zaywhat Reviews

A Murder at the End of the World (2023)

Well Done. Another winner from Brit and Zal

[8/10 · 20 December 2023]

Like everything from the duo of Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, this series has a healthy dose of social relevance and emotion. Artificial Intelligence, Global Warming, the potential for subjugation of women by powerful men and more I'm sure. Emma Corrin is brilliant as Darby, intelligent and emotional components of the character come across well. The Andy Ronson character is an amalgam of tech billionaires: an Elon Musk in scope of achievement, a Steve Jobs in vision and design.

The spoiler I'll offer is that this series reminds me very much of a 1956 movie, Forbidden Planet in a way that will be apparent to those who have seen both. The adversary in both is the union of human and machine resulting in what the original movie called, "Monsters of the id".

Hellraiser (2022)

Hellraiser 2022 adds nothing new or interesting to the franchise

[4/10 · 23 February 2023]

I enjoy horror and other types of movie that offer a good mythology. A balance of forces is how nature operates and a demonstration of that in a good story is very satisfying to me. In the first movie or two there was a sense that it was the act of solving the puzzle box that doomed a person. In doing this they had asked to join the Cenobites. The first movie did have the concept of a trade but it was for an extraordinary circumstance where a Cenobite had escaped and the rest of them would trade the girl's life or soul to get the escapee back. This 2022 version abandons the cause and effect principle almost entirely as anyone solving the puzzle can stab other people to avoid joining the Cenobites. The corruption of innocents to stay alive is a worthwhile concept, sort of the bargain purportedly made by witches but no corruption required here. Innocent people can be condemned by stabbing. The sense of balance or the cause and effect given in a morality play is lost. The only limit to the Cenobites recruitment appears to be the number of states in the box. The metal gates of the mansion deterred them but felt like a contrivance added in this remake to slow down the onslaught. Even horrors such as the Grudge or the Ring require disturbing a cursed location or viewing a cursed film to summon the evil. Maybe there's little difference but to me the 2022 Hellraiser brought nothing new to the franchise and lost one of the crucial elements of the story that only those who "ask" to join are cursed.

Amsterdam (2022)

It could have been a half hour shorter

[7/10 · 8 December 2022]

There were times I found the show tedious with irrelevant detail. I guess that's the film maker's art, giving depth to characters and character to a film. There were times it lost my attention but the all star cast kept me watching and they did not disappoint. The performances were all good, maybe excellent but the script or storyline dragged for me.

The story line felt awkward as the real antagonists were revealed slowly. At the end it became clear this is a film with a message. Those involved probably support that message which might explain the large number of well known actors in the film, possibly there to do just that.

Wednesday (2022– )

Jenna Ortega Kills It As Wednesday

[8/10 · 27 November 2022]

Loved the show. Didn't care much for Uncle Fester as he seemed like an unnecessary distraction. There were a few moments where her attitude felt tedious but overall, a perfect rendition of the wit, ability and fearlessness of the Wednesday Addams character. Jenna Ortega did a masterful job as the stoic young woman where slight nuances of facial expression were subtle but expressive moments of character development. I enjoyed all the performances and the story line was engaging enough. I remember watching the original Addams Family TV show and this in depth story on Wednesday was a worthy rendition of those characters and a lot of fun to watch.

Mr. Mercedes (2017–2019)

Like the show in spite of logic flaw

[8/10 · 10 August 2021]

Spoilers!!

Season 1 was standard fare, ex-cop skirts the law to serve justice, gathering likable characters to his cause.

At the end of season 1 and start of season 2 they turned metaphysical giving comatose Brady the ability to control others and continue killing for pleasure. I didn't care for that turn at first but settled in for a Stephen King twist to the story.

