Reviews

If you are open to watch a surprisingly entertaining Moroccan (!) Rodriguez-style flick with a paper-thin plot but great photography, bronzed faces, short dialogs and North African desert atmosphere, you will encounter some fun here.

There is not much philosophy behind the story, but moral principles that are understandable for everyone.

The acting is sometimes a bit stiff, but overall good, humor is very dry, like the scenery - the desert. Photography is absolutely great. No cheap shots are to be seen, though the budget surely was very small.

Characters are mostly cliché, that is the biggest shortcoming, and sometimes the pacing slows down a bit unexpectedly, sometimes the cuts are so fast that you have troubles to follow.

But overall, the movie deserves a better rating than it currently has (4.2). I would normally give it 6 stars, but here I give 7.

And yes, in my opinion it can hold a candle against mainstream cinema, especially since it has aged well during the last ten years.

The title of my review describes a scene from the movie.

To be honest, I watched the Trailer, which was very violent, but I thought, it could be something different anyhow. Like 'Old Boy' (the original).

And it was. For about 40 minutes, until the senseless, idiotic fighting began. Those 40 minutes are very colorful, vibrant, atmospheric, funny. I loved it. Dev Patel is wonderful. He is a good Director. He sees cinematic. He probably put his heart and.his fortune, and some of his health into it. Even the writing up to this point was good. All ingredients that point to a fantastic movie.

But he couldn't, of all things, find a smarter plot for this revenge movie ? Obviously, no, he couldn't. With one shot everything goes down, and while camera and production stay on their level, the rest is just a long and painful walk of a story that is told similarly for decades. A Zombie that is dug out whenever the writers run out of ideas.

I guess, that too much western action movie consumption led to the decision to spoil his own remarkable child. Nobody said 'Dev, please don't do that, please be smart'. Or, probably someone said it, but wasn't heard.

Because, this is no 'Old Boy' (but could have been), and no 'Kill Bill' (and shouldn't have been), and no 'Rocky 17' or 'Karate Kid 35' (imagine what you want to be said in brackets).

So I would give 9 Stars for the first chapter of 40 minutes, and minus 5 stars for the rest, leading to the final 4 stars.

A great disappointment.

This is an interesting showcase of an obviously existing Russian desire to make western high-end spectacle movies. Others of this kind are 'Attraction' 1+2, 'Sputnik', 'The Blackout' series, 'Project Gemini' and 'Guardians'.

They are in the Sci-Fi genre not very innovative, rather simple in plot, well acted and technologically (FX,CGI) on a very high level.

It is to mention that they are in no way as outstanding as the two 'Night Watch' and 'Day Watch' movies from the early 2000s.

'Mira' is here a Russian space stations' AI, and it is also the weakest part of the whole movie, since dialogs with her are mostly cheesy.

The sole star is actually the FX and sound design department, which managed to create a fantastic '2012'-worthy destruction sequence of exhausting and captivating eight minutes length, that intrigued me very much. There is another great sequence, where the daughter is attempting to rescue her little brother, and her father tries a repair of the station, and both action strains, though in very different environments, are visually intertwined in a really wonderful manner. Note that this movie is said to have a budget of sparse 5 M Euros, which I consider as a shoestring, compared to western movies of this scale.

I would say that the acting is ok, the best of it comes from the children. The main actress is a bit too old for my taste, though being 18 playing a 15 or 16-year-old girl should be ok, but maybe I mean 'too experienced'. The main actor reminds me often of Mads Mikkelsen.

The paper-thin plot is just there to keep the story running, The family drama of the past is an unnecessary addition to explain the (in Russian terms) weird psyche of the main character, as in special needs because of PTSD. Supporting characters like the mother or the boyfriend (who lost a hand once) are staying superficial.

This disaster movie relies on the tension of time running out during the constant danger of a major cataclysm, combined with the usual family saving efforts. It is very effective with this and entertains greatly, until the final act, which appears to be superimposed and is not very 'realistic'.

One critical point is, between the many ultra-realistic and impressing cinematic danger situations the main characters have to endure to save their lives and those of others, the design team have obviously forgotten about the physics of fire and what it does in confined spaces to the breathable air.

