Short opinion pieces about films and TV shows that I’ve watched since 2025-10-27.

Film

What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

This is the original film, on which the TV show of the same name is based – from which I have seen yet the seasons 1 and 2 – and liked it. And this film is also pretty entertaining.
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars

Metal Skin Panic MADOX- 01 (1987)

Anime; didn’t like it: The story is weird/boring and the animation mediocre.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

The Ninth Configuration (1980)

Tried to watch it two times, but couldn’t understand it; at the first attempt of viewing it caused by my low blood sugar and and at the second attempt because of… lack of interest?
☆☆☆☆☆ unrated

Frankenstein (2025)

The adaptation by Guillermo del Toro for Netflix. Hmm, well… A bit too long, a bit too slow; looks fine (most of the time), but the characters and the pacing suck.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

Demon Seed (1977)

An old Horror-Sci-Fi, of which I only knew the name and the basic premise, but which never saw before. Interesting concept, obviously a bit outdated now. But considering the themes and the time of making, still somewhat relevant today.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

The Faculty (1998)

Rewatch (I think…?) – It’s an adequately made, late 1990s, mainstream teen-horror movie, with some (now well) known actors in (early) roles.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Metropolis | Robotic Angel (2001)

An anime that is loosely based/inspired on the original german black-&-white, silent movie “Metropolis” (1927).
It was somewhat nice, but not really my cup of tea.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

Rewatch – I’m not a big fan of King Kong or Godzilla and all the following movies in this “Godzilla/Kong Universe” left me cold, but this very first movie, focusing just on Kong and watchable as a standalone experience, is a very entertaining mainstream blockbuster.
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars

BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Well, yeah. OK, I guess. It’s a film.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Triangle (2009)

Rewatch – Very interesting film; maybe not quite as smart as it thinks it is, but on the other hand: At least one very memorable scene.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Kung Fu Hustle (2004)

Rewatch – Years ago, when I saw it for the first time, I was not impressed and didn’t like it. Now, I appricated quite it a bit more: It’s like a martial-arts version of “Looney Tunes”, with real actors. Quite entertaining for the most part, but the final act was a bit too long and tedious…
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Mad Max I (1979)

Rewatch – Only saw it once, many, many decades ago. And I was not impressed by it back then (I think it was in my teens or early twens, and that I already saw Mad Max II and III).

Trying it for a second time: Nope, still just plain low-budget boredom. The simple story alone is not the problem; but combined with the very low production value, it’s just not worth it now, 40+ years later.
★☆☆☆☆ 1/5 stars

Good Will Hunting (1997)

Rewatch – It’s OK; I don’t think it’s very good, but it has its scenes and moments.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Wake Up Dead Man (A Knives Out Mystery (2025)

Now this was a positive surprise: I did indeed like the original “Knives Out” (2019; hm, I should see it a second time, to confirm that), but absolutely despised the second film in this series (“Glass Onion”, 2022). But this third entry in the franchise works again wonderfully: A good story, with a good cast.
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

Rewatch – A classic from my childhood; still very entertaining!
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars

28 Years Later (2025)

Nope, didn’t work for me. Had a few nice ideas, but didn’t follow through with it; instead took some weird turns during its runtime.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

Verirrte Kugel 3 | Last Bullet | Balle perdue 3 (2025)

A well made final part of this french action trilogy. But it’s also showing nothing new (compared to the previous two films); it’s more of the same, just maybe with slightly more budget/higher production value.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

20'000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

Rewatch – It gets a small nostalgia bonus from me (due to the TV memories of my childhood), but I was not blown away by it.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Rewatch – This was new at the time (the whole “MCU” was also pretty new, even if the GotG are not really part of it) and it brough a whole new concept to the screen: Swashbuckling adventures in space, with likable characters.
That being said, and since I rewatched the sequels shortly ater this one: It’s good, but has also some yet unfullfilled potential (which is not bad!).
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 (2017)

Rewatch – And the second film improved on what the first one established; thus the increased rating (compared to part 1).
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (2023)

Rewatch – On the one hand: More of the same (which has been proven to be good) and on the other hand, an even more emotionally touching plot. I’m a bit torn if it’s really so much better that it deserves yet another star/point or not…
If I’d use a finer granularity, it should probably be “just” 4.5 points (four and a half stars), but since I only rate in full points and because I think it is again an improvement overall (although there are also a few things I don’t like that much), it gets the top rating.
★★★★★ 5/5 stars

My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)

I like many films from the Ghibli Studio, but no all. At the moment, most/all(?) of the Ghibli productions are on Netflix, so I try to complete my watchlist – but I must say: This one (similar to Pom Poko) was not my cup of tea.

While I really tuned out of Pom Poko (which I first fast-forwared a bit and then even quit watching), this one I could at least watch completly, but it was not much fun:
A lot of short, disjointed episodes of a japanese family-life in the 1990s – and I couldn’t relate to it, neither culturally nor otherwise. Additionally, all these mini-stories were also not very interesting or entertaining for me.

Side note: The animation style was… interesting. I’d expect such a reduced style for a 5-minute short film maybe, but not for a full-length feature film (if I had liked the film itself more, it could have been a neat aspect; but so, it was just lame).
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

Butcher’s Crossing (2022)

Saw a trailer for it a while ago: Looked fine and starred Nicolas Cage, OK. Some months pass and then it showed up, for free (= non-subscription tier) on some streaming service, so I watched it.

And I’m glad I didn’t had to pay for it, I only had to endure a few minutes of ads (where I took care of other stuff): It’s not bad, and I wasn’t (much) bored while watching it, but it was sooo generic and mediocre and with no lasting impact; it’s only saving grace was Nicolas Cage.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

Fackham Hall (2025)

Now this was a pleasant surprise: A british comedy in a “Downton-Abbey”-kind-of setting, but with ZAZ-like humor!
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars

Serenity (2005)

Rewatch – The film that concluded the ill-fated and prematurely canceled TV series “Firefy” (see below). A good send-off.
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars

TV

Firefly — Season 1

Rewatch – Still a great ensemble show, but now on a second viewing (a decade or more later), it actually lost one point in my rating (the stories are not always great, but the cast is!).
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars