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Dexter: New Blood (2021)
Nostalgia trip is strong in people, Dexter: New Blood is a disgrace.
I see so many good reactions to this show, and I can't believe it really.
Where to start?
Maybe at the most important part - glaring plot holes that literally break the show.
Just one question - how is it possible that a blogger who has a Trinity killer story right at the top of the home page of her blog doesn't know how Dexter Morgan - husband and a father to a child victim of Trinity she describes in her blog - looks? If Trinity case was so popular, which of course it would be, how is it possible that a person with a hugely successful podcast about serial killers doesn't know how Dexter looks?
Maybe it's that she doesn't expect him to be alive and in some small town in the north of USA, so maybe we can let this fly, although I still think it's absolutely impossible. But even more astounding is the fact that she ends up on some kind of speaking event by Angel Batista, gets bored and decides to go for a massage instead of saying "OH MY GOD, it's Angel Batista, THE GUY WHO WORKED THE TRINITY CASE".
Maybe it's possible for her not to remember the looks of Dexter, but considering that Trinity killer is on the home page of her podcast, it's ABSOLUTELY impossible that she doesn't know who Angel is. He even says to Angela "it reminds me of Trinity case" later, well good for you Angel, it's a shame that you don't remind that blogger about Trinity case which she covered in her podcast by the way. I guess there had to be at least 10 people who were in charge of writing of this show and I cannot believe that none of them decided to say "hold up, guys, wait, this doesn't work at all". I'm sure they noticed it, because it's impossible not to if you have any semblance of brain, but why did they let this slide is beyond me, it's pure amateurism and it's a disgrace.
This was the point where I decided it's enough. But even before this, we have every possible thing done wrong, anyway: small town that is so full of stereotypes it hurts. 5 episodes in, and the local high school bullies still didn't wear any other piece of clothing other than their high school sports team's jacket, because that's like the costume of school bullies as if they're supervillains, and they can't wear anything else. There's exactly 1 gay couple. 1 Black police officer. 1 Hispanic teacher. 1 indigenous main character etc.
Small idyllic town but literally every kid in high school does at least 3 kinds of drugs and nothing else in their free time, seems legit. Small idyllic town that gets shocked by a school shooter, and what do these kids do? See a therapist, lock themselves in their room while they process it all, get afraid for their safety or something? Nah, they throw a wild party with a bunch of drugs. I swear to god I predicted that while Harrison is stumbling around on drugs he'll see someone and that someone will say to him "I'm gonna get laid, bro" and it happened. I also predicted that the kids won't help in search of Matt Caldwell and that they will end up smoking weed in the woods instead, I even said "we're gonna see a big close up of a marijuana joint with some rock music" - and again, spot on. Whenever you can transform into a literal prophet while watching the show - it's not a good sign, really not a good sign.
Relationships are so plastic, but they pale in comparison to relationship between Dexter and Harrison. Harrison just jumps in, and suddenly he and Dexter have classic father-teenage son problems "you went through my stuff?", or "you're gonna see a therapist". I mean, a couple of seconds before this Dexter talks about what his father did, and how he guided him, and how he will guide his son, and LITERALLY next thing we see is Dexter getting pissed of at Harrison and exclaiming "you're gonna see a therapist". So much for that guidance plans. I guess it would be better for everyone if Dexter's father did the same instead of giving him unique training to make him into what he is, because in that case there wouldn't be Dexter, there wouldn't be a show, and thank God there wouldn't be this nightmare of a sequel.
What else? There's a ton of stuff, literally any piece of dialogue HURTS how stupid it is. I can remember tons of examples at any time, I just remembered when Batista says this incredible piece of wisdom: "If you find a link between missing persons, you could figure out that the same person is behind all those missing persons" - my three year old was really impressed with this piece of police wisdom, I mean wow, I would never think of this, and obviously neither would Angela, as her reaction was "Hmmm that actually makes sense" - I died laughing here. I think Dexter is safe for years to come with this kind of police. And I also love the way the writers ride this wave of "I'm Angela's boyfriend so I'll hang out at the police station all the time and have exclusive access to literally any piece of evidence or information I need". We see Dexter strolling through the station getting valuable info that he shouldn't have access to in every.single.episode. Well, he doesn't work at the police anymore, but they had to figure out a way for him to still have all the info he needs, nice work writers, so original and believable.
