sammy-fischer Reviews

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

Awesome Coen made of *connected* shorts

[9/10 · 26 December 2018]

This is again a wonderful movie by the Coen brothers, full of witty dialogues and colorful characters. What I can not fathom is how anybody failed to see the connection between each of the segments.

It is all about death, about the fact that it will hit everyone, even those who think they are immune (Buster), about the fact that you can not cheat death .. at least not for long (Algodones), that while life (and death) aren't fair (Meal Ticket), you can still be lucky enough to cheat it somehow, though by pure chance ("it didn't hit anything vital!" - Old Gold Canyon). Of course, you can provoke your own death because you think things are desperate ... but you might be wrong ("The Girl Who Got Rattled"). Anyway... in the end, there are only two kind of people : dead or alive (The Mortal Remains).

I only gave 9 stars as I found "Meal Ticket" to be a bit lengthy at times. Also : like another reviewer, I'm quite certain everybody is dead in "The Mortal Remains" ...

Defying Gravity (2009)

semi-canceled just as it was getting good

[9/10 · 29 September 2009]

I must admit I wasn't sure at all about this show at first. It seemed like a NASA promo show with little actual science fiction, some questionable physics and slightly too much relational stuff going on. The original tag of "Grey's Anatomy in Space" seemed fitting. Nevertheless, I kept watching it, more out of boredom than real interest, and it wasn't in vain. It gets *a lot* better after the first four or five introductory episode, and, just for the pure fun of it, ABC stopped showing it one episode short of the ~real~ start.

(notice the SPOILER message. Don't read further if you haven't seen episode 9 yet, even though I'll try to keep it as spoiler-lightish as possible)

We know now what the whole beta theme and the mission are actually about, but what the conclusion to the mission will/would be is left to speculations. There is also (rather suddenly) a secondary arc with the journalist on Earth putting pressure on the team at the base, in order to uncover the story (and possibly accidentally create mass panic). The characters, which were (in hindsight) very well developed in the earlier episodes, come also nicely into play as the astronauts struggle with their guilt and religions (or apparent lack of guilt in the case of Jen) providing room for more or less unforeseeable developments (will Paula fall prey to religious fanaticism, for example)

Too bad I don't think we'll ever find out how this would have unfolded, as this is one of those shows with "Prematurely AXED!" written all over it :(

Steel Trap (2007)

half hearted remix of classics

[4/10 · 18 February 2008]

I watched this not knowing anything about it. I hadn't heard about it and thought it might be interesting. The first few minutes were somewhat painful. Wooden acting, uninspired camera ... It wasn't exactly exciting. But then : I like Cube, and that had similar problems. Then the actual story started, and from then on it went downward. It looks like someone wanted to take advantage of the success of slasher/thriller movies like SAW and Battle Royale but just couldn't think of an original idea, so mixed thriller classics, and added some blood. If you know any of the "10 little n*ggers"-based movies (sorry ... That's the name of the original Agatha Christie book, and somehow she didn't care about being politically correct), you'll figure out what the ~punch line~ of Steel Trap is. This really just a remake of the original story, but sadly it is a very boring one. The characters are all very annoying and the story lacks any kind of suspense. The inevitable come back of the "oh so dead" killer at the end, the frame job ... It's all so predictable it's not even amusing anymore. I give it 4 out of 10 for a few nice lines and the fact that some of the girls actually look kind of nice.

Knocked Up (2007)

real life

[8/10 · 17 July 2007]

First of all, to all those who think the story is far fetched : without going into too much personal details, it is not only believable, it's actually quite realistic, take it from a Ben-like person (replace the drugs with video games, add some sort of job, keep the stylish great looking career girl vs. the slob part and add a second baby at the end)

The emotional roller-coaster the two protagonists endure was wonderfully captured, showing well both sides of the coin, with some good performances from everybody.No Oscar-winning performances of course, given the material, but definitely above average. Astoundingly, most of the lines were actually funny, and although the story dragged along a bit at places, the tempo is kept at an acceptable pace.

The only unrealistic bit was the ending ... but well ... That's Hollywood ;)

All in all, if you're looking for a realistic relationship movie which is fair to both sides (fair .. NOT nice!) and which will make you laugh, this might be the one for you.