Reviews

This a monster brilliant movie. Of course I saw it when it first came out, because it's the first film version of a Pynchon book. Loved seeing it in a theatre (remember those?) back then, and later online. But I just watched it again for the thrill. Paul Thomas Anderson is a genius who speaks modestly about himself. Although the movie has plenty of scenery and even action, this time I was impressed by the many extreme close-up shots of virtually every actor/character, capturing their very "subtle" performances. I know stoned music when I hear it, and I know a stoned movie when I see it too. Like Robert Altman, who did that all the time, like with Elliot Gould in "The Long Goodbye." Joaquin Phoenix was amazing as Doc Sportello.

Very true to Pynchon's book, it conveys not "cynicism" but "realism" about how sadly decadent and corrupt the world actually is.

Don't be put off by the slobby compromised detective - there are many of those in books and movies. He and his German partner are dogged in their determination to resolve some horrible crimes. By perhaps the third episode of Season 1 you get to track the actual perp. The locations are very spectacular and the cinematography does them justice. Interesting focus on the "Krampus" mythology and celebrations. Starts off sort of mundane, then gets more and more interesting as you stream along. Remains mysteriously obscure as to what motivates the perp.

Things get even better with Season 2, as more murders occur in the same region. Again, beautiful cinematography and fine acting. Nicholas Ofczarek is amazing as the primary detective figure. A very complex, deep, and enthralling mystery series. Don't miss it.

Perhaps one of the stupidest series about cops and crime. A supposed-to-be smart cop does some of the stupidest wrongs to protect her stupid son. The acting is flat, the back story is generic, there's not much to care about at all. We all know that property developers are the worst of all evils, OK. And they are appropriate targets, as we know. So what's new here? The only redeeming feature here is the great photos of the mountains. The silly French cop sucks on lollipops all the time, isn't that interesting?

There are many fine crime & cops streamers out there, but this is not one of them. Waste of space, waste of time.

Five minutes into this and I'm in awe that it is one of the most brilliant black & white movies I have ever seen, and I've seen many. Andrew Scott blows away previous versions of Ripley. The cinematography is extremely skilled, I can't wait to get back to seeing the whole thing. Folks who claim "black and white is boring" would be better advised to go sit in a megaplex and watch idiotic Marvel spectacles. Have fun. It's about time someone really did an A-1 job of filming a Patricia Highsmith novel. Ripley is an abolutely classic depiction of a psychopath. Yeah, I watched Matt Damon and John Malkovitch, but this is an advance. Looking forward to more from the same director.

Well, it was pretty cool, epic ScFi, lots of action and far-out spacecraft. In my opinion kind of melodramatic as to the story and characters, but hey it was entertaining. THE WORMS of course!

But - the Emperor turns out to be Christopher Walken? I love Walken very much in movies. But here you have him showing up as the Emperor! You can't help but watch that and not think "Hey, that's not "the Emperor"! That's Christopher Walken! And doing some of his usual shtick (which is great). Why didn't the director have AI put in an evil Pee Wee Herman for the "Emperor"? It was an amazing "jump the shark" bit of miscasting.

I've only watched about 10 minutes, and already I know this is beyond any reviews I've seen. Glazer is a fantastic Kubrickian director (he's a big fan). As you watch the scenes begin and unfold, you are watching human beings with a very high level of tension because they are quite aware of where they are and what's on the other side of the walls. It's not just the subtle "background sounds." They KNOW! And they go about their daily routines anyway. It's why they are so rigid in their supposedly innocent "routines." The contrast between their knowing complicity and their day to day "routines" spells out what fascism is very much about. This is an amazing and great work of art. Glazer had some artistic "doubts," but I think he did it right.

The cinematographic compositions. The lighting, the editing are just superb. The subtlety, the finesse, it just knocks me out. This is a work unlike any other, 10 stars are not enough.

There's a symbolic doggie, I think, and maybe the same for a crying baby.

I thought maybe the Holocaust context would be only hinted, but is actually very explicit.

This was like watching some grand French painting in motion, it is so beautifully filmed, edited, so colorful. I don't think it actually is a "foodie movie" despite the prolonged scenes of complex French food preparation, cooking, serving and pleasure. At the end of the movie there is a wonderful coda scene, which I will not reveal, except that it resonates back to a scene in which Dodin has a monologue about the physical and physiological process of consuming and enjoying a morsel of food. You know all along that there is something wrong with Eugenie (Binoche) but you don't quite understand what exactly is wrong with Dodin. It will take some thinking over.

By the way, you should look up what an "ortolan" is.

This is a great streaming series. Beautifully filmed (cinematography, editing, etc). Set in Italy during the Mussolini fascist regime, it's basically a crime investigation series, but it's totally in context of the history and politics of the time. Top-drawer acting, great drama. It's very much a character-driven work. The detective has his own personal story and "special" skill, like so many. Each episode follows smoothly from the prior one. What you would think would be "minor" characters are actually very essential to everything going on. There's great good and great evil. I cannot imagine it being anything less than one of the best I've seen.

For a streamed movie, it's very good. The story is very dramatic, the acting and directing top notch. Interesting setting of wine country business details. Not entirely original background story, but gripping enough in its own context. Unusual Tyrol setting, beautiful scenery. The primary actor is very good, the villains are expectably real baddies. A "slow thriller"? - only if you want to binge on Marvel movies, not watch a well done crime drama. Well, everyone to their own taste, as my Irish grandma said about "kissing the cow." You want streamed entertaining diversion? - this is a good choice.

People are uneasy with the hardcore qualities of this interesting prequel? Did they actually SEE Glazer's "Sexy Beast" with Ben Kingsley? The acting here is NOT bad, it is fine, maybe too intense for some. What, Kingley's acting was "bad" because he was too violent? He was a psychopathic (not "sociopathic," there's a difference) monster. Here you have more monsters, including the over-the-top viciousness of this Don Logan and others. I don't bother with so-called "horror" movies - there are plenty of horrors here among us. Unlike many PBS Brit series, that cater to the fantasies of "polite" folks ( You know, the 'Downton Abbey' folks), this is very consistent with the actual ferocity of Brit crime. Brits and US Brit TV fans don't want to see this. But the fact is, the defunct Brit "empire" was always extremely violent in its sense of entitlement to world domination. In these latter days they live with and need to deal with the bottom dregs of greed, crime, drugs, sociopathy and violence. I won't say I "enjoy" it, but I have to give credit where it's due.

This is very "hardcore," including the acting, directing and cinematography. This is a perfect example of why you should stream high quality talent instead of gazing at crap TV.

I can't say I didn't enjoy this movie, but it's definitely not all it was cracked uup to be. I found it interesting, appropriate to the subject matter. I was very interested in all the diverse characters, and the acting. Jeffery Wright really did carry the movie, up to par with his talent. But there was something off about it, and I have to attribute that to the director. We discussed it at dinner and both of us agreed there was something, what. She said she thought the portrayal of how stupid white people are, and she very well knows how stupidly racist they can be, was overdone. I said I thought it seemed kind of sketchy, even cartoonish in the satirical humor. There was something I can only call flat about the production, not bad, but not actually something that draws you into how expectably great the movie supposedly is. It was, I think, more like an idea of a movie, rather than actually realized. All ingredients: Alzheimer's mom, gay brother, venal publishers and movie producer, were thrown into the mix, but more like a pastiche than a really effective satire. The ending part, so disappointing to many reviewers, was just an inept attempt to meta the story. Better luck next time to the director.

Very high quality direction, acting, cinematography, editing etc. Could not be more important about relatively dimly known roots of European antisemitism and fascism. Good grasp of just how decadent and grubby things were at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. Antisemitism, misogyny and syphilis all rampant. Not at all for the squeamish. Current 21st century folks of a certain ilk will not like it at all - too bad. Very immersive in the politics and skullduggery of that time. Do such things ever change? Not much. Very interesting characters. As others have noted, this is one you'll have a hard time not bingeing non-stop.

My wife and I always need something fine to do or see to get us out of the dreadful routines of these horrible days. Seeing this movie seemed like a good bet, and it was. It has a wonderful narrative quality, like slowly paging through an engrossing book. We knew it was likely going to be both funny and sad - the deeply moving won out, but we had our laughs. We just recently lost a close member of our family to cancer and have still been grieving. There are many sad moments in the story, but at one point the Angus character stares in close-up at a snow-globe with a Santa inside and I realized I was choking up. Next thing, there was water coming out of my eyes. The acting was amazing! I'd give Oscars to all three main actors. Young Dominic Sesso has very promising talent. The first thing I said after leaving the theater was how "loveable" it was, and I'm not given to sentimentality. This is not a movie you will forget about, it's got great soul.

