viktor-hammarberg Reviews

Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp (2015)

My favorite TV show of all-time

[10/10 · 6 August 2016]

Whoa. Slow down. That's a pretty ambitious statement, favorite TV show of all- time? Really? Yeah. I also think it's the smartest TV show of all time, because no one makes comedy like this. It's sort of similar to the style of humor and the randomness of Family Guy. Also, in a way, it's the kind of humor Scary Movie tried to achieve.

I love the good vibes and how they manage to capture a genuine summer camp feeling while still being completely ridiculous in the acting and story line. The soundtrack is great and to my surprise consists of pretty much all original music. So nice. They poke fun at pretty much every television and movie stereotype, sometimes in such subtle ways many could mistake certain parts for being cheesy, or lame. But rest assured, it's 100% intentional. Every episode and almost every single scene has subtle elements of comedy within the comedy that makes for inceptional hilarity. The whole series really embraces lame-on-purpose and takes discreet comedy to a whole new level.

I hate to be judgmental and all but I feel so strongly about this show that I can only conclude that if you don't find this TV show hilarious then A) you don't get it, B) you haven't been exposed to enough pop culture to understand what they're mocking, or C) you laugh out loud at films like Central Intelligence and find Barney Stinson to be the funniest man alive.

I just wanted to write this review out of pure passion. Third time I see the show now, and it still holds up. Just wanted to give some cred to the geniuses behind this awesomeness.

Sidenote: the movie is not nearly as funny, but it's very entertaining to watch the TV show and then the movie, just to see how young everyone looks.

Fantastic Four (2015)

4.2? Not even close.

[8/10 · 5 November 2015]

This is how my journey went; from trailer release to sitting down in my bed with a bag of chips and giving this a go despite its abysmal rating: 27 Jan: Teaser trailer released. So damn pumped. Miles Teller? Yes. That chick? Yes. Awesome. 19 April: Full-length trailer released. Still pretty pumped. Never was a fan of the previous installments (with Alba and all them) though. But I loved Chronicle, so I trust the director. Also, origin stories are awesome. And Marvel means high budget. High budget is fun, may not always translate into good, but certainly fun. What could go wrong? 7 Aug: Movie has been released. I'm not rushing to the cinema though, I'm assuming it'll land at like a high 6 or low 7, but ambitiously hoping for something short of an 8. But whaaaaaat. I check the ratings now and then the coming weeks and watch the ratings plummet. What the hell? Could it really be that bad? 5 Nov: Nope. Turns out there was an error in the IMDb rating calculation system because this movie is a 7 at worst. Plain and simple, in my opinion obviously. Don't know what people were expecting. This movie is like progressive deep house: constantly slowly building up, never really dropping. And I appreciate those types of movies. Kinda like Full Metal Jacket (though I don't want to comparing those two) in a way. I wish more Marvel movies were structured like this, rather than the usual mainstream mayhem (which is also fun, but you could balance the 2 and make something really fresh).

The way I rate movies: 10 means there is absolutely nothing I can think of or pinpoint that would have made the movie better, and the more things I can think of that could be changed/improved, the lower the rating. This one landing at a 7.5, as there were 2 major things I think could use improvement. Overall, even though it certainly is no masterpiece, this is a solid flick. If you like movies, watch it. Because it's good, and it's chill.

Sense8 (2015–2018)

What a shame...

[6/10 · 17 June 2015]

I saw a trailer for this show when I was at the cinema the other day and was immediately intrigued. Netflix tends to deliver (Better Call Saul, House of Cards, Daredevil) and I'm a big fan of The Matrix. The production value was pretty outstanding and there are many cool locations, the plot seems interesting and there's nice character variety thus far (with a few exceptions).

However and unfortunately, there is a big "but". I'm pretty big on authenticity, and I cannot believe a show like this would substitute language for an abysmal accent. This show could have easily achieved the cultural insight that Babel did within a new and edgy format, but as soon as I realized all the cities depicted in this film would have inhabitants mimic their language with a petty accent in English; the curtains fell down and everything felt cheap.

The sad part is, I feel like this is to ensure a wider audience whereas many people stray away from reading subtitles but "Lost" did it almost a decade ago and went on for 8 seasons (or something). I am so sad. The language is half the culture and I would feel so much more connected to each place if they had bothered and went for authenticity. Suddenly I felt like I was watching an abnormally high budget Nickelodeon Original as opposed to a delicate and intriguing thriller/drama by renowned Wachowski's.

Here's some overall pros and cons.

The good: - Nice budget - Interesting locations - Intriguing plot - Nice character variety - First mainstream media I've seen to mention the DMT molecule (look it up, so cool)

Cons: - Apparently everyone in the world speaks English and languages are defined by different accents of the English language. Ugh. - Loss of cultural authenticity in terms of behavior (the Korean culture for example is portrayed very poorly and American-ified). - Loss of authenticity when the DJ character clearly is a horrible DJ and uses crap equipment and plays crap music. All it would take is some research. Ugh.

