NinaCu Reviews

Knox Goes Away (2023)

Excellent Actor-Director Debut

[8/10 · 9 April 2024]

Michael Keaton has demonstrated remarkable visualization in his debut as actor-director. While most actor-directors show competence, Michael Keaton created genuine visual artistry. Although one success does not establish excellence of talent, Keaton appears to have a promising future as a director. Knox Goes Away is on par with actor-director works by Clint Eastwood, Ben Affleck, Kenneth Branagh, Richard Attenborough, Greta Gerwig, etc....

The trend toward actor-producers has been quite beneficial to the quality of product in the industry -- to maintain artistic integrity rather than completely pandering to business profit. It also invites appearances by upper echelon performers, who otherwise would decline working on a particular project. Here, the example is Al Pachino. And the result is analogous to "form follows function."

3 Body Problem (2024– )

Neither Movie nor Series

[5/10 · 24 March 2024]

Sadly, the screenplay unsuccessfully attempted to split the difference between a movie and a series. This had over 5 hours of unnecessary soap operatic filler material, just to call it a series.

People complain that it did not follow the books. Just imagine how long "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (870 pages) or "Fellowship of the Ring" (423 pages) movies would be if they had dutifully followed the books.

3-Body is presented as a series because there is no ending and no payoff -- in hopes that a non-cliffhanger 8th episode would be sufficient to obtain a renewal order for a 2nd season. I vote NO!

If people are going to write about science, they had better get it right, or at least close to a plausible theory. This 8+ hour movie is full of errors and holes -- beginning with the title. The story presents 3 suns and a planet = "4 BODY PROBLEM." Duh! Euler would be turning in his grave. In reality, the Alpha Centauri system -- 4 light years from Earth -- presents a 5 or 6 body problem: A. Rigil Kentaurus with 0 planets; B. Toliman with 1 candidate planet with possible moons C. Proxima Centauri with 2 planets.

It is remarkable how all movies depict aliens that seem to be limited to human psychological issues -- as if a far more evolved and technolgically advanced species would act just as violent, petty, arrogant, dictatorial, and selfish as humans. Thus, the human condition of self-destructuion pervades most unscientific alien fiction.

NOT A SPOILER -- because this is not the actual story. A far better conclusion would be that the aliens were benevolent, and merely pretended to act malevolent, in order to give humans peace and unity by scaring the heck out of them and forcing all humans to overcome their differences by uniting to defeat an extraterrestrial foe which was never any real threat.

Spaceman (I) (2024)

Outer Space meets Inner Space

[9/10 · 2 March 2024]

This screenplay will touch upon more and deeper psychological issues than most viewers are able or ready to explore within their own psyche. Hence, reviews such as, "it fails to consistently engage with its most interesting ideas." I.e., one's inward journey into their own psyche is of little to no interest for the average person. And... that is precisely why the Earth is full of problems caused by human infestation -- to quote V-ger (ST:TMP).

Movies addressing psychological issues and motifs are gaining traction in the movie industry, and can make quite a profit -- such as Barbie.

For the rest of us who are open to considering what lay beyond our inner limitations, this is an absolutely wonderful movie, perfectly juxtaposing innerspace with outerspace, and the cyclical dichotomy of the end being the beginning, at multiple levels. The direction and editing establish an absolutely perfect pace for the premise of solo space travel and introspection, analogous to Silent Running (1972). The set design is remarkably plausible.

Last but not least, this is the best performance by Adam Sandler since Punch Drunk Love (2002). And the irony in this movie is that when Sandler overcomes whatever issues keep him from taking on deep and serious roles -- in a manner similar to the character he plays in this movie -- he is absolutely amazing in revealing the gift of his own personal depth.

(Minus one star for psychological issues not written by, or without consultation of, psychology experts.)

Constellation (2024)

Quantanglement

[6/10 · 1 March 2024]

Not sure what "Constellation" has to do with this story, except the real thing that is supposedly going on, is too complex for the average younger viewer to comprehend.

GOOD: Noomi Rapace gives yet another wonderful performance, that makes some of the other performances look poorly. Think Meryl Streep, with the latest incarnation of The Flash as her co-star. Rapace is the only saving grace of this production.

BAD: Each episode is worth only about 15 minutes of actual run time. The rest is irrelevant filler. The whole thing feels like Star Trek: The Motion Picture, I , Director's Cut, elongated to 8 hours.

