katish7 Reviews

Endings, Beginnings (2019)

Not that bad but it really is missing something, and perhaps missing the point, ironically it might be the point it actually is trying to make...

[6/10 · 23 January 2024]

I've just rewatched this movie for the second time, and to be honest in 3-4 years I almost completely forgot what was going on so it felt newish on a second watch. Probably because not much is actually going on... The film is definitely not that bad but it really is missing something, and perhaps missing the point, ironically it might be the point it actually is trying to make lol.

Listen, I understand Daphne is on a journey of self discovery, I understand her fear of uncertainty that brings her to Jack, who feels like a safe beautiful harbor comparing to the trauma of rape she's dealing with and all the turmoil that made her uproot everything. She blames herself for what happened to her because she's such a mess. And when it eventually doesn't work out with Jack she takes his criticism of being "sloppy mess" as something that she deserves. That's probably the part that writers got right...

But then, Both Jack and Frank are way too cliched and two dimensional, though all three actors are doing the amazing job with what they have, especially Stan and Shailene. And the ending kind of doesn't bring the right conclusion, like a baby definitely doesn't help to improve the issue of self love or self respect. Baby is a new human being, it's not a cop out. They should've written her some other "wake-up call" than pregnancy, because if she chose abortion that would me more right for a character like her in this story, people would hate this movie even more...

Overall the themes they touch in this film are deeper and they deserve deeper exploration, like take for example Rachel Getting Married, which it has similar feel to, it does a better job and doesn't come off as an upper middle class hipster meditation on the good vibes in the end...

Asteroid City (2023)

Trailers looked so good, but...

[6/10 · 14 December 2023]

I really anticipated watching this film. Trailers looked so good, promising something imaginative and even bonkers! But... the film just felt tired, exhausted even. The word waste comes to mind... I didn't think that Wes Anderson could ever disappoint, he usually surprises, comes out on the other side of unexpected. I wonder what happened here, or is he really just tired? I feel like the script could be his personal ode to his exhaustion. Exhaustion with what though? Writing? Filmmaking? The world? I just hope that it's temporary and he gets out of this slumber. Or.. an even scarier thought, was this his attempt to transcend his own style of storytelling? Because if it was it fell flat. And this thought is scary because if it is him trying to grow up, move on to something else, something new, does it mean that he'll be trying more and more in this vein now? I mean he probably can afford it now that he's so established, it's just a loss for us maybe...

1923 (2022–2023)

Overly cliched and just flat

[5/10 · 1 July 2023]

I don't get the overhype of this show and can't explain the high ratings here other than that most of the people will "eat" anything regardless of quality as long as it's hyped.

It's like Sheridan got tired or brainfogged after 1883 which was superb by the way. This one is just a collection of cliches. While I was more than willing to give more chances to Ford-Mirren story even though it was putting me to sleep from the get go, the Africa story just killed it for me completely. I stopped watching around episode 2-3, it's just so banal and uninspired all through and through: from the Spencer character, who is an uninspired cliche, to his love interest/ love story which both are uninspired cliches, to his "adventures" which are, you get it, uninspired cliches. And I love adventure genre, but like well made ones that keep you on your toes.

This is an utter dull disappointment. So far it's a first real dud from Sheridan for me. Sometimes I wonder if the script was secretly written through the generative AI, because the whole thing feels regurgitated.

Silo (2023– )

Great beautifully executed show with however noticeable filler, hopefully will improve that in s2

[8/10 · 1 July 2023]

Like many others mentioned first 3-4 episodes were super gripping and nearly perfect, but then for around 3 episodes after that I felt annoyed that show was obviously intentionally dragging...

The mystery of the first few episodes was so captivating that I couldn't stand it anymore and went online to find out what's really going on in the books. So by around episode 8 I realized that there's no way that they would wrap the story of the first book/story in season 1, and that was kind of disappointing..

