goldbarn Reviews

Dark (2017–2020)

An interesting but tedious mind-bender

[7/10 · 3 February 2024]

With an average imdb rating of over 8.5, Dark is one of the top-recommend sci-fi shows on Netflix, next to Black Mirror, so does it live up to the hype? Kind of, but it has too many design flaws to fully recommend:

1) tedious repetition and depressing atmosphere: events and conversations are serially repeated with little variation, the settings never really change, and characters lack a sense of agency and free will, giving the series a very depressing and monotonous atmosphere. It's all by design, but this monotony reaches a psychological breaking point for the viewer at the start of season 3.

2) complicated web of relationships: imagine keeping track of the relationships between 4 generations of 3 separate yet biologically-related families, involving more than 20 people. Your social working memory will be overtaxed.

3) constantly shifting timelines: as the show progresses, the timelines are constantly shifting, every 5-10 minutes, making it tiresome for the viewer.

4) false messianic characters: we are told explicitly that certain characters are special and pre-ordained to save the world, which turns out to be a farce when you realize by the end that any other character could have done the same.

5) unconvincing sci-fi: good science fiction makes us imagine a world where technologies unknown to us could technically exist, respecting the laws of physics or at least most of them. The technological devices in this show are unconvincing as we don't really learn anything about their origin and how they work.

6) philosophically dull: the show graces us with philosophically ambiguous statements (and conversations) such as "everything and everyone is interconnected" and "the beginning is the end and the end is the beginning", which make sense by the end of the show, but they don't tell us anything interesting about our own world. The show does however makes us think about and question our free will.

If I had to rate the seasons separately it would be 8, 7, and 6, in that order.

My rating system: 10-classic (top 10 all time), 9-excellent (top 100), 8-very good, 7-good, 6-average, 5-mediocre, 4-1 unwatchable. 8-10 are "fully recommended", 7 is reserved recommendation.

Closer to the Moon (2014)

Could have been a great black comedy

[6/10 · 23 November 2023]

Much like JFK's assassination, the Great National Bank Robbery of 1959 is shrouded in mystery, the first being whether the robbery did in fact take place (or was instead fabricated to justify the purging of undesirable party members), and the second concerning the motives for the robbery. Here, Caranfil depicts the robbery as a real event symbolizing an act of resistance against a communist regime that has failed to live up to its ideals. It's an idealistic plotline that molds the protagonists into crafty anti-establishment heroes, and that's fine in principle, but I don't think he manages to convey his story convincingly.

The main problem is that Caranfil empowers his protagonists to the point where it becomes difficult to feel pathos for them. Rather than endowing them with a tragic backstory to make their suicide mission believable, he depicts them as privileged party members who live care-free and suffer from existential boredom more than anything else. And although their fate is ultimately in the hands of the authorities, they always seem to be in control of the situation: they plan and execute the heist without a hitch, knowing that they will get caught; they laugh at the authorities during their trial, and they make a mockery of the film shoot without getting reprimanded.

As far as authenticity is concerned, it also doesn't help that the director chose an English-speaking cast and portrays communist Romania as a rather idyllic setting (granted the late 1950s were a more liberal era than what came afterwards). That said, I give him credit for at least shooting it in Bucharest and having the actors pronounce the Romanian names accurately.

To be fair, it's not a terrible movie from any technical standpoint (acting, set design, cinematography, etc.) and I found it both genuinely funny and cringy, because you can't overlook the absurdity of 1950s Romanians speaking English with British accents (note: if you enjoy that, I recommend the 2017 TV-series Comrade Detective). But my impression is that the director missed a golden opportunity to create a black comedy that is both tragic and comic, choosing instead to shoot a light-hearted parody.

Zappa (2020)

A portrait of Zappa as the perfectionist composer

[9/10 · 14 November 2023]

Given unprecedented access to the Zappa family archives, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Winter has managed to put together the most insightful biographical documentary about Frank Zappa to date, which is no small feat considering the hours of footage he had to pour through.

The overarching theme is one of an aspiring composer who is constantly moving from one musical idea to the next, while trying to maintain total artistic freedom amidst commercial pressures. One who is willing to spend most of his hard-earned money on paying professional musicians to perform his increasingly complicated compositions, just so he could get the satisfaction of listening to his own work. This circularity struck me as rather poetic--playing music to earn the money needed to record and hear your compositions.

We also get some unique insight into Zappa's perfectionism and workaholism and how it affected his family and peers. Zappa is described as a "slave to his inner ear", whose measure of success is "how close did you get to the realization of the idea that you first heard the first time you heard it". In other words, his professional satisfaction derives from realizing his ideas exactly the way he hears them, which ironically makes musicians (humans) an imperfect vehicle for these ideas and leads Zappa to ditch them in favor of the Synclavier.

Much to the ire of Zappa fans, the documentary glosses over most of his 70s and early 80s albums, but then again, it's important to keep in mind that the main focus is Zappa's personality and evolution as an artist rather than his music per se. I, for one, would certainly welcome a much longer documentary or perhaps series that explores his musical journey from one album to the next. We just have to be patient and hopeful that more will be coming.

Tales from the Loop (2020)

Beautiful and mysterious

[8/10 · 6 August 2020]

While not quite as imaginative and original as Black Mirror, this sci-fi arthouse drama does have its fair share of thought-provoking moments. Would you live inside another person's body if their circumstances provided you with better opportunities in life? If you were to run into another version of yourself in a parallel universe, how would you treat "yourself"? What would you do with your time if you could freeze time indefinitely?

I do think the show would have been better if it provided more insight into what goes on in the Loop, as in what they are researching, and what kind of technologies are being developed. The purpose of robots and other advanced machines is also left very unclear, because we only see them lying around in disuse, like cars in a junk yard. By the end of the season, we do learn a lot about the histories of each character, but we're no closer to understanding the sci-fi elements of the show. One could argue that that is intentional because the focus is on human relations and the sci-fi is supposed to remain a mystery, but you could also argue that it shows a lack of thought on the part of the screenwriters. Perhaps, if there is a second season, we will learn more, because there is definitely more room for exploration and explanation.

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)

PG-13 Hollywood romcom that is neither romantic nor funny

[5/10 · 15 July 2020]

There are actually some interesting plot ideas and the cinematography is wonderful, but that's about the best I can say about this movie. The first major problem is that it's hard to take seriously two American actors pretending to be Icelandic and speaking with an Icelandic accent. Will Ferrell was just an awful choice for the role; he's too old, he doesn't have any natural musical talent (neither does Rachel) and he doesn't come off as a credible pretend-musician. On top of that, there isn't any chemistry between him and Rachel McAdams (think about what made A Star is Born so successful). It would have worked much better had they picked an Icelandic duo that are actually musicians, but then it wouldn't be a Will Ferrell movie.

More importantly, the movie simply fails at delivering any laughs. There were literally only two scenes where I was genuinely amused, one involving the Ja Ja Ding Dong guy, and another where Will knocks down a portable toilet. It's somewhat hard to comprehend how an actor like Will can be so entertaining in some films (Anchorman, Old Scool, Step Brothers) and so unfunny in others, but I think it has much to do with his narrow comedic range. Will is usually at his funniest when he plays the wild and selfish manchild, which is nothing like his character in this film.

To sum it up in one sentence, Eurovision Song Contest is a forgettable PG-13 Hollywood romcom that is neither romantic nor funny.

Lords of Chaos (2018)

Good movie but questionable direction

[8/10 · 11 July 2020]

Lords of Chaos is one of the first books I read as a teenager, as I was getting into black metal, so naturally this movie was right up my alley. As far as the story goes, the movie is pretty faithful to what is described in the book, and the production, cinematography and acting are also very good.

My first major criticism has to with the overall direction (or vision) for the movie, which is a matter of preference. The director chose to depict events from the perspective of Euronymous, who takes a light-hearted approach to narrating the story, at one point stating that it doesn't have a good ending for him. My preference would have been to tell the story from a neutral, 3rd person POV, without narration, and without overt attempts at comedy. You can still have humor come out naturally through dialogue, since teenagers obviously have a sense of humor. In other words, I would have preferred a dark, European arthouse drama to a Hollywood teenage comedy/drama.

My second biggest concern has to do with the depictions of Euronymous and Varg. Euronymous is portrayed as a harmless narcissist, who is all about promoting his and his band's image, and who doesn't believe in following through with all the shocking acts (arson, murder, etc.) they talk about; whereas Varg is portrayed as an ideological sociopath who is fully committed to doing those acts. There is probably a lot of truth to those portrayals, but I can't help but feel uneasy about portraying Euronymous as the innocent victim (good guy) and Varg as a cold-blooded murderer (bad guy). This is where I would have liked a bit more balance. I also think casting Varg as a chubby, unattractive person and portraying him as a buffoon for comedic effect takes away from the authenticity. I honestly don't have sympathy for the guy and never cared for his music, but it came off like they wanted to troll him badly.

The door isn't shut on another Mayhem movie that is more faithful and balanced. Shortly after Lords of Chaos come out, Necrobutcher (original bassist for Mayhem) released a new book on the early years of Mayhem that should provide future directors with plenty of new insight, and I would love it if Hellhammer (Mayhem's drummer since 1990) were to provide extensive interviews in preparation for a new film. Ideally, this film would include Norwegian dialogue and the full blessing/cooperation of the original Mayhem members and any other relevant players from the early black metal scene. Maybe Lars von Trier can direct it :)

Dumb (2016– )

Girls meets Breaking Bad

[9/10 · 16 May 2019]

This show strikes me as a crossover between Girls and Breaking Bad, more on the side of the latter. To those who aren't familiar, Girls (2012-2017) focused on the tumultuous, day-to-day life of four young, artistic women trying to make ends meet. Breaking Bad needs no introduction...

Although I must give credit to the entire cast for its superb acting, my highest praise goes to the star of the show and its co-creater, Bat Hen Sabag. She plays Shiri, a compassionate and volatile 30-year-old, who is trying to make it as an actress, but has to take a 180-degree turn in order to save her boyfriend from a drug bust. Despite her good intentions, she screws up a lot and is frequently called "dumb" by the people around her (dumb as in foolish, not unintelligent). Bat Hen Sabag plays Shiri so convincingly and with so much passion that I can't remember that last time I felt so much sympathy for a TV character. Her performances in this show earned her two Best Actress awards.

Those who've watched the popular Israeli show Fauda (streamed on Netflix) will also be delighted to find that 3 of the actors from Fauda are regular cast members on Dumb, and two of them reprise characters involved in investigative police work.

I'm crossing my fingers that Amazon or Netflix picks up the show so that it can be viewed by non-Hebrew speakers too.

The Meyerowitz Stories (2017)

the work of a novice

[5/10 · 10 December 2018]

This movie should, in theory, appeal to fans of Wes Anderson, Woody Allen, and all the big-name actors in this film, yet it falls way short of those expectations. The first issue is that the dialogue feels rushed and moves at an unnaturally quick pace, with little to no pauses punctuating the conversations. Second, a movie that focuses on human relationships generally inspires some empathy for the characters once you get to know and live through their experiences, yet this movie fails to do that; by the end of the movie, I didn't feel any emotional connection to the characters and that's not for a lack of interesting personalities. If the script is OK, the acting is OK, the characters are interesting, the cinematography is fine, but the movie fails to impress as a whole, who do you blame? I blame the director.