FabledGentleman Reviews

We Own This City (2022)

3 episodes in, this is a blast!

[9/10 · 14 May 2022]

From David Simon, the Creator of "The Wire" (hereby called TW), comes this series which tells the true story of Baltimore's gun trace taskforce, a unit of corrupt police officers who stole money from the citizens during regular stop and frisk and arrests. All eight officers in this task force were arrested in 2017 and later convicted.

The story travels forth and back in time, so that we see how and why things turn out the way it did. Just like David Simon did with TW, you see there is corruption on every level, nothing is pure black and white. It's a story of morality, and how messed up a system can be if bad apples are allowed to slip through.

This show is a near perfect follow-up to TW, where they established the drug problem and violence the city is facing. The gun trace taskforce was established in 2007, which is between Season 4 and Season 5 of TW.

Many of the same actors that were in TW are also present here, though in different roles, and they are all doing a great job.

Now, i have noticed this show receiving little attention, and a bit too much of the attention seem to be overly negative. This is surprising to me, but on the other hand, it's not. People calling this show woke for example, has probably never seen TW, or been to Baltimore. If this show is woke, well so was TW. Baltimore has a 63% black population.

TW was also a show that had a hard time reaching out to it's viewer base to begin with, some great shows just needs time to reach it's core audience. And to this day, TW is considered by most to be one of the, if not THE best TV series of all time. And "We Own This City", is on a steady track to follow in it's footsteps.

Well I'm only 3 episodes in so far, but i can honestly say, i can't keep my eyes off the screen. The cops that was behind these crimes, are both fascinating and disgusting to follow, and I'm glad they all went down in the end.

So far this show is a 9/10. I might write a more detailed review when the show is done. If you are a fan of TW, this is a must see, a slow burner, dialogue heavy show, that tells a true story of wide spread corruption and fraud. Love it.

Slow Horses (2022– )

Starts off ok, then it's downhill

[3/10 · 2 May 2022]

Gary Oldman is truly one of the all time great actors, always on top of his game in every role, no matter the movie. Doesn't matter if the script is bad, or the plot is off, Gary delivers, always has, always will. Or did we just turn the tide on that one?

This series starts off OK, the mystery keeps the plot going through the first two episodes. The tension is there, and you are a bit on the edge of your seat wondering where this is going. But then, half way past episode 3, you really start to notice that this plot is absolutely improbable.

When i was done with episode 4, i was shaking my head in disbelief, and after episode 5 i was almost puking. This show makes every mistake known to man, except actually putting "academy award winner Gary Oldman" on the poster.

The script is terrible, the characters are stereotypical, the plot completely off rails, the story is predictable and lazy, the editing is uninspired, the directing is completely by the book.

By episode 5, Oldman is trying his best to keep his character plausible and relevant in this rather impossible plot, but you can clearly see he isn't up for the task, and that's saying something, when we are talking about one of the greatest character actors that has ever lived.

I really wished this show was great, but instead it's simply bad. Two first episodes felt like a 7/10, it wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either, it was good, and i hoped it with start to climb as the plot thickened. But instead it all falls apart and goes downhill with impossible plot twists, bad writing, countless clichés , and the show just tumbles over the edge and gains momentum into the abyss.

The writers of this show thought that creating an endless amount of coincidences could make their story plausible, they were wrong.

3/10 - Bad.

Dune (2021)

DUNE - A Great Modern Sci-Fi

[9/10 · 13 September 2021]

Denis Villeneuve has accomplished what was considered impossible for decades, to write and direct a faithful adaptation to the fantastic 1965 sci-fi novel by Frank Herbert. And I'm here to tell you, he has done it, he has actually done it.

I was introduced to the world of dune in 1992 by playing the video game DUNE released that year. The story completely captivated me, so i decided to read the book. And to this day, it's one of the best stories I've ever read. A tale absolutely grand in scale, and filled with details, making it really hard to adapt for the big screen, even today with all the technology we have at our disposal.

I saw the film made by David Lynch, a few years after i read the book, and about 10 years after it was released, and i didn't enjoy it much. The 1984 film completely fails at capturing the very essence of the novel, and feels shallow and unfocused.

One of the main differences with this movie and the 1984 movie, is that Villeneuve has only centered on the first half of the first novel. And with over two and a half hours runtime, he is able to concentrate more on the small details, than Lynch ever could. But on the flip side, this also means that this movie has no conclusion.

From reading the book, i know what comes next, i know how this story ends. But a lot of people watching this movie, especially those who haven't read the book, can obviously feel like they were watching a prologue to something great, that never happens. This is a very risky move by both Villeneuve and the production companies, because this can only work if part 2 is released to conclude the story. It's kind of how they did it with "the lord of the rings" trilogy.

But, still, without a conclusion, what a massive blast of a movie this is. I've seen it in IMAX twice already, and the grand scale of everything, the sandworms, the space ships, the ornithopters, the buildings, the sound effects, the soundtrack, the locations. It's epic in every meaning of the word. And all of this without losing track of the deep relationships between the characters. This is a movie that manages to perfectly blend massive awesomeness with true heartfelt emotions.

The actors are near perfectly cast, all carrying their roles really well, although i felt some of them didn't get enough screen time.

This movie does follow the book quite closely, but some things has been changed and/or left out to fit in a movie format, i must admit that during my second IMAX viewing, i felt that Villeneuve maybe should have adapted this as a mini series instead. But that would have dramatically changed the grand scale of everything, but on the other hand, he could've dived deeper into the lore. Two and a half hours to adapt half of the first novel, is cutting it real tight. And with all the stuff you are constantly being fed throughout this movie, it can become somewhat difficult to follow and understand it all.

But that being said, I had really high hopes for this film, i was one of those people hyped beyond belief. I've been waiting for this movie for about 30 years. And still, most of this movie is either as i imagined it myself, or better.

What Denis Villeneuve has accomplished here, is actually quite astonishing, he has actually made DUNE. It's finally here, it's gigantic, and close to everything i asked for.

The only big drawback, is as i mentioned, that this movie has no conclusion, it's two and a half hours of build-up to something great, that never happens, but it's still a huge epic packed with an awesome soundtrack, solid acting, fantastic CGI and sound effects and jaw dropping locations captured with brilliant cinematography. It's most definitively made for the big screen, absolutely no doubt about that.

Denis Villeneuve has once again shown us he's a force to be reckoned with, a brilliant filmmaker, and one of the best of his generation, even one of the best of all time.

I give this movie a 9 out of 10. We need part 2, we need it badly. This story deserves to be concluded. But if it never comes, i will just imagine the last half of the first novel with this movie as the template.

David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet (2020 TV Movie)

Essential Watch

[10/10 · 6 October 2020]

Our society is only a few decades away from total annihilation. And very few explains it better than Attenborough in "A Life on Our Planet". This is ultimately a horror story, a true story, of the impact we humans have had on our planet, and the grave and looming danger we are now facing.

A child born today will witness the total collapse of everything we humans have taken for granted for hundreds of thousands of years, and it is humans that are at fault. But it is all still fixable. Though I'm afraid that humans will not rise to the challenge, before it's too late.

I don't mean to be a cynic, I try my best, even though i stare doom in the face. I recycle, i eat all the food i buy, i don't drive a car, i don't use fossil fuels, i wear my clothes for as long as it's possible, and i send them to recycle once they are worn out. I do all these kinds of things, because it doesn't really take up much of my time to do it. It's all quite simple really, once you get used to it.

A few years ago, i read about how much food we people in the western world throw away every year, and the number was about half of all food produced. Half. It is a staggering number, and a testament to the mindset we humans have come to inherit. We take everything around us for granted, and thus become blind to the overwhelming damage we slowly but steadily inflict on the nature around us, which we are completely depended upon.

There are still those on this planet, millions upon millions in fact, that do not believe that the climate is changing. People who think that everything related to climate change is fake, and it does not matter how many violent record breaking storms, record breaking wildfires, record breaking temperatures, and record breaking ice melting we see and experience every single year, some people simply refuse to take in reality.

It would be a damn shame if we perished now, just as we started to get good at space travel, before we had the chance to truly explore if there is life elsewhere om the solar system and beyond. It would be a damn shame, if we after all this technology we have invented, and all the smart people we have on this planet, simply could not persuade enough leaders to take action, and we make irreversible changes to the planets ecosystem that will be devastated for millions of years.

Some humans might be able to live through all those years, adapting to whatever comes next. But they will venture back to the stone age, and they will be looking up at the sky, gracing at the moon, not knowing that once upon a time, long long ago, their own species actually walked on that. As time passes by, in the hardship we have to endure, we simply forgot, and no one is left to tell the stories of what we once did achieve.

