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andrew-porto
Reviews
True Detective: Night Country: Part 6 (2024)
Ignore the haters and give it a chance
Many haters here are against the fact that the characters are not likeable, and rally against the alleged supernatural elements in the story, apparently disappointed that in the end it all (almost all) has a rational explanation.
It's been a few years since I saw season 1, but from what I remember neither one of the main characters was likeable. That's one of the main characteristics of the TD franchise, as well as the dark mood.
The two main characters in season 4 are as good and bad as they would be living in northern Alaska, in days when there's only night. It's depressing, it's dark, it's somewhat psychologically violent, it's intelligent and the mistery is engaging and engrossing. Yes, it has strong similarities with The Thing, while being something completely different, as this is not a horror series, it's a dark detective story, and it succeeds in that.
To me, this was the best season since the first. Just don't go into it thinking it will be on the same concept as seasons 1 through 3.
The Faceless Lady (2024)
Finally some proper VR original content!!
I saw Eli Roth's previous attempt at VR horror (My Bloody Valentine) a few days ago, and although I enjoyed the experience, the story and acting left me with some sour aftertaste.
But scrolling through Meta Quest's suggestions I saw this new series, with the prefix "presented by Eli Roth", so I was curious to see if there were any improvements on the whole VR experience, now in a 6-episodes series format, with 25 minute-long episodes.
I did NOT get disappointed! I'm writing this after seeing the first episode, while there's only one other available, and I really enjoyed it.
The series is set in an Irish castle, which provides an amazing 3D experience. I caught myself looking around in some scenes, trying to find any ghostly movements in the shadows. The way it's filmed provides for one of the best immersive experiences I've had since buying the Quest 2.
The script (again: first episode only) is not the most important here, but it is entertaining and intriguing, and add to that some very decent acting to improve the experience and the immersive feeling. You really feel you're watching the story unfold right in front of you, and not on a movie screen. And that's what VR should be all about.
I can't wait to see all other episodes.
3 Body Problem (2024)
Engaging, thought-provoking but flawed at times
I haven't read the books, and although I had tried to watch the original Chinese series, I couldn't find it.
I found the basic concept very engaging, and the way the series is presented, I'd say until episode 5, makes for a really entertaining watch. I do enjoy the science behind the story, but that's not the main point, which is good for non-scientists. It's not for your average Marvel fan, as especially the first episode is kinda slow, but it picks up after that and grips you strongly.
But the series is not without its flaws, and apart from a couple of actors not really up to par, there's one thing that I couldn't get around, that I haven't seen in other reviews: the CGI. It's so terrible it's amazing! I can't understand how a show with so many resources put into it has such poor CGI, and it's clearly visible in a few episodes. It reminds me of Planet of the Apes, which came out so many years ago (you'll know why I say this when you see it).
I still give it an 8 for the engaging story and (some) solid acting, but it could have been better.
Shôgun (2024)
Good show but one clear fault...
I only saw the first episode, and while it's generally very good, with good acting and a slow but engaging storyline, I have to point out one very obvious fault...
It's obviously set in Japan in the 1600's, so the local characters speak japanese, and the foreign ship crew, a mix of dutch and english sailors speaking english. There's also spanish character that speaks with a spanish accent.
So far, so good.
The problem is the show has a lot to deal with the portuguese presence in Japan, and as such, several dialogues are supposed to be in portuguese, but in the show they're portrayed in english.
I obviously know this is to create a better appeal to american and english-speaking audiences, but why do you have japanese speaking japanese, but no portuguese speaking portuguese?
It can't state to be a grand production, with historically accurate costumes and storyline, and be so "americanized" at the same time!
Other than that, I enjoyed the first episode and will probably follow with the next ones, though hoping there's a bit more action.
The Killer (2023)
Nothing new
Seeing the trailer you get the idea that this will be an action movie based on a revenge taken out by a professional hitman. Only half of that is true, as there is hardly any action. And I'm all for slower paced movies, when they're worth it (as an example: I loved The Counselor)
The thing is that this tries to portray an intellectual approach to a hitman's life (very visible on the initial scene), but it ends up being just another "hitman against his employers" kind of thing, the same done over and over again.
Maybe if every hit was told on an independent episode on a mini-series, and in each one the character's motivation could be further explored, would have yielded a better result, but this just feels rushed.
At the end of it I just felt like "this is it??", because it just feels like any other revenge movie, just without the action.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
Nice ending to the franchise, terrible cgi
I went to see this after reading several negative reviews, so I was a bit sceptical, but I did enjoy this movie.