Apparently, streaming services turn most "series" into one ultra long soap opera story. They seem to have forgotten the lessons learned with 74 episodes of Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009), which was compelling binge-watch episodic material, with a very strong cast.

WORSE: Quantum entanglement and superposition, or perhaps string brane, is not the Marvel Comics' concept -- as much as the consuming viewer may want to imagine. Contemporary writers are omitting the science from "science fiction," while lacking the talent of Lewis Carroll, and merely creating a cacophony of dissociated hallucinatory scenarios, which apparently require chemical impairment of the brain to enjoy.

The Beekeeper (2024)

Unlistenable Audio -- ZERO STARS

[1/10 · 5 February 2024]

This appeared to be the usual viligante movie by Jason Stratham, which are usually above average; and which reliably deliver at least somewhat plausible action... Unfortunately, the audio engineering was so poor that the movie was unintelligible -- without a studio quality audio compressor.

It seems that the current generation of audio engineers has damaged their hearing with excessively loud music -- to the extent that they have disabled their capacity to effectively engineer audio which properly utilizes the additional dynamic range made available by modern technology.

For the rest of you... the objective of greater dynamic range is not to make whspering inaudibly quiet, and explosions make your ears ring. The objective is to expand the range downward, along with the additional reduction of the noise floor. I.e., if you drop the signal to noice ratio from -60dB to -100dB, that allows an increase of dynamic range by 40dB. Specifically, the ability to hear all the audio subtlety and nuance that was previously LOST IN THE NOISE. Instead, contemporary audio engineers merely dispose of that nuance and subtlety, and reduce the speaking level -- to make room for louder explosions.

Imagine the same situation for the video presentation, on a screen that could deliver the brightness of the sun (1 Billion NITS). Does that mean the cinematographer should cause the screen to deliver to your eyes, the full level of looking into the sun? (unless of course the objective is to show the sun and make you cover your eyes).

Since I couldn't hear Stratham's whistering, under all the overemphasized explosions, gunshots, crashes etc... There really was no point watching the movie after about 22 minutes.

An unlistenable movie gets ZERO STARS.

SHAME ON AMAZON for creating junk like this, to foster PRIME media dis-service.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Dead Wreck - Part One Tenth

[1/10 · 3 October 2023]

I walked out halfway through this movie.

Bruce Geller would be terribly ashamed to have his name in the credits of this movie -- which has absolutely NO substantive basis in the REAL Mission: Impossible series -- which was based upon INTELLIGENCE, not slapstick non-comedy by a wannabe Inspector Cluso.

Bruce Geller's REAL "Impossible Missions Force" implemented the Long-Con, to get the subjects to incriminate themselves, or to retrieve dangerous materials. And, the pilot was inspired by the movie Topkapi (1964), adapted to surreptitiously retrieve a nuclear bomb. The REAL Mission Impossible was as far away as it gets from shoot-em-up gansters - cowboys - superheros - cops & robbers, and even James Bond.

Tom Cluso is so ignorant of the REAL Mission: Impossible, that he doesn't even know it is actually called the "Impossible Missions Force" (plural) -- printed in gold letters on the portfolio of agents' dossier -- in plain sight, at the beginning of most episodes to S04E19.

Tom Cluso has stooped to the level of pandering to the consumers of comic books and hyper-violent video games, who can only follow a linear connect-the-dots children's plot of "Where's Waldo," running from one string of catastrophies to another. Tom Cluso would do far better to produce a string of "The Fugitive" movies.

This pair of movies is essentially Mr. Cruise's effort at a "Lord of the Rings" action journey... except here it is a journey for Lord of the ***s. Unfortunately, Tom Cruise is neither J. R. R. Tolkien, nor Peter Jackson, and MI-7a presents no archetypal or transformative journey, as Gerwig did in Barbie. MI-7a, pales in comparison to, the Bourne trilogy -- which captivatingly embodied the archetype of the fool's journey from ignorance to truth, and also false guilt to absolution (with parallels to the Manchurian Candidate).

