HaveWisdomWillTravel Reviews

Before We Die (2017–2019)

Good, but not the best Swedish noir

[8/10 · 19 July 2021]

Solid actors, good casting, clean technical execution, nothing superfluous.

Nice to see mother son struggle in this high tension backdrop for a change.

But the plot contrivance level is heavy-handed, and it gets more and more outrageous as the story world widens into international waters.

The producers also presented the female lead as the story driver, but then they also dumbed her logical faculty down to the point of absurd idiocy in order to force plot-jumps.

This show has plenty of that American style drama annoyance: supposedly smart characters don't probe each for elaboration after someone dropped a giant plot bomb, "Oh so that's what happened, I'll see you later."

The second season finale surprise was so contrived it was like the faceless enemies are mind-control demigods.

But given the high production value and resources, I expect it to be on par or better than The Bridge/ Broen. Still, the solid cast managed to hold it together and delivered a watchable show.

Beforeigners (2019– )

Unconventional suprise that refreshes a tired trope

[10/10 · 19 July 2021]

I love good scifi from The Expanse, Raised by Wolves to Altered Carbon, (Norwegian) Ragnarok, am clearly not a purist. Most high rating Scandi-anything shows have worked for me.

But I'm also super bored by time travel theme (after overdosing on 12 Monkeys, Fringe, Centurion) to the point that I couldn't sit through the 1st season of Dark.

The only recent time travel shows that managed to grab me are Outlander and The Nevers.

What stands out with Beforeigners: it is not obsessed with the "technical correctness" of time-jumping. It has hyper specific time travel "era points", fast pacing. I also like the subtle but lethal humor about Vikings and religious doctrines. It's almost like the story is not very serious, but at the same time, it is also making specific moral/ socio-cultural/ political points.

The cliff hanger at the end of first season is very daring and enticing. Overall, I've been entertained, so, highly recommended.

The Morning Show (I) (2019– )

Glad I gave it a chance

[10/10 · 19 July 2021]

To begin with, I never liked Jennifer Aniston as an actor or celeb. I'm meh with Steve Carell's self-conscious comedic style. I'm just lukewarm okay with Witherspoon.

But the writing and directing soon melted my wall of skepticism. This is probably the best role ever written for Witherspoon. Then even Carell started to gel with this character. Then EVEN Aniston showed acting chop and courage!

The casting is on point. Memorable performance by Mark Duplass, Billy Crudup and Karen Pittman.

The tone is stern but not preachy, humorous but not glib, an amazing achievement in itself given the super challenging backdrop and sexual harassment subject matter. Those who like the Good Wife/ Good Fight will really like this.

Looking forward the next season.

The Mosquito Coast (2021–2023)

Exceptional cinematography, good secondary actors

[4/10 · 19 July 2021]

That's about it. Everything else is an insult to story plot intelligence and screenwriting.

It's based on a novel, high profile actor and writer produced it and acted in it, Melissa George whom I remember was a good-enough actress in In Treatment is in it, so I really wanted to like it.

Soon, the 15yo daughter is the only one left worth rooting for, even then, (you'll soon realize) she's hapless in the scheme of things. The lead guy parodied himself a little too much, Theroux is not sure if he wants us to hate or give the benefit of the doubt to this clearly-troubling man.

And the egomaniacal directorial voice treated characters like cheap robotic chess pieces. Melissa let herself be used like Kristen Stewart grade perma-pouter who fashion-catwalks-in-gangsta-land. Disappointing. The villains are self-conscious cartoon baddies who TALK TOO MUCH.

I forgot to warn myself - if the famous "serious" crime drama writer is directing the show, expect characters who vomit soap box lectures.

I should've checked in here to see other reviews, instead of letting family members talk me into it.

I hate-watched til the end expecting anti-climax, and it was still worse than I expected.

Watch it for nice color grading, and awesome artistic compositions of slums and deserts.

The Nevers (2021–2023)

Captivating premise, fantastic setting, superb cast

[10/10 · 1 June 2021]

Meticulolusly crafted steampunk fantasy with deep main arc and (so far) intricate yet logical subplots, awesome art direction, and solid actors who can remain in character in spite of their sometimes over-the-top speaking lines. The fantasy level is not as far-out as Carnival Row. The tone is confrontingly dark, there's blood and horror, but not sadistic gruesome like GOT, nor gore-p*rn like True Blood or Penny Dreadful. More like Outlander + Warrior Nuns + Altered Carbon.

Most importantly, the story-telling is A league, the unfamiliar (to me) actors are SUPERB.

The creators made clear from the get-go - this show is about WOMEN, and it also shows good men and bad women. Yet the story voice is definitely not preachy, definitely not PC - it's still obsessed with specific female body parts in any shape or size, non-white castings are at best token, but it also says what needs to be said within the Victorian world context. In short, it has the usual sexy offerings. Yet somehow, quite a few fragile white male idol cultists flooded the reviews with fake victimhood outrage...about? A big time bully king.

A story world of this scope is not created by One Genius Man, the serial bully king is kicked out of the production already anyway, and the show goes on, so why cry over spilled sour milk, seriously.. The joke is, these same anti-PC anti-woke crybabies also nonsensically attacked Ridley Scott and Ron Moore for (fill in the blank any story world aesthetic that resemble human civilisation progress).

One doesn't need to be an insider to know, unlike movie productions, TV productions are powered by A TEAM OF writer-producers - and occasionally big clout actors. So don't let the wah-poor-My-Precious-Male-Idol-Bully-King-is-so-victimized-by-feminists noise drown out the works of 100s of brilliant creative women and talented men of this show.

A very very watchable story world for enlightened women and men, with one of today's best English language assemble cast. Highly recommended.

The Capture (2019– )

Well-executed cautionary tale

[9/10 · 3 March 2021]

Person of Interest theme, sort of The Bodyguard backdrop. Big Brother is Watching You - how, who, why, and what to do about it when one's trapped in their very complicated net.

Good writing, natural enough dialogue, even if many procedural exchanges can be halved, but that's on the director. There are some annoying hair-pulling "why is the cop so amateur" moments but overall plot contrivance level is acceptable.

