Reviews

"Freud's Last Session" is a co-production between the United Kingdom, the United States and Ireland and this film came out in 2023, but took quite a while apparently to reach many corners of the world and this includes also the region where I reside, even if it is so close to where the title character here originates from. We also speak the same language. The movie runs for slightly over 110 minutes and was Matt Brown and surely it is an interesting transition for him as he has worked on MMA Awards Shows in the past or, I should say, most recently because he has written screenplays for movies before, even if that happened almost a decade before this movie. The other two writers are not less interesting. For Armand M. Nicholi Jr. It says "suggested by "The Question of God" and Mark St. Germain has had a career since the 1980s that also included writing credits for "The Cosby Show". I would say that they did a solid job here overall. I see the film did not receive a stellar reception exactly, but also not a bad one and I think this sounds accurate. It is a fairly decent movie. A lot has to do with the lead actor here being Anthony Hopkins, a recent Oscar winner, and he of course elevates the material no matter what movie he stars in. So good. I enjoy seeing him a lot and I hope he has many great years left. The second lead is Matthew Goode or is he supporting? In any case, he is an actor who maybe falls in the category that you always recognize him, but maybe not immediately remember the name. I like him and his recognition value for sure though. I cannot say too much about the other actors, but I as a German found it interesting to see Liv Lisa Fries in here as she is pretty famous. Playing next to Hopkins and also sharing the screen with him for several scenes must have been awesome for her. She plays the character's daughter. Makes sense then because that one is a German native speaker too. I would say that the film could have needed some more of these. Not gonna lie, there were people in the cast that clearly had another native language, probably English, yet played German speakers and I as a native German speaker could hear it easily that they had thick accents when talking in German. Refers to the actor who plays the title character's dad in the flashback sequence, even if it was just one scene. Hopkins also speaks German on multiple occasions, but it is just a few words usually like "Auf Wiedersehen" and he says "Ja" constantly. Don't think I have to tell what that word means.

So yeah, the film also takes place during an interesting time historically, namely the day when Britain declared war against Germany immediately after Germany invading Poland. So it was the beginning of World War II there. There are references about this too, but it is really just the framework. It stayed a bit memorable when Hopkins or rather Freud talked about how glad he is that he will not live to see another Adolf Hitler. Instead of the historic background, there was more elaboration on Freud's terminal illness, the cancer in his mouth. He still takes it with a grain of salt despite the seriousness on multiple occasions, but what is maybe talked about most in here is God or the existence of God because the two main characters have very different viewpoints there. They speak in the English language of course because Goode's character plays an Englishman who came to visit Freud, namely C. S. Lewis. The famous writer. During the closing credits, or rather right before, it says that there was a young Englishman visiting Freud shortly before his death, but it is not assured if it was Lewis indeed. What is assured is the man's relationship with his best friend's mother and the summary on imdb makes it sound as if the film is a lot about this when this is really not the case. I guess with that they would have jumped too deep into Goode's character and they just wanted to stay more with Hopkins instead. Difficult to blame them, but I still think Goode deserves better and he has more range than he could show us here. The material was just not too much in his favor. How Freud (or Hopkins) is really elevated to greatness early on also felt a bit staged if you take the moments how Freud's daughter wishes Lewis luck before the encounter or the end then when Lewis witnesses a spectacular nature phenomenon, which was probably foreshadowing in a way with Freud passing a few days later. Like rising up in a spectacular fashion so full of light. While he does not believe in God we must remember. Freud I mean, not Lewis.

The discussions about God were also the stuff that infuriated Freud the most, but overall he is pretty chill and in control without losing his temper. Still Freud calls Lewis a friend before they separate, so there is no bad blood between them, even if the two men were so different. I liked this moment too because Freud uses the German word "for until next time", but of course they both know there will not be a next time with Freud's health. There might have been though if he was better. Despite the age difference and their very different views of religion and science, the two hit it off somehow. Critical moments of what Freud may have done to his daughter many years earlier are thrown in, but not elaborated on in-depth. The man was born in today's Czech Republic by the way, which many don't know because he is generally considered Austrian. It is also by far not the first time the character happened to be part of a movie. I think we had Karl Markovics, a successful Austrian actor, play the character a while ago, but of course there are also international productions like the Cronenberg film starring Viggo Mortensen as Freud. The one thing these Freud-themed films seem to have in common is that it seems they never receive more than an above-average reception, if at all. The ones I just mentioned have that in common and same is true for this 2023 movie. So back to this one here. What else can I mention. The film here and there also offers a little but of humor, even if it is probably a drama in the first place. The historic background still felt more dramatic than almost everything that happens directly to Freud.

Even with his terrible diagnosis, it was not as dark a film as you might have guessed. But if we look at the comedy, the highlight for me was probably when Lewis went for a walk with Freud's dog and what he said when they saw a poster depicting Freud, but also the dog's reaction there. You probably know what I am referring to, even if you have not (yet) seen the film. There were a handful other moments that felt on the funny side for me and I will not mention them all, but no matter what your humor looks like you will appreciate some of it too. What exactly is probably gonna differ between most people depending on personal taste. I personally liked the "sneeze out my teeth" moment that of course is connected to what I said earlier about keeping your humor even in dark situations and Freud's "Thank God." on one occasion and Goode's character's reaction to it were also pretty entertaining given all that happened before. I think this was a good movie. If you wanna see similar stuff about famous Austrians in history and what impact the War (World War II) had on them, I also recommend "Vor der Morgenröte" by Maria Schrader and starring Josef Hader as Stefan Zweig. This film had other topics that this one here, but also similar approaches and maybe even delivered slightly more than the outcome we got here. "Freud's Last Session" is a film worth checking out, especially if you dig Hopkins (and Goode) and I surely hope that this film is not one of Hopkins' last performances. I give the outcome a thumbs-up. Not a film you have to see on a big theater screen no matter what, but also one for a cozy night at home. There are parts where the film could have needed better elaboration and maybe sometimes ls more too, but I still says it deserves a chance and the positive recommendation was never really in doubt for me. It is also not just Hopkins. The screenplay works fine too. The film has gone a bit more under the radar than it should have. That's all.

"Less than Hero" was the sixteenth episode of the third season from the American comedy series "Awkward.". It aired late in 2013 and the end of said third season was also not too far away anymore. I stopped watching after season 3 (as of now) and I cannot say that this was a good series as a whole. Most of the actors weren't any good and the writing was not a lot better most of the time. I thought I could give this episode a review though because it was my favorite from the season I guess and maybe even my favorite from the entire show or three seasons I watched. It runs for under 21 minutes, which is pretty much the standard for this series and many other comedy shows too and seeing there were three writers is quite many for this duration. One of them was Joe Nussbaum and he also directed the episode. One of seven episodes he worked on. Ashley Rickards or rather her character Jenna still go through a serious rebel phase during which she is ready to fight everything and everybody. Well, except those who are not doing her any good, but yeah you can say that the character has literally become the antagonist in her own show. Her friends (or former friends) seem to make the right choices and hope she gets better again and same is true for some of the teachers in terms of what they think about Jenna. She is not having any of it though. This results in quite a few conflicting moments with people like the teacher who tells her that her writing is cruel and thus not worth being printed or published, the teacher who really supports her at school no-matter-what (she is the one Jenna is really going up against) and finally also her parents. The scene in which they tell her she cannot go because she is grounded and she still says that won't keep her and what her mother says afterwards stayed pretty memorable. Just like the moments afterwards that showed us the parents becoming a bit soft again, but trying to keep the softness away with the help of one another. This scene was surely there to get things lighter again.

In the meantime, things get pretty awkward for Jenna when she unknowingly consumes ecstasy that a friend of her (boy)friend put in her drink. Afterwards, stuff even gets a little sexual, but Jenna somehow realizes that it feels all wrong and gets out as soon as she can. There she needs the help of a former alliance and my guess was she would maybe call the female teacher who keeps supporting her, but she goes for somebody else when telling us there is only one person she could really call now. It was a bit on the sweet and comforting side then what happens in the car and maybe this was the reason why back then I gave the episode a rating higher than any of the other episodes, actually way higher than most from season 3. There were also a few short moments that you could miss by blinking the wrong moment like how the student who really dislikes Jenna, always has, reacts when she stands there calling everybody a hypocrite. She sure is enjoying this. Jake and Tamara, the biggest supporting couple of the show, are also featured here as they are going through some struggles in their relationship linked to bossing one another around and what helping each other should really look like. These scenes were not the highlight of the episode, but they were alright too. Overall, this was a well-rounded episode and while I maybe did not like it as much as I did when I first watched it shortly after its release over a decade ago, I would still say it has its moments and I can see why I found it appealing back then. Still a fitting adjective to describe it today. Go see the episode. You don't need to see anything before or after to appreciate it. It's a thumbs-up from me for one of the funniest interventions I have come across and also some entertaining moments about how a person is (not) able to look the other in the eye.

"Insomnia" is a co-production between the United States and United Kingdom from 2002, so this film is already over twenty years old now. I remember seeing it (at least once) when it was not totally new, but much more recent back then. It runs for slightly under two hours and the director was Christopher Nolan and it was his third full feature and came out two years after "Memento". The success of this film surely had to do with names like Soderbergh and Clooney being on board here as producers. Wally Pfister, Nolan's longtime cinematographer also joined in already. Nolan himself is nowadays also known for writing the screenplays to his movies, but with this one here he did not and left the job to Hillary Seitz. Maybe not the wisest idea, but I will get to that a little later. For her it was the second writing effort of her career and she has had long gaps in her body of work and today it is still only four, even if the most recent work is from 2021, but then again this is also almost half a decade ago now. The other two writers credited were Skjoldbjærg and Frobenius and this has to do with the fact that here we have the remake or an adaptation of a Scandinavian movie from five years earlier. If we look at the cast, we have three Oscar winners here. Al Pacino won about a decade earlier, Robin Williams' did not happen that long ago and Swank's was still really fresh. Who would have guessed that she is the one to take a second really not much later. I like her, so I will not object. And I like Pacino and Williams, so it easy for me here to give this film another watch after all these years. I don't regret it. The cast is really the biggest strength of the film.

I cannot talk about parallels and differences in comparison to the other "Insomnia" I mentioned, but let me just focus on this one here. It is even the small moments in which Pacino shines as usual. Just look at the scene with his colleague when they are about to have a meal at a restaurant. So much attention to detail. This scene does not only stay memorable because of the conflict we find out about there that is really vital for a lot that follows afterwards, I still felt that scene could have been more powerful. The actors are not to blame. Donovan is not in this film for long, but he did okay with what he was given and Maura Tierney was alright too, even if it feels hard to believe that Pacino's character would really tell her all the details about how he planted something in the past to get a man convicted, an action that puts his career at risk. I mean she is no longtime friend of his or so. But yeah this act from him is also mentioned multiple times in the context of the idea that felons may come free because of Pacino's character being discredited. Not sure if something like this could happen. As for Tierney, maybe you have seen her on "The Affair". This film here is still a contender for her most known big-screen release. Now let us look at Robin Williams: He is rather known for playing likable guys that are a bit on the oddball side, which is a description that may also have fit him in real life. May he rest in peace. But in this film here, he for once plays the villain, a man who killed the victim at the story of it all. I like him when he goes evil. There is another film in which he plays a man working at a photo shop ("One Hour Photo") who also has a severe mental disorder, but yeah here he is a killer, even if he surely wants to emphasize that it was no cold-blooded murder.

We will never know what it was exactly. Just like we will not know to what extent Pacino's character was aware of who he was aiming at early on in the movie. I mean it sure looked so foggy and definitely he did not go in there with the intention to do it. From my perspective, it was not intentional at all. His answer to Swank's character's question at the end that he does not know himself how aware he was that day also makes me think that he was not, even if he of course is ready to hide what he did because it may help his professional career if not only it never gets out, but the internal affairs investigation against him because of what happened earlier may also seem less likely to become successful. Now I mentioned early on already that I struggled with some of the writing here. This includes the idea that Swank's and Williams's character figure out so effortlessly all that was going on with Pacino's character. It did not feel realistic. Neither did a few individual scenes like when Swank's character finds the bullet a few days later, like I mean up there in Alaska I would not expect hundreds of cops to go looking for it, but still if the crime scene investigators could not have found it, then a single woman also should not have. Her being simply lucky is not an acceptable explanation for me. By the way, I was wondering which other characters would die in the end. Pacino's? Williams'? Swank's even maybe? I was sure at least one would go and I did not remember from my previous watch(es) that this was the case indeed. In the end, you can say that the bad guys get punished although it is debatable if Pacino's character here is really a bad guy, not only because of his impressive career as a police officer, but also the aforementioned idea that it was indeed an accident (as Williams' character also states on the phone) and because of his last words towards Swank's character when he wants her to stay a loyal upright police officer. There were moments when I felt that maybe Pacino's character was even hoping to get caught for it all to be over.

And he surely was looking for some sleep. Man, after watching this film I am kinda happy that sleeping when it is not dark was never a problem for me. He must have been so exhausted. There is one scene close to the end there at a pub or so when he literally looks like a zombie. I wonder how he was still able to drive a car afterwards and get to the place where it all escalates then in a shootout. But yeah, he did and he finally gets to sleep then. Like one of the really minor characters states, it is way worse even during another time of year when there is no sun at all. This would get me depressed for sure. Another quote that stayed in the mind for me was Williams's character being on the phone with Pacino's making the parallel between the two men both having killed somebody and that it was accidents, so they are in the same boat pretty much. But like I said, we cannot be sure about both deeds and the motivations. We only know they were tragic. Williams' character is probably more likely to really have committed a murder here than Pacino's. With the former not being with us anymore, it is so nice that Pacino is still fine in 2025 at the age of 84 now. He even became a dad again not too long ago. Good for him. And good for us that he is still acting. As for the not-so-great things, I feel this movie had a hard time with individual scenes sometimes to really get the suspense through. This includes, apart from what I already mentioned, Pacino's actions at Williams' character home, but also the scene with the dead dog in the alley. If this was some kind of foreshadowing or symbolism, it did not work out well. Even his outburst during the interrogation. I mean the man is such a great actor, but nobody can really save a script that is not good. I think with other less talented actors I maybe would not have given this a thumbs-up and positive recommendation. The scene with Pacino and the girl who was the best friend of the deceased was also utterly forgettable. Not sure what this was about? Some Lolita moment?

It was some of the lines, also the one about sleep and guilty conscience when it comes to police officers from Swank's character and also the delivery of some of the quotes in here that worked in the film's favor. So the words were often better than the actions. I really dig mountains and snow etc. But I feel this film also could have been more atmospheric. I really wonder what it would look like if Nolan and especially Pfister had done it 15 years later when they were maybe at the peaks of their careers. Or also in 2025. So I would say that visually, given the beauty of Alaska, but also the ruthlessness, this could have been a more memorable outcome as well. Besides, I still wonder why the main character did not simply decide to leave and stop assisting on the case if his energy level was so low and he could not get any sleep at all. Speaking of the insomnia that the film is named after, I was also wondering how Williams' character would even know this when he had Pacino's on the phone for the first time. Sadly, there is a lot in here that does not make a lot of sense. It is still an alright outcome overall and if you like the cast members as much as I do, then you will not have a bad time seeing this. I still think that without the name Nolan to it, many would have forgotten about it by now or even never come across it in the first place. I am also curious now to watch the 1997 movie and see how it fares in comparison. Not super eager, but at some point I will give it a chance. I would still say that seeing this one here once is absolutely enough. Pity that Williams and Pacino did not have more scenes together as we basically do not even see Williams during the first half of the film, but their characters' phone conversations are already pretty neat and when they finally meat, it gets even better, almost more during the quiet moments than the showy stuff. Nice that these two marvelous actors co-starred in a movie. And Pacino as a cop is always worth seeing anyway. Besides, what an irony that his name is Dormer. That is all now. The strong definitely outweighs the poor here, but what could have been with a better screenplay. Can't believe that this was nominated for an Edgar Allen Poe Award. The man must be turning in his grave. The only win for the film went to Christopher Nolan in his home country England. That's all now.

