plamen_xp_lv Reviews

Shōgun: The Abyss of Life (2024) Season 1, Episode 8

Still a big fan of the series, can see why they did what they did here

[8/10 · 10 April 2024]

I should preface this by saying that I have read the novel Shogun, twice. It is a very influential book in my life, as the first time I read it, I was only 12-13 years ago.

So far, each and every episode has been absolutely brilliant, I believe I have 6 of them as 10/10 and 1 as 9/10. This one, while still brilliant in terms of tension, beauty, great cinematography and actors performance was a bit lacking in action, and significantly changed the fate of poor Hiromatsu. In the novel, he lives. The real-life inspiration for him was also alive after the events in the novel, mind you.

For me, this was done for dramatic effect, and quite successfully, but I still didn't like it that much. I feel like Nagakado's death could have been enough (he also doesn't die in the book by the way). I still feel like it is a solid development and does set the events I know will follow to be even more dramatic, I was just a bit at odds with this, but nevertheless, Shogun is a masterpiece, and unless they really mess up the last two episodes (and no, there's no chance there would be a second season, at least not based on the novel and the events in it), this show is 10/10 and one of the best in the last decade at least!

Constellation (2024)

There is a reason the ratings for the series are tanking

[7/10 · 6 April 2024]

And the reason is the last episode, the season finale. At least I believe it is the main reason, although I suspect quite a few people could not get past episodes 3/4. Which is a shame, as the series pick up from then onwards until espisode 7, which for me was the best, along with the intriguing opening episode.

So what is the issue with the season finale? I have written an extensive review of that episode, but to quickly sum I up (and also to have no spoilers, as there are quite a few in that one): it feels cheap. Like a low budget sci fi/horror mix, one that would go straight to TV. We have this great premise, this solid cast with some brilliant actors in it (I am a big fan of Rapace by the way, she is so underrated), some solid development...and you choose to go with characters doing the most illogical things and creating even further mess, along with stuff just...happening, to advance the plot, with no real explanation.

It is obvious this was destined for at least one more, if not numerous future seasons, but considering the ratings here, and no official confirmation from Apple, even though this TV series were close to the top of the rankings for some time, I am beginning to doubt those future seasons would happen. And I would hate that, as there is still hope for this, to turn out great. But it could have worked just as well, if not better, as limited TV series,8, 10, or even 12 episodes. Instead the creator decided to make the season finale a mindless filler not answering any questions, and creating new ones, including with the final scene, again completely unexplained and looking like it's there to be a final beg for renewal.

Constellation: These Fragments I Have Shored Against My Ruin (2024) Season 1, Episode 8

Why does this episode feel cheap?

[4/10 · 6 April 2024]

After the solid second half of the season, particularly last episode, this season finale is such a letdown. You have the impressive cast, you have the atmosphere, you have the plot in motion...just keep it going! If you want to make a second and third season, fine, throw 1-2 bigger things in, although I do believe this would have worked really well as limited series, maybe 10 episodes, of even 8.

However, what you should NOT do is make this a standard low budget sci-fi/horror mix. What I really enjoyed about the characters is that they acted smart so far, mostly. It made it feel like they were constantly adapting, learning new things, moving forward. Suddenly, Jo, and Henry Caldera are as stupid as they come. Henry knows what happened, even if how it happened is unexplained...and yet he is babbling about not being the same person, asking for DNA tests (even though it is very likely they share a DNA, just like everything else) and acting like a lunatic...instead of playing his cards smart. A Nobel Laureate is telling random people that he is a totally different person...from someone who is a carbon copy of him, when they know Caldera does not have a brother.

Jo at the same time is in a place that looks and feels like mental hospital, yet her strategy is to tell the people in charge...she can smell her real daughter and the one with her was not real. Of course, that would get you out in no time. Her daughter was also talking about the same stuff...but she is an 11 year old kid, kinda more justified from her.

Bud Caldera is one of the most boring, one-dimensional villains they could find. Like, villains are supposed to have an agenda, some strong qualities, anything. He is sad, drunk, angry, obnoxious, homicidal. No redeeming qualities, no duality, no gray areas, just pure psychopath. We get that he suffered during Apollo 18, but he is like complete opposite of Henry, and his goals and aim is to...just drink, be sexist, destroy lives and be a pain. Could have put more effort in him. Also, how did everyone...forget about him at the cabin? He traveled with the rest, yet he was left in the snow for hours (and no hypothermia/frostbite...) while everyone...left.

