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pawelapenczek
Reviews
Cold Blood Legacy (2019)
Second derivative.
Leon the professional had a good number of follow ups. I did not know there was a second generation of follow ups to follow ups. Since the novelty of the original movie is by now all gone I don't know what was the point of making this rump. The plot is incomprehensible and the dialog barely audible. This is probably for the better as one can focus on watching beautiful scenery. Now a spoiler: the wolf survives.
To meet the required minimum length I will repeat what I just wrote as I have no idea what else I could write.
Leon the professional had a good number of follow ups. I did not know there was a second generation of follow ups to follow ups. Since the novelty of the original movie is by now all gone I don't know what was the point of making this rump. The plot is incomprehensible and the dialog barely audible. This is probably for the better as one can focus on watching beautiful scenery. Now a spoiler: the wolf survives.
The Killing Fields (1984)
Skimming over complex situation
The Killing Fields were made in 1984 and as far as I can recall quite a lot was already known about the development of Khmer Rouge genocidal regime, its extreme communist ideology and ties to China. Strangely, none of that is reflected in the movie. For a person not very familiar with history of the region key elements of the plot must come as a surprise. Khmer Rouge appear like Deus ex machina and if not for the fact they occasionally wave refuse flags there is no mention of the genesis of the movement or driving ideology. Why they kill their compatriots? They just evicted evil foreigners, so why they would kill other Cambodians? Why they would hate journalists? Why they were attacked by Vietnamese? Weren't Vietnamese their communist brothers?
Instead of giving us some background and heavens forbid deeper insight into the complex situation we are treated to a soppy story about a NYT journalist (who else!!), who sadly cuts rather unsympathetic figure as he will sacrifice friends if that benefits his career. This personal moral shortcoming doesn't stop him from moralizing about the US policy in the region. We are to believe that a journalist that doesn't speak a word of Khmer (nor French for that matter) and after brief stay in Cambodia would come up with a much better geopolitical strategy than all think tanks in Washington combined.
Oddly enough the movie.ends with Lennon's ode to communism, which is as mawkish as the movie itself. As movie closing.credits roll one is left to wonder whether the anachronistically placed song (it was written in 1971) is supposed to reflect director's quite adoration for the ideology or a lament over communism's failings in practical implementations. What Lennon himself would think about it we will never know. I don't even know whether his personal enthusiasm for utopias was tempered by the news about genocide in Cambodia. He certainly lost much enthusiasm for extreme left causes after commercial (and probably artistic) failure of his.1972 political manifesto Some Time in New York City.
3 Body Problem (2024)
By teenagers for teenagers.
The series is based on a book. I remember the book was hailed as a.great accomplishment when it appeared and I put it on my to read list. However, after looking at reviews I decided to postpone it indefinitely. Needless to say, series in Netflix is an opportunity to find out what the fuzz was all about. It begins well and I understand how the opening sequences set in China during cultural revolution might be eye opening. I am not even sure whether any of that is even taught at schools. Maybe history classes are all on intersectionality? Who knows. In any case, from there the series deteriorates rapidly. We encounter supposedly top scientists of Great Britain if not the world. I do not know whether dialogues were lifted from the book or were created for TV, but I can assure creators of the series that high IQ people do not talk like teenagers strolling through the mall in buggy pants and do not have emotional problems lifted from Friends. I also hate to break it to TC "creators", but smoking weed is not top pastime at CERN. The reason is prosaic, it is rather difficult for a stoned person to engage in modern physics. I suspect that operating a lift fork would be a challenge, but operating a cyclotron certainly is.
At this point I actually stopped watching, but after few days I decided to ignore physicists cum deadheads licencia poetica and continue. That was a mistake. It became quite obvious that the whole story was conceived by teenagers and caters to younger viewers who still find the world of computer games more engaging than the actual world. Why highly advance alien civilization would use VR game to communicate information about their native world that could have been communicated within a brief paragraph? Note they are so advanced they have no problem typing in Chinese or Cyrillic. They can wrap half of the Universe into a single proton but their invasion plan is to hire Manson Family. I will be merciful and I will skip the soggy drama of terminal disease, which was probably added as in teenage mind it looks profound. No, it is merely.sentimental and wastes valuable screen time that could be otherwise use to clarify many plot holes.
Finally a warning. There are open ended plot lines. Given the quality of script writing it might have been by neglect, but what worries me is that a sequel might be in the making.
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
Movie from a bygone era
Thomas Crown was made in 1968 and watching it in 2024 one has an impression that it was the last of its kind closing the golden era of Hollywood movie making. Era in which fake eyelashes were considered charming, actresses on screen always looked like they just stepped out of expensive hairdresser and actors discretely emanated charm of misogyny, which back then was passing for masculinity. Give it another few years and American moviemaking changed quite a bit, probably for the better.
