kemkomacar Reviews

The Long Shadow (2023)

Old-time criminal investigation with a victim-centric approach

[8/10 · 24 October 2023]

Although captivating, I've always found the recent trend of serial killer stories distasteful because of the particular focus on the killers and their gory crimes. The subcategory of serial killer drama nearly turned out to be filled with prolonged torture porn that encourages sympathy for cold-blooded murderers.

This one takes a different and better approach and it almost doesn't flesh out the killer at all. As quoted in an episode, he is a "nobody" and doesn't deserve to be deeply characterized. In a similar line, the killings occur off-screen and even the bodies of the butchered woman haven't been shown. Instead, the series highlights the details of criminal investigation as well as what the victims and their relatives experienced.

The long shadow also gave important insights into the challenges of solving a case without the modern tools owned by law enforcement agencies at the moment. A similar case would be closed sooner now since there are CCTVs, plate recognition systems, big data analysis, and cell phones around. Thanks to these modern utilities, the police don't have to lean on "the gut instinct" that sometimes leads to big failures like this 70s investigation.

They Cloned Tyrone (2023)

Blaxploitation feel is top-notch, the rest is shaky

[5/10 · 25 July 2023]

As a non-US person who likes afro-american culture, I loved the cinematography and the atmosphere of the movie a lot. It does a perfect job at giving the hommage (and also a subtle criticism to that movement) to the blaxploitation sub-genre.

However, as the movie delves into deeper into sci-fi genre, the subtext of the movie became somewhat condescending towards the afro-american culture. I understand the social commentary regarding the responsibility of the "white men" about the contemporary troubles of black communities in the US, but after some point, afro-american people were painted as mindless drones who don't even have a free will at all. The church scene in particular attract my disgust because I've always liked black gospel.

"White men" control lots of things but not every piece of black culture, right?

Rabbit Hole (2023)

Too many holes... plotwise

[5/10 · 8 May 2023]

Unlike some other reviewers, I am OK with the limited acting capabilities of Kiefer Sutherland. I enjoy him playing the same character, probably himself, over and over again. Also, as usual, Charles Prince does a great job with what is given to him and it's a pleasure to watch his presence on screen. The other members of the cast were a huge "meh" with no outstanding performances.

What bothers me most are the consistencies, plotholes, and excessive liberties taken by the writers. I am happy to suspend my belief but for this show, you need to believe in a parallel universe where hunted fugitives could do anything they want, and maybe more, as the abiding citizens do. And this doesn't happen only once, it's repeated as long as the plot requires.

"Rabbit Hole" is full of such story conveniencies that insults the audience such as escaping inescapable situations. Still a bit fun to watch though, if you don't have a better thing to do.

Mad God (2021)

Feels like a long Tool video, without the great music or concept

[2/10 · 29 April 2023]

I like challenging pieces of art that make your head scratch and force you to come up with different interpretations. But probably because of the lengthy creation process of the movie, it fell short of providing a coherent story structure to the viewer. The minimum coherence level I expected was at least to be at the same level of a Tool music video. Tool is a renowned prog-metal band that are famous for abstract, weird, and artsy stop-motion music videos for their songs. Still, the possible interpretations for those music videos were great discussion series with my friends back in time.

On a second thought, this movie would be much better if a prog-metal band wrote an epic opera for the visuals. The viewing experience would be enhanced and we might have some clues on the context of the story through the lyrics. But as it is, this movie unfortunately resembles to a confusing patchwork of great handwork and poor storywriting.

House of the Dragon (2022– )

The glimmer of GoT is there, but not the depth of it

[5/10 · 1 September 2022]

After two episodes, I gave up watching this one. It's a decent tv series that fails miserably reaching to the level of GoT.

The thing that bothers me most is the reliance only on a single storyline. For instance, we already have a possibly interesting character called "crabfeeder" but there hasn't been told anything about him. GoT has multiple interesting storylines in the same episode that sometimes converge and diverge into other stories.

If you want to relive the epicness of GoT, then watch it again. This one is like a food similar to your favorite from outside but it tastes foul after one bite.

House of the Dragon: The Heirs of the Dragon (2022) Season 1, Episode 1

Decent start with only one storyline

[5/10 · 25 August 2022]

What I liked most about the Game of Thrones is the presence of multiple interesting storylines that converges each other and creates new plots. While the first episode is visually competent and acting-wise OK, the relatively simple storyline is worrying. I hope the series start introducing other interesting stories in the next episode.

Without Remorse (II) (2021)

Do not follow the steps of Netflix, Amazon!!!

[4/10 · 8 May 2021]

I enjoy seeing Michael B. Jordan since The Wire but even he can't manage to make this movie more than average.

The main plot is not even believable for an 8 year-old kid. The US links cyber-attacks to the Russian persons, which are harder to point the fingers out, but yet they look the other way around when physical attacks conducted on the US soil?

It's just the generic tale of a US soldier wronged by his government and his attempt to get his own revenge. Nothing to offer more.

Nobody (I) (2021)

Great until it becomes another lame action flick

[6/10 · 17 April 2021]

This movie has intense and as realistic as possible action scenes, except for the scenes in the second half such as the car chase and final bloodbath scenes. The bus scene, and the home invasion scene in a lesser way, was intense as hell and it was way more realistic and inventive than an average action movie scene. I felt the vulnerability of the main character to my bones and he really put his everything against his opponents by pushing his limits. The fights were raw as duck meat and gunless but not gutless.

Then, the ordinary action scenes came. At this point, the film has became yet another typical action film which overkill becomes more important than tension and characters. Instead of finishing it with standard Hollywood cliches such as being untouchable by bullets or killing armed people easier than mosquitos in a hot summer day, the movie should have followed the path of first half. There is a huge audience out there that prefer more intelligent yet still engaging action flicks. I hope that mistake will not be repeated in the sequel.

The Penthouse: War in Life (2020–2021)

Gasps, tears, screams and many avoidable murders

[4/10 · 1 April 2021]

The title says it all. Expect a very noisy TV series with unnecessarily convoluted plots to move the storyline. Also, it has a killing rate higher than the texas chainsaw massacre.

My Philipino girlfriend forced me to watch it, otherwise, I wouldn't know this Asian soap opera.

Escape at Dannemora (2018)

If you are into 70s Hollywood movies, you are gonna love this

[6/10 · 26 March 2021]

I love 70s Hollywood movies, from Network to Serpico. It was one of the peaks of the industry with great storytelling, memorable characterisations and pastel-like visuals.

In a way, Escape at Dannemora is a hommage to that era. The not-so-intricate plot takes its time to focus on characters and stellar cast does an amazing job. The cinematography never lets the feeling of 70s Hollywood go away. Even the first song of the series is a masterpiece from that era: "From the beginning" by Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

I am giving 6 out of 10 because despite the stylistic choices and acting performances are spot on, the story is relatively a bit simple to carry this to the masterpiece level. Still, I am looking forward to seeing anything directed by Ben Stilleri.

Resident Alien (2021– )

if it weren't Alan Tudyk, this show wouldn't be watchable

[6/10 · 9 February 2021]

After the second episode, I decided to watch this only for Alan Tudyk. I have always admired his body of work and he truly shines as an alien in the form of a human being. From weird body language to the stupid words and sounds, he is the embodiment of a fallen extraterrestial. I can't even think another person to play this role.

Still, I am giving 6 for now because the plot and the other actors are just average. I hope these also improve as the show goes on and I have to update my review.

If you like Alan Tudyk, you should give this a try. If not, what is wrong with you, mate?

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

Am I the only one who wants a decent Barbara spin-off?

[4/10 · 26 December 2020]

In this otherwise average movie, the evil transformation of Barbara stands firmly as the only thing I cherished. At some point, I even rooted for her to defeat ex-IDF member. Probably to avoid further sympathy for Barbara, the filmmakers turned her into an ugly animal, while WW literally became a golden angel. Such a cheap trick and unfair disservice to my beloved Barbara.

I have always disliked Gal Gadot for political and artistic reasons. And, I immediately started to write a fanfiction novel in which Barbara and the Palestinians fights with the occupation forces and the ex-IDF member. You shall be avenged Barbara, my sexy cheetah.