I don't have much hope for season 2, if this is how they set the tone for it. This would be a gigantic waste of great premise and a good cast. I really hope if there is season 2, that they set the tone right from episode 1, it would be the only way to salvage it.

Foundation: Creation Myths (2023) Season 2, Episode 10

Are people so easily entertained?

[3/10 · 13 March 2024]

Yes, some of the acting was brilliant. But we've come to expect this by the actors involved, which is why up until halfway point I actually had some hope this was salvageable. No hope was left by the end of the season.

Pretty much every "twist" was Deus Ex Machina. Since I am pretty sure the fans of the series are not smart enough to know what this is - every seemingly hard/impossible challenge in the plot was solved by a very unlikely, pretty much impossible solution:

Harry Seldon lived...by linking with Gaal, somehow his chains unlocking (magic), drowning his guard, somehow Gaal changes the body of this guard to him (magic), somehow Tellem doesn't realise one of her close people is missing for a day, somehow Harry escapes, then comes back exactly at the right time to kill Tellem, somehow Tellem jumps in the boy, even though she dies in the matter of 2 seconds and very unexpectedly, somehow she waits for hours to then look at Gaal whole holding a gun, then shoots Salvor, who somehow sees the gun, takes out her knife, runs for a few meters and jumps in front of it (pure Bollywood level of reality). Then she dies after holding a little speech, how neat.

Day, who in the previous episode somehow decided that he wanted to personally risk his life and take the whole fleet to a single planet, decides also to engage in hand to hand combat against a brilliant fighter. His security, even before he tells them not to interfere...do not interfere and just sit and watch as a man is beating the most important guy in the Empire. Seriously, if the scene wasn't pathetic, it would be hilarious. Then, the switch happens and Day is dead. Then, Demerzel somehow controls the whole guards, being able to openly command them (they even volunteer!) to arrest the main Empire. Somehow a ship leaves the most secure planet in the Galaxy. Somehow Sareth knows she is pregnant...the day after having sex with a guy.

Somehow one of the most annoying characters survives, and then somehow, all the people on Terminus are fine, because...magic. Also,we are clearly shown the people on Terminus, including Glawen and the chief dude watching as the ship collapsed on the planet. So the Vault saved them all in..a minute time, if not less.

On the very surface, the last few episodes of this TV series have more drama, battles, twists, better acting and scenes with the main characters. But just go a level below, and it is incoherent nonsense, stitched with improbable actions and decisions, a full-on space soap opera. It tries to be a mix between Star Wars and Game of Thrones, it fails miserably. Some of the scenes were quite epic, and the characters (and particularly actors and actresses) of Day, Dusk (even Dawn, the actor is pretty decent), Rue, Demerzel and Harry Seldon are quite nice. The rest, drivel.

At least it made my decision not to watch Season 3 and cancel my Apple TV sub very easy.

Foundation: A Glimpse of Darkness (2023) Season 2, Episode 2

Is this a new Marvel movie?

[2/10 · 23 February 2024]

And there I thought it can't be worse than episode 1 of this season. Took me about 2 days to finish this episode, because every few minutes of it I needed to step away for my own sanity.

Empire (particularly Day and Dusk) have been one of the few positive things going for this TV show since season 1, and even they are a parody now. The actors are still as good as ever, but the script and dialogue they are involved in is just trash. They are openly bossed in their own palace by a random boss gir...sorry, "queen". All of the women on this show are now the same stereotype of a sarcastic, know-it-all maidens with little to no additional personality. The dialogue is cringe, particularly between Salvor and Gall, and everything relies on magic, prophecies and intuition. To call this a massive disappointment would be treating it kindly.

Foundation (2021– )

People really prefer style over substance....

[4/10 · 18 February 2024]

The visuals are great, yes. I love epic space scenery, new worlds, sci-fi which is heavy on world-building, etc. It is the only reason I can give this (so far watched only season 1) 6/10, because this is otherwise VERY thin on substance.

It is no suprise to me that the scores for the 10 episodes are much lower than the score for the TV series itself. This actually shows that the score for the show is artificially inflated. None of those episodes are... memorable. Nothing much really happens through half, if not the whole of each episode. The narration, criticised by many critics is really atrocious, trying to be deep and thoughtful but sounding very cliche and pompous. The time jumps are badly orchestrated, the jumps to the different subplots too.

My main issue is with the characters and dialogue. To say that the characters are flat and uninspiring would just be the start of it. In particular, Salvor and Gaal, who are supposed to be the main two characters of the TV series. They are bland, artificially forced into romantic predicaments, the actresses who play them do not have the talent and charisma to pull it off and the dialogue they are given simply completes the mediocre appearance. The guy who plays Hugo Crast cannot be a professional actor, this is by far the most wooden performance I have seen in TV series in ages. In contrast, the characters of Harry Seldon, the Emperor (particularly Brother Day, but also Dusk), the young/teenage Brother Dawn and Demerzel are compelling, and even if they too suffer from poor script-writing, the actors (and actress) are very impressive.

At this point, I am more rooting for the Empire, based on characters and performance. It is ironic, considering that one of the main ideas is that the genetic dynasty is souless and does not change, it is stagnant, and yet their characters are more interesting than the flat, run-of-the-mill main heroes, who remind me of the catastrophic failure of the Star Wars sequel made by Disney.

I really hope season 2 improves, as the premise is great, the visuals are great, there are some solid actors and some promise left, but so far, I am dissapointed.

The Midnight Club: Witch (2022) Season 1, Episode 6

Seriously, Mike Flanagan, what happened here?

[3/10 · 27 January 2024]

By far the weakest episode of his series I have seen, I think the next "worst" is 6/10, which by the way I have given on a few other episodes of this TV series and maybe an episode of Bly Manor/Midnight Mass, can't remember.

Like, Ilonka's story for the Midnight Club is just...bad. It is half-baked, there are plotholes (like her friends telling her she has been sad for months about the death of her mum, but a minute ago she was throwing away the ashes of her mum while the narration specifically says that this is after the funeral, so it could not have been months) and is the most tired of cliches in one story. Like, the stories of the others were not very impressive either (Amesh' one being kinda decent), but this one made me skip forward out of boredom.

Also, Sandra is the only sensible one, and she is a religious maniac, so there's that...and minutes after she said she is not gonna take part in the ritual...she takes part in the ritual. Out of nowhere, no logical explanation whatsoever given how adamant she was.

In fact, all the others, they are convinced that an ancient ritual, around which most cult members literally died, in a place where they have heard voices, seen shadows and other phenomena...is harmless?

Like, I love Flanagan's work because it is not cheap horror. It is complex, profound, gut-wrenching, involving love, loss, sacrifice, pain, mistakes, atonement...this is a cheap teen horror flick. In the first episode, regarding the first story told in the Midnight Club (Natsuki), Spence says that startling someone is not scary or horror, it is just that, startling them. And then most (not all, there were a couple of truly scary moment through the first 6 episodes I have watched so far) "scary moments" are just plain jump scares, and not the best either.

The actors are all right, not amazing, but not bad either, most of them, but god, does this show fall very short of the mark so far, exemplified by this mediocre episode.

Even the famous "episode 5" of every Flanagan's series didn't fully land, could not believe this.

Lost in Space: The New Guy (2021) Season 3, Episode 3

Will does something stupid - like most other episodes really

[4/10 · 16 January 2024]

At this point I would question everyone who is not actively rooting for Will to die. He is annoying, absolutely arrogant, half of the human errors in the whole series were made by him or because of him getting in trouble, and because he has the thickest plot armour of the all, he is always unharmed and continues being even more arrogant. For a 12-14 year old kid this is impressive in a very bad sense of the word.

Like, he just says he discovered the most important archeological discovery of all time...but he doesn't call anyone to assist, his main "efforts" involve him recording stuff on video, desecrating a skeleton of an intelligent being and using it to activate random buttons he has no idea about, which could potentially trigger an atomic bomb in the valley where the rest are for all he knows. He prefers to destroy the whole place instead of leaving it alone, and yet again survives because someone comes to his rescue.

