An adult, important show about our age. About the meaning of growing up in a multicultural, disintegrated society, where the basic connection and most of interactions happen by social networks. About rich and poor, and the shape of social conflict in our time. The whole show is a real piece of art, with excellent acting, beautiful cinematography, never trivial writing and music. This episode is the end the whole show deserved. It is also considerably respectful of the viewer without dragging the story in the usual endless length of second, third, fourth season and so on (It would have been really easy to go such a router). Well done!
Reviews
19 Reviews
What a finale
14 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Oh My God.... What an unbelievable, perfect finale. The secret of the acceptance of the vanity of existence is a simple bench at the edge of a bush. You cannot find a single flaw in this episod. Everything, every detail is pure genius, art and poetry. The calendar of eternity, Jason who waits all alone trillions of bearimies before leaving, just to be able to see one last time his beloved Janet, Michael who accomplishes the real dream of his whole life, being humen, the fireflies spreading in the sky. The first time you watch this episode you are taken by the awe and the wonder and the perfection of what you are witnessing. When you watch it once again you can't help but crying from start to finish. You cry for the existence itself, for the cruel, puzzling thing it is, you cry for uselessness of any attempt to solve the problem of existence, yet you can't escape that problem. Vanity and nothingness. This finale suceeds in performing a true work of Art of a genuine buddhist flavor. Cheers for this unique show.
The Good Place
(2016–2020)
A true masterpiece
14 April 2022
This is probably the most beautiful, most funny, most well written TV show I have ever seen. From the stunning first episode to the poignant last one, a rollercoaster of laughter, tears, wit, brilliant dialogues, astonishing charecters, absurdity. Even the less accomplished episodes anyway shine for their overall genius, the wit of the situation, the unpredictable interaction of characters. Oh, and (did I already say it?) you laugh. You laugh very often when watching it, you really laugh, not just a tiny smile. You laugh even more loud when rewatching it. Yes, you may also cry, you are not human of you resist to crying in some of moments of this show. You cry for human existence, the deepest cry of all.
A joy to rewatch all of this over and over again. This is Art, this show is genuine Poetry.
A joy to rewatch all of this over and over again. This is Art, this show is genuine Poetry.
Tear Along the Dotted Line
(2021)
A piece of art
30 November 2021
Warning: Spoilers
A deep, fast paced, emotional tale, with gorgeous graphics, hilarious yet serious script and dialogues. Almost perfect in every aspect, one the best things Netflix has ever done. Countless subtle details, for instance the use and the variations of voices; the word "funeral" which occurs at least once in each episode, which clearly foreshadows the finale and should alert the viewer. Yet the finale comes as hurting as a sudden punch you are not ready to.
All is told in a very low, popular, extremely fast spoken Roman dialect full of slang expressions, which become an essential expressive and creative tool in the storytelling. It's a pity that non-Romans (even those who are Italians but not from Rome) will miss at least half the nuances and the layers of the text.
Among the very best Netflix stuff ever, a gem of our time.
All is told in a very low, popular, extremely fast spoken Roman dialect full of slang expressions, which become an essential expressive and creative tool in the storytelling. It's a pity that non-Romans (even those who are Italians but not from Rome) will miss at least half the nuances and the layers of the text.
Among the very best Netflix stuff ever, a gem of our time.
Columbo
(1971–2003)
Timeless
6 January 2021
I could watch each episode infinitely many times (and actually I have seen some of them at least 10 times or even more) without getting bored at all. Columbo is invariably delightful, in all of its episodes, even the worst ones. Characters are unforgettable, the dialogues are terrifc, and he, Columbo, is fantastic, with his (imaginary?) wife, his dog, his crashed car, his "one more question", his unlikely appearances in the most unappropriate circumstances. Frequently the watcher will find him/herself rooting for the murderer, actually the true victim in each episode, when he/she realizes to be trapped in Columbo's web which had been patiently weaved.
A Series of Unfortunate Events
(2017–2019)
A gem of a series
2 July 2020
The series is pure genius, a delight from start to finish.
I cant find the tiniest defect, perfection and utter care in every little detail.
Writing, acting, colors, costumes, aesthetics. All perfect.
The viewer is led to be moved and to laugh insanely at the same time, continuously. Count Olaf and his company are pure evil and both are irresistibly hilarious villains.
Hat off and cheers to all.
Game of Thrones
(2011–2019)
Utter failure
2 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
A very good show along its first half (seasons 1-2-3-4). Then the downfall starts and it goes downhill. The writing becomes growingly nonsensical from season 5 on. Brilliant conversations and character devolpment cease to exist and we only witness plot advances which come completely out of the blue with no rational construction. Arya's plot becomes absurd, so as well Dorne's plot, the whole plot of going beyond the wall to capture a wight is beyond ridiculous, the love story between Jon and Dany falls flat and lacks any chemistry, the long night against the Others is cortoonish, the character of Bran is just sort of an oracle who becomes eventually king for no reason at all, the transformation of Dany into the evil villain/bad tyrant is also cartoon-like, the interaction Arya/Sansa is childish and utterly irritating. A terrible level of writing, everything was rushed and nonsensical despite the millions dollar producton value, a very poor and embarassing intellectual complexity. Complete disaster from season 5 on.
And listen to me: dont't trust those who say that it was all good til last season, which ruined everything. Last season was indeed terrible, but the seventh was maybe even more terrible, and also 5th and 6th were no better. Actually, only a miracle could salvage the show at last season, but should have been clear at that point that the show runners were not adequate to write a show of high quality by their own (dialogs and plots).
The downfall of Game of Thrones will remain as a supreme example of a miserable failure of a television show after one of the most stirring start ever.
No interest at all in any rewatch of this series.
And listen to me: dont't trust those who say that it was all good til last season, which ruined everything. Last season was indeed terrible, but the seventh was maybe even more terrible, and also 5th and 6th were no better. Actually, only a miracle could salvage the show at last season, but should have been clear at that point that the show runners were not adequate to write a show of high quality by their own (dialogs and plots).
The downfall of Game of Thrones will remain as a supreme example of a miserable failure of a television show after one of the most stirring start ever.
No interest at all in any rewatch of this series.
Just perfection
13 July 2019
It will not take too many words to comment this pilot episode. It's TV craftmanship at its highest level, on every single aspect.
Writing, acting, cinematography, direction, timing. Pure marvel. The intro black and white sequenze was astonishing, then we are immediately carried in medias res in front of a court. And fireworks begin.
Don't miss a single instant of this piece of art. And, after the whole season, get back right here and watch it again and again, and you will enjoy more and more. Well fine, Vince Gillian.
Writing, acting, cinematography, direction, timing. Pure marvel. The intro black and white sequenze was astonishing, then we are immediately carried in medias res in front of a court. And fireworks begin.
Don't miss a single instant of this piece of art. And, after the whole season, get back right here and watch it again and again, and you will enjoy more and more. Well fine, Vince Gillian.
The best episode past season 4
13 May 2019
With no doubt, this one is in my opinion the best episode in the last 4 seasons. Here you got tragedy, you got some feel of what human history is about. Horrifying as it should be. Here I can see the actual mark of GRRM.
Very disappointing
29 April 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Though the battle sequences are compelling and entertaining to watch, and the music is also fitting, there are some major issues which affect this episode:
This episode fails to be truly epic. Very, very disappointing. I would say embarassing.
- none of the VIPs are going to die, which looks really unlikely, an embarassing example of a steel plot armor;
- the "long" night lasts, literally, ONE night, after which the Night King is already done. Very disappointing after 9 years of wait;
- the Night King kill sequence is really ugly and uninteresting, with Arya jumping out of nowhere among the White Walkers;
- all the wights and White Walkers instantly collapsing into dust after the end of the Night King is an old recurring trope in fantasy genre. Here we have none of the drama build up that we witness in LOTR when Frodo reaches Mount Doom. Here the resolution is frankly cheap and lame.
