a_lavdas Reviews

Solos (2021)

Episode 1: Really really bad

[2/10 · 22 September 2021]

I have no idea how the other episodes are, I may attempt to watch the ones with Helen Mirren and Morgan Friedman. That's after I will have recovered from the unbearable nothingness of Episode 1. It's only 30 minutes long, and I found myself looking at the time half way through. It's a perfect example of "nothing" pretending to be "something". Pretentious , naive and, finally, annoying when you realize you have wasted 30 minutes of your life.

The Haunted Castle (1921)

Beautiful film, well worth watching

[8/10 · 9 March 2020]

Just make sure you watch the full length version, in high resolution - because there are some inferior copies around.The only thing I did not like, is Olga Tschehowa's performance. She had a long and accomplished career of course, and this only is one of her earliest films - but here she is just bad, in my view. This was not acting but an exposition of a very small collection of mannerisms. I know this was a century ago, but the other actors manage to be both of their time (which has actually its own charm) and act. She is mostly a mask. Anyway, this does not distract from the charm of the film - it is atmospheric but actually quite fast, beautifully photographed, and infuses a mystery tale with a little bit of humor now and then. Very enjoyable.

UFO (1970–1971)

Fun to watch, as long a a you know it's just a puppet show with real-life actors

[4/10 · 4 March 2020]

REALLY bad special effects - it's a couple of years after Space Odyssey, and its special effects look straight out of 1930's Flash Gordon. There are only 3 spacecraft to protect the lunar base, and each carries...one missile!!! Ufos are hanging by a thread- the way they are spinning makes it quite obvious. Ridiculous costumes, cars and vehicles of all sorts - this was supposed to be just 11 years into the future, there was no need to imagine that things would be so different.No need for the women on the lunar base to have magenta hair, or for the guys in the submarine to have fishnet shirts. On the other hand, when it comes to technology,, everything seems to be still in the 1960s: computers have no screens, the (rare) screens are small and black and white, everyone uses printouts....Also, it seems they needed a Physics adviser. At some point, an alien sets up a radio transiter (a small plastic contraption) and this dialogue takes place at the command center: Estimated signal strength 1500 MW" "-That's as powerful as a medium sized commercial transmitter"! Multiple facepalms..... No real acting to speak of - but it's not the actors' fault of course. As I said, fun to watch, but cheap and silly.

Desperate Housewives (2004–2012)

Overall enjoyable

[7/10 · 1 February 2020]

Overall enjoyable and rather addictive!! It is not all equally well written, some parts are really clever and funny, in other cases they make the characters do things that are just silly and unexpected from them. The characters of the Scavo couple, and also of Bree, are sometimes so annoying they make you want to throw something at them! :) This is not a criticism for the actors - on the contrary, they are all great and very convincing. But especially the Scavo couple, as it is written, I think takes much of the fun out of the series. I think it would be better without them in the script -or, even better, if they had made them less annoying.. Pity that the character of Nicollette Sheridan got killed off at some point, there was something missing after she was gone - THAT was a fun character. . REALLY bad idea to kill off James Denton's character near the end, what was the point? This is light entertainment, better to keep it this way. Finally, I wish the person who wrote Brenda Strong's narration would not start every other sentence with the word "yes,..."

The Good Fight (2017–2022)

Season 1 - great so far

[9/10 · 2 December 2019]

It's really well made, fun to watch, in the same style as "The Good wife". The only problem for me is that Rose Leslie is occasionally overdoing it. Her reactions sometimes look more like those of a stressed 14-year old, than lawyer - even a very young lawyer!

Moonraker (1979)

A great Bond movie!

[10/10 · 3 August 2019]

Action, humor, amazing special effects - what more could you ask for? Roger Moore is, hands down, my favorite Bond as he brings class and humor to the role. If you want a regular action movie, watch something else; Bond is a very special case and Roger Moore was ideal for it. And there is of course the lovely Lois Chiles. A lot of work has been put into this film, I really recommend watching a documentary on its production, that can be found in YT. This is classic Bond at its best.

Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra (1938)

Great for what it is!

[10/10 · 10 July 2019]

And what it is, is an audiovisual documentation of the band playing music. It's not a "movie", so I do not understand why some people are complaining about the...lack of a plot.

Seinfeld (1989–1998)

Mediocre

[6/10 · 30 June 2019]

I have no idea why this became so famous. I think the script is mediocre; the other actors are OK, but Seinfeld himself just cannot act. He is just a stand-up comedian walking around the set reading lines. No expression, no difference from one situation to another, always the same wooden face. Speaking of stand-up, his numbers shown in the series are really lame - but maybe he is a good comedian live, on that I cannot comment. As far as I am concerned, this is nowhere near as funny as Friends, and nowhere near as sophisticated - and funny - as Frasier.

Scandal (2012–2018)

Fast, captivating - but Ms Washington's acting is just bad

[6/10 · 31 May 2019]

Maybe it's not her fault. Maybe the director pushes her to speak ultra-fast, act as if the whole world depends on her next move every minute, and utter every word with an expression that would make you think she has just ingested something very disgusting. I have no idea whose fault is it, but her character is a caricature. The ultra-fast talking also appears in some other characters, as do some verbal mannerisms that ALL characters have, like briefly pausing at mid-sentence, and generally at points that make no sense. So for instance Olivia's father wants to say "Olivia, Mellie is going to lose, you are going to lose" but instead says "Olivia, Mellie is going to lose you...are going to lose". (By the way Joe Morton is the second-worse actor here, almost as unbearable as Washington). Does the director think this sounds natural? Like a natural hesitation? It could sound natural if it happened rarely. But it happens all the time by all characters. It's just silly. At least the other actors are more convincing in their acting (when they are not instructed to speak in such as ridiculously artificial way). However, despite all this, it is addictive. It may not be convincing, but who cares? You will want to watch it till the end. Irrelevant comment: Bellamy Young makes you wonder, how is it possible that the president could look at another woman (let alone go beyond looking).

Hanging Up (2000)

Boring and depressing

[2/10 · 7 October 2018]

Completely pointless in every sense of the word. Unless you are 14 and you think it is "deep". Worth watching, if you can bear it, only because it is W Matthau's last movie.

Dietland (2018)

Dangerous nonsense

[2/10 · 19 August 2018]

The acting is great. BUT, when a popular TV series tries to sell the idea that being morbidly obese is OK, then this series is dangerous. This is far beyond not conforming to "beauty standards" - we are not taking about a few extra pounds, we are talking about a medical condition here. "Loving yourself" is great advice for all, but exactly because you should love yourself, and you only have one body, letting this body be in a diseased state because it perhaps feels good while you are still young, is wrong. Love yourself, take care of your body and ignore what anyone else thinks - and that includes both "beauty trend setters" and "obesity acceptance" manifestos...