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kathrinmaass
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The Woman (2011)
No headline fits this movie...
First I have to say that I sometimes have the urge to bang my hand on the desk while reading imdb movies. ALL men in this movie are bad? REALLY? Wow, this movie has actually...let me count...20?...no...10?...no....2 men in mentionable roles? And one of them is not even yet a man? So well, 2 psychopathic males in a horror movie REALLY add up to the message 'this movie gives the impression all men are bad'. On the other hand: ALL women are good in this movie? Really? Oh well, wild woman ate poor dependant personality disordered mum's face...but hey: ALL women in this movie are GOOD!
So enough of my rant about other reviews, let's get to the movie.
I am a big fan of torture porn and rape and revenge movies. And in my opinion this movie has a very fresh angle on this old topic. Because the element that really makes you cringe is neither the torture motive nor the rape/revenge motive, but the deconstruction of the perfect family facade. Right from the first minute on the observant viewer will notice that there is something off with this family. And it takes a steep dive down to hell after that....
The acting is superb. Everybody who criticises that the characters don´t seem to be authentic doesn´t seem to get that this is exactly how it is supposed to be - because they are not authentic. The portrayal is only a facade. I am deeply impressed by the portrayal of the wild woman (I hope the actress was not method acting this role).
The movie had captured me after a couple of minutes. I watched it on amazon prime and just wanted to watch the first 10 minutes to see if the start was promising enough to suggest it to my husband to watch it together. But I just couldn´t switch it off...and I will definitely watch it again with my husband.
The only movie that gave me comparable shudders until now has been Eden Lake...and I have watched many movies that should give you shudders. No Hostel, Martyrs, I spit on your grave, saw and so on comes close to this....
The Witcher (2019)
Decent,but inconsistent
OK, first of all to all the 1-star-raters: Seriously? Have you ever watched a bad movie? Watch Sharknado, then you know what an 1-star-movie ist.....even if you hate the adaptation, you have to take into account camera, editing, acting - everything. This is simply not a 1-star-movie. I do understand why some enthusiastic people give it a 10-star.rating, but again: seriously? There are some weaknesses in the series and what bothers me most is the inconsistency of quality. There are some really great scenes where everything fits: acting, camera, cinematogrphy, costumes, lighting....they are woth a 10. But then there are scene that really look like they have been taken from a cheap monster B-movie. The scene with the elven king in the caves....I thing most cosplayer would have gotten the better. There are some scenes that are just over the top tacky, especially when it comes to magic (the mages tower, Brokillon Forest). I have never read the books, only played witcher 3, so there was not much of a dissapointment hardcore fans felt. I think it was an above average show, but with flaws.
The Spy (2019)
If you can´t stand the accents - watch it in German!
Before watching this I checked some reviews like I usually do...what really stunned me was that the main point of criticsm is the arabic accent of the English is wrong. REALLY? Well....guess what...I watched it in the German synchronization and it was perfect. All actors speak fluent German without any accent - problem solved! Well, for the rest....I enjoed the show as a spy story....some of the historical background confused me, like some other reviewers I have been missing the entire Palestinian conflict.
Chernobyl: Vichnaya Pamyat (2019)
Way better than felina...
I read some of the comments before doing my rating and I seriously stumbled upon a person rating this episode with 1 star pointing out it is not better than felina - referring to the last episode of Breaking Bad. This really got me angry....I loved Breaking Bad and I think the two last episodes Ozymandias and Felina were (and still are) state of the art episodes. But how can somebody become so infatuated with a TV show that he/she rates down another show in this way just to make the point, that Breaking Bad is still the better show? How can you even compare that? I have the impression that most of the 1 star ratings are done by some Breaking Bad fans not being able to cope with the fast that something greater might have come around.
Then there are the people who say "This is not an art, they just had to tell what has happend....they didn´t have to be creative in stroywriting". WTF? It is even harder to write a compelling story about something that actually happened then to write something fictional. Because on the one hand people will compare what you deliver with the actual events and do a thorough fact check, on the other hand they will complain about reality being boring.
This has been a great ending to a great show. I think that it is a salute to the people who have been involved with clearing up, who lost there homes, who risked their live and lost their lives and to everybody, who took part in getting the truth out there.
Finally their story has been told in a way that reached a big audience.
