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marionmuli
Reviews
From Scratch (2022)
Too long. Helps to know it is based on a true story.
I found myself waiting for the protagonist to die several times during the series. That just about sums it up. There is a lot of unnecessary dialogue, stretched out scenes that we could have done without; yet not enough back story or information on the main characters and events (like the fact that the main couple spent 18 months apart before he moved to America is only mentioned in passing in a phone call between the sisters).
Amy is unlikeable almost all through, comes across as rude, abrasive, entitled, selfish a lot of the time with everyone else (incl her daughter) except her husband.
As one of the reviewers said, it helps to know it is based on a true story. I spent episode 1-5 bored out of my mind then found out and got a bit more invested in the story.
Episode 7 gets a 10/10 from me which boosts the rating. Otherwise the rest of it is just an empty filler. I couldn't believe there was a whole 55minute episode after the main event.
The Sons of Sam: A Descent Into Darkness (2021)
Good piece of documentary work.
I haven't read much about the son of sam killings but a lot of the aspects of Terry's investigations ring true. I think the choice of narrator was not the most ideal but the task was completed.
Just here to say for those who think that Berkowitz was the lone gunman, the handwriting and grammar and prose for the original handwritten notes to the press is obviously so different, you can tell there were at least 2 people involved. That I noticed right off the bat, the grammar especially. The first letter writer is clearly not very bright or well educated. I still believe Berkowitz was a major mastermind and perpetrator for the killings though. His reaction on arrest is typical of a sociopath. But he definitely had people aiding and abetting, possibly even commiting some of the murders, possibly at his behest. I found the parallel placement with Manson very compelling, as in Manson didn't commit the actual murders but played a heavy hand in driving those who did.
Also, did the police really never interview any of the members of the Carr family? Because that would be ridiculous.
Also, the satanism theory isn't so far out. Not so much as in satanism is real but that having been a fad at the time, it is just as possible that as "good" people believed it existed and feared it, "bad" people got into it; either genuinely believed it or as a way to further their own agendas.
Morning After (2020)
😂
Hahahaha. A refreshingly hilarious 10 or so minutes. Tailored ailored to Kenyan Swahili/sheng speakers though so not for everyone but if you get the language, absolutely worth the watch!
El hoyo (2019)
Deep.
I see a lot of gore, blood and all in my day to day work life so such scenes in movies rarely get me. This is the first time in any movie where the gore has left me feeling squeamish. In the cannibalism scenes, I felt the bile rise up my throat. But still, I got it. The symbolism for how the less fortunate in society feed on each other. The lowest echelons of society are the most man-eat-man levels, the poor rob each other, hurt each other, more than they do the rich. And indeed usually because they cannot access the rich (the upper levels of the tower).
I didn't get the meaning of the chef-berating-the-cooks preview/flashforward until I read some of the reviews on here and whoa! A very bleak but true representation. The administration (read politicians, other leaders and the people at the top) are completely blind to the suffering of the poor and nothing is likely to change. This is how I interpreted the ending, with the youth (the girl) being a hallucination hence a false hope and the chef (administration) never getting the message in the returned desert.
That everyone's favorite meal was always on the table, all the way to the lowest level. That people only suffer because those at the top and middle surfeit in too much... That at every level in life, we only get what those above us allow us to get. That truly working hard only gets you to a certain level and not higher (the 3rd cellmate).
All in all a very powerful message, well passed by the writer and director in this masterpiece.
Our Father (2022)
The victims could have done more.
The directing and filming is great; a powerful documentary.
My comments:
1. This is an extremely easily won civil suit.
2. The American justice system is ridiculous. I get this feeling every time I watch one of these documentaries or based on true story films/series.
3. The fact that he's a doctor also probably got him some leeway. Doctors get a lot of unexplainable leeway world over.
When They See Us (2019)
No words
Just... Speechless. Outstanding. Script, directing, casting, performances, setting (including that historical feel from 'quality' of video)... Everything.
The Girl in the Yellow Jumper (2020)
Great
I thought this film was great. The plot and suspense are outstanding. A gripping tale. Some things that may seem like plot holes, like how the police officer leaves his weapon in the car with 2 suspects, and easily believes the story may actually be a commentary on the police force in African countries. I felt that.
I like that the parable of the scorpion and the frog panned out at the end; he ended up being the frog that carried a scorpion. That the old man is probably serially killing the villagers who burned down his house is also aces.
Probably takes an African mind to get some of these plot lines.
Some slow acting at the start but quickly picked up pace. And the way you keep wondering about the yellow jumper, where the girl is, why the flash back is the guy's right hand and it is the left that us bandaged. And how it is all explained when he's in the bathroom and looks in the mirror and asks what he did to himself. Just awesome!
Overall a yes; a worth it watch for lovers of thrillers, mysteries, a bit of gore and hidden meanings.