anupamguleria-54898 Reviews

Missing: Dead or Alive? (2023– )

Drivel.

[1/10 · 25 May 2023]

The number of shows which Netflix can hold close to its chest and feel proud of, are probably less than 5. And 99% of the shows Netflix produces belong in the bottom of a wet-refuse-container.

This show is one of them.

Not only are the cases not real, the presentation appears to make it seem they are real cases being worked on by real cops. I'm willing to say that I haven't come across a poorer production quality with major loop holes & lack of attention to detail towards what is being shown on the screen.

And to think that Netflix cancelled top-of-the-line Mindhunter to churn out drivel like this.

Mile 22 (2018)

Too. Much. Talk.

[3/10 · 24 May 2023]

At this point, if you see Mark Wahlberg in a movie, you can be certain there'd mindless chatter in that movie.

Apart from that, there is anything which is barely average. They were probably going for a mindlessly voilet movie with a lot of action, but failed to accomplish even that properly.

The acting is down there, no one except the antagonist stands out, and only because everyone else is bad.

The really sad part is, the plotline could have turned into a nice action flick. The base for a good movie existed, but looks like the person in charge of the production was in a hurry to get somewhere.

1899 (2022)

Not particularly clever.

[6/10 · 28 November 2022]

You'd know which way the story is going after watching the first 2-3 episodes. The end, when it comes isn't a revelation - or a moment of disbelief - for the viewer. The scale of a ship carrying 1500 passengers isn't portrayed. It just feels like everyone is on a yatch. There is an attempt to hide the plotholes by rushing through the story.

There is a lot of literal going around in circles. As a 4-5 episode series it would've come out a better series than it is currently. There simply isn't that much of a story to tell, and it feels like the storywriter was feeling lazy(for the lack of a better word), and the plotlines which deserved an explanation were simply abandoned.

This just felt undercooked, unsalted and unspiced.

The Evil Dead (1981)

Aged like Milk!

[3/10 · 26 May 2022]

The movie was made in 1981. It may have been the best horror movie in 1999 but today in 2022 that is clearly no longer the case. The oddity of special effects, make-up effects by todays standards is well, outdated. Some key scenes(specially ones involving vegetation) do not look believable today. Since it looks so dated, it takes away the realism and at one point you might find yourself staring at the demon(and its makeup), than be afraid of it. This entire logic may well be applied to other hits from pre-CGI era movies such as Alien, Star Wars. But the thing is none of those movies required close-up shots in full light of the antagonists to instill fear, which this movie has to do as part of the plot.

Save yourselves some time, and watch the 2013 version instead which is better executed and far scarier than the original. This one should stay buried in the annals of movie history.

No Time to Die (2021)

Just because it's a Bond movie.

[4/10 · 9 March 2022]

Just because it is a Bond movie doesn't mean it is a good movie. The acting looks tired by all characters. The villian is barely seen throughout the picture and Rami Malek doesn't do a compelling job of playing the villian. He looks frail but that is not compensated by gravity of his character which is rather lacking. Bond movies are built around having strong and charismatic villians. Rami(as much as I am a fan) is not one, for no fault of his own. The character itself comes off as weak, and the motivations behind hia actions look mundane for a bond movie.

Raised by Wolves (2020–2022)

Flailing, meandering, disappointing.

[1/10 · 30 October 2020]

If you have low expectations the show might meet them. But having the "Scott" name associated with it, raises expectations to at least a decent sci-fi series, if not the best. That's not the case here. The series seems to be in a hurry to make a lot of points in a short span of 1 season. Symbolism will hit you in the face too often, that it becomes a moot point.

The story is below average. With a very limitedset of set locations(no more than 3), costume design(almost none), visual effects(rare) you'd expect the story to hold it all together. It doesn't. It's not convincing. The plot revolves entirely on child actor's performances, and two adult actors are not meant to act(they're androids) - a feat they barely manage to pull off. Go back to Alien 1 and see how well the role of Android has been performed. Here it hasn't. There are plot holes too; too many to list here.

There is no thrill value, only a little drama among children and their guardians, no action or adventure, neither horror or fantasy. Which Sci-Fi genre is it? There is barely any science even except androids, 1 lander that can fly and literally nothing else. The androids cannot seem to communicate amongst themselves wirelessly. They have to communicate verbally face to face. Sigh. And we're expecting them to nurture a colony.

No wonder humanity is doomed.

Breaking Bad (2008–2013)

A television masterpiece.

[10/10 · 18 September 2018]

You know a series is a masterpiece when you end up watching it as a re-run merely 6 months after watching the original.

