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Reviews
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian (2022)
Excellent Sci fi
Enough said. Been underwhelmed by this series/spin-off so far but this episode was a banger. Solid sci fi, an extra Mando episode and good Star Wars allusions/references.
ZeroZeroZero (2019)
Very good, a lot of potential!
Great production value and acting. Pretty intense. If you like Breaking Bad or Ozark but wanted a bit more serious of an action/drama series, this is for you.
A World of Calm (2020)
Great bedtime show!
It's a nature documentary with relaxing narration and audio to help you sleep or relax. Honestly it's decent for what it is. Some nature documentaries can try to use thrill or excitement or loud music. This is more relaxing than those. Wish it were in 4k and HDR thoufh
Raised by Wolves (2020)
Original sci-fi? Refreshing
Overall, 3 episodes into the series and it has potential. Good back-story, visuals are alright, acting is fine. But I could see this turning into a family drama of sorts. Hopefully that doesn't happen! High hope for this series.
Edit: after the first season, I had to downgrade to a 7. The content was more family drama than sci-fi. It has potential, but the family drama aspects seem like such filler... It has potential, but unless there are substantial changes, it won't rise to the level of The Expanse, which also overcame a difficult first season.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 7: The Reckoning (2019)
Acting was terrible
This episode had some of the. worst. acting. that I've seen in Star Wars since the Christmas special. I honestly think they did first take on a lot of the shots that the actors just read. It was so rough how the delivery was. Yikes.
Immigration Nation (2020)
Watch all the episodes. It shows both sides
So, this is only out for a few days and these reviews are already bonkers from both sides. I'll try to be objective as this doc-series was on a very divisive issue.
I think the biggest takeaway from this series is how our policies and bureaucracy have such a high toll on people in complex situations. It humanized the immigrants. It showed what troubles they face from both legal immigration to undocumented, illegal immigration. Families ripped apart. Decades of life uprooted from where they now call home. A veteran who is here illegally so he can be with his family. It also humanized some of the immigration officers. An ICE agent with a family who empathized with the subject and let them tell their family goodbye. A CBP agent who saved an undocumented border crosser from dehydration and possibly death.
For the "outrage" that this is liberal propaganda, please just consider that this film is not a Michael Moore piece with some huge narrative. It presents real situations from real people. Most of this was filmed recently, so it shows people affected by the current administration's policies. It didn't only show illegal immigrants either. It showed asylum seekers who were also trying to enter correctly, and what hurdles they faced. However, it also pointed out that the previous administration deported more than any before him, as well as issues with the current immigration laws and policies enacted under Clinton. Episode 6 has a very pro-CBP stance. Shows many of the officers are there to stop human trafficking. Sad to see the true nature of a lot of that is related to organized crime, and it's good that CBP is working on that.
The Outsider (2020)
So far, so good.
Premiere had the double-episode to start off the series. Really digging the cast and the acting is great. Giving me True Detective S1 vibes, although it definitely needs to be proven in some later episodes for that to be worthy of the other HBO hit. Music is good, and the dark color palettes set the cinematography off right. I think it will be worth it to stick it out for the first season, as HBO has had some really great new series lately.
The Witcher (2019)
Very surprised how good this was!
Binged it all in one sitting. In the TV fantasy genre, this has clearly risen to the top. Thanks Netflix for helping me forget what a failure Game of Thrones was.
Barry (2018)
Top-notch writing
This show has some of the best writing I've seen since Breaking Bad. Very smart, and extremely funny. Absolutely brilliant
The Night Comes for Us (2018)
What's character development anyway?