Oh, I almost forgot that low budget CGI of a deer, or Debra which does absolutely nothing else in the show except scream the f word in Dexter's ears all the time. If 90% of Debra was cut out of the show, it would still be too much of Debra screaming f words into Dexter's face.
A few positive things I can say about the show is that Michael C. Hall is amazing as ever, and I thought the actor who plays Harrison was pretty good. Even the music is missing, there's virtually no soundtrack other than that song the guy who hunts those girls plays.
Whoever tells you New Blood is anything other than real piece of trash is delusional. Fan fiction would be better than this, fan fiction writers at least feel that pressure of making it look believable.
Interstellar (2014)
A speck away from a true masterpiece
A movie about space travel directed by Christopher Nolan is something I dreamed of for a long time. And, objectively, it's something that needed to be made. I even get the feeling that Nolan waited for the "right time" to do it, since this theme is such a soul mate of his film-making style. Also, it is important to mention Jonathan Nolan right at the start, because I also have a feeling that this man is often shadowed by his brother. This man is Christopher's right hand on most of the movies he made. The thing that proves that they share an eye for the detail and sense of thoroughness is the fact that Jonathan attended classes of Theory of Relativity at the University of California in order to prepare better for the script.
Let's start with the few bad things about this movie. In second and third act, because of some circumstances related to the story, character development is somewhat weaker, which results in couple of scenes which don't achieve the emotional level they should and feel somewhat pale and artificial. This is mostly the case with supporting characters, as the chemistry between McConaughey and Hathaway, due to their excellent acting and well scripted dialogue is truly natural and interesting to watch. Second kind of these "Hollywood moments" is somewhat understandable, but still, it can be a bit irritating. The scene where two astronauts are discussing the principles of wormhole travel is a bit illogical because that principle is probably the most interesting theory about space travel and is something you learn first when you get interested in space travel. So, those two astronauts would surely know that principal, but, one of them is unfamiliar with the subject and that makes little sense, but, it ended up in the movie because of the people who know little about astrophysics. And yes, those people aren't few, but you get the feeling of certain unbalance between those simple scenes and scenes where the science is mind bending. Third thing – casting of Matt Damon. I didn't like it, but I leave some space that this is my personal biased opinion. I just think that some less known actor would be a better choice. Besides these things, the only thing that can be mentioned is the sheer abundance of the story which can make some of the audience confused, but, considering the dynamics of the movie and the fact that it's one of Nolan's signatures, it is highly debatable that it is a bad thing.
On the other hand, the number of bright spots in this movie is close to the number of stars on a cloudless night sky, symbolically. First of all - the science, which is truly impressive in this movie. Nolan brothers worked with Kip Thorne, renowned astrophysicist who served as the executive producer as well. Some of the theories are a bit "stretched" to achieve better dramatization, but most of the things we see are consistent with many widely accepted theories which haven't been proved to be true yet mostly because we haven't had the chance to do so, considering they are theories about deep space.
*The abstractness of these theories makes for a beautiful seal of mystique which pulls your brain into deepness of space and into its mysteries, while, on the other hand, great and warm acting leaves a sense of closeness and reality which keeps you from getting lost in the void!*
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, therefore it is futile to try to describe the photography of this movie. It's hard to imagine that the Rings of Saturn, which we all have seen so many times, can be so breathtaking. It's a shame that we don't see more of them, even though they are just a side detail not related to the plot. FX are so good that somewhere at the beginning of the third hour of the movie you get completely used to them and they feel completely natural, which doesn't make them any less spectacular.
The acting of McConaughey is stellar. This man went from an average/good to absolutely complete actor in the last few years. We definitely haven't seen enough of Michael Cain in Nolan's movies, and Anne Hathaway is becoming a regular and regularly good also. Also, Jessica Chastain, Mackenzie Foy and Timothee Chalamet are exquisite in their roles.
The best for the last – the score of Hans Zimmer. The fact that this famous film composer did an absolutely perfect job of giving a sound to the movie's atmosphere is certainly unbelievable, but what is more stunning and jaw dropping is the fact that he did this in a completely new way. The way such odd music can be so natural is truly enchanting. It's completely different from a regular film score we hear in movies. Kudos for this go to Christopher Nolan, again. This time, his perfectionism and creativity have gone so far that he didn't say a thing about the movie plot to Zimmer, instead, he provided him with a piece of paper which contained "Zimmer's story", which was unrelated to the movie itself.
