Reviews
A Man Called Otto (2022)
Tom Hanks (Otto) could try suicide 10 times a day and I still wouldn't care
I didn't YET see the original film (Swedish maybe? Ove?) but I am trying to watch this American version on HBO, and it is incredibly bad.
Once teenage idol Tom Hanks is still represing his boomer generation, but now as obnoxious WHITE home owners in a majority Hispanic country.
The filmmakers try to make us care for the protagonist by making us watch his failed suicide attempts, but I just can't get behind such a bad character. He rescues a cat, he helps out a stereotypical pregnant Hispanic lady with a useless husband who keeps saying "Ay, dios mio" and other such things in Spanish. Most Hispanics in the US speak native English, it is insulting and demeaning.
All in all, maybe it's time for Tom Hanks to give it up. He's had a good run.
Kafka (2024)
A very German adaptation of Kafka's life
I enjoyed watching this, as Franz Kafka is probably my favourite autor. I have read almost entirely his work and, something that would shock, disgust and give him anxiety were he living today, I also read the letters to Milena and Felice.
The TV show gets a lot of things very right: his friendship with Max Brod, his broken relationship with his father, his love-hate relationship with his job, his struggles with conforming to society's expectations.
Why I don't rate it higher: I think the main actor cast for the role of Franz Kafka is too far from the historical figure. Franz Kafka was a Jewish man, with very dark hair, clear features, very tall for the era (over 1.80), who saw himself as very fragile while in fact he was considered quite healthy and good looking. And certainly extremely well dressed, considering his father's line of work!
Moreover, he was a dreamer who didn't adapt well to reality, but in no case was he a clownish figure. He had humor, but I am sure he was well aware of his imense talent and was quite ruthless when reviewing other work.
All and all, I am very happy for this production, but I fear no other greater work will appear for some time :(
American Gods (2017)
Awful TV show
One of the most boring TV shows I have ever watched. There is almost no plot, and little dialogue.
Scenes seems strewn together with spit, they have little logic.... Mostly it's just Ian MacShane rambling on and on, and a lot of gratuitous bad sex scenes, including a gay one! Yep, guess what, I don't have to watch that on my TV.
Again, just don't bother ever getting into watching it. Try something else. I can't believe how rigged these ratings and reviews can be. This is really, really, really bad, and it has over 8 rating on IMDb.
Belyy tigr (2012)
Great war and propaganda movie
The surrealist scenes are very becoming of Russian cinema, the symbolism used is refreshing, compared to the American gratuitous violence and corny love scenes. While the movie is propagandist, it is subtle at that, and its message can be considered one of strength, Russia's glorious past and its legacy as Germany's watchdog. The message is even more true today, with Germany's economic blackmail of the EU countries and its blatant favoritism inside the EU(EU is funding mainly German companies, instead of poorer new East European members, Germany is also dictating the immigration policies of other countries, and so on).
Harababura (1990)
Same old style at the dawn of a new ear
This movie reminds me so much of communist-era morals and their stuck-up prudish highly censored movies. It also reminds me of the painful "transition" period, when, in the chaos of lack of authority, the country got robbed blindly.
But! It was 1990, and Romanians wanted freedom so badly, no one knew what to do with it.
So this movie portrays a bunch of confused sad clichéd characters, who read all the books Communists forbade, go wild in nature (to the point of committing felonies), speaking less than proper language, while the young actresses are occasionally showing skin, speaking of starting businesses (and being ridiculed by everyone else) - everyone knew only the big state companies can make something!
It also acknowledges one of the worse things we got out of communism. Because everyone earned similar salaries, bribes and barters were frequent. Bribes still are... This movie got a first chance to picture this.
Funniest thing the movie is made by the same "elite" scum who endorsed - and made pictures in - the communist era.
The script is almost non-existent, and it's good to watch for only one reason: history.