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Reviews
Ricky Stanicky (2024)
Not another teen movie... finally
Different than the usual stuff we are fed... I love the premise of the show and the wholsome vibe of childhood friendships that survive to adulthood. The show also gives us preprieve from the usual comedy tropes we see these days.
The show features two good stand-up comedians (Andrew Santino and Jermaine Fowler) and two legends (John Cena and Zac Efron), plus a brilliant supporting cast (William H. Macy and Jeffrey Ross).
The script is hilarious and the John Cena pick was brilliant (considering that the Stanicky roll was cast atleast 3 times according to the imdb, for Franco, J. Phoenix and even Jim Carry ) - Cena connects the energy of the crew and the plot and makes it work even when it shouldn't.
P.s. Didn't know this movie was coming out so I was pleasantly surprised to see Santinos face, I love seeing this guy in movies :D.
True Detective: Night Country: Part 1 (2024)
Interesting start - With show non-related issues for viewers
Dear reader, watch it! Do not let yourself get drawn into the biased review circle-j..k. Once you have watched it, make your judgment.
Might contain spoilers: People gone missing in remote areas, filmed in permanent darkness,cynical Jodie Foster, slow burning mysteries... Sign me up!
The show started with a promising first episode. Remember the season one start? Yea! - It was slow, the plot seemed already seen atleast a dozen times, the setting was in an unappealing part of the US, and the actors needed atleast two episodes to warm up. - And it still turned out to be one of the best showes ever made.
Contrary to season one, we have a mystery in a closed community, with a story that fits the context, the actors are brilliant and it takes place in one of the most interesting parts of the world. Can't wait for the story to unravel.
Well, the sad part of this review are the reactions I have seen from other people.. people who's reviews can be summrised as "i don't like female leads" and "I'm not saying it, but there are to many native people" and "all of these people looks the same and i can't tell them apart", plus from time to time the cgi is dodgy.
The Lodge (2019)
A tv movie you might watch while bored
Interesting camera, "i know this" story and poor acting. If you are really really bored, watch it... if not... go watch a classic, North by northwest and The crawling eye are not that bad...just the opposite of this
Dark Crimes (2016)
Underrated
What an underrated masterpiece. This movie has been made by movie lovers for movie lovers... To avoid spoilers I might sound cryptic at times - therefore, i will focus on the formal aspects of the movie. If you understand what you are seeing and hearing when you are seeing and hearing it you will love the movie. Every single shot that we see before our eyes is a photographical art piece in its own right, frames are used in a way that adds to the mystery without revealing to much. Frame by frame we are being forced to endure the darkness that has yet not been displayed, but also its counter-piece the everyday life of ordinary people , that gives balance to this dark theme. Jimm Carry is extraordinary - for a guy that did comedies, somehow he always thrives when he is dealing with dark material... Bravo Mr. Carry and thank you for this experience...
Alien Worlds (2020)
Updated version of a 2005 documentary Alien Planet
This is a well done documentary with a nice budget and it gives a view into the contemporary state of the debate on life on other planets.
Sadly, the idea is taken from a 2005 documentary Alien Planet but not as well executed as the original. The first three episodes are anthropocentric to their core and the last one lacks any imagination - based on most common tropes in science fiction.
Interesting idea, and loads of potential...
True Detective (2014)
Awesomeness comes by the medium od diversity
The first real crime blockbuster series after The Wire. First season is the pure brilliance of Pizzolatto's interpretation of the insane world of Thomas Ligotti portrayed by infallible acting of Harrelson and McConaughey. Worth watching just to see the raw potential of the main cast dealing with complex crimes and philosophical pathology's that drive them.
The second season is probably the most underrated part od the series, without any real reasoning why. If we were to ask the actors of the first and the third part of the series, they might even tell us that the cast was better then themselves. Collin Farrells daemons, Taylor Kitschs struggles and Rachel McAdams strives to get more out of every person she meets, are pure brilliance. Yes, the series is different than the first part, but it is awesome in its own way. Do not trust the average superhero loving cranks rating of this part of True Detective, make up your own mind.
The third part is just as good as you would want Mahershala Ali to be, and he is owning up to it. Ali is the gem that drives this series to new possible avenues and even opens it up to the fourth part. If there was ever a consideration of doing the fourth part, it should be focused on Ali and McConaghey and gives us the ultimate Ligotti atmosphere trough the lenses of Pizolattos creativity.
Watch it! It is a must...
Hellboy (2019)
Finally a trashy super-hero movie
After more than a decade of torture by super-hero movies made only for grade-school audiences we get a gore-like trashy super-hero movie. Hurrah!
If you are tired of comic book adaptations that avoid all "problematic" content, bad language and are more focused on the cgi effects than being true to the character of the hero, than this is a move for you.
The problematic points are the occasional bad acting and rushed story telling.
Another Life (2019)
Blatant plagiarism, but with potential
The main problem with this series is the blatant plagiarism of Stargate and Arrival (even Alien at some points). When it comes to Stargate the series relies on the Ori arc (even the alien ships look like a combination of the Ori ships and IKEA furniture) from SG-1 and the main plot of SGU, the Arrival stuff is self-explanatory.
Well, but how to explain the high grade? The high grade is given in hopes that the series gets a second season. Why? Because it has potential. This show can be saved, although not without serious revisions to acting, avoidance of plagiarism, better cgi-artists and without reliance on comfortable si-fi tropes.
If there is a will to do it, the writer, the director and actors need to sit down and think about the future of this show.