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ravenhurtfew
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Ahsoka (2023)
How do you have everything classic Star Wars and still manage to BORE.
I never saw Rebels before this, only first met Ashoka in Madalorian, then saw they she was getting her own show - not just with the wonderful Rosario Dawson, but my love Ray Stevenson, and so many other elements that made the show look unmissable - so imagine how fast I rushed to the episodes.
But from minute 1, a snorefest. Just 100% poor writing. Like, first draft BAD writing: poor dialogue, poor pacing, poor tension, poor versions of characters, poor all of it. And then.. some of the chintziest, most uninteresting lightsaber duels I have ever seen. Rosario Dawson and Ray Stevenson in lightsaber duels and I'm not gawping? I am genuinely confused.
What a waste of eeevverryone.
Scotland Yard Confidential (2022)
Perfect.
I discovered it right towards the end of the show's run. This show is an instant classic - simply a cut above. From script, production, to delivery.
What makes the show so great is that it dispenses with the usual "cutesiness" that can surround podcasts - none of the noise of useless talking about non-relevancies to pad the episode, no trying to "inform" or "update" when we just want to hear the story. None of that. Just atmosphere, great sound design, and a narrator you gotta hear to believe.
The researchers can take 100% of the credit, the writers 100%, and the spectacular John Hopkins gets the other 100%. That's 300% fantastic. That's how good this show was.
Farewell, show. You were and are loved.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 13: The Jedi (2020)
Phenomenal episode
Exactly the way a Star Wars story should be. Mysterious, unusual, unknown, exciting, daring, visually engaging. All the things we imagined as children, in this one episode, brought to life by VFX. I love this episode and rewatch it often, with any and all its flaws, same way I rewatch all the well thought out, all-times in fantasy/sci-fi. The series as a whole has its up and downs, requiring a very slow buildup for loyalty, but by this episode, we are familiarly in the State Wars universe. Love, loved. I don't know who was behind this, or who needs to hear this, but hats off to ya. You did the damned thing.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Ménage à Troi (1990)
The "kidnap & forced to give your kidnapper a" episode.
It's scary as a woman just watching it -- kidnapped, then made to give your kidnapper an "umax" and do God knows what else against your will for your physical safety. But it's all great and funny and okay because they made it "light"! made Lwaxana laugh it off! But it's still kidnap and forced sxual scenes. Someone above even wrote in their review that it's a great episode because the Troi women were transported OUT of their clothes! Haha, so funny, right??!!
The Orville: Lasting Impressions (2019)
Ugh, no.
1/ Seth McFarlane always writes women like this -- always presenting so nice but always sleeping around on "some nice guy."
2/ Two Gordon stories and still nothing for John Lamar. And I swear to God if and when John finally does get one, if it's another one of McFarlane's "black guys are all Cassanovas and every woman wants to sleep with them" nonsense, I'll flip tables. He's already written John that way but please, no more. John is head of engineering now, there're all kinds of real stories you could do there. A Blood of Patriots type personal story for him would be so great.
3/ For the love of God, were in space. Don't make us sit through open mic night in Silverlake. Give us real science fiction, always, instead of using it as a vehicle to do an episode of Gilmore Girls. I won't lie, I fast forwarded through a good chunk of the episode.
All in all, The Orville is thoroughly wonderful and enjoyable. But Seth, it's time for you to elevate your game. You're really the only name in Star Trek right now. Get 'er done.
Mom and Dad (2017)
Superb. A near genius director.
This is the first film of this director I've ever seen, with none of his previous works seeming that appealing to me. But now I have to see at least Gamer. This guy is among a small calibre of directors who seems able to put exactly what he's seeing and hearing in his head straight to the action on screen. It's like a darkly funny as heck friend narrating a quick and dirty series of psychotic events he once experienced. The editing is brilliant, both Cage and Blair so on point. And the stunts so well directed and shot.
Don't bother trying to "figure out" the movie - it's not rocket science neither is it Memento and the director isn't trying to set up some vast secret to be pieced together as to why things are happening. The movie's supposed to be a kick in the head from that crazy friend telling a psychotic story, and you're just supposed to laugh.
96 Souls (2016)
A very interesting movie
I'm giving this movie a high 6 stars because it makes a heartfelt effort to tell a unique story. I thought from the trailer that it was an attempt at low budget sci-fi, and ultimately, it is. But more of a kind of hard sci-fi story in which morality and social conditions and consciousness underlie the story.
Some of the acting is amateurish and same for the editing and directing, and dialogue was more like conversation, but this director shows promise (up to a point). And his story is engaging. Despite the flaws, I never wanted to stop or turn off at any point.
Most importantly, it kept me entertained. And that, ultimately, is the task of any story. 5 stars for actual effort and an extra for daring something unique.
The Man in the High Castle: The New World (2015)
Bad, bad, bad.
Are all these 10 star reviews paid? I genuinely have to ask because this pilot is embarrassingly bad.
Any show now can manage a great visual look and great sets and costumes. So in this regard the show looks fine. Though even then the look is so relentlessly Hollywood version of the era that it's hard not to feel like you're watching backlot sets.
But all that could be forgiven were it not for the deal breakers: bad, boring dialogue, boring characters, boring scenes. No tension anywhere to speak of.
And then the casting. So white, it's embarrassing. And this is in a pilot with lots of Japanese people featured. But we're it not for the premise requiring Japanese faces, you get the distinct feeling that there wouldn't have been a single non white person in sight. The diversity of even a place like San Fran seems nonexistent. I don't know why, no matter how many non whites there are in a place, whites only must be the lead.
I never read the book, but it doesn't feel like the producers updated the story's sensibilities. Adapting writers like Dick can come off as severely dated otherwise.
I'm also very bummed about this pilot because I would have followed Frank Spotnitz from X-Files into the very fires of Mordor itself.