Catching-up on the notable things that I’ve seen over the last couple of weeks.

Film

The Accountant (2016)

Rewatch – For some reason, I like/understand the premise now more than a few years ago, and that increases my rating for it slightly.
It wouldn’t get into my hall-of-fame for really outstanding films, but for a more or less casual view, it’s quite OK. Consider the rating more as 3.5 stars, rather than plain 3 stars.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Swiss Army Man (2016)

I’ve heard a lot of good things about this, but only after being massively impressed by “Everything Everywhere All At Once” recently, I watched this previous film from the same creative heads. One can definitely see the signature style, with less budget, and I do like most of it – except for the last 10-15 minutes, which unfortunately lessens the film a bit for me.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Filmed in Supermarionation (2014)

Found this documentation on Netflix by chance: I was already aware of the existence of Anderson’s productions like “Thunderbirds” & Co., but I never watched it (not sure if it even was shown in my neck of the woods when I was a kid). But this look behind the scenes was interesting enough to keep me invested during its runtime.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Babylon (2022)

Whoa! What a mess! Way too long, way too boring.
★☆☆☆☆ 1/5 stars

Death Machine (1994)

Yet another one of these films that I might have caught on TV as a kid, maybe in snippets here and there and which I now re-discovered due to some (positive, passing) mentions on some YT film channel or film podcast.

Again a film that is not quite half-bad, not quite half-good – it sits somewhere in the gray area of those 1990s low-budget SF/Horror flicks that have an initially interesting sounding premise, and maybe 1-2 nice ideas/scenes throughout its runtime, but overall fail in execution (and I don’t even consider the lack of budget as an important factor in this case: With better writing and characters, one could have easily worked around that).
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (2004)

Rewatch – Back then, I was a big fan of Metallica – I still am, but more of their past achievements; since ‘St. Anger’ (on whose creation this documentaion is based on), they too often oscillate only between “yeah, well, meh/OK, I guess” (“Death Magnetic” & “Hardwired…”) and frighteningly sub-average-to-boring (“72 Seasons”).

Watching this again multiple years later therefore left me pretty cold. Back then, it was a disheartening dismantling of my former musical idols, but now, several albums later, I do understand that the time that is shown here was more than just a phase that resulted in a probably cathartic, but terrible, album; but rather that it was the beginning of the end of a once mighty band. Sure, they still sell out stadiums, and some individual tracks still are (very) good, but as a whole, they are on a downward spiral ever since.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979)

Rewatch – A blast from the past. Oh, how I liked this (or rather: the TV show) as a kid. But nowadays, there’s not much going on for it, other than the nostalgia factor: The plot and the characters in this TV pilot definitely aren’t very interesting (addendum: The 1970s vision of the future is nevertheless a fun affair).
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

Ghost in the Shell (1995)

Rewatch – I know that it’s such a respected classic of 1990s anime Sci-Fi – that’s why I felt weird even back then (many, many years ago), when I watched it for first time, because I was a bit bored by it for most of its runtime; and that impression hasn’t changed now. Yes, it has a few cool ideas and memorable scenes and images; but somehow that isn’t enough for me.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Final Cut | Final Cut of the Dead | Coupez! (2022)

Quite good, for a one-time, maybe a two-time, viewing. But other than that, it doesn’t have any big rewatchabilty factor for me.
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars

Renfield (2023)

Yeah, watchable and I did chuckle a few times, but not really memorable. Has a great Nicholas Cage in it, but with much less screentime than I hoped for.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Evil Dead Rise (2023)

Hm, somehow all the ingredients are here, yet still, it lacks something essential to set it apart, especially from the 2013 predecessor: The look is very reminiscent of it, for example. I see no new or unique style.

Also, the “new setting” (a flat in a city instead of a cabin in the woods) is wasted: The city is never shown, and the flat is barely left; so it doesn’t matter that it’s not a shack in a forest!

The cast and characters sound also interesting (family, kids, mother, …), but too little is done with it (except for some cool one-liners).

And the element of gore/violence (not unimportant in this franchise) brings also nothing really new to the table; again, I think the 2013 remake/reboot’s delivery was better.

So, after all, a minor disappointment, but mostly because of the predecessor: Without the existence of the 2023 Evil Dead, I probably would have rated it higher. All of this here was already done, better, ten years ago.

The bottom line is: This incarnation of the series is not just a standstill, but even a regression.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

Actually a bit better than what I expected (or feared); rather comedic, but not unduly so. This screams “franchise!” and “sequels!”, and I’d be fine it that – but from what I read so far, it seems that it was not the success at the box office that the studio has hoped for; too bad then…
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Rewatch – Only my second full viewing after its release (just before part 5 comes around), and it’s as bad as I remembered it. Not only in comparison to the great (great!) first three films, but also when judged purely on its own, as an adventure movie.

