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The Mother (2023)
Unrealistic vanity project
My wife and I barely sat through the whole movie. While some of the action scenes were entertaining, the majority parts of the movie were in a spectrum from predictable to outright boring. The dialogues often sounded like they came from a B-rated 90s action movie. The best part of the movie was where my wife and I competed who would guess next plot twist or phrase spoken on screen.
Jennifer Lopez is shown as yet another 50 kg woman capable of defeating several bulky men. But ok, you can extend your suspension of disbelief because the rest of the movie is that bad.
Jennifer Lopez looks amazing, especially at her age, and many scenes were shot to say "look at Lopez, look at how beautiful, capable and amazing she is" without any relevance to the plot or character development.
Special mention is required for the character of the daughter. Her behavior is insufferable and ungrateful, even in life threatening situations and towards people who actually saved her.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
As a long time D&D player I liked the movie!
I've been playing D&D game regularly since 2004, so I could not possibly miss this movie. This is probably the reason why I loved it - I watched it as if it was an adaptation of one of my games. However, this was the best live adapataion of all! The action was good, it wasn't goofy as one might expect. CGI was well-made. The characters are pure awesome! They seem simple, yet deep and thought-through when you scratch the surface. Obviously, every D&D fan would adore many easter eggs and references on the screen. My favorite ones are rust monsters in Neverwinter and a group from D&D animated show on arena.
I noticed a few things that could be better, but then again it is D&D gamer talking here:
- I kinda waterd Edgin, the Bard, to have more powers than just "planning" and lute. Bards in D&D are known for being jacks-of-all-traits, with good spellcasting capabilities. Edgin could occasionally throw an illusion and swing his sword for a change.
- Holga is awesome, Michelle Rodriguez is great in this role. She certainly has physique necessary for Barbarian (this is not CGI she-Thor muscles of Natalie Portman). I was probably hoping to see more Barbarian powers than just ass-kicking and ax-swinging.
- I think there was a missed opportunity to make Doric more tiefling-looking. Tieflings can have gorgeous horns, skin and eyes of literally any color... But she looks like a human with pointy ears and small horns (which is possible but rather boring). When I first saw Doric I thought she is an elf with a kind of druidic wooden jewlery in her hair.
- Hugh Grant was great in the role of Forge. Then again, Rogues in D&D are quite formidable foes when it comes to combat, I was hoping for a duel between Edgin and Forge.
- Sofina is a great villain, kudos to Daisy Head. Her last fight is visually magnificent (undead Bigby's Hand, mmmm) and in the end she was not overpowered by main characters but got defeated with a cunning plan, a thing she lacked and always compensated for with powerful spells.
The closest to the game counterpart is Simon, Wild Magic Sorcerer. Great depiction.
Overall, awesome movie for game fans, and I hope for more in the future.
Bullet Train (2022)
Amazingly entertaining movie
I was amazed by this movie! The amount of good action, nice physical and verbal comedy, and great acting did the job. Probably the first time in several years that I got pleasant feeling after a movie.
I watched it with my wife and usually after a movie we discuss the topics raised in the movie we've just seen. In the case of Bullet Train, we discussed only how much we absolutely loved it! Entertainment at its best, I hope Hollywood would get to it's senses and starts making more movies that just bring joy.
In this day and age of preachy movies & shows written & directed by recently graduated blue-haired activists Bullet Train looks as a masterpiece.
Wednesday (2022)
Why does this show hate men?
The show started as yet another great depiction of Addams family. This time we focus on, arguably, the most interesting character of the family. We get great references, amazing set ups, good plot, great cast. One thing bothers me though - why does each and every male character on the show is either a coward, a prime a-hole, a submissive wuss, or purely incompetent (even at the things he is allegedly known to be good at).
Gomez was a big disappointment. In all other shows & movies he was a loving husband and father, but here he is a blob without an agency. To tell you the truth, despite grotesque attitude and attire, Gomez for me was the first an example from TV of a man who is a peer, an equal partner, to his woman, an understanding and deeply caring father to his children. Well, not in this show.
But the list doesn't stop on Gomez. Tyler - incompetent even in one job he does, proven by Wednesday. Xavier - arrogant a-hole, also incompetent in archery and incapable of rowing faster than a female, proven by Wednesday. Ajax - clueless, submissive simpleton. Lucas - tall, athletic man that can't hold a fight with 2 of his buddies against 45 kg woman, also a prime a-hole. Pugsley - "would not survive without me" as Wednesday says. In the 60s series the Addams siblings were a great duo, each doing their own thing but complementing each othervin the end. Why does this show's Pugsley have to be submissive bug like that?