Other reviews laud the 35 second stunt which does not even show chute deployment while the motorcycle is falling, and omits any actual landing (all the way from Norway to Poland). The stunts are nowhere near as spectacular, with continuous reality, as in Point Break (2015) -- where the wingsuit scene lasted 2:30, at one point flying 5 feet above the ground at 120MPH, without any CGI or chroma key BS. Since Tom Cluso insists on doing many of his own stunts, they can NEVER be as dangerous or extreme as those done by true stunt professionals -- because the movie insurers prohibit such risky conduct when millions are at stake. Just look at what happened from a fatal accident in the 2019 production of Rust.

So far as an effort to supplant the James Bond franchise, more discerning international audiences want more than action and stunts -- which the franchise has adapted and delivered in abundance. Tom Cluso simply cannot project the same sophistication -- like John Wayne was to Laurence Olivier. On the bright side, Hayley Atwell was an excellent casting choice -- apart from her gaunt appearance, instead of her normal weight as a real woman.

I also disrespect the mixed use of film and video in this movie, which makes it problematic for 4K UHD release. Tom Cruise made a similar error by neglecting to shoot ultra fast fighter jets in High Frame Rate, for Top Gun Maverick.

He hasn't saved movie theaters, he is diminishing their artistic value to that of a carnival ride. Gerwig's Barbie did far more for the industry - proving that psychology, art, and business actually can all coalesce.

For a good list of intelligence & espionage movie, see the AFI Silver Spy Cinema series, list of 33 movies.

Barbie (I) (2023)

APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY -- years ahead of its time

[10/10 · 3 September 2023]

Barbie is absolutely brilliant! Studio executives would do well to grasp the fundamental reason for its success -- speaking truth to the viewer's subconscious psychology. I have yet to see a single review which acknowledges this, presumably because psychology and political rhetoric (from both sides) are received with equal disdain in contemporary American society -- despite the reality that psychology is a valid modern science.

Barbie poses fundamental questions of: "who am I?" "Why do I identify myself as something?" "What causes me to feel the way I do?"

Greta Gerwig is phenomenally genius in anthrapamorphizing these and other human psychological issues onto the inanimate object of a plastic doll. It is analogous to an adult version of Pinocchio. This far exceeds the psychological expression for which Kubrik aspired -- as she extolled in the opening sequence. Kubrik's last work was A. I., which raised but did not answer similar questions. Clearly, the world has spoken with its pocketbook, and is now ready to hear about applied psychology and "emotional intelligence" -- simply because that is the only way forward with 8 Billion Earthlings, in balance rather than perpetual conflict.

Many reviews find the points made in the movie to be repetitive. However, most people do not "get it" the first time, and need to perceive it from differing perspectives.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

Brilliant!

[10/10 · 31 August 2023]

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is proper movie making, particularly for those of us born before the iPhone, who saw the original in theaters. After the first and third installments, this is the best.

Seeing a well plotted and competently directed movie is wonderfully refreshing, after more than a decade of comic book and video game movies. But sadly, this edition of the franchise did not do well at the box office, since it seems that the new generation of moviegoers must be rather A. D. D. And require continuous in-your-face grotesque hyper-stimulation. As in the history classes of Professor Jones, such moviegoers are most likely clueless to what is a Trireme, why it is called that, and what was its significance. Likewise, with the historic significance of the real Antikythera mechanism, let alone Archimedes inception of integral calculus and specific gravity - the most significant mathematical progress after use of the number zero in India, 400 years earlier.

There are countless tie-ins and references to the prior editions of the franchise, and the formula is effectuated with excellence. Further, this is based upon a real archeological artifact, which has not been previouisly explored in movie or TV fiction (that I know of) -- and the concept relating back to the first and third movies was absolute genius!

Further, this movie omitted most of the absurd stereotyping of characters and cultures in the prior movies. The number of A-list performers was wonderful to see, and their performances did not disappoint.

Ragnarok (2020–2023)

Finale written by Sherwood Schwartz

[1/10 · 28 August 2023]

The finale of Netflix Ragnarok season three was worthy of Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch, written by Sherwood Schwartz -- that's how absurd it was. Sorry, but I didn't laugh when the (concealed spoiler) plot mechanism was utilized in any of the above three productions. Clearly, Netflix management has changed and diminished its standards, to purchase low quality stories.

With the 2023 actor & writer strikes, companies such as Netflix will likely turn to "reality" programming to achieve results of "fact is stranger than fiction." And then those same Netflix executives who greenlit Ragnarok season three, will continue to prefer lower cost, and lower quality, "reality" programming over innovative and sophisticated original programming. E.g., CBS greenlit Survivor in response to the 2000 actor's strike, followed by Amazing Race and Big Brother -- and is now extending fall 2023 reality programming episodes to 90 minutes.

