involved in this series.
Night Sky (2022)
No season 2 casts a huge shadow ...
... on the series. There are tons of questions unanswered and basically the story cannot be just left like this. At the end of episode 8 is gets more or less really started.
The series is promising to say the least. Very slow and focused on the people rather than the action. The acting is superb and the relationships depicted mean something far beyong the usual, hasty and cliche-ridden characterisation we see in so many series nowadays.
I know it is just tv and fantasy; but when tv is great and when you can watch Spacek and Simmons being just great and so many interesting plots being developed in front of your eyes, it is frustrating to say the least that this is it.
It is then with regret, because I loved it, but do not watch season 1 and spare yourself the disappointment at the end...
Colin from Accounts (2022)
wonderful stuff
A series that I never planned to watch, but something I sort of had a lazy sneak and loved it straightaway.
It is great to be surprised and the ten points shall be equally shared by script-writers, the whole cast and of course, Colin. This is funny, heart-warming, likeable stuff that never gets dull or tries too hard.
The comedy is of course a little over the top but there are lines in there I wish I would be able to produce in exactly that manner in some real life situations.
And, the love story is really just that, a love story with all there is to it.
Watch it. It is beautiful. The scene with the dying gran... I don't think I will ever be able to forget that.
Great Expectations (2023)
Expectation management needed here
A review in three stages. Avidly admiring the novel I was quite surprised about episode 1, in a positive way! I quite liked it and deviations from characters and storylines did not disturb this at all.
I thought young Pip was excellent and overall the cast, setting and cinematography kept me interested and open.
It all went downhill from the introduction of Jaggers and London because the character development and the story now take a complete different direction. What you get is not an adaptation but a well designed but very mediocre piece of thriller-drama mesh up as you have seen tons of on all streamers.
Driving conflict and making characters as mysterious as possible and then slowly revealing family relations and so on - by heavens, it is so boringly average, I really lost all interest.
And, to manage expectations here: It has close to nothing to do with Dickens' novel. The story deviates to an unrecognisable level and the way it plays with the characters from the book, well, it leaves it (sorry, quite harsh given the experienced writer) on a level of fan fiction.
Disobedience (2017)
Simply a wonderful love story
All three main characters are not only splendidly played by the stellar cast; there is enough time and space for them to unfold and develop to become tangible and believable.
This is not only about the sort of forbidden love between McAdams and Weisz; in the end it was Nivola's interpretation of love for his wife and her happiness that really captured me and offered a powerful ending to this wonderfully designed and staged story.
I still don't understand why there is a number of required words to fill in here. IMDB should reconsider this. I am certainly not a fan of twitter-ish simplification but all I wanted to say is above in the two paragraphs. Why need more??
Obsession (2023)
Assembly line tv.
How can you waste such a lovely and talented mix of people in front of your camera? Streamers are getting so rushed and under pressure now for content, one can really see how hastily films and series are being produced.
Film and tv has always and will always be a product - hence it will work along the same lines as marketing does: the right product for the right target audience. The kind of product you will watch here with Obsession is a crude mix of 50 shades and noirish thriller setting, femme fatale and typical series antics like phased secret-reveal.
Did I like the product? No. Unfortunately not. And even if I would happily watch Armitage and Murphy read the London directory for a few hours, this annoyed me early on.
The story as such is wonderful (don't forget, it really is a straightforward remake of Damage) and I was looking forward to watching it. Love, desire and power within relationships - this offers so much of what a good film could be in the end. But what you get is a lot of explicit scenes, bondage, SM - and this is introduced swiftly in the series.
Sex scenes and violence for me are quite an issue: I get bored if it is all explicit. I think real cinematic art is to hint, to lead, to develop tension, not to use effects. In that sense, what happens between Armitage and Murphy from the start is almost comical and lacks all subtlety.
Poor development, poor directing; superficial and like a product on a shelf where everything looks like you have seen it before, tasted if before.
The Rig (2023)
mass product+++mediocre+++SOS
All in all underwhelming given the cast and the premise. The setting is brilliant and the basic idea - isolated group of people vs the unknown - does deliver some good moments and developments. Yet this series does heavily suffer from haphazard and hasty development of characters which seems to work for the needs of streamers to present loads of content, but at the expense of depth and plot.
The cast feels wasted given the quite bad writing and dialogue at times. Many of the characters are annoying and very often conflict and plot developments feel pointless. This whole story could be told in a feature length film - there is no need for 6 hours given that basically not much is happening regarding the key storyline.
There are tons of events which create suspense but at the end of the day it is about the organism they find and the fact that they find out about a mass extinction event. So, prepare for an interesting story which you get to see in between scenes and scenes of technical gibberish, last minute problems and so on. Also, the emotional impact on people on the rig as well as relationships on board all appear a little too shallow and rushed. And of course, modern policy adhering, there needs to be gay love and sensitive versus brutal men and Greta Thurnberg-ish black-and-white characterisation regarding the environmental and philosophical aspects of the story. Some of it makes sense, other aspects mentioned are just pointless.
I really do not get why this is designed to go on as the end suggests a continuation. At the end I kept scrolling forward and forward just so I see the end. Second season: Not for me, thank you.
The Living and the Dead (2016)
Very sad to hear it was cancelled
Sadly this eerie, complex and quite intriguing series wasn't continued. Sure, audience numbers count and eventually decide upon success or failure; yet, this series might have deserved a second season simply due to the brilliant storytelling, potential and wonderful design. The actors are doing a fine job and as I am an avid admirer of good dialogue, this series kept me interested start to finish.
It is quite hard to summarise the series in a swift way that would equally pay justice to its depth. Folk horror, time bending mystery with possibly Sci-Fi elements? At the same time it deals with loss, love and ghosts - yes, all in one series. The Living and the Dead might just be one example for a new breed of storytelling that goes beyond genre convention - unsuccessful regarding numbers, but brilliant as a piece of modern tv in my view.
Downton Abbey (2010)
Brilliant tv
It is quite rare that I would start a new show and finish it, quite often I get bored with stroylines or character development or simply dislike the repetitiveness of content in multi-season series.
Downton Abbey (the series) is quite old-fashioned in many ways, straight-forward in its design and storytelling, so much even that it made me wonder why I liked it so much. Well, apart from perfect set design and storytelling, it really is the people that you see and follow.
The characters will grow to you in their tangible and plausible presentation; you start to really feel with them and I guess it gets you hooked in the same manner soaps did in the past. The one feature that particularly captivated me was the honesty in which issues like class, race, homophobia and gender roles are being discussed. I really dislike a lot of new series that pretend that in any modern British era, be it Victorain, Edwardian or early Windsor, there was anything near a diverse society.
Downton Abbey takes these issues seriously and works with it in a way one could imagine it to have happened for real. Hence, the characters become mulit-faceted and interesting as the inner and outer conflicts that challenge relationships, believes and actions feel somewhat real.
And on top of it all, the show doesn't always take itself too seriously either. This creates a perfect mix of drama, sociological study and character comedy.
Such a pleasure to watch.
Deep Water (2022)
Didn't get away with murder
Where to start? It is a bad movie for sure. I felt sorry for Ben Affleck who was reduced to an actor who was not allowed to show anything apart from a scornful look and a silly level of unconvincing lies. Ana de Armas surely plays the role well, but and this is a massive but: Who green-lights these scripts?? Absolutely ridiculous at time.
Affleck was last one in pool with the young man who openly slept with his wife. Right, the police walk away, shrugging shoulders?
I can bear a lot of nonsense, plot holes and the like but here, no no, it simply became too much. Neither the characters, nor the story - nothing is really thought through. Lazy, hasty and as a cinematic meal it is less than lukewarm, half-baked and well, best forgotten.
1899 (2022)
I did an experiment. Again
I give it 5 points because nothing else would be fair. I did exactly the same as with The Rings of Power: watched the first and the last episode only. I'm glad I saved myself the disappointment, again. Come on, please, forget the hype and be honest, all you 10 pointers. It is overrated, exactly like Dark was overrated. You watch tons of scenes - all masterly done - and you have literally no clue what's going on. Then comes the end and, well, it is not exactly a revelation, all you watched before was merely style over substance, all the mystery does not have a proper explanation in the end. Why do so many people feel they need to defend 1899 and Dark? It is great tv, brilliant film art, but the actual story and plot, come on, hand on hearts, is basically quite shallow.
SAS Rogue Heroes (2022)
Enjoyable but also problematic
Great soundtrack, brilliant cast, suspense and action. If you are keen on all that, enjoy, because there is so much to enjoy in that sense. It is an updated version of many war films of 1960ies: War is fun, more like an adventure trip with friends and real men are far better out there than anywhere else where life is boring and where potential wives wait or mothers.... And real men they are! Constantly drunk or under the influence of other drugs - yet still able to perform under any circumstances. Fighting all the time and of course our heroes are superior in all they do, despite some difficulties. Typical for the BBC there must be some reference to modern themes, hence there is a subtle gay subplot (quite nicely done), a pointless cross-dressing reference and of course some visible vulnerability to counteract the otherwise testosteron-heavy dialogue and action on the screen.
Oh well. I liked it in many ways but I really feared that some viewers will be silly enough to take any of it for historical fact. War surely is not fun. Never has been, never will. It is a mixture of necessity, bravery, pathos, lies, authority, finding means to kill and trying to stay alive whilst doing so.
War is horrible - for everyome involved, even if it is still a necessity. We should thank those who stand up to those who inflict it, but:
The history of the SAS offers a great blueprint for this show, yet, heavens, if you are young and seek adventure, please go for a hike with your mates and don't fantasise about war with this show in mind.
Her (2013)
Wonderful meditation on love
Her is simply a wonderful film. On a social level it annoyed me a little, feeding into my pessimistic view on us being too self-centred, hypersensitive and in consequence unable to commit to monogamous relationships. Enough about my old-man-thinking!
On a formal level, Her is a piece of art in the truest sense. Thought through in every aspect, beautifully desgined and what you see and hear is both painted with a careful hand by this marvellous team of film-, sound- and music-makers. Just when I thought if this is the best cast I have seen and hear in my life, there comes Brian Cox's voice to put the icing on the cake.
I know this aspect has become better and better over the last decades but production design is pitch perfect.
I stumbled over Her as the soundtrack had been released last year and also due to being avidly in love with Arcade Fire. Watch it. It is slow, dreamy, kind and a wonderful mediation of falling in love, being in love, lust, joy and pain.
Manifest (2018)
Why just an idea is never enough...
Promising start to what could have been a great series. The callings make some of the episodes work nicely as stand-alones but the main plot is also driven in an interesting fashion throughouth the first season. Nevertheless towards the end of season 1 you can sort of sense the soap-opera-mediocrity we then end up in the following seasons.
It looks like there was a great idea for the set-up of the show, also for the characters but never a masterplan for the story as such. I really do not believe that this was planned for six seasons and now writers struggled to squeeze it all into four. Season 3 definitely looks far more like developed on the go and now season four will present a haphazard ending. Oh well, I cannot recommend it, really.
Archive 81 (2022)
Good series - dull end
Great series, full of suspense and eerie atmosphere. Setting and characters are almost too intense in how forebodingly and secretively they behave and communicate.
Being an avid lover of edgy stories of the occult and history this was a true gem - and: the art of film making and acting is so good that there is a perfect level of immersion to be guaranteed.
Unfortunately though the end left me completely empty. So much to answer for still and so much that would have needed some form of closure. So, expect an end that might leave you a little disappointed. The show overall surely isn't disappointing at all.
Life After Life (2022)
Casting is incredible
Not sure about the story or better the many stories which are told. Some of it did not captivate me too much. But, setting, costumes, and first and foremost the cast is absolutely stunning. All roles have been casted carefully and with magnificent actors and actresses. Language, acting - all in perfection.