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Reviews
Das Signal (2024)
Decent but be prepared to suspend quite a lot of disbelief
I enjoyed this up until the last episode. The acting is great. Another review questioned criticism of the acting based on dubbing but I only ever use subtitles.
Setup is done well and drew me in, there is enough going on to make you curious although some of the revelations are dragged out, the effects are good enough with only one or two dodgy bits of CGI. The relationship between Sven and Charlie is nuanced and convincing. Most of the other characters are delivered well although space jock being allowed on the ISS seemed ludicrous.
The ending felt a bit anti-climactic to me as well as completely infeasible but the message about how we deal with crises as a species seems sadly accurate at the moment.
Final comment - one other scathing review poured scorn on the idea of someone being able to listen in on radio transmissions between Paula and Charlie. If you're going to watch sci-fi, maybe consider understanding a bit of science first.
Mr Inbetween (2018)
Outstanding
The casting, acting, writing, direction and editing in this are just top class. There's a tinge of Tarantino in some of the "mates on the sofa" dialogue, but none of the nastiness. The nuanced, complex characters come across as perfectly believable even in some completely unrealistic scenarios. Nicholas Cassim is just superb as Brucie.
The episodes are paced perfectly allowing rich character development balanced with keeping the story moving and some of the "chapters" are very tight indeed while some develop over multiple episodes. The writing is incredibly skilled and subtle, just laying out a trail obvious enough but needing a little thought to keep it engaging and it takes you to some emotional places.
I got through all 3 series in just over a week. Loved it.
I still have no idea what Demmys are.
All the Light We Cannot See (2023)
Great atmosphere, charming concept, diabolical script
I was caught up enough in the fate of Werner and Marie to stick with this to the end and it had its charm and some decently dramatic moments. Ruffalo should have done the same as Laurie and kept to his own accent because his was wandering all over continental Europe, I still always find him a compellling actor. Laurie did amazingly well to deliver some of those lines with a straight face. The costumes, sets and CGI were all excellent. The writing was quite honestly awful. So many cheesy unrealistic exchanges. The jewels look like a bit they're out of a Christmas cracker. No light to them at all, ironically.
First 2 minutes are well done and draw you in but seem to involve a mass bombing raid on the civilian population of St Malo. Are they sure those radio signals were getting through?
Fall (2022)
3 stars for the cinematography
There's only so far I'm prepared to suspend disbelief. And it doesn't include dropping the rope down the side of the platform that's furthest from what you're trying to reach or numerous other examples presented in the mercifully short running time of Fall.
It looked good, sound was also used pretty well although I suspect the top of that tower would be a lot windier in reality, not as much blatant CGI as I was expecting, and had a few vertiginous moments but desperately needed a character you could invest in (the dad came closest - was his surname really "Conner" vs "Connor"?!) and a 90% reduction in "oh come on, really??" moments.
Meander (2020)
There's something deeper in here but it's too well hidden
Starts as a typical kidnap thriller but turns into a claustrophobic allegorical journey through what seems to be a broken soul. Decent acting, some good clear cinematography, fair amount of confusion. Kept me on the sofa until the end at least.
Are the other victims Lisa finds earlier versions of herself who didn't manage to find their way through their grief? If so why does the maze save her just as you think she's going to die? Is Franzen a personification of her guilt? The blackened charred monster who follows her is him again, right, after being caught in the fire? Are the creators of the maze supposed to represent a deity? Is the alient planet heaven or redemption?
Maybe you just have to decide for yourself, maybe I just like things spelled out for me after too much Marvel.
The Silent Sea (2021)
A decent 100 minute movie stretched over 8 episodes
The script isn't fantastic but I suspect it has more nuance in native Korean. Some decent lighting, sets and a very interesting central idea. The fate of the Earth feels all too real. Yoo, Doona, Moo-Saeng and Young give good performances that deliver some characters you care about but all the others are 2D and behave just bizarrely too often for you to care. Engaging for the first couple of episodes, just way too long for the content that's there. And serious work needed on the 1/6 gravity effects. I can see why the station needed magic simulated earth gravity.
Fatman (2020)
Not only a bad Christmas movie
But quite possibly the worst movie I've seen in years. Absolutely devoid of charm or humour and you really need some of the latter if your plot is based on assasinating Santa. The actors do as good a job as they can with a terrible premise. Who are you supposed to be rooting for here? Maybe Mrs Claus. The only remotely sympathetic character in the whole thing. I don't really understand why I sat through it until the end. Maybe I was waiting to see if there was any point to it. Sadly not.
The Dark Red (2018)
Really interesting setup but the final 3rd ..?
Unlike others, I found the slow paced first half hour of this really gripping. The acting is great, I was completely bought into the main character. I can't remember the last time I was so hoping a protagonist would beat the odds. The Hunt maybe :-)
The cultists are brilliantly sinister. As the full story unfolds, for a while you are convinced the whole thing really happened but then doubts creep in. As it moves into the final third I think it gets too railroaded. There are some good moments in the finale but they could have kept the question open even beyond the end of the movie.
Ad Astra (2019)
This might be the worst movie I've ever half slept through
Honestly I'm not sure if I'm more disappointed in myself for sitting there right to the end or for actually rewinding each time it sent me to sleep to check what I'd missed (nothing)
The professional reviews of this are utterly mystifying.
If you come into this expecting a sci-fi Apocalypse Now - well, did Apocalypse Now have the river boat fly at any point? Did anyone parachute from a magic inertialess helicopter in a monsoon to land exactly on a dining chair just in time for elevenses? Did it have Sheen tape up his friend's face after he was shot, drag him underwater for a mile and then act mildly disappointed when he had terminally expired? These are the kinds of things over which great movies do not expect you to suspend disbelief.
The highlight of watching Ad Astra is realising you are 2 hours closer to your own death as the credits roll.
Sea Fever (2019)
Could have been much better
Others have commented on the lack of character development. Even the lead was left fairly two dimensional. The cinematography and soundtrack are great, albeit the audio mix leaves the dialog a bit indistinct at times. Especially when you have some pretty authentic western Irish accents. The first third is promising but then it just seems to fizzle out. Even what should be a tense and nervy encounter with another boat never raises any sense of danger.
Mission Kathmandu: The Adventures of Nelly & Simon (2017)
Nice art style but devoid of charm
Entirely forgettable. Perhaps the English translation loses something but the dialogue is unconvincing and robs the characters, with the possible exception of Tensing, of any likeability. The 3d animation is quite nicely done and the backdrops have a coherent watercolour style but cheap tricks like a lack of interaction between objects and snow make it all look a bit like a thrown together TV show at times. And asking why your captain is sailing south having just crossed the Atlantic from Canada to the eastern med is just one example of several weird moments that throw you out of the story.