I woke from sleep in a panic - I had not yet done my civic duty and warned people about this crapload! I watch so many movies, streamed, in theaters, whatever. And I love good twisted thrillers/mysteries with flashbacks, conundrums and so on. But if you have any loathsome chore to spend time on - clipping your cat's or your own nails, cleaning grit out of your porcelain pedestal, making donations to fake charities - you should opt to do that instead of watching this. This thing should have a HAZMAT symbol stamped on it, like you are forbidden to drive over a bridge or through a tunnel with it locked in your trunk. It's like antimatter and dark matter colliding, causing something like an explosion of marshmallows! The main character carries on like a dolt's attempt to imitate Max Von Sydow, but with the hysterical soul of Julia Roberts, AND her scenery-chewing brother Eric. I won't tell you any details or spoilers, because there are no details worth mentioning, and it's already spoiled like stuff left in the fridge too long. Like the infamous Norwegian Blue parrot, it is deceased! It has gone to meet its maker! Thump thump! - it is a "late parrot!" It is pretentious twaddle and makes NO sense whatsoever. Phew - now that I have conscientiously warned you I think I'll go jump in a lake.

We were very delighted to go see this phenomenal movie in a nearby theater. Not that the movie is "delightful," since it is very grim. What it is, is - very concerned with historical reality, very relevant to our current situation, very well acted, very wonderfully filmed, and very sensitive to the disastrous oppression and lethality to the experience of American "Indian" peoples and their culture.

There are many things to praise about it. I was immediately emotionally knocked over by the magnificense of Scorsese's style. Though there were some deliberately shocking scenes of violence, that was only secondary to the narrrative and the depiction of the characters. DeCaprio's acting could not be called "subtle" because he was not playing a subtle character at all. DeNiro was of course DeNiro, and called to mind extremely the evil exploiters of hstory as well as those we know all to well in our present day. Jesse Plemons - a fine actor, and he was "subtle." Soundtrack - a pervasive use of drumbeats and snippets of folk and country/Western tunes to underscore the dramatic action.

An interesting scene near the close - no spoiler! - that sort of breaks the fourth wall and pins down what it's all been about.

No way to overestimate the performance of Lily Gladstone!

This is wonderfully fine. First of all, it's sophisticated Italiano! Very interesting characters, acted with great talent. Top-drawer cinematography and editing. The main character is a detective - but he's NOT a detective. He's played with cool charisma and charm - not world-weary in a bummer way, just appropriately cynical about what he has to deal with. But with humor. Criminal activity with real malevolent violence, but little so far too graphic except for gunshots. No waiting week-by-week for the next episode, five of season 1 all available non-stop. AND the entire soundtrack consists of Bob Dylan recordings of relevant songs recorded in top quality - very cool! I don't know what bootlegs they may have used, but it all sounds beautiful, there's even about a 20-second harmonica solo in the midst of one scene.

Amazing "mise en scene" and cinematography. Very interesting characters, fine actors. Very cool stories. Great location. Naples scenery and architecture are wonderful. This is about as good as streaming gets! The main detective is objective, driven, and humane. The secondary "crew" are very fascinating. You can't "outguess" what the mysteries will reveal. Subtitles work well, as they should.

Sometimes Italian streamed shows are too esoteric or too cute. This is very sophisticated and satisfying.

Each character among the police crew has a "secret" or background story that is important in its own right. "Giorgio Pisanelli" is one of the more intersting and mysterious ones. But every single one of them has a back-story worth consideration.

I've just gotten to series 2, episode 3 - "Borchert and the Deadly Trap." Already saw series one and three. This is a fantastically good series, well worth streaming. Borchert is a wonderful character - flaws, dedication to humanity, well-versed in law and the realities of the world. This particular episode is the high point so far. Direction and cinematography are brilliant! It's like a major movie. You just can't go wrong with this whole series. Some of the actors change, year to year, but that's OK. Minor characters are very interesting, like the cabbie Borchert hires as his own personal chauffer, and his law partner's secretary. Quite complex, but done so well it's not difficult to follow. Just amazingly good!

This is almost psychedelically trippy. Forget the first episode which is sort of dull and confusing. By the second episode you're into something you haven't seen before. Like a Sicilian world you hadn't imagined. But not realistically - more like a weird director's version of that. Intense action and suspense. So many characters you can't quite follow them all, including a baby. Gotta keep in mind where the main character comes from and what he's up to, because sometimes he doesn't even know. He's "not quite himself" so to speak. If only Christopher Walken was in this in his character from "The Kindness of Strangers" it would be perfect. Not kidding you, this is a fun movie!

Complex and very intelligent. Unfortunately the extremely common theme of conflict between a village/town/city and a determined developer/exploiter. Beautiful scenery and cinematography, fine editing.

Acting is all good. One of the characters is played by a person who has perfected the "sneer" affect - you might not like it, but it's pretty unusual and cool. Protagonist seems to maintain a proper balance of professionalism and suppressed emotional turmoil. Perhaps a few too many side plots. Maybe those will clarify and reveal the criminal mystery, but after three episodes I'm not sure.

Just finshed episode 3, certainly will continue.

---------------------

I've now seen the 1st and 2nd season. I don't usually give out a 10, but I think the series rates it. Very grim and complex mysteries, interesting characters, and fine acting. Beautiful cinematography and editing. Moral turpitude and moral choices. Can't wait to begin the 3rd season.

This is not one of your English "garden troll" mysteries with characters standing aroundly stiffly, having cuppas, making slightly witty comments so as to be amusing. This is totally realistic, dark and serious.

Complex cast of characters, very well done by top form actors. Great direction, cinematography, editing, flashbacks relating past to present. Main suspect becomes obvious early, but - what's the motivation? What is the person up to? The detectives are scratching their pates and so are we.

Of interest is the political context - coal mining in England, Thatcherism, unions vs "scabs," old hatred, revenge, family secrets. Even a dead peacock!

There is nothing I could tell you that would not be a spoiler. You should just experience this for yourself . . and I would recommend neglecting other reviews, which might tell you more than you need to know. Seems to me it's one excellent example of a new genre. Terrific acting, fantastic effects, classic themes. Doesn't get a 10 until we see more.

OK, this review won't let me do less than 600 characters, so . . . #1011, a key, a pyramid, secret passages, familial conflicts, aggression, sex, interesting beetles, a ship called Prometheus, another ship with a name you should Google . . . There now, satisfied? Those are some of the ingredients.

It is definitely gripping, mainly because you are curious about what you don't understand. It appears that there are alternative realities going on - whether that has to do with dreams, clairvoyance, or ooga-booga supernatural stuff. I'm sorry that child actor had to play such a weird kid, but it appears he knows what he's doing, and doing it very well. The creepiness somehow reminded me of Kubrick's "The Shining" masterpiece and there is something remeniscent in the style. A running theme - don't know what it means - is the difficulty of experiencing things emotionally. Multiple characters are disturbingly suspicious. I'm only on episode 5, hope it ends satisfactorily.

OK - after the finale - super good conclusion. Ending? Who knows. Definitely Kubrickian, and that is not a term I would use lightly. Certainly references to "The Shining." Not "ooga- booga supernatural," more like causing you to think twice about understanding reality (at least within the parameters of the story). All the actors were excellent, especially Capaldi and the boy who plays Isaac. Not 10 stars because I think we'll need to see more.

I wrote a "preliminary review" as I watched the first episode. Having finished the first season's 8 episodes now, I'd have to say it met my expectations and more. The cinematography and acting are superb. A very interesting cast of characters played with great finesse by top-notch actors. It is set somewhere in the Old West, but it's beyond the usual spaghetti Westerns by being more mythic and somewhat "supernatural." If there's a downside, that I'm sure some viewers will not like, it's that the the symbolism and hysterical motivations are kind of far-fetched. But as I said before, the "Mad Max" series was also far-fetched but due to being a fantasy of a dystopian world.

This is for sure a dystopian "Old West," extremely grim and violent. Reminds me of Cormac McCarthy's famous trilogy. If violence gives you the flibberty-gibbets, then don't watch it. I won't comment about the finale except to say that the following seasons are going to be made or broken by how that turns out.

Just watching the first episode. The negative reviews so far are silly. This is working up as a fever dream of an epic series. Maybe I'll end up being disappointed, but not so far. High quality actors and their craft, very cool cinematography. But it's not for any snowflake who would go see "Pulp Fiction" or that ilk and close their eyes in horror. Plot elements that seem unrealistic or goofy are, I think, because it's not meant ot be "realistic." It's a fantasy, like "The Road Warrior" is a fantasy. Great diversion from all the Nordic and other "Watching the Detectives" streamers. Classic basic plot elements - hidden gold, mysterious motivations, conniving characters, esily corruptible "good guys" and adolescents, etc.