A weakness too jarring to brush aside: anti-immersion "fashion-selfie-over-realism" eyesores. Lead female has Botoxed emotion range, pouts & catwalks too much. The American "male captain" has cartoon form too, but the more he speaks the more believable he is. This is extra grating for me because I've been recently exposed to respectfully-crafted European female leads - Saga of The Bridge, Villanelle of Killing Eve, Marina/ Marie-Jeanne of The Bureau, and Laure/ Josephine of Engrenages. All younger hotter than their male colleagues, morally incorrect too, but they had something Rachel doesn't have: INTERNALIZED AUTHORITY (that hardcore thing women can't fake by barking down at women born with less power). All other prominent cast on The Capture were real and convincing, so I blame the show creators for three fashion-catwalk-selfie law enforcement princesses.

Based on the morally-ambiguous ending, the creators seem to say, people should be even less trustful of What One Sees. No matter what conspiracy theorists say, we are not yet at the level of the tech in this show, not because typical VFX editors can't do it, oh yes they can, but because technocratic bureaucrats are not as meritocratic as their self-image. I'll worry about it when they produce a NON-BLURRY real-time capture of a flying saucer with Soros space laser. Until then.

Good thing: my pet peeves aside, The Capture is overall a modern, intelligent, WATCHABLE show. Deepening mysteries will be explained, convincingly enough. Very professionally executed plot points, generous leading/ supporting actors. Location scenes and technical details are very well done. Recommended as a long movie.

Spiral (2005–2020)

Intense, gripping, under the radar cross-genre French Noir "Spiral"

[10/10 · 26 February 2021]

Spiral/ Engrenages is a gem in the league of gritty realism Scandi noir The Bridge/ Boen and The Killing. And accordingly to my other half, The Wire.

Interesting format: long arc supported by procedural subplot. Refreshing backdrop due to the insanely complicated (perhaps dramatically exaggerated?) overlap of French-specific legal drama and police procedural. Impeccable, naturalistic acting. Manic pace even for me who favor fast cuts. There're ups and downs, lots of downs in fact, but no boring moment. World class writing.

Cinematography style is severe, and to my surprise the "jerky live motion cam" didn't cause nausea. Resolution/ visual quality got drastically better from season 4 on. There's human beauty, compassion, and optical respite between the psychological violence, pointless necrophilia and the banality of bleak non-touristy Paris districts. Strong, dedicated actors, from 65yo Roban to 14yo Suleiman, are the real assets of this show.

Not perfect of course... Contrived inter-department ethical conflicts and manipulations... Casting wise, jarring racial homogeneity, only 2 visible female characters... and no follow-up to the 2 women's unresolved season 4 subplot.

The biggest eye-rolling decision: evidently there's no shortage of hot gritty French actors, so much so the show creators casually killed off a few (which caused major show energy dive). Yet the surviving "serial babe magnet" of the show is no Keanu Reeves but a short-legged beer-bellied neck-less 1990-truck-driver-hair mouth-breather brute nobody wants their little sister to date... Worse, the actor himself didn't seem to notice nor care how he's surrounded by 6 recurring attractive male characters who made him look like one wrinkly telly tubby who runs like a panting penguin... the comically absurd un-realism of this casting disaster ruined story immersion over 3 seasons!

Still, I won't minus one star for these transgressions for it's such a strong production and sincere creative effort overall. I learned a great deal about Parisians, some French politics, the evolution of major French topical issues over a decade in this serious edutaining work, and I'm grateful for it. There's a lot of love and heart and LOL humor moments in this underrated offering. Highly recommended.

The Bureau (2015–2020)

The Bureau Deserves 11 Stars (and 5 more Seasons)

[10/10 · 19 January 2021]

For reference My top SCI-FI = Blade Runner, Battlestar (remake), The Expanse, and my favorite CRIME/ POLITICAL/ SPY dramas = The Killing (U.S.), Bodyguard, Berlin Station, Dexter, Black Mirror Season 1, Bron/Broen. I also love well-crafted stylized shows like The Boys, Killing Eve and Money Heist.

I'm not European nor American, not a Francophile, no film/TV genre connoisseur nor a purist. But I'm super picky. I would dump a high production value show with my favorite actors in it, if the writing/ premise/ narrative flow fail my standards.

To me, Le Bureau des Légendes is in a class of its own, the "why didn't anyone tell me about this show the last few years?" outlier. The amount of heart AND discipline that went into this show, speechless. I don't only "like" the people who created this show, I respect them, because they respect their audience. The sincerity, the passion to communicate nuanced hard truths, the depth of intelligence, the layers of human emotion versus reason... The Bureau's narrators make "serious spy shows" like Homeland look insultingly dumbed down, and technically meticulous The Americans feel fake and contrived. Even a 3 minute hackers' department scene has been researched and presented with zero compromise AND great economy, yet without the writers/ directors making a fuss about "look we're so diligent".

Everything film gurus b*tched about French art films, all James Bond BS, all Bourne Identity excesses, turned upside down by The Bureau product, cast, and superb crew. Everything good about classic spy dramas, everything that truly matters in our world's ongoing geopolitical struggles, AND super demanding realistic technical details in the Middle East sets or Moscow spa or posh Baku Hilton or unglamorous crowded French intelligence offices or hacker scribble board, are delivered with seamless dexterity and conviction. No clunky exposition annoyance, no narrative hands-of-god wanking, no ADHD editing nor convoluted time jumping, no camera stunts, no needless pandering to baser instincts, no "make muh-country great again" preaching, yet one is made to care more about Tyranny vs Democracy and Humanity and War and Love and The State We Are In, more than ever.

Even at the seemingly least humane moments, this show is conveying human decency, the most wanted world commodity this last few years.

That, is why I can't call it a spy drama, the same way Blade Runner is not mere science fiction, but classical drama. Le Bureau des Légendes is a classical piece of work, without even trying to be one.

I'm in the 4th season, and praying that this journey won't end.

As a few other reviewers have said: this is the best TV series ever written.

Hanna (2019–2021)

Bourne Identity plus Killing Eve plus Red Sparrow

[10/10 · 6 July 2020]

In the middle of 2nd season. Highly watchable, internally consistent long arc story with twists and turns, enough human depth to care, surprise humor to break tension, fully developed characters, some plot holes and character design glitches but nothing to fake OMG outrage about.