This episode fails to be truly epic. Very, very disappointing. I would say embarassing.
"Tits and dragons"
20 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I would say I'm speechless for a show which has now become something like this.
First thing that comes to mind is that, after all, winter has not really come beyond the wall. Weather, except for a bland blizzard immediately out of the gate, is not that terrible past the wall. You would call it mildly, pleasantly cold, like a mountain trip, but not as dark, nocturnal, stormy and cold as one would expect. Essentially the same whether they had there before winter's arrival. Maybe winter does not affect the lands beyond the wall?
The plan of scouting with a party of 7 men beyond the wall to capture a wight is turning soon to be what it clearly looked from start: an absurd, overly dangerous, illogical plan for basically no purpose. Actually, we find the number of men in the party is not 7 but 12, since they later needed some extra to sacrifice (old golden rule: if you are an unnamed character and are called for a perilous mission with famous ones, don't go, don't let yourself be tempted by the chance of becoming friend with the famous ones: the thousands of shots of the enemies will be primarily aimed just towards you, not them).
The group goes on foot, no horses, no archers, no dragon glass arrows, no ravens in some cage. Only one valyrian steel sword, extremely limited foods and beverages. Which, exactly, would be the plan to steal one wight (controlled by a white walker) from the army of millions of undead is a real mystery. The guys seem in a very nice mood, they are bantering, nicely recalling lots of funny anecdotes. No word whatsoever about their actual plan.
After readily capturing the wight they needed from a small group of scout wights, the other millions of undead predictably notice the event and react with some hostility. But for some miracle our heroes manage to reach the only small solid ground surrounded by a not frozen lake. The millions of undead not even try to throw stones, arrows, javelins, they just stand and wait until the Hound shows them that the lake is now frozen, so totally frozen that all the millions of undead can now walk on its surface all together.
At this point comes Dany with her dragons, alerted by an SMS (actually a genetically modified raven, but an SMS or even some kind of telepathy whatsoever would have been more realistic and would have generated less disbelief than the solution they found). Dany and her dragons save the day with a few casualties. Jon Snow, just to kill off half a dozen more of the millions of wights, decides to die as a hero, bar he's last instant saved by the sudden arrival of Uncle Benjen out of the blue. The long awaited reunion is actually rather brief, no many kisses and hugs and compliments. Uncle Benjen, instead of taking Jon on his horse with him, like he had done with Bran and Meera for instance, decides it's time to go suicide against the wights, leaving Jon (who is severely injured and almost dead) alone on his former horse.
After a saccharine pre-romance scene between Dany and Jon, who is recovering aboard a boat from Eastwatch, in the last sequence we see gigantic chains dragging Viserion out from the lake into which he was fallen after the Night King's shot. One could suspect it was not easy for the wights going under water to fasten the chains around the dragon (they do not seem to like swimming, at least in the Hardhome episode). In the last shot we see Viserion reanimated by the Night King with blue eyes. Easy to predict that will be the ice dragon to melt down the wall with his blue flame.
Meanwhile, by some intertwined sequences, we get to know that in Winterfell the situation between Arya and Sansa is getting tense, but it's any how boring and utterly uninteresting. Not worth spending words.
It was painful and embarrassing to watch this episode.
This show, once a thrilling, well written, trope subverting, subtle show (seasons 1-4), truly a joy for fantasy nerds, then went rapidly downhill with poor writing and full of cliché from season 5 onward. Now, it's becoming disrespectful of the viewers' intelligence.
First thing that comes to mind is that, after all, winter has not really come beyond the wall. Weather, except for a bland blizzard immediately out of the gate, is not that terrible past the wall. You would call it mildly, pleasantly cold, like a mountain trip, but not as dark, nocturnal, stormy and cold as one would expect. Essentially the same whether they had there before winter's arrival. Maybe winter does not affect the lands beyond the wall?
