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Reviews
Bullet Train (2022)
Ridiculous but fun comedy all the same
It very much has a feel of Deadpool vs a Tarantino film so would recommend if you like thost styles - of course it is ridiculously over the top action and make-up-as-you-go-along plot twists that you can't take seriously with the comedy script, they're not even shy of the constant Fiji water product placement, the script generally made me laugh all the same - there's enough laughs to outweigh of a few bits of cringe.
The production was pretty impressive, and they got some decent actors probably because of their connection with the director - most of it worked well.
The cameos were pretty amusing too!
Quantum Leap (2022)
Got potential
I watched the original Quantum Leap series a while ago, and though it's hard to beat, I really like the way the new series is going and how it's connected to the original story so far. I feel mixed about the characters (some good, some cliche which may be due to the script in early episodes) but I think I might grow to like more of them as episodes unfold and they develop. I like the lead Ben and great to see the actor in Magic's character. I like the way they interweave the nostalgic format for each episode like the original. So far being three or so episodes in, it looks promising. I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes.
Jimmy Carr: His Dark Material (2021)
Meh... what happened to Jimmy Carr?
I've seen Jimmy Carr can be quite funny in the past, but this show his jokes and comedy material seem short.
An offensive joke can be funny if it has wit... but most of it was just plain lazy insults that are expected to be funny on their own without the wit that's entertaining - any idiot can do that (and often do for free).
If it's meant to be done for shock or controversial attention - it doesn't work, it just comes across as rudimentary provocation just for any old reaction. I couldn't watch it all because it was a bit cringe.
Don't Look Up (2021)
Pretty good apart from weird forced Ariana Grande feature
I liked the way the film captured the irony and satire of the covid/Trump/climate crises and new age entrepeneurs, via the metaphor of a comet impact extinction event. It really did capture the madness of how humanity seems to be treating (or not treating) the situation.
The film was a bit ironic itself with a whole Ariana Grande (in her pop singer 'character') - the early scenes made sense (she delivered well) but the use of the character in the film plot flipped later with a full scene of a song that I wasn't sure was supposed to be bad or cringeworthy - I'm assuming so - but it really wasn't necessary. It seemed forced into the film randomly with the astronomers campaigning the end of the world at that point and then introducing her. It just didn't fit, got too much airtime given the film's already quite long, for very little point - I guess it was a way to attract her fans but not sure it had the intended effect.
I think everyone's acting was pretty good overall - Jennifer Lawrence's character sometimes had some OTT lines, but thought her acting was good given the not so great lines at times. Meryl Streep, Rob Morgan Mark Rylance and Leonardo Di Caprio were the best. I thought Cate Blanchett, Tyler Perry and Jonas Hill were good too. Ron Perlman had a very small appearance.
I liked the ending, which was quite quirky and not necessarily as predictable.
Young Sheldon (2017)
Inconsistent with BBT Sheldon, but great as a standalone show
I see this show as 'inspired by' Sheldon rather than having a consistent character link and style to the Big Bang Theory, which we also enjoy in the household.
As a BBT spinoff, Sheldon's younger character and stories of the family often seem inconsistent to who Sheldon grew up into later in the BBT (what he allowed for touching often, swings of maturity/immaturity without continuity in his later years of development, his tales of his meemaw).
However, as a standalone show without any comparison to the style of BBT, this is actually really good, and the cast are great to the point young Sheldon is hardly the main character and story for many episodes later.
It's a different type of show to me which has a lot of merit and stands better on its own.
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001)
Beautiful fantastical film
I am a fan of Studio Ghibli films and this is among my favourites.
It is a surreal fantasy story of a girl who ends up in a world of a bathhouse for spirits, after something happens when their family visits an abandoned theme park.
The animation is beautiful, and the characters are very interesting. Having some understanding of Japanese, I think the English translation throughout was pretty good.
I really enjoyed this film.
Fight Club (1999)
Wasn't sure it was something I'd like... but it was
Knowing little of it just from the look, I didn't think I was going to like this film but it turned out to be a gem. The way the story unfolded was cleverly done to reveal a great twist in the end.
It's an extraordinary story with some profound messages and interesting points about society that's definitely food for thought to take away.
I cannot fault the casting, the actors were brilliant... including Meatloaf.
Gilmore Girls (2000)
Light and heart-warming
I started watching this on Netflix and it's a really light eash chic flick I really enjoyed.
It's not a show to take too seriously, it's more of a feel good show of an idyllic life even in this quirky story of the single mother and daughter relationship, as well as their lives in this town.
The casting is a little stereotypical but pretty good for what it was for the times. The Gilmore family were really well casted, and the actors like the one playing Luke were good.
Game of Thrones (2011)
Overrated, can see this being outdated already
I'm quite surprised with the hype around this TV series. Underneath this historical / fantasy optics, paired with sensationalist portrayals like violence and sexualisation, there's not a lot of substance or consistency to the overall story. Just like the books.
I didn't see any reason for the rape and sadistic scenes to add any realism when it's clear this is fantasy, there's dragons in it for crying out loud. If you like that kind of horror fantasy, maybe it's your thing.
I don't think the quality of the visuals was very good either, it's filmed like those low budget history documentary reenactments, and you can tell the actors are wearing wigs etc.
Some scenes dragged with the dialogues and I barely felt anything for the characters including the Starks. The various arcs of characters wasn't written with a complex or grand design, more like a soap opera of characters and groups coming and going.
I barely made it to Season 5. I'm not surprised to hear fans disappointed with season 8, I hardly saw any clever plots to hold the story together in the first place.
This really is for shock scenes and soap opera type entertainment, sprinkled with a bit of fantasy motif on the side. I don't know how well this will stand the test of time, if anything it could be something to watch just for laughs.
Snowpiercer (2020)
Plot and character holes so far, are the tail-end meant to be villains?
Half way in, there's hardly any characters I like, I don't even like the tail-end characters. Most of them are ruthless for their own agenda rather than looking out for everyone's interests, they've all devolved to primitive human survival while the most interesting character (Jennifer Connelly is clearly the best actress so far) tries to keep the remaining human population alive having kept everything in order albeit with some unsavoury decisions and actions and probably too many secrets she should have confided in at least with her inner circle. And her right hand woman doesn't even get it after all those years, what. And why is one of the guards (Bess?) so shocked Josie from the tailend was tortured during interrogation? They've been witness to it since the beginning with the tailend and during the rebellion bloodshed. Why would I empathise with the main 'detective' character who colludes with the brat and the first class to cause chaos and risk the human disaster. Maybe that's the point of this series, humans are their own enemies and will wipe themselves out.
Nightflyers (2018)
A few interesting plots and visuals, just not a cohesive story
This is more of a thriller and horror genre than science fiction, there's a few bones thrown for the latter but maybe not enough for a sci-fi fan.
There's some interesting storylines which made me watch the full series to find out more of the suspense and mystery. It doesn't lead to a cohesive story altogether, they seem left like part-connected plots with events without clear reasoning or resolve. Many questions and how it hangs together doesn't really get answered, and it's not framed in a way to leave it to the viewer's imagination.
The opening scene and the story leading to it ends up being very random, it really doesn't play much into the main story. It's like all these interesting concepts have been put into it, but it's not been developed far enough to create a good climax like you see in other series.
There is one interesting twist about the ship and the Captain, I wish it went a little further for the main story and its connection to the alien intelligence.
Stowaway (2021)
Good film - few unbelievable bits
Overall it was a good film being well shot, acted and a few good plots.
It is a bit unbelievable they would not have any back-ups for a two year mission though and having three people onboard when the ship's capacity was designed for two. I just can't imagine such an invested programme would take such risks.
It kind of makes sense why they couldn't wait for the solar storm to save the oxygen because they said the tank was leaking, but I wondered whether they could have been protected inside where the tanks were stored. Or tied the cannister with the tethers to secure them from being lost.
The human experience felt very real in most parts in terms of the dilemmas they faced.
The History of Time Travel (2014)
Documentary too unrealistic
The concept of a documentary was good, but it wasn't executed well at all. All the interviewees were telling the same full story of all events that are only observable from certain experiences and perspectives- how would all of them know everything around it and telling the family story perspective only? In a documentary, you'd expect the interview sources to talk within their field of expertise, observations and/or experience, those bits are pulled together to create story within the documentary. The only interviewees I'd expect to hear the family story with some of the events from the family friend and the writer - so they were more realistic.
When I heard the medical professional going on about the story then say the only possible explanation was time travel, it became ridiculous. It would be more realistic to talk about the illness and conclude the cause was unknown, hearing a professional saying it can only be time travel sounds unreliable. The physics subject expert and lecturer talked nothing about the science not even theory or experiment, they were telling the same story and they said they knew the character time travelled, just no one knew how. That's not how scientists think. Then the family friend sounded like she knew two versions of the event... that's where the usual time travel plot holes came about. It could have been good if they emulated a documentary with versions of events and better characters scripted , but it had too many flaws and just didn't work as a documentary. If you only have one story you might as well tell it as a story with characters. If it is a student or amateur film maybe this is acceptable, but not as a professional production and release.
Dark (2017)
Season1/2 great, season 3 bit downhill
Loved the concept and continuity in the seasons but season 3 events and finale lost continuity with plotholes and forgot about half concepts of the story. Like what was the point of killing Jonas if they knew he existed still? He only came from one world and he didn't exist in the other, if there were 2 events in one world, one he died and one He survived , that means there's 4 versions at least of so it wouldn't matter which one they changed (Eva knew this)... then what was the point of The timeline loop in season 1/2 that would have been awesome to tie into the finale instead of adding more dimensions and new versions all of a sudden which was hardly explored after created? Season3 decided to scrap that in the end, somehow Claudia somehow became the only one to break the pattern while the loop still kept going with everyone else ... and decide Regina wasn't bound to the loop... what??? And how can Jonás and Martha have created the problem when the problem already existed before Jonás was born with Mikkel, which means someone triggered the problem before Jonás Could exist to create it?? they can also just jump into the origin world all along (older Claudia who jumps back already knew this during the loop in previous timelines but wanted events to play the same in the loop though she already technically intervened in a world that already existed that they were created within)? Couldn't old Claudia herself fix it earlier as soon as she found out, otherwise what's the point of the loop if it's not really a loop? You don't need Jonás and Martha to do that As they didn't predict her moves in the end, yet they remember a different timeline... why bother waiting until then. Yet we went through all season with the idea they'd already existed, but the in Season 3 changed the rules (still don't know the trigger of looped events within the 2 worlds before Jonás was born) to change/erase the timeline loop in the end. OK! Just broke all continuity and created a plotholes... which I'm sure was hidden from the audience by disorientating them with multiple versions and worlds introduced in season 3.
Hiroshima: The Aftermath (2015)
Thought provoking and heartfelt to civilian victims
Provided a different perspective that was thought-provoking and heartfelt, so sad. Anyone complaining this is anti-American propaganda should consider putting their ego aside and have some empathy to real victims from this event, we cannot deny the damage this did. Great documentary.