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Reviews
Snowtown (2011)
90 minutes long would be enough
2 hours for a simple storyline is a waste of time. The movie should have deleted some irrelevant scenes (e.g. Driving scenes, dinner scenes and etc.) to make it shorter. Also should have focused on Jamie's inner world affected by growing up in a malfunctioned family/township. A problematic kid is more likely to be misled by bad people on to a path that has no turn-back. John and his outlaws resort to violence to solve problems that society fails to look into. But are their murders justifiable? Maybe or maybe not, the show never says. The movie reflects some real problems of the society in some certain countries: children growing up in dysfunctional families are more likely to commit crimes because there is a lack of love and care for them. When sth bad happens, they don't know who to talk to, and even they do, will that bad thing be properly dealt with? Prahaps not.
Lake Mungo (2008)
Warning: not suitable for the faint hearted
One thing I loved about the movie was that it was so real. From the first ghost sighting to the last one in the ending scene, the spirit of Alice looked so real even Matthew faked some of them, still looked real. I sometimes do paranormal investigation, I watch a lot of clips of paranormal activities in real life. I am telling you, the spirit you see in the movie is not 100% the same as you see in real life, but close. The spirit may look creepy, plus the creepy background music, makes the movie more scarier.the movie presents a ghost story in a documentary style, it is very creative and it makes the whole story real. Another thing I want to say, is that as a parent, you need to pay attention to your children's welfare. Sometimes they don't speak out but you must have a sense to detect/notice their unusual behaviors. This is when you know that sth has happened and you need to step in.
The Owners (2020)
psychopaths versus burglars
Although the movie was a bit, bah: not scary, no slashing or whatsoever, i had to thumb up for Maisie's acting. She was still like the little princess Anya to me but, in this movie, she became a total badass, out of love and survival instincts. The plot is simple: a group of young thieves break into a mansion trying to steal sth valuable. But it soon turns to be their final moment after the owners keep them captive. They rob rich people because they don't like them. But, it's not their fault to be rich, it's theirs. Everyone can be rich, as long as you put your efforts into sth that will make you rich.
Bodies (2023)
Good
Great in general. Brilliant idea to combine crime with sci-fi. The ending was unexpected though. If you want to find out what really happens, jump to episode 6, or you can join detective Hasan who will take you to slowly unveil the truth behind the criminal mastermind. The show doesn't present the necessary evidence for you to help you solve the crime, Detective Hasan will have those evidence in first hand, taking you with her to solve the problems. Another thing you need to know to understand the show is the characters and their relationships that the show presents or you will easily get lost because there are at least 3 cases in this show. Also remember those leads that the detectives have found to help you put everything together in e06, e07 and e08. Although I may have a fair understanding about what is happening in the show, something still bothers me, e.g. Why Defoe is being accused of terrorism by Iris in e04, what's her evidence? When Hasan gives a photograph to Elias in e03, he mentions "Sarah", then Hasan finds Sarah, how did she find the right Sarah? In the final season, how did a future Hasan travel back to 20 years earlier when the bomb hadn't been detonated yet. We need more details to cover those plots. In general, I enjoyed watching it, I wanted to rate it 7 out of 10 but it wasn't that complicated as I expected and there was not much of character development so I had to rate 6 out of 10z.
Culprits (2023)
Would be better it was a movie
8 episodes with a simple storyline is a waste of time. The show is just about a group of people who did a heist in London later get murdered by an unknown killer for unknown reasons in different locations after they retired. So the heist, and the unknown killer are the main focus of the show. 2 hours might be good enough to cover the key focus. Other stories like family, personal lives (except for the hit and run, which is a very good plot for the storyline: "culprits") and etc. Can be skipped so the show can stay on focus. The show didn't do a great job on showing us family drama and other personal lives, irrelevant and too concise. Even it was concise, it took a lot of time. Could have done sth to skipped those scenes. But anyway, fun to watch.
The Curse (2023)
Lost in the focus
Lost in the focus, the entire show doesn't really focus on "the curse". Only a small portion of the show does, e.g. Family issues, business issues and etc. But are they really caused by the curse or people make them? The show was supposed to be shortened to be like a movie so it could concentrate on the key parts. But 10 episode long, too much drama, to much about technology and business startup. "The curse" has never been the focus. In addition to this, bad editing too, in one scene, you see how Whit manages their business, then, 2 minutes after, you see Doug feels like he is losing himself. Why not just doing sth like, one episode on business and workplace, then the next one on family and romance. Bad editing makes me lose track of the storyline. So next, nudity, the male nude scenes in this show are a bit disturbing, although I strongly encourage males to do full frontal nudity like what you see in The Boys/spartacus/Rome but those scenes disgust me. Size doesn't matter but at least you clean them, making them look decent, having them properly filmed.
Immaculate (2024)
Sydney Sweeney's "the first omen"
Sydney Sweeney's acting was awesome in this horror movie. Who would thought she could lead a horror movie as Cecilia in this movie. She was supposed to be like a girl next door, sweet and innocent, but she was like a total killer in this movie. Good on her.
I watched "the first omen" last night, the plot of which is very similar to the one for this movie. Both stories happen in demonic convents, and both leading female characters are impregnated by some unknown dark creatures. I felt like I was watching "the first omen" with Sydney Sweeney in it. Not scary, just some gore and sadistic scenes. Worth a shot.
A Murder at the End of the World (2023)
AI help people, but not always.
Finally, mystery solved. Can't believe the culprit behind all was Ray the AI. AI was created to help people. But when they are too smart, they backfire. But who makes AI so smart, human beings. Andy imprinted Ray, so much that Ray had some moral codes, and that led to two murder cases. That's what the show wants to tell. There is a big plothole in Darby's investigation into Frank Bell's crime: you can't just based on the silver the victims have to deduce what happened to them. How did she find out they were all connected, how they were traced back to Bell's house. How was E Bell's silver found in a victim's belongings that were for Patricia? It should be more specific about those details.
The Haunted Museum (2021)
Low budgeted "American horror stories"
The trading is below 6? Really, what do you expect from this show? It's a low budgeted horror series so let go of your strict criteria for rating. About the show, each episode has a different horror story. Some are scary and some are not. All the stories are told by a museum owner Zak Bagans, who collects seemingly haunted artifacts that caused troubles in the past. So entertaining to watch especially you have a bad and stressful day from your work or study. I hope there will be more seasons coming up. But spending too much time on watching this kind of show bores me, one or two episodes each time would be great.
Blue Lights (2023)
"The Wire" made by BBC
First of all, congratulations to the show for being renowned for another season. From what I know is that there will be at least two upcoming seasons so we may have a season 4 by 2025.
Overall, brilliant. I felt like I was watching "the Wire". Policing, drugs, police drama and etc. The wire doesn't have any background music at all, the only background sounds you hear are from the car stereos. Blue Lights follow the similar pattern by reducing background sounds to the minimum. It makes you feel like "I am in the game" vibe.
In season 1, you can think the McIntyres as the Barksdale crime syndicate and the police, and the police probationary officers are Jimmy McNaughty's team. In season 2, you can think that the era is after the fall of Barksdale so we have two new drug syndicates coming up: Dixon and Hamil. They are trying to take each other down, but James's wife is still out there controlling the whole drug business, like The West vs the East in the Wire. However the wire is much more complicated than the Blue Lights because the former involves drama, family, business, politics, Police Public Relations, high profile organized crimes and etc., whereas Blue Lights focuses on more police drama. The wire is also better in creating suspense and unexpected moments. But there are only 2 seasons, if we can get more seasons, maybe it will get much better.
