Change Your Image
Nico333
Reviews
My Unorthodox Life (2021)
Season 2 - Why Are We Watching???
Far, far worse than the first season, if that was possible. Any semblance of reality is now gone. Any "struggle" from Season 1 has now been trashed and it's "Let's Make a Deal" (with the ex-).
It has very little "drama" now, as any "work" that was being done by a our heroine and her "COO" is now completely out the window seeing that there is no actual work, so that pretense is over. I'm beginning to think a lot of pretending has been going on since Day 1.
The vacuosity of this show leaves one in no doubt who should be offended by this: everyone. I'm secular and was offended with the constant merry-go-round of manufactured partying with "friends". I ended up feeling sorry for those people of faith, or of just human decency, that this charade of bread and circuses brings to the screen with cringeworthy regularity.
There's so much to be embarrassed about here, (mainly the outfits and the narcissism, of almost everyone) but the last ep was a surprise when Julia had some sensible advice to her unfortunate and entitled progeny. That was a bit of the old Julia from Season 1.
And as of December 2022, Haart Sphere still isn't up and running. Quel Surprise.
L'appartement (1996)
Hasn't Aged Well
We all know what a great actor Cassel can be. He must look back at this and cringe. I'm giving it 4 as it is just ok, and it's sorta unpredictable and unintentionally amusing.
A Paris with no traffic, and parking? Max even has to borrow a car to visit a cemetery. Now I know that cemetery is only a few minutes from anywhere by Metro, yet Max parks out the front in the only car. Good luck with that irl. And everyone drives old Minis and Goddesses like they're in a Maigret remake. Why??
I can remember seeing this at the cinema in the 90's and while it was enjoyable, it looked as if it had been made at least ten years earlier. It's as if De Palma took a Paris vacation and made a movie while he threw a party. It just feels like a movie, with movie things in it. Self conscious, almost laughable, movie making.
Movies like Vertigo and Obsession come to mind, but Cassel's Max as the lead is so vaguely drawn and his motivation so sketchy that when the end comes we don't care for anyone much, especially Max.
Maybe Max's girlfriend. We were wondering about her.
There's way better movies out there in this genre.
L'amica geniale (2018)
Season 3 pays off big time!! For Italophiles and Romantics
Ok, so I've just (in this last hour) finished the third season, and it really has brought all these characters, the time and the place so, so vividly to life.
1979 was my first visit to Italy, and my time in Florence was life changing indeed. But that's another story, and if you're familiar with the movie Salvador you might realize there was an Italian connection there.
In any event, Italy in the '70's was in constant and often very violent political turmoil, and, strangely, doing quite well economically. But society was obviously changing quickly and this series lays it all out perfectly for us to see how it affected people from all levels of society there, in the impoverished South and the cultural North.
Not for everyone, but I'd give Season 1 a 7, Season 2 an 8, and Season 3, I'm gonna have to give it a 10. (Minor spoiler next sentence!)The romantic affair depicted in the last few episodes is one of the most accurate I've seen portrayed anywhere, and I'm an old guy. You can really feel their passion and confusion. At last the story is gaining a coherence that feels very real.
While motivations in this story are often lost in the subtlety and the acting from major players is variable (I understand they're very young), the art direction, cinematography, makeup, costuming and music are elite. The work that went into this is 100%, I feel I'm back there, in the '50's through to the '70's, planes notwithstanding.
A must see for Italophiles and romantics.
Bring on Season 4!
Mystery Road: Origin (2022)
Camera work 10. Acting not 10
Always the issue with Australian productions, Mystery Road suffers from middling to bad acting and probably direction and problematical pacing. Add to that a panoply of tropes and a whiff of the ole SBS inclusive drama I got the feeling I'd seen this all before. Some of the leads are really solid, others are just over- or undercooking it most of the time. So there's that.
The big plus for me was the cinematography, absolutely top shelf. But boy was this sloooow, and with so many scenes that had little point, (and big red herrings) and that went on for far too long and could have been chopped. A three or four parter might have been a better option.