To this day this series, has standards set so high, that I am personally unable to find anything to watch which matches its standards.

I am yet to come across an actor who can play a character which is Walter White who is an embodiment of hero, anti-hero, part-comedic, part-villian. This is not a character which is purely black or white, there are numerous tones and undertones of gray in this character. And yet, Bryan Cranston has not just played such a complex character, but played it par-excellence. His mannerisms, not-over the top, certainly not under-acted either - when the moment requires just a perfect tone of darkness, while also keeping it just a tad comedic too, just barely, since after-all, Bryan is a comedian first. There is not a serious scene in the series, which is not without a sense of comedy. Kind of like life is laughing at you as you go from one situation in life to the next. It would not be unfair to say that Bryan could carry the weight of this series, by himself, based entirely on his acting alone. Having said that, it would be easy to overlook the fact that the supporting actors did a great job too, to create an environment in which our anti-hero comes out the best.

By the time any series reaches Season 5, there is a sense that franchise has been over-done. A series having a good 4-5 seasons continue on for several more seasons, before they are shut down by channel/studio, due to declining ratings due to viewer fatigue. A good series, eventually fades away from audience memory simply because it went on too long. Then the halt comes, and the characters are gotten rid of expediently to end the series. Not Breaking Bad. This is a series which knew how to stop & when to stop. If the idiom "quit while you're ahead", applies anywhere then this series would be it. The penultimate Season 5 is not only the highest point in the series, but as Walter White once said(sic), "There was a point my life, when if I would have died at that point, it would all have been just perfect."

If you haven't watched it. You should. I am going to watch it for the 3rd time for the lack of anything better on streaming or elsewhere.

Marco Polo (2014–2016)

Netflix, bring this show back!

[9/10 · 12 August 2017]

It is indeed a shame that Netflix had to cancel probably the only the historical showpiece it had in its kitty. A showpiece, so much so that it is almost a masterpiece.

I am not sure why people here or elsewhere think that this show should not be classified as history genre. Specially when it is an agreed fact amongst historians that even the works of actual Marco Polo could have been closer to fiction than the actual truth. Mind you, this is an Empire(which was the world's largest land empire till the British empire in 1920) from history which has not been touched at all by movie or television. All this is while things like the Roman Empire, WW2 have been beaten up like a dead war horse.

With the sheer amount of work that simply went into researching, design, direction and then putting all that together in editing so it all fits beautifully together - it is indeed a shame that this had to end at Season 2.

House of Cards (2013–2018)

Season 5 doesn't impress

[5/10 · 3 June 2017]

I feel the Season 5 was all over the place. The high point being the first episode with Frank's speech to the Congress from where the season went to being dull, confusing and full of plot holes. During the speech which set a tone in the first episode where he says "I will not yield", I thought wow, this can only get better from here.

But It doesn't. On the contrary, throughout the season, Frank is seldom in-charge of the situation as he should have been, and was during S1 & S2. He is reacting to situations, rather than create those situations as we have often seen him do till Season 2 at least.

The season never peaked for me after Episode 1. Not to mention the Elysian fields and the political quagmire was unnecessary. Yes, it is a political drama, but in S5 there is so much of politics and it's complications, and less of drama.

Not to mention the new characters, Mark Usher and Jane Davis, have a better on screen presence and are depicted as stronger(and perhaps more manipulative)characters than the protagonists - Frank & Claire. Mark Usher is a convenient character introduced to explain plot twists and plot holes. There is a scene where during oath of presidency Mark Usher is on the edge of the screen waiving to the camera - just like Frank Underwood did during Walker's swearing in. And then Usher asks for the vice-presidency in the final episode. Is this how the House of cards will be brought down? Who knows. However, it does the series no good when the anti-hero everyone loves is just on the sidelines.

All that aside, the only other non-dull moment is Frank waiving his executive privilege and speaking out in front of the committee - and that comes in at E12 or 13. Even that turns out to be too little too late, specially when the speech abruptly ends leading to another uninteresting plot line. The speech in front of the committee is a perfect example of how the writers were out of ideas on how to use Frank Underwood to further the plot.

In season finale, I am left wondering, was all this really required to make Claire the President, which he could have done sooner without the uninteresting scheming and mess involved.

TBH, Kevin Spacey aka Frank Underwood, was and had been the strong point of this series - specially with him breaking the 4th wall - all along till S4(even though he was less so in S4). Let us be honest, Robin Wright can't break the fourth wall as effectively as Spacey does in his southern style and demeanour. Sadly, the directors/writers just chose to keep Spacey on the sidelines in S5, and that's for me is the major reason for dullness of S5.