Fabian_Lioner Reviews

The Menu (2022)

A bit pretentious

[7/10 · 27 October 2023]

The mix between horror and satire seems undecided or bland, the backstory was lacking and the plot presents itself as something grander than it really is. The same hollowness of the dishes carries onto the essence of the movie. Satirizing something that is hollow and giving the final product value is a difficult task, this movie really tries to do that, but given its nature, it didn't quite stick the landing with me.

The cast is simply great, full of recognizable faces and good acting. The cinematography was good, nothing out of this world but enjoyable.

Overall its entertaining, but the delivery of its message is not strong. Even if this flavor of satire wasn't the best suited for me, it kept me intrigued and while not fully satisfied, I enjoyed it.

Passages (2023)

Hard to watch at times

[7/10 · 27 October 2023]

It's intriguing and captivating, the spectacle relies on the destructiveness of narcissism and it becomes painful to watch.

Acting is honestly great, and cinematography varies from good, to beautiful, the ending, visually is stunning. The soundtrack is lacking at times, but it manages to make you feel uneasy when it needs to.

It's definitely an interesting watch, but it doesn't go much further than that. The 91 minute (1h 31m) runtime felt significantly longer than it actually was, I'd attribute that to some scenes that were a bit drawn out, complemented by their uncomfortable nature.

It's good, it carries emotion and character, but I wouldn't watch it again.

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Charming, true to life human characters!

[9/10 · 16 July 2022]

Every character is so authentic and full of emotions! The movie manages to find a balance between comedic moments and dark, sad and unpleasant bits. This movie is a breath of fresh air, it made my day!

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

Not perfect, not for everyone, but definitely an experience!

[10/10 · 13 July 2022]

This is a film unlike no other, it's up to you to decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

In my case I absolutely loved it, the humor landed with me every time there was a joke and the heartfelt moments were tastefully done in my opinion. The characters are there and they aren't just empty vessels for the action, the main characters all get fulfilling character arcs and even side characters get to have their own backstories developed a bit across the multiverse!

There are a ton of little cues, details and foreshadowing that pop up upon a rewatch and to someone like me who loves rewatching the movies I like, it adds a ton of value and makes for a better experience.

The movie is weird and convoluted, hard to follow at times and at some points I heard people near me in the theater say: "What are we even watching?" However if you're able to embrace this uniqueness and immense creativity, it becomes an experience like no other. So many things happen during the runtime of the film that there's always something to love, and you'll come out with several memorable moments to joke about.

The title Everything Everywhere All at Once describes the viewing experience perfectly. Some might hate it or feel overwhelmed, I loved it start to finish, nonetheless it is undeniable that its a unique experience and for this reason I consider it a must watch.

Coraline (2009)

Impecably well executed, a testament to stop-motion.

[9/10 · 25 May 2022]

From start to finish you're gonna find yourself immersed in a world with an incredibly heavy atmosphere and detailed visuals as well as an intricate and captivating story. Perhaps not best suited for younger audiences, but a masterpiece nonetheless.

At Eternity's Gate (2018)

Unconventional at times, a tribute to the artist.

[9/10 · 23 May 2022]

It does not follow the typical formula for a movie, and that's alright. It's artistic and troubled, and it carries those themes throughout the film. The acting was wonderful, and the cinematography was outstanding. It has some unconventional storytelling but it my opinion it was tastefully executed. Really close to a 9.5/10, wait for a good moment to watch it, take the time to enjoy it, there's no rush!

Shazam! (2019)

Enjoyable, well done!

[23 May 2022]

This movie is harmless fun, the story is standard for a superhero film but it gets the job done. It has some incredibly funny moments and the character development is fine just fine. A solid 7/10, not genre defining, but an enjoyable watch.

Erased (2016)

Great murder mystery paired with a touch of time travel!

[9/10 · 23 May 2022]

Murder mystery shows are almost always plagued with the same issues and clichés, however they managed to avoid most of them and the result is actually pretty great. Time travel stories are also hard to pull off, and they get messy pretty quick if your writing is not top notch, but once again I'm happy to announce that they did a good job with the time travel dynamic.

The characters are incredibly likeable, and the show manages to tie them all together both in the murder mystery and while traveling through time. Every single episode had me hooked, there were some moments I'd call questionable, but those are not many, and the show remains pretty great most of the time. A well deserved 9/10.

Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

What a beautiful movie!

[10/10 · 23 May 2022]

The visuals are stunning, the soundtrack is a masterpiece on its own and the story is full of likeable and complex characters, it's fantastical and quite charming. By the time the title card shows up you'll find yourself captivated by the world we're granted the opportunity to take a look at, for lack of better words, its a beautiful movie from start to finish.

Turning Red (2022)

Authentic, from a place of love

[9/10 · 15 May 2022]

You don't have to be a 13 year old to enjoy this movie, you just have to take it for what it is, a coming of age story. And of course its a little bit cringe or awkward at times, but these are teenagers we're talking about, its in their nature, and this movie portrays them authentically. Most people that dislike this movie apparently can't stand teenagers, and don't have the self reflecting skills to realize that we all went through that stage in life.

In this movie Mei goes through the experience of finding her true self, and that is relatable regardless of your gender, culture and upbringing. I sincerely don't understand the hate, people keep complaining they just cant relate to the characters, but once again we were all teenagers at one point, and we were awful as well, but that's part of life, and pretending its not is just lying.

Sure, you might not be a 13 year old right now, but the story is still universal if you give it a chance and empathize with the characters, which at the end of the day are faithful representations of what its like to be human (and apparently a red panda from once in a while).

Great fun, with dynamic characters that stay true to themselves, with the right mindset this movie is a blast. 9/10.

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2019)

Hopefully they make it so this is not canon

[3/10 · 13 May 2022]

An insult to fans, full of inconsistencies, retcons, fan service and awful writing. It doesn't even qualify as a fever dream, since at least that would have been more interesting.

We know Disney is capable of making good star wars content, they made season 7 of the Clone Wars, The Mandalorian and The Book Of Boba Fett.

The Obi Wan series is on the horizon and so is Ahsoka. So, if they know what the fans like, and if they know how to make good content, why are they failing so bad at making a decent movie? The whole sequel trilogy is something to be ashamed of, it started not that bad and ended with a kick in the teeth.

The Grand Tour (2016–2024)

Sometimes great, sometimes not so much, at the end of the day? a fun watch

[8/10 · 13 May 2022]

The chemistry is still there, sometimes it feels a bit overdone, but when they are having fun it shows. It has some recurring bits and jokes which are quite enjoyable, and the sense of humor is still there.

The replacement of The Stig is insufferable, they call him "The American" and he's a living stereotype, a parody, it fails to catch the spark that made The Stig great, but besides that most of the things we loved from Top Gear are still there but with more budget, which is mostly great.

The start of the show is good albeit a bit rough, but from there on it has some great moments, and at the end of the day its a very enjoyable show.

I'm happy to see the Trio having fun with cars once more!

Would I Lie to You? (2007– )

British Comedy at its finest

[10/10 · 13 May 2022]

Perhaps the funniest panel show there is. It goes like this, there are two teams, one of the members of one team reads out a card containing a prompt of an anecdote they were in, which either is the truth or a lie, and its the job of the other team to figure out if the person reading the card is telling the truth or not.

Simple enough right? We'll the first seasons started decent enough however, it quickly turned into the funniest show available right now, because once they got the hang of it the stories turned absolutely outrageous, hilarious and unbelievable, and that's the magic of the show, you'll hear the most bizarre anecdotes thinking they're impossible and they turn out to be truth, and when it comes to lies, the sky is the limit and the participants craft incredibly intricate stories out of thin air, and just sometimes they get the other team to believe unbelievable stuff out of their wit.

This is a masterclass in comedy and improvisation, I can watch this for hours, and laugh every second of it.

Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (2012)

Rei, Shinji and Kaworu carry this movie from nonsense to a loose narrative

[8/10 · 13 May 2022]

The abrupt jump from 2.22 (2.0) and 3.33(3.0) makes the viewing experience extremely confusing, the unexplained missing plot is honestly not that great and the whole thing feels like a kid who has gotten the chance to play with legos unsupervised. Hideaki Anno has always liked battleships and naval vessels, most of the names in evangelion come from Japanese ships, however, the inclusion of literal (flying) boats feels quite weird and out of place.

The redeeming qualities of this film are the introduction of a new Rei, a clean slate, and the great duo between Kaworu and Shinji. Besides that, most characters went through a 15 year jump and understandably changed, but the reasons remain unexplained, and we are left with no meaningful answers regarding the "character development" that we missed.

My score originally was an 8/10, but now that I'm writing this review it has fallen to a 7/10, the only reason it is not lower is because it did a couple of things really well. The last film fixes the mistakes of this one, so if you're watching the whole rebuild saga, you'll have to go through this one either way. If you like battleships and decent stories you'll enjoy 3.33 (3.0) but if you like the classic evangelion formula you'll find this movie is 50% great and 50% kind of unwatchable.

Perhaps I'm being overly negative, the first time I watched it I enjoyed it and would have given it an 8.5 or even a 9. On my second rewatch it was still between an 8 and an 8.5 immediately after watching it, however now that I'm reflecting upon it the score keeps getting lower. After finishing the latest film 3.0 + 1.0 the mistakes of 3.33 are not so bad after all, so I'm upping my score back to an 8/10.

TLDR: New Rei is pretty good, Kaworu and Shinji is actually great, absolutely everything else varies from overly ambitious, to a mediocre story that almost sounds made up on the spot while playing with toys.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997)

Borderline cosmic horror paired leading to a beautiful ending

[10/10 · 13 May 2022]

The original series is not perfect, but it comes close, the last two episodes are hated by many but I don't mind them, it was quite a good ending regardless of how abruptly it happened.

The End Of Evangelion is what the original ending was supposed to be, and it accomplishes this perfectly, the characters you have come to love throughout the series are at their highest and lowest points in this movie, their personalities and feelings are as strong as they get and it pays off with an ending that during the first half might leave some people feeling sick, and then in the second half it offers the possibility of a better world, a cathartic end of the series. 10/10

As a bonus The End Of Evangelion has possibly one of the most masterfully crafted soundtracks I have had the pleasure to listen to. Komm Susser Tod, Expansion of Blockage, Thanatos, Evacuation to Regression, Air and more pieces of music capable of transmitting feelings in a way I have not encountered before or since.

Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995–1996)

An unfiltered look at existence in a seemingly painful world

[10/10 · 13 May 2022]

An incredibly raw look of the human condition and its imperfections and shortcomings, it shows the struggle to find meaning in life, to connect with others, to understand oneself. It has broken, flawed characters alongside their coping mechanisms, and while some of the psychological ideas shown in the series are now a bit outdated, it still manages to transmit emotions in a beautiful and yet disturbing way.

The story is incredibly confusing at first, but once it all comes together it manages to be tragic, cathartic and comforting. It shows the lengths humans are willing to go to be whole once more, to for a moment not be alone. As I alluded earlier, the story is confusing, but incredibly captivating, it will most likely require your total and complete attention the first time you watch it but it will be worth it. If you're here to watch giant robots fight, you'll be satisfied, and if you're longing for more, you'll be greeted by one of the best pieces of art of its time.

For me, it simply is the best the medium will ever be, it might just be artistic expression at its finest.

Nobody (I) (2021)

Better than your standard pure action film

[7/10 · 13 May 2022]

Mindless action, decent plot. Quite enjoyable for a genre that tends to be bland and unoriginal. Bob Odenkirk does a great job overall, don't expect a deep backstory or world building, both are neither great nor awful, the underlying story is sufficient, as long as you adjust your expectations you should be able to have a good time watching this movie, I sure did!