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Scarface (1983)
Highly Overrated
I enjoy watching classic movies. In a movie market saturated with superhero films fueled to success with CGI effects, the classics often are refreshing with unique plots and fascinating characters.
Scarface though, is a highly overrated movie and should not be considered a "classic." Scarface lacks character depth, an interesting storyline, and good acting.
Gangster life is hard to relate to. Money laundering, prostitution rings, drug dealing, and hit jobs are far from the daily experiences of working a 9-5 and maintaining a social life. However, viewers can relate to characters like Michael Corleone in the Godfather through the dilemmas he faces balancing personal ambition with family politics. We are captivated by the Goodfellas Tommy DeVito who quickly transitions from being playful to murderous.
Characters in Scarface are not interesting or relatable because they lack depth. Tony Montana is a predictable overly masculine character. He is willing to run through anyone, anything, or any rules to get what he desire, but predictably like most brutish characters, his nature destroys everything he obtains. Most of the other characters are defined in relation to Tony Montana and lacks interesting traits of motivation.
The plot of Scarface is way too simplistic. Montana arrives in Miami and quickly rises to power and then quickly loses it all. This could work with interesting characters in a surrealist genre, but in a movie that frames itself as somewhat historical at the beginning the unrealistic plot (coupled with the laughable accent acting) doesn't work.
The acting is also subpar. Don't get me wrong, Al Pacino is one of the great actors, but the role of Tony Montana is not great him. Most '80s Cuban refugees in Miami spoke Spanish especially with other spanish speakers; Cuban accent most characters have to make the movie more realistic and replace Spanish is badly acted and makes the characters too cartoonish.
I think this movie receives more credit than it deserves from viewers who drool over gore and are glued to its icon names (Scarface, Tony Montana, Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Oliver Stone, and Giorgio Moroder). Sure, some of the violent scenes are thrilling and interesting especially the finale with the memorable "Say hello to my little friend!" quote, but this just not justify high praise.
Doctor Who: The End of the World (2005)
Predictable Waste of Time
As a self-proclaimed aficionado of television, which is a title I now realize means absolutely nothing, I am quite cognisant of the quality of shows I watch as in the newly crowned "golden- era of television" there is too much content and too little time. Though Doctor Who is a show with its strong base of fandom and moments of brilliance, this is far from it and frankly a bunch of DW fans inflated the score.
The plot is so so predictable that I could see the ending a mile away with blind folds and sunglasses on at night. There is very little to no explanation that is logical about a world 5.5 billion years from now, which somehow preserves all race, class, and social roles. The only nod I can give the writers is the symbolism of using the black robbed men as a pre-meditated framee for the crime committed by the pale plastic surgery "human" lady.
Other than its storied brand, this episodes only redeeming qualities are the astronomical amounts of money the BBC probably spent on mediocre CGI graphics and Britney Spears's song rights; two things the producers thought would help the show age well, but instead left episodes like this in the basket of early 2000s disappointments like the Star Wars prequels, looking at you Episode I.
A pro tip to producers, directors, and film makers of all types: Spend time and money on your plot, cuts, and the building of the story. NO amount of costumes, star power, and "high-tech" can save you from a bad predictable plot. This is why movies that are decades old are still worthy and others made yesterday are forgotten. This episode was so lazy with its cuts, story especially regarding character emotion, and surprisingly location scouting (can't the BBC find somewhere better than a boiler tunnel with old internet cables running along hot water pipes for the inner working of a space observation deck 5.5 billion years from now?). Just watch 2001: A Space Odyssey to see how it's done.
Nonetheless, for me this a right of passage on a journey to the real good Doctor Who, and passes the time while we all really wait for Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman to get the schedule aligned for some more Sherlock. So glad TV is better today.
Medici (2016)
Lot of Potential; Poor Execution
Medici: Masters of Florence is a typical Netflix drama, that is to say it has great production quality, a good cast, and explores a fascinating and overlooked genre, which here is political, economic, and social structures of an Italian city state during the brink of the start of the Italian Renaissance and the awaiting growth of humanism. The show is through the perspective of Cosimo de Medici, the new head of the famous banking family who brought his family and Florence to eminence during his lifetime. Cosimo struggles to grapple with family loss and especially has to wage a war against the nobility to win control of the city and usher in his vision for it.
The genre lends itself to have a perfect balance of fighting, suspense, violence, and sex that makes for an interesting drama, but as mentioned in the title the execution especially the pace and dialogue of the show is off during the first few episodes and, although much better, it is still needs improvement in the final episodes. The writers of the show are very mindful of portraying the difference in time through the dialogue particularly Cosimo's (the protagonist's). However, their attempts to portray the time period makes the characters seem too slow and stoic (think Frank Underwood reciting one of his monologues slowly and less impressively). This can be fixed through the use of more fast paced shots, more action and less discussion based scenes, and plainer language or stoic language that is more poetic and colorful (a well executed monologue or breaking of the fourth wall could work - think Shakespeare). The progression of the show's plot is good, but as mentioned earlier the cinematic and written execution can make it feel like a drag. Maybe this is the downside of Netflix not needing a set length for their show, the director has less of a need to refine the rough edges of the show into a more polished product.
Theme (EDIT): After doing more thinking about this show, I realized that one key element it is missing is a central idea or theme. In shows like Narcos the central idea(s) can be boiled down to human nature and reason is not as clear as we think it is; in House of Cards it is the aesthetics of government and how they are used to hide the true Machiavellian nature of politics. However, Medici though an interesting historical show, does not have a clear message or question to explore. Maybe the idea of old establishment conservative views versus the new progressive ideas promoted by the Medici and their economic success is worth exploring.
Last criticism: the main song used in the show is off. It might fight the time period (their is a tone of naïve romanticism within it that might reflect the brink of the renaissance), but feels very cheesy and would be more fitting in a TV commercial for a Mediterranean cruise.
That being said I still give this show a 8 rather than a 7, because it has a lot of potential which was reinforced to me by the last episode of season 1.
Casey Neistat Vlog (2015)
Most Interesting Man on Youtube
Forget your trashy cheap thrill network dramas, if you want to watch something with actual artist value with a marginal use of your time tune into Casey Neistat's daily vlogs. Neistat is more than a Youtube daily vlogger, he is a pioneer of a new standard of cinematographic production quality on the internet. Gone are the days of a phone's selfie camera and a wi-fi connection to produce the best content on Youtube, which are now replaced by vloggers using DSLRs, sport cams, drones, along with traditional point and shoots to vary the perspective of their shots.
What results is the daily story of a unique man with a remarkable life told daily with the cinematography of a Hollywood production.
Neistat never fails to leave his views visually satisfied and in awe.