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The Witcher: Of Banquets, Bastards and Burials (2019)
Fun, interesting, lacking context
So I like the Witcher so far, but I've never read the books or played the game. The timelines are fun, guessing where everything fits. Cavill is great and I think most the other actors are as well. The world is super interesting. BUT there is often very little context to the story elements. Episode 4 for example, I have no idea why the characters are acting the way they are and who they know and why and how they feel about each other (you'll see when you get there), and it's partly because we're still piecing together the world. The show is written with some blind spots, probably because everyone involved is a big fan, so it's difficult to ascertain what's known or unknown or needs better explanation because everything is so clear to the show-runners because they've read the books and/or game. Second thing, there are some cheap effects with the magic. If you don't have the budget to put in a cool sorcerer palace, then tone it down. Episode 3 had a painful looking party scene, i.e. the floor, it was the cheapest looking part, the ceiling wasn't great either. It's not like it kills the show though, just would like to see some more editing for season 2.
Stranger Things (2016)
Great Nostalgia
Season 1 is a near perfect blend of nostalgia, story, and character development in a well balanced mystery adventure. 10 out of 10
Season 2 had some faults centered around its structure almost all relating to expanding the universe to include the other numbered experiments. The biggest issue with this was how it was done, otherwise excising that from the show makes it pretty well done. I'd say the only other issue is that they've ramped up the danger scale to a point that will be difficult to top. 7 out of 10
Season 3 is back to form. They've re centered the story on Hawkins and brought in some periphery characters into the fold. Overall well done. 8 out of 10. Personally I feel it would have been stronger keeping with the Night of the Living Dead vibe but I could see wanting to separate from the zombie trend. Most complaints about this season seem to come from a place of projection. It wild to me that people are complaining about the Russian plot-line when it'd been thrown around as a possible culprit for 2 seasons. It's the Reagan era, it's a throwback. Same goes with the complaint about it being the same enemy. Did you see the end of the last season? Other complaints from the hive mind: Violence towards women? Character's aren't supposed to be perfect. It happens. The show doesn't celebrate it, move on. Political correctness-- what? What political correctness.
The biggest issue with this show is it's become wildly popular and now there's more people than ever to complain about it. Relax, the writers have a clear passion for their work. They didn't rush through it like *cough cough GOT. It's not perfect, but it almost never is. Great show. Sit back and enjoy it. Maybe skip the intro to season 2 and episode 7 of season 2 because it'll never come up again and it throws off the flow.
Game of Thrones: The Long Night (2019)
Good Episode
Good episode. Lots of tensions, great visuals. It's hilarious to see all the angry reviews for this episode considering every aspect of what's complained about has been present in every battle episode from second season to last. Every main character, in every battle has been stuck fighting amongst many and comes out alive (did Jon die when they retook winterfell though he certainly should have?), every battle has stupid logic (was leaving the safety of the walls in the battle of Blackwater Bay any different from the the idiots mustered outside Winterfell waiting to join the army of the dead?). Come on. Game of Thrones does great on microaction, intrigue, character interplay, and tension. This episode had three of those things in spades.
The Orville (2017)
As others have said...
Reading the accolades for Discovery and the cold reception for the Orville, it's a great example of misplaced priorities. Discovery has little to no character interaction, it's all flash, no logic, and for a sci-fi show flagrantly disregards scientific principles (like a light beacon being instantly visible from light years away. Granted all sci-fi bends physics in some way but usually it's central to world building). The Orville is everything Discovery is not. It deals with weighty issues, characters have real conversations and there is some light hearted comedy that doesn't get in the way of the story (unlike the incredible sequence of action scenes in Discovery). Considering this is the Orville's first season, it shows incredible promise. Just give it a try- and wait until the third episode. Your ears will perk up and you'll realize the show is a lot more than it appears on the surface. Critics have typecasted (director-casted?) Seth's McFarlen and therefore will not be happy with anything short of Family Guy in space so I think most everyone else will be in for a pleasant surprise.
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
Not Star Trek but also not good TV
The acting is wooden, despite the good actors, the characters don't have conversations, they talk at each other. There isn't much logic to be had for just about anything, particularly considering this is supposed to be scifi like Star Trek not futuristic fantasy like Star Wars (and there's nothing wrong with Star Wars but 4-6 don't pretend to be scifi), for example, in the first episode the Klingon ship sets off a beacon of light. Soooooo as far as a beacon goes all the other ships in the universe will see it in terms of years and in order of how far away they are. There isn't even an effort put into the logic of it all. The second thing is, all the Star Treks rely on a good ensemble cast. That's what this show really really really misses.
Edit: Just got to the party time crystal episode. I tried to rate this based on the show by itself but it is awful!
