alexplp-50480 Reviews

True Detective: Night Country: Part 6 (2024) Season 4, Episode 6

Falls flat ... kinda

[7/10 · 19 February 2024]

So being clear I don't think this season was bad at all. It just had the True Detective trademark on its shoulders and couldn't bear the weight of it. If it wasn't sold as a TD anthology maybe the us, the audience, would've been more kind to this production.

For the record I only watched the 1st season of the show (which is seemingly the only one worth the watch) but this one caught my eye with three things: Jodie Foster (one of my favorite actresses), Issa López (Mexican talent), and the Long night setting in Alaska. I was expecting some dramatic, dark, and unsettling thriller with the TD vibe everywhere.

However, we got a mystical investigation that's honestly not bad but coming from a visceral and philosophical show, this season felt very out of place. And the pacing was totally awful, the main storyline was somehow stretched into 6 episodes with loads of filler.

And the important settings for this season are totally wasted. What difference does it make the full darkness the town is immersed in (like the location could've been Salt Lake City in the afternoon and it would've been the same thing, wasted potential)? What did the one-eyed polar bear mean? Did the voices have anything to do with the story?

Overall it was entertaining but it somehow feels incomplete, like it bit more than it could chew. This is just another proof that season 1 continues to be peak TV and unbeatable in many fronts.

The Woman in the Window (2021)

Looking up for it and ended up soooooo disappointed

[6/10 · 16 July 2021]

Last year I watched the trailer and was so excited to watch the movie. Then the covid came and I had time enough to read the book and really loved it. The movie itself is not that bad. Has many good things in it that make it enjoyable but not a masterpiece. The main problem I have with it is that doesn't include many of the key points in the book.

The movie is faithful to the novel but if you look closely many things are missing. I understand taking out the chat online with Lizzie (actually Ethan) but the movie doesn't explain that the accident Anna had was the reason for her agoraphobia and that she spent DAYS on the snow.

In the book there are 5 main plot twists: -Jane actually being alive -Anna's family being dead all along -"Jane" being Ethan's real mother -Ethan telling Anna it was Alistair who killed Jane -And that Ethan was actually the killer

The movie is limited to take 3 of them and makes the final act not as shocking as the book one. From the beginning, Ethan looks very disturbed but not as he is supposed to. And Ethan manipulating Anna by the emails, the chats, and even by letting her watch him through the window, were the things that made it so surprising in the end.

I could spend so much time talking about key points in the book that were omitted by the movie but I'm not gonna do that.

Amy Adams is incredible but Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman, and, (especially) Jennifer Jason Leigh are very wasted. They are good actors but they just got very small roles and that's a shame.

I think Tracy Letts was not the right choice to write the screenplay. He struggles to adapt his plays so to have him adapting a work from another person is (for me) a total mistake.

As I said, the movie is not bad and I know it doesn't have to be exactly like the novel but, if it is an adaptation, why didn't the movie adapted the things that made the book so good?

Mildred Pierce (2011)

Masterclass on acting, not so bright writing

[7/10 · 9 June 2021]

This is a good mini-series but has some flaws. But first I have to praise Kate Winslet and Evan Rachel Wood for their acting and chemistry (even if their characters nearly hate each other). But the thing is that the story gets sooooo stretched to fill the 5 episodes that from episode 3 on may feel a bit boring and kinda repetitive.

I get that we need to see Mildred's ups and downs but it just feels the same until the fifth episode. I haven't read the book yet but I think it wasn't structured to be adapted into a miniseries. Maybe a movie (I mean the one with Joan Crawford) but not a 5-hour series. Some dialogues are full of wit and deepness but, some feel very dull. Todd Haynes directed flawlessly but the scripts he co-wrote needed to be fixed or shortened.

Kate Winslet just nails every scene she's in and gives a powerful performance mostly in the scenes with young and adult Veda. The relationship between these feels so real even if it's a toxic one, a VERY toxic one. Kate gives us a character that has been beaten by life but, tries to go on and give her daughters a better life even if the world is falling down.

The sets and costumes are just brilliant. Anything you would expect coming from a period production.

It is a beautiful story and production, feminism at its best, but the writing needs some fixing.

Westworld: Crisis Theory (2020) Season 3, Episode 8

I wish Nolan and Joy were more interested in their own show...

[5/10 · 31 March 2021]

This is just getting ridiculous. Season 1 was a masterpiece, season 2 could've been better, but this one is a total mistake by the showrunners. No character development, nothing happens in the whole, season and the main character that carried the whole season died.

I think the thing that made Westworld so good was how the show played with different timelines and on the final episode you piece things together. This factor was truly what made the show so addictive. By taking it out is doesn't feel the same. It's a shame really.

I see an ending like the one that Game of Thrones had. I'll give an opportunity to the next season and I hope Nolan and Joy give us the same quality they had on the first season and that they give us back Dolores. Otherwise, the show will be screwed.

Westworld (2016–2022)

If you are going to watch Westworld...

[9/10 · 31 March 2021]

This TV show is a complete masterpiece, but only the first season. And don't get me wrong, seasons 2 and 3 are good even though they don't have the same storytelling quality. But if you want to watch a show full of intrigue, plot twists and good acting just watch season 1. You don't have to be a sci-fi fan to enjoy the show. Is more like a drama. A drama full of robots. You can still watch the other seasons but if you loved the first one you'll be disappointed.

Pieces of a Woman (2020)

Give Vanessa Kirby an Oscar!!!

[7/10 · 7 January 2021]

I'll be brief. Its a good movie. The first 30 minutes of it are pure art and the performances by Burstyn and LaBeouf are as great as expected but the great revelation here is Vanessa Kirby who gives a solid performance and makes you really feel for her and her loss. But the thing with this film is that after those great 30 minutes it feels so flat and the end doesn't really pay. The trial feels very conventional and it is like something we've already seen. The direction in this film is very well done by Kornél Mundruczó who clearly knows how to make a film but struggles on getting some substance in the script. I wouldn't say the film is Oscar worthy but the performances of Burstyn and obviously Kirby completely are. However the film delivers in many aspects but not all of them. Not a bad film but it isn't the best of the century. A solid 7

Soul (2020)

Not for kids

[9/10 · 27 December 2020]

I really liked this movie and I think its a shame it couldn't get to theaters but it has a really elaborated script that could be a little difficult to understand for children. Besides that the movie is great and the message really moving.