It was a decent, average episode--although I mostly watch the show for the UFO stuff, so episodes like these always feel a bit filler-y to me--but Scully's stubborn skepticism in the face of obvious, irrefutable evidence is getting quite tiring. It doesn't make her look intelligent. In fact, it reinforces the exact opposite and she comes across as extremely unintelligent when she continues to deny and deny, saying things like "we were attacked by a mountain lion" when a bathroom door is destroyed from the inside by a large furry hand, when the only person within that bathroom was a man she literally just talked to a minute ago. Use your brains, Scully!
Reviews
24 Reviews
Alien
(1979)
Bored halfway through...
22 May 2024
Warning: Spoilers
I enjoyed the beginning of this movie when they discovered the alien craft and the fossilized remains of an alien humanoid. That part piqued my interest. I immediately wanted to learn more about who these aliens were and how they had ended up here. I think the film's design department did a great job of designing a ship that looked sufficiently alien without going over the top, so kudos there.
The part where they're puzzling over how to remove the creature from Kane's face is also interesting, but once the creature evacuates Kane's stomach... well, that's where the film turns into your average mindless, monster chase that feels painfully slow. There's no character development and all the air of mystique we felt in the beginning of the film is gone. The characters are also not reacting adequately to what's happening, which I think is unrealistic -- everyone seems so calm.
I don't know who these kinds of films are supposed to appeal to, but I know I'm not one of them. Around halfway through I had to start doing things on my other monitor to avoid falling asleep. And in the end, I couldn't force myself to get through the last 1/4 of the film so I had to turn it off. I feel like my time was wasted.
The part where they're puzzling over how to remove the creature from Kane's face is also interesting, but once the creature evacuates Kane's stomach... well, that's where the film turns into your average mindless, monster chase that feels painfully slow. There's no character development and all the air of mystique we felt in the beginning of the film is gone. The characters are also not reacting adequately to what's happening, which I think is unrealistic -- everyone seems so calm.
I don't know who these kinds of films are supposed to appeal to, but I know I'm not one of them. Around halfway through I had to start doing things on my other monitor to avoid falling asleep. And in the end, I couldn't force myself to get through the last 1/4 of the film so I had to turn it off. I feel like my time was wasted.
Yet another romantic subplot to slow things down
22 May 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Another episode I had to watch on 1.5x speed and it still felt like a painful slog to get through.
I will admit that I am a new Star Trek fan, having decided to go back to The Original Series (TOS) after watching Strange New Worlds (SNW), so there's no nostalgia involved -- and this may undoubtedly factor into how I feel about episodes such as these.
As another user pointed out, it does not make sense that an alien race as advanced as Sargon and co. Had not had the foresight to build androids ahead of time, choosing instead to store themselves as energy within receptacles. Especially considering we've already seen highly sophisticated androids built by humans in prior episodes.
However, that is a hiccup in continuity I would be willing to look past.
My true qualms with this episode come down to yet another romantic subplot slowing things down. I suppose it's a product of its time, and having such a subplot was important for 1960s TV, but it does not make for a good, enjoyable viewing experience. It makes it feel predictable. Any time a female character locks eyes with Captain Kirk, you just know they're going to be kissing by the end of the episode.
Furthermore, the stakes that Spock and/or Kirk is going to die, or is already dead, do not work when watching these episodes after the fact. I can imagine it being exciting when watching these back when they aired for the first time in the 1960s because you don't know what's going to happen. But we already know that these characters are going to survive, so instead we're just left waiting, in boredom, for the characters to tell us the obvious: they're not dead.
I will admit that I am a new Star Trek fan, having decided to go back to The Original Series (TOS) after watching Strange New Worlds (SNW), so there's no nostalgia involved -- and this may undoubtedly factor into how I feel about episodes such as these.
As another user pointed out, it does not make sense that an alien race as advanced as Sargon and co. Had not had the foresight to build androids ahead of time, choosing instead to store themselves as energy within receptacles. Especially considering we've already seen highly sophisticated androids built by humans in prior episodes.
However, that is a hiccup in continuity I would be willing to look past.
My true qualms with this episode come down to yet another romantic subplot slowing things down. I suppose it's a product of its time, and having such a subplot was important for 1960s TV, but it does not make for a good, enjoyable viewing experience. It makes it feel predictable. Any time a female character locks eyes with Captain Kirk, you just know they're going to be kissing by the end of the episode.
Furthermore, the stakes that Spock and/or Kirk is going to die, or is already dead, do not work when watching these episodes after the fact. I can imagine it being exciting when watching these back when they aired for the first time in the 1960s because you don't know what's going to happen. But we already know that these characters are going to survive, so instead we're just left waiting, in boredom, for the characters to tell us the obvious: they're not dead.
A bizarre fever dream
8 August 2023
This entire episode felt like a bizarre fever dream. And a very boring one at that. This was the first episode in this season to make me take my phone out and tune my brain out completely.
The plot of the episode made no sense and they spent more time trying to explain complex nonsensical concepts about alternate universes than actually driving the story forward. Despite the episode being nearly an hour long, it felt like very little had actually happened by the time it was over.
The subject matter of the episode wasn't bad by any means, however. Alternate universes and time travel have a lot of potential for good storytelling, but this episode did not do either of them justice. Instead of exploring the subject matter, they were more interested in making the episode all about Lazarus, a character whose personality and motives were as dull as cardboard.
