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Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)
Great movie, classic style and fun
A cool popcorn movie to have fun. Many references to the original movies, so a lot of fan service. The amount of scenes with the original actors is just awesome, more than in "legacy", I really enjoyed it. The "family part" appeared a little forced and artifical, but it was not too bad. On the other hand there were so many cool scenes and funny details, Slimer is back, too, just great ghostbusters style. We even have several great action scenes with new gear, that are really fun to watch. Regarding story it is nothing too special, but very good entertainment in the classic spirit of the franchise. In my view, actually there are many similarities to Ghostbusters I, if you liked the classic, probably you like that one, too. You know who you gonna call! ;-)
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Great visuals but flat, poor script, much cliché, insensitive, weak dialogs
Obviously you can have your fun with that kind of popcorn cinema, great visuals, nice fighting scenes, effects etc.
But actually the story is quite flat, many stereotypes, common patterns, nothing interesting or suprising.
Instead it is sad to see how Cameron fails to present the Na'vi as a a rich, spiritually developed native culture, but instead all the time we see things like teenager drama on an american high school, with mobbing, brawls and a lot of toxic masculinity, very low level. As a positive example for that kind of cultural sensitivity I would call "Dances with Wolves" a really good and touching movie, we can see the weaknesses of the invasive western culture compared to a better form of living together, in a authentic community/culture connected with nature.
In Avatar 2 all the time basically there is just violence as an answer to everything. It is the basic approach of the old testament, eye for an eye, kill or be killed etc., not really any higher spiritual way or more intelligent solutions.
Actually I find it quite abhorrent how Jake Sully treats his own children, virtually using education styles of the 19th century, they have to say "sir" to him, act like being in a military unit etc. - Instead of having learned a higher way of a natural, native, spiritual community, his whole family acts like they are modern americans, just living in the woods. It feels totally unrealistic that his Na'vi mate Neytiri and their whole family would become assimiliated by american culture, like we see it. Rather Jake should behave more like spiritually, morally developed native folk, after having lived in the nature, in their clan. Not still acting bascially like a marine with blue skin who is allied with the Na'vi. His slogan that men are (just) for protection is also quite backward and reduces men. E. g. The very important part of showing how to be a "good" person, high morale, good values etc., all this loses in favor of simple masculinity. Moreover dialog parts like "bro" etc. Sound so unfitting.
I find a lot of illogical issues, too. For example the Na'Vi are soul mates of the tulkun (these super intelligent "whales"), but they accept the murderous activities of "whale hunters" as long as it is not in their direct neighbourhood... Na'Vi didn't even try to develop some defense tactics or anything for them, does not sound believable.
Enough said... ;-) You can have good fun, with cool action and great effects, but don't expect anything above lower standards regarding story/world/plot/characters.
Don't Look Up (2021)
Important message...
The movie starts a bit slow, but keep going, it is well done and fun to watch! ;) The message is very important nowadays. You will definitely see the parallels.
Don't look away, when new scientific data is presented. Think about it, take it serious, get your informations from qualified sources and take your time. Be aware that social media is misleading very, very often.
Wonder Woman (2017)
Entertaining, but bad background and unidimensional
Basically nice to watch, typical super hero elements like you would expect it. It has some cool action scenes, you can have some fun with it! Unfortunately you have to swallow some wrong background infos and a quite thin story line, though... ;)
1) Why do the Germans have to be displayed as the single guilty party in WW1? That is very unfounded and shows no understanding of the real historic events at all. A very unidimensional black and white picture actually, they already are the WW2 bad guys anyway (which is justified). Of course the Germans were to blame for their part in WW1, but a lot of states were involved with questionable actions. For example the English were to blame, too! Historically it can be shown that the british interference really escalated the conflict to a global level, which would most likely have been much smaller otherwise, not ending as a world war! The Germans were pulled into the conflict because of an existing alliance with Austria/Hungary, while the English took part just by free choice (strategic interests). Later, as the winning party, they forced the side of Austria/Germany to take full responsibility, hiding their own faults.
2) DC twisted around the greek mythology, quite randomly, just to fit the black and white super hero plot. E. g. Actually in the mythology Ares is said to be a kind of patron or ancestor of the amazons, not their enemy.
But that aside, entertaining popcorn super hero cinema... Have fun! ;)
Nosso Lar (2010)
This is a deeper insight, not a fictional movie
Hard to explain, but this is not a normal movie, please understand it as a deeper insight. Be open and let this change your perspective, it is a great and important work.
If you have the chance read the books, too, it is definitely worth it and there is much more content waiting for you. Believe it or not, these are not conventional fictional books, they are "written", or more specifically "psychographed", by the brazilian medium Chico Xavier (died in 2002). Search for Chico Xavier and Andre Luiz to find the psychographic works this movie is based on.
