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True Detective (2014)
Season 1 - 10/10, season 4 - 0/10
Season 4
Is it possible to destroy something that started as a masterpiece, such as the first season of True Detective, to such an extent that even re-watching said season cannot wash away the bitter taste of disgust? It seems that it is, as evidenced by the fourth season.
Let's ignore the fact that the fourth season has nothing to remind us of any of the previous seasons, the atmosphere, the good story, the direction, the memorable characters. Although, that would be enough to give this, as part of the series, a zero rating. The fourth season, as a separate story, is extremely poorly written, directed, acted and finished. The only thing worth mentioning is the location where the series was filmed and the somewhat believable weather conditions in Alaska. And that is all.
The characters are very poorly written, terribly unlikeable, with special reference to the fact that they are poorly cast and acted. Of course, this refers to the female characters, who in this season do absolutely everything worth mentioning. Jodie Foster, in addition to the fact that the character she plays is extremely disgusting, in many situations it seems as if she can't wait for the filming to be over. The rest of the actors are simply bad, unconvincing, invisible. The male characters are reduced to the level of scenery, irrelevant and very quickly forgettable, and it is completely clear that this was done very consciously. The entire season is interspersed with checking all the boxes of the modern era. Feminism, LGBT rights, radical activism, indigenous rights and celebration their customs and beliefs, etc. And that's not a problem. The problem is that it was done so forcibly, so artificially and so irrelevant to the story (except for the part with the protection of the environment), that instead of contributing to the story, it is compared to comedy. Everything looks like it was written and directed by a rebellious, radical teenager, not by professional screenwriters and directors. Policewomen with lots of piercings and tattoos, who, without consequences, execute suspects, policewomen who, dead drunk, order their mostly male subordinates to do the stupidest possible tasks at any time of the day or night. Women who at any time, if they are angry, hurt, drunk, come and "order" men to have sex with them. Women who are spiritually connected with the living, the dead, spirits, animals, nature. And finally, an elite unit of cleaners who execute the monstrous scientists responsible for the activist's death. Of course, several other characters die along the way, male of course. Everyone except the main villain, the woman, the owner of the mine, responsible for the pollution, funding the research station, ordering the murders, etc. Interesting.
If we add to that a huge number of illogicalities in each episode, a large number of characters, scenes and phenomena that are "simply there", without any explanation, a lot of meaningless dialogues and repetitions, we get something that is not even worth 1/10. As someone who supports the fight of every endangered group, I find this kind of extremism disgusting. Being more extreme than what you are fighting against is not a solution, but a bigger problem. But the authors of the series did not think about that. And maybe they are not even able to understand it.
Although, many people will especially like this season, especially those for whom terms like - toxic masculinity, white privilege, etc. Are part of every other sentence. OK. But that narrative is not what true detective, as a series, is. Or at least was until now. But times are changing.
Kalkanski krugovi (2021)
Almost
The Kalkan Circles represent one of the many Serbian series that combine the crime genre with elements of mysticism or Slavic/Serbian mythology. Like most of the previous ones, it achieves this more or less unsuccessfully.
Dejan, an architect, comes from Belgrade with his daughter to his native village on the mountain. The reasons are somewhat unclear at the beginning, but they have to do with daughter's involvement in drug dealing and trying to get her out of it and protect her.
From there, a network of human and business relationships is built between Dejan, his daughter Miona and the villagers, as well as mystical secrets about the common origin of the villagers.
Pros:The sound in the series is very good, which is really surprising for Serbian series. All dialogues are heard, and the background sounds are not several times stronger than the dialogues and do not "eat" the entire atmosphere. The effect of mysticism, the atmosphere of Serbian rural superstitions or beliefs is solidly conveyed. Landscapes are, to a certain extent, beautiful. The idea for the script was interesting, however...
Cons: The dialogues, as well as the behavior of the characters, are, in many cases, completely illogical and meaningless. There is no normal gradation of the relationship between the characters, nor the consequences of certain actions. In one moment they are in an argument, angry or in the process of doing something, and in the next scene they behave as if the previous situation did not happen. Editing is bad and in several places you can see where the scene begins, where the director says "action". The daughter character, Mione is incredibly unlovable and irritating. From the first episode, her behavior is often illogical, as are her dialogues with other characters, especially her father. This is, in a certain part, a consequence of the director's decision, but also of an obviously very bad script. At one point she was completely disinterested in the happenings in the village, then suddenly she was making friends with everyone, then disinterested again, then fanatically ready to solve the village mystery and all over again.
