alantas

Hoped for a good, Hungarian war film. Well, that's not it. I was excited to see it since I first saw the trailer. I had high expectations I guess. I wasn't expecting to see battles or Hollywood level spectacle. I kind of knew this will be a slow burn and restrained production, but nothing prepared me for the utter boredom, that I have experienced. Though being boring isn't the biggest sin of this film. It's the very very bad acting. I don't know if people who don't speak Hungarian could perceive this aspect. As a native speaker I can tell you listening to the lines delivered here was torture to my brain. Like they filmed only one take of every scene and said, good enough. The only cast member who felt like a real human being and wasn't totally out of place, was the protagonist. He was believable. And that's the only positive I can say. I can't recommend it.

How could I summarize this film... let's see. People die of being crazy and being around crazy individuals. Sometimes by accident.

But seriously, it's a very well written, disturbing piece of cinema, which I was definitely wasn't expecting when I popped it in to serve as background noise. It was riveting from start to finish. There are several plot lines and they're all tied up neatly in the end through series of shocking and disturbing events. All the cast characterized very well and feel real because of this.

Just to list some of the themes, we'll see the effects of PTSD, generational trauma, psychopathy, religious exploitation and so on.

Bored of crap, that's sold as entertainment these days? Want to see a challenging and very well executed film? Great actors who shine in their roles through and through? Look no further!

After the first few episodes, I had high hopes for this show. The premise is interesting enough and the story has good hooks in the beginning. But all you get is mystery boxes and it seems to go in no particular direction. This is the type of writing that gets on my nerves very easily. When you have the creeping feeling that the show is wasting your time and the writers make it up as they go along. Character moments happen here and there, but it's mostly filler and I lost my patience pretty quickly. You can't dangle a mystery (in this case several mysteries) in front of the viewer and not give an answer to them sooner. Remember how Lost turned into a major farce? That's what I'd expect from Yellowjackets if I kept watching. I looked up how long this series goes on and was shocked to see it has 3 seasons. I was hoping for a tight 10 episode story, with a clear arc, not a convoluted, directionless mess. I hoped tv learned by now, that this storytelling style is just plain irritating. I like slow burn, but this is not that. It's a "we have a time slot and we have to fill it" story.

The great actors in this show deserve better. And so is your audience.

I have zero experience with Japanese high school comedies, so this is the first one I've ever seen. First off, the technical side is okay, I like the animation, the characters are well realized and the end credit of the second half of the series is just fantastic.

As the title suggests our main protagonist can't really communicate like a normal human being, because she has sociophobia. I think most of us experience social awkwardness to some degree in our lifetimes. Komi's condition is so severe, that she can barely talk. However, she's perceived as beautiful, so she's the most popular girl in school for whatever reason. Her aim is to make a hundred friends despite her shyness. This is the premise of the show. Her friend Tadano, who can read her mind most of the time, helps in this endeavor.

The class is full of wacky characters, who aren't too deep but entertaining to watch nonetheless. We follow their adventures as they experience high school life together and try to please Komi. One of them called Yamai, who's a girl and straight up in love with Komi, but in a really creepy way. She's a stalker basically and she even kidnaps Tadano at some point. I thought it was kind of funny, but stalking in real life is not funny at all, so I had mixed feelings about that. The show includes some nice Japanese traditions, but also includes weird cultural hangups that have a lot to do with sex fetishes. Obviously this series isn't for kids (I think).

The main characters aren't bad to watch, but I don't really get the mute hot girl trope. Is it a trope? I don't know, but I've seen other anime with similar female leads. So I guess it's a thing. Tadano is a bit boring, but well balanced, truly good-natured people often perceived as such. I don't mind a male lead who serves as the backbone of the circle of friends. The stakes are pretty low generally, but I don't mind if I'm entertained. This show is my guilty pleasure.

I can't tell you how disappointed I was after the disastrous final season of Game of Thrones ended in '19.

I shrugged over the news of the spinoff series and didn't expect to like it at all.

Then I watched the first episode of HOTD. It seemed kind of mellow and not super interesting, but at least I'd have something to follow for the next few weeks. It didn't feel explicitly bad or disingenuous, so I stuck by.

The whole season was slow, with some interesting moments and I was eager to see where the story takes the characters.

The Black Queen took me back to a place where I'm really hyped to see the next season. It didn't feel like the old GOT when it was good, I think this show definitely has its own identity and plenty of good stuff going on. It's subtle and serious, takes its time to build up and I really hope this series will be competently made, until the very end.

The Black Queen is also a kind of slow burner. Rhaenys delivers the news, there's upheaval, Rhaenyra loses a child, is being crowned and then they formulate a plan. The ending is about setting the plan in motion.

