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La Brea (2021)
Can't wait to watch Season 2
SEASON 1 REVIEW. This review will change after the next seasons come out.
I'm surprised by many reviewers here giving low rating. Because I don't think "La Brea" is bad at all. In fact, I really love this serial. At least that's what Season 1 to me, so far.
There are many people complaining about the dumb cliché story ideas, such as a father who keeps getting visions of other world and tries to save his family when he realizes all the visions are real. There are so many mysteries that seemingly impossible to be answered, but you know what?
You know what?
The seemingly-impossible-to-be-answered are getting answers, one by one, with logical explanations that will blow your mind. This is the strongest aspect of "La Brea" that surely will crush all those negative reviews. I bet many of those reviewers don't finish watching the first season and blaming this series as an idiotic show.
Of course, by the end of Season 1, there are still so many questions left unanswered, but with some logical explanations we already get, I am very optimistic that we will get the answers on the next seasons.
Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)
Because that's what evil does
This movie is particularly interesting, since the evil "play nice" for almost the entire time, before showing its true evil intentions when a major character tries to uncover the truth. That's when all hell break loose.
For a horror movie, it's not just the presence of the evil entity (or ghost, if you'd like to call it that way) that makes it scary. What's really scary is the philosophy behind it. This movie isn't all about the haunting, but the way behind how the evil acts, how they work, to make us believe that they're not a threat to us.
Because that's what evil does. They play nice at first, before we realize the danger. But when we do, it's already too late. And this doesn't just apply to horror movies, because this concept is real. It's all around us.
In my opinion, for a horror movie that doesn't have wide audience target as other movie genres, "Ouija: Origin of Evil" is really deep and thought-provoking. It's well made and deserves all the love from any horror fans.
Vidkill (2021)
Unintentionally satisfying
If you watch this movie, you may:
(a) notice logical errors, especially the lighting aspect and some sound aspects,
(b) feeling confused because the video call layouts keeps changing,
(c) the characters keep making punch-able faces when declaring stupid decisions,
(d) the characters are supposed to be calm at some scary moments, but their annoying body language are so stupid which makes you wish them to be dead,
(e) feeling entertained and satisfied when the characters you really hate finally get stabbed.
I feel satisfied after watching this movie. Not because it is a good movie or "moving my soul" or anything. I can't sympathize with any of the characters because I don't know much about them (the characters are so thinly written). But when they show stupidity, that's when I choose side with the villain.
That's not really what this movie wants, but what's stopping me from enjoying stupid people making stupid decisions and getting stupid consequences?
Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)
Only watch this if you want to see some blood
There is a reason why it's called a "torture horror" movie. But that's also the reason of what people want to see from this kind of movie.
There are a lot of backstories involving "bad cops" scenario, and actually, this movie would have been better if it takes itself seriously and explores them.
However, instead of exploring the social themes, it decided to just become a generic "torture horror" movie. There is really no depth to its fascinating backstory with disappointingly zero social commentary when it actually tries to make one.
In short, all those backstory about "bad cops" are not convincing and they're just mere backgrounds for the torture to happen.
Nice gore and torture stuffs, though. The torture methods and the twisted villain is really interesting, but that's the only good thing about this movie.
Choose or Die (2022)
A fine example of how to treat silly concept/idea
A lot of horror movies have silly idea. It's okay for using silly ideas. Nothing is wrong with that. Some of horror movies with silly ideas can still be frightening or at least entertaining.
But there is one thing that really matters when making a movie with silly ideas. Do they want to make the movie as a "serious movie" or "stupid but entertaining movie?"
Many horror filmmakers think horror genre as a serious type of films, so they make them as "serious movie". However, that's not always the right choice.
Do you know what happen when a silly idea get turned into a serious movie? It will result either (a) a boring film, or (b) laughably bad.
"Choose or Die" is a fine example of how to treat silly concept/idea. From the beginning of the movie, we see some absurdly silly ideas, and I think the director of the movie is aware of the silliness. So, in order to avoid the movie from becoming boring or laughably bad, "Choose or Die" parodies itself.
The result is an entertaining movie. It doesn't take itself seriously and that's what saving this movie to be at least watchable and somewhat interesting.
Chernobyl (2019)
Best disaster film I've ever watched
"Chernobyl" (2019) might be the best disaster film I've ever watched. It does have something this genre usually miss: the empathy to ordinary people.
There are a lot of emotional aspects and it keeps showing the horror and struggle on everyone, including the struggle of villains trying to cover their crimes.
The last episode is so great. I appreciate how the filmmakers try to explain everything and still makes me (who don't know anything about nuclear plants) know how they work and how the disaster happen in the first place.