This is to me the saddest realization. That we simply couldn't fix our mistakes, even though we were told time and time again, that we had to. I hope I'm wrong in my pessimism, and that humans actually do succeed in turning it around. But it needs to happen now, right now. There is no more delay.

This film, is essential to watch for everyone, to understand, and to grasp the reality we are currently in.

10/10

Tenet (2020)

Quite spectacular

[8/10 · 29 August 2020]

Early in the film one of the characters says: Don't try and make sense of it, just feel it. So that's what i did, and thankfully so. If you see this movie for the first time, and you try and make complete sense of the plot without having a doctors degree in astrophysics, your head will probably hurt. Your first viewing should be to just pay attention, and let the movie guide you forward (or backwards), don't try and put all the pieces together, because you can't. This is Nolan doing what he does best, which is manipulating time.

It's a complex new film from Nolan, which previously has played with time in several of his films, but in different ways every time. From Different speeds in Inception and Interstellar to different time windows in which a story unfolds in Dunkirk, and the back and forth in Memento, Nolan seems to be obsessed with time. And by sticking to his guns as he calls it, he manages to make movies that looks like nothing before it. This is yet again, a movie only Nolan could have made.

What i truly liked about this film is how Nolan from the very beginning show us hints about what's to come, but we don't yet know it. But when these small hints and sequences are finally revealed as the plot moves along, it's incredibly rewarding. It proves that he is a master of manipulation, which is a skill he truly needed to make this film, and movies like The Prestige. I'm not going to go into specifics how time works in this film, but it's a new take, from the trailers you already know it has something to with time inversion. Time that is moving backwards.

For decades scientists have been discussing time, and how it works. For us humans, time moves forward. But does that mean it does that for everyone, or every thing? No. In quantum physics, there is no time, things move in all directions, and we humans are made up of atoms, which then does not move in one direction. But yet, we feel it that way.

This movie's plot is anchored in these laws of quantum physics. Just like Nolan also used laws of physics in Interstellar for example, to describe how a spinning black hole can slow time so much that 1 hour close to it, equaled many many years on Earth. So even if Tenet for many people, won't make any sense, just see the movie for the first time with an open mind.

If you can just enjoy the spectacular action sequences, the constant tension, the pounding music and the beautiful cinematography, this movie delivers pure and solid entertainment.

I tried to put myself in Nolan's shoes after i saw this film. I thought to myself, if i had come up with this story, i would likely have doubted myself on every turn, because i could not let go, the amount of ifs and buts would explode my cranium.

But I felt i understood the time trickery quite well in this film, and i enjoyed the entertainment for what it was, and i think it's one of the best action films, probably the best so far, this year. But i also felt like this movie was missing something, it might be a lack of character development, in which this movie has almost none. It might also be that i took a close look at some of the scenes closer to the climax, which was without doubt very difficult to coordinate and film, but i saw several mistakes.

But all in all, what a spectacular film. Nolan is the only one in the industry that can make a film like this. It's just a bit sad he values plot and action more than connection with the characters, in which this movie needed a little bit more.

8/10

The Witcher (2019– )

Side Quests, The TV Show

[6/10 · 21 December 2019]

After binging all of it , i can now safely say that this show is nowhere near masterclass. First of all, this series spend way to much time on things that doesn't matter, on characters we don't care about. The overall feeling i have after seeing the entire first season is that this is adapted very close to how the games work, where we have Geralt walking from one place to the other, picking up side quests as he goes along.

Now side quests are perfectly fine in Games, but they are called side quests for a reason, and this TV show should be more focused on it's core narrative. It does however start to pick up by episode 5 or thereabouts, but by then i was really tired of watching things that didn't matter.

You could actually draw parallels from this show to "The Mandalorian", they are sort of based on the same story narrative. Where the protagonist walks from one place to the next, picking up jobs on the way. But the entire tone is completely different, as "The Mandalorian" doesn't take itself too seriously, and loves to play around a bit, "The Witcher" is the opposite. So IMO, this fall "The Mandalorian" was a big surprise and a series i find quite entertaining, while "The Witcher" disappoints.

The acting in The Witcher isn't that good either, i mean, it really isn't. The costumes aren't that great either. The entire show feels cheap in places it shouldn't feel cheap. If you are going to make a dead serious show, you better have the money behind it.

But the cinematography are at times spectacular, with beautiful landscape shots with great color grading. But when it comes to battle sequences, they could be shot way better. Before this show came out, the producers said this show would make GoT fighting scenes look dull, that's not the case what so ever. For everyone who saw "Battle of the Bastards", you know it would take some effort to make those scenes look dull. It is of course possible to make something better, but this show isn't one of those shows.

This show is as it stands right now, rated way too high.

The show gets better with each episode, but not much. First season overall is not much more than a mediocre experience which should focus more on being a TV series, rather than a computer game.

6/10 - Fair

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

The Terminator Franchise is Dead to me now

[3/10 · 30 October 2019]

Not in the slightest did i think, a few hours ago, that this movie would be so bad, that it almost rivaled Genisys, but the sad truth is, it is. This is the second worst Terminator movie ever made, and THAT was something i really didn't expect.

After all, the story is by James Cameron, he also produced it, it has both Schwarzenegger and Hamilton revisiting their roles, and it also has Tim Miller at the helm, who did a really good job with Deadpool. So this should be fine right? I mean, what can go wrong? At least it will be pretty good, or nothing less than decent right?

Wrong.

Already when less than five minutes has passed you start to notice that things are off. It just doesn't have the same vibe or atmosphere that the first two terminator films had, it just feels weirdly "lesser". The CGI is not good either, and the acting is stiff, and uninspired. And as time passes, and each scene fails to accomplish it's main goal, the movie starts to fall apart. Bit by bit, frame by frame, the movie slowly implodes.

This movie tries really hard to build heart and connection between the characters, but it totally fails at it, making the end of the movie a travesty to watch. I had to shake my head when i saw what was displayed on screen.

The Terminator here is a sort of modern version of T-1000, but it feels like a bad copy of it. Split in two.. Was that suppose to be the "up the ante" trick? The Rev-9 is boring, unoriginal, uninspired and badly designed.

And there is also something else i need to address, which i rarely do. And that is the SJW propaganda we see a little too much in movies these days. In Terminator 2, when Sarah meets her Mexican friend with the guns, it felt completely right. The scenes made perfect sense, the chemistry between Sarah and Enrique was spot on, those scenes were there to build on the story. In this movie however, when you see a Mexican, that Mexican is there for an agenda, not because it makes the story better. And you can feel it, it just feels off.

I sat there in the Cinema thinking to myself, there is going to come a scene at some point that introduces an asian and a black person at the same time, it just has too. And yes, it does... This is not coincidental. And I'm sorry that i have i address this, it shouldn't be necessary.

I feel robbed of my money right now. I seriously didn't expect this film to be so bad, yes it is, bad. This is the exact same story yet again, just told without inspiration, without emotion, without originality, without groundbreaking CGI, without a good story. It has very little to offer all in all. And i strongly advice all fans of Terminator 1 and 2 to stay as far away from this movie as you can, it will piss you off.

I cannot believe Hamilton signed up for this, well i guess she got payed, and she probably don't care if her "career" goes down after this, it's not like she much of one as of lately. But she should not have done this, just let it be with the two films that are actually really good.

The Terminator Franchise is unsalvageable now, this was the final nail in the coffin, and it was thoroughly inserted to the core of the franchise. This movie needs to fail at the box office, and it probably will. It's already failing in Europe, and the big event premiere where i just saw it, had only sold half of it's seats. When a triple A movie fails this bad, it's because people don't recommend it, because they dislike it. in this case, i have to agree, the movie should never have been made. Now let the terminator franchise rest.

For me there is only two terminator movies, all the others never happened.

3/10 - Bad

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019)

A nice return to the franchise, but it lacks in originality

[6/10 · 11 October 2019]

I'm a massive fan of Breaking Bad, and i hold it as if not the best TV show of all time, at least top 3. Breaking Bad was one of the best written, directed, acted and produced TV shows that ever was, and the characters where amazing.

So when i first heard about this movie coming out, of course i was incredibly stoked to see it. And after i have now seen it, I'm left with a bit if an empty feeling inside, which never happened in the TV Show, where every single episode seem to take one unpredictable step after the other, making it almost impossible to guess what the next move was. In this movie however, this is not the case, at least not as it was with Breaking Bad.

It's a warm welcome to see these characters again, and many of the characters from the original show is revisiting their characters, though clearly, the young ones have grown up a bit, it clearly shows, but it's nice to see them again. But this movie unfortunately leans a bit too much on nostalgia, and it also revisits plots and key elements of the original show a bit too much to feel original on it's own.

What this movie really accomplishes is to finally show us the real Jesse, as we kind of never got the chance to really get to know him, since he was either high or Walther had him in a Jam. I sort of hated Jesse from the Show, thought he was weak and dumb. But after seeing this, he surely has redeemed himself, he is now his own man, making choices based off his characters beliefs and motivations.

I just wished this movie could stand a bit more on it's own. Come up with something entirely new, all the way through. Some scenes are dragged out way too long, and they feel heavy, but they also feel true to the original show, so it's not all bad. Actually El Camino looks and feels exactly like 2 episodes of Breaking Bad, the production design is pretty much exactly the same. But the writing is lacking that little extra here, that made Breaking Bad so special.

I wonder why that is, because Better Call Saul has continued the amazing writing, so why isn't this the case here? I know Vince Gilligan has had the idea for this movie for years, but it was first made now, why?

It feels a bit rushed, it feels a bit out of touch, leans too much on nostalgia, doesn't really give us much new and exiting things to look at. And to be fair, the ending was as predictable as you can get, but i also felt a sense of joy with the ending, i think that this was the proper sendoff for Jesse.

All in all, El Camino is made for the Breaking Bad fans, if you haven't seen Breaking Bad, this movie won't give you much. But as for us fans, this was a warm welcome, but that's also about it. An OK film, but not nearly as good as Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul is, so don't expect that.

Deadwood: The Movie (2019 TV Movie)

Clever dialogue cannot save this

[5/10 · 1 June 2019]

For a show known for it's complexity and raw portray of the wild west combined with clever writing and amazing set pieces, this return is nothing but a small gift to the fans of the original show, but here lies also some of this movies biggest problems.

This movie has indeed the same type of witty dialogue that we saw from the original show, but the story makes no sense what so ever. There are too many coincidences that happens in a too short period of time, that makes it all unbelievable and that takes me out of the story. This is not clever writing, this is the writers struggling to find a plot that fits within the time frame of a movie, but still delivering the exact same depth the show originally had.

This film makes little to no sense to anyone who isn't a fan of the original series, because there aren't any character building here, these are characters we all learned to love and hate over the course of many years, only now to have all their stories concluded. But here is a problem in all this, if this movie is made solely for the fans, which it is, the flashback clips feels totally out of place. A show that was carried by clever and intelligent dialogue which at points required a university masters degree to interpret, it feels odd to be reminded of what once was, like we didn't even remember what happened all those years ago. The fans knows, and if they don't, well then they weren't paying attention.

This movie was in production hell for years and once they found the time and place to finally produce it, the end product is a testament they were in a rush to get it done before it ended back there. And the way the story is told is the main problem, if the story isn't air tight, it starts to leak out though some of the performances, how is an actor suppose to deliver, when their lines don't add up? In the end, this story serves only one purpose, to give fans closure. The fans wanted more seasons, HBO could not deliver, so here we have a movie instead. Thing is, now i wished i never saw this movie, i would rather choose for myself what happened to all these character. But i had to see it, i was hoping for the best, HBO mostly delivers, but as we also saw with Season 8 of Game of Thrones, they can also fail.

The movie comes off as a weird shadow of it former self, nothing new is brought to the table. This is a rerun of the deadwood series compressed down to less than two hours, only made to be a tribute to the fans, to give the fans a "proper" ending, and weirdly at the same time treat the fans as thus they can't remember what happened in the first place. This is the very definition of bad writing, it does not remove this fact even if you smear clever dialogue all over it to try and hide it. This entire movie, to put it simply, is pretty dumb compared to the series.

I just wished there would be something original here, something entirely new. But it just feels like time has stood still for 10 years, and here we are back with the exact same issues and the exact same story we have already been told. Just with some added things here and there as filler.

I'm sorry but that ain't good enough. For a show that was this great, we should expect more. It might sound like I'm trashing this movie now, i ain't. I'm disappointed, though we have a bad story on our hands we still have the same old characters, and it's always fun to see Al and George go at it, and the atmosphere is basically exactly as we all remember. So the movie has watch value for sure, but only for those that saw the original show.