Such is the situation with the figure of the father and uncle and several others. The vast majority of the conversations between the characters are artificially half-finished, unsuccessful in their intention to convey the mystique and keeping of village secrets. This makes everything seem very forced and implausible. The crime part of the series is very amateurish, and everything related to it seems to be at the level of a high school script and play. Criminals, as well as police officers, are so unbelievable that it is sometimes comical.
The greatest illogicality lies in the fact that, if not all, then most of the inhabitants of the village are familiar with the legend about the common origin of the villagers and their blood relations. This can also be seen in Peter, a character born from a relationship between relatives. And yet, despite this realization, Dejan and Vera, whom he knows with certainty is his relative, renew their love relationship. Vera's son's flirtation with Dejan's daughter is also viewed without judgment, as well as all other relationships, which are exclusively between characters from the same village. As for the mystical - mythological part, it, as in most Serbian series, is shown in a negative way. Although Serbian mythology is full of positive and protective beings and phenomena (of course also negative), Serbian filmmakers mostly decide to portray the local mythology as dangerous and evil. It has a much deeper, political-ideological background. Interesting.
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
Star trek? Not at all!
First of all, this has nothing to do with Star Trek, aside from the name. Everything that Star Trek represents is destroyed to such an extent in this series, that it is really shameful to give more than 1 star. The characters of certain civilizations, their mutual relations and principles, the principles of the federation, everything has been reduced to absolute triviality. All the characters, except Michelle Yeoh's character, are completely unlovable and will be forgotten after one watching. Federation and its discipline and principles exist as a concept, but individuality is above all.
All the characters are semi-superheroes, who find epoch-making discoveries and new technologies within a few hours. All crises are resolved at the last second. The characters assign each other the position of captain of the most advanced ship in the federation, so in 4 seasons we have four captains and several deputies. All the characters are absolutely emotionally unstable and this characteristic is considered the greatest virtue throughout the series and is highlighted in every episode.
In the first two seasons, there may be some reason to watch, but from the third season to the end, the series is practically unwatchable. Literally in every episode, of the 50-minute duration, about 25 minutes are dedicated to emotional outbursts, endless meaningless motivational speeches and stories about feelings and close-ups, like in Bollywood movies, showing the emotional reaction of each of the actors to some statement.
The acting of the vast majority of actors is, to put it mildly, terrible. The main character is disastrous. Sonequa Martin-Green is a terribly wrong choice for the character. Whispering in literally every sentence, in every situation, in absolutely every episode of the series is irritating to the point of unwatchability. Her expressiveness, facial expressions are all at the amateur level. The vast majority of characters can be classified in the same category, which is probably, in large part, the merit of the director.
Where the series really succeeds is in checking all the necessary boxes of today's society. The villains, like the heroes, are very carefully chosen. Military and civilian representatives of planet Earth. Emotional couples. Correct Gender and Sexual Pronunciation is as important as saving the galaxy. Everything is satisfied.
What is really missing is the spirit of Star Trek, its atmosphere, message, meaning and lesson, as well as satisfying the basic characteristics of races, civilizations and postulates, if this amateurism will bear the name of this famous series.
Leave the World Behind (2023)
Waste of time
Observing the aggressive promotion of this film, as revolutionary, intriguing, I really expected - something. In the end, we got a bad, unfinished, propaganda film, which is much more a tool in a political or media battle, than a sci-fi, apocalyptic thriller. First, about the technical aspects. Very bad editing, which leads to the fact that in many scenes you can see/feel the moment when the scene starts. Very unnatural dialogues, often completely empty. Physically impossible tanker scene. Pretty bad animal CGI. The film is about what seems to be a global catastrophe, of unknown origin, which leads to the interruption of all communications and the behavior of several people in that situation. On the one hand, we have a white family of four, who rents a house from, it turns out, a black man, who, due to the crisis, shows up at the door unannounced, with his daughter. The film follows the behavior of the characters and their mutual relationships. A black man is successful, caring, tolerant and patient. His daughter is worried about her mother, with whom she cannot establish contact due to a communication breakdown. On the other hand, the white family is dysfunctional. The mother is completely frustrated, a latent racist, the children are completely excluded, with a son, a teenager, who secretly takes pictures of a black girl in a bathing suit, a father who is completely incapable of dealing with a crisis and is a potential sex offender, because he is "interested" in a black girl and a daughter, completely antisocial, for whom the Friends series is everything in her life. On the other hand, the black girl is emotional, intelligent and ready to forgive bad behavior towards her. Among the characters that still appear in the film, there is a conspiracy theorist, a white man, who refuses to help the son of the said family, a Latino woman, who asks for help from a white father and he refuses, and hundreds of Tesla vehicles, Elon Musk, that block the way to salvation. Interesting. In the scene with the sick teenager asking for help, the black man is willing to die for help, while the white father can only kneel and beg. We also have a scene with listening to music and dancing, where the white mother and the black father are dancing and where, after a few hours of acquaintance and a few drinks, she is ready to flirt, but the black man very politely turns her down. The end of the film is undefined, it leaves many unsolved questions, but it clearly shows the opinion of the author about who and what is important in life and how he relates to the crisis and people. Enjoy.
Deca zla (2023)
Bad as a crimes series, but good as....
Very bad choice of actors, very bad acting and technical, especially sound, production. The characters in the series are too reminiscent of real characters, which obviously aims for something more than making a crime series. The main character of the lawyer is like a character from Law and Order, but from Wish. Many hidden, sublimated messages, which clearly shows the true purpose of the series. All the characters are supposedly in the "gray zone", but with a clear indication of who is good and who is bad, according to the writer of the book and the director. An awful lot of hidden and open prejudices, primarily national, are shown throughout the series. The sound is terrible. The dialogues are very poorly heard and understood, while, at the same time, the background noise is several times stronger than the dialogues. Many holes in the story, many things are rushed and sketchy, which is probably a consequence of the small budget. Bad acting by almost all the actors leads to the fact that the viewer cannot "connect" with any character. Almost all of them are one-dimensional, with, obviously, the goal of portraying the characters from reality, and not to create a good character that will make the series better. The end of the series, as well as the fate of the characters, fully reflects the attitude and prejudices of the writer of the book and the director. A pity. The book, as a basis for the series, could have served well. However, the final product aimed for something completely different. He was certainly achieved.
Asteroid City (2023)
Too much of nothing
When I was a teenager, a friend of mine was a member of a local amateur alternative theater group. In their rehearsals and performances, they often had this kind of atmosphere and performance, which (un)fortunately no one watched, so they went out of business. Nothing for "something", as their director would say, a misunderstood, immature fifteen-year-old in a fifty-five-year-old's body. "Hidden messages", style, symmetry, bizarre pauses and scenes without meaning and substance, which we, the ignorant, do not understand. But it was amateur theater, not a movie with at least 10, if not 15 A-listers. Of course, Anderson's fans will rush to leave hundreds of 10/10 comments about the "new masterpiece", but that really has nothing to do with reality. The film is devoid of any substance and is completely oriented towards, I assume intentionally, the creation of a bizarre atmosphere, bizarre dialogues, bizarre characters, their mutual relations and scenography.
They really tried to make the film look colorful and beautiful. They only partially succeeded in that. Overacting, and unsuccessful attempts by top actors to portray stupid characters, according to an even more stupidly written script, completely divert the attention of the viewers from the visual beauty of the individual scenography. The so-called plot of the film is extremely poorly executed and in its attempt to be "original and clever" creates nausea for the viewer, forcing him to think about the complete unnecessaryness of at least one thing in every scene. Kudos to the three little girls and Scarlett Johansson, who tried to make the most of this situation. They are the only ones that will make the viewer feel or react to any of the characters.
