advance512 Reviews

Mama Boy (2022)

Enjoyable and rarely cringy

[7/10 · 10 February 2023]

Funny, interesting characters though most are very two dimensional, mostly predictable but at times surprises, and actually touching - focusing on relationships and less so on plot.

Saw it on a Cathay flight and was delighted.

Spoiler: about the ending. Kind of sad for Lele and kind of happy for the Mama's Boy. She took a loan, will be selling her house, is lonely, gave up on love to be good to both her son and to "let go those you love"... While he had a "clearing of the wrench in the cogs" moment, and the entire experience jump started his life - a bit more independent, confident and daring.

Wish Lele had a better ending.

Away: Home (2020) Season 1, Episode 10

Character driven, beautiful art, touching and inspiring moments

[9/10 · 24 September 2020]

Yeah, this show would be better without Lex, Isaac and most of Matt. Poor Mel, stuck with those three. Yeah, at times it is mind numbingly banal, especially Emma's parts. Swank is a fine actress, but her Earth relationships are shallow and uninteresting. Slogging ahead.. But this episode was worth the suffering, even that of the middle of the season.

Kwesi and Ram are vibrant and fun, and I love scenes with them. But the show is kept alive mostly by Lu and Misha, beautiful characters that start off as rough and hostile, but go through a wonderful transformation, or perhaps uncovering or discovering, and end up as having the most profound, most heartwarming scenes together. Their last dialog, last scene together was so joyfully touching and vulnerable, I just cried sad and happy tears at the same time. Two amazing actors, we are lucky to witness their interaction.

The art and cinematography of this episode were great. I felt such relief when they landed, and such joy seeing the Martian grovel, the red mountains, the moons.. it really felt as a preview to what we will all feel in 15-20 years. Inspiring and incredible.

Great final episode, I loved 85% of it deeply, 15% you can just skip ahead of without any regret.

Away: Spektr (2020) Season 1, Episode 9

Fast forward the Lex/Isaac/Mel/Matt scenes and it's pretty good.

[7/10 · 24 September 2020]

Liked it. Agree with another reviewer - just let the pressure get the water into the bag. Like collecting snow.

Loved the spacewalk and the view of Mars... Wow.

Away: Vital Signs (2020) Season 1, Episode 8

Some parts InSightful, some parts terrible

[7/10 · 23 September 2020]

The Green family is insufferable. Sure Matt, we didn't send anymore astronauts to space after the Challenger! Sure Lex, tell us more about your teenage angst! So very interesting. 😑 Sure, Emma, keep on alienating your crew and showing zero drive to successfully perform your mission.

At least we have Misha and Lu to keeps things fresh. Lu has an amazing episode. Her backstory taked just the right amount of screentime. And the actress, my god! Such a masterclass. Her tears thinking of the woman she loves. Her speech to Emma.

Loved the InSight idea, though it is a bit farfetched in reality. Hoping it gets better the next two episodes.

White Lines (2020)

Watch it despite the main character

[7/10 · 24 May 2020]

This show has some pretty iconic moments. I mean, just the first episode, with the banana full of cocaine being passed over the spiky fence, ripping apart, the cocaine soccer field lines, the dogs sniffing ans reacting.. there are many other such moments during the show, as well as spectacular cinematography which is well worth it on its own to watch. It has some true Fargo as well as Breaking Bad inspired moments, which I love.

The Calafat and Martinez families are interesting, Boxer is a great character and Marcus is fun. The Romanians were great too.

But then you have Zoe, who is a miserable, unlikeable character, and also her brother Axel which is supposed to have been a big deal but just doesn't convince. The brothers are sadly the worst part of the show, perhaps due to the acting. There are many cringe filled moments in the show which I just fast forwarded, especially with Zoe. I mean, why would Boxer even like her, physically, intellectually or emotionally? And who really cares who killed Axel?

The remote therapist as well as Marcus's ex-wife were also pretty unremarkable and pointless. The show would be more focused without them.

The music is pretty drab and unmemorable, too, for being set in Ibiza.

The first two episodes were nice. The 3rd and 4th, meh. By the 5th episode, I could not care less about Zoe nor Axel, and wanted to see more of the Spanish cast, or even of Zoe's dad. I watched it while skipping ahead most parts with the main character. Surely, this was not their intent.

All in all, a fun show, if you have nothing better to watch.

Shabatot VeHagim (2000–2004)

Best drama ever made in Israel.

[13 June 2005]

Without doubt - the best drama ever made in Israel, and quite probably the masterpiece of Israeli television.

The interesting stories are full of characters which are full, complete and imperfect - it's as if you see into the life of your Israeli neighbor (one of the more interesting neighbors anyhow).

The show has one of the best soundtracks ever heard in an Israeli show, incredible editing, artistic scenes and a sense of true Israeli life and wonder.

The actors here are simply amazing, and each show some of the best acting talent in Israeli television - especially Alon Abutbul which just shines.

Don't miss watching this masterpiece if you can - a glimpse into our lives, with no pretense.