This is a very weird movie, but not by its content. Hard to tell whether it was worth watching.
Visually it's nice, extremely clean and ordered. But 90% of what happens has absolutely no interest. Family picnic. Wife showing the garden to her mother. Some random conversations. Dictation of work letters. Administrative work. It is very boring, soporific even.
The only interest comes from knowing who those people are and the whole context, and the contrast with the banality of their lives, with the clinical simplicity of administrative decisions.
The whole camp is hidden behind a wall. There is just a background noise, far away, muffled, some cries, some gunshots. And the chimneys smoke.
Among what is banal but extremely shocking by the context:
- The mother complaining she could not get her neighbour's curtains.
- The commander getting a new post, but her wife complaining about losing her garden
- The sales pitch of the new generation crematorium
- Being so happy that the plan is named after him that he calls his wife in the middle of the night
- Ashes used as fertilizer in the garden
The only small moments that acknowledge the violence are:
- the wife, upset, threatening the maid that she could have her incinerated just like that
- the commander having a young girl sent to his office
- in the commanders meeting, the word "extermination" is said once, but all the rest is just logistics and quotas
At the end, a cutscene shows people cleaning the camp, and it takes a while to realize they are cleaning the current day Auschwitz museum, I guess showing the continuity of mundane tasks in all circumstances.
So in the end, this is definitely a work of art that succeeds in what it's trying to achieve. However the boringness is what makes it special, and you can't avoid the fact that it is mostly boring. Not to watch when sleepy or tired.
Barbenheimer: Part 1 of 2
This is the kind of film I really don’t want to criticize, because we don’t get nearly enough other stuff like it. However, mr. Nolan has been in need of an intervention for a while now, and unfortunately all of the issues that have been plaguing his films since The Dark Knight Rises show up to some degree here. Visually it might just be his best film, and there’s some tremendous acting in here, particularly by Murphy and RDJ. However, it makes the common biopic mistake of treating its subject matter like a Wikipedia entry, thereby not focussing enough on character and perspective. As a whole, the film feels more like a long extended montage, I don’t think there are many scenes that go on for longer than 60 seconds. There’s a strong ‘and then this happened, and then this happened’ feel to it, which definitely keeps up the pace, but it refuses to stop and let an emotion or idea simmer for a while. There are moments where you get a look into Oppenheimer’s mind, but because the film wants to cover too much ground, it’s (like everything else) reduced to quick snippets. It’s the kind of approach that’d work for a 6 hour long miniseries where you can spend more time with the characters, not for a 3 hour film. I can already tell that I won’t retain much from this, in fact a lot of it is starting to blur together in my mind. There are also issues with some of the dialogue and exposition, such as moments where characters who are experts in their field talk in a way that feels dumbed down for the audience, or just straight up inauthentic. Einstein is given a couple of cheesy lines, college professors and students interact in a way that would never happen, Oppenheimer gives a lecture in what’s (according to the movie) supposed to be Dutch when it’s really German; you have to be way more careful with that when you’re making a serious drama. Finally, there are once again major issues with the sound mixing. I actually really loved the score, but occasionally it’s blaring at such a volume where it drowns out important dialogue in the mix. I’m lucky enough to have subtitles, but Nolan desperately needs to get his ears checked, or maybe he should’ve asked some advice from Benny Safdie since he’s pretty great with experimental sound mixing. My overall feelings are almost identical to the ones I had regarding Tenet; Nolan needs to rethink his approach to writing, editing and mixing. This film as a whole doesn’t work, but there are still more than a few admirable qualities to it.
Edit: I rewatched this at home to see whether my feeling would change. I still stand by what I wrote in July, though the sound mix seems to have been improved for the home media release. It sounds more balanced and I didn’t miss one line of dialogue this time around. I’m slightly raising my score because of that, but besides that I still think it’s unfocused, overedited, awkwardly staged and scripted etc.
5.5/10
I'm autistic. Attack on Titan has been my hyperfixation more often than any other piece of media in my life. I started watching a little late, entering in when the first part of the final season was out. But Attack on Titan is one of the most masterful, well-plotted, intricate pieces of fiction that I've ever seen. Analyzing it's mysteries and story, it's characters and world, it's message and symbolism. Nothing even comes close to Attack on Titan for me in that regard.
I unfortunately have been spoiled on many parts of the ending, because manga readers are the most insufferable people ever. But even still, it is an excellent conclusion, and I think it's so interesting how it decides to leave it's ending open to interpretation. It reflects how the entire series has been a series of questions and mysteries, so leaving with some questions left unanswered allows for discussion to be continued long after Eren's story is over.
I will forever love Attack on Titan, and the absolute joy it gave me for years, and it will be sad to see this legendary series go. But all good things must come to an end, and I think this ending is satisfying enough for something so special.
As a preface, I HATE zombie shows. They[re so formulaic, a waste of time with predictable B horror (a top 3 never genre for me unless it's an obvious spoof). It's fair to say that there's more similarities to this than not despite the amazeballs CGI Armageddon opening that wasted no time in S1E1 (MAJOR points already--never waste my time); however the treatment of the spectrum of the human situation is AMAZING and stands on its own. I learned later it's based off of a video game so even more kudos to the collective talent of the makers of this turning what could have been a mass market FPS adaptation and adding what I know couldn't have been in the gameplay at such an artistic level. I think it was E3-4 with Nick Offerman--that's an Emmy-winner on its own if there's any justice in the world.
Pablo Pascal is hitting nearing GOAT levels in the last few years between GOT (accompanied by Ellie's character as fellow alumna) Mandalorian, and others,, now this. (I'm both a native Texan and have lived in Guadalajara for years, so admitted bias there ;) )
I'm a research biophysicist with a medical school (though I do not practice-just loved real science more, yes you can call me an idjit but it was right for me so I can't help but love the mythological and epidemiological basis and tidbits peppered through the show so far. But in that same context is also the rich nuances of the psychology and understanding of the co-evolution with far more ancient microbial life, and to likewise survive to likewise instinctively fulfill out genetic mandate whatever the cost as well. The "slow" episodes, shouldn't be criticized; timing and pacing is important in writing but if you take the time to let go, that[s the beauty in the simplest things that reminds us we're humans with a special gift of free will with all of our emotions that separate us from the enormity of the frightening mycelia in this apocalyptic wonder we've been treated to weekly,
Brace yourselves, dear viewers, for this episode will undoubtedly spark heated debates among fans. Some will love it, while others will loathe it—much like the game itself.
The Last of Us ends with a masterful coup de grâce, cementing this adaptation's place in the pantheon of prestige television.
It is sombre and dark yet replete with emotions that run deep. Joel, at long last, becomes a man of action. Whether his actions are morally defensible, however, is a subject of endless debate.
Staying true to the game, this episode does not falter in its execution, boasting a master-stroke opening that sets the stage for a gripping narrative to unfold. The strategic use of a flashback adds layers of complexity to already richly-wrought characters, serving as a catalyst for some of the most poignant dialogue between Joel and Ellie to date—dialogue sure to leave the audience teary-eyed.
The action is far from glorified, leaving viewers in a state of visceral shock and awe. The last couple of episodes have served to do some fantastic work for Joel, and this episode is the proverbial cherry on top, truly a beautiful and profound culmination of his character arc. Indeed, the show is a thing of beauty, but beauty that is shrouded in darkness.
Were a flaw to be ascribed, it would be that of brevity. At a mere 40 minutes, the finale feels curtailed. The absence of the Cordyceps is understandable, given the laser-focused narrative, though it marks a deviation from the source material.
By turns harrowing and humane, towering and intimate, this finale buries its hooks deeply in the viewer, capping off a brilliant maiden season. Love it or loathe it, impassioned discourse will assuredly abound in the wake of this uncompromising conclusion to the first chapter of The Last of Us.
01x09 - Look for the Light: 8.5/10 (Great)
The acting, directing, and production design of this show continue to be amazing. Unfortunately, at times, including for this entire episode, the writing falls back on tired zombie apocalypse tropes to drive its story forward. Flashbacks are all well and good; they help flesh out characters and can provide nice diversions from the main storyline. But Joel's predicament in Episode 6's cliffhanger needs no diversions, and there are no surprises offered in Episode 7. (Well, maybe except for Ellie's apparent queerness, which is a definite plus, though it doesn't do much to inform, flesh out, or provide insight into anything else that we've seen so far.) From the time that the show's trailer premiered we knew that the scenes in The Mall would be coming. And anyone who has ever watched more than one episode of The Walking Dead fully expected that the person Ellie shared those happy scenes with would be a close friend, and that they would die in a heartbreaking manner. What I didn't expect - especially after the triumph of storytelling that was Episode 3 - was that the writers would spend 50+ minutes telling this tale, and/or that there would be no surprise twist. It could have been done in 10. Fleshing out Ellie's pre-Joel story could have been spread out across multiple episodes. Instead, this week's installment felt like wasted time. Even worse than time, it wasted magnificent performances from Bella Ramsey and Storm Reid on an hour of TV that I kept wanting to fast forward through.
2022-12-31T23:00:00Z2023-12-31T22:59:59Z