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yemgha
Reviews
I'm a Virgo (2023)
Pretentious and predictable
After trying - and failing miserably - to copy Charlie Kaufman with Sorry to Bother You, Boots Riley tries even harder to impress critics and intellectuals and to excite regular audiences. Failure, again.
I'm a Virgo is a messy compilation of half-baked ideas and things Mr. Riley always wanted to say - or hear characters say. There is a naive and very basic lecture about what's wrong with the economy, there is a depressed super hero looking for a super villain, there are supporting characters that suddenly get a lot of screen time ...
There is a lot going on, but it feels random and somehow not original. Probably, because all of it has been seen in other shows or films. Mr. Riley's eclecticism would be fine if there would be just a little more to this collection of inspirations by others. But there isn't.
I'm a Virgo is shallow and has not once managed to surprise me. Nevertheless, the show's pretentious creator seems to consider himself enormously sophisticated and inventive, which translates into the exaggerating of the predictable twists and turns. But after all, he is mostly processing ideas of other people that inspired him. Here, however, the ideas are annoying and incoherent, it all results in disappointment.
Nevertheless, some actors have managed to deliver convincing performances, like Carmen Ejogo, Mike Epps, Allius Barnes and Walton Goggins.
Couples Therapy (2019)
A mystery
This show continues to mystify me.
The three couples with relationship problems are very relatable and human. Sometimes they are outright hilarious and mostly quite insightful.
Their therapist, however, Orna, is an ignorant and incredibly self-absorbed person with whom at least I would not sit for even one session. She does not sense let alone understand the subtle tensions between the couples. She even is incapable of realizing that one of her patients is clearly pregnant.
Perhaps, it does not matter, since the series still is rather entertaining and up to a certain point even enlightening. However, it is also quite obvious that the whole production is aimed at presenting therapist Orna as a rather amazing therapist. Otherwise, all the interludes indulging her vanity would seem rather pointless.
Therefore, I am confused by this series, because the therapist is such a nuisance, but I nevertheless would like to praise the production team for the tender and somehow fascinatingly revealing method with which they manage to introduce us to wonderful characters like Michal, Dru or Gianni.
Babylon (2022)
Annoying, trite and seen before (but so much better)
This film could not have been any tackier. These are the pictures that the petite bourgeoisie imagines when thinking sentimentally about the debauchery of the wild and roaring 20's. Everything here is so predictable that it starts to annoy after 5 minutes and never stops.
Mr. Chazelle, a certified copycat who, by all means, is a brilliant manager of big sets but most certainly not a true artist with a vision, once again tries to manipulate audiences into excitement about what apparently never ceases to excite him: trumpets, long tracking shots, beautiful women dancing, flirting and just being beautiful women, nostalgia and endless clichés regarding all of the afore-mentioned.
The problem (once again): we have seen it all before. In Mr. Chazelle's other films and - much better - in works by actually talented directors like Fellini, Kubrick, Donen/Kelly, Stroheim, Scorsese, Fincher and yes, even Babylon Berlin does make more sense than this forlorn mess of another celebration of Hollywood and not much else. But mostly, this film is a truly shameless ripoff of Boogie Nights, including everything from photography, dramaturgical structure, character development with the sole exception that Boogie Nights, of course, is the original and a good film.
Stammheim - Die Baader-Meinhof-Gruppe vor Gericht (1986)
Didn't age well
This film is hopelessly overacted which does not go well with the fact that it is based on a true case and its actual court files.
The director seems to desperately wanting to create something historic here, however he tries so hard that it is eventually more painful than interesting to watch.
It is quite surprising that this film is not even 40 years old but looks and feels so much more dated than many other much older films. Perhaps it is the german way how this rather serious case has been treated: very heavy-handed.
Compare this film to just two films of Fassbinder (Deutschland im Herbst or Die dritte Generation) which are, though not re-enactments but nevertheless so much more accurately captivating a sense of history.
Today this film just appears as if the director didn't come up with any visual idea, therefore deciding to stage a play and film this instead. Unfortunately, even as a play, this thing would have been very boring.
Bullet Train (2022)
Amazingly stupid
While this film has been produced with technical skill and a lot of money, the only truly astounding thing about it is the breathtakingly bad script and sloppy direction. True, the actions scenes are great and the violence is overwhelming. However, all of it is delivered with such an insanely smug attitude and the filmmakers appear to be really pleased with themselves. It is all pretension, though, and no substance. Of course, nobody expects here characters that are more than one-dimensional, but how about some funny dialogues! There is just no quality or originality to be found in this film. Ripping off Tarantino is bad enough, since Tarantino's old tricks have become boring and he himself moved on. But not knowing how to copy him and thus writing a truly prepotent script is an insult. Needless to say that this film never ever gets close to be either funny or thrilling.
Moon Manor (2022)
Best Movie Ever Made, Period.