The first two seasons of Netflix Ragnarok were innovative and compelling, with an interesting and rationally consistent story -- despite significant deviation from traditional culture & mythology (2 star deduction). I rate that at six stars.

Without divulging any spoilers, season three should have never been produced. The storyline was significantly inferior to the first 2 seasons. The last episode was a feeble attempt to wrap it all up into a convenient little package, seemingly written for comedic effect, and utilizing the most novice of writing gimmickery. There were plenty of other plot lines to get the job done, but the season 3 writers were simply not competent to handle the task.

--- SHAME ON NETFLIX ---

Extraction II (2023)

Video Game Violence, with excellent "single take" FX sequence

[3/10 · 27 June 2023]

It's the contemporary standard of comic book / video game violence that targets males with arrested development, still living in mommy & daddy's basement.

The lead acting performances were more than competent, under the circumstances of a horribly weak and unrealistic screenplay -- all form and little substance, with the usual bigoted cultural stereotypes upon which Hollywood relies to attract the zenophobic American audience.

The one redeeming aspect of this movie is an 11:30 scene that is designed to appear as a single take, edited from 36 separate segments. This was first done by Hitchcock in Rope -- setting up the storyboard to predetermine each take's transition points.

However, director Hargrave did it the hard way -- by shooting in sequential order, then finding the best transition point from which to start the next take. This typically happens when panning across a wall, or across a vertical bar (H-wipe transition). But considering that Hargrave's background is stunt work, not directing, it was an excellent effort, with great coreography; but not done in the way a master director would have. See:

11:29 Minutes of High-Octane Perfectly Stitched Long-Take -- ymcinema

Extreme 'Oner' Shot on ALEXA Mini LF -- ymcinema

How Director Sam Hargrave and the Extraction 2 Crew Pulled Off the 21-Minute Long Take -- btlnews

The crash of a large vehicle -- magically changes its momentum from the longitudinal axis to the lateral axis, which is physically impossible -- thusly CGI by a gamer who is ignorant of real physics principles.

Military level incursion from hundreds of miles away, into a major EU city, only gets a respose by a few city coppers -- not a NATO defense response. At the shooting location, several businesses, including a daycare center, had to close down for two weeks.

As another streaming media show recently said, "It's as bad as San Andreas" -- which this site's reviewers gave a 6.1 on the richter scale. Unfortunately, Extraction got sequalled, unlike San Andreas. The message for Hemsworth is to not sign multi-movie deals; and, he's a better actor than Johnson.

BlackBerry (2023)

Written for an iPhone consumer audience.

[1/10 · 3 June 2023]

This movie seems to have been intended for the iPhone consumer electronics audience -- while Blackberry catered to the business professional & productivity market.

Worse yet, they only told 1/2 the story, and ignored the RIM QNX operating system, which is presently used on a vast range of ultra-high reliability mobile craft. The omitted QNX story also includes the protracted introduction of Blackberry 10, and its failure in the low end consumer electronics marketplace. I.e., it was not designed to be an entertainment toy like a glorified iPod.

This movie is so unrealistic and over the top, it made me feel like it was written by the same people who wrote the 3-Stooges (2012). No electronics engineer who can build a prototype handheld network device would struggle to turn off a buzzing intercom, let alone waste time fixing a piece of junk -- when looking straight at the battery connector which can merely be unplugged. Further, no CEO gets anyplace by being a raving angry screaming lunatic. Even the financiancial wrongdoing was exaggerated by more than 25 times. The hyper-stereotypical charicatures were neither plausable (the way that Kerri Russel's character was portrayed in The Diplomat) nor humorous at all, yet "comedy" is an IMDB tag.

This slapstic mockumentary represents the contemporary problem with disinformation, and will cause some viewers to falsely believe that this is how tech companies actually startup.

Star Trek: Picard: Võx (2023) Season 3, Episode 9

Another Spine Tingling Episode (spoilers)

[9/10 · 13 April 2023]

Season three of Picard has been amazing. It is the ultimate swan song for The Next Generation, and does a great job presenting nostalgic moments, without overdoing it. Unfortunately, the writers seem to have overlooked crucial Trek Canon.

SPOILERS: Despite facing the Borg, the Next Generation bridge crew reactivates the old Enterprise-D, as the last federation starship to not have unitary control. However at the Federation Museum shipyard, Starship Voyager was equipped with transphasic torpedos and ablative armor generators, which are more effective against the Borg, unlike anything on Enterprise-D. At least one line could have been written for Data, while the bridge crew was enroute to Enterprise-D, "Wouldn't Voyager be a better choice to combat the Borg?" To which Geordi could have replied, "for security reasons, that technology was removed to Section-31."

Before Borg took control of the Star Fleet, Data could have quickly programmed a transporter algorithm to remove the Borg genome sequence, transmitted it to all the ships, and began automatic removal of the "Borg infection."

Also, it is nonsensical that nobody attempts to contact Borg Jurati from ST:PIC S02E09, in order to protect Jack Crusher from the traditional Borg Queen, presumably looking for Jack to be the Borg King.

So basically, the ST:PIC writers were too eager to wrap up the series, and perhaps ST:PIC S03E07 Dominion, could have been reduced, and the Borg genome infection explored further. Perhaps, it was not possible to secure Kate Mulgrew and have a Voyager scene. Or perhaps, we will see Seven appear on Voyager, to save the day. Or worse, Borg Jurati once again appears out of nowhere to save humanity. One more episode to find out.

Sharper (2023)

Very Well Executed Production

[9/10 · 26 March 2023]

This is a very well crafted movie, that doesn't try to overreach. The performances are excellent, and draw the audience into multiple psychologies that feel authentic -- which is the true plot, more than merely being a procedural mystery / thriller. And that is the movie's appeal & success, since the end was fairly obvious to me, 2/3 of the way through.

It is also a very pleasant relief to watch a movie made for intelligent adults, with a sophisticated score, and relaxed editing pace that is not a video game ADD barrage on the eyeballs. Unfortunately, the current generation spends their media money on neurological saturation, which makes funding ever more difficult to obtain for these kind of wonderful movies. Another excellent example of such a movie is PIG, with Nicholas Cage (to which I gave 10 stars). Sharper lost a star for a predictable ending, from a screenplay that fell slightly short in originality and creativity.

Ps. PLEASE take not of John Boorman's valid criticism of the often misused term "film," when no such thing is now used in most TV & Movie productions.

The Night Agent (2023– )

Competent TV Show

[6/10 · 25 March 2023]

TV screenplay that is on par with other highly watched series, and better than many "made for cable" mini-series. However, it tries to incorporate too many genres. The gratuitous video game violence may try to bring in males with arrested development who still live at home. But sadly, it is a poor excuse to deal with characters that the writers could not intriguingly integrate, and instead merely kill off. There is a bit of National Treasure meets espionage which is compelling. But the cat & mouse, fish out of water, spy genre is insufficiently focused -- to be a compelling thriller. There are plenty of teaser sub-plotlines which are dangled before the audience, but insufficiently developed, only to be ultimately tied together with little character and story development. Edit this series down, and it would be a good 2-part episode that feels like Dean Devlin's Leverage.

The shining star is Hong Chau, who brilliantly plays over her age with gray hair (absolutely genius touch), but has beautiful hands. Her performance makes the illogical facts seem remotely plausible. Also an honorable mention to a rock solid performance by Gabrielle Rose, who was under utilized.

Hint: If a writer is going to attempt an espionage / corruption screenplay, then they had better get their technological issues correct. Here, The Night Agent dismally fails by confabulating unrealistic technology excuses for lack of writing skill. E.g., discussing "air gap" security, then transmitting WiFi from within a faraday cage secure facility. And, switching SIM cards in the same "burner" phone, which remains trackable with the same IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity). Further, there is a running joke in Hollywood that deeply insults any person with an IQ above 120 that a SIM card must be destroyed to be untrackable. And if you passed spy training, you well know that you only need to wrap your cellphone in 3 layers of aluminum foil to block all RF (radio frequency) signals. Proof -- try it, and then have somebody try to call you. All the cellphone tracking myths used to compensate for poor writing skill, merely demonstrate the deficient status of contemporary education. And if you can't find aluminum foil in the kitchen, just put it inside a metal pot with metal lid. Fortunately in The Night Agent, they used the Subaru Forester 2nd Gen update, which does not come with any uplink (trackable, StarLink) system.