I can see why this is the lowest rated episode of this season.
The plot of the episode made no sense and they spent more time trying to explain complex nonsensical concepts about alternate universes than actually driving the story forward. Despite the episode being nearly an hour long, it felt like very little had actually happened by the time it was over.
The subject matter of the episode wasn't bad by any means, however. Alternate universes and time travel have a lot of potential for good storytelling, but this episode did not do either of them justice. Instead of exploring the subject matter, they were more interested in making the episode all about Lazarus, a character whose personality and motives were as dull as cardboard.
I can see why this is the lowest rated episode of this season.
1899
(2022)
Enjoyable
18 November 2022
An enjoyable watch, at the very least deserving of an 8/10 for being a solid piece of television entertainment. The cast was fantastic, the writing was on point, and there weren't any noticeable pacing issues. I binged all eight episodes in one sitting and didn't find myself getting bored at any moment.
Any gripes I have with the show are relatively minor, so they're hardly worth mentioning. No show is ever perfect, and knowing Baran and Jantje, they probably already have an overarching storyline set up over the course of at least two more seasons before everything is brought to a satisfying close. People who were hoping to have everything answered in Season 1 were setting themselves up for disappointment.
Any gripes I have with the show are relatively minor, so they're hardly worth mentioning. No show is ever perfect, and knowing Baran and Jantje, they probably already have an overarching storyline set up over the course of at least two more seasons before everything is brought to a satisfying close. People who were hoping to have everything answered in Season 1 were setting themselves up for disappointment.
Traumatizing.
25 September 2022
Warning: Spoilers
This episode was traumatizing to watch, but it also serves an important purpose in highlighting the tragedy of these deaths and the suffering Dahmer inflicted on the families of the victims.
Hughes seemed like such a genuine, bright soul. He had been dealt a rough hand; gay, deaf, and mute, and yet he kept shooting for his dreams no matter what and never allowed anything to get him down. But in the end, he ended up the victim of the senseless violence of this maniac.
And it's not just Hughes -- every single one of these victims, all seventeen of them, had their own lives, dreams, struggles, and they all left behind grieving families. It's truly baffling that the police did not catch this maniac earlier; if they had been even a little bit more competent, perhaps all of the deaths past 1978 could have been avoided and the world would be richer for it.
I'm so conflicted with "liking" this show. On one hand, the acting and writing is top-notch and they do a great job depicting these tragic events faithfully. But on the other hand, the families of the victims are still suffering from their losses and being forced to relive these events is not something I would wish upon any of them. I certainly hope none of them ever go anywhere near this show. That said, at the very least the show does the important duty of highlighting Dahmer's victims. Dahmer himself is not at all painted as any kind of empathetic figure with a tragic past, he's just a maniac. There's no excuse for anything he did.
Hughes seemed like such a genuine, bright soul. He had been dealt a rough hand; gay, deaf, and mute, and yet he kept shooting for his dreams no matter what and never allowed anything to get him down. But in the end, he ended up the victim of the senseless violence of this maniac.
And it's not just Hughes -- every single one of these victims, all seventeen of them, had their own lives, dreams, struggles, and they all left behind grieving families. It's truly baffling that the police did not catch this maniac earlier; if they had been even a little bit more competent, perhaps all of the deaths past 1978 could have been avoided and the world would be richer for it.
I'm so conflicted with "liking" this show. On one hand, the acting and writing is top-notch and they do a great job depicting these tragic events faithfully. But on the other hand, the families of the victims are still suffering from their losses and being forced to relive these events is not something I would wish upon any of them. I certainly hope none of them ever go anywhere near this show. That said, at the very least the show does the important duty of highlighting Dahmer's victims. Dahmer himself is not at all painted as any kind of empathetic figure with a tragic past, he's just a maniac. There's no excuse for anything he did.
Frozen II
(2019)
An enjoyable experience
22 September 2022
It was a bold move from Disney to create a sequel to a classic like Frozen, but I think they did a good job with it. A cynical critic might call this a blatant cash-grab, or a vain attempt to recapture lightning in a bottle by capitalizing on the success of the first movie, but anyone who's paid even a little bit of attention should know that that's already been done. Elsa and Anna have been absolutely everywhere between 2013 and 2019, so that success has already been capitalized on plenty. If the only incentive was money, this movie would not have been necessary - there was clearly a story left to tell and they wanted to tell it.
Sequels rarely ever come close to the level of the original, and Frozen II is no exception, but it delivers an enjoyable experience nonetheless. I've always been a geek for the world-building aspects of Arendelle and this movie expanded on it greatly by showing us a bit more of the land's history and what lies beyond the castle. I loved this. The movie also gave all of our favorite characters plenty of time to shine and everyone had their own comedic and heartfelt moments.
My only critique would be the ending and the lead-up to it, which I felt was a bit rushed and... nonsensical. It happens all the time with movies like this; they get a riveting story going on, but when the time comes to wrap things up, they struggle to come up with a satisfying ending. The first movie was so well-paced and the quality stayed consistent from start to finish, so it was a bit disappointing to see them not quite hit it out of the park this time.
I hope that, despite the impending sea of cynics, they make another movie someday to bring this series to a close as a satisfying trilogy of movies. I think revisiting the conflict with Hans in The Southern Isles (and by doing so giving the characters as well as the viewers closure on his fate) could serve as a great stage for the finale, but we'll have to see what they cook up.
