Film

Batman Begins (2005): Rewatch – Originally, I was not thrilled by this film; now on a second viewing, it grew a bit more on me, but I still don’t love it.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars
The Dark Knight (2008): Rewatch – Now this is better, at least at times. But I also think that Nolan can’t orchestrate action sequences very well (Inception may be the one exception to that rule). But at least a better Batman film than the one before.
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars
The Dark Knight Rises (2012): Rewatch – I remember that I was terribly disappointed when I saw it for the first time (the title alone meant “no effort was spent” in my eyes. And the goal to destroy Gotham… again… by the same group of villains? Boooring). And that hasn’t changed after this rewatch: It has some (unfullfilled potential), but beside that I can’t say much more positive about it.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars
Inside Man (2006): Rewatch – Many, many years ago, when video rental store still were a thing, I saw this and found it OK, if I remember correctly. I was surprised that I never heard this movie mentioned anywhere, despite its renowned cast. Now, after a second viewing, I understand why that is the case: It’s OK, but a bit on the bland and mediocre side.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987): Rewatch – I’ve seen this, at least partially very often over the years, via TV re-runs. After listening to a podcast focused on it, I watched it again, this time very consciously: Yep, still a great comedy with a good heart.
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars
Vacation (2015): Rewatch – At least I think I’ve seen it before; a few scenes seemed familiar. I think I’ve seen the original (“National Lampoon’s Vacation”) too, in the past, on TV, but can hardly recall anything from that one.
That being said: Well, this is a nice comedy snack. It’s alright, but also not special.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars
Zombieland (2009): Rewatch – I liked it when I saw it for the first time, and I still like it now. Interestingly, what has changed most (due to personal reasons), is my grasp of the character of ‘Columbus’.
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars
Magical Mystery oder: Die Rückkehr des Karl Schmidt (2017): As it is with most german films: Mot particularly good. But due to a few nice scenes here and there, and due to my the cultural heritage, at least I could endure it without too much pain…
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars
Wizardry (1991): A short japanese OVA (Original Video Animation), inspired/based on the first computer role playing game of the us-american Wizardry series, “The Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord”.
It was not really bad, but very generic and mediocre; it had nothing special to offer.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars
Match (2014): This one was on my watchlist for a long time, due to starring Patrick Stewart and because I was interested by the trailer, if I remember correctly.
Finally, I could find it on YouTube (in german dub, but that’s fine) and watch it: Very good little movie, with a small cast and limited setting. Nice plot and dialouges. Overall, I was pleasently surprised by it.
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars
Miss Congeniality (2000): Rewatch – A mainstream comedy with a good cast; OK.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars
Suitable Flesh (2023): I tried to watch it, due to a recommendation by the Red Letter Media YT-channel, but couldn’t endure more than circa 20 minutes, bevore I skipped/fast-forwarded to the end.
So, no real basis for a rating…
☆☆☆☆☆ 0/5 stars
Old Dads (2023): A Netflix-vehicle for stand-up-comedian Bill Burr; it was OK for what it was.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars
The Burial (2023): Had hoped for something more; not noteworthy. The main actors (Jamie Foxx, Tommy Lee Jones, Jurnee Smollet) were all good, but the plot and execution was sadly very by-the-numbers…
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars
Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023): Oh, my dear: A terrible, horrible, boring first half of a story that has been told dozens of times before – and each time better than here.
★☆☆☆☆ 1/5 stars
Leave The World Behind (2023): The premise sounds kind of OK, but it makes nothing new or interesting out of it. And the main sin: It drags on and is in fact pretty boring at times.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars
Sick Of Myself (2022): Also, interesting premise, but the film or characters did not connect with me.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars
The Age Of Innocence (1993): Rewatch??? – Maybe an underrated gem from Martin Scorsese (don’t see it mentioned very often). It has some minor pacing issues, but in general, I really liked what was told here.
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars
Highlander (1986): Rewatch – I had fond memories of it, from watching it on TV in my childhood. And it has definitely some very iconic scenes…
But on the other hand, watching it again, decades later, one can see that it is not a perfect movie.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars
Three Amigos (1986): Rewatch – Unfortunately, not quite as as entertaining as I remembered it to be – but still: It has a handful funny scenes.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars
Mean Girls (2004): Rewatch – Must have been a really long time since I saw this film for the last time, but I had dimly positive memories of it. And I was also not disappointed now: It’s a little, slightly snarky comedy with a good entertainment value.
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994): Maybe a rewatch, not sure: I was never a big fan of Jim Carrey’s comedy as a kid/teenager. In some movies, he works better for me, in others, not so much – this one is inbetween…
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars
Schtonk (1992): Rewatch – A german comedy from the early 1990s: That’s very thin ice… and it didn’t hold much. It’s not a comlete desaster, just very ordinary in its making. The cast is pretty good, though.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars
Sympathy For The Devil (2023): Except for a few good scenes with Nicolas Cage, this one was a real non-starter…
★☆☆☆☆ 1/5 stars
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984): Rewatch – Liked it very much. Recommended.
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars

TV

Star Trek: The Original Series — Season 3

Rewatch – OK, so three stars for the final season of The Original Series (TOS).
But to be honest: Only because of the historical cultural importance, nostalgia and a few good themes and episodes. There is a reason why I wasn’t hooked by it as a kid (granted, it was already circa twenty years old back then) and only fell in love with Star Trek later on, with TNG (and even with that, it took a while).
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Pluto — Season 1/Mini-Series

Started kind of interesting, but lost me completely around the halfpoint mark (episode 4); then I only watched it half-heartedly to get it over.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

After Life — Season 1-3

Before this show, I hadn’t seen much from Ricky Gervais, except for the occasional snippets here and there, which I liked.
But this show is very special to me now, for personal reasons (due to the topic of grief).
And while there is also (dark) humor, the main impact for me were the serious parts and dialogues about life, death and all in between; made me cry every episode!
I’m sure I wouldn’t have felt the same way some years ago, when my life still seemed fine. But regardless of my bias: It’s great and highly recommended.
★★★★★ 5/5 stars

Star Trek: The Animated Series — Season 1-2

Similar as with TOS: One needs to put it in perspective and view it with the correct lenses and attitude, then it’s quite OK most of the time.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Angie Tribeca — Season 1

On the one hand, I’m glad to see something again that is pretty recent and tries to reproduce the humor and slapstick from “Police Squad”/“Naked Gun”/“Hot Shots” etc. – and it also succeeds very often with it.

And yet, somehow, it feels like a bad clone at times. I currently can’t really explain it better.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

The Fall of the House of Usher — Season 1 (Mini-Series)

That was unexpected good. Thumbs up!
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds — Season 1

Prelude: My curren stance with ‘Modern Trek’:

I’ve given up on Star Trek: Discovery after season 2.
I was disappointed by the first season of Star Trek: Picard and skipped it’s second season; but after hearing so much positive about itm, I watched season three again: Better, but still not very good.

So, I was very wary towards Strange New Worlds – but it started strong: The first half (first five episodes) were actually pretty good (for a batch of first-season-episodes).

Sadly, the second half (episodes six to ten) couldn’t hold up to that level of quality: While the cast is good, the plot, the screenplay and dialouges are far from what we’ve seen in the 1990s with TNG or DS9 (haven’t seen much of VOY yet, and ENT was a very mixed bag).\

So, off to a beginning that is (at least) not terrible – I’m cautiously optimistic for season two…
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Feedback: comment@saoe.net · Categories: Film & Television · Tags: EN

◀ Journal #16

Mini-Reviews #48 ▶