I give the movie 7 stars rather than 6, for also being totally non-political, and for great atmosphere and good pacing.

Watched in Russian with English subtitles.

Not a waste of time, but not satisfying either. And, don't ask why, I knew the fate of the camera guy from the moment they entered the port of the abandoned town, Pyramiden . The plot reminded me of "Quiet Earth", but in a much more harsh and beautiful environment, and at a much slower pacing.

I did not know about the said town that still exists, and where 30 days of night are actually more than 60. But with only two inhabitants. You can actually visit this ghost town, at least via GE and streetview. There is one active hotel.

The music or better call it "drone accompanyment" provides perfectly an icy atmosphere with a continuous underlying tension.

I think, the music has the most prominent part of creating atmosphere in this movie, more than the scenery, and more than the mystery.

Everything else is a bit meh. It's not a horror movie, but a drastically prolonged mystery short, very professional made, with good actors, a great scenery and much potential, that is - wasted in the end. Which is quite common for shorts, yet it's owed to the length of the piece and to be expected.

So, after the credits, you ask indeed yourself if you have wasted your time, but I answered myself that I had not, and if this is not part 1 of a two-part movie, I have to imagine the 2nd part myself.

As a preparation for that, I tripped virtually to that godforsaken corner of our earth and saw that there is still life. Someone must like it there.

And I wondered, how people could disappear with their clothes on, in respect to the later revealed reason for their disappearance.

So, despite the movie is good entertainment with most parts (music, acting, camera, cut, direction, pacing, etcetera) decently worked out, I decided to give it a harsh 6, since the most important parts, the script and the plot, weren't properly elaborated.

If one cannot figure out how to design one's piece of art be coherent and complete, one should avoid making it, until one has the solution for that problem. The better one is as an artist, the more one should act like that.

Yes we are, but that is one of the few scientific correct statements in the show ;-)

There are many exaggerations, mostly in physics, which are communicated in all seriousness, and that obviously comes from the source material, which I did not read btw. But I watched 'The wandering Earth' movie, which is also an adaptation of a story by the same author, and is sometimes ridiculously over-the-top exaggerating even for very seasoned suspenders of disbelief.

Since this series is a western production, it fits more into our world as we are perceiving it, and thus can be more serious while still believable.

However, the show is more of an ensemble-driven Mystery/Drama/Thriller, and lives mostly from the great performances of its actors, foremost Liam Cunningham, Jess Hong and Eiza Gonzales. On the negative side, some actors are wasted, like Jonathan Pryce (Evans) or Saamer Usmani (Raj).

The dialogs are sometimes a bit clumsy or not really elaborated, but mostly of decent quality. The best lines got Thomas Wade, and they give Liam Cunningham the opportunity to steal every scene where he has to deliver them. Though this is the best and most humorous character in the show, he is also the most unbelievable one, a superman of espionage and tactical knowledge, but also equipped with nearly unlimited financial resources and power to found and run single-handedly the complete defense program against the aliens. His rank or position is never really shown IIRC, but in the books he is a general, I think.

Pacing is a bit slow, but It seems that the producers wanted to create a very close adaptation of the source material, with some added diversity in location, race, and spirit.

The score is noticeably made by a master of the arts, who is, in this case. Ramin Djawadi.

I think they succeeded in creating a captivating high-profile show, but failed to deliver something extraordinary.

There are some cruel scenes (in the beginning, but also later near the end), which in my opinion are not beneficial to the overall value of the show.

I give this show a harsh 6 for several missed opportunities, but I highly recommend it as a very good binge-watch.

I am not a Halo Game aficionado. But I watched a few Game Videos, where the cinematic parts of the games are put together.

That said, I think that what this production does is simply the only way to make a consistent SciFi show for a broader audience and not a pure fan-service.

Its decision to show us the human flesh and bone behind the Helmet, how John thinks and how he feels, how vulnerable he is when not behind his armor, how broken as a human, that is the biggest strength of the show from the first season on, and makes this a good experience. Pablo Schreiber is clearly the right choice for this part. Him always behind the Mask, always in combat, would do the show no good.

The Halo TV series can stand for its own as a beautiful, high-level/high-budget modern Space Opera, with the characters and within the world of Halo.