5/10 - Mediocre

Catch-22 (2019)

Great show

[8/10 · 25 May 2019]

It's absolutely fantastic that the axis forces had stormtroopers on the anti air guns so we could get the entire story told. Appreciate it!

Great show, highly recommended.

Chernobyl: Please Remain Calm (2019) Season 1, Episode 2

Nailbiting tension

[10/10 · 14 May 2019]

This review is partly meant as a tribute of Alexei Ananenko, Valeri Bezpalov and Boris Baranov who went into the plant, knowing they would probably die as a result.

WARNING: do NOT read further if you don't want anything spoiled by future episodes!

When these three men stood up that day, sacrificing their own lives to save others, it sends a strong message of hope, that even in the darkest of hours, there are those that understand the needs of the many, exceeds the needs of the few. These men that were tasked with preventing a nuclear disaster of unimaginable scale, went in knowing they would almost certainly die.

Though they didn't die of radiation in the plant or later, (two of the men are even alive today), everyone thought they would, including them. These men are heroes, and you got to wonder why these men were not awarded the Nobel peace prize.

This episode deals with the direct aftermath of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. Politicians, doctors, nuclear physicists, police, military personnel, government officials and the president himself are now slowly coming aware of the magnitude of this disaster. As hours go by, more and more radioactive dust is lifted into the atmosphere, and the cloud carries it to countries like Sweden, Norway and Germany. Once the news break in those countries that Chernobyl has exploded, children are not allowed to play outside, but in the the city of Pripyat, which is just a few km from Chernobyl, people still don't know they are in grave danger.

It's heartbreaking to see that a government can be so slow to understand the danger of such a catastrophe. Incompetent people in all kinds of political positions, with no expertise and understanding of what they are up against. Sitting around hoping that someone higher up the hierarchy will eventually make some decisions for them.

This episode depicts the terror in an excellent manner, the tension grips you from the very beginning. There are some awful writing here and there, with some over-obvious scenes that don't need to be there, but all in all the episode is truly intense and accurate with the details of what happened. Even though i know a lot about this accident, I've seen countless documentaries, and read articles and books, well knowing what happens next, i still sit here eating my nails in horror of what is portrayed on screen.

Watching an exposed nuclear core is almost like watching the gates of hell open, this is as close to that description you'll ever get. An invisible and deadly enemy sneaking up on you, slowly killing you, taking away your life, draining you of all hope, yet it's so beautiful to look at. This is true horror, this is real, and it is terrifying beyond belief.

When we are faced with disaster such as this, looking into hopelessness and despair, I can't but be in total awe of men like Alexei Ananenko, Valeri Bezpalov and Boris Baranov who decided their lives doesn't matter if it saves a lot more.

Damn good episode, intense, accurate, well directed and acted.

Apollo 11 (I) (2019)

A treasure trove

[8/10 · 7 May 2019]

This documentary is a must see for every geek and space nerd out there, and also a should see for everyone else. It is a non narrated documentary that focuses solely on the prepping, execution and aftermath of the Apollo 11 mission. The only thing it isn't covering seem to be the building of the Saturn V rocket.

There is so much great footage here, lots of which i have never seen before. Clearly they have run the original footage, most of which is highly likely 35mm film, through a wet scan, restoring the quality and removing all scratches and damage. The footage is spectacular, and it's like going back to 1969 with a time machine witnessing the event for yourself for the first time.

It's no wonder though, there's so much footage of this event, but what this documentary is showing is in fact just a tiny bit of it. The world was watching, everyone payed attention to this. Actually about 1/6th of the entire population of earth at the time tuned in to watch it live on TV, every TV station was there. Making sure we would forever preserve this historical event in time. We can only hope they get enough money to restore and preserve all of the footage that were caught that day, of one of the single most impressive accomplishments of human kind.

The first 25-30 mins of the documentary is pure nerdgasm. It shows high resolution images on everything a geek loves. Computer screens, buttons, high tech, flickering bits and pieces, heavy machinery, rocket engines, satellites, spacewalks, radio antennas... I was watching, but i could not believe my own eyes, again, the footage is spectacular.

The only thing that drags the entire experience down a bit is that there wasn't really that much footage from the trip itself, they didn't exactly have room for a camera crew in that small command module, but the documentary still manages to keep you engaged through smart editing, and the use of music whenever it's needed.

if you don't even care about the space race or rockets, or any of that. See it for the footage anyways because this is as close as you will ever get to 1969 time travel. Maybe you'll spot your grandmother in 4K resolution smoking a pipe in a pinup bikini, you'll never know.