Homicide (1991)

Allegorical subplot on the American Jewish identity

[7/10 · 3 October 2020]

One of two subplots of the movie is an allegory on the identity crisis of American Jewish people. While their hearts beat in line with Israel, yet American Jews also identify themselves more with the American values. This movie came out after highly sensational Palestinian resistance movements in the occupied territories when the different approaches between the American Jews and the Israeli Jews became more visible. So, this subplot actually describes the values of an ordinary American Jew who wants to fight against anti-semitism and proudly displays his/her Jewishness, but doesn't want to go against the rule of law and has to learn Hebrew. And unfortunately, he fails to be a part of both groups in the end.

Widows (2018)

A feministic allegory in the form of a caper movie

[8/10 · 27 August 2020]

Recently, I have seen many movies trying to give empowerment to female characters by portraying them angelic or superheroic, while portraying males in the same movies utterly stupid, completely incompetent and massively evil. Other than extremely politicized a few, that hasn't worked because the audience wants to see realistic humans and their stories, not the weak reflections of abstract ideologies/politics forcedly embedded in a storyline. This movie tells a female empowerment tale without falling into the pitfalls of its comtemporaries.

The widows in this movie are far from being perfect. They are as deeply flawed as their husbands and that's what makes them more relatable. The husbands leave them nothing but trouble yet at the end of movie, they succeed to be independent, self-sufficient and confident women. Instead of forcing a message to an otherwise ordinary movie, this movie centers its message underneath an interesting and engaging story.

Our Boys (2019)

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in a Televised Form

[9/10 · 10 February 2020]

I didn't like Fauda of Netflix. Because instead of delving into more thorny themes, Fauda constrained itself as a mediocre cat-and-mouse thriller that depicts most Palestinians as ruthless terrorists and most Israelis as heroes. Additionally, the Jewish settlers were not around, as if millions of them had not been living in the West Bank. It was more of a caricature of what has been happening in the Palestinian territories.

Our Boys doesn't play safe like Fauda and it displays the human aspect of the decades-long Israeli Occupation in a slow-burn yet engaging drama. For the people standing at the extremes of the discussion, it might look as Pro-Israel or Pro-Palestinian. But actually, it tries hard to demonstrate the emotional states and years-long beliefs of all parties, without any prejudice.

As a person who worked in the region for almost two years, I am amazed how accurate the extremist beliefs of some ultra-orthodox groups were illustrated. Palestinians' deep distrust against the Israeli authorities were almost everywhere throughout the plot, such as in a simple conservation with an Israeli Police Officer on a crime scene. The views of Liberal Jewish citizens of Israel are also reflected in the story, but not as much as the Jewish Settlers and Palestinians.

It's not possible to cover Israeli-Palestinian conflict with all its expect. But this tv series came very close to it. One particular example that I will always remember was a short conversation between the Israeli Prosecutor and the Palestinian father. Israeli authorities demolish the family houses of Palestinian attackers, even if anyone in those houses doesn't help the attackers. The Palestinians see this as an unnecessarily cruel punishment to deter future attacks from other Palestinians. In that scene, the father demands the same treatment for the killers of his son. Their houses also should be demolished, since they are terrorists. In just under a minute, and with a clever writing, the screenplay perfectly displays this complex theoretical discussion in a dramatic way.

A must-watch if you are even slightly interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Watchmen (2019)

Wasted Potential

[6/10 · 3 February 2020]

Have you ever listened an almost unrecognizable cover of a classic song and yet still enjoyed it? I have and that's why I didn't have a trouble to enjoy this new take on the Watchmen. So personally, I found it pretty useless to complain about being unfaithful to the source material. However, it's still subpar, because of some creative decisions on storytelling.

In Lost, Mr. Lindelof put more mysteries into the story than he could provide answers in the following episodes. When Lost finished, most people felt that they had been decieved by lazy writing. In Watchmen, he does the opposite but still managed to do it wrong again. Here, every mysterious event is explained in full detail, even sometimes unnecessarily. Instead of getting background on some incidents, I would like to see more action and/or additional subplots.

In the same vein, another good aspect badly executed was the origin stories. It's always nice to see the past of the characters. But here, we see two full heavily flashbacked episodes in a line for two seperate characters and that really makes the audience steering away from the main event. Wouldn't have it been better if we got bits of histories of each character, preferably spread through many seasons? Maybe the audience shouldn't (and probably doesn't) want to fully know a character and instead, a gradual introduction with plot twists is an indication of good storytelling.

Now all the mysteries are solved within the first season. And, we know everything about the main characters. I wonder how the writers could come up with an interesting story in season 2.

