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Reviews
Dune: Part Two (2024)
Not a bad film, but...
It's extremely overrated and this rating should definitely come down a bit. It's about an 7.5/10, ignoring the story of the book which was well and truly massacred in this soulless Hollywood adaptation.
Let's talk about the positive things first: The parts of the music in the first half that sounded like an exact copy of Vangelis (what a legend!) and thus were beautiful. I'm not a Zimmer fan. Austin Butler did a phenomenal job for what he was given. I can't fault Chalamet either. I was impressed by Javier Bardem, who became his role. Stilgar was the heart of the story. Ferguson also was very good, but she was the standout of the first part too. The visuals were indeed very impressive. This was a visual masterpiece, I have to say. Absolutely loved the Harkonnen aesthetic in clothes, though maybe not the cartoonish villains they were portrayed as.
Now, for the bad parts: If I could remove one thing from this film, it would be zendaya. Her ugly mug brought down the whole entire film, not just the character (which was butchered in this version) but her appearance too. Constantly argumentative and negative, she never believed the prophecy for a minute, even though every step was confirmed in front of her eyes. We did NOT need so many close ups, for Mahdi's sake! In essence, she was not believable as a love interest, but also her acting was literally one note, constantly the same expression of being severely constipated and disgusted. She was essentially a bigger villain than the Harkonnens. Even though Paul explained exactly what was going to happen according to his plan a minute earlier, she stormed off when he did what he explained he would do and after he had told her he would love her forever.
My biggest complaint is that tribes cannot be multiracial because they're genetically related. An Atreides cannot be both an Asian and a black guy. The vast difference between the accents literally took me out of the movie, but especially zendaya's speech pattern, which at times came straight out of the Bronx, it was very jarring. The scene with Paul taking the water of life was kind of hilarious the way it was portrayed, I especially chuckled with the look Jessica gave Chani. I got scared a little bit with that very short woman who extracted the water of life from the worm, I was afraid she was about to twerk.
So, in short, visually very impressive, but ultimately hollow. The actual story is much deeper and way more complicated and nuanced. The casting of Chani is the single greatest mistake here, because she plays a key role and needs to be believable.
Poor Things (2023)
A modern masterpiece
Even if you don't like Lanthimos's films, this is an objectively masterfully crafted piece. I have never seen more stunning costumes and set pieces, I was literally gawking at the floors and walls and dresses. There's a scene of a Portuguese woman singing fados on a balcony in Lisbon, a thing of pure beauty.
The humor is just right up my alley ("she grabbed my hairy business!"). There is a LOT of sex and full frontal nudity, but it doesn't shock for some reason. I was fully expecting people to walk out, but the audience loved every minute of it! The majority was people over 40, which also surprised me. Not even for a minute did I ever get bored. People were laughing out loud, same as me. The themes it handles are deep and at times uncomfortable, but I didn't feel uncomfortable at any point.
Basically, this film is feminist social commentary akin to Barbie but on much higher and simultaneously deeper lever, much better crafted as well.
I was very pleasantly surprised by the acting, too. Dafoe, Ruffalo, Stone were masterful. I was especially surprised by Ruffalo who stole the show with his comedic timing. Stone was daring, best role of her career and I hope she wins another Oscar. I think this was also Dafoe's best role.
I honestly have no complaints, even the soundtrack was beautifully crafted and kept growing as Bella's brain grew.
Malcolm & Marie (2021)
Ugh!
My God, they are incredibly bad actors. The film becomes unbearable from the very first moments. I don't remember a more noticeably bad actor than Washington (whom I also remember from Tenet and he was cringeworthy there too). Also, there's no chemistry between the couple and Marie has the physique of a teen, so bad casting. The dialogue is straight from the mind of the director, it's as if he's talking through his actors. And it's overtly racist towards White people. Black and white is a good aesthetic choice, but basically the only redeemable thing about this film. Also, it's constantly repetitive and annoying.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022)
Just no.
This is what happens when a mega corporation tries to do something based on a very intricate and detailed lore based on European folklore. This simply SHALL NOT PASS. The writing and dialogue are simply atrocious. Now the Hobbits are cruel, aside from dumb and filthy too! None of the Elves behaves or looks as they should. Galadriel has been destroyed beyond all recognition. Even the soundtrack is as generic as it can be. I was actually reminded of Star Wars when I watched the first episode (and my last). Oh, and the costumes! Oh my Eru! Just no. Nobody will be able to gaslight me into liking this. And stop deleting my review.
The Wheel of Time (2021)
Trash
Utter and complete trash. I'm laughing at the overall rating. Even if you have no contact with the original work (which this bears no relation to, except the name), you cannot suspend your disbelief THAT much, as to believe this male protagonist would ever be infatuated with that female character. We can and have to be a little realistic even in fantasy works. The casting directions were these: find me every non-White actor because that's what the MESSAGE requires. What message you're asking? The Marxist message, that every single European origin story follows to a T nowadays. This is the only reason why this village shown in the beginning would have all the races of the world together, which does not make any sense in any other such setting.
IMDbrief: Everything We Know About "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" (2022)
Amazon, you just made an enemy for life.
I'd rather have my hand cut off than buy anything from this corporation. They could have made any series they wanted, but no, they had to touch the Professor's work because they know it is primarily about White people's heritage. And it's exactly this they want to erase and trash.
Charlie's Angels (2019)
Truly unwatchable
I just wanted to see this to have a good time. The agenda is too much and I'm a female. The script is crap, I'm sorry. The acting isn't that better, either.
Seberg (2019)
Dear God no.
Kristen Stewart likes to think she's the best actress in the world. This girl just CANNOT act, she cannot even understand how to get away from herself and into a role.
I May Destroy You (2020)
Zero stars
You know a series is absolute trash and highly, highly overrated when a line like this comes up: "You know I can't socialise after I ejaculate". A series about nothing. Pure garbage.
And Just Like That... (2021)
Oh hell no!
I thought the forced "diversity" would be the most annoying thing in this garbage heap, but no. Carrie's attitude towards EVERYONE and the way they handled Samantha and Stan was atrocious. Just disrespectful all around. And of course they constantly insulted men and White people in general. In short, the entire first season is all about race and "gender" nonsense, AKA Marxist "activism". I rolled my eyes several times at the dialogues and wondered who the hell wrote them. If I wanted to watch something full of that Marxist propaganda, I'd watch Netflix. Oh, btw, Netflix's former CEO is the great-nephew of Edward Bernays, the father of marketing and author of the book Propaganda.
The Witcher (2019)
Unwatchable.
Especially the first season, whose timeline was scrambled beyond any comprehension. I've played the games and they were truly enjoyable. This was made purely for the anti-White agenda.
Dune (2021)
Empty and soulless
...although very visually pleasing. Barren and sterile are the two other words I think are appropriate for describing this. It's a shell of what Lynch managed to portray.
Capricorn One (1977)
Thrilling.
While watching this film, I was thinking about my review. I have no complaints about the script or the acting or the lovely 70s decoration. The humor was impeccable. Telly Savalas, in particular, stole the show even though he was in for 10 minutes only. Some scenes were incredible for the time and even today they can't be recreated as convincingly, for example the helicopter touching the red plane or the rattlesnake and scorpions scenes. Some things were slightly implausible, but without some very minor plot holes there wouldn't be a movie. The ending literally brought me chills.
A Discovery of Witches (2018)
Hooked.
Loved the first season and it seemed like an eternity for the second one to finally get here. I have no complaints except the very obvious forced insertion of black characters where they do not belong, namely anywhere in Europe and especially in the Middle Ages.