Also, as usual, he acts absolutely entitled towards Robot, but this is in most episodes.

Seriously, I dislike him way more than Smith at this point.

Lost in Space: Ninety-Seven (2019) Season 2, Episode 10

I am sorry, what?

[4/10 · 15 January 2024]

Did they...did they kinda forget why they stayed behind in the first place? It was because they thought the rift will remain open for too long, and the robot ship is going to follow them to Alpha Centauri. Now lo and behold, the Rift opens, the ship passes through, and it closes seconds after, so that even the Jupiter of their parents can't catch up even though it is almost attached to them.

And Scarecrow got resurrected...to sacrifice himself hours later.

Again, too many instances where the thick plot armour of the main characters (and pretty much everyone else) saves the story from numerous dangers.

Lost in Space (2018–2021)

Updated Review after finishing the whole TV Show

[6/10 · 14 January 2024]

The only reason I watched the whole of season 1 is that I was really in a mood for a space/sci fi story. If I had found something better on Netflix, I would have.

Giving it a 7 - 3 stars for all the visuals, some action sequences and some dramatic moments. 2 stars for some nice actors and their somehow sympathetic characters. 1 star for a few decent scenes and even some good humour. Final start just because it is 6.5 and I want to be nice to it, as I did finish it.

One of the laziest plot advancing tools is to make main characters on the same side not sharing vital information they hold. I hate it when I see it, it is dull, hardly believable and a lazy way to advance the plot without solving an issue sooner. And it happens ALL the time throughout the show. No one talks to anyone, and even when they do, they hide parts of the truth or outright lie.

The other most annoying aspect of Lost in Space, about which many of the top reviews are talking, is the decision-making of the main characters, particularly the Robinsons. I am not even gonna exaggerate when I say that the majority of the troubles everyone landed it was directly DUE to a Robinson being stupid. Have to highlight Will, his decisions nearly cost lives on a number of occasions (and only because everyone has THICK plot armour, besides one absolutely needless death in the middle of Season 1 and another kinda better-crafted death in Season 2, do his decisions stay nearly causing lives instead of causing them on a regular basis). The boy is a walking wrecking ball, and even when he comes up with a smart plan, it is to fix a mistake...which either he or his family members created in the first place. Short after him is Maureen, Judy not being far behind, and even Penny messes up 2-3 times, without even mentioning her ridiculous romantic plotline that is ALWAYS, whenever it appears, out of place. And what even is with the 3 kids (11, around 16 and 18 at the start of the show) often being the ones who come up with the plans/solutions/actions on behalf of everyone? It is said that the colonists are the best of the best, having passed numerous tests and training, and het somehow it is the 3 kids, who regularly get something wrong or act...like kids to be in charge of the action. Seriously, I admire everyone who wasn't eye-rolling at least twice each episode.

Last, but definitely not least, be prepared to REALLY suspend any disbelief. The main characters will be in danger about 5 times an episode (not an exaggeration either), but their thick plot armour would be getting them out every time. There will be instances where they will be seriously injured, but scenes later they will be absolutely fine. There will be instances where the premise of the danger, their actions and the development would leave absolutely no solutions...until something miraculously pops up. This is what I dislike about constantly putting main characters in danger. It does NOT create suspense, not after the first 2-3 times this happens. People only start being bored, asking themselves "what is it going to be this time, in what way will be this Robinson saved in the last second?" It creates a sort of emotional fatigue, not excitement, you can't care about them, if you know they are gonna be fine, so better stop putting them in danger all the time for the action, and create some actual story and plot development!

This show had plenty potential, some beautiful views, some potentially intriguing characters and sense of humour some nice scenes..but it can be so much better, it's so frustrating! I blame this on lack of effort from the script writers and director.

I understand any ratings from 4 to 7, plus maybe 8/10 for the bigger optimists. 9 and 10 are ridiculous and I seriously doubt the people who put them ever watching anything which is higher quality.

The ending was also boring and too much of a fan service, ending a TV show that was mostly feel-good but quite lacking in logic and actual plot.

Gyeongseong Creature: Tear (2024) Season 1, Episode 10

Sorry, but what even was that?