Obviously the movie uses fictional images and actors to convey the original message of the books, but I think they did a good job with that (though, as usual, the original work is even deeper in meaning).
May it bring more light to your life... :)
The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf (2021)
Not the real thing unfortunately... and boring
I wanted to like it, but actually I was bored and fell asleep in parts. There are a few nice scenes but overall it is cliché-ridden and the characters are not believable.
I am a really big fan of the WItcher novels by Sapkowski, a very, very good lecture, so much fun and so intelligent writing. This movie unfortunately has nothing of that for me, no need to watch it.
The Tomorrow War (2021)
Entertaining, good production, but not deep
If you want a typical action sci fi movie, it is definitely worth watching and entertaining popcorn cinema. Though be aware that it is very bloody, really many brutal kills - actually I think that was overdone, a bit less violence, but more focused, would fit better.
It's pity that the story writing is not good, definitely a lot of logical errors! So much budget for great atmosphere, good production, special effects etc., but not enough to check the scripts thoroughly? Definitely a wrong decision! Many details are a bit ridiculousm don't expect something deeper ;) ...though the basic story really had potential to be much bigger.
If you don't mind laughing at a few oddities, it is fun and you get much action entertainment...
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
Cool visuals, weak story and characters
You can watch this as a popcorn movie but definitely do not expect anything more. The plot is predictable and has different logical failures, the characters are weakly designed, quite annoying and disappointing. That could have been done better easily. Especially I find it very annoying that Alita really shows no characteristics at all for her android, robotic nature - while having a robotic body with an own power source, she even eats normal food several times, without any explanation for that. Nevertheless I liked the acting of Christoph Waltz.
Vikings (2013)
Mediocre, too much cliche
Of course the show has some great scenes, a few cool characters (like Loki for instance), but overall in my view it is way too much cliche. Beginning with really exaggerated styling etc., bigger points are that, for instance, we are seeing a viking "home country" that makes no sense and does not have a name. On the one hand they are using a few historic backgrounds that would correctly fit to Danish Vikings, on the other hand they show mountains which you would never find in Denmark.
In the later seasons I lost interest at some point, for me the show got worse then. Overall it is ok, a decent show, nice to watch, but not more.
PS: If you want to check out a greater show in the same genre, see The Last Kingdom... ;)
The Last Kingdom (2015)
Epic show, better than Vikings
After a short time, if you got into it, the last Kingdom is very enthralling and a great show! For me it feels like a mixture of series/movies like Game of Thrones, Vikings, Robin Hood, Braveheart and others, so it can be compared with great names.
A little downside: Though I support creative artwork and they did many things right, I would have preferred a little bit more accuracy regarding some historic details (of course disregarding the intended own story elements). For instance that way too many common soldiers are shown with broadswords, which were quite expensive and thus worn by privileged persons. But overall they did a good job, they improved details e. g. in season 4 we can see books (not just scrolls), which is correct as these were already invented at the time. But on the other hand there are many nice historic points, too, e. g. that they are correctly talking of the Danish, not using just completely mythical, dramatic descriptions for vikings that never where, as it can be seen often.
In my view the show is great, better than Vikings and it seems to get even better in later seasons - probably I am already addicted ;) We are shown aspects of both sides, Saxons and Danish and the clash of cultures. I like many characters, there are a lot of nice details, the plot is exciting and offers many great battle scenes. It is very much fun to keep on watching, so I hope there will be further seasons - for the king! :)
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
Many missed chances! Picard did a better job...
At least they tried to put in real Trek content, but unfortunately many bad choices were made in the design of the show in my opinion. For me, being a fan of the classic Trek series like TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT _and_ the new Picard series (!), in comparison Discovery was clearly the loser, the worst show!
Not everything was bad, but way too much. For me it was actually quite boring, the story, the whole show couldn't get me. The characters were mostly flat and some even stupid, like Tilly who was misplaced (would better fit in a comedy or sitcom). For me, the absolute focus on Burnham was one of the biggest mistakes! Her character seemed strange and I couldn't identify, not even really liked her. Classic series offered spotlight for _different_ characters, which I find a much better way! For instance the new Picard show offers more interesting characters and also is not limited to the perspective of Jean Luc, even though he is much cooler than Burnham anyway... Who would question that?! ;)
Star Trek: Picard (2020)
True Star Trek, much better than Discovery - especially season 3!
Season 3 update: Just awesome! Darker than the older series, but so well done, absolutely great, an epic and honorable ending! Loved to see all the old actors and the new ones look promising, too.
Season 2 update: Actually, the weakest part of the whole show, but still good Stark Trek, in the original spirit.
The beginning - Season 1 (main review):
Many people starting to watch the show seem to be negatively overwhelmed by the dark, burdensome atmosphere presented early on, get frustrated and quit. Well, it is somewhat understandable if you just expect the next generation (TNG) style from the start, but sadly these people fail to discover the impressive _real_ development and the deeper meaning of the whole first season - which truly is a great piece of film making! (I say this as a classic fan of The Next Generation, Deep Space 9, Voyager, Enterprise...)
For instance to quote one of those unfortunately failed reviews in my view: "Star Trek Corrupted ... of the 5 episodes aired so far, I'm giving up on it." - Please come back and see the real brightness of the true Star Trek, which unfolds in the excellent last episodes! You should really understand that light comes after darkness! Do not give up. Without giving away much details (no spoiler): The show IS much about overcoming dark times, the federation being somehow corrupted etc., a bit like we have already seen dark sides of the federation in the late seasons of DS9.
Picard offers great characters and different perspectives, much deeper than the flat figures in Discovery for instance. You get good acting, many nice details, modern visuals and a really classic Trek feel (just darker at the start than usual). The storyline features intelligent twists and a meaningful psychology. Basically my only critique is that the pacing is a bit too slow in the first episodes, but that is a minor point overall. For me the first season of Picard really connects to the great times of Next Generation if you watch it to the end. The ending is marvellous and clears the way to a "classic style" new Enterprise-like season in my opinion.
Engage!
Whiplash (2014)
Very good acting etc. BUT you need to look closer...
Technically this is really a great movie, great visuals, acting, setting etc.
In my eyes, though, the movie fails to deeper unfold the reality, thus staying at a more superficial level, which leads to something like "with maximum effort you will achieve success". But that is not always true, sometimes the result may even be fatal!
In my opinion it is very important to look more carefully at the harsh teacher in this movie: Is he a brilliant teacher, getting the best out of his students, even though he lets them bleed for that?
Let's look at his known results: 1 student was very successful, 1 student killed himself because of him. Most of his impact was "not directly shown", all the other students, being no musical geniuses, are more or less irrelevant to him, though he massively damaged their self-confidence... E.g. chances are that "fat" guy may kill himself, too, later on.
Sure, the teacher indeed _wants_ to get the best out of his students, but his methods could not be more wrong. The movie should have shown a few more minutes of footage looking at the bad outcomes for "all the other persons" terrorized. Moreover the teacher totally fails to encourage self esteem and creativity, instead he demands strict obedience and formal precision above everything else.
That man truly is mentally disturbed: What most matters should be the well being of people. In which world would we are living if many students would be formed like that? This kind of treatment badly changes the character of "successful" students to be mentally disturbed themselves (stockholm syndrom etc.), being cold and unfair to others, making society worse.
Even if one of his students manages to play one of the best concerts ever (like the drummer boy here), will that guy really be happy afterwards for more than a short time? Someone so completely focussed on success, that he goes on stage bleeding after a car accident, ignoring everything? I doubt it! Even insulting his girl friend that she is "not good enough", sacrificing the wishes of his heart, just for fame...?
Chances are that after his biggest successes, he will realize he is still not happy and will kill himself. Like it happened often enough with famous artists, sadly...
Of course, he _says_ he wants to be remembered and rather die young than not to be famous etc., but these are the words of a young boy, not having much experience, no insight in philosophy, sense of life, social responsibility, religion (Karma), morale etc. Small positive things do matter much, he just does not see it. On the other hand he overrates the impact of a successful jazz drummer, many people not even hear that type of music. In my eyes it is very obvious that the achieved success could definitely not balance out the severe social damage that was caused.
Overall, though, the movie is well done and worth watching, if you are able to look behind the curtain and see that the "way to success" shown here, is an illusion made by a mentally ill teacher.
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Very bad vibes though very professional production
In short: This will bring you down!
Pro: If you're in risk of being drug addicted or want to show somebody the "drug hell", then go ahead. It is a very professional production, strong pictures, good acting etc. The soundtrack is (at many parts) disturbing, which is most likely intended.
Contra: From a "spiritual" point of view, I'd strongly recommend not to watch it, if you are not in very good mood, in good health etc. Seeing this can make you feel really sad, angry, frustrated etc., it is not something with a positive effect on your mind.
That's why I gave it a very bad rating, despite it's a very well made movie from a technical point of view.
It is more the question why someone should be affected by these pictures as it will feel bad for many people and it won't help you with your life. Sadly enough, the hard drug addicts will ignore it anyway, most probably.