klusik Reviews

Stargate SG-1: Tangent (2000) Season 4, Episode 12

I like the technical details

[8/10 · 24 April 2024]

I love how they portrayed these small details (for a fantasy-scifi as SG-1 is).

For example -- time lag, the whole radio communication. It's very similar to communication with a real ATC for example (but still -- fantasy/scifi :-D)

Other thing, it's clever, it's not trying to do something "big" or anything spectacular, they are just there, proffesionals who know what to do, how to behave during a distress.

That is, at least by my opinion, the major issue of many current sci-fis with some kind of "army" there -- you have a Colonel with more like 20 years of expierences and they are bratty stupid clichés.

Here, it is not. This I love.

Barbarian (2022)

What the heeeel? :-(

[4/10 · 8 November 2023]

The first 30 minutes or so -- 10/10, suspense, character development, but... then it was turned to gore s**t :-( I just skipped through the movie up till the end.

What a waste, that beginning was SO good, I mean Skarsgard with that girl were great, chemistry worked and so on, it could be a cool psychological drama with a creepy cellar, nothing else.

She would be scared, eventually he would be scared, they will lock up themselves somehow in the house and they would deal with this situation.

But NOOOO, creators went by the cheesiest, chepest and probably most ugliest story development trope there is :-(

What a waste, it could be such a great movie. It could.

After Everything (2023)

The best of all four movies, I'd say

[7/10 · 5 October 2023]

Tessa isn't around for most of the movie, and honestly, when she does show up, it feels off.

There's something to be said about focusing on one main character. This approach gives them a real chance to shine and develop. In the earlier movies, it felt like we were just watching the same problems play out again and again.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of Tessa. She comes off almost too perfect. It's not that she doesn't have flaws, but they're few and far between.

On the other hand, more screen time for Hardin was a good choice. His character has more depth, and the actor brings a lot to the table. He's compelling to watch.

But I have to point out that the last scene threw me off. It was confusing and didn't really match the feel of the previous movies. It seemed out of place and left me scratching my head.

Overall, I'd give it a 7/10. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you're into the main characters and their story, it's worth checking out.

Moon Man (2022)

Full of heart, fun and quite nice CGI

[8/10 · 1 July 2023]

This movie is AMAZING! 😃 It's a Chinese production, so yeah, it's a bit "weird," but it's really humorous, sweet, and cute. And yet, it's a nice story, and the physics is not as exaggerated as in American productions (although there are still some nonsenses). It looks pretty good, and overall, you believe in those people and the kangaroo (yeah, the kangaroo is the second main character).

The story makes sense, the main characters have clear motivations, and even during heart-wrenching scenes, there are occasional jokes, but they are not forced like in Marvel productions, where they try to squeeze in a joke every two minutes to meet some quota (or whatever, I have no idea why).

As for the visuals and CGI, it's evident that someone with an eye for detail worked on the overall designs and aesthetics. The sets have a somewhat cartoonish feel, yet they remain believable and actually quite beautiful. They have a classic sci-fi look to them.

Overall, I definitely recommend the film. Overlook the fact that it's in Chinese and turn on the subtitles, it's worth it. 8/10.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)

Funny movie, but cliches killed it for me

[6/10 · 7 May 2023]

There's a lot of great animation, a lot of feelings into scenes, but everything feels so pretentious and uninteresting.

For example (light spoilers) there are a few characters, which we don't know anything about and they're just happy, still talking about future and value of friendship for them. Obvious they would be killed.

Then there's a main villain, classic, they got him and what? They let him live.

Characters almost always just argue about stuff nobody cares about, they are toxic and act stupid.

Then there's a World itself, I am becaming kinda bored of Marvel's "strange universe" settings (I don't mean Dr. Strange, I mean strange), in every Marvel movie there's those ugly or strange overexposed worlds made of some strange foams and everything. It was interesting once. Not 10 times in every Marvel since 2019.

6/10 because of great backstory fitting the universe.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

What the f did I just see :-o

[4/10 · 25 February 2023]

Although it is a Marvel movie, the experience left much to be desired. The majority of the movie felt like a procession of computer-generated characters on computer-generated backgrounds, acting out a very predictable story.

However, there were a few things that stood out - the main antagonist, played by a talented actor, was a truly remarkable character with believable motivations. Additionally, the performance of the actress portraying the Pym wife was noteworthy.

