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Them (2021)
Too much promised, but too much underdelivered
Being a black man myself I had high hopes for this first season.
I am a lover of the horror genera and have recently become fond of the folk horror genera, which I feel this season takes some elements from, and also, I was very eager for a black-driven story, if one can call this that, for a change.
I loved the beginning of this season, and though it would be a 8/10, at least, for sure, and oh how was I wrong.
I loved the, "boldness" of the writer to use blackface, the N word and its derivatives (in the mouth of white characters) and some other nonconventional elements to portray a story which is set in a timeframe were all of those elements were sadly part of the life and culture of some people in the US, and around the world - I'm mainly talking about the racism hook - and also in a fictional universe were those things would be a reality - now I'm talking about the other horror elements (trying not to spoil) - but I would like to, boldly, also ask if there would be a "pass", for same creative freedom, awarded to a writer who wasn't black. I think not, but I would say, it should.
The artistic elements (I know, I use the word elements a lot), camera-work, score, shot angles, visual aids are very zeitgeist, I mean, are very common in this "new-horror school", if we can call it that, and "pop-culture" - I mean, it takes some pages from the Jordan Peele book, some pages from the Ari Aster book and some pages from the Spike Lee book, puts it in a blender and this is what comes out - not that that's bad, but it is kind of unoriginal if I'm being totally honest.
I would contrast the first half of the season with the second half and would say that they are on two different levels and the effort and attention to detail put in them seams different - also the story by itself is much more interesting in the beginning and development than when it is concluding. When I say half, I not talking about splitting the season in the middle, say 5/5 episodes, it is more like a 7/3ish kind of thing.
My main problem with the season is the lack of consistency in the plot, the story by itself, and some elements of "anti-racism" which I did not like one bit - I mean, one thing is to make a correct critique on racism, bigotry, hatred and prejudice, old and new, another completely different thing is trying to justify, attacking, and "conquering", racism (white on black) with more racism, bigotry, hatred and prejudice - this is something I was wrestling with more on the "2nd half" of the season - For me it was completely justified, plot-wise, that the characters felt that way against their "THEMs", because of how they were treated as "THEM", and not as "WE" & "US", but as the season went on it kind of not only became somewhat justified but it became glorified - which is emphasized, in an uncanny way, for example, by some song choices (there's one - the lyrics - that was a complete dealbreaker for me).
That being said, I can say that the acting is there, I, honestly, don't know most of the actors, by their work is beyond decent.
If I could divide my rating in 3 groups it would be something like:
- Acting: 8/10
- Cinematography and Sound: 7/10 (negative points for not having any original trademarks)
- Plot: 5/10 (Low score mainly because of the "2nd half")
Hope this might be helpful to someone, and might spark some conversations.
National Lampoon's Repli-Kate (2002)
I think it was excellent
I think it was excellent because when i saw it i couldn't stop lofting and lofting , it was really same to the American pie but shore it was better and how i wonder if that part of the cloning was true and that part of the ''penis penis penis penis'' and the other part of the ''oooh sex is much better than kissing'' and ''you know what is better in a blow job , ten minutes silence''i saw it two days ago and 5 seconds after it ends i already miss it and i wont to know how do i can by it because i can't find it in any store i had search and search and if you sell DVD's in this site i wont to know how do i get it and receive it in my home in Portugal