Nice to see (the fearless immaculate) Mirelle Enos and (my fav leading man) Joel Kinnaman of The Killing working together in season 1. Bring Joel back somehow, pls writers pls. Also to writers: I get Hanna/ Clara are not normal young women nor super humans. They may misjudge situations or get emo, but outliers in wolf-like vigilant survivor mode cannot be THAT sentimental/ complacent/ pouty. Marissa-Hanna relations can be made less coddling-mom-petulant-teen-daughter conflict cliche.

Tech/ world design realism level: higher than Killing Eve and Bourne Identity. Nice set in season2, love the art direction and high believable costume details. The Grease joke is a bonus.

A meticulously produced, entertaining show overall. Definitely not preachy, so ignore the anti-PC haters rating this show down. I give it 9/10, added 1 star to counter global nationalist fascist bot attack. Binge watch material. Definitely multi-series worthy. Recommended.

Condor (2018–2020)

Flawed Writing but Engaging Overall

[8/10 · 27 December 2018]

For reference my kind of spy thrillers are Bodyguard, Berlin Station, Killing Eve. I find James Bond and Jason Bourne cartoony. I like Homeland and Americans but I find their story worlds overly compressed and claustrophobic. Never heard of the original Condor and don't care, I judge this TV creation on its own merits.

Condor started off "preppy DC" then things got exciting and bloody real fast. Casting is good, pacing is tight, internal politics and conspiracies are believable enough.

What I have issue with, is the way key female characters were cheaply used and unceremoniously discarded by THE WRITERS. Just as we got to know a girl better to care about her, off she went. WTF. The conspiracy plot line is complicated but made sense. Even the most fanatical and craziest villain made sense. But our lead guy, supposedly a psyop genius, somehow failed to out-think or out-plot the enemies, and made some of the most irresponsible choices anyone could make in his circumstances, which ended up endangering the lives of those who chose to help him with his heroic quest.

Don't get me started on what he didn't do what any saintliest human would do with the gun he suddenly came to possess in the end of second last episode. And yes he's supermodel cute, but for Christ sake stop making him another idealized neo-Bond neo-Bourne exotic glamor babe magnet. Dear writers, GET A GRIP. Your hero is clearly not a genius nor the hottest fittest daredevil around town, neither are you. He FAILED how many women who tried to help him again? Correct. So unless you guys want him to degenerate into yet another narcissistic James Bond who cycle through multiple girlfriends per season, get your spy genius hunk to show some shame or at least guilt?

Maybe the female characters are so disposable because it was after all referencing a 1975 show? But yes, am very grateful that the real bad-ass girls didn't wear high heels and actually had their long hair tied up when it's time to do seriously killing.

My vent/rant aside, it's a good effort overall. Good cast, good effects, good acting. In spite of a few plot hole and plot jumps, satisfying enough ending. Realism level is better than Homeland. Definitely binge watch material. Recommended.

Berlin Station (2016–2019)

Solid Modern Classic with Many Surprising Turns

[10/10 · 10 December 2018]

After the superbly produced and acted Bodyguard I suffered "quality spy thriller" withdrawal symptom so I search a little harder and found this gem. I haven't read any John Le Carre novel but after finishing two seasons of this show in less than a week, I will.

The show's moral values are grayer than Person of Interest yet equally captivating. The premise is 101% more sincere than Jason Bourne, their spy tech and weapon use more restrained (it is after all Germany) without sacrificing sexy "spy brawn". International politics and espionage protocol many times more realistic than Homeland - even if main spies exhibited similar annoying low libido control issues.

Directorial voice is modern, concise, unsentimental yet nuanced. The political bias, not very biased, everyone is tainted yet human, redeemable, even heroic in their own way. I don't like "one anti-hero superhero save the world" trope. And Berlin Station is satisfying in that regard. Some unlikely alliances, seemingly amoral personalities could still believe in something. Plentiful inter-personal tensions to make us cringe or wince.

Strong, generous, courageous cast. Even the weaker actors are a 9/10. My only beef with casting, on average primary male characters are (or looked) 20 year older than key female characters. But there is nothing strong acting and good writing-directing can't overcome. Leading beef looks like a cross between Hugh Jackman and Rupert Friend (Quinn of Homeland). Michelle Forbes (The Killing, True Blood, Orphan Black and In Therapy) finally got a role she deserves.

Overall, in spite of the occasional "Americanized" cliches and glam club detours, very believable plot, character relationships, staging, pacing. Some new insights on how things work between countries, and many surprising dramatic turns.

Bonuses: subtle but lethal cinematography and edgy drone shots, moody Berlin beautiful European locations, nice soundtrack.

Berlin Station feels like the kind of rich story world with 10 seasons stamina. Highly recommended.

EDIT March 2019

Please please please RENEW THIS FOR ANOTHER 3 SEASONS!

• This show has rich developed characters
• This show has a slow warm-up curve but STAYING POWER
• This show appeals to 20yo to 60yo in my household, across political spectrums!
• This show will get more attention due to REAL TIME GLOBAL EVENTS!

Bodyguard (2018)

Realistic Edge-of-Seat Spy Thriller

[10/10 · 3 December 2018]

Why? Why do they have to make a REALLY good spy thriller drama? With a superbly executed plot and the most gut-wrenching acting? Now I have to suffer genre withdrawal hangover!

Whining aside, yes it's good. Like, The Killing level respect for the uniforms + The Hurt Locker level grit + Atomic Blonde level dramatic brutal intensity kind of GOOD.

Strong opening. Strong middle. Strong ending.

I don't usually watch UK based spy/ cop/ political thriller. The inter-department thing got very involved but I managed to follow because TIGHT writing acting directing. Oh, and THE CASTING. Superb, deliberate, methodical, totally-not-sloppy casting.

The King of the North Richard Madden has arrived. Methinks this performance should anchor him in the Daniel Craig A league.

No it is not perfect nor 100% technical realism. There are a few "so-called professionals acting too personal during high stake moments" thing, which I detest. But no matter. It's too minor compared to the whole coherent picture, which you will eventually find out, bit, by bit, by bit, and be surprised.

Highly, highly recommended.

