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johnelkaz
Reviews
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Alloyed (2022)
Excellent!
The most complete and best executed episode of the series, it's a fitting way to end the season on a high. All throughout there is a sense of purpose that also manages to uncover the true depth of Tolkien's world and the weight and emotion that the story of Middle Earth's history contains. From great camera work, to a smooth pacing that feels absolutely spot on, the way the strands of the story come together feels right and impressive by any standard. It's a great sign when you realise that having to wait two years to see season two might well be an evil equal to Sauron's cunning deception. Amazon truly is evil!
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022)
Stunning Production
The first two episodes are visually beautiful and are mostly an introduction to the places and people who will take part in the story. Plot lines have been established and seem to be paced for a longer development and conclusion. It's very promising but will take time to come together. Personally I'll forgive the slightly over-the-top portrayal of Galadriel as an elite combat warrior who puts samurais and ninjas to shame, but after all it is a tv show, not an actual Tolkien novel. For those who find such liberties iconoclastic they should stick to the literature. We should give the direction and writing team some leeway and see what develops as the show unfolds. So far it seems that it can easily become a great series if the story develops an intensity and more conflict. Definitely worth watching. Highly enjoyable. But let's avoid stupid moments like Galadriel surviving a blast wave that's hot enough to set wood on fire. No need for stuff like that, or manufactured cliff-hangers, please.
The X Files: Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster (2016)
Maybe the worst episode ever
Morgan's earlier scripts (Humbug, Clyde Bruckman) are true gems and a great example of how to insert humour into a dark storyline. The balance and timing is great, the humour unforced, the pacing perfect. The acting performances just right.
When you have a Lizard turned human talking forever in a New Zealand accent you get the impression that it was much more funny to read as a piece of literature, probably what tricked the creators into thinking it would translate well onto the screen. It doesn't. The whole episode feels like the recorded rehearsal of an abandoned episode that no one wanted to touch again, but somehow ended up being recalled to become the biggest nail in the coffin of the entire season.
Although people's sense of humour differs immensely, and some will find it funny, most will probably find it embarrassingly bad, so much so that its inclusion will be regarded a tv crime worthy of opening up an x-file.
The X Files (1993)
For Newcomers to the Show
After recently re-watching the show in its entirety, I wanted to write a review that might help those who have never watched the show but think about diving into it some time in the future.
X-Files, even by today's tv standards, is still an amazing show. It is also an important show in the evolution of television. I like to think of it as part of the holy trinity of early 90's shows that revolutionised television, along with Twin Peaks and Northern Exposure. These shows redefined what could be done on television in many ways. They either displayed sensibilities previously only found in cinema, or raised the bar in quality of writing, and at the same time paved the way for many of the gems we enjoyed over the past two decades.
The X-Files, generally speaking, is an excellent tv show. Even though it becomes uneven towards the end of its run, what it achieved in its first six seasons is quite a feat. We are talking about a 20 plus episode run each season of exceptionally high standard that lasted for six years and includes a movie between seasons 5 and 6. That in itself is miraculous given the schedule and content it involves. I dare say that the Hollywood approach of pushing a show as far as possible while it is popular might very well have been a contributing factor to the inevitable, creative burn-out that will occur over time. The Walking Dead comes to mind.
Even so, The X-Files continued to produce great episodes in the 7th season, as well as a few experimental failures. The most disappointing failures are usually to be found among the comedic episodes, but not always.
Season 8, however, is a return to very good form. It's arguably the last great sequence of episodes in the show, and it benefits from the new injection of blood and return to a more classic formula of writing. This doesn't translate as well going into the 9th season where everything starts to feel a touch flatter and less dynamic.
Although like all big fans of the show I wished for more, the rebooting of the show with the Event series, season 10, did little to add to the show's reputation. As much as the 2nd episode delivers echoes of past glory, the very next one nose-dives back into the waters of season 7, an almost fatal case of bad timing and an argument that the show had run its course.
The final season was a vast improvement, with a number of excellent episodes but also a few stale and re-visited themes already explored and done much better earlier on. The timing on some of them is gone, as is the snappiness and leanness, replaced by emotional reflection which slows the feel of the episodes down to a dull walk. Even so, one of the most updated and freshest moments in all of X-files history can be found towards the end. An episode that hardly has any dialogue and is truly hilarious while delivering a very relevant social commentary on our over-dependence and trust in technology. This is where I would have loved to see the X-files end: Mulder and Scully switching their phones off and then holding hands.
It would have been a fitting end to a remarkable body of work.
Sakamichi no Apollon (2012)
Beautiful
As an older person who isn't into anime I have nevertheless watched all of Watanabe's works and find this one to be my absolute favourite. Don't be put off by the fact that Cowboy Beebop or Samurai Champloo are more popular and highly rated than Kids on the Slope. This has probably got more to do with the fact that you are more likely to appreciate Kids on the slope if you have a passion for music and know how it can bring people together. It also helps if there is some distance between your school days and now, as older people have a much warmer place for that period in their life and know to place a higher value on it.
This show works wonderfully well as a 4 hour movie and manages to capture the naivety, innocence and passion of youth in all it's charming glory. Personally, having changed schools and countries throughout my childhood, as well as loving music, and having experienced the way music always made new friends for me, some which still last to this day, I can say that this series is overwhelmingly powerful and true in every sense. To laugh and cry with a smile on your face and remember the first time you heard Bill Evans, Miles Davis, or the rhythm section on Coltrane's My Favourite Things and be shocked by beauty once again.
If any of this sounds familiar to you, buy it, watch it. And then watch it again every year or so.
Civil War Battles (1987)
Great Companion Piece to Ken Burns' Documentary
First of all, there are two versions of this documentary available on DVD: the shorter version is a one DVD abridged version titled Civil War Battles, concentrating only on the battles. The 2nd, longer version is also titled Civil War Battles but is a three DVD set sold in seperate volumes titled; A House Divided; The Terrible Swift Sword; and The Union Restored. This three DVD set is the superior version. Although a documentary about the civil war, it is a totally different beast to the far more artistic work of Ken Burns and is not to be compared to it. Instead it is an excellent companion piece that concentrates more on the military aspects, covering many more battles in far more detail, including many scenes of re-enactments, as well as informative insights by several reputable historians about key moments in battles, the performance of particular generals, and the strategic consequences of those conflicts on the further developments of the war.
For those who are interested more in the battles, this is an excellent overview of major battles fought in the conflict. But it can also work well as a companion to the Ken Burns documentary, covering in far more detail the nature of the fighting and the battles themselves. Highly recommend.
The Dinosaurs! (1992)
Oldest, but one of the best
This is such a gripping documentary, full of interesting information on the first fossils found, the growth of palaeontology, and the rise and fall of the dinosaurs. All of the great palaeontologists at that point make an appearance and comment on various topics in a way that makes this show a must see for all enthusiasts. Pity it wasn't longer.
Deadwood (2004)
Wrong title for series
Instead of Deadwood it should have been called Cock-sucker.
This is the only criticism of a very realistic show that overdoes the cock-sucker word to a point where it becomes Dead Wood while grating your nerves.
The Walking Dead: Dead or Alive Or (2018)
Season 8 of Days of our Walking Dead lives, but with artistic pretention, continues...
It should be a privilege to be able to work with such a cast and excellent material. It's a simple story and it works - in the comic, but not on screen, not anymore.
I blame the producers and the writers, as well as those mindless fans who turn a show into their private fetish of idolization and accept any standard as long as their show continues to be aired. It ceases being a show to them, but like the mentality that follows shows like 'Days of Our Lives' it becomes an obsession about what will happen to their favorite characters and nothing more than a superficial, trivial pursuit of mindless curiosity and habit. Substance goes out the window, content dilutes, action gets blurred and deviates from character. Tension mounts and then splatters out like a pricked balloon, misplaced in sequence, deliberately complicated to contrive the effect of tension but instead it creates frustration and sabotages the very effect it tries to emphasize.
Just about every rule of intelligent and balanced writing is being broken now. All sense of timing has been lost. Over-use of slow motion, then jumping back and forward, pointlessly intrusive and unnecessary.
The slowest season ever was season 2, yet that was a masterpiece season compared to how the show is being directed, edited, written and produced now.
There was logic and reason to the slowness of any part of past seasons, but now there is none, save the feeling that it is deliberately being stretched out and used as a canvas for indulgent artistic pretension. It feels tired, over-thought, over-scripted, lacking punch, efficiency, economy of specch and effectiveness.
I am an angry fan who loved this show, who wants to continue to love it but is not allowed to.
Working on a show like this should be a sacred privilege dedicated to the spirit of the writing. The writers should pay more respect to Kirkman in terms of all those things that are now lacking and return it to it's straightforward grittiness and realism, which doesn't mean killing off pivotal characters simply to be different to the comic. There are endless ways to change the stories so they don't overlap and can explore different situations, but when you make the mistake of killing off one of the main characters who embodies the true spirit and is arguably the driving force of the show (Carl), you better make sure that the show remains focused, snappy and efficient everywhere else, or else it truly becomes a walking corpse.
All writers get tired, and God knows they will be asked to churn out script after script even if they are not up to it, hence the responsibility to pass the reigns over to someone who is. But what are the editor and the producer doing to make sure the show doesn't drop off? Maybe it's time to hire new people who will respect the spirit of this work the way it should be.
I am also angry at Kirkman for allowing this drop in quality to happen.
I advise any people who loved this show up until the end of season 6 to switch to the comic and abandon this awfully produced soap-opera (which is what it has become), and support the real thing.
Oh, and the six stars are for the acting and the special effects, both of which have been exemplary all throughout.
The Walking Dead (2010)
Great, but losing its way...
Love the graphic novel, loved the show - until season 8. While the basic story-line always remains interesting and gritty in the graphic novel, the way it has been edited and written for television lately often undermines the inherent qualities the show could've continued to produce if the writer and producer weren't trying to be more forcefully 'emotional' and melodramatic. Now we have long speeches, tension build-ups constantly interrupted, displaced, and re-shuffled; rhythm disrupted, unnecessary flashbacks, slow motion overkill, deliberately forced cliffhanger-endings, all of this forcing the show to slow down to a crawl and displace the action and tension with way too much pondering. There is now a sense of trying to make the show fresh and different at all cost, in such a way that only damages the linear grittiness it previously possessed. The first symptom of these 'failings' shows up in the season where we are left to wonder what has happened to Glenn - the dumpster drama. Why stoop to cliffhanger cliches that feel so forced and impossible to get out of. Showing Glenn escaping under the dumpster yet still surrounded by an immense threat would've been no less tense but it would've been far more realistic and credible. Then the season 7 finale and the opening season 8 episode: What was wrong with showing who was killed? Like that would not have been something to think and talk about until next season, wondering what was going to happen next? Glenn's death would have been so much more meaningful, as would have Abraham's. As such, after waiting for half a year, we still don't know who was killed half way through the episode, so how are we supposed to feel what Rick is feeling while he's being humiliated by Negan when we don't even know who has been killed? By that stage, it ceases to be anything but frustration, as in, now I don't care who was killed, because it was stretched out far too long and only served as an unnecessary tension-stretching gimmick. Showing it in a linear sequence and without having to repeat the build up to the execution would've been far more effective and less pretentious. Why not believe in the story and let it be what it is rather than try to make it more convoluted and obstructive at every turn. You guys AREN'T Fellini or Tarkovsky, or Alan Ball, so do what you are good at - basic, minimalist drama where action speaks louder than words. At that you have been excellent and trul;y did the show justice. I hope the writer, editor and producer read this and think about what they are doing to the show. Although its popularity is certain, this can also be a show's quality killer, because obsessed fans become so blinded by the love they have for this show they cease to question or see anything that is damaging it, while new fans will not join in and more balanced viewers will gradually lose interest. I hope it's just a temporary oversight caused by tiredness and not the effect of the show becoming so popular that everyone thinks they are a genius now and can try anything they want. The end of season 7, and the first half of season 8 alone, have taken my '9' rating down to an overall 7. I'm a very worried fan indeed. And I wonder what Kirkman thinks about the shows latest art-house styled melodramatic turn? All OUT TALK? Let's hope part 2 of season 8 doesn't end up being ALL OUT AFTER DINNER TALK.
After watching season 9 and 10, my worst fears came true. While season 10 has a more interesting storyline it also suffers from long and unnecessary dialogue. It's only when season 11 begins that the show is finally back on course and up to the standard of the first 6 seasons. By then is basically too late. What a pity. This show could have easily been one of the greatest shows of all time instead of a very good show that goes through periods of tedious and laborious soap that brings down its overall quality by a few notches.
The Walking Dead: The Day Will Come When You Won't Be (2016)
Edited Poorly
Telling a story through flashback is a sword with two edges. In this case, not revealing the story in a linear, real-time fashion created unnecessary frustration rather than proper tension, spoiling an episode that could have potentially been one of the best in all of the seasons done so far. How can I relate to Rick's torment up until we find out who has been executed when we don't know who has been killed and have to wait endlessly to find that out after already having waited months to find it out? It comes across as a cheap gimmick that was absolutely unnecessary for a show of this caliber that doesn't need such clichés to move it along. It's as though some people working on it didn't trust conventional method to convey the strong content and in trying to make it more tense actually stuffed it up by being overly complex and obstructive.
If you think I am talking rubbish, record the episode and re-edit it to run in linear sequence and you will immediately see and feel what I am talking about.
I thought I was the only one who believed this episode was ruined by the writer trying to be overly fancy, but when I bought it up to every fan of the show whom I know, they agreed and did what I suggested. Every single person found the re-edited version far more powerful and darker, and much more distressful to experience.It also made far more emotional sense to actually know what Rick knows while we are going through his ordeal with Negan in the vehicle.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the first time contrived editing and unnecessary teasing damaged an episode: Glenn and the dumpster suffers from essentially the same editing mindset: drawing out tension far too long and in a contrived manner for it to be relevant, especially when it was shot in a perspective that makes it impossible for him to survive. Of course he survived, simply because of the way the detail was obstructed.
And make no mistake: the show is otherwise flawless and absolutely essential viewing.