write_me_here Reviews

Bodkin (2024– )

Too long and chaotic.

[6/10 · 13 May 2024]

Bodkin answers the question 'what if you extended the perfectly good episode of Black Mirror 'Loch Henry' and make it into multiple episodes.' You'll end up with an overly complex and drawn out story that should've been wrapped up in five episodes butbdrags on two episodes to long.

It is a bit like how Lost became overly complex and failed to wrap up storylines because they kept on adding stuff to keep the seasons going.

Bodkin has a good premise of three people with different characters. That are grouped together to make a true crime podcast about people who dissapeared during a pagan festival in Ireland 20 years ago.

A podcast maker who needs another succes to stay relevant, a journalist who will do everything to get to the truth and a woman who is just starting out and needs to learn the ropes.

That would be enough to make some story arcs where the podcaster learns that staying true to yourself is perhaps the best story, a journalist that learns that the truth sometimes isn't worth everything and a assistant who learns from the mistakes of both the others and discovers her own strength.

But allas, these story arcs are drowned in the pilling on of characters, their backstories, their schemes and relations to eachother.

Then there are backstories that don't really add to the story or are use in a way it doesn't add anything to the story. For example the wife of the podcaster travels to Ireland from the US to get some divorsepapers signed. She is there for one scene to talk about something the viewer already knew from the circumstances.

Towards the end it is just one plottwist after another to create a feeling of suspence.

Whodunnits are based on the idea that the viewer can figure out who did it for themselves and go 'i knew it!' when the big reveal is done. Or at least the viewer is given the chance to fantasize about how it all fits together.

With all the characters, storylines and plottwists available in Bodkin i was surprised that actual spirits from the Samhein festival weren't dragged on as potential suspects.

It wasn't all in all bad but i was glad it was over when the last episode ended.

The Takeover (I) (2022)

A very good elementary school project

[4/10 · 13 December 2023]

I think it was a very nice gesture from Frank Lammers to agree to play a role in a elementary school movie project.

Actors using a lot of tech lingo at random without any of it being propwrly used.

Actors walking into serverrooms without any problem People who are traced at will.

Actors who walk in and out of policestations without any problems.

These type of movies aren't realistic i know but at least put some effort in the way things work. Don't just make up how technique works to get to the plot.

This movie reminds me a bit of the series 'the Capture' wich also revolved around CCTV camera footage being manipulated and the question if the main character is teuly guilty or not.

This series is a far better watch than this low grade school project.

Old Dads (2023)

Not bad, but not good either.

[5/10 · 1 November 2023]

I thought the first part of the movie was the setting of the stage. Where the men would be the victim of an overly woke society and women who expected to much from them when it came to being calm and respectfull and what not.

I expected that the second part of the movie would be about the men re-finding their bond and seeing that their behaviour didn't need to change that much.

The whole second half of the movie is still about the bad behaviour of men and the need for them to change.

It sort of ends in a 'victory' for the men but it is stuffed in the last five minutes of the movie showing short scenes of what became of some of the characters.

I had hoped it would at least would have ended in the women realising their expectations of the men where untealistic and unfair.

Sweet Tooth: I'll Find You (2023) Season 2, Episode 7

It is fantasy, but even that has to be kept logical.

[3/10 · 29 April 2023]

I know this is fantasy, but there are a few things that irk me. Mainly it's sloppy story telling.

Take Bobby. Gus is getting a cold shoulder because he decides to tell Roy escaped rather then died.

But when the group escapes and Bobby is left behind noone says a single thing like 'we left Bobby behind, boohoo, how sad'.

And when they reunite later on they all go 'oh, there he is, lets continue our trip and don't appoligize to him'.

And what is logical about that radio chat during a raid?

I think D-day would have been totally different when all the soldiers were chatting with their loved ones and telling them about family they found on the battlefield and where their unit was going.

It is lazy and sloppy storytelling that emphasizes the 'message' instead of focussing on a interesting story.

And that is where most of these series go off the rails. They are so focussed on waving their message in your face (in case you overlook it and miss how PC they are) that they completely overlook logical things like radio silence during a raid.

Arcadia (2023– )

Was this targeted at an young age group?

[4/10 · 26 March 2023]

I only saw the first episode up to the interogation part and then my partner and i decided we had tried long enough.

It felt like we where watching Q&Q or de Zevensprong, shows targeted at 13 to 15 year olds.

And although the story seemed interesting enough the acting was below par. And with the major actors that where involved that was really suprising to see. None of them seemed to deliver a convincing line.

And although the buildings looked nice and the idea of mixing modern elements with old elements to create an undefined era the world felt 'empty'.

As a viewer i could feel the world stopped beyond what was in view of the camera. It didn't feel as if i was watching a fragment of a whole universe bit rather what it in reality was, just a set in the middle of nowhere.

Next to that, when your whole family is taken away from a wedding ceremony would you be as relaxed as the actors were?

And if their calm posture came forth of their knowledge of what 'the shield' would have done to them it would have been better to explain that to the viewer beforehand.

Show some scenes to explain what the shoeld is and how they would have reacted when you refused to do what they say.

Now the viewer has to work with his own frame of reference and see the reactions of the actors as highly unbelievable.

The four stars are mainly for the fact that the actors dared to undertake this adventure but not for the way they undertook it.

