Film Review: Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer (2023) ★★★

Although Oppenheimer is a solid and historically accurate film, it is overly long – making its missed opportunities all the more glaring – and the key dramatic tension rests on speculation that was considered entirely fictional long before 1945.

Film Review: Barbie

Barbie (2023) ★★★★★

This might be a “Woke” film, but it is Wokeness with a human cafe.

Film Review: Wheel of Time S01

Wheel of Time: Season 1 (2022) ★

Rafe’s adaptation of Robert Jordan’s world of eternal return keeps your eyes glued to the screen just on account of how utterly bad and cringe it is.

Film Review: Leviathan (2014)

LEVIATHAN (2014) Rating: 2/5   Finally watched this major Cannes hit, and understood why it was so popular with the “professional” critics, if not quite as much with normies (Metacritic: 92% vs. 73%; Rotten Tomatoes: 98% vs. 80%). No redeeming characters. Main “hero” is a boorish, highly unlikable, impulsive, and violent alcoholic. His wife is a whore […]

Film Review: Cuties (2020)

CUTIES (2020) Rating: 3/5 You can access all of my latest book, film, and video game reviews at this link, as well as an ordered, categorized list of all my film reviews and ratings here: https://akarlin.com/films   https://twitter.com/clairlemon/status/1306400507418697729 The latest conservative triggering is over a French film called Cuties (Mignonnes). Having premiered this January without […]

Film Review: Contagion (2011)

CONTAGION (2011) Rating: 4/5 You can access all of my latest book, film, and video game reviews at this link, as well as an ordered, categorized list of all my book reviews and ratings here: https://akarlin.com/films Contagion (2011), which I watched in February – my only film so far this year – chronicles the spread of an […]

Film Review: The Joker

THE JOKER (2019) Rating: 5/5 You can access all of my latest book, film, and video game reviews at this link, as well as an ordered, categorized list of all my film reviews and ratings here: https://akarlin.com/films The Joker seems to be all things to all people. Tyler Cowen believes it is “the most anti-Leftist […]

Film Review: The Wandering Earth

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD RATING: 3/5. You can access all of my latest book, film, and video game reviews at this link, as well as an ordered, categorized list of all my book reviews and ratings here: https://akarlin.com/films/ *** I am interested in China. I am not so much interested in films. But I am very interested […]

Game Review: Game of Thrones S08

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD RATING: 5/5. So all you losers whining about the Battle of Winterfell, or: The Charge of the Dothraki Brigade. You’re approaching this as you would a real medieval battle, criticizing show writers D&D for giving Winterfell such an absurd order of battle (cavalry go first; trebuchets out in front; palisades right behind the infantry; […]

Film Review: Game of Thrones S07

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD RATING: 3/5. I largely lost interest in Game of Thrones by the end of Season 5 (the only TV series I follow through the excellent cable alternative qBittorrent). So much so that it was not until just a week ago that I realized Season 8 had already started. As I explained in […]

Film Review: The Legend of Kolovrat

RATING: 9/10 NOTES: “Russia’s 300.” Also reminiscent of Ironclad, and perhaps Valhalla Rising. See my other reviews here: https://akarlin.com/reviews/ The Legend of Kolovrat (English: Furious) is a reasonably faithful retelling of the Tale of the Destruction of Ryazan [in Russian; not aware of an English translation], a medieval chronicle describing the Mongol invasion of Rus in 1237-40. The story starts with a […]

Review: Game of Thrones Season 6

SPOILERS UP TO END OF SEASON 6 Review: 6/10 I am no longer a big fan of the series (the only TV series I follow through the excellent cable alternative qBittorrent). It’s not even that I’m a stickler for book accuracy, or a “bookfag”; as I have pointed out, I believe that some things the […]