Killing Eve (2018–2022)

The Most Convincing Female Villain EVER

[10/10 · 3 December 2018]

Okay. The Most Convincing Female Villain EVER in a 90% realism spy thriller.

For reference, I can't stand procedural cop shows. I like Mindhunter. I reeeeally like The Killing and Bodyguard.

Sandra Oh, who also co-produced the show, sneaked away and gave birth to a very interesting and daring project over the other side of the Atlantic. Her character is at once dead-pan funny and serious. Sometimes deadly serious, or seems to harbor serious dead wish. Definitely captivating.

And wow, the actress Jodie Comer is GOOD. Her character is Dexter level GREAT. Honestly, Charlize Theron's physical performance in Atomic Blonde outdid Matt Damon's Bourne and impressed the crap out of me, but Jodie's Villanelle, is possibly the most believable "all round hyper-intelligent generalist" female assassin characterization in a spy thriller.

What I like the most, is they cracked a cliche/myth that frustrated me for the longest time ---- "female assassins DON'T have more heart more soul more empathy than male assassins". Just because she has explosive emotional buttons too, doesn't mean she isn't in control of her buttons. The "normals" are the complicated ones with all their unawareness of their own hang-ups.

Which is why this villain is super edge-of-the-seat menacing.

Of course the show isn't perfect. A few times Sandra got too goofy, or dangerously sloppy. Definitely need to brush up on physical combat and shooting skills and overall spy craft. Villain woman may have gone too far into the (petty) revenge trope direction.

A refreshing must watch. I look forward to many seasons to come.

Salvation (2017–2018)

Acceptable entertainment as a non-Sci-Fi

[8/10 · 3 December 2018]

Don't bother watching if you're strict about the science or geo-politics. Approach Salvation as a 40% romantic drama with 30% sci-fi 30% political thriller, and expect 5/10 realism for all three genres, you will not go crazy and may even enjoy the fast ride. I was lucky. I saw Jennifer Finnigan's face in the pilot episode. My eyes rolled over, oh god, the producers hired that Most Affected Most Plastified Actress of the Year from Tyrant. As their female lead! RED ALERT!!! But I like the asteroid Elon Musk stuff. So I braced for a deep impact of bad casting. Turned out, the rest of the cast, young and old, were very impressive esp given the flawed writing!

Santiago Cabrera's Darius Tanz held the entire show together -- as a character and as an actor. Tanz, the sort-of Elon Musk, is the most consistent character throughout. Everyone else did their best to flesh out their overly self-indulging characters. Melia Kreiling is one interesting newcomer.

The show writing is a 4/10 but I give 3 points for the actors' amazing efforts and 1 extra point for art direction.

Technological knowledge is at best cartoony. Two guys to crack EM Drive, seriously. Social political realism is lower than DareDevil and sometimes approaching Iron Fist level. Their White House protocol correctness is faker than Designated Survivor. The writers/ producers act like one billion dollar is a big deal to any big formal entity or billionaire in an extinction level scenario. As usual lead characters can't keep it in their pants as the human race allegedly depend on them for survival. As usual the (blondest) women act the emotionally high-maintenance spoiled me-me-me princesses as Rome burns, and the raven-hair women are immoral amoral or totally dispensable. The scene-killing perma-frozen-cheek bambi damsel Jennifer Finnigan with the voice and emotional range of a 16yo brat, somehow managed to monopolize all lead male attention and security resources at the most stressful moments. Every time her inane bambi damsel face comes on screen I want to smash something. Still, Santiago Cabrera and every other actor saved my furniture.

There were enough positives. The plot actually surprises. The sets are well-designed and production quality is overall very good. Story pacing is fast too, no bored pregnant pauses or stupid flash backs. Don't take it seriously and it's good as a binge watch fest thing when there's nothing else to watch.

Outlander (2014– )

Haunting, magical, beautifully crafted High Romantic Drama

[10/10 · 10 March 2018]

I am a moderately-fussy omnivore - my favorite shows being Battlestar remake, Black Mirror, Dare Devil, Jessica Jones, Altered Carbon, Breaking Bad, Dexter, Silicon Valley, Pretty Little Liars. With that addressed... Outlander is without a doubt under-rated as of early 2018.

I haven't even heard of the book series prior to this. Perhaps jaded from the glut of time-traveling tales, and dreading yet over-the-top period sci-fi fantasies, I jumped in Outlander relatively late. What a pleasant surprise. Just finished 3 seasons in less than 10 seating, now longing for another 10 seasons.

Unexpected: seamless writing, pacing and editing for the genre. More realistic sex and less gratuitous gore and violence than Vikings. Post FX quality better than GOT. Beautifully done wardrobe and interiors. Possibly the most naturalistic yet erotic love-making on recent TV. Surprisingly under-use (or under abuse) of the time-traveling mechanism, very appreciated.

I read complaints about certain graphic rape scenes. IMO it is a courageous decision on the part of the producers writers and especially the two actors. We live in a time of hyper desensitization. Gut-wrenching, realistic illustration of what went on then and now - however seat-edge unbearable, however politically incorrect, need to be drawn. As explicit as it was, it's firmly in context and in character.

My biggest complaint is the sometimes-inconsistent characterization of the two leads. Not the actor's fault, both Caitriona and Sam are perfectly cast and their screen presence and craft are undeniable. My issue: Claire is a woman of 1940s but in the 1750 backdrop she vacillated between (rational) calculated submission and (stupid pointless) public rebelliousness of a 1960 feminist. And Fraser can get annoying with his endless flip-flops between his honor obsession and his professed loyalty to his wife. Maybe this is a problem with switching directors every other episode? In any case, their occasional "irrational outbursts" are tolerable.

The masterful writing directing editing meant in spite of the art direction and cinematography team painstakingly drawing necessary costume and interior furnishing and even medical visual details, and the occasional breath-taking epic Chivalric Romanticism style, there were never any bored moment. Something is always happening.

This is a story about the timeless power of heroism, love, passion, courage, honor, faith, and the mystery of fate.

Whether of not you're a genre fan or drawn to the Celtic mysteries and culture (like my SE Asian self) the emotional power of this story universe will haunt your dreams, and the theme song will linger for a long long time.

The overall ambience of the setting reminds me of a song by Clannad. Superbly done film scoring. One 3rd season tribal ritual with main theme overlay was a Peter Gabriel Passion of Christ moment.