Despite these two bright spots, the movie's story was very typical of Marvel, with around 95 % of the plot following familiar cliches, making it quite dull and uninteresting. The dialogue was equally unimpressive, as it sounded like it was written by teenagers under the influence. The main female character seemed to only say "DAAAD!" or "MOOOOM!" for 95% of the film, making it cringe-worthy.

This was the first Marvel movie in over a decade that I was tempted to leave before the end credits rolled (though I ultimately stayed). After this experience, I cannot justify spending any more money on Marvel movies. The film was ugly, terrible, awkward, and unintelligent, save for the main antagonist and sound, which were decent.

4/10, definetely not recommending this one.

Malignant (I) (2021)

Not great, not terrible, but mostly great

[8/10 · 8 January 2023]

"Malignant" is not a masterpiece by any means, and the CGI can look poor at times (such as during shots from a shotgun). However, that is not the most important aspect of the film.

One of the main things I enjoyed about the movie was that it was rated R. This is how horror movies should be - not watered down for a PG-13 audience. The body count is also high, with more than 20 kills. This adds to the gore and excitement of the film.

Although the mystery is good, it does become fairly obvious halfway through the movie. Some character arcs are also left unfinished, which is disappointing.

Despite these flaws, the movie is fast-paced and there are no dull scenes. For these reasons, I would give it an 8/10. It is not a perfect film, but it is a decent one that left me with a good feeling.

A final bonus point - the characters do not behave like idiots, which is a refreshing change. Overall, the movie is not great, but it is not terrible either - it is mostly great.

Smile (V) (2022)

Great premise, but it's only jumpscares

[4/10 · 9 December 2022]

It's greatly shot, cinematics is great, tension is present, it's good, really. But then almost every scene ends with a jumpscare and that's stupid.

It's a shame, I really wanted to like it, it's just... unlikeable.

Overall setting is great, don't get me wrong; the whole story about the main character I can get as a metaphor for something (I don't want to get to the spoiler area), the main protagonist is doin' some kind of a job which is very related to that.

There are great long shots, the beginning (I mean like the first 10--15 minutes) looks even very "lynchian," I got so much Twin Peaks vibe from establishing shots, it's lovely!

I thought it would be great up until that moment, but then there began those home scenes (fridge, window, doors, you know what...) and it was usually driven to a jumpscare or a false scare.

I watched it for 20 more minutes and then I dropped it, it's unwatchable for me. I try it tomorrow again, maybe I'll change my rating (stars only).

Midnight Mass (2021)

Great Show

[7/10 · 11 September 2022]

Okay, I was pleasantly surprised by that. It's a pretty drawn out drama in seven episodes (but there's a reason it has seven episodes) dealing with various personal dramas against a religious/mythological backdrop.

If I had to single out what I liked about it, it's an unconventional and without much in the way of annoying clichés treatment of a certain mythological theme, which moreover is not literally explained and leaves it up to the viewer to decide how to interpret the whole thing.

I like the long, strange dialogue quite a bit as well.

I like the portrayal of the priest character a lot, the actor is just awesome, I don't know why :-D

Another thing I like is that a lot of things are explained there somehow, and people straight away understand and (very often) believe what the other character is telling them. This movie trope where one character says something, the other doesn't believe it, and it drains 20 minutes of the movie that could have been spent on something more entertaining really bores me, so cool :-)

What I didn't like so much was the ending, I don't mean the execution, but the way it actually ended.

And what I brutally disliked was that in 2022, when we are able to make John Connor in Terminator so that we almost can't tell he's not a 12 year old boy, old people are shown as young masked people to make them look old. Sure, the CGI is expensive and all, but unfortunately even if it wasn't clear from the start what was going to happen there, from the very first episode you can just see that these people aren't really old. I'm reminded a bit of Prometheus, where I had a bit of a similar problem with that. I think the ideal solution -- hire more actors to play different ages of the same character, actors who are similar.

In conclusion -- I definitely recommend it, though it probably won't be for everyone and almost certainly some will get bored during the long dialogue. Still, after a long time, a relaxed production where there's no rush, people aren't always rushing somewhere and just sit and talk.

7/10.

The Gray Man (2022)

Is that a joke or what?

[3/10 · 6 August 2022]

Okay, I saw the famous "Gray Man" 😃 Is that a joke or what? 😮 That was one of the worst movies I've seen in a while. And I've seen a lot. It's playing Bourne, but from Netflix. The potential is there though, it could have been interesting.

Plus point for the "bad guy with the moustache" (Chris Evans), he was good.

Plus point for Billy Bob Thorton (I love that guy).

Minus point -- everything else.

For people who give it a plus because it's in Prague: 4/10 For everyone else: 3/10.

Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022)

This movie is awesome

[10/10 · 28 May 2022]

Yes, it's a cartoon, yes, the story is "kinda defaulty," but that doesn't matter. The goal is not to have a deepest story told by humankind, but the story told in the most entertaining and interesting way, at least in this case.

This movie totally exceeded my expectations, it's funny, it's not awkward and cringe, the characters are well dubbed and it's filled with enough knowing humor, you just have to know how some things work in a language (and I don't at all begrudge the dubbers and translators translating and reinventing all those language jokes into other languages in a functional way).

10/10, I love this!

Risen (2021)

I'd like to see this movie with 100 M$ budget :-)

[5/10 · 9 October 2021]

I like the idea and stuff, some things are great at this movie, there are only a little number of cliches and so on, I like the script (not dialogues, these are broken).

But I don't get why the hell they used so much CGI (and bad cgi) on places there was not necessary to use that, like almost all displays (TVs, mobiles, tablets) are greenscreens and so on. Isn't just easier, you know, use the display of the device?

The idea of the movie is okayish, I like it, it reminds me an Arrival a lot.

If the graphic quality was better, it could be 6/10, if the dialogues were better, 7/10, if actors were better, 8/10 :-)

Gump - pes, který naucil lidi zít (2021)

Cheap copy of Lassie and Dog's life

[5/10 · 10 August 2021]

The reason I gave 5 stars out of 10 is this movie is a great advert for dog shelters here in Czech republic.

But other than that, characters are archetypical, shallow. Naration is good, but a bit infantile.

Color correcion in this movie is strange, there are plenty of coloured bars over the movie, a bit saturated frames. But maybe a technical difficulties during a playback, it looked like a bad color space used.

But anyway, I don't recommend that movie, it's not even sad, there are a few times you think something will happen and almost happens and it won't (no spoilers).

The Empty Man (2020)

This is a gem

[10/10 · 29 March 2021]

This movie is an underrated briliant gem, I wouldn't even see if not for some youtube reviewers (Chris Stuckman and others) "vouch" for this movie.

It's the one of the best horror movies since 2010, reason is simple -- no stupid clichés, great dialogues, great characters and very awesome visuals. And I am not speaking about the "entity," I am talking about "show not tell" technique, it's filled with visual cues and clues, sound design is terrific.

I think this movie is very underrated and I am not sure why this gem has only around 6/10. Go and watch it.

Gretel & Hansel (2020)

Not a basic dumb fairytale

[10/10 · 4 October 2020]

After a long time a movie which talks to me not even as a story, but as a piece of art.

The cinematography here is very unorthodox, I mean there are no common cliches about horror flicks you may see at other movies, there are plenty of moments when the cinematography has a lead over the story.

I liked the color pallete, using of a red color, overall darkness of the movie, extensive closeups to characters a so on.

Pacing is very okay, everything is nicely slow, no dramatic action, the suspense is built up very nicely.

This movie is great -- but be warned, it's not a regular movie you want to see just "for the film sake," you must be in the right mood.

I loved that flick and I strongly recommend it :-)

Mulan (2020)

Fine movie (witnout seeing any other "Mulan movies" before)

[7/10 · 5 September 2020]

I don't know, what I am reading here in the most of the reviews about some other movies or whatever, I am here for watching and reading about this one.

So -- about this one.

Cinematography and production quality is somewhat awesome, I haven't been to China ever yet, but if China (or both of them) looks as beautiful as portraited here, I surely want to visit.

Actors are fine (by me,) I love D. Y., J. L. and other actors, that girl portraiting Mulan was fine (by me).

Story is "medicore" at best, for me. It works, I don't have any major issues with that, it's just... you know, we were watching the Mulan with my friend at the cinema a few hours ago and we talked about it, we agreed that the most "good things" about this movie is lacking of bad things about a screenplay. There are a lot of thing which could go horribly wrong, but they did they right. Not great, but not terrible :-D (I had to, sorry).

For me, it is great looking movie about a girl becoming who she wanted to be. It's not a movie about character development "into" the warrior, it's a movie about a girl warrior admitting herself she's a warrior. And it's fine by me.