This is, without the slightest doubt, the best Film ever made. The acting - simply astounding, the screenplay - philosophically marvelous, directing - heartwarmingly buoyant, editing - cutting edge, costumes - interminably tasteful, producing - so good!
Gosh, I wish I'd had more words to describe this Masterpiece of modern Art.
Feel Good (2020)
Two-dimensional at best
This show could actually have been very cool as the characters' lives are mundane and the non-existent plot focusses on a kind of difficult romantic relationship. Unfortunately, the characters are also hardly more than one-dimensional and thus rather boring.
Some of the quirks and stereotypes are quite funny and Lisa Kudrow, who once again has to dig up her reliably hilarious character Fiona Wallice, delivers some great lines. Bust most of the characters remain just annoying clichés and all of them are just lazily developed. In general, this show is sloppily written. Some jokes are okay, most of them are completely predictable and many are just not funny ("It's forbidden. It's like the Montagues and Capulets." - "I've never seen Macbeth.", seriously?)
It is a pity that the main character, who could have been an interesting one given her/their story of addiction and obsession, unfortunately is not much more than annoying. It certainly does not help that actor Mae Martin is hopeless in playing her alter ego who is - of course, what else? - a deservedly struggling stand-up comedian.
This show is badly over-rated.
Shirley (2020)
Odessa Young compensates for the lack of focus
This film has a meandering story that never really gets somewhere - at least not somewhere where I would like to follow ...
There is a stunning amount of continuity mistakes which distracted me even more from the less than spellbinding developments in the story.
The beautiful very conceptual photography can't help the fact that the story is constantly reminding of "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?" - but never really gets close to the dramatic quality of said film/play.
However, a cast of great actors manage to elevate this film above its own merits. While Elisabeth Moss and Michael Stuhlbarg are trapped in stereotypical roles, she is still amazing though literally framed by her glasses, while he successfully squeezes every idiosyncrasies out of an unpleasant character. But in the end it's Odessa Young (at least in my opinion) that single-handedly carries this film. It is just wonderful to see the little things she does, in a discreet but nevertheless fascinatingly effective manner, and how easily she balances the different parts of her disturbed character while connecting all other parts of this disorganized mess of a film ...
Interrogation (2020)
Confusing but good
There's not much I can say about the show itself (as I am only halfway through), except that it's rather confusing with its jumps in time and the additional tasks for viewers to choose their preferred order of episodes ...
However, I think it is worth mentioning that there is certainly some of the best acting to be seen here. Although all the actors are very excellent, there is one who can't be praised enough: Peter Sarsgaard displays such a sensibility and breathtaking ambivalence while playing a supremely nasty character - I am deeply moved.
Babylon Berlin (2017)
What a waste
This german series has been highly praised for obvious reasons: it depicts Berlin in a period of turmoil and craziness, during the years of the Weimar Republic and it does so very stylishly, with seemingly endless ressources and carefully appealing to an international audience. Based on a novel by Volker Kutscher, the series initially succeeds in combining the unrestrained hedonism of the rich, the uncontrolled criminal scene, emerging revolutionary police methods, the misery of the poor and the political catastrophe that is lurking underneath it all. The many parallels to today's life in a metropole are obvious.
So, why is this series such a disappointment (IMHO)?
At first, it isn't. The first episode is overwhelming and exciting. The set design, the camera, the casting, the atmosphere, the whole exposition - everything is exciting and drags the viewer into its spell. It is no surprise that the makers wouldn't be able to keep up pace, tension and quality. What is surprising is how fast and how thoroughly this series crashes. The many plot lines seem to get out of control, some seem to be completely forgotten until they pop up at the end of Season 1 to tie some loose ends. Some twists are just ridiculous and neither the characters develop significantly any further nor does the attempt to contrast lower and upper classes lead to any specific insights. At least, some of the actors are excellent and manage to actually create more-dimensional characters (a.o. Matthias Brandt, Misel Maticevic), but then again, the two main characters, played by great actors Liv Lisa Fries and Volker Bruch are too often lost in space, while the script struggles to barely stay logical.
At least the first episode of Season 2 doesn't raise the bar like the one in Season 1, but still the viewer simply can't be prepared to what comes next. The story gets completely out of hand, everything seem to have been shot in panic mode and ripped off of better films, characters are unconsistant, the acting becomes more and more awful and also the show and dance scenes are so boring, that not even Bryan Ferry can save it. Season 2 ends with plot twists that are too ludicrous and absurd to be believed and even the few good moments (Ms. Fries has an amazing scene) are immediately ruined by embarrassing turns right after. The unavoidable german acting star Lars Eidinger has a part that unfortunately becomes even bigger in Season 3 and, inversely proportional, the quality of the series declines even further ...
Like a crash of extremely expensive cars, Babylon Berlin is somehow fascinating and it offers great value in scenography and cinematography, but the plot, really ... therefore, according to my inconsiderable judgment, this is a waste of talent, money and opportunity after all.