Reviews (1,680)
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Season 2 (2024) (season)
I can't help but agree with other reviews on the individual episodes, this is a downright disastrous series that degrades Peter Jackson's LotR trilogy. Considering that I was incredibly bored just watching the 10 minute recaps on YouTube, I can't even imagine the excruciating boredom a viewer must experience watching hour-long episodes. The characters are tragically flat and boring, perhaps no one in the whole series captivated me; there are so many of them that it jumps from one line to another, and it's all classically uninventive and boring. There’s finally some action after seven hours, but it feels infantile, with visual effects that are far worse than the 20 year-old movies. All in all, a disgusting bluff that must make Tolkien turn in his grave in shame, and I sincerely hope that the two failed seasons will force the creators to stop assembling and further desecrating this saga.
The Lincoln Lawyer - Season 3 (2024) (season)
Here I have to fundamentally disagree with the majority that this is the best season, my eyes it is rather the worst – read "still very good, but not up to the previous seasons". In fact, in the previous two seasons, the trial got underway from the first episodes, interspersed with new witnesses, evidence and side cases and lines, but pretty much nothing happens until episode 6 and the trial is actually a very complex story that it needed those five episodes to get going so that we finally get to the courtroom in the sixth episode, which is too late for my taste and habit from the previous series. After that, however, it's a standard good courtroom drama that once again delighted me, but I have a feeling that waiting so long for action is a bit against me. Still above average in the field of courtroom dramas, but a star worse compared to the previous seasons. The cliffhanger at the end is more than decent though.
Don't Move (2024)
Classic Netflix washout. The characters are flat and one-dimensional, uninteresting and generic figures, the side characters are also just walking clichés just out to get their deaths, and the story may have an original premise (a paralyzing substance), but at its core it's the same old thing over and over again. It has no drive, no idea, no characters, and in short, nothing to base the film on. It won't offend or excite the casual audience, but genre fans will be bored by its cheesiness and lack of innovation.
Staring at Strangers (2022)
Spain has come up with a rather low-budget voyeur home intruder film, original in idea, but otherwise far from their usual stuff. There are no twists and turns, there’s no mystery either, nothing major happens, and it feels like the film kept itself too grounded and failed to develop its thematic potential even remotely, as if it doesn't know what to do next. And the ending is also pretty weak. I expected a much bigger bomb from the Spaniards, this is too sterile and mundane.
Sick of Myself (2022)
A Norwegian mix of festival drama and weirdness, and at times the reality of the narcissists among us. It is over the top throughout in its attempt to show the narcissistic personality at its best, but somehow forgets to put something "normal" or believable, and thus the film comes across as wanting to push the central motif too hard and squeeze the most out of the viewer, but loses any appeal that would have kept my attention in any significant way. As an idea, it's good, but it would be more suited to a 20-minute short than a 90-minute film.
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (2023)
I would never have thought that an ordinary drama, which, with a bit of hyperbole, is about nothing, would be so energetic, fresh and entertaining. What we get here is the story of a teenage girl dealing with all the things that come with growing up, from picking out bras to her first period. That might sound corny, but Its Me, Margaret is a great mix of comedy and drama that throws the viewer quite a bit of philosophical musings around religion, and especially around the mind of a teenage girl and all the woes that roll in around her, in addition to the energetic entertainment. Abby Fortson in the lead role is amazing for her age. The film is cute, funny and it's deftly balanced dramatically and I have to say that as a one-off for a weekend afternoon this is downright perfect. I'm not at all sorry to give it a full score, because I haven't felt this good about a film I wasn't expecting anything from in a long time.
Falcon Lake (2022)
An incredibly strong festival film that from the very first minutes is exactly "the festival film" that everybody will talk about. A distinctive retro cinematography, a human story of everyday teenage life and strong emotions backed by a powerful conclusion. But its biggest strength is the "ordinariness" of the whole story, which is portrayed so honestly and convincingly that you understand every single step that each character takes, and in turn do not understand the chilling ending that the director delivers. This is, in short, exactly the disarming drama I expect from festival pieces, and one that had me more riveted to my seat than any billion-dollar Hollywood blockbuster.
Dark Matter (2024) (series)
S1: A very refreshing breath into the science fiction genre in the serial field, of which not many are made, and when they are, they are not exactly original or interesting. But Dark Matter met all the standards from the start and managed to engage me so strongly that I devoured episode after episode. The acting is great, the idea is initially excellent, but over time it seemed to lose a bit of its juice and pretty much shuffled on the spot, only to slide to a not-quite-finished conclusion from which I deduce two possible scenarios: either the second season will be a flop and just an attempt to squeeze some kind of a conclusion out of the series, or the creators have saved a proper multiverse smash that will spark brutally; let's be surprised. Anyway, the first season managed to impress me with its precision and I can only hope that the second will somehow bring it to a meaningful, logical and most importantly engaging conclusion. Four stars for the first season, I have to say I was convinced all along that it would be a full score, but that final episode feels so bittersweet that I'm not really 100% sure.
Dark Matter - Season 1 (2024) (season)
A very refreshing breath into the science fiction genre in the serial field, of which not many are made, and when they are, they are not exactly original or interesting. But Dark Matter met all the standards from the start and managed to engage me so strongly that I devoured episode after episode. The acting is great, the idea is initially excellent, but over time it seemed to lose a bit of its juice and pretty much shuffled on the spot, only to slide to a not-quite-finished conclusion from which I deduce two possible scenarios: either the second season will be a flop and just an attempt to squeeze some kind of a conclusion out of the series, or the creators have saved a proper multiverse smash that will spark brutally; let's be surprised. Anyway, the first season managed to impress me with its precision and I can only hope that the second will somehow bring it to a meaningful, logical and most importantly engaging conclusion. Four stars for the first season, I have to say I was convinced all along that it would be a full score, but that final episode feels so bittersweet that I'm not really 100% sure.
Smile 2 (2024)
Not nearly as intense, original and scary as the first part, but at least we get to see this universe grow with this rather unorthodox style of "boogeyman" and it wasn't just a one-off. Smile 2 suffers greatly from a lack of surprise moments compared to the first film, but it deftly makes up for it with far bloodier kills and solid gore and body-count. It's good to watch and it's scary in the cinema and doesn't offend, but I'm definitely not as impressed as I was with the previous film, it just feels like something is missing here. The finale is very awkward and will probably divide the audience in two, as will the lead actress, Naomi Scott, who most people love, but I personally didn't find her that likable, quite the opposite. Better average.