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Reviews
Gösta (2019)
Easier to appreciate if you k ow something about Swedish. Ultire
Moodysson is somewhat of a genius, but he's a Swedish genius. As such, his work is defined by his ability to translate the complexities of the social conflicts faced by in eid md the most homogenous cultures in Europe. As an American who grew up going to Sweden, I have both loved and been confounded by the culture, admired it and criticized it - so his films, and definitely this show, have reflected those feelings over and over and I can't get enough.
Thankfully most Swedes are not as crazy as the lot in this show, but the show is not only a critique of their behaviors but also a touching, and very real love letter.
That said, the characters reflect many of my American friends and relatives so anyone can like this show - I just think Swedophiles will love it.
Da i Da (2014)
Ambitious but hard to watch
This is one of those films that is more art than storytelling. It's more visually interesting than intellectually stimulating, and it's definitely not a movie-night film you can enjoy with a date. It's better watched alone when slightly buzzed and you want to tell people what a strange film you just watched.
Daring performances from its young cast members add a little something...I can't call it controversy in this century...but something to talk about.
Personally, I found the lighting and pee drinking to be a little hard to swallow. Pun intended.
Ares (2020)
Unlikable
From the start, not one character is particularly likable. There's no one to root for, which makes it impossible to feel the tension you should feel.
A shame, because the acting is fine, sets and costumes are good, really everything is well done except the character development...and a story with more holes than a chunk of Swiss cheese.
Charlie's Angels (2019)
Maybe a good editor could make this ok
I couldn't really watch this without making coffee and taking frequent bathroom breaks, and cooking dinner...
The action scenes were not very active/slow and flat. A good editor could fix that. The non action scenes were disjointed and overly expository. A good editor could fix that.
This movie wasn't made for me, but it was made. Why not fix it?
One star for beauty.
Krants: A Dogumentary (2010)
Pleasant surprise!
I saw this on Facebook the other day and thought it was great.
It is supposed to be a preview of a full-length movie but I didn't see any information about the feature, which I would love to see. The topic is probably more interesting to Estonians or people from that part of the world, but I think Americans would appreciate the story and learn a bit about the terrible things that happened to people who were not so obviously involved in World War 2, yet suffered nonetheless.
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (1995)
Good intentions badly planned results in poor quality production
The need for this type of rehashing of classic fairly tales probably comes from well-intending adults who, for sure, are the only ones who think this is needed. Most fairy tales, including those in this series, features creatures and humans from Europe. They've revised them to be from around the world: Africa, South America, Mexico, Asia, etc: places the producer feel are not sufficiently represented by typical fairy tales that we tell our children, and Disney.
I think it would have been better to focus on the fairy tales those cultures already have as opposed to reworking good stories and essentially ruining them with badly written music and sloppy directing/voice work.
House of Lies (2012)
Suspected it might be like this...
Sometimes I see trailers for shows on cable and I think they'll suck and they end up being pretty good because the cast surprises me or the story is richer than it looked. Cable tends to push the sex, violence and profanity aspect of their shows and the trailers for House of Lies was no exception. The one thing the trailer did prompt me to think was that the casting was off. Now that I've seen it I am almost surprised to see how wrong I was. The casting's not off, it's WAAAAAAYYYYY off. It's absurd. None of these guys (plus a gal) suits their role even slightly. Not even the little boy who plays the absurdly-accepted cross-dressing kid, is even close to realistic in my book. I actually hate this show. It's that bad that it makes me hate it. Kristin Bell is way too angelic looking and seeming to play her underhanded character. She doesn't do slutty well either, I'm sorry to say...at least not in the way this character should be, in my opinion. Cheadle, who is obviously a good actor, makes no sense for this role. In no way can I buy him as the reckless ladykiller type no matter how hard he tries. It just all comes off as ridiculous, I'm sorry to say. The other two guys just seem too ordinary or goofy to be scummy business sharks. It's too bad because there's really not much worth watching on Showtime anywmore. Maybe if you like Californication, which is not even slightly realistic (who constantly leaves their doors open as ALL the characters on this show do) while having sex in their kitchen or living room? All this stuff would be fine if it were presented more absurdly, but these shows try to make all this seem like real life.
Frame of Mind (2009)
So sad
Aside from a few OK performances, most of this film just kept me thinking, "how did this get made?".
With all the great story ideas, amazing actors, directors, writers, etc. in the world, how could something so bland get A) financed and B) legit actors like Chris Noth and Barbara Barrie to act in it? Most of the other actors - I can understand taking part in something like this as I assume they really need a role in whatever they can get. To be fair, the acting is not the real problem though. Even Arija Bareikis, who is normally a decent enough actress, has the depth of an empty manila envelope in this thing. That's partly the script/character to blame, though. The main problems are that the casting is mostly wrong, (David Dinkins...really???), the sound is barely there (sound is essential to creating a mood in a film like this, guys!), the script, (seems like a first draft that no-one edited and it's waaaaay too expository), and the directing (was there a director on set?). Sorry to say that lead actor, Carl Evans, is to blame as he was at the helm - or so we are to assume from his credits.
It seems like Eavans came into a load of cash and just blew it on this thing without planning it out correctly. So sad.