Stargate SG-1: Politics (1998) Season 1, Episode 20

What a pointless garbage

[1/10 · 14 March 2020]

I don't get how's this episode a thing. It's just NOTHING, just a pointless recap, introducting stupid politics into series (which subsequently destroys the show for me, same as the X Files had been destroyed because of this "politics" episodes).

This is really absurd, I know they had to tell a story (or tried to) about how's the SG even a thing (of course it should cost money, it's a government military program, so what to expect?)

I know there are a few more episodes like this garbage later on (yea, in the middle of my 5th SG marathon, now it's about coronavirus holidays :-D) But hell I remember I even hated this episode when I first see it in TV around 2000 (dubbed in my language and still hated it :-))

Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

Boring chliché-fest, that could be awesome, if only...

[5/10 · 15 February 2019]

... if only there were not 70 % of storylines left open... ... if only there were not like all chlichés ever created in movies... ... if only there were something like real character arc... ... if only there were something I (as a viewer) can relate to, fall in love with any of plenty characers, anything...

This movie is the worst mud but at the same time gorgeously looking mud; you see, there are crazy-awesome looking scenes, which look pretty damn great, there is fine music, there is few actors, who are great (Alita & doctor, e.g), but that's all, pretty much :-/

It's simply empty 200M$ shell...

Mortal Engines (2018)

Gorgeously looking cliché-fest

[5/10 · 8 December 2018]

This movie... looks amazing, I must say, I really liked visuals, event a story, a bit. Main problem I have with this flick is lack of interesting screenplay choices (like if you expect to something to happen to virtualy every character and then it really happens, it doesn't make the screenwriter any good name).

Story, as it is, it's amazing, wonderful, I like the idea of traveling cities who wants just to survive, and those "static oldschool" cities, which have resources but don't want to give them away -- it's really "basic," I know, but I liked it.

Then, Hugo Weaving is damn great actor, shame is his character has just almost zero catarsis to even every piece of character; I get it, he's a villian, but really is it necessary to tell the audience AT THE TRAILER and the very first 5 minutes? He should be that awesome guy, who wants only a technological advancements for his people, but something happend (maybe in pas) and he couldn't deal with it normally, so he bacame an evil guy -- no, here it is SAID he's evil and that's the reason he is -- but for me, it isn't good reason at all.

Main characters, other than villian, are just archetypal heroes, boy, girl, who don't like each other at the first and (of course) love each other later and so on, cliché on and on and on...

I think this movie is "fine," but those chlichés just killed it (for me).

Mars (2016–2018)

Interesting idea killed by story progression principle

[5/10 · 4 December 2017]

I really don't know what to say about it. I really was in thrill to see this, looked really good, pseudo-documentary style mixed with dramatization in future, great ideas, even Elon Musk is here :-)

But that's it; instead of good sci-fi futuristic show, I've got babbling idiots (still better than teams in Prometheus, Martian and Covenant), professionals who say basic stuff, non-professional behaviour, odd interviews and messages...

For the Dawkins sake, they're meant to be professionals! So why on interviews they are responding like people in "Big brother show" if asked whom to remove from villa?

Camera-work is its part for itself; mix of real shots from SpaceX missions with dramatized is a great idea, but... that is not the thing helps show to be great. Because it is the only thing trying to do it so. Otherwise, it's space-opera's-like extreme closeup shows, long shots to eyes, long shots to nearly crying faces...

If you want A GREAT example how to do sadness, bitterness, just check Interstellar, when the main guy hears about his daughter as if she's in the same age like him when he left. That was heartbreaking, greatly played. Because the characters were real, as if they can be (praise the Nolan), here -- characters are fairly fine (as characters and people, not scientists), but their inter-person chemistry simply doesn't work properly, so any of artificial-added drama doesn't work, because people don't interact realistically. And that is sad, because it could be a great show, only if they didn't want to make another soap-opera in space :-/

Desperate Housewives: If... (2010) Season 6, Episode 11

For me so far the strongest episode since 6th season

[9/10 · 9 April 2013]

I've read two previous reviews here and although I must agree with some points, I cannot agree as a whole in content.

First; this series is developing. Do you remember, how were these characters sloppy and shallow in the very first season?