Creepshow (2019)
Great entertainment
Accidentally came across this tv show while browsing the shows on my streaming platform. 4 seasons, a lot of stories, most don't make any sense but it's not the point. It's creepshow so it gives me creeps. However, it wasn't scary but there was a lot of gore and violence in it. I was in a very bad mood recently but I got my steam blown by watching this. The show wasn't everything about gore and violence. Sometimes I could learn a thing or two, for example, be nice to people or there will be consequences (E04,
S01); what comes around goes around (e04 s01); don't be greedy (e04 s01). Once thing I don't like about the show is that each episode has two different stories but it is less than 60 min long, so it's a bit rushed. Not much about the characters and not much to remember about the plots. But overall, it was great.
Forst (2024)
Hate, two crimes, so many innocent victims
The plot is about two crimes committed by two different people caused by their deep hatred towards others. Halina Krol Sznajdeman, a local high ranking member of the community, is told by Gjord Hansen/ Iwo to push the local police department to force Detective Forst to leave his position. Gjord later kidnaps Agata to lure Detective Forst into his hideout to carry out his final plan: to put Forst behind bars. Gjord also kills Halina. Gjord hates Forst because of what happened when they were children. The incident of the coin, and the adoption of Gjord. They used to be best friends. When hate roots in, bad things are gonna happen. In the meanwhile, Halina tells Gjord (I guess) to kill those people she hates because of what their parents/grandparents did to her mother during WWII. That's the general idea of the murders/kidnap.
A lot of pieces of the show I don't understand: why did Gjord kill those people, including Halina; why he left the coins inside his victims' mouths; how did Frost know who had to be visited; why Olga killed, and she took Gjord with her (may be answered in S02) ; how Gjord killed all his victims; and a lot of questions. When these essential details are missing, it's a bad job done.
SurrealEstate (2021)
Not bad
Congratulations to the show for being renewed for another season. The show kinda reminds me of the conjuring the movie franchise. The realtors vs the haunted houses in this show and the Warrens vs demons in the houses. Both the tv show and the movie franchise feature ghosts, creatures and drama (workplace, family, friends, relationships and etc.) it's very fast paced so not too much about our characters and their background stories, and not much about the demons/haunted houses either. Unlike other scary movies/TV series that creatures/ghosts are demonic that want to possess people eventually kill people, this tv show has so much positive energy about ghosts and creatures. They are not scary, they are not blood thirsty, they are in fact, not intended to hurt anyone(in most cases). Some have sad stories so you might fell for them. Although the realtors sell houses that are "stagimatized", they also have to help other people and sometimes investigate what is happening in those stagimatized houses . They have many jobs. The show mainly focuses on workplace drama, friends and relationships, connecting ghosts/creatures to people, and helping ghosts/creatures & people. This plot, along with soft and emotional music, making you feel so comfortable to watch, despite that the background music doesn't really fit the scenes in some cases. Sometimes the background music gave me goosebumps because the scenes they were in were too "humble" to be with those music. But anyway, great plot. Worth a shot.
She Said (2022)
Great plot about sex exploitation in film industry
I've read many news about sex exploitation in Hollywood and film industry so I wasn't very surprised by the plot the movie presented. The movie is leaving my streaming platform so I took the last chance to watch it before it's gone for good. Sexual harassment, settlements, altering evidence, victims refusal to provide evidence, verbal threats or physical threats to investigators, defamation, overwhelming difficulties to collect evidence and etc. You will see all these in this movie. The movie should have provided us the hearing process of Harvey Weinstein in the court and how he was convicted and sentenced. The movie spent too much time on contacting the victims and collecting the evidence so it took me 2 hours to finish, could have made it shorter.
Overall it was worth it to watch.
The Irrational (2023)
A fast paced tv show about criminal psychology
First of all, congratulations to the show for being renewed. We will find out why Rose is being kidnapped in season 1 finale, and more stories about Alec.
Overall the show wasn't bad. They used criminal psychology to help solve some high profile criminal cases, along with some necessary physical evidence. The first two episodes are fun to watch as the episodes leave some evidence and motives for you to find out who the culprit is in each crime. After episode 2, the show doesn't give you a lot of clues, Alec will bring you into his world, telling you how he solves a crime with his logic skills and his excellency in criminal psychology. E08 and E09 are a bit disappointing because their speculations in e08 are too vogue and not rigorous (could be more than just those presented), and how Vincent's crime is too feeble to make sense (the northern DNA technology will easily identify who the victim is, Vincent's identity switch won't last a few days). In E11 where Senator Stanford is caught is done without solid evidence. It's done by the allegation made by Alec and Marisa, they need more proof to prove that Stanford is behind everything but that should be easy, just check his past communication records by phones and emails, that should be fine. But anyway, it's a show, they want you to learn some criminal psychology, how a crime is made is not your concern.
What I don't like about the show is that how smart and knowledgeable Alec is that he outshines the police and the FBI, a typical American heroism. Another is how the crew members chose their extras/background actors/supporting characters. Unfortunately there are so many actors with Chinese other Asian backgrounds that I thought I was watching a show made in Asia. Perhaps the crew members thought they wouldn't pay them a lot so they could save a lot of money from the budget.
North Shore (2023)
Amazing
Don't know why the rating is below 7. It was an awesome show I mean, if you understood what the plot was about. A great amount of suspense and drama. Crime & investigation, love, family and friendship. The plot is about a mysterious murder of Sophie Macklin and how her murder is thrusted into a local political and business scandal. About the crime & investigation, I still dont understand why Iloyd didn't destroy the footage instead, rather keep it. Also, was that Abigail's illusion that she saw her decreased daughter's call on the screen of her laptop? About the politics, it is closely related to economy as the show indicates, which is also a reality in real life. We see how desperate Iloyd and Simon are when they can't enter the British market so they try to reach Abigail. We see how bad Iloyd and Simon can be when their business is about to be overturned because Sophie finds out the hidden secrets behind the scene.
Abigail, an ambitious politician, quickly moves on after the death of her daughter. She wasn't really paying attention to her daughter when her daugher was alive. People may say she's so phlegmatic. But she did care about her daughter in her deepest mind. She's just too busy with her job, she loves her job, just like Meg and Max.
The story of Meg and Max tells us what a decent cop should be like: hard working, curious, treating work with integrity, never compromising and detail craven (if they are relevant to the cases).
Chucky (2021)
Too bloody sick and disgusting
That's it i am out. I don't even know why I am writing a review here for this foul show here. For those of you who enjoy insanity, blood, violence and sadism, this is the right show for you. No wonder there are so many psychos living in the world. A research says that violence and cruelty will more likely make people become mentally unstable. Can't imagine chucky's story can have 3 seasons (heard season 4 is very likely) of pure violence, torture and cruelty. Thought the movies were sick enough. I am gonna have a heart attack if I keep watching this. Don't understand why some of you like it, completely vile. There is just a little teen drama in season 1 that makes you think life is normal and enjoyable.
Rosario Tijeras (2005)
The story about a drug dealer, also an escort, Rosario
The genre tells me it's a romance film, but is it? More like a story about a female drug dealer to me. Rosario, a good looking and seductive young woman, is a drug dealer and also an escort. Emilio and Antonio fall in love with her, she loves Emilio but she loves Antonio more because she thinks Antonio sees into her. Emilio finds out about what happens between Antonio and Rosario. Pissing off, Emilio no longer wants to be friend with him. That's it, that's the love story. But the movie is more about the life of Rosario, from her childhood that she is sexually abused to an adulthood full of drugs and sex, she has more enemies than friends. Being a drug dealer is not easy, cops are looking for you, other drug dealers want to take over, sometimes your mates cannot be trusted, and people you love are dying around you. All these fall into Rosario's life. What happens to Rosario may happen to everyone who identifies themself as a drug dealer.
Beacon 23 (2023)
it was good, it was bad
Unlike other sci-fi movies/tv series, this show primarily focuses on the lives of being keepers of the Beacons. Love, friendships, morality and humanity are the key words of this show. Season 1 focuses on the love and friendship: the love between Aster and Halan, and the friendship between humans and AI. In episode 8 of season 1, we can also see the moral codes that must be sticked to for Bart the AI; episode 2 also tells us how Aster holds her morality and humanity when facing a potential threat. Season 2 focuses on individual characters like Aster, Iris, Harmony the AI and etc. You will know who they are and what they do. Humans vs humans becomes more obvious. Both season 1 and season 2 are led by humans vs humans, humans vs unknown creatures and humans vs AI.
While it's a very unique idea to bring humanity and morality into the show. It is also confusing because there is a lot of details that missing. For example, what is the artifact/solomium/sample and what does it do, why do people want it; what is the QTA (from my understanding they produce AI, they command the army and the Beacons, they are the boss of the Universe); what is the Column; and why they fight; what happens to the Beacon 23 after Aleph is in command in Season 2; what is it that threats their life outside the Beacon (the Artifact maybe?). The show never answers but leaves the audiences to figure out. In addition to this, the show kills off Aster after Season 1 and Halan in season 2 finale, and introducing new characters like Iris and the Sybarrans. The character developments of Aster and Halan are not perfectly done then they are gone being replaced by new characters. This is failure. I'd rate 5.5 out of 10 but there is no such a rating like 5.5 so 6 out of 10.
The rating for this show doesn't look too good, and too many issues that need to be solved. I don't know if there is a season 3 or not. If there is, hope the problems can be fixed and don't leave the audiences feel like they don't know what they are watching.
Fool Me Once (2024)
One of the best suspenseful tv series I've ever watched
Don't let the rating fool you, it should have a much higher rating than the current one. I would rate it 8 out of 10 but the massive music and some main and extras/background actors not meeting my expectation were the reasons that I rated it 7 out of 10.
The plot was beyond my expectation, I thought it was about Maya solving the mysterious murder of Joe. But it turned out that she unveiled a very disturbing story about the family business, and the unspeakable crime that Joe did in the past. Bonus, and more bonus.
What the show didn't make sense was that the psychiatric game that Judith played could go wrong because each person may act differently so her plan may not work. But the show made it work. In addition, the show never said how Clair found out about Andrew's murder but the show made us believe that maya knew that Clair knew what really happened to Andrew.
It was an awesome tv show to watch, highly recommended.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz (2024)
A show that young people must watch
Young people today: drink, party, sex, drugs. They will never know what the life was like 70 years ago. They will never know how hard their ancestors fought for peace. They will never learn to cherish their lives they have. Maybe they would after watching this.
The show mainly focuses on the lives of Lali and Gita in Auschwitz. While being a force labour in the concentration camp, Lali and Gita never give up living especially Gita who always have a positive aura around her. The show tells you how cruel the Nasi was, but it also brings back the true history during that unspeakable moment (much gruesome and tragic than that in real history), and how people wanted to survive during that moment. Lali & Gita's love story, the prisoners strong will to escape, and the newborn baby (Mimi), all those indicate that there is always hope in life, don't easily give up.
Last thing I want to talk about Stefan Baretzki, a guard of Auschwitz. People may think he was a bad guy, he was, he was cold blooded, smart and cruel. But in fact he wasn't too bad to be redeemed. He helped Lali reach Gita. Although he did this just for his own self interest, but at least he helped. Later he helped Lali in many occasions, without asking in return. When reaching the season finale, he also confessed that he treated Lali like his own brother. You will also see in the tv show that he wants to have a girlfriend, some tributes from the prisoners, and his refusal to go to a battlefield. That means that he is just a normal person who also wants to have a normal life.
Shining Vale (2022)
What is living in a house of the gate to hell like?
So sad that the show was canceled due to a lack of viewers. The show has a loose end that needs to be dealt with by a third season or a movie. I really want to know what will happen next. Hope the show maybe rebooted in the future.
Overall speaking, good. Unlike most horror movies/tv series I've watched so far. The tv show doesn't put too much emphasis on how the family fight the demons, the tv show doesn't want to be very scary to watch. The show is more about the daily life of living in the mansion that seems to be the gate to hell, which is very refreshing . In Season 1, Pat meets the ghost of Rosemary who decides to help her in her writing. In the meanwhile she also helps Rosemary to move on. Seems a good deal but Rosemary also ruins the family. Guess not everything is absolutely positive. Season 2 is a bit massive: Pat is haunted by her past, but the demons living in the mansion are planning sth in favor of them. Terry is later being possessed, Dylan and Gaynor see things too. In the town, Pat's novel has become famous and she becomes the idol of the women in town. Some of them follow what the novel says by killing their husbands. Pat has to deal with her horrible past history and the problem that her novel raises.
The part where the women follow the novel by killing their husbands is actually happening in the real world. I read a news that some women killed their husbands after reading "how to kill your husband" in the US and Japan. It is also reported that in the US, 1 out of 4 women had an unhappy marriage, some wanted to end their husbands lives.
Horror and comedy/dark comedy and drama are the genres. The background music is a bit massive, not my type. Also, the extras/background actors and the supporting characters are a bit disappointing too, not fitting the reality.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)
Running out of ideas? How about an ancient Persian devil?
Film industry today: reboots, prequels and sequels. Well, the classic ghostbuster movie series were thrust into it too. However, you will see the old gangs in the movie, the old fire station ad their base camp, and their equipment to bust ghosts, as tributes to the old movies. But the evil they are gonna face is from the ancient Persian empire. Their equipment is of no use. American heroism is being outshined by a Pakistani descendent who knows the fire magic: no one can save America but a Pakistani who claims to be the God of Fire, and it proves that the Pakistani defeats the evil in the end. Well well, interesting: since when did the Americans bend their knee to those who are not originally from the US.
The Voyeurs (2021)
The movie shows you how bad American/european movies are nowadays.
I have been keeping my eyes locked on this movie for a while simply because Sydney Sweeney has a role in it. The plot is easy to understand and I don't think Pippa did anything wrong except for her being a "voyeur".
As what my review title says, European/American movies have hit a new low by letting film makers produce a movie like this: a disaster with low quality plots, Asia worshipping, sex, nudity, unhealthy sexual relationships and etc. You will find a lot of movies that are similar to this rhythm.
The movie also reflects a basic fact in film industry that female actors must strip to get famous. Taking Sydney as an example, she wasn't famous at all before she stripped off, now look at her, after doing nude scenes in Euphoria and The Voyeurs, how many movies/tv series now she has a role in? But, her nudes are everywhere, free for people to watch, which is a very obvious problem for a lot of actresses. Now, I don't need to watch her nude scenes in this movie because it's everywhere on social media/porn websites already and I've seen it thousands of times. Another thing, because she did nude scenes in movies/tv series, it was said that her father was so pissed at her. When you want to strip off in front of a camera, have you ever thought about your family and friends?
Carnosaur 3: Primal Species (1996)
The worst nightmare in my childhood memory
Com'n people, the rating is below 4? The trilogy was made in the 90s so it was good considering the era it was produced, it was great. The first movie is about a mad scientist who hates human beings makes dinos to eradicate people. The second one is about the dinos are taking over a nuclear repository. The third one is about a group of terrorists attack the military convoy but accidentally takes a trailer full of dinos. The three movies are not connected to each other but the dinos are all raptors and T-Rex. The dinos don't look real these days but again, they looked great in the 90s.
I watched "Tammy and the T-Tex" as the first Dino movie then it was this trilogy. The Jurassic Park movies were all after them. Although the plot was boring and simple and the dinos looked fake, but the trilogy was one of the first Dino movies I watched so it has a very unique position in my heart.