tarapov-92-654064 Reviews

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Not worth the hype

[7/10 · 18 June 2022]

I get the fan service and how this movie tickles all the same nerves the original did. I also get Tom Cruise's handsome mug and great acting.

But if you leave it aside amd focus on the plot amd writing, this is almost a mediocre B-Movie.

1. What's up with the plot? A team of fighter pilots needs to navigate a perilous route full of anti-air defenses and drop a bomb into a narrow tunnel leading to something very valuable to the enemy. Seriously? Me and my 15 yo son were laughing loud - thanks the authors didn't bring a Death Star into the movie.

2. Trying to avoid mentioning who "the enemy" is or any motivation whatsoever for carrying out an air raid on a foreign soil makes it all look weak and cartoonish. "the enemy" flying both Russian SU-57s (like there's more than one country operating those now) and American F-14s is hilarious.

3. Why would you fly training missions in a real canyon with a risk of losing a pilot or an aircraft if you have the software able to plot the course and track how close the plane is?

4. The whole training process sequence is bland. The Navy brings in this super pilot, makes a big deal of his appearance, and what does he bring to the table? Drills one 2 min course with the team and delivers motivational speeches? Feels like a lost opportunity - can we not show what a military leadership would look like? Training a band of characters to become a team is such a theme to explore.

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Too many plot holes

[7/10 · 8 January 2022]

It's entertaining, special effects are up to the glorious Marvel standard and the bringing together of all the different Marvel villains and variants of Spiderman is quite clever. However, there are just too many plot holes!

* is Peter really that stupid and selfish that he's willing to alter everyone's minds only to relieve his own stress and give his friends a chance at MIT? And meddle with a spell in progress?

* is Dr Strange that bored and irresponsible to agree to this?

* how come Strange just leaves it up to Peter to apprehend dangerous villains after capturing a few of them himself with little effort?

* how come Peter is suddenly so powerful that he can beat Sorcerer Supreme in his own element?

* how come Peter is suddenly so smart that he comes up with a way to fix diverse and dangerous villains with the help of an old fabricator and a school chem lab?

* and how the heck does forgetfulness spell work in the end? How come Happy remembers meeting May via Spiderman, but doesn't remember his identity? His whole job was to liaise with Peter! Do all the Internet videos of revealing Spidey's identity get destroyed? What abt Peter's school records? His SSN? His citizenship status? Is he an illegal alien now?

That's just a bit too much by Marvel standards, imo.

Black Widow (2021)

A bit below average by Marvel's standards

[7/10 · 27 December 2021]

As someone who grew up in the former Soviet Union, I find it appaling that after all these years Hollywood still can not get Russia right. From accents (there are millions Russian speaking immigrants in this country, you really can't find someone to consult on right phrases to say and get the right accents or have proper labels in the damn helicopter?) to factual mistakes - I lol'd when they'd shown Black dudes in a Russian prison and then a person with an oxygen tank. No matter how inclusive you want to get, there are barely any Black faces in Russian prisons.

Finding 'Ohana (2021)

Enjoyed it with kids

[7/10 · 28 March 2021]

A cute and authentic family movie. Hawaii setting is beautiful and the cast is actually pretty good. The gal who played Pili is very good, I hope she's got great things ahead of her!

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)

A silly, by clasay comedy!

[8/10 · 8 February 2021]

• nice beaver!
• I had it stuffed

Cracks me up every time. I love this movie 25 years after I'd first seen it as a 12 year old. Funny how more jokes come out every time I watch. It is quite deep for a silly comedy, and it's a certain sign of a masterpiece

Sex Education (2019–2023)

A nice story about teenage sexuality in a fantasy world

[8/10 · 1 February 2021]

Initially I was wondering if the authors were planning to make a political statement or jump on the woke bandwagon with this show.

However, I later realized that if I don't try to take this as an accurate representation of the 20's British society, but rather see it as some kind of fantasy world where the school system is firmly British, 30% of characters are Black, half of characters are gay, everyone uses video calls and smartphones while driving cars from the '80's, this makes for a very well written, well acted, very engaging story about teenage sexuality and sexuality in general.

Nice, lighthearted, and very open. Gillian Anderson is brilliant, and the rest of the cast is very good as well.

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)

Loved it

[8/10 · 19 October 2020]

Loved the movie. It's a pleasure to watch - very well directed, memorable characters - classic Tarantino. This is not a gangster movie - it's actually a different kind of Tarantino movie. I did not read anything about the movie or story on purpose and was surprised when I looked up the real story after the credits rolled - the movie is an interesting take on it and makes you research a significant piece of American culture if you weren't entirely familiar with it.

And special props to Tarantino for not giving a rat's arse about the cancel culture crowd who managed to blame him for at least a dozen sins. Worth a watch if you like QT movies.

Klaus (2019)

Watch and learn, Disney

[8/10 · 17 November 2019]

Very solid original story, awesome visual style and great writing. All it takes. On the contrary, reinventing 30 year old cartoons and doubling down on puritan stuff does not help.

This film deserves broader recognition - best Christmas catroon in a long long time

The Great Hack (2019)

People need to watch this in schools

[9/10 · 16 August 2019]

There is no great photography, amazing writing or great acting.

But there is very visual and visceral analysis and account of the sad truth of how millions were manipulated into making decisions that destroyed democratic process and brought abhorrent people to power. This needs to be school curriculum so that next generation does not repeat mistakes and takes the responsobility of analyzing facts seriously

Stranger Things: Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt (2019) Season 3, Episode 8

This season is just bad

[2/10 · 26 July 2019]

Thr show turned into a dumb collection of cheap tropes about 80s and cheap teenager drama.