The plan of scouting with a party of 7 men beyond the wall to capture a wight is turning soon to be what it clearly looked from start: an absurd, overly dangerous, illogical plan for basically no purpose. Actually, we find the number of men in the party is not 7 but 12, since they later needed some extra to sacrifice (old golden rule: if you are an unnamed character and are called for a perilous mission with famous ones, don't go, don't let yourself be tempted by the chance of becoming friend with the famous ones: the thousands of shots of the enemies will be primarily aimed just towards you, not them).
The group goes on foot, no horses, no archers, no dragon glass arrows, no ravens in some cage. Only one valyrian steel sword, extremely limited foods and beverages. Which, exactly, would be the plan to steal one wight (controlled by a white walker) from the army of millions of undead is a real mystery. The guys seem in a very nice mood, they are bantering, nicely recalling lots of funny anecdotes. No word whatsoever about their actual plan.
After readily capturing the wight they needed from a small group of scout wights, the other millions of undead predictably notice the event and react with some hostility. But for some miracle our heroes manage to reach the only small solid ground surrounded by a not frozen lake. The millions of undead not even try to throw stones, arrows, javelins, they just stand and wait until the Hound shows them that the lake is now frozen, so totally frozen that all the millions of undead can now walk on its surface all together.
At this point comes Dany with her dragons, alerted by an SMS (actually a genetically modified raven, but an SMS or even some kind of telepathy whatsoever would have been more realistic and would have generated less disbelief than the solution they found). Dany and her dragons save the day with a few casualties. Jon Snow, just to kill off half a dozen more of the millions of wights, decides to die as a hero, bar he's last instant saved by the sudden arrival of Uncle Benjen out of the blue. The long awaited reunion is actually rather brief, no many kisses and hugs and compliments. Uncle Benjen, instead of taking Jon on his horse with him, like he had done with Bran and Meera for instance, decides it's time to go suicide against the wights, leaving Jon (who is severely injured and almost dead) alone on his former horse.
After a saccharine pre-romance scene between Dany and Jon, who is recovering aboard a boat from Eastwatch, in the last sequence we see gigantic chains dragging Viserion out from the lake into which he was fallen after the Night King's shot. One could suspect it was not easy for the wights going under water to fasten the chains around the dragon (they do not seem to like swimming, at least in the Hardhome episode). In the last shot we see Viserion reanimated by the Night King with blue eyes. Easy to predict that will be the ice dragon to melt down the wall with his blue flame.
Meanwhile, by some intertwined sequences, we get to know that in Winterfell the situation between Arya and Sansa is getting tense, but it's any how boring and utterly uninteresting. Not worth spending words.
It was painful and embarrassing to watch this episode.
This show, once a thrilling, well written, trope subverting, subtle show (seasons 1-4), truly a joy for fantasy nerds, then went rapidly downhill with poor writing and full of cliché from season 5 onward. Now, it's becoming disrespectful of the viewers' intelligence.
Very weak
15 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
How can an episode like this get a mean of 9 is beyond my understanding.
This episode has lots of major flaws and it's full of illogical events. Everything felt rushed and messy. Starting from the little creek into which Jamie and Bronn dived at the end of last episode (one of the most ridiculous cliffhangers I ever saw on screen), which shortly after (at the beginning of this episode) turned out to be an abysmal river, at least five meters deep and so impetuous to take the two guys some miles away in apnea (maybe, did they have some emergency oxygen cylinders inside their armors?).
So, the start was rather childish to say the least. But what followed was no better.
Tyrion's plan (to capture a wight to persuade Cersei of the ice threat) is absurd and makes no sense. Cersei, with no army, no allies, no lands, is by no means a threat anymore and has no force to add to an anti-dead alliance. Why on earth to care for her with such an absurd plan?
The blitz in King's Landing (Davos and Tyrion) looked really cartoonish, from landing of the boat to the end, especially the encounter with Jaime (they did not dare to show us the dialogue). Also Gendry's return felt forced with really poor script.
