Change Your Image
Snidgy
Reviews
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
So wrong but yet so right...
Let me start off by saying that throughout my life, as a someone who enjoys both art-house as well as blockbuster movies, I've always had a difficult relationship with Tom Cruise.
Cruise is a man who many just love to hate, and to some extent for good reason, ranging from his oddball religious viewpoints and quite memorable borderline insane Oprah appearance to movies like Far and Away and Jerry Maguire (yikes!).
And however inclined I may be to understand those who dislike the guy for the above mentioned reasons, there is also another Tom Cruise, namely the actor who is pretty much the nicest to moviefans, doesn't get involved in abuse, addiction or other kinds of trouble and, most importantly, is one of the few people in Hollywood who just understands great filmmaking.
Because great filmmaking is exactly what Cruise has shown quite consistently over the past two decades with, dare I say, Top Gun: Maverick as his Magnum Opus (for now at least).
I, a 40-plus year-old, saw Top Gun: Maverick with my teenage sons and all three of us just loved it. It is honest, exciting and compelling from start to finish and unites contemporary filmmaking with the type of films many of 'us' enjoyed during our early child- and/or adulthood.
So, despite of all of his shortcomings, I can only conclude that Tom Cruise is just quite simply the KING of blockbuster cinema.
9 out of 10.
The Morning Show (2019)
Wait....did they forget to write a screenplay?
After a pretty decent first season, viewers are now into episode seven of the second season and many must be thinking (like me): "Wait, did they forget to actually write a screenplay for season 2?".
There is really nothing intriguing about this show during this season. Storylines, dialogue and character development; it's all really "mèèèh" at best this time around and mostly really just boring and uninteresting.
Dialogues just seem never-ending and are not compelling in the slightest.
Of course I noticed on various other Apple shows as well that screenwriting is apparently not in the list of requirements set by Apple.
But they could have at least tried, right? Talented actors and most likely tons of money to spend.
What a complete waste of budget and talent this show has become... just a pile of garbage to be really honest.
5 out of 10 (and that's only due to an above average season 1).
Dune (2021)
Set up for disappointment but boy was I wrong...
Let me start off by saying I am not the biggest connoisseur nor fan of the original Dune book and/or earlier movie and series adaptations.
And, contrary to some of the remarks made on this forum I am also not related to the director or hired to write this review. I can also understand that this movie may not be to the liking of quite a few moviegoers and some may even feel somewhat cheated after seeing the movie versus the trailer. It may not be the 'Frozen'-type of deceit (both my sons expected something completely different that time around, LOL) but still Dune is set up quite differently in the trailers (primarily more action-focused) than the movie itself turns out to be; at least this first part.
I myself so much wanted to enjoy this movie which in my case usually can only lead to disappointment in the end....
Having said all of this I personally can only conclude that I truly, whole-heartedly LOVE this movie. It is immersive beyond anything I have seen in cinema over the past decade, and maybe even during my lifetime. The feel of the worlds in which the story place (Caladan but obviously primarily Arrakis) is so brilliantly portrayed that I immediately felt drawn into the story and stayed that way throughout the full length of the movie.
The mythological aspects of the story and analogy with Western civilization versus 'the rest' of our own world managed to make the movie really recognizable despite of the obviously completely fictious setting. The acting, dialogue, directing, art direction, cinematography, special effects, color pallet, pretty much every aspect of this movie was top-notch.
Just a last quick warning of what Dune is NOT: It is NOT a modern Star Wars-like adventure with laser guns. It is NOT an action-packed Marvel-type movie which will keep you on the edge of your seat for 2 hours and 35 minutes straight (and don't get me wrong, I personally really enjoy those type of movies as well).
Dune may take a bit of an investment by some to understand what it's not and to appreciate what Dune actually is; a truly marvelous piece of filmmaking, enriched by a true love of cinema of the filmmakers and where the story itself is the most important of all (not the thrills or special effects).
Watch it on the biggest possible screen you can find and enjoy.
I sincerely cannot wait to see part two and to marvel at the conclusion of this epic piece of cinema.
What a time to be alive and witness this.
P. S. If Warner Bros' decision to simultaneously launch Dune in the US on HBO Max and in cinemas, will result in disappointing box-office results and, as a consequence, limit the production budget or even worse, possibly the making of Dune part two, I will seriously contemplate boycotting WB for the foreseeable future.
Mare of Easttown (2021)
TV like I thought wasn't made anymore...
This series was totally worth every single minute of watching.
It's a series about family, loss and having to make decisions that are difficult, sometimes even beyond comprehension. The acting of the three lead female characters (Kate Winslet, Julianne Nicholson and Jean Smart) is outstanding; I cannot remember having been this impressed by a cast in recent years.
It's a tense murder mystery, a family tragedy and a heartwarming, and at times even funny, story of someone who just has to pick herself up again.
Mare of Easttown is without a doubt monumentally brilliant and I take my hat off for all the people involved in making this...
Mercy Mercy - Adoptionens pris (2012)
Heart-Wrenching Must-See
Mercy, Mercy is a great example of a documentary that puts the viewer in an emotional roller-coaster that speeds up throughout the journey and suddenly stops leaving you with a strong sense of despair. Katrine Rijs Kjaer is lucky, or one could say unlucky, enough to start filming a documentary on the adoption of two Ethiopian infants (siblings aged 4 and 2) by a Danish couple. The initial objective of the filmmaker appears to be making a straight-forward documentary about the subject of adoption in general. The couple, both psychotherapists of trade, at first leave the impression to be the best possible adoptive parents for Masho and her brother. The 'new parents' form a more than welcome escape from what is destined to be a life of poverty and uncertainty with their biological parents (who are both HIV positive). Throughout the film it becomes clear however that the escape has significant drawbacks making the viewer question whether adoption is always the preferred option and if especially Masho would not be better off back home. The last scenes especially had a very big emotional impact on me and are not for the faint-hearted (and/or people with kids that age such as myself). You will find yourself screaming to your television set. 10 out of 10.