Short opinion pieces about films and TV shows that I’ve watched since 2025-05-20.

I realized that, due to life circumstances, I don’t (want to) watch a lot of stuff at the moment…

Film

Crimson Peak (2015)

Rewatch – Of course, it looks very stylish, because it’s from director Guillermo del Toro; but other than that, it’s sadly only OK: Not bad, but also not very good/special.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Rewatch – Naturally, after finishing season 2 of “Andor” (which was excellent; see below), I needed to rewatch this (older) film, that concludes this story arc.

On the one hand, it was and still is one of the better recent Star Wars films, but on the other hand it’s also just nosalgia bait (with a twist).

It’s interesting to view it again after having watched the two seasons “Andor” now: “Andor” enriches the events and characters of “Rogue One”, but one can also sense that both products stem from differents eras, vibes and media formats: Both match with each other, but not seamlessly.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Wild Things (1998)

Rewatch – I only saw this one once before, many years/decades ago, so I didn’t recall much of it (especially not the plot twists, which was good, of course).

I liked it back then, and I still liked it now; a good crime thriller (with some dark humor).
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars

Old Guy (2024)

The trailer attracted me to this; and although I didn’t have high hopes for it, at least I expected a somewhat decent dark comey.

Sadly, it was very disappointing: The tone was more that of an TV melodrama (of getting old in an performative job), instead of a light (dark…) comedy. The characters simply had to little weight or depth to be interesting.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

The Accountant 2 (2025)

The first film was good entertainment, but this one shifted its tone too much in a direction that didn’t really gel well with me.

Of course, doing something different in a sequel is always better that just repeating the previous stuff, but here, it didn’t really work (for me): Neither the action scenes, nor the character moments were very good.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

Three separate short stories (and a tie-in segment at the end) involving the Predator. But neither the individual parts, nor the final amalgamation grabbed me; I felt pretty bored throughout the whole movie.
★☆☆☆☆ 1/5 stars

Spaceballs (1987)

Rewatch – As a kid, I loved this movie. Later on, it lost a bit of it’s charme for me. Now, many years after my last view, the nostalgia bonus effect heightened it a little bit: It still has very funny scenes, but also a few rather rather dull ones.

Addendum: In the meantime, Amazon MGM Studios announced “Spaceballs 2” for 2027 – uh-oh… 😬
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

The Monkey (2025)

Hm, maybe not great, but definitely different.

At the end of the first half, I lost a bit of interest, but then the second half picked it up again for me [side note: I had to split the viewing in two sessions on two days, that may also had an effect], and at the end I was quite entertained with it, overall.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Arrival (2016)

Rewatch – By now, I’ve watched many films from Denis Villeneuve and he is a very hit-or-miss director for me.

And this film lands very hard on the “miss” list for me: I was already disappointed by it after my first viewing some years ago, and that feeling has now been fortified after my second viewing: I expected more of it, more substance, more hard sci-fi, and got none of it.
★☆☆☆☆ 1/5 stars

Drive Angry (2011)

Rewatch – Back then, I found it very “new” and “edgy”, but of course that effect has been worn down over the years, after I’ve seen more films.
But I still found it to be a fun romp/B-movie.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Fallen Stars (2017)

This reminded me a lot of the many us-american low/no-budget, character-driven, independent productions from the 2010s, that I’ve watched during that timeframe (and that despite the fact that I was almost always slightly disappointed by them *shrug*).

This one fits right into that pattern; it’s also from the mid-2010s, and I probably had it laying around since then and procrastinated the viewing of it. The only reason I picked it now was that I was looking for a film with a shorter runtime, because it was late at that evening 🙂

Both production value and plot are virtually non-existent, the cast is slim and the two main characters (which we follow over several days, mostly just talking while walking or eating) also don’t offer mucht depth.

That being said, I somehow could relate to the general vibe and a handful of scenes; that doesn’t make it a good film, but also not to a total failure (well, objectively, it is; but not in my eyes, at that day…).
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Sinners (2025)

I wonder which experience I would have had if I had knew nothing about it before I watched it – but unfortunately, I do watch reviews and trailers.

And many reviewers praised this to be a very good; well…
I found the film to be OK, but not more (actually, now with some time being passed: Even slightly below average).

I was more interested in the characters and plot in the first half, but since the plot changed in the second half, there was no follow-up.
(And that, although even the first half was lacking characters with depth or a gripping story…)

A sidenote: The fact that the two protagonist roles are twins (played by the same actor), was only a technical gimmick and added nothing to the plot: Two different actors, playing brothers, would have had the same effect (except for one scene, but one can rewrite…)

Had also some weird editing and pacing choices; example: The KKK stuff: Only mentioned very briefly at the beginning, and then suddenly they show up again at the end, out of nowhere, for a forced action scene as the climax; hmm…
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

Hundreds of Beavers (2022)

A very weird, but very interesting film; pretty much a low-budget, silent movie (there is sound, but no real dialogues), it’s black & white and set in the past – but made like a zany Loney Tunes cartoon with a few humans, plus humans in animal costumes and whacky looking effects.

The first half or so had me constantly laughing, giggling and smiling; there’s a new funny element every few seconds. Unfortunately, the second half (after maybe the 45min mark or so) lost me a little bit: It was getting a bit repetive and overstuffed. Luckily, the final act changed the theme again slightly: There was still a lot going on in the last 15 to 20min, but then, it got me again.

So, overall a wonderful and distinctive experience; the only downside is the runtime: I’m glad that it’s not just a short (there is too much good stuff in it), but on the other hand, 108 minutes of it is a bit straining…
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars

Thunderbolts (2025)

From what I heard and read about it, this was considered to be one of the better Marvel movies of recent years, yet still a commercial disappointment. I can understand why it flopped, but not, why it got (relatively) postive reviews (granted, I haven’t seen most of the other Marvel movies over the last couple of years; seems the were even worse…).

Its a very dull affair, that appears more like an extended filler episode of a medicore TV show – more so as a first part of a dull two-part episode, meaning the ending isn’t a proper one.

The only saving grace are a few of the usual (but by now overplayed) witty dialogues and a decent cast; but that’s not much/enough…
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

Bring Her Back (2025)

One of the better of the hyped horror films of recent times. Uncomfortable (in a good sense) at the right times.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Hardware | M.A.R.K. 13 (1990)

Had very dim memories of this film and that it was/is seen (by others!) as rather good or interesting (considering its budget) – but that was not my impression back then, many years ago (and isn’t now either).

Tastes can (and do) change, so I watched again, decades after the first viewing:
Nope, still pretty shoddy (especially from the storytelling perspective); it’s all a big tease with little to no pay-off
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

Megan 2.0 (2024)

Haven’t seen the first part, but I was a little bit interested in this sequel:
Although most reviews weren’t favorable, they all mentioned the shift to a more comical tone, which I found interesting, because the trailer teased that a bit.

Well, yeah, it had some quirky moments, but sadly only very little. The rest was a very forgettable film.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

Time Bandits (1981)

Rewatch – I wasn’t a fan as a kid, when I watched it for the first time(s) (it was often shown on TV), and even now, decades later (in which I haven’t seen it), I’m not converted: Overall a very boring and dull film, despite the premise and a few decent scenes…
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

Friendship (2024)

Again, one of those weird and “not really good, but also not bad or average” small, independend, low-budget us-american film, to which I keep being attracted, although I also keep being (somewhat!) disappointed…
But, on the other hand: At least parts of these kind of films resonated and stuck with me.

I can’t really recommended it; but if one is in the right mood/vibe and frame of mind, it can work (as a dark comedy with a sad core).
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Happy Gilmore (1996)

Netflix offered this one, because they’re currently also promoting “Happy Gilmore 2” (which I don’t plan to see).
It’s one of Adam Sandler’s earlier comedies, which made him famous in the 1990s, and which I never saw before.

It’s suprisingly good (and tame/not gross for a Sandler comedy) and he is performing rather good (I know, from other, non-comedy films, that Sandler can in fact act – yet I usually don’t like most of his stuff.)
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

TV

Andor — Season 2

Very, very good and the only good material I have seen from the “Star Wars” franchise in many years.

It’s great, but I swayed for a while between a 4 and 5 star rating for this season, since I had a few minor complaints. But at the end I came to the conclusion that these were only diversions in the grand scheme of things in this season.

(And since this is a limited two season run: My overall verdict for the whole show is definitely also 5 stars!)
★★★★★ 5/5 stars

House of the Dragon — Season 1 and 2

Hm, it’s been a while since I saw it (typing this in September), so I can’t remember many details of why I was not fully on board with the first two seasons.

But I can recall that there were many (maybe minor, but manifold) issues with the pacing, storytelling, characterizations and motivations – so essentially with all the important core items that define a great show (everything else, like production value, special effects, etc., are not that important compared to the writing and performances).
Season 1: ★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars
Season 2: ★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars