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parasiteross
Reviews
The Dark and the Wicked (2020)
Good film that only slightly missed being a great film
Growing up a few miles away from the filming location may make me biased but I think this was an absolutely fantastic film that explores the senselessness of evil. People pan the movie because of its lack of resolution but I think that the only thing that causes this movie to ever so slightly miss the mark is because we are not given any backstory as to how any of this started and how the mother knew what she knew. I think if these areas were a little more flushed out, I think the story would have had a more satisfying (even though open) conclusion. Also one minor Texas thing... they should have used coyotes as Texas doesn't have a native wolf population.
Lovecraft Country (2020)
Disjointed and way too much exposition
I really wanted to like this series, but I found myself getting really board around the halfway point. About half the episodes are exposition, though interesting, don't really add much to the story. Because of every other episode being an exposition episode, it makes the story extremely convoluted and somewhat hard to follow. It feels like they attempting a pop cereal theme but they lost the narrative structure as an unattended consequence. Another issue is that the use of racial injustice is so heavy handed that all characters boil down to only being traumatized victims or foaming at the mouth racist monsters... there isn't much outside or in between. They could have made the villains more interesting with a bit more nuance or motivation, but the only real depth we are given is mindless racism cranked to 11 with 0 context. The main characters are so busy being victims of horrible racial injustice, we get very little character development outside of that. So overall, it's sort of a mess. I think if this series was cut in half, more nuanced with its characters and didn't shift gears on theme for each episode, it would be a lot more watchable
Legendary (2020)
Sloppy Structure Lack of Integrity Overshadows Good Performances
The lack of show structure poor production oversight get in the way of potentially a great concept. The show doesn't know if it wants to be X Factor, RuPaul's Drag Race, a platform and documentary for minority queer and trans youth, a production magic behind the scenes peak of how the sausage is made... so it tries to be all of them. The result is more or less kind of a mess. The show doesn't spend enough time on any of these subjects to allow for the audience to get to know or fall in love with the people and houses at the heart of the show.
Another issue is there is no structure to how the judges reward, eliminate, or provide feedback to the teams. Instead we have a a sloppy setup that makes the judges look like they are not qualified to be there, and or they are judging based off of favorites. The show spends way too much time on the judges and their (mostly negative) "feedback". If this show wants it's Emmy, they better take some notes to more structured shows like RuPaul's Drag Race, and work on the likability of their judges.
Kingdom (2019)
Everything the Walking Dead Should Be
Political intrigue, likeable characters, exquisite costume design, action, horror, and comedy... port everything you understand about the multi layers of great Korian cinema and apply it to a TV show. The size and scale of this production is unlike anything I have ever seen for TV save for Game of Thrones and or Vikings. This show is the walking dead we deserve. I highly recommend anyone to at least give it a try.
Kiss of the Damned (2012)
Subtitle, Short, and NOT Twilight
I saw this movie at this year's SXSW. It's refreshing to see a vampire movie that features vampires in classical form... and it is even more refreshing to see a story from the vampire's perspective. This movie may not have hardcore CGI and 3D Gore splashing out into the audience, but it does however offer an interesting 'to the point' storyline and creative indie film tactics. People giving this movie poor reviews are probably looking for the next "Interview With A Vampire" or "Twilight" and are judging it on a summer blockbuster 10 million dollar budget scale. I found this movie to be plenty entertaining and worth checking out.