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JoshMac82
Reviews
The Morning Show (2019)
Season 2 review
Season 1 had one specific plot point and knew what it wanted to be and kind of ended with a bang with multiple opportunities in stire. Season 2, however, tries to find it's new identity in current events, mainly the coronavirus. It's a lot like the following seasons of 13 Reasons Why; while the show handles metal issues recklessly, the first season at least had a format and a focus, the rest tried to tie loose ends.
When this whole pandemic started, fans of Marvel Studios asked Kevin Fiege if they'd address the virus in their movies/series. Feige basically explained that people watch movies and shows to escape their current circumstances.
I wish The Morning Show S2 made this same decision. Season 1 dabbled in political agendas a little bit, but it was self-aware and tried to uncover the layers of these complicated situations. Season 2 reminds viewers constantly about the severeness of COVID-19 and the importance of LGBTQ representation and it takes place of a lot of good character development.
Though Cory is still my favorite character, somehow the writers made me like Mitch, the main problem of S1, much more than any of the main cast.
Forcing current events and common trends into entertainment never works. Every time you see a Fortnite dance/reference in a movie, do you not roll your eyes? When Trump was in office, left or right, were you not affected in some way when it was brought up in your favorite show? That's why HBO's The Newsroom worked, it took place in the not-so-distant past, got a little political, and focused more on the story and sprinkled these events intermittently.
Please wrap up this pandemic arc, develop Yanko, Mia, Daniel, Stella, and other characters, and find a more specific, unique plot for S3.
Cowboy Bebop: Cowboy Gospel (2021)
I mean... I struggled with Asteroid Blues so...
I really liked this episode. For me it was a much more cohesive story than Asteroid Blues. There was a lot to the original episode that made me think "Is... Am I supposed to know something going into this?" But this episode felt organic. I will say introducing Faye this early was a bold choice, but hopefully it'll be justified soon. Also... something about Katerina "womb" being full of Red Eye was a little silly.
Overall, I'm in.
What If...? (2021)
I liked it, but is it relevant?
I did enjoy looking forward to new episodes of What If...? Every week, but the producers have been saying that this is canon to the MCU and I really fail to see how that is possible. This show seems to contradict the TVA presented in Loki, it has the risky potential of undoing certain things that happen in the Infinity Saga (in a bad way), and... it's animated, dude. If Captain Carter showed up in the fourth Captain America movie, I'd feel really jarred. I know this has the Marvel Studios banner on it, but this feels slightly less canon than Agents of S. H. I. E. L. D.
I can see the Watcher returning, but not speaking terribly much about the events of this series.
Star Wars: Visions (2021)
Season 1 Review
I really liked the vibe of this show. Star Wars is always portrayed as a space western when I wish it was more like the Japanese Samurai style.
That being said, while I liked a lot of the ideas and visuals from this series, a lot of the episodes themselves were hit or miss. The best episodes had really good protagonists ("The Duel," "The Village Bride," "The Elder"). The rest of them were a little convoluted and added way too much.
I'm all for giving studios creative control over their work, but some of Star Wars: Visions takes too many liberties like in "T0-B1," "The Ninth Jedi," and "Lop & Ochô". Some of them are well-versed in how things like kyber crystals or the Force works, but others seem like they watched the original trilogy and that was it.
Overall, it was interesting and I'll definitely watch future episodes. Wouldn't mind an actual Star Wars anime as long as it's canon and the effort seen in their other animation series is put into it.
Calls (2021)
Love the vision, poor execution
Alright I gave it a 5... but I liked it. Until you get to the last episode, you're just left with "well that's dumb/silly/doesn't make sense". But then when the ending happens you're like "oh okay... wait I still don't get it". There are countless loopholes to the plot. There are often times where you're hearing people talk to each other in person but it's presented as if they're on the phone. Voice acting is good, but the dialogue isn't. The characters themselves are insanely predictable: if there's a broken relationship, it's because there's an affair... there's not much diversity in these characters. I will say the best episode is "Mom," because it makes the most sense. The worst is probably "Pedro from Across the Street" because it's... kinda pointless. The visuals, I will say, are really really nice.
Again, I liked the show, but the biggest thing I like is the concept. The idea of a completely audio show with entertaining and engaging visuals is brilliant. It works on AppleTV+, but it would've been just as good on YouTube.
WandaVision: The Series Finale (2021)
Disappointed, but that doesn't make it bad
So... all in all I liked the episode. The fight scenes were a little awkward CGI-wise at times, but I still liked them. It's just... I feel like if this was a 10 episode series, it'd be better and they wouldn't have to rush. The biggest disappointments for me were as follows:
1. The biggest one is that Evan Peters was just some guy... they KNEW fans were going to speculate multiverse X-Men, because it was WAY too obvious. But the fact that it wasn't, makes it a slap in the face. Not because it's not Pietro, but it's like they went out of their way to hype us up and then intentionally disappoint us.
2. Monica was set up to show her full scale abilities, but... she just... got shot and didn't die. We didn't even get to get her thoughts on her own abilities. Also, sidenote, I though Hayward was a decent antagonist, but he kind of became randomly and awkwardly evil and sadistic.
3. Wanda is super powerful, but it doesn't make sense why she'd remember or know how to cast rune spells. Visually it looked good, but it was weird plotwise. There was also an awkward moment with Olsen's acting when she was looking up at Agnes conversing. Just my opinion on that. She also faced like no consequences for torturing those people. AND if they made a tenth episode, the "goodbye" could have been a lot more emotional and powerful, but she accepted it too quickly.
