DaViD´82

An incredible uneven series. Most similar series keep some kind of quality bar with episodes that sometimes are better than others, but Mission: Impossible goes from one extreme to the other, one episode is great and the next one is something close to deserving a Boo!.

A solid average which proves that Reynolds still knows how to make a movie. But if the Scott brothers invested a little more (and if one of them had filmed the thing), it could have turned out somewhat better. The screenplay lacks any mythological elements and attempts to give a realistic perspective. Which is all very nice, but not completely appropriate, because as a result the whole Tristan and Isolde story ends up swimming in the dime-a-dozen waters of something we have seen a hundred times over.

This commercial variation of Brazil is rather pleasantly surprising in the end. And although this is a very simplified insight, it isn’t at all dumb. Almost no action, very TV standard in visual terms, the actors have thankless roles (especially poor John Hurt, but who else could have given such a great performance?). And it is even more surprising in that it works rather well overall. The greatest positives are the main vocal performance by Hugo Weaving, the soundtrack and the pretty daring act of grafting of the story onto the contemporary political situation with thoughts that are currently not in fashion. At least in commercial America. What brings this picture down is that it doesn’t manage to create a convincing atmosphere of a nation under a dictatorship which would make the term “big brother" a reality. In the end, V stays in the realm of an entertaining Hollywood spectacle.

A picture that immediately captures you with its great visuals and then with its powerful story. It gradually turns into a good example of a Lynch-style movie where you have no idea where you stand, who is who, etc. The excellent cast just goes to enhance the overall impression. But unlike movies by David Lynch, Stay has a clear message... And that it where its downfall lies. The message luckily isn’t served up absolutely word for word, but it doesn’t leave much room for the viewer to make up his own mind. I can shake the feeling that, if it weren’t for the final scene, this movie could have been a beautiful experience overflowing with “dreamy" magic, despite being incomprehensible. This way it remains just a showcase for Forster and, in a way, a trick on the viewer, because the cheapest explanation is always correct. In the end, this is just an over-combined variation on Jacob’s Ladder.

Verbinski drifted away from blockbuster waters to a strange picture about another “loser" suffering a middle-age crisis. It isn’t at all original; mainly it lacks any common theme to make the separate scenes, which are good in themselves, make sense when put together. Although this is no American Beauty, it has a pleasantly melancholic air to it and thanks to Cage and Cane it is certainly worth watching. Primarily for Cage, this and Lord of War signals a return to quality acting performances. Too bad that its potential is exploited very little; it should have cut much deeper...

Luckily Spike Lee hasn’t drowned in commercial waters and managed to film a very pleasant and intelligent picture that he worked some moments from his previous works into. The screenplay starts off with an excellent idea, which makes it all the more surprising that in the end it is the screenplay that is the weakest aspect of this movie, because it isn’t enough for over two hours of running time. Luckily this isn’t completely obvious when you are watching, thanks to Spike, the absolutely perfect casting and a very successful balancing on a knife’s edge between thriller and comedy. Overall, very good, but for me The Negotiator remains the “king" of this type of movie.

The first season is a mediocre affair in all respects. Wooden actors, an obvious and predictable story and “poetic" dialogs about nothing - these are just some of the aspects that manage to spoil the mood. Instead of exploiting the considerable potential that the book this is based on has, the story highlights the less interesting aspects, ignoring the interesting bits; it follows just a few of the four thousand, four hundred in a sub-standard variation on The X-Files, that is even more bogged down with “American values". Despite everything, it has some points of interest and can be watched without risking great harm to your health. But then season two comes along, and there is a clear increase in quality in all respects. Nothing too drastic, but a slow and sure improvement, step by step, and by the end of season two it becomes clearly above-average, nicely filling the gap left by The X-Files (or at least its weaker seasons). If it goes on like that, one day The 4400 could be a really good series. But at this rate, it still has a long, long way to go.

Bekmambetov knows no bounds, and that’s good. Most of the time, not always. Yet the connection to the literary source escapes me. Or rather, it doesn’t escape me, because there’s none.

The events in a small town and its surroundings during the clean-up in the aftermath of a devastating hurricane... Although Invasion grabs your attention right from the start, it has a significant ascending tendency — thus while it starts slowly, it gains unstoppable momentum. It is relatively calm and it isn’t the kind of series where each episode is overflowing with twists and revelations, but it can surprise, manage to captivate, and, above all, it gradually builds up the atmosphere perfectly. The characters here are quite typical in terms of characterization, but there are a few very pleasing exceptions - especially the ambiguous Sheriff Underlay, played by William Fichtner, who carries some of the relatively weaker episodes. Invasion takes its own specific yet definitely high quality path. And that's a good thing.

An interesting combination of elements typical of "made by HBO" series with excellent sets and historical trappings. inspiration by I, Claudius (whether by the magnificent books or the unsurpassed TV series) is obvious, but it certainly doesn't hurt. The depiction of the political intrigues during the life of Gaius Caesar, as well as the usually unseen side of the lives of plebeians and legionnaires, is well done. It is not strictly necessary to orient yourself in the events of the time, but it pays off knowing something, because there are a lot of references for the knowledgeable - sometimes they are purely fun allusions, and sometimes they are interesting takes on different events. The acting is precise; the production design is spectacular, and from about episode three it is really excellent as a whole (the initial episodes only serve as a relatively uninteresting beginning); yet something is missing - something its older brother I, Claudius (even though it was shot in a studio) had in abundance.