papirna_vila Reviews

Curse of the Chippendales (2021)

Tiger King without the tigers

[2/10 · 11 March 2023]

I mean....is there really not much left to tell the stories about? Or is it the current exploitation of the 80s?

I only watched this to end because I share the account with my brother and I wanted to spare myself the shame of having Continue watching: Chippendales.

Nothing is new here: lots of money, lots of vultures, drugs....murder is the only logical consequence.

Our man Steve could have been a happy guy in LA, but his mom couldn't brag to her neighbours in India about it, so he had to step up the game. Instead of going to the therapist, he decided more money was the right thing to do. Guys under him are the vultures, and the rest.......well, being poor in childhood doesn't justify poor decisions as grownup.

Welcome to my Ted talk. :D.

Primal (2019– )

Fang(tastic)!

[10/10 · 27 October 2022]

This series is such an amazing surprise for me. After last couple of disappointments with some series I watched, I thought I was getting too old to be pleasantly surprised, but luckily, I was wrong.

Such an amazing story, fantastic in its simplicity of no dialogue, but still having a full range of emotions felt in every minute of an episode.

What I also think is really great - you have to put your phone away and watch. With a lot of movies and series, I tend to swerve away and look at my phone a bit, while continuing to listen to what is going on on the screen. Here, not happening, because to be able to watch and follow, then it has to be 100%.

Main characters are very lovable and easy to connect with, and story is sometimes to brutally real..even when I wasn't watching, I caught myself thinking about prehistoric destines.

The Watcher (2022– )

It's boring...

[3/10 · 16 October 2022]

... because this trend seems to go on, and on, and on. Which trend? Well, the actors are constantly getting the same roles to play. We already know who is who and what will happen just by looking at the actors. How can anything be a surprise anymore? I mean, that are actors, they should be able to play all kinds of personalities and yet here we are. Jennifer Coolidge is always the same annoying character. Naomi Watts has the same role as in The Ring and many other movies. And all the others, too....boring.

As for the plot, what is the plot? There are so many artificial twists that drag this story for too long. The best part of the show is The Ode to the house. Amazing. The only thing in this seven hour long torture, that made me think a bit more about the houses and where is my dream house. But as it is, it's not an original idea of the producers, but a part of the sideline of the true story behind the whole show.

Maybe I watched too many movies and shows for me to find something like this new and interesting.

Sweet Magnolias (2020– )

Sunday afternoon kind of show

[5/10 · 25 September 2022]

It suits very good for me when I don't want to think too much about stuff I normally do.

I've never been to USA so I can't say much about accents. I can say that there is a reason why many people strive to get away from such small towns, and mostly it's because unlike in this show, there is not much understanding of people who are different, and it's because, unlike in this show, those are really small towns. Here we have big fairs, big games, modern houses, big coffee shops, eclectic fashion, everything with 1000 residents with two successful lawyers, big time organic farming that survive off of two restaurants that are somehow always full, even though the staff always has free time to hang out. (People who worked in restaurants know that it's not even remotely possible).

So, I put all these thoughts away, and just let my mind wander to Serenity (or Virgin River) because Sundays I don't want to think about impending doom of upcoming Monday. This is the way to do it.

Monster (2022– )

Not really good

[3/10 · 24 September 2022]

This series tries very hard to be good, yet fails. If Dahmer was really like depicted here, he would never get anyone to go home with him. He was a pretty, blond, white man. Very manipulative and charming, who knew very well which part is he suppose to act.

In series, he is shown as a creep. I mean, it takes just few minutes of first interview one can find on Google to see how to take that role. It seems like our main actor can only "act" one role forever. It spoiled the show completely for me.

My condolences to the victims and their families, I hope they found their peace. It's hard enough to be involved in tragedy of murder, but probably thousand times worse in such high profile cases that keep digging into the wounds forever.

Only show on Netflix that captures the essence of psychopathic serial killer is The Serpent.

Monsters Inside: The 24 Faces of Billy Milligan (2021)

Such a Circus

[2/10 · 31 October 2021]

It's hard to even start this review. It's amazing to see how easy it is to manipulate people. Also easy to see why after fiasco with MPD or Hypnosis that "uncovered" cult activities and sacrifice, people do not have much trust in Psychiatric evaluations. None of them admits they were manipulated or wrong. They believed his story as given, but imagine, just for a second, being that guy Charlene, you marry a woman, take her children in, and one of them is a psychopath, maybe killing an animal or two, lying and decieving. Would drive anyone crazy, especially with complete denial from mother's side. All she wanted was to sing and perform and some sucker who would take care of her. Nothing against performing, but she should have been single mother then. Saying how it was hard for her being single in those days but wasn't hard to be in clubs ,is a bit absurd.

In the end, even if Billy had a stable family,he would still be what he was, just the story would not be as juicy. If he had a rich family,it would have been hidden faster than you can say "I know local sheriff".

This was such a Circus and way too many clowns. Sad for preventable victims whose lives ended, or were completely destroyed. There is no cure for psychopathy and no treatment because only thing that happens is with it they learn new tricks on how to con their way further.

