Stranger Things

A time machine for pure retro bliss. All sources of inspiration have been listed, all nostalgic tears have been shed. What in my eyes keeps the speedometer far beyond a hundred even in the second half, when the lively board game is in full swing and definitely shakes off all the air of mystery, is the child casting from the realm behind the mirror. Millie Bobby Brown acts with her eyes in a way that actresses a decade older get Oscars for. Eighteen years later, I got an adaptation of "Half-Life" without knowing it beforehand. And now I'm off to finish reading King's "It" so I can have a pop culture combo without compromise. (14.09.2016)

Bigger, stronger, faster. It moves along without any major hesitation but is actually a bit too confident at times. I have no doubt that at the age of thirteen, kids could escalate their relationships even in the 1980s, and I'm a little sad about the cautious treading. Regardless, this year, even a little more so than a year ago, you can see how much of a Duffer child it is, which they understand best. The directorial crumbling is quite striking and it only really gets going at the very end. I flirted with the idea last time, but this unacknowledged cinematic portal into Black Messa is appreciated by nine Doctor Freemans out of ten. (19.11.2017)

The portal to another dimension no longer leads anywhere and has become secondary. At first, I felt similarly awkward as many people around me, but then the Duffer brothers take the reins in the last two episodes and it becomes a ride. Teenage love gushes forth in a mighty geyser, friendships are cemented, character transformations show a willingness to move on, a Soviet Terminator pops up here and there, and then you just lovingly savor the individualities. Like the phenomenal conversation in the vomit-stained toilets of the mall and with it the ice cream goddess Maya Hawke, the never-ending story when it all bursts into the right genre and the injection of distilled milking straight into the tear duct. The magic is gone, but the rest of the world keeps on spinning... and the upside down too. (27.08.2019)