Jon petting and caressing Drogon was, to be honest, embarrassing.
Also Winterfell was not convincing: the dialogues between Arya and Sansa were poorly written, the chase between Arya and Littlefinger (her sneaking into his room, the small paper in the mattress, etc.) was, once again, not adult storytelling.
Also annoying is the current speed of characters' displacements, which has become essentially instantaneous. I remember the efforts that were needed the first 4 seasons to ride medium to large distances, the slowness and the difficulties of every movement. Now that's no longer an issue and main characters are readily teleported anywhere.
This show has become a huge budget mess.
p.s., some side notes. Daario in Meereen has been completely forgotten since end of season 6. And what about Ghost? why didn't Jon take Ghost with him at the parley with Dany (and her dragons)? Maybe Ghost is seasick? And what has become of Dorne? The entire Dornish army and Dorne itself seem to have disappeared from earth since Ellaria and sandsnakes were eliminated. And what about Heartsbane, the big Valyrian sword of house Tarly? Lord Tarly still hasn't noticed its disappearance, or he didn't have any suspicion that its disappearance may be linked to Sam's escape, or simply he doesn't care about (although he looked rather fond of it). Since he also knew where Sam was directed, rescuing the sword should be no more than some hours' job to a couple of his men.
This episode has lots of major flaws and it's full of illogical events. Everything felt rushed and messy. Starting from the little creek into which Jamie and Bronn dived at the end of last episode (one of the most ridiculous cliffhangers I ever saw on screen), which shortly after (at the beginning of this episode) turned out to be an abysmal river, at least five meters deep and so impetuous to take the two guys some miles away in apnea (maybe, did they have some emergency oxygen cylinders inside their armors?).
So, the start was rather childish to say the least. But what followed was no better.
Tyrion's plan (to capture a wight to persuade Cersei of the ice threat) is absurd and makes no sense. Cersei, with no army, no allies, no lands, is by no means a threat anymore and has no force to add to an anti-dead alliance. Why on earth to care for her with such an absurd plan?
The blitz in King's Landing (Davos and Tyrion) looked really cartoonish, from landing of the boat to the end, especially the encounter with Jaime (they did not dare to show us the dialogue). Also Gendry's return felt forced with really poor script.
Jon petting and caressing Drogon was, to be honest, embarrassing.
Also Winterfell was not convincing: the dialogues between Arya and Sansa were poorly written, the chase between Arya and Littlefinger (her sneaking into his room, the small paper in the mattress, etc.) was, once again, not adult storytelling.
Also annoying is the current speed of characters' displacements, which has become essentially instantaneous. I remember the efforts that were needed the first 4 seasons to ride medium to large distances, the slowness and the difficulties of every movement. Now that's no longer an issue and main characters are readily teleported anywhere.
This show has become a huge budget mess.
p.s., some side notes. Daario in Meereen has been completely forgotten since end of season 6. And what about Ghost? why didn't Jon take Ghost with him at the parley with Dany (and her dragons)? Maybe Ghost is seasick? And what has become of Dorne? The entire Dornish army and Dorne itself seem to have disappeared from earth since Ellaria and sandsnakes were eliminated. And what about Heartsbane, the big Valyrian sword of house Tarly? Lord Tarly still hasn't noticed its disappearance, or he didn't have any suspicion that its disappearance may be linked to Sam's escape, or simply he doesn't care about (although he looked rather fond of it). Since he also knew where Sam was directed, rescuing the sword should be no more than some hours' job to a couple of his men.
Jumping the shark
19 June 2016
Warning: Spoilers
In retrospect, I think this is where the show jumped the shark. The decision to marry Ramsey in order to avenge her family was so illogical and meaningless that it could lead to nothing interesting at all. Indeed, so it was. Avenge how? And when? If you want to have revenge against someone that have betrayed and slaughtered almost your entire family, you usually don't decide to marry him, to live with him, to sleep with him, to make children with him (such are the things that married people use to do, Sansa should know it). A clear sign that bad writing was going to prevail more and more. When the episode first aired, one could pretend it was just a bit weird, thus thinking "let's wait and see". But then, later the downfall has become more and more massive. This episode is a sort of pivotal element for the dull story lines that will follow in seasons 5 & 6.
