Speasha8 Reviews

Dreams from Strangers (2015)

Interesting movie with incredible potential that fails to deliver

[4/10 · 1 June 2016]

I bought this movie, because I really enjoyed the trailer and expected a profound and poetic exploration of cross-cultural gay love and homophobia in Russia.

Unfortunately, the movie fails to deliver. At 75 minutes, it's a rather short movie and compressed time is one of the major disadvantages of the movie, as it barely leaves any time to flesh out the characters and the story, as the scenes itself linger at a slower pace as well.

Making matters worse is that the filmmakers decided to embed a silent movie as a gimmick into the film that disrupts the flow of the main story several times and goes on for far too long, stealing screen time from the romance between Vladimir and Massimo that should have been fleshed out instead. I'm sure the silent movie is supposed to have a point, but it doesn't come across very well and takes you out of the main story of the movie.

In voice-overs, Massimo ponders about the significance of his romance with Vladimir, unfortunately we see very little of it play out on screen, so it's hard to get invested in their story or to understand what kind of impact it has on Massimo. Scenes in which they interact are very brief and instead of scenes that document their blossoming romance, we switch between scenes with their short interactions, a silent movie within the film and shots of Massimo looking longingly into the ocean, offering his philosophical insights in voice over.

Not all is bad though, despite obviously being a movie with a very low-budget, there is some really nice cinematography throughout the movie, the classical background music is breathtakingly beautiful and lead actor Giuseppe Claudio Insilco is very nice to look at with his innocent smile and his often exposed muscular body. The voice-over monologues might be a little bit heavy-handed, trying too hard to be meaningful, but there also some very poignant bits in Massimo's endless parades of monologues.

In the end, this is a movie with a lot of interesting ideas that could have made for a compelling and poignant movie, but the execution disappoints severely, as everything feels underdeveloped.

Cashmere Mafia (2008)

Desperate Business Women In The City

[1/10 · 8 January 2008]

Let's see, there are four close female friends who struggle at their private lives, while they're highly successful in their jobs:

Mia(Lucy Liu) who loses her fiancé who couldn't deal with not being able to keep up with her. Zoe (Frances O'Connor)who tries not to neglect her children, while balancing her career. Juliet (Miranda Otto) who has to deal with a rebellious teenage daughter, while her husband has an affair. Caitlin (Bonnie Sommerville) who discovers that the person with whom she might spend her life with, might be a woman.

Poor "Cashmere Mafia" just premiered on ABC and has already to prove itself. With four women as leading ladies and stories which focus on sex, friendship and love, the show draws comparisons to successful cult favorites like "Sex and the City" and "Desperate Housewives", not to mention the upcoming similar themed "Lipstick Jungle".

While "Cashmere Mafia" might look like a cheap knock-off of "Sex and the City" , the show actually tries to achieve something else and differentiate itself from its successful ancestors by addressing real life issues like gender rivalry or successful family/business management. Unfortunately the show suffers from stereotypes and a pretty clumsy execution of a concept that might look promising on paper.

Especially the plot which revolves around Caitlin realizing that she might be gay is executed in the most unbelievable way you could imagine. While it's not a bad idea to include a Lesbian/Bisexual in a show which focuses on four women, the execution of the whole storyline lacks of realism. In the beginning of the episode Caitlin breaks up with her boyfriend just to fall in love with a woman the next morning, who magically appears to be a Lesbian as well. The moment in which Caitlin realizes that she might have an interest in this woman is executed very ridiculously with silly music in the background, a long focus on Caitlin's face with a dorky smile.

The dialogue of the show feels forced at times, especially when the male writers want to underline how close and "female" these four women are. The actresses do their best, but lack of chemistry. So far they don't really feel like close friends, but if you look back at the premieres of shows like "Desperate Housewives", you see that it wasn't there from the beginning either. There is still the possibility that they develop more chemistry over the course of the series.

The show is not really male-friendly. The male characters are pretty much undeveloped in opposite to the women and fall into clichés. There has to be a cheater, a man who can't deal with his girlfriend being more successful than he is and the loyal puppy-husband. It's understandable that they focus more on the ladies, but it wouldn't have harmed the show if they treated the male characters equally well and had made them a little bit more complex.

After watching the pilot, the show feels like an underwhelming mix of "Desperate Housewives" and "Sex and the City". Two characters of the show even strongly reminded me at characters of "Desperate Housewives". Juliet is very similar to Bree since she is the readhead who tried to keep up appearances all the way through the pilot, while Zoe feels like a younger Lynette since she has to struggle with the same issues.

The show definitely has some potential to get better, but so far, the show hasn't really been very impressive nor realistic. It definitely needs a chance to grow and I am not sure whether audiences give the show enough time to get better.

Roswell (1999–2002)

Not perfect, but entertaining

[5/10 · 6 January 2008]

"Roswell" is probably not one of the few shows that really sticks with you. It's not "Buffy The Vampire Slayer", it's not "Six Feet Under" or "Dead Like Me". It's not groundbreaking or brilliant, but it's a very nicely entertaining show with a heart.

While a little bit silly sometimes when it comes to both, relationship and sci-fi-elements, the strength of the show definitely lies in the more grounded relationship-story lines which dominated the show in its first season. Back in the first season, the writers also included a nice storyarc that was very well executed in terms of just revealing a little bit, but enough to make it interesting and suspenseful. (the whole Nasedo/FBI-storyarc) Unfortunately the show was always a show that was on the bubble and since the network wanted the show to be more successful than it was, they insisted on extending the fantasy/sci-fi/action-elements of the show, since "Buffy" and "Angel" were a huge success for them back then. While "Buffy" and "Angel" are definitely superior to "Roswell" and brilliant (although not with every single episode), that's what ultimately led to "Roswell"'s demise since that simply wasn't the show that "Roswell" was and since the writers didn't really succeed at making the sci-fi-elements post season one work. Most of the time, the sci-fi-elements were a huge weakness of the show. Sometimes very silly and not really thought through, they hurt the show more than they helped her. Obviously you can still watch the show and enjoy the sci-fi-elements in season two and three, but only if you switch your brain off and don't think about them.

The characters on the show and their relationships to each other are the heart of the show. At developing these characters and letting them grow over a couple of seasons, the writers of "Roswell" succeeded and were even better than writers of shows that air these days.

The cast of the show is topnotch. Behr and Appelby deliver stellar performances as the star-crossed couple Max and Liz which are the center of the show. The real stars however can be found in the supporting cast. Majandra Delfino delivers wit and beauty in her part as Liz's best friend Maria De Luca, but is still capable to add emotional depth to her character. Brendan Fehr makes Michael to the most interesting and most vulnerable character of the show, while Katherine Heigl plays the sympathetic and spoiled princess among the group. Nick Wechsler, pretty much wasted in season one, becomes a fully fledged character in season two with some of the funniest lines of the whole show. William Sadler however is the show's most talented actor and his performance is just beautiful.

"Roswell" is a show for people who can overlook flaws and just enjoy a very nice show with a heart, despite its silliness at times.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003)

Buffy The Vampire Slayer : As smart as television can get

[8/10 · 10 June 2007]

When "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" premiered in 1997, nobody would have thought that this tiny little series with the silly title could ever be successful. But "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" became a television phenomenon and proved otherwise. Praised by critics worldwide as one of the smartest and most ambitious television shows ever, "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" changed the landscape of television.

Even ten years after its premiere, "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" still has legions of dedicated and loyal fans worldwide which definitely is an achievement. But what is it about "Buffy The Vampire Slayer", that makes the show so special? "Buffy" was one of the first shows to successfully mix genres. If you look at the television landscape today, you'll see that there are lot of shows that can't be defined only as drama or comedy, because they have elements of drama AND comedy in it. Back in 1997, mixing genres wasn't as common as it is now. "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" mixed heartbreaking drama, witty comedy, creepy horror and butt kicking action and became an extraordinary show because of it.

Another thing about "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" that makes it remarkable is that it is a show that really had something to say and was way more meaningful than most shows that air on television. The writers really had something to say about life, relationships and difficult subject matters like power. "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" never really was only about slaying monsters, meeting love interest and making some funny comments while slaying monsters. "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" was a show that carefully looked at what it was going to tell and tried to deal with philosophical and psychological subject matters among others. Because of that there even is a huge academic interest in the show.

The writing on the show is fabulous. You don't get flat dialogue or flat characters on "Buffy". The characters on "Buffy" always were complex and the dialogue was always well written. While there were episodes (or seasons) that didn't work as good as other episodes (or seasons), "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" nevertheless always was at its best. Character development also was a huge part of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer". In seven years, the characters grew up and changed a lot, which makes the show relatable, although we don't have to fight demons and vampires in real life. Sometimes "Buffy" even went to a Shakespearian kind of storytelling which you find rarely on television: Unaccomplished love, misuse of power or sacrifices - subjects you're going to find pretty intense on "Buffy The Vampire Slayer". You definitely could call "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" a modern tragedy.

In seven years, "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" always pushed the boundaries of television and experimentalized with its storytelling. There were episodes in which nobody talked ("Hush"), episodes in which everybody sang ("Once More With Feeling"), episodes in which everyone had very surreal dreams ("Restless"), episodes with alternative worlds ("The Wish") or episodes in which no background music was used ("The Body"). By experimentalizing from time to time, the writers did keep the show fresh and made it completely original. This was not a show that did repose itself on its critical acclaim and its success, the cast and crew always were trying to bring it to the next level, which made it a pure joy for the viewer.

If you have never seen the show and start with the show today, you'll probably find it a little bit trashy. The first season definitely was a little bit trashy, but you know, it went on the air in 1997. Television standards were not as high as they are now and the music in the first season was typical for the horror genre (additionally the show didn't a big budget back then) . Give it a try. The show loses its trashy atmosphere throughout the series (even pretty early if you ask me) and the stories are still pretty entertaining though.