Change Your Image
shineinpoverty
Reviews
The Acolyte (2024)
Questionable attempt to depict evil as something relatable and good
It is no point talking about poor script, even poorer main lead's performance. A child of a millionaire seems to never had a casting, just her rich dad getting her spots in solid projects such as mocking bird. I will not even talk about the woman who is the main person responsible for this project--Leslie Headland. This review could be about all the mistakes she alone created. And in case you want to doubt she did, listen to a couple of her interviews, they show horror of the ideas and plans regarding this show.
Now, as we got those things aside, I will direct your attention to the idea, a message this show might have tried to send. We have a mysterious assassin killing Jedi members. As we go through the story, it suggests those Jedi were a reason her mothers were killed, or that they killed her mothers. As we skip to the end, the worst fears I had for the show came through. Jedi were not the reason the assassin's parents died but rather a chain of events triggered by the parents, dark witches, who attempted to do something that looked like an action to endanger a child who later grew up to be the assassin. My confusion was that I understood that Jedi were not to blame, but the show makers did! They kept telling the story as if Jedi were guilty, felt guilty, and when the main Jedi life ends, he tries to apologize to the assassin's sister, as if he was at fault. And it felt just extremely weak and unbelievable. It was as if someone decided to make one of the character in a show a bad guy, but never did enough writing to make a viewer believe it. This show failed with logic. Some people will complain about fire in space, but who cares about that tiny error when the entire show makes no sense.
I am able to guess why Leslie did some of the choices. When two sisters reunite, crying and hugging each other. I recalled that Leslie really wanted to cast THIS actress because she had a lot of sympathy to this young woman. She made this role specifically for Amanda Steinberg. So, I understood that she was supposed to be seen as a person to root for, someone I would want to get till the end. But I did not. She was just an evil and slightly stupid murderer whose intellect level does not even allow her to comprehend what she did was horrible and wrong. That is the message I got as she strangled the man who raised her. In the eyes of the show maker's though, she was finally bringign the evil he did on himself. But the problem was there was no evil. Evil witches, that I got, an assassin sister killing innocent man who did not even stab the witch by an accident. Why, why was Tomen even killed? The man literally did nothing. And there I was, watching how "Leslie" goes after each people who wronged her and thinking: what are you doing, you malicious person, none of these people deserve to die. One of them was pretty much your father, a father you never had with your witch mothers.
It is a show about a very evil person killing good people because she is evil but thinks she is avenging herself and her mothers by killing Jedi. The end.
Army of the Dead (2021)
It hurt to watch it
I expected a relaxing entertaining zombie flick. I swear I was not going to judge it harshly. And yet it was so disappointing that I reset my forgotten password and writing this review. Let's review several things that make it so terrible. Let's talk about zombies. These zombies, they are not zombies, they are some weird people from art house project trying to convey a complex message by an edge young director. And following this topic, movie itself wanders away from the plot and possible unraveling. It is a very weird not zombie movie that is not worth watching. I have watched most more or less worthy movies. I watched ravenous which was weird but to me was much much more enjoyable.
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
I figured why the first movie was better
Take note of the writers of Wonder Woman 2017 and Wonder Woman 1984.
Simple as that. That is a problem plaguing Hollywood at the moment.
They follow trends and their political views, but they abandoned professionalism, they forgot to make stories.
Here is an example not related to this movie specifically, but nevertheless is one of the most common trends in Hollywood right now:
"I am a smart beautiful and brave hero. You know this because I just told you."
The end. We no longer have characters building. We don't see failures and mistakes. No, it is the bad guy who is wrong, evil, dumb, and a loser.
As a result, Hollywood turned into a sewer, flowing average forgettable movies with main characters nobody likes, nobody wants, and ultimately, will not pay to see. I remember SW force awakening as the most forgettable movie in the last 5 years. I could not make myself care for Rey, just like I did not care about Wonder Woman in this movie.
ARK: Survival Evolved (2015)
The limit is your imagination
There will be plenty of people who will say there is nothing to do or that the game is grindy. But us, people giving it high ratings stops only what we can imagine. I have met all types of people while playing on official PVE. There were those that did nothing but the breeding. There were those building amazingly beautiful castles and houses. there were also those who made huge tribes creating laggy bases, and also holidays when they stopped playing because by the time their bases expired, there were a dozen of players getting ready to claim their dinos.
I have always played alone. And I did a little of everything. I built interesting bases or monuments. I explored every single cave. I also made ours to dangerous places for new people. I traded and slowly progressed through the game. Then my favorite game was released--Scorched Earth. I am not sure what was so captivating for me living in a hot desert world. But almost everything in that DLC will forever be my most memorable experience.
The game is good alone and with friends (progression is definitely easier with others though). This game with all its problems and bad optimization is rated high by the people make their own story. We don't need a story to play, we just need to be able to make our own. That is something I dislike The Last of Us 2 because that game was a crime against choice and creativity.
I recommend ark for people who are interested in sandbox games and huge world with many ways to travel and build.
Raking 2000k hours I still haven't finished 30% of all I planned.
If you are looking for an active community that went on without wipes for years, I recommend Arkade. They have all maps and PVE+PVP worlds. Modded and slightly boosted rates will serve well casual players without lots of hours for gaming.