Your Place or Mine (2023)

Mine... An Explosion Waiting To Happen

[6/10 · 5 March 2023]

Excellent performances by both Witherspoon and Kutcher, in a farce of what seems to be an attempt to capture a 1950's fast talking Katherine Hepburn & Cary Grant sit-com, set in contemporary dot-com cliche. It is nice to see Witherspoon look more like a normal woman rather than anorexic; and, to see Kutcher drop his usual schtick that is a typical insecurity mechanism for actors.

I cannot comprehend how such idiotic characters in the story have so much money, unless they are secret trust fund babies. Only their hairdresser knows for sure! Certainly not this viewer. I never even chuckled, once.

After falling asleep from all the lying, and then rewinding... "That's not what you just called it." "Oh, I knew that... I just wanted to see if you did." "Oh, sure."

Nonetheless, I suppose that my confusion and perplexification (trying to use a word that signifies the extent of my viewing angst) arises from watching these two-dimensional dolls with paper thin personalities try to imagine what exists in that third dimension of psychological truth & awareness, which is withheld from Witherspoon and Kutcher, through perpetual duplicitous machinations. Two wrongs don't make a right, but straight & three lefts do. That's the suggested logic in this story.

The screenplay writer, Aline Brosh McKenna, does quite a competent job directing, with above average production values. The irony is that, as director, she even more accurately portrays the shallowness of the characters she created. Or should I say, short depth of field? This is no Devil Wears Prada.

I would have turned it off 2/3 through, but finished it in pain, to write an honest review.

This story would have been better, if told from the perspective of the child, to more objectively show the absurdity of adult psychological issues. "Children are born perfect, then the parents mess them up."

Production tip -- don't have main characters walk at night, beneath a bridge with flashing construction lights, unless those lights are part of the story. This is especially true when followed by a reverse shot with NO construction. Also, when a person bites a cookie, foley shouldn't use the sound of a tortilla chip.

Star Trek: Picard: Seventeen Seconds (2023) Season 3, Episode 3

Evil Dead Nauseating Shaky Cam

[5/10 · 2 March 2023]

Pervasive in the first 3 episodes of Picard season 3, is excessive and indiscriminate use of handheld camera work. There have been different directors and different directors of photography, strongly suggesting that this choice is made at the producer level. Also, it is not a pandemic issue, since Camera-A is often Steadicam, and sometimes there were as many as 450 crew members.

The ultimate abuse this week is in an iconic duet scene between Picard and another TNG alumnus, which should be one of the most poignant in TNG history, but is presented in Blair-Witch style. Picard is neither a fly-on-the-wall documentary, nor a Jean-Luc Godard spontaneity movie. But here, there is no selectivity and artistic intent -- it is nauseating Evil Dead shaky cam. Just because you can easily use the Arri Alexa Mini as handheld, doesn't mean that you should!

I have always absolutely LOVED the television directing of Jonathan Frakes. Particularly with sci-fi oriented screenplay, he keeps it warm, human, and emotionally accessible, yet sci-fi plausable. In Picard, the repartee between Stewart and Frakes is priceless Trek, not present in any other Trek series.

Production tip -- use handheld camera work in proportion to how much the liquid in a stationary drink sloshes around, or how much the performer's head bobs up and down (e.g., while running), and no more. The coincidence that Godard and Picard share the same first name is no excuse.

The Ark (2023– )

Dean Devlin DISASTER

[1/10 · 12 February 2023]

DON'T KNOWS ARK is a ship of fools, that should have been entitled "Plato's Republic."

I like most of what Dean Devlin produces, which shows some intelligence, cleverness, and/or compassion. But here, whoever hired the writing staff should be fired, along with the staff.

This is fi with significantly innacurate sci -- which miseducates childern -- and exemplifies the reason why the channel removed the "c" from its name. The "SyFy" channel long ago lost its soul. And apparently, this show will have plenty of flashbacks to character's past, as in Lost -- to compensate for lack of both creativity and actual SCIENCE being applied to the writing. If that's what you like, then you will derive far greater satisfaction watching tele-novellas over at Univision.

Comcast-Universal-NBC-Peacock should stick to SyFy as a video-game, horror, & monster channel -- to satisfy the lowbrow preferences of the lowest denominator of viewer.

