fagzal Reviews

Foundation (2021– )

Even worse than I expected

[2/10 · 24 September 2021]

Based on the trailers, which were suspect at least, and the fact that Apple did this, I did not have high hopes. However, it's worse than I could have ever imagined.

The first episode felt like a guy got high, and told the story of Foundation to his roommate in five sentences, who made a movie out of it the next morning, including 2 ideas out of the 5 he vaguely remembered. (He did not get the gender of the main characters right, but what do you expect after that much weed...) It was all over the place, but at least resembling the original.

But the second episode....

What were they even thinking??

Even if you are not familiar with the original story, you will realize this is just a mess. And I would not mind that - there are many bad series out there, this is just another one - but why drag Asimov's name into it?

This is not "based on", and not even "inspired by" the books - it's defecating on them. One of the greatest sci-fi novels of all time, in the hands of those who just wanted to use the name to bring in some viewers. What a shame!

Probably the least engaging series I have seen in a long time. And revealing in episode two who Demerzel is? Oh come on!!! Have you even read the books??

Two stars because they've tried.

Love, Death & Robots (2019– )

Season 1: amazing. Season 2: what happened??

[7/10 · 19 May 2021]

I really liked season 1 of the series: a new kind of format, amazing graphics, sometimes thought provoking and serious, even dark, sometimes just simply funny. Diverse themes and animation styles. It was kind of like Black Mirror, but animated. Or like reading a collections sci-fi short stories.

But season 2... I was looking forward to it so much, and it let me down. The animations are as good as in season 1, and there is one or two episodes that are kind of OK, but otherwise they have forgotten *the* most important thing that made season 1 so good: the stories. I don't know what they were thinking, but they are very basic in season 2, sometimes do not even make sense. The punch lines are basically missing, or very weak.

Season 1 = 10 starts. Season 2 = 3 stars.

His Master's Voice (2018)

Fake artistic nonsense

[1/10 · 10 October 2020]

I am a big fan of the work of Stanislaw Lem. His style is not for everyone, but his creativity is unparalleled: he was at the top of his craft, a master of his language, who constantly surprised the reader with amazing and thought provoking ideas. So I was eager to see Gyorgy Palfi's version of the novel - but boy, was I disappointed!

First of all: the story of the movie has *nothing* to do with the original material, except for a few, very vague references. It's just a big, chaotic mess, where unnecessary scenes follow each other seemingly randomly. It's not artistic just because if makes no sense, okay?

"Disappointed" is not the best word, by the way: I felt *angry* after suffering through this joke of a movie. I felt like the director just defecated on a masterpiece. How come he was even allowed to use the same title as the novel?

I want to build a time machine now, just to go back in time when we decided to push "play", so that I can stop ourselves. Watching a switched-off TV for two hours is a *much* better way of spending your time then seeing this tragic nonsense.

Avoid at all cost!

Another Life (2019–2021)

Seriously terrible

[2/10 · 9 November 2019]

This show is so bad I don't even know where to begin. So we are sending the world's fastest spaceship to probably save humanity, and we send some... I don't know, high schoolers? People standing around with tablets, is this how you maneuver a spaceship now? Flying around orbit, no suits, no seatbelts, just standing around and falling on your face? Hibernating with your make-up on, is this the trend now? A depresses commander with a just-got-my-HIV-test-back face was the best for this mission? At least we have a *library* on our spaceship, with real paperback books, right? The first alien lands on Earth, and there's like ONE guy examining it?

Let's have some flashbacks to cover for our no-budget-no-original-idea series, then!

The whole thing is just ridiculous, something a not to bright 14 year old would write.

2 stars for trying and showing actual aliens.

A nyomozó (2008)

Smart and entertaining

[10/10 · 7 October 2008]

There were a lot of good reviews on this title, so my girlfriend asked me to go and see this title with her. To tell the truth, I had low expectations: I thought this was going to be either a "too artistic" thing, or what is even worse, a cheap comedy. Boy, was I wrong! This is truly delicate and talented film making. The tone seemed very unusual, almost uncomfortable in the first few minutes, and there were some scenes which resembled "Six Feet Under" a bit too much. However, as the story went on, everything clicked into place: it was entertaining, well paced, and soon I was totally carried away with the flow. Acting was superb, especially by Zsolt Anger, who really steal the show. At the very end, there is a very well constructed and sophisticated moment, a small joke, that kind of wakes you up and shows you that what you have just seen is a masterpiece.

Let me also add that the tone of the movie reminded me of the work of stage director Bela Pinter: sin and punishment, serious themes, deep thoughts - all perfectly wrapped in a comedy-like outfit, a perfect mix. Modern, lightweight, entertaining - this movie is a work of art.

Open Season (2006)

Unoriginal and not for children

[6/10 · 28 May 2008]

I agree with the critics: this movie has nothing original. It feels like most ideas and characters are borrowed from other movies - even some scenes. It is not particularly funny either.

I would also like to add that this is NOT a movie for children: I thought it was a rather sad story, the main character being chased, left alone, betrayed, lied to, etc. throughout the whole movie.

I am giving g2 points for the movie and 10 for the main character and his teddy bear who are very touching. That brings us to an average of 6 points :)

See Cars instead.

Dumb and Dumber (1994)

This is clearly for children

[4/10 · 11 June 2005]

Dumb&Dumber is not a bad movie - if you are under 16, that is. If you are older than that, and still like it, you are probably not older, you just think you are. I see this one after other Jim Carry movies like Ace Ventura, The Mask, and so on. At that time, I was a great fan of JC - not any longer.

Simply put, this movie is just primitive. It's all about toilet humor. Just see other comments, which wave about how funny was the "toilet sound" and so on. Is farting really that funny?? Do you enjoy a movie because someone is drinking urine in it? If you do, go see this movie. Otherwise, there are plenty of much more intelligent and funnier comedies around.

While I am usually a fan of mainstream movies, and is not interested in character development, artistic values, moral messages and so on, this movie was just plain boring - especially because I was expecting much more. It was supposed to be funny, but - as I mentioned earlier - you have to be under-aged to really enjoy it. While it had some good points, it is probably the worst of all JC movies.

The Cell (2000)

The first real "scary thing" after "The 6th sense".

[26 January 2001]

I was surprised to see how low this movie was rated. I think people nowdays are just not attracted to artistic film making. I admit that the story-line of the movie is a common place, however, that is not the point. This is an original horror movie, one that I have been missing for years (even though I do not like horrors in general). This movie follows the tradition founded by the greatest horror makers, like Hitchcock or Stephen King. And the photography is just extraordinary! It is like watching a Dali painting. Strange colors and scary figures, theatrical noises, everything is very expressive.

Do NOT watch the movie if you think you are smart when you "understand" a movie - but you HAVE TO see it if you usually just "like" movies. You will probably like this if you have liked The 6th Sense or Alien or Fight Club, but do not go see it if you think Independence Day is not the lamest and stupidest movie of all times.

I really liked this movie because of the strange, sick dream-world it showed us. But there is one thing you have to know: there isn't anything in this movie (message, story, etc.) except for this. It reminded me of "Bringing Out the Dead". I am very much a visual type of guy, and because of this I enjoyed each minute of The Cell.