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Reviews
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022)
Solid and Engaging Storytelling, Beautifully Crafted
While there are still some parts that need fixing (directing, editing, writing), overall the narrative is told in a pretty cohesive and engaging way. The characters are charismatic and the actors do a great job. I especially liked the actress playing Galadriel, she embodies the determination of the character well.
I have mixed feelings about "Harfoots" whose lines are a bit cringy (Poppy?), but they definitely deserve a place in the story.
I had no idea how contentious this series is going to be. People are downvoting it for various lore-related reasons and some things to do with race. Please stop, we will not go back to stories told from the perspective of a specific skin color.
Paper Girls (2022)
It's okay, the characters are a bit irritating
It's a fun flick to watch, but settings feel a bit cheap. The girls are doing a good job, but their characters are a bit irritating, they are forcing their lines and being a bit aggressive about that.
CGI and costumes are not that well developed.
I see the potential but more work needs to be done here. Perhaps the second season will offer more.
Furioza (2021)
This should have been a mini series only
So if you actually check it out this was meant to be a mini series and exists in such format.
As a film this was too long, had too many plot lines and characters that were not necessary to convey the story.
What is good-dialogues, acting, premise.
What is not good-convoluted narrative, characters' motivations and scenes that do not add up to the story.
Overall, Polish cinema is trying to do something and be something, but it doesn't yet know what it is.
A good attempt.
Reacher (2022)
Brown and beige desert
Watching the first episode was hard as the sets, costumes and characters seem to be blended into the beige and brown surroundings. Even the lenses have some kind of a hue that makes this even more pronounced.
Reacher looks like a part of wood or hay somewhere there in the background. His shoes, pants and tees are usually in all hues of the beige and brown as well. Not to mention, he can barely move his neck which only magnifies his stiffness and wood-like qualities.
I'd say leave it to the fans and readers of the books and skip if you're not a fan-there is better stuff out there,
Kitz (2021)
Not so bad, but the main character is insufferable. Won't be watching another season
I do not understand why everyone is so critical. This is not a bad drama, things move quickly and the viewer is never left alone to wonder about action.
However, the main character, Lisi, is simply evil. At the end of the episode I was hoping she was going to get arrested. What a selfish, self-obsessed and self-involved person! She never cared about anyone else other than herself in this show. She led to the demise of the likeable, sensitive character.
Since she is now the center of the story I will surely not be coming back for more.
West Side Story (2021)
Spielberg making a musical?
The film is very Broadway-esque. Well choreographed, sung, good acting. The cinematography by Kaminski is terrific, the balance between aerial shots and handheld cameras has been maintained well in the editing rooms. But, this film lacks a heart, the main protagonists (Maria&Tony) lack chemistry.
Spielberg nicely makes this about the manufactured racial and class differences rather than suggesting something else. It was nice to think about these tensions as systemic rather than personal.
The Tomorrow War (2021)
Irritating rather than entertaining
So many things here will make you question the sense of the story: sending untrained civilians to fight an unknown threat (and they aren't even informed about the threat's weak points), cringe dialogues, paradox questions, incompetence of people in power (now that there is a solution we don't care and the world get just slowly destruct itself, why bother), the incompetence of the scientists (let's investigate the creatures but not deeply so that we don't learn too much about them)... etc., etc. I could go on and on.
Chris Pratt is the only person in this film that elevates it a bit to that status of a potential blockbuster, but it's not there. So many scenes there where he looks like in "Jurassic World" or "Guardians". If you can ignore the irritating parts where no one knows what to do or has any kind of plan and not get angry, then you should give it a shot.