This episode is dark and turns up the unease slowly and effectively. The actors deliver awesome performances. There are plenty of great character moments, everything is on point, no screen time is wasted. The cinematography is beautiful, especially at the end with the dragons. Vhagar is terrifying in every scene she's in and the conclusion of the episode is very dramatic. You almost think it doesn't get better than this. Congrats to the creators, you made me like GOT again.

It's a fun and thrilling movie, very tense.

I think the actors were quite good, but Jeffrey Dean Morgan was wasted in his minor role. The girls have good chemistry. Virginia Gardner was pretty good as the daredevil character, Hunter. The interpersonal drama is kind of cliché, but this film doesn't need more than that.

The pacing is tight and the plot is well worked out despite the unavoidable predictability. There were some questionable moments, but those didn't ruin it for me.

The makers did a good job with the direction and cinematography. The setting is used well. It evokes fear and tension in itself, even before things go South.

Climbing experts should chill out and try to enjoy it for what it is.

Overall a fun film and I'll probably watch it again.

I couldn't finish this film because it bored me out of my mind.

The characters are empty. They aren't even cliché, they're just nothing. One of them has a bunny toy. Kristen Stewart is thin. Vincent Cassel is tall. They have no personality whatsoever. The acting is bad, but the actors got nothing to work with, so it's not really their fault.

They go from A to B. Some of them die. You don't care.

It's dark, you see next to nothing. You will strain your eyes trying to see what the hell is going on. Closeups.

Uninteresting creatures, not scary at all.

Annoyingly bad sound design.

I don't know how the film ends and I don't care.

Do yourself a favor and avoid this.

I can't tell what this film is supposed to be, but the more I think about it, the more I hate it.

If Lana didn't want to do it, then why did she? Because it seems like she didn't want to. Or just got old and jaded. The meta-commentary is way too on the nose and ruins the whole movie. Not that it would be much better without it. I so wanted to like this and was really excited for it when the news came it's being made. But I didn't care for sarcastic comments about the state of the entertainment industry. We already know that Hollywood these days pumps out mostly unwatchable trash, and reboots and sequels of big franchises are made by corporate suckups who don't understand anything about the material they vandalize. This entry landed The Matrix among the zombie franchises like Terminator, Star Trek and Star Wars. Wish I could say something good about this, but I can't.

The title of the review might be a bit harsh, but this is how I could best describe my experience with this film. I kinda liked the beginning and the setup. I liked that the story branches out in several directions and there are some scenes that are great in themselves. But... the lead character for me isn't very relatable or likable, so I didn't care about him that much. I wanted to really follow and understand the story, but that might require a second viewing, which I will pass on. There was probably an intention behind every scene and they probably form a full comprehensive story, only the movie isn't as entertaining and as I wrote before lacks tension. Sadly horror these days is very self-serving and The Empty Man isn't an exception. It probably works better as a comicbook.

Let me start by this: maybe it's not a 10, but definitely deserving to be ranked among the best tv shows of all time.

Peaky Blinders is a heavily stylized gangster epic, that tells the story of the Shelby family during the 1920's. It's a story of a cast of antiheroes. Don't really want to start discussing the complexity of the show, because it would take forever. Cillian Murphy's portrayal of Thomas Shelby is something to behold, a very complicated character played by a fantastic actor. The cast is brilliant all over, except for... Adrien Brody. Sorry, I just couldn't take him seriously. He was more like a cartoon of a mobster in this role with that thick accent. He was entertaining nonetheless, just not in the right way. That said, I think season 4 was the weakest of the 5 so far. Season 5 was much better than some people make it out to be. But the best seasons were 2 and 3 for me. I hope season 6 will bring a proper ending to the show.

Not for everybody, but a great watch and a very well made tv show all over.

I watched South Park in the beginning and after six or seven seasons I wasn't really excited about it anymore. Now, that the recent seasons are available on Netflix, I decided to gave it a try and was very pleasantly surprised. I like how they do longer arcs and give the characters more personality. I think Matt and Trey became very good storytellers. The social satire is as strong as ever and I hope to see more. I'm surprised that Unfulfilled isn't among the top rated episodes. So many hilarious and memorable moments. Great show!

At the time when this move came out, I wasn't very interested in it. The first movie was ok, but not nearly as disturbing as the book. I didn't like the fashionable 80's nostalgy a'la Stranger Things and the forced comedy. When Chapter Two came out, the negative reviews deterred me from watching it. But now I could watch it with open mind and without the influence of the internet mob.

