Reviews

Ben Anderson is a Vice correspondent and war journalist who's done the most harrowing stories of real conflict for the past few years going into countless countries and warzones filled with all kinds of horrors, we know this as we have been on this journey following him for years.

Perfect example is the first piece of this episode which is a microcosm of his experiences in the last decade with starving babies, child soldiers and despondent and destroyed communities all in 15 minutes whilst the latter part is pure PTSD introspection.

He spends time with other victims of this affliction who've been doing MDMA treatments (ecstasy variant) but he cannot but remain skeptical at the surprisingly great result they have. But then the crux comes when he does the treatment himself in a revelatory session where he discusses his own personal experiences and how numb it's all become, all whilst b-roll of years of brutal footage is played, before slowly peeling back the layers of the emotions he's been denied all these years cause of survivor's guilt and unrelenting horror, finally giving way for some hope of normalcy and maybe even happiness...

The series is a regular cop procedural with the twist. After a brutal car accident Micheal Britten's world is split in two with every day being spent with a different loved one being either his son or his wife. This sense of duality also extends to his police partner and his psychiatrist who are different is both realities.

While the mystery itself is great the structure of most episodes is where this show suffers. Since this is still a procedural most episodes go like this: Two police cases get opened and solved, Sub-plot with either or both his son and wife, Regular visits to either or both his psychiatrist to determine mental state with case and overall mystery of the show.

That is a lot to cover in 40 minutes. So the whodunnit of the cases is either easy or simply unimportant while the overall mystery is a constant but never the focus until later in the season.

It's a good thing the writing and acting is always on point. Everybody brings it even down to the guest actors every week for the cases. It also looks great with L.A looking good and a nice choice of color palettes with both realities having a distinct color (yellow and blue) making it easy to discern which is which.

The episodes that stray away from it's usual structure are the strongest while also showing how well they managed to balance their multiple realities, characters and plot progression in those regular episodes. I will not go into the ending as i feel this show is worth watching. I will say that it is open-ended but satisfying at the same time.

So if you like procedurals like CSI and law & order or mystery shows like Lost know that this is a marriage between the two. Which also means you're only gonna get half of both genres in most episodes.

This has been a green review

Marvel media be it movies or TV shows have always been the best at one thing... balance. No more is it evident then in this great espionage show set in the late 40's.

Free from the super heroics of it's movie and shield brethren, Agent Carter gets to explore a much darker side of the Marvel universe and whilst doing so proves that Marvel just does great entertainment.

Dark themes and subjects get well explored in this short series with stuff like: sexual oppression, war crimes, adultery, the price of war on the individual and the society, extreme violence like torture on both adults and children, etc.

If all that sounds heavy well this is where the balance comes in, cause for every dark turns there is some great levity. Humor is a constant and fun could very well describe this series. They also don't skimp on the action with the hand to hand combat being a highlight.

It also has a great cast with Peggy herself (Hayley Atwell) truly delivering. The other stand-outs are Jarvis the butler (James D'arci) the ying to Peggy's yang and finally the chief of the SSR Roger Dooley (Shea Wingham) who looks like he's been sucked out of the 40's just to do this show. His performance thought not the biggest left the most impact on me.

So if you're in the mood for a nice period piece with great action, fun cameos, levity and drama in equal measure and a legit cast who brings it all together then please watch Agent Carter since i for one would love to have more adventures of Peggy and the SSR in post-war New York.

This has been a green review

Reviewing a horror film without spoiling it is next to impossible. So please just go and watch this film as blind as possible so you ca enjoy everything it has to offer. So very LIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD.

Seriously i have nothing bad to say about this film so here we go with the good. The performances are incredible. Not only from the mother(seriously this is Oscar nomination worthy) but also from her son who couldn't be more than 10 years old. No jump scares is also a godsend in this day in age.

But really the 2 best things about this film are it's unrelenting tension and incredible horror gimmick. Like most of my favourite horror gimmicks(how death works in Final Destination, the 8mm films in Sinister or the VHS in The Ring) this will captivate you and terrify you in equal measure. All i will say is that it's a book.

But really it's all about the tension. The second the book is introduced the movie grabs your balls and doesn't let go. You will fear every sound and everything you see or don't see and really it's a feeling that can only be experienced and not explained.

It also is a thinking man's horror film. It probably won't stop you from sleeping but it will definitely make you think and wonder about what just happened in the past 1h30. It's very clear but also open to interpretation which is a very hard thing to do especially in horror films.

So if you like to allow your body to contort in your couch in fear then turn off the lights, pump up the sound and enjoy a truly well crafted piece of horror.

This has been a green review

This documentary tries to shed light on 3 aspect of the burning man experience. The struggles of the co-founders and artists to complete a massive undertaking for both themselves and the community they are all a part of. And secondly it's about the event itself with you getting a glimpse of bad times (1996) and good times (2012).

The showing of the actual event is pretty great not only do you see the diversity of the people and arts that go into it but you also get to see from a horror like shaky cam 1996 disaster of an event that lead to some chaos and even some deaths? or injuries.

Where the documentary fails though is in it's choice to focus on some rather bland conversations and weird shot locations (there's one where they go to public pool to talk to a founder who's in the water swimming). The worst parts thought are with the artists. You see how hard it is to follow through with an idea for an elaborate art piece at burning man. Problem is one of these people is highly unlikable while the other really doesn't have a satisfying payoff.

So only see if you're interested in how burning man came to be and why it's so important and powerful. Other than that the documentary doesn't go outta of it's way to show other aspects that would have been appreciated like how everything is gifting or bartering and people come together mostly because of the collective suffering which you really don't see in this.

This has been a green review

First of all this film blew me away with it's 2-d majesty and emotions it brought out of me (seriously made me cry at least 4 times legit).

The good is everything other than the flaws i will get into. The animation is incredible, the score by Hans Zimmer while sometimes overly epic still sucks you in since the best quality is that the horses don't speak (except for the terrible narration. The plot is also excellent in most respects with the quiet moments being the stronger ones by far.

So here we go with why it goes downhill. 1- Bryan Adams. Tarzan and Phil Collins were hugely successful with their film so they though why don't we do the same. In the first 30 minutes there is 4 hard to understand Bryan Adams songs that will test your patience. Although the 2nd act is the best since he doesn't come back for a while. Most painful of all is when the tears are balling out of your eyes from emotion only to be completely broken by aggravating, pandering and completely useless songs.

2- Matt Damon. No wonder he hasn't done much voice acting work since. In this film he narrates from the perspective of the main horse and by god does he sound bored. Never in the hole film does he change his monotone and emotion-less narration. The words are there and emotions are being alluded to but again with no conviction, it's pretty baffling.

3- The return of a character who should have never come back. It completely ruins one of the best moments in the film by completely negating it without reason or sense.

I watched Dumbo with this and seriously they would be equals if it weren't for the blatant flaws that just get in the way of an actual fantastic film. So if you love animation you have to watch this but just know you will be as mad as you will be sad (in a good way).

This was a green review

Hopefully this won't be the last hunter x hunter film since it left a sour taste in my mouth especially after watching their great first feature film Phantom Rouge (which i also reviewed).

The good is mostly the cast. The foursome is back as well has their past masters with Wing and Zushi from the heaven's arena arc and Biscuit from greed island. Hisoka is also here but in a mostly forgettable fashion once again. The action is still great and there is a lot of it. Unlike Phantom rouge this film has the tone of the early series so more of a focus on combat minutia and abilities and less on emotion.

Now the flaws which are many. The biggest of which is the complete misdirection of the plot. Early on it seems like it's gonna be Battle Olympia which was my most anticipated thing in the series that actually never came to fruition. And right when your at you're at peak excitement for this tournament it instead goes into another boring villain with boring revenge scheme.

