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Reviews
Black Snow (2022)
My god, what a great series
My god, what a great series. The always excellent -- but sometimes a bit difficult to watch, as the characters he plays often so close to the edge of a kind of madness -- Travis Fimmel shares the lead with several equally excellent women actors, indigenous Australian islanders. A sophisticated, insightful and extremely moving exploration of racism, the complexity of becoming an adult, and the dangerous world in which we live.
Slowly, but confidently, it takes the viewer into a complex community, the nuances of which are quickly introduced and a super feat of worldbuilding. Though I felt early on, as a viewer, I was likely to be in very good hands, I soon became convinced I was in great hands. They should be given the opportunity to take the story of Fimmel's charater further. This could become another classic series coming out of this new age of great television with which we have been blessed.
Paradise Highway (2022)
Extraordinary performance by the young girl
This is an important, albeit disturbing. Movie. The acting of the 12-year-old Hala Finley steals the show, and there is fine competition. Such a performance was necessary to the power of the film, but I wonder how Ms. Finley will ever be the same. Watch the film. Make it having been worth her while.
Innan vi dör (2017)
What a great series!
Can't say enough about this series, after having watched the first season. Perhaps a bit too complicated for its own good, which gnawed at bit on its credibility for me until the finale. But the fine, intelligent, writers, and excellent actors, made it all work out like clockwork at the end. And it even can be said to transcend a bit, being more than just a smart yarn; it speaks to the horrible consequences of misdirected grievance, or of any grievance, while exploring at the same time, convincingly, greed/corruption. Net-net, completely engrossing and hold-your-breath exciting.
They Who Surround Us (2020)
Quite an affecting film
A quite effecting study of a grief struck, but taciturn, man, and, we learn, loving father. The beauty of Alberta is stunningly portrayed, as are the horrors inflicted on Ukrainians during -- what I presume is, although it is interestingly kept somewhat ambiguous -- the recapture, by vengeful Soviet forces, of territory taken by the Nazis previously. I found, however, the apparitions, in present times, of lost love ones to be occasionally a bit jarring, breaking with what was otherwise the otherworldly, Malick-like, cinematography and excellent character development. That said, an impressive piece of work.
Settlers (2021)
Super Film; Don't be put off by the bad reviews!
Excellent film in all ways; world building flawless, acting great, story telling profound. Yes, it's low budget; but, really, only in the sense that the settler life it depicts would be ad hoc, and necessarily low budget. Although only a few pieces of technology have survied -- albeit suffering, as they would, from age and the absence of spare parts, etc. -- the humans the film follows find themselves grappling at the brutal edges of a completely new beginning -- or is it the end? It's one of those rare science fiction films that takes the viewer to a place where the rules we all accept as givens may no longer be applicable, and perhaps everything needs to be reconsidered and/or reimagined. What else does one want from science fiction and, indeed, art? And this film is art, no question about it, of the most challenging kind. Bravo to all of those who made it happen! I only hope it doesn't get lost, cast aside, perhaps, given what I find to be the many poorly considered reviews found here.
Shadowplay (2020)
But the Sets, and Actors, are Great!
I literally forced myself to watch all eight episodes, if only in appreciation for what this ambitious series could have been. Alas, the best I can say is the show's basic idea, the exploration of the tumultuous time after VE Day in Berlin, was an inspired one (something it shared with the brilliant, in all ways, "Babylon Berlin"). But despite this -- and, indeed, perhaps because of it -- the series, IMO, failed miserably, ending up being little more a collection of spectacular sets in search of the plausible story they deserved, and one worthy of the show's many excellent actors.
Save Me (2018)
Why would he do that?
I love this show. I don't, however, buy Nelly's last act (other than as a way to set up a third season in a manner it otherwise could not have). Why would he risk sacrificing the chance to actually have a relationship with his newly-found daughter, who he knew was interested in - and needed - just that? More plausible would be Nelly simply devoting his efforts to prove Paul was the killer, whether Paul had run or not. Indeed, given Paul had run would provide additional evidence of his guilt. That all said, I hope there is a third season, and if this final implausible decision by Nelly was what was needed for that, I suppose it is a price worth paying.
Tales from the Loop (2020)
Lovely
Simply lovely. Very human and moving; quirky bits of science fiction exotica strewn around a bucolic paradise create strange, almost retro atmospherics, where the struggle between that clashing sense of mortality and immortality inhabiting all of us is explored in eight, like I said at the start, lovely episodes. I hope there's a second season, and the series gets the attention it deserves.
War of the Worlds (2019)
What is everyone waiting for? Where's the urgency one would expect?
Update Two: Just finished watching the fine third and final season, and am quite impressed. After what I considered the series uneven start, it quickly got stronger, and then stronger still. Indeed, the final season is excellent, with everyone involved -- production, writers and actors -- all having hit their stride. Highly recommend the series, while advising patience during the earlier episodes.
Update: After watching all eight episodes, am hoping the series has a second season. The eye rolling failures, some of which mentioned below, offset by some very interesting developments.
Original: I have watched the first four episodes, which captivating, and will persevere with all eight episodes. But I'm waiting for the main characters to stop waiting. Why aren't, for example, the survivors trying harder to gather together while at the same time gathering supplies and weapons. (And, about weapons, why aren't they trying to find more powerful ones than the sidearms and assault weapons some of them have?) Seems the writers haven't adequately imagined what survivors of something like this would do, admittedly after a period of shock (which itself isn't so convincingly, IMO, depicted), and thus miss the opportunity to explore more universal and interesting themes. Instead, it's as if life goes on, with the focus often still on certain interpersonal dynamics that I would think would not have survived a catastrophe like the one depicted, or at least wouldn't have survived as intact as they seem to here. And so on and so forth.
World on Fire (2019)
Want to like this show, but ....
Spoilers: I really want to like this series, admiring it right off the bat for its ambitions and the intelligent choice of the stories to tell. But several unforced errors keep me from fully engaging. For example, (i) the plodding lack of urgency among the English soldiers, and others, we are following during their retreat to Dunkirk, (ii) the inexplicable decision of our heroes, and the shell-shocked soldiers they picked up, to hangout for many crucial hours in the transport vehicle in Dunkirk while others frantically, and much more sensibly it would seem, seek escape by sea, (iii) the seemingly unconsidered decision of the Polish resistance fighters in Warsaw to continue assassinating German soldiers after the Germans started disproportionate reprisals, etc. But I plan to continue with the series nevertheless, given the overall remaining strength of the compelling stories being told.
The Bay (2019)
Would you want these cops working on finding your lost loved ones?
Great actors, and acting, but so far -- after one episode -- I am having a hard time convincing myself that the parents of the two lost children are wrong to have doubts about whether the cops are doing what needs to be done to find their kids. Seems the writers just assumed viewers would accept that their cops are on top of this, and may have forgotten to show us some evidence that they are indeed so.
Update: After watching second episode, still need convincing, and a lot of it.
1945: From This Day (2018)
Well done early effort by the film makers!
Solid effort; skillfully and quickly develops the main characters, making the most of the movie's short running time; full of sharp dialogue and tense scenes while remaining realistic and, ultimately, insightful. The English accents of the supposedly American soldiers seems like something that could have been avoided, but I look forward to seeing the director and writers work with a bigger budget.