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Dune: Prophecy (2024)
Gotta appreciate Denis Villeneuve more after this
I don't want to be critical on just the first episode of a TV show, but this was just average on every level.
The acting was below par, barring some of the well-known actors like Mark Strong, Emily Watson, Olivia Williams and maybe Travis Fimmel. Rest of the actors felt like were just out of movie academy or something. The story was very loose, and the dialogue was not dune worthy. I love slow-moving dramas that takes forever to build up because I know the reward is worth the wait. But this wasn't just slow, lot of things happened, but it was just boring, I don't know how else to put it. The soundtrack that did wanders in the movies were ripped off a bit here, some familiar sounds appearing here and there but it's just that the timing wasn't good. Like I heard a lot of music here that didn't make any effect. I remembered how long in the movies we would go with just people talking and then boom, Hans Zimmer does his magic, and I would just get so pumped up. But I know that he wasn't a part of doing any sounds here and I don't even have to check that.
I am not sure Denis Villeneuve was involved in this production, I hope not. My question is that did he even like this to have been made? Would an average tv show like this after two epic films have an effect on the much awaited third film? The reason I am wondering is that because The Penguin was so good that it made me appreciate The Batman even more than I did after my watching it and can't wait for the 2nd film. So how would Dune: Prophecy impact the 3rd film if there will be any at all. Food for thought.
Blink Twice (2024)
A bit disappointing but not without its moments
It was entertaining if you can turn your brain off for a couple of hours. The cast was good except for Channing Tatum who I thought was underwhelming. In the first hour almost nothing happened, although it was not boring or unentertaining. But when it started happening it was very predictable because this type of movie has been done a few times and I knew where it was going midway into the movie.
Couple of things though, what's up with the snakes and how did the Asian lady found out that their venom would make people remember? Why wouldn't she say anything or is she forgetting also? And why wouldn't they forget each other, like they forgot Jess but not each other, how come? Like in the final sequence, Channing Tatum hit the vape and forgot what he did but he remembered all their names and everything.
Also, I found the ending to be bizarre too, is she staying for money or revenge? Is this kind of girl power thing?
The New World (2005)
Breathtaking
First of all, this is certainly not for everyone. I watched the extended version which is close to 3 hours long and it was well worth the time spent for me. Now that is over, I'm left with this melancholy feeling and it's been a while since a movie could do that to me. This is it; this is what film making is, this is why I watch movie after movie hoping to come across one that can make me feel something, happy or sad, I don't know really know which I'm at the minute.
Please if you are spending a quiet evening on a weekend, give it chance. It is slow, so beware. But if you're the kind of person who loved The Last Samurai or A painted Veil, you might just like it.
The Knick (2014)
Liked some of it, hated the rest
I watched some episodes years ago and I stopped for some reason but decided to give it another try because I like Clive Owen, and I ended up watching the first season and the first episode the second season in a day and a half and here's my take on it.
Medical aspect of the show is what I loved in the show, I loved how they filmed surgeries, if you're squeamish though might want to skip these parts, but I loved how real these scenes looked. The whole show is based in Manhattan in the early 1900s, they have depicted the real dark and dirty feel as it was in that time period, and I was immediately hooked in. Clive Owen does his character masterfully, even though his is not a likable character, I wanted to see more of him rather than these side stories of all the other characters because some of them were not interesting for me at all. Edward and Cornelia's love tangle, and Cornelia and the health inspector's investigation storylines I hated because the former I thought was very cliche and the latter for me was very boring and I skipped some of it. While John's drug problem has been shot and acted brilliantly and very realistically (I found it interesting at first because I've read coke and opium addiction was common back then as doctors would prescribe them as medicine and they were legal, and so I thought realistic and fitting) but by midseason of the first to the end it was dragged on until we saw no more innovation or brilliance from the doctor and I slowly started losing interest. But when I was done with the first episode of the second season, I did not feel like watching more because I felt it was more of the same every episode, nothing interesting was happening, no character that I could say was likable, medical aspect had become a rarity and it felt like I was watching a soap opera.
House of the Dragon: The Red Dragon and the Gold (2024)
Wow
Goddamn what an episode. This might just be one of the best episodes I've ever watched, if not the best. Everything was on point. My god the acting, how many crazily talented people got together to make this gem of a tv show. The soundtrack, cinematography has never been better on TV before in my opinion. The writing too, you can never guess what's going to happen. I rewatched all of GOT recently, and I think in terms of the quality of acting, dialogue, the whole story, HOTD is just better in all those departments. I'm not talking about just the last season of GOT that we all know wasn't up to its standards, but the whole series. Because it's just the second season and so much is happening.