"Black Dog" or "Gouzhen" or "Gou zhen" is a pretty new Chinese movie in the Mandarin language. Still a 2024 release, but we all know it takes a little longer for films to reach cinemas in other countries or even other continents. The writer and director here is Guan Hu who is getting closer to 60 now and has been in the industry for three decades. Co-writer was Rui Ge and there it has only been one decade of activity. I like Asian films, but I have seen more from Korea and Japan and I guess this is true for most people who enjoy movies from Asia. For others maybe India as well. And as you can see from my rating, unfortunately this film here has not gotten me curious to watch more Chinese films soon, but I will get to that later. I cannot say a lot about the cast either, so I will leave that to experts on Chinese cinema. Seems as if lead actor Eddie Peng has been enjoying a really solid career for quite some time now. The name sounds kinda American. He plays a man who just got out of jail and tries to get order into his life as a free man again. The film is set shortly before the 2008 Olympic Games that took place in Beijing, so Peng's character Lang Yonghui ends up working for the city who is trying to catch as many stray dogs as they can because they do not want all the foreign visitors to see the situation and also be impacted by it. Lang is initially not amused by the dogs at all, so clearly seems he has not had a lot to do with dogs in the past and he did not realize has a soft spot for them. Or at least for one particular dog, namely the title character. During their first encounter, Lang still tries to get away from the dog. But we see quickly that he does not despise dog like maybe some of the others who try to catch them there. With this I am referring to the moment in which a girl has her dog taken from her. This surprised me a bit because I thought they were only going for stray dogs, but I guess the dog was just mistaken for one, but it probably would have meant a great deal of bureaucracy for the girl (or rather her family) to get the dog back and they still would have to hope that nobody killed it by then. There were also accusations from people that the dog hunters (let's call them that) would sell the dogs, so trying to make a profit out of this. Just one short inclusion relatively early on that is not elaborated on afterwards. The concept of Asians eating dogs (not just illegal immigrants in the United States as we learned before the previous elections) was not elaborated on here. It is really only about getting the streets free of dogs before the Olympics.

Speaking of the beginning, the film starts with a scene in which there is a bus collision or something and everybody gets out and nobody is harmed. This was caused as well by a group of stray dogs and may just be one example of moments where the situation is bothering the authorities. A little later we see the protagonist take a look at a wolf from far away. I guess this was included as a bit of a symbolic situation and meaningful, but it did almost nothing for me there and feel for the sake of it mostly. Aside from the dogs, the protagonist here also deals with some issues that are mostly related to other humans. I am talking about his dead whose health seems to be getting worse as well as a woman he meets and who could in the long run (long after the film ends) could become his significant other and then there is also a man with a beard coming back to haunt Lang and he was connected to what happened long ago and resulted in lang having to go to jail. Seems as if the man has not found his peace yet and maybe never will. Lang does not seem to have much a guilty conscience though. He knew what happened and we also find out and realize that he is definitely not an evil man and that there is even a question mark behind his guilt or at least that the punishment, i.e. The sentence, was much harder than it should have been for what he did. We are supposed to like Lang, not only because he is a kindred spirit who really loves his new-found four-legged partner in life. The dog seemed sure about this connection faster than Lang. That much is safe.

But even some of the two scenes when the two are together weren't really to my liking. There is for example the one when we see Lang inside the wrecked car at night (cars seem to fall over and lay on the side often in China) and there is terrible weather outside and Lang decides to let the dog inside with him. What happened immediately afterwards, I am not sure about. Seems as if he locked himself out or so when going out briefly again, but during the next shot apparently in the morning, so a few hours later, he has found a way to get back in again? I am not sure what this was, just sloppy editing or writing. It was sometimes not so easy to understand what was going on. Then there was the scene in which Lang went rabbit-hunting and we realize that he likes some other animals enough too to at least not kill them when he puts the rifle down, but his dog knows what his owner had in mind and it gets the job done moments later. I still wonder why Lang even had this plan at first. Also a bit difficult to believe that he thought he could do it or saw sense in it and then realizes during the act itself that he can't. Of course, it will come down to your personal taste how much you like or dislike these scenes. Speaking of other animal species, the biggest female character had a connection there too and also we find out that Lang's dad lives near the zoo now. Taking this into account, we do not really see too many animals in the movie. At least aside from dogs.

The ending was quite nice then when we see the protagonist on his bike riding down the road and the dog safely behind him in his bag and we only see the head. You knew that this was when the movie would end. An okay moment that would have been more effective though maybe if everything before that had worked better for me. I mean the main character here is not really a talkative fella and I like that. Quietly convincing stoicism is a great thing. But I just could not really start caring for him. I would not even blame the actor and this is more about how the character was written than about the performance. I think most, if not all others, would not have changed my perception there either. I have my own history with family members and ailing health, especially my dad, but there the film also did not deliver emotionally for me. I am a bit sad it didn't. It would have been a much better film to me otherwise. And finally, I also like dogs, well animals in general, even if the animal protagonist is not one of my favorite dog breed. I prefer those with more fur. In general, dogs are not among my absolute favorites, but they are alright too and I have met quite a few awesome canines throughout the years. So yeah, story-wise all the ingredients were there that could have turned this into a convincing movie for me, but somehow it did not happen. Maybe it was how slow this film was and I would have preferred it to run for 95 minutes instead of coming relatively close to the 120-minute mark. Maybe it was all the bleakness that came with it. Not even the slightly hopeless-looking Chinese nature landscapes really did a lot for me here. Same with the soundtrack. Nothing from this film was really bad, but everything stayed under the bar line that the film would have needed to accelerate above for me to give a positive recommendation here. It's still quite cool that the lead actor learned to appreciate the dog in the film so much that he decided to adopt it after shooting finished. At least I read that online. Still makes me wonder if there was no previous owner and how this dog then managed to play the part as clearly it must have been trained well before the production tin order to "get" the role. Perhaps it is just a little feel-good addition that is not 100% the truth that Peng adopted the dog.

I recently read that the Chinese submission for the 2025 Oscars, a documentary, was disqualified because it included too much English language. This film here would not have had the same problem. There is not that much spoken language in here really because of the quiet protagonist, but when there is, then it is all Chinese, so I wonder how this movie would have fared with the Academy. To be honest, I also don't think that they would have liked it enough for a nomination, but maybe enough for the shortlist. Maybe it would not have been political enough for them, which is another aspect I like and much better than when a film desperately tries to get in political agendas for the sake of it, so people do not see how bad of a film it is when they have the same agenda, but automatically think it is good. Happens in Germany more often these days then it should. Sad state of affairs. I mean people (here) are constantly talking about people in China being brainwashed and the awful stuff that may be going on there, but here things are not really any better. Anyway, if we go back to the movie one can say that we will never know if it could have managed an Academy Award nomination in the foreign-language category. Aside from that, one thing I found a bit annoying here - and clearly this aspect was supposed to be annoying, so you can probably say the filmmaker did a good job - are the loud voices we hear from people talking to the citizens. Some of those voices may come from those with a political agenda indeed and others may just be market sellers trying to make as much money as they could. It would so annoy me to hear this all day in my country not gonna lie. I am not sure what the right term is. "Insonation" is maybe too closely linked to science, so "acoustic irradiation" sounds (hehe!) more accurate. You know what I mean anyway. I guess this is all then. Overall, the film was just too void and forgettable for me. I give it a thumbs-down.

"Emilia Pérez" is a co-production between France, Belgium, Mexico and the United States of America that was released in 2024 and is almost completely in the Spanish language. You will hear maybe five lines of English too. France being listed as the first production country has to do with director Jacques Audiard who is also one of the three writers here. Number two is Thomas Bidegain with whom Audiard has worked in the past too and number three is Léa Mysius, a filmmaker in her own right as well. You can say that for Audiard this film here that runs for easily over two hours is the biggest awards show statement from his career or at least mainstream awards show statement. He has gotten in at the Oscars before, but that was only in the foreign-language film category. The Oscar nominations are not out yet for this year, but 11 BAFTA nominations says it all. Add to that the success at the European Film Awards, Cannes and other events already, even if I must say that with Cannes I am not a fan of handing Best Actress awards to multiple performers. They should include an ensemble category then instead. More recently, the movie also won pretty big at the Golden Globes taking home two film awards and this included the big trophy for musical/comedy. Well, it is by no means a comedy and the only somewhat funny thing was Saldana's character looking at Emilia when she sees her children again and hoping that Gomez's character does not realize what is happening. The third Golden Globe went to Zoe Saldana for her performance. She is also the one to beat now in the supporting category when it comes to the Oscars. Difficult to say if there is somebody who might. It seems unlikely. It is tough for me to see her as supporting here though. She is a lot in the movie in the first half, then it gets less, but she returns for crucial segments again and is also present in the spectacular finale. Maybe people forgot during the watch how much screen time she had early on long before the title character entered the picture. This probably also helped with her being seen as supporting that the film is named after another character. You can say in favor of the decision that the film probably would have worked without Saldana's character, but not without Emilia Pérez.

So two of Saldana's fellow nominees at the Oscars could be Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez, so yeah the young ones are definitely closing the gap, but it also makes it obvious that Saldana is not facing the strongest opposition ever in this category. Her win, if it happens, would also one of the weaker in recent history. She was not bad or anything, but I still think a nomination for her would already be too much. I would say the same about the other cast members. Karla Sofia Gascón, who plays the title character, will 100% be nominated for an Oscar, already for the historic aspect of having a woman nominated that was born a man. I don't really care about that. The performance matters more. And while it was solid, I would also not use any superlatives here as others have. Same level like Saldana perhaps. The one thing I do have respect for, however, is that she also played her character before the transition. I liked how she acted as a male in the first third of the film, even if one could surely ask if it is really such a good idea if you just had this kind of surgery to play a big character in a film instead of staying yourself for a while and exploring your new life without the public eye. So I would maybe nominate Gascon in supporting for the first 40 minutes only. Eventually Selena Gomez gets the same words from me about her performance: Good, but not good enough for an Oscar nomination. Still, also if you look at her television career now, she has really made it far compared to many other young starlets from her generation. Who would have guessed she may be the one from the trio Steve Martin and Martin Short who gets the (first) Oscar nomination. She is far from a shoo-in. We will see how it goes.

As for the film we have here, you can divide it into three chapters really. It also fits time-wise that they all are almost equally long. The first is everything about Saldana and the introduction to Gascón and her character pre-op. Then there is a really big jump ahead in time and we find out about Emilia's new life, how it is working out nicely but still she misses her family and the children do become a part of her life eventually and it is even more harmonic. The final chapter then is typical Audiard. Much more tense away from the subjects Hollywood adores so much and this is where the film became really gritty and the aspect of crime and violence was included for the first time really. Characters are beaten up, blackmailed, abducted, cut-off fingers being sent via mail, huge shootouts with automatic rifles, exploding cars etc. I honestly wish the film could have been like this from the start, but oh well. Until this last chapter I thought I would have to give it an even lower rating and thus a negative recommendation, but the final 45 minutes (including credits) or even more had me on the edge of my seat here and there and this is why I still give the film a positive recommendation, even if all the awards recognition it receives is extremely exaggerated. I am also not happy with the decision to turn it into a musical. There were hardly any performances I liked. I mean I am generally not big on dance choreographies, so this is probably just me, but I do appreciate many songs in general and I saw not really such level in here. Selena Gomez's song from her showy moment was fine. I think it was the same song that also played during the closing credits (first of two), but this is it. Gascón's numbers were so-so, better early on and Saldana's were another step down in quality. That one of those seems to win the Oscar for Best Song this year is downright sad.

As for some of the smaller characters, they clearly cast people there with decent singing voices because their acting did not have to be great as they did not have much to work with anyway, but the one time they start singing should elevate the movie and often it did. This probably also applies to Adriana Paz. She was the title character's love interest, but yeah we find out nothing about her really and hardly know anything about who she is. The moment how the two were bonding over being armed just in case during their first meeting was a bit funny though. The gun eventually did not help Emilia a lot when it mattered. Even if the last scenes were spectacular, there were also a few things wrong to me with how it all unfolded. I did not like the way Gomez's character was written there. I mean she made herself very clear before that that she is really totally crazy over her new man and that she always carried a fear that her old man would find and kill her plus he attacked her new man, wants to take her kids from her etc. So I find it difficult to believe that she changes her mind so quickly and refinds all these loyalties when she realizes who Emilia is. I also did not like that Saldana's character is around all of a sudden and watches the explosion of the car. Before that it was still a decent moment as we knew something was about to happen when we see the vehicle right after the crash. Audiard already played with us a bit implying that Emilia could die a few moments earlier, but she does not. In the end, there is no getting out/away for her though.

This aforementioned criticism linked to Gomez's character also had to do with the fact that while she turned into a bit of an antagonist eventually, they wanted to make sure that we see her still as a somewhat decent person at least. Edgar Ramírez was supposed to be seen as the bad guy, also with the earlier comments by Emilia about him. What a waste though! Ramírez is such a talented actor and he was not allowed to show us anything. There is also major misandry in this movie. Look at the hotshot lawyer at the very beginning, look at the doctor (Ivanir) who does the job, but is certainly not really on the tolerant side. Saldana's character's moment when she objects to what he says was supposed to be seen as one of the most powerful, but I found it a bit cringeworthy and staged. Even Emilia pre-op was a ruthless criminal and seemed to have softened up then as a female, even if admittedly during his/her talk with Saldana's character in the first third of the film, the character was already a bit soothing and tells her that she does not need t be scared. Well, not entirely true. Of course, she needs to be scared if she knows about the plan and refuses to assist. No witnesses I guess. And there is of course also the covered heads thingey before entering the car, so nobody knows about the location, but this is really just a common modus operandi and nothing personal or truly against any of the character. More like business procedure. I guess this is pretty much it then. As you may have understood by now from what wrote, I think this was an alright movie that got kinda saved during the final 45 minutes where it got bolder and more interesting. Before that, it was pretty much a movie that delivered the agenda that liberal Hollywood loves, but in terms of actual creativity, great writing and memorability it came mostly short. Maybe three stars out of five is still a bit on the generous side here and I would not have given as much if the first third had been this good and everything afterwards rather forgettable. But yeah, it is what it is and I give "Emilia Pérez" a positive recommendation. Without enthusiasm, however.

"Down" is the fourth episode from season two of "Breaking Bad". It aired back in spring 2009, so it is over 15 years old now and runs for over 47 minutes, which is the usual running time for Breaking Bad episodes. The director is John Dahl and while he is quite prolific, this is the only episode of the show that he directed. The writer was Emmy winner Sam Catlin and while he was/is nowhere near as prolific as Dahl, it is one of ten episodes where he was in charge of the screenplay. He worked mostly as a producer, also on this show. Series creator Vince Gilligan is of course once again also credited as a writer here. If you see the cooking as the key idea behind this show, then you can see this episode as a bit of a transitional one. Walt and Jesse are still laying low, but they have enough other stuff to deal with anyway. This includes almost completely family matter. Walt still can't talk to Skyler about what he really has been doing and she is not willing to take it any longer and turns the tables on him and pretty much does what he did before, namely leaving the house for hours without telling where she is going or what she is doing. I am wondering that myself. Where is she? I mean we knew what Walt was doing when he was absent. The end gives a little insight when we see her sit in a car and basically doing nothing it seems. The face that she is all reasonable usually and we see her some despite being very pregnant also tells us how much she is struggling with the whole situation and that it is very much leaving a toll on her, even if she doesn't show it to Walt and stays her cold self there giving him the silent treatment. There is also an impact on Walt's son as he decided to go by another name for the moment instead of Walt jr.

