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Reviews
After the Flood (2024)
A tale of naivete in a morally ambiguous world
There are no heinous villains in this story. The very worst characters are humans dealing with life as best they can, fully aware of the compromises they make with purity.
Jo is a young idealistic copper, a rather simple-minded Nancy Drew type dedicated to solving a puzzle and on the way coming across layers upon layers of deceit and betrayal, but at each layer there is a simple human need, a struggle to do good, at each step bending the law or outright breaking it.
Even Jo, dear sweet and pure Jo, breaks the law to do the good she wants done.
Themes here similar to The Responder, another examination of the complexity and ambiguity of doing your best in an imperfect world.
Poker Face (2023)
Corny hip implausible bit of trash
The gravelly voice, talking out the corner of her mouth... A mugging of cool. Comes off as totally fake.
How they manage to pull off a combination of predictable cliche and implausibility is the only marvel of this insipid series... well,okay, I watched only the first episode and half the second before I got a headache from the eyerolls so maybe it pulls off a really improbable turnaround in the later episodes.
How many fails do you get at a tablet passcode? A bazillion? It's like the six-shooter with enough bullets to win a shoot out with a posse. And you accuse a cold-blooded ruthless murderer of murder while locked in a room with the murderer and his very capable hit man?
Really?
Who writes this crap?
Oh. Glass Onion? Right.
Somebody's nephew?
The Undeclared War (2022)
A rich exploration of issues in digital information warfare
So enthralling I put too much aside to binge this. The potential for complexity and gamesmanship in cyber warfare, the dilemma governments face in confronting foreign activity, sclerotic bureaucracy, the frailty of information security in a digitally mediated infrastructure, the volatility of public opinion and its susceptibility to misinformation... It covers a lot of ground.
The human story is about the strength of youth's idealism against the difficulties young people face. Their lack of experience is an advantage in approaching new classes of problems for which existing bureaucratic processes are inadequate.
Some critics complain about woke themes -- a correctly 'diverse' cast, the lesbianism that has become required -- but these are simply placeholders so do not interfere with or divert the story.
The ending is obviously a setup for season 2. I hope we see it.
The Spy (2019)
Six years earlier...
I hate it when they do that.
So now we have to sit through six hours to find the resolution of that scene.
It's my issue -- I understand that . Most people are not bothered by it; but it drives me nuts so I miss what is probably a great show.
Homecoming (2018)
Over the top melodrama
Nearly every scene has background music like a killer is about to jump out and strangle the star. Cinematography is pretentious and obvious, juvenile, sophmoric. Many of the actors are mugging their way through their scenes. Terrible terrible terrible...
I keep watching because I am interested in the story behind all the paranoia but it is painful to watch. I'm afraid the end will be just as I suspect.
Jack Ryan (2018)
Jim Halpert joins the CIA.
I usually don't like action movies but I took a look at this one to see what Krasinski would do with an action role.
It was great. There were some firefights of course and just plain shootouts, but the characters have some depth and some playfulness in the relationships.
I was also impressed by how flawed Jack is. He does some really stupid things like walking into obvious ambush without backup and chasing two shooters down a subway tunnel without calling for interception. And of course his moralistic piety gets in the way too.
I watched it all in a day, getting through a mild fever. Easy to watch. Great fun.
The Alienist (2018)
Unwatchable melodrama
The acting is over the top, the scenes are sensationalist, and the music! The music! Oh cripey it doesn't quit. It's like something from the 1930's when every scene requires an orchestra except in this agonizing monstrosity it's not an orchestra it's a continual thrumming of omen.
Couldn't get through the first episode.