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Oppenheimer (2023)
Call it 'Nolan' rather than 'Oppenheimer' can make the rating higher
Given a pan of spagetti, you can cook it in different ways, boil it, BBQ it, steam it, anyway you want, but it won't turn out more. You can also cut it to make more pieces, but you still cannot make more out of it.
Same for the movie. I don't know why it is rated this high.
1. Funny cutting that constantly switches between timelines. And once you think it through you will find it unncessary and too showy.
2. Too much conversation happening in short durations in different timelines. Confuses people and hardly get to the point.
3. Too many characters popping out in short duration that you cannot even name them when the film is finally finished. Audiences are just struggling with how one character related to another.
4. Nolan, starting from TENET, is heading to a strange direction that he makes film not for the audience but for gimmicks.
Surely and admittedly, the casting is perfect, acting is perfect, filiming is perfect, everything is perfect except how the story is told, the core of the film, is just oridinary and intentionally scattered all over the place during the 3hrs duration of the movie.
You can say that my taste of movie is not good, but I bet you most people walking out of the cinema are just as confused as me because they are already forgetting what happened in the first hour when those last few scenes are coming. Then, when they are home, when they click a youtube video explaining what on earth actually happened, they will just find out: ok, this Nolan guy is just making things complicated because he wants to make things complicated.
Will people get Oscar because of this film? Yes, I think so. But, this does not make it any more better than a intentionally complicated film. I just hope more people that watched the movie can be brave enough to write down their actual feelings. I originally rated 5, but after seeing those 10/10 reviews, it is 3 now. I cannot get through why people are praising its weaknesses over and over again. It's Nolan, so what? If a film cannot get to general audience, how can it be the 'best' film?
Clarkson's Farm (2021)
Farming in Real World
This review is written right after I finished the 2nd season. And I would give both season 10 out of 10 simply because it has being honest to reality, and reality always gives us the most dramatic stories.
The first season is more like a entry to farming world while the second season is more about Clarkson's fighting against local concil on everything he wants to achieve.
The second season really exposes some severe problems within the
bureaucratic system. Viewers can really feel the pressure and frustration that Clarkson is having against naysayers. And you have to say that reality is always more funny than written stories.
Strongly recommended to watch the whole series and I believe the second season could keep bringing new innovations to the agriculture industry (not just in England).
Liu lang di qiu 2 (2023)
A refreshing line of sci-fi movies the undermines Hollywood traditions
The TWE II is much better than the first for sure, it has way better vfx and more mature story telling and value expression.
Comparing with Marvel movies, this one is very refreshing because this time there is no real individual heroism. Instead, collective heroism is saving humanity again and again in the TWE universe. There are some reviews that are having 'problems' with the values expressed in this movie, but I am fine with it. Because, afterall, it is a sci-fi movie, it is hilarious to discuss this kind of stuff unless someone is intentionally trying to talk about those rather irrelevant topics.
About some scientific concept in this movie, I saw people are not 100% satisfied, including but not limited to space elevator, under-water server, propelling earth with giant engines, blablabla. Hey, come on, when someone in Marvel movies snap, you didn't stand out and say it is not possible. Even in some hardcore sci-fi moives, there are also a bunch of unrealistic concepts. And, then, in TWE, some folks are sick about those sci-fi things? At least, to me, such reaction is kind of unreasonable.
I gave 9/10 because it is obvious the movie is cut short significantly to be fit to be played in theaters. It feels a bit crowded and chaotic when you put so many storylines in a 170min movie. I am looking forward to the complete version of this movie, just like the director cut version of the Justice League.
House of the Dragon (2022)
An EPIC soap opera, but hardly beyond
I am not a lover of the original books series, therefore all the words following are only applicable to this TV series.
As said, the show is an epic soap opera, it depicts the rise and down of the house of dragons. However, as a extension series of the GoT, we do hope more. Overall, despite the show depicts its characters much more complex, and sometimes overly complex, the 1st season tells only a simply story: the king made some terrible and rushed choices and then troubles followed.
If you judge it as a soap opera, I would give it 9, as it is basically what GRR Martin has been writing about through all these years: family affairs decorated with some epic plots.
I gave it 7/10 however, because it hardly steps even one step out of those boring and daunting family affairs. Through out the season, what we see is basically marriage after marriage and then betrayal after betrayal. It would be freshing when you first saw it, but then, you found those storys hardly different. It is always about finding a heir and no more. And, come on, it is 2022, if it is not extended from GoT, people would hardly appreciate another costume drama...
More, although the eps jumps abruptly in years, and sometimes the audiences may feel divided, the pacing is actually slow and boring. The characters acts with each other for no obvious purpose and make a mess that doesn't seems to be meaningful in the end. For example, they make Daemon a good competitor for the throne in the first few eps. Then, for some reasons, he seems to be obsessed with his sister and then become a cozy husband? Again, Alicent also has unfounded motivations and few abrupt turnings of her atitude towards Rhaenyra make this character shattered as well. She loved his childhood companion and then turned away from her. Then, suddenly, the old and hardly clear-minded king said something and she become mercyful?
Forgive me if I make mistakes understanding all those stories, but I all I wanted to say is that the grand plot is too simple yet the story itself is too complicated and narrowed. I hope this could be fixed in following seasons and the show could focus more on something that is beyond tiring family affairs.
Chainsaw Man (2022)
Awkward pacing and fighting scene
At this moment, 4 episodes have been released and honestly this anime is going downwards a bit faster than I thought it would be...
Although most would agree that the original manga is great, its anime adaptation is quickly turning into a disaster.
First, the problem is that they only planned 12 episodes for the 1 season while the story pacing is absurdly slow. Come on, MAPPA spent a whole episode just to go through the 'rubbing' scene yet the exact scene hasn't been reached yet. Thsi means that they basically spent half a season to just go though the very first small story in the original manga. In sum, I cannot image how they can ever finish this anime because it is simply too slow. It would at least take like 5 seasons, I suppose? And I don't rememeber if there are any anime that can survive 5 seasons.
2nd, fighting scene is nothing but boring. I have no opinion about 3D or 2D drawing, becasue it is not the real problem here. I think that there are bigger problems about shooting and pacing. You feel no tension in Denji's fighting against bat devil, while at the meantime, Jujutsu Kaisen, which is also from MAPPA did great on that... It seems that this time the company simply recurite some greenhands to get this big project done and it didn't turn out well.
Last, about OP and ED. Honestly it is more like a gimmick that there are 12 different EDs because, so far, none of them really intrigues me... It is basically like, "what a mess".
I cannot understand why people are giving this anime such high scores here. To me, it is almost a failed manga adaptation. (yes, there are still some remaining series, but rest assure, it is going to suck)
Also, I am not that kind of manga supremacist, my standard here is simply if the adaptation has delivered what the author intend to show (story pacing, weird emotions, craziness, fighting, devil, etc).
And the answer so far is: No, MAPPA 100% didn't.
Star Trek: Picard (2020)
Don't stuck in the past, funny.
The movie literally is stuck with its past and seems to be unable to jump out of a old man's weird nightmares.
Also, as far as I remember, this is the second time that time travelling has occurred in star trek series.
I mean, it seems that the application of time travelling is a sign of lack of creativity.
Stll helped me to kill one night of time.
So, 5/10.
Snowpiercer (2020)
Everything is fine, but the base of the story is ... awkward
This series frequently reminds me of FrostPunk, that people still fight each other when the end of the world is coming...
It simply doesn't make sense, every math doesn't match up with the story also.
I mean, as a sci-fi movie, it should at least have some real-science basement. But for this one, I simply cannot imagine how this works, and the show refuses to explain also.
The Expanse: Babylon's Ashes (2022)
Good ending, but what about Laconia?
Family soap opera finally comes to an end in the final episode... but it might be too late to turn the whole season to be better.
Good action, good CGI, and a good story, but the ending were just... let's put it this way: they want to film more of it, obviously. And this is the problem: after Alex was kicked out of the story due to some 'really-world issue', and Amazon not funding it anymore, the odd that there would be more about The Expanse is quite low.
I truly believe it would be better if they just choose to ignore Laconia story in this season, and it would be a proper natural end.
But anyway, if you don't believe this is the final end, and there would be more to this series, then this episode is perfect.
The Silent Sea (2021)
Same self-destruction story over and over again
Given one of the main character also casts Train to Bushan, I thought it should be the only similarity between them. But I was wrong.
The whole show could have been compressed into a movie and avoided so many strange plotholes introduced by the long and unnecessary story.
The Expanse: Force Projection (2021)
What?
Except for the part that Marco is still alive, everything is perfect.
I don't quite get the point of keeping him alive while there are only three more episodes to go, as well as for the entire series.
How could it be possible for them to properly end the series given the biggest villain is still alive? And things about Laconia are just starting.
I sincerely hope this season won't ruin the entire series since the story indeed goes to a natural endpoint according to the books and Amazon.
Dune (2021)
Stunning VFX, although the pacing is slow.
In terms of direct comparison to the books, I would actually give this film 10/10. Never really a fan of the original writing given it is simply not enough sci-fi in 2021 anymore. One would only find the futuristic settings in the book strange and irrelevant nowadays. Also, the original book is obsessed with prophecies, the One, and blablabla... which actually makes this film a bit more pleasant.
VFX-wise, I don't think anyone could pick a flaw in it.
However, it is 9/10 because it is simply too slow, which makes it certainly unacceptable for most who are obsessed with popcorn movies. It did a good job compressing the first book's story, but it could be more, and probably shorter as well.
Foundation (2021)
Great VFX, acceptable story, and poor casting.
If you like the style of Dune, you would probably like this one as well. The investment in VFX does pay off and it is at least visually pleasing.
The story is surely modified a lot, but not totally in a bad way. Asimov's version is surely a bit outdated given he wrote the story half a century ago. Some concepts like nuclear tech and etc. Simply feel inappropriate. And the TV show does offer a lot more new stuff to it. But apart from that, it is also true that I don't quite appreciate the horrible pacing and strange relationships been added to the story. Also, given the original story was never meant to keep certain characters' presents for too long, and it is more a portrait of how would the empire gradually decade and reborn, the TV show is surely introducing some unnatural feeling to the series.
