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Reviews
The White Lotus (2021)
S1 is great, S2 a letdown
S1 is fresh and fun. Sharp dialog covers current social themes with wit and humor, often showing the irony and contradictions of various sides, while great acting especially by the hotel manager and particularly the family's teen son make the show memorable. It's funny and clever, wrapped in an innocence I find endearing. Highly recommended.
S2 throws a lot of this away for a largely predictable drama with lots of he-said-she-said between beautiful fit people in sex scenes against sumptuous backdrops. What happened to fun unpredictability? It seems they exchanged story taking risks for mass appeal. It's a bit disappointing IMDb users rate S2 generally higher than S1.
The Rehearsal (2022)
Utterly ridiculous
Who gave Nathan Fielder the right to creep into the most squeamish parts of my mind then keep going deeper and deeper, blow torching past the house of mirrors I fence social convention in. I'm left thinking "this is nuts" over and over and out loud laughter as he spelunks straight faced with no rope deeper still. It's like Inception for the realm of the ridiculous. Love it.
A Discovery of Witches (2018)
Starts decent then gets schmaltzy
E1 was fresh, organic and promising. Season 1 was generally watchable. S2 quickly turns to old tropes with mushy babying characters and some glaring plot holes. Haven't read the books but series up to S2 is a 4/10 for me.
The Undoing (2020)
Decent production, lacks originality
A by the numbers melodrama with cellophane wrapped acting. It came across as shallow and self indulgent to me. Plus it goes on way too long. Good screensaver material.
Scenes from a Marriage (2021)
Slowly deflating
Starts well but by the 3rd episode I'm feeling little for either character. Although well acted, the characters become absurd as they flit from one emotional outburst to intimacy minutes apart. It just seems too manufactured and ultimately exhausting.
El desorden que dejas (2020)
Almost but not quite
Precocious high school students connive to put one over susceptible literature teachers. Wrought and dramatic but contrived and predictable.
Star Trek: Discovery: The Sanctuary (2020)
Why?
I think the Chuck Norris reference below says it all. Story gaps bigger than planets...we deserve better.
Native Son (2019)
Predictable and takes itself too seriously
A few memorable lines buried in a straight to video storyline and lots of 1st year film class acting. The main character's supposed 'edgy contradictions' is interesting until one discovers it's being asked to carry a corporate motel bowl of oatmeal to the finish line.
The Lighthouse (2016)
It gnaws, and not in a good way
I'm all for lonely atmospheric character based stories but despite a promising start this movie doesn't explore an interesting (though not very unique) story. In the end it feels repetitive, predictable and drawn out, even tho the acting is ok. Could have been 40 minutes shorter.