silmaril-6 Reviews

Love Me (I) (2021– )

Liked it, but Swedish version (original) is better

[7/10 · 11 March 2023]

I generally don't like the trend to remake fresh shows, barely two years old (i e. Ghosts UK and in this case Alska Mig) Originals are, in my opinion, always better and more sincere. Ghost US at some point provided something new compared to (in severy aspect superior) UK show, but not this one, this one is plain copy-paste of Swedish show. And it's also inferior to the original, but not bad at all,quite likeable. Just really no need to watch both shows, they are identical. Apart from cast, of course, spoken language and scenary/city. Australian cast is also great and they did great job. Too bad the scenario was carbon copy of Swedish one, with no original elements at all.

The Wheel of Time (2021– )

Terrible acting by the younger cast

[4/10 · 23 November 2021]

I've read just four books, I liked them, but I guess reading it at the same time with Game of thrones was too much, and I liked GoT better. I was looking forward to the tv series, to refresh my memory and keep up with the story, but one and a half episode in, I gave it up too. I just couldn't stand the terrible acting of the 4 "dragons", especially the blond one. When he started screaming at Rosamund after the bat dream (so forced and fake and irritating), I just turned off the tv. There's plenty of better shows out there, this one is neither faithful to the books, nor done well.

The Sinner (2017–2021)

Uneven

[7/10 · 21 October 2021]

I really liked season 1 and 3, but not season 2 and it seems that I dislike season 4. I don't get the hatred that season 3 received, I find it very well acted, atmospheric and tense. Season 4 is boring, acting is poor, like everyone is on sleeping pills and story doesn't seem interesting enough. It's just 2 episodes in, maybe it'll get better, but I doubt it.

Chapelwaite (2021–2023)

Expected much more

[5/10 · 3 October 2021]

It's the third show I'm binge watching this week, all of them with supernatural (vampire) element. None of them I expected to be about vampires by the way:D I'm not a fan of the horror genre if there's no strong drama in it (or a comedy element as in What we do in the shadows). First one - Midnight mass blew me away, made me think about a lot of things, second one - Post mortem - No one dies in Skarnes was quirky and funny. Third one, this one, I expected the most of it because of having King and Brody in it. But it's inferior to all previously mentioned shows in every single aspect. Acting is poor, yes even Brody, story is dragging on, no meaningful conversation, no interesting characters and it's too dark (sometimes it's really hard to see what's going on on the screen). Maybe I would like it more if I watched it first, these set the bar really high, but I doubt it.

Tell Me Your Secrets (I) (2021)

Hmmmm

[5/10 · 10 March 2021]

It's hard to like the show this much overloaded with disturbed and morally handicapped characters. As someone already said - I felt dirty after watching it. I've watched only episodes 1-4 and 9-10, because I was interested in the story, but there were no single person I cared about, let alone liked.

Safe (2018)

Broadchurch wannabe

[6/10 · 4 January 2021]

But waaaay inferior to Broadchurch. The story is good, keeps you guessing until the end. Acting is o.k., but far from excellent and characters are mostly annoying and shallow. Also unnecessary long, it should be packed in 4 episodes in order to avoid many nonsense which kept me rolling my eyes at least 5 times per episode.

Criminal: UK (2019–2020)

Season 2 is excellent

[8/10 · 3 January 2021]

Of more than 95% of the shows I've ever watched, season 2 was significantly less interesting (not to say much worse) than the first one. Like most of the creators were surprised that it will continue at all and were caught off guard and with vague idea how to carry on. Not this one! Second season is way better than the first one and episodes 2 and 3 are exceptional. I think so because season 2 deals with more intriguing stories/cases which really suck you in and provoke strong emotions. Acting is all the way top notch, as the production (for both seasons).

The Crown (2016–2023)

From someone who liked season 3 and 4

[8/10 · 31 December 2020]

I've read many many comments complaining about the change of cast, which is as I could conclude, the main reason for disliking season 3 and 4. I've tried watching the s01e01 when it came out, but as someone not familiar at all with the British crown and their history, I found it too hard to follow and gave up immediately. Then they have casted 2 actresses I admire - Olivia Colman and Helena Bonham Carter so I decided to give it a try once again just because of them, hoping that I could understand it better now that Charles and Diana are in the timeline, because that's something I remember as a kid. And I liked it a lot. Cast is tremendous, story well done, I got acquainted with the characters and after finishing season 3 and 4, I've decided to try again with the season 1. And I liked it too, although still a bit less than 3&4. Claire Foy and Vanessa Kirby are also amazing and yes, there's a bit of a change in tone in HBC portrayal but it's not huge and unbelievable. Except Olivia looks older than her age, there were no discrepancies between her and Claire's portrayal of queen Elizabeth. Except eye color, but it's silly to mention or complain about it. I'm looking forward to season 2 and 5 and 6. But I dislike casting Elizabeth Debicki as older Diana, I always found her acting plain, lifeless and (n)one-dimensional. But I hope they know what they're doing, that she wasn't chosen for being slim blonde with slightest physical similarity to Lady Di and that she won't ruin yet another movie/show.

The Stand (2020–2021)

Oh please!!!

[8/10 · 31 December 2020]

All of you "terrible, abomination, insult, zero star" people are absolutely thrilled by Tenet and other non-linear movies/shows. So why all this hatred toward this one?!? It's not great, but they wanted to try something new with a well known story and did fine. No reason for so many frustrated comments and 1 zero reviews. It s hard to decide whether to watch something based on the imdb rating anymore because you lot have no viable criteria, it's 1 or 10, no middle ground and no valuable input from your comments. Anyway, the show is so far interesting, well done and it's always nice to see James Marsden, Alexander Skarsgard and Greg Kinnear

The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020)

6

[6/10 · 22 October 2020]

It is o.k., but unlike its (unofficial) predecessor, it's oozing a B production scent. Acting is average, main female characters (both au pairs) are a bit bland and a bit annoying, it doesn't have the gripping atmosphere in every given scene as Hill house, the love story, as the centerpiece of the series feels fake... I expected much more and that "I can't stop watching this" moment I had with Hill house or with episode 8 only, which really stood out. P.S. And no, I'm not much into horror movies/series so I don't mind at all that this is not tense

The D Train (2015)

Poor comedy, but solid drama

[7/10 · 23 August 2015]

Another mislabeled movie... So no wonder that people who expected to have mindless fun watching Jack Black in a typical comic role he used to play many times before and James Marsden in a role similar to the ones he played brilliantly in Sex drive or Death at a funeral, got unexpectedly hit with quite dark theme with no many things to laugh at and disappointed. At first, I was disappointed too, but somewhere at the middle I realized that the movie it self is good, that the theme is important and that above mentioned (but all the others too) actors did amazing job. I blame the marketing of this movie, poster, but you too dear IMDb for providing wrong info on a movie category and misleading synopsis. So, in conclusion - as a comedy, this one is quite bad, but as a drama, it's very nicely done.

Oslo, August 31st (2011)

Lighter version of Dag och natt

[7/10 · 14 August 2014]

Solid movie, all the actors and especially the lead gave great performances, but comparing to it's older, darker and more poignant brother Swedish Dag och natt with amazing Mikael Persbrandt, it's just not that great. It does have some great dialogs and great scenes, but overall lacks the impact that Dag och natt (dealing with subject of the last day in the life of a person who's decided to commit suicide) or Requiem for a dream (dealing with the subject of drug addiction) have. I guess the movie wanted to be too likable to general crowd and played too safe. Good, but it could be better if it were more brave and if it took some risk.

Adult World (2013)

Nah

[16 May 2014]

Am I the only one here who's literally blown AWAY from this movie by Emma's performance? Although I liked the premise, the main character is completely over the top,annoying, boring and unfunny. Or Emma Roberts just made her that way... She keeps playing that same type of girl recently and it wouldn't be a problem at all if that type of girl isn't painfully annoying. I generally like coming of age movies, just last night I've watched Bitchkram, which is heartwarming although the main character is supposed to be annoying and bitchy. In Adult world main character supposed to be cute and likable, but she's everything but that. So I just gave up watching at one point, because I couldn't care less what will happen to her.

Body of Proof: Talking Heads (2011) Season 1, Episode 4

Worst episode so far

[2/10 · 9 March 2014]

As I am aware of, there are plenty of Serbs in USA. So why don't producers, writers, directors etc., find one of them and check if Irina Tomislava or Katya are common names here. And if Irina looks like she's about 30+, how come she witnessed the death of her friend when she was 3 years old (by a mine I suppose). Was that a war in Yugoslavia 30 years ago that we are unaware of? What possible reason (we get the impression that it must be life threatening)could make Irina leave Belgrade year ago and leave her son there? Another war maybe??? I'm looking forward to the day when all those offensive stereotypes about Serbia and Serbs would be left out from Hollywood movies/TV shows. We do have or flaws, there were some mistakes on behalf of our government, but that was 20-15 years ago, so either you leave it, or you do it properly. Subplot with mother-daughter relationship is good though. But only that. And that's not enough.

Den som dræber (2011)

A promising start

[4 February 2014]

After seeing the first episode, I've thought that it's going to be another amazing Scandinavian TV series, in vein of Bron/Broen and Borgen (although the latter one is different genre). But after the second episode I've realized that I just don't care for the main characters. Or to be precise - I'm indifferent about Thomas and I dislike Katrine. OK, she's not supposed to be colorful and amazing person (albeit also asocial) as Saga Noren, I get that, but having a plain, boring and always angry copy of Sarah Lund doesn't help much either. Still, it's very watchable and solid show, but it could have been much more if they had stronger leads (not in the term of acting, they're fine).

Wallander: Mastermind (2005) Season 1, Episode 6

Lothar Kraftzcyk?!?

[11 May 2013]

Thank God that I've seen this episode, otherwise I would spend all my life in ignorance, not knowing that Yugoslavian language was spoken in Yugoslavia and that we were overflown with Lothars, Paulinas and Kraftzcyks :D OK, it's just a TV show, it's not a lesson in general knowledge, but I'm sick and tired of all those mistakes considering former Yugoslav countries and now favorite villains - Serbs most of the time, and some Croat now and then. Please, before centering an episode or a whole movie around character from former Yugoslav countries, just google a bit. There were few "Paulina" (extremely rare name here, it's Polish in fact) but only Lothar was Matthaus while he was coaching our football team, and none of the Kraftzcyks (if this surname exists at all, even in Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia)

Hannibal (2013–2015)

Go on without me

[6/10 · 2 May 2013]

The reason I started to watch this show is always excellent Mads Mikkelsen. He's amazing in every movie I've seen, even if I didn't like the movie itself. Same here - he steals the show, I would love to watch the scenes with him, but not any other scene. They totally lost me at "dinner&worms and other creatures" scene. Thank you very much, but I haven't signed for that. Few murders now and then and a lot of mind and hand twisting between 2 main characters, but pointless gruesomeness was really off-putting. Some people can not stomach everything, sorry. I turned off the TV and I won't be coming back for more. I'm short of 10 lines so let me add to the hot topic - this one or The following. Well, I expected more from both of these shows. Until they start to show decomposing bodies and worms eating through flesh I guess I'll continue to watch The following, although it isn't much better, just more watchable.

Upside Down (I) (2012)

There's more chemistry between my cat and the vacuum cleaner

[6/10 · 1 May 2013]

Let me start by saying that I highly appreciate Jim Sturgess and Kirsten Dunst as actors. They usually steal the screen and make you care for their characters even if you don't like the story. But not this time and not together. I couldn't care less if they're going to live happily ever after, I couldn't understand why are they so attracted to each other and most of all, I couldn't see it and feel it at all. No chemistry at all, maybe even below zero. And my humble opinion is that Jim should stick to more dramatic parts and cut down love interest parts, although he was amazing in One day. He was solid in this one, but he couldn't save the movie. Kirsten on the other hand was awful (for the first time, and I've seen many of her work). Her acting was bad, unconvincing, her voice was too cat-ish:), her laugh and her facial expressions forced and artificial. But the visuals, oh my God, they were perfect. I haven't seen anything so beautiful in a long time. So 10 for the visuals, 8 for Spall, 7 for Sturgess, 1 for Dunst and 1 for storytelling.

Your Highness (2011)

Mixed feelings

[5/10 · 8 July 2012]

I could like this very much if they let out all those repulsive sexual jokes (if I can call a joke something that's not even remotely funny). Natalie and Frank were great, others solid, although I had a problem with Mc Bride's character (or his acting:) at first, I got used to it later. I guess he had to be that way. It had potential for a nice, funny, lightweight comedy, but they (writers, producers, whoever) wanted something more and they ruined it. Why the "humor" had to be so gross?!? I'm not a huge puritan, I liked Knocked up for example, I kept watching Role models although first 2-3 jokes were repulsive too and totally enjoyed the movie afterwards, but this one didn't know when to stop being gross, repulsive and offensive... I can take it in small doses, but this was waaaaay too much for me.

Bel Ami (2012)

Bel ami ruined it

[3/10 · 28 June 2012]

Uma - never better grade 10+, Kristin - good as usual grade 9, Christina - very good grade 9+, Robert - painful to watch, barely 1. With his bland and totally misguided performance, he managed to ruin the film that would otherwise been good. What were those face expressions?!? Wasn't he supposed to be attractive, desirable, full of sex-appeal? Why no one told him that? Why no one told him that he's not playing a vampire anymore? In fact, it would be great if he played that Twilight vampire, here he obviously rehearsed for a vampire hit by the first rays of sun, just about to experience slow and very painful death. Exactly how I felt while watching him... And no, I don't think he's a bad actor generally, he was just huge miscast for this role. And you just can't have good movie with such a huge miscast in a leading role.