Spoilers ahead... Took until about halfway through the movie until they developed characters who were already dead. At one point, the bad guys, Yohan's guys, were killed by other bad guys, the Triad, sent on the same mission, just because they were in the way in the hallway? Took me a while to figure out who was allied with who and why they were that way, because for some reason a lot of the character development seemed to happen later in the movie rather than orient the viewer to what's going on. I don't like it when my hand is held to figure out a movie but the fights made almost no sense without proper character introductions. Also, how do grenades work? Two occasions where grenades were very poorly used. How does gravity work? Is a ~40 pound window AC unit heavier than a grown woman who can fight? How do guns work? Is sound faster than light? One gun scene there was somebody who was shot when the laser wasn't even on them, and the flashes of light from the gun came after the sound and when he was shot... The same character in that scene showed they didn't even know how to hold a gun later, absolutely poor direction that needed a retake when their actress is waving the gun around like a kitchen utensil with no control... Fighting was alright, but overly gratuitous on the gore. Overall I liked The Raid 1 and 2 better because the stories were sensical and the fighting more realistic. I watched this because I saw reviews comparing this to those two, but they aren't even in the same league. Maybe give it a watch if you really like gory martial arts action movies with little substance.
Black Mirror: Hang the DJ (2017)
Incredible episode. This is quite honestly one of the best episodes of television I have seen. Execution and direction were sheer perfection.
Where do I begin? The main characters were lovable and were developed well for an episode that lasted less than 1 hour. Even with no backstory as a simulation, Amy and Frank were easy to connect to. I was honestly surprised that I felt so connected with the main characters when the episode was so short. There was a connection with their unease about a forced human partnership matching system as there would be if it were in real life.
The criticisms and alternate views on the modern dating environment along with an increased reliance on technology was well-balanced. This was not a dark dystopian future, but rather how we can break through whatever dystopian constraints the world sets on us, even what technology sets upon us, and persevere as a team. It also gave technology a chance. It says it can help us along our journey. Even in the simulation, if the main characters were not paired in the beginning, their outcomes would/could have been vastly different. There was also the caricature of modern dating with the ultimate/perfect match ceremony (sendoff?) of Edna and Mike. It seemed like satire of any of the major dating websites' commercials. It still gave credence to the idea that it could work for some, but that it was either ridiculous-looking or a pipedream to many.
The resolution did not show who would be the perfect match for Amy. While there might have been a "perfect" option in a coached system of matchmaking, the show ends with a determination that love finds a way and overcomes all odds. This is an encouragement for all to persevere in your relationship instead of giving up for a "perfect one" they say might be out there. Find someone you love and can live happily with. I found it an interesting metaphor for single life that Amy and Frank could not remember life before the coach matchmaking. Just as it is hard in a committed relationship to remember single life, the main characters did not know what it was like before their simulation started. For them, it was when their "life" began. Quite a romantic analogy.
I found it interesting that I do not remember the words "love" in the entire episode. This was a dystopian view of modern romance and one of the only sad things that I was left with in this episode.
I did find it odd that this would come after USS Callister, or even in the same season. Beyond being a similar uplifting story like episode 4 of season 3, San Junipero, Hang the DJ seemed cruel to subject the sentient code to pain.
The length of the episode felt short but I would not change it. The story was fully developed and they never spent more time than needed in any particular point. This was so precisely directed that not once in the episode did I feel the story drag or did I feel like I missed out on something. The ending had perfect closure. I would have even been satisfied with a Lost-esque episode where it faded to white as they scaled the wall, just leaving the end in mystery. It would have been a perfect romance, but we would have missed the Black Mirror-style storytelling, and the actual ending was much better than what I was expecting as the episode came to a close. Even if mildly predictable, the writing kept the mystery about the dystopian simulation as a very intriguing plot point that kept me interested every bit of the way. The plot was not ruined by the "love interest" that many sci-fi die-hards claim ruin their precious films/television series, but rather it was strengthened by a great, non-cliche (for Hollywood) look at romance. The predictability of the romance did not make this any less enjoyable, since Amy and Frank were so well cast and likeable along the way. Dare I say the direction was flawless?
The only thing I had a disappointment about was the title. Besides the song what was that about?
Overall I never have been more satisfied in a television episode. Overall I have more favorite episodes, including some from Breaking Bad and Lost, but this easily makes the top 5 for favorites. This now tops White Christmas for my favorite Black Mirror episode. Well done Netflix, Black Mirror, Timothy Van Patten and Charlie Brooker, and the cast and crew, for an incredible episode.