Season 2, last episode, the trial hinges on whether or not Brady is a "changed man". The audience knows for certain that he is not as we saw him commit murder using other people as puppets. Several characters believe it also because of the words used by the murderers and whatnot but they have no evidence to prove Brady's psychic escapades. The story drops the idea of mind control at that point. Brady won't admit to it of course but the idea itself is just dropped. No clue if Brady could control others while awake even though Cora admitted the Chinese drug trials suggested a psychic ability. OK, so they decide to use Lou to say Brady was still the same. A dumb move of limited value as even the characters admit her bias. The real evidence would be in the conversation in the jail cell between Brady and Bill. They don't want to use it because Bill once again assaults Brady, stupidly. In that conversation Brady tries to get Bill to accept responsibility for Janey's death. "If only you hadn't taunted me, calling me Mr. Nothing, perhaps Janey would still be alive". A few similar statements clinch the fact that Brady is using the same technique he used on Janey's (mother or sister) who owned the Mercedes he used to kill. "If only you hadn't left the keys in the car, left the car unlocked". There was proof of that manipulation in letters and the lady's computer. His attempt to get others to feel guilt over his actions was a hallmark of Brady the psycho killer. Bill should have felt the sting of that similarity and known that was the money shot of their jail proximity set up. The D. A. should have also understood the importance of it. But no, use Lou so we can have her in the courtroom to end the saga of Brady. It felt like they didn't feel like writing any more and just ended it. Logic flaw, enjoyable otherwise.

Z (I) (2019)

It failed as a horror story

[3/10 · 19 January 2021]

A supernatural entity needs an origin story of some kind. Z had none. The doctor tells Beth "it" is using her son to get to her and later says it's all in her mind. No answers there. Maybe Beth is a medium of some kind that can conjure spirits. Maybe the thing arrived at a tragic moment like what was apparently her father's suicide? Nothing clear. A good story will present some reason, some trigger for supernatural entities obsessing over someone. Not so for Z. A few glimpses of Z, a pretty clear message that he is malevolent and not a figment of imagination but no story. Why does the boy become antisocial at school and who tossed Daniel over the railing? Does Z possess him or instruct him? No screen time spent to explain that. No conclusion either. Apparently Beth is brain damaged. Was she successful in eradicating Z? Who knows and by the end of the movie, who cares.

Usually critic ratings such as this received indicate something I will enjoy. Not this time.

Raised by Wolves (2020–2022)

Up to episode 9, Raises an interesting premise, production is excellent.

[7/10 · 25 September 2020]

I enjoy a good mythology in a story. This one has several deep thoughts for society. The divisions of atheist vs. the faithful having destroyed the earth in war, remnants of each side land on a planet. Rather than any of today's social groups which would heavily dominate the story, the choice of Mithraic is iconic enough that those of faith can identify with it and unknown enough that it offends few if any and had me learning the word syncretic.

The plot, characters and technicals are generally fine, though insanity is not a character that draws me to a story. The destruction caused by Marcus seems a little arbitrary. Maybe I missed something. I've yet to see the remaining episodes and I hope that in them or next season, the moral aspect of carbon-android life will be discussed in some way deeper than just killing off people.

Also the myth of ancient knowledge coded in scripture that created mother should be concluded and all the stuff around it. This creation of life will offend the faithful yet the necromancer device of their faith crosses a similar line. There are questions of why this place and what is the big god-rock, and why the creatures seem to be related to all of this.

Lots of questions to answer. Lots of stories to tell. So far, an interesting premise that appeals to me and the production is well made.

The Wire (2002–2008)

A good watch for current times as policing is being questioned.

[9/10 · 30 August 2020]

I didn't watch this when it came out even though it was popular. I binged all 5 season recently and enjoyed it very much even though I didn't like the characters. It displays the fact that policing is like all public services, political and money driven. Hard choices usually involve where a limited money allowance will go and performance metric systems are prone to being gamed, potentially to an extent that the actual mission is lost. Police , politicians, newspapers, prosecutors all get a look here. The message I took from the series is that they are all "Corner Boys".

Unorthodox (2020)

I had to keep watching

[8/10 · 21 May 2020]

I know a story is being told well when I just can't put down the book or stop watching, even when the subject material is uncomfortable. Unorthodox gives us a look into a community where life is so prescribed that every activity has rules, expectations and social punishment for non-conformists. I found it disturbing and a little scary. Liberal democracies are believed to be bastions of freedom. This story presents an example of an entire community who reject that premise, through belief and forced ignorance of the larger world.