The first part of the movie is mildly amusing, with the development and exe urumi of the heist. Then it very quickly goes downhill. It feels terribly contrived, it is very difficult to imagine anybody behaved like that in real life in 1960s (no they did not, I remember those times).
Finally, it is all but impossible to feel sympathy for main characters. Steeling others' money out of boredom? Maybe for balance they should show couple of retirees who lost lifetime savings in the process. The clairvoyant investigator who immediately guesses who the culprit was is difficult to accept. I for one would want to see a movie in which the guess is incorrect and @smart" investigator doggedly pursues wrong suspect for two hours. That would be much more believable.
World War II: From the Frontlines (2023)
Useless
It is a more or less random collection of well known footage from WWII, by the looks of it much was colorized (in a haphazard fashion, we hear eyewitness talking about black German planes but on screen they are blue for some reason) and noise was suppressed. However, most of it is familiar to people with even passing interest in history and access to YouTube.
Other than that, I can only hope that you get viewers will not confuse it with actual history. For undisclosed reasons events are not presented in chronological order, so narration jumps forth and back. In an "arts" movie it may have its place, but in a documentary it simply leads those not already familiar with the period to confuse causes with effects. Finally, some pivotal events are missing. There is extensive footage of German troops invading Poland, but invasion of their Soviet brothers-in-arms and partition of Poland in September 1939 is not even mentioned. Why?
Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021)
Keep fast forwarding
To scenes of fire. Forest fire should get Oscar for acting. It as menacing, scary, all consuming and yet soothing in an unsettling way. Prime acting! I kept fast forwarding for the first hour as I found "psychological" scenes difficult to bear. I was hoping for a good action movie, not lame psychological drama. Overall the movie did its job, particularly for older guys like me who grew up on the 70s disaster dramas. Hardly believable action is an excuse for scary moments of people burned alive or jumping from burning skyscrapers. In lack of those, sinking ship will do.
Note for the screenwriters: no, jumping into a narrow creek in the middle of a firestorm will not save your life. Fire will suck the oxygen and you will suffocate.
Clark (2022)
Awful
This is in extremely poor taste. It moves from one cringy scene to the next. The opening birth scene gives a good sample of what is coming and a sensible person should stop right there. To my peril I lasted for another 30 minutes or so, until a policeman is murdered, an unpleasant scene immediately followed by some slapstick comedy. It might that in contemporary Sweden that in last decade became gang and crime capitol of Europe shooting a policeman is a good reason to enjoy some bathroom humor, that I don't know. I prefer to think it is not and this series is a rock bottom of Swedish movie making for inexplicable reason selected by Netflix for world to enjoy.
Spy Game (2001)
Strangely boring.
I don't expect spy flicks to be deep psychological dramas with striking realism of scenery and characters, but for crying out loud they cannot be boring. I even swallowed medical doctor immediately ready to kill his patient based on flimsy and obviously fake photographic evidence of crimes, n it sadly I totally lost interest in the plot 3/4 through. I admit I found Redford disappointing. I couldn't escape the impression that his acting style belongs to yesteryears. He tries to be cool and witty, but comes across as pompous. Finally, for a spy flick if one expects amazing action sequences there are none, it is more like a court drama, but without drama.
Het gouden uur (2022)
Something foshy
I do not understand how this show could get 7.5 average rating if almost all written reviews rate it below 5.
Be it as it may, the show is not very good. I have to admit I started watching it hoping to charming cabal streets of Amsterdam, but instead they kept showing very modern police headquarters and some ultramodern shopping mall. Neither was particularly charming. I also saw projects, where i
assume Dutch house their immigrant population, and couple of abandoned warehouses. This is not Amsterdam I visited couple of times and remember fondly.
Since most reviewers mentioned terrible acting I'll give it a pass. What really got to me though was most inept storyline. If this is how Dutch police operates I wonder how anybody there can get a parking ticket. It is also strange that in such an affluent country the police has only one and rather dated helicopter. I would also suggest the Dutch explosives expert to get some protective outfit. Even skiing goggles would help somewhat.
Finally, I am not sure whether the filmmakers ever visited Afganistan, but I can assure them that sepia is not the only color there. They also have blue and red.
DNA do Crime (2023)
Not much to see here
Not much to see here, so unless one has eight hours to kill, it's better to move on. The series has all proper ingredients for chaos and robbers show, but sadly they do not add to much, and certainly nothing original. In a good side, it occasionally grabs attention, on a bad side it also drags from time to time and I found myself skipping scenes that would be more in place in Brazilian soap opera. Potential viewer should be also warned it is the first season so some plot lines are left open.
For a viewer from northern hemisphere who never visited South America locations were on exotic side and quite interesting. I wish they added Iguazu Falls to the mix but sadly not and now I'm afraid I'll havevto travel there to see them. As a depiction of life in this part of the world the show is severely lacking. As often with thrillers of this kind (even Scandinavian) everybody shown is either a cop or a criminal. After few hours of watching I was yearning to see some normal people, you know, those that get up at 7am go to work and then shopping in the afternoon. I cannot believe that the only career choice young people in Brazil have is to become a bank robber. As things stand, we don't even see people walking in streets. As a result, there is a depressing feeling of being in an artificial nowhere land and one is left to wonder where the electricity in Brazil is coming from. Is it imported since nobody works? Finally, it is rather surprising that DNA analysis in criminal investigations is a novelty in Brazil in 2020s. We hear about it as nauseam as though it was invented just few years ago while in fact DNA profiling was introduced in 1980s. I don't know what to make out of this.
Spartacus: Blood and Sand (2010)
Strictly for young of heart
Strictly for teenagers. Simplistic story line, light on historical content heavy on CGI. Visually attractive to younger viewers who spend days playing animated computer games and who also seem to be desensitized to excessive but gratuitous gore and blood splashing in most unrealistic way. Occasional rewards in terms of nudity (soft porn) and for some reason massively muscled men. The latter is puzzling as I doubt the series would attract many teenage girls.
In terms of disclosure, I gave up after first hour. I was bored and disgusted, which is a rather unusual combination and I give the series credit for making me feel this way.
The Killer (2023)
Please tell me why!
Why this film was made? Why the voice over rambling on and on about state of mind of the main character instead of showing us what he felt? If at least I the thoughts were original but we heard the same ideas before in other much better movies. Occasionally monotony is broken by loud intrusive punk music. I am afraid this ingenious trick is lost on those of us like me who were never aficionados of punkt genre and found in your face playing offensive. I barely managed to half of the movie and after watching for five minutes the main character sneaking through the gardens of his house and then seeing that nothing really happened I gave up. Life's to short to spend it on watching ego trip of a bunch of inept filmmakers.
Ferry: De Serie (2023)
Engaging but lacking originality.
The show itself hovers around 8, it is reasonably short, this decline coiple of slow moments now and then it never gets tedious.in fact, one cannot help.rooting for bad guys, who come across as industrious and honest. The show could use bigger budget as 2-3 interiors and coiple of empty lots quite quickly get repetitive. In addition, I didn't know that Low Countries had such a great climate. It is always sunny and everybody wears short sleeve.
So why only 6/10 after I annoyed the show so much? It happens to be a carbon copy of Breaking Bad. Those of us who know the original be heart can easily predict what will happen in Ferry from one scene to another and I got tired of aligning characters with thidr in Breaking Bad. However, if you are going to steal, steal from the best and Ferty provides coiple of hours of engaging entertainment.
1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything (2021)
Series about music by people who hate music
I was duped into watching it by misleading title. Instead of a story about music influencing or reflecting society in early 70s I was treated to a series of disjoint vignettes in pet issues of the left with music treated as accessory. I never learned why 1971 was supposedly pivotal and not say 1969 or 1973. I did not learn what specifically music changed outside of couple of fads for which couple of musicians provided background music. I watched in disbelief one installment and L-something and women issues, neither of which has any relation to music from 1971. I was 16 that year and I remember quite well seemingly endless stream of great records, many I still play to this day, and how music was new, uplifting and opening new horizons. The authors of the series accomplished something unique - they turned all that into a depressing story in which equal voice is given to music journalists and various activists, some of which I would describe as terrorists. Finally, despite the title music didn't really change all that much in 1971. War in Vietnam didn't end, Nixon won election, Elton John didn't come out this year and so on. What using music for political causes accomplishments was that in just few years all these self-aggrandizing musicians, some of which come across as buffoons, were swept away by happier dance tunes, namely disco. While back then I considered it an affront and end of civilization, watching this series I couldn't help thinking that disco couldn't have come soon enough.
Hahataim (2016)
Contrived.
The movie is contrived in a worst possible manner. One has a strong feeling that the director came up with a simple idea and then padded it to fill prescribed time and to make it engaging. It is not engaging. The plot slowly develops making an impression that some terrible secret will be revealed, but actually nothing of notice happens. As a result, one is left wondering why the main character went through all the efforts to hide his past and behaved like he did something terrible, if at the end it turns out he never really did. Finally, the director pulls not stops to manipulate viewers' emotions. All what is missing is a car running over the family dog.
Za'am V'Tehilah (1984)
Rare accomplishment.
Thus film deals with the fascinating period of Israel's history, birth of a nation and moral choices of young people fighting for their ideals. However, as a film it fails miserably. It is difficult to identify with the heroes, the plot struggles to move ahead and the general atmosphere of a holy cause weights heavily over the story. One is constantly under the impression that similar stories were told numerous times before and much better. The worst thing is that, probably unintentionally, the message of the movie is undermined by unconvincing story telling. Was killing of young British soldiers, the country that just defeated Nazi Germany, really that best option young Zionists had? There is nothing in the movie that would convinced me that it was indeed the case.