Incredible
14 June 2016
Warning: Spoilers
It's unbelievable how ugly and boring and poorly written this show has become. We are now not above the level of some trivial "fantasy" show from the 80's or the 90's, like Xena or Hercules. No better than that. The entire Arya's story arc in Braavos appears now silly and pointless. To be honest, all that gigantic House of Black and White now appears to be silly and pointless. Arya's survival and fast recovery from multiple stabbing, twisting of the knife, diving and swimming is beyond any likelihood. The chase in the Braavos' streets was lame, uninteresting, completely out of character for a faceless woman, and poorly written (action packed b-movie at best). Completely lacking the swift elegance we were used to associate to faceless men style. Let alone the waif turned into a female parody of dear old Schwarzy Terminator. And then Jaqen who congratulate Arya "well done, little girl, you just killed my trusted assistant, now you are No One" like it were basically a duel. The dumbest guild of assassins ever. One could list ton of things that are definitely unconvincing: for all, I would mention the "send a raven to Sansa" line, but Sansa ... where exactly? Which castle? Isn't she rallying through the North? Isn't she homeless at present? Maybe a cell raven? Also the Meereenese story is not working at all. The sudden return of Dany was, in particular, cliché (let alone the dull conversations between Tyrion and the others). Riverrun siege was rushed (Blackfish dying offscreen definitely lazy). The return of the Hound and the Brotherhood without Banners still remains without serious reasons (we hope to have some reasons in the forthcoming episodes, but you may have some doubts). At this point, in retrospect, the entire season 6 appears more and more as a disaster in its writing and its global structure, from Jon's resurrection (has someone caught some consequence of such resurrection? Has someone guessed what's the use and the sense of Jon's death and comeback?) I wouldn't have believed, back at the end of season 4, that this show would have reached this low level in a couple of season. Hard to explain.
Better than previous
2 May 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Yes, definitely better than the previous one. But still many flaws and average writing. Wildings cavalry arriving to Castle Black showed how poor and pointless was the mutineers plan in killing Jon: their enemy was already passed the wall, so what could their goal be? Definitely, Jon Snow's killing immediately after the return from Hardhome with all the wildlings was rushed and poorly built. Anyone can easily can see why in this episode. Best moments in this episode were maybe Tyrion in the dragons dungeons ("I'm here to help you, don't eat you help") and Bran's visions. Touching to see young Hodor speaking more or less fluently, young Nan, young Ned and Benjen, and, especially, young Lyanna for the first time. Disappointing, rushed and poorly written was the death of Roose Bolton, essentially just the same scheme as Doran's death: an important news come, the bad guy is precisely present there at the victim's side when he receives the news, then the bad guy quickly makes the killing, while the victim is taken by surprise and cannot even react. Poor writing, when you think this identical scheme is used with two of the shrewd and smartest people around, very unlikely to let their guard down that stupid way (otherwise they would be dead much sooner). Frankly, it was highly delusional seeing that the great architect, the evil mastermind who set up the red wedding, was to be dismissed such a lame way. And we also lost a magnificent actor, a wonderful villain , while we are left with his cartooinsh Joker-esque son. Balon Greyjoy's death was also rushed, we hadn't seen him in centuries, then he walks on a rope bridge after arguing with his daughter and (waht a chance!) there appears the bad guy from darkness. Arya's training is boring as usual, basically being smashed while begging, then having to answer "No One" to all questions by the Jaqen (not so difficult, you have to reckon it). The final Lazarus scene was also unconvincing and poorly built up, with no motivation at all. The new attitude of Davos toward Melisandre has no serious foundations at all. But let's delebrate Jon's revival, now we have the big hero in full charge.
The episode had anyway a nice flow, with many unconvincing moments and an overall weak construction and average writing, not in par with seasons 1-4.