However, these reactions, especially Skyler's seem a bit harsh if it is only all about the second phone. I mean she was so happy and relieved that Walt was alright after his disappearance and you could think from the way they are acting that the doctor told them what Walt told him. But obviously this is not the case, so Walt's disappearance seems so far away now. Of course, there is also still the cancer background which would make me think they would not treat him like this. I mean Walt is by no means a saint, but still. For Anna Gunn (Skyler), this has to be one of the showiest episodes of the entire series. Even if she is not saying a lot at all with the exception of the scene towards the end when she asks Walt one last time to tell her what is really going on. It was one of the best scenes from the episode, but I personally also liked the one in which Walt keeps rambling about how his wife may have mistaken the alarm on his phone for the phone ringing. When we see Skyler there while Walt keeps babbling and certainly should have held a bit back with his explanation that he probably practiced a few times before that, you know that something is gonna happen with her next. Something drastic. I did not rule out the possibility that she believes him and the two are completely harmonic again, but instead she leaves without saying a word and this is where her absences begin.

In the other part of the story, we have Jesse struggling with losing his home. I did feel sorry for him too. I mean if he really cares for his old relative more than the rest of his family, then it is totally unfair they throw him out, even if it is of course also somewhat understandable that they do not want drama and chaos every day in their home. Still a drastic step. Jesse is in touch with an older homeless man and there is of course the fictitious scenario that this is what he could become as well. He is on course to that sad scenario. The scene in which he tries to stay with an old buddy was also among the more memorable ones. The moment the man's wife tells him she wants to talk in the kitchen you knew there is no way he can stay. I personally think it is always sad when romance relationship gets in the way of friendship. They at least could have had him stay for half the time they agreed on. On the showier side, Jesse ends up inside a public toilet literally crashing through the roof and probably destroying it and he also manages an escape that has a touch of Fast & Furious to it. In the end, he is reunited with Walt and even if the latter is not happy about it at all and we get quite the fight in which both manage to get rid of some of their aggressions at least that they have been accumulating throughout the episode, there is also a moment of harmony there between them again. Or two moments: The first is when they lie next to each other and both are exhausted and the second is when they are inside Walt's home and Walt asks Jesse if he wants to eat breakfast together and Jesse agrees without saying a word. The episode definitely ended on a high note there as Jesse found the home he has been looking for, at least for a short moment, and this home is with Walt. Who would have thought.

Maybe it was this last shot that made me give 4 stars out of 5 for this episode back when I watched it the first time. I gave it a rewatch today, just like I am giving the entire show a rewatch, and I probably would have given a lower rating today. But first watch is always crucial, so I keep the higher rating. In any case, the episode is definitely closer to greatness than to being forgettable. No denying there. And not every episode can literally be a massive explosion. So it is a good thing this got made. I recommend seeing it although by almost halfway into the second you should be able to make up your mind yourself if you still wanna keep going. Let me tell you that this show does not get worse in the next few seasons. Oh and with this episode here and especially the beginning, there is also still the mystery element with what was happening at the beginning. A piece of a puzzle pretty much and we get a new one with almost every episode. Keep watching if you wanna know. That's all folks. "Down" is one of the episodes from "Breaking Bad" with the shortest title, but does not come short quality-wise. It is certainly worth seeing, even without Hank and withour a (new) villain.

"Magyarázat mindenre" or "Explanation for Everything" Hungarian(-Slovakian) 2023 movie and it took a while for the film to reach theaters outside its home country. The long worth was worth it though as the film scored convincing awards recognition not only all over Europe, but also in America. With the film's topic, it is no big surprise, however, that the movie was not chosen to represent Hungary at the Oscars. I personally think it might have gotten in, but we will never know. The writer and director was Gábor Reisz, a man in his mid40s now and when he had this film released back in 2023, he was already part of the film industry of his country for 20 years, so he started young, even if the vast majority of his body of work were short films. Hard to imagine he will return to these after the success of this one here. It is really the complete opposite of a short film with a runtime of over 2.5 hours even. For that, it really did not drag much, if at all. His co-writer here was the really experienced Éva Schulze, who has been in the industry for half a century and is almost 80 now. But even with all this experience, this film here with its success is a definite contender for her most known as well. I cannot say much about the cast here. Will leave this to people from Hungary or to those who have seen more films from this beautiful country than I have. The first credit went to Gáspár Adonyi-Walsh and he is probably the closest the movie has to a lead, but for me it is an ensemble performance and everybody added their fair share. Early on, it seemed as if Lilla Kizlinger, the actress who plays the protagonist's best friend (and crush), could be an equal lead, but this changed quickly and we know nothing about her family background for example, while we do know quite a bit there about the boy and also about the liberal teacher whose impact on the story keeps increasing more and more the longer the film goes. The girl is in a way stuck between these two males, but this is really all she adds to the story. I would even say that the boy's father was a more significant character and the aforementioned girl is overall maybe on par with the journalist. The longer the film goes, the less significant Janka becomes.

This is a full-on drama I would say. Comedy as well as any other genre is completely non-existent. I only remember one slightly funny moment (unless you don't count the written statement that nothing happened on Sunday) which was a quote from a doctor that was more directed at himself than at the boy's father with whom he was sharing the screen in this scene. This was also one very specific scene in which the word on the boy allegedly having failed his exam because of something he was wearing was spread. A good example on how truth turns more and more into fiction. Another example there was how the editor-in-chief picked a headline that also added more spice instead of facts. And even if you look at the school itself, there are such tendencies: The guy with the bald head (director?) is really all about minimizing the damage and not about clearing his teacher. Then there is the female teacher who was in the room when it happened and even she states the facts in a way that does not sound too good for the accused, even if she knows he is innocent. Let's face it: The public does not care much about what happened as long as they can bring in a political agenda. Hungary has of course been under more scrutiny than other countries because of its President, but let me say that this film delivers a one-sided approach in terms of politics and undeniably there is an agenda. If it had all been the other way around, things would not have been any different. Like a student who gives a really poor presentation but still passes the exam because he makes a statement that liberals like or wears a piece of clothing that they appreciate. I can even mention an example from my school years when we had a student who was wearing a derogatory shirt insulting the President of the United States George W. Bush at this point. How cool.

So yeah, the manner in which the teacher here is depicted as somebody who is all about fairness is a bit (okay, more than just a bit) on the biased side. There was one quote from him that there was nothing they could not get away with that stayed especially in the mind, maybe because it was said during the argument between the teacher and the boy's father. This was one of the best scenes. It was also almost another funny moment how we saw the shocked wife there in the kitchen trembling because of how the two men were going against each other in the living room. I was initially a bit surprised that they asked the teacher in even as there had been some bad blood between the two men in the past already, but I guess they wanted to give it a new start. Another scene that stayed in the mind was between the boy and his female friend when he asked her about the stupidest thing she had ever done and she responded by saying that she fell for said teacher and of course she asks him back what it was for him. You could easily know what response went through his mind there, but the actual response was also interesting because it was a bit of foreshadowing. You knew he would do something bad, but at this point I expected almost worse, almost more violent if we look at how the young teacher ruined maybe the future for the boy and also how said teacher could easily have the girl he was crushing on. The father is also an interesting character. He is facing his own struggles as there is something impacting him at work and also he is struggling almost more than the son over the failed exam. At the same time, he is really ready to do all he can to help his boy towards a better future and how he finds out near the end about the lie is also a bit on the sad side.

Speaking of the exam, I still found it hard to believe that the boy was so helpless with history while scoring top grades elsewhere. Minor inclusions there like being allowed to change the subject, but then best you could get was a C gave an interesting insight into the Hungarian school system. There was really not too much from this film that made no sense to me. I had a hard time believing that there are so many reporters allowed inside during the retake. I mean those weren't fair conditions at all and went against all kinds of privacy aspects. I mean I am no expert on Hungarian law, but I would be very baffled if this was real. There was a bit of fairness restored then because the boy, who slightly resembled David Kross, failed the exam again or did not even take it, but just ran out as he was clearly overwhelmed by the situation. So you can say that all the drama happening made things even worse for him because retaking the exam was not a new chance for him, just further humiliation and he knew all along he would fail once again. Then there is the closing sequence with the boy being part of a group of teenagers again and we see them burgle a house to swim in the pool and then run away when being caught. It was all joyful and really the opposite of conservatism which you might guess he would spiral into because of his dad, but it went even strongly against the cruel words of his dad that the boy ruined his life. He still had people around him caring for him. It was also the first time the boy realizes that there is another girl in the group who seems to have an interest in him. Janka is not a factor anymore and maybe she is even gone completely from the boy's life at that point. Even if she is not, it is difficult to imagine that the two could ever be close again after what her words in their final scene together. Cruel stuff. You could see early on already that she is not interested the way he wants her to be when she ignores his question about travelling together and keeps rambling about her kitchen struggles.

As we are getting close(r) to the end of the review, let me just do a little bit of brainstorming about what else comes to mind: I liked the music here too. The film had a pretty neat soundtrack and I will put three songs on my MP3 player. Some of it was choir music. The element of coincidence also played an interesting role here with how nothing would have happened if the boy had not picked a certain garment for the exam or seen and removed the pin. Statements coming from random people, for example at around 110 minutes where a few interviewees (including a stunning young female) are giving us their view on the scandal, give this film a bit of a documentary touch even. I am not sure what is up with the title here. Maybe this is linked to the teacher's aforementioned words how there is nothing people cannot get away with in Hungary nowadays. The film is set in the now, which you realize in the scene in which Biden is mentioned to be the current President of the United States. I guess this is pretty much all then. I have a feeling this film's success with awards bodies, but especially the subject it is about, is going to help Reisz and we will hear more from him in the future and see him do films in other countries, maybe France, with renowned actors. If they turn out well, he probably won't return to Hungary any time soon. You also get many references on Hungarian culture here like the mention of another film from the country that was even way more successful than this one we have here. I still liked this one here better. There were segments when I was close to giving it 4 stars out of 5 even, but as of now 3 seems more appropriate. There was never really a moment though when I thought I couldn't give it a positive recommendation. Even at the start when the film needed a little bit to really get me to care it was always safe inside thumbs-up territory. Go see it if you get the chance. Does not need to be at a movie theater. On TV or DVD is an equally acceptable choice. It does not matter where you see it, it's more important that you see it. Don't miss out.

"Naked Lunch" is a co-production between Canada, the United Kingdom and also Japan, which surprises me a bit as there are not really any references to Asia included in here. This film came out in 1991, so it will have its 25th anniversary soon and the director and one of the two writers was David Cronenberg. The other writer was William S. Burroughs who is maybe more known than Cronenberg to people who are not that much into movies as they are into literature, even if Burroughs has worked on films more than most people know. But of course also his literary works are still being turned into film adaptations now was we are deep into the 21st century. But today we look at this one here that runs for slightly over 110 minutes. The cast includes faces that you recognize immediately, but are maybe not instantly capable of remembering the name. The lead actor is Peter Weller and the supporting casts includes prolific late actors like Julian Sands, Roy Scheider from "Jaws" and Ian Holm from "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. The biggest and almost the only supporting actress in here is Judy Davis, already an Oscar nominee back then and a second nomination would soon follow. She is also still with us now in 2025 and same is true for Weller as well as Michael Zelniker, another supporting player. But I will not mention all the cast names to you now, so let me just mention one more thing only before we move on and that is that Judy Davis, who is quite attractive here, plays a double role in fact as her initial character is deceased not super long into the movie. So she also plays not only the main character's wife, but also his new potential love interest. She is also maybe the cast member that scored the biggest awards attention here, especially with the win coming from the New York Film Critics Circle. The National Society of Film Critics really liked the film as well. What baffles me maybe the most is that even minor supporting actress Monique Mercure who was hardly in the film at all managed a little bit of awards attention, so yeah the movie definitely did not come short there.

But now let us look a little into the action here: You can see from my rating already that I am not much of a fan of the outcome. I did like the first 30 minutes or even less it was until the protagonist accidentally kills his wife and is forced to flee to another region of the world to avoid getting caught. So maybe the best for me would have been if this had been a short film with a runtime of over half an hour. When stuff like diplomacy, politics etc. Kicks in afterwards, the film is not doing a lot for me anymore. Weller was alright though. I would not blame him and probably another actor in the lead also would not have changed my perception. Cronenberg is always a bit on the challenging side with the absurdities he gets into his movie and while many may disagree if we look at ratings and reviews, I think that the film was lost a bit in style over substance. Of course, the scenes with these animals were memorable from the visual side, but in terms of plot, story and character development, the movie felt way too long for its own good. So yeah, I mentioned the insects. It probably comes down to everybody's own memory and taste what one finds most memorable there, but for me it wasn't even the violent or grossest moments like when the main character kills the bug in the interrogation chamber or when one animal kills another in the second half of the film, but I found it interesting enough to see these bugs as some kind of hybrid between vermin and typewriter. I could not look away and clearly the creature knew what it was as it asked the main character to write a letter that the bug would dictate him. Could not really get any more bizarre than that, I give Cronenberg that.

Some of the stranger inclusions sure worked. Take the opening scene and what happens immediately afterwards when Weller's character apparently runs from a few bugs that come out of hiding. We do not see him panicking, but we are told about it and clearly another character is quite unhappy over this. I mean it is already strange enough that the man ran away indeed, but even more bizarre is that not a long time later he still tells us and other character that he found his dream job and dedication (maybe in other words) although we know that he is clearly not suitable for the job at all. What I also liked about the first 25 minutes was the portrayal of Davis' character there and how there is a parallel between the bugs and her that eventually even results into death, but also I am talking about the consumption of the powder used to kill bugs. This stuff can get you addicted obviously. The aforementioned Scheider also has a scene there that is somewhat memorable as he is a doctor apparently who has a bit of an antidote ready. The character then disappears for almost the entire film, but returns again shortly before the end, which is no surprise at all because he did not die early on and the name of the man is constantly mentioned. What makes it maybe a surprise is that he returns despite the film having moved to a location extremely far away from where it started. Oh yeah and another favorite segment is the one from the beginning really in the interrogation room there with the two cops and the main character. Or well, it is just one cop really doing the talking and not two. This was also already so extreme and odd that you knew this is never gonna happen like this in real life. Much more in the heads of Burroughs and Cronenberg.

Burroughs by the way was already quite old here when this came out and in terms of full features that derive from his works, it was almost the very last one he saw. There was actually another film based on the same novel that came out not a lot later either. I guess the name Cronenberg, who is also over 80 now and was almost 50 back then, and also the poster you see on imdb for this title make clear that you will be in for a very special and unconventional watch, even if the head is a typewriter there and there is no vermin reference in this picture. I understand that writing is key for the main character and he needs women (or one woman) to find actual inspiration, but I am not sure why they went for this image because it is not included in the film or maybe it is a metaphor that others are constantly pushing his buttons and controlling him. In addition to that, I also cannot really say much about the title here. If I had not known that the film is named "Naked Lunch", I never would have thought so. Maybe the reason becomes more obvious in the novel and Cronenberg just did not consider the connection to the title super significant, but of course he also could not really name the film differently. Nowadays it might be easier to do so. This is pretty much it then. I have to say that none of the conversations between the characters here, mostly between Lee (Weller) and one other character, attracted my attention and made me curious about what is going to happen next. Negative deal-breaker.

