Reviews
What the Health (2017)
Biased and even dangerous
In the beginning, the author states that _processed_ meat is cancerogenous. But then he suddenly switches to calling _all_ kinds of meat cancerogenous without any explanation whatsoever. And this only one of the examples of blatantly misleading information and tricks used in this "documentary".
And if you managed to hold through until the end: there is a woman claiming to have cured her _cancer_ with the vegan diet! This is just purely dangerous.
Profile (2018)
Captivating and disturbing
I just returned from the film screening at the Berlinale. The audience gave this film a big ovation! 'Profile' tells a story of a British journalist, Amy (Valene Kane) who investigates ISIS recruting young girls and accidentally almost falls in love with one of the terrorists (Shazad Latif). The story is filmed through screen-capture, meaning that we only see Amy's computer screen, all her conversations, messages, Skype calls with Bilel (the ISIS terrorist) etc. It's mind-blowing how much you can tell from and with our online conversations and how easily recognisable everything is, the functions, the software she uses, the messengers. I wonder what we'd make of this film 20 years on. :)
Due to this unusual style, the film feels very intimate: we often see Amy or Bilel close-up, skyping, and can experience all their emotions almost first-hand. Valene Kane's performance takes center stage and is especially good, with deep emotions hiding behind her pretence persona of a converted young Muslim.
The film keeps you in suspence from the beginning till the end. There are often moment when you fear Amy would blow her cover or end up in great trouble. The storyline is well-built, every little details plays a role: as an example, just follow the titles of Amy's video files (recordings of her conversations with Bilel).
The story itself is very disturbing and scary, especially when you see that even a rational grown-up woman almost falls for the recruiter's tactics. A young girl has very little chance to escape.
Great job from everyone involved! I recommend everyone to watch this film.
The Orville (2017)
Fell in love with it immediately
I fell in love with The Orville within the first five minutes of the first episode. It's sometimes scary how recognisable the characters are. They are like us - flawed, awkward, bickering - but it lets you connect to them even better when they are trying their best to solve a problem. The characters are lovable and with lots of personality to every one of them. The plots also follow the best of Star Trek: every one of them until now had a theme which was explored with understanding and humour. Some of the episodes were especially memorable for their controversy (sex change on children anyone?). I am very glad to learn that The Orville got a second season. Keep it up! It's been said many times, but The Orville is a much better Star Trek than the new STD.
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
Unlikable characters with doubtful moral principles
What I like about Star Trek is that the main characters always try to be better, to make the world better. To me, they represent a potential of a better future where people are honest, honourable, intelligent, where they value friendship, and are generally good. These characters are not good and do not try to be good or consider the moral consequences of their actions. Captain Lorca seems to be a psychopath who only cares about killing Klingons. I cannot relate to him at all. The whole plot line with Sarek is annoying. In the original series and movies it took him decades to accept Spock, and here he is prepared to accept Michael's human side from the start, say sorry to her etc. If Sarek has so much understanding, why did Spock have it so hard? It undermines the whole beautiful storyline of Spock and Sarek finally accepting each other. The Klingons... urgh. They are not scary, despite their appearance, they are plain boring. To tell the truth, I scrolled forward through a lot of their dialogue, because it was so slow and uneventful. The only likable character is Stamets. The plot line with the Tardigrade was also fine, thus 5 start and not 1. It was cute to give him a lovestory with the doctor. But why so wooden? Their subtle flirting was nice and promising... until that terrible tooth- brushing scene came. All in all: quite boring, sometimes annoying and not the Star Trek I came to love. I still hope the characters will be developed better, but there is a lot of work to be done.
Sweatshop (2014)
A great personal insight into the life of the 'sweatshop' workers
This show provides a great personal insight into the life of the sweatshop workers in Cambodia. At first, the three very young bloggers seem a bit naive, but this is what makes there reaction so genuine. This show made me think more about my consumerism and the choices that I make. I have seen other programs about sweatshops before, viewing this issue from a more political/economic/human rights point of view. What's special about this show is it's personal approach like making these Norwegian teenagers to live like the Cambodian workers for a couple of days and working at a factory. I would recommend this show to everyone. I hope we will make the world a fairer place one day.
Córki dancingu (2015)
Very enjoyable
I just came from a screening of this movie at the filmPolska festival in Berlin. I enjoyed it more than I expected, because the film description made me a bit apprehensive. But it turned out very good! I enjoyed the unexpected mix of comedy, drama, music, horror, fairy tale and a bit of eroticism. It also had a nice flair of the 1980s Poland. The visual part of the film is great: the mermaids are very realistic (if you can say that about a mermaid), with long and heavy fishtails, and the actresses give a great performance. Despite their prettiness, the mermaid sisters look inhuman, animalistic. Mermaids are said to sing extraordinary beautiful song to attract men (and then kill them, heh), so I think it was a difficult task to create music to reflect this. However, it worked brilliantly. I was also pleasantly surprised by the subtle eroticism which never bordered with vulgarity. (It was also great to see a love scene between two women, I didn't expect it from a Polish movie.) Great job!
Scott & Bailey (2011)
Loved it!
I couldn't stop until I've watched all 6 episodes in a row. Suranne Jones and Lesley Sharp give a brilliant performance alongside the other cast. I loved that it's one of a few stories set from women's point of view, dealing with the professional and personal issues. I think we should have more of that. I can't judge if the work of police was shown true to life, but it definitely seemed more realistic than the 'bang-bang-case solved!' sort of shows. Scott and Bailey has cross-cutting plot lines, which also makes it more interesting to watch. I want to also point out the beautiful camera work. I hope for the next season!
Update for season 2. Could I love them more? I already can't wait for season 3. None of the characters is flat, even if they appear for a couple of minutes, the cases are still interesting, and I was glad that we also looked into not only Janet's and Rachel's personal lives, but of other characters too.