The Gift (2019–2021)

Compelling Plot, Mediocre Screenplay, Average Production

[3/10 · 4 February 2023]

Peoples of the Americas are generally unaware of the significance of Gobekli Tepe -- a Neolithic archaeological site in Turkiye, over 11,000 years old -- the most aincient ruins yet discovered on earth, with 95% yet to be excavated, and UNESCO World Heritage site. See Wiki-Pedia. Atiye / The Gift is an interesting supernatural mystery story speculating upon spiritual forces -- projected or hypothesized into Gobekli Tepe.

As of S01E05, the supernatural mystery storyline is compelling. I do not know how closely the adapted screenplay tracks the book: Dunyanin Uyanisi. Nonetheless, the filler story is excessively over-dramatized like a tela-novella, that erroneously portray's the peoples of Turkiye (the newly recognized international spelling) as emotionally immature, brutish, reactive with histrionic personality disorder.

By comparison, "The Protector" (Hakan: Muhafiz) and "Midnight at Pera Palace" (Pera Palasta Gece Yarisi), produced in Turkiye, are reasonably well balanced and focused screenplays, which I recommend.

The production values are competent, but average for a TV series, with nothing significant to criticize or commend.

Kaleidoscope (2023)

WATCH IN CHRONOLOGICL ORDER!

[4/10 · 24 January 2023]

This review has been randomized for your Kaleidoscopic dis-pleasure.

Please disregard the random order which Netflix will propose for you. It actually is a linear story -- with beginning, middle, and end.

The extent of gunfire was excessive and unnecessary to the storyline, and too often used as a crutch for certain plot twists, which deserved more competent treatment.

Vio - Grn - Yel - Orn - Blu - Wht - Red - Pnk Skip the 1 minute Black spoiler.

Despite the promotion as a matrix rather than a series, you really should watch Kaleidoscope IN CRONOLOGICL ORDER!

All of the production values were more than competent, and would have shined with a better screenplay.

The story introduces too many characters, which play a prominent role, without developing any backstory for why that character is the way they are. That makes the entire series feel thin and arbitrary -- hence the gimmick of arbitrary random disorder to the story.

Giancarlo Esposito delivered a deeply emotive performance as the lead character, and this is my favorite performance of his to date.

The gimmick of a random order to the story "chapters" is a writer's poor excuse to develop characters and create a substantial end to the story.

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Best 3D carnival attraction ever!

[3/10 · 20 January 2023]

If you are a cinematography technologist, this is an absolute must see in Real 3D HFR. It is the best technical implementation of 3D in a feature length movie - that I have ever seen. The 3D shorts at DisneyLand and DisneyWorld were better. The blocking and editing honed for 2D 24FPS doesn't work for 3D HFR.

REALITY CHECK: Avatar-1 was perhaps 75% cultural, dealing with psychological perspectives, and incorporating many traits of indigenious Earth cultures, which are only palatable to Americans -- when made alien.

Rewatching Avatar-1, I found that it plays much better today than 14 years ago, since environmental issues are front and present for a majority of Earth population.

Avatar-2 is 66% a wannabe Marvel Comics festival of video-game violence. The digital effects at HFR - in action scenes - look like a video game. But then, that is probably the intended market, where the huge investment in 3D CGI will end up.

To paraphrase another movie -- "If you buy it, they will make it." "Show Me The Money!" -- the motto of every major movie studio. Disney is no exception.

Violence sells. Emotional intelligence does not. Thus, humanity is in a perpetually downward spiral into self-annihilation. E.g., people would rather watch Woody Allen's psychosis, than watch anything about the Dalai Llama. Mike Judge got it right with -- IDIOCRACY!

[Okay, now I have satisfied the 600 word quota.]

Treason (2022)

Nice Score - absurd screenplay

[2/10 · 14 January 2023]

The only nice thing is the score. The cinematography and editing are competent. The writing is pathetically rediculous. Middle of first episodes basically establishes that a paranoid insecure wife is going to interfere with international intelligence operations, and accidentally destroy the world -- or something like that. I stopped watching 10 minutes into episode 2.

This is a very talented cast, that is given rubbish to work with. They must have really needed the job. This could have been amazing, with the right screenplay.

Netflix should stick with adapting books. If you want a good spy family drama, watch The Amerikans. If you want to see a telenovela, watch Univision.