The worst part of that is who the revenge is for. It's for Netero so chronologically speaking this film happens before the Chimera Ant arc. Which removes all of the stakes. The villains are a little fleshed out but not anywhere close to where it needed to be. The film's focus was on their combat prowess and reasons for revenge so falling at both these goals is pretty sad given what we could've had instead.

Score is still favorable since it's use of music is much improved from their last film and the action is as fluid as ever. Plus for every frustrating moment like Leorio mostly getting the shaft there was a great moment in classic hunter x hunter fashion.

So i would watch this first and then Phantom Rouge unless you like the tone of the earlier arcs instead of the more deep and emotional later arcs.

This was a green review

The movie is really a split bag. It's made by a different studio to a mostly successful degree. The action is much tighter and fluid and most characters retain their looks with almost no clear failure. The one character they do fail to represent is wildcard Hisoka. Instead of the fun sexually creppy hisoka from the series. We now get a more serious and way too much tongue Hisoka.

While it has the characters and dynamics or earlier arcs in the series with the phantom troupe being involved and having the classic foursome with Leorio and Kurapika. The tone and pace are entirely derived from the latter arcs with less of a focus on action and fighting minutia and more of a focus on drama and characters dynamics. So expect to think about deep themes and cry is what i'm saying.

The new characters are great (except the villain). This movie resolves one of the show's biggest problems with it being mainly a huge sausage fest. This is also a very Kuripika focused plot with his childhood best friend being another fantastic addition. Everybody gets their due and again it will mostly hit on an emotional level which is really where hunter x hunter has excelled.

There are huge flaws however. Chronologically it seems to be before the series finale but that's only learned at the end so it makes the preceding events somewhat more confusing. The villain gets the shaft in the character development. He's mainly a background villain and his story and arcs are pretty bad. But that's mostly to leave more screen time for the other 2 main new characters.

Kiliua's brother Illumi also shows up in an extremely confusing fashion and he also brings the baggage of an issue that was resolved in the main series (killua's flee or fight problems). Also a long scene is spent on a previously though dead phantom troupe character that really dragged since we in no way wanted to see him back. The worse flaw is it's use of music. Though it's the same music from the series hearing the same tunes multiple times in weird moments and scenes that just didn't match the mood.

As my scores shows none of the flaws really took away from the pure emotion this film gave me. It easily rivals the chimera ants biggest moments mostly because it will happen multiple times in you're 1h30 watch. The ending is satisfying, all the old and new characters shine equally and in potent ways. As always Hunter X Hunter Delights and surprises you with wonder and feelings you wouldn't think you'd feel. So find it and watch it.

This was a green review

Great little story that shows the hardships of motherhood in nature. The animals have names and there is a slight narrative thread with some of the recurring bears and other predators.

The movie features plenty of beautiful shots of nature be it the breathtaking Alaskan Alps or the beauty and colours of a meadow. You will also see breathtaking sights like the best avalanche ever filmed and some intense bear fights and close calls. There's also an amazing scene with an eagle being a dick to a falcon. The movie also features a slew of different animals like Wolves, Foxes, Ravens, Eagles, Falcons, Rock Eels, etc.

The movie does have 2 major flaws. First is John C. Reilly. He never really seems all that into it and almost every attempt at humor falls flat. Also his monotone voice when explaining things gets pretty dull and boring. Secondly a lot of the film seems to be at 0.5 speed. Not slo-mo but very close and most times it's just unneeded and it detract from what's happening.

This has been a green review.

An amazing return episode with the great staples this series is now known for. Great humour, Dark themes with a good dose of horror, great visuals and a plot with actual depth and surprise.

Season 2 has mainly been about fleshing out the inhabitants of the town and less on the overall mystery of the mystery shack and the journals. I for one love this as most stories have been flawless in their execution.

Saying that, this might be one of the best ones yet with a great twist on our preconceived notion of Pacifica and her amazing growth coming outta this. It also gave us one of the best villains on the show (in a show filled with great villains) with the Northwest family and legacy (those paintings were incredible and ballsy).

Best joke: Get it', get it!

This has been a Green Review