Dune: Part Two (2024)
On a another level
I watched the movie and watched it again after finishing the first time, it was that good. There's only a handful of movies in this calibre in my opinion, if you ask me I'd rate this the top of those. I've been watching Denis Villeneuve movies ever since he released Enemy and Prisoners, I was 19 at the time but even then I knew he'd make the best of movies. I think this is his peak, no movie released in the last decade at least could reach this level. The last hour or so gave me goosebumps, can't wait for the 3rd one.
My boy Timothee Chalamet gets the other shout out. He was along with the other cast, was just phenomenal. He was great in the movie The King, which I have watched so many times. The soundtrack, the cinematography, the acting, the build up, the peak - top notch stuff.
Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)
Wooden acting, bad dialogue from an already not perfect source material
I watched the movie first when it came out and didn't like it at all. I read the book and it's my least favourite Hardy novel though it was still good, not perfect but good enough.
Hardy's Bathsheba is a complex character, I had a love hate relationship with her throughout the book but I mostly hated her. But in the movie, Bathsheba is portrayed as this independent strong willed faultless woman. To do this, the directed had conviently left out some parts of the book.
1- when Gabriel first proposed marriage when he still had his farm, he spoke with Bathsheba's Aunt in the book and she informed Bathsheba has other suitors waiting and when he left disappointed, Bathsheba ran after him just to say her Aunt was incorrect and she didn't have any suitors but still rejected him.
2 - Bathsheba's hot and cold treatment towards her workers and mostly Oak when she was the mistress. She lashed out many times at Liddy and Oak and told them to leave the farm.
3 - Bathsheba never made Oak Bailif who basically managed the farm but kept him as a Shepard for a lower wage throughout and on a leash until the end.
4 - The extent she went to lead Boldwood on to get his attention and how she almost promised him but kept putting it off without a firm rejection, a multiple times.
5 - and the fact that she didn't immediately accepted Oak managing both farms but how it took some convincing.
This is not to say that Bathsheba was all bad in the book but she was much more three dimensional, realistic but playful character than how it was portrayed in the movie. Oak though, who was a bit two dimensional anyway, is nothing but wooden in the movie, no emotions whatsoever. Boldwood is an old but handsome character in the book, but the actor who portrayed him in the movie was not really handsome (no disrespect for the actor here, he did a great job with his smaller part, one of the few well acted ones in my opinion. But why I make a point about his appreance is that when Bathsheba's dillema in choosing a husband, appreance wasn't a factor at all, all three of them very handsome but it was the social standing of all these characters among other things).
The acting was not convincing enough, dialogues were pure garbage, things were moving way too quickly, and the settings actually felt like settings, not realistic, it was like bunch of actors playing dress up in a thearter.
Rumble Through the Dark (2023)
It's a B-Grade straight to DVD kind of movie
The only good thing in this is Aaron Eckhart, he was actually believable. The story from the get-go was very loose and dodgy. It starts with Jack (Aaron Eckhart) waking up after a fight, his memory is not very good and he has debts, so he's got to fight, sounds familiar?
The supporting cast was terrible, the editing and the dialogues were horrible, but I think for a low budget movie, it's what you can expect.
I'm not sure what someone like Aaron Eckhart is doing here, he was the Two-Faced Harvey in Nolan's Batman. I guess the times are really tough for him because all of his recent films are like this, crap.
The Killer (2023)
Reminded me of Dexter
If you're a fan of Dexter, you'll find more similarities than differences. Also, if you're expecting a movie like the Zodiac or the Gone Girl, you'll be disappointed. Instead, we have something much more straightforward and realistic.
It starts with an assassin's usual workday gone sideways, and the events that followed have been filmed with a realistic tone and Michael Fassbender cannot be more fitting for the role. I liked that fact that we get to hear his somewhat dark witted inner voice, again a similarity to Dexter but very different voices though.
Once again, we have a nice product from Fincher, in my opinion, who's at the top with the very best.
Foe (2023)
Second half is good while the first half is barely watchable
It was very confusing in the first half of the film; I fast forwarded some parts because it was unwatchable at times. Then enter the twist, things started to make sense. It was a good couple of hours spent by the end. It was nicely woven together, soundtrack was nice, cinematography was appropriate for a dystopian drama, and the acting from the main two characters was great. But the first half of the movie kind of ruins it, and even when the twist was introduced and it started making sense, it didn't compensate for my misery watching the first part. I just watched it until the end because I was curious, not because it was that interesting. But the ending was sufficient enough for me to think I didn't waste my time with this one.
Fingernails (2023)
It's just watchable because of Jessie Buckley
I might be a bit biased because I love Jessie Buckley. But I didn't like her character here, because it felt like she was a bit out of sorts and deceitful. I liked the character, Ryan; I didn't know what was wrong with him or with them that made her wanted to be with Amir, and I just didn't get the whole thing. It just felt like this cliche thing romantic movies try to show teenage girls, but life is not really a fairytale, it can just be just routine. If you just don't like it, it might be time for you to move on, without wasting someone else's time by lying and being deceitful. I don't think you'd need a test for that, or two for that matter.
The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)
Pretentious
I didn't expect it to be like the Haunting of the hill house, because of the downhill in quality of Mike Flanaggan's mini shows since then but the Fall of the house of Usher is utter crap in my opinion.
The main problem I had with the show was that I found none of the characters likable or relatable and most of them were very two dimensional. The acting was below average as well and some of the scenes were quite laughable.
If you look at the story too, it wasn't much, dragged out for 8 hours whereas it could have easily been a 2-3-hour movie and we wouldn't miss a thing. The final episode was very underwhelming too with again dragged out to an hour and 15 minutes, but nothing really happened.
The Woman in the Wall (2023)
Wow, Tv cannot get any worse than this
I gave up after 4 episodes, I was really bored. Nothing was going on for 4 episodes, there was almost no plot. Ruth Wilson who's a very talented actress and one of my favourites too was a bit too much in this. Her acting being a crazy person was overly done. Specially when she was lighting the car on fire, presumably she was sleepwalking but she was very awake to the naked eye (not sure if this is how sleep walking works), it seemed she was trying a bit too hard, maybe it's the lack of editing, who knows but it felt unreal. None of the characters were likable, came to the point where I asked my self a couple of questions. Did I like the story? No there was no story. Was I rooting for any characters? Nope, not at all. That was it for me.
Reptile (2023)
Gives the vibes of an old school thriller
Started off good with Justin Timberlake and his little back story and then moved on to the main character Benicio Del Toro who played his character effortlessly and with charm. The scenes were masterfully put together without giving anything away too soon, very well directed. The pacing was also perfect, kept my interest up throughout. Every other actor did their job nicely too. I liked this a bit too much, more than I should have, maybe because for once politics weren't included, very much like a thriller in the early 2000s. There's also a twist at the end too, which is like the icing on cake.
The Witcher (2019)
Henry Cavill is the show
I will go season by season because the quality of each season varied drastically.
1st season - Didn't start off good, but Henry Cavill had a massive screen presence and because of him alone I gave it a chance and by the 4th episode I was hooked and everything made sense. It came together quite well too. Cinematography, sound track, some of the actors were really good. I liked the character development of Yen and Jaskier. But I didn't like Calanthe, neither the character nor the actor. She wasn't convincing at all. This scene where she came to the throne room after a war with blood on her face and body acting like a warrior queen was laughable. I said acting because it didn't feel real at all. Dialogues were not good, it felt like they were from 21st century at times, but if you don't focus on these things, it can be quite good just because there was good material to work with. Episode 4-8 was the best of the season for me. I give this a 7.
Season 2 - Ups and downs but mostly the latter. Dialogues remained the same, garbage. What could have done to the show if it had GOT like dialogue, clever and witty but alas we got f word way too often with some cheap lines. Gerald again was the best with Yen but she became a bit annoying by the middle to the end. Jaskier now has no character development at all, very two dimensional, this is the same with a lot of other characters as well. Some of the scenes where Ciri's with the witchers were pure cringe, some of the jokes too were not very good too. But it works if you can look past these little things. Monster appearances in season 1 which were lot more fun became a bit rarity in season 2 also. Action scenes were good, Gerald in particular. But Ciri learning to be a witcher , I don't know why, looked cringy too with her action scenes, unreal. Now the elf story line along with Fringila was just garbage, Francesca was very unlikable, no one in the elf camp was likable to be honest. The least likable elf/character for me was that kid who spied and then became one of the main advisors of Francesca by the third season (how that happened is beyond me, poor poor piece of writing this). This for me is a 5.
Season 3 - My word I paused so many times to do this and that because it was boring. I guess by this season, the writers didn't have any idea what to do or where to go. Some unclear scenes prove it, like Gerald going on a dead end run to find the mage and returning all of sudden to rescue Ciri (who was at Artueza or idk where and then apparently she runs away but Yen who was responsible for Ciri's life doesn't care?), and all of the mages and enemies were in one place for the party and then Gerald and Yen leaves the most important Ciri with Jaskier and apparently Yen had put a spell so she'd be okay. Why didn't they think of that all along? Put a spell on a house and live, why go through the trouble of moving houses (these scenes where they playing house were beyond silly). I read somewhere that they split the season because of a cliff-hanger, it wasn't that good of a cliff-hanger, vampire diaries had better cliff hangers. If you had the slightest intelligence, you would have figured out way early that Vilgeforts was the real villain, can't you remember the scene where he came back from the dead after the sodden war? A real twist would have been to make Tissaia a villan or someone else unexpected. And the do gooder Yen becomes really annoying by this season, she becomes too much. She being a mother and those scenes felt forced to say the least. But I don't blame the actor here, because she really does a decent job with the poor script she's got. Again Ciri's actions scenes looks way too fake like the enemies pause so she could get in to her fighting stances and the scene where she kills this monster in that boat was very very funny, specially the kill shot. Barely a 3.
7+5+3/3 = 5.
Black Mirror: Shut Up and Dance (2016)
What's the point?
I'm annoyed. After work just wanted to relax, I saw on FB this episode was on fire and there's a twist too apparently. Jesus wtf did I just watch? Whoever wrote this, whoever liked this episode needs to watch better shows with better plots. This was just garbage.
What really is the point? If things ended well for the characters I could not care less about, it would have been okay. But they decided to go with 'well life is messed up, technology is bad and people are worse, you cant really do anything about it, just watch it and what? I don't know just watch it and just be informed? Or be depressed about everything that's happening around the world'. Whoever wrote this should go to jail.
Black Mirror: Loch Henry (2023)
Hated Black Mirror as a whole but loved this episode
For me Black Mirror as a tv show had moments in its uniqueness but most of the things in the show were far fetched and implausible. Like when I watch an episode I am interested but I would question things that the characters could have done differently.
One user mentioned this was unlike any of the show's other episodes and maybe that's why I loved it. There's a twist in the middle and I wasn't ready for it, maybe that was it. But overall it was very well done. If you're a sucker for true crime, murder mystery, you will also like this.
The actors did a decent job, nice scenery, nice building up to the twist. I liked the ending too, not too neat but like it should be. Go for this ep even if you don't like the show, or especially.
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (2023)
Oh very average
I waited for the movie since it was announced but a bit disappointed now after watching it. Last 15-20 minutes, I was waiting for it to end because I was bored. It felt undercooked, there was not much of a story as well but acting was good. The movie looked great too.
Movie started like in the middle of a scene, there was no introduction or build up, it just began. So I was a bit turned off from the get go. It is surprising that it's an average flick because of the Director and the stellar cast, you'd think what can go wrong here?
There were pointless action scenes, not that great dialogue, some over acting from Aubrey Plaza. I can't even remember the good things.
Where the Crawdads Sing (2022)
Beautiful scenery, movie and actress
I read the book not so long ago and I loved it, I loved it so much I couldn't stop thinking about it for days that followed. I heard they were making a movie based on the book and when I saw who the actress was I couldn't wait for it. Daisy Edgar-Jones is a beautiful and a naturally talented actress.
Finally I watched it and it was a good movie. Director tried her best to portray what was in the book as much as she could. You have to understand that you cannot possibly include everything that was in the book, that's not practically possible. I just wish they included more about what Kya had to go through in her childhood, because it's the whole story. If you haven't read it and If you liked this movie, then I recommend you to read it as it describes what was in the movie 10 times more. It talks about what Kya felt when everyone abandoned her, how she felt when she fell in love for the first time, how she felt when her lover didn't return (this bit was heart-breaking), how she survived and more. And I couldn't be happier when she sold the first book and got the check because no one deserved it more.
Cinematography is excellent, acting from Daisy Edgar - Jones is mesmerising, good music and the ending, they left it the same way as described in the book.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022)
I'm being generous giving this a 5
First of all I love slow burners but after two episodes nothing happened, we were introduced to elves, dwarfs, some of the humans and these introductions are painfully long. Not one character I found likable, and acting is not very convincing too. Girl who's playing Galadriel doesn't hold a candle to Cate Blanchett. I was also annoyed with the character Nori, I mean why does have to be emotional when she delivers every single line?
I was waiting for something to happen the whole time, but nothing came except for this mystery man falling out of the sky, and some orcs making appearances here and there. I loved LOTR, waited years for this be released - very disappointing and dissatisfying so far and everything feels forced.
I liked the cinematography - looked high budgeted. Music is meh, maybe all this happy music is not to my taste. The actor who's playing Elrond's character looked good so far. Nothing remarkable yet, did I say everything felt forced? However hoping something drastic will happen in the coming episodes to make this more interesting, but seems unlikely.
Ambulance (2022)
Michael Bay should stop making films
What a mess of a movie this was, going into watch this one I didn't have high hopes, I kinda expected it to be a bad one after I saw who the director was. Jake Gylenhall can do better. This one was all bad, bad dialog, bad acting by all the actors, even by Jake Gylenhall who's normally a very good actor, in this one he was trying too hard. Plot was a mess, this could easily be a comedy cause it was laughable. Why all the actors would try to be funny and smart is beyond me, even the small characters. No character development, bad script, and the 3 starts I've given is for the action sequences which were not bad. But camera angles gave me a headache. Skip this one.
All the Old Knives (2022)
Nice little thriller
I've seen other ratings, so far there're 10 one star ratings, come on, this is much better than that. I saw one review complaining about Chris Pine's face - you should not be allowed to post reviews here, let me tell you that.
So here goes, this is not a groundbreaking thriller, but if you've liked Ghostwriter from Ewan Mcgregor, you'll love this. Strong performances by both the main actors and the supporting cast also did their job nicely. This story is not new, but how original can an espionage thriller get? The twist at the end I kind of saw coming but it was surprising the way it went down nonetheless. Soundtrack is nice, visuals you see are nice too, gives you the feels of an old fashion thriller. The chemistry between the main characters is excellent too, keeps the story intact. Movie is not long or too short but perfect, doesn't add unnecessary scenes nor rush through scenes. Amozon released two good movies at the same time, watch this one definitely if you like thrillers, watch The Outfit too, that one is also a good movie.
One request though, if you were expecting an action movie or you're a superhero fan (nothing against superhero movies, I like those too) and you do not happen to like this genre, please do not rate this bad cause I want these kind of movies coming up in the future, I don't think i'm the only one. And also when you're reviewing a title, try to stay relevant too. Have a nice day !!!
Deep Water (2022)
Very Bizarre
Yeah it was a mess. No plot, tone of the movie doesn't match whatever plot was there. It wasn't a thriller or a mystery like it was supposed to be. Acting was not good too speacially by Ana De Armas, she was trying too hard. Other characters do not make sense as well. Like if my wife was having affairs with anybody she comes across, my friends would not even talk to her, let alone invite her to all the parties and hang out. And also it was obvious Ben's character was killing those guys, cause all of them disappeared, but no one questioned him? And the police drop the case just like that? Even his wife was accusing him and so was that old guy (Who was that guy anyway? Introduced out of the blue, he doesn't like Ben's character but they hang out in parties nonetheless), and the police don't look into it? And why do the main characters stay together? They say all the right words like I love you and everything but we don't see it, we see exactly the opposite like they loathe each other. There were so many things that didn't make sense I cant even remember them now. Ah almost forgot, what was that scene where Ben was chasing that guy who's in a car by the way, in his bicycle? What was that? Very bizarre movie.
Pam & Tommy (2022)
I did not expect this
It was very good. You don't see good ones these days. I was hooked after the first 15 minutes. Deserves to be rated higher that 8 for sure. Sebastian and Lily are doing a wonderful job so far, to the extent that you don't even recognize the actors in their roles. Quality TV. Only drawback is that they only released 3 episodes, being a streaming platform you would expect the whole season at once, no?
Dexter: New Blood (2021)
Should not have been made
Very heartbreaking ending, I was expecting more from the final. I liked the way things they left after season 8. This feels like a meaningless story to tell. I personally didn't need to know he get killed, I mean by his son. How messed up is that? We see how much Dexter loves Harrison in the original show, and it ends up like this. This should have been left alone. All the 7 stars for Michael C hall. He was excellent as always. I still cant believe it though, my favorite character is dead only by the hands of my least favorite character. Now I cant even re-watch the original show knowing this horrible ending. Writers can go f themselves.