And, the casting, is certainly a disaster. And the reason is obviously the change of race/gender although Asimov never really mentioned those specifically. Nonetheless, given all those critics, people do know what was he intended to portray. The emotional scenes just seem pale, not touching at all.
The Witcher (2019)
Confusing Timeline, Weak Story Connection, Bad Character Choosing
The timeline is so confusing that if you didn't read the fiction you would not know what is happening at all. And there is so little signal that tells you which timeline it is right now.
Netflix is trying to put too much story into one season and they just forget that many viewer don't know what a witcher is, or why there is such a war at all!
The timeline changes without any sign, so miserable!
No background establishment, thinking the viewer must had read the original fictions, which is ridiculous.
Choosing characters mainly becasue of political correctness. Character other than the Super Man is not charming at all, so pale and pointless. Yen's character build is a total mess. Trsis is more like a country farmer. And Ciri? Oh, how could netlfix do this! Not enjoyable at all.
Hard to accept for a person who had played the The Witcher III and finished the whole fiction series.
Don't know why it is rated this high, please read the original fiction or just play the game. both are extraordinary, far more better than this clueless show.
If you just want to see a world similar to the The Lord of Rings, be my guest.
There are 7 books about this, very long story to tell, and I don't think Netflix could ever finish the story. So, I seriously doubt how far could this show go in near future.
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
Main charactor choosing and protarying is sick
Honestly, I don't care about the Star Trek lagecy stuff or any other virtue, but I do care about if the show could give me a well constructed story, and it almost did it.
However, the biggest failure is the main character Michael.
The pick of Michael's actor is not reasonable. No offence, but this actress is not well suited for this role at all.
The show is keeping audience to see a selfish Michael who pretend to be selfishless. Her strange overconfident and I-fix-all attitude really prevents from totally enjoy the show.
Worse, such a stubborn, overconfident, hypocrisy sometimes switch to a sensitive mode that hurt everyone again and again.
If she is rised in Vulkan with rule of Logic, why on earth is she the most unstable and emotional person in the show?
The show is truely a personal movie and I really hate the mixture -- Michael Burnham. I seek no wisdom or elegance in this character.
Other than this biggest problem, there are some problem remains unanswered in the end, don't know if it is simply overlooked.
And the biggest logical problem is that, She DID start the war after all yet the show turns to deflect that. And perhaps she is also the ultimate trouble maker who just could fix the trouble after the damage has already been done deeply. Very sick.
I find some common between STD and Lost in Space becasue both show is presenting you a story of troublemakers.
The Magicians (2015)
Funny and full of imagination
I don't care about the book and in fact I shouldn't.
The story is funny and satisfies your imagination about magic. And this is it, I love the part about magic.
For the really story line? It is not that impressive but it is not garbage, just ordinary.
For charactors? Well, I like Elliot, Penney and Margo. I wouldn't say I don't like others, but someone has to be the trouble maker in order to keep the story alive.
Lost in Space (2018)
Really 'impressive' because of the story
Here is how Netflix impressed me over and over again.
Dozens of tested colonists could no overthrow a little thief's conspiracy. Yes, I admit that Doc. Smith is helpful sometimes but it cannot cover the point that this charactor is made too delibrately. I would say Doc. Smith is probably the luckiest women in the universe because it is clear that she cannot predict eveything that is going to happen and those things that is good for her just happened nevertheless... The writer just wanted to made she a person that people want to hate and think she is bad. There are many 'bad' people in TV programs that I really like, but definitely not Doc. Smith. It is definitely true that she is capable of ruining everything, including the TV series itself.
I would rather say this series should be named after 'lost in purpose' because the Robinson family just keep rushing into troubles and getting out over and over again. And these 'smart' guys just came with solutions over and over again. Come on, I am not watching Bear Grylls's survival show, or am I?
I really hate the idea of making machines human-like, it is pointless and kind of disgusting. Why everythings has to be human-like? Could machine have its own features and properties?
At last, Lost in Space might want to be a hardcore Sci-fi, but what it really did is becoming a foolish fairy tale with a coat of Sci-fi. There is just evil and good, black or white. Robinsons are just fixing problems that should not be the problem in the first place like fixing Will's naive decisions, Doc. Smith's harmful actions without even thinking about just get rid of Doc. Smith and made Will less childish...
Those 10 star are for the effects, not the stroy. The story deserves -6.
Altered Carbon (2018)
Not being harsh, but S2 is not what I had expected.
I am not giving S2 a low score since I do enjoy fight scene and not thinking about the story line.
But, yes, changing the main charactor is harmful to the whole story and it really took me time to get use to the new one. Honestly I would say I still want the S1's charactors back.
I think that the back of leader of rebellion is too rush and too easy for Kovac, it is like she made it magically and making Kovac's searching pointless.
S2 definitely is too straight forward and it lacks the unpreditable story which belongs to the S1.
Nevermind, Netflix is always good at ruining stories even if they didn't do that for S1, they will made it at last.
I love those cyberpunk things after all and I just hope S3 could be less rushy and more polished.