I was actually pleasantly surprised. I might be one of the few people, who liked this film more than the previous one. I thought that the buildup and pace was well balanced and it managed to hold my attention for the full runtime. I'm not a big fan of the overuse of CGI, but in IT Chapter Two it didn't bothered me that much, because the scenes were very imaginative.

The characters and cast choices were great in my opinion. They all got the room to breathe and every one of them had enough time to tell their stories. Maybe Mike was an exception. Their struggles were impactful and relatable. I have to admit, I don't remember the second book that much (I read it way back in the 90's), but maybe that's a good thing, because I wanted to appreciate this movie as a standalone creation. I think tonally it's more consistent than the first movie, despite having some of the comedy here as well. It just wasn't as intrusive or disruptive. I liked the Stephen King cameo as well.

As a fan of the horror genre, I'd like to see more grounded, reserved and serious works and It Chapter Two isn't like that by any measure. But at the end it feels like it had more sincerity than most horror movies these days.

Awful stuff. I actually watched only about half of the Lorenzo Gilyard episode. It seems Morgan has no clue about what he's doing. He's not interested in the person he's talking to and makes you think you could do his job better. Other than that the show is very poorly structured and you get to know next to nothing about the facts of the case. Seemed like a wrongfully convicted guy was bullied by an arrogant idiot.

Is it a bad thing? Not necessarily. There are plenty of good about this show, but also stuff that is offputting for many probably (me included). 3D animation in anime looks quite good by now, but I'm not sold on it entirely. I appreciate the art and the intro is fantastic with the stop motion animation. I think visually this series has a distinct personality and I like it. The story is ok, the world and its implications are interesting. It's almost like Zootopia, but here the carnivores haven't prevailed over their killer instincts entirely. You can't really avoid the comparison, because there are too many similarities. For me Beastars feels a bit like a sexualized fanfiction of the before mentioned film, with a slightly different setup and with a wolf instead of a fox. It's a teenage romance drama mixed with other, darker themes and sex. The story is okay, but some plotlines that would be interesting are not really followed upon (maybe later?). Like the murder at the very beginning of the first episode. There are so many tensions setup in this society, that are mentioned and would need a more thorough explanation, but what we get is the convoluted love drama between a wolf and a dwarf rabbit. What's the point to a shared civilization between carnivores and herbivores? Why is it needed, that they cooperate instead of having herbivores as slaves or an underclass, that is kept for their meat? I think these are valid questions, because I don't really see the explanation for the value of this shared society. In Zootopia it's more acceptable, but I prefer anthropomorphic animals as metaphors for human psyche, than literal animals with human traits. I think the latter have more pitfalls, because I would need a better explanation of the reasons, why they break the behavioral patterns of their species. From this viewpoint the characters are well written individually, but I still don't see this on a societal level. What's the need for this kind of balance, between prey and predator? I just don't see it. The sex stuff is also offputting for the same reasons mentioned above. These animals not really metaphors, but themselves with some human traits. It's a straight way to uncanny valley. Maybe this expression isn't used correctly here, but that's how I could describe the feeling this evokes, the best. The line between human and animal becomes very blurry, while you know they are literal animals. I've seen enough furry sex fantasy garbage on deviantart, to feel uncomfortable about it (one of the reasons I left the site). The reason this stuff works in Bojack Horseman for example, because it doesn't try to explain stuff and doesn't throw nature facts at you about species, like it happens often in Beastars. It's goofy enough, that you just accept what happens, because interspecies relations mostly played for laughs. Here the bunny is meant to be seen as very sexual and I just don't see the point. Furry porn is a fetish, that I'm not really eager to understand. That said, if you are willing to overlook the stuff I wrote about here, you'll be in for an engaging, but a bit over the top teenage romance drama.

If you are a fan of subtle, intelligent storytelling, True Detective season 3 is for you. The story moves forward by switching between 3 timelines and manages to transcend the base plotline by emphasizing how the ripples of a crime affect so many people's lives. The story is structured in such a way, that even you pretty much aware of the outcome of some arcs, it still manages to surprise and sometimes shock you. I think every one of us have some unresolved storylines in our lives and can relate on that level. The heavier the burden, the harder it is to forget and in this case it cannot be left unresolved. We see how this burden eats away the life of almost everyone who has a part to play. Every little hint you get, leads somewhere and has an effect on the greater story. No hand holding, you have to pay attention. Another important thing, that had me invested in the series is the integrity of the main character. I think heroes aren't defined by their triumphs, but by their perseverance in the face of failure. This is an important lesson, you should take with you, but there are so many other. This is a slow burner, definitely not for everybody. A perfect blend of crime and character drama. Season 3 is definitely on par with season 1 and in my opinion it surpasses it in some aspects.