The plot is meh, the CGI and greenscreen effects are terrible and the vibrancy of the whole affair is gone. Harrison Ford still has a few scenes and lines that remind the viewer of the good old times, but that is not enough to save it from being a very big disappointment.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

Tales from Earthsea (2006)

Well, it could have been a good film, I see the ideas and ingredients there. But it just wasn’t done properly: The story and the pacing alone ruined it for me.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

Good, harmless fun.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Minority Report (2002)

Rewatch – Normally, Spielberg and Cruise can’t do wrong, but somehow, this movie doesn’t click with me. One apparent reason is it’s look: It’s the “good, but not yet good enough” CGI from the early 2000s that bothers me. The rest (story, characters, etc.) is OK, but also just not outstanding to me.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Blood & Gold (2023)

Even when it’s almost a trope by now: “Not bad… for this kind of movie… from a german team”. But that’s the truth. Taken on its very own, it just doesn’t do anything new or exciting that hasn’t been done before (and sometimes better), by others. OK, acceptable, but also a bit mediocre.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Tango & Cash (1989)

I’d say this is maybe one of those films that I possibly have seen back on TV, at least partially, due to constant re-runs, but never paid attention to. It always lingered in my mind as “one of those lesser Stallone B-movies of the 1980s”. And that’s not too far off, but still: Seeing it again(?) now, consciously and in full, I’m actually a bit surprised. It still lacks a lot, like a gripping plot or interesting characters, but the banter between Stallone and Russel alone is nice enough to watch it at least once.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Labyrinth (1986)

I can’t remember to ever have seen this one, but interestingly I did somehow recall a lot of scenes: Maybe I did see it long ago and totally forgot about it, or I know these pieces by pop-cultural osmosis.

Either way, it was actually way more fun than expected. Granted, the setting and effects are not top-notch, and there are a handful of very cringe-worthy parts in it (esp. when Bowie is singing); but some dialogues and interactions between the actors and puppets are very entertaining.

The plot itself (and the ending) is not the best, but overall, I liked it. And thinking back at it a few days later, I still get a warm, tingly feeling for it, which leads to a rating of…
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars

Fright Night, Part 2 (1988)

Saw the first “Fright Night” some time in the past (on TV, long after its original release), but it didn’t have much impact on me. So, I was surprised to learn that there was a sequel and that at least on person on YouTube liked it. And since this film was actually available for “free” (well…) on YT, I tuned it – but didn’t pay too much attention near the end: It was not terrible, but pretty forgettable and with a paper-thin plot.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

Virus (1999)

Have I seen it before? I don’t know. It came out before I was really interested in films, but its Sci-Fi facet is big enough, that I probably was aware of it. It’s rather forgettable, especially when seeing today: There are a couple of interesting ideas and scenes, but not enough to make a remarkable experience out of it.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

TV

The Walking Dead — Season 11 (Episode 9-16)

Well, it is what it is. But now, close to the end (by mistake, I thought the same about the previous season…), I’ll just endure it. (By the way: Reading about all the spin-off and follow-up shows and movies that are announced/in-production now for this world, makes me shake my head in disbelief 😬 )
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

The Legend of Vox Machina — Season 1

While I was intrigued by the first two episodes (at least a bit), the rest just didn’t work for me at all: The tone, the humor, the tropes, … (on that note, please be aware that due to that fact, I also paid less and less attention to each episode).
★☆☆☆☆ 1/5 stars

The Mandalorian — Season 3

Oh dear, what a descent. Season One was actually quite interesting, but season two was already a letdown, and now this is another nail in its coffin.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

Star Trek: Picard — Season 3

I watched the first season and was sorely disappointed; season two, I skipped (only read and heard some reviews, which depicted season no. 2 as even worse than the one before). Suprisingly, the buzz for this third and final season was pretty positive, even exuberantly positive from some parties.

That rekindled my interest in it, and that’s why I’m here again (luckily, this is almost a standalone season, where almost nothing from the previous seasons seems to really matter anymore).

It is indeed a slight improvement, yet still far, far away from the quality of writing and characterisation of Peak-TNG.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Stranger Things — Season 1

I know, I’m late to the game: Years after the initial hype, and months after the recent hype for season 4, I finally tested the water. Sadly, this is absolutely not my taste:

Supposedly there should come be much 1980s nostalgia in it, and I expected the worst. But at least in in season 1, I didn’t catch too much of it. Other than that, neither the story beats, nor the characters interested me much: A lot of repetition and cliché-ridden stuff, but that is probably just my problem, since I’ve already seen so much of similar material over the decades. Anyway, good riddance!
★☆☆☆☆ 1/5 stars

Ted Lasso — Season 3 (Episode 1-4)

I was never a big fan of the show: I found it actually too unfunny for a comedy, and not dramatic enough for a really well-made dramedy (the other show from the same creator was much, much better, i think). And this last season started even more boring, so I didn’t finish it (so the rating is not really justified…).
★☆☆☆☆ 1/5 stars

Barry — Season 2

I really like that show. Maybe I’m exaggerating it, but what the heck, this has been such an unexpected surprise that I’ll grant it a full score.
★★★★★ 5/5 stars

Star Trek: The Original Series — Season 1

Hard for me to judge it objectively nowadays, since it is a product of its time and also because I have so many positive memories from my childhood related to it (even though not nearly as much as with TNG and DS9!).

With all that out of the way, what’s it goona be now? Well, I cannot completely distance myself from the associated nostalgic feeling for it, so I give it a rose-tinted “good” (4 star) rating.
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars