geocapital Reviews

Brazen (2022)

A goofy police mystery

[3/10 · 13 January 2022]

In this movie what at first, I thought it was a comedy, a police detective and a book writer date each other and compete who will find the killer of her sister. The writer's book must be as lousy as Brazen's script, as discussed at their first date. Anyhow, the killer is pretty obvious from the beginning, but it takes a whole movie for them to find out. Funnily enough, the police captain allows the random writer to participate to the police investigations.

Actually, it is a very good movie (hence the 3 stars) to put on the background when you do something else, as you can check it out anytime and you haven't missed anything (as I said, you probably know the killer from the first 15 minutes).

The Chestnut Man (2021– )

Not bad, but just that

[5/10 · 3 October 2021]

I liked the mystery, the blending of the children tunes to a vicious serial killer who leaves little chestnut men at his scenes of activity.

Photography was really nice also, the colours, the music, it fitted with the series so well.

The story though is really really poor, the detectives make grave mistakes, the action scenes are based on people doing really dumb things... Instead of empathising, you kind of feel that they had it coming.

Midnight Mass (2021)

An enjoyable horror series worth watching, but...

[7/10 · 24 September 2021]

Well, there is no but. This series is fun, in a horror way. Mysterious at the beginning - if it wasn't for some of the usual Flanagan cast I wouldn't even think it was a horror story. But then it gets wilder. The transformation is a bit Tarantino style.

Nevertheless, the story is a bit too predictable, especially after you see the grandma with the excessive makeup, and when horror things start happening, you just know the whole concept. Towards the last 2-3 episodes I was just waiting for it to end. So predictable.

But overall it was fun, and it was nice to see some of the usual cast back together.

Haunted (2018– )

Best horror comedy I have seen after Scary story

[3/10 · 18 May 2021]

This is a very funny series with all sorts of weird make ups and shrieking sound effects, even in situations that do not fit. Very good actors, especially when they pretend they are demonised or just crazy. The special effects are hilarious!

Spoiler alert! The series is very dark. You can barely see anything, even in sunlit days.

The center of the series are "live" interviews with "witnesses" who due to either trauma or craziness or need for attention say all sorts of funny stories to their friends, who of course agree that the main interviewee is in need of psychological support - if not medical care -, and actually that's what they do there, on camera.

PS. Watch it with subtitles on to get the whole feeling. You can then understand that the music is indeed ominous or that "dad panting".

Things Heard & Seen (2021)

Did you know...?

[2/10 · 1 May 2021]

The only explanation for this movie is this: There was a group of scriptwriter friends who went to a deserted forest cabin to write the perfect script. Crazy things started happening, and one by one the friends were found killed in a bizarre way around the cabin. The last one managed to survive and return back to the city. He kept his promise to finish the script with all the parts that his lost friends had written.

And so this movie (Things Heard & Seen) was made.

A haunted house, a sleepy husband, a weaving professor (inspired obviously from MIT), an ugly ghost, a fake recommendation letter, a lost ring (to rule them all), a naughty cowgirl, love at first sight, awkward dinners with strangers, the wife of Indiana Jones, blood, water, purgatory, serial killer, fishing, possessed projectors, painting. This movie has everything you ever wanted to see in a movie.

How it turned so bad, I wonder...

Behind Her Eyes (2021)

Don't forget season 2

[5/10 · 3 April 2021]

...where body switching has become the regular way of living.

You don't physically go to work, you just switch to the person already there for 8 hours and then come back. Or you can rent a body at the Bahamas for the weekend. Sure, you need to astral travel for long, but hey, astral travel should happen at the speed of light (at least). At least there are no more cars or airplanes (sell your stocks!).

This show has so much potential!

Seriously now, the show is amazing the four first episodes. When the fifth starts and you realise that this colourful aura is not an accidental flash of light, the whole psychological drama kind of collapses. On top of the supernatural core element, a number of further illogical twists (such as how someone learns to go out of their body) are squeezed in to make the final suprising twist happen. But nevertheless, after you realise that body switching is a thing, then nothing is surprising anymore. Actually, I guess the creators thought of the last episode first, and then added the rest of the story to build the drama.

Great acting by the way. I mean it. But I do wonder, when you body switch, shouldn't the accent come with you?

So, if you liked the show, you may also like the new Spiderman, where the Blip happens and people disappeared and returned the same a few years later.

Frikjent (2015–2016)

Average plot, bad casting

[5/10 · 5 August 2020]

So, the main idea is not bad. A Norwegian guy goes back from Malaysia where he has a family, to Norway to buy a local company, owned by the family of his ex-girlfriend who died 20 years ago. He was the main suspect and all the village still suspects him for a murder he was acquitted thanks to another girl's testimony.