The show does tell a different story than the games, yes. But that is another advantage. If not, it would be just a cinematic recap.

It is, I give that to the critics, not always consistent and perfect. Season one spent too much time on some side-stories and on the new character Kwan, who is kind of annoying to many of the audience, and seems to be hated. But Kwan seems to have a special purpose in connecting the other characters and a big part of the story arc.

But season two is now focused on converging many threads. It is more densely packed and had a breathtaking episode 4, a bit too slow episode 5, in is again gaining momentum in episode 6.

Some voices here write something like "desecration", or even "heresy", as if Halo were some holy book that has to be worshiped. But it is a game with a story and not an Epos that defines mankinds' culture. Some talented people at a gaming company set it up to make it work for players, and now other talented people do the same for the screen. And they do good.

"Do you enjoy being such a sadistic a**hole ?" - "Yes I do"😀 The movie has several good lines for dialogs and monologs, mostly for John James, who delivers greatly (the only one here), but otherwise it is...trash.

Sean Young, most beautiful Replicant of all time, in a sorry role, trying to make the best of it, which is...not much.

John James' (the bad guy) daughter (Kate) is nice to watch and may have a nice future as an actress.

To be fair, after thinking the movie is from the 1980s or early 90s (actually it's from 2020), I thought the director must be either 16, or coming from cheap shows of that era, or simply is an amateur.

Actors can only save a part of a movie, not the whole thing...and if the director is incompetent, a movie is doomed. The director here made mostly C-films, and this is his last one until today. Hopefully it stays that way.

In this case, I have to agree with the low rating of 4. It's not a comedy, not a farce, barely a homage, and it is too brutal for a family movie. There are enough Youtube-only movies on a higher level than this one, even in a professional sense.

But don't get me wrong, if you are missing cheesy action comedies from the 80s, this will give you a warm vintage feeling of a lost era, but ported into 2020, and most certainly it is the right film for you.

For the record, this is not a Horror film. Everyone who watches it in expectation of horror will be disappointed. There are some mysterious events, and I must say, that I liked this aspect the least about the movie.

In The Fire is certainly not a bad movie. Neither are the actors doing bad, nor is the music out of place. Yes, the script may be a somewhere immature, not actually made by a master of the art of writing.

It leaves a number of things (like character backgrounds) untouched, and instead focusses on the boy and his strange mind, and how the presence of a well-meaning, understanding and caring person benefits him.

The movie tries to capture the atmosphere of a time and a place where education was mostly absent, and where superstition still could reach the minds of people, leading to cruelties.

Set and location are great, some things are weird, for instance, two priests on opposite sides, a farming "Don" with two servants, who does the work of a peasant, but can afford a personal shrink from the U. S. for his son.

Direction is ok.

I understand that the outcome of the story is somewhere unsettling, and also sad, but it is a story that is told with enough love and effort, so that I was entertained and not bored.

Six stars.

This show is obviously made on a shoestring budget, which maybe mostly used on actors' salary, and not on CGI. I agree that it wakes some memories from (then not so cheap) 90's SF series.

But earlier this year there was another cheap SF show, 'The Ark', and I must say I found 'Salvage Marines' more entertaining, though I am surely no friend of any military, para, or legit.

There are a also lot of similar (non-SF) shows focussing on troopers or platoons and their problems, amongst other the questionable legitimacy of their fight.

I did not find the acting as bad as stated here by others, nor the script, in general, as condemnable. For sure, both are not legendary, but at least the acting is solid. Sometimes the direction seems to be a bit helpless, but there is seemingly a strong determination to hold a certain level of consistency.

Or, I was just in the mood to watch something not.highbrow, that tries to deliver a simple story and some basic insight. Yes, mercenaries are still humans...and yes, they die for money...and yes, if "government" is replaced by "corporation" or vice versa, it's all the same, humans fighting against humans for advantages that do not reach the fighters, who risk their lives.

I hope, CvD got a bit of a salary out there (he doesn't seem old enough to retire) and give this little show 5 stars.

I am sorry to give this only 6 stars.

Most of the praises here and elsewhere are correct. Acting, visuals, directing, scenery, costumes, atmosphere, soundtrack...all good, great, above par.

