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Reviews
Good Omens (2019)
I am not okay
While I will not take away my original rating, I have to say that this is nowhere near as good as s01. We can feel the absence of Pratchett, the humour is not as nuanced and refined without his touch and I am convinced he would have either made more of the nazi zombies, or come up with something actually witty instead. May god rest his soul, we are left with... this. I can accept all the other flaws of the season, we know it's the law of sequels not to expect the same quality, there was covid, financial crisis, etc, so I can take it. But the one thing I cannot take is Aziraphale's out-of-character behavior. After the events of s01 he would never, under any circumstance, choose a position in heaven over his beloved bookshop. It is stated clearly that his life on earth is worth more to him than that, so I can already hear the explanation is s03 that he was just too afraid of his own feelings, and that's why he chose the job instead of Crowley. And that will be a cheap and lazy explanation, that is, if s03 ever happens. This was needless cruelty fot the sake of drama, the real Az would never do this and that's a hill I'm willing to die on. Gabriel and Beelzebub were cute though, they worked surprisingly well together.
La cocinera de Castamar (2021)
It had some nice moments
If I want to be totally honest, I expected something like a soap opera with better quality costumes, I was ready for the nostalgia of the shows I watched as a kid. I got something much better than that, not only was the whole set beautiful and well-crafted, the story actually worked. More or less. I found surprisingly few problems, I agree with other reviewers, the ending would have benefited from more time, I wanted to know what happened to the gay lovers, feels like the writers forgot about them along the way. I also wanted a proper punishment for Enrique, the guy had half the court under his thumb, a very private duel was kind of a dumb move from Diego, and he nearly paid with his life. The fact that Enrique got stabbed by Clara makes it even less catarctic, and boy do we miss the catharsis from this finale. Enrique got away with nearly everything he did. Sol was manipulating everyone just so he can murder her lover too? Why on earth would she do that? She was under no obligation to marry him or anyone else ever again, if that is what she was afraid of. He was incriminated, yes, but that is hardly any reason for her to kill him. And then she dies off-screen, in an accident. Amelia was a pawn and she ultimately paid for being so naive, but that was very last minute, like they forgot abou that too. The death of Beatriz was given more thought and was more poetic than any of the major villains. This could have been so much better. Decent, but had some missed opportunities.
Carnival Row (2019)
Like a caressing touch and then a slap in the face
Season 1 was put together decently, although the ending was a bit rushed, it still worked fine, both as a story on its own and an introduction to the fictional world. It managed to set up many promising plot points for further season(s), interesting characters and somehow even found the time to delve into history. We got the promise of a complex world, with complex social and political systems, not to mention the interpersonal relations. And what did we get in season 2? A slap in the face. Nothing makes sense any more, there is no logic behind anyone's actions any more, random plot points grow out of nothing, things just keep happening without ever having been properly introduced. Viewers generally appreciate a good plot twist or two, but this much is so over the top that by the middle of the season we are so dizzy we don't even care any more. It's clear by then that whatever the ending will be, the story is ruined, there's no saving it. I was trying really hard to understand what the 2nd season was trying to convey, what was supposed to be the final message, but all I can think of is that nothing is fair. Not in a poetic life-isn't-fair way that we are to take as some great wisdom. I mean this in a messy, rushed, you-need-to-think-things-through-before-writing-a-script-way. Almost nobody gets what they deserve and not in a good way, some people get out way too easily, nobody takes any responsibility for anything, and there is literally no solution to any conflict. This is not the genre where any of this would be plausible. It's easy to achieve world peace by cutting to black and flaunting a feelgood-montage. Which, as I said before, is not fair, we the viewers deserved better.
The Essex Serpent (2022)
What a letdown
I rarely feel the need to write a review, but this mess irks me. I'm not even sure if it would have been possible to save it, so many plot holes, so many meaningless bits scattered around, trying desperately to look deep and symbolic. I can't decide what's worse, this being a total and disrespectful abusing of Hiddleston's talent or the fact that I wasted 6 hrs on something that is supposed to be a story but fails at it. The whole thing feels like one of those theatre plays where the key character never steps on stage and the cast revolves around someone who doesn't exist. Except this is worse because we are led to believe we are going to see a mystery, instead we get a cheaply justified cheating husband and a generally horrible woman running around like a headless chicken. People are literally dying and they (esp Cora) only care about how sad they are. And everything that could have been remotely interesting is either forgotten by the next scene or treated like minuscule detail in their grand drama of sadness. Not to mention the dozens of anachronisms that nowadays even the cheaper tv shows can get right.
Emma. (2020)
Better than what I expected. Surprisingly.
As a fan of old Austen adaptations, I was skeptic about the fourth Emma-movie that I know of (there may be more), but I tried to keep an open mind. Somehow the film created an atmosphere that was totally different from the good old Austen-vibe, but it was still lovely. If anything, they spared no effort on the set and costumes, everything and everyone was unexpectedly gorgeous, without looking out of place or forced. That balance is hard to achieve.
Blithe Spirit (2020)
Cartoonish logic
It's like Death Becomes Her, only this time everyone is an a**hole. Visually pleasing, but otherwise boring, at some points it was hard to focus. The story was inconsistent, they managed to turn Elvira gradually more and more malevolent (the only thing done right) but failed to graually introduce the idea that Charles was plagiarizing. Once she starts dictating, it's all there, the surprise is gone, and it's painfully obvious that they missed a chance there. What were Elvira's plans regarding the plagiarism, had she not died? Blackmail Charles? Bust him? Let him take the blame when it all comes out? Were they even in love? Ruth and Charles married out of convenience or love? At one point she is a whiny, needy daddy's girl, next she is a devoted and protective wife, as if she couldn't make up her mind. Elvira took days to turn evil, Ruth took seconds? What are the rules for Elvira's presence? Ruth was able to see her floating lipstick but nobody noticed the floating pill bottle at the party? What brought the spirits back in the first place? By the time we ask ourselves all these questions, it is too late to realize that we've been looking for meaning where there is none. It was plain and somewhat featureless, and the worst: completely lacked the spirit of the age.