The Final Wish (2018)

Not worth the time

[2/10 · 25 April 2020]

I watched this because iTunes had it as a cheap rental, Lin Shaye is in it and the rottentomatoes score was high. Started out slowly which is fine if the time is used to develop characters. In this case we are shown an unsuccessful lawyer who is not particularly likeable. Unbeknownst to us, supernatural things happen as soon as he gets home, with dead friend Jeremy making an appearance. Some time goes by and supernatural things really start happening. We don't know why Dad came back to life as I don't believe he wished that so we are left to think it was the wish to make his Mom happy. But Mom's behaviour is insane, more like the Djinn pretending to be her so we are left with no reason for what is happening. I guess you have to hang on every word to see if a wish was made. A theatrical signal of some kind would have been useful to indicate a wish. The urn then became a suspect for no reason. You wonder why, since the urn had been in the house for some time, that Mom wasn't being tormented long before Dad died or maybe Dad's torment would have been noticed. So there were only two brief discussions with an expert and a madman to give a mythological base for this. I like a deeper mythology and a story is better if the tormented soul springs a trap of some kind. Most Djinn stories require an overt act to connect the demon to a person, like rubbing a magic lamp in the westernized versions. This story gave us no reason to think the urn held magic, no puff of smoke, nothing. The demon never engaged with the urn so maybe one of the antique mirrors was to blame. I found the story line weak and the ending was barely tolerable plot wise but again, the mythology of this had no depth. There was little reason for Aaron's screaming. He had experienced far worse and his situation was weird but did not appear painful or frightening. After all he had just wished for death so this result was not unexpected. The acting was OK, Lin Shaye is always a strong performance. To my mind the story, screenplay and direction were poor.

Devs (2020)

Weirdness does not equal interesting

[5/10 · 17 April 2020]

The quiet, brooding tone of the show is almost art-house theatre. People stand around looking wistful, in awe of the majestic god machine. The tech billionaire cult leader has a good heart and is only vaguely aware or concerned that his security chief often kills people. That security chief even had one person arrested in a home while he stayed behind to kill the other, as if police were his minions. Alison Pill's character is some kind of disciple, spouting the rhetoric of the multiverse cult with no apparent emotion or motivation. Cult leader's existence is based on wanting to see his dead child and his god machine can do that but it's not good enough for technical reasons and even though his goal is essentially met, there is no satisfaction or plot advancement. Like so many shows, everything is predicated on the big secret. No screen time for sensible behaviour such as having a spy arrested for industrial espionage, calling the police after witnessing a murder or refusing to risk your life on a dare. The big secret is too important to be bogged down with the real world so just murder people and move on.

The premise is interesting but I just don't see a story unfolding. Just an obsessed billionaire causing a lot of murders to keep his god machine a secret. Lots of odd musical background, giant child statue, pomposity and pregnant pauses but all that conspicuous strangeness doesn't make a good story.

Dracula (2020– )

A poignant retelling of this familiar story

[7/10 · 26 February 2020]

I was initially reluctant to watch yet another telling of Dracula. It proceeds on the Nosferatu type story but from a unique perspective where the main protagonist to Dracula steals the show. It concludes with a revelation, for Dracula if not the audience. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Star Trek: Picard (2020–2023)

Picard series, initial impression = 7

[7/10 · 3 February 2020]

After 2 episodes, an initial rating of 7 has at least 1 point of nostalgia or maybe 2. I have enjoyed Patrick Stewart's performances for years and will watch the series for that reason alone but he is looking a little old here. The premise is interesting, Alison Pill is another fine talent and the production values are OK but somewhat budget constrained.

The Next Generation series of Star Trek that gave us Picard started slowly, the first few episodes having stiff performances. The characters soon developed however and gave the audience a richer experience. I hope that happens here.

Midsommar (2019)

A well formed horror

[7/10 · 3 January 2020]

Some spoilers here. So this is a "strange community" horror, like Children of the Corn but without the evil deity figure. The movie gives a colorful and plausible depiction of a naturalist community, ie. Druids or similar whose rituals are based on the seasons, plants and animals. That gives the horror a base, a backstory that makes the overall story a little better than say, Hereditary, which just sort of dumped a supernatural explanation on the audience at the end.

The psychopathic disregard for outsiders is the main horror feature. Real insular communities are said to bring in strangers for the DNA diversity for breeding so that part is realistic. The end of life ritual is interesting and not unrealistic considering cultures that starve out elders in times of hardship. This was just a step further. The rest of the treatment of outsiders wasn't really explained or of some obvious value to the community. The human vivisection in the chicken coop suggested the person was still alive and several visitors just disappeared with just a flimsy excuse to the remaining. I suspected that the "pilgrimage" process mentioned was basically this, to go out and bring back some sacrifices. So the story didn't quite tie up the loose ends but the rich visuals and vocals of the people presented a better basis for the story than many horror movies.

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

A little more than the usual superhero movie.

[8/10 · 18 September 2019]

I see why the critics like it. It's about love, loss, epic battles, second chances and the triumph of good over a great evil. Not of course, without a great sacrifice. Epic.

The Expanse (2015–2022)

Enjoyed the series, great premise, engaging characters, not too many tangents

[8/10 · 14 June 2019]

This series sort of grabbed me the more I watched it. There were some moments when I felt the story was wandering but just a little. There was some emotional soap opera dialogue I don't care for but not too much. Some was justified given the dynamics of the story and the multiple factions in society. Loyalty for a soldier, a scientist, a politician and even a regular person is not so easy to define when war is looming and a greater mystery, is present and threatening. A soldier can blindly follow orders or look deeper into the situation and serve the greater good. The story had much of that kind of element. A story is richer and deeper when the nature of the characters is tested. The only knock on acting in my mind was the patois language of one faction. Several familiar actors speaking this sounded a little synthetic to me, knowing the voices of those actors. A small knock, not detracting much from the show.

Complex social problems, much as we have today, are mirrored well and the resulting political actions are realistic. Relationships develop based on shared experience and characters develop individually. We are given moments to question several characters motives and the revealing flows naturally. Perhaps that means it is well written.

I like Sci-Fi and this one had sufficient technical elements to keep me happy. This story presents a view of our future which represents the best and worst possible outcomes in various ways, which makes the story feel very real. Some of the dialogue, perhaps more in season 3, was genuinely inspiring, presenting spirituality, morality and religion in interesting ways.

I very much enjoyed the series. It says something about us we need to hear, often and loudly.

Replicas (2018)

A little unfocussed but it had something

[4/10 · 17 May 2019]

It was watchable, which for me is saying something. I turn things off if they don't grab my attention. The premise is good and familiar, going back all the way to Robocop and Ghost in the Shell, the idea of merging human with machine is interesting. The technical aspect was OK. The rejection of the robot body by the subject mind was plausible and the answer was also good, ie. Use someone with foreknowledge and agreement to lessen shock and mimic body function responses to make the brain think it has a body.

Then the movie spent a lot of time goofing around with minutiae of growing the bodies, destroying memories, evading the employer, trying to figure out if the employer is an evil giant or what. Toward the end, it became interesting. Alice Eve's portrayal upon finding out she had died was the most convincing scene and deserving of more dramatic time. The family reaction and the new business conducted by the resurrected corporate guy and android was the last 15 minutes of the show but offered more story potential than the Frankenstein beginning. I like Keanu Reeves, in roles that work well for a stoic. He presents a stoic image to the camera, period. Scenes in this film where he was emotionally torn and openly emoting were the weakest performances. Watchable, vaguely interesting, but missing something.

Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2024)

We've come to expect better. Season 2, episode 11 has logic flaws that would make Spock blush.

[4/10 · 1 April 2019]

The first season was fine but the series abandons the satisying 1 hour drama format of the original and even Orville. They're trying for a season long or maybe even multi-season drama and that requires a compelling story. They might have one but with so much soapy dialog about feelings it's hard to see it. So the sphere data becomes the mcguffin everyone is after but since no one has read it, all they know is that the evil Control will use it to become sentient. Well, buddy looked pretty self aware to me, controlling people in physical and psychological ways, formulating plans, changing tactics to fit the circumstance. Control was well on it's way without the magic mcguffin. So they ponder destroying the data but can't do it because it is just too important so they send it into future where Control will "never" get it. The words future and never are relative opposites and the robot could easily wait the 950 years or just invent time travel itself and go fetch. Episode 11 made no mention of the fact that time travel technology was against the Klingon peace accord, (I think I remember that from the show), so Mommy Burnham and her flying pantsuit are trouble all around. Sending magic data into the future gives a machine a pretty good chance of finding it as opposed to scrubbing it out of the computer. Spock, I can't believe you signed off on that illogical move. If there is a third season, I'll pass.

Gehenna: Where Death Lives (2016)

Watchable, pretty good for such a low budget

[7/10 · 26 March 2019]

The movie had a decently laid out mythology. A supernatural ritual creating a person, place or object of power is pretty familiar and in this case, the ritual was evil and conveyed a curse. The people are haunted appropriately by some guilt from their past and in the end, evil deeds result in punishment. The effects were simple but generally effective, corpse like people being the scary part. The actors conveyed personal torment well. I gave it a 7 in part in consideration of the budget. Little money, inexpensive set and effects but a properly formed mythology that was logical (as supernatural curses go) and good acting. So many low budget horrors are just random evil and gore. This was a cut above.

Trench 11 (2017)

Well Done

[9/10 · 21 November 2018]

Low budget but the characters and performances are generally excellent.

Lost in Space (2018–2021)

If They Make Another Season, I'll watch it.

[7/10 · 21 April 2018]

I had thought of a long and technical analysis of logic flaws with spoilers but then I remembered why I watch video entertainment. I want to see the story of those characters continue. That means I liked it, flaws and all.

The Titan (2018)

Great idea, some story flaws

[5/10 · 31 March 2018]

A great sci-fi idea messed up with the evil scientist concept. He told them some would die. OK, he should have said most of you. He told Abi that near death in the desert would be a walk in the park compared to this program. The outrage that participants were dying or "changing into an animal", as Abi put it, was ridiculous. Titan is minus 290 degrees, methane and ammonia. Surely Abi's medical knowledge or to be more realistic, any grade 6 graduate, would imagine that the skin, eyes, orifices in general would have to be wildly different than a human. The idea that the whole family would reunite on Titan was Rick's lie to his son or stupidity. It was pretty clear that not many humans could survive the transition. The new creatures would have to procreate.

They would not have brought families to the facility, only the soldiers, but OK, it was a nice place. Certainly after Rick and Tally turned into Titan fishies, it would be clear that they were not going to be human anymore. Did Abi think she was going to take Titan fishie home to coach scorched earth little league? Surely Rick's discomfort in the earth environment would have quickly escalated to the point he could no longer survive the blistering heat of a 70 degree afternoon and it would be clear to everyone he had to go.

They would not have sent the Titan fishies home to their families 2 days before launch. They would remain in the controlled environment and be given the memory melt as a routine shot. Makes no sense. This wasn't a training mission, it was humanity's last hope.

They would not have killed girl Titan fishie. They would clean up the mess she made of her husband and continue the mission. Species don't tend to survive without a breading pair. And in the last standoff, there was no visible change of heart. Just all of a sudden, everybody goes ahead with the mission that they were willing to die to prevent a minute earlier. So we have one lone male Titan fishie, flying around the ammonia sky, thinking, ... about the family on earth he would never see again?

Gerald's Game (2017)

Interesting way to explore someone's life

[8/10 · 12 October 2017]

This used a method I've seen a few times in that the story is about something other than the horror and logistics of dealing with the scenario presented. In this case, reviewing your life when faced with death is not a surprise though.

Carla Gugino's character carries on an internal dialogue in a dream like way which I enjoyed. It gave the audience a more compelling dialogue than someone thinking or talking alone.

I found the Moonlight Man extraneous at first but I suppose he represents her personal victory.

There are moments of visual horror and a realization that the real horror is a life minimized by trauma, unable to break free from a cycle of negative life choices until resolved, in this case by a greater, more present trauma.

American Gods (2017–2021)

Random Nonsense

[5/10 · 2 October 2017]

So I've only seen 5 of the episodes but all this supernatural stuff happening is just excessive weirdness unless accompanied by a convincing mythology, which has yet to be presented. I'm sure all will be revealed but with each episode filled with random nonsense, I care a little less.

Alien: Covenant (2017)

Really?

[6/10 · 30 August 2017]

The movie was OK, watchable. If you'd never seen one of the franchise, it might be more interesting. I would have preferred a real sequel to Prometheus, where Noomi Rapace lands on the Engineer world and there create some drama, maybe deepen the Engineer mythology. Instead, they used Prometheus details as an excuse to make another Alien eats everybody and you can't trust robots story. The thing I really did not like was how this set of colonizers dealt with the situation. Water samples are taken with gloves then handed to someone's bare hands who tosses the sample into a box. The fear reactions, slipping on blood and complete lack of protocols to analyze an environment scientifically before sniffing the plant life, etc. suggested to me that these colonists wouldn't survive a trip to the Amazon jungle much less a new planet.