The Crown: Queen Victoria Syndrome (2022) Season 5, Episode 1

INFERIOR CASTING

[3/10 · 22 December 2022]

It is understandably difficult to live up to the excellent cast of Season 5, and wonderful castr of prior seasons. I don't know what the performer contract options were, or the effect of the pandemic on performer availability or production schedule conflicts. I can also imagine that many of the Season 4 performers would be disinclined to endure the time and burden of "aged" make-up and prosthetics that would have been necessary to participate in Season 5.

Ultimately, the loss of the Season 4 cast rang the death knell for The Crown.

Unfortunately, season 5 of The Crown is as inexpressive as the face of Imelda Staunton playing the Queen, with botox. And as other reviews suggest, Jonathan. Pryce isn't the right fit as Philip. While he was wonderful in The Two Popes, he reverts to his one dimensional "bad guy" motif as a substitute for aristocratic arrogance and snobbery. The performances of Charles and Diana were similarly uncaptivating.

One standout performance was Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, as genuinely emotive, although not a continuation of the character developed by Helena Bonham Carter. Timothy Dalton also brought excellent depth to the character of Peter Townsend. Lastly, the choice of Jonny Lee Miller as John Major was a very interesting follow-up to Gillian Anderson playing Margaret Thatcher.

Hopefully, The Crown is not renewed for Season 6, lest it suffer a death unbefitting the Queen. I gave up watching at episode 4, or was it 5. Hmmm... not worth remembering.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022– )

Excellent Concept & Production, FAIR Showrunning & Scripting

[7/10 · 24 October 2022]

This was better than I expected, founded in the the world created by Tolkien, and not just a GOT tele-novela all dressed up in fantastical contrivances.

Season 2 can be improved with: (a) fewer tertiary characters that are invented just to burn screen time with irrelevant backstory; (b) better subtitle options, allowing flexible rendition of only Tolkien-speak, in multiple languages; (c) greater focus on the inner psychological and emotional polarities and self conflicts of good - evil, light - dark, reality - belief, truth - duplicity, rather than just creating irrelevant storylines for the sake of getting to a violent battle scenes; (d) MUCH MUCH MUCH better distinction between metaphysical matters and physical reality. E.g., natural physical things (not imbued with magic) do not explode with the power of a nuclear blast when you just pour water on them; (e) if a character or object has supernatural powers & traits, then tell the backstory on that, and why / how it deviates from physical reality - instead of inventing irrelevant drama to burn screen time. This is far more interesting to the "journey & adventure" than soap opera relationships based on contemporary interpersonal values / conflicts / drama that is merely projected into another fantasy time & place.

The UnXplained (2019– )

The secret to this show is...

[1/10 · 22 June 2022]

Imagine a dark room with a pensive reviewer typing away. Does she have the answers? Will we ever know? Or, is the truth so incredible that it cannot even be stated for fear of personal sanity?

Are you sure you really want to know the mysterious answers to all the questions about this show? The truth may not set you free, but haunt you forever. Can any answers ever quench human curiousity? It is more paradoxical than the Arabian Nights.

Can you accept and surrender to reality, under the immense weight of your preconceptions and hope for information? For there is only one answer ever presented in 53 episodes -- UnXplained.

Antarctica: A Year on Ice (2013)

Felt Like I Was There - AMAZING!

[10/10 · 16 June 2022]

This is an absolutely, incredibly, amazing cinematic experience!

Instead of being lectured to, and talked at (sorry Mr. Attenborough), this documentary invites you into the home, lives, thoughts, and feelings, of these intrepid science/peace mongers, and allows you to authentically identify with their experience.

Even the pace of the movie subtly changed to match the pace of the what the people were experiencing. This is truly genious work. This is also an HONEST and AUTHENTIC documentary, which recognizes the documentarian from a first person perspective, unlike all those alpine climbing documentaries where the cinematographer is forever absently invisible, except for the rare reflection in sunglasses.

Not enough movies are made from this integral perspective of, "come along with me and feel what I feel, and also what the people around me feel, on this journey."

I have personally worked with a handful of highly regarded documentarians, including an academy award winner -- and I am amazed that this movie did not receive any major award. Perhaps that is a reflection of the viewing audience, as demonstrated by the fact that most of the 25 all time grestest longevity movie franchises are founded on fear or violence.

Very very well done Mr. Powell. This is my ONLY 10 star rating on IMDB.

Note: I would have preferred much less foley, if you ever do another cut, or expand it into a mini-series.