Steep (2016)
Best of its kind
With all its shortcomings, Steep is the best of in this genre currently. Graphics gameplay design, it will give you many hours of fun before you run out of things to do. There is simply nothing else you could try over Steep. I am saying it as someone who played ea Snow.
Who Steep is for? It is for people who need to relax, love snow and winter but cant afford or don't have mountains nearby.
I cant express how relaxing it is riding a snowboard at night. It is currently my top game for relaxation.
Things I d like to see in the next game:
1. Even better graphics with everything current game engines can provide
2. More complex to the point of unrealistic tricks and motions for crazy tricks and jumps
3. Animals, I mean all of them. Birds, bears, deer. perhaps even deadly Amur tigers? (Russia DLC incoming)
4. Huge huge map, including real and imaginary locations. For example, a mountain with active volcano, and you, sliding down along the lava just few meters away. Or a frozen forest with ice and reflection of the ice using current graphic technologies.
5. I am trying to use the right words to explain something else I really want in the next Steep. It has to be the game mechanics immersing you into the game and sports. I mean when you accelerate or slow down. It has to feel amazing. Kind of like the moment in Avatar when you flyer is diving down accelerating to a very fast speed.
The Invisible Man (2020)
Scary, good actors and idea, and few minor annoyances you should be able to forgive
People say that the most unbelievable thing about this movie is the fact that Adrien couldn't live without this slightly below average female specimen and couldn't let her go. I am ashamed to admit I giggled.
No doubt, she is a great actress, and I give her 9/10 for expressing feelings in this movie. But I just came back to her face time after time unable to feel any attraction to her. I think she was miscast. Was it a favor or a lover for role deal, idk. But I know a 100 more actresses I would wanna see playing her role.
Other weak points in this movie such as unrealistic strength of the invisible man, him being able to avoid anyone bumping into him I was able to forgive. I loved the idea of this movie, I loved the suit and the feeling of horror I had for the most part of the movie. It is a solid movie, well shot and with great music and actors. Honestly, I am not sure if I choose 7 or 8 as a rating for this movie.
What I am confident in is the fact that it totally earned its 7 right now.
Seuwiteuhom (2020)
A quality action horror show
A fresh breath from American full of politics content. It is a first show I watched on Netflix in many months. Hopefully, when Hollywood dies because of their terrible movies and TV shows, we will have normal content that doesn't force opinions down your throat with a gentleness of skilled torturers from a secret CIA facilities.
Westworld (2016)
Westworld like a sportsman who ran ahead of rivals for 1/3 of the race but then gave up
I don't feel anger or hatred toward anything I watch. If it is bad, it is just boredom. This is what I felt after watching SW Force Awakens, nothing. I can barely recall what happened in that movie. And consequently, I did not care to watch 2 later movies.
But back to Westworld. Season 1 made me feel things. I sympathized with its characters even though they weren't actually people. I felt sincere anger and disliked the villain of the show. And by the end of season one, I was happy I had a privilege to watch this show.
Here are some of the possibilities of what went wrong with s2,s3. People working on s1 died. People who worked on s1 retired. People who worked on s1 were abducted by aliens who took their form. s2 and s3 did not look like anything s1 was. Is it possible that the director of the show after s1 decided that there has to be an upgrade of the show? Is it possible that he gathered his employees and said: "Ok people, we did an ok job in s1. We can do better, and we must and we will make s2 and s3 only better more exciting and fun!" But would it not mean that the director was someone who doesn't people? Someone who doesn't listen to what viewers thought about s1, and doesn't understand how human emotions work?
This show reminds me a typical situation when a company works great due to skilled workers who know their job, have knowledge and synergy with each other. But then their boss retires and shareholders appoint a younger thirsty for fame and carrier growth person. And so the changes begin to "improve" the company. Then the employees who can read and predict where it is heading leave. Those who stay slowly get frustrated losing happiness and will to perform as well as they used to. Young boss meanwhile is too busy occupied with excitement and the vision he has for the product that will make he top gun in the industry. He eagerly replaces those that left the company, while "gently" steering old employees to the new direction hoping he can improve them to have a new, better product. Morale goes down, employees start to hate each other and with that, productivity goes down. Soon the customers become unhappy about the quality of the product they used to like and believe in. That means that the boss of the company is being questioned and his performance doubted. He knows that it is the old employees who didn't understand his vision, people who are trying to prevent him from building his career. They must leave before it is too late to complete his changes and receiving well deserved rewards for his tireless and genius work.
I feel like Westworld is this company. Or else, how do seasons 2 and 3 look so differently and inferior to season 1? They are a different product, and I highly doubt that the first season was made by the same people.
We watch TV shows and movies because as people we like the stories. We tell them, we listen them. And suddenly after season 1, there was no more a story, just CGI and "genius" ideas they decided to impress us, the watchers with.
I cant recommend watching s2 and s3. They rewrote the characters from the first season. They are no longer appealing people I could sympathize with. And I only wish someone in the management saw where it is heading after first season and cancelled the show saving them money and us time.
Three stars I left are 10/10 stars for the first season. I appreciate everything that was so carefully crafted, the story and characters. They should have stopped right there.