The episode had anyway a nice flow, with many unconvincing moments and an overall weak construction and average writing, not in par with seasons 1-4.
Going downhill
25 April 2016
This show is really going downhill. Almost nothing is working good in this 6th season premiere. The script is more and more unlikely and illogical. Sansa and Theon obviously got to make that huge jump from the wall unharmed. Then Sansa, North's blood, is afraid of a cold river while Ramsey's dogs are barking behind her. Bolton hounds magically disappear the precise instant they find Sansa. Then Brienne arrives, who easily save the day by killing off all the (6? 7? 8?) Bolton soldiers. Dorne is still cartoonish and pointless. As a remedy for the lack of agency shown by prince Doran versus the Lannisters (who had killed some beloved members of Martell family), they decide to kill all the remaining line of the Martells. After such an unlikely coup, they clearly plan to move at war against the Lannisters, in order to avenge some of the Martells (Elia and Oberyn, who actually died in a trial by combat). Seriously? The circumstances of the coup are completely insane and not worthy mention. The killing of Trystane was also ridiculous. Where are those two sandsnakes coming from? A boat sneaking unseen in King's Landing harbor, out of nowhere? The confrontation inside the ship, with Trystane's death, is very badly executed, with a ridiculous final sentence by one of the snakes ("Greedy pussy", the bar hasn't got much higher since the "bad pussy" line fro season 5). Roose Bolton speech, fearing for the Lannisters to come against the North, was pointless: the issue definitely should have been arisen before. At the Wall: Ghost's howling, just a few minutes after the murdering, immediately summons Davos and the other guys (who couldn't hear any noise during the lengthy "for the watch" sequence, but suddenly run at Ghost's howl). Jon's friends are all at once gathered, and no one else, around Jon's corpse. They immediately know they are the only few loyal brothers. They don't ever bother attending the general meeting. The public explanation for Lord Commander's killing was weak and definitely unconvincing, since the wildlings had already come in. What was Jon's murder aimed to avoid, at that point? What was supposed to be the plan? Taking the wildlings back beyond the Wall? Calling northern houses to engage a battle against the wildlings sitting in the Gift? Weak, pointless plan. And what the hell are Davos, Edd and the other guys doing with Jon's corpse? Are they barricaded to defend Jon's dead body? Why on earth? Because they are expecting him to resurrect? Never heard of anything like that as a reaction to someone's death. Never. In Essos too, everything looks messy: where did Drogon end up? Vanished into nothing? The entire horde with thousands of Dothraki couldn't see him? How come the entire fleet is burnt in a few seconds? Was it left unguarded? But what's worse is that many of the dialogs are dull and boring, uninteresting. The pace is boring. This is the long awaited first episode and already many scenes sound like fillers. The charm, the subtlety and the brilliancy of the first seasons is gone. No confidence in what's coming.
Big letdown
12 June 2015
Warning: Spoilers
So far, I think this is the low point of the entire show. From the beginning:
1) Jon and the wildlings reappearing on the wrong side of the wall. Why did they get off the ships north of the wall? To march on foot in the snow, north of the wall, for half the length of the wall (with risk of being attacked again by white walkers? Really weird. The only explanation seems to be that they couldn't resist to the thrill of passing through the tunnel (preceeded by the disturbing doubt: would they open the gate?).
2) Stannis/Shireen. The drama construction is rushed and rough. A father who leads his daughter to the pyre just saying "forgive me" is not a dramatic neither a tragic scene. It's just ridiculous. Poor, poor writing, poor character's evolution, only for the sake of shocking the audience.
3) The Arya training is far less intriguing and exciting than Karate Kid. No complexity, no content, no challenge. Just boring. Just a curiosity: is the faceless god church perfectly legal in Braavos? It must be so, since it's definitely not hidden in the suburbs, it's a gigantic building, everyone knows where it is and that it's full of assassins, the assassins go back and forth without troubles. Is it a regular activity? Do they pay taxes to the city? Such a prominent presence in the daylight would ask at least for some better justification (after 8 episodes in Meereen, we still know nothing of Meereen, no interesting character, no plot whatsoever, just the boring presence of Jaqen). Season 1 of the show was definitely not in this sort of cartoonish style.