So, did he do it or not? Even he doesn't seem to remember.

The casting is bad, acting is either exaggerated or too passive - largely out of context, and the progress is so slow that you feel you are watching a soap opera. It's actually much more about relationships (the company owner with her husband, her son with his wife, the main actor with his son, his wife, and his ex-girlfriend, etc), rather than a mystery. So, in 10 episodes, there are practically no new information on the old crime, but somehow the murderer gets to confess.

This concept of the memory loss had made such an impact to the writers that they decided to stick on that for the second season. So, as I am at the first episode of the second season as I write these lines, once again we are not sure if the confession will count, due to a strategically added short-term memory loss.

So, again the question is "did he do it? or did he not?"

Too bad they stopped at two seasons. They could clear up the whole village in about a decade...

The 100 (2014–2020)

Starts well, but gets messier and messier

[5/10 · 3 May 2020]

This show starts well. A number of people left earth after a nuclear holocaust killed everyone else and live on a spaceship in orbit. They live there for a long time, but now for some reasons not to spoil, they sent 100 teenagers back to earth to see if it is habitable. Guess what. They are not alone. Far from it. The rest of the show is a teen drama trying to catch (unsuccessfully) the mystery of Lost (remember that smoke?), the intrigue of Game of Thrones, and the bloodlust of (add favourite gore movie), I'm finishing second season now, and everything that has been practically happening so far is people traveling up and down, killing or trying to get killed on the way. Very few events make any sense (but not because they are so smartly crafted and you will know later why they happened); people just react in irrational ways. I will see it through to understand how it made it to all these seasons, but from now on, only on a part of my screen.

Crossing Lines (2013–2015)

What happens when you can't pay your actors enough

[6/10 · 7 April 2020]

This show has a few great ideas but misses in the implementation. It is about the International Criminal Court, which in this series takes over a very active, part CSI part criminal minds approach to all sorts of criminal cases that involve crossing borders within Europe. Thus criminals tend to act across Europe and that makes the basis of this show quite interesting. The crimes are interesting, the members of the ICC come from a few different places around Europe, so a bit different aattitudes and accents, the action is good, there are some fine side stories and some effort for character development. The major issue is the large overhaul that happens at the end of season two. It's irrational and it looks like it was the result of an effort to close several chapters at once, but failing to do so in a smooth and logical way. My bet, the actors that were asking too much for the third season had their character terminated... Then, there is an American in the team. Being also an American production, I guess it was part of the deal. He is some kind of the Mentalist but more down to earth, more sad, and destroyed kind of guy. Let's accept him. Another issue is time travel. ICC apparently uses that a lot to transport themselves from one country to another. Crimes are fine. But finding the solutions looks more like the detectives have read the script and know what to expect. So, we see that X happens, and the next scene at the meeting someone suddenly out of the blue says, "what if X had happened". Another annoying thing was that many episodes finish in a rush. From complete ignorance to total enlightenment, it takes often a few seconds, and the bad guys are caught in. Season 3 seems to lose its multinationality, as the characters behave in a more flat, univeral way. My guess is that they thought that if shows like CSI can change their protagonists, then they could do it too. However, the ones from the first two seasons were far more interesting than both CSI and the Crossing Lines third season. Lastly, there are the usual factual gaps that are common in most of these crime shows. So, dont take it too seriously-

So, overall, there are some interesting ideas and the first two seasons, although a bit superficial, they are fun to watch. At the end of the second season you will be definitely disappointed. The third season looks like a totally new show.

6 Underground (2019)

What you get when you make a movie on drugs

[3/10 · 14 December 2019]

This is what happens when the editor is on cocaine OD while working and your camera is stuck to the zoomed-in focal length. If it was a video clip, I wouldn't mind. Then it would also be over after 3 minutes. But this was a full length movie, where no scene lasted more than half second. Add this to awful acting, stupid lines, bad humour, no story, and you have a very nice 3/10 movie you should get paid to watch. The point that the billionaire has faked his death has no effect to the story before and after his death (except that he has - SPOILER ALERT - long hair after).

PS. In this world, bullets go only in slow motion

Confessions of a Serial Killer with Piers Morgan (2017– )

Looks like Piers Morgan tries to kill himself

[1/10 · 30 November 2019]

I totally agree with all the negative comments for this show. Indeed Morgan doesn't listen, doesn't care, and has no flair or talent in "cornering" the criminal. It ends up in a dialogue of this type: "You did it" "No I didn't" "Yes, you did" "No, I didn't" until the convicted gets angry and goes away. Now, I think Morgan is hoping for one of them to kill him at that point. but then disappointed, moves on to the next option.

