Lunita Reviews

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022– )

Best ST in decades! <3

[9/10 · 6 October 2022]

The others have said it already and bosporan wrote the perfect summary but I just want to share my thoughts so the people in charge can see that so many fans love this incarnation of Star Trek!

I've told my friends and colleagues that finally this is back to the roots and it's the best in decades. I love the fact that they use old sounds (Doors! Transporter! Communicator! End of the main theme!) and the characters are so lovable, the stories just like in TOS. Finally it's back to exploring instead of yet another epic space battle. Also a lot of different female characters particularly on the bridge. As a huge fan of Uhura I am watching her especially and love the path she takes. Also great that they have some outright silly episodes. Great fun!

Regarding characters, writing and style, SNW is to TOS what Blade Runner 2049 is to Blade Runner. Something new but true to the original. Can't wait for the second season!

PS: Saw a video of a convention where Ethan Peck was asked if he'd do audio books. I was wondering the same. Wonderful voice!

The Witcher: Much More (2019) Season 1, Episode 8

Good episode with a wrong focus

[5/10 · 1 January 2020]

I really enjoyed the season and am looking forward to season two. But I felt somewhat betrayed by the finale because it puts its whole focus on the grand battle that drags on and on, interrupted by a number of dramatic dialogues. We were watching and waiting for the conclusion of the "destiny arch". When this was quickly shown during the last 30 seconds or so we were really disappointed that this was such an underwhelming conclusion. Don't get me wrong, the battle was great, but I wish it would have lasted half as long and we would have seen more of the other two characters fulfilling their destiny.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

Boring

[6/10 · 9 November 2018]

Car chases, people running around, Henry Cavill sitting or standing somewhere just watching and waiting. Two great fight scenes though. Tom Cruise apparently has a secret fountain of youth in his garden. Nobody cared to spend much effort on the story.

Fanny and Alexander (1982)

The most depressing movie I ever saw

[20 June 2016]

I've watched this movie many years ago when I was still a teen or maybe in my early twenties. It was horrible. It was so depressing that I decided never to watch an Ingmar Bergman film again. It was my first and only one.

Yes, I know that Bergman is considered a great artist. And yes, maybe this film is a piece of art. But even now after so many years, having forgotten about all the details of the story, I still feel the depression. I will not rate the movie because I don't want to be unfair. But I really wish I hadn't watched this.

So be warned. If you think you have to watch this because it's movie history, go ahead. But if you are a sensitive person you might be tortured by the hopelessness.

The Condemned (2007)

Ruined by the fight shots

[3/10 · 14 June 2010]

We have seen this tournament to the death story many times before, but that doesn't mean it has to be bad or boring. No, the story is told in an interesting way and there's a lot of moral discussion going on in between that really makes sense. The scenery is nice, the actors are OK, it has all the ingredients for an entertaining brain dead action movie. So what ruined it for me, so much that I stopped watching about 10 minutes before the end? The fight scenes. Yes. This movie is all about fighting and it has a main actor who should be able to deliver a great show fight. And I bet he did. I just wasn't able to grasp it because all the fight scenes looked like they were filmed during an earthquake that had 8 on the Richter Scale and the cutter was coming straight from his Bourne 3 job. Wiggly shots of an elbow here, a butt there... a total waste of fight choreography. The final fight between Austin, Jones and that Asian guy was so unbearable that it almost nauseated me. That's when I turned it off. Do you enjoy such wiggly, super-fast cut fights? If not, please let the world know so this annoying, erroneous style finally gets out of fashion.

PS: With a different filming style for these sequences I'd have voted 6. The rest of the movie is good and the actors do a good job.

Echelon Conspiracy (2009)

Save on effects, pay better writers

[3/10 · 4 November 2009]

Echelon Conspiracy - a very promising title for fans of the genre. But how were we disappointed. If you like conspiracy movies, you have to be open to bending the rules of plausibility and statistics. But what they presented here was such complete and utter nonsense, delivered by the most stereotypic characters, that it almost made me angry. It's not the actors' fault, they did a good job (well, Shane West isn't exactly subtle but the film wasn't either). The locations were interesting, the filming was OK. But the story? Come on! Even the most open minded X Phile must be disappointed. And that one scene where a guy shoots a car and with the second shot the car explodes and jumps 2 meters into the air? Hello? Haven't seen that in a while because by now even James Bond fans don't buy that anymore. So while I really enjoy good conspiracy movies like Enemy of the State or Conspiracy Theory, this one was a lame attempt. You should have spent more time and money for the script.