Also, the film leaves a very important message that acts as a question: "What is the cost of lies?"
Tunnel (2019)
Could be the start of Indonesian film revolution
When I first heard about this series, I set my expectation as low as possible. Usually, when Indonesians try to adapt foreign cultural products into their own, it will end badly with low quality result.
But this is not the case of "Tunnel". I really wish they use Indonesian title to distinguish the difference between original Korean series and this Indonesian adaptation, as using the same title can lead to confusion.
There is no sci-fi element involved. All the time travelling is done in mystical manner, not futuristic manner. And it fits perfectly with the main theme of this series, which is serial killings based on mystical believes and madness.
I have seen so many Indonesian TV series, and rarely they try to dwell into mystery detective thriller. Indonesian "Tunnel" is an exception, a very brave one, and it succeeds everything it promises.
Castlevania (2017)
A hidden gem among big pile of rubbish
If someone tell you that Netflix can't produce good quality anime, show them and make them watch this.
If someone tell you that an anime produced outside Japan is bad quality, show them and make them watch this.
If someone tell you that an anime adaptation from video games can't be good, show them and make them watch this.
First season is kinda meh, sure you can just skip that boring first season but you may miss some major character introduction.
The second season will set a roller coaster which will drive you straight to finish this series with a lot of excitement and great thrills. Just like a ride on roller coaster.
Hung (2009)
I feel betrayed
If only Hung is a limited series consisting only the first season, I would really love it. The truth is, the first season is so mind-blowing and I love it very much. The characters are likeable and they show complexity, and the perfect example is Tanya, whose character has serious flaws but still manages to be likeable. Ray, as the protagonist is also very likeable and we can sense his stressful lives, and I really like him due to his calm personality when he has to face a lot of moral problems.
Really, if only Hung ended with its final episode of the first season, I would feel happier with it. I would have rated Hung 7/10 or even 8/10.
But here is the thing: After the good first season, everything goes downhill. The second season really kills a lot of things which makes this series likeable. Just take example of Tanya. She was flawed but likeable, but. The second season twist her into someone so annoying you would really really hate everything about her. Other characters also share the same fate as you start to question whether you still like them or not.
Hung is actually a very good show, if you want to watch every character keep suffering because of miscommunication and, at times, stupidity.
Folklore: Tatami (Japan) (2018)
Everyone loves mystery
Everyone loves mystery, and that's also the main (and only) thing this episode has to offer. From the start we already see some spooky Japanese stuffs, and we keep wondering why the protagonist do this and do that etc etc. But why?
And then we learned that his father just passed away, so he had to go home and things start to go in a weird story once the protagonist uncovers his memories of the past.
The story itself is very minimalist, as it only focused on the deaf protagonist and his slow realization of the true "reality" around and about him. Not only that, the setting is mostly filmed at his family mansion (except for the abandoned building in the beginning). All of that result in a very quiet film (well, considering the protagonist himself is also a deaf character).
I really love the conclusion at the end of the story. I love how the antagonist is defeated in a very stylish way. It's so satisfying and has the uniqueness of Japanese horror style. It's illogical, but that's why we love Japanese horror, right?
Folklore: A Mother's Love (Indonesia) (2018)
Leaves more to be desired
Normally, I would rate this episode 6/10, but due to superb acting I changed my mind and rate it 7/10 instead.
The story itself is really interesting, as it focused the relations between a mother and her son. She was underpaid and had rough life after leaving her husband. The story really captures the stress they had and how they tried to survive with little amount of money. Meanwhile, a supernatural entity is trying to get a hold on the child and strange things start happening between them.
There are certain things not explained properly, and some scenes felt so abrupt which leaves more to be desired. The story would make sense after some explanation, but that doesn't change the fact that they're not explored in a proper way.
Parallèles (2022)
A family drama and light version of recent Sci-Fi's
This is really a great drama series. The first episode is spot-on and it builds our curiosity to keep watching.
I see so many people get disappointed because it's not realistic enough. So what? This series isn't about realism anyway. It takes recent Sci-Fi shows and "twist" them into a light-hearted story aimed at family-friendly audiences.
While yes, I would prefer the last episode to be somewhat "violent" to shock audiences, but the director and writer seem to not going that way. Either way, I'm not complaining, as the final result is still good.
Really great series that touches upon human emotions and family bonds. Even when the story is about some bizarre experiments resulting in time travel and parallel dimensions, it still manages to piece all characters and story arcs into something very emotional. And the most important thing is that this show manages to be interesting, from start to finish.