Oh jeez, the series was great but they really should have toned it down a bit with the cringy fairytale ending.
By the end eeeverybody has to take their turn and declare their unconditional adoration for the Mary-Sue of the series:
- Townes (despite years of no contact and overall lack of relevancy at this point in the story?)
- the grizzled russian chess veteran (despite playing her only once?)
- Billy (despite him rightfully telling her to fuck off previously)
- Beltik (despite her previously refusing his help and him being some random Kentucky store manager and a washed up ex-regional champion way over his head at this point)
- the twins, for some reason - what are they even doing in Billy's basement offering advice in a game way above their level? (do they even know any of the other people in that room? Who invited them? Why does the US chess champion have to rely on phoned in advice from some random friends while playing for the world title in the first place?)
- Borgov (who is inexplicably happy for her despite the fact that his loss is a huge upset not just for him, but the entire cold-war era soviet bloc)
- throw in some random old men on the street in Moscow beacuse why not
By the end I was surprised her adoptive father didn't chip in and call her in Russia to admit teary eyed that he was wrong and Beth is "the greatest person that ever lived" or something.
Jesus fucking christ.
The movie itself is nothing groundbreaking- it's actually kind of thinly made for a documentary and leans perhaps a bit too much on emotions for my taste.
But being exposed to the details of this persons plight and struggle literally filled me with dread and anger as I was watching.
It's absurd. How can one of the biggest contemporary artists be reduced to a child with no personal rights and be transformed into a money making machine selflessly filling the pockets of the few people that were supposed to protect her?
How could the American legal system let that piece of shit father of hers completely destroy her life like that in front of our eyes?
Also what the fuck was her mother doing through all of this exactly?
PS - that Adnan guy actually seemed to be the most decent person out of all of the bunch.
I know that this show isn't meant to be realistic, but keeping up the suspension of disbelief is kind of hard when some of the stuff that happens on it is kind of well... dumb.
Things like Butcher finding another safehouse at his drug dealer aunt that nobody thought about checking out before, Black Noir spending the better part of an afternoon on a roof and then doing a cartoon cop out over "some pictures" or the fact that everyone still has money to pay for food and gas somehow while "living off the grid" in some random basement for the past few episodes
Especially when some of the other stuff (like the social commentary on showbusiness, american politics as well as the shitty state of modern humanity in general) are all pretty great.
Completely aimless, tonally confusing, and ultimately boring.
It's definitely watchable, but don't believe the hype - If this mediocre thing raked up no less than 7 Oscar nominations that should tell you something about the current state of the US movie industry.
Like the others haver said, the presentation is shallow, dumbed down and clickbaity but the movies themselves (and their stories) still hold up and offer some good watching.
A little (way) over the top, and I'm not sure if it is canon anymore (or if it ever was) now with the introduction of the Clone Wars animated series (that I haven't seen at this point).
It's quite good however - from an animation and cinematography point of view. Much more interesting and enjoyable than the clusterfuck prequel movies themselves and quite possibly my favorite piece of Star Wars fiction so far.
I really, really wanted to like this movie.
The subject matter is insufficiently explored by modern cinema and the more honest conversations we have on this topic, the better.
But this ain't it, chief.
Beyond the limited cinematography (which isn't necessarily the movie's fault since the play it's based on takes place in only one apartment - and that's kind of the point) the characters are also a bit too one-dimensional for a atmospheric drama and the scenes end up being corny instead of impactful.
Darren Aronofsky kind of has this tendency to push everything over the top and here it kind of turns into shock value schlock at times.
It didn't seem to help his cause that what he had to work with was apparently a high schooler's-level-of-depth-attempt at a essay about life, depression, regret and morbid obesity.
Kind of an interesting/unusual setting but the series' disregard for traditional tropes and plot structure means that 30 min go by and you barely understand wtf is going on.
Also all the characters seem a bit too much like pretentious caricatures of themselves.
One of the best mini-series of late.
Good
- visuals (cinematography, color grading, costumes and sets) & audio (score, soundtrack) are all top notch!
- great performances (Anna Taylor Joy is amazing as usual but big props to child actor Isla Johnston also)
- interesting setting, captivating characters
- the fact that she is a girl in traditionally male-dominated field is relevant, but not shoved down our throats like in other "progressive" shows
- with a few notable exceptions, the story and dialogue seem mature & well balanced - the real world isn't always black and white, people change, shit happens, life is a constant struggle and sometimes antogonistic characters can become friends or lovers in the future
Bad
- Beth Orton is way too much of a Mary-Sue (and it becomes downright annoying towards the end)
- Thomas Brodie-Sangster can't really be taken seriosly as a chess maverick/hunk (he does his best but the casting is to blame)
- a few minor issues with the age difference (between the actor vs the played part) in some scenes
- a few blatantly naive/childish moments in an otherwise captivating story
Shit goddamn. Okay that was some good television.
Reminded me a lot of "Sieranevada" (2016).
Just when I thought we could quickly get away from the dumb Russian subplot, they pull us back in for some reason.
Look I get it's a lighthearted show, but there are far too many stupid things that you need to overlook to keep the suspension of disbelief going.
- army dudes (?) seizing a house with automatic rifles shoot worse than stormtroopers and are kept at bay by a fat guy with a pistol
- your average American-house-wooden-wall offers bullet cover
- one of the bad guys casually walks out and never attempts to shoot our heroes (as they are trying to escape in a van coming up the road) for like a good minute
- Kate Bush and Ella Fitzgerald can bring you back from the upside down, but having people shout in your face doesn't. Why hasn't anyone tried punching her in the face?
- Max falls 5m off the ground but is absolutely fine
- Kamchatka has worse security than a summer work camp
- Hopper can "bend" his ankle to his will now, but he can still run barefoot on it in the snow just fine no problem
- did I mention Hopper got even more swole and is still super strong on a diet of bread and water?
As far as acting goes:
It was kind of sad seeing old frames of previous seasons with those happy little kids.
All in all kind of lame.
Ultimately hamfisted and rarely engaging or believable, kind of like the show itself.
Open ends, plot holes, and a lot of undeveloped story points that were rushed out the window to wrap up things neatly in the end.
Also a lot of vague teasing for future projects that you will need to consume later to keep the big Marvel-money-making-machine going.
It's too bad, it's not like I was hoping for something like The Avengers (the last two of which were brillant) but the format had potential and I was at least expecting some sort of satisfying story arc, not this pointless mess.
It seems astonishing that the MCU universe has now managed better world-building, character arcs as well as plant and payoff reveals than fucking Game of Thrones at this point.
What a meandering mess of a movie! (And yes, I've watched the extended edition in it's full 3 hour glory, the one that is supposed to fix things from the theatrical cut).
It's a wonderful thing to be able to find beauty in mundane things and be entertained by everyday life.
What was this, a Mentos commercial or something? Some of the "B-roll" scenes of were downright cringey.
So you're trying to tell me that your average obnoxious Chicago bum can come in off the street and "stage" at the "best restaurant in the world"? While everyone gives him all the love and support that he needs to scrape himself off of rock bottom? For no fucking reason other than to advance the plot?
Ok that was some pretty damn good television.
I'm not sure I want to watch this any further.
I mean sure, the maladjusted sociopaths of the elite rich are people too. They have everyday struggles, personal slaves and their own hopes and dreams just like the rest of us, sure.
But I don't give a shit.
I'm not rooting for any of the characters. I'm neither enthralled nor am I having any fun really.
Ugh.
- Why were they keeping around a deranged supervillian kid as an orderly and why were they letting him interact with the other potential child superheroes?
- How exactly did that chip keep him from manifesting his powers? Isn't that like critical information to stop other gifted kids gone rogue in the future? Would that chip/thing/whatever work on a demogorgon/mind flayer? Why couldn't he just rip it out of his neck himself?
- why does everyone keep wanting to have Nancy get back together with Steve? Pandering to the kiddie audience or something?
- we're never getting away from that dumb Russia subplot until the very last episode, aren't we?
- Hopper and Joyce are CRINGE
De-aging CGI is getting pretty good overall I'd say.
Useless Russia sub-plot is useless.
I feel the big baddie has been revealed far too early and his design kind of looks comical now.
Well, it's getting somewhat better. Things seems to be settling into a rhythm again.
The show is at it's best in fun little set pieces: Steve and Dustin still seem like a lot of fun and pairing Nance and Robin seems cool. Lucas harming others while trying to fit in is a bit of a stretch, but also a somewhat believable slippery slope.
I don't care for Eleven since season 1 and Hopper should be dead already, it's ridiculous. Dope head Jonathan is annoying and useless.
Also a lot of dumb Hollywood-summer-blockbuster-over-the-top-buildup at the end for some reason:
"This evil, it's like a virus. It just keeps coming back stronger." Are they talking about the Netflix execs that demand the Duffer brothers churn out more half-assed episodes of this show?
Uh, for fucks sake.
First of all, the show suffers greatly from having its characters age too much in between seasons. They certainly aren't cute innocent little kids anymore, and this kind of changes the appeal (and premise) of the show, while making some of the lack in acting talent all the while more evident. It makes the show less enjoyable.
(Meanwhile Winona Ryder hasn't skipped a beat in the last 2 years on still being fucking weird on/off screen and hard to take seriously as an actress).
None of this is something the showrunners could have controlled for the most part. But even so, everything else about the show is still kind of shit though.
Hopper's plot is stupid and cringey, Eleven's plot is stupid and cringey. I get what they're trying to do with the horror aspect, but it's just sudden, out of left field for this show and kind of dumb in execution.
Season 3 sort of wrapped up everything nicely but Hawkins still continues being the poltergeist indian burial ground combined with twilight zone 24/7 for some reason. Will is ...well, comically gay all of a sudden. I could go on.
The premise outstayed it's welcome and the story barely makes sense anymore. The aesthetics and soundtrack still hold up, but that's about it for season 4 of Stranger Things, it seems.
I get that this is Netflix's money making machine, but they really ought to think about sending it off soon already. It's getting super cringey.
The horror is dumb and now over the top, characters are uneven and clichéd. The show seems barely cobbled together at this point.
Yeah... I tried liking this but this show just isn't good.
Gave up after Asa Butterfield's character mentioning that "social history" is relevant to the reason why someone would have a gag reflex.
Just dumb.
Ok, I did not see that coming. That was a proper plant.
Kinda... Lame and superficial. The plot and dialogue aren't at all believable.
Hopefully it gets better but I'm not sure I have the patience to see it through.
Game of Thrones has jumped the shark. :|
While the 8th episode felt pretty great, I didn't really like the direction in which the show was going. I thought I could bare with it, but this... this was just stupid.
Nevermind the changes from the books and the shock value scenes gratuitously injected into the plot. This entire episode felt rushed, stale and contrived, and badly directed even. The entire Dorne sub-plot is cartoonish; The Stannis scene itself was a nonsensical abomination; Tyrion has been reduced to a trinket, while the whole Daenerys part felt staged, forced and lacked any weight or tension whatsoever. Editing, cinematography and special effects all seemed more amateurish than ever before.
I felt like I was watching a mid-week late night filler, like Game of Thrones started referencing itself and making the rounds.
I used to watch the show because it wasn't like all other television productions. It wasn't perfect, but you got the feeling that the writers didn't make up things as they went along. Characters were fleshed out and made surprising (but understandable) decisions. The story was well-paced and relatable.
All of that is not true anymore.
Looks like I'll finally get around to reading the books.
Great period piece, great setting and soundtrack. Only kind of a bit aimless though.
It seems to me like Paul Thomas Anderson was more concerned to make a movie about a favorite topic than to tell a story. There are no arcs, characters face consequences for their actions somewhat arbitrarily and the ending is a somewhat an undeserved happy ending.
Great cast, even though Mark Whalberg has awful screen presence and is about as charismatic as a rubber boot.
A good watch, but nothing exactly groundbreaking
Somewhat of a better watch than it's predecessor, probably because of the better pacing afforded by the extra actions scenes and the satisfying closure (to some extent) of the story.
Probably the best ever screening of the classic Frank Herbert story, but still not there in terms of capturing the magic and feel of the original book. I think.
Still kind of flat, lifeless and wooden as most Villeneuve flicks.
A cinematic spectacle, yet somehow flat and lifeless.
Like most of Villeneuve's projects, it's missing something to truly make it memorable.
Improves on subsequent views.