Marrowbone (2017)
A poetic drama
Again: I read the reviews before I right this. I think most negative reviews stem from the point that this is not really a horror movie. Sure, there are some scary moments and some suspense, but it is not really horror. This happens a lot to movie that run in the "horror" genre but are not really typical horror movies. People watch them and can´t deal with the fact that there is neither splatter, nor shocking moments.
This movie is very poetic with beautiful creative direction. The acting is solid and the writing is great.
Sure: the twist in this movie has been used several time, but what is wrong with that? From the beginning of theater and literature on people have been dealing with the same motives and reworked them over and over again. I think that is nothing bad.
I like the story and how it is told. Give it a chance!
Hagazussa (2017)
This movie is something very different...
We live in an extremely fast paced world....overfloaded by stimuli that are all around us. Used be able to get from A to B in no time....and most movies of our time adapt this pace.
But this one is different. It is not only set in very different time, it IS this different time. This movie lets you feel the slower pacing of old times. What some critics consider painstakingly boring, is just the clash between live has been paced a long time ago and how it is now. It is menacing - and I think it is supposed to be.
There is a nearly absolut absence of dialog. There are only a few sentences spoken in the entire movie. That is another clash between days past and our time. We talk all the time, chatter about just anything. But not in this movie. There is no need to talk. Just feel it.
And this movie is a lot about FEELING it. The main character does not elaborate or think about things - she just feels...like an animal. Just be and feel.
This movie doesn´t make sense. There is no plot that has to make sense. This is just being. It is what it is.
I have to watch it again to decide if I give it an even higher rating.
Game of Thrones: The Iron Throne (2019)
Let me catch my breath....
...because this has probably been the most hurried episode of any TV series I have ever watched.
After a heated discussion with my husband who has always been more leniant with the last season I am now ready to write a review.
First of all I want to thank everybody of the cast and crew for this great epic the put on TV. And with everybody I mean D&D, too. But I also mean all the extras, stunt people, technicians, camera people, writers, editors, riggers, fx specialists, cgi creators, even the catering and the toilet cleaning lady/guy, if there has been one. It has been a great journey and I want to say THANK YOU for enriching my life. I feel sorry for all the people who had part in this, because they probably didn´t deserve the hatred that has been poured out over the last season, espically the las episode.
Well, yes, the last episode....what was this all about? I really loved the idea of Daenerys going mad. I think that was very GoT-like. But considering the developement she made it should have been elaborated more. There were many hints throughout earlier episodes that she isn´t the nice girl many people thought she was, but a deeper look into her descent would have been great. The same with Jon snow....I totally get why he killed Daeneris, but a little bit more elaboration would have been great.
And that is the problem with the last episode and probably most parts of the last season: it has been too short and too rushed. While GoT had a slower pace in the earlier seasons giving much room for character developement, especially the last episode was rushed....the earlier seasons were crusing around at a 30 mph speed, the last episode felt like riding a race car at 120 mph and driving at right into a solid wall.
I am sad, that this ended this way...
Death Wish (2018)
Is this a commercial from the NRA?
Are you serious? The entire movie looks like an extended commercial done by the NRA...does anybody ever get the clue that most of the depicted violence is caused by guns being easily available? I was hoping for some kind of movie in the style of Marvels The Punisher...but this is just so superficial and shallow.
Game of Thrones: The Bells (2019)
What is wrong with you people?
I loved the episode....the directions was terrific, camera was awesome, editing was amazing, sound was great, music was perfect....and for me it all made sense because it just didn´t make sense.
OK, there was one big question for me: How the hell could Euron kill Rhaegar without Daenerys bruning the fleet to the ground (or the ocean) when it was so easy for her and Drogon to brun the entire fleet before Kings Landing and the entire city? That is something I am not sure how to wrap my mind around...
But everything else made sense.
People complain that Danys behavior was out of character....they complaine that the sweet, nice Queen finally turned out to be mad like her ancestors...guess: What? This is game of thrones! You all loved surprising turns and unexpected twists for 7 seasons, and now you guys start whining whenever something unexpected happens?
I think Danys decent into madness was very well portrayed and not unexpected at all....and I loved it. This is GoT, not some kind of sweet pink fluffy under the rainbow fairy tale. This is dirty mad Game of Thrones!
