miromoman Reviews

High Desert (2023)

Fresh, sparkling funny and magnificently acted

[9/10 · 29 May 2023]

I approached this show with poor expectations. Just to let myself be entertained for twenty minutes. Indeed, at first sight this looked like one of those low-budget internet TV series for a young generation suffering from low attention spam.

What I actually encountered is absolutely brilliant and delightful. Fresh, provocative, sparkling, funny and very original.

Quite obviously, something like this could only work with a very solid cast and I must confess I have always appreciated Arquette's talent, but this is another dimension all together. The entire thread, in its minimalism, rests on her shoulder and she leads wonderfully with a consistent support from her fellow colleagues.

The cherry on the cake for an irregular but very interesting career. I expect she should receive some sort of award for this. She deserves it.

The Northman (2022)

A piece of art, as raw as it ought to be

[10/10 · 13 September 2022]

Best viking epopoeia since Valhalla Rising, another raw jewel. One even more astounding and, thus, with a lower IMDB score.

This film is brilliant and unique in so many dimensions that we would not know how to start to describe it without spoiling it.

True, it may look hyper-simplistic to the ignorant eye, but let's not let ourselves be fooled.

Embedded with magic realism, this is the real deal. This is evolutionary, anthropological, oneiric, pure, wild.

Unadulterated life.

It is no wonder that those fed on Hollywood cheesy crap and the woke puritans hate it so much.

A few great actors too, not all, unfortunately.

And that is all I wanted to say but now it seems I need to fill some never-ending six hundred characters in here.

House of the Dragon (2022– )

Painfully dull

[1/10 · 3 September 2022]

The politics are silly, there is no character building whatsoever, no mystery, no sense of humor and the dialogues will bore you into a slumber.

Combine that with poor acting, pathetic special/computational effects and a general darkness to cover the general poor quality of it all.

Without comparing it to Martin's books or the previous series, this is absolutely unwatchable.

Worse than the last seasons of GoT. The complete opposite of Martin's original material.

Being a fan of the genre I can stand a mediocre product if it is at least entertaining. This is not. It is just a failed attempt to keep milking the GoT cow.

The Blacklist (2013–2023)

Hannibal Lecter is Monica Lewinsky's father

[6/10 · 23 August 2022]

The script is pretty dumb, if entertaining. The acting passable. If I gave it 9 out of 10 is because of all the daring conspinaroia.

After 20 episodes Skywalker has not yet figured out that Vader is actually her daddy. It may be the glasses...

Doomsday (I) (2008)

Mad Cowx

[5/10 · 6 June 2021]

The Scottish countryside is overrun with Holland cows. Glasgow punks prefer human flesh, yet they seem unable to cook a decent barbecue. A bunch of Englishers on fancy suits are sent north to upset them even more than they already were.

Savages (I) (2012)

Meh

[5/10 · 25 April 2021]

Extremely poor acting, pathetic script, weak dialogues. I did not watched it to the end.

Elysium (I) (2013)

Racist but good

[8/10 · 5 April 2021]

I try not to apprise art too politically, except maybe in extreme cases.

This is a good action film. The pace, the camera, the photography and the effects are all thrilling. The acting is alright.

I see why people think this is a political pamphlet. It is. Simplistic? Very much so. It is also extremely racist. That is the worst part.

However, as an action film, it is very well done.

Colony (2016–2018)

Smart political thriller with mostly implicit aliens

[9/10 · 2 April 2021]

With all its shortcomings, this show was really worth watching. It is a story of humankind, of who we really are as a species. Of how we adapt to any situation and of the mechanisms to cope with it.

It reminded me of Ochod na Korze, One of the best films ever.

That said, I also understand the criticism. The characters are plain, dull and hyperserialistic and get more sentimental as the show progresses (it should probably be the other way around). Dialogues are not particularly crispy either.

That said, worth watching, namely for anyone studying politics.

Altered Carbon (2018–2020)

Some interesting stuff

[6/10 · 15 March 2021]

I have just finished watching Season 1 and will not be watching Season 2, not only because the consensus seems to be that it is of a very poor quality but also because Season 1 was already not good enough.

While I found the general idea very compelling and certain details absolutely fascinating, the storyline contains too many flaws, some of which are too important to be ignored.

In general, most of the psychology, motives and politics are rather implausible. The sister in particular makes no sense. The acting, on the other hand is not good enough to save a flawed script. The voice over is so pathetic that it becomes irritating from minute one. Not to mention the precipitated happy ending...

It just does not make the cut. Pity, the idea had potential.

As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me (2001)

Cheesy Nazi Huckleberry Finn

[6/10 · 18 December 2020]

A man gets home serveral years late and looking horribly and comes up with the most unbelievable of excuses to tell his poor puzzled wife.

Did I said Huckleberry Finn? Well, I could have as well said It's a Wonderful Life...

It is not clear what they tried to do here. Whatever it was, while it may be entertaining at times, this film is truly pathetic in the worst possible sense. The acting is somehow decent though, which does not manage to save the whole.

The Pagan King: The Battle of Death (2018)

Semivikings

[8/10 · 11 December 2020]

This is a simple fable where entropy runs its course without being reverted. Childish, if you wish, but decent nevertheless.

Tenet (2020)

Inconsistently dumb

[4/10 · 10 December 2020]

Let's say that Inception was an overhyped but interesting barrel with three big holes. Then this thing would be a huge hole with a couple of interesting barrels floating here and there.

I wasted the painful two hours and a half hoping it was going to get better. It does not.

The marketing trick is that you are supposed to feel stupid if you do not understand it. The reality is that it is precisely when you understand it when you realise how dumb and inconsistent it is.

That said, it would not be so extremely annoying if it was not so pretentious. It could in fact become a decent parody of itself.

The bottom line: boring and hollow.

Vikings (2013–2020)

Sentimental vikings

[8/10 · 30 November 2020]

These vikings are sentimental, descartian, romantic, self-pitying, whining, extremely low-context and verbose to the point of being annoying. In other words, they are modern humans.

Other than that, it is a decent show: 8/10.

The Brood (1979)

The scariest film I have ever watched

[10/10 · 19 November 2020]

A masterpiece, truly. Very deep and complex, exceptionally well acted and disturbing. It is scary because it is real. A film about the perpetuation and somatization of childhood trauma.

Interreflections (2020)

A two hour and thirty minutes monologue

[5/10 · 15 October 2020]

This is essentially a two hour and a half monologue in the voice of different actors intertwined with two different storylines. The first is some kind of sci-fi short story and the second consists of a series of expressionist metaphors intended to reinforce ideas conveyed by the monologue. Together the three components add up to the two hours and forty five minutes total duration of the footage.

The main issue with the monologue itself is that it is purely ideological, meaning non-factual and poorly documented.

The artistic insertions, on the other hand, happen to be hackneyed, predictable and poorly executed, whereas the short story end ups being a commercial pitch to raise funds for an "utopian" futuristic design project.

All in all, the whole thing is pretty boring. The only reason I gave it five starts is because, if soporifeous, this thing remains an attemp for refocusing the debate on crucial issues.

Freaks (2018)

Tough but fresh and original

[9/10 · 12 May 2020]

Freaks is to X-Men what Joker is to Batman. It can be tough to watch but it is also insightful. It should have a higher rating but it was ruined by brainless guys expecting some kind of Marvel thing. It can be compared Stranger Things, but a less childish version.

Good Omens (2019– )

Delightfully hilarious

[9/10 · 26 June 2019]

This is comedy at its best: intelligent sense of humour, engaging plot, crispy dialogues and decent acting.

I have to thank the 20,000 petitioners that tried to have this show banned. Otherwise I might have missed it.

Black Sails (2014–2017)

Pirates are sexy but...

[6/10 · 12 May 2019]

This could have been a fine show if it wasn't for the poor dialogues and the weak acting. Characters are cheesy and they think and talk as modern-time Brits. Several of the actors, on the other hand, feel more like publicity models than they do as proper actors. Pity.

The Favourite (2018)

Fascinating

[9/10 · 14 February 2019]

I found this film absolutely fascinating. Superb acting, insightful and interesting storyline, crispy dialogues, beautiful photography, a fresh and different perspective... It is true that the soundtrack may get a bit annoying at times but, other than that, it is perfect. It reminded me of Barry Lyndon.

Vidar the Vampire (2017)

Hilarious, yet insightful

[9/10 · 26 January 2019]

I had not laughed so much for a while with a film. Irreverent and really funny, but also a light but reflection on our more or less pathetic, human condition. In summary, a brilliant comedy which would have a much better score if it wasn't because fanaticism is part of that condition.

Air Doll (2009)

Having a heart was heartbreaking

[9/10 · 25 January 2019]

Delicately poetic tale. A hidden jewel. Eleanor Rigby and Amélie Poulain. Touching, charming, true.

The Shop on Main Street (1965)

A master piece on human nature

[10/10 · 30 December 2018]

The greatness of this film is that it transcends the historical events it describes to become an artistically-crafted treaty on human nature and, namely, on human adaptability (or lack thereof).

Dublin Oldschool (2018)

Boring nonsense

[3/10 · 4 December 2018]

Irish have a reputation for knowing how to tell a story. This is not the case. Boring as hell and as fake as fake can be. A waste of time and taxpayer's money.

Black '47 (2018)

Hilarious

[8/10 · 29 September 2018]

In this Clint Eastwood kind of Western revenge film, John Rambo, an Afghanistan veteran, goes to the West (of Ireland) and, seeing the deplorable state of affairs, goes into a killing rampage. The subgenre of this Luxembourg-funded project is, quite obviously, Brexit, most likely first of a series.

American Gods (2017–2021)

An ode to imagination

[10/10 · 13 February 2018]

With the advent of internet we are witnessing some kind of a golden age of TV series and American Gods is a most unconventional example of this.

Myths and superstitions embroidered in American culture melt here in the most imaginative and surrealist of manners.

The show is visually astonishing. The storyline vague. The characters shallow. But, then, I am guessing that that is precisely how it is supposed to be for its structure borrows from the Greek and other mythologies (think, for instance of the Mabinogion) where Gods, heroes and simple mortals get entangled in plots that, unbound to any notion of logic or realism, may well appear childish absurd to a modern audience.

I, for one, am savouring it (in all its imperfection).