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FUBAR (2023)
Bad but enjoyable
I know it's bad - the dialogue, the jokes, the characters, the plot, the set pieces, basically everything that makes a tv show what it is -, I realize this, based on everything I know and have seen before, but I somehow still enjoy it. This is definitely and partly due to Arnold's presence, and therefore a matter of nostalgia. Another part of the enjoyment is the presence of Monica Barbaro, who is fine in a variety of ways.
I do hope the CIA doesn't operate like this though.
No, wait, I really don't care if the CIA operates like this. Maybe that's the reason I keep watching this show: I don't care. It's nice not to care sometimes.
The X Files: I Want to Believe (2008)
No X-File
This is basically a very mediocre thriller with Mulder and Scully. Other than that it has very little to do with the X-Files, and all that made that show great.
I'd advise X-Files fans not to watch this movie, though they probably already have, seeing that it's 14 years old.
My advise to non-X-Files fans? Don't watch it.
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)
They should not have gone back to Jack
This is not a good movie. Tom Cruise is tired and yet he has to run all the time. Nobody knows where.
Scenes always start as if someone just said 'Action'. Of course that's what happens on a set, but you shouldn't see it in a movie. Scenes also end awkwardly. As if the director really doesn't know how to start and end scenes.
There is no story, or at least no story being told. And if it is hinted at at all, it turns out to be totally uninteresting.
And then there's the forced 'nemesis', one of those super ex mega purple honor squad leader commander martial arts dudes with an impossible accent, who can't go back to the normal world because of all the war he's seen, just like Jack, but has simply become an immoral bag of flesh.
Never go back. The makers should have taken that to heart after part 1.
24: Day 7: 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. (2009)
Adam Levine cameo
Adam Levine, the singer of Maroon 5, plays a henchman to bad guy Emerson in this episode.
It's probably not true, but he really looks like him, and who cares about any claims I make about an episode of the third worst season of a ground breaking and, at times, brilliant show that aired over ten years ago.
24: Day 4: 10:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m. (2005)
Hard Target
In this episode, after Habib Marwin blows up his headquarters, Michelle says: 'Put a hard target on Marwan.'
Surely this is a nod to the 1993 action film 'Hard Target', in which Arnold Vosloo plays a villain.
Better Call Saul: Five-O (2015)
Leading Mike
This episode sees Better Call Saul swinging into full gear. So far the series has been good, but not great. Though it's not fair to compare the show to Breaking Bad, the comparison is also inevitable.
Where that show took off right away, BCS has spent the majority of the first four episodes setting up characters and story lines which I hope will interconnect and climax as we come to the end of the first season. Gilligan & co. have already showcased some of their great writing talent, creating intriguing relationships and narrative arcs, but you can notice that they're feeling their way through this new show, trying to get the right tone and style. This has caused for some of the narrative to feel fragmented and uncentered.
But then came episode six, focusing on Mike's past as a cop in Philadelphia. The episode serves as back story for one of the most interesting, mysterious, dangerous and likable characters of Breaking Bad, someone we want to see much more of.
Unfortunately for Saul, this was the best episode of the series so far. And not just because of the great writing. Before the show started I had my doubts about Bob Odenkirk/Saul Goodman as leading man/character. The first five episodes hadn't convinced me and this episode confirmed my belief that he serves better as a supporting character, providing some sad wit and comic relief in a story that centers on the tension between morality and opportunity; the ambition to make something for yourself whilst not neglecting the people you love, even though they might hold you back sometimes.
Jonathan Banks IS a leading man. His intriguing, emotionally balanced performance in this episode alone is Emmy-worthy. The feeling that the series has been a little underwhelming and uncentered was completely absent in this outing and we have Mike Ehrmantraut to thank for that.
I'm very curious to see where the creative minds behind the show will steer his and Saul's characters. It's definitely worth the watch.
Mad Men: The Better Half (2013)
Pass me the soap
Help! Mad Men is turning into a soap opera. This season has on the one hand retained some of the quality of the previous seasons, but I can't help but get the feeling that the writers are running out of good ideas and that some of the main character's story lines/arcs are exhausted.
This is something that eventually happens with all series. It feels like the writers would be wise to call it quits after this season. Every new development (plot, character) seems like a repetition of something we've already seen before (and better), only in a new setting.
The writers would have to make some rigorous changes - like in season 4, when Don was living alone and passing out in the hallway of his apartment all the time -, but then that would maybe seem forced after all he and the other characters have been through. The plot would become more and more implausible, but something has to change for the series not to sink deeper into the drift sand that its gotten stuck in.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
The greatest achievement in the history of cinema.
I'm writing this the day after I went to the Lord of the Rings marathon. Preparing for this I was afraid that I might not make it through the nine hours of film. However, the brilliance of this epic kept me more than awake. It doesn't happen often that I find myself staring at the screen with my mouth wide open, unable and unwilling to blink, trying to cover every square inch of the image, this way hoping not to miss any genius filmmaking.
Because that is what this is. Sheer genius. When I say this I don't mean The Return of the King in particular, but all three parts, which are in fact one movie. When you think of the book by Tolkien, it's almost impossible to imagine that anyone would ever be able to turn this into a movie. But one studio had the guts to trust in Peter Jackson and this was rewarded with what will go down in history as the greatest achievement in cinema of all time.
I know this is a bold statement, but it simply is. Everything is soaked with quality, from the screenplay to the acting, from the absolutely fantastic art direction to the stunning special effects which blend in seamless with the ''live'' action. The great battles are completely overwhelming, especially the jaw-dropping olifaunt attack. All this makes The Return of the King a fantastically fitting crown, to the previous two parts.
Everything in this film works. The drama, the tension, the suspense and ofcourse the action. All this is a due to the craftsmanship of Peter Jackson as a director. The build up to every scene, if it's drama, packed with emotion, or action, packed with spectacle, is so subtle and effective, that almost every emotion is being addressed, which relates the audience to the characters in the film. This makes The Return of the King a fanatstically fitting crown, to the previous two parts.
And that is what makes the Lord of the Rings so powerful, and now I mean the book. Middle-earth is symbolic for our earth. I know I'm not bringing new things to light saying this, but it is where the affection with the story of so many people originates. The enduring battle between different people, good against evil, values like love, hate, vengeance, pride and trust all come to pass, leading to a self-reflective work of art.
Peter Jackson found a way of translating the epic novel to pictures. Beautifully shot pictures, which deserve to swoop the oscars and which will be remembered until the end of our era.
Lolita (1962)
brilliant visual translation of the novel
It was very hard to get a hold of lolita. I couldn't rent it anywhere, 'till one day i stepped in the library and i went to their video section. And yes, they had it, Lolita. I was very happy to have found it, cause i had already read the novel by Vladimir Nabokov, which made a big impression on me, though sometimes i had to force myself to reading it. When i saw the movie, it was everything i hoped it would be when i read the novel. The images and environment that Kubrick put on film were exactly the same as the visual world that I created in my mind while I was reading the book. The actors were perfectly cast and the whole atmosphere, ambiance and tension, that Kubrick created in his film, felt exactly like they felt in the book.
The screenplay could not have been written better by the master himself. When someone has read the book they'll know what i mean when i say that it seems almost impossible to make a film of it. The book is so complex, psychological and plays at so many different levels, that on screen, people wouldn't be able to make sense out of it. But the screenplay that Nabokov wrote was a lot more accesible and could therefore reach a bigger audience.
The controversial novel was talked about a lot in its time and i think Stanley Kubrick, always controversial and provocative, was the perfect director to make a film out of it. And he did. The theme of sexual obsession is handled very subtle, but it IS being handled, and that gives the film the tension and controverse that we find in all of Kubrick's films.
The film made a big impression on me, as the book did, but even more, they made the same impression on me, which satisfied me a great deal.
Great film of a great book.
Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
my favourite
It's my favourite movie. The way that it shows the personalities of Sera and Ben, and their love for each other, is unique and realistic. The atmosphere throughout the movie is great, the characters really come alive, and you can sympathize with them. a drunk and a prostitute fall in love, it seems impossible and absurd, but the director, Mike Figgis, makes it so realistic, that it seems absolutely meant to be, and it is. I must have seen it twenty times, but i can't wait to see it again, i fell in love with the movie ánd with the characters. Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue in the roles of their lives. A beautiful lovestory.