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Reviews
De twaalf (2019)
Sophomoric, Overextended, Repetitive and Pointless
This series is utterly unbelievable and what I most cant believe is that I sat through its entirety. The series MIGHT have been better if it had been adapted into a 2 hour movie but even if it had, given the absurdity of the courtroom sequences, the horrible dubbing (and ever present mismatched closed captions) and the irrelevance of all the loose personal threads hanging all over the place, I kinda doubt it.
Most amazing to me are how high the reviews that this show has received. As a fan of courtroom drama (gold standard being 12 Angry Men, maybe The Verdict or A Few Good Men the chaotic nature of the Belgium court system boggles the mind. Is it really like that? Anybody who wants to talk just piping up whenever they feel the need and always using conjecture, blind accusations and hearsay? In the entire 10 hour series of which the courtroom drama takes approx 50% I can only think of 1 or 2 questions that had any meaning to the problems at hand. And all those personal threads hoping to help explain each jurors motivations did nothing more than muddy the waters.
Oh, and THE END! Just awful. Save yourself, just say no to this absurd, overrated mess.
Lover Stalker Killer (2024)
Ohhh THe Insanity
This was a crazy stalking case with a twist. Now the twist seemed fairly obvious to me very early on but nonetheless the utter insanity of the perp was enough to keep me watching in the hope that they would be brought to justice. Now, if I can figure the twist so early (I aint no Sherlock) then I cannot understand how the original police investigation so utterly failed to even consider the possibility. Personally I have been the object of a stalkers attention and let me tell you their relentlessness is almost impossible to comprehend. How can somebody be so utterly dedicated and thorough?! They are real world Terminators. They cant be bargained with, they don't feel sympathy and they will not stop ever until you or they are dead (or in this case captured). This is the most acute stalking case I've ever seen and its craziness alone is worth the watch.
Reptile (2023)
Decent debut for a director with skills left to hone
Neo noir is one of my favorite movie genres. This movie felt like it was directed by a honors graduate student in a film school. ALthough I know this is contradictory statement, as I watched this movie I felt BOTH like I knew exactly where it was going to lead me to but confused about what was going on. There were numerous jumps from one scene to another that were apparently designed to create fairly transparent jump scares which I think were unnecessary and some time jumps also that confused me. The plot itself was a pretty basic noir and as I mentioned I was never really surprised when any reveal came to light. In addition as the movie is over 2 hours long I felt that the minor subplot about Benicios wife and the handyman was totally unnecessary and should have been cut out. All in all the movie kept my attention and IF this is a first effort by the director I would say he shows promise but still has to hone his skills further before he is ready for success on the big screen.
Severance (2022)
Black Mirror meets Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind at The Office
A thoroughly original show, well executed and excellently acted. Severance is actually quite interesting from the opening scene but also does not rush to provide situational awareness. It establishing its environment and characters and allows you to understand what is being set up despite the heavy use of McGuffins (i.e. The actual work these people perform). The innie and outie self helps you remain anchored as to each persons dual point of views basically providing a 9 hour existentialist thought experiment. Once consciousness begins to arise in these four "worker drones" the drama and tension begins to mount and the final episode provides a great cliff hanger for going into season-2. I watched the entire 1st season yesterday, all 9 episodes, and like the frog in a pot of water who doesn't realize its slowly being boiled to death I didnt realize that it was 4 AM and Im still watching this show. Like The Wire, it takes several episodes to get oriented and understand the situation but once you do, its a really fun and interesting ride.
Das Leben der Anderen (2006)
A GREAT Movie.
Watch this movie and contemplate the hiring of 87,000 new IRS agents, the fact that your smart phone and smart TV and smart game console hears and records everything you say, everywhere you go every product you CONSIDER purchasing and everything you do online. This movie shows you how amatures used to do it...The Stasi didn't even dream of the capability's possessed by the US government today (and forget about the various communist country's). This movie has more heart than anything Ive seen since. It may even be my favorite movie of all time and it is soooo understated. No a car crash or explosions to be seen. Just GREAT storytelling about a government apparatchik becoming a human being and the evil of entrenched power.
Monster (2022)
per usual
Take a monster story (that EVERYBODY already knows) and make all the white people bad and all people of color either righteous or victims...wash rinse repeat Netflix. One of the best scary scenes when Dahmer went next door to try and intimidate his neighbor with a sandwich never happened as that woman was NOT his neighbor...Make sure ALL the cops are either incompetent, evil or both...Make another murderer (the black inmate that that kills Dahmer) into a tortured soul of righteousness and religiosity (and who, snarf...DID NOT KNOW who Jeffrey Dahmer was) instead of the insane killer he was and you get a sense of how this series plays out. Watch true crime docs on Dahmer if you want the truth.
The acting is good, Dahmer played like he appeared in newsreels as was his Dad.
Mr. Jones (2019)
THIS is what a true hero looks like
A story that remains hidden behind the cloak of lies, disinformation and opportunism that was (and frankly, still is) the "gotta crack a few eggs to make an omelet" leftist agenda.) THIS story is one that should be heralded in schools, ESPECIALLY those that profess to teach journalism. Ask any SJW what they think of Holodomor (A Ukrainian holocaust as evil as anything the Germans perpetrated) and 9 times out of ten I expect you will get nothing than a blank stare before being called a racist. The heroism and courage of Gareth Jones should be the example for all young people to emulate but instead they are bombarded with "heros" like B/C Jenner. Bleak and even depressing, this movie should be required viewing in every high school.
The Offer (2022)
The best series about a movie Ive ever seen
Thats all...There is a helleva lot of mediocre shows out there...This ones a gem, even if you aren't a Godfather aficionado this is just one great, incredible and best of all TRUE story. Its very well acted (especially the guy who plays Al Pacino) and I cant stand waiting for a week to catch the next episode (5 so far, 6 tomorrow). A total treat. A great show about making a classic movie, the kind that were made when Hollywood actually cared about its audience.
The Guns of Navarone (1961)
Once Great Movie that now shows it age
Back in the 60's whenever Navarone would come on TV I would watch it eagerly and considered it one of the greatest war films ever made. Haven't seen it in 30+ years so took a gander the other day and it pains me to say this about a "childhood friend" but it hasn't really aged well. To my 65 year old eyes it now came across as a good but more generic WW2 film. Since everything is relative, I am comparing Navarone with David Leans 2 timeless war movies Lawrence of Arabia and Bridge On the RIver Kwai, which, to this day, I believe could still be shown in movie theaters and probably would get a reasonable audience. Even the Dirty DOzen holds up much better than Guns. (Notwithstanding the amazing Greek scenery). Just my own opinion.
Bodyguard (2018)
A GOOD WATCH BUT....
I agree with much of the positive reviews that I have read here. BUT...The Nadia expose at the end is downright not possible.... She was in prison when ALL the other bombs were brought into the story.... The truck bomb, the stage bomb and Budds vest bomb. SO she made all these bombs from prison or she made them in advance (before the shows timeline started) knowing, for example, that a one of them would be placed under a stage...Not bloody likely.
We Own This City (2022)
I KNOW ITS NOT THE WIRE...
.. But, Its very difficult to review this show by the original writers, producers and (in numerous cases, actors...Pooh, Sidnor, Jay, etc) that made The Wire the best show ever. I know its NOT the Wire but cmon, who isnt going to put them side by side for comparison. (I also know that Godfather Part-3 was not GF Part-2 but the same situation exists).
At the very least I expected similar production values and other than the B'more exteriors, you do not get that:...most of the acting is clunky, and the plot is Blue Man Bad, all the time. It seems all they are interested in is showing B'more cops in a bad light. The name Freddy Gray is dropped incessantly (over 20 times in the first episode alone) and this show does not plow any new ground about the fruitlessness of run and gun corner busting that The Wire depicted so masterfully. In The Wire, you had "The Game" which pulled no punches in its depiction of crime and criminals and you had the police also depicted as flawed, maybe even corrupt at times, but just trying to do the job in as best a way as they can. In all cases, the Wire humanized every single one of their characters. I liked even empathized with the "bad guys" maybe even more so than the "good guys". Here, all it seems is cops bad, all their arrestees good. This show feels like it was mostly influenced by those commies and/or morons who would like to Defund The Police...Bouncing around the timeline all the time also doesn't help...Im through 3 episodes, and one thing for sure, even though I may continue to watch, Im not sitting on pins and needles waiting for the next episode air (like I did with The Wire).