[2/10 · 10 January 2024]

I mean, there is bad, and there is BAD. This is definitely the second kind. I cannot even choose where to begin on this episode. The season was already underwhelming enough, going between 5 and 7 for most episodes, and I was a bit doubtful if I am even gonna persevere and see season 2 this year. After this episode though, it is a wrap, no need to keep watching this clearly inferior product.

Probably the highlight of how bad this was were the last 20 or so minutes of the episode. From 1: our main characters somehow fighting against 15 or so supposedly highly skilled sword fighters (were they supposed to be ninjas or what?) and being on the receiving end of numerous slashing and stabbing wounds, outnumbered 2 Vs those 15, and yet killing a number of them, even though one is a pawnshop owner with no mentioned combat training and the other one is a sleuth, also with no mentioned military or combat training, to 2: even though they seem to have seriously injured or killed 10 or so of the enemies, by the final stand they enemies were replenished, which by the way happened in the hospital as well with the military throughout the TV series, to 3: Lady Maeda somehow deciding to leave, and send sword fighters against the two main characters instead of just shooting them, which was James Bond parody level of stupid, to 4: the monster somehow finding its way ro this random place in the forest, to 5: the monster actually somehow surviving a dynamite explosion and the massive fire right around it, to 6: the monster somehow not regenerating out of a sudden (the missing arm), either kill it or keep its powers, do not pixk and mix, to 7: our heroes still running afterwards (and fighting beforehand) even with all the stab and slash wounds, and the fact they were stabbed, shot and beaten over the last few days, to 8: Lady Maeda mentioning she was friends with Seishin, yet this is not explained or explored further or even questioned by the main characters, to 9: high ranking Japanese official is being buried, there was the hospital which was bombed day earlier, yet no real security there, and no one noticing the messages written and the gifts from one of the main perpetrators?, to 10: yet again everyone just talking and talking instead of running/surviving, to 11: Lady Maeda surviving the blast, even though she actually ran Towards some of the dynamite, to 12: Lt Kato talking about the hospital closing down and the personnel leaving, egen though the hospital was pretty much destroyed in the blast, or at least the "important" research parts were. Also, what exactly were Tae-Sang and Taek celebrating, when it was a few more months before freedom for them?, and to top it off, the final scene, in which Chae-Ok is in a lake? And is somehow brought to life? What, did Tae-Sang just leave her body in the forest, left the monster and went home? I imagine he wanted to bury her... God, this was BAD.

Gyeongseong Creature: Atrocity (2024) Season 1, Episode 9

Probably the strongest episode so far, along with episode 7, but a bit more thoughtful

[9/10 · 9 January 2024]

Now, I still don't think that these web series are particularly amazing, still unsure between 6/10 and 7/10. However, this episode is particularly strong in a number of ways.

First, the dialogue is actually better than the average level for the series, particularly when Lady Maeda and Tae-Sang are discussing betrayal and why people do it.

Also, the scene when Chae-Ok killed Director Ichiro was very well shot (pun intended) and really dramatic, with an appropriate music and her inner thoughts.

Still, it was not without issues, particularly how Ishikawa was dying for hours, and even had to be poisoned, even though his carrotid artery was severed and he was bleeding constantly. That made it very cheap, as everyone knows a person would die in a matter of minutes, not hours.

Also, some really stupid dialogue between the rebels and Tae-Sang..

However, the powerful scene between him and Lady Maeda, and then with Mrs Nawol, who is one of my favourite characters, was quite enough to make it a very solid episode, and I was actually really afraid that they will kill off Chae-Ok.

The monster part was against contrary to any previous logic - why would they not keep it asleep, when they know that even metal bars cannot hold it for long? How did it simply break through the floor?

To be fair,this series is better for its depiction of the horrible treatment of occupied Korea and it's citizens by Japan, rather than it's dialogue or monster/horror elements, but when they are at a decent level as well, the series as a whole look pretty good.

Gyeongseong Creature (2023– )

This COULD have been really good

[5/10 · 3 January 2024]

Yeah, I know the K-movies fans will love the hell out of everything produced in South Korea, even when it is a mediocre soap opera. But it is just that, a mediocre soap opera with quite a few redeeming features.

Seriously, nobody can tell me that they were not rolling their eyes every few minutes, while the main characters, attacked and under pressure to run were losing precious time to argue, gaze into each other's eyes, discuss their feelings or just cry and stand still. There is plot armour and then there is Asian plot armour, thrice as thick... Each one of them should have been dead about 5 times. The soldiers were all incredibly incompetent, felt like Storm troopers from Star Wars. And the monster itself was a killing much...unless it was facing a main character, in which case it was about as competent as the soldiers...

Again, quite a few redeeming features, which is why this is not 3/10. The main two characters are cool, the baddies are slightly exciting, some really good supporting characters (love Mrs Nawol), the premise is good, some really good action scenes, scary monster, but if I had to constantly endure long scenes of romance and sadness in the middle of battles and people wasting a minute to discuss trivial matters while running to escape, and had to suspend my disbelief time and time again, I could not enjoy it fully.

In some aspects South Korean cinema should better learn from European and American cinema, because it seems they want the crazy over-the-top drama and feelings from Bollywood instead...

Ted Lasso: We'll Never Have Paris (2023) Season 3, Episode 8

I was wondering why this episode has the lowest rating of all....

[3/10 · 2 December 2023]

But after seeing it, I get it. In fact, I think the rating is generous, if anything. From time to time, because of how awesome the series are in general, the best comedy and one of the best TV series in general I have ever watched, I forget it is made by a corporation that wants to appear relevant and supporting the "current thing". Just like Netflix, just like Disney, just like Amazon. Thankfully, they have tackled heavy social issues throughout the first three seasons in a much better way than they do here. This episode is not only a filler, as nothing really happens (or at least naturally), it is also completely irrelevant and unnecessary. I am not saying that the social issue of leaked p*rn/n*des is not relevant, or Colin's struggles about revealing his "other life" as he beautifully put it to Crimm in a previous episode are irrelevant, of course not. But this felt forced, out of nowhere, and completely like ticking boxes. The acting wasn't believable, the story was contrived, the preachy stuff not well done. NOBODY can convince me this is a good episode. Luckily, it is one of only 2-3, which are mediocre, out of 34, and by far the weakest one of them all. I am glad that usually the box ticking was on a backseat, although season 3 appears to be worse when it comes to that. Also, why is nobody talking about how problematic is Isaac's taking Colin's phone in the first place? Like, we get it, he wanted to make sure they were deleting those (although he has no right to demand or even ask for that), but this was Colin going through his private and intimate photos, this is not better than the actual leaks from Isaac. Seriously, Apple, stop trying to mess good TV series with box ticking.

The Fall of the House of Usher: The Raven (2023) Season 1, Episode 8

This final episode single-handedly changed my overall series grade

[10/10 · 31 October 2023]

Masterclass in creating atmosphere and delivering a memorable ending of memorable mini series. This is what I have to start with.

While hardly anyone can argue that the majority of actors DELIVER in this, I think that the Roderick-Madeline-Verna-Arthur quartet are a level above the rest.

The music, the lighting, the delivery of the lines, all of the well-chosen words from Edgar Allan Poe himself, the shadowy scenes which are more dreadful and heart-wrenching than cheap horror and jump scares.

Of course, I so wanted for Lenore to live, but by episode seven knew that she was doomed, even if not one of his direct descendants. And yet, that end for her, while beautiful, nearly made me cry.

True, all of the Ushers were monsters, in their own way. Roderick and his sister mainly, inflicting so much pain and destruction on the world. But who can say what would have happened in different circumstances? They grew up in poverty, trauma, and after discovering the true story of their father, jealousy of everything they didn't have, a sense of injustice that drove them to all those despicable acts. The show did not have many likeable characters at all, but god, were they compelling. Even if all seemed doomed by the last few episodes, a part of us still wanted them to somehow stop this all, have one last great escape.

Beautiful, beautiful and dark storytelling. I was going to have an 8/10 for the series, but the last 4 episodes put this undoubtedly at a 9/10.

The Ushers flew too close to the sun and burned, but did they not produce a bright, even if terrifying flame?