The only logical reason for making this movie could be that so many A-listers had excess free time and needed to hang out with each other a little, so this was a way for them to do it. The film would have been much more logical and successful if they had just met and made 110 minutes of twisted improvisations with drinks and barbecue. Considering this number of the biggest stars, with a budget of only 25 million dollars, which is not enough for the fee of one of the stars in the film, it is possible that this was the case.
For someone looking for logic, entertainment, a message, or any kind of feeling that will last longer than the time it takes to get out of your seat at the movie theater, this is not the movie for you. You won't find that here. "Thinkers, seekers of meaning behind meaning behind meaning", those who strive to be incomprehensible in order to think they are smarter than you, this is the movie for them.
Skip it. Save money and time. Take a walk with a loved one, children. You will feel better.
Vyzov (2023)
Recommendation
In terms of visual effects, quality of acting and script, this movie is at least 10 years ahead of Hollywood. Compared to any Hollywood production of the last 10 years in the sci-fi genre, a clear 10. Camera is outstanding. We can find certain objections regarding realism, but the film deals with a topic that in real life has no situation to which it can be compared at the moment. Acting, much more realistic, lifelike, without the GI Joe over-emphasis. The characters in the film are real people, not superheroes. The most disturbing are the unnecessary comic elements, which are completely copied from American scripts. A visually phenomenal film, after which you will leave the cinema satisfied.
Dýrið (2021)
OMG
You know those movies in which there is no meaning, no plot, no logical dialogue? Those films that "artists and film experts" tell you that you are unable to understand. This is one of them. Unfortunately, there are more and more such films, especially from the north of Europe, supposedly woven with Nordic symbolism and mythology, which "only a sensitive eye" can see. The thing when, when talking about the film, they tell you: "Well, there are no more than 50 words in the film, the acting is semi-amateur, but can you see the landscapes? That alone is enough to make the movie great."
This is a classic example of such a film. An incredibly stupid story, if you can even call it that, meaningless dialogues, completely incomprehensible behavior of the characters. Maybe it's a cultural difference, maybe people in Iceland are really this weird...? Of course they are not, this is an unsuccessful artificial attempt to make an already bizarre film even more bizarre.
"Philosophical discussions" about the maternal instinct, the desire for a person to become a mother and similar explanations...Come on! The worst kind of movies is the one that doesn't use bizarreness and shock as a means to improve the effect and meaning, but shock and bizarreness are meaning and purpose in themselves, without any further elaboration.
Unprecedentedly stupid, poorly written, poorly acted, poorly filmed. Useful only for pausing the movie a couple of times in order to take a screenshot of the nature, which you can then use as the background of the screen.
65 (2023)
2/10 because of CGI, 1/10 for the rest
A completely shallow survival story, which does not even try to connect the viewers with more than one-dimensional characters. There is no explanation of the purpose of the journey that leads to the disaster, no explanation of how the characters found themselves 65 million years in the past, etc. Simply, let's just accept that fact. "A collision with an asteroid almost always sends it 65 million years into the past." What is not logical?!
Much of the film is unnecessarily in total darkness, which is the Hollywood standard these days. Absolutely every activity undertaken by the characters, from fighting dinosaurs, running, climbing, breathing, recovering from injuries is unrealistic and impossible. The CGI is the only thing that can even get a passing grade in the film. Escape from Earth, literally in the last second before the impact of the asteroid that will kill all the dinosaurs is a special story. Why Kylo Ren? Why?
The Northman (2022)
Waste of time
Boring, dark, dull, offensive. Extremely shallow story, poorly developed characters. More than 50% of the film is in the dark, almost unrecognizable. Lots of completely illogical scenes. The expression of Slavs and Christianity as a backward people and religion is especially pronounced. In one scene, they are insulted for being Christians, in another, a Christian woman prays to Mother Earth. Christians or pagans? Either way, they're bad. Stupid.
Ambulance (2022)
Why, just why?
My nephew, who is in fifth grade, had a school project. He needed, with his friends, to write a script, and shoot five minute movie about traffic dangers. That film is, when we speak about script, dialogs, camera, and acting, pure mastepiece for this garbage. After watching Ambulace, you need ambulance. For nausea, diarrhea, and feeling of eternal stupitidy that surround you. There is no stars to rate this movie. Maybe something deep down below zero.