And as I tend to skip the intro I only realized after one whole season, that Ron Moore of Battlestar Galactica remake was behind this. No. Wonder.

I look forward to the next season, and hopefully many more. Highly recommended.

BrainDead (2016)

Serious yet Funny, Silly yet Laser Sharp Smart, Goofy yet Brainy....

[12 August 2016]

Didn't look appealing by the book cover. Come on, bugs, bio gore and huh what, more politics in an election year?

Most faces aren't familiar (they did poach a few from the Good Wife and Mr.Monk). My kind of show are Persons of interest and Mr.Robot, my level of blood/gore, Preacher and True Blood. Am not a House of Card nor Walking Dead fan so exploding brains wasn't something I'd anticipate with glee...

But then it gets real exciting real fast. Endless curiosities...

Self-combustion heads when and where you least expect, retro cocktails in new cool bars with old fashion spies, actors who're just the right level of clever and cute and definitely know their character well. Soon I got dragged deeper and deeper by mystery bug language, and really creative use of modified smart phone bug tracker.

It's now my most favorite show...

I got sucked in by 2nd episode. By 3rd, I want this show to last 10 seasons.

The brand of humor is fresh, sarcastic, lethal, irreverent, and fun plus plus. The visual, art direction, and especially plotting craft, seamless and superb. Pure brainy entertainment!

Watch it yourself to find out...

The Night Manager (2016–2025)

Engaging Drama with Excellent Acting, Bold Directing Voice and Rare Strength of Conviction

[10/10 · 12 May 2016]

Watched it in one sitting. It was that good. Story plot is on the whole engaging, entertaining, believable in spite of minor plot holes typical of epic trans-national spy dramas. Plenty of spy thriller clichés, balanced out by refreshing directing style.

High production and artistic value is evident immediately. A grand romantic cinematic visual feasts. Fabulous location shoots, Egypt, Swiss Alps or breathtaking Spanish resorts. Impeccable art direction, aerial angles, shadow screens or neck tie detailing. Expect plenty of Bond/ Pulp Fiction tropes throughout, with generous exotic Mediterranean spices toppings.

The story builds fast and pacing is well executed and story momentum is nicely modulated through out the whole series. Episode 2 has a HUGE Flash Back Scrambling issue (too clever time jump within time jump within time jump). Still, the anti-immersion was quickly saved by good acting and overall subtle yet lethal directorial voice, so no biggie...

Greatest strength: the lead actors. The dramatic tension between Laurie's superbly rendered villain Ruper and Hiddleton's Pine alone is worth the time investment. Laurie is a master of nuance, Hiddleton, definitely has range.

Biggest weakness is shallow character depth (not sure which party novelist/ screenwriter/ director/ producer is responsible). What kind of heroic knight REPEATEDLY failed to delay gratifying himself with some unavailable, UNSTABLE females when on a mega high stake mission? Like, hello, move on from James Bond 1975 already? Seriously LOL even a drunk Justin Bieber has more self-control!

Key females are still a variation on the Virgin:Whore dichotomy: the too-earnest frumpy grumpy work-for-nothing worker bees, or the high maintenance destructive-but-conveniently-horny "queen bee damsel whores". Colman did her best but (to quote Gemma Chan) no Academy winner can possibly out-act boobs. Honestly the female roles are so throwaway cliché any random mom-sy or booby-parade actresses would do.

What is surprisingly good - is the moral tone, and how it is weaved into the dialogue and scene framing without whacking the audience on the head. The courage to shine a non-rose-tinted torch on systemic rot within "respectable" spy organizations, how the war machine functions across borders, how apathetic public servants and callous capitalists impact humanity. It's not another mommy queen's good little servant James Bond with expensive ridiculous weapon toy packs including Viagra or sexy romp-ready private jets. It is about little individual Goliaths in the system, a 'mere' night manager, who could still CHOOSE to do the right thing or sell out every step of the way, even when the rot seems so pervasive and enemy so big and invincible.

A 'mass destruction' merchandise demonstration scene set in the desert was particular mind-blowing in every sense of the word. Never seen 'war-ish' scene done like this before. Good job director, art director, editor, vfx people.

Really liking the mini-series format too, which gives the audience more time to immerse themselves into the scene, a epic scope story world like this one, and make some emotional connection - even with relatively shallow characters.

A 9 overall. + 1 for conviction: so rare to have a genuine moral conviction trope dominating the 3000% overdone overused revenge trope. Bravo on that.

The Night Manager is a very watchable, intelligent spy drama deserved to be produced and experienced. Highly recommended to all intelligent people out there.

Where to Invade Next (2015)

How to Make America GREAT AGAIN!

[10/10 · 7 May 2016]

Surprisingly NON-partisan, refreshing, educational, insightful, touching and definitely entertaining and humorous. Moore's trademark sarcasm is mostly replaced by sincere, thoughtful interview style, and key morals are gracefully delivered with minimum preaching. Candid funny moments sprinkled throughout, very nice. Possibly Mike Moore's best work so far.

The gist: America crossed many significant social progress hurdles 50 years ago, and these countries have learned from American lessons and fought their good fights to enjoy the social benefit fruits today. Thing is, what happened with America? Why is USA at 29th place in 2015 global school ranking when Poland is at 11th and Vietnam is at 12th place?

This is not a story for Americans only but something to chew on long after for every human beings: what is it we strive for as a citizen of our country, no matter how small or how powerful?

I thought I know enough about Europe social welfare yet I continued to be surprised by what this docu has revealed and in such expertly directed pacing too. This docu will challenge non-Europeans on the meaning of this elusive thing called Quality of Life.

Particularly poignant moments...

Finland teachers seem to like using one particular word, not because they have vocabulary range issue (Scandinavians in general speak near-perfect English), but like this word is already part of their biological being: the word is, 'Happy'. Just watching their faces make me happy.

The Swedish father - and his simple message on the value of revenge - the most used trope in all popular American movies, TV, comic books, gaming media. Goosebump stuff.

The Tunisian women, and the truly enlightened clerical leader. So eye- opening. And heart opening too.

