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Dark (2017)
Pure Pefection
No matter what I write about this show, I cannot seem to find the right words to describe how much I adore it and how much it changed me, so I will give it a try by dividing it in different parts.
1) The Story: First of all, this show manages to incorporate many different genres, which fit together like the pieces of an intriguing puzzle. Part mistery, part psychological thriller, the show follows the drama of four German families in a small town and manages to add a secret ingredient to this suspenseful mix: time travel and elements of sci-fi which make the story climb on a whole greater level. You might think you need to keep track of all that is happening, but because everything is so captivating and no detail is there without a reason, the impact it has on the audience is completely unforgettable. It's a story about everything: good vs. evil, destiny vs. free will, without trying to make us, the audience, feel like we've been forced into a set of beliefs. It deals with philosophy and life's biggest wonders like how everything in this universe is connected. All of the story components are placed together so flawlessly, we cannot see a central message because we become the makers of that message.
2) The Characters: there is no single person who fits the definition of good or bad, they all fall between the lines and we are transported there in the gray area with them. We cannot constantly root for either of them, although we might be tempted (Jonas vs. Noah for example). The show makes us change who we support time and time again. That's because we see the background process of decision making, like a butterfly effect or the pieces of a domino. We understand their motivations, their weaknesses and strengths because we see their transformations from the moment they touched someone else's life in a meaningful way or their own lives have been touched.
3) The Cast: I have never seen such a great casting process like in Dark. Since the story follows at least three different timelines, we get to see the similarities between actors chosen to play the same character, younger or older. Ulrich is a great example for that. Not only the actors look similar but they incorporate the same gestures, attitudes and way of speaking. It makes the story even more believable.
4) The Visuals: I suggest looking for the behind the scenes videos of how Dark was created. The special effects team does such a phenomenal job, managing to add elements of sci-fi in the middle of a very realistic small town, which don't seem out of place for one second. This is the power of this show: the attention given to the details of the story makes us not feel uncomfortable when a portal to another timeline opens in an office building, for example.
5) The Atmosphere: ultimately this is what makes this show reach it's perfection status for me, the atmosphere is elegant and eerie, tormenting but comforting, like when you have been down for a while, but you are used to the darkness so you refuse to try and feel better, like there is comfort in pain.
The rainy nights, the cloudy days, the mysterious forest, the nuclear power plant which watches ominously over the small town of Winden, they all manage to pull us right there with the characters, making us believe we are a part of their journey, played by the cruel forces of destiny, bowing down to the damaging power and permanence of Time. Where it all happens over and over again. Or when it happens. The line between where and when is incredibly thin.
The German language (please watch it with the original sound) is both harsh but poetic, mysterious but sincere, brutal but beautiful. It's duality fits perfectly with the main theme of the show.
The Music is out of this world, the melancholic melodies and fast pacing rhythms have the capacity to immerse us in the story even more than the already described powerful visuals. The soundtrack is sublime, knowing exactly when to make us feel nostalgic, or scared, or on the edge of tears, either from sorrow, or from bitter sweet joy.
The only problem which I have regarding this show is that not more people watch it. The fact that it's in German shouldn't be a problem although I have to admit that understanding the language represents a plus, but please do not let it stands in your way of seeing this sublime masterpiece. And do not watch it dubbed, it ruins it. All in all, I tried to emphasize what makes this show such a precious jewel of cinematography, but the truth is it's so much more than that, it changed my perspective on why people might act they way they do. This story serves it's most important purpose, making you ask all the right questions, but also pushing you to realize that the answers are not the final destination. Sometimes there are no answers and the questions are the most meaningful purpose. Please do yourself a favour and don't deny yourself this extraordinary experience. This show will remain forever in your thoughts.
Looking for Alaska (2019)
I really wanted to like this show...
I was really excited when seeing the trailer of this show, because I loved the book and I kept waiting for it to be turned into a movie for years. But I felt really really disappointed.
I will start by saying what I liked about the show. I loved the melancholic atmosphere, I really enjoyed the soundtrack (50 Cent, Gorillaz and Jet for example) and I think the show makers did a great job selecting some actors, especially Denny Love as the Colonel and Jay Lee as Takumi. I also really liked Dr. Hyde, the Colonel's mother and the Eagle. The setting was beautiful, I really liked the landscapes and overall the visual side.