All in all, Interstellar stands proudly on its own next to everything Nolan has done so far, which is a truly astonishing achievement, even though we are almost getting used to the high standards this man sets. However, there is a slight, bleak feeling of sorrow because this movie didn't succeed in using a tiny bit of potential to be maybe even the best film ever made. It's so close to perfect that you feel sorry it didn't cross those couple of millimeters to reach perfection. But still, Interstellar will be remembered, watched and praised in years to come. The biggest magic and a bit frightening possibility of this movie is a small chance that one day this film could lose its "fiction" element and become only a scientific movie.
92/100
The Insider (1999)
One of the best movies of the last decade of 20th century
True story nominated for 7 Academy Awards regarding the famous tobacco industry scandal which was disclosed in one of the episodes of popular show "60 Minutes" is almost a documentary when you consider production as a whole, the amount of data collected and respect for the facts by the film crew behind this project. Michael Mann, known for classics such as "Heat" and "The Last of the Mohicans", has collected immense amount of testimonies, news reports and transcripts of "60 Minutes" regarding the case, and with some help from Eric Roth of Forest Gump and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button fame wrote a screenplay for "The Insider." With its length that stretches far beyond two hours and everything said so far, it is true that this is not a movie for every type of audience. But, to think even for a moment that this movie is slow and boring would be an enormous mistake. Somewhat controversial and omnipresent topic about the power of corporation, business and money over information and truth is masterfully crafted into an intense flick.
Al Pacino and Russel Crowe are absolutely sensational in their main roles. Pacino is completely at home playing a witty, persistent and passionate journalist Lowell Bergman, while Crowe, being 33 at the time, simply dominates in his Oscar nominated role of Jeffrey Wigand, an erratic chemist in his early 50's whose life is getting more and more out of hand during the whole movie. With great support from, we can say, an ensemble cast of supporting actors of whom even the ones who are least known to wider audiences are doing an excellent job, and with the two Academy Awards winners we mentioned above, the movie nails its main goal and represents the two main themes extremely well.
On the one hand, we have a great representation of often disregarded importance of investigative journalism in a world of capitalism. Numerous and serious obstacles faced even by an adept journalist of great reputation when dealing with a delicate story are masterfully presented as well. On the other hand, we have a thorough, realistic and detailed story of a scientist who has to abandon his ideals of improving the environment, and life of a man in general, in order to provide for his family. The magic of the whole thing is the fact that the movie does an outstanding job of showing the audience why, after a hard an unfair defeat while trying to get the truth out in the open, in the moments of despair, we don't have the right to stop, and we mustn't give up.
All of this is crowned with Michael Mann's directing. He has an incredible eye for detail and the ability to hold a viewer's attention even in those seemingly slow and boring parts of the movie by making a hypnotizing atmosphere just by accenting some sound effect, like rustling of leafs on a light wind, for example.
91/100
Serbuan maut 2: Berandal (2014)
Much like the first one, in the best possible way
As with the first movie, "Pencak silat", mixed Indonesian martial arts, Gareth Evans' favorite, is the basis for fighting scenes in Berandal as well. The main goal of this movie is realistic chest to chest combat, so there's plenty of blood and violence, of course, but the thing that stands out, in a bit bizarre way, is the creativity of that violence and ways that people get killed.
The first part was exceptional in its main idea of the whole movie taking place in a couple of hours inside of a building. Berandal is somewhat more conventional and takes place during much wider period of time, even though it starts only a couple of hours after the first movie.
A few flaws of the movie are usual flaws of action movies. Character development is a side thing and not very thorough, which is, again, expected. Same thing can be said about acting. Also, existing character development is achieved mainly through violence which results in a number of bloody scenes who have some significance, but sometimes are a bit unnecessary, which is something I, personally, didn't notice in the first movie. The use of cold weapons is, in a couple of moments, a bit nonsensical given the fact that a gun could be used instead, although the movie uses more than 60 different types of fire arms. Those are, just to be clear, some minor cons.
General impression is that The Raid 2: Berandal does an astonishing job in delivering just what we expected. Skepticism is a common thing when it comes to sequels, especially the sequels of successful movies, so the expectations were big for this one. Nonetheless, everything that made the first movie one of the most original and unique action movies and a movie which totally freshened up the whole genre is present in the sequel, along with a couple of very wise, logical and useful additional details. Fight scenes are truly spectacular and breathtaking, and the fact that some action sequences who last only a couple of minutes were filmed for days shows how dedicated to realism and authenticity the whole crew behind this picture was.
