Change Your Image
ctz-1
Reviews
Babylon 5: Babylon Squared (1994)
If you doubted that this was going anywhere...
If you doubted that this was going anywhere, this is proof that there is a big overarching story at work. Back then when this was first shown, I was just amazed that you would have a TV series with a continuing plot and a story like this. This just used to not be a thing back then - a TV show would reset to status quo each week. Babylon 5 has continuing stories and character development all through season 1 but it could be missed if you did not pay attention. Certainly not here - this shows that there is a plan. Rewatching this 30 years ago it's still fantastic because the way it is written and plays out in the context of the series is still amazing even compared to modern series. One of the best episodes of Babylon 5 and I would assume one of the most important episodes in TV history.
Die Enkeltrick Betrüger (2024)
Journalism at its best
Strikes the right balance between entertainment / comedy and actual journalism. It's high time this topic gets some attention and I can't applaude the filmmakers enough to put themselves out there and show what is going on, how it works and maybe - hopefully - prevent more of these cases. While it's fun watching this, the interviews with the victims are absolutely devastating and it's an important perspective to see. Hopefully this will also be picked up by some streamer because this should be shown to a wider public. Fully recommend this and hopefully it gets some well deserved awards. The easiest 10/10 this year so far.
Insidious: The Red Door (2023)
Only for the hardcore fans
Sometimes there's streaming shows that should have been a 90 minute movie. Sometimes there's movies released in theaters that should have just been a 60-90 min release on a streaming platform. This is that. It's only interesting if you have seen all of the previous Insidious movies (and recently!) and even then it feels like you should also have written a couple of essays about it to be invested enough. It's quite boring otherwise is what I want to say. There's a couple of positives: Sinclair Daniels as a new character was good and seriously, Lin Shaye - however short your gues spot is, get that check you deserve it.
Sharper (2023)
Super stylish noir
This is a film that will end up being a random favorite of some people. Super stylish, great acting, fantastic soundtrack. Back in the Blockbuster days this would be somewhat of an insider's tip and eventually a cult favorite.
It's not for everyone and it's not by any means revolutionary. But if you told me this had been nominated for a bunch of awards I would believe it.
This is available on Apple+ only for the moment but I believe it would have made sense to have had a limited run in theaters and being released on other services eventually instead of being kept exclusive as it will not be seen too widely otherwise.
Catching Killers (2021)
Overly dramatic
The cased are interesting but every investigator tells their story in an extremely dramatic fashion and it all feels very overdone and almost insulting to the watcher. And it wouldn't be necessary at all.
Big in Japan (2018)
Quite entertaining
I don't regret watching this as it was fairly entertaining. The premise itself doesn't really work in the end because the main guy doesn't become famous and that makes it all a bit pointless. They try to save it with a final voiceover and some platitudes on the nature of fame but it misses the mark there slightly.
Kate (2021)
Stylish
Story is just okay but it's a very stylish neo noir / cyberpunk-ish thriller. This is very worth its runtime and if you like either the genre or something like John Wick then this is a fine 90 minutes of entertainment. Enjoy!
Army of the Dead (2021)
Terrible
I don't get it. Trash like this with a terrible script, annoying characters and tropes, and what can only be called a weird direction with a strange visual.. style, I guess (including a weird use of out of focus visuals and over the top fight choreo reminiscent of the Resident Evil films at best) used to be what B movies were for. Yet somehow this now gets an extremely high budget. Why?
The Woman in the Window (2021)
Not as bad as usual Netflix movies
Let's be honest, Netflix movies are the equivalent of former TV movies. This here also could have been one of these. It lacks originality and there's not really a reason this should have been made except to generate produce to put on TV / a streaming channel. However, two things save this: The actors are quite good and it's entertaining in the sense that it doesn't really get boring. So.. yay!
Berlin Station (2016)
Great up until season 3
The first two seasons are fantastic, almost getting better with every episode. The third season, while initially having the best premise yet, is dragged down by a main actor not wanting to be in his series anymore and the story trying to accommodate this and the season as a result being a total waste of time. Hope it was worth it for everyone involved; in the end it's a shame and the writers and the rest of the cast deserved better.
Betonrausch (2020)
Ze Hündchen of Wall Street
The main problem is not that this is a very obvious wanna-be Wolf of Wall Street (without any of its cleverness) or that neither real estate nor banks nor any of this works as shown here. No, the problem is that the film constantly tells us how convincing and charming the main character is without ever proving it in a believable way. The story just goes along with it but none of it works because the main character does not. The fact that it's supposedly based on a real story makes me think that the script took a lot of liberties with the actual story.
Extinction (2018)
Another terrible Netflix movie
It's like a SyFy movie but it goes on like five hours more.. horrible. Netflix had a few good shows but now they release so many terrible films and series it really makes you wonder if they shouldn't spent like maybe half of it but introduce some quality control instead.