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[pixxxie]

Yeah, Nyrkki is one I've got in my binge folder – when I get a moment. Thanks for the review.

Edited May 19, 2020 by pixxxie

[Vultural]

Kingdom: S02 - 2019 -  7/10
AKA - Kingdeom S02  //  킹덤

Meaner, rougher, more treacherous, and certainly bloodier than S01.
The contagion  has scorched vast swathes of the countryside.
Even rallying support, the crown prince faces a menace that swells exponentially.
Meanwhile, those in power continue to deny, while turning the horror to their advantage.
As before, this has an uncomfortable resemblance to unnamed nations during the Covid deaths.
For commitment avoiders: S02E06 @ 37” there is a closure, if you want to end it there.
Others, watch on.  S03 will air when it airs.
(Netflix owns this series, and the K-drama fanbase have expressed concerns the US firm may “milk” the series.)

 

Edited April 21 by Vultural

[pixxxie]

Quote

... and certainly bloodier than S01.

Yeah, looking at the pic you've got there, it's pretty bloody ?

[Vultural]

Tokyo Vampire Hotel - 2017 - 5/10
AKA - 東京ヴァンパイアホテル

I started watching this two  … three years ago.
Colossal expectations curdled into disappointment.
For centuries, clan Corvin has dominated clan Dracula in the vampire hierarchy.
With the fulfilling of an ancient prophecy, out come the knives, guns and teeth of clan Dracula.
The opening episodes are ballistic and excessive.

Would that writer / director Sion Sono maintain this intensity and plotting.
Alas, he shot his wad in the first installments.
Afterwards, any madness he can imagine, he tosses into the mix.
If that fails, he repeats action sequences and verbal histrionics.
Repetition grows tedious.  As the plot advances nary an inch, viewing becomes a slog.
Too bad, for this ten part series boasts eye-popping color design and extravagant costumes.

Acting is bellicose and over the top in the midsection.  Screaming, then fighting.
The series is a confused mess, seemingly aimed with one eye toward the American market.
Meaning, wagons of violence, blood and gore, but scarcely any nudity (odd, since human characters are ordered to start making babies for future blood supply).
The last three episodes move on surer footing.  A haunting melancholy pervades.
I’ve written more than usual about this series, primarily because of the director and the blistering opening.
This had the making of an astounding show.  Until it began wallowing in its own self conceit.
Caveat emptor.

Edited April 21 by Vultural

[Vultural]

Luna Nera - 2020 - 5/10
AKA - Black Moon

Reviews were lackluster, still I went ahead and started watching.
In rural Italy, probably 17th century, lesser nobles track down, torture and burn witches.
Usual reasons.  Bad crops, stillbirths, dire weather.  Blame women.
Smart looking series, period costumes, and sets are undermined by poor script and worse acting.
Acting ranges from melodramatic to amateurish.
To a soul, these are Italian stereotypes.  Impulsive, loud, emotional, excitable.
Plot wise, we got witches.  Striga.  Instead of incantations and magic, we get icky grade school romance.
Our male hero, the Roma educated hope of his family, falls for the homely, neo-witch instead of his childhood flame who burns with heat and wields a sword.

Guys may be shallow, but we are not blind.
Nonetheless, should you load this despite my piddling review, catch the last episode, especially the last half.
Ridiculous and fruity, wildly over the top and not in a good way.

Edited April 21 by Vultural

[pixxxie]

? if I'm ever going to have the opportunity top watch Luna Nera, I'll focus on the last half of the last episode and discard the rest. It sounds like it might just contain the 'best' bits.

[Vultural]

The Prodigal Daughter - 2020 - 6/10
AKA - Die Verlorene Tochter

During the last high school dance, the richest girl in town disappears.
Ten years later, memory gone, Isa suddenly returns.
Conveniently, as the family begins to squabble over the inheritances.
Multiple mysteries are explored.
Was she kidnapped originally?  If so, by whom?  And why?
Where has she been?  Why did she return?  At this precarious moment.
As the narrative unfolds, personalities and backstories, surface in an ugly light.
Does not stitch neatly for meticulous viewers, yet this is a fine, if unpleasant, slow boil thriller.

Edited April 21 by Vultural

[Vultural]

The Antique: Secret Of The Old Books - 2018 - 6/10
AKA - Biblia Koshodô no Jiken Techô  //  ビブリア古書堂の事件手帖

Condensation of several novels by En Mikami limits its focus to shopkeeper Shioriko, and her part time assistant, Daisuke.
Possessing an encyclopedic knowledge of books, Shioriko struggles to keep her shop afloat, while fending off threats from an obsessive / psychopathic book collector.

Daisuke’s story is more the mystery of his recently deceased grandmother, and her forbidden love affair.
Shioriko, unfortunately, is underwritten.  Replace the constant book in her hands with a cellphone, and she would be any naval gazing soul of today, more interested in elsewhere than people in front of her.
The grandmother’s story is set in 1964 during the Tokyo Olympics.
Played by Kaho (Toyko Vampire Hotel), she is a ramen cook.  Full of life, and curiosity.

Her relationship with a struggling writer is the emotional core of the movie.
The modern story with the collector is forced and poorly done.

A better experience might be Antiquarian Bookshop Biblia's Case Files from 2013.
With 11 episodes, it offers a deeper, richer exploration of Mikami’s novels.

https://www.sub-talk.net/topic/337-currently-viewing-recently-viewed/?do=findComment&comment=28799

Edited April 21 by Vultural

[Vultural]

Babylon Berlin: S03 - 2020 - 6/10

When will I ever learn?  After one or two seasons, inspiration and creative fire for most shows ebb away.
So too here, the third installment of a series which dazzled over the course of two back-to-back seasons.
Where the narrative once took bold leaps within a dynamic Weimar Berlin, now the plot inches incrementally.
The threads seem smaller.  Murders on a film set.  (The troubled film, “Dämonen der Leidenschaft,” may remind decadent buffs of Sebastian Droste’s work in  “Tragödie der Macht”.)
Gereon’s personal problems, Charlotte’s family and career problems, Greta’s incarceration.
The minutes creep doggedly by.  Bits of an arc advance here, piece of action there.
The Hollywood writing room crutch of “milking” a series, of dragging the pace in order to stretch an eight episode series into twelve, is sadly and shamefully evident.
Babylon Berlin becomes another dull soap opera (thanks, Netflix), which is regrettable because this had been, for me, a thrilling show.

Edited April 21 by Vultural

[DrWho42]

last friday's episode of fishcenter live

[pixxxie]

Vultural, we miss your posts here! Please return to us.

[Vultural]

On 4/28/2021 at 7:19 AM, pixxxie said:

Vultural, we miss your posts here! Please return to us.

OK, pixxxie, we'll see how this goes ...

[Vultural]

Into The Night - 2020 - 7/10



Apocalypse fans!
A NATO officer hijacks a jet in Brussels, orders an immediate departure!
Destination, west.  Head west, avoid the first rays of sunrise at any cost.
To press home his demand, he shoots the pilot, though not mortally.
Sure enough, even though our NATO officer flies off the handle and seems nuts, he knows something.
Sunshine is lethal.  Only staying in the dark side of Earth ensures survival.
Most of the passengers are self centered, and there are malfunctions and shortages every episode.
New shake of an old concept.  Inventive thriller benefits from a constant deadline.  Slick cliffhanger.

[Vultural]

Fear By The Lake - 2020 - 6/10
AKA - Peur Sur Le Lac



Apocalypse fans!
An unknown contagion blazes through Annecy.  Coughing followed by the spew of blood.
Authorities don’t know what it is, how it got there, or how to contain it.
Government voices send in doctors and troops, but not much leadership.
The infected and the deaths escalate dramatically.  Panic.
Most, if not all, of the secondary characters are irritating, frantic Nellies.
Eerily prophetic, though not enough meals.
Would that current mass outbreaks be resolved within six episodes.

[Vultural]

Ordeal By Innocence - 2018 - 7/10



Mother is brutally murdered.  Damning evidence incriminates the son.  Awaiting trial, he is murdered.
A few years later, Father prepares to remarry a bossy, trophy wife.  The other children live unhappy lives.
Then the stranger arrives, with testimony that profoundly upsets everyone.
Nicely turned adaptation of Agatha Christie mystery is a devil of deception.
The spotlight of whodunit focuses on one after another.
Mother, it seems, was a right piece of work.
Beautifully shot three-parter, though the chilly tone may put some viewers off.
Irresistible for Christie fans.

[Vultural]

Bad Banks: S02 - 2020 - 7/10



Second series picks up where BB: S01 concluded.
Jana and her team are assigned to a fledgling online financial company.
Their goal is to capture the independent upstart and bring it under the heel of the commercial institution.
Expect cooked books, quicksand alliances, betrayals, and a web of lies.
Ramifications include massive layoffs, economic chaos, and potential loss of life here and there.
This is not an easy series (this ain’t NetFlix).
Target viewers seem to be persons who keep an eye on their personal savings and grasp leverage, offshore, and reassignment  double-speak.
Whether you have savings or not, this series lets you see how quickly a handful can ruin your future.

Edited December 25, 2021 by Vultural

[Vultural]

Memories Of The Alhambra - 2018 - 6/10
AKA - Alhambeuraui Gungjeonui Chooeok  //  알함브라 궁전의 추억

Polished K-drama should appeal to gamers and VR adopters.
A young designer develops an immersive game set in Granada.
Two CEO's of rival tech firms are casually interested.
The game itself soon shows to have a few bugs.
Deadly bugs, as in lethal, especially as virtual bleeds into reality.



Worse, the higher one progresses it is nigh impossible to log off.
The main protagonist is not the young developer, but one of the rival CEO's.
To be blunt, the guy is an arrogant jerk.  He is rude, dismissive, and untrustworthy.
Opening episodes suffer the K-drama disease of "cutesy,"  as characters behave and act like thumb-sucking seven year olds.  This dissipates, but it is cringe worthy.
Soon enough, skills are honed, and a quest is undertaken.



Spanish locations are stunning.
Three quarters in, the series flags.  Energy, momentum, invention, all dip noticeably.
The ending – not to spoil – was an exhausted failure.  Not that it was even an ending, it was an attempt.
The creative team shrugged “good enough” and delivered a finale that felt dishonest.
Inside joke:  Gamers are permitted to make allies, one of our protagonist’s most loyal allies goes by the handle of "City Hunter."

[pixxxie]

8 hours ago, Vultural said:

Bad Banks: S02 - 2020 - 7/10
This is not an easy series (this ain’t NetFlix).
Target viewers seem to be persons who keep an eye on their personal savings and grasp leverage, offshore, and reassignment  double-speak.
Whether you have savings or not, this series lets you see how quickly a handful can ruin your future.

You're dead right in that this is not an easy series. I managed the first season okay, but am having some trouble with the second which seems to have ratcheted up the intensity of the workings of banking world – imagined or otherwise. Still, I'll persevere as both the content and actors are top notch.

[pixxxie]

8 hours ago, Vultural said:

Into The Night - 2020 - 7/10

New shake of an old concept.  Inventive thriller benefits from a constant deadline.  Slick cliffhanger.

Thanks for the reminder – I've had this one in the 'to watch' folder for a while now. About time to give it an airing.

[pixxxie]

8 hours ago, Vultural said:

Ordeal By Innocence - 2018 - 7/10

What can I say, pretty much anything with Bill Nighy works for me. Even an Agatha Christie storyline.