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Ölümlü Dünya 2 (2023)
Not exactly a good sequel
This movie is the third collabaration of Ali Atay as the director, Feyyaz Yigit and Aziz Kedi as main writers with Atay contributing.
So the formula is quite simple. Aimless conversations, discussions and quarrel in absurd situations throughout the series of events in the movie. This approach was quite refreshing the first time in the first movie and it was backed up by energetic performance of the whole cast. I think that was the main reason for the success of the first film.
Other works by Yigit and Kedi preferred a more laid back tempo with slow-burning comedy. Cinayet Süsü was not exactly bad and Gibi has its own fandom. I did not exactly watch Gibi but i see scenes from it everywhere and i think its success comes from the freedom to introduce a variety of new absurd situations which is supported by the concept of the show. Being unable to introduce new elements to an already established setting (from a prequel) and failing to expand or grow upon this setting were the main reasons why Ölümlü Dünya 2 did not exactly work. The jokes intended as running gags felt rather like repetition and the action was trimmed down to 1 good (bodyguard chasing Serbes and ilhami chasing the bodyguard) and 1 great (airport) sequence. Altinok's addition to the crew was exciting but did not deliver well (that man is much funnier in my opinion).
So... I was a little disappointed that the crew did not give much thought to the sequel, maybe it is because of the ongoing projects, i dunno.
Cici (2022)
Making most of an uneven film
From TV series to almost festival films Berkun Oya follows an interesting path in Turkis TV/Cinema. From 3 works i've seen it is safe to say that he would fancy uncetralised collection of stories. Masum was had a main story line unraveled with nunerous character arcs. Bir Baskadir was the epitome if it. Making that in a film is however very difficult an i think ge didn't do it well enough. Ayça Bingöl's character's arc was rushed, Fatih Artman's character had too much emotional burden despite missing character development. It is obvious that it is quite hard to maintain balance and construct satisfying narration for bulk of characters but sometimes it is better to change the construct rather than dictating it.
The film has upsides too and it is even partially thanks to fulfilling character development. My favourite is Yilmaz Erdogan's character. It is so well written, that also lead to a strong performence from him, althoght Erdogan's a better writer than actor. Score and music is also great and works beautifully. Cinematography is also very good. It can be nitpicking but i expected a more pulsating approach in dad's punishment scene and at plot twist/expectation subversion moment.
I think Berkun Oya can do much better and there is room to improve. I think he has potential to overcome this challenge.
Bir Baskadir (2020)
So Smooth and So Moving and So Great that i am mad Berkun Oya did not shoot and release this earlier
Ethos (Bir Baskadir) is with a clear margin the best Turkish original Netflix work. Its characters, its commentary, its tone, its relation to real world, ita beautiful cinematography and its beautifully integrated footage from various live musiv performance in credits.
It is Berkun's second web series and i think he aced it with this ambitious work. It was not a comedy, it did not have a obvious central character and it has more political undertones than all the works combined for the last 5 or 10 years. The show took on all these challanges and excelled while working on them (maybe stumbled a little political-wise because some themes were a little outdated).
What we have is a complete, great, moving, invading, tremendous, and influencing work. I want more with new well established characters.
Yedinci Kogustaki Mucize (2019)
Depending too much on performances
Watched the movie on Netflix, so i belive i would be more carried away by the emotions flowing throughout the film with a possibly sniffling audience. Film does bot shy away from making you feel things and kudos to actors for a smooth performance.
It was interesting to see similar militaristic themes considering film's script is adapted from a Korean one.
A child and a mentally challanged chracter played a central role in the movie so it was hard to deliver a gritty or complex depiction of other characters, which was a problem in my opinion because i wouldn't really believe settings like prison is where you get some naive morals.
This tone also peaked with the ending, so i was sorta detached. So im my opiniom the movie wanted to be the cry fest and inbelieve it was successful with the exceptional performances. However, streching one emotion is not adequate to lift a film to a high level.
Cinayet Süsü (2019)
Too Uneven
Ölümlü Dünya was an ambitious work and worked very well despite some wrong turns because mainly it has so much energy in it. It is probably due to actors' performances and action part.