Gaby was just money-spending bitch, Carlos was strange Hispanic guy, Bree was extra-orthodox cleaner lady and so on. Then characters started to developing, shifts its even basics characteristics... E.g. in few last episodes I really hate Gaby and a little less Carlos. And I know I will love them both in next episode (I hope, I have not seen it yet ;))

But this episode really has slower and a little less great beginning, I must admit it, but then, when that "what ifs" started to emerge, it is better and better.

Gabys' story is... just... like Gaby is. Susans story is humorous -- as Susan is. And then its Lynnetes story... And that is the best for me, very strong, very... deep. Scene "with sandwich" (don't worry, no porn here :-D) is just gorgeous, even it is just I don't know, 40 seconds long, it is... indescribably gorgeous and hard. And thats the moments, Why I love Lynnete, even shes something little strange bitch.

So no, do not stop doing episodes like that (I know, DH is over now, but maybe to other series I am watching...), do it and do it more.

Mass Effect: Paragon Lost (2012 Video)

Not bad, but...

[7/10 · 25 December 2012]

I have no problem with story, as a huge fan of whole series, it was my duty to watch that.

Characters are fine, but very stupid and "cliche" acting, that is the most minus thing I've noticed. Stupidness of some things even make me believe scenarists and writers did not even know what (or where to) they are doing, what is conclusion of that story and they just "put it there" to enlarge video length to 90 minutes or so. But maybe that's just my opinion.

Next thing I did not like is the very own graphics style and animation. It looks like kind of "ducktales" from 90s' :-) Why the asari have lips as big as some kind of porn-star? That was my first thought when I saw her for the very first time. Other characters are only a little bit more "normal", but still better than asari with big... blue... eyes of hers. In the original game there is theory asari looks "sexy" to all species, so krogan sees asari like "blue krogan" etc. (Refering to "bachelors party" at Ilium, ME2). Maybe we see asari like Vega's dreams "sexbomb" may appear and in games we see asari like Shepards ;) But I don't like this asari, I like Sheppards more.

Next thing I have to mention here is some illogical bits and pieces of story. I don't want to make spoilers here, but just... I think some things there are written in original game better and more smooth. E.g. after watching I still don't know relation between ending of this movie and start of ME3 game, how and where J.V. met Sheppard.

And last thing -- dubbing. I think it is just horrible. At game JV has more "acted" voice, here I have feeling it is just read from script. And other voices are... just... strange. I don't think bad, just strange.

But after all, I think this movie is worth of it, it is not just some great "megafilm", only a little movie most for fans of games.

Castle: Lucky Stiff (2011) Season 3, Episode 14

Castle is worse and worse than before...

[5/10 · 24 September 2012]

When I just started to watch Castle, it was very intelligent piece, in which I cannot predict "who was the murderer" and it was very nice and politely served.

In this third series I can see how Beckett only comes to interrogate room and randomly puts charges "So you did this, this and than you killed him", sometimes more times in one episode.

I don't like it like this. This is stupid. I want back that nice criminal hard cases (like that with FBI and false murderer which was other victim etc). I still like Castle as whole series, but I hope this and episodes like these is absolutely bottom of which I can see.

Gympl (2007)

Ordinary movie...

[3/10 · 26 June 2011]

This movie is about strange relationships in one "noname" gymnasium in Czech republic.

I thought, it will be fine comedy from school environment, but it is not comedian at all. It is not deep at all too, I am afraid. I expected movie, in which there are some deep thoughts about school and todays teenagers at high schools. It is not there, I am afraid.

The whole movie is a little "flat", in other movies I can get used to figures, not there. All figures, even that class-teacher, were very unpleasant for me, I cannot get used to their life.

Fortunately I know how's going on traditional gymnasiums, so I know, that bad picture of it is only a fairytale. Bad fairytale :-/

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

Nothing special

[6/10 · 3 December 2010]

I like this movie, it is very fine. But at all there's nothing "new" from Shrek or other anim-movies. Is's more like fairytale than adventure. Maybe it was meant for, but I do not like that "straight" access, total flat characters etc.

You know, it is perfectly "klišé" movie, main character is weak, his father is the most powerful man of world -- but unfortunately very conservative. There's one strong guy, one stupid guy, one ugly guy, one normal girl, one special girl (in which main character is secretly in love with, but she acts like stupid one...), there's dragons of many levels, the most powerful are the most nice ... I think it is really nothing special, just because this. No special access to story, no special characters, only ... "for sure" ;)

And I am sad, because this movie should be better, the main story is not bad at all, characters neither. But whole complex thing is just mud and dust, I am afraid. :-/