Obviously I was never expecting it to be like the first 3 movies, as Ford is 80 years old and as such could never do the same kind of movie. But the story is engaging and fun, and contrary to most reviewers here, I did enjoy the chemistry between Indy and his goddaughter. Not so much about the inevitable kid. Why does every movie these days has to have an unrealistically smart kid?
Visuals are nice, but not great, especially certain CGI-filled sequences. The de-aging process on the initial sequence is far from perfect (I'm yet to see a movie where it's believable), and the train sequence is just terrible and cheap-looking. Other visuals, recreating the 1960's in America, are good, so the gap in visual quality is definitely strange.
All in all, I enjoyed the story, and I came out of the theatre thinking it's a nice way to end the series, while maybe leaving room for a spin-off with Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
James Mangold also made Logan, which was much more of a grim & depressing story. He handled this well, keeping it light-hearted, for the most part.
I guess all the naysayers were expecting something like an Avengers-type 80 year-old archeologist. It's not. And that's a good thing.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
Is it a great movie? Yes. Am I happy I saw it? Not really
Maybe it's just me, but when I go to the movies, apart from hearing other people loudly chew popcorn and slurp soda, I go expecting to be transported to other realities, other stories, that either make me forget the current reality for a couple of hours, or maybe make me think about it in a particular way. I go to be entertained, and the marvel movies are generally great at that.
That didn't happen to me with GOTG3.
I think it's not a big spoiler saying that this is basically Rocket's origin story. With it, the movie becomes a strong message against animal testing, and about the power of family/friends.
As rocket is a racoon, and racoons are cute, visually difficult scenes are inevitable. And this is where it becomes a difficult movie to watch. If you love not just pets but animals in general, you should expect a few cringe-worthy scenes.
And it struck me hard, as I had lost a beloved cat just a few weeks before watching this. So I cried during the movie, I cried on the way home, I cried at home, and I'm not that kind of guy. The usual Marvel and James Gunn's humor was just not nearly enough to overcome the sad feelings I got when watching this.
Seeing other reviews, I realise I wasn't the only one, which is kind of comforting.
If you manage to pay little importance to this, or if you're just not that much into animals, then this is a fun, fast paced and enjoyable movie, but also quite predictable.
If you care about animals, I'd recommend waiting for its availability on streaming servics, so you can pause or move through the toughest parts.
Princípio, Meio e Fim (2021)
It would be great, if it was a play
The concept is unique, clever and appealing: you get to follow the creative process of 4 well-known portuguese comedians while they try to come up with a short story involving 5 characters having dinner. The comedians have 2 hours to come up with a script (this is condensed into about 30 mins), which you then get to see played out by actors in 15 minutes or so.
The series creator and one of the comedians (Bruno Nogueira) also plays one of the scripted roles, because... well, because it's his show, so he had to be in it, I guess. Nothing wrong with that, just somewhat strange.
A couple of the scripted actors are indeed worth watching, namely Albano Jerónimo and Nuno Lopes.
And that's basically it. I stand by what I said about the concept, but it wears out quickly after a couple of episodes. If this was a theatrical play, different every time it ran, it would be brilliant, and every spectator would want to go back several times to see a different show. As a TV series, I lost interest after the third episode, because they're pretty much always the same .
A Quiet Place (2018)
This has so many holes that it's just plain stupid
I went to see this movie after seeing rave reviews, and comments like "It's 2018's Get Out!", and I really liked Get Out.
So naturally, expectations were probably too high.
But even so, at the end of the movie, I was feeling utterly disappointed, due to the huge amount of big gaping holes on the story.
******MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD************
I'm not even talking about the fact that we never get to know where the monsters came from, I'm actually OK with that. But it's inevitable to think that the writer (Krasinsky) had one idea of fighting blind sound-driven monsters, and just made up something that would appeal to family values around that, not caring the least about every other detail. But now that I mention the monsters... there are newspaper clippings mentioning the fact that they're attracted to sound. So they have hyper sensitive hearing, but the experts at the military never realized (before their own extinction) that high pitched sounds could maybe mess with their hearing ability? Oh well, I guess I'll give you that, otherwise there'd be no movie.
So on to the first scene, which makes little common sense... The daughter hands the toy to the younger kid, after the father said he couldn't have it. Nothing wrong with that, but did she have to give him the batteries too?? I know the daughter's deaf, but is she dumb too? Why the hell would she give him the batteries???
So then the movie jumps to about 1 year later, and by then the family has managed to scrape by, the mother is pregnant and they... wait, what??? She's pregnant??? In a place where you can't make a sound, they had sex up to the point of becoming pregnant? Really??? Ok, so I'm guessing silent sex will be a trend soon. And they raid the grocery stores for supplies, but they couldn't get condoms??? Or pull out?
So they prepare for the baby's arrival, trying to make a sound-proof room to keep it safe from the monsters hearing the baby cry.
During this, the father tries to contact anybody in the world for survivors that could help. But... wait a minute... early in the movie, when they raise a fire at the top of a structure, they see other fires being lit in the surroundings. So there are other survivors close by, but they never contact each other?? And this is done in a basement where the father doesn't let his older daughter enter. "Why not?", I wonder? The sole reason for not letting her inside is to create an emotional moment towards the end of the movie, when she finally steps inside and finds out his attempts to rebuild her hearing aid (which she already knew he was trying, as that's reason for a fight between them, so again I can't really understand the logic behind this). Oh, and he never manages to get the hearing aid working, but the kid always keeps it in her ear, even after becoming angry with her dad. So why keep a non-functional device attached to your head all the time? Oh, because that's important to the end of the movie, right...
And the racoons... good grief, I've seen other reviewers mentioning that and it's really amazingly stupid it turns funny. We're expected to believe that racoons that run around the house's roof somehow managed to stay 1 year without being killed by the monsters.
Oh, and then the baby is born, which obviously prompts a tense situation, and they bring it to the sound proof room, where a while after a flood suddenly erupts, from a broken pipe. Wait, what??? How did that pipe get broken??? I felt like maybe the version shown here in Portugal was badly edited, because we never got to see how that flood started we just saw a broken pipe leaking insane amounts of water. And obviously, a monster shows up inside the room, and God only knows how it got there.
So this has so many holes, and so big, that the movie becomes unwantingly funny. Probably most of the reviewers who give it 10/10 where taken by the whole father-children relationship, and that's quite clearly the whole point of the movie, but the way to get that message skipped over so many details that it becomes a big mess. It's a shame, because all actors do a very good job, but story-wise, IMO this script is a good candidate for the Razzies.
Predestination (2014)
A movie for festivals only
******CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!***********
Yes, it's a movie you'll gladly watch at a sci-fi movie festival, or even on a fantasy/horror one, but this will hardly ever make it big commercially. For one very simple reason: the story is so seriously flawed that you're actually deeply disappointed by the ending. It's just plain stupid. At the time I'm writing this, it has a 7.5 rating, here on IMDb, which I simply don't understand. And for one very simple reason: the main character simply cannot exist! Still, even if you consider "ok, it's just a movie about the extreme paradox, you should just view it as it is", you still feel it's not up to par. I mean, photography is quite nice, the scarce effects add up (time-travel scenes are so simple, yet so cool), acting is not bad at all (Ethan Hawke has a nice performance, but Sarah Snook totally steals the movie, great actress), but... the story... just leaves you with a sense that the directors wanted to give you that "6th Sense" feeling, but fails miserably. They show you Ethan's body, proving he's actually Sarah, but you already knew that a few minutes earlier, from the explosion, where you can clearly see it's her scarred & burnt face, so the "surprise effect" is totally lost.
The script actually mentions a couple of times the egg-chicken eternal "who came first?" question, and if I was to summarize the movie in one sentence, that would probably be it.
I wonder what Neil degrasse Tyson would say about this one...
The Conjuring (2013)
Over-hyped, disappointing movie
I was anxiously waiting for The Conjuring to come out. Especially after the trailer was released. And here start the problems with this movie: the trailer is scarier than the actual movie.
The trailer involves the actual real family, much adding to the "based on a true story" gimmick. The problem with this is that it raises an expectation that we'll actually see real details in the movie. There's plenty of people filming events during the movie, and you're left with a feeling of "if this was a real paranormal investigation, the only reason for not using real footage is that it's all fake".
The only time the real family comes into the picture is a couple of family photos, on the end credits.
As other users have mentioned, the ghost scenes are highly exaggerated, way too violent, again contributing to the overall disappointment of what was supposed to be a "real" ghost story.
So after you get used to the idea that this is just another lame ghost movie, you're left with half decent performances from Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, and you're left sighing for Insidious.
There's basically one scary scene in the movie, the hide-and-seek+clap game. And that's it. What a let down.