Sequels rarely ever come close to the level of the original, and Frozen II is no exception, but it delivers an enjoyable experience nonetheless. I've always been a geek for the world-building aspects of Arendelle and this movie expanded on it greatly by showing us a bit more of the land's history and what lies beyond the castle. I loved this. The movie also gave all of our favorite characters plenty of time to shine and everyone had their own comedic and heartfelt moments.
My only critique would be the ending and the lead-up to it, which I felt was a bit rushed and... nonsensical. It happens all the time with movies like this; they get a riveting story going on, but when the time comes to wrap things up, they struggle to come up with a satisfying ending. The first movie was so well-paced and the quality stayed consistent from start to finish, so it was a bit disappointing to see them not quite hit it out of the park this time.
I hope that, despite the impending sea of cynics, they make another movie someday to bring this series to a close as a satisfying trilogy of movies. I think revisiting the conflict with Hans in The Southern Isles (and by doing so giving the characters as well as the viewers closure on his fate) could serve as a great stage for the finale, but we'll have to see what they cook up.
Frozen
(I) (2013)
One of the last, truly great animated feature films by Disney.
22 September 2022
As time goes on, I find myself appreciating this movie more and more. I was 17 when this movie came out so I was way outside its target audience even back then and I distinctly recall being irritated that these new children's movies were getting so much attention in lieu of the older, "better" ones that everyone should be watching. Darn kids these days, am I right?
But now, almost a decade later, I find myself looking back on this movie and realizing that this was perhaps one of the last, truly great animated feature films by Disney. It was everything you would expect from a Disney movie; a fairy tale adaptation with iconic songs, comedy, solid world-building, and that special Disney touch that most of their newer movies are lacking. Unhindered by modern politics or "wokeness", Frozen's only purpose was to entertain, and it did exactly that, enrapturing viewers of all ages all over the world and cementing itself as a true classic. It had soul.
I imagine children who were below the age of 10 when this came out will probably forever hold this movie as special, the same way I might do with some of the late 1990s and early 2000s Disney movies.
I just had to revisit this movie and raise my initial rating from 8/10 up to 9/10, because this movie is truly something special and there's no shame in admitting it.
But now, almost a decade later, I find myself looking back on this movie and realizing that this was perhaps one of the last, truly great animated feature films by Disney. It was everything you would expect from a Disney movie; a fairy tale adaptation with iconic songs, comedy, solid world-building, and that special Disney touch that most of their newer movies are lacking. Unhindered by modern politics or "wokeness", Frozen's only purpose was to entertain, and it did exactly that, enrapturing viewers of all ages all over the world and cementing itself as a true classic. It had soul.
I imagine children who were below the age of 10 when this came out will probably forever hold this movie as special, the same way I might do with some of the late 1990s and early 2000s Disney movies.
I just had to revisit this movie and raise my initial rating from 8/10 up to 9/10, because this movie is truly something special and there's no shame in admitting it.
Pinocchio
(I) (2022)
Simply put, a fun watch.
22 September 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I'm just as irked by Disney's tendency to churn out soulless live-action remakes as anyone else, but this wasn't bad. Tom Hanks did great in his role as Geppetto and the voice acting by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Jiminy Cricket) and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth (Pinocchio) was also absolutely on point. Very faithful performances to the original, and it was refreshing to see actors like Tom Hanks and Joseph Gordon-Levitt take on more light-hearted roles. I also want to give a special mention to Lewin Lloyd's performance as Lampwick; I haven't seen them act in anything else, but as far as child actors go, I think they have a bright future ahead of them. I was very impressed by how naturally they delivered all of their lines. Reminded me a bit of Will Poulter, actually.
As for the movie itself, well, it is a kids' movie and when I watch movies meant for children, I try to view it through the lens of one. And the question that always sits at the forefront of my thought process is "would I enjoy this movie if I was a kid?", and with Pinocchio, I can confidently say that I would. The movie is, simply put, a fun watch. It looks visually interesting, the acting and writing is on point, and it doesn't drag at any point. Some might even argue that it moves a bit too quickly, but if I were a kid, I don't think I would see that as a negative.
I think my only criticism would go to the side plot with Sabina. I don't actually remember if this was in the original movie, but I felt like it didn't add that much. It could have, but they didn't focus on it enough to make it necessary to the overall plot in my opinion.
For a solid kids' movie, I'll give this one a 7/10.
As for the movie itself, well, it is a kids' movie and when I watch movies meant for children, I try to view it through the lens of one. And the question that always sits at the forefront of my thought process is "would I enjoy this movie if I was a kid?", and with Pinocchio, I can confidently say that I would. The movie is, simply put, a fun watch. It looks visually interesting, the acting and writing is on point, and it doesn't drag at any point. Some might even argue that it moves a bit too quickly, but if I were a kid, I don't think I would see that as a negative.
I think my only criticism would go to the side plot with Sabina. I don't actually remember if this was in the original movie, but I felt like it didn't add that much. It could have, but they didn't focus on it enough to make it necessary to the overall plot in my opinion.
For a solid kids' movie, I'll give this one a 7/10.
Most egregious display of plot armor that I've ever seen on TV.
5 September 2022
Warning: Spoilers
While I've been generally very positive about this show, I have no qualms about being critical of it when it's necessary. In other words, I don't think this episode was all that good.
I've always expressed how much I enjoy dialogue and character interactions (of which there was a staggering amount in this episode), but most of it here just felt like filler. There was also a ridiculous amount of lingering shots of Viserys channeling his inner Robert Baratheon and drinking wine. We get it, he's drunk, you can move on to the next scene now.
One positive aspect of these scenes is that we got to see plenty of characters from some of the other houses of Westeros. I was especially a fan of Jefferson Hall's performance as Tyland/Jason. He had a relatively minor role in GoT as well, but I know him mostly as Torstein from Vikings. Great actor and pretty much perfect casting for a Lannister.
But my biggest gripe with the episode was the battle at the end. This was possibly the most egregious display of plot armor that I've ever seen on TV; Daemon was somehow able to hold off an entire army on his own while magically evading hundreds of arrows. In the end, he does take a few arrows but this seems to do absolutely nothing to slow him down as he gets up a few seconds later and goes to kill Craghas Crabfeeder... off-screen!
At the end of the last episode, it seemed like they were setting him up as a major villain, and now he's just gone. We didn't even get to see him fight, Daemon evidently just sliced him in half and called it a day (we never saw any of this, so who knows what really went on in that cave).
And don't get me started on the deus ex machina dragons, the predictability of it gave me painful flashbacks to GoT Season 7. I'm guessing that was Laenor riding Seasmoke? By the way, the weird close-ups of him riding the dragon and shouting "Dracarys!" looked extremely bad. The green screen was so obvious it took me out of the show completely.
Easily the worst episode of the show so far, but I hope it's just a bump in the road and not a sign of things to come. I feel like the writers intended the battle to be the highlight of this episode, but in hindsight, I enjoyed the first half a lot more even if some of it felt like filler. But man, that battle was just atrocious... way too many jump cuts too, it was impossible to tell what was happening half the time.
Without the battle, I'd give this a 6/10 which feels fair for a slow and fillery episode, but that battle was just so bizarre I have to drop it down to 4.75/10 for a solid "slightly below average" episode of TV. I did not enjoy this episode at all and more than once I found myself impatiently waiting for it to be over so I can get on with my day.
I've always expressed how much I enjoy dialogue and character interactions (of which there was a staggering amount in this episode), but most of it here just felt like filler. There was also a ridiculous amount of lingering shots of Viserys channeling his inner Robert Baratheon and drinking wine. We get it, he's drunk, you can move on to the next scene now.
One positive aspect of these scenes is that we got to see plenty of characters from some of the other houses of Westeros. I was especially a fan of Jefferson Hall's performance as Tyland/Jason. He had a relatively minor role in GoT as well, but I know him mostly as Torstein from Vikings. Great actor and pretty much perfect casting for a Lannister.
But my biggest gripe with the episode was the battle at the end. This was possibly the most egregious display of plot armor that I've ever seen on TV; Daemon was somehow able to hold off an entire army on his own while magically evading hundreds of arrows. In the end, he does take a few arrows but this seems to do absolutely nothing to slow him down as he gets up a few seconds later and goes to kill Craghas Crabfeeder... off-screen!
At the end of the last episode, it seemed like they were setting him up as a major villain, and now he's just gone. We didn't even get to see him fight, Daemon evidently just sliced him in half and called it a day (we never saw any of this, so who knows what really went on in that cave).
And don't get me started on the deus ex machina dragons, the predictability of it gave me painful flashbacks to GoT Season 7. I'm guessing that was Laenor riding Seasmoke? By the way, the weird close-ups of him riding the dragon and shouting "Dracarys!" looked extremely bad. The green screen was so obvious it took me out of the show completely.
Easily the worst episode of the show so far, but I hope it's just a bump in the road and not a sign of things to come. I feel like the writers intended the battle to be the highlight of this episode, but in hindsight, I enjoyed the first half a lot more even if some of it felt like filler. But man, that battle was just atrocious... way too many jump cuts too, it was impossible to tell what was happening half the time.
Without the battle, I'd give this a 6/10 which feels fair for a slow and fillery episode, but that battle was just so bizarre I have to drop it down to 4.75/10 for a solid "slightly below average" episode of TV. I did not enjoy this episode at all and more than once I found myself impatiently waiting for it to be over so I can get on with my day.
Easily the worst episode of the series -- so far.
26 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Easily the worst episode of the series -- so far, and I hope to God it stays that way, because we don't have a lot of runtime left on this show. The decision to throw a complete filler episode into the mix near the end of the series is baffling to me. It would have been okay as a lukewarm starter to Season 6B, but at this point it feels completely unnecessary and almost insulting to the viewers.
The Jeff plot-line is possibly the most unnecessary thing in the entire series, and it was introduced so long ago that most viewers (myself included) forgot about it completely -- and this wasn't helped by the fact that the actor who plays Jeff was recast. Like, who asked for any of this?
The Gene flash-forwards we got throughout the series made Jimmy's future/present seem mysterious. They painted him as a broken individual who was constantly on the run, paranoid, forced to live in the shadows; a friendless ghost who had to avoid human interaction as much as possible because otherwise his cover would immediately be blown. But in this episode? He's just Slippin' Jimmy, without a care in the world. He has all the confidence in the world again and there's nothing mysterious about him or this "Gene" character he's playing (which, I know, is just a fake identity... but still, look at how he's portrayed in Season 1 and compare that to the Gene of this episode; two different people entirely). He's so full of life here and in my opinion that just betrays who this character was made out to be since the beginning.
