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Baby Reindeer (2024)
A must see, but be prepared to experience pain.
I don't think I have ever seen anything so real, so raw and so painfully honest in mainstream media. I wanted to look away but I just couldn't. I yelled at the screen, wanting to pull Donny through it and make him stop it. The depths of Donnies emotional confusion, his brokenness and self-sabotage are painful to watch. The abuse is real and horrifying. Donny's hopelessness and helplessness sucks you in. His obsession with finding answers, his self blame, and his inability to help himself are heartbreaking. The catharsis when Donny finally manages to get some answers and some clarity is beautiful. But you just know... he is going to go right back to sabotaging himself.
Richard Gadd manages to make the viewer understand something that is hard to understand for anyone who has not experienced prolonged abuse: At some point you have lost any sense of self, your personal boundaries have slowly been obliterated, and the abuse is all you have left. Your abuser has complete control over you and you get drawn back in again and again. The tiny drops of hope, human connection and self worth your abuser feeds you become addictive and you are drawn to their flame like the tiny self loathing moth that you are. Knowing you will get crushed but no longer having a mental connection to the part of you that tells you this has to stop.
Excellent performance by all actors involved. I await the awards.
Oh and by the way, there are some actual bits of funny in there, but you would have to let your guard down to laugh at them.
Poor Things (2023)
Work of art
I haven't been this fascinated by a film in ages. What a superb work of art!
This story is unorthodox, complex, honest, beautiful, painful, raw and nuanced all at the same time. I envied Bella's relentless exploration of new experiences, her growth and her self discovery, while simultaneous feeling friction over the ethical dimensions of her existence and her journey. It was delightfully disturbing and bittersweet.
Every scene felt meticulously crafted with rich, beautiful, and meaningful details. From the intricate set designs to the gorgeous costumes, beautiful animations, the meaningful use of colors, the seamless and enhancing sound, to the masterful and at times experimental cinematography, each element contributed to an immersive experience. It felt as though every frame was carefully curated to enhance the narrative and evoke deeper thought, making the viewing experience truly unforgettable.
The actors went all out, not surprising from Willem Dafoe, but a top performance from Emma Stone here, and although this was a little out of Mark Ruffalo's league, he stood his ground as well.
I cannot rave about this masterpiece enough.
My Life with the Walter Boys (2023)
Very problematic
So first the girl, who's parents just died and who had to leave everything she knows behind and live somewhere else, is greeted by a group of boys with hardly any acknowledgment of what just happened to her. They proceed to physically assault her with chlorine in her shampoo bottle. (Which could have ended very badly.) After that the entire group of boys tries to bully her into not telling adults about it, and when she does they punish her by shunning her. And we are somehow supposed to feel this is all charming and romantic? Both me and my partner turned it off feeling enraged. Who thought it was okay to make this?!
Beacon 23 (2023)
Solid sci-fi story - watch the whole season
My advice; watch the whole season before making up your mind. This is a solid quality sci-fi story. To me it was intriguing and different. I in particular liked the way the development of the story was pieced out by going back and fort in time between the different lighthouse keepers. We get most of our information from conversations and events in and around the lighthouse. Yes, if you are expecting high paced space battles and flashy CGI, this is not going to be your thing.
In this universe the AI's are sentient and serve as personal assistants and companions. The lighthouse AI develops along with the colorful inhabitants which makes you wonder if the type of people that will choose to work alone in a lighthouse on the edge of space are the best people to raise a self learning AI. It develops quite the personality. This universe also has colonies that are fully dependent on rare long haul supply shipments, soldiers with integrated tech, desperate terrorists who survived starving colonies, a weird alien artifact that messes with people, a weird religion that formed around the weird alien artifact, an all powerful company that owns everything and an independent boss AI in the shape of a huge spaceship that roams around on its own. What's not to like! I am looking forward to season 2.
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
Not even a hard core sci-fi fan can take this soap
I am a long time hard core sci-fi fan. I watch absolutely everything sci-fi related. New and old. The first two seasons were spectacular, it even made me willing to accept the clearly non-Klingon Klingons. (Seriously, that species evolved from a fearsome predatory animal, at no point in their history did they wear intricate clothing and jewelry.) But this...this... I had to force myself to watch season 4. It is just impossible to enjoy the good sci-fi parts when they are hidden behind an abundance of bad soap level writing. No wonder the actors couldn't make this work. (And not just the writing was bad, everything but the cgi was so much worse compared to before.) Really, was no-one involved willing to stop this from happening? Was everyone to busy being nice and non confrontational? Because that is the only explanation I can come up with. Apparently the writers have forgotten we are in a story about a military organization that is exploring the galaxy with a heavily trained and disciplined crew. The best of the best. No leader would stand for this amount of unprofessional and dysfunctional behavior. And for the love of Q, one personal story arc per episode is enough! One per season would be enough! The writers have forgotten their responsibility to fit in the vast history and storytelling world of the Star Trek universe. They have been given een honor and this is what they have done with it. Gene Roddenberry must be spinning in his grave.
Tesla (2020)
Fascinating visual, sound and dimension experimentation
I watched this without expectations, which is probably wise seeing the reviews here. I was completely fascinated by the visual, sound, timeline and dimension experiments. The overall result leads you to questions reality, and conjures the notion that Tesla's brilliance my have taken him over the edge of his own stable grasp on reality even before that becomes apparent from his grandiose claims. While we watch what at first seems a history documentary, the story line becomes more and more speckled with the modern results of Teslas inventions, we back up out of alternate timelines, break through the fourth wall into today, to land back in Tesla's bed watching him sleep. The visual experiments combining different media, 2D, 3D, color, and black & white reminded me of the psychedelic visual experiments in some of the better modern anime, albeit at a much gentler dreamy pace.
Dear White People: Volume 2: Chapter VIII (2018)
Excellent work
I absolutely loved 'the interview'. The camerawork, the decor, the lighting, the script, the editing, the pace, the acting. Awards worthy!
The Flash: Duet (2017)
Thoroughly enjoyed that
Loved this! Sweet, cheerful, lightness that was a welcome break from the grim story line lately, great singing, great dancing, and it ended of with a very touching serenade. A heartfelt 'thank you' from me.