MatchaChocolate69
What happens when the mirror breaks?
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2023
- Messages
- 550
- Points
- 93
I want to share my opinions on what I watch, read, listen to, and play.
I've decided to become that critic everyone loves to hate.
This is the typical path taken by failed writers: becoming critics.
But the reviews of failed artists are pompous, long, in which they have to show why they feel better than someone who has actually done something.
And they bore me. Don't expect those endless rants from a literary café intellectual, no no.
I want to be a ninja-style critic: fast, deadly, and straight to the point.
No frills, no beating around the bush, because in the world of reviews/recommendations, less is more.
And as for the ratings? Ah, let's forget the old systems with numbers, percentages, letters, grades... increasingly precise to the hundredth, because obviously there's a difference between 87/100 and 85/100, right?
We're going semi-binary. A bit more of Smash or Pass, like it or not, a very simple rating system.
Here's my scale:
- Three stars: "Good" - Recommended. Good stuff that will turn your evening around.
- Two stars: "Meh, it's okay" - Recommended but with reservations. It's not the best, but if you have time to kill or know what you're doing it might be worth it.
- One star: "I've lost X hours of my life" - Not recommended. It's not the worst of the worst, but close. Maybe there's one good thing or a redeemable scene. Maybe.
- Zero Stars: "Trash" - Not recommended. No need to explain.
I don't accept review requests, preferring to choose what to review on my own, based on my personal interests.
**************
COPYCAT KILLER
"Copycat Killer" is a Taiwanese crime thriller drama on Netflix.
Set in Taipei during the 1990s, it features a prosecutor attempting to track down a serial killer.
The series is adapted from the 2001 novel "The Copycat" by Japanese author Miyuki Miyabe, which I probably should catch up on to determine if the issues I encountered are with the book or the screenplay.
The plot focuses on a series of gruesome murders that plunge the city into chaos, forcing the prosecutor into a cat-and-mouse game against a dangerous manipulator.
Plus:
+Set in the 90s
+Decently acted
+Good soundtrack
+Interesting idea
+Excellent cinematography, with some very evocative scenes
+Decent villain
+Characters mostly behave in believable ways, except towards the end
+Some noteworthy scenes
Minus:
- The beginning is quite slow and only picks up towards the end
- The final resolution is unconvincing
- Overall slow pacing
- The killers are revealed too early
- The MC has a chance to kill the killer but spares him
- Unsatisfying confrontation between the MC and the antagonist
- Despite attempts, it fails to evoke tears
- MC is likeble, but it's hard to side with him because he's kind of boring
- Forgettable Female Leads. Both of them, although the psychologist is better
Recommended but with reservations. In the end, it's enjoyable, especially if you have nothing better to do.
I've decided to become that critic everyone loves to hate.
This is the typical path taken by failed writers: becoming critics.
But the reviews of failed artists are pompous, long, in which they have to show why they feel better than someone who has actually done something.
And they bore me. Don't expect those endless rants from a literary café intellectual, no no.
I want to be a ninja-style critic: fast, deadly, and straight to the point.
No frills, no beating around the bush, because in the world of reviews/recommendations, less is more.
And as for the ratings? Ah, let's forget the old systems with numbers, percentages, letters, grades... increasingly precise to the hundredth, because obviously there's a difference between 87/100 and 85/100, right?
We're going semi-binary. A bit more of Smash or Pass, like it or not, a very simple rating system.
Here's my scale:
- Three stars: "Good" - Recommended. Good stuff that will turn your evening around.
- Two stars: "Meh, it's okay" - Recommended but with reservations. It's not the best, but if you have time to kill or know what you're doing it might be worth it.
- One star: "I've lost X hours of my life" - Not recommended. It's not the worst of the worst, but close. Maybe there's one good thing or a redeemable scene. Maybe.
- Zero Stars: "Trash" - Not recommended. No need to explain.
I don't accept review requests, preferring to choose what to review on my own, based on my personal interests.
**************
COPYCAT KILLER
"Copycat Killer" is a Taiwanese crime thriller drama on Netflix.
Set in Taipei during the 1990s, it features a prosecutor attempting to track down a serial killer.
The series is adapted from the 2001 novel "The Copycat" by Japanese author Miyuki Miyabe, which I probably should catch up on to determine if the issues I encountered are with the book or the screenplay.
The plot focuses on a series of gruesome murders that plunge the city into chaos, forcing the prosecutor into a cat-and-mouse game against a dangerous manipulator.
Plus:
+Set in the 90s
+Decently acted
+Good soundtrack
+Interesting idea
+Excellent cinematography, with some very evocative scenes
+Decent villain
+Characters mostly behave in believable ways, except towards the end
+Some noteworthy scenes
Minus:
- The beginning is quite slow and only picks up towards the end
- The final resolution is unconvincing
- Overall slow pacing
- The killers are revealed too early
- The MC has a chance to kill the killer but spares him
- Unsatisfying confrontation between the MC and the antagonist
- Despite attempts, it fails to evoke tears
- MC is likeble, but it's hard to side with him because he's kind of boring
- Forgettable Female Leads. Both of them, although the psychologist is better
Recommended but with reservations. In the end, it's enjoyable, especially if you have nothing better to do.
I think what may be more accurate is a Sleepy Stupidhead.