Anyhow, the show is a pathetic joke. Years after these guys are convicted, Morgan thinks he will manage to make them admit of the crime. He is a journalist, but he thinks he is a psychologist. Fails of course.

Joker (I) (2019)

A masterpiece

[10/10 · 3 November 2019]

I saw the movie without having read anything (I had watched all the Batman movies though, but no graphic novels). I did all the reading afterwards and I tend to disagree with many of the "expert" opinions that are mentioned in the wiki article about it. This movie is singular in its concept and gives a humanised, down-to-earth version of the Joker and how it came to be. No silly "fell in acid" resolutions, no magical tricks, no plastic surgeries... just a real human in a collapsing world, who finds a perverted way to rise, as a result of mental illness and abuse by everyone. It blends nicely with the Batman beginnings, also adds an interesting twist, and you know what? As Batman is not a hero with superforces, but a high-tech gadgeted superhero, so should the Joker be. A simple human who turns villain (or may turn villain) because of need and condition. I liked Heath Ledger's Joker. But this one is so different, so realistic. Joaquin Phoenix is amazing. He makes you feel for the Joker, and through the fantastic storyline (with some elements from the novels, but mostly - i think - invented) build up the climax on how a disfunctional comedian-to-be came to be the Joker. The only sort-of-negative remark that I have is that in this film, the Joker does not appear to be this high-intelligence individual that could become an archvillain for Batman. Apparently, this ambiguity was intended, although I think it was the result of an incompatibility with the character development chosen as the core of this film.

Tell Me Who I Am (2019)

A story of two twins, with a twist

[10/10 · 26 October 2019]

What a peculiar story. This is a documentary about the relationship of two twins, but with a twist. One of them loses his memory after an accident and when he wakes up from the coma, he remembers only his brother. Then it slowly builds up the post-accident period and how he re-writes his memory with the help of his brother. But how accurate were the "implanted" information and what was the big secret missing. While the documentary slowly builds up the suspence (a little too slowly in part II) before the revelations (and let you fill with all sorts of angry sentiments), in reality it puts most emphasis on the relationship of the two brothers and how that evolved under the light of their personal histories - before and after the life-changing accident. Indirectly, it also deals with how much memory defines us as persons, and how easily (or not) it can be manipulated, implanted, distorted, when we accept things without judging or with too much trusting. As a result of the priorities the documentary has set (with which I think I agree), there are several questions that remain and add to the mystery of the story. Trying to discuss them or understand them would only lead to an anticlimax and miss the actual point: If you ever had the chance, would you give a new life to the person you love the most?

13 Reasons Why (2017–2020)

Exaggerating

[2/10 · 17 January 2019]

The story is interesting, with the game of the tapes, and the psychology. I also liked the montage and the alteration between past and present. However, the behavior of people is exaggerated. I dont know if teenagers have become now so soft and sensitive, or this is how Americans are, but if I judge about my teenage years mentality and that of my schoolmates, this show is very off. Characters get upset with (often) silly things, the arguments or the events that justified the blame of everyone for the death are in most cases idiotic, and come on... "I thought you were my friend" that is heard again and again, with every random person that doesn't want to go out with you? Bullying is a real problem and its often expressed much more aggressively and in a threatening manner to lead to a suicide, than this show demonstrates. Of course it's a tv show. It just takes a serious issue and expresses it in a silly way.

Luther (2010–2019)

Nothing more than a detective story with a twist

[6/10 · 7 July 2018]

I decided to watch this one due to the very high rating. However, I was totally disappointed. It is a nice detective story. Luther, although a good detective, cannot control his temper, and then gets always in trouble. Things get worse when he is trapped by a corrupt colleague of his, to take the blame for the murder of Luther's ex-wife. Now, that could be a cool story, however the characters are very shallow and the story makes logical leaps in order to move on to action. I won't judge why Luther cannot control his temper. That's the main thing of his character. However, I will judge the easiness with which his boss decided to act "professionally" and to judge him as guilty without a trial. You can say her character was made to be weak, but I don't buy it. It also felt so strange how the story is jumping, with Luther guessing and finding the culprit in each crime, like out of the blue. It seems they want to concentrate on the action (and the temper of Luther), but still, it always looked like Luther had seen the same crime scenes that we had seen, and choosing the criminal from the crowd like that. A few times action looks like it makes logical leaps too. Someone appears, some shooting from half a meter, but no one dies...

Anyhow, it's not a bad show to watch, but its re-watch value is very low.

