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Reviews
Monster (2022)
Too long but well done
The show is too long and should have been halved in length. The actor Dahmer's performance is too sympathetic and not very frightening. I like the focus on his neighbour, the racism played out by the cops, and the focus on the victims at the end. This was a show about empathy on all ends with just a bit of terror. I don't really understand the controversy because they covered all of the bases here. I think most people didn't watch the show until they end. The ending, parallels to Gacy and different forms of God's wrath / mercy happening all at once was something truly fascinating and touching in terms of story.
WandaVision (2021)
Creative but awkward
Marvel hasn't quite gotten their shows right. The episodes are a bit too overstretched with not much happening in each episode. There is a lot of forced humour that is extremely jarring and awkward. Most importantly it lacks this unifying soul. They all feel so much like people just acting but not like a real story with real people.
Better Call Saul: Klick (2016)
Largely overstretched slow paced season but brought up some thoughts
Second season really had me thinking of the whole boss and employee dynamic. How it's so fragile. It's better to risk everything to be your own boss than beg for money or attention from an interview and then a boss for decades - that's just pathetic if you know you can do more. Saul was given everything that other people dreamed about but it just didn't match his free, or some would say mischievous wolf soul. I'd take homelessness over comfort in slavery and I'm saying that with a lot on the line, it's not just me. That's real courage, people who choose to live like that.
Breaking Bad (2008)
Masterful writing, but Gilligan is always burdened by his obsession with slow pacing
The writing is indeed masterful, and one aspect of the show frequently overlooked is the very well played dark comedy despite the story being dramatic. Seasons 1 and 2 are fun, while Season 3 is masterful. However, there are always strangely slow moments which I've never heard any good reason for. People just want to blindly praise the show so they claim some BS reason like 'it builds tension' or 'it's like real life'...but the way the slow pacing is done is just a waste of time. This is what burdens much of the overrated season 4. For 10 episodes, basically nothing happens. Then season 5 comes back in full swing and an amazing, phenomenal ending. Thankfully they ended it soon enough, unlike Better Call Saul which was 3 season's worth of story stretched over 6 seasons. The pacing was abysmal!
Marie Antoinette (2006)
Too sympathetic of Antoinette and never bold
The movie is way too sympathetic of Antoinette and only lightly touches on her flaws - but even then it doesn't do a good job of explaining their origins. It tries to be a comedy but it's too bland and not bold to succeed. The most famous element of her life is basically just hinted at. I wasn't surprised when I found out that the director was Coppola's daughter; obviously the privileged daughter of a famed director who never had to work for anything wouldn't believe a gluttonous queen could possibly do anything bad.
Better Call Saul: Marco (2015)
Hell
All of Gilligan's characters live in a hell on Earth of their own making.
The first season was no masterwork. It was briefly entertaining to watch the antics of a lawyer but overall it's a disorganized, unfocused mess especially near the end. One minor complaint is bad casting. The main character is great, but Chuck is way too old to play his brother. Always took me out of the whole thing. His rival Hamlin is way too generic.
Lacks the magnitude and punch of the series it prequels.
The Batman (2022)
Dull considering all past remakes
This movie would have been epic in the early 2000s, but now it's just overworn and dull. We've all seen every element of this movie before, it just combines them in a slightly different way. There is really nothing fresh about the soul of The Batman.
Yes, the acting is great, story is fine, cinematography is amazing. But the soul is stale. Very stale.
Insidious (2010)
My favourite horror movie
Jumpscares usually don't work, but they do here thanks to the mastery of Wan. Somehow this has a lot of rewatchability, and I reckon a large part of it is due to the lore. What an interesting and well done concept with the Further!
The Rehearsal: Orange Juice, No Pulp (2022)
Instant classic
Everything I expected and more, but with an interesting focus on drama over comedy at times. There are so many memorable moments of this episode and I keep thinking back to it. So far the best episode of the series.
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
If this is exceptional, people have truly forgotten what great movies are like
This is not a bad movie by any means, but it's not transcendent. It's not extraordinary. I don't understand the rave reviews - perhaps the public has truly forgotten what real imaginative movies are like.
Also, once again, the trailer is sortof better than the movie. Most of the best scenes and lines are in the trailer.
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Odd, vaguely bad tasting pastry
I'm not sure exactly what made this movie subpar, it's a lot of little complicated things. And generally, either too much Taika Waititi or too little - I can't tell if the studio was the problem or not. So I'll just highlight the most glaring issues. One, Gorr definitely does not show up enough. It's embarrassing and a definite waste of talent. The 'God Butcher' only slays ONE god on screen. Second, the film goes by too fast, especially in the beginning, and the dialogue feels lazy as a result. Like trying to get a lot of information delivered without much thought on the delivery.
But the screaming goats are funny.
To those who claim it's woke, it's really not. Jane literally dies. Also, there's nothing wrong with characters being gay, although Korg's ending does not line up with his quip about his 'mom's boyfriend' in the last movie.
The Rehearsal: Scion (2022)
Attempts to be profound rather than funny
I remember when I first tuned in to the first episode, I was surprised that the music was so dramatic, even melancholy at times. I felt it would be funnier if there was no music at all, maybe. Watching this episode, which I don't recall any comedic moments from at all, made me realize that perhaps this show is actually aiming for something more profound than comedy. While I have a slight hope in how that would turn out, I found the direction to be, although uniquely dramatic, somewhat dull. Like I said, there was less focus on Nathan and almost zero comedic moments. The machinations and ridiculous meta situations that Nathan tends to get the participants into are also missing here. It's fairly straightforward. I think the problem may come from the fact that this is apparently part one of the whole story. It would have been better if they removed the whole Scion subplot considering it led nowhere and focused on the comedy of the entire toddler-teen-adult journey instead.