Now, we know there are going to be scenes with Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul (2 scenes solo, and 1 with both of them together) which means we're probably jumping backwards in time to Breaking Bad era after this episode, which... is strange. Again, the placement of this episode seems just bizarre to me and I can't stress that enough. But all of that just leaves me wondering about where exactly this show is headed because this episode did not leave me particularly hopeful about the conclusion of Jimmy's character arc.
The Jeff plot-line is possibly the most unnecessary thing in the entire series, and it was introduced so long ago that most viewers (myself included) forgot about it completely -- and this wasn't helped by the fact that the actor who plays Jeff was recast. Like, who asked for any of this?
The Gene flash-forwards we got throughout the series made Jimmy's future/present seem mysterious. They painted him as a broken individual who was constantly on the run, paranoid, forced to live in the shadows; a friendless ghost who had to avoid human interaction as much as possible because otherwise his cover would immediately be blown. But in this episode? He's just Slippin' Jimmy, without a care in the world. He has all the confidence in the world again and there's nothing mysterious about him or this "Gene" character he's playing (which, I know, is just a fake identity... but still, look at how he's portrayed in Season 1 and compare that to the Gene of this episode; two different people entirely). He's so full of life here and in my opinion that just betrays who this character was made out to be since the beginning.
Now, we know there are going to be scenes with Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul (2 scenes solo, and 1 with both of them together) which means we're probably jumping backwards in time to Breaking Bad era after this episode, which... is strange. Again, the placement of this episode seems just bizarre to me and I can't stress that enough. But all of that just leaves me wondering about where exactly this show is headed because this episode did not leave me particularly hopeful about the conclusion of Jimmy's character arc.
Rushed and disappointing.
29 June 2022
Rushed and disappointing end to the season (and most likely the series as a whole). There simply weren't enough episodes to resolve all of the plot threads in time in a satisfying manner.
Did the show-runners learn nothing from the failure of Game of Thrones? Six episodes is never going to be enough.
I think removing Alex Kamal (Cas Anvar) from the show was a bad decision, too. His absence left such a glaring hole in the series; he really was the heart and soul of the Rocinante, and yeah, I know why he was removed... but they should have at least recast him instead of just cutting out the entire character.
Did the show-runners learn nothing from the failure of Game of Thrones? Six episodes is never going to be enough.
I think removing Alex Kamal (Cas Anvar) from the show was a bad decision, too. His absence left such a glaring hole in the series; he really was the heart and soul of the Rocinante, and yeah, I know why he was removed... but they should have at least recast him instead of just cutting out the entire character.
Perfect Blue
(1997)
Watch Paprika instead.
11 June 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The movie meandered around aimlessly until the last 30 minutes when things finally started happening, but by then I felt like it was too late. I don't understand the praise this movie has received, and I would go so far as to say that it's one of the worst movies I've ever seen.
In Paprika, a fantastic movie by the same director (and one of my favorite movies, period), the movie's inherent trippiness makes sense within the established rules of the movie-in Perfect Blue the main character starts hallucinating for no reason and the trippy qualities come across as pretentious. I personally found not being able to distinguish between real and fake irritating; when you can't tell what is and isn't real, there are no stakes, and the plot loses all meaning.
If you want to watch a good, trippy movie by Satoshi Kon, watch Paprika. But give this one a pass.
In Paprika, a fantastic movie by the same director (and one of my favorite movies, period), the movie's inherent trippiness makes sense within the established rules of the movie-in Perfect Blue the main character starts hallucinating for no reason and the trippy qualities come across as pretentious. I personally found not being able to distinguish between real and fake irritating; when you can't tell what is and isn't real, there are no stakes, and the plot loses all meaning.
If you want to watch a good, trippy movie by Satoshi Kon, watch Paprika. But give this one a pass.
Captain Marvel
(2019)
Who is this for?
26 May 2022
I would say this movie failed to keep my attention or interest, but seeing as it never gained either in the first place, I don't know quite what I should say.
Wooden acting from the lead actress and a confusing (and at times predictable) plot. I was so bored the whole way through that I checked to see if the movie was over about two dozen times and every single time I did, there as still far too much runtime left.
Possibly the worst superhero movie Marvel has ever made. I didn't care about ANYTHING in this movie. The plot, the characters, the "stakes", none of it had any meaning to me. I have to wonder who this movie was made for in the first place. I'm a casual MCU viewer (wouldn't really count myself as a "fan" yet) and I failed to find anything of value in this movie, so maybe it's for more hardcore fans of the series? Certainly it wasn't for me.
If 1/10 was Game of Thrones Season 8 and 5/10 was Avengers: Age of Ultron (a painfully average movie), I'd give this movie a 3/10.
Wooden acting from the lead actress and a confusing (and at times predictable) plot. I was so bored the whole way through that I checked to see if the movie was over about two dozen times and every single time I did, there as still far too much runtime left.
Possibly the worst superhero movie Marvel has ever made. I didn't care about ANYTHING in this movie. The plot, the characters, the "stakes", none of it had any meaning to me. I have to wonder who this movie was made for in the first place. I'm a casual MCU viewer (wouldn't really count myself as a "fan" yet) and I failed to find anything of value in this movie, so maybe it's for more hardcore fans of the series? Certainly it wasn't for me.
If 1/10 was Game of Thrones Season 8 and 5/10 was Avengers: Age of Ultron (a painfully average movie), I'd give this movie a 3/10.
Avengers: Infinity War
(2018)
A visual spectacle from start to finish.
25 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
This movie is a visual spectacle from start to finish; seriously, some of the best VFX work I've ever seen. The entire VFX team can pat themselves on the back for this for the rest of their lives because what they've accomplished here is nothing to scoff at.
As for the rest of the movie, I felt like it was just a lot of noisy action without the kind of meaningful character moments that we see in Guardians of the Galaxy Volumes 1 and 2. The movie was padded out with an unnecessary amount of fillery action scenes and cheesy one-liners that cheapened the overall quality of the movie. Soundtrack was also very generic and didn't have anything memorable to offer.
The plot is relatively simple: a big bad purple guy wants to find all of the 6 Infinity McGuffins so they can do bad things. But simple is good! Too many movies try to get too fancy and "deep" with their plots, which usually just makes them hard to follow for the average moviegoer. So I don't actually have any issues with the plot.
Thanos, at this point, has been overhyped to such heights that I was expecting his character to blow me away... but he never did. So far he's just a generic villain who's doing bad things because they think it's a good thing. I hope Endgame will change my mind about him.
There was also this weird scene where Thanos threw Gamora to her death and it was played off like it was somehow unexpected and tragic, but it was so painfully predictable from the second Red Skull set the conditions for getting the stone. Did the writers seriously expect this to be a big shock to the audience? Really?
It felt like all of the interesting, good stuff was crammed into the last 30 minutes of the movie which is a bit disappointing to see because it just makes everything else seem like filler. I'll give this one a 7/10 regardless, mostly for the visuals.
As for the rest of the movie, I felt like it was just a lot of noisy action without the kind of meaningful character moments that we see in Guardians of the Galaxy Volumes 1 and 2. The movie was padded out with an unnecessary amount of fillery action scenes and cheesy one-liners that cheapened the overall quality of the movie. Soundtrack was also very generic and didn't have anything memorable to offer.
The plot is relatively simple: a big bad purple guy wants to find all of the 6 Infinity McGuffins so they can do bad things. But simple is good! Too many movies try to get too fancy and "deep" with their plots, which usually just makes them hard to follow for the average moviegoer. So I don't actually have any issues with the plot.
Thanos, at this point, has been overhyped to such heights that I was expecting his character to blow me away... but he never did. So far he's just a generic villain who's doing bad things because they think it's a good thing. I hope Endgame will change my mind about him.
There was also this weird scene where Thanos threw Gamora to her death and it was played off like it was somehow unexpected and tragic, but it was so painfully predictable from the second Red Skull set the conditions for getting the stone. Did the writers seriously expect this to be a big shock to the audience? Really?
It felt like all of the interesting, good stuff was crammed into the last 30 minutes of the movie which is a bit disappointing to see because it just makes everything else seem like filler. I'll give this one a 7/10 regardless, mostly for the visuals.
Surprised me
24 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
This movie surprised me. I was expecting it to be worse than the original (as sequels generally are), but I'd say it was at the very least just as good. Lots of ugly crying towards the end there. Never thought I'd end up liking Yondu so much. What a great character.
Ant-Man
(2015)
Ant-Man is no joke, it seems.
24 May 2022
When I first heard about this movie, I skipped it because I assumed it was some kind of a joke/parody (based on the title), but it actually turned out to be a genuinely good superhero movie-up there with Guardians of the Galaxy for me.
It had great characters, emotion, and a decent enough plot as far as Marvel movies go. I was also positively surprised by the action scenes which usually put me to sleep in these kind of movies; in Ant-Man they actually had some kind of choreography and were easy to follow instead of just being mindless gun blasting that serves to pad out the film.
8/10 for this one. Not bad.
It had great characters, emotion, and a decent enough plot as far as Marvel movies go. I was also positively surprised by the action scenes which usually put me to sleep in these kind of movies; in Ant-Man they actually had some kind of choreography and were easy to follow instead of just being mindless gun blasting that serves to pad out the film.
8/10 for this one. Not bad.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
(2015)
Too much action, not enough plot.
24 May 2022
It had a few good moments, but overall the movie felt like a massive step down after Guardians of the Galaxy. This movie felt like it was from 2010 whereas Guardians of the Galaxy still feels like it came out just last year. Age of Ultron had a lot of boring, long action sequences without a whole lot of character development or meaningful plot development. It was also hard to take the villain seriously when he's voiced by Robert "Lizard King" California.
5/10 for Painfully Average Action Flick. Not something you wanna watch more than once. In fact, I started writing this review with 35 minutes left because it felt like I had already seen everything the movie had to offer. I was getting so tired of the mindless action scenes towards the end that I almost fell asleep.
5/10 for Painfully Average Action Flick. Not something you wanna watch more than once. In fact, I started writing this review with 35 minutes left because it felt like I had already seen everything the movie had to offer. I was getting so tired of the mindless action scenes towards the end that I almost fell asleep.
Thor: The Dark World
(2013)
Another one-dimensional villain
23 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Thor: The Dark World offers us a one-dimensional villain with no motive and the personality of a cardboard box, and mindless action scenes without any purpose.
The main plot of the movie was completely nonsensical. I think the highlight of this movie was the part where Thor and Loki teamed up.
I'd give it a 5.5/10 (rounded up to 6/10 on IMDb).
The main plot of the movie was completely nonsensical. I think the highlight of this movie was the part where Thor and Loki teamed up.
I'd give it a 5.5/10 (rounded up to 6/10 on IMDb).
Good first half
23 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
First time watching: I enjoyed seeing the backstory of Captain America for the first time, I thought it was really interesting (even though the scrawny CGI Chris Evans looked a bit jarring in some scenes). In general the first half of the movie was very good overall, and if I were to rate the movie based solely on that, I'd give it a 7/10.
...However, there are flaws, as is the case with any movie. And these may not be objective flaws, but that's not really the point of a user review. These are just things that bothered me personally:
1. I thought Schmidt's skinless appearance was really poorly done. I got the impression that he was supposed to look disfigured, but he ended up just looking like a weird red guy made of clay. I didn't like it. I also thought it came out of left field.
2. The second half of the movie was padded out with a lot of pointless action sequences that didn't move the film in any direction. It's just mindless boom pew pew pew bing bang boom. I hate this in ANY movie. I know some people get a kick out of action scenes, but in my case, it just puts me to sleep. I have a hard time paying attention to scenes like these so they just bore me.
3. The movie was too long and ended abruptly. I was hoping to see more of a reaction from Captain America to being "resurrected" 70 years later but... he just says one line and the movie cuts to black. That was very disappointing to me.
4. There was also a pointless romance subplot which I didn't really care for. I think in movies like these they just tend to pad out the runtime and it's just whatever. Bleh.
So yeah, 5/10 from me. Solid backstory but the main plot of the movie and the villain are not that great.
...However, there are flaws, as is the case with any movie. And these may not be objective flaws, but that's not really the point of a user review. These are just things that bothered me personally:
1. I thought Schmidt's skinless appearance was really poorly done. I got the impression that he was supposed to look disfigured, but he ended up just looking like a weird red guy made of clay. I didn't like it. I also thought it came out of left field.
2. The second half of the movie was padded out with a lot of pointless action sequences that didn't move the film in any direction. It's just mindless boom pew pew pew bing bang boom. I hate this in ANY movie. I know some people get a kick out of action scenes, but in my case, it just puts me to sleep. I have a hard time paying attention to scenes like these so they just bore me.
3. The movie was too long and ended abruptly. I was hoping to see more of a reaction from Captain America to being "resurrected" 70 years later but... he just says one line and the movie cuts to black. That was very disappointing to me.
4. There was also a pointless romance subplot which I didn't really care for. I think in movies like these they just tend to pad out the runtime and it's just whatever. Bleh.
So yeah, 5/10 from me. Solid backstory but the main plot of the movie and the villain are not that great.
First Man
(2018)
Where's the epilepsy warning?
11 February 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Roughly 50-60 minutes into this movie, there's an unnecessarily long scene with some of the worst flashing lights I've ever seen in a movie. Worse than the strobe lights in Rise of the Skywalker. As a migraine sufferer, this completely ruined an otherwise great movie for me as I had to spend several minutes with my eyes closed with my hand pressed firmly against my eyes so as to not trigger a migraine. It's absolutely criminal that they did not issue an epilepsy warning for this movie. What is it with directors and flashing lights, anyway? I feel like that has to be annoying to look at even if you're not a migraine or epilepsy sufferer. I don't think constant flashing lights have ever added anything of value to any movie I've ever watched.
Scratch that, I ended up getting a migraine during the movie after all and had to pop some pills to finish it. The migraine aside, it was an okay movie, but not perfect. The screen chemistry between Neil (Ryan Gosling) and his wife (Claire Foy) was absolutely terrible. I don't know if it was on purpose, but the wife had a permanent b*tch face and she didn't seem at all supportive of Neil in any way at all. After the movie was over I had to go on Wikipedia to see if they divorced shortly after, because the movie made it seem like a divorce was always a month or two away with these two. To my surprise, they did not divorce until 1994, but they did divorce regardless and if their portrayl of their relationship in this movie was at all accurate, I would say it makes sense.
Anyway, as I said, it was an okay movie. Some questionable casting choices imo and I didn't appreciate the movie giving me a migraine so I'll put this one down as a 5/10.
Scratch that, I ended up getting a migraine during the movie after all and had to pop some pills to finish it. The migraine aside, it was an okay movie, but not perfect. The screen chemistry between Neil (Ryan Gosling) and his wife (Claire Foy) was absolutely terrible. I don't know if it was on purpose, but the wife had a permanent b*tch face and she didn't seem at all supportive of Neil in any way at all. After the movie was over I had to go on Wikipedia to see if they divorced shortly after, because the movie made it seem like a divorce was always a month or two away with these two. To my surprise, they did not divorce until 1994, but they did divorce regardless and if their portrayl of their relationship in this movie was at all accurate, I would say it makes sense.
Anyway, as I said, it was an okay movie. Some questionable casting choices imo and I didn't appreciate the movie giving me a migraine so I'll put this one down as a 5/10.
127 Hours
(2010)
How good can a movie about a man stuck in a cave really be?
10 February 2022
That's what I had always told myself when this movie popped up as a recommendation. It seemed interesting and I had heard all about the arm cutting scene and how people supposedly fainted when they saw it in the theaters, etc, etc. But I never bothered with it until now.
I loved this movie. Now, maybe a bigger movie buff than me will think that 9/10 is a bit overkill, but at this moment I am genuinely wowed by everything this movie did. From the cinematography to the music, the acting, the directing... everything just fell perfectly in line.
This movie is a testament to the human instinct for survival and James Franco's acting sells it. I have nothing more to say. This is a great movie and it holds up incredibly well over a decade later. My only regret is that I didn't watch it sooner.
I loved this movie. Now, maybe a bigger movie buff than me will think that 9/10 is a bit overkill, but at this moment I am genuinely wowed by everything this movie did. From the cinematography to the music, the acting, the directing... everything just fell perfectly in line.
This movie is a testament to the human instinct for survival and James Franco's acting sells it. I have nothing more to say. This is a great movie and it holds up incredibly well over a decade later. My only regret is that I didn't watch it sooner.
Sunshine
(2007)
Interesting concept, but not the best execution.
7 February 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The idea of our precious life-giving star dying out billions of years before its time is a terrifying one. And sending out a crew of astronauts to try to "relight" it is an awe-inspiring message of the tenacity of humans in the face of an impossible situation where most would just throw in the towel.
However, I felt that this concept was kind of wasted. Others have already pointed out that the movie had a slow first half and a ridiculously fast second half, which I agree with. But my biggest gripes with this movie come down to two major points.
1) The lack of any kind of Earth perspective on the situation. As I said above, the Sun shutting down prematurely is such a terrifying and catastrophic scenario that it's hard to even put into words. But we don't get any kind of an emotional response about the terrifying situation from our astronauts, and perhaps worse than that, we don't have the slightest clue of how everyone on Earth is dealing with this.
When the entire movie takes place on a ship limited to a small crew of jaded astronauts who have nothing meaningful to say about the gravity of the situation they're in, it kind of lowers the stakes a bit. The short scene at the end that takes place on Earth makes it look like things weren't even that bad to begin with, which makes you wonder why this mission was necessary to begin with.
The film never answers any of the audience's burning questions like why the Sun is dying out, which in my opinion is pretty important to know since it's the main plot point of the movie.
2) The crispy man who's introduced as a villain towards the end of the movie. There was so much wrong with him being in this movie that I don't even know where to begin.
How did he get to Icarus II without anyone noticing? Seriously, how?! And how has he survived 7 years on a dusty spaceship with such terrible burn wounds?
Not only does him being there make zero sense, but also... this movie didn't need an antagonist like this. The antagonist was the potential failure of the mission. We didn't need a crispy magic man going on about talking to God and stabbing people while the camera can't even focus on him for half a second. Agh! It was so infuriating.
I honestly lost a lot of my interest when this character came in, because the movie went from "yeah, there are a lot of questions they haven't answered but I could still see this happening" to "what am I even watching right now?"
Overall though, I'd still give it a 6/10 or maybe a 5.75/10, but 6 is the closest IMDb will allow so there it is. Not a bad movie, but not a great one either.
However, I felt that this concept was kind of wasted. Others have already pointed out that the movie had a slow first half and a ridiculously fast second half, which I agree with. But my biggest gripes with this movie come down to two major points.
1) The lack of any kind of Earth perspective on the situation. As I said above, the Sun shutting down prematurely is such a terrifying and catastrophic scenario that it's hard to even put into words. But we don't get any kind of an emotional response about the terrifying situation from our astronauts, and perhaps worse than that, we don't have the slightest clue of how everyone on Earth is dealing with this.
When the entire movie takes place on a ship limited to a small crew of jaded astronauts who have nothing meaningful to say about the gravity of the situation they're in, it kind of lowers the stakes a bit. The short scene at the end that takes place on Earth makes it look like things weren't even that bad to begin with, which makes you wonder why this mission was necessary to begin with.
The film never answers any of the audience's burning questions like why the Sun is dying out, which in my opinion is pretty important to know since it's the main plot point of the movie.
2) The crispy man who's introduced as a villain towards the end of the movie. There was so much wrong with him being in this movie that I don't even know where to begin.
How did he get to Icarus II without anyone noticing? Seriously, how?! And how has he survived 7 years on a dusty spaceship with such terrible burn wounds?
Not only does him being there make zero sense, but also... this movie didn't need an antagonist like this. The antagonist was the potential failure of the mission. We didn't need a crispy magic man going on about talking to God and stabbing people while the camera can't even focus on him for half a second. Agh! It was so infuriating.
I honestly lost a lot of my interest when this character came in, because the movie went from "yeah, there are a lot of questions they haven't answered but I could still see this happening" to "what am I even watching right now?"
Overall though, I'd still give it a 6/10 or maybe a 5.75/10, but 6 is the closest IMDb will allow so there it is. Not a bad movie, but not a great one either.
Filler
12 October 2020
It's apparent that this episode didn't have much of a budget. The whole episode is a sequence of flashbacks to previous episodes with about 1% of new content, with even the new content not being that great. What was going on with Michael's wig? It was brown!
You can safely skip this episode.
You can safely skip this episode.
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