This show had a potential to be great and has some interesting/great moments, but the overall execution is lacking in many aspects.

I realize, that it's not necessarily a show for adults. It feels like they directed it towards a more mature teen audience and it's fine. But I feel like it could have managed without trying too much to appeal to a specific demographic. I hated the soundtrack all over, the slimy pop songs take away too much from the atmosphere. I wasn't to crazy for the title score either. This was for me the most stand out bad thing, along with the overall direction. This story besides being about magic and magical keys, deals with a lot of heavier real life issues, that would have deserved a more serious tone in my opinion. It could have lifted this show from the sea of disposable entertainment, with the right treatment. The reason, I sat down and watched this, because I was familiar with the success of the base material. I only read the first issue though. From that, it was apparent, that the makers aren't following the comics super close. I assume, the main beats of the story are the same, but I imagine the comic must have done it a lot better. In the series we reach the conclusion at the price of some plot holes and suspension of disbelief shattering character decisions. It just doesn't work that well, while it's apparent, there's a great mystery behind it all. Bad things aside, there's a lot to like here, starting with the beautiful sets, Jackson Robert Scott (Aloha!), the rest of the cast was perfectly fine, if not great and as I started this review, there is/was a great potential in this. Maybe I liked it more if I were 16. Thanks for reading!

I watched this movie, because it popped up on some "best films of '19" lists. I appreciate brave film making and daring to be different, but I also appreciate stories, that make some sense. It felt to me that trying to shock the audience was more important, than anything else. There's a long buildup, that leads to nowhere. I found myself laughing at some points, because this film tries ridiculously hard to make people uncomfortable. It might have worked if the characters had some actual depth, or it was done in a more subtle manner. In the first ten minutes I thought to myself, that this film tries to copy Hereditary (which I liked) in a bad way and later found out, that this is from the same director. It isn't a bad thing to have a distinct style, but in this movie, the theatrical elements outweigh the actual message, whatever that was. Was I supposed to care about any of the characters? Was this supposed to be an atmospheric cult horror? I mean a horror about a cult. If there's a hidden meaning to all this, it was so well hidden, I couldn't find it. Otherwise it was dragged out needlessly long.

Before watching this documentary, I was already familiar with the case. I knew, that this individual committed his acts, because he craved fame or infamy, it wasn't important which would come true. So I have very mixed feelings, because now you made a miniseries about him. In a weird way, he is a winner in this situation, because he got what he wanted. They even raise this question in the documentary. But maybe lust for fame was only a vehicle to carry out these acts. I would argue, the guy would have done, what he has done eventually, with or without getting infamous. Other than that, it's a story worth telling. If it was fiction, it would be one of the best crime stories ever. We learn about the story, mostly through the eyes of everyday people, who just couldn't let get away someone who tortures animals. There's some footage of the cats that he killed (they don't show the actual torture thankfully), and they are very haunting for me, as I am a cat owner myself. If this stuff upsets you, be wary! There are also some graphic descriptions of what he has done to his human victim, so brace yourself for that as well.

There's nothing to be discussed or argued about this episode, because the path leading here couldn't have set up anything else other than the disaster we have witnessed. After having zero expectations, still managed to disappoint. No one at HBO read this before greenlighting it? There aren't any people in the management, who care about their own product? After season 7 there should have been serious alarm bells going off, that this series have been botched beyond repair. I only feel sorry for the people who only realized during the eighth season what their favorite show has become. Why I watched it until the end? Because a secondary more interesting story is at play here. I'm curious how total hacks could have landed such a great opportunity and how they managed to kill this show, then kicked the carcass some more. Even casual watchers who aren't deeply into the lore, could pick up easily on the inconsistencies. The bigger problem is how they hollowed out every character, every arc and how they thought that shock value equals good storytelling. The last episode was a parody of a badly written fan fiction. It honestly felt like if a kid had written it, who has only vague notions of politics and the characters whose faith depends on his decisions. This was a total joke and will be remembered as the worst series final of all time.

This is probably one of my favorite shows and I uphold my 10 stars rating after watching the second season. Top of the lake is a slow burner, with unique characters that are very flawed and human. If you let it, it can get under your skin and leaves you wondering about the heavy issues, that it dares to deal with. For example, the second season's main theme is motherhood, abuse in relationship and exploitation of a marginal group of people (sex workers). I think you wouldn't expect the ending which is a quite unique twist, but I won't say more. This show is also quite good at playing with your expectations and turning them upside down, which is the hallmark of good storytelling. The female characters are quite prominent and well written, without being obnoxious feminist champions. They feel real and very relatable. The antagonist is also very good, I was worried, that the new antihero will be only a pale shadow compared to Peter Mullan, but oh boy, was I wrong! I can only recommend Top of the Lake, it's not your typical good guys vs bad guys show. It's about people who collide with each other, have interesting story arcs and face relatable problems under unusual circumstances. Don't listen to people who watch half an episode and come here to write a "review".

This show is awesome, stands its ground, from beginning to end. A lot different than the Walking Dead, has more in common with Train to Busan as in the emphasis is on survival in the strictest sense. I liked how each situation is fleshed out, some we've seen before, but some are quite unique and really tense. The characters feel realistic, unlike other zombie shows. It's not a soap opera with zombies, but a real survival tale of random people. I only hope, that they have a clear direction with the story and they won't keep making it, until people sick of it. Looking forward to the next season

This movie is based on a horrific real life tragedy; the Tate murders. I think, one of the hardest things to do, is to make an adaptation of real life events. I don't know if this killing spree even needs a dramatization, but I'm sure it doesn't need one, that uses all the bad clichés and style elements of the tired genre of the slasher film. This movie tries to depict the horror of that night, but in a very irritating manner. I felt frustrated throughout by the very bad direction and the lack of respect for the subject. The bad rating is justified.

I watched this movie today and the more I think about it, the worse it seems. As a lot of people said it before me, it's the shameless recycle of episode IV. JJ ruined Star Trek and now Star Wars, but in a different way. Let's face it, this whole show was a huge marketing stunt and not much more. The story lacks depth and very uninteresting, given that we've seen it all before. It's simply unbelievable, that they couldn't come up with anything original. Or is this what the masses wanted? The rating shows, that apparently they wanted this, indeed. So everyone who worries about spoilers, just chill, because it's a remake, with technically more advanced visuals and without the charm. Horrible pacing, not very good acting, lame Darth Vader wannabe evil guy and no memorable moment to mention. Not even the death of Han Solo... sad. To say something positive: the design is great, I liked very much the practical effects and the movie looks very good overall. It definitely doesn't belong to the list of the best movies of all time. I won't hurry so much, to see the next one. Hugely disappointed...

I watched this film for the first time a while ago and for some reason I watched it again tonight. I have to say, that it is much better, than I remembered. The pivotal moments stayed with me, but seeing it again, left a stronger impression. The accident is so unbelievably dumb, that makes you think how easily we can get in dead serious trouble. All it takes is one irresponsible, dumb friend. In such a surreal situation disbelief and panic kicks in and I imagine, that staying cool and rational is a privilege of a very few human beings. Of course after seeing how the whole story plays out, it's very easy to be smart and to know better... The group dynamic in my opinion was well written. One nervous irrationally behaving individual can derail all the efforts of a team. And they had more of that kind, so failing at their attempts felt natural for me. This film makes you think about how easily faith can cross one's path and throw them the test of their life. In the end I felt a little drained seeing this all too human tragedy. Just as sad as the predecessor. Not an easy watch, but I would recommend it to people, who can place themselves in the situation and humble enough to know that they are not smarter than anyone else.

As a true fan of the Alien franchise and Ridley Scott, I wanted to like this film very much. I didn't want to believe the bad reviews, yet they are right when they say this film is mediocre in a lot of ways. In certain aspects the viewer feels that if a little more thought went into them, they could have turned out much better... like the characters for instance. The smallest problem with them that they are very cliché, the bigger problem is, that they are really dumb. Not for scientists, but for average people. It seems like they lack common sense in several situations. Thanks to the bad writing, you never have the sense of reality which helped significantly the first Alien film to gain its cult status. In short, the whole film is watered down to the level of your average Hollywood popcorn flicks in terms of character interactions. Another huge let down is, that there are annoying plot holes all over. You get the feeling, that they had to cut out important scenes at the expense of making sense. And I'm a guy who usually willing to look over this kind of stuff, if its not downright insulting to intelligence. Now let me write a few thoughts about the design. Stuff that worked before, still works. The Prometheus, the suits and the gadgets are okay. But at some scenes I felt, they were made only to show, "look guys how much stuff our computers can render"! Simple case of overdoing stuff, because they had the budget and resources. Prometheus isn't all bad, it has some really worthwhile scenes where I felt, that Mr. Scott still has it. Unfortunately these are greatly overshadowed by the flaws. Michael Fassbender is definitely the best among the acting crew, his performance alone worth seeing this film. Overall my opinion is, that Prometheus could have been much better if it didn't want to impress the widest audience possible so badly and just a little more thought went into the writing. Still enjoyable, but a lot of us expected more.