jussit-28958 Reviews

Ein Hauch von Amerika (2021)

Harmless entertainment with little much to offer

[6/10 · 8 February 2023]

There's not much that really annoys me about this TV-series. It looks just as good as the histocial British TV-series of today that are generally well-liked. Acting is possibly a notch better than what I expected. It's decent in my opinion. All in all it's just harmless entertainment that one forgets quickly afterwards.

As far as the story and plot goes, there's nothing new here. As said in a review by Dlochner, it's your average story of a young woman between two men. The same story has been made so many times before that it's a cliché for sure. It's like watching an Agatha Christie's TV adaption where a young and rich heiress falls in love with a poor but good-hearted boy. You know the story already so you can just sit back and enjoy the visual aspect.

I just watched the TV-series but like I said before, I'm already starting to forget it. Nothing much about it is memoriable. It simply left me empty. I didn't mind watching it when there was nothing better on TV, but I could've stopped watching it at any time.

I hope that there will never be a season 2 for this because I dread to think of a situation where I would feel that watching the season 2 is better investment for my time than watching anything else.

Das Boot (2018– )

Great start, but a little too conventional maybe...

[7/10 · 30 June 2020]

First of all, I've never seen the original Das Boot from 1981. If I had, I'd probably not like this one. But for me the name of this series makes little difference to me.

I didn't have big expectations for this one. I wasn't really going to watch it at all, but I did anyway. At first I thought that the show had some potential for being something fresh and new. But I think it was already at the end of the first or second episode that I found out that it wasn't. The first season (which is the one that I've seen) has two parallel stories, like mentioned by some other reviewers already. One follows the submarine crew and the other one follows the lives of those La Rochelle, the harbour. I think both stories had great potential and were equally exciting. It's the feeling that the main characters are in a very difficult situation and it's hard to say what the right thing to do would be in that situation. I wish that the atmosphere would've lasted longer, however.

Das Boot (2018) might be a soap opera take on WW2, but I think it makes a fairly good job at not glorifying the war unlike so many other WW2 movies and shows these day. On the contrary, there are parts where the cruelty and injustice by those involved in the war gets really disturbing. There were moments when I was almost disencouraged to keep on watching the show. But in a good way. Usually it's the glorification of war that makes me nauseatic. But even then, I'd have prefered more complex and realistic characters.

Nothing bad to say about the actors. I liked many of them very much. It's what made me give this a 7 instead of 6. But alas, even these great actors can't save the somewhat poor story of this show.

If you're into WW2 films or shows, this one's definitely worth checking up.

The Day of the Locust (1975)

Good

[8/10 · 16 May 2020]

I didn't have much expectations for this film. I wasn't even planning to watch it, I just happened to turn on the TV at the right moment and after a short while I was hooked (not big time, but still).

What I didn't like about the film was the ending and some characters who were maybe a little bit too caricaturic or something. But that's about it really. The setting was interesting, acting was great and the film was just visually great. And the best thing about it? It didn't even feel dated. Apart from the ending maybe.

The Day of the Locust may just be the best movie that I've seen for years, and in my opinion it is a classic. But even though it was well made and aesthetically flawless, it just didn't touch me that much on personal level. Not enough to give it a 9 or 10. But I certainly understand if someone would like it that much. I just don't understand why it was rated 7,1 (at the time that I write this) here on IMDB. Unlike many similiar new films that I've seen, this one is about much more than just aesthetics.

Thin Ice (2020– )

Little different but not much

[7/10 · 5 April 2020]

I'm not sure if this is exactly scandi crime but it is close enough. If this had been made ten years ago it would be something, but now it's just unoriginal. IMO the only good things about this one is that the ending is a little bit different and that it is set in Greenland. But all in all it's the same old scandi crime story with many of its clichés, which is getting very old by now. They should come up with something new already. Of course if one is not tired of scandi crime yet, then this one's certainly worth watching. There have been much worse series in the recent years.

Solsidan (2010– )

Little to add

[9/10 · 4 April 2020]

First seasons are obviously the best, but the sixth season is just rubbish in my humble opinion. Something about it is just awfully off. Actors are the same and everything but the magic's gone. I don't think I smiled even once during the last season.

Stalingrad (1993)

Everyone should watch this film, even though it's horrible

[9/10 · 14 March 2020]

Xaggurat's review pretty much sums it up.

This is not a fun film to watch. But then again, neither was Stalingrad a fun place to be in during the Battle of Stalingrad. I didn't enjoy watching this film, yet I think anyone who likes war films should watch Stalingrad. Just because it's good to remember that wars suck. This film shows the reality of war.

World on Fire (2019–2023)

Not creative, not original. Costume drama with little substance.

[5/10 · 14 March 2020]

These type of series are puzzling. I can't think of many good films or TV-series about WW2. One that I "liked", however, was Vilsmaier's Stalingrad (1993). I say "liked" because the movie was horrible. But not because of bad writing or bad acting, but because the film shows the true horrors of war. For me, the film just left me with this idea that war really sucks big time. And I think that's a very good reason to make a movie about war and suffering.

But then there are this type of series about WW2... What's the point? I don't see what new World on Fire could give us that we haven't seen already in so many other TV-series. Are they just making money with the bloodiest war in the human history? Well, they show the history of WW2 from the Polish point of view (although poorly), that's maybe something little different. The Phoney War and the Invasion of Poland are very much worth reading about, but since this is just historically inaccurate fiction, I don't see the whole point in watching the show.

Everybody speak about how bad this war was, with tens of millions of people left dead because of it. Yet, every year new TV-series, films, video games and other stuff about the war are made and it's always with the main focus in visuals rather than substance.

Dickensian (2015–2016)

Not very creative

[6/10 · 18 February 2020]

To me this one feels like a strained attempt to mimic the atmosphere of Charles Dickens' books. It might have worked better if many of the characters and their names had not been taken from Dickens' books. Dickensian feels more like a tribute to Charles Dickens. It has some of that atmosphere, but it lacks substance. It's like the atmosphere was the main reason for the mini-series and the plot was made out of sheer necessity.

I didn't have big expectations for it and it was watchable like that, but I can't say that I felt sorry if I happened to miss out an episode or two.

Endeavour (2012–2023)

Visually great but totally unoriginal and boring

[6/10 · 4 February 2020]

As a fan of the old Inspector Morse show, I was rather dissapointed to hear about the Endeavour. It seems to be a trend these days to make TV-series like this. Still waiting for Young Hercule Poirot and Young Lovejoy.

There is this dark, mean sarcasm and arrogance and snobbery here that I do not like. It's popular right not but I don't care for it. And for me it's a bit difficult to see the connection between this young Endeavour Morse and the Chief Inspector Morse played by John Thaw. They're two very different characters, despite Shaun Evans' attempt to mimic Thaw's character's mannerism. Yes, they both like beer and classical music. But that's about it.

Endeavour is well made, if one is into shows like Inspector George Gently. But there's something about it that I do not like. Something that I can't point my finger at. Something that pests most of the new British TV-series. Inspector Morse was a classic. Endeavour is visually great, but it's lacking something. Originality perhaps. It's very predictable too. You can basically guess in a minute who are the bad guys and who are the good guys. Characters are often quite cheesy too.

I watched the couple of first seasons, just for nostalgic reasons I guess. Also hoping that it'd get better. But from thereon I've only watched an episode here and there. It's an attempt to copy everything that made Chief Inspector Morse great but it fails in that big time.

Poirot (1989–2013)

Excellent show

[9/10 · 4 February 2020]

The early seasons with Hugh Fraser, Pauline Moran and Philip Jackson are great! Top fun, definitely amongst the best TV-series ever made. In my book at least. But after 2002 the mood and atmosphere of the show changes and I must say that I am not a big fan of those episodes. Still, pretty good stuff.

Poldark (2015–2019)

Surprisingly good

[8/10 · 4 February 2020]

At first I thought that Poldark was cheesy and I almost stopped watching it. But then I got over it and I actually started to like it. First season was in my opinion the best, and from there on it seems to be getting gradually worse, but not bad.

What I liked about Poldark is first of all the somewhat archaic theatricality that I seemed to detect. I also liked the lack of this mean sarcasm that is often so overpowering in modern British TV-series. And the scenery! Beautiful. And I liked how the main character - Ross Poldark - is a rather complex character who is not always just and good in his actions. One does not see that very often on TV anymore.

I think just about everything in this TV-series was good. I'm not sure if I can give it more than 8/10 though. I don't think it's necessarely a true classic, but it's definitely one of the very best TV-series that I've seen for years - especially in it's own category. Totally worth watching. And aspiring new directors and camera men should probably watch it aswell.

Beecham House (2019)

Cheesy but could be worse

[6/10 · 4 February 2020]

Just like someone here already wrote, it's just a bit of fun. Exotic escapism (obviously for someone who doesn't live in India!). At first I thought that it was horrible, but once I got over it and didn't have any big expectations for it, I realized that it was decent harmless entertainment. It's very predictable and obviously super easy to follow, just like one could expect after five minutes of watching.

I'm not big into TV-series like this though. Maybe I was spoiled growing up with some truely classic TV-series like Hercule Poirot, but for me personally many of the new TV-series are very bad. Compared to something like the new Sanditon, Beecham House doesn't even seem to take itself seriously.

The Name of the Rose (2019)

Unnecessary

[6/10 · 16 January 2020]

I agree with much that has already been said by Trademarcdesigns and Coventry. The 1986 adaption of The Name of the Rose was very well made. Just about everything was good about that film and that's why it managed to leave an everlasting impression on me aswell. Atmosphere was great. But not so much on this mini-series. I can't help but feeling that the characters on this mini-series are modern people in historical costumes. I wouldn't blame the actors though. Even the best actors cannot do miracles if the film is otherwise bad.

For me, this is like The Name of the Rose meets Game of Thrones. More action and naked skin with the expense of atmosphere and realism. There are just too many TV-series and films these days with that problem. I can't also help but feel that whoever put this thing together just wanted to raise awarness on current social issues and didn't really care about the original novel at all. He could've chosen just about any novel to work on. So why butcher this classic?

This adaption reminds me of some other similiar fictional historical mini-series or films that I've seen in the past few years. Somewhat agreeable entertainment if I have nothing else to do, but a year or two later I can barely even remember seeing them. If I compared this to the book or the old film, it wouldn't deserve more than 5/10. But 6/10 is for those who haven''t read the book or seen the film. Six stars might still be too much though..