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I Care a Lot (2020)
Good until the last third
The premise of exploiting the system of guardianship for the elderly was fresh and exciting for me, so I was intrigued from the beginning. But when Marla met her match in one of her preys, I was definitely hooked from that moment on. Up until that moment Marla had seemed so smug and confident, that I was enjoying her being challenged. However, that quite quickly fell apart in the last third of the movie.
So of course, I have to mention the excellent acting by Rosamund Pike. I was fully immersed in her character. She did give me Gone Girl vibes as both characters are sort of low-emotion, tough people. But here she had an added layer of cool to her. I also enjoyed her on-screen girlfriend - Eiza Gonzalez. A very beautiful woman, and I loved her tough yet somewhat friendlier-than-Marla demeanour. Peter Dinklage for me was less impactful. To me he never felt very intimidating as a Mafia boss. Maybe because he was showing more emotions (caring about his mother) compared to what we see from Marla.
Now on to the third leg of the movie:
* A major plot-hole - why didn't the Mafia, instead of killing the doctor, force her to write a note saying that Jennifer was mistakenly deemed unable to take care of herself? That would solve the issue much easier and quicker and would leave little if any room for Marla to counter.
* The movie didn't really focus on Jennifer at all during the third leg of the movie. And that's a shame, as I would've loved to see how they're treating her, how she is suffering/powering through, how the "torture" is affecting her, as she seemed a tough character too but maybe she would break? But I suspect they chose to not focus on this, as that would make us sympathise with the Mafia boss instead of Marla. And this uncovers one of the major flaws of the movie - it doesn't know if it wants us to root for Marla or consider her as the anti-hero. So we're in this in-between zone, left confused about our feelings toward Marla.
* The failed executions of Marla and her girlfriend seemed too unrealistic to believe for a Mafia-level of criminals. Also - why did the Mafia boss not threaten Marla with killing her girlfriend as they had captured her? Marla seemed indifferent about her mother, so her girlfriend would seem as the next logical threat, and would potentially force Marla to show us some vulnerability, which would be very satisfying for the audience as so far in the movie she has left the impression of nothing being able to penetrate her character.
* Also the way Marla manages to capture the Mafia boss seemed too easy, coincidental and lucky.
* Finally, the ending seemed way too rushed for me - the idea of them partnering up, growing an empire and her being shot. All of that was squeezed into what seemed like a few minutes. And her getting shot seemed an unsatisfying end for Marla, as she previously had said that she wasn't afraid of death. Instead she was afraid of losing as she said she always wins. It would have been much more satisfying to see her lose something - either her girlfriend, or her business, or her dignity.
All in all, it was a very alluring set up that didn't pay off.
Black Mirror: Hated in the Nation (2016)
Good episode, but huge plothole
SPOILERS:
Wanted to add a huge plot-hole nobody seems to be noticing - if the bees are using facial recognition to locate the victims, all anyone being targeted needs to do is wear a mask or just hide their face. Seems odd that nobody thought of that.
All in all, it's a good episode in terms of making you evaluate the possible implications of future technology, that's why I love this series.
Popular (1999)
Morality & unrealistic self-awareness...
I watched Popular when it first aired and up until now I was left with the impression that it's a fun and positively bunkers series. Now, having just watched it again, it actually seems more dramatic and depressing than fun. And I was disappointed because the dramatic scenes were over- saturated with blunt morality. Furthermore, I couldn't buy how aware of all the psychological aspects of their choices and actions most of these fifteen year-olds are portrayed. It's not easy to connect with characters who talk to each other like psychiatrists. The morality that was mostly in-your- face in every episode really put me off. Morality as such can be valuable but it needs to be weaved in masterfully so that it's almost invisible. Lily's overly righteous stance on all issues is more than annoying. Ryan Murphy should've given us some good background on why she is like that, otherwise, again, such a person seems very unlikely, and thus unrelatable. As for all the bonkers stuff, I really loved it. I can definitely see how this was more of an experiment for Ryan, a try for the real thing - Glee, and he really mastered this drama/morality/absurd comedy ratio perfectly in Glee. I love how a situation can get absurdly ridiculous, Ryan somehow manages to maintain good style, thus the absurd mostly doesn't come across annoying or off-putting.
All in all, Popular is a decent attempt for Ryan Murphy's to create his style in the drama comedy world, one that he perfects later on in Glee.