The vision of German children escootering and skating before a monolithic tomb of the ancestor's sins, and because they have faced their collective demon, their spirit are now light and free and joyous and it shows on their happy faces...

What the honest, fearless, tell it like it is Icelandic woman said about Being a Good Neighbor: the meaning of basic decency, what makes an individual great as a human being. Not his 60% budget spending on weapons of instant kill, not her 60% preoccupation with her self-centered indulgences, but genuine concern, love and curiosity for the wonderful world and people beyond one's own front yard.

That one is going to stick for a long long time...

This is the kind of movie worth making. I only wish it was longer and delve deeper in every country he invaded. Recommended to everyone young and old.

Fringe (2008–2013)

Definitely Binge-watch Worthy - high quality production with staying power

[10/10 · 25 April 2016]

For reference, the kind of SF I like: Battlestar remake, Daredevil, Expanse, Sense8, Jessica Jones, Persons of Interest, Limitless.

I didn't set out to like Fringe. Very skeptical, given it's a JJ Abram production (burnt by Lost). But this turned out to be a top notch genre classic.

The show started off slow pace but there's method in the steady build-up, typical JJ style suspense. Quite refreshing and welcomed pace change actually after the ADHD assault of recent short attention span SF offerings. After the 2nd half of 1st season things will pick up to 'normal' high intensity. I'm in the 4th now, no dip in momentum - amazing given this show is 20+ episode per series!

Production styling has stood the test of time. There's nothing cheap abut the whole thing. VFX is overall good works, especially the "amber effect" and reality membrane. CSI/ Elementary lab-gore-porn lovers also have lots to look forward to. Only complaint is the giant 3D typeface place/ building name object hanging in every changed location scenes but that's just me.

Great assemble - key actors are relative unknown but superbly chosen and did their role total justice and have face and personality that "sticks" in a good way. I never thought I'd say this: but the father-son trope, one of the most overused trope on SF TV, is actually finely handled here, thanks to good writing AND acting. Even the secondary characters will grow on you and you'll care if things happen to them.

Definitely well-researched fringe sciences, no doubt. There's short arc in between long arc, most weirdness and mysteries are interconnected and will be 'addressed'. Definitely fine coherent plotting in spite of the highly complex overall arc.

Overall highly entertaining and engaging, some jump scares, dark emo themes, yet with punchy humor and lots of heart. Highly recommended.

Silicon Valley (2014–2019)

Freshest Tightest Writing EVER; never-ending gut level LOLs

[10/10 · 5 January 2016]

Others have written far clearer synopsis, I'm just here to gush. For reference: my idea of good TV writing and taste = breaking bad, persons of interest, the good wife, Battlestar remake, better call Saul, John Oliver, the Office, Arrested Development.

Basically...with Silicon Valley you won't have time to pause and think because the deadpan silliness and ridiculously deep funniness will just keep coming non-stop. The pacing, timing, the punchiness and energy economy - well basically everything that matters in comedy craft are executed so freaking awesome and fabulous and BRILLLLLLIANT-LY it's beyond my vocab...

Who would think a show with some unfashionable geeks fumbling and b****ing around in their make-shift incubator suburban open plan kitchen cum office cum home with a swimming pool would be SO captivating and rotf entertaining!

And where did these actors come from? Where have this AAA writer producer director team been all these years? Please keep them well nourished. The world needs more of this caliber of performers please thank you TV show investors.

The humor is fresh yet ageless, cutting yet human, original yet universal. Evidently there's been some serious research of the subject matter, obvious in-depth - or even insider - understanding of the techie culture and industry. Still it doesn't matter if you're into dot com start-up culture or VC courtship dramas or not; even if you're an occasional mindless Youtube surfer or online shopper or voyeur you can relate and be drawn in.

The whole thing is so seamlessly put together, so tightly produced, the actors are SO IN THE SCENE WITH EACH OTHER...even the most absurdly irreverent and craziest lines managed to sound so logical and matter of fact, even realistic! After all that scathing sarcastic outbursts and drama queen nonsense and deadpan cynical madness there is still heart and sweetness - you'll care about the individual dilemma and where they're going and soon get sucked into binge watch mode.

How the Silicon Valley team did it, with such consistency, I don't know. Just watch it and feel The Craft speak for itself. 11/10 if it's possible.

The Good Dinosaur (2015)

A Simple and Beautiful Classic

[10/10 · 3 January 2016]

I have adolescent nephews and nieces, but no kids to drag me into every Pixar flix or 3D cartoon on offer so I won't call myself a 3D animation connoisseur. I watch it as a random walk-in one Saturday as a couple, with some other young as well as middle age couples, and of course some families, in a new theater in the city.

Everyone laughed a lot. The kids laughed at certain things a lot louder than the adults. But people are definitely moved and entertained. I laughed plenty, so did my other half who didn't expect to. I admit I also teared at touching and beautiful bits too...

I really really really LOVE the two lead characters. Especially the so so adorable and very fierce and "bite-ty" little wolf boy Spot.

Visually and musically it is just stunning - the opening scene of the expansive green vista and corn field are and the flowing water, river rocks and pine forest are just so...wow. Soon it doesn't matter it's a CG world, I could smell the delightful crisp fresh mountain dew air. That alone should keep the most jaded adults occupied...I reckon anyway...

As a narrative it is emotive and true. The overall theme is about lost young one overcoming fear and blame, cultivating self-care and becoming own authority. More subtly, it is also about overcoming lower nature of vengeful impulse, ethnocentric-ism and xenophobia. The overall narrative tone is un-sappy, non-preachy, unforced, even warm, fun, heartening, and...just adorable.

For parents with young kids: there are a few potentially "scary" scenes of animals being swallowed (eaten) alive in cartoony manners, no blood or guts, just instant. There's also Spot biting (to kill) all sorts of poisonous or yucky creature enemies, which can be yucky to some I think. Some may call the lead dinosaur's momentary hallucination astral dream scene kinda "creepy" too. Also a few life-threatening chase/ kidnap scenes. So perhaps no under 7 year old or easily-scared under-10's.