Separate shout out for two one-scene characters that really bothered me:
- Homeless man who lived in a burned building who Wednesday beat to kick out of the place. He seemed like an ordinary, poor, homeless guy, who would probably just leave for a few hours if offered $10 or some food. Why did Wednesday have to "establish dominance" over the poor fella? I don't really see the point. If she paid him or gave food, I think it'd have shown that under all that grim darkness Wednesday still had some empathy left.
- Enid's dad. Why is he a "beta" in his own "pack-family"? Why can't he be a partner to his wife, like it is with most groups of wolves in the wild? It was a giant missed opportunity to include one wholesome male character. The wolf daddy could have stood up to the oppressive wife protecting his beloved daughter.
Overall, I wanted to give this show 8 but for the terrible male depiction I subtract 2 stars.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine: The Good Ones (2021)
Is this what passes as comedy in Hollywood now?
I have been waiting for the next season of 9-9 for a long time. It has been my favorite show until last season but I still let it pass. I was hoping that the next season would be better.
Oh god, what have I just watched?! In the first 2 minutes of this episode I get lectured on covid, masks, vaccination, and racial injustice. Things didn't get any better till the very end of the episode.
This episode didn't squeeze a single laugh out of me. Maybe creators didn't intend to make me laugh, which is odd becasue it is a COMEDY show. If I want preachy bunch of people either walking around each other on eggshells or non-stop virtue signalling I'd go on twitter.
I get that social situation in USA is tough but let comedy be comedy. The creators could've used comedy to talk about serious stuff but instead they chose to lecture the audience and obviously pander to social justice trends.
I'm dropping this show, it is obviously not a clever comedy anymore.
Dexter: New Blood (2021)
Justice is served
I remember the last season of Dexter was like a trash mash up of all plots put together. However, this reboot / new last season is pure awesome. Justice was served both to the original show and within this show. I got what I came for - charismatic serial killer following The Code, bearer of alien mind trying to pass as an earthly human (like Zuckerberg, but good), good plot with twists and sudden deaths of likeable characters, and tense unexpected culmination. I think I got from this show the satisfaction Dexter gets when he puts a knife through somebody's heart. Kudos to all actors, their play was at top level. It was especially heartwarming to see Jennifer Carpenter reprising her cussing role.
One thing I didn't like is how Angela learned true identity of Dexter. By chance she went to that conference, by chance she decided to talk to Batista, who by chance mentioned Morgan family. Come on, it looked lazy, I feel like the writers decided not to put much thinking there. This particular scene sticks out because the rest of the show is so damn good.
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
Antiutopia school drama
I decided to watch the movie because of action scenes and CGI. I got what I came for. It looks awesome.
However, the dialogues... OMG they are so stupid my head hurt so much, I had to pause several times just to catch breath. Most of interactions hit every teenage school drama cliches. I can't even write this review seriously considering what I was hearing during the movie.
I can see how director tried hard to show this post war antiutopia cyberpunk society. I appreciated all small details put in front and on background of screen to get a sense of that. But it really sounded like generic anime about high school with jocks, nerds, crushes, divorced parents etc.
Red Notice (2021)
Good humor, not enough everything else
The movie combines three good actors, good writing and ok directing. This is a solid 6/10.
Reynolds once again plays as himself. He is a sweet heart, his jokes are great. I think having him in cast added a few stars to this movie, in my opinion. However, action scenes with Reynolds had a big number of cuts. I get he is not an action star, but something better could have been done to avoid that. After all, he is not the first comedy actor put in an action movie.
Now, the movie itself does not feel completely like heist or action genre because it has neither enough to call it any of that. Heist scenes with stealing and escaping were not that elaborate, they felt simple, "easy-peasy". Action scenes were good but then again, they felt watered down - as always none of numerous faceless antagonist goons died, the heroes did not feel any consequences of any action scenes at all.
CGI was... not as bad as it could have been. But it definitely could have been much better. Fire, bull and falling bodies looked like they were taken from a cutscene of a computer game, not a multimillion budget movie.
Overall, this is a good action heist flick. It is like Aviator gin and tonic with a twist... of lemon piece (two puns intended) - sure you can go for something more elaborate with more ingredients but it works just fine to cheer you up in the evening.
Arcane: League of Legends (2021)
Good animation with a few things missing
I've never played LoL so at first I was hesitant to watch this show. However, it hooked me up from the first episode and I finished it in 2 days. I liked voice actors, the animation and decent script. This is a story of villains, heroes and people in between, and it was compelling to watch. Many characters are multidimensional, my personal favorite is Viktor (I really hope he survived).