Messiah (2020)

A Bahaist take on the Messianic narrative?

[7/10 · 17 January 2020]

I think this tv show bases its story on the beliefs of Bahaism. Bahaism is a religion originated in Iran and then spread to the Middle East. Its leader was exiled to Israel and he was prosecuted there. Does it sound familiar? As far as I know, this belief system doesn't deny other religions and figuratively, it "walks with all men". Bahaism is still active in the world, particularly Haifa of Israel and Marakesh of Morocco.

In my opinion, the Messiah might be a Manifestation of God, not a harbinger of doom as the other major religions claim to be. I am putting some explanatory text I took from British Library's website:

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The Baha'i Faith is strictly monotheistic. There is only one God, he is exalted above human understanding, so can only be understood and approached via his prophets and messengers (the 'Manifestations of God'). All the major world religions originally stem from the teachings of the Manifestations of God and comprise an essential unity. The Manifestations of God include Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Zoroaster, Krishna and the Buddha, and in the contemporary period, the Bab and Baha'u'llah. There will be more Manifestations in the distant future.

Each Manifestation addresses both eternal spiritual truths and the particular needs of his time. These needs change over time, so divine revelation is progressive in nature.

Baha'u'llah's key theme is world unity. The goal of developing a new world society is a paramount need at the present time. Central to the Baha'i Faith is that all human beings are equally God's creation regardless of gender, race, nationality or creed and should be respected and treated without prejudice. It is essential to work for the equality of men and women and the emancipation of minority groups. For the world's peoples and nations to live together in peace, international institutions need to be developed and systems of governance have to promote justice and human wellbeing for all.

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8 Mile (2002)

An ordinary slice-of-life drama

[4/10 · 16 January 2020]

I've been enjoying rap music since high school but a cast full or rappers couldn't get me liking this movie. Through that fog of hype, unfortunately I was able to understand what it really is. An average slice-of-life drama with full of cliches, a not-so-interesting story and a stellar cast couldn't do much with such a lifeless plot.

Dracula (2020)

2/3 excellence 1/3 rubbish

[6/10 · 12 January 2020]

Modern cinema is full of vampire films that ignore the traditional aspects of the count dracula legend shamelessly. It's now even possible to create a vampire who doesn't need human blood to live on. Nowadays, it's actually more challenging to take a traditionalistic approach without being tempted to create so-called modern blood-sucking freaks.

At the beginning, this mini-series follow Bram Stoker's original story with many enhancements without betraying the core of the source material. That's why I liked it a lot. It's not an easy task to revitalize an almost ancient text in accordance with the taste of modern audience. However, it leaves all the hard work aside later and chooses to be another "modern lame take".

The producers should have either continued the more traditionalistic approach till the end of the series or they should have created a modernized version from the start. Overall, it's like a gorgeous dress with extremely tasteless shoes and hat. Those very wrong choices make it less likable as a whole.

Medical Police (2020)

It could have been better

[6/10 · 11 January 2020]

If you like absurd comedies such as Childrens Hospital and particularly NTSF:SD:SUV like me, you should give a chance to this. Because it is actually a combination of those series. And that's why I enjoyed it.

Still, it's far from perfect because some action scenes are way more serious than they are supposed to be, especially the fights. It really contradicts with the surreal tone of the comedy. Also, travelling almost the whole world throughout the first reason was unnecessarily confusing for me. They should limit the places of the story in the second season.

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019)

Must have been a bonus episode in the DVD set

[5/10 · 6 January 2020]

I really admire Vince Gilligan's TV work but unfortunately, his winning formula doesn't work in a movie format. The original series was simply about Walter White going bad and Jesse Pinkman being better through a subtle and time-consuming process. In this movie, probably in order to create tension and stretch the playtime, Jesse negates all his 6-season long character development for a few dollars more.

While it has some nice bits and it's exciting to see some of the beloved characters once more, El Camino still feels like an unnecessarily extended version of a bonus episode. If it were placed in the DVD set of the Breaking Bad as a 40-minute long goodbye, that would have been a better gesture for the fans. By doing so, Jesse might not have done something out of character.

For a person who hasn't watched a single episode of the Breaking Bad, if such a person exists LOL, it's just another slice-of-life crime drama. In my opinion, nostalgia and respect to the original material are not enough to elevate this decent movie to a higher status.

Get Out (I) (2017)

Great Combination of Blaxplotation and Horror

[7/10 · 1 January 2020]

As a brown man, I love 70s blaxplotation movies and horror genre. All the political subtext aside, I found many tropes and cliches from these two beloved genres. I am not sure whether it's intentional, but this film perfectly combines the exaggarated displays of racism with the horror and thriller elements.

The Irishman (2019)

it's what it is... nothing more

[6/10 · 31 December 2019]

I watched this movie in one sitting. The pacing is good, the story is decent and the starring actors are literally legends of our time. Still, I don't think it's a masterpiece.

I still vividly remember some scenes, storylines and characters from the Goodfellas and the Godfather. In my opinion, this is what seperates masterpieces and cult movies from decent movies. This movie is like a Michael Phelps or an Usain Bolt race in which the hero wins the event effortlessly. It is still worth to watch, it is still enjoyable yet you can't remember anything from that race to make it a memorable experience throughout your life. The plot of the movie is enough to make it a decent movie yet it doesn't give much to top-notch stars to create a masterpiece. Scenario, acting and production values are just interesting enough to prevent the film of being bland.

It's what it is... Worth to watch but not a must-watch.

Joker (I) (2019)

A treatise on the rise of a villain

[8/10 · 29 December 2019]

There are tons of reviews focusing on the extraordinary acting of Joaquin Phoenix, so I am skipping that part. I would like to make comments on the heated discussion that whether this movie glorifies the violence.

Right off the "bat", I think it doesn't. Joker beautifully portrays how villains/monsters emerge and rise to power in a society.

The dominant Western culture dictates that being good or bad is a completely personal choice and no society should be blamed for the rotten apples among them. On the other hand, leftist approaches tend to put the blame on the socio-economical structures of a society and they claim that the system produces such abnormalities.

This fine piece of art takes a balanced attitude that blends the two extreme wiews summarized above. Arthur was a mentally disturbed person long before emerging as the Joker. He was delusional, depressed, and he had many social anxieties to prevent him of being a functioning member of a society. So, why did he become a villain, among many other troubled people? Because the society he lives in was corrupted and it was causing unrest. Ordinary people were already looking for an icon to channel their rages and discontent towards.

So, for a true villain to rise, there must be a perfect combination of personal and sociological conditions. In the absence of psychological troubles, the villain candidate can't go the extra mile and endure such a depraving journey. On the other hand, in the absence of a truly corrupt and disgusting societal background, actions of a villain candidate would be considered unnecessary violent acts and as a result, the masses would not approve him/her. This is one of the main reasons why the people don't embrace lone wolf attacks nowadays. Despite all the problems they have, societies don't need a villain and that's why the villain candidates are mostly labelled as the depraved crazies.

To wrap it up, the movie doesn't glorify the violence at all. It demonstrates the psychological and sociological conditions of a villain emerging and being widely accepted by an imaginary society. Actually, it's a free lesson for the policymakers all around the world. If you invest on the mental health of individuals and rule them fairly, the Joker can't be around.

The Witcher (2019– )

Less like the GOT, more like the Merlin.

[5/10 · 28 December 2019]

I heard somewhere that this is Netflix's response to the Game of Thrones. It's either an innocent exaggeration or a shameless PR lie.

GOT had complicated and intertwined storylines with a set of complex characters. Fantastical background was a welcome addition, yet even without dragons and monsters, it offered satisfying amount of highly engaging drama.

The Witcher is a nice tv show to watch and I enjoyed binge-watching it but it's far from being a rival to GOT. I felt that it's closer to Merlin, another series I liked for completely different reasons.

To begin with, there are not many characters in the story. The whole story revolves around three people and we don't have enough chance and convoluted plots to know others better. Additionally, the-monster-of-the-week trope was more dominant in Merlin. GOT dealt with converging multiple different and complex storylines.

All the characters have magical abilities and they have relationships with authority figures, in one way or another. That reminds me of Merlin and Arthur. Finally, unlike GOT, comedy is more dominant in The Witcher and it's frequently used throughout the first season.

Just because having a fantasy world as a backdrop and a Hollywood star on board doesn't make a production "epic" automatically. It's an enjoyable Merlin-like adventure with a little sauce of sex and gore. If you don't expect more, you can have fun more.