4) All the situation in Meereen's arena was unbearably unlikely. Dozens, hundreds of people get to enter the stadium with daggers, spears, swords, even a golden mask hidden in the pants for each one! Without being noticed by anyone, with the queen in person standing among them. No security at all (though they know perfectly well of the existence of a vast subversive sect aimed to kill the queen)? Come on! That's beyond any likelihood, simply childish. All the scene is so poorly set up. When the queen and her men are surrounded and outnumbered, no one even tries to cast an arrow or a javelin towards her. The harpies seem just to wait for Drogon to arrive and burn them all, like anyone else. When Drogon is there, all the spears against him, no one towards Dany, who should be the target of the attack. A very poor choreography.
In my opinion, the quality of the show is running downhill. Except for a couple of episodes (7 and 8), this fifth season is a complete letdown, but this in particular is actually the worst one.
1) Jon and the wildlings reappearing on the wrong side of the wall. Why did they get off the ships north of the wall? To march on foot in the snow, north of the wall, for half the length of the wall (with risk of being attacked again by white walkers? Really weird. The only explanation seems to be that they couldn't resist to the thrill of passing through the tunnel (preceeded by the disturbing doubt: would they open the gate?).
2) Stannis/Shireen. The drama construction is rushed and rough. A father who leads his daughter to the pyre just saying "forgive me" is not a dramatic neither a tragic scene. It's just ridiculous. Poor, poor writing, poor character's evolution, only for the sake of shocking the audience.
3) The Arya training is far less intriguing and exciting than Karate Kid. No complexity, no content, no challenge. Just boring. Just a curiosity: is the faceless god church perfectly legal in Braavos? It must be so, since it's definitely not hidden in the suburbs, it's a gigantic building, everyone knows where it is and that it's full of assassins, the assassins go back and forth without troubles. Is it a regular activity? Do they pay taxes to the city? Such a prominent presence in the daylight would ask at least for some better justification (after 8 episodes in Meereen, we still know nothing of Meereen, no interesting character, no plot whatsoever, just the boring presence of Jaqen). Season 1 of the show was definitely not in this sort of cartoonish style.
4) All the situation in Meereen's arena was unbearably unlikely. Dozens, hundreds of people get to enter the stadium with daggers, spears, swords, even a golden mask hidden in the pants for each one! Without being noticed by anyone, with the queen in person standing among them. No security at all (though they know perfectly well of the existence of a vast subversive sect aimed to kill the queen)? Come on! That's beyond any likelihood, simply childish. All the scene is so poorly set up. When the queen and her men are surrounded and outnumbered, no one even tries to cast an arrow or a javelin towards her. The harpies seem just to wait for Drogon to arrive and burn them all, like anyone else. When Drogon is there, all the spears against him, no one towards Dany, who should be the target of the attack. A very poor choreography.
In my opinion, the quality of the show is running downhill. Except for a couple of episodes (7 and 8), this fifth season is a complete letdown, but this in particular is actually the worst one.
The Seventh Seal
(1957)
Maybe the greatest film ever
9 April 2006
Warning: Spoilers
An great, desperate yet unresigned, anthem to human condition. Many scenes are very, very powerful. The stunning opening with the appearance of Death is one the most impressive ever seen on the screens. The confession sequence is so simple and deep and moving: you feel the essence of your entire, small, brief life vanishing with Blok's words. The arrival of the flagellating pilgrims in the village is visually astonishing, like the unforgettable ending scene with the "danse macabre". Cinematography and acting are outstanding, and the transfigured Middle Age renders an angst sensation during all the film. Characters are very well assorted and the film has aged very well.
A true high peak for the cinematic art.
A true high peak for the cinematic art.
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