On the other hand, exhilarating dynamic of directing, perfect use of camera and extremely well timed and placed use of slow motion contribute to an insanely frantic tempo of the movie, tight atmosphere and top notch experience for the audience.
If you don't like action movies, you probably won't start doing so after this one, but all of you who enjoy this type of films will look upon Berandal as a true classic. Also, all cinema-lovers and people who appreciate good filmmaking will find plenty of details worth of admiration in this film.
88/100
A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)
Disappointing, but not bad
Seth McFarlane, the man behind "Family Guy", which is often regarded (and often disputed) as the only true competition for the legendary "The Simpsons" had hit the jackpot with "Ted" back in 2012. His unique and controversial sense of humor is sewn through with a healthy doze of satirical view on contemporary American society and modern pop culture in general. With all this taken into account, along with the fact that "A Million Ways to Die in the West" is set in late 19th century, the movie generated a lot of excitement and expectations upon its release.
Still, as it often happens, what we got is disappointing. It's not a bad comedy, but, it's not a good one either. There are some scenes, early in the movie, that can make you laugh your guts out, but as the movie unfolds it becomes repetitive and the story itself is not strong enough to distract you from the mediocre humor. McFarlane could be worse in his role and this way to said it says a lot. Theron, a respected and proved diva, is in this movie mostly because of her stunning looks, her role is far from being challenging, therefore her acting is OK, but nothing more. Neeson is a standard when it comes to bad guys and feels at home in his role while Sarah Silverman plays a part that's totally written for her style of comedy. Neil Patrick Harris is definitely Barney here, although his "challenge accepted" in this movie was actually a nice pun, if we can call it that way. Also, Jamie Foxx as Django and Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Emmet Brown were convenient cases of "breaking of the fourth wall", to put it that way, and a nice nod to two classic movies.
What's great about the not-too-strong narrative is the symbolism of wild west setting. McFarlane presents the dangers of this time nicely with his black humor, which is a subtle allusion to modern Hollywood and the fact that there's a million ways to die" professionally in a merciless wild west of today's movie industry.
In the end, all the bad things in this movie could be acceptable if the humor alone was at the high level throughout the film, which is something we know McFarlane can achieve. Things being as they are, there are far worse comedies, but my advice is to prepare for a disappointment, although, I can't say that there's no chance that this movie will leave a good impression on a viewer, especially if viewed as light fun with some friends and couple of beers.
65/100
Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
Exceptionally bad movie.
I never write reviews. It's time consuming, and everyone's opinion is different. But I had to write one for this movie. Of course I didn't expect much, but I expected a movie I wouldn't walk out on. I didn't do it just because I think you can't judge a movie if you haven't seen it from the start 'till the end, but that was my only motive to stay and see it through. I figured Morgan Freeman wouldn't accept a role if the movie was bad. I think they fooled him and everyone else pretty well. This movie could sound totally acceptable in short, but the final product looked like it was made in a rush by a team of people who have some other, much bigger projects that they will enjoy completing more... Special effects are AWFUL. The blood, the explosions - they HURT. I haven't seen a movie with such obvious CGI since 1998, probably. Plot - the idea is not bad, but the realization... My GOD. Dialogues are incredibly one-dimensional, the whole nation thinks the president is dead, and none other than our great Mike Bening figures that there's something off with the fact that the terrorist demand a chopper to escape,but then decide (when everything goes according to plan) to blow themselves up. Also, are you telling me that there's a person so dumb to believe that it's possible to just storm the White House WITH A BOMBER PLANE which would, by the way, have been spotted thousands of miles off the coast of USA, especially on a day of the big meeting of the two highest positioned politicians of two countries? Then there are these "patriotized" moments where, in real life, a person would beg for its life, call for their mom, ANYTHING except repeating an oath to a flag/your country/your people. Main characters are a group of people from a fairy tale, which would be acceptable if they played a roll of a medieval knight, for example, not the roles of politicians whose profession has, you have to agree, not much with honor.
I could go on forever, I always expect bad and good from the film, I am rarely shocked with a movie, be it great or awful, but this one left me in a state of disbelief... Incredibly retarded piece of cinematography.