Now considering this movie, it is still an unusual piece for Turkish cinema but i don't think it works well as Ali Atay's previous film. We can definitely feel his ambition regarding cinematography, score, sense of realism. However, all those parts should be supplementary to the script and characters so the film would be great which cannot be said for this movie. Comparing with Ölümlü Dünya again, there are less striking characters in this movie and some pacing problems really dragged me off from the film's ambience. Script had a simple but effective premise, serial killer in Turkey. It is sometimes a conversation matter because the issue is so alien to Turkey and it would be am interesting thing to think on just like Turks in space, however the serious aspects of this script and highly verbal humour of the writing crew had trouble balancing each other at the first half of the film and realism gave its seat to comedy completely at the second half. The on the nose resolutiom of the film tried to help balance again and summatize the whole mess but its execution was a little bit flat.
I want to be supportive and dwell on the good notes but the director and his new writing buddies need to do more to get a better developed script. Dialogues are superb, charachters work most of the time but events need some work.
BoJack Horseman (2014)
A Question
First of all Bojack is one of my favourite shows in Netflix. Loved the balance between drama and comedy. Its comedy is fancy and similar to south park like its social commentary. I also enjoy character moments and almost everything Todd says. Its drama and character arcd have been quite satisfying for many characters like princess carolyn, mr peanutbutter and even todd had some. I know Bojack is the lead and most of the series has been about him and his relationships. I beleive his arcs' repetition started to wear out. I mean every penultimate episode we continue to see bojack's lowest and it doesn't still get better. Is it the direction we were being directed? Are we watching Bojack's demise in a sugarcoated way? These are the questions i have been asking since i finished watching season 5. This is not a very serious criticism and i will not stop watching but since the beginning we witnessed the lives of actors and their sidekicks in a glamorous yet cruel background. We also see similar stories in entertainment news etc. And i beleive we have been quite fed up to stories of actors or actressed failed to keep it together. This show gave me the impression that they will explore rhis situation and maybe find a way to turn around this pessimistic, downward way. But now, i am not sure this is the thing they want to tell or maybe the impact of many dramatic moments in the show were more satisfying to the viewers but i think doing this over and over again will be just exploitation and wear out the impact on the viewer.
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
A person is required to fix third acts of all misfires
I have developed an impression that most of the promising but a bit disappoiting films have some problems at the climax of the film. It may be the pacing, unfulfilling conflict resolutions, near absurd use of deus ex machina etc.
My problem with the film was mainly this. Third act was a bit off. There is a Motorball showdown which is great, killing Vector was an interesting scene, Grewishka's death was too swift and they had to kill Hugo twice which was a bit much. Besides, all of these moments were done to set Alita's journey to Zalem which is set for a probable sequel. In the end, we have a climax with two parts one of which is a motorball race and the other one is all the killings. Although script made its best to intertwine them both, one cannot deny that it was stucked together too tight. This situation caused me to break from the films flow and made me anticipate any other upcoming canflict resolution (are we going to see deaths of other hunter-warriors who didn't help Alita)
Film's setup was fine, a lot of elements were introduced very well, most of them were introduced visually first and explained later in an expositional manner mostly by Doctor character, which is important in fantasy or sci-fi genre. It has its good action moments with a little campy attire which I think can be attributed to director's B-film influenced style.
Actor performances were mostly good. Jennifer Connelly's work was mostly holding an elegant posture while looking at characters or talking. Ali excelled at playing both himself and Edward Norton.
Action was alright. I personally seek more these days because I watch a lot of blockbusters and most of them have action scenes so I am beginning to get used to all those cgi dependent wit a gazillion times cut scenes. So usually I enjoy more practical and well-choreographed ones.
In conclusion, this film had the potential to be entertaining as Pacific Rim or an average Marvel movie but its problems in the third act hindered that a little bit.
Organize Isler: Sazan Sarmali (2019)
Entertaining but not top level. I beleive I can ask the director to do better.