Stranger Things: Chapter Nine: The Piggyback (2022)
Amazing, historic TV no matter what anyone says - but don't ignore the problems
As a piece of entertainment, this was absolutely fantastic. Probably one of the best TV finales of all time, far surpassing all other seasons. There are problems which I'll list below, but people overstate them and give the entire show a 1, which is ridiculous.
First of all, and this one is rarely mentioned, season 4 has been extremely repetitive. It's way too long for no reason too. You can see this as early as episode one (like 5 drawn out scenes of Joyce opening a doll), expanding to entire plotlines (the useless retread flashbacks of Eleven and the entire Russia escape storyline). Furthermore, characters literally repeat their actions multiple times. They escaped the Russian prison and went back in like three times!
I can't overstate how huge of a problem the repetitiveness is. Even in terms of El and Vecna's fights, they should be way more epic, but ALL of them are basically the same, which is lifting each other and choking and sometimes throwing and that's it, then they switch places.
Lastly, and this is mentioned too much in my opinion but it's a valid point: there are too many main characters and they're never killed off. I was excited (in terms of gravity of story) when Max actually died! (Back to the repetitiveness: she got 'killed' like 3 times too). But then she was brought back to life. The fact that they chose to spare ALL of the main characters once again kinda ruins a lot of the tension of the show.
It's still an amazing show, but they need to tackle the repetitiveness and unnecessary length for the next season (this was mostly a new season 4 problem), and actually kill off the main characters. There are honestly way too many characters and thus the show is losing steam by not focusing on just a few. A lot of characters are left in the dust like Will and Mike.
It would have been awesome if Vecna actually killed like everyone, and then El had to time travel or something. But everybody lived, and I think that's why a lot of people felt a bit disappointed and didn't rate this a 10.
Cobra Kai (2018)
Good show
This show succeeds because of its really good characters, and the heart of it is Johnny. It's an added bonus that he's a very politically correct character (which is both comedic and a very real part of his character). The writers know what they're doing and I don't have any criticisms. It won't change the world, but it's good.
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)
Not bad at all
A totally solid movie with beautiful visuals and scenery, fine effects, and a story where stuff actually happens for a change unlike in Eclipse. The finale was emotional and dramatic enough.
Loki (2021)
Subpar to the great show it could've been
I think too much politics (especially hamming in the climate change narrative), drama, and talking got in the way of what could have been a much greater show about multiverse hopping. Best part was Owen Wilson and He Who Remains for sure. We want castles and crocodiles, not forcefed political messages.
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012)
A fine ending
A fine ending...the final battle twist is definitely disappointing, but this is the first entry in the series since the first one where you can definitely say something major actually happens in terms of plot.
Jacob liking 'Resume' is also inherently creepy, and always will be.
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (2011)
A movie about weddings and labour
The entire movie just depicts a wedding and then a hard labour. It's a unique story, just way too thinned out. This should have been combined with Eclipse and even New Moon.
Twilight (2008)
Underrated mostly from its atmosphere
I read a review saying Twilight is uniquely atmospheric, and I cannot find a better way to describe why it's actually pretty fine. Nostalgia may play a part in this.
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)
Completely useless entry in a series
Halfway through the movie it feels like it's only been five minutes in terms of plot. Nothing useful happens at all. This could have been removed and nothing would have changed. Twilight should've been three movies. Not saying the overall story is bad, werewolf vs vampire + romance concept is interesting, but it's way too thinned out especially with this one.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Why many people (and I) didn't love it
I've thought about this for a long while, and I think it's because people expected a truly epic multiverse war movie where Dr. Strange teams up with every 2000s superhero to fight his variant or something. But instead it was about a random book (the darkhold) and Wanda, although she is stanned I feel many people don't really care about her story in the face of a much more epic potential multiverse war story.
Rogue (2007)
Beautiful, Intense, Mr. Worthington
What a beautiful scenery! The tension is slow but it's well spread out. Unlike other hunted-type stories the crocodile here seems less real and less personal. The focus is on the characters. I wish they focused more on the dynamic of the group (and an early appearance of Sam Worthington - amazing!). The final half was adventurous although a bit dragging.
Stranger Things: Chapter Seven: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab (2022)
Volume I, way too slow and repetitive, but excellent final bang
I've noticed an accelerated pattern with Stranger Things: season (Volume I) start off slower and slower to build up to a bigger and bigger bang. This season, up to the final twist, was extremely slow and drawn out, way too slow for my liking. But it wasn't useful slow, it was mostly useless and a retread of things we have seen before. The absolute worst part was Eleven's entire plotline; her being so defenseless (the same bullying scenes repeated like three times), and the god-awfully boring repeat of her flashbacks in the lab. It did lead up to an amazing, truly amazing bang of a twist and ending. The last couple of minutes of this episode (and of Max's escape too) are an 8 for me, but the rest of the season is a 4 or a 5.
American Crime Story: Exiles (2021)
Extremely boring and dull in every way
Great contrast from the exciting, colorful fast paced first season. This season's filter is that dull, grey drab (why is that so commonplace nowadays)? 90% of screentime is characters doing useless things like walking or, in one scene, just eating chips and being annoyed by some office smell. And none of the characters are likeable or real.
2012 (2009)
Great story about humanity
Ridiculous sometimes, but underrated, moving, and awe-inspiring. Effects are still good. Final act and ending tying back to the main character's book is something truly special. Africa!!