8/10 - A must see for geeks and nerds

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Quite possibly the best animated film of all time

[9/10 · 22 February 2019]

Plenty of people have weighed in on this movie, so i won't spend much time on this, other than to make a few points.

This movie is a game changer. Just like Disney changed everything with Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, and Pixar Changed everything some 60 years later with Toy Story. This movie is now the new benchmark for animated movies, and what a game changer it is.

The graphics, design and animations are spectacular beyond belief. I don't think anyone saw this coming, me included, and it completely blew my mind. But not only is it incredibly well made, the story is also surprisingly well crafted, and the actors who portray these characters are absolutely amazing, and totally on point.

Don't wait to see this movie, it's one of those rare gems that cannot be missed. And in my opinion this movie comes damn close to getting a 10/10 and be sided with movies like Apocalypse Now and Pulp Fiction.

The only animated movies i can think of right now that is as good or better than this, is The Incredibles, Toy Story and The Lion King. And i totally didn't expect that to be honest, though i did notice critics went wild over this film, and also most other people as well.

This movie sets the benchmark for the future, and now i just want more of this. Marvel should make their first really successful HULK movie this way, it will finally work, and we all deserve it so much, i have been waiting for a real proper Hulk film since the 1977 TV movie. Now is the time. This is it!

Even the new Thundercats film should seriously consider be made this way, instead of being live action mixed with CGI.

9/10 - Great

Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

Great CGI & Heart pounding spectacle, but not enough time for story

[6/10 · 5 February 2019]

In short: A gorgeous movie with good acting and lots of missed opportunities.

Widely known as James Cameron's dream project, "Alita: Battle Angel" is a long awaited movie that was in the works for over 20 years. I was one of 450 lucky people to see this in an exclusive early IMAX 3D premiere, and i bought tickets the moment it was announced. I have been waiting for this movie for over a decade, so my hopes were already really high, question is, did it deliver or not?

Spoiler: It didn't

It was always Cameron's plan to direct this movie himself, but his Avatar projects got in the way. I'm a big fan of his work, and always have been, ever since i saw "Aliens", "The Abyss" and "The Terminator" in the 80's i have been a die hard fan. And in the 90's and beyond he just kept on giving with his movies "T2", "True Lies", "Titanic" and "Avatar", the man really knows how to push boundaries.

Every time Cameron makes a movie, he does so with such passion and invention, he changes the entire movie industry for decades to come. That's why, when he decided to give this project to Robert Rodriguez, i got a bit anxious, but he also gave Rodriguez some 600 written notes that described his ideas and vision for the film, which made me think that Rodriguez would do his best to fulfill Cameron's vision.

Rodriguez has made some pretty good films in his career, and some really awful ones. He most certainly does not have the visionary scope that Cameron has, nor has he ever worked on a movie of this scale before. The closest is "Sin City", which was groundbreaking when it released, it's also what i would consider to be his finest piece of work.

You see, "Alita: Battle Angel" has some issues. It could have been so much more, the script by Cameron was there, a great cast was there, it has James Cameron and Jon Landau as producers. So what exactly was missing? The problem is not really what was missing, it's what little is made of what it had, And this is the core problem with the film.

I can't imagine Cameron himself would compromise so much of the deep story just to give us some action scenes. He always makes sure the story builds properly, so that when those defining moment arrive, we feel and we connect with the emotions of the characters, but that does not happen much in this film.

The movie commits the cardinal sin of including too much, too fast, we have seen this countless times over the years, think "Spiderman 3" for example. There are too many characters that needs attention and too many stories cramped into a short time. I understand that the studios wants to get off quickly and go off the rails as soon as possible, but when they don't commit to really get to know the characters, and to dig deep into the story, it feels like just another average popcorn flick, and this wasn't suppose to happen here.

This movie needed to establish the universe of Alita, establish the characters, and not be in such a rush to get to the "fun stuff". They made the decision to explore the universe deeper in the "maybe to me made" sequels, which is a really bad move. And it goes to show they targeted young kids, who don't care about story as much as adults, instead of focusing on a more mature audience, which the original manga was meant for in the first place.

But that being said, the movie isn't bad, just disappointing. