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Reviews
3 Body Problem (2024)
Way too much content for just 8 episodes
I find this incredibly rushed. The funny thing is, when I was watching it, it did not feel that way. But I watched the Chinese version after this, which stretches to 30 episodes, and then the enormous rushing of this Netflix adaptation becomes clearer.
And the silly thing is, they could have rushed less if they had taken out all the unnecessary drama around Will Downing and his love for Jin and his fears about telling her. So incredibly unnecessary, it added absolutely nothing to the story, and love angles like that are tired and boring and old. And then at the end when Jin hears that he loved her, THEN she suddenly knows that she loves him too and then it's too late. Booooring.
And then they could have taken a little bit more time to work on the story itself and given the characters a bit more time to discover things.
Because as it is, they never do anything wrong. They never have to question anything, because before they can question it, the solution is already presented. All in neat little packages, and that's that.
And then there's the glaring plot hole of the three people appointed to think for themselves about a solution without talking about it with anyone. Great idea, in theory, in practice you have no chance to get anywhere with that, because the next generation will have to start all over again because the three original people will not be able to share what they have been thinking of. They can't even share what they found that would not be working, because that would also give away everything to the Sophons.
I don't know if that plot hole is in the book, because I have not read that (yet), but either it's in the book and they should have covered that, or it's not in the book and they made it.
So all in all, even tho I found the story interesting and I watched it all in a few days and had quite a rush from it, in hindsight I can't give it more than a 6. It simply has too many flaws.
San ti (2023)
Watched it all in one week
First things first: I have not read the book, yet. So whether or not it is faithful to the book I do not know.
I watched the Netflix show first which was quite a whirlwind. They brought the whole story of the first book in 8 episodes and it has a lot of flaws, even tho it was addictive because the acting was good and the story is compelling.
And then I wanted to watch the Chinese version, which was 30 episodes.
The story itself has flaws. Big flaws. And the pacing, although it's a lot better than in the Netflix show where everyone knows everything instantly and the only times when nothing huge is discovered is when the attention is on the completely unnecessary addition of a dying scientist who was actually not that much of a scientist and a love angle that's tiresome and boring and old, is pretty terrible the other way: they take so so so much time to show every tiny detail, and often the same detail three times because what's the fun in only showing it when it happens, we ALSO need to resee it in a flashback and then again when someone tells someone else about it. So at times, although it's not badly done, it was very very slow.
And then come episode 29 and 30, and then it's suddenly RUSH RUSH RUSH RUSH and HASTE HASTE and never mind the details and the explanations. It's like they started filming without a plan except the "it must be exactly 30 episodes", so they dragged the story out until it suddenly was episode 29 and then they still had 7 chapters (or something like that) left and that had to go in those 2 episodes.
Which made everything that happened in those episodes completely unbelievable. In four days you can make a thing in the Panama Cabal to attach nanomaterials that not just sits there but is also movable in two directions (up and down)? Really really not.
Not to mention the enormous plot hole of the two Sophons being active that know everything but somehow they missed this? But AFTER humankind finds the info they are suddenly there?
Which they solved in the Netflix adaptation by the Sophons refusing to talk to Mike Evans after finding out that people can lie, but here they just let the hole sit there.
All that said, I could not stop watching. The story is compelling and alluring, and two of the main characters, Wang Miao and Shi Qiang, are very very likable and their interaction is funny and really pulled me in. So even tho I already knew how it ended, I still had to rush to the last episode.
Due to all the issues I can not give an 8. I also do not want to give a 7, because I feel it's better than a 7. But I really can't give it an 8.
I don't know if the plot holes (there are more than just the one in Panama, there's also, for instance, the moment where they start interviewing Ye Wenjie and the general goes "you were suspected of murder in Red Base" and at the end of the interrogation she goes "nobody ever suspected me, it was put down as an accident") are in the book or in the adaptation, but nevertheless, if it was in the book they should have covered it, and if it wasn't in the book, the flaw is on them.
The Looming Tower (2018)
Has its flaws but has also magnificent parts
I agree with many of the other reviews in that much of the personal lives of the main characters, or rather, the personal lives of just two of the main characters, was unnecessary and did not add much to the story or the attractiveness of the series.
Also, it's very clear that the CIA is the only one who is doing things wrong, and that the FBI is the sad underdog in their fight, and that if only the CIA had done better it all would have ended well. At least, that's what the makers would have you believe.
I also found it disappointing that the result of the 9/11 investigation was not included, that would really have put a good finish to it. Now it sort of frizzles out with the death toll and the fate of John O'Neill.
All that said tho, this is still a fantastic series to watch. There are a few scenes that are memorable, especially the scene in the last episode where Tahar Rahim as Ali Soufan (who was one of the producers on the show, I saw) interrogates the bodyguard of Bin Laden and confronts him with his misguided beliefs to the point where the gloating guy from the beginning is reduced to a miserable shell of a man. That scene was absolutely astounding, beautifully done.
The acting was good to very good, Jeff Bridges was great as always, and Tahar Rahim is fantastic.
Considering the subject I find it hard to say this is a great show, or awesome. The subject is too horrible for that and the collapse of the towers made me cry as if it was 2001 all over again. But it's a very good watch if you want to have a bit of background of the attacks and how the US failed to prevent it.
Flashforward (2009)
What a shame
The idea is very interesting. But the acting is pretty terrible, and there are a lot of very unbelievable things.
For instance, one of the agents has a flashforward of herself getting an echo for her pregnancy. She states that her pregnancy is 17 weeks. Her belly tho is showing a pregnancy of at least 6 months. That's just sloppy. I know that a 17 week pregnancy gives space for her to meet someone and get pregnant where a 6 month pregnancy doesn't and that a 17 week pregnancy doesn't really show that big, but come on. That's just sloppy for cheap effects.
Branford sees he started drinking again, and does he tell his wife when she says she sees herself with another man (as if you are able to move on within six months, enough to call him honey, if you're supposedly heartbroken after breaking up with the father of your child)? No, he does not. But he does get jealous and unreasonable about the whole situation when she meets the guy in hospital.
The deputy head of Homeland Security shows up. She doesn't believe anything they are saying, and are they asking her "well, you have a better idea"? No they are not. And when they are showing her the clip of the person who was awake when everyone else had fallen down, she still didn't believe anything. But two seconds later she goes "no no you gotta catch him before he does it again". That's when I was done with the show.
It's lazy writing, very bad acting, and sloppy in the details.
The idea is great, but the show is really really not. I don't even understand how so many people rate this show so highly.
Proof (2005)
Yeah yeah we got it, you're a mentally tortured woman
I used to be one myself. My god, if I had behaved like this one, they'd have shot me and put me out of their misery.
The sister IS annoying, I admit. But Catherine herself is more annoying than the sister. If I'd been Hal, I'd have listened to that for 5 minutes, thought "hm... last night was indeed wonderful, but nothing is worth this".
I did what I advise Hal to do lol. I listened to that drivel for almost 10 minutes and saw her getting even more dramatic and then I decided that whatever the outcome it was not worth sitting through more of it.
And don't get me wrong, I love Jake Gyllenhaal. His acting is, as usual great. But she says "I am afraid I'm cracking open like an egg" and he says "awww" and goes right back to kissing her. No dude. She doesn't need sex, she needs a pair of arms. Or two stout nurses and a van to a closed hospital.
So no. Definitely not recommending this.
You People (2023)
Trying too hard
I think it must be possible to make a comedy about black and white tensions. I really think so.
But this is not it.
It's not a comedy. I know it's meant to be, but it isn't.
The chemistry between Ezra and Amira is fantastic. The best moments were when they got to know each other and when they were together. There were a few very funny and adorable moments with the two of them. Ezra is a bit odd, and the way she responds to that is heartwarming.
The rest is pretty terrible and simply not funny at all.
The thing is, the issues that do come up could have been discussed. There could have been honest and open conversations. Instead everyone tries to make their point while being wrong about it, nobody is listening to each other. Nobody is making an effort.
Ezra, knowing his parents, could have had seventeen conversations with especially his mom about race relations and appropriate ways of dealing with them. But he's gonna take his black girl friend over, just like that? Meh.
After the first dinner with all the parents she complains that he makes her dad to be an angry black man, and that's a horrible stereotype. Well, sorry to say it, but uhm... he is playing an angry black man. There's no two ways about it. He hates white people. Not saying he doesn't have a point, because he does, but if your daughter is gonna marry a white dude and you meet his parents, it might be at the very least considerate to tone it down a little. By not letting him do that, the makers made him an angry black man.
All the parents are stereotypes. Not one iota of real empathy, curiosity etc between any of them. They all already know. And they are utterly unbearable.
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)
Not the movie I was hoping for
If you read that it's based on the book of his girlfriend Liz "who refused to believe the truth for years" then you are expecting a movie about her. But the director ALSO wanted it to be about Bundy, because that is nice and gory and spectacular. And the time really is not long enough to do both, therefore not doing either story line justice.
The result is a movie that is utterly unimpressing, telling you nothing new.
Zac Efrons performance is awesome, but doesn't make up for these shortcomings.
The Midnight Sky (2020)
Sentimental drivel
To be fair, the first half is pretty ok. I don't mind the vague story, the mysterious girl is mysterious and that's all fine.
The end is horrible though.
So two scientists go back to earth with a dead woman, because one of them had a family there and the other guy thinks "this is the best way to spend my time I think".
What a sentimental drivel.
The family is dead, the earth is dead, there is nothing to go back to. And do the two remaining people say "well people, by leaving you are making OUR trip back rather impossible?"
Noooo, because sentimental drivel.
What a waste of time.
Romansu dôru (2020)
Slow but good
This movie definitely takes its time. I don't mind that at all. And if you like slow movies, this is definitely worth a watch.
It starts out as a comedy but just when I started to think that it would be a bit too crude or too simplistic to be funny for the whole movie, the movie turns more serious.
The chemistry between the characters, the main characters but also the side characters is great.
The story is basically about a relationship, between Ketsuo and Sokono, and they both turn out to not being open with each other.
About what and why Ketsuo is not will be obvious from the beginning, but what is she not telling him?
I don't really get why so many people did not really care for this movie and gave it such low ratings. I enjoyed it and watched it in one go.
I mean, is it a movie that will rock your world? No. If that is the only reason to like a movie, don't watch this. But if you like slow movies like I do, and if you like movies that are a mix of funny and serious, then seriously give this a go.