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Katla (2021)
Thanks for the heads-up about "Dark."
It seemed OK in the first episode. The second suggests just more of the same, though, which was the problem with the steaming pile of tripe, "Dark." Even the overdone ominous background music (groaning) sounds the same. I'll concede to the great landscapes, but it's Iceland - it'd be hard to screw up the amazing scenery.
I guess I'm "Dark"-damaged. That series was so awful that anything that reminds me of it turns me off. As several reviewers have mentioned that it ends the same way - nowhere - I think I will give the rest of this series a miss.
Dark (2017)
Pretentions tripe disguised by high production values.
Not the worst thing I've seen on Netflix, but it's bucking for it. I watched six episodes and can't take the pretentious excuse for a plot any longer. The lighting is overdone, the music is sickening and the monotonous "cello note of doom" that is the background "music" is just annoying.
The other reviewers are right about one thing, the acting is good. If only there were a story to it. Sure, I could wait out the next four episodes to discover a "surprise ending," but I've invested too much time with this tripe as it is.
Buy the premise, buy the plot. But there is no credible premise.
I truly am amazed at how many people gave this more than maybe five stars. It's easy to be lulled into submission by high production values, I guess.
The Queen's Gambit (2020)
A curmudgeon relents
It is incredible. The story, the acting, the direction, the camera, the scenery, the costumes (I normally HATE costumes, but whoever did them in this series was a genius), the dialogue, the beginning, middle, end, the amazing plot altogether, the CASTING!
I am really bowled over.
If any guys out there are thinking (like I was) that this is a chick-flick, think again. Man, was I wrong. This is not just for women. It's for anyone with a heart and a brain. What a winner this series is. Don't miss it!
This is a phenomenal piece of filmmaking. I hope it cleans up at whatever awards there are for such things. I am normally a curmudgeon about such things, so take this seriously.
The Last Enemy (2008)
Formulaic tripe with a good actor
This is the same, formulaic, paranoid, dystopian crap that's done over and over, but with a different McGuffin.
Cumberbatch, is as always, excellent, but can't save the general unoriginality of this thing.
Really sorry I rented the first DVD, will not rent any more of it.
Windy City (1984)
Hopeful Ending
I barely remember this movie except for the effect it had on me. At the end, I thought, "This is exactly the kind of ending good movies should have." It was not a bullshit "happy ending" a la Hollywood, and it wasn't a European downer. It was what I call a "hopeful ending." Like life - you just don't know what's going to happen, but you have to keep going, and there is usually a good, ambiguous reason to do it.
If I ever finish anything I write, I am going to have the feeling of this movie in mind as I finish it.
I hope the term "hopeful ending" (not in the sense of some soppy "everything is going to be alright" crap, but more in the sense of "everything might turn out OK, and it will be interesting to find out") catches on. I also hope more filmmakers will take note.
Thinking of this movie made me have a wave of nostalgia that can be devastating and motivating at the same time. Thanks for writers, cast and crew of this sadly underrated film.
Once (2007)
Satisfying and hopeful
Fookin' brrrilliant! No, seriously. I just trolled Blockbuster vids for a subject that grabbed me and this came up. I'd never heard of it before. I can't believe that! It's so great.
I was a busker throughout Europe all through the '80s, and was afraid that some movie about it might "get it all wrong." Man, this thing is as authentic as it gets. Cast, songs, ambiance, you name it. Somebody buy the crew a round!
Thanks so much for something that brought me right back in to a time and a life that was so meaningful for me. And I'm glad my wife could get a glimpse.
One more thing...
...The ending was exactly the kind that I find best in any movie. Satisfying, but not spoon- fed clarity. And no Hollywood happy-end, nor European dirge. Just one word - HOPEFUL. The best kind.
Hoskeebo!
Brian