Malarkey

Since Benno is well-liked in Austria, the writers obviously had to do at least one Vienna murder. After watching it, I felt like it was a shame the writers didn’t also do Prague, since the Czechs are such fans of the show. It could have been fun. Anyway, everything started out svery innocenlyt. Resi (who else) got an invitation to a concert in Vienna and so she goes there with the new investigator Nadine. The very first night, she gets lost and goes missing. Late at night, Ben finds out and immediately flies to Vienna. He’s scared – not only is he used to her, but he’d probably never get a full belly ever again without her. He gets involved in the investigation and just like that, Resi appears out of the clear blue the next day. Unfortunately, she’s gotten mixed up in her best friend’s murder. And here we go. I loved the comments about the Austrians. I was pleasantly surprised that the Bavarians were pretty unforgiving and gave them what for. It was as if they were saying: you wanted Benno in Austria, here he is! I liked it a lot. The investigation was mediocre, but I’ll rate the episode a bit a higher for the environment.

A cute little romance I wouldn’t mind watching again. But I hope that some of the thinking is passé nowadays. For example, the internet gets a weird angle when Lane and Cusack discuss it rather fearfully. If only they knew what Tinder’s like, they would have probably killed themselves. Where has the romance gone?

A very pleasant surprise in the form of the final season’s best episode. There’s a new investigator and even a new constable that’s supposed to replace Pfeiffer but he’s nothing but a drunken idiot. The flawlessness of the episode doesn’t lie in the murder, it lies in the side character who turns out to be a German Native American. Probably a fan of Karl May… He comes over to Benno’s as an old high school friend, but he’s become somewhat of a Cherokee. Resi is shocked and shuns him away like he’s a beggar. He eventually turns out to be the best janitor in the whole show, because Resi finds out he’s penniless and so she makes him scrub the entire inn clean. Once again, she behaves like a total slave owner and it reminded me some of the very best episodes. There’s also room for plenty amazing lines (like the one with the dragon mom) and beer, which I can always appreciate. Overall, a great episode and a proof that German screenwriters can work wonders when they put the effort in.

This must have taken some real work. I mean, to come up with such a premise, to create a completely new language… that borders on some sort of mental deviation. But it was worth it. We got a clean-cut drama that was absolutely flawless. I was enjoying the Veracruz’s unusual environment, but it also made me wonder what it’s like to be a linguist, to communicate with the locals and to try and chart the dying languages. It’s tragic (but so interesting) that the last two living speakers have some sort of history together that doesn’t seem to wanna come to light and so these old men don’t even talk to each other. This makes the genius premise even stronger and the local actors portraying the old men are brilliant. It’s a shame that the original thought of recording a dying language is set aside a little bit… On the other hand, they open up other wounds, unexpected ones. And so half-way into the movie, an adventure suddenly turns into a drama and even into a little bit of fantasy. A peculiar piece that isn’t for everybody, but everybody should at least give it a try, if only for the premise.

The director Robert Butler has probably used some of his previous experience during the scenes where they go down the river, because those were the only good parts. And I liked that the Czech dubbing kept Alan Alda’s usual voice actor since he was the only reason I watched it in the first place. The movie is dull and boring otherwise.

This quite random choice of a Saturday afternoon movie has eventually left me enthused. A claustrophobic tale of a Russian soldier getting as drunk as a skunk on a submarine during The Cold War and missing a spot on the radar the size of Greenland that ends up crashing into them. And… it turns out to be an American submarine. Since then, there’s an unparalleled level of suspense. Rutger Hauer is in charge of everything as a Russian captain and he’s amazing. Just like the rest of the crew who had their hands busy keeping the submarine from exploding and making a hole in the Atlantic. I thought it was great. The Americans have shot it objectively and, in my opinion, realistically.

The Scandinavians have some amazing locations at their disposal. When they use them to their full potential, it can make up half the movie’s or show’s overall quality. That was the case with this show. I didn’t think it was any bad and it certainly didn’t make me feel as conflicted as some of the other reviewers feel. I didn’t even have any issue watching the entire show and enjoying the ending. The problem lies somewhere else – the script. It has an amazing premise; a thriller plotline with a pinch of mystery, located in an isolated hotel in Lapland with not a soul in sight for miles and miles. The atmosphere reminded me of the legendary Shining. The issue comes with the flow. The producers are toying with a horror aspect a little bit and so you’ll see a whole range of ridiculous situation. It’s almost as if the characters all had room temperature IQ and you come to accept that the producers had to steer it towards some direction or another. After all, to find out that the hotel is haunted and then leave in episode 2 wouldn’t exactly help the story (even if it was the logical thing to do). Somewhere along half of the season, the show started to drag more than shows tend to. And that’s saying something considering that dragging plotlines is quite a standard practice in shows. Overall, Black Lake did leave a good impression on me. The open ending hints at a sequel, which I wouldn’t be against because the ending was so convincing that it would be a shame to leave it alone.

You can tell that the producers are trying hard. Benno’s partner has really come through as a character and so some of the scenes have more action to them than the usual retirement home party. That’s apparent in the very first scene of this episode. The investigation is standard, the jokes alright. A decent episode.

I can’t seem to understand why James Franco would even star in such a hodgepodge of a movie, because High School Lover is just plain obnoxious. The premise is about Hollywood teenagers who concern themselves with such bull crap that you wish you could slap them all. James Franco’s character might be the only remotely normal one. Everyone else is annoying as hell.

This is the first episode without Sabrina and so it’s most likely the most melancholic episode of Der Bulle von Tölz. Ben reminisces about the times with Pfeiffer, who might have annoyed the hell out of him, but his lines were priceless. They also say goodbye to Sabrina quite awkwardly – she just gets pregnant and moves to Berlin, no goodbye, no nothing. It was a little obvious that the ORF TV station hasn’t parted on good terms with her. But even despite the melancholy and the new constable and investigator, it wasn’t that bad. The new investigator comes from East Germany so that presents the opportunity for some fresh jokes. However, I get the feeling that it won’t get any better from here and that Der Bulle von Tölz’s best days are over.