Hopper willing to take on an entire military base all by himself with one submachine gun is kind of tje quinteseence of the entire season.

Points for casting native Russian speakers as Russians (even one from my hometown in Ukraine!) .

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018)

Meh, if you had some good computer games to compare with

[6/10 · 3 March 2019]

This would have been seen revolutionary in like 1995, but these days, if you've had exposure to some truly deep CRPGs/Adventure games like Life is Strange, Witcher 3 or even decades-old Planescape Torment, this seems far too primitive. Interesting experiment, but there are really no any meaningful choices and the story is quite rough compared to waht people do with interactive media these days

Paper Towns (2015)

Very enjoyable teen movie

[8/10 · 2 February 2019]

I don't quite get all the negative reviews here. I'm married father of two pre-teens and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I recognized myself a lot in the teenage search for meaning and desire to see people for more than they actually are. Characters are quite relatable and it's an overall a pleasure to watch, with a gentle sprinkle of comedy.

The Expanse (2015–2022)

Good take on great fiction

[7/10 · 28 October 2017]

I got introduced to Corey's books, read Leviathan Wakes and was delighted at the vastness of the world, the mix of gritty and majestic, believable characters and interesting plot.

Learning that there is a TV show out there, I was very cautious at first. There aren't many *modern* good TV shows about space. To the point where I can't think of anything worthwhile other than, of course, Firefly. Anything else happens in a sterile and sketchy world full of dummies and blatant logic failures.

I was pleasantly surprised. I loved that show presents a world which is not sterile. Humanity's expansion to the Solar System is not smooth. It's full of conflict, gray areas, and bad blood. Not as complex as Song of Ice and Fire/GoT (if you didn't know, the writer of Expanse was helping George R.R. Martin a lot), but still pretty damn believable. Things in space are functional, frugal, lived-in and make sense.

One of the themes that run through the first book is the debate on access to information, very relevant to the present-day world. It is shown through likable, but completely opposite characters of Holden and Miller. One is a strong-willed idealist, believing that information should be free and having equal access to it will level the playing field, allowing for transparent and informed decisions by those in power (think Robb Stark). The other one is a beaten cynic, your classic noir cop, who had seen the ugly of the human nature and does not hold any illusions regarding the morality of those in power (Tyrion Lannister from space). Both views are equally believable and arguments are made either way. In retrospective, going through the book, the author tries to stay impartial, showing how Holden's actions cause dire things to happen as well as showing how Miller's cynical pragmaticism leads to dismay. This moral debate obviously holds much value to the author.

And here my biggest gripe with the series so far. The show pretty much nails Miller - acting and writing is good. And at the same time, the show completely botches Holden's character. It's not even the casting (although Steven Strait plays the space playboy much more than he should to my liking), it's the weak and unimaginative writing. I am not sure what happened there, but writers decided to get rid of a few key plot elements that speak to Holden's character. On top of that, they focus so hard on showing how a ragtag team of space cowboys comes together, that Holden's character keeps getting shoved into the background. He hardly ever makes any decisions - any important decision is made with the crew or by someone else. From watching the series it's completely unclear how and why someone like that could ever be in command of anyone. And this, of course, kills the entire freedom-of-information thread completely.

It's that and the failure to film an awesome action sequence from the perfect material of *SPOILER ALERT* the Eros escape *// SPOILER ALERT* that has me rate this show 7/10.

If you liked the book, you might enjoy it despite the shortcomings. If you like space fiction, you should take have a look as well. If you're searching for "GoT in space", keep on searching and (re-)watch Firefly while you're at it.

Deadpool (2016)

A bad movie

[2/10 · 24 February 2016]

I knew that new flicks tend to get unrealistically high scores on IMDb from all the fans, and still, just bought the tix when I saw 8.7 rating for this, hoping for a "Guardians of the Galaxy"-like gem. Should always read what people are saying first.

This is just a bad movie. For about a quarter of it I expected it to turn into a Kickass-style trash-comedy, but it did not. It was a just a badly written badly scripted movie with good FX budget.

I think you will only like it if you are a die-hard fan or a 12-14 year old.

Otherwise, waste of time and money.

Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005–2008)

Amazing for children

[10/10 · 8 November 2014]

Despite being a great show in itself, I think this is the best show for 7-12 year-olds that you can find. I watched the entire show with my 7 year old son over the course of 4 months and it was just amazing. I is very appealing visually and has all the fun elements of a children's cartoon - the pretty pictures, funny characters, humor, villains, epic fighting, magic. But at the same time there is a very strong core in the show. The characters are very logical and the episodes actually teach children a lot, unlike the vast majority of other animated TV shows. I would simply stop in the middle of an episode and discuss characters, their actions and motivations with my son - this show has great stories about courage, compassion, morality, diversity, responsibility and growing up.

Great thanks goes to show creators. And I just have to say that the ending is majestic for a show that is that long.

The only sad thing is that now that we've watched the final episode I'm really at a loss as to what to show my son next

Frozen (I) (2013)

A Disney masterpiece

[8/10 · 5 December 2013]

When was the last time that you heard really good songs in a Disney movie? 1992 Aladdin? When was the last Disney movie with princesses and princes where the scene of princess and her beloved one kissing was not the culmination of the story? Never?

Now you can answer "Frozen" to both questions. Decent graphics, very decent musical score. A relatively straightforward plot, but some scenes will be pleasant surprises even to an adult. Smart and funny, kind and focusing on family values, "Frozen" had me realize that I haven't enjoyed a Disney romance story since I was 13 years old and watched Aladdin. They nailed it this time.

Thank you, Disney.