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alexander-bogdan
Reviews
Ariel Phenomenon (2022)
Amateur documentary looking for direction
First off I would like to say that I've always been fascinated by the Ariel School encounter case, and I am convinced that it's real, whatever it was.
I've been waiting for this documentary to be released for several years, and I am really surprised that it has actually seen the light of day, with all the delays and difficulties that the filmmakers apparently faced.
Can't say it was worth the wait though. The film has a lot of footage from 1994, including John Mack's interviews with children, that I haven't seen before, which was quite interesting to see.
This archive footage is mixed with the newly filmed material, which is unfortunately very poorly made. The cinematography is bland and unimpressive, the story of some of the experiencers visiting the school almost 30 years later feels very artificial, forced and amateurish.
The new interviews with the experiencers are also quite disappointing. I think it was a huge missed opportunity. If only there had been someone like John Mack or at least an experienced journalist or interviewer to really make these people talk, the movie would have been so much better.
The biggest problem with the film as a whole is that it lacks any direction or development. To me it seemed like a mess of disjointed material, that the creators failed to organize in any coherent manner.
The movie is over 1.5 hours long and it fails to find direction, or to engage you with the story. You can decide for yourself if it's worth your time, but I think it's not worth the money they are asking for steaming it.
Afterwater (2022)
Avoid
This is an extremely tedious watch. We left less than an hour in. Some of the shots were beautiful but the pretentious pseudo-philosophical narration was just ridiculous. The actors were wooden and added nothing to the movie. They might have as well not been there, and that wouldn't have changed a thing. I don't mind slow or experimental movies, but this is just poor.
Bo Burnham: Inside (2021)
Terrible
This is not even remotely funny. Music is terrible, the guy is unlikeable, pretentious and narcissistic. Worst thing I have encountered on Netflix. I don't care how well it's produced, or that it's a DYI thing. It doesn't make this garbage any better.