Farscape: What Was Lost: Part 1 - Sacrifice (2002) Season 4, Episode 2

A mediocre episode in the wrong place

[6/10 · 9 January 2022]

Every TV series, even the great ones like Farscape has some below standard episodes. The thing is, this can be damaging when those episodes are at the start or end of a season. If it is in the middle, as a filler episode, absolutely fine, as I said, hardly any TV series go without them, but so far the first two episodes of Season 4, particularly after the best Farscape season for me, 3, are mediocre. Granny (Noranti) is annoying and does not make much sense, nothing really is explained, Grayza is not a very interesting villain, and there were only a few redeeming scenes in an entirely forgettable episode probably the worst one for me in now more than 3 seasons. Hopefully it picks up, I have watched Farscape as a kid, and now rewatching every episode as an adult, first 3 seasons are amazing, particularly 2 and 3, but 4 seems like it is going to be the least impressive of them all. Hopefully it picks up soon!

Love and Monsters (2020)

Well, this was "Zombieland" meets..many other movies

[7/10 · 28 May 2021]

Like, it was totally based on Zombieland, no doubt about it. And also other movies, of course, this plot has been used a number of times, which is fine. And I liked the humour to a decent extent, we nice action, lovely dog, Aimee is cool, Minnow and the guy were nice.. But this movie did not know what it wanted to be. Comedy? Looked like it, but then tried to be serious towards the second part. Romantic? Not much romance going on. Adventure/action? There were parts when this was completely missing. Family movie with monsters? Yeah, sounds about right.

I was annoyed with Joel for about 55 mins, which is a long time for the main protagonist. He was just...awful :D Minnow and the other guy appeared for a very short time in my opinion, not enough was explained about the world, the ending was too much of a cliche.

But overall,I kinda liked it,as something to have on the TV when I could not choose anything else. I won't watch it again, and definitely do not need a sequel, unlike many people here, it seems, but it was quite all right, and not very pretentious.

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

Wow, I had low expectations...and still dissapointed.

[5/10 · 29 April 2021]

Like, we know it is a movie about a massive ape on a mysterious Island full of anomalies. We don't want perfect logic and believable plot. But at least give us something to work with, why does Hollywood think all the viewers are brain-dead? The scene with the first Kong fight was incredibly bad, like I paused it 5 times just to recover from the shock of how bad it was written and done. The characters are cardboard cutouts mostly, the action is neither believable nor entertaining...not even sure why I am giving this a 5...

Stevie (2008 TV Movie)

Saved by the ending

[6/10 · 14 September 2020]

It was a predictable, not very scary movie full of the usual cliches. The ending though saved it and made it a bit emotional and rather decent that mediocre.

Gallows Hill (2013)

What were they thinking?

[3/10 · 10 September 2020]

Seriously, how do you make such a movie, watch it afterwards and think it is good to be distributed? Almost nothing saves it. The acting, the plot, the dialogues, the stereotype actions taken by the victims, nothing does the job. Don't watch, please, waste of time with dumb ending, and no one can care about the characters and what happened to them

Yatagan (2020)

Funny, Real and so close to us

[8/10 · 3 September 2020]

A perfect blend of sociopolitical satyre and a feelgood light-hearted comedy, this movie does introduce to us the same old story about corruption and incompetence in the Bulgarian state administration and government agencies, but with a fresh twist and look at it. It makes us root for the main characters, the alcoholic inspector Kostov and and the penniless jobless former poet, Nixon. Both of them look and feel like failures and are far from true heroes. Yet they manage to explore a faulty system for their own benefit. This should feel wrong, we should be condemning them, their actions and their ideals. Yet we root for them, we want them to succeed, why? Because they don't "hurt" anybody. The flaws are there, all the corruption and incompetence is around them, they just put it to their use. The cast is diverse, sympathetic, a good mix of old, well-known actors and young rising stars. Everything would feel familiar for s Bulgarian, and the subtle or not so subtle jabs and the current and recent governments and certain political figures in Bulgaria makes this an even more relevant movie in 2020. It's not perfect, certainly, you can ask more from the script, the dialogue, the acting. But it is something different, and I did enjoy it from a little after the begginning to the very last scene, and for that a 7.5 rounded to an 8 is well-deserved!

Like.Share.Follow. (2017)

Can't even believe how BAD this mess is!

[2/10 · 4 October 2018]

Seriously, did the people who gave it more than 6 stars actually watched another movie, or is it their first one? I am not going to go into great detail, watch it for yourself, but I can only advise you to find a better movie, this is not worth it even for free! This was a poorly done cyber/stalking thriller/horror. In every aspect. The plot was not very original, although the premise was decent. But everything was badly executed to an extent which ruined the few scattered positives. The screenplay was hilariously bad, written by a 14-year old. The guy playing the cop cannot be a professional actor, he was comical. The male lead actually tried, but as I said, the words they put in his mouth were so wooden and stereotypical, that I felt completely emotionally detached from him. Ema Horvath actually impressed me for a while, but even her character was butchered by the mediocre directing and screenplay. At the end, after the "twist", I was bored out of my skull. The actions of the people involved were so devoid of any logic or reality that even a teen horror flick could not copy that. Like not having a police protection even after a murderer is stalking you? Or going to a house you specifically described in a video, including how to find it? This mess actually has some comedy value, that's how abhorrent it is. But seriously, 15-year olds, go watch some more movies, and then rate this one again. 5.2 is far too generous. And this is coming from an avid horror fan who always believes moves deserve higher praise than they get in general, particularly horrors. But this one cannot be salvaged.

Annihilation (I) (2018)

An..other dissapointment

[6/10 · 18 August 2018]

Another title I have to classify under "Great idea/concept, terrible end product". As many others have already said, this is a mess, full of pretty visuals, philosophy and psychology, yet devoid of real substance. I am not sure that even the crew, director and actors knew what they were aiming for. Is is a thriller? A horror? A drama? Sci-fi? I can only tell you what it wasn't-deep and existentialist, as they most probably wanted it to be. Too many plot holes, some phenomenal in its scope lazy writing. People already mentioned why there is almost no logic and common sense to be found in the scientific team's actions and motives, I am not gonna repeat it. Oh, the idea behind the movie was more than promising. But instead of making a decent Sci-Fi action movie with some thriller and horror elements, or to fully go for a deeper, more philosophic film, something like Arrival or Solaris, they went for a mix of all these, failing completely to present a finished and polished end product. Plus, the pace at time was unbearably slow, further killing any joy from the movie. I give it 5 stars only because of the nice visuals, the likeable (but not memorable enough) character of the biologist, and the great premise, even though I felt dissapointed at the end.

The First Purge (2018)

This could have been good, but..

[6/10 · 14 August 2018]

Just to start with, I absolutely despise this franchise. Only watched the first movie, and I couldn't even finish it, it was so bland and predictable and plain bad. But I saw the trailer for The First Purge and somehow decided that it might be a decent horror/drama, with some sociopolitical elements. The trailer turned out to be about much better than the movie.. There is no coherent plot, the acting is wooden and stereotypical, and like in all cheap trash horror movies out there, there is no common sense or logic. I don't want to focus on the negatives, as there are so many of them. It could have been good. They just needed to add a few subplots, some logic and development and to leave the gore and horror, but make it a bit more realistic and believable, so that the idea of class struggle and the politicians against the people is plausible. Instead it looks like a parody, and that is before the Dmitri starts acting like a black Rambo and the white guys are all bad and wearing Nazi uniforms. The last 20 mins of the movie me and my friends, and the majority of the movie theatre couldn't hold in the laughter, that's how ridiculous was everything. 6/10, only because I tried hard to enjoy it, otherwise it is 4-5.

Hereditary (2018)

7.7 for THIS? The trailer was better than the move itself!

[2/10 · 28 June 2018]

I am not sure that people who are giving this movie 9 and 10 have even seen another decent horror movie. I was deceived by the good reviews and the decent trailer It started off pretty well, first few scenes were great, had good expectations. After that it was a snooze fest for more than an hour. Comparing it with "The Shining", " The Omen" and "Exorcist" among others is utterly laughable. Great horror movies make you care about the characters, this is where the horror lies. In this movie I did not really care for a single person. The father was meek and weak. Anne was a complete psycho from the start, Peter was underdeveloped, the little brat was the worst. I kept expecting the ending to salvage some of the merits of the movie, but it was actually even more ridiculous and nonsensical. This was badly written, badly edited, badly presented. People weren't scared, they were bored and left dissapointed. The only decent horror I've seen so far this year is "A Silent Place". Don't waste your money on this mediocre piece.