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Anne (2017)
Nothing less than a masterpiece
To begin, I must state the sad fact that I didn't read Lucy Maud Montgomery's books before watching the show. However - the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, so I'm sure that the show inherited its greatness from its ancestor.
When I watched the first episode of the show, I was not sure if I liked it or not. It was so different, so unusual, but I thought that I'll give it a go anyway. Only after a few more episodes, it hit me - Anne's story if fully based on that.
As I continued watching I fell in love with the show. The cinematography was beyond the roof, the topics raised in the show were so on-point and were presented so accurately. Many emotions rise while watching the show. In times, the emotional complexity of the show brings ineffable feelings.
Both casting and acting are a wonderful degree of the show. Putting Amybeth's acting aside, which is magnificent, the performances of both R.H. Thomson and Geraldine James are beyond what I expected. Thomson manages to give the audience a glimpse into Matthew's heart with his few words and detailed mimics.
I will not spoil the end, but I will say that I'm very pleased with how the show ended.
A key part in my method of ranking a show/movie is to find the things that could've been improved in it. I welcome you to visit my profile and see that I don't rate many of my cinematographic experiences as 10/10, so you may call this a rare one. I did not find a weak spot in this show, and I'm considering it as one of the best experiences I've had yet. A true masterpiece.
Uncut Gems (2019)
Very real movie
At first I didn't get the point of the movie, and at some point I almost stopped watching it. About 1 hour in I got it - this movie is very real.
It tells the story of gambling addicts, and in my view it did it pretty good.
The movie is kind of slow, but you can almost feel present while watching it. I wouldn't recommend watching it for enjoyment, but you should watch it if you're in a mood for a unique experience. I hope it makes sense.
Hollywood (2020)
Truly awesome experience, with a missed opportunity
I won't go into too much details since many people said it already, but I'll add my voice to their sayings:
This show has a rich and unique potential, and I had a really good time watching the 1st season (the only one that was out at the time I was writing this review), BUT I think the crew missed their shot in making this show much grander.
The idea behind the show is truly amazing, and all the work that went into it was really noticeable, but one thing was missing - slower pace. Lots of details and great possible moments went into the dark by the very fast pace of the first season, and I felt that there was no focus on some interesting sub-plots in the story that could've made the connection to the characters much more powerful.
Leaving my constructive criticism aside, I think that the casting was outstanding.
The production was remarkable, the sets and costumes teams did a striking job, and the soundtrack enriched the show's atmosphere spectacularly.
Looking forward for the next season, and hoping to see a slower pace.
This show is for sure "being in the room."
La casa de papel (2017)
Even the most amazing plan has flaws
* CONTAINS SPOILERS *
First of all, I'll start by saying that this is not a bad show at all. Actually, this might be one of the most interesting European shows that I've watched. I had a really good time watching it, in fact, I binge-watched it in around 4 days.
I feel like my duty is not to show how good the show is, but to note what are the flaws that could be improved. Consider this review a future-reference for the successor of Money Heist.
The show follows the story of a gang of robbers (I'm over simplifying), who are lead by The Professor. As soon as you see him for the first time, you understand that his character is different from the others. The name, the behavior, the look - they're all different. Fast forward in the show, we understand that The Professor is not that social, and has no experience with women.
Another fast forward - The Professor falls in love with the Inspector, Raquel. As I see things, the evolution in The Professor's character was not bold when it comes to relationships, and Álvaro Morte's acting was convincing enough in that part. I think the problem lays in the scripts and not the acting. At some point in a show, the character should be as different as possible from it's original state, especially when the evolution takes place in the love playground.
So - I believe that if Sergio's love for Raquel was pushed to the limits, the emotional roller coaster in the show was much stronger (and better).
As I already said, the problem lays in the scripts. The show is FULL of swears, and without thinking about it too much I can say that at least 95% of the swears in the show take the son-of-a-female-dog form. I'm no expert, but from what I know the Latin vocabulary is loaded with much more interesting and joyful swears. We can see the same laziness (sorry to say it that way, but it feels like laziness) in crucial points of the story. The first example that comes to my mind is the "For Nairobi!" scene at the end of the 4th season. That scene is the end of a very important part of the story, and the only thing that all the robbers say one after the other is this phrase.
Different solution? let one character say it with heavy emotion, then cut the scene as you did perfectly (truly, awesome cut) at the end of the episode. There's no need to add Avengers-Endgame vibe to a scene so emotional.
Another thing that bothers me is the low emotional strength of Raquel, and a lot of other characters too. As far as I know, police officers are trained to handle intense emotional stress while being on-duty, therefore they can handle insults and truth being told to their face without losing the poker-face. So, I was disappointed to see the characters (especially the cops) breaking so easily that many times in the show.
Next time - build the character's emotional baggage and let it explode in some point later in the story.
Lastly, a lot of times shows are being criticized by professionals for missing technological details, or even simple things like geographical details. I'll not get into that to much, because making things up is a fine solution in some cases, but some things are unforgivable. Nairobi was shot by a SNIPER rifle near the HEART, and she survived the shot. I'm not a military expert, and I was never shot by anything, but I know for sure that this is physically impossible. The thing that sets me off is that the solution was to switch the sniper rifle with an assault rifle, and that's it, no other costs in production, just add more accuracy and realism to the scene.
After almost butchering the show for the small details, I'll say that the heist plans were magnificent and the overall cinematography was truly attention-drawing. The soundtrack was awesome! Choosing between continuing to the next episode or listening to the episode-concluding song was really difficult.
Rating it 8/10.
Ciao.