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Farscape (1999)
Somewhat messy storytelling, but overall brilliant SciFi
Its a bit tough to properly review FARSCAPE, because its a very fascinating but also uneven and at times inconsistent piece of SciFi. Owning a lot to classics like BUCK ROGERS, DR. WHO and HITCHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, its a self-aware "mess" of a series, often baffling and leaving the viewer with a feeling of "what the hell did I just see there?". As with many series, this one needed some time to gestate, the first season is sometimes hard to watch because of the character- and plot inconsistencies, but with the second season it all starts to come together. Its a wild and untamed universe, not as orderly and nice as Star Trek (Truth be told, they tried to mend this with DS9) and the characters are morally very ambiguous and sometimes you start to despise them.
You come to the realisation that the crew tried to make the relationships and behaviour of the main characters somewhat like a heightened SciFi version of real life (As bizarre as that sounds). Chiana as a main example reminds me of a lot of young female students I encountered during my university days: Adventurous, wild, willing to experiment with everything. But sadly she is also extremely amoral and trust issues ensue. She wants to experience life to the fullest, no matter the consequences for her surroundings, even though she sometimes realises her mistakes. She is not a bad person though, she is actually very caring, albeit with with heavy lapses in judgement. I think Gigi Edgeley is spot-on in characterizing this ambiguity, and thats what makes this otherwise outlandish character "realistic" in a sense.
On the other hand, a lot of the performances are knee-deep in the overacting territory, Ben Browder as John Chrichton is one of the main offenders in that regard. He spends a lot of time running trough corridors, gesturing wildly and screaming at his co-stars. Maybe this was done as requested, but even as he has some calmer and introspective moments, it feels like the character is slowly losing the plot (aka going insane). This gives rise to the theory that the entire series is just a figment of John Chrichtons' mind, while he is maybe in a coma or simply in a padded cell on earth. This could of course be totally wrong, and just the result of the general madness and unconventional storytelling of Farscape as a whole.
All in all, FARSCAPE is a fascinating watch, but I had to put it down a lot and pause during my binges, because my mind could simply not process the weird imagery, wild plot twists and borderline experimental storytelling. I guess showrunner Brian Henson often just said "Make it as weird as possible", which resulted in sometimes disjointed episodes and inconsistent characterisations. You could also argue that this is what life is generally like: Confusing, aggravating, fascinating but also often brilliant.
Acción mutante (1993)
Deliriously unfocused Debut
Alex de Iglesia's first movie "Acción Mutante" is mostly a very enjoyable ride, but could use a bit more focus on the titular theme. You expect two hours of funny cripple terrorist attacks, but you get Homages to 3-4 different genre movies de Iglesia is apparently very fond of. The first quarter of the movie is actually concerned with the "Mutants" (actually just handicapped people) shooting the so-called beautiful upper class, but is then switching gears and becomes a mix of movies like Alien, Hills have Eyes and even Mad Max at the end. It would have been more interesting to see the terrorist group doing more attacks in the futuristic city, but I guess this was prohibitive because of the very low budget of the movie (1,5 Million $ approx.). Still, I applaud the movie for its visual inventiveness and not shying away from really nasty scenes. The director unfortunately wants to do too many things at once, and cover as many of his cinematic fanboy interests as possible.
The actors are mostly excellent, which is unsusual for such low-budget movies. Antonio Resines as the "Leader" Ramon Yarritu stands out, he manages to make a despicable character almost heroic in a sense. Which is weird, as he does so many awful deeds throughout the movie. But you kind of get his point after a while, it makes sense (even if its morally wrong).
All in all, an interesting debut, albeit very unfocused and with a lot of sloppy storytelling. But it shows clearly, that Alex de La Iglesia is a talented director nonetheless. Recommended, if you are willing to look past the usual first-time director imperfections.
Bullyparade: Der Film (2017)
Lazy cash grab
This is basically a remake of old sketches from the old TV-Series. There is literally nothing new to see here. All the well-known characters from the show, the gay parody of the Enterprise crew, Winnetouch, Sissy etc. Are here, only held together by a very thin string and no real storyline to speak of. Of course you could say, that something like this does not need an overarching storyline, but what is presented here is simply not enough. Thats really as bare-bones as it gets. I think they really should have made a sequel of the "Traumschiff Surprise" movie instead, this feels like they thought the fans would eat up everything they throw at them. Really a waste of time, and just watching a movie because of nostalgia is not enough.
LOL: Last One Laughing Germany (2021)
Has its moments but...
...if you know the japanese original "DOCUMENTAL" by Hitoshi Matsumoto, this german licensed version feels stale and very staged. While the japanese comedians REALLY go for the limits of what can be shown on TV, Last One Laughing hosted by Michael Herbig is just playing it safe. You get the feeling that the comedians were definetly briefed on what they could do and what not. This results in boredom and fake laughs. I'm not really sure who this is made for. Comedy has to be transgressive and sometimes offensive, but this is definetly none of this. This is the usual german "Play nice" and politically correct comedy which hurts or offends no one. Its a bit like watching paint dry. I can almost tell that Michael Herbig saw the original japanese version and said "Nee das können wir nicht machen! Das zu krass." (No we can't do this, this is too extreme."). Sadly, a failed attempt.
Bully & Rick (2004)
Watered-down version of previous works
Its sadly evident that the creativity of Michael Herbig and his crew has run out of steam. Its basically a slightly updated version of the previous "Bullyparade" but way less anarchic and feels more formulaic. Its obvious that Herbig wanted to be more of a director and less a comedian and this results in ultimately not as effective comedy. The absence of Christian Tramitz is noticeable, his antics are missed. The spark of creativity is sadly lacking, and reveals that Herbig is just a one-trick pony. The comedy feels like someone hit the breaks early in development. Edgy humor is absent and the episodes feel very sanitized as a result. Its no wonder this was cancelled after a few epidodes.
The Hitman (1991)
Unusually Brutal even for a Norris flick.
This lean and mean Chuck Norris-vehicle directed by his younger brother Aaron Norris is somewhat of a hidden gem, if you want a darker side of Norris. Its a somewhat uneven but often effective 90s action-version of Kurosawas "Yojimbo" as a loner who pits rival gangsters against eachother in a bid to destroy the gangs in the end. The nighttime photography really helps the movie tremendously, the somewhat low-budget production is successfully camouflaged by the athmospheric night scenes. The corrupt ex-partner of the "Hitman", played by a deliciously cynical Michael Parks (later known for a couple Robert Rodriguez movies like "Kill Bill" etc.) is a delight, and he definetly carries the film moreso than Norris himself, who is his usual stiff self. The most action scenes and subsequent deaths are quite standard, except the one very dark (and somewhat tragic) scene where one of the bad guys is found gutted and dismembered but still alive. Something more fitting for a horror movie. It stands out together with the gratituously violent final fight and pay-off. All in All a somewhat unusual Chuck Norris-movie, whose Mafia vs. Iranians etc. Shenanigans are more interesting than our mullet-adorned undercover agent.
Space Cop (2016)
Somewhat embarrassing
Not quite sure what I expected here. Maybe a more consistent and coherent experience? I see a lot of scenes which are not tied together very well. Sometimes an expertly done effects scene (like Space Cop taking off from the roof at the start) is followed up by a bad model shot and visibly sloppy compositing. I get it, its a no-budget movie done on weekends, but I honestly think this could have been tightened up with some more editing ( the initial opening scene for example is unnecessary) and extensive post-production. The core is there, but riddled with a lot of ineptly staged scenes, weird amateurish lighting and often unfunny dialogue.
They did better work in their YouTube bits, to be honest. I think its possible to make this work, but needs a real director and screenwriter. Someone who can get a good performance out of Rich Evans (He has a certain talent) and not just make him flail around and fall over himself. I heard there is a fanedit floating around, which adresses a couple of the mentioned problems. Haven't seen that one so far, but it might be an improvement over this glorified home-video.
Dune (2021)
Mostly boring, overlong expensive arthouse movie
Knowing that Denis Villeneuve made this adaptation of Frank Herberts Dune novel, I knew I had to prepare for some "aesthetically pleasing boredom". Most of the actors seem to be sleep-walking through the story, Josh Brolin (Gurney Halleck) and Jason Momoa (Duncan Idaho) being the sole exceptions. The main lead (if you can call him that) played by Timothee Chalamet is acting depressed and looks anaemic throughout the entire movie. I guess at least the female fans will enjoy his performance, while the male audience rolls their collective eyeballs and want to slap him into shape, much like Gurney Halleck tries to do,
Other important parts such as Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) feel underdeveloped. I read somewhere, that Villeneuve was kinda embarrassed by the character in its original form in the novel. The Baron is a vile pederast in the orginal Herbert work, but nothing like this is found in this modern adaptation. I guess this offends modern thin-skinned sensibilities too much these days. Yeah, I hear the cries of "homophobia" etc., it matters not. In the current form Skarsgård delivers an almost 1:1 copy of the Marlon Brando performance in "Apocalpyse Now", which feels very derivative. Even the gestures in the Baron's steambath are identical to Brandos peformance.
Production design is a mixed bag, while some aspects are fascinating, like the Ornithopters, everything else feels unimaginative. We are confronted with 1970s brutalist architecture for most buildings and sets, which create a feeling as if they had been shooting inside an old WW2 bunker. This, and the VERY desaturated color palette of the film, which makes visually more boring than it has to be. Even in a desert, the world is not just grey, beige and brown. Sorry, but that simply won't do.
All in all, a more or less disappointing adaptation. Instead of delivering an exciting contemporary version of DUNE for a new generation, Villeneuve delivers a boring, overlong and expensive arthouse movie.