But I guess there are enough people who like the film and there was a reason why this one was even shown once again two days ago at a movie theater far away from the UK and even much further away from Canada and I am sure there were enough people who liked the watch or maybe just went because of the name Cronenberg. Do not be fooled by some of the photos on imdb that show shots in black-and-white as this movie is of course in color from the very beginning, just like you would have expected it to be like with a film from the early 1990s. I must say this was also one of the negative points for me here I think that they had the chance to depict the country where around 80 minutes take place as something much more interesting and atmospheric that could have added more tension to the story, but it wasn't meant to be. Just one of a few points here why I do not consider the outcome a success. Perhaps it is a film you need to watch more than once to really start appreciating it and, who knows, maybe I will do so one day, but as for now my motivation to give it another chance is as low as it gets. That's why I would say that the best choice here is to skip the watch and go for something else instead. I would only recommend it to people who are interested in bugs or maybe even have a love-hate relationship with them. Or those who are simply into super weird movies in general and are not scared of bugs. Or I don't know, maybe those will appreciate the moments in which bugs die in here. I'll leave it up to you. The thumbs-down from my side stays though. Not recommended.

"Die Ausreißer" is the ninth episode from the first (of two seasons) of the German comedy series from the 1980s that is known as "Der Untermieter" or "Die Nervensäge" and the title character is played by Didi Hallervorden who is luckily still with us 40 years later and now around the age of 90 already, but seemingly still in good shape for his age and also productive professionally. I like him, not gonna lie. So I thought I'd give his show here a little review and with this episode the season is moving towards the end and I would say that this is one of my two favorite episodes from season 1, maybe the entire series. There were quite a few funny moments here. I will get to those soon, but for now let's say first that the episode runs again for under 24 minutes as they always do and that the two biggest supporting players are Rotraud Schindler and Nathalie Hallervorden. The name of the latter already gives away that she is Didi's daughter in real life and Schindler was still Hallervorden's wife at that point. You could maybe even say she is close to being a lead here too, even if not as big of a lead as Didi Hallervorden. Director Ralf Gregan is also still with us now and even older than Hallervorden. The names of the writers Robinson and Vincent come from the original British series because what we got here is the German adaptation. The German writer in charge here was Heidi Zerning, who is sadly no longer with us, but of course good to see a woman in charge of screenplays in the 1980s. In the cast list you also find the name of Ingrid van Bergen, who played a character here that was kinda in her own spheres and you could never really be sure if she was hitting on Willi during the one and only scene in which we see her. The fact that she absolutely does not care that her son is about to go to Nepal says it all though.

But now back to what I mentioned at the start, namely that I want to say what scenes I liked a lot here or what moments: The first was the one that also came from the van Bergen scene, namely what Willi says he was told via phone before he hands her the phone. This was quite funny and came out of nowhere. Then there is the scene with the guy working for the railroad company and how he kinda gets curious about going to Nepal too instead of helping Willi was hilarious. With Willi inside the train eventually, he mistakes a guy for the girl he is looking for and that was funny too, also Willi's reaction after realizing when he puts the blame on the guy and that it is very inappropriate that he impersonates Trixi. Not too far away from the end then I like the scene with the pigs just because I like pigs. I totally would have preferred to sit there with the instead of sitting next to the driver. Quite a few animals we have here during this episode because completely out of nowhere there are also two chimpanzees shown to us right before the closing credits happen and the quote about Willi's extended family it was I think was funny too. In general, there are quite a few inclusions here that made me smile. Almost all of it was harmless or was at least perceived as harmless back then. German comedy is as low as it gets right now, has been for quite some time actually, so it is nice to see a show that does it right, even if it is 40 years old now already. There was even some solid heart in this episode when we see Willi's heartfelt comment about how much he wants a pet and it was in fact also nice to see Willi being appreciated by the female protagonist for once because of how much he helped her find her daughter. He deserved those nice words for sure. Definitely on the sweet side. Fun episode, one of the very best from the show without a doubt and we also have more different locations here than usual. Big thumbs-up and I will surely continue with season two at some point, even if maybe not right way. Pretty much all episodes from season 1 are good, but this is even one of the great ones. Thanks Didi!

"Lego Marvel Avengers: Mission Demolition" is the newest addition to the Lego Avengers franchise and while I am generally not a super big fan of animated movies, I enjoyed this one here. More than I expected in fact. It really came out not long ago, is just a few months old and the director here was award-winning filmmaker Ken Cunningham who also gave us already his take on Jurassic World and Star Wars in the Lego universe in the past, so not a surprising choice that he got chosen to direct here. The two writers Son and Wilcox are also not new at all to filmmaking with Son being the more prolific from the duo. As for the voice cast, I am sure those who have more of a soft spot for these animated Lego (short) films, will recognize more names, but for me here the names that sounds mostly familiar are John Stamos and Kevin Smith because of their acting past and also Smith's connection with imdb. The main character is voiced by Will Friedle. He sounded really young here, much younger than the actor is, so I guess he clearly brought to the table what was required here for the character of Dennis. Or I should say Demolition Man, which is a funny reference to the young man causing a bit of havoc from time to time during his job as a cleanup guy after the Avengers' fights. Here we have actually a colleague of Dennis turn into the main and really only antagonist. He manages to lock away the Avengers to go on with his evil plan, so it is of course Dennis to the rescue then. Plus, Visions head. Later on, also Captain America, Wolverine, Moon Knight and a few others show up, but most of it all requires Dennis to get the job done and make sure the Avengers are freed and the bad guy is beaten and also that Vision gets his body back to his head.

Apart from the superhero contents here, it is of course as always with the Avengers about funny one-liners and coolness combined with humor. We understand that She-Hulk (or Shulky as Deadpool calls her) is not fond of people talking to the audience at all because it is her thing and also that Deadpool stole I from her. The latter and She-Hulk then meet during the closing credits finally in a little funny segment where they are even mentioning a name from the closing credits who apparently did not really work on this film. Anyway, one of the favorite parts of this short film to me was the music and with that I am talking about the two songs that got used almost at the very end here. How they brought in "Gloria", a song I really, really like, was so funny and it was also not just playing for us, but also for the characters to hear it. And then there is a number by Bonnie Tyler that always delivers really, even in film sequences and films that are overall much more serious than this one here. I guess a key reason why I liked the outcome here was that I found the main character likable. It works much better for me this way to follow the kid than following just the Avengers all the time for half an hour. They got their tough fight at the very beginning, but after that they are gone and when they reappear, they are quickly isolated and restrained to being helpless watchers. The focus stayed on Dennis. I may not really like the name, but I liked the kid included in this film. His dedication paired with innocence and also clumsiness was quite entertaining to watch and the film flew by. It is not 44 minutes long anyway as it says on imdb, but rather 40 minutes plus a few seconds and these two thirds of an hour flew by fast for sure. I was curious what is going to happen next.

Of course, this one here does the Avengers in the title justice and includes many smart and funny references and I am sure that you will still discover something new if you watch this film for another three times. Admittedly, it is not good enough for that. But it is good enough for one viewing for sure and if you like these Lego films, you will not be disappointed. Always nice to see the racoon and Groot too, even if granny Gloria probably does not agree with how she speaks about these two on one occasion. Okay what else can I add? I guess this is pretty much it. Here we had a well-rounded effort and I hope that the next Lego short films linked to huge franchises will be as good as this one here and not return to the sometimes quite forgettable levels we had in the past. I have no doubt these films will keep getting made. I mean it says it all that quite some time after the Avengers pretty much ended (at least in terms of the group being the hero), these Lego films are still being made. When stuff collapses, no matter if buildings or whatever and the debris is made of Lego rocks, this also never gets old. Apart from that I thought the antagonist in his transformed shape looked quite solid here and memorable in a way. Reminded me a bit of Captain Planet it was. I mean not his head and face, but the outfit had a bit of a resemblance. Speaking of head and face we also got the character of Ghost Rider here if I am not mistaken. Definitely a surprising inclusion, but never bad to be surprised with characters you, well I, did not expect. So yeah, the thumbs-down and positive recommendation were almost never in doubt for me here. Unless you really hate Lego films, I suggest you give it a watch because even if you fall into the category that I fall into, namely of people that feel rather lukewarm towards these films, you will be positively surprised. Don't miss out!

"The Black Tape Project - Texas Swim Week 2024" is an American documentary short film (I guess you can call it that) from 2024 that is pretty much a fashion show that runs for half an hour. However, here the models are not wearing any clothing really, but black tape instead as the title suggests. This is the case for everybody except one of the girls and you see her at the very end. What she wears may also be tape, but it is not black. Anyway, this was filmed for the Texas Swim Week in may with summer getting closer, but the upload I watched was from September 2024 because the original one linked on imdb to Youtube was no longer available. Maybe too steamy for Youtube overall with all the skin you see here of course. This runs for half an hour or a few seconds over and while you see all the models only relatively briefly, you see the man behind this idea for much longer. His name is Drakan Blackhart. Very fitting that his name includes the color black as well. It is not just that he is observing how the models are wearing his art(?), but he is literally working on said art as they are standing on stage waiting to continue with their presentation. This means that you actually do see some of the models longer than during other fashion show, even if I stated earlier that you do not see them for a really long time. So it is a bit of art in progress even with the man sorting out minor things there apparently. Like with every fashion show, we have chairs at the sides of the catwalk and people sitting on those and watching curious. It is also not uncommon at all that the man I mentioned earlier, the designer if you wanna say so, reenters the stage at the very end with all his models and gets the applause. I am not sure if I would have applauded.

I must say tastes differ of course, but what I see here is not really the kind of summer swimwear that I really appreciate on women. And I am writing this as a heterosexual male who even likes the color black. But yeah, to each their own. I guess this personal perception and taste also has a lot to do with why I give the outcome here a really low rating. I might have given one or two stars more if it had gone on for only ten minutes and not thrice the duration. It did drag and that also had to do with the song that got played in loop during the entire thing. I think it was just played for us the viewers of the video and not for those watching the show in Dallas. So yeah, this was filmed in Dallas, Texas as the title also says. Parts of the lyrics refer to Christmas, the singer's hope or safe idea that he will be remembered and we also get the poor dating pickup phrase including the name of the state Tennessee. At least this music was used in the version I saw, so yeah, if it is not the original soundtrack of the short film, let me know and I correct it. If it is, then I must say there is nothing worth remembering here. The name of the director, according to imdb, is by the way Ronn. I guess this one-word name is also an alias and supposed to ooze more creativity. I don't see it. But I do see that Ronn has worked on nothing else during his career until now. Kinda telling. Overall, I highly recommend to skip the watch here or just see the first three or four minutes and then decide if you wanna keep going. It is not getting different or better afterwards. Just more of the same really. Even for those (females) who like the style of this approach to fashion, I would then recommend to wear it themselves next summer and not keep watching. Or best, just stay away from it altogether. Massive thumbs-down. Maybe it was better live on location. The models were at least tolerable, some fairly attractive, others not so much. Not worse than with than with other fashion shows. Once again, it comes all down to personal taste there.

"Carved" is a Canadian English-language live action short film from 2018, so this one is over five years old now, over six actually or more depending on when you get here to read this review of mine and it is safe to say that this one is probably getting more exposure during the Halloween season. The writer and director was Justin Harding and he was already in the industry for over a decade when he made this one here that runs for slightly over five minutes. The production company is also named after Harding. This little movie got some additional exposure because in fact this was turned into a full feature movie last year (2024) that based on this short. But we look at this one here today. It is not super easy to find online, but also not impossible. The first two minutes we see a man who is definitely on the hillbilly side harvest a pumpkin that is not as smooth and shiny as the others. We see a crow object and this screaming you can even call it is what makes clear that this is mostly on the horror film side. The crow also returns for the second chapter of three and seems she keeps an eye on what is happening with the dubious pumpkin head. Speaking of screaming, the boy of the family we are introduced to certainly has a voice as well. His father giving in to him was a bad decision for the man as we find out eventually. I must say that while the film is at its core about the mystery and creepiness, it also made me smile a bit when we see the characters' over-the-top face expressions. This was comedic. I am talking about the family there, but also about the hillbilly at the beginning, especially after he did harvest the pumpkin. The noise he makes too.

The third and final chapter then takes place at the family's house and here the crow is absent for the first time and not overseeing the events. What she would have seen was pretty gruesome. To some extent you cannot even be too much against the pumpkin with all the rejection he received from the family father. I mean if somebody had to die, it affects the right one you could say. The hillbilly decided to harvest the pumpkin because he deemed him good enough. The boy chose the pumpkin and even the mother and daughter did not actively reject the pumpkin or at least weren't repulsed by it like the dad. At the very end, the kids ready to ring the doorbell were also repulsed by it and seems they are getting their fair share from it as well. The pumpkin looked like skeleton head by the way. Overall, this was not an awful watch, but from my perspective something was missing still to make it good enough for a positive recommendation. The moment when the pumpkin finally attacks was not as memorable as it could have been. The family's reaction was better quality from my perspective. The little epilogue then outside the house did not win me over totally either. I guess this was showing us the father being turned into a pumpkin himself if I interpreted correctly? It was only alright because of the idea that once again those judging the pumpkin (or this time the pumpkin's creation) in a negative way are punished. All in all, I think you can skip the watch here, even if with five minutes (and those already include the closing credits) are a runtime where you cannot really do anything wrong.

"Grilled" is the second episode of the second season of "Breaking Bad" and it runs for 48 minutes, the duration most episodes of this show have. This is the only episode from the series directed by Charles Haid, who is also a prolific actor. A bit of a surprise maybe that he did not return for other episodes because many see this episode as one of the best of the season, if not the entire series. Haid was nominated for multiple Emmys in his career, but so far he did not win. The writer is George Mastras and he has two Emmy wins already and also worked on many other Breaking bad episodes. He shares the honors for this episode with series creator Vince Gilligan. Not too much to say about the cast this time as the ones you get in here are those actors and faces that were already included in the opening episode of the second season. There is one exception though as Mark Margolis' character is introduced here, a man with a physical condition that prevents him from being able to speak, but he can still make himself heard through other ways. And the character's willpower shows here already and I guess I am not taking anything away if I say that he will stay a part of this show for much longer, even if the way the episode ends it definitely was a possibility that we would never see the character again. What is safe, however, is that we will not see Raymond Cruz's Tuco Salamanca ever again with how the episode ends. As diabolic as the character is, you have to pay him respect that despite his gunshot wound, he managed to crawl out of that hole. Even Walt seemed fairly safe Tuco would soon fall unconscious and bleed to death in there. That's why he did not pull the trigger.

This episode tells us a solid bit about Walt's relationship with Jesse too and it is rather the actions than the words. Walt steps in when Tuco is about to kill Jesse earlier and also Walt does not fire any shots near the end when Jesse and Tuco are fighting because he is worried that he could kill Jesse too. If we look at it the other way around, then you can question if Jesse really meant those words that Walt's life has no priority really because of the cancer and you can also wonder if Jesse would have pulled the trigger in that situation. He is not hesitant to pull the trigger though when fighting with Tuco and this is surely among the best he has done all series so far. It also makes up a little bit for the fact that it was him who messed up the previous attempt at Tuco's life when he was a bit too boastful with the chili. Or was it curry? Doesn't matter. Then again, he could not know that Tuco does not like the ingredient. The addition of Tio was surely interesting here because he was literally seeing everything Walt and Jesse were doing and he maybe also understood why they were changing the television channel early on. But what is more vital there is of course Tio seeing Walt put the ricin in Tuco's food. This resulted in the tensest situation from the episode and the question if Tuco could find out with the help of questions being answered by Tio pushing his button once to respond with yes. Or well, speaking of Tuco not finding out about the ricin through his uncle, he does find out about it through Walt eventually when the latter literally tells him those exact words.