I did really like every scene with Vision. I loved seeing full out Scarlet Witch. Overall the series is a 7.5 for me, but this finale was a bit of a let down and I don't think its my fault.
The Chosen (2017)
Probably the best in Christian entertainment
I was very impressed by what this team of filmmakers could do with so little. I like that they can do what they want with the show, but I hope they continue to get more professional people involved in the show. Bottom line... buy the Blu-Ray, pay-it-forward, do what you can to support it.
Why did I give it a 7/10? Because frankly, I think a 9.8 and 100% is a bit much... not many professional Hollywood movies or shows deserves it. Now if we're talking just in Christian media in general... yeah, this deserves a 9.8! The writing is very good, amazing sets, and believable acting! My only qualms are occasional added dialogue or events, but there's nothing heretical about the series by any means. I'm also glad they got New Testament scholars to approve the script as well!
Again, I can't stress enough, support the show!
Chris D'Elia: No Pain (2020)
Everyone who voted 1 star is overdramatic
This stand-up special is not terrible, there are some moments that make you smile and chuckle. 1 star is what I'd expect from an Amy Schumer special, but not Chris D'Elia. Everyone is saying Chris laughs at his own jokes because no one else is, but clearly they don't follow his other specials because that's his charm. Also, just like Norm MacDonald can explain a joke and its still funny, D'Elia (for me) can laugh at his own joke or overkill the joke and its still funny. This was his least funny special to me, but it wasn't bad. He's much funnier in person compared to this special. If you're a Chris D'Elia fan, you might be disappointed, but it's still worth the support.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Carnage of Krell (2011)
Super good, just would've preferred a slight change.
I thought the entire Krell story arc was dark, intense, and overall interesting. However, and this is just my opinion, I was kind of underwhelmed when Krell wanted to be Dooku's apprentice. I would have found it more interesting if Krell had just been a sadist against Clones and a desire to become more than a Jedi. I like that he had a vision of the future of the Jedi, but I wished he would have desired to be his own power, because joining the Dark Side seemed to me as too obvious. He also said that he "serves no one's side, only (his) own," but then desires to be Dooku's apprentice. Maybe I'm just missing something, but I would have preferred him be a sadistic former-Jedi destined to rise above Jedi and Sith.
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
The Rise of Skywalker is a product of The Last Jedi's failure.
While I enjoyed myself watching The Rise of Skywalker, it is not a great movie. Most of the complaints I have heard have been about how ridiculous, fast-paced, and messy this movie is. But the more I consider these issues, none of them would have been an issue had Rian Johnson progressed J. J. Abrams's story. Instead, Johnson tried to make what a Star Wars movie was in his opinion instead of what the fans wanted. The Last Jedi did not progress anything, in fact the story is back at square one by the end; Rey has barely learned anything, Luke barely did anything except show that Johnson does not understand his character, the Casino planet was a waste of time, Holdo could have saved so much time and panic had she just told everyone they were going to seek refuge on the nearest base, and Snoke (the supposed new big villain) is killed without any story to his character.
J. J. Abrams had almost nothing to work with, just the death of Luke and Rey & Kylo Ren's force connection. Who else would be the villain other than Palpatine? Who else could train Rey but Leia? The only things I found truly dumb were the dagger that perfectly aligned with the Death Star remains, and Rey & Kylo's ridiculous use of the force (i.e: grabbing a ship from the sky and magically making a lightsaber disappear into the other's hands).
This was a 4 hour movie crammed into 2. I hope that Disney will allow for a Director's Cut so we can see a more clear, but still fairly flawed movie. If IMDb allowed for decimals in my rating, I'd give it a 6.7/10
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Best Laid Plans (2018)
The season is great, but the editing in this episode is not very good.
The plot of the episode is really good, but some of the acting falls flat. The cringiest scene in the whole episode is when Mack & Yo-Yo foil Kasius' plan and Kasius starts yelling in anger. As he does, the camera starts shaking uncontrollably. Had the camera started vibrating instead of shaking, or shake less dramatically, then maybe it'd be okay, but the way it shakes looks like it was done by a YouTube editor.
Good Game (2017)
While the show isn't the best show of 2017, I don't think it was made to be.
The plot may not seem interesting, but the show seems to acknowledge the fact the eSports are somewhat silly to begin with. If you guys enjoy Rocket Jump's VGHS, and love watching Game Grumps, you'll probably like this show as well. I thought the cast was very well chosen. Even though I hated Kamal, he played his role perfectly and did what was intended. The only character that I wish could've been executed or written better was Arin's character Ryland. For those who love Arin's work as Egoraptor or with Game Grumps, it's a common fact the Arin is lovable and totally hilarious. Arin is also an incredible voice actor, but this character seemed to hold him back. Arin's face is pretty monotone for the whole show unless something major happens. Dan seemed to really shine in this show for me, which is probably because his character (Alex) is much like his actual self. I think another thing that may make people less satisfied is the fact that Dan Harmon's name was on the poster and it wasn't as good as Community or Rick & Morty. The fact is, Harmon was a creator and writer for those shows, not just an executive producer. Given the experience of the creators and writers of Good Game, this show really isn't bad. Overall, I'm glad this show was made, and with the last episode (which was probably the best episode), it made me excited for next season. This is definitely one of the best shows on YouTube Red and really hope it doesn't get dropped. GO ESPORTS PEOPLE!