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Shôgun (2024)
Good but could have been so much better
I have not read the book and have not seen the 1980s show, I have no exposure to Japanese culture, so I watched it with an open mind.
Overall it's pretty good but I have two complaints: Blackthorn and the ending.
Cosmo Jarvis is completely wrong for the role. He has a single facial expression - perplexity. He walks aimlessly from scene to scene, makes dumb decisions and generally acts stupid. He does not appear to learn much except picking up a bit of language, does not improve anything and generally has no impact on anything. After watching the series it crossed my mind that if his character is removed then absolutely nothing would change. Blackthorn is a village idiot with no purpose. Not even a comic relief.
The second complaint is the ending. It's a let down in the style of Game of Thrones. They build up the tension in episodes 1-9, and in the 10th they fell flat of the face. Instead of showing the result of Toranaga's plot they tell us bits and pieces of that it's supposed to accomplish. Could not they shoot another two episodes to show how he succeeded? Did they run out of budget?
Episode 10 is a total disappointment.
Simulant (2023)
It's really not bad.
Yes, it is somewhat derivative from Blade Runner. It is low budget, somewhat predictable, the characters are not well developed. Take the detective. Why does he hate simulants so much? It's touched in the end but barely. I can't relate to his hatred for the entire movie. He should be an ambiguous character, but he just comes across as hateful instead. And not redeemed too. Just a hateful schmuck who gets what he deserves.
There are goofs and plot holes:
* The replicant punches a guy so hard that he flies 15 yards away and just gets up and walks?
* The detective goes everywhere with a bunch of goons and suddenly he goes alone? Because stupid or what?
* The replicant is so very smart but in the end goes to a location which is definitely known to the enemy and he can't see that?
* The Evil Megacorp with endless budget knowns that something shady is going on but they send just a single not too smart detective to investigate?
But overall it's entertaining. I felt engaged at least half of the time. The twist in the end is a bit unexpected. It's worth one and a half hours.
ZeroZeroZero (2019)
It should have been 4 hours at most
It should have been 4 hours at most. Or, better, a 2-hour feature film. In addition to being too slow (like she gets into a car and then they spend a solid minute showing her face while she is riding), the people act illogically. For example, the brokers have no muscle but others negotiate with them instead of just killing and taking the whole thing for free.
The Courier (2020)
Excruciatingly dull
Good actors, good settings, excellent visuals albeit a bit dark. And extremely slooooow development with no suspense or action. Boring. Uninteresting. Dull. Dreary. Stale. You get the point. I could not feel anything for any of the characters except maybe a little bit for Jessie Buckley's (Cumberbatch's wife in the movie).
Devs (2020)
Great start, weak enging
Great concept, excellent atmosphere. The first 5 episodes promised a great show. Then it went downhill from the episode 6. The finale was just disappointing.
And the show completely failed to build a believable science back story. First it was manivese then simulation. It felt like "we don't know what we are talking about and we can't get a science advisor to help us".
Silence (2016)
Excruciatingly boring
Quick summary: Good Christian pastor Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) goes to 17th century Japan to convert Buddhists to Christianity and disappears. King-Beyond-The- Wall (Ciarán Hinds) gets a message that Qui-Gon Jinn has not just died but has apostatized. Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) volunteer to go to Japan to search for Qui-Gon Jinn.
SM & KR arrive to Japan. Then they suffer. And suffer, and suffer, and suffer, and suffer, and suffer, and suffer, and suffer, and suffer. Very creatively suffer. Other Christians also suffer and die in droves. They suffer and die for roughly 90 minutes. KR gets himself killed. SM does not get himself killed despite many attempts. He keeps his faith until he finally meets QGJ. QGJ tells SM to stop suffering by giving up his Christianity. SM agrees and stops suffering physically. He starts suffering psychologically instead. He does not show it because he is very strong. His will is so very strong. Yes, very, very strong. There shouldn't be any doubt that his will is strong. Did I mention than his will is strong? Yes, it is!
Many years later he dies as a Christian.
The End.
P.S. Excellent panoramic scenery, believable dresses. No shred of humor to the point of being funny. Liam Neeson is wrong for the role. Andrew Garfield is wrong for the role. Adam Driver is surprisingly good. Overall extremely boring and pointless.
Absentia (2017)
Unwatchable drivel
The characters are acting in a way no normal intelligent person would ever act.
The main male character hit a suspect in the interrogation room because he was making vague threats.
The main female character accused her ex-husband of sleeping around after she was away for 6 years and pronounced dead. Really?
And as usual very predictable scenes like the one when the husband rushes to save his ex-wife and of course saves her at the last second. Of course he still loves her and not his new wife.
All of this is done with faces like they are morticians. Everyone is grave serious all the time.
The Handmaid's Tale (2017)
E x c r u c i a t i n g l y slooowwww
The pace is unbelievably slow. Everyone is always unhappy and oppressively serious that it almost feels like a joke. I'm not even talking about political agenda and freedom fighter clichés. It's like a DMV's safe driving video made into TV series. I suppose I'm also biased because I don't find Elisabeth Moss particularly pretty.