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Reviews
Stalker (1979)
Slow and dated
I read the awe-struck reviews claiming that this is the greatest science fiction film of all time. Well, it's not. I hardly classify it as science fiction either, although I suppose it qualifies technically. A better genre would be 'slow existential art-house'.
A film may be frozen in time but still needs to appeal to an audience that currently exists.
Classics can do this, but this film definitely does not. Few will have the patience for this film with its self-indulgent, ages-long shots, terribly mismatched sound effects and long and boring scenes without plot or character development.
Having said that, connoisseurs of truly obscure projects from Eastern bloc countries decades ago may find some value in learning about what niche audiences once may have put up with.
Supergirl (2015)
Finally!
This is a brilliant superhero show.
I have been following comics for all my life and this is the perfect rendition of Supergirl. She is a lighter-weight hero and yet this show has managed to both capture that aspect perfectly and still embrace some deeper themes.
Kara struggles to co-exist in the same world as Superman, in the same way as we today struggle to cope with icons like Shakespeare. He appears as just a blur. It's brilliant.
The episode where she lost her powers and talks a gunman down could show the NRA madmen a thing or two. That was the most profound moment to come out of USA television that I've seen for a long, long time.
The haters seem somehow skewed. I don't know why. Supergirl is meant to be naive and young and a bit like the wildest girlfriend you've ever had. Melissa nails it. This is great TV. I enjoy it as much as Game of Thrones.
Glitch (2015)
Could not finish this...
Some really imaginative TV science fiction exists, but this is not one of those shows. The simple idea failed to engage me at all, a primary problem being a serious lack of credibility. Even in a mild sci-fi, there has to be some sense that people would actually behave in a realistic manner. Reanimated corpses emerge by digging up through the earth; presumably the recently buried ones are able to paw through coffins? The character from the 1800s shows no surprise at cars driving by, not to mention electricity and what would be a total transformation of his town. For no reason whatsoever, a teenager starts helping him, even breaking and entering a pub based on...what? The overall pace is slow in the extreme and as flat as can be. If I think of the brilliance behind the concept of 'Day of the Triffids', for example, 'Glitch' is put to shame.
Black Sails: XIII. (2015)
Brilliance
I write in in stunned disbelief, since there are three viewers above me expressing disbelief and even prejudice, at the 'big reveal' in this episode. As this is a spoiler-free comment, I will just say that Flint's motivation and character continue to deepen and much of his determination and almost maniacal drive is explained: he is both running from his past and even from his sense of himself. His reserve and distance makes more sense than ever. The sensitivity shown in how this was done through a series of well-timed flashbacks and real-time action was highly effective.
Black Sails is so much more than a 'pirate show'. Like 'Vikings', which in some ways it closely resembles, it is a study of human nature as much as it is a costume drama. Brilliant TV.
American Horror Story: Burn, Witch. Burn! (2013)
The Clichés Are Summoned
I was enjoying this series until this episode. I could hardly believe how many awful clichés were used as my suspension of disbelief was dismantled. This was no self-conscious, post-modern tactic, either, just a clumsy cliché-fallback and lazy television. There were so many old howlers: a zombie attack that was all but comic; a chainsaw was in the shed and is wielded by a girl who single-handedly destroys the army of darkness; almost none of these witches use MAGIC except as a last resort, despite earlier being told that witches have nothing to fear but the Supreme, they seem to spend most of the time running away and screaming (and falling down after two steps, of course, while the zombies must be moving at one inch-per-hour and are unable to catch them...or open/smash through doors!). The Supreme Witch sees her daughter injured and is in despair and unable to heal her, even though she shortly afterwards is able to revive a stillborn baby FROM THE DEAD. The so-called Witches Council condemns one of their own mainly based on a picture on an iPhone, backed up by highly circumstantial evidence and BURNS her to death, even though almost all of the witches have disappeared and they are very worried about their dwindling numbers. None of them seem able to try a bit of magic to find the killed teen- witch that is stinking out the house upstairs, either.There is a list of horror-clichés on WatchMojo and I think almost all of them were crammed into this episode. What a waste of a promising start.