It could be a wonderful movie.

But it didn't reach me. It is mainly a gifted girl fighting against her brutal uncle and his thugs, and then some military squad goons from the citadel. The uncle had established a form of a suppressive/parasitic system that relies on children and their blood as a merchandise, and the citadel is a big closed construct with survivors who exploit the poor outside.

And world building is not very good. The citadel inhabitants' lifestyle and ambitions remain mostly undescribed. The state of the rest of the world also, except for the introductory text.

Instead, the movie takes its time to describe the sad situation of the gifted child who is determined to care for her ill father. It is very efficient in describing the relation between father and daughter, how the loss of her mother inpacted her, and the sadness that overshadows their life because of a devastated world and sociality around them.

Very well, but that is not quite how I hoped to follow the possible future saviour of humanity, as Vesper is announced. I missed also some coming-to-age angle, when a child has to grow up fast because of external factors.

When watching, I often had the impression of swimming on the surface of some very deep water, where things are lurking that I want to explore, but the storytellers did not allow me to dive deeper.

Since this movie seems to try to be different in its genre, I was somewhere disappointed. I had a better experience with the movie "Annihilation" regarding that.

There are some movies that defy most of the rules of proper film making, not because of the intriguing talent of their makers, but because of their sheer incompetence.

This is one of them. I took it as an. Opportunity to switch off 95 percent of my brain for the sheer purpose of total relaxation.

That worked very well as a preparation for a good sleep.

Towards the end, the movie gets so trashy that I even had a few laughs, though I am not into trash movies. As a bonus, I got to watch Lance Henriksen, whom I like very much, in one of his typical roles where he has not much to do but being Lance Henriksen and maybe have some fun on the set.

I give two stars, one for Lance, and one for the bold move not to destroy all copies before release.

So many people are complaining about the highschool setting, so many about the writing, the story, the characters, annoying girls... Yes, this show had its problems, but it didn't deserve to be cancelled just because of an upset fan community.

Especially when considering that there are a lot worse series that are not cancelled.

Someone wanted to make a story from material that didn't provide more background than three sentences per person. And for me, that story clicked after a time, even when I had to realize that this about the relationship between teenage twin girls and their father, who is the (well-known) Whisker, and how this relationship will actively accompany the apocalypse soon to come.

I adapted to that premise relatively fast. I found it a good idea to split the narrative into two parts that are several years (14) apart. The earlier part is where the basics for the apocalypse are laid out, the later story does cope with it and provides us definitely with a fair amount of zombie action.

But, and that was the first problem I encountered, It was difficult for me to accept the two different actors for Jade as the same person in both time periods.

The second issue may be that the Show does try to serve too many tastes. Putting in a slightly unnerving main character, styled (and even named!) as Billie Eilish, easily decipherable as "troubled young girl" may not have been the wisest decision.

Production values are good, the first two episodes are very interesting, but after that, problem no.3, the show gets more and more stereotypical aspects. It seems that the authors got not much clue how to fill the space between the good intro and the big finale.

So they decided for standard hide-and seek, with a few twists.

As a fourth problem, I think that. Evelyns' character is a bit overacted. The actress is great, but she has to be too much "bitchy" here.

Yet Lance Reddick wore the show for a big part of it on his shoulders alone, something we have to admit about Milla Jovowich in the movies, too.

I give that production 6 stars.

Yep, that's the biggest complaint I have about this first episode of season two.

The lute is always calm, for what an electric guitar is also good, but with the guitar you can express a much wider bandwidth of feelings, especially with an overdrive ;). The lute is ancient for us, but the guitar is ancient for the 23rd century.

I must admit, I didn't recall much of the episode after two weeks, in my opinion, on first sight it is a bit mundane. Outstanding is only Carol Kane as millennia old Pelia, stealing every scene she is in. A great character, which I hope will once have her own episode.

On second thought, there is a certain charm in Spock acting like Kirk or Pike, which means not leaving behind a member of the crew and stealing Starfleet property. Making the hard decisions, sacrificing beloved ones for the greater good. And yes, recklessly risking your career, the ship, and all crew for that greater good. Very Kirk-ish. I wonder, if historically Kirk learned that behaviour from Spock, and that is why Spock later in TOS was teased by McCoy for wanting to sit in the command chair. He may have known that he would have been a good captain, better than Kirk. Leonard Nimoy definitively was a better director...but I disgress.

We had a very similar situation recently in the "Picard" series, season 3. That felt a bit boring.

The world building and scenery setup were not very convincing to me.

Also I found it strange to watch the medical staff fighting for minutes like Jackie Chan. Yes, the doctor is very interesting here, and he had a certain background to do that...but it felt very constructed. Nurse Chapel is great and I like her very much, but - well, she's a nurse. She should not want to inflict pain to people, even bad ones, except while changing their catheter. Or to participate in secret undercover operations.

But I give 7 stars, it was indeed a nice episode.

This is for me one of the weaker episodes, and I would have given only 5 Stars, if not for the ending.

First, I could not really accept the character of Kirk, nor his behaviour, knowing the old Kirk from TOS. Or the young Kirk from the Abrams universe. This one is simply too unobtrusive and nice, even a bit insecure for me.

And second, maybe it's me, I could not find much chemistry between the pair. Also, I think that the attempts of some mild situation comedy failed miserably. This part was simply bad writing. And at some point, I thought, now we are at two thirds of the episode, hopefully this is not a two-parter, as some time-travel episodes are.

On the other hand, I liked the ending and how things were solved. Nothing happened, but ...(no spoilers here). Christina Chong was very convincing.

Up to this episode I was not a great fan of that franchise, though I like Pike very much, he is just the person I would have appreciated much more as the Captain of the Enterprise in TOS than Kirk, 40 years ago, when I was young.

However, this is for me the first grown-up episode, and it isn't an accident that "The Orville" had a similar intriguing episode about gender identity in its 3rd season (completing a story arc that begun in season one with a failed trial).

Here, everything is laid out in a very easy setting and, since court cases are a big part of everyday's life in the U. S., it is made with the uttermost diligence in pacing and dialogue. Not a minute was wasted as a filler or surplus backstory.

Very impressive, I must say, and the only point that I have against it, is what someone here wrote in a review. Technically, the right approach for defence would be that the violated law itself is not only against Federation's principles and "bad", but indeed unconstitutional, and therefore void.

8 Stars for a very good and mature episode.

As an afterword to all fellow reviewers who are complaining about wokeness - please change your mind or stop watching Star Trek before you can manage to progress into a sentiment that agrees with what Star Trek stands for. If anything, diversity is one of the core agreements in this universe, and Roddenberry himself introduced it with the famous Uhura kiss half a century before.

Let me be clear, no, the movie isn't predictable after the first 15 minutes, you can say this only if you have seen it to the end, or maybe, if you have read about it too much.

I didn't read much about it, and I am not quite a big fan of such movies, but I just wanted to watch Eva Green again. It turns out, the real stars here are Chai Fornacier and the Philippine culture, but I got enough of Eva Green artistry to be satisfied for that part.

This movie is very well filmed and paced (I appreciate also slower pacing if it makes sense), it has some mystery and supernatural in it though, and I would have appreciated if that Idea had been abandoned by the writers, to let the forgotten tragedy here settle in more depth, create more impact, since a story may last longer and deeper in the audiences' mind, when it's totally in the real world. And yes, the story ends with all lines being connected after it had given its secrets away only piecewise. But to be fair, it misses its point, since it is more of a punishment to live in constant pain and disturbance, than to die.

While the female cast is given all the opportunities to shine, I am a bit sad for Mark Strong, whose character is just a stooge. The little girl Roberta/Bobs is also not much better elaborated, though she has more screen time.

But still, the movie is entertaining and interesting enough for my seven stars.

There are a lot of people who live a life like Angela, the hero of "Kimi", so they may be able to connect. Of course, not all of them are agoraphobic because of a trauma. Many of them just like the benefits of being inside, working from home.

However, Director Stephen Soderbergh did a good job to lure us into Angela's world, which allows her to never leave her carefully neat apartment. Except, maybe, eventually, for the dentist, who won't come to her with all his equipment (I wondered, if that wouldn't be an interesting business opportunity, a mobile Dentist).

