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mrb223
Reviews
Squid Game: The Challenge (2023)
Painful acting
Only gave it 3 stars because of the game design and being somewhat canon to the original. The "contestants" are extremely overdramatic and cringy. Crying and screaming at every inconvenience. There is a hyper focus on certain contestants to the point I'm convinced it's staged. It's unfortunate they didn't cast better more average contestants to make it significantly more entertaining. As there was so much promise. It was too painful to make it through more than 2 episodes before giving up. You can see they force certain contestants (actors) along so it loses its credibility that way as well. Don't recommend.
Meltdown: Three Mile Island (2022)
Terribly overdramatic, missing scientific basis
This would have been promising to learn about. Unfortunately, the directors chose to cherry pick interviewees, rarely used any scientific facts, and spewed out repeated exaggerations. 100,000s of people could have died, the whole east coast destroyed? Not possible with a nuclear reactor. Also the amount of times they refer to it as a possible China Syndrome which is an inappropriate term. If you wish to see majority laymen (housewives, no disrespect) interviewed, and repeated fear mongering this is for you. I was impressed to see some nuclear experts and Michio Kaku at least. Psychological fear can do far more damage than actual radioactivity released, which was one of the few good points covered (probably unintentionally). There are a few other appreciated facts from those interviewed such those discussed by whistleblowers, but this is heavily biased and missing scientific basis. They also shoe horn in the end how coal/fossil fuel production was increased after lack of nuclear plant production due to politics. Basic research will inform you how much more cancer and death pollution from these sources cause than radioactivity released.
I hope they do not create another series, and recommend avoiding anything from these creators who aim for sensationalized storytelling over facts.
Elize Matsunaga: Era uma Vez um Crime (2021)
Possibly worthwhile for fans of murder docuseries, bad voice dubbing
Storyline is pretty compelling for fans of murder documenseries who haven't seen footage or read of this one before. Only 4 episodes, so even if it drags on overall time commitment isn't bad.
What really kills the vibe is the voice acting. Eliza for example will have an emotionless facial expression but the voice acting will sound overly dramatic. Like they're trying to win an oscar. It does not align very well. Other characters are better.
Hidden (2015)
Solid plot, twist and acting minus "Zozo"
Overall worth watching if you can phase out the child actor Zoe. I know child acting can be hit or miss and try to give it the benefit of the doubt. But this was pretty brutal. Constantly overacting, and scripting makes it seem like she's the main character.
Other acting was great, movie premise and final twist was very interesting/captivating. However, combination of Zoe going over the top screaming and too much script for her ruined a lot of scenes and detracted from the suspense. Otherwise would be an 8/10. Similar to 10 clover field lane.
The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020)
The watching of paint dry
The haunting of hill house sent chills up my spine. This is quite opposite. You're lucky to get one horror scene that scares you per episode. The story is bland as well, acting is hit or miss. Nothing early on entices you to keep watching.
Maybe expectations were too high after the hill house masterpiece. Also surprised with the number of 9 or 10/10 reviews on the first day of release.