Yilmaz Erdogan gave us a top level work(Vizontele) and many great works(Organize Isler, Kelebegin Ruyasi, Eksi Elmalar) too. With that in mind, this film is a bit subpar comparing to them and it is certain that sequel work is not Yilmaz Erdogan's strongest suit.(Vizontele Tuuba was also entertaining and I would still watch to pass time)
Casting: Many characters didn't reprise their roles which caused a huge void. Most of them were established actors and I was a little disappointed that most of the weren't mentioned enough (except for Erdal Tosun, ruhu sad ola, who had a close relationship with Yilmaz Erdogan as I learned from his stand up show). Most of them were filled with BKM Mutfak crew and some associates in other sketch shows(Okan Cabalar, Mahir Ipek etc.). Kivanc was outstanding in his second collaboration with Yilmaz. I loved Ata Demirer's cameo. Ahmet Mumtaz and Guven Kirac were also good additions. With all those good things aside, there was a huge problem with Bensu Soral. Her acting still needs a lot of work and when added with her moral-oriented character; it was like a disturbance to the tone and rythm of the other aspects of the film. I would have liked to see Berfin to continue because of their dynamics with his father.
Characters: I mentioned most of my opinions in the casting section. Let's see what I can add.
Kivanc's villain was almost good as Cem Yilmaz's Muslum
Okan Cabalar's Ziya was my favourite addition to the con crew
Riza and Ezgi's rise among ranks were well received by my humble self.
Did I mention I loved Ata's cameo? (Belki de coban itfaiye ruhlu bir adamdi)
Glad that Ersin's character finally got a name.
BKM Mutfak crew's two cadets were on the spotlight and they didn't disappoint. Safa's character was very entertaining. Atakan was OK but didn't harm.
Script: I don't want to blame it all on Bensu but some of the problems were linked to her performance. But first the Pros:
It was nice to enjoy Yilmaz Erdogan's signature witty dialogues. I beleive it is not outdated even with the vast ocean of all kinds of humor on the net.
Now some mixed thoughts:
Film's structure was different comparing to its predecessor which can be briefly explained as a series of cons and hilarious conversations leading to a brutal beating perpetrated by the antagonist. In the sequels, con plays were limited to the beginning of the film. A tense father-daughter relationship was introduced and there were more action-packed scenes. So referring to my first sentence, father-daughter relationship didn't work due to the actresses' performance and action scenes were mediocre at best. So the only shining aspect remaining was hilarious interactions between characters. Referring again to the father daughter relationship because it also contained films morals and onerme, couldn't land well as the first film.
Music: Nil Karaibrahimgil is always welcome.
P.S. This film also contains a beating(partial) by antagonist
P.S.S. Good Luck to the new BKM Mutfak crew.
Müslüm (2018)
Surprisingly good biopic, maybe one of the best
Story: It is the story of Müslüm Baba, what can i say?
Cinematography: Beautiful
Pacing: A bit problematic especially the scenes about Müslüm's broher near the end.
Acting: Timuçin, very well acted Müslüm with hand gestures and the way Baba speaks.
Zerrin, I don't really know much about Muhterem but i liked her aura in projecting a lady from Yesilçam era with her extremely polite demeanor and refined phonetic which was common in that era among actresses.
Kendirci, not bad at all but didn't get a chance to fully shine in his türkü performances in my opinion, he was better at Oses türkiye çocuklar.
I admired Müslüm Baba was depicted with his wisdom and his flaws and his burdens and his larger than life presence and his tragedy and how well he expressed himself with his voice and later his music.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
A bit uneven but a very good animation
This review might include spoilers which i beleive would spoil the fun you will have by watching it.
I love cartoons and animations. It was a risky move in my opinion to widely broadcast an animated feature which is not the strong suit of Marvel side. Furthermore, the main character is the new Spider-man, Miles Morales. An average movie-goer would have no idea who he is and why Peter Parker is not Spider-man and why am I watching an alternative timeline referencing to the Spider-man movies that i watched. It all seemed irrelevant because the movie was very entertaining. Besides, I think Marvel cheated in a way by doing this, feeding from the vast legacy of the comics instead of biulding a movieverse like their other counterparts do.