Filming was absolute disaster, I felt like I was watching some mockumentary where they mess around with the backgrounds for the fun of it.

The Motive (2020–2021)

No one even mentioned psychopathy.

[2/10 · 31 October 2021]

Starting to watch this, I thought the motive will be explained, but soon became clear it won't.

Society is a peculiar thing, as we see here. People can't even begin to comprehend that this boy is a psychopath, and are amazed by how he reacts, because it's not normal. Of course it's not normal, but still he is judged as normal, as innocent boy, because child cannot be like that, right? So he served only 9 years and released into society where he can continue to manipulate and do as he please. Hopefully he doesn't become dissatisfied with his new family one day and the green monster returns. No doubt he would manage to get himself out of trouble soon again, but it would be sad to see innocent people die. Does his new family know they are gambling with their lives every day?

Documentary gave us nothing, only good thing is to know that occurrences like this happen everywhere. Not every psychopath is a murderer, but a majority of family annihilators are psychopats.

Some YouTubers with budgets a lot smaller, made and make better and more insightful documentaries as this one is made .

You (2018–2024)

Season 3 I thought my TV is broken..

[3/10 · 25 October 2021]

... Because of weird focus on screen, like the one on mobile phones where just one point is in focus and the rest is weird.

Also, seeing today that season 4 is in making, I lost the will to watch. Season one was good. Now it feels like milking the fame until there is nothing left. I mean, it's interesting to see how obsession is being born, but how many seasons will this be repeated?

I was expecting to see Joe on the other side, trying to escape the grip, not this. Boring. And I agree with one review here who says that everything is so overdone in how it looks, totally unrealistic. Not that killing that many people without being caught is, but still...

Valeria (2020–2024)

Half-half

[7/10 · 17 August 2021]

Right now, I am almost done with Season 2. I doubt my mind will change by the end of the series.

The main character is very obnoxious and I don't understand the need for such a thing, when others are pretty much ok.

Madrid is very nicely presented in a way one would move there right away, because of beautiful architecture, but more importantly because one can be "poor" with huge apartments, designer furniture and constant partying and outings. I watch all these shows because I can't do all those fun things poor people in Madrid can do, so this is very irritating (to me). For the same reason this romance between a very rich guy and poor girl is not possible, and I wonder when will we stop filming such BS? Either film a fairytale or a real life.

I have to say I really liked some real situations women have to face, like cat calling, menstrual blood, sweating... I would love more of that instead of clichés.

Soundtrack was also very nicely chosen.

Firefly Lane (2021–2023)

It's 2021..

[3/10 · 6 February 2021]

.. And still the main difference between the hot girl and "ugly" girl are the glasses. It's 2021 and not every successful woman regrets not having bunch of kids or else she never knows the true meaning of life and will be miserable forever. It's 2021 and no one wants to figure out how to represent a middle class like it is, and not with a 10 million dollar mansion with view on a ocean. It's 2021 and only way to represent a bad choice for a gay man is a woman who wears a pants with "Juicy" written on her ass. Toxic relationships are not something that should be celebrated. Also, bad filters to make 46 year olds look like 20.

Equinox (2020)

When out of ideas, turn to rituals

[1/10 · 4 January 2021]

If the producers haven't put the Dark comparison as marketing strategy, no one would have watched this. So, I'm halfway through the series and bored to death. Same old, same old, just this time it's in Danish language. Predictable, overkill, mysterious book, psychopathic teenager, codependent teenager, creepy creature, creepy music sequence that is being used in every show, one character that is hiding in corners with hoody and running away. Also, everything was explained in two minutes by historian in episode two, who said he doesn't know much, but then puts a lot of informations on the table... with pictures and every detail is exactly what our main character was searching for. But, one thing here is useful, I am rolling my eyes so often, that soon I won't need glasses anymore. I am watching this till the end, just so I could have enough arguments not to recommend it to others. What a waste.

Home for Christmas (2019–2020)

Wonderful!

[9/10 · 21 December 2020]

This is really nice show from Norway. Very honest characters, very relatable and relatable problems of everyday people. It was really nice to see that our protagonist found love in a young man, and that her friends and family were so supportive, because they recognized the value he brings in to her life, and didn't judge because he is younger man. I really liked that, and to be honest, I was cheering for them to be together and hoping that director doesn't go for more socially acceptable solution. Scenery is great and warm and makes us all want to be in Norway during Christmas time, drinking mulled wine and knitting socks.

Carmel: Who Killed Maria Marta? (2020)

Body language

[7/10 · 7 November 2020]

Of people who participated in filming, is very interesting, all of the family has very restless movements. Such things say more than words. The widower himself first makes a statement that he never did anything illegal... And that adds something in lines like he did it, but was never caught. It's not a funny thing to say considering that he was a suspect for killing his wife. Also, he insisted on not being in clubhouse, even though that would be alibi for him, but then, Maria Martha's sister and her husband would lose theirs, being that maid of theirs said everyone was gone by 6pm and she cleaned up the table in living room. That would put them easily on the scene in the murder time-line. As for the motive... Who knows, it could have been anything, people are very versatile in that department, especially when rich and bored. This cover-up they made was a crime on its own, I can't imagine being in a mindset like them to think that everything will magically disappear because they destroyed the scene and because they feel that in their rich little community, anyone and anything can be bought. Like already said in the documetary:"If there is no justice let there at least be truth."

Unsolved Mysteries (2020– )

What is this

[1/10 · 5 July 2020]

Watched the first three episodes of season 3 and I don't really know what to say.

The first episode with Tiffany...her mother says she stole credit card from a friend, used it, lied to her friend about it......and it seems like that is very important detail, and it's only mentioned once and never again. Seems that parents didn't really know what is going on with their daughter. Too bad they're also spending lots of money on charlatans.

UFO episode I don't even want to watch because it's absurd.

And the third episode is not even close to being a mystery.

The mystery here is how is this content so bad with such big budget company?

The top true crime Youtubers are doing a million times better job than Netflix, and they don't have access to stuff that Netflix has. But I guess they only produce stuff that teenagers find interesting.. maybe.

I won't watch the rest.

College Behind Bars (2019– )

This is not your typical prison documentary

[9/10 · 29 March 2020]

I have watched a lot of other prison documentaries, and this one is very different from the others. People who are doing their time, is given an opportunity to be students and discover that there is more to life than what they used to think. They embraced this chance, and it is amazing to see... Also sad to see, that circumstances play a very significant role in human life, and that education needs to be available to everyone, no matter their age, race, social status. I hope all these people get their lives back in order when they leave prison, and live a better life. Society needs to invest more in education and less in wars.

Wild Wild Country (2018)

Nothing says more..

[8/10 · 17 January 2020]

Nothing says more about love, peace and unity, as sitting on millions and hiding in Switzerland or any other first world country. Every human being craves power, some might not be aware of it right away. Religion nonsense is one of those forms and cults are utter nonsense, but both continue to flourish, sadly.

Dark (2017–2020)

I wasn't a time-travel fan... Until now.

[10/10 · 30 December 2019]

I didn't like time-traveling TV series or movies, because they never did a good job on actually getting the job done. Until now. Season 1 was good, but Season 2 blew me away, I liked it beyond words, and I will definitely watch the first one again, just to enjoy it as is. Acting is superb, casting is perfect, every character is a human being and looks like one.. Every detail is in place, which is fairly unusual for today's production. I love this new German Wave of great shows, along with some other that came out....

Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer (2019)

Tricky title

[7/10 · 27 December 2019]

Firstly, I am not glad to say, I was tricked by Netflix, I only saw the first part of the title, and Poster for this documentary was Luka throwing the trash, so I thought there will be funny cat videos. I don't read the descriptions of the movies, because they are always so terrible I almost didn't watch some good movies based on the stupid description. So, I continued to watch, hoping they catch this cat killer, and twist to a real murderer was unexpected for me. I feel very sorry for the guy who killed himself because of these idiots who think they are some great detectives, but also hide behind sock accounts, judging people with sock accounts. One can only imagine how does a day at the police look like, because surely there are so many people who clogg police departments emails, sending them files about their "discoveries". That is why the police cannot give more times to them even if they wanted to. About that alleged third hand, or the second person, I can only assume it's the owner of the snake. Python of ony size, can't be controlled by one human. Our great detectives also never mention this. Even without the homage to the movies, it is very clear that Manny doesn't exist, and that the mother of Luka is very delusional, because she accepts everything her son does and klings to anything he says. I was expecting her to develop some conspiracy, because that is a right level of delusional personality for "they covered it up" kind of path.

Moral of the story is that one has to think five times before posting pictures on the internet, we never know what kind of "detective" is lurking on the other side. As the psychopaths, they are not treatable. We can only hope never to meet one in life, but being that they are a charming bunch, they do procreate and leave a lot of legacy.

Quicksand (2019)

Predictably boring

[1/10 · 15 April 2019]

In most parts, this show is every teenager's wet dream. Be rich and go partying, come to school with Porsche, have service that throw egg yolk away because you only eat egg whites, go to some other state at least once a month. By the look of the reviews here, most people haven't grown out of their teen years. Also, one message to working class losers is - "See, we are rich, but we have problems. See, we suffer while being served on our yachts. You definitely don't want to be rich!" Of course, truth is far from this. Rich people have it good, their kids have it even better, they get to do whatever they want, will study what they want, and will tell you that you only have to follow your dreams. Only poor person was Samir, because this is how it has to be. Coincidentally, Samir is also sour loser. How sweet is that in a show that tries so hard to tell us to look beyond the facade (look beyond only if one is rich, otherwise, rely on stereotype).

Only way this would be good, was if the show had a twist. I was hoping for it, because I couldn't believe that European show could be this shallow, but sadly, it was.

How can any adult find this good, is beyond my comprehension.