The Good Wife (2009–2016)

What happened?!?

[6/10 · 8 January 2012]

If I could rate seasons separately, it'll be: season 1 - 9 (nine) stars, season 2 - 8 (eight) stars and season 3 - 5 (five) stars. Started brilliant, all the characters were lovely portrayed, interesting, with depth and personality, weather you like them or not. Alicia as main character was very likable and we could really relate to her story. All the actors gave great performances and it was pleasure to watch them. I guess Baranski and Cumming stood out most. But then it came season 3... And I don't know why I still watch it. It's not the show I loved, Alicia became annoying, story and relationships between characters became dull. A big letdown... I just hope that along the show, in next or next two seasons, they'll find the way back (as Grey's anatomy finally did it in season eight ).

Morning Glory (2010)

Annoying

[2/10 · 9 April 2011]

Annoying acting, annoying script. The character played by Rachel McAdams was so hyper and annoying - hyper-annoying indeed! All of them in fact... Mr Ford was bland, playing typical grumpy old man, Ms Keaton played typical role for her in last decade (what happened to this talented and versatile woman I wonder...)

Story was predictable and guess what - boring. We've seen it thousand times before. The only bearable moments were those with Patrick Wilson just because he looks good, not that he had something to do in this movie.

I don't know if it had potential given the script and lead actress (sorry, but Rachel is awful when she tries to pull off the type of roles Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts shine (shined) in). Maybe as a pure drama this movie could be good, but it ended as a poor dramady.

How Do You Know (2010)

Like first rehearsal

[3/10 · 12 March 2011]

I don't expect much from romantic comedies... Ever... It's not my favorite genre and the only one I really liked was When Harry met Sally. But I'm not too demanding either when it comes to them. For example, I found Life as we know it to be sweet and interesting. But this one is beyond lame. And not because I found the storyline unusually boring or bad for this type of movie. My problem was with actors and their acting. If it were no A-cast movie, it would be o.k., but I just couldn't believe that I've been watching Reese, Jack and Paul struggle for 2 hours like zombies. Reese, usually very charming and sweet was boring and annoying, not to say more. Jack, usually - we know what's he usually, was sleepwalking (dreaming that he's Al Pacino). Paul was the brightest spot, but waaaaay below his level. Not that I'm a fan of him, but I usually don't have problem with him as I have with Owen Wilson. And I won't comment him... Anyway, they didn't connect for 2 hours and I guess you really need to have talent to do this! As if they all played their roles in front of a mirror, someone taped it and put it together. As if it was their first rehearsal of a play - just sitting and reading the text out loud.

The Closer: Living Proof: Part Two (2010) Season 6, Episode 14

The Serb did it

[1/10 · 29 December 2010]

OK, so I couldn't understand a guy who was angry by portrayal of Vikings in How to train your dragon, and God gave me an opportunity to feel the same. I probably wouldn't be so annoyed by it, but just yesterday I've watched Prime suspect - The last witness, and guess what, Serb did it there too. So, I guess that butlers aren't interesting anymore. Too bad, they were great villains. I don't like bad Serbs that much, perhaps because they've never played by Serbs or even ex- Yougoslav people, they don't look like Serbs and they don't talk like Serbs. And they don't feel like Serbs. So overused and raw stereotypes ruined these two episodes for me.

Inception (2010)

7.3

[7/10 · 6 November 2010]

I really wanted to like Inception because of great cast, because of stunning music, because of an interesting premise (Pros). But nope... It needs more than that to make a movie work for me.

Cons: There's no character development, no engaging personal relations and no soul... Plain action disguised as dreamworld&psych exploration. And too much action just killed it for me. Not that I dislike some action from time to time, especially if it serves it's purpose (ie Fight club, Equilibrium...) but action in Inception was it's primary and only relevant element. Everything other served holy action and everything happened in the name of action. Interesting plot was there to support action, not vice versa:( Like some of the other reviewers, I see some similarity between this one and Shutter island (beside of DiCaprio:) But I liked Shutter island much much more. They both pretend to be mind twisters, tense and clever. Shutter island almost did it, but Inception missed the point. And I blame Nolan for that. Too pretentious director made a too pretentious movie. So just 7,3 from me