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Indiifferent

[1/10 · 8 October 2016]

This is what we call, a very American movie. A silly road trip of a family to take the 7 year old daughter to a beauty contest, together with her drug-addict grandpa, her depressed gay uncle, a loser father and a detaching teenager brother. Several unexpected things happen on the road to add to the silliness that is supposed to teach us that family is more important than anything else. And that beauty contests are a silly tradition. So, being too "American", all the teachings are more than obvious to make sure they reach even the dumbest. A collection of stereotypes that are "torn down" as the movie evolves as the family realises what is really important. There are deeper and better movies to show that. Watch it only if you think that beauty contests should still be a thing. If you don't live in an superficial world, you don't need this waste of time to teach you that family ties are more important and life is worth fighting for..

Rose Red (2002)

Typical

[1/10 · 14 August 2016]

This is a typical paranormal activity movie: The characters act like idiots, making always the worst choice (like going alone somewhere), most of the paranormal things do not happen on screen, characters die one by one (although they do stay longer in this 4-hour mini series) and you can't even understand why these characters are there in the first place, music that you would never listen by itself (it feels strange that the OST seems to have been released as a double album) and a whole stage and acting that offers more laughs than its parody could ever do. So, the story is about a mentally problematic "psychology" professor who is also a fond fan of paranormal activity. Trying to boost her career, she decides to go and collect some "hard" data (hahahaha) to prove to her boss and the psychology scientific community that paranormal activity is real. The place for that is a mansion belonging to her boyfriend and is supposed to be haunted. Because of numerous deaths, the place was left empty for many years and is considered to be sleeping... For reasons unknown, the "scientist" believes that the house will wake up thanks to a group of other paranormal crazees that she is actually paying to go to the house with her and especially a telekinetic teenager that seems to be special among the rest (we don't know why). Although each of the members seems to have a special talent (a special move if you are a gamer), they barely seem to need it as any random guy could act the same way in that house. So, this professor takes all the expensive equipment of the university (telemetric... hahaha) and goes to collect some hard data. These equipment include a camera and a machine that measures temperature (called thermometer) and how many people are in the room (and despite the number being larger than the actual people, it still doesn't make a difference in the story). After they move in and before setting the equipment, they go on a tour. Although a lot of the paranormal activity happens during this tour (like the screaming room), they don't record anything, and the prof continues the tour like nothing happened. Later on, when more paranormal things happen, the same professor who was so adamant that there is paranormal activity, appears to ignore it and get even crazier forgetting the reason she went there in the first place. Maybe at the end, we understand why... Anyway, to tell the truth, if you like this kind of movies, you will have some pleasant time, with some nice laughs when you know what is going to happen (and it does!). But it's a terribly long movie, with very slow development and these boring scenic gaps fitted for TV shows. Anyway, I'd better go change my underwear for the fifth time. Still half an hour to go.

The Revenant (I) (2015)

What's the buzz... tell me what's happening

[3/10 · 16 January 2016]

I really enjoyed the Birdman, last year and I thought this year's Alejandro G. Iñárritu's work would share some of its virtues... Alas... Based or not on real events, this movie is a 2015 rendition of Rambo II. The main differences are: It's a few decades later, Rambo is played by Leonardo Di Caprio, the director won the Oscar last year, it's located in the American wilderness in the winter, Rambo doesn't show any muscles and (here comes the spoiler) he dies at the end.

The similarities: Glass, the main character is almost immortal. He can get attacked by hundred of (as it's not Vietnam in this case) Indians, animals, can avoid bullets but kill in one shot everyone he needs.

He is also left by his comrades to die, but yet, survives, heals himself in the freezing cold and crawls back for revenge.

Yes, this is a Hollywood movie with everything. A star in the main role, lots of action, amazing visual effects, shootings and of course the protagonist who can't die with anything... until the very end. There is even a Boss fight at the end, as any good (or not) video game ends with.

In the positive side, Iñárritu is a very good director and his technique is obvious in this movie as well. I liked the camera moving from one character to the other as the fight goes on or as people move around coming even too close to the camera. It was an interesting idea, and an interesting modification with the Birdman's continuous camera shooting, but keeping the signature distinct. Di Caprio has evolved to a good actor, but I still believe his best role so far was in Django unchained. In this case, for a large part of the movie he cannot walk nor talk, which might give him the Oscar, as several actors who played people with mobility or other issues, have got before.

So, 3 stars only because the director is good. The story is long and boring, the scenario uninteresting, the fight with a bear a big joke, the healing in the winter also. I hope Iñárritu will give us something good next year.