rudiedirkx Reviews

The Bridge (2011–2018)

Hollywood can bite the dust

[9 February 2012]

No special effects. No 'nice weather' filter/overlay. Not a new case every episode. Instead, a well written, well balanced story. Realistic, suspending and occasionally funny.

The main characters are very well written and well played in my opinion. So much better than the Hollywood variants! Both the story and characters are believable and not overacted, like the many, many Hollywood variants.

Also a very important aspect is the overall story line. Too many police/detective shows have a 1 or 2 case per episode methodology and hardly a background story. That gets old fast. Bron/Broen does this well: one (big) case (so far) with many other related things happening for following episodes.

Have seen only 2.5 episodes so far, but had to mention this. Excellent!

Alias (2001–2006)

Stupid outfits, dumb wigs, unconvincing acting: exciting stuff!

[8 April 2011]

I have to agree with many reviews: season 1 is awesome and full of potential, season 2 is still pretty cool and season 3+ is what the hell is going on come on are you serious didn't anybody read this script?!

Yet, I and many like me watched (or will be watching) every single episode. Which means it's good entertainment! I don't like Jennifer Garner, I don't like her character, I don't like her relationships, I don't want to know her problems, but I do wanna know what happens the next episode!

What I really couldn't get over is the stupid outfits... Why is she wearing that crap?? What's with the stupid accents and the stupid wigs? NOBODY KNOWS WHO YOU ARE!! Every mission she goes on, she and only she wears this silly stuff. I just don't get it!

What probably should have been the most important roles of the show, are definitely the most boring: Sydney, daddy Jack and boyfriend Michael. Much more interesting were best friend Will, nemesis Arvin and mommy Irina.

There's also A LOT of details that just don't make ANY sense. You don't have to be a spy or strategist to see some seriously inefficient CIA work going on over there. Everything is a little bit too much or too little: * Too much: Sydney is wearing a bikini in the water and Vaughn is wearing a wetsuit!?!? * Too little: An enemy complex is being attacked by CIA personnel to distract the guards while inside none of the guards know what's going and are TOTALLY SURPRISED when they see Sydney (with her purple hair!? There's not even any infiltration going on here!?) running around and shooting at them.

It's really very tiresome, looking episode after episode. My advice: don't watch it too carefully. Skim it! After 50 hours (?) (3.5 seasons), I'm not giving up. I REALLY hope I'm not in for another JJ fiasco (who said Lost?). I'm afraid I'll never get all my unanswered questions (a lot!) answered, but I'm still not quitting. I mean, who knows what'll happen!? There might even be zombies! Ha, zombies! You're crazy!

PS. Try to ignore the recycling of characters and predictable 'plot twists' and you'll be fine. It's all about the main storyline.

Network (1976)

An 8 after 45 minutes, a 9 after 75 and a 10 after 120!

[8 February 2011]

I don't know what it is about movies made 30+ years ago, but they do have something that can't be faked today. I'm sure it's tried every day (literally a movie a day comes out!) but never actually successfully.

Maybe it's the language. Maybe it's how the plots are written. Maybe it's the characters... It's definitely the actors! And OMG how much it is actual!

In this one, both the characters and the story keep getting better with the minute. Something achieved not much these days. How you make up your mind about characters in a 2010 movie, you change your mind about every 10 minutes in this movie. She's right; she's got a point; she's gotta be crazy; listen to him!; OMG that's exactly how I feel!; he's crazy!

Maybe it's just me - although I'm sure it's not - but I also love how you can see the films of the 60's and 70's look cheap (compared to these days' special effects crap) but still are so much easier to look at than any flying robots and hovering alien spaceships.

I don't think I have ever appreciated a film as much as I do this one. Both due to its brilliance and its age and maybe the combination =)

Go #1976! And also Go #1960 but that's something for another day!

Sanctuary (2008–2011)

Really, really, really, really bad - all of it!

[14 July 2010]

It's a very nice idea. In other reviews the same has been said: a nice blend of genres, etc. A 9 for originality. A 1 for all the rest.

Every single aspect of every single scene is soooo very really unbelievably BAD!

Her accent: totally unnatural and incredibly annoying. Her language: totally unnatural and incredibly annoying. You know who I'm talking about. Pretty much the same goes for her daughter and the thirteen year old looking doc: what they say makes no sense half of the time and what they bring to the table is... wait, it's nothing: he has absolutely no skill (which shows in every episode: Magnus does all the work) and neither does she: she thinks she can fight but she gets her ass kicked all the time!

Yet, somehow at the end of every episode (I've seen 9 and cannot bare to watch a single second anymore) everything worked out and they win... Weird.

Also, Magnus contradicts herself at every turn. Even if you don't pay any attention, you gotta see that! Also, what's with her having been friends with every single famous person? Even if you're 200 years old, you can't have known em all can you? Also, everyone in her family seems to be (or have been) brilliant and a scientist (or pretty much the most famous person in England).

Also, please get some acting lessons or something! It's a deadly combination of: The story is bad, there is no guiding principle, everything they do and stand for is unbelievable (literally, I just don't believe them), Magnus' voice is incredibly annoying AND they can't act! AND: They can't act!! It's a pain to look at! Every they themselves are just standing there like they don't know what to do!

Vegas (2009)

A somewhat misleading title, with a surprisingly good movie

[16 February 2010]

Not many 'drama' movies like this I like. Probably because most (common) movies these days are American, and Americans always have a way of making movies... dramatic. This one though was easy to watch, believable AND (for some people important) easy to relate to, even when having grown up in a perfect family. The predictable parts of this movie (because there are a few) are the structural parts, not the actual content, which makes it all the better. It's still full of semi-exciting (not bad in this case), catching, surprising moments. Together they make the whole thing enjoyable every second.

Maybe because it's European, maybe because it's not American, maybe the director, maybe even the story, but this Drama movie pulled me in at the very start and only let me go at the very end. In one very simple word: brilliant.

Like I said: I don't watch many of these, so I'm definitely not a connaisseur, but I know what I do and don't like and this one I liked a lot!

Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball (2010 Video)

What's with all the one-liners?!?

[21 January 2010]

Though not nearly as well directed, well acted (or casted) or well written as Smokin' Aces, this movie is not too horrible to watch. It's got a decent story and progressing nicely, it's not too predictable (not much more than any other movie these days). Expecting not too much, I'm definitely not disappointed.

One thing bothered me more and more though: the enormously annoying, cheesy one-liners! First it was just agent Baker with the dumb-ass comments and group cheers, but then everybody was spouting bad one-liners!

Another thing that was a total letdown and seriously a SHAME for any self respecting artist in the movie industry: the "special effects". If intended as fake as they look: congratulations on a job well done. If not: OMG, Mr Director, did you even watch this movie yourself??

It's a solid 7, because in spite of the annoyances this movie was very watchable and entertaining. These days entertaining is all you can hope for. Not the very best "part two" ever, but most definitely somewhere in the top 20% (although I'm not sure that's saying much qualitatively).