However, after a time that may be a bit too long for today's audience's attention span, things go pretty fast and the tension gets tightened immediately until the very end. This was a surprise, and I like surprises.

The plot is not very deep and not very original - in fact, except the main character herself, everything is just implied, like relationships, motivations, company structures, and even enemies and struggles. A few brushstrokes on everything, and ready is the painting. But at least, that doesn't hurt.

Why does Angela not call the Police immediately ? We hear the reason later in the movie, that much can be said. It is one of said brushstrokes...

For me that was one and a half hour of totally forgetting the outside world, also thanks to the presence of Zoe Kravitz, feeling some resemblances to "Lucy". Of course, "Lucy" is on a total different level (concerning budget, philoshophy, action, nearly everything), but still. And yes, "Rear Window". That won't hurt Alfred the great. He liked dry humor, and "Kimi" has that, too. Somewhere, a bit hidden.

If I have to describe the movie in terms of music, I would call it an étude, a small, but nonetheless captivating piano piece.

I give this great little thriller 8 stars.

After watching the trailers for this movie, I hesitated to watch it. They were not announcing something I would enjoy, I thought. But I was wrong.

This is a highly enjoyable movie, and, though an U. S. production, it comes without the usage of any firearm or other weapon. Very strange for the genre.

Well, maybe because the weapons here are cameras and the imagery they may catch. That should drive the protagonists to their 15 minutes of fame, which they fantasize to be their jump into the society of the rich and famous. All through a session with Oprah. For that, they will go to serious lengths and risk their lives. The hilarious showdown at the end tells this very clearly.

Speaking of length, I enjoyed the overlength of the movie. When I read many negative reviews here, I asked myself if the attention span of the audience really shrunk that much recently. I found the balance of time spent for the chapters very well weighted.

I also liked the different tone and unusual story very enjoying. I would have found the movie boring if it had no artistic approach of its own to its - let's be honest - very generic plot. But it manages to surprise, or being unpredictable very often, and that is a big plus.

Of course, the movie is not without issues. One is, that the main character Otis, while played decently, feels always empty or hollow. There is not much known about his inner worlds, not much is to like on him, while we learn much more about another character, who is killed relatively early in the movie. Otis' sister is worked out a bit better than Otis, but she stays a (yet sympathetic) clichè, too.

For a movie, that paints itself rather renegade and indie, I found that odd and frustrating.

Thus I give this movie 7 stars which mean for me "good, enjoyable, above average", instead of the 8 stars I would give it if the characters were better elaborated.

When I read the Orson Scott Card Novel, about 35 years ago, I wasn't a big fan of it. The main protagonists are children, and their training and drill was not a convenient topic for me to read. It took me some efforts to walk through the book, which was a bit of a disappointment for me, since I liked the authors' previous works.

Nine years ago, when it came out, I watched this adaption, and this time I appreciated the training and maturing of Ender and his friends (who are much older than in the novel), the subtle hints about the enemies' true nature of communication, the way a closed society pushes their members, and so on. The implications here about questionable human behavior and structures are the many.

And I was absolutely stunned and chilled by the captivating power of the big battle and its aftermath. It is just a lesson in exceptional filmmaking. And great musical score. And wonderful CGI. There are not many movies before and after this one, which come close regarding those qualities.

Sometimes I rewatch this movie, and every time I like it even a bit more. The scenes between Ender and Mazer (Ben Kingsley enjoys being strangely tattooed), and between Ender and Coronel Graff (Harrison Ford finally shows his acting skills) are always entertaining. You may or may not like Asa Butterfield here (I think he is ab bit annoying), but he is really a great cast for that character, believable in every scene.

The movie, though at a high production level and featuring several big names, failed at the U. S. box office, at a time when people already should be more open about challenging the word from their superiors. Strictly hierarchical structures and rigid mindsets prevent us humans too often from finding the right way, and though we know that now very well, we do not really change.

I for myself call this movie a modern classic. It is thought-provoking at so many levels, it should be shown in schools and then being discussed.

This is an absolute beloved show of mine, and I love the mockumentary style, since the wonderful and political incorrect 'Death Valley', which had to disappear for no reason.

The humor is very dry. The actors and their characters are why I fell in love with the show. Kayvan Novaks' and Mark Prokschs' performances, now basically the same over the course of four seasons, they never get dull. Between them, my beloved Matt Berry and incredible Nastasia. Demetriou do their thing with ease, while poor but sympathetic Harvey Guillen has the unthankful job of being their mundane servant (with some special abilities though). Kirsten Schaal, who I loved and hated equally in 'The last man on earth' becomes a very nice regular in season 4.

Watching this show is like watching something from another age (hence my title), and I embrace every episode, great, good, or mediocre (yes there are some).

Also, the title music and the ending songs, along with other music themes in the show, are great. Matt Berry as the great musician he is, has often his hands in it (especially in season four).

The stories are often covering surreal facets of our daily life, and by transforming them into the vampiric lifestyle, they show how ridiculous these things are.

Note that in my opinion the show has not much to do with the original movie (except vampires living in a shared flat), which I found nice, but not great. The show is much more sophisticated.

The four seasons up to now (fall 2022) I would rate as following: S01 - Hilarious entrance 9/10 S02 - A lot of wonderful ideas 8/10 S03 - Always surprising 8/10 S04 - Slightly decreasing story quality 7/10.

Based on the many bad reviews here, I gave this movie a shot. I am glad I did.

Because it is good. It is not a masterpiece, but it has some charm.

The young actors and actresses are very talented and sympathetic. Kevin Bacon is also very good. He is kind of a center point here, representing the modern, slick conservative, who has an accommodated vocabulary and behavior, but is still rooted in a bigoted mindset.

The movie is an experiment - coming-of-age and gender drama, combined with "slasher". It is almost a bit Cannes-worthy in that approach, and maybe it failed spectacular with its ambition - but in the end it is a worthwhile watch, since it is very well-made, with good production values and decent direction.

Of/c there are some clichés, but not as obtrusive as they could be. One will have to accept cliches when it comes to the depiction of human behavior. But the story itself is one of its own, and I am glad that it is not your usual slasher scenario.

Did you know that aversion therapy with electroshocks is still practiced in the infamous Judge Rotenberg Center ? Not for gay conversion, I thoroughly hope, but still. The Wikipedia entry for this institution is quite a blow, though there was by far not as much harm done as with lobotomy. Which was, sadly, also a part of conversion therapy.

For me, this is a "straight" seven ;-)

I enjoyed the Cat Episode a bit, but not very much. For me, it looked similiar to the great rotoscopy animation series "Undone", but who does rotoscopy with cats ? The story itself had the intent to be moving, but it did not reach me, maybe b/c I genuinely could not do any harm to cats, but also do not like to have any kind of pet. Therefore, I am not in the target group for this tale.

However, the second episode is great. It is of/c very, very predictable, as if I would have watched a Sandman-version of "A Christmas Carol". Either way, acting and atmosphere/music (the latter very subtle) are on top here. Mellissanthi Mahut caught me unprepared for her sight of an almost angelic beauty. I really hope she will recur in other episodes to come, and in other shows, too.

The scenes with Calliope and Dream are simply wonderful, as they describe a former love and its downfall with a few words and gazes - I like the subtle more than big gestures.

...but a family/post-revolution drama, and that turns out after two episodes.

From this point, the tone gets darker and more serious, and that isn't necessary a bad thing.

The show seemed at first a bit lighthearted, but also very unrealistic, concerning the fight scenes. I nearly turned it down, but I wanted to know how it progressed.

I would like to have a second season, but Netflix decided against it, though I think there are many worse shows that got a second season. Queen Sono definitely deserved a closing season (If I had watched only the first episode, I wouldn't have stated that).

Queen Sono shows interesting insights in South African lifestyle, language and country, so it is never boring to watch. Sense8 did that at a much larger scale, but Queen Sono reminded me a bit of it, of/c without the supernatural aspects and much less fighting.

It is sometimes a bit confusing, especially in the parts where the timelines are mixed. But it is nice and sympathetic enough to overlook that. Lead Pearl Thusi and her teammates are good actors, production values and music are decent.

I recommend this for a nice relaxed binge watch.

We for sure need such series from different cultures and different angles of view to broaden our horizon beyond the simplification of news reporting and Wikipedia articles.