If you think that the violent escalation there and Tuco falling in what potentially could be his grave was already the dramatic highlight, then think again and wait until you see what happens next when Walt's brother-in-law Hank shows up at the place and ends up in a clash of firearms with Tuco where he definitely has the inferior equipment. Good for him though he was carrying his gun anyway. He did have the advantage of course that there was no gunshot wound in his stomach. All this makes it obvious for us how great of a cop Hank is, not only because he lives, but also because he managed to get there in the first place and find Jesse. Well, he found somebody else, but his investigation was still top-notch. If we move away from all this shooting, then at home there is trouble too. Walt was abducted at gunpoint at the end of the first episode and has been missing since. As good of a cop as Hank might be, Skyles is the exact same for a wife. She keeps handing out and distributing flyers with Walt's face until she is just too exhausted and others need to tell her to finally sleep. After all, she has a bun in the oven. Those were Hank's words, not mine. Typical Hank. He also seemed improved compared to scenes from an earlier episode when it comes to hugging and comforting those who suffer. And despite all Walt did before, like disappearing randomly, not talking to her, Skyler is as loyal as it gets and does all she can. There is also not once the thought Walt might have an affair, even after the second phone is revealed. Walt Jr. By the way also does some helping. I still struggle with this name for the character. Not gonna lie.

I would say that most episodes of Breaking Bad have maybe 4 or 5 moments and quick inclusions that will also make you smile or even laugh, even if everything is really about the drama. This one here has maybe 2 if at all and I have to look for those already. There is of course some huge irony in how the epitome of Spanish-language trash television (telenovelas) is used for some real dramatic tension here and high-quality small-screen entertainment. Then Tuco checking Jesse's purse was maybe one of those funnier moments too, but it was also a bit on the sad side. The dancing car was a bit of comic relief, also how it keeps dancing at the very end with all the escalation and we see it also at the beginning in what was again a mystery start before the opening credits. I do know what it is all about as this is not the first time I am watching this episode, series or show, but clearly it needs to be revealed what all this is about. Overall, it is definitely among the showiest episodes of the show for Dean Norris' Hank. I mentioned a lot about him already and there is still more. Take the pep talk at the beginning there how he really gets everybody enthusiastic and right afterwards he says it was all make-believe really and that Tuco is long gone across the border. Well, he was wrong there, but the statement about Mexico was still correct as this is exactly where Tuco was planning to go. Or as for Hank again, also take the conversation with Jesse's mother where he shows how to speak to relatives of both criminals or victims and show the required empathy even after she is about to go confrontational to protect her son.

The episode also ends in a fairly memorable fashion as Walt realizes fast enough that Hank killing the bad guy does not mean he can now run to him and all is fixed because that would reveal everything he has done. So he picks Jesse to stay with over his brother-in-law and the two walk away while Hank still has his hands full with the aftermath of the shootout there. I'd still say the scenes with Tio and the sound from the button were tenser dramatically for me personally than the shooting between Hank and Tuco. So either the Tio scenes were the highlight or the fight that ensues between Tuco and Jesse (and Walt) before Hank arrives at the scene. In any case, back when I watched it the first time, I thought this was a really strong episode and after rewatching it now, I still like it almost as much as I did back then. Clearly one of the television highlights of the year 2009. The first episode was really good and so is this one here and by now people could be sure that Breaking Bad's second season would at least be as good as the first, if not better. Also killing off the main antagonist at the end of episode two is probably something not too many would have expected, but this shows that nobody is really safe here throughout the series except Walt maybe. I am curious now to see (again) which directions they will be heading next. Surely there will be new villains coming. It was not the cousins in the car there at the end, but we will definitely see them soon enough. This is it. "Grilled" gets a big thumbs-up from me.

"Seven Thirty-Seven" is not the seventh episode from this season of "Breaking Bad" and also not the 37th episode of the entire series, but the opening episode of season 2. It runs for the usual under 48 minutes you will find with many Breaking Bad episodes and, after showing us a mysterious stuffed animals inside a swimming pool, picks up exactly where season one ended. The transition is so smooth that we even see pretty much the last scene from the first season again here and the scene continues in this opening episode. But before I move on to the plot, let me say just a few quick words on the ones who made it. Credited as the writer is show creator Vince Gilligan and also a man called J. Roberts whose body work lets me think that he may just be a pseudonym. Four episodes of Breaking Bad plus the Columbian copy is all you will find with him. Things look different for the director of this episode. I almost wrote pilot episode, but this if of course only said for the very first episode of a show. The man is Bryan Cranston, who is of course also the lead actor here and he has more prolific career behind the camera too then most people know. But now let's jump into the action. If you thought that Tuco's violent outburst in the previous episode was bad, then wait until you see what happens here at the beginning. I mean of course the deterioration of the victim's health, but also how Tuco reacts to him there. Absolutely void of empathy. This behavior, but also already what he did to the guy at the end of last episode also had a major impact on Walter and Jesse knowing they are the exact opposite from safe. Calls at night and cars observing the two are not helping either.

I liked the change of scene very early on from Tuco's victim having lost his life to the beginning of life in Skyler. Still an unusual first name I thought I have not come across anywhere else. Of course, you could call this change from escalation to harmony also a bit of dark comedy because of how fast we in the audience are supposed to adjust from one atmospheric tale to a completely different one, but this episode was not void of comedy, at least situational comedy, at all. A lot of it involved Hank. At least for me. He's got the scene when he and his colleagues find the dead criminals which was of course pretty bizarre, but what was funnier for me was when he watched Jesse and Walt on the surveillance tape and mocked them and how they carry the barrel instead of simply pushing it. Or the scene with Skyler of course and you could see that he is not exactly a man to whom it comes easy to comfort somebody who is suffering through a hug. This was so awkward to watch. Awkward in a funny way. I also laughed a lot about the utility closet comment then. What can you say? Hank is a man of action is probably the nicest way to put it. Another scene that made me smile or actually the massive difference between two scene is when Jesse tells Walt to carry a gun to be on the safe side, but Walt does not want to and after they think that Tuco is killing witness, the two are almost fighting for who is allowed to carry the gun. That was hilarious. Like boys. Also very much on the boyishly innocent side was how hard Jesse was struggling with opening the gun. I am not sure if I would call this moment funny, but maybe a little bit as it showed so easily how much reality and theory are away from each other with his plan to kill Tuco.

Speaking of Tuco, he returns in the end in a scene that makes you really curious what is going to happen the next episode. I know I wanna watch it soon. It may be a rewatch for me, but I am definitely still curious. Riding in cars with Tuco. However, you must say that he also seemed a bit isolated now with his two bodyguards gone. You may even see some comedy in the way the second one, the big guy died. Hank sure did. As for Walt and Skyler, the episode mostly continues with what happened before already. We knew he was very caring of his family long before he started calculating how much money he needs. We also knew though that he keeps disappearing and won't really tell Skyler why. We knew what the entire meth plot does with him and his ego and also that he is confronted with such violence and that he in a way tries to release it through violent sex with his wife. This time, she is not ready to take it though, especially not with their son coming from school any minute. By the way, I was also wondering why Walt changed the location of the money. I did not totally get that. But it is not super important anyway. Skyler's sister is fighting her own demons in the meantime, which also has a major impact on Hank of course and as a consequence also on Skyler here when he talks to her about it and he knows about the kleptomania.

Okay, I guess this is pretty much it. Basically, this episode further elaborates on a lot that happened during the previous episode, like Marie's stealing, the police seeing the tape that has our two "heroes" steal a vital ingredient and also the consequences of Tuco's violent outburst. So it did not bring any super new stuff, but that is okay as enough happened before and to be honest, I thought that the closing episode of season 1 was among the weakest (still good though, just compared to the great episodes) from the opening season and that this episode here was again a bit of an improvement towards greatness. From the chemistry perspective, there is a bit of focus on ricin here as this is the stuff Walt and Jesse wanna use to get rid of Tuco and make it look like an accident. If they get a chance to, we will see in the next episode(s). I guess chances are higher that you have heard of ricin before, even if not about the bean connection, than that you heard about the stuff Walt used to blow up the villain's place in an episode of season 1. Going back to this one here, I was a bit surprised how fast Jesse was eager to kill Tuco really, but then again he got beat up by him once again already and it was pretty severe. And as a consequence also personal. Walt seems more hesitant early on, but maybe this was just because of the way Jesse suggested and not because of the general idea that Tuco must die. As soon as Walt realizes that his family is endangered too, he is also fully on board though and it is really all about kill or be killed. And with that I am out and see you and Walt with his new hat on the review for one of the next episodes, maybe even the one that follows right after.

"Crazy Handful of Nothin'" is the sixth episode of the first season of the American English-language television show "Breaking Bad" and this means that the season was almost over already after this one. The episode aired back in 2008, so it is over 15 years old now, over 16 actually, and I want to elaborate a bit on this one and on other of my favorite episodes from the show. The runtime is under 50 minutes as always and it was the only directorial effort for the series by female filmmaker Bronwen Hughes. This is definitely not true for writer George Mastras who was credited so many times and here he shares the writing credit with show creator Vince Gilligan of course. I do not have to mention all the names of the cast because they do not change significantly compared to previous episodes. It is still all about Bryan Cranston's Walter White. He is having chemotherapy here, but the cancer is maybe not the toughest opponent he is facing in this episode if we look at the introduction of Tuco and also look at some of the conversations he has with his brother-in-law Hank, even if the latter's onion comparison felt almost more memorable than everything he had to say to Walt. Sometimes it almost felt a bit written too to be honest to make us think if he has a suspicion when it comes to Walt, but it still added tension and was interesting to watch. Not too many talk about this episode here and Hank's comments when they elaborate on his drug-related investigations and also on the idea when he really got on Walt's trail, but we will leave it with the spoilers now and only stay with this episode here.

It was not really an episode for Jesse, not only because he ends up injured in the hospital. Previous episode it turned out that the collab with the other guy is not working out, so here he is collaborating with Walt again now. We do find out a little about his family history though and that his aunt also died from cancer and that is why he recognizes it in Walt and he is right that Walt should have told him. He is not a stupid man despite the poor decisions he made over his life. He also understands that Walt is in the business because he wants his family on the safe side financially. The comment about how Walt can keep his hair from falling out was also kinda nice and you can say that the two are not really friends (yet) at this point, but that their relationship surely goes beyond mere business partners now. Speaking of Walt's hair falling out, he has his own plans there as we see in the last third of quarter of the episode when he shows that he has drive and initiative and goes bald. This results in different, yet equally entertaining reactions from his wife and son at the breakfast table. I probably wonder what Hank has to say about it when he sees it.

This badass movie of going bald was probably needed in order to make an impact with Tuco later on, maybe already to be allowed inside even and have a chance to talk to him. From the moment we saw Tuco, we knew he would stay part of the show for quite some time. Nice presence and good performance by Raymond Cruz. What happens then during his encounter with Walt is definitely among the most memorable from season 1. Maybe that explosion was perhaps the most memorable inclusion of the opening season altogether. What a moment when Walt drops the substance there and it feels only even cooler with the words he says right before that stating how Tuco is wrong with one thing he said. Of course, how he goes to see Tuco himself then also has to do with business relations and where the big money is, but you can also say that it is linked to Jesse and Walt will not let anybody treat Jesse like this, therefore also the additional cost for Tuco. Walt could not really do much to help Hugo and save him from losing his job, perhaps even going to jail. And it bothered Walt because of how kind Hugo was during their conversation. So this is where the aspect of morale comes into play. Of we look at the title, this can also be seen connected to at least two inclusions of the episode. First there is of course the poker game moment in which Walt really fools Hank as he has no good cards at all, but goes all-in. So he had nothing, but creates the best-possible outcome for himself. The scene at Tuco's place then is a bit the other way around. Walt pretends to have really nothing but drugs (even if valuable stuff) in his hands, yet what he really does have is a highly-explosive substance that results in the biggest imaginable boom. Still, without people knowing about what this that filled his hands could do, it may also seem like a handful of nothing. It is a bit of a chemistry lessen even for us and for Tuco when he asks afterwards what exactly he was carrying there. Walt mentioned it already earlier during the episode already when talking to his students and with how quickly they probably forgot it after the bell rang, for them it stayed a nothing piece of information most likely. For us it does not with what we see towards the end. Just look at Walt's early words how the violence needs to stop and what he does then concerning Tuco. A mind can change so quickly.

So yeah, the previous episode or even previous episodes were also about Walt making decisions linked to treatment of his illness, but this was not a factor here at all, which brought in some nice action overall instead, even if I felt the episode was off to a slow start. It was still interesting to watch and listen to the interactions, but without the last not even ten minutes of the episode, I am not sure if I would have given it indeed 4 stars or merely 3 out of 5. But this closure there and the whole new Walter White (or should I say Heisenberg) makes it impossible to not get enthusiastic about the episode and of course, even if this is not the first time I watched it, I am super curious again how season 1 is gonna end. I highly recommend the watch, but you don't need that positive recommendation from me. I know you are curious too. This show is also still fully delivering 15 years later. Don't miss out!

Here we have the fourth and also final episode already from the second season of BBC's "Luther". This aired back in summer 2011 in the UK and in autumn of the same year in America. The episode runs for slightly under an hour as they all do and seeing Sam Miller in charge of the direction and Neil Cross in charge of the screenplay is no surprise either. These two were the go-to guys really for the entire series. At least if we talk about those not in front of the camera. There Idris Elba as the title character is literally the man of the hour every single episode and even if this episode is almost 15 years old now and there have been major breaks, it seems as if the series is not gone for good. It probably would be if Elba gets indeed picked up as the next 007, but chances are slim given his age. Anyway, we do not want to talk bond today, but talk Luther instead. Back when I watched this episode the first time, I gave it a perfect 5/5 rating. Today, I would maybe rather go with a 4/5, but I still enjoyed it quite a lot and the first viewing counts really, even if I did not remember a whole lot from back when I saw it the first time. The episode starts with the revelation that the previous episode ended with, namely that the bad guy has an identical twin brother who plays the same morbid game, namely throwing dice to decide if somebody dies, who dies and how they die. The tragedy starts at a subway station here or was it an airport? No I think a subway station. Innocent people die in any case. Luther and the rest of the gang use a trick and spread fake news of his brother having managed to get away from the ones who arrested him to locate the second villain in a café. I mean it is debatable if it feels too realistic that he really fell for this scam, but oh well.

The scenes in which the bad guy then walks across the streets with his finger on the dead man's switch (not sure if this is the right term, but you know what I mean) with people running away from him in all directions were really tense and atmospheric. The build-up was basically a little earlier the villain entering a car and killing the driver in cold blood. Again not the slightest bit of personal motivation, but all coincidence or God's choice is what the bad guy would probably prefer as a description and term. So yeah, later on everybody is running away from the villain and his bomb with one exception and that is Luther of course, who is ready to play and he saw with the arrested guy already what the idea of playing did with the brothers. They gave them a feeling of enthusiasm really. With the arrested guy, Luther did not get lucky, but with the one on the loose he did. Or well, he didn't really because the game is not finished, but the villain is shot from the outside through the walls of the truck they are in, so the bad guy's idea to get inside the truck away where he thought he would be more difficult to target by the police shooters backfires for him. Literally does. I must mention Steven Robertson again who plays his part so well here. Pity I have not really heard from the actor in anything else before or after I believe. Here his two characters speak a little more than in the previous episode, but it was not a lot, just a few words and Robertson really did so much with literally no dialogue at all. Great job and glad he was back for a second episode here. I also found it interesting that while the brothers seemed pretty close, we still find out that the rivalry between them is big enough in terms of who wins their bizarre little game that one would at least play a game with Luther that gives Luther the chance to catch his brother too. But then again maybe they are simply addicts and can't stop, but as there was no rematch between Luther and the first brother maybe this is not it either. You could still see what it did with the killer to see the dice or even be allowed to use them.