I have the impression the audience had worked out what should happen even before the first episode aired....Dany or Jon should have killed the nightking, after it turns out that Bran actually is the night king, Both should have flown of to kingslanding were Dany should have killed Cersei without ever harming anybody else. And they would have lived happily ever after....
And guess what would have happend if D&D fullfilled those expectations? All the people complaining now that writing is bad would have started complaining how this is not Game of Thrones anymore since everything was so expected....
Well, I can´t wait to see the last episode...I hope everything goes down....no happy ending for Game of Thrones....
Game of Thrones: The Long Night (2019)
About the deaths of beloved characters?
Wow, what an episode. I must admit that I have spoiled myself before watching, so I knew what the"suprising" ending would be....
I think this episode is nearly impossible to rate.
The cinematograhphy and editing is breathtaking, the choreography and stuntaction during the battle is just state of the art, the CGI is amazing. I can´t remember that I have ever seen the chaos of a battle depicted that well. The pacing is really good switching between loud, fast action and silent, slow parts. The entire episode is really dark, so dimm your lights when you watch it. Some people complain it is too dark and they couldn´t see anything - well, most is supposed to be hidden in the dark, but you might want to adjust your monitor to the perfect setting. I found the low key setting of the imagery really great. And the twist in the end is really unexpected.
The musical score is tremendous - Ramin Djawadi did a really great job!
And here comes the big BUT....
Arya killing the nightking just doesn´t make any sense at all....that is what most people that rate this episode low complain about. And yes: I didn´t not make any sense AT ALL. It is completely unforeseen, contrary to all we know about the legend of Azor Ahai, it seems to destroy everything that has been build up....
Why let the Nightking die this death? Sacrifice a character that has been build up for 8 seasons? Without even acknowledging his background story? Common, didn´t you read all the fan theories?
Well, I think the way they did this is 100% Game of Thrones. Poeple also complain that no main character died a senseless death....wait. Actually there was a carefully build up character dying a senseless, unforseen death: The nightking. Yes. This time it wasn´t a nice Ned Stark being killed after being build up to a lovable character. This time is was the villain who died the unexpected death. How come people cheer and call it "Game-of-Throne-esque" if a beloved character suddenly dies, but if one of the major villains is killed by a young women coming from the middle of nowhere, they all say it is bad story writing? I think this was not poor story writing, I think this was well thought about Game of Thrones style story writing....show all that can be predicted, all the legends and theories the middle finger and just let it end in a completely unexpected way....
And after all: isn´t it great that is never really got explained who the Nightking was? This leaves the mystery....
Game of Thrones: Winterfell (2019)
Great recap BUT
OK, here it is: the Long awaited last season. Before the start I thought it might be wise to watch a recap, since it has been a really Long time since the last season. I didn't do it since I hoped the show would make an effort to pick up the loose ends end provide Info in a way that you don't need to watch some recap. And I have not been dissapointed. This episode really gave the right cues to recall what has happened during the last season. I think the low ratings come from people who binged tge Last seasons right before this episode. For them it must have been a great bore. But for people who saw their Last GoT episode 2 years ago it was really helpful. And now the big BUT. Considering there are only 6 episodes left, spending an entire episode just picking up loose ends is a waist of time. They should have done an extra recap trailer or extra short Like they did for American Gods Season 2 and pace uo the remaining 6 episodes. I Hope something will happen in the next episode or this great show will die of mediocracy....
Isn't It Romantic (2019)
Made me feel good....original, clever & funny
First of all: When you watch a movie like Isn´t it romantic you cannot expect some deep insight into any philosophical questions, a mind turning experience, anything you will have to think about for a couple of days or deep psychological portraits of the characters. After all, Isn´t it romantic is a romantic comedy while being an anti-romantic-comedy. And after watching the trailer, you should also know, that this is no straight forward romantic comedy - so if you like to see that, you will probably be disappointed.
Actually I wasn´t expecting anything when I hit the play button - and I was really suprprised about how the movie sucked me in. I wasn´t in a good mood and Isn´t it romantic really cheered me up. The cast is brillant, the jokes are funny, the movie somehow just works really great...I liked to watch it and would definitely recommend it.
Afflicted (2018)
Badly researched...offers fringe treatments more time than real medical insights
I am suffering from a not really clear chronic condition myself. It has been termed in many ways already: Firbromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Snydrome, Chronic Pain Syndrome....together with instable personality disorder, dissociative disorder, post traumatic stress disorder and so on....
So I was really looking forward to this documentation...
There were three things that reaally shocked me...
1. None of the people displayed gets psycho therapeutical support. I am not saying that the illnesses are psycho somotic. But suffering from such a condition puts a lot of stress on your life and to deal with this, a psychological support is absolutely necessary. To all who suffer from chronic disease and read this: get into a psycho therapy at a therapist who does not readily shout "psychosomatic". It took me years to find one, but it has been of great help.
2. This pseudo documentation offers vast time for dubious fringe treatments and quacks. It breaks my heart to see all these people spend so much many on stuff that raises hopes, but doesn´t do more then placebos. Placebos are great, they can even cure (well, that´s the reason sceintific researches hate this effect), and if you get cured by a placebo it is great. But not if this costs you your existence! I have been there....detox, homoepathy, chinese medicine, getting all my metal fillings pulled out of my teeth, weird supplements that promise healing, all kinds of strange things that come in scientific disguise, offer hope, you feel better at first but that don´t cure you.....
3. The people shown on the show are really fixed on the ideas they have for the cause of their illness....they are not open to alternative explanations. From my own experience with my chronic pain I now know that things like trauma can cause real somatic symptoms. That does not make it less bad....but I can take tons of pills and do whatever I want - until the trauma issue is not resolved, I not truely be healed. What takes me back to point 1....
To every body who suffers from chronic conditions whith unclear background: Stay strong, don´t let any quacks screws with your head and I send you my best wishes to get better!
A Christmas Horror Story (2015)
4 Stories with a decent twist...
Wow, what a ride....in Germany we have a word that would describe this movie pretty well: kurzweilig. It means something like diverting, a nice entertainment for a short time. And that´s what this anthology basically is. Since the movie is made of four or even five interwoven short stories that run simultaneously, you get the impression of a fairly short movie. And with a runtime of 99 min it is quite short compared to the normal 180 min movie epic that we get delivered nowadays. Each story delivers and is good on it´s own. Thre is a connecting between the stories and the protagonists, but the stories do not touch or cross each other at any point.
There are some epic scenes...Santa fighting zombie elves is just great and the final fight between Santa and Krampus....Epic. And than comes the twist....wow.....I really liked that part of the movie.
P.S. I would really love to have this Krampus Figurine displayed in the movie...
Better Watch Out (2016)
Christmas + Horror....well, that´s a story of its own
From years of reading reviews at the IMDb, checking ratings and rating myself I learned some things: While I stay way off from "normal" movies rated lower than 6 most of the time, I find Horror movie rated around 5 still OK. I guess the level for horror movies is just lower...compared to non-horror they might loose on an objective scale taking direction, cinematography, writing, editing and acting into account. But they might still be great horror movie. The same accounts for Christmas movies....Let´s be honest: Santa Claus (with tim Allen) objectively comes close to sharknado, but it is still a good Christmas movie. So I basically did not expect much from a Horror + Chritmas movie....
But I found this movie actually not too bad at all....first of all I assume that some of the reviewers did not watch the movie to the end, because there is actually a second twist and even thrid one in the final credits. So stay tuned to that.
What we have is a typical home invasion genre movie..-. NOT! This is not home invasion movie, actually it is quite the opposite.
I must say that I found the movie deeply disturbing....there was just a little bit missing to have me really freak out about this psychopath kid. The contrast between this screwed up brat and the sweet chistmas atmosphere made me feel really uncomfortable....this movie actually does not give you much suspense nor does it shock. But it gets into you head and scrwes around with your mind. I have no idea how some of the reviewers can write somthing like "Oh, it´s just the rape phantasies of a boy in puberty". What is wrong with you people??? I am from Germany, so I do not (maybe luckily) have a clue how screwed up the average rape phantasies of a US-child are, but I can say for sure: I would not consider this the normal rape phantasies of anybody!
And when Luke at the end is just about to get away with all of this, I just wanted to throw something hard and heavy into my TV set....but them came the twist....and than came the second twist and I was just about to crap my toaster oven and throw it into the TV again...