But...
1) I was a teenager in 2005, there is no way the setting, the clothes, the technology are even remotely close to the reality. Every teenager I knew had a cellphone (with colored display) and CDs were no longer a thing, many people were already using mp3players. And I'm from Romania, not really the richest country. Also in my opinion 2005 fashion was not well represented, I remember clearly the highlights of 2005 being boho-chic style, skinny jeans, cargo pants and those funny colorful silicone cause bracelets. The clothes and technology of the show looked like they were from the 90's.
2) Lara Buterskaya is not a Romanian name, it's a Slavic one. And so was the name of the character's dog, sounded Russian. Not many people know this, but we are not Slavs, we are Latins and Romanian is a Romance language (Like French, Italian, Spanish and Portugese). I know that Lara's character was also poorly researched in the book. But it's sad that Hollywood talks so much about "representation", meanwhile the show makers couldn't take 10 seconds of their time to research Romania. I obviously didn't mind that the actress who played Lara was Russian but I think it would've been better if she tried a Romanian accent.
3) Which leads me to the next problem: Hollywood hypocrisy. Didn't care about researching Romania but shoved the whole 3rd wave feminism concepts, "white privilege" and "the patriarchy" down our throats. "Wokeness" was not a thing in 2005. Also, it was completely unnecessary for the story. Why change Alaska so much? It didn't add anything valuable to the show.
4) In the book, Alaska was flawed but charismatic. In this show she is just a pretty face but she is so annoying, it's unbearable. I read that the show makers were trying not make her a "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" but in my opinion, they failed miserably. There was nothing to love about her, she just had an unhealthy obsession with sexism and misogyny. I just didn't like Alaska at all. If she was not such a pretty girl, nobody would have liked her, especially not her guy friends. There was nothing to like about her. Like another reviewer said, in "13 Reasons Why" Hannah Baker was a well-written character in the show. She made viewers feel sympathy for her because she was likeable. Alaska on the other hand... well no point repeating myself.
5) The dialogue between characters were completely unrealistic. No sane teenager talks like that. They tried to make them edgy, philosophical and "cool" but the end result was taking the viewers away from the immersion into the story. It was so clear we were watching written dialogues, it felt so unnatural.
6) They changed so much of the story. The main point of the book (in my view) was to ask questions about the meaning of life and existentialism but in this show, apart from the horrible dialogues we just got a lot of lame pranks.
I think the show could have been great with more research, less virtue signaling and just more soul put into it. Too bad it wasn't the case.
It Chapter Two (2019)
Absolute garbage!!
I cannot believe all the positive reviews here, they must have seen a completely different movie! This was the only movie we ever walked out of, with no regrets.
We really tried. "IT" is one of my favourite novels ever. We watched the 1st part and it was enjoyable, I didn't think it did the book justice, but still, it was an interesting coming of age while defeating demons kind of story.
But this..this abomination, this dumpster fire, this garbage excuse of a movie should have never existed.
The actors, although well selected, couldn't save it.
First, there was no story, no character development, no lessons to be learned. Zero. And if a movie doesn't have a story it's just a bunch of cheap scenes plastered together with no purpose or connection.
Second, the "movie" had a huge problem with the tone. Was it supposed to actually be a parody, is that the reason everyone next to me in the movie theater was laughing? I also laughed at how bad it was. Cheap, overrecycled jokes, repeated till they were annoying the crap out of everyone, horrendous CGI monsters, by the look of it designed by 3rd graders, ridiculous and extremely overused jumpscares, which were not creepy, not scary, just poorly executed. I believe the purpose of the "scares" was actually torture for the viewer. Maybe it's a new trend in Hollywood, "horror" is actually the feeling of waiting till the damn movie is over so you can do literally anything else with your life afterwards.
Lastly, this piece of crap has absolutely nothing to do with the book. Dear book lovers, please be warned, stay away from this disaster or you will feel insulted. In fact dear everyone, do yourself a favour and pick anything else, you too will feel insulted even if you've never read the novel. This movie will suck the life out of you and all you will want, is to find the closest exit door, run and erase the stupid existance of this movie out of your mind and soul.