Rough Diamonds (2023)
Crime drama lovers beware
It is actually a soap opera and the tell tale sign is wooden binary acting. Family drama is prominent while business dealing are treated as window dressing. A kiss in a dark alley takes minutes, while short moments of actual action are just that, short.
However, the biggest problem is that all characters are deeply inlikeable and I ended up routing for Albanians, at least they had strong work ethics. There is also a slight xenophobic stench over the script: people are outwardly religious but in fact are shown as unscrupulous money grabbers or those more honorable as gamblers sacrificing their families to satisfy addiction.
You cannot say you haven't been warned.
The Greatest Beer Run Ever (2022)
Yuck. A simpleton turns into astute observer
First half of the movie is an occasionally amusing comedy about a sympathetic simpleton who embarks on a mission of his life. Due to his naïveté and simple minded patriotism he doesn't not understand dangers of his trip. In the second half, after facing reality of war (of which he understands nothing) he becomes an astute critic and a deep thinker. Somehow in the imagination of the director we are supposed to laugh at the simpleton patriotic enthusiast but entirely trust simpleton geopolitical analyst.
Please spare us cheap propaganda. If you have something to add to the analysis of Vietnam war please do by all means but spare us wishy washy morality plays.
Mr. Jones (2019)
Confusion of cinematography and history
Many reviewers here evidently confuse movie making with description of historical events. The simple truth is that no matter how profound or tragic historical events, a movie devoted to them can be simply bad. The actual life of the protagonist, Mr. Jones, was far more interesting than what is shown in the movie. He visited USSR three times, so it is rather unlikely he would as lost and naive as the movie has it. Worse, the scale and scope of the Ukrainian tragedy is not shown at all. One could be forgiven for thinking that there were only two villages affected. Much time on the movie is lost in trying to be artsy and one has to endure long scenes of a walk through a bleak landscape or the main character sitting and presumably thinking. One could use this time better to depict the actual events. Instead of watching this movie one can do better simply reading history books.
The Rain (2018)
Brats
I had a root canal recently and it was far more enjoyable than watching annoying brats doing stupid things. Clearly, even top scientists can have stupid children, which proves that Darwin was right, but it doesn't justify creation of this useless series.
Colonia Dignidad: Eine deutsche Sekte in Chile (2021)
Is it about the colony or about Chile?
Apparently, the documentary filmmakers could not decide. There are suc parts, the interesting ones are the first and the sixth as they actually tell the story of of the colony. The middle four are about complicated history of Chile. It is mildly interesting how a colony became a charity organization and survived virtually outside of Chilean jurisdiction, but that could have been covered in 30 minutes. Worse, the filmmakers leave us with an impression that few hundred German farmers and artisans were influencing the fate of 17 millions strong nation and were involved in all sorts of sinister political activities. For example, we are told that using their charity status they were illegally importing guns. Soon after we learn that it was just one rusted submachine gun which they reverse engineered and built 50 copies for self defense. Indeed, that shook Chilean military to the core. At the same time, important details are not covered. Colonists ran a charity hospital, but who were the doctors? Colonists were forbidden to marry, but we see plenty of blind children all the time. How many colonists were there? The initial number given is 300, surely they could not dominate Chilean society. It is really a shame that documentary went off the rails so quickly as the subject is indeed fascinating.
Autómata (2014)
Didn't Asimov credited.
The movie is not that bad as much effort went into making it. What kills it is the total lack of originality. Two rules of robotics? If you copy Asimov at least use all three. The rest is predictable and have been covered in many sci-if books and good number of movies.
Divergent (2014)
Preadolescent
Warning: if you are an adult or a young person that can read actual literature, this is not a movie for you. The premise of the movie can appeal only to those who know very little about human nature and the story never really picks above juvenile cliches.
Eye in the Sky (2015)
Contrived moral drama
Maybe teenagers can be moved by the made up moral choices in the movie. Worse, as the story advances it becomes less and less likely and the director's message increasingly ham fisted. The only sensible reaction to this moral soap opera is to cry drop the freaking bomb and get it over with.
Prityazhenie (2017)
Learn about modern Russia
It is gratifying to see that Russians can make a high budget disaster movie that is impressively dumber than American originals. It is also derivative as one can point scene by scene to American movies the scenes were lifted from. The movie is also curiosity in that the scariest parts are not those with aliens but those that show modern suburbs of Moscow build up by dehumanizing and depressing concrete highrises housing people in tiny apartments that are decorated with kitschy wallpapers to increase the feel of desolation.