So watch this pleasantly unpleasant movie....and stay tuned till the final credits!
Vikings: A New God (2018)
What did they do to the show?
I loved Vikings in the beginning....there were many things that bothered me at first like the clothing, that was 100% fantasy and 0% historical correct and the weird bending of history, but as soon as I realized this was a saga, everything was fine. And the show perfectly worked as a saga - taking reference to history but tweaking it, exaggerating it and garnishing it with some stylish elements and drama. That´s basically how sagas work....
The storyline was consistent, there were some really great scenes, the acting was mixed quality, but still good enough (with some great moments), and there were many characters who were likable and developing.
But now the simply screwed the entire thing up - big time. I have no idea what is wrong with the people who make the show, but seriously?
The acting is so bad it makes me cringe, the characters (even the ones who have been established with great depth) are shallow and don´t develope, the storyline is....well....wait...actually there is not even a storyLINE, since this would imply development.
The only one who develops ist Ivar - if you could call this developement. Fromm child on I have always been intrigued with the villains....I liked Maleficent more than I liked the sleeping beauty....I even liked the character of jigsaw....so I don´t have a problem with being bad or evil at all....but Ivar is just unbearable! I don´t even know if it is the acting or the writing of the role. Every screen second he gets feels like wasted lifetime. I have no idea how Ivar gets the power he has....in the last scene of this episode you get an idea of how he uses military to control the people in Kattegat - but why do all these warriors follow the delusional idiot Ivar? And why the hell do the priests even come to proclaim him God instead of telling to...do whatever. Either I missed a great part of the show or there is no proper justification of Ivar power except by this one stupid scene where he stands up against ragnar....
So basically I decided to stop watching the show..it is too bad imdb doesn´t offer an option to rate a series seasong wise. Because I would love to give this season a 1 star rating....and keeping the good rating for the older seasons...
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)
10 stars for the nifflers, but...
I am a great fan of all HP Movies and have watched them several times. I liked Phantastic beasts and where to find them, but didn´t find the plot quite catching. But the beasts where so stunnind, that I fell in love with all of them.
That´s why I had high hopes for Grindelwalds crimes and with concern to the beasts these where not dissapointed. The beasts where cretively craftetd and you just had to love them. I am a big niffler fan and the babies where just the cutest. And the fact that papa niffler saved the day at the end (I thing the importance of his loot will show in the next movie) just made me cheer. The only downside with the creatures was that they were all pure CGI. Sometimes I miss the work of a great puppeteer like Hanson in modern movies. I always find that the interaction of an actor with a greatly craftet puppet is so much more natural than the acting with a dummy. And I am pretty sure that today it would be possible to craft great puppets and maybe enhance them with CGI.
But a movie cannot live of cute creatures alone. And that´s the big downturn with Grindelwalds Crimes. First of all: What are Grindelwald's crimes? The only crime he commits in this movie is to escape from prison...the reason he is there is becuase he got caught in the first movie while trying to manipulate Credence. But what is his actual crime? It seems obvious that he is planning grim deeds, but what are the crimes he has already commited? Having an evil view on the world is no crime by itself and during the movie it gets quite clear that Grindelwald actually might have pretty good reasons for his actions. I have always had the urge to understand the villains in stories (even as a child I likes Maleficient and felt really understood when they made the movie about her). And I do understand Grindelwald....
Again the connection between Grindelwald and the Scamander is quite coincidental. It seems that somebody thought it would be cute to make a movie about magical creatures and was desperately looking for a plot as dark as the Voldemort plot, but couldn´t quite make the connection between the two ideas.
The acting is solid, but not brilliant at all. Redmayne does what it can do best: looking kind of shy and dreamy,Dan Fogler perfects the art of looking puzzeled in various nuances, and so on. Johnny Depp does a pretty good performance and after playing the lovable drunkard Captain Jack Sparrow for ages it is kind of refreshing to see him in such a different role.
The big downturn is the lack of a plot. it is more a compilation of breathtaking CGI Scenes that a loosely connected by something you couldn´t even call a plot.
But since there are nifflers in this movies, I give it an overall of 7 stars and wait for the next movie to meet those cuties again....
P.S. Hell yes, it is a big merchandise machinerie, but if you can buy your own Niffler purse - go for it!