What I love most about this production - and quite a few local viewers have aptly noted - that it is a totally independent standalone story world with no reference to any existing Disney story world or Hollywood characters. How refreshing and daring! Especially in this era of endless soulless mergers-Avengers and clever meta-narratives, a cynical time of giant studios aggressively squeezing the last drop out of their over- prized, milked-to-death back catalogs. So nice to be able to immerse in a wholistic story world again without feeling the greedy invisible hands of big studio boardroom suits.

All that over-thinking analysis aside, this is a story worth experiencing simply because it is a good old fashion coming-of-age adventure story, with good characters, and lots of heart and beauty.

I will recommend this movie not just to teens+, but to any adult friends, even the most jaded ones - especially the most jaded ones. Definitely a 10/10.

Welcome to Me (2014)

At once original, hilarious, punchy, biting yet soulful and insightful; a severely under-rated comedy

[10/10 · 3 January 2016]

Honestly, I usually have theories but this time I have no idea why this show received any rating under 80%. Some theorized people had specific expectations with a Will Farrell production. Some theorized 'it wasn't Bridesmaid enough'. Some theorized 'people will prejudge any show with a female lead as chick flick and trash it'. Maybe they're all correct.

Perhaps because I went in with openness and moderate expectation, I see this deadpan, no-laugh-track comedy classic as Farrell candid ROTF funny, better deeper funnier than Bridesmaid - and 300% not a chick flick.

I watched Bridesmaid but still Kristen didn't immediately register. I gave it a go based on a few well-written IMDb reviews alone. As the show starts I was delighted to learn that heavy weights like Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Joan Cusack are on board. Later I was pleasantly surprised by familiar faces like Linda Cardellini, James Marsden, Wes Bentley. All contributed wonderfully to this well-conceived well- executed story about 'what a psychologically-unstable woman do with her lottery winning'. The premise is rich, the result is delicious. Kristen Wigg's actor chop, range, and fearlessness, is superb, admirable and definitely entertaining.

Various related subject matters are explored: post-Facebook post-YouTube me-me-me vanity culture, reality show production standards and ethics, borderline behavior, value of true friendship, things most people could related to...

The lead character has no filter, is an "emotional exhibitionist", has OCD protein fetish, brittle, yet manipulative, mean, vengeful, sexually aggressive, deeply self-pitying yet oblivious to human suffering right next to her, hence a natural at shock value generation. The reaction in the TV production control room is just priceless. YouTube goers would find a particular cake eating scene sarcastic funny. Still the narrative tone is never cruel or judgmental, an amazing feat in itself. Other characters' distinct reactions to her 'charisma' and big plan to exhibit herself is also both hilarious and insightful.

Side note: The show didn't go out to explain borderline behavior but oddly afterward I'm slightly more enlightened about the triggers of occasional borderline outbursts of people I had interacted with. It also shows that borderline condition describes more a gradient spectrum rather than entire persons (and therefore more prevalent than commonly thought)

Visually and aurally the show is captivating and fun. The pink plastic princess reality TV circus, her self-penned theme song, her romantic overtures, Tim Robbin the tennis tan therapist, Jason Leigh the crazy hair grouchy producer with strong ethics, Cusack the versatile voice actor, backstage dogs and swans, OCD recipes and cheesy re-enactments, are all bonuses...

Rarely a comedy makes one laugh so much, yet feel a little more at the same time. I've added the director Shira Piven to my Director to Watch "movie quality filter" list.

Welcome To Me is a comedy gem among under-rated comedy gems. 9/10. Plus 1 star for balancing. Highly recommended.

Whiplash (2014)

Cartoony Sadistic Villain for Non-Musicians and Brutal Porn for Stockholm Syndrome Sufferers

[1/10 · 3 January 2016]

This movie is high on my Top 10 Most Over-rated Movies in recent years list.

Posh school authority can act like mafia lord and cause great psychological/ physical/ property damage - and students of the free-est nation on earth had no guts to give him a third finger, or laugh out loud, or throw it back at the abuser, change school, make police report...etc etc? Instead the "good guy" bleed on to get....approval? Or pay high price to get...tiny little revenge victory? Seriously?

The moral(s) of this story: there WILL NOT BE justice - and that is why good people (like poor little me) resign to cowering and performing tedious soul-destroying grunt work to get breadcrumb of approval.

But the actors are good and emotionally convincing despite the absurdity of it all, and the production value is high quality. So I'm not going to mock the general audience for buying into "OMG getting a music degree is even harder than qualifying to be a dental surgeon!".

I do fault Hollywood for scaring off potential big dollar music school customers especially from overseas. Even the most militant tiger moms would think twice now sending their children to American music college now! Oh no. lol.

Musicians - music school or self-taught, classical or pop, will find the two leads sado-masochistic professor-student interaction utterly ridiculous at first, and then resigned to just laughing at the writer/director's desperate attempts at "creating conflict and dramatic tension" where there is, well, little. Musical craft is just boring, sustained repetition. The rest, talent/ greatness, is individual.

What shocks me the most are not even pro critics high praise - these are cynics by nature. Why shocks me is how people seem to be okay with being abused and shamed and scapegoated in the open, in supposedly civilized places, work or academia. In more conservative modern Asia, yes I can understand high rating for this movie, people resonate with a "good guy" who "endure" absurd level of undeserved abuse. But the West? Really?

Integrity is not just a nice virtue on paper. It is a survival necessity. Financial survival, and artistic survival. I need a lead I can respect, and root for. I can't root for this one. Not even at the end when he attempted to fix the situation. Some may find that heroic. To me it was too little, and too late - for him.

The favorable rating of this movie is probably saying...

1. Unreported criminal abuses by authorities in USA academic institutions are under-reported

2. There are more Stockholm Syndrome sufferers among educated adults of the world than I thought.

Watch it for the good acting performance, mediocre musical craft. Brace yourself for unnecessary cartoon brutality.

Steve Jobs (2015)

iShout - even Fassbender & Winslet can't undo Sorkin's Mean Spiritedness

[1/10 · 26 December 2015]

For reference: my TV favs include Silicon Valley, Halt & Catch Fire; love Battlestar remake & Blade Runner. I live in a household that argues the merits of Windows vs Apple - and I'm not the Apple fan and generally find tech cults kinda silly.

That said... After this iShout-Fest pretending to be a movie, my sympathy is with Steve Jobs. Odd, as the whole narrative tone attempted to hit the audience on the head to achieve exactly the opposite.

