EvilPhoEniX

A solid drama/crime miniseries from Apple that, along with See, is the biggest driver of the entire platform. I'm kinda starting to come around to similarly-tuned series, though I don't consider Defending Jacob to be one of the best (I have Your Honor and Black Bird a level above), but it's still a very solid job. The series has an uncomfortable theme where a family is torn apart by a son who is accused of murdering his classmate, and the father (Chris Evans) is a successful prosecutor. It relies on excellent performances, solid direction, decent music, good visuals and a bleak atmosphere. I was a little bothered by the slower pace and wouldn't have minded cutting it down to six episodes from eight. There's the occasional mandatory family filler that no one really cares about, but the closer the series gets to the end, the more it wins the viewer over. There are a couple of decent twists and turns, and the highlight is episode number 7 set in the courthouse, I was munching away in bliss because I love court verbal shootouts. However, the final episode is a disappointment as it is rather unsatisfying in terms of verdict and clarification. All in all, for someone who has a soft spot for this sort of thing, Defending Jacob is a noteworthy affair. Story 4/5. Action 0/5, Humour 1/5, Violence 1/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 3/5, Emotion 4/5, Actors 4/5. 7.5/10.

First disappointment of the year from South Korea. The Witch part 1 was an awesome and brutal action ride with emotions, packed with twists and great action scenes. The second part was of course one of the most anticipated films of the year, but unfortunately I'm not very happy with the result. There were too many things that irritated me to enjoy it. Plot-wise it's average and actually quite similar to the first one, only with a different girl in the lead role, but I wasn't really rooting for her. I missed the transformation of an innocent girl into the ultimate killing machine, here she just walks around, waves her arms and everyone flies away like a piece of paper. Of course, the film has good visuals, although the visual effects are very dodgy. The CGI is visibly bad here, and Korea needs to work on that a lot. The “marvelization” of South Korea is a direction that doesn't quite appeal to me, and I'd love a return to the old uncompromising and realistic carnage. Surprisingly, there's not much action. There are only three action scenes in the first hour and a half and they didn't completely blow me away. The finale itself is almost twenty minutes long, but it didn't grab me. It felt artificial, overdone, everyone has abilities ranging from flying to immortality with no set rules, and it gives the impression of Man of Steel with an R-rating. When it comes to Gore, I was satisfied, but there wasn't as much as I would have liked. In the first one I liked the fact that the main character kills normal people, here it's mostly just people with superpowers fighting and it didn't have the right grit and juice. The digression with the mobsters was interesting and I would much rather see this as a classic gangster movie. where they cut themselves with knives than fly through the air. In short, it went into Marvel/Anime style and it will find its fans, I was unfortunately bored at times and didn't get the action satisfaction I needed. Of course it's good enough for a decent average, but it's far from the movie of the year. 6/10.

More of a social drama than a comedy. It's a festival film, so visually it looks cheap and the actors are rather average, but thanks to the quite unconventional and interesting premise it's watchable. The protagonist is a former porn star who returns to his hometown and the film illustrates how such a person has trouble fitting into society – getting a job, etc. – much like a convict, and when it's all redneck and loser all around, the future prospects aren't too rosy. Simon Rex may be a douchebag, but I was rooting for him, and here again, the biggest assholes are the women. I believe that with a bigger budget and better actors, this could have been a big hit, this way for me it’s a film I'll quickly forget. It could have been funnier and more daring. 6/10.

This year's biggest Netflix event could have had bigger ambitions, but for me, it's still a fun spy actioner that I have a soft spot for. Extraction is still one of Netflix's best actioners, and I have 6 Underground above it, thanks to the merit of the R-rating, which Gray Man lacks, and it's a great shame. It doesn't reach the level of MI or Bond, but that doesn't bother me at all, it's still an above average genre flick that reliably entertains for two hours. The Russo Brothers were more impressive in Avengers and I liked a lot Cherry, we'll see what they come up with next, I wish they'd do horror, that could be a nice challenge. Gray Man benefits the most from its attractive cast. Ryan Gosling is a decent hero you can root for, Chris Evans enjoys playing the bad guy, and Ana de Armas is traditionally a hottie. The visuals are fine, though the CGI was occasionally jarring and could have been done a bit better for 200 million, but it didn't downright bother me. The action is decent for a PG-13 rating, and there were some interesting ideas – the red smoke on the plane looked great, the stealth action in the opening was likeable, the fight with the Indian star was awesome, and the whole Prague arc is very cool. I liked that there's a lot of location changes and lots of interesting cities to see. Plot-wise, the film doesn't bring any surprises, but I enjoyed the dialogue – I love that macho banter. The biggest minus is definitely the lack of an R-rating and the sound design of the weapons isn't exactly dazzling, and I won't be rushing out for a second viewing either, but I still enjoyed Gray Man. Definitely better Netflix. Story 3/5. Action 4/5, Humor 2/5, Violence 1/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5, Emotion 2/5, Actors 4/5. 7/10.

Amazon continues with the manly, gritty military action series and after Jack Ryan and Reacher comes Terminal List starring Chris Pratt, with Antoine Fuqua co-directing, and for me this is the best of the three and an instant contender for series of the year. Terminal List is for me the prototype of proper lads' entertainment, a mix of my three favourite films: Sicario, The Equalizer and The Fugitive, and I watched it in one go without blinking an eye, in fact it's impossible to stop watching, it's that good. Women may see it differently. Chris Pratt is absolutely superb in his most serious and best role, and it's clear that he has carefully rehearsed the part of a Navy Seal. The series has a very appealing story about one fucked up mission where almost the entire Seal unit dies and only Chris Pratt escapes. When he returns home, people around him start dying and he himself tries to figure out why they were ambushed during the mission. I liked that in the opening episodes, the creators keep the viewer guessing, not knowing if Chris is just traumatized by the war, losing his memory and having all his memories blurred, or if there really is someone out to get him and his family. The whole paranoid atmosphere is rendered believably and very interesting. I must also compliment Taylor Kitsch as the operative who was also born to play a Navy Seal. I also enjoyed the FBI unit representative and Jai Courtney, who played a first class cocky bastard – I've never seen him act better. The awesome technical aspect deserves praise too – the money goes a long way here and I love that. The soundtrack is also awesome – I have the opening theme playing in my house all the time – but it has some decent moments throughout. Of course, the action comes in for praise as well, and it's some of the best you can find on a series production. There are some perfect tactical shootouts (R-ratomg!), the training camp of the new Sicarios in Mexico will make you think of Rambo, the opening shootout in the tunnel is uncompromising and that goes for the shootout in San Francisco as well, not to mention the finale! There are also awesome fights, proper espionage, the detailed production of a bomb (hands fuckin’ up for this), the escape through the wilderness from the FBI, the army tricks, the decoys, the bullet pulling, the lock picking, the perfect use of the environment to his advantage, the camouflage... The professionalism just oozes from Pratt and I believed every move, every punch and every shot. On top of all that, I have to praise the awesome dialogue between the corrupt corporations, I could feel the bitchiness and tension in every dialogue. It's been a long time since I've been so intensely invested in a series and lived every moment. In the finale, the series completely disarmed me emotionally with a crazy twist that will leave a scar in me forever! You better don't end up on my fuckin’ list! Awesome. In two sentences: fucking good looking and fucking good to watch. Story 5/5. Action 5/5, Humour 2/5, Violence 4/5, Fun 4/5 Music 5/5, Visuals 5/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 5/5, Emotion 5/5, Actors 5/5. 10/10.

I've despised and hated this film for a long time and with that I apologise and now award it a rightful five star rating. it's a powerful experience and one of the highlights within the genre. The film could also work as a stage play, it's built entirely on excellent performances. Johansson and Driver both give career-best performances, but it's also nice to see Laura Dern in a very strong role as a sharp and tough lawyer. The film has a longer running time, but it immediately draws you in with intelligent dialogue and I didn't blink for the entire film. Probably the most detailed film of one of the most difficult chapters in life that you just don't want to experience, especially if you live in the USA. Once the film switched to the battle of the lawyers and the trial, I was on a cinematic high in pure cinematic perfection. There are scenes that had such a big and powerful impact on me that I'm anxious to watch them again. I forgot to breathe during the scene where their argument culminates in powerful anger. A really perfect, suffocating and unpleasant film. 10/10.

An excellent indie film with great actors, a great idea, and a powerful and touching story that could have easily happened. From the start, the film takes a look into the life of a molecular biologist and his work, and I found it both refreshing and engaging. The interesting scientific facts and intelligent dialogue kept me on my toes. Once the protagonist falls in love, the romantic level works, which then turns into an instant shock and a maddeningly uncompromising twist, which was properly shocking considering the genre. I still found the following events very unexpected, with one unpleasant situation after another, and luckily the finale comes with a strong emotional dose that swayed me decently. I never thought about my eyes like I did after watching this film. Clever and with a drive. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it in the end. 8/10.

The worst "Resident Evil" adaptation, the worst Netflix series and the worst series of the year, an absolute joke, in which Netflix unfortunately failed. I'm not a fan of the game, so the fact that it's not a proper adaptation doesn't bother me, but I can understand the annoyed fans who love the game series and then get this kick in the balls. I, however, just wanted a fun and brutal zombie slaughter with monsters where limbs will fly to my living room like in the much-maligned and beloved Army of the Dead, but no, that doesn't happen here either and with that the developers have signed their verdict. The creators made a teen post-apocalyptic story with two sisters in two timelines and 80% of the show is flashbacks, their relationship with each other, teen problems, well in short stuff that nobody cares about. The zombies themselves are on the scene for about 30 minutes total out of the 7 hour runtime, and that's pathetic. The whole series has uninteresting, dysfunctional and badly acted characters, it has a cheap look (the crocodile at the end was already quite bordering on Asylum), it's all artificial, uninteresting with all the modern trends (The Boys had that too, but they went for it in a smart and bold way), the story is about nothing and the action is at least average, but there is so little of it that it's not even worth mentioning. The spiders in the 3rd episode and the motorbike games in the 4th episode were passable. Maybe if they'd upped the budget, swapped the two central girls for two likeable marines who would make a lot of noise and cut to the chase, I might even be relatively satisfied despite the aforementioned negatives, but as it is, it's a teen soap opera with zombies in the background and with an Resident Evil label. Some people have written that if it wasn't called Resindent Evil, it would be a blast. I disagree, I don't think it matters what the show is called, it’d still be the same shit. I miss Racoon City! 3.5/10.

The Unreal Engine is definitely a game changer in the entertainment industry that will gradually turn indie creators into the mainstream. This is the future of film and it's a blast. Get Netflix to order an entire movie and series immediately. Again, a short that could be classified as sci-fi with a touch of Alien. Great atmosphere and visuals, nice monster.

Beautiful CGI visuals. An episode that could easily belong to Love, Death & Robots. Dystopian Sci-Fi packed with action, a stunning planet and an original central monster. Delicious.