Change Your Image
webstefan2003
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Justified: City Primeval (2023)
Not bad, not that great either
What made the original series so great ?
A great Villain, and I use the capital wisely for it, becaude Boyd Crowder played by Walton Goggins was an absolutley majestic villain, the kind you love to hate but you also kind of like him too.
Now Boyd Holbrock while still being a good actor and had some solid villains especially in Logan and The Sandman here plays Clement Mansell which honestly doesn't hold a candle to Boyd Crowder.
His sociopathic Clement doesn't really feel like a threat to Raylan and he's not charming either, he's really just an a**hole that you actually want to see die as soon as possible, hell maybe even the way AJ Buckley's Danny Crowe died in the original.
Boyd Crowder had more charisma and charm in the the last 10 minutes than Clement had during all the series.
While most of the other characters are decent, the originals are simply better and more likeable.
Also Willa ... she kinda needs some acting lessons.
The story all in all is good even the slow-burn aspect of it, but I do hope there will be a follow-up to see another Raylan vs Boyd tale.
Another Life: D-Day (2021)
Huge improvement over the first season !
While the first season was slow burn, non-sensical at times and rather all over the place this is leaps and bounds over it.
I get that some of the stories have that innate slow burn pace but this is a sci-fi and it should have a rather faster pace especially with the 10 episode count for the season.
The second season however does that way better, it's more action oriented, the philosofical issues usually presented in sci fi are better illuatrated, and for the most part the acting is better.
The story is a bit predictable if you've seen enough sci fi but just enough to keep you interested and not to put you away.
I would've liked to see more special effects especially in alien races and a bit more inventivity in ilustrating them but I guess bugetary constraints are an issue when we talk about well designed aliens. Also there was absolutley no world building for any of the alien races and given the slow pace maybe an episode or two with that wouldn't have hurt, just to get an insight into what drives them, and not just take the easy deus ex machina route. I get it it's easier, safer and I guess cheaper but still would've wanted it.
Maybe they'll get another season and try it then.
Now while Katee Sackhoff's acting is great and when it comes to sci fi she really brings it, Justin Chatwin is soo over reaching here that it's almost funny, I don't wanna say the dude is a bad actor but I just didn't buy any of the Erik he brought to camera while Katee's Niko was quite believable and actually strong and determined.
Considering the second season I honestly hope they get a third, like someone said before it's not a masterpiece but it get better and enjoyable.
The Many Saints of Newark (2021)
I wanted to like it ...
God knows I wanted to like it, I wanted to love it given how much I loved the original series and god mob movies in general but this ... this just falls short, short of mob movies and definitley short of The Sopranos.
I'll start with the good:
The characters, we get some of the characters we knew and like from the series and some new ones.
The cast, mostly good choices especially Gandolfini's son, Alessandro Nivola, Vera Farmiga and the always awesome Ray Liotta.
The young Paulie, Silvio and the other guys were fun to see as young wise guys 😊
Michela deRossi in my opinion manages to steal the spotlight in almost every shot she's in, keep an eye on her, she's going places.
The nostalgia, yeap I missed the Soprano's world with their manerisms and sayings.
The bad:
Oh boy where to start...
The story is rather weak and to be honest I don't think I can name an episode of the series weaker than this.
I get it's sort of an origin story with a twist, but it's just not that good, it's rushed, it's unpolished, it's highly anticlimatic.
Ray Liotta is gravely underused, Jon Bernthal the same, Vera Farmiga as well.
This could have been made easy as a two parter with more character development for Dickie, Johnny and Anthony.
Corey Stoll... usually I quite like him and his characters, here though he just doesn't work for me. He looks the part yeah, but he sure doesn't act like it. He's just not Corrado Soprano, he doesn't act like him, he doesn't talk like him.
The whole woke feel of it is wrong, I get it's the new trend now but the movie's supposed to happen in the late 60's early 70's, that has no place being there.
Dialogues were so much better in the series, but that might be just because the actors were well ... so much better and better cast.
All in all it's not a terrible movie or even a bad one, it's an ok one but it just doesn't live up to the Sopranos name.
I think if you watch it with the raised bar from the series you won't enjoy it, but if you manage to ignore the series you might like it.
Also people who are strange to the series will definitley like it, and get even greater surprise when they get into the series.
The Three Musketeers (2011)
Why the hate ?
I don't get the hate for this movie, and this is coming from someone that absolutley loved Dumas's books as a child and I loved the Richard Chamberlain classics too. Yes sure does deviate a bit from the books and takes some poetic license liberties but the hart of it is there.
In fact I think the only problem is that while the cast is great it's a bit upside down and they kind of make the villains more likeable than the protagonists kf the story but that's probably because Christoph Waltz is an absolute genious when it comes to "bad guys" and also you can tell Orlando Bloom and Milla Jovovich are having a blast playing the antagonists, I like the musketeers too but not as much as the vilains.
I don't understand why it had such low box office numbers and such a low rating. For my money this should definitley have had a sequel.
I rated it at 10 stars not because it deserves them but because I feel the ratings of 1-2 stars are just given out of some spite, to my mind it's around a 7 maybe 7.5 stars.
So great cast, good story, the CGI is a bit lacking but there are few elements of CGI so it's not that annoying, great action sequences, beautiful costumes, fun experience all in all, no it's not a oscar masterpiece but it's a fun feel good action adventure movie with just enough comedy to make it worth a watch or more.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Dieing for a sequel !
I think this is the first review I made but I just love the movie.
First of all for the life of me I simply don't get the low box office, or the lack of more success.
The music was absolutley spot-on in every scene, especially the sandwich one or the scooter and hotel one.
The suits and all the dressing are sublime as too be expected in a Guy Ritchie movie.
The story's great, it's a 60's spy story with none of the modern tomfoolery and with all the classic charm and wit of it.
The acting, oh the acting, Cavill is simply perfect as a suave, full of charm Napoleon Solo. To be honest while I did like him in Man of Steel, this is the movie where I trully fell for the actor and all his acting chops. Also for the life of me I can't understand how the producers of the Bond series can ignore such an actor that is trully Bondier than probably half of the actors that played the role. Arnie Hammer also, I knew he could act but he is awesome here as Ilya, and the exchange with Cavill is hilarious. I swear I almost fell of the chair laughing in "The kiss" scene, the rest of the theather as well.
I wasn't sold at first on Vikander, I thought that two hunks like the leads would be balanced by a stronger female lead, a more in your face one, but as I rewatched it, I'm convinced that exactly her more discreete presence balances the show off leads better.
As for the villain, well Elizabeth Debicky is simply delicious as Victoria Vinciguerra.
Another very awesome feature is some of the shots Ritchie pulls off that are absolutley breathtaking.
Again why this wasn't in the 6-700+ mil $ box office range is beyond me, the only thing I can think of would be a busy summer of blockbusters ...
I would love a sequed and a threequel for this but I know I'm probably hopping in vain as Cavill is busy with other projects, Guy Ritchie too, Alicia Vikander with the sequel to Tomb Raider, probably the only one with a less busy schedule would be Arnie Hammer.
But since hope springs eternal who knows maybe with the pandemics someone higher up the food chain in movie making read the reviews from the fans of this briliant spy comedy.