In summary, I wish they would have taken the time to make it authentic, I will not be finishing this show purely because of this. But if you can get past it (which I'm sure most will) then you're probably in for a decent ride.

6.5/10.

Neighbors (I) (2014)

Why all the hate? Since when is vulgarity cause for negative reviews?

[10/10 · 5 July 2014]

Okay, first of all I'd like to state that I rarely review films because I tend to think IMDb does a great job giving people a general picture of how good/bad a movie is, and the mixed reviews tend to allow for a pretty balanced perspective. But what the f-bombing f-bomb is going on here?

I went through pretty much 5 pages of 1/10 reviews of this film and then I just exploded with frustration. I had to interrupt this copycat streak. It goes to show that it's in peoples nature follow the herd and if they see enough negativity they'll convince themselves that's how it is.

This movie is obviously not targeted at the old people writing these reviews, nor the young people following their lead to appear "intelligent" or whatever they're trying to achieve. Since when is multiple usage of the f-bomb a plausible reason to dislike a movie? I am in complete shock.

I watched this movie sober, late at night, by myself and I laughed out loud a multitude of times and I rarely laugh when I watch comedies alone even if I find them funny.

The dialogue was f-bombing hilarious, witty and extremely clever. The much used f-word adds authenticity and flavor in an comically exaggerated scenario. I personally use the word (almost) equally much in casual conversations with my friends. Obviously things are exaggerated though, otherwise you'd be making a documentary.

Based on all these negative reviews, I guess you could say that many fail to realize and appreciate when things are intentionally lame and intensionally exaggerated to the point when it almost doesn't make sense, but since it is intentional it in fact does make sense. The movie makes use of a lot of satirical elements and is in a sense is making fun of people who doesn't get this type of humor. I, for one, love Seth Rogen and personally think this is one of his best. "The Hangover" which is praised by so many people for example, I re-watched it the other day and holy s-bomb is that humor outdated. I did not even smile. Zach is good, but unfortunately it's been used to the point where I want to vomit. THAT is a stupid movie, this movie is actually made by someone who's so intelligent most people don't even get it and render it stupid and immature. Humour is evolving as quickly as technology, and like 9GAG, if you're not active or within that atmosphere many of the jokes will be almost impossible to grasp or seem extremely lame, but lame is the game. This (in my opinion) is a very small piece of the dawn of a new era of humor. If I could define this movie I would call it a comically exaggerated satire of both early marriage, frat life and friendship. The message is there, but I guess a lot of people get scared off by the constant swearing and profanity to look past it and not take it so f-bombing serious.

I loved this movie and it scares me to see that the average reviewer is on an intensely different page, and has failed to take the movie for what it is. I'm with the critics on this one.

10/10.

Paranormal Activity 4 (2012)

Paranormal - Act IV (ity)

[7/10 · 22 October 2012]

If the pun in the title did not impress you, this review probably won't either.

Before watching this latest installment of this never-ending horror franchise (there will be Paranormal Activity 5, I'm sure), I couldn't really set high expectations, and to the people who did: Porque (why)?

You can't walk into a cinema of the 3rd sequel of a low budget series (that is continuing to spray follow ups to the world simply because people will watch it no matter how bad it is) and expect it to be brilliant. It's just one of those no-deep-meaning films that you watch with your friends to have a good time and some good scares.

Watch it with low expectations, get a little drunk (or how ever you roll) and don't expect The Shining or a new cult classic like the first Paranormal. Think of it as a YouTube compilation of scary stuff and you're set, I did and I was so scared I almost soiled myself.

7 out of 10 because it is exactly what I wanted it and expected it to be; simple, scary and some funny parts too.

Savages (I) (2012)

Disavagested

[7/10 · 22 October 2012]

When I first saw the trailer for this film, I wasn't really drawn in as much as most people were. What captured my attention was Oliver Stone, and he was the fellow responsible for my viewing.

Blake Lively, not so lively, I think she was trying to portray a dead fish in this film, at least that's what I got out of her acting skills (could easily replace the T with an H in acting and make it aching). She's really hot though, so I guess that would make her an attractive dead fish. The rest of the cast did a pretty solid job though. Benicio Del Toro was fantastic. Travolta was top notch as usual. The movie had a nice touch of violence, drama and some comedy. In my opinion, a lot of parts were pretty slow and boring. So, if you were to replace all (or most of) the drama/slow parts (and Blake Lively) with comedy (a more talented actress, Natalie Portman?!), and make the whole film into a satire/dark action comedy it would have been one of the greatest movies ever made. Hands down. Damn.

7 out of 10, lost 3 stars in the lack of comedy, Blake Lively, and the slow parts. In conclusion, it's worth a watch, especially if you have a movie voucher or some sort of discount.