Scenes out of comics, awesome; some meta interactions with the narrative aspect of the film, also awesome; Humor, götümü yararcasina funny; Story, it has ups and downs both in quality and pacing. I would have liked to see more basic heroic stuff done by Morales and his time in his new school. It was nice to see some parts in the movies originated from the comics straight out like his first costume(Halloween) and death of the original spider man by the hand of almost green goblin(asist ona yazilabilir). Glad to see spider-ham and felt he was a bit underused(but he has his moments). Some moments felt a bit forced(call back before old Peter parker goes back to his dimension or Old Peter parker and spider gwen's appreciation of Miles' agility at the climax of the film)
Overall, the movie might be better in some aspects than any other Spider-man film roaming around the world but personally, I enjoyed Homecoming more. (and maybe Spider-man 2)
Ölümlü Dünya (2018)
Ambitious, Sufficient and Promising
Second movie by Ali Atay, our Mecnun, with a team of writers whose strongest suit is showing us aimless discussions about almost everything. We loves Leyla ile Mecnun for that. So Ali Atay, Feyyaz Yigit and Aziz Kedi brought us more with a more refreshing context with less melodrama which allows us to merely laugh than thinking about themes.
I cannot say it is a well though-out satire about a social issue with a witty commentary on any aspect of our lives. However, i beleive this movie works fine as an unusual comedy in Turkey. Loved the dialogue(bana paspasla adam oldurttunuz), loved some set pieces (especially the long take in Zafer's apartment). I found kiz isteme scene a little bit boring and off putting.
In conclusion, Ali Atay proved his versatility in direction can give us more enjoyable movies with this screenwriting group and with some years of experience, even give us some important pieces of art which will have important positions in Turkish cinema.
Kimi no na wa. (2016)
A movie for the heart
There is a oftenly uttered (I cannot name it as a cliché) sad notion: If you lose someone when you are little or if a very long time passed since that moment, you cannot remember who that person was. That is how i fell about my grandmothers. I can't remember how they sounded like, what did they like, why they were angry. I can only remember vague things like how would one prepare a meal or how would other frown over my misbehaviour. These thoughts makes me feel sad and a little bit lost.
I followed this train of thought when i watched this movie. Japanese movies and animes usually follow these kinds of uncanny but strong sentiments and when done right(not too streched thin like in long-running animes), it is bullseye. Those men now how to manipulate my feelings. I have felt seperation and forgetting something i longed for.
It had some dorky and pervy humor of animes, some metphysical aspects to complete the recipe and at the end we had an emotionally moving piece to enjoy.
Heat (1995)
Best Heist Movie in my opinion
This review includes some soft spoilers about the relationships between the characters and some detailed explanation of the synopsis. It is more focused on my sentimental impressions and I do not think it spoils any fun you will possibly have by watching this film.
It's been 4 years since I watched it so i may not remember the vivid details but i clearly remember De Niro's stoic appearence; Sizemore,why can't we see him anymore?; Val Kilmer's 15 minute period of handsomeness in some time 90s and that neo-Nazi Waingro.
It was one of the movies that showed a well-thought action which was fairly new in Hollywood. Actually, action widely meant trade of blows between the protagonist and any henchmen until script demands to continue in that era until there were some attempts to be more detailed like Top Gun with the flight sequences and unfortunately i cannot think of any other example right now. The heist scenes were detailed, organized, and easy to follow to entertain and enjoy them. I like to watch complex and planned things portrayed realistically and any film that manages to do that will be loved and maybe be fanboyed by me.
Wasn't exactly a fan of Al Pacino's overacting but loved the dynamic between him and De Niro. That was the only thing i may criticise but not enough to drop a point.
As i told before loved De Niro's stoic appearance and loved his relationship with the woman. It was beautiful and moving in a film with cold-hearted nature.
Many told it was one of the influences of Dark Knight in its portrayal of heists and in its no-nonsense, never even grinning manner(except Joker). It is a great film to be taken example.
In conclusion, do not be afraid of its running time and watch some skills of this wonderful cast and Michael Mann.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
Awful
When i read the book and watched film it was like some passages shown on the film, no attach or no story telling i don't think anyone would understand who didn't read the book. However, Harry Potter franchise is a big one so i think there wouldn't be any man who didn't read the book before watching it. When I look the mechanics of the film, i would say it is just okay because there is no special addition, i think there could be more creative camera angles etc. I give one zero but i can't so give 1. I also sense a lame attempt of humor. I must write absurd thing to fill this goddamn 10 line rule to send my review. So i am going to write irrelevant things. Book, shoe, pencil, cotton, sock, caterpillar, rosemary, flying butter