Here are two things that got to me and why I couldn't have put higher rating to this show.
1. There are other species of intelligent creatures in there and nobody explains why! I understand that their society is so evolved that they "don't see colours", but you for sure would notice bipedal chipmunk with monopoly guy moustache! They could at least give some 2 minutes explanation for those who didn't play the game. In Star Wars, for example, the tons of alien unexplained species are ok because they are the background for the main story, an instrument to show how far-far away in galaxy everything is happening. To the contrast, in Princess Bride huge rats appear for only a minute but their origin is given a brief explanation, so seeing those monsters would not ruin believable image.
2. I understand this is a fantasy setting but here is one old truth: people are willing to believe into unbelievable but unwilling to believe into implausible. 50 kg small woman taking down several 70+ kg muscular men is implausible! This looks so pathetic, borderline pandering. Screenwriters put SOOO many 'powerful' (in terms of physical strength) female characters there, I wonder if Silco was able to produce necessary amount of steroids for this ever growing market. And god forbid a man to beat a woman in a fist fight!
Overall, the show is good. I hope for the second season and I hope showrunners would fix the oversights I mentioned.
Lucifer: Goodbye, Lucifer (2021)
Cut that out!
"People can believe into unbelievable but they can't believe into implausible".
I can't believe Lucifer of all supernatural beings in this show still doesn't get humans and their emotions. And yet he suffers from them again and again. His emotional intelligence is at high schooler level.
30 kilos teen girl drops 80 kilos healthy adult guy on his back? Omg, can we stop pretending that this is even possible?
And finally, I'm so tired of hearing "men are bad" message throughout this season! Toxic masculinity, men are not as evolved, men are stupid. Oh, come on! Nice way of antagonizing half of your audience.
Lucifer: A Lot Dirtier Than That (2021)
The most woke episode, ironically made me asleep
This episode hit more checkboxes for "oppression olympics" than any of the previous ones. I'm seeking entertainment from this show, not deep drama social studies. Almost 0 humor delivered, writers included mostly just talking points.
Thanks Devil this is the last season!
Lucifer (2016)
He was flying high but then fell hard
At the beginning I liked the show. Decent writing, good cast, great scenes set. Thanks to those three things odd-looking CGI was not bothering me. But eventually it fell into trough. Last seasons are in range of average to terrible. Screenwriters scraping the bottom for plot hooks, CGI now looks goofy, and some props, oh god! The flaming blade of Michael, the most powerful weapon capable of killing top celestials, looks like a cheap plastic toy a kid wins in claw crane.
In later seasons the show gets infected with common disease for supernatural series. The powers of heroes get inconsistent and work as a cheap plot fix, Deus ex machina if I may. Also, it doesn't make any sense to me that Maze and juiced-up Chloe could be on par or even beat Lucifer and Amenadiel. Those scenes looked disrespectful towards their characters.
Ellis definitely has charisma for this role. I saw interview with him where he switched from talking as himself to talking as Lucifer in a snap and it looked awesome. However, in later seasons he performs a lot of his scenes as if almost crying (breaking voice, subtle sobs, wet eyes). Luci is a universe-old immortal being, pro in torturing, master of orgies. I understand that the show would not be interesting if he behaved accordingly, but, man, he could've got a hold of at least some emotions!
My original rate was 8 but after season 6 I changed it to 4.
Nobody (2021)
Good old school action movie
This movie was a breathe of fresh air in modern times of bland super hero flicks and plots filled with checkboxes for "oppression olympics". I liked how the main hero feels the consequences of each fight bearing scars and fractures. I was surprised by the scene where Hutch tells his wife to go to the basement then take kids away and trust him unconditionally which SHE DOES. This showed Becca as a strong female character. Strong not by physical strength but by strength of will, trust and love. It's a shame that modern movies most of the time avoid such depictions trying to make women behave like men.
The cast is great!
The Russians in this movie were speaking good Russian and acted like 90s Russian mobsters. To me this added a bit more realism to what was happening on screen.
Odenkirk is awesome as Hutch. He really looks like 'nobody' - your nextdoor neighbor, a guy from your office, consultant in utility store. But when needed he hits the switch and turns into death delivery machine. The action scenes with him look awesome! Odenkirk's and stunt crew work looked very professional.
I also liked Mr Lloyd in rather unusual role for him. Although he is not in his prime, you can still see that he is a great actor.
I do not regret a second out of 1.5 hrs I spent on this movie!