The Dragon Prince: Rebirthday (2022) Season 4, Episode 1

Really? Fart jokes?!

[3/10 · 9 December 2022]

The last seasons where good but this fourth season seems to be all about fart jokes and other things a five year old would think are funny and plausible.

Because people with flailing fire whips who approach you unannounced? Of course you would start a dialogue with them to ask you if they have good intentions.

All emotions and feelings are also to shallow to connect with the characters and to feel for the things they go through or fight with.

And rather than a quest story it seems more to be be an adress everything that is wrong in real life nowadays?

Can't we have some things to escape the toils of real life? Must literally everything be a woke or political statement?

Watchmen (2019)

Afraid this would be a woked version of my beloved comic...

[9/10 · 14 March 2022]

...But was surprised to see a very good series.

It is handy to know some of the background of the original Watchmen story so references don't go unnoticed but it is not really necessary.

Although it leans heavily on black awareness the core of the story stays true to the type of what the original story was.

To bad the 7th Kavalry speech at the end is done away with blatant racism. I would have rather have had an overly racist speech than the discussable speech the senator held now.

For me that would have made the end of the 7th Kavalry more justified.

Dueueudjdjsjdjdhdhdbdhshsisjeueudududjdudhdhdhdh.

Dexter: New Blood: H Is for Hero (2021) Season 1, Episode 4

Buffy: new blood or Dexter the vampire hunter

[5/10 · 31 January 2022]

This Dexter series is clearly written for a new teenage fanbase who overheard their parents talk about the original Dexter's series.

A hip young vlogger teaming up with a captain of. A 'bullying is bad speech'. It is all to focussed on the teenagers rather than how Dexter evolved as a character.

The Alphabet Killer (2008)

Utterly Unbelievable.

[2/10 · 1 January 2009]

If this story is based on a true story, the only thing this story had in common with the truth was the fact that it all happened in a world not unlike the one we live in.

Police planting evidence to incriminate a person they know did not do it and therefore taking a chance to loose face if the murderer strikes again is one of the many, and sadly not the least unlikely, things that makes this movie a bad one.

This movie strings a lot of unrealistic actions together with at the top of this the miraculous recovery of a handicapped man. It was if i was watching Lou and Andy from Little Britain.

I think this movie is an insult of the real victims.

Cloverfield (2008)

Don't believe the hype

[4/10 · 27 January 2008]

The hype made this a must see movie. So when this movie came out i was eager on seeing it and even convinced my wife to come. I even ignored it when people offered me illegal copies of it. I wish i didn't.

I think the high scores are from people who downloaded cam versions where the movement of the cam counters the movement of the actors camera so they have seen a steady image.

I knew this was a type of blairwitch kind of filming so that wasn't a surprise. But the fact that the person filming during the whole nightmare lets the viewer believe to be a bit uncertain about operating the camera, makes you wonder why he bothers to haul that thing along all the time. If the reason was (it isn't mentioned in the dribble itself so we must guess here) that he wanted to document the whole thing, why doesn't he do that? Why does he seem to miss the most obvious shots? If this person would have been an art student or a student of journalism it would have been more believable.

It was a great idea, the hype before this movie worked wonders (the movie industry now has a script to hype even the biggest b movie) but it didn't work out. Luckely we had some rented movies at home so the night wasn't a total waste.

World Trade Center (2006)

Where there only white people affected by the disaster?!

[5/10 · 1 October 2006]

What i hoped to gain from this movie was understanding. This tragedy was so far away, that i couldn't relate to it. Even though i have been on top of the WTC, the events on 9-11 didn't shake my world. It was just something far away. I hoped this movie would have gave me some insight. It did not.

The opening is chaotic, just as i imagine it was on that day. what happened? was there one or where there two planes? chaos and doubt with the people involved. Good! up until then i was positive.

Then the search-party becomes trapped, and the focus shifts on the families and the rescue-workers. Still OK. The scenes with the relatives where quick and short. It made me feel a bit unruly, again, just as i imagined those people would have felt.

I did not relate to the characters. Even the death of one of them (where did he shoot at?)did not make me go 'oh no!'. Did the director think we automatically relate to these people because we know so much about the disaster already? The death of this team-member later on in the movie, with some more background on him, could have had far more impact on the viewer. Then they have had lost someone they knew. Now i didn't care, because i did not know the guy.

the characters in the story are shallow. The doubts, the pain is only there because you can see them act it out. It's not there because you feel it. For instance, i still wonder what's up with the marine or the paramedic. I see them, i know what they are doing there, but not WHY they are there and what their doubts are.

Then the movie skips two years, and everybody (the survivors) is happy and fine. Are they?! What about the people who lost relatives in the crash or due to the contamination of the site? What about the feelings and doubts of the survivors and the impact on their live and the people around them? This movie seems to focus mainly on the feel-good value, instead of the tragedy it was, and i think still is.

But the weirdest part is, and i'm probably be the last guy who would play the political correct card, where are all the black people gone off to? New York, and the only black people i see are a cop who answers the phone, a cop/guard who says a line and stumbles away and a woman in a hospital who lost a relative. I could be mistaken, but to me all the rescuers where white (there was a black cop returning to the station, and even he was white from the ash).

The movie ended with the line that everybody learned to depend on each other in those terrible times. I was glad they said that, cause i did not learn that from the movie.