I still gave this show an 8 rating and really hope that the dragging pace -filler episodes situation will not continue in season 2, story kind of calls for it not to, and I hope the show runners will "read the room" lol or more like feedback online too, there're quite a few annoyed comments about the show dragging in the middle online. Season 2 will definitely need to be more proactive otherwise the show will lose its momentum like so many did before it. Production times these days mean about 2 years for streamers between seasons and we have way too short attention spans for manipulative fillers instead of real story developments. So if the pace picks up in following seasons this will be one of the best shows of all times.

Stars at Noon (2022)

Not as bad as other reviews try to present it to be if you look at it without bias

[7/10 · 1 November 2022]

Seems most of the reviewers missed the point of this film. Or perhaps they've seen/ read the previous material it's based on and had some expectations. I came upon this film without any knowledge of prior material or expectations.

This little film is great as an exploration of how human attraction and bonding works.... when it's put into an accelerating circumstances of life threatening situation. And as a look at sudden intimacy, even codependency, between the "last two people on earth" (well not really, but there's that feel to it) it's actually achieves a lot of depth and freshness, probably because the director is a European woman.

However I can see how some could expect something else from it. The director almost completely disregarded a coherent explanation of what's really going on in the country that puts them in danger. Like yeah the main male character is doing something shady or that's what CIA wants you to think, during tough tumultuous times in a Central American country and gets in trouble for it, but that's practically it. Perhaps she felt it's not important because that's not what she's focusing on, and perhaps if she had focused more on that the film would be more of "casserole" lol and that would not necessarily work or help... But I must agree with some reviewers that the way it's presented now in the film it kind of does give off colonial or even white European/ American colonial vibe. Like, times have changed since the 80s when the original came out (or was it the book that came out then? Not sure), and Americans and Western Europeans are not necessarily seen as the nice guys anymore, and she kind of tried to present too, but it fell flat somehow. Not sure why though... was it the fault of the source material that came out in the 80s or is it the result of Western European sense of elitism, even superiority that they still have? I can't quite put my finger on it yet.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022– )

Decent show. Visually beautiful but plot and character writing is mediocre.

[5/10 · 4 September 2022]

There's no surprise that the visuals are spectacular, apparently PJ shared the designs from LOTR and Hobbit. And that man is one of the biggest fans ever, and as a big fan of books and movies myself I'm thanking Valar for him lol. However I wish he could have consulted the "creators" of this show on writing and creative decisions as well.

The writing is mediocre at best and it shows in slow uneven pacing and cringy dialogs. Another poor point of writing is story choices like making Galadriel jump the ship and swim for the only purpose of introducing Numenor I suspect (only saw 2 episodes so far but there's no other logical explanation to that bit). This type of story development seems to be written by a freshman in a high school. I've noticed in other reviews people are whining that Galadriel is unlikable but it seems to be more of a personal projection of those whiners, she was described by Tolkien himself as "prideful" up until the beginning of the Third Age when she finally cooled down for no other reason apparently than "older age" ( i.e. The 4th millennium of her life lol), so I'm fine with her being portrayed as driven and not trying to please anyone. That's until the stupid jumping ship bit lol, but that's a poor plot decision, not a character or actress fault.

My other issue with this show is how on earth a $500 million show wasn't able to cast some handsome elfs? I can even forgive female dwarfs not having beards, which would be a fun creative decision and true to canon, but the mediocre looking elfs is beyond my comprehension. PJ spent less than that on three movies and was able to cast decent looking elfs. Very bad casting decisions... or is it makeup? Actor playing Elrond looked much better when he played young Ned Stark just a few years ago. Contrary to all the racist backlash Cordova's Arondir is actually probably the most handsome elf in the whole show.

Overall I will be watching this still decent fanfic because I'm too big of a fan of this world not to, watching and hoping that PJ will have more creative say in forthcoming seasons as a consultant or (fingers crossed but unlikely) as a producer. He managed to make me love his interpretation of LOTR even though he threw away a lot and kind of oversimplified the story. (Tolkiens LOTR was an allegory of a fight with fascism.) I'm also keeping fingers crossed for writing quality improvement, after all this is Tolkien and not Hercules tv show from the 90s...

Y: The Last Man (2021)

Unimaginative and dull

[5/10 · 25 September 2021]

What's the point of this show? The premise has been done so many times before. By the middle of the first episode I caught myself realizing that this is it, there is no good development coming. So the question is why make this one? FX had more misfires lately than any other channel. They start with high concepts to "develop" them into very empty and boring shows. It seems they have a writers crisis.

Cherry (I) (2021)

Very "collage"-ey

[6/10 · 9 August 2021]

I love Russo brothers for everything they did for and with Community. They have amazing pacing and timing for comedies, which is even harder to get right than pacing for action movies....but it seems that their talent for faster pacing has a "lighter" effect on dramas. Like I did catch myself on a lot of chuckles in the beginning of the movie (especially on the drills, it feels like actors can barely hold their laughter), perhaps it was intentional. I also can see how Trainspotting and other "junkie" movies from the 90-00s are homaged here, but... it's just something is off, the movie, stylish as it was didn't touch my soul. Also the message is kind of muddy. I wonder if that's from the book or they just didn't get it right.

The Nevers (2021–2023)

Loved it after ep1, but then it went down faster than a jet

[5/10 · 3 May 2021]

What an utter nonsense. Stereotypical and stale story if you can even call it that. I hate disappointments like this, when the first episode gets you hooked but then starting from episode 2 and further it just significantly drops in quality and becomes just bland, at episode 3 it just became unwatchable and I had to turn it off never wanting to watch it again. Bad writing, really bad development, all cliches and stale dialogs, it's just uninteresting. Thanks god, HBO has release the Mare of Easttown at the same time, that show is superb by such a drastic contrast and gives you a real strong female lead, while also just an interesting human character. Irregulars on Netflix set in the same "time period" is eons more interesting than this drivel, rightfully called the Nevers, because yeah, definitely Never is when I'll watch that show again lol.

Shadow and Bone (2021–2023)

Sloppy fantasy world, probably from books though

[6/10 · 3 May 2021]

On a positive side I understand the infatuation with the late Tsarist Russia from the end of 19th century till the end of the WW1 in the early 20 century. A lot of stuff was going on all over the world and especially in Russia and Europe at that time. So I get the inspiration by Russia and Germany for creating a fantasy world. But then... it's just a story full of cliches and stereotypes plus a very sloppy use of Russian and some other slavic languages. One of the most obvious examples, Grisha is short for Grigoriy (Gregory), is something you would call a little boy in a village in the past, super icky to hear the whole class of supposedly upscale magicians being called something like that lol. The world building kind of started as very interesting but then she populated the story with the usual YA cliches and silly misappropriation of Slavic languages (Ravka sounds like something from polish or even Czech). This doesn't deserve and overall rating of 8, so close to The Witcher, which is while nothing outstanding but still miles ahead of this sloppiness.

The 100 (2014–2020)

Let's be honest, for a channel like CW it's a superior show

[7/10 · 5 February 2021]

... but it had lost a lot of chances to become really good story wise, kind of similar to what happened to another mostly decent show, that came a couple years earlier, Falling Skies. Both shows have amazing premises and for first 2-3 seasons are trying to keep a "killer" pacing and viewers very much engaged, but then the plots become too contrived for anyone to follow anymore. Just goes to show how rare good writers in Hollywood still are. Perhaps channels like CW and TNT do not care about quality of writing that much. Neither does SyFy channel, for example, but from time to time they still unwittingly air some gems lol, like The Expanse started there and Magicians were unusually good quality for that channel...

With shows like The 100 and Falling Skies, it's a high risk of getting hooked because of initially great pacing and compelling characters (and amazing casting), but if you have a semblance of a good taste, you will inevitably get sad about lost opportunities because of subpar level of writing.

I want to be optimistic and hope that they served another great purpose (apart from being highly entertaining shows) - they paved the way for golden age of good sci-fi television which is only now getting in the full bloom, just remember the Expanse and Raised by Wolves, and soon we'll have The Foundation on Apple+, which hopefully will be good, and a few others.

Raised by Wolves (2020–2022)

Prometheus/Aliens + Pitch Black vibe

[8/10 · 4 September 2020]

Concept is quite simple, but I've noticed it very often makes for the best Sci-Fi stories, because sci-fi is always mostly about survival. Which is a basic concept in itself. Remember Aliens or Pitch Black? both are great and simple concepts too. This show has a vibe of those two films and Prometheus as well. Ridley Scott has a very big talent for world-building and he seems to be choosing to collaborate with writers who are good at it as well.

It's a beautiful creation, though I kind of found some stylistical choices funny, like the wardrobe of the soldiers in the Earth apocalypse. I also agree with one of the commenters about a discovery that androids make in episode 3 about radioactivity, it's kind of hard to suspend disbelief that androids whose sole purpose is to keep humans safe didn't discover it earlier. I get it, creators used it to move the plot and add drama but it's a little too obvious.

Mother in her weaponized form, according to Sir Scott, is modeled after Atlas statue at the 30 Rock building. Personally, I think she does remind the Metropolis Robot more, but he did make me think that he was probably obsessed with that Atlas for a while, because the translucent white dudes in Prometheus totally looked that Atlas lol.

Possible spoiler: after episode three it seems that this is a mix of all above mentioned films plus zombie/vampires creatures (it's just my guess at this point).

I'm totally in for this ride! If Amazon Prime will announce soon that they are releasing the new season of Expanse too, then this is officially a great year for sci-fi!

The Umbrella Academy (2019–2024)

One of the better shows on Netflix now

[8/10 · 4 August 2020]

I agree with a few previous reviewers on two points, first, the second season is better than the first one in terms of action dynamics, and second, this show is up there with the Boys from prime, one of the better written not just superhero shows, but just shows today.

Serenity (I) (2019)

Good movie, very unusual though.

[7/10 · 15 August 2019]

This movie is a proof that movie "marketing" today can only promote familiar products and is not able to market true creativity and originality. This film is a heavily influenced by classics piece of post-post-modern mind, which is out of fashion today. So I'm surprised that it has even been made, I mean there's no superheroes, zombies or sexy bad guys in it. Now, I must admit story is not perfect, but I get what attracted the talent to it. I'm sure that even though it was a flop with critics and box office, this will not be a piece actors or producers will ever be ashamed of making. I suspect that maybe story seems a bit flawed because Mr. Knight is not a very good film director yet, perhaps if he let this be directed someone like David Fincher perhaps he'd manage to balance a tone change better, which occurs in the middle of the film. But what's done is done and it's definitely one of the more memorable movies of the last decade. If you are looking for originality (even though very postmodern) this is for you, if you are hooked on familiar products you will hate this.

No Small Affair (1984)

What a charming little movie!

[7/10 · 30 June 2019]

I'm so surprised to just discover this one now on amazon prime! The movie is charming and with some really nice bits in dialog too. It's refreshingly nonjudgmental about the characters supposed age difference. Ironically this type of movie wouldn't be made now in a supposedly more progressive time.

Demi Moore does an amazing job. I'm a bit disappointed that they don't let her sing, but I guess the story does call for somewhat undisputedly amazing voice, so they had her lip syncing. But yes, even though it's one of her very first major roles you can see a star in her already.

And John Cryer is still fresh and not annoying at all. He actually comes off as handsome and full of life guy. It's now, 35 years later, he seems to be stuck in the cliche rolls after decades of that silly show he's been on.

Surprising bits of casting are that both Jenifer Tilley and Tim Robinson are older than Demi but play highschoolers. John Cryer is only 2 years younger than her but he does have a baby face in this still so 6 years difference is kind of believable. No wonder him and Demi have a great chemistry in this since they dated while filming.

The only somewhat annoying scenes are the family scenes, the brother is totally misogynistic, mother and her lover are just stupid, I guess those are unavoidable 80s cliches and it was funny then. If you disregard that part, the story between Laura and Charles (Moore and Cryer) is actually quite timeless and endlessly charming.

Though I've noticed some of the earlier reviewers here said that the dialog was corny, boy it's nothing comparing to what the dialogs have become in the movies now, actually the dialog apart from family bits is good and has meaning in a classic way.

Black Summer (2019–2021)

Plain and full of cliches. Some bad acting and unimaginative writing.

[4/10 · 13 April 2019]

I rarely give this low of a rating to anything but after watching 2 first episodes of this I caught myself on a thought that nothing of significance happened while I was fighting the sleep all this time. Every plot turn was predictable and full of cliches to the level of paint by numbers. Oh and don't forget the pretentious shaky cam and turnaround point of view filming techniques as well as division into "chapters" which made no sense. I guess Netflix not only famously greenlights underdeveloped movies now, but also poorly executed series. I used to think that their original series was their strong house.

Origin (2018)

Really bad

[5/10 · 5 December 2018]

I can't understand how this one has higher rating on IMDb than Nightflyers, because this one is so much worse. People criticize Nightflyers for being like so many other things, but this one is just one tired trope after another. I must confess that episodes one and two still kept me curious thanks to Natalia Tena and that Japanese actor, whose name I should learn, because even though Natalia and him were given really poor material to work with, they still tried to do decent job. But episode three truly shows that all hints at potential just die there. I mean, don't even know why I expected much from this since it's coming from Paul W. Anderson. This show is honestly worse than Nightfliers, which at least makes an effort of somewhat convincing world building and character exploration. While this show even when it pretends to explore the characters through flashbacks still mostly just falls flat most of the time.

Lost in Space (2018–2021)

Very poor writing

[5/10 · 28 May 2018]

I don't know who are those people who give this 9 or 10. Bots who were paid by project marketing maybe? But seriously an example of very poor writing, like take many "adventure"shows written in 80-90s with constantly recycled plots and dialogs and and recycle it again. Nothing good comes out of it. Seriously Netflix manages to churn out some really badly written shows lately which start to prevail over the better written shows they used to churn out. Someone in those executive producers rooms is lacking taste or just doesn't care much. Its 2018 and there a million of writing classes there, time to upgrade your writers, Netflix.

Thumper (2017)

Good actors in a subpar film

[6/10 · 10 February 2018]

Surprised to see so many good actors participating in this halfway thought through film. Writing is bad, directing pretentious, felt like a film school student film. Gave it 6 as a kudos for being able to involve good actors into this bad film.

Knightfall (2017–2019)

A lazy writing

[5/10 · 7 December 2017]

A very lazy pilot. You could guess every phrase in a cliché ridden dialog, and a few "twists" could be seen from a 10 minutes ahead. I'm just wondering why waste budget if your story is a trope? Early 90s just called and asked for this primitive drivel back. Such a disappointment especially comparing to the far superior Vikings they air after...

Mudbound (2017)

Unfocused and because of it clichéd, lost an opportunity to be better

[6/10 · 21 November 2017]

Gave it a 6 because it's very unfocused. I wonder if it's the fault of the screenplay or is the original book is that way too. It felt like big pieces were missing from the story or rather not needed there. By the end of the movie you realize that Carey Malligan's character wasn't really crucial to the main racism theme and two main characters involved in it, so it makes you wonder why the first part of the film actually focuses on her so much. It will be funny is she's nominated for this absolutely unnecessary role. I was more interested to find out more about 2 main characters, but because of the lack of the focus they both came up as cliché as well.

Hand of God (2014–2017)

The best pilot from Amazon yet

[8/10 · 30 August 2014]

This was definitely the best pilot produced by Amazon so far in terms of quality of writing, acting and directing. Even just one of the best pilots all around.

Acting is very convincing from all of the leads. The story is very engaging and keeps you on the edge. It makes you question the main character's sanity, but still sympathize with him. There're a lot of layers to the narrative, but it feels all connected.

Marc Foster and Ben Watkins delivered!

I sincerely hope that Amazon will pick it up and produce the whole season with the same outstanding quality.