Aside from all this, the Jenny story continues too and this one did not just start the episode before, but already at the beginning of season two, even if this was just another two episodes. There was a real cliffhanger at the end of episode three when we see how Jenny managed to kill the criminal when he attacked her and now he was dead and her and Luther need to deal with the aftermath. This involves an elderly woman who through violence and intimidation runs a bit of a syndicate, makes a lot of money and also her equally elderly aide. However, Luther comes up with a plan to deal with said aide. The man did not see like a major threat right away when we see him golfing, but this changes fast when he pays a visit to Jenny's mom and also before that to Luther's apartment. I liked the sponge scene there, one of those small moments that added a lot of tension to the Jenny plot if there was water coming out of the sponge or not. I must say the Jenny story did not always totally catch my attention, but in this season finale it was pretty much on par quality-wise with the killer-on-the-loose story. Nice build-up there. I was also amazed to see that Luther and Jenny had it all planned to frame the older guy with the corpse in his car, right after thinking he actually did get away as the cops who reach the apartment did not manage to catch him. We do not know what happened to him, only that he probably has to lay low now to avoid getting arrested. We see that the syndicate lady agrees to stay away from Luther and Jenny and her mother, so Pam Ferris' character won't be back it seems, but Alan Williams' might be. We will see in season three. I am curious to watch. Also a bit surprised to see Williams was only in his mid50s back then. His character looks older. And the third conflict Luther has to deal with comes from the inside, namely the Black female colleague who knows something is wrong and would maybe love to bring Luther down. I am talking about Nikki Amuka-Bird's character here. It all goes wrong for her because Luther has help on the inside and with the words Erin gets from an apparently really important female police character that we have not come across on other occasions, it could very well be that Amuka-Bird will not return for season three or that her character will simply have been transferred to another department and not be seen anymore.

What can be said is that with all the chaos and drama before the episode, somehow it all turned out so well for Luther here. Literally everything got solved and if you look at how season one ended, with all the heartbreak linked to his (ex-)wife and a corrupt colleague, the ending of season two was the complete opposite. We see Luther and Jenny eat ice cream together and nobody is really on their trail anymore. The "What next?" is a question for the writers as it is one for the audiences too. I mean given the show's big success it was quite obvious that Luther would return for a third season, but with the happiness found here, even if it is no happiness in the sense of romance apparently, this could have been a great series finale even and as much of a happy ending as there could have been. In any case, if I remember correctly I watched until the end of season two back then, so all that follows now is content that I have not yet seen, which makes me even more curious what is going to happen during the again four episodes of season three. I will know soon enough. As for now, I will be generous and in the light of how this episode blew me away when I watched it the first time, I give out a perfect rating, the first time I do so with season two and the second time for the entire series. No denying that "Luther" is not only among the very best television brings to the table from the 2010s, but even from the 21st century. And not just British or English-speaking television. All television. Maybe fans of Alice are a bit sad at this point that she was hardly a factor here and another female character has taken over, but at least there was a pretty cool reference in the end linked to her and I am almost certain that her story line with this series is also not yet completely over. All this will be answered in the coming episodes. See you there and keep hoping with me that there will not be a major drop in quality anytime soon.

"Adieu, Herr Böck" is the pilot episode from the German comedy series "Der Untermieter", which is also known as "Die Nervensäge" with the latter being more of an insult and the former being more of a neutral term. The title may sound like a goodbye, but it was really just the beginning. Season one included 13 episodes and a second season followed with the same number of episodes. The duration of this one here is under 25 minutes, a running time that is not super common anymore. I quite enjoyed this episode. The comedy was almost completely dialogue-driven and even when there are rare moments when it is more about the actions, like what the protagonist and the church guy do close to the end, it is also fueled by what they are saying or the noise they are making. The lead actor here is of course Didi Hallervorden who is known to everybody in Germany and who will turn 90 next year and is still super active with stage performances in my city, performs almost daily. Looking forward to seeing him live for the first time. High time. But if we go back to this series/episode, it can be said that this came out in the mid-1980s, so Hallervorden was 50 here. Ironically, the year 1985 was also the year in which he got divorced from the woman who is playing the female lead here, Rotraud Schindler, so she may very well know already at that point what it feels like to be annoyed by Hallervorden. Or Willi Böck. Does not happen too often that spouses create a show together around the time their marriage is over. Also on board is Nathalie Hallervorden here, who plays her mother's character's daughter. In contrast to her mother, she was not a prolific actress though and pursued other paths. I guess Johannes Hallervorden is Didi's most known acting offspring. I cannot really say much about the other cast members from this first episode here, except that sadly most of them are no longer with us. They also only play minor roles and are no regulars. The director was Ralf Gregan, who has been retired for a long time, but is still with us the day I am writing this review and even slightly older than Hallervorden himself now. If we look at some of the other stuff he worked on, I guess it is safe to say that this show or pilot episode is among the better, if not best, he has come up with during his career. The English-sounding names of the writers show us that this series is based on a British original.

The dialogues of this episode here were pretty fast and still rarely felt written. All three key players do a decent job. It was also interesting to get an insight into the money situation back then, when mothers still worried about the question if it was their daughter who made the call or the one she is on the phone with. Or also when 10 bucks, still D-Mark back then, were a lot of money and nothing to easily give out. Nathalie Hallervorden was btw. Slightly older than her character, but they tried their best with clothes and stuff that it does not feel obvious. What one-liners and jokes you will find most funny will of course come down to your personal taste. I thought it was funny when the protagonist asked the daughter to iron his clothes for ten bucks (and wash them!) and then afterwards he asked her mother if she could give him ten bucks. Of course, he also needs the money for the furniture guys from her and money for pretty much everything else. Oh well. As a person from Berlin myself, it was of course entertaining how Berlin was included here in this episode on one occasion, but it was not the Berlin I know. Okay, mentioning the state were his mother resided felt maybe a tad written there, but the char of Hallervorden's delivery definitely made up for it. I smiled a lot watching this under half an hour and even laughed two or three times. Unfortunately, the level goes slightly down with most of the following episodes, but it stays still very watchable and entertaining. Just not as top-notch as this opening episode.

I think I have only seen season one so far, but I will definitely get to season two at some point as well. I also liked the music here, the intro is pretty cool (also the video) and catchy. And Hallervorden playing a really famous tune on the piano after minute 16 was also nice to listen to. Okay that is it then. I could probably mention at least another ten moments during which the dialogues were funny, but I will just include one more, namely when it is about food and drink and the mother asks Didi ironically if he also wants some more posher food (seafood a.o.) and he says sure why not. Or when he has the audacity to tell the two women to leave his room when he was not even accepted as the one renting the place. Speaking of which, some woke warriors today may see this episode as harassment (also his written words about her) when a man just won't leave a female's apartment despite being asked to do so multiple times. Oh what times we are living in now! Luckily, nobody in the 1980s thought so and so this could get made and released shortly after I was born. You understood I like it. In other words: This is a show you wanna give a chance and an opening you don't want to miss out on, even if finding subtitles could get a bit difficult. I recommend the series and highly recommend the pilot episode. Big thumbs-up!

"Die Hard" is an American movie from 1988, so it is over 35 years old now and this one is of course mostly in the English language, even if there are segments in German as well because the bad guys here are German and I found it a bit funny because I as a German could hear it that they were speaking German with an accent. I guess this is maybe why they kept Rickman away from speaking German altogether if I remember correctly, but I will get to him later. This film stands still not far behind the 100 highest-rated movies on imdb and it was rated by almost a million users, so this says it all about the popularity, even such a long time after it got released. At slightly under 2 hours and 15 minutes, it is a really long film, especially for 80s standards, but it almost did not drag at all and this is one reason why I gave it such a high rating. There were three writers working on the screenplay and for all of those the film is probably their most known career effort. Thorp is no longer with us, but he also worked on the sequels. The other two Stewart and de Souza did not (well, the latter on one sequel), but they worked together on other occasions as well like one of Eddie Murphy's most famous. For Stewart, who was in his mid30s back then, "Die Hard" was even the first career release and he is still working now. For director John McTiernan it was not the first work, but still an early career effort. He came fresh from Schwarzenegger's "Predator" that happened one year earlier. Still most of the names of people working behind the camera or on the script are not the ones you will identify easily. This is different with Bruce Willis for whom it will always be one of his top3 defining movies and surely the defining franchise of his career. It is kinda sad how he is doing now with his health issues and memory loss, but well at least he left is this film and some other pretty good works.

Nonetheless, even if it sounds harsh with all the coolness Willies was oozing, I must say that the one character or rather actor who really turned this film into something that had me on the edge of my seat was the late Alan Rickman. May he rest in peace. He was captivating and I would agree with everybody who includes his character as one of the defining movie villains of the 20th century. He was almost too good for the role and today maybe people think of Hans Landa when they hear evil movie Hanses with a German background, but Gruber brings it all to the table here too. I would like to mention three scenes especially that made it easy for me to say he is the MVP because those were among the biggest highlights that "Die Hard" had to offer. The first would be the scene in which we meet the bad guys, how they enter the building. What an introduction. Then there is the scene in which Gruber meets McClane in person for the first time and are led to believe that McClane has no idea who he is dealing with there, even if it turns out we are wrong. And the third and last scene that was marvelous was when the bad guys gain access to what they were going for, the priceless sheets from the safe. There Gruber/Rickman also had a great moment when he tells us how he intends to get past the final barrier and has the FBI do the job for him and well the FBI is really not depicted in the most competent manner here, but we will get to them a little later. Of course, this scene with the open safe then is also so epic and almost gave me goosebumps because of the loud Beethoven music we hear at the same time. It is maybe my number-one favorite classical tune, so the fact that we hear this specific piece really constantly throughout the movie, also again during the closing credits, is maybe the second-biggest reason after Rickman why I enjoyed the film this much.

I already mentioned the two big players from the cast here, but now let us look at the others: Bonnie Bedelia is the only female with some screen time really, but eventually it is also just mostly about being there for her. Interesting though how she comes from the Culkin family. I did not know. Reginald VelJohnson is of course super easy to identify for everybody who knows "Family Matters", the television show that started one year after "Die Hard" and surely his turn here as a cop helped him to get the part there. Always such a likable character and actor. I am surely glad he is still with us in 2024. Hopefully, it will stay this way for a little longer. Robert Davi, who played one of the clueless FBI guys and is always easy to identify and that is why I like him, became a Bond villain the following year and Andreas Wisniewski (okay, one German actually) already acted in a Bond movie before. I cannot say much about Paul Gleason, even if he is probably one of the most known and most successful cast members. His character was initially more of an antagonist or at least an epitome of incompetence as we are supposed to side with VelJohnson's character, but when the FBI fellas take over, then Gleason's almost becomes an ally against them. Maybe this film was also supposed to appeal to the simple folks mostly that are not too happy about the government and the superiors and not intended to appeal to those with great jobs. It was also telling how really nobody was mourning the FBI folks when they died during the big explosion on the roof there. I guess they kinda justified it before through a certain quote about how a few casualties among civilians are alright if all terrorists end up dead.

This was maybe not a moment when we were supposed to laugh, but perhaps the Vietnam reference was, but there were clearly quotes that had more of a humorous tone. A lot of it was linked to Willis' character's coolness how he dealt with the situation. Just take the message he leaves for the bad guy when, after killing the first, he tells them that he has a machine gun now and ends it with the "ho ho ho" Christmas reference. Of course, another funny, albeit bittersweet, scene was when the one hostage guy there tries to negotiate with Gruber and does not understand at all that he was digging his own grave there. The way how he acted so sleazy was still funny in a morbid way, which also had a lot to do with Rickman's character's reactions to it all. By the way, I thought that the guy there might tell them that they got McClane's (ex-)wife. It had to happen eventually for Gruber to find out, but took a little longer. And then there is one really famous quote by Willis that Rickman references later on as well. I remember having read years ago that this film even won big polls and surveys when people got asked about their favorite Christmas movie or which one is the best for them and this says it all I guess. I mean the movie plays during Christmas time, but this is pretty much it. There isn't even a lot of snow shown throughout the film, which also has to do with how most of it is set inside. Oh yeah, more comedic content includes of course the limo driver or also McClane's interaction at the very start with the other flight passenger and there is a lot more that could be mentioned here. What stays most memorable for you probably also comes down to your sense of humor. Same is true when it comes to your favorite scenes. I already mentioned those with Rickman, but another one that comes to mind is of course when VelJohnson's character enters the place and is talking to the fake employee to find out if something is wrong.

This film was nominated for four Oscars by the way, all technical categories and lost three of those four to Roger Rabbit, a cartoon hare that was definitely way more known and popular than he is today. But we may talk about this one later, do not wanna look down on him or anything. His film had a really great reception. One last time, we will return to this film here for a little bit of brainstorming: The stewardess at the beginning was quite stunning. Shame she did not reappear later. I would have liked her as the female lead, especially as the actual female lead had hardly anything to work with. The only scene where she could shine a little was probably when she told Rickman's character about the pregnant woman and toilet visits. The biggest surprise maybe came for me with the blonde guy at the end storming out of the building with his gun. I mean he was the one chained on his neck right before that wasn't he? I know he is a hunk and all, but how could he survive that? Maybe it was only to give VelJohnson's character a final moment in the limelight when we see he is ready again to be a good cop and take the crucial shot when he has to. I also thought of 007 there because it is often the case that the biggest helper of the bad guy survives at least his boss and this was true here too. Or well, I think the technics expert also survived, but he was taken down by the limo driver near the end. This was maybe a little too much there in an attempt to go for comedy, just like how Bedelia calling herself Mrs. McClane near the end was also a bit too much. I don't blame the actress, rather the script. But as you see from my rating, none of this could even remotely ruin the truly positive viewing experience I had with this movie. For me it was the first time I watched it (high time!) and I am glad it was shown here again at the movie theater now during holiday season. I am generally not too big on action films, but this one won me over. John McClane may be the closest America has to James Bond, even if he sometimes needs to talk less, especially to himself. I highly recommend seeing it.

"The Wizard of Oz" is an American English-language movie from 1939, so this means that it has its 85th anniversary this year and also sadly means that everybody working on it in front of the camera and behind is long gone, but luckily they left us this film that will still be seen for many decades if not centuries. It is not by definition or contents as Christmas movie, but it was shown here in December again at the big screen this year and I know it will be shown on at least one other occasion in my city and judging from the huge number of visitors during my screening (and there were almost no kids), this could be a movie that will return to movie theaters in the next months and years many more time. The film runs for slightly over 100 minutes and was already a huge success back then as it scored five Oscar nominations and one of those was for Best Picture even. It did not win the latter, but took home the trophies for music and song. The song was "Over the Rainbow" and I might at an "of course" here, but from my perspective I must say I maybe prefer the version by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole and not the one we hear during this movie. No offense to Garland though. She's great. I still think it is on the exaggerated side if "Over the Rainbow" is considered a contender for best movie song of all time. My favorite son from the film is maybe "We're Off to see the Wizard" which is basically the film summarized in one sentence. Colors play a really vital role here and this includes most of all Dorothy's that just reached a gigantic sum at a recent auction, so it shows you how popular the movie still is, and also the yellow brick road that is also featured in one of the film's most known musical numbers. Another one I want to mention is the scary (or scared) number about the wild animals the main characters may come across en route to the Wizard. One of them is a lion and this lion also becomes a crucial character then and joins Dorothy and the other two eventually. Definitely an underrated song and said lion was played by Bert Lahr in what is surely his most-remembered career performance.

If you look at the cast, you will not find too many really big names here that people will effortlessly identify when hearing their names. Actually, there is maybe only one and that is Judy Garland. I mean she is still considered an icon, also with a pretty tragic life eventually, but other actresses playing her in movies have won Oscars for this portrayal, so this says it all probably that she won't be forgotten. And while Garland is an icon and Lahr played maybe my favorite character from the movie, I also want to mention Ray Bolger and Jack Haley. They add their fair share to and turn it into such great quality. These two outlived Lahr and also Garland and you can see them hand out an Oscar together 40 years after "The Wizard of Oz" and I highly recommend taking a look at it because it was nice how they kept making references about the film there. It is on Youtube of course. But now let's get back to the movie. Another one still alive in 1979 was Margaret Hamilton and it is surely interesting to see that this actress was almost 20 years younger than Billie Burke who played the good witch. You probably would not have guessed that Hamilton was in her mid-30s when this got made and Burke was into her 50s already. What a difference makeup (and costumes) can make. Of course, Hamilton's character's iconic green skin almost trumps the Hulk still in popularity. Oh and the title character's name here was Marvel in fact. Interesting. While we're at it, let's go on with some brainstorming: I am still a bit surprised why the film is named after the Wizard as he is really only a supporting character, but yeah he is the goal of the mission of course and the book this was based on was named after him as well.

The original writer was Lyman Frank Baum (fitting name given the apple trees in the movie), but he was not credited as a writer in contrast to Langley, Ryerson and Woolf. Yep, a female writer was included too. Baum also did live to see this movie sadly. Three writers is a lot, but two directors is also not too shabby. Victor Fleming and King Vidor had some great successes over their careers, the former already one year later. But if we go back to this film here, there were only occasionally things that confused me a bit and did not hurt the overall viewing experience really. Like before Dorothy meets Scarecrow, she is confused because there were several directions of the yellow brick road, but this is totally forgotten after she bonds with Scarecrow and they do not tell us anymore which road the two were picking. Or I was wondering why the lion was depicted as scared so quickly when right before that he does not have the slightest bit of fear when he attacks the group as one character who goes up against three. Or how the snow from the good witch helped Dorothy exactly in the poppy field, although I liked this scene because it showed us how friendship helped Dorothy overcome a major obstacle she could not have managed on her own. Or the stuff Dorothy's friends got at the end and I would have preferred the message that the journey gave them what they were aiming for. Or why Dorothy deemed Scarecrow her closest friend, but said hardly anything to him at the same time. There are a few more similar question-mark inclusions I could think of, but the good definitely outweighs those moments. There were also some small funny moments, so it is always good to pay full attention, like for example when Dorothy's uncle asks her aunt to make sure he is saying the right thing. She is definitely the one in control in their relationship. Or of course the idea to turn the film from black-and-white into color when the journey to Oz begins and in the end turn it back again. This shows us what a magical world Oz is. I mean look at the wizards's palace and all the green there (you will never forget what color emeralds have) or the horses running around.

I also liked how the characters from the tale are presented to us as humans early on with Dorothy's new pals being farm hands basically or Hamilton's character already being the villain there. I think I read Hamilton was the nicest person in real life though. What else? Oh yes, so many animals are included or referenced here like lions, pigs, monkeys, the dog Toto of course and in the end we also see a cat who almost ruins it all for Dorothy. Oh well, actually Toto is the one who almost ruins it if we are precise. This year in 2024 or actually the 2024/2025 awards season we have a new movie out called "Wicked" that takes us into the younger years of the two witches apparently and seems to be quite a hit. Not the first time in the 21st century they worked on spin-offs from The Wizard of Oz and it not always go so well. However, I understand why there have not really been any remakes of this film because it would be already a gigantic challenge to make it as beloved it as the original from 1939, let alone get people to see it as superior, so they did not even try. Could be a career-ruining adventure because this film here is a great contributing factor why many people think that 1939 is still not matched by any other year in terms of film greatness. I enjoyed the watch too and I am glad that the film got back to movie theaters not and also that I went and took the chance to see it.

Even special effects fanatics may find it interesting with the way Dorthy entered Oz and also with the way the wizard articulates himself through a pretty progressive machine. I found it scary in the now even, so perception back then must have been even more spectacular, let alone the moment when people who only knew black-and-white at that point entered the colorful world of Oz together with Dorothy and were also distracted for a while from the challenging political situation in the year 1939. Oh and one final thing: I am still curious about the other witch killed by Dorothy there. She maybe also deserves her own story. That's all. Of course, I give "The Wizard of Oz" an enthusiastic 4 stars out of 5. Do not miss out on this film that has so many interesting inclusions of fantasy and made me laugh or at least smile on numerous occasions (the Munchkins were so hilarious and what they were saying/singing, especially the coroner or whatever I should call him!) although it was far from the first time that I saw this film. Another funny scene was when Dorothy met the wizard early on, well in his human form still at that point (it was him, wasn't it?) and he showed his clairvoyance by knowing that Em stands for Emily. Quite the example of how callers are still tricked in astrological television shows nowadays. But I am drifting a bit away now. What needs to be said is that this film is deserving of every watch and rewatch too, especially on the big screen. Also younger generations need to see it. Was it all just a dream though? We cannot be sure. What we can say for sure it that this could make for a great double feature with "Wicked", maybe even a triple feature with "Oz the Great and Powerful". Gotta go easy on Franco and Raimi here.

Here we have the (once again title-less) third episode from the second season of "Luther" starring Idris Elba as the title character and this actor is in 2024 probably also still in contention for the next 007, even if his chances seem slim due to his age. But about Bond we have talked and will talk on other occasions and today let us take a look at this episode here. As usual, it runs for slightly under an hour, which may sound long, but then again this season only has four episodes, so this puts things into perspective again. It also means that the season is almost over. Only one episode to go. I would say that the second episode from season 2 was maybe the weakest from the series so far, but not because it was poor or anything, just really because all the other episodes were such tense edge-of-seat material and that one was merely solid. As you can see from my rating, I think they managed to rise in quality again with this episode here. Sam Miller is the director and Neil Cross the writer and these have worked on many Luther episodes. There was a bit of a half-season cut after the second episode because the British Joker got caught, so they made room for another criminal antagonist and this one is played by Steven Robertson. The character seems to be randomly killing people. Initially, they thought that it could be a race thing, but that theory is gone fast and Luther does not seem too fond of it anyway, so of course it has to be wrong. Just a bit of a coincidence that the first casualty was a Black man. Luther says on one occasion that all they can do really is hope to get lucky to catch him or hope that he gets unlucky, so it is true. There does not really seem to be any logic behind the criminal's approach here when he kills or who he kills, so it is really tough to analyze him and get on his track this way.

The element of luck is even taken to the next level when we understand that the actions by the bad guy are heavily influenced through coincidence as he always carries around a cube or dice is probably the better word. Or whatever it is called. This one has more than six sides. Maybe he uses it to decide who lives and who won't, so it reminded me a bit of "No Country for Old Men". There it was a coin though that Chigurh was carrying around, but as this very successful American movie happened not too long before this episode, perhaps it is not a coincidence altogether. I am not saying they stole ideas or anything, just that they were inspired by other projects and with the dices it is not as obvious as with the Joker in the previous two episodes. I mentioned the half-season cut when it comes to the antagonists, but this is not true of course with the story of the young woman with the sleazy past. She is in it from beginning to end and with the last shot we have here, her significance will without a doubt even increase with the season finale. She moved in with Luther early in this episode already, but there does not seem to be a romantic connection, at least not from his side. With her I am less sure despite the comment towards her mother that he is way into his 50s which is of course an exaggeration. Anyway, she brings her own crime connection that Luther spirals into as well, so a lot to deal with him and the women in his life keep playing a major role. His wife is of course gone and we did not see anything about her haunting him in this episode, but Aimee-Ffion Edwards' (is that the Welsh spelling of Fiona?) character requires all his attention now. So it is only a small plot point almost that Ruth Wilson could be gone for good after a last attempt of her trying to convince Luther to come with her. Well, she is the only one who beat him you could say. But we will see if she returns. If Jenny does not translate into season 3, then there might be a better chance.

Another female character, this time one who is not on really good terms with the title character, is Luther's colleague Erin. Hard to imagine that she makes it into season 3 as she clearly struggles with Luther's approach to solving his cases. But we will see how that goes. Luther's female boss was gone a bit surprisingly after season 1, even if replaced by somebody at least as good, if not better, and it would not be half as surprising with Nikki Amuka-Bird's character. But now away from the speculations and back to this episode again. The twist at the end that the bad guy has an identical twin brother who is at least as evil makes sure they will not have to come up with another villain for the final episode, especially as a male antagonist is dead as we see at the end of this third episode, which probably was a bit of a surprise as I would have put my money on him killing the girl and causing more emotional turmoil for Luther. Or another guess from me was that her mother dies. Anyway, going back to the twins, for all we know, it could have been even the other brother who killed the Black guy at the beginning. But it can surely be said that they are both murderous and probably will both be caught or the other one dies even in the season finale. There's the next challenge for Luther. It is not about the idea that from a legal perspective we are supposed to wonder which of the two the killer is. They are both sinister.

Highlights from this episode also include some of the camera work. I liked the shot at the beginning when we see the bad guy outside and the two unharmed inside. The villain had a tendency also to not all the time attack people for no reason as long as they do not challenge him. Take the store owner a little later who could have died if he had tried to keep the guy from stealing. I also thought the scene with the motorbike was nicely shot as we are basically sitting behind the villain there or also before that already when he gets himself the jacket and attacks people with a knife inside, but we do not see it. Coincidence and his dice probably played a role there too. The choices of the dice can always bring him into odd situations too, like when he jumps that car during the scene when nobody is hurt and everybody just thinks he is a madman or when he stays at his biggest crime scene and gets caught there. Had the dice told him to leave, he may have gotten away, but he is not fond of making decisions himself and the result is negative for him and he does indeed get unlucky as Luther mentions it earlier without knowing about the dice at that point if I remember correctly. Eventually, we also know who he had been calling there right before he was arrested. One last thing I liked about the bad guy here was his utter silence that he also does not give up on in the interrogation room with Luther in the end. He would never tell him about his brother. This is for Luther and the rest to find out themselves. I guess this is pretty much it then. This was another really strong episode of "Luther" and I am surely glad they managed to step things up a little again after the previous episode. Even if I have seen the finale episode of season two already, I am highly curious how the conflicts will unfold, maybe get solved in the final chapter from this season. Can't wait to go on and I am quite optimistic the quality will not go down. As for this one here, I give it a big thumbs-up and say it is among the best television content you will find from 2011 and still very much worth watching even almost 15 years later. Do not miss out, even if by now you really should not need my recommendation to see how awesome of a series this is.

What we have here is the second episode of three, so the middle episode from a miniseries that dealt with the life and career of German influential field marshal Erwin Rommel and the myth that surrounds his name to this day. Most of it is linked to Africa of course, but also a lot is about him seeing that the 2nd World War was lost for Germany before Hitler and others were ready to believe, let alone say so. This second episode here call him a loser literally-translated, so it is about the time when Britain managed to fight back in North Africa, but also about him losing his good health if you wanna say so. I would still find "The Defeated" a better translation perhaps. The final episode is then about him being a conspirator even, which we do not want to talk about today, but which probably helped him in the way how he is portrayed nowadays that his motivation was not really ideology or hatred, but just the attempt to be the best military leader one could be and his tactical maneuvers that were already discussed in the first episode are the key factor there and brough him a lot of admiration and respect also from his military enemies. So you can say that the first episode included his glories and what he is still mostly known for today, but the fact that there are two more episodes shows that there is more to the man than meets the eye at first. Besides, every episode only runs for between 40 and 45 minutes, so putting it all into one episode would have been too short without a doubt and Rommel deserves the over two hours he got here. It probably also still works in his memory's favor that the name Rommel is not really too frequent. At least, I know nobody else that has it.

The elaboration on the myth that surround Rommel to this day is in this series directed by Maurice Philip Remy, who has made several documentaries linked to Hitler, but also about those Germans from within who stood up against Hitler and Rommel is certainly one of them as you will also find out during these over 43 minutes here, even if he was nobody who tried to assassinate Germany's leading man from the 1930s and 1940s. He just held his ground and refused to sacrifice the lives of German people in military battled that could impossibly be won. El Alamein is a crucial location and battle you will hear during the second episode of this documentary a few times, so in a way you could even call it the Stalingrad of North Africa. But I will not go into detail here, so you decide to watch it yourself. The first episode was already quite good and I think this one here was even better. The concept in general is to have a mixture of old video footage and people close to Rommel, from the German side as well as the enemy side, telling us stories or anecdotes what it was like back then and how they interacted with him or also the enemies just talked about how they portrayed the myth of Rommel back then without ever having met him. If Rommel is the loser in this episode, then Bernard Montgomery is the winner. We find out a little bit about him, his rather small stature that apparently contained a lion though or we also see footage of Churchill visiting the troops in Africa, but overall they always returned to the subject of Rommel eventually, like the British soldier saying how embarrassed he was that they lost a battle to the Germans when the Australians managed to defeat the Germans earlier there or at least keep them away. This is also what I liked about the documentary. It was no constant gloating or showing off, but it always stayed very informative and of course it is totally okay here and there for the Brits to be proud of ending up as winners.

The most interesting inclusions do come from Germans though, from people that were in direct contact with Rommel, like we have one man who told Rommel that the war is lost and then he goes on what Rommel did after hearing this and what his reaction was and what he told his soldier then. Or we have the man who tells us about Rommel's reaction when being told that he may move into a new home that was taken from Jews who probably got murdered at a concentration camp. But the Holocaust is of course not the key subject of this documentary, even if it is also impossible to keep it out altogether. Overall, the way Rommel is portrayed here, there is certainly no finger-pointing that he was an evil man or so, just that he was a true professional who unluckily ended up on the evil side of history. This is also an argument that many others used afterwards, namely that they merely followed orders and not that they are malicious whatsoever. For Rommel it may be true. Not the first time I watched this episode and series, but the second time it was I think. I would say it is surely worth the (re)watch. This was from 2002, so it is also over 20 years old now. The language is German of course, even if the name of the director sounds French. It was a television production and for the non-German interviewees, German voice actors are doing the job. I read back and even see that the German voice of Sylvester Stallone was on board here too. I guess this is all then. I hope the third and final episode that I am going to watch soon will also be as good as this one here, but if it is only as solid as the first, it is still worth watching. Same is true for the entire miniseries. I give it a definite thumbs-up. Old footage and statements from people (An Italian interviewee named Rommel? Was that a mistake?) close to the subject really lift this one up. You cannot ask for more. May all the people included in here rest in peace.

"A Night to Remember" is the eighth of thirteen episodes from the American television series "Mad Men", so half of the season is already over at this point and the quality sure isn't dropping. Good news for all the fans, including myself. It runs for slightly under 50 minutes, which is pretty much standard and the director here was Lesli Linka Glatter, an Oscar nominee from the 1980s and she directed several Mad Men episodes. The writing credits include show creator Matthew Weiner and Robin Veith, who was also in charge of penning the screenplays for multiple episodes. You can say that the focus here was definitely on the female characters, so there is (sadly) no Robert Morse in this episode and almost no Kartheiser and Slattery either. Even Jon Hamm feels more like a supporting player this time with his character mostly reacting to his wife's struggles and accusations. It was probably one of the biggest episodes for Harry Crane. I watched this episode twice already I think before today and thought both times that it was merely alright, but three is a charm indeed and today I really appreciated the watch and raised my rating from 3 out of 5 to 4 out of 5. This has mostly to do with the inclusions of the female protagonists here. I am still not super big on Betty Draper or January Jones, but in this episode here she was alright to watch and if she was not among the better aspects, then it was because a lot of the rest were just really great. There I am referring to Olson (Moss) and Holloway (Hendricks) mostly. I would not say that either also stood out in a magnificent fashion, but their segments were nicely constructed and strongly portrayed. The aspect of religion brought in by Colin Hanks (yep, son of Tom) here did not win me over too much and I do not want to talk about it too much, may have had to do with Olson's pregnancy among other things, but to see how aspiring and talented females are struggling and held back by conventions was a truly interesting watch. There, I am mostly referring to the scene in which Peggy wants to convince the two elderly ladies that the poster for the church dance is spot-on and how it should be to get the girls to come. God must still fit between the male and female dance on the picture. She accepts the no of course because she has no other chance, but you could also see how progressive she is when she stands up to Hanks' character immediately afterwards.

As for Joan Holloway (Hendricks), it was an interesting episode. Initially, she seemed not too eager to help Crane with the small screen stuff, but as she has successes there, it feels as if she stops hating the task. I would also not say she really thrives there, but I could imagine that she would have liked to receive similar prestige as Olson has in the past. However, at the end it shows that she was nothing but a vehicle for Crane (and the rest) to prove that he needs an additional helping hand in his department and as soon as gets the green light to do so, Joan is stripped off her new job, replaced by a man and back to coordinating the girls at the office really with no creativity attached. So it is really a pretty depressing episode for Joan overall you can say, not only because of what happens at the office, but also because of a conversation she has with her man during which we see how he really only appreciated her for her looks and the slightest bit of ambition she may have is instantly overshadowed by her physicality. At this point, probably more of a curse than a blessing. There is even a specific quote by her man that goes something like she should walk through the office and look good and that's all she has to do. As sad as this may be, this entire idea also resulted in some of the funniest inclusions from the episode, namely if we look at Crane's colleague at the office, how he acts towards Joan, how he talks to her or the question he asks Crane near the end and how he talks about her being so much woman. Other funny moments here include Sterling. I said he is not a lot in this episode and this is definitely true in terms of drama where he is almost non-existent, but he does have two funny moments. One is when he makes a reference to the aforementioned colleague of Crane and how big of a help he may be. Another is when he has his hands full and waits for Crane to open the door for him without saying a word. He sure likes his status in the company. But I have to go back to Crane's funny colleague again. Pity we do not have him in more episodes. How he quickly puts his sports paper away before Sterling enters the room was hilarious as well.

If we finally take a look at the drama away from the emancipation here, we have Don and Betty in the middle of it all, but then again given Don's unfaithfulness it is not even away from the emancipation. He does not admit it though and there was a statement from him how he does not want to lose his family, his wife, his kids that may have been true even, but I guess he just cannot help himself. So he does not admit a thing obviously. This is also something where the episode was connected to the previous episode where, if I remember correctly, Betty is told towards the end by another character that Don is cheating on her with said character's wife. In any case, Don has to spend the night at the office this time as his wife does not want him home. As we see him alone with the beer bottle at the table in the end, it reminded me of another scene when we see him with his family also at the table and there was also some major tension already between him and his wife from one of the earlier episodes. May even have been the very first of the series. I am not sure. Anyway, Don not coming home at night was fueled mostly by Betty seeing the man on television in a bit if a (maybe too big) coincidence, the man who told her that Don is having an affair with his wife.

As we see those final shots, see the humiliated females there, we hear Colin Hanks perform a song that was popular during the 1960s and this was an interesting way to close the episode. It is not new or uncommon that television's finest in the 00s and 10s ended with a song during the credits, but here it comes a bit earlier and also we literally see one character grab a guitar and start playing on it and singing. If there was any doubt for me if I could give the episode a really high rating, then it was gone there, but it was also kinda gone before already. Still, I love Peter, Paul and Mary so much. May Mary rest in peace. I wish there were cover band concerts with their songs. On my MP3 player the song goes. I didn't know it before, but it was such nice closure for the episode, even if Hanks' character was among the more forgettable of the episode. Speaking of closure, I think it is also time to end the review. So yeah, we are past the middle of season 2 of this fabulous series, so you really should not need any recommendation from me anymore, but just in case you still haven't made up your mind, I say: Do not miss out on Mad Men. It is a definite contender for my favorite TV show of all time with all the insight you get into American society in the 1960s and this particular episode here is proof that all this gets even better on rewatch. Highly recommended.

The title "Pirelli Calendar 2010" is fairly self-explanatory, even if of course here you do not have a copy of the print, but the video that accompanied the shooting. It runs for under 25 minutes and was directed by Stuart Chapman, not the only time he worked on a Pirelli video. The more known man behind the camera here, however, is of course photographer Terry Richardson and he was behind the photo camera here as he was one taking the photographs that eventually made it into the magazine. He was in his mid40s here and will turn 60 next year. He was among the most defining artists of his craft back then and it is probably still true today. By the way, this was not super long before he shot the music video for Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" that was considered scandalous by many, not only because of her nudity. Nudity is also what you get to see here a lot. Most of the time, it is only topless nudity from the models (and Richardson), but there are scenes when the females also wear no pants and all is exposed even below the waist although there the camera is not getting anywhere close like it is the case with the breasts. The shooting was set in Brazil, so of course it was quite hot and there is a lot of beach to see, a great deal od seaside too and you could really feel the warmth through the computer screen. You can watch this one on Youtube, but make sure you find the right version and not the one that has just music played all over it. The correct version also has songs and music included, but not during interview segments with the photographer or the models. The most known names, i.e. The ones that managed the biggest careers afterwards, also as actresses, here are probably Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Miranda Kerr and Lily Cole. I am not too sure if those are my favorites though. Tastes differ obviously.

You also see a few animals here during the shoot and maybe as a bit of a funny moment we see one of the girls hold a cock between her legs early on and there I am exclusively talking about the bird, the poultry. Later on, there's also girls riding a bull or cow and earlier girls riding a horse completely nude. If I remember correctly, it was a horse. Just a very short shot. The animal highlight for me here, however, was surely the sloth. The way one of the girls holds this wonderful animal really made me hold one as well. A sloth I mean, not a girl. Need to move forward on this. Okay, this is pretty much it then. The occasional screaming with excitement from one of the girls when a stronger wave hit them there was also motivating in a way to travel to the sea soon and enjoy it myself. Swimming in the waves is comparable to nothing. Such joy. Overall, I think it was a good photoshoot and documentation, so I would give it maybe 3 out of 5 from that perspective or even 4 out of 5, but as a movie I guess 2 out of 5 is enough. Parts of it are certainly worth seeing and quite aesthetic, but if you decide to skip the footage as a whole, then you are also not missing much. I guess this was really only made to get more people to buy the calendar, so it is more of an appetizer really, which is a bit bizarre if the final outcome this is all about only includes 12 stills. Oh well.

"I'll Try to Fix You" is the fourth episode from the first season of the American television series "The Newsroom". Season one consisted of ten episodes in total, so half the season is almost over. It runs for about an hour as they usually do. This is the only episode I review from this show as of now because back when I watched it, I thought this was the best episode from the entire first season. Also, I thought there was a drop on quality after the first season, so I would say that this is maybe also my favorite episode from the entire series. Which was not super long-running admittedly and 25 episodes is something that 90s shows often reached for one single season and not for three like this show here. The series received strong reviews and maybe the most outstanding achievement during awards season was lead actor Jeff Daniels winning a Primetime Emmy for the first season. Today, we want to be more specific though and look at this fourth episode. I would say it is pretty much the series in a nutshell although surely not everything about the show worked as well as it did here. The action starts on the 31st December 2010, so less than two years in the past as this aired in 2012. The new year is coming and this includes focus on the romantic relationships of the protagonists mostly. It involves Alison Pill's character and how she is maybe not too happy about a colleague dating her roommate. It also includes Emily Mortimer's character and who she calls her boyfriend. But most of all it includes Jeff Daniels' character who has a romantic encounter shortly before New Year that does not go too well and later during the episode another that goes even worse.

The latter is linked to gun possession, which is maybe the biggest political issue from the episode. Comments by Glenn Beck and former Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin are referenced in terms of how Obama may or may not want to take guns away from Americans. There is also talk about President Obama going on a really expensive trip to India, but not as much focus as on the gun issue. Once again, you could wonder how Daniels' character is a registered Republican. I guess the character's views still helped the series to blend in and succeed with the very liberal American television landscape. The moment that stays most memorable from the episode is maybe when Daniels or rather his character shows us pretty graphically what statistic look like when it comes to women defending themselves with a firearm from an attacker. Or maybe that is the most memorable moment before the last ten minutes where the Tucson shooting from January 2011 was included. The question if United States Representative Gabby Giffords' death should be announced live on air is a key discussion point and we see how the protagonists eventually make the right decision by not doing so. Very tense sequence of events really from the moment when the news reaches everybody.

This is also when bigfoot is totally forgotten right away and this mythic creature was included for comic relief as a bit of a running gag throughout the episode. It is all linked to Dev Patel here, as of now maybe the biggest movie star from the cast still and of course Slumdog Millionaire had already happened before The Newsroom. It surely was what got him his role here. So yeah, Patel is included here for comic relief mostly or rather the other characters mocking him a bit, even if Daniels' character takes him more seriously towards the end then because of what he learned during the episode. What I learned is that giant octopuses and even pandas were considered a myth also for much longer than you would think. Overall, this episode is a good watch, also thanks to creator Aaron Sorkin, who is is more than a decade later still most known for "The Social Network" probably and this show here actually followed immediately after. The other two writers credited here Handelman (rip) and Reichbach have worked on multiple other episodes of the show and same is true for director Alan Poul. As my favorite cast member is probably Sam Waterston, I will say a few words about him at the end of my review. He did not have super much screen time here and he was mostly in it for comedy reasons too, namely joking a bit about Daniels' character's romantic endeavors. However, towards the end, we also get a more serious moment about Waterston's character when he understands a plan to get Daniels' character eliminated from the program and maybe even his career destroyed. This results in a little bit too much drama maybe when Emily Mortimer also loses it immediately afterwards. She is an actress I do not like in general anyway and this show or episode could not change my mind. But I thought what was interesting is the brief connection here between Waterston and Fonda who ended up as co-leads together in a lighter show a little later. So yeah, overall I give this episode a big thumbs-up as I enjoyed it more than anything else from The Newsroom I guess. It has its moments and the cringe is not too frequent and the last 8 minutes or so are really as tense as it gets, even if maybe all the bigfoot stuff still stays my favorite from the episode. It made me laugh a lot, not gonna lie!

"Illusions" is the fifth episode of the one and only season of the 2021 award-winning miniseries "Mare of Easttown" starring Kate Winslet as the title character. This runs for approximately an hour and I guess many may see this episode as the finest the series brought out. This episode took a little while to really get going, but with the last chapter of it all, there is no way I cannot give it a rating that elevates it from good to great. The director was Craig Zobel again and the screenplay came from Brad Ingelsby. The cast were the same people like from the previous episodes and you know where to find the names. The previous episode ended with a twist in which we almost had nothing in terms of the search for the criminals as it turned out that the caller about the missing girl was just a man trying to cash in and not the one who really hid her. It changes so quickly with this one here. Mare is of course not (yet) back on police duty, but that does not keep her from investigating and even going on a date to get easier access to information. The fella she goes on the date with is Evan Peters' Colin Zabel. This was his final episode as we find out towards the end then and I am glad he received a lot of awards attention for his portrayal here, including at least one great win. He had some decent moments again in this episode and the one that stood out maybe was when he opened up to Mare about the case he solved (or didn't solve) on the timeline before the miniseries started. Maybe the best moment of the episode away from the dramatic escalation at the end. It is also a bit sad though if we look at the words he said about his character on one occasion that showed he was probably not too happy where he was in life and also because Winslet's character was not romantically interested in him. Even if I did not see it coming, I am not super surprised though that his character is gone because if you have somebody like Winslet on board, then the action is probably sooner or later gonna be all about her.

Two episodes are remaining and she will have those all for herself. The maybe biggest comedic inclusion here involved Jean Smart's character and a widower opening up about having an affair with her in front of a large crowd. This was also the first time you really saw Winslet's character laugh really hard during the show. Only inclusion? The episode would have worked without this, but it was alright. The only thing that did bother me a bit here was the story they added for Julianne Nicholson's character and her family struggles. This came totally out of nowhere to be honest and felt for the sake of it. I find it disappointing because I like Nicholson since her L&O days and I would have expected more to be honest given she also received decent awards attention here, including one great win. But let's see what the next two episodes will bring. It's just that her son was not a factor at all so far this series, so it all felt a bit scripted and not too authentic. If we look at the crime component, now we know what happened to the two abducted girls and seems they are safe, but we still don't know what happened to the young mother who we found out was killed at the end of the first episode. There is a conversation including the young mother's former boyfriend, who we know now is not the father of the child, which may lead us into the direction again that he may indeed be the killer, something we have not been thinking for quite some time now and which probably would mean that the deceased's dad was right, but this is also gonna get revealed over the next two episodes I am sure. If it wasn't for this storyline, then you could say that the ending of the fifth episode could have been nice closure for the show itself, even if it was quite abrupt. I mean the bad guy is dead and even the mother of the girl who got abducted first must be happy about Winslet's character now.

It is all really a Winslet vehicle: Look at how a younger man wants her, how she rejects him, how she mentions her depressions early on, how she needs to almost tell Zabel to pull his gun and that he didn't do so fast enough on his own resulted in his death and also how the title character manages to take down the bad guy without a gun on her and she also manages to calm down the girls before doing so. The moment before the end of the episode with a boy mentioning how special of a day this is and why in the form of a voiceover was also a great inclusion after the action was over. Great writing there with how the circles closes. I also liked the song used for the closing credits, but this of course comes down to personal taste and people may see it differently. I guess with all that happened during this episode, you can say that, even if it was an hour and not under 45 minutes, it would have worked as a stand-alone movie as well even. Take the girl who was smart enough to write down the car identification, the way they knock at people's doors and eventually find the guy who did it. And there is like half an hour before that already that may have been only on a level of 3 stars out of 5, but it is also only forgettable because what happens afterwards is this great. Not because it is bad or anything. Which you should understand by a mention of 3 out of 5 anyway. Finally, we have the deacon again who also gets his fair share here and it is interesting if audiences felt sorry for him with what he goes through here. Not just the physical violence, but also people on the table speaking about him. He probably needs to move elsewhere again. He was a bit of a main suspect for me throughout the entire show until now and while we see he was with the young mother shortly before her death, it seems he was not the killer. The bicycle scene from an earlier episode was maybe also too obvious for that. So yeah, I am curious about the next two episodes and how it is all going to unfold at the end, if the previously-presumed father of the child is really the young mother's killer. I guess if you made it this far, there is no way you won't keep watching. Episode 2 was awesome already, episodes 3 and 4 then again a bit on the mediocre side, but by now the show hits in full force. Highly recommended!