Quantum of Solace (2008)

Quantum of Bourne

[7/10 · 10 November 2008]

Let's start with the good things about this movie: It has an interesting story with a dark organization that wants to rule the world. It has some essential things that I'd expect from a Bond movie and that make watching it a pleasure. The classic intro with guns, smoke, girls, nice music. Yes, many complain about the song and when I heard it first I didn't like it. But it works in combination with that intro. Then there's the Aston Martin which unfortunately ends up as a wreck right in the beginning and wasn't to be seen again. Two cool Bond girls, stunning, witty, brave. Exotic and nice locations. M watching over Bond behind the scenes while threatening to take him out of service.

So why only 7/10? Because there were also some things that were missing (Q, gadgets) and some things that weren't right. I'm still struggling with Craig who is an excellent actor with a great body but who is also too working class and, well, blond. But OK, he makes that up by his acting skills. Really annoying though were the Bourne Ultimatum style cuts. When a chase or fight begins the nice and appropriate pace changed to "one cut per 300 milliseconds", you see blurry details, constantly changing perspectives and a mess that ruins every chance to grasp what's going on. Hell, they said before that they want to address a younger audience. But is a ludicrous cut pace the measure of choice? That was the only part that really, really annoyed me. Several times I closed my eyes. Hell, I like fights and car chases. But I like to be able to follow the action.

So, next time please don't waste great fight choreography by cutting it to microscopic, blurry and shaky pieces.

Afghan Alphabet (2002)

Good intention but not flawless

[6/10 · 22 March 2005]

I have seen this movie on television and it made me quite upset. It shows the problems of Afghan refugee children who want to learn but many of them aren't allowed to join an official school. Especially girls are still very afraid and misled by Mullahs.

The problem with this movie is that it comes along as a documentary. I didn't realize that it was a movie and NOT a documentary. There were several scenes when I thought "Strange, how were they able to film this? Why does the girl allow them to film her now but not a few minutes ago? And why do those little girls talk to each other in such a mature way? They use phrases that sound odd from a little girl's mouth." Only today I realized that it was a movie. I think it should be clear if a piece of media is imagination or documentation. Otherwise the audience is misled.

Hostile Environment (1999)

The movie sucks, Hues rules

[4/10 · 15 April 2001]

Some time in the future: All water is contaminated, the only source for fresh drinking water is Minna (Brigitte Nielsen) who resides on a ship. Slaves are forced to produce the power for the machines. When the people on the mainland don't have any more goods to trade for water, Minna's henchmen kidnap the leader's daughter Jennifer (Rochelle Swanson) and the lonesome and bitter fighter Erikson (Matthias Hues) who tried to help her. She is kinda helpless, he's got a lot of fighting to do, starts a rebellion, sends Minna into the cold sea with a left hook and manages to escape with all the other main actors when the ship is blown up.

The story is not inventive at all, the characters are 100% stereotypes and Hues is just too friendly for a bitter and lonesome fighter. But he looks terrific and runs around the set with a bare chest all the time and has a lot of nice fights. So forget about the story, forget about the characters and just drool at Matthias Hues' defined six pack, his wonderful deltas, the big triceps, the perfect statue moving around for a pleasurable sight and, last not least, a friendly smile. Women will drool because Hues is so yummy, men will love the fights and with they looked the same. The movie definitely insults my intelligence but I've watched it twice during the last 24 hours. ;-)

Titan A.E. (2000)

Nice movie but disappointing artwork

[17 June 2000]

I've just seen the movie and think it's ok, nothing more. I was disappointed by the artwork, because I found the mix of 2D animation and rendered objects strange. The objects constantly reminded me how simple the other animation was. Make a plain old animated movie or something like "Reboot", but not a mixture. Especially one drawn picture of the big ship was so bad and blurred that I thought it must have been some kind of mistake.

The other thing was Matt Damon's interpretation of the main character. I like his voice very much, but the calmness and callousness of his dubbing didn't fit to the angry young man on the screen. There just wasn't enough temper in his voice. I don't know why, because in Good Will Hunting he showed that he can do it.

Executive summary: mediocre movie. I'm looking forward to X-Men. The story won't be better, but the effects will.