God Sorkin's didactic, shouty voice overwhelms this movie like an imposing, mean-spirited, nit-picky evil force. Sorkin is not known for subtlety, his new found Hollywood clout is also clouding his estimation of his true weight. Reality Distortion Field - what he accuses Steve Jobs for - has gotten to him.

God Sorkin's West Wing was special because then, the fast-talk-fest style thing was new. It got old quickly when he repeated the same formula on everything else. I remain neutral with his mediocre style until he first sunk is invasive, poisonous, blood-thirsty fangs into Zuckerberg in The Social Network. Now this.

For two hours we are presented with shouty, hard-hitting, captain obvious, unrealistic, GRATING LOUD ARGUMENTS - between (oh look isn't he so arrogant) Jobs and his (long-suffering) PA; (recalcitrant) Jobs with (poor little superpower) partners; (insensitive) Jobs talking down at his (poor little deprived) daughter.

The shouting matches ALWAYS take place back stage - always TENSE because Some Important Invention Is Going Gold and The Fans Are Cheering For Their Hero. Then rinse, repeat act 1 act 2 act 3.

Why make the movie go monotonously from act 1, 2, 3? Because Look God Sorkin's Script Formula Is So Clever Genius It Has To Be Made Obvious In Order To Be Mythologized as another Sorkin Style?

How else to get the attention off the OVER-RATED fashionable media darling stars of the show so people will notice THE REAL STAR behind the scene, the unglamorous greasy "real people" tech-genius who does all the work?

Steve Jobs is so scolded OMG, even his grooming and fitness regime is being scrutinized and reframed as "look he's so vain" unlike shapeless Jeff Bridges and scruffy Seth Rogen. Sorkin's visualization of decent = amorphous and amoral.

And this is how Sorkin viewed an American hero, an artist-genius entrepreneur visionary of our time. Goodness, I'm not even American. Jobs may have been a flawed human who took for granted a few people close to him but he is not answerable to the whole human race for his personal failings. As if people haven't been bitching about Jobs's narcissism enough. As if that is the only legacy of a remarkable industrialist worthy of commenting in a multi-million production.

Sorkin's HIJACKING of an exceptional man's private life is so mean and petty, so invasive, merciless, smug, so unforgiving and high-handed, so condemning and god-like, so insulting of audience intelligence, so cringe-inducing esp during a particular Wozniak Jobs public stand-off.

I feel so sorry for Steve Jobs that I feel bad now I mocked my other's half's iEverything product tech specs. It's that bad.

Selfless chameleon Fassbender's amazing acting and Kate Winslet's equally sincere and generous offering managed to keep the horribly plastic formulaic script and painfully-contrived dialog bearable. After the movie ended, I asked, wow, what just happened. That's it? That's all the whole multi-million producer-writer team have to say about a man that define not just a generation but a renaissance? Family is Very Important? Really? Sorkin? America needs to be told THAT?

Hating and smearing Zuckerberg hasn't satiated Sorkin's blood lust apparently, all tech superstars are over-rated media darlings and private tyrants with awful domestic habits and must be brought to their knees and be publicly humiliated and accused with no evidence and bowed before god Sorkin.

Yes throwing rocks at super rich genius is easy. What's next? Sorkin tearing down Elon Musk or Bill Gates for some horrible crime of humanity against their neglected and deprived loved ones and co-workers?

After all this shameless god-playing charades Sorkin remains a third grade, one note pony screenwriter. Throw a rock on LA street you'll hit a TV writer with more flair and depth and less little meanie vengeance in his heart.

1 for Sorkin's shamelessness and megalomania. Recommended only if you're a Fassbender or Winslet fan with high tolerance for ridiculous writing and high-handed directorial tone.

Limitless (2015–2016)

Entertainment fast food with limitless techno-illogical candies

[7/10 · 19 December 2015]

The only "pure" cop show I love is The Killing, 100% non-procedural and non-phony. I only watch "cop-ish" shows like Person of Interest/ Dexter/ Battle Creek for their well-written characters and good technical research. Limitless looks like but is not really a cop show ; more a 50% procedural FBI-lite with bad science and 330% shiny packaging.

Limitless's technological and logical phoniness = limitless. The movie version at least tried to explore more meaningful implication of the overclocked human CPU. This TV version turns the new superman into a smug talkative half-genius half-idiot. The too-clever creators don't realize the audience, no matter how edgy or current gen, has limited tolerance for meta-jokes and constant anti-immersion narrative-disconnect.

Every episode will feature some super-annoying super-lame YouTube-style compositing tricks and mind screen splash breaks. To "relate to the short attention span social network kids", probably. Meh. The net result is audience's perma-emo-detachment from the lead guy and his limitless self-admiration.

Oh, and "his dad cares so you should care" thing doesn't work for me. I still don't care that much about shallow cartoon Mr.Stupid Genius. Not the actor's fault (he's good regardless) but a lead can't be that SELF- INDULGENT when that many lives are at stake. NOT COOL. Definitely not cute nor adorable.

Jennifer Carpenter's female agent is a saving grace and keeps the show logic a tad more consistent and FOCUSED, but her role continues to be fodder-ish, overly in service to our cartoon-depth lead male.

The latest episode took story internal logical limit violation to a whole new level. "The Pill" has many possible constructive/destructive high impact applications and all the idiots could think of? Some seriously lame petty personal stunts with no long-term benefits. More stupid-geniuses. Somehow, the story tenet of "you only take CALCULATED SURE-TO- WIN risks when on The Pill" is only reserved for our chosen one lead guy but not anyone else? Really?

Another "limit" the producer/ editor like to push, is story time jumping. Again, they don't do it by convention, too limiting, they do it their way and cause glaring disconnect issues for the audience.

I do sometimes worry this show may eventually rot from limitless Hollywood egos munching on perma-high from limitless Smarties sugar bombs while looking down at the ADHD masses from on high their toy-filled tower.

Mean time, though, this show has enough redeeming qualities. Nice lighting and costuming, Ms Carpenter, fast pace, cool music, well designed sets, many familiar TV faces....as edible as fast food and sugar bombs..

The show could still go up a few truly-brainy gears from this point, or become a mess of candy floss. Recommended for mindless binges.