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linkchameleon
Reviews
Lover Stalker Killer (2024)
Dateline Already Covered It
Anyone who watches or reads true crime on the regular has probably come across this story already. Not sure why this documentary was necessary when Dateline and other true crime series have covered it.
I know there are only so many true crime stories out there (which is a good thing), but maybe Netflix should start their own true crime series that covers these stories from a new and interesting angle rather than repeating the same material we've already seen elsewhere in this one-off documentary format.
The extra drama that Netflix adds is also unnecessary. I prefer how Dateline sticks to the facts and doesn't try to fluff things up. No need to have scenes with people walking in a dark parking lot just to add to the "aura." It all just feels like fluff to make it longer.
Band of Brothers (2001)
Better than perfect
There are a few shows I've rated 10/10 because I consider them perfect. If I could give this show an 11/10, I would. Because it's better than perfect.
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Unrealistic and boring middle
I grew up thinking this was one of the best war movies ever made but after watching it again as an adult, I noticed some problems.
First, the lack of respect for the captain and the inability of most of these soldiers to follow orders. These men treat Captain Miller like just one of the dudes whom they don't have to listen to if they don't really feel like it. Completely unrealistic. When the captain tells Caparzo to leave the kid, does he listen? No. At one point, Reiben literally tells the captain he's leaving and the captain tells him he can go if he wants. This would not have happened. It's so unrealistic, it's laughable. Reiben would have been brought back to command headquarters and probably been executed. He would have at least been court marshaled for dereliction of duty for even just threatening to leave. At one point, Reiben yells at the captain to "Get back here!" Soldiers did not ever order their captains around in this way. A higher ranking officer would give him such an order but never a lower ranking officer. Then, the captain himself fails to stay focused on his mission at two points in the film and most of his men die as a result. I can buy him veering off track once, but twice? Not really believable.
Next, the middle is boring. The opening scene is great and the end is well done. But the middle is boring. The pacing is off. I didn't care about the characters. There are a few teary-eyed speeches with inspiring music in the background meant to pull at your heartstrings, but I found myself nearly dosing off during most of it.
I'm glad this movie was made because due to its massive success, it helped green light far superior WWII projects like Band of Brothers. I wanted to like this one as much as I did when I was younger, but too many parts are unrealistic and boring. I will give it 6 stars for the effects.
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
Really good for what they had to work with
What I was most afraid of going into RoS:
1. That JJ would feel compelled to stay true to Rian Johnson's terrible vision.
2. That Rey would still have no backstory and her insane force powers would not be explained.
3. That the Emperor's return would be laughable and make no sense.
4. That Luke (my favorite character) would still have no respect for the Force and be completely lame.
5. That Leia's force abilities would not be explained and her character would be wasted like it was in TLJ.
6. That Finn and Poe would be totally wasted again.
7. That we'd be given more new characters who aren't well developed and who make infuriating decisions (Rose and Holdo).
8. That JJ would continue to ignore the rules of the Force the way Johnson did (I cannot and will not get over Force Ghost Yoda's lightning abilities or Luke's ridiculous Force projection battle).
What RoS did:
1. JJ doesn't give a crap about Johnson's vision. He even snubs it a few times. For example, when Force Ghost Luke catches the lightsaber that Rey is trying to destroy and says, "A Jedi's weapon deserves more respect." Heck yes, it does! None of this, "Hi I'm Luke and I'm gonna toss my lightsaber over my shoulder like it's trash" nonsense.
2. Rey's powers are explained in more ways than one. Not only is she powerful because she's Palpatine's granddaughter but because she's had help from fallen Jedi all along. Some people may take issue with her backstory and with the help she receives. Maybe it doesn't completely make sense, but good grief, it's better than, "Rey's a total nobody from nowhere but somehow she's the most OP force user of all time." I thought what they did with her character in this film was inspiring. When Yoda says, "Alone, never have you been"...I'm not gonna lie, I cried. And the fact that she's the emperor's granddaughter, but for all intents and purposes, Luke and Leia are her real mom and dad and she takes their name: that's awesome. I mean, the Emperor turns Anakin to the dark side by promising the ability to cheat death. Anakin's offspring (Ben) dies, while Palpatine's offspring (Rey) lives. BUT she takes the Skywalker name, so who really lives on? It's just all very poetic and inspiring.
3. The emperor's return was a little off just because JJ didn't have enough screen time to fully set it up. But for what he had to work with, JJ did a great job bringing old wrinkle face back. I really liked that we got to see Exegol and a lot of stuff from Sith lore.
4. Luke is the amazing Luke we all know and love and he's who he should have been in TLJ. In my head-canon, lame hermit weirdo Luke never existed.
5. Leia's Force abilities are explained and she's given the credit and attention as a Force user that we've been waiting for since Yoda's line in RotJ, "No, there is another."
6. Finn and Poe are back. They're finally getting the frontmen treatment they deserve instead of clueless, helpless side characters.
7. The new characters are excellent. What I wouldn't give to have had Zorii, Babu Frik, little cone head droid, and Jannah in TLJ instead of Rose and Holdo. Nothing at all against the actresses who play Rose and Holdo. Unfortunately for them, their characters were simply not written well. These new characters are written well, and frankly, Babu Frik is so cute, I want to adopt him. I also really enjoyed the cameos of old characters, especially Han.
8. JJ does continue to ignore the rules of the Force the way Johnson did. This was probably my biggest complaint of the film. How do Rey and Ben pass physical objects between each other despite being far apart? How does Force Ghost Luke lift the x-wing? Whatever. Johnson already messed this up, so I guess if this is the only thing JJ didn't fix, I can get over it.
Was RoS perfect? No. It was too rushed because JJ had to fit in a lot of stuff that should have been in TLJ. Some of the Force use was questionable, but nothing here was as cringe as in TLJ. Was this trilogy pointless because Anakin was the chosen one and he brought balance to the Force in RotJ? Yeah, probably. But if you can look past all that and just want to have fun watching Star Wars, this is a really good film. Thank you, JJ, for salvaging this trilogy remarkably well.
Hitler's Circle of Evil (2018)
Good but repetitive and overly simplified
Before watching this documentary, I knew very little about Hitler's inner circle aside from their names, what their jobs were, and what happened to them after the war. I did learn a lot more from watching this, but there were definitely problems with the production.
I agree with other reviewers that the show was way too repetitive. The filmmakers had enough material to fill 10 hour-long episodes without having to rehash the same facts over and over. They could have spent more time on people they gloss over, like Donitz. He shows up at the end and the viewers barely get a glimpse of him. Or they could have introduced other prominent Nazi leaders like Keitel and Ribbentrop who aren't mentioned at all.
This is less important, but I didn't like the change in actors halfway through the production. It was confusing and the "older" actors especially didn't look anything like the men they were portraying (most notably Hess and Göring). Why not keep the same actors and age them a bit with makeup? It was distracting.
Finally, the filmmakers overly simplify these men. We get it: Bormann was conniving. Himmler wanted to be a soldier. Hess was a bit of a looney. That's interesting and all, but in order to understand these evil men more fully, we need to delve deeply into their histories and characters rather than focusing on only one or two of their personality traits.
Really, I wanted more on what made these men who they were. How can we learn from history's mistakes if we don't fully understand the villains?