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
Let the hate flow
Honestly if you watched movie 7 and you thought this was going to be a good movie, then, well, you'll be disappointed. It was bad. Real bad. But so was the last one. The last one was prettier, but it was dumb too. This one was dumb but (and I may be wrong) but it seemed self aware dumb. Any who, whine and complain, but if you go watch number 9 with JJ at the helm then by golly, crown Disney king, this is what blockbusters are now. Making that money they are and no reason to stop do they have.
Game of Thrones: Beyond the Wall (2017)
Could the end ruin it all?
Game of Thrones is great but its nature requires a good ending for the show to be good. We won't be able to just write off the last two seasons as crap and still say the show is good, yet here we are. The other reviews have done a good job of talking about the deus ex, the perhaps lack of source material = lack of substance, the inability to suspend disbelief because now we know characters can't die, there are redshirts now, and the teleporting, and last the lack of logic, so I will boil this down to one scene to illustrate exactly what's happing: At the end of the episode Jon is left, drowned in a lake. First surprise of the episode. A few minutes later, Jon pulls himself from the lake. The zombie hoarde sees him. Guess Jon is dead, but wait, why would they go to all this trouble to separate Jon from everyone else? Why return to the scene just to show his death when they could have just killed him in the last scene? Will something interesting happen? No. The truth is Uncle Benje is still alive, so we have constructed this entire scene, just to kill him, because 5 minutes later Jon is back at the wall alive and well. I've got to say, that little scene is the worst worst worst bit of storytelling I've experienced in recent memory. I hope this gets better so the series isn't ruined but I just don't see a way out. Oddly enough its making me want to read the books. Was going to wait till after the show ended, but it may be the only solace left by the end of the next season.
Samurai Jack: Episode CI (2017)
Unbelievably bad ending to an unbelievably bad last half of the season
I'm looking at these reviews in absolute disbelief. Nostalgia is a very very powerful thing. I just can't think of any other reason. Bringing back old characters for an entire episode does not make it more powerful. Having an ending does not make it inherently good. There's so much wrong with the direction of this and the entire last half of the season. It's beautiful yes, but god, that is not enough. I'm a huge fan. This was the epitome of disappointment. I sat through this with six other people (2 of which had never seen Jack before) and we collectively cringed the entire way through. As for the entirety of season 5, I'm all for character development and right turns in the story but the last half of the season was haphazard, jarring, unsubtle, and shallow.
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
There are some Salty Armchair Philosophers in the Review Section...
This was a good episode of Star Trek. I think you could argue that it was not worth a movie when you could follow a more significant plot line (perhaps the end of hostilities between the Romulans and Federation ala Undiscovered Country, which I think they meant to do with the following movie but failed somewhat due to who was at the helm of the project). But I think it was also an attempt to add some fun for the crew (and audience), Riker shaving his beard, Picard's mambo, etc. It's great fun, decent but simple story, well executed. People arguing the philosophical questions are one, not suspending disbelief- this is the future, your problems are not the future's problems and two, forgetting the godd*mn Prime Directive. In the whole 7 seasons and movies the Prime Directive is a central theme. Yeah, let's throw it out because of a planet's potential benefits. Lastly, for some reason there are a few reviewers that are upset with the Amish aliens in the movie. Boo hoo. There are different kinds of people in the universe. Relax. Enjoy the movie.
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
Am I just getting old, or what?
When someone asks me, how was Star Trek? My first inclination is to say it was loud and bright. It seems to me that it has become standard practice to cut the intelligence out of movies that try to have some sort of action/drama synergy and add more action. Its like the writers are sitting around the table saying, "How can we make this cooler." Living in Asia, I can tell you that that philosophy has really worked for bringing in the East Asian audience- they really like the big flash, bang bang, coolness of things. You see it walking down the street every day, so its not surprising that Hollywood panders to them. Its also not surprising that it panders to adolescents, they have the most disposable income. It is surprising however, that reviewers that apparently aren't Chinese and clearly aren't adolescent would describe this movie (and others like it) as the greatest thing since popcorn.
Putting all that aside, there were parts of this movie that were good, others that just didn't make sense, and more that left me saying, "Why the f*ck is this happening." The interesting parts of this movie were apparently not important enough to become the focus off the story. I think if they had focused on the impending conflict between the Federation and the Klingons it would have been an easy way to make it interesting, but that's just one option. Another thing, they really sell Kirk as a bad captain. Twenty minutes into this film i thought, wow you really are a sh*t captain. Then there is Spock. Apparently being more human and playing to your emotions rather than your brain is the ultimate Good. What's a brain for anyway. SO anyway, rant over, maybe this movie could be a six, but no, its not its a five, so suck it.