adrienneiii Reviews

Simply Black (2020)

Absolutely bleedin' hilarious

[8/10 · 7 March 2024]

JP Zadi is my new favourite comedian after watching Simply Black and Represent on Netflix. His basic schtick of the confused uncomfortable expression is already superb even though that's not generally the kind of humour that I go for. But underlying the dopey visage are very cutting observations on race and society that go both ways - critical of both majority and minority attitudes on many fronts. You couldn't make many of these jokes in the US, people have lost all ability to joke about racial issues, which is a terrible shame as it often serves to highlight real and important issues.

Unfortunately my French is a bit meh. Someone tell me where can I find more Zadi in English???

Recoding Entropia (2020)

Breathtakingly beautiful

[10/10 · 24 July 2022]

I am truly disturbed to see the low rating given so far to this short. Is there something personal going on?

I was privileged to see this as a side exhibit at Atelier des Lumieres in Paris, yet I enjoyed it even more than the main exhibit (also fabulous). The price of admission would have been worth it just to see Recoding to be honest. I watched it again yesterday on Oculus TV on my Quest 2 - nearly the same as the one in Paris but a few differences. The Paris version was superior still and I hope it eventually makes it onto Oculus.

This film seems to be a cyber interpretation of the Big Bang. It is heartbreakingly mysterious and beautiful, and it conjures up deep emotions in me, similar to those provoked by the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The accompanying choral music adds to the sense of wonder. I recommend it to all interested in sci-fi and sheer visual beauty.

La Corde (2021– )

Really really liked it

[8/10 · 21 June 2022]

I don't understand the other bad reviews for this series to be honest. Yes, it's cerebral and it's not fast-paced. But it is beautifully filmed and I very much enjoyed the characters (fabulous actors) and the mystery of the rope. My partner thoroughly enjoyed it too. The ending is very abstract and not for those who need everything tied up. In a similar category to Dark (Germany), not at that level but still highly enjoyable television.

Quicksand (2019)

Blown away by this

[9/10 · 4 April 2022]

We are big Scandi drama fans in this house but this is better than anything of the other many series we have seen. Superb standard of acting, main actress is astonishing. Fantastic script and filming. Kind of surprising ending. Hard to take a star away in fact, but some aspects of the legal process are not very realistic. Not like it matters though.

Extra Ordinary (II) (2019)

Spontaneous outbreaks of laughter for days afterwards

[10/10 · 18 February 2021]

I was going to give it 8 or 9 stars but couldn't then work out why it would lose any marks for any reason so I'm going the whole hog and giving it 10. My entire family found this film hilarious, and we are bemused at the average rating, to say the least. I wonder if it is that some of the reviewers don't get the Irish sense of humour, or the cultural references? I would say that anyone who appreciates Father Ted, Young Offenders, Derry Girls, and their ilk should very much enjoy this film. Everything is wonderful, script, settings, actors, but the lead actress is simply outstanding (and I had never even seen her before). So grateful to the entire film for all the belly laughs.

3% (2016–2020)

So shocked at some of the negative reviews!

[9/10 · 16 June 2018]

I think this show is absolutely OUTSTANDING. Hunger Games meets Cube. Okay, perhaps not completely original in theme, but nor is it a simple copy of anything else. Other reviewers have criticized the realism of the script and the acting, which I find really hard to get to grips with. I'm pretty demanding in those respects -- other Netflix series such as Sense8, the OA, and Stranger Things (2nd series) just did not cut it for me, not nearly. But I am close to the end of Series 2 of 3% and am still gripped (perhaps slightly less than the first series, but hey, it's still very good going). In particular, I think that the acting is first-rate. There are occasions in which the dialogue strays from what would be realistic (I cannot BEAR the kind of scripts where they are constantly trying to explain everything in a way that makes the dialogue unnatural), but those are few and far between IMO. Maybe some of the differences of opinion are down to language/cultural interpretation. I am a native English speaker but lived in Brazil for a while, so I'm watching it in the original language with Pt subtitles. Seems from other reviews that the English dubbing is awful. Subtitles must be the best choice, but inevitably you are going to lose something. I'll tell you one thing - Brazil must have moved on a lot since I lived there because I am beyond impressed at the standard of this series. Congratulations to the creators and the actors.