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phdfromnyc
Reviews
Tell Me Your Secrets (2021)
Less would have been more
Now, the Fugitive, and similar stories of miscarriages of justice keep most of us engaged because we want things set right. And that's one of the problems of this series. There were way too many storylines and a tragic shortage of "good guys." The selective amnesia trope is tired, overused, and too "convenient" most of the time. And the 10 episodes dragged the story out, only to leave us with an unsatisfying ending. I felt cheated investing so much time only to have none of the bad guys face justice. I suspect they want us to expect another season but it's unlikely I'd watch.
Too long, too depressing, too hackneyed.
Jack Ryan (2018)
Chavez/November spinoff?
At first, I did not think I would like John Krasinski in the title role but he got jacked and was better each season. He was the right nerd/action hero balance. But, I confess that I didn't read the Tom Clancy books, so I can't say how consistent the main characters are between the books/movies/series.
Wendell Pierce is always good even though it seemed issues related to his character were inconsistent and incomplete. Since I lived in DC for many years, I appreciated references to the city and the picture of how the US government works.
The final season was the best (storyline, characters, and most of the acting). I'd love a Chavez-November spinoff because they were cool cucumbers carrying out crazy stuff and working well together.
Obliterated (2023)
silly distraction but hey...that's ok sometimes
Sometimes it's ok to escape from the seriousness that is real life and let ourselves watch people dumber than us, but more physically attractive than most, attempt to save the world (and of course, they will!) So, we suspend disbelief, cringe at juvenile jokes, accept cartoonish action, root for foolishness, and let ourselves imagine that "elite" military officers have less self-control than teens on prom night. It should've been a 2-hr movie rather than a series, but it didn't drag too much. The "weekend at Bernie's"-style shtick got old real fast, however. All in all, it was reasonably entertaining.
The Wolfman (2010)
needed to be killed by a silver bullet before getting released
I know it's 13 years old but it should've been better. The setting was great, excellent actors in lead roles, but a horrible retelling of the Wolfman myth.
1. We could smell the truth about John Talbot (Anthony Hopkins) a mile away. There was no mystery.
2. The townspeople went from blaming the Romani to believing in werewolves very quickly. What convinced them? And how come they didn't get the silver bullet info? In fact, it wasn't clear how some people knew about silver bullets but others didn't.
3. At first it seemed the Romani people would prove to be a key to important information but their presence is superfluous. What purpose do they serve? The older woman's conversation with Emily Blunt's character sets us up for some sort of salvation for Lawrence but ... no saving him.
4. Emily Blunt's character is also superfluous. What did it matter that she loved Lawrence (BdT's character)? She still killed him (even if he refrained from ripping her to pieces).
5. Why didn't Emily Blunt's character let Hugo Weaving's detective character shoot Lawrence when he was close rather than wait until after the detective got seriously injured (and likely to turn into a werewolf himself)?
There were a couple good action sequences, like the initial rampage in the Romani camp but generally, the movie was boring.
Someone should've shot this film with a silver bullet before it was released on the public. It needed to die before it got out.
Lupin (2021)
Kind of like Bugs Bunny or Roadrunner
It's a bit comical how the main character fools so many people relatively easily. And like in cartoons, he has everything he needs whenever he needs it-even beyond disguises. Yet, i found myself wanting to see how each of Assane's plans worked. The flashbacks were a bit too much (everything from 25 years ago to "two weeks ago " or "3 days ago" ... That was tedious). Season 1 was the most interesting and Season 3 the most far-fetched. I must sat, however, that Ludivine Sagnier (Claire) is always great to see. She was great in 8 Women and Swimming Pool and 20 years later she's still captivating on the screen. Glad she had more screen time in Season 3.
Sibyl (2019)
I keep trying to like French dramas, but ...
So often French dramas are sad, depressing, and confusing. That is the case here. I wanted to like somebody! Everybody seemed like a big mess. I do like to see Adèle Exarchopoulos because she has a way of drawing you in with her smile or even her messy crying. She's gotten even better since "Blue is the Warmest Color" (which was another depressing French movie, but not confusing. The love story was clear, even if it was sad).
The male characters in Sibyl were shallow, not well-developed, and almost interchangeable. But clearly this was not about them. It was about a woman who lacked self-awareness, despite her education and even her job as a psychotherapist.
Wilderness (2023)
A woman scorned
I liked it. It made me wonder at points why it's hard to be honest.
If Wilderness were meant to be a police drama, we would have expected the police to be more thorough. There were some loose ends, and some unexplained phenomena when it came to investigation. But the point was really about a woman in a wilderness. Liv is a woman scorned-hurt by her mother as well as her husband. The main character was clearly damaged from the start of the series, and having such a horrible husband brought out things that had been buried-including her feelings for her neighbor. But Mum saw some of her daughter's tendencies, just not all of them. Mum did not see what she had done to her daughter.
This is the story of a woman lost in the wilderness. Her final speech to the man at the cliff was a bit confusing but Liv-despite writing her book (at the end) was more lost than at the start.
Liebes Kind (2023)
wunderbar!
Riveting story, great acting-especially the Hannah character-and smart, not like so many silly and simplistic stories on Netflix. While some characters could have been developed a bit more, it was great to not be bogged down with irrelevant love stories or too much detail about people's private lives. There was enough left to our imaginations. And there was no need to spoon feed us like so many US dramas do, treating viewers like we're too ignorant to follow the trail. The intensity held up throughout. I hope other writers and directors take a lesson from this German gem.
I binged the 6 episodes (right amount! No need for 10 or 12 episodes dragging things out). If you've not watched yet, enjoy!
Ragnarok (2020)
Bait and switch
I like fantasy and sci-fi, so I gave this a shot. It started slow and picked up. The second season was the best. In the third season, the series lost its way. There were plot inconsistencies and random characters that served no purpose at all. And, as others have pointed out, the ending was a real disappointment. I'm not sure why we needed a fantasy or sci-fi drama for 15 episodes only to end with a weak commentary on a teenage boy dealing with trauma.
However, the idea of taking ancient mythology and playing it out in the present, is a good idea, and there was tremendous potential in this series.
Day Shift (2022)
I WANTED to like it, but ...
Vampire movies-even comedies-can be clever, gruesome, creative, and even thrilling but this was corny with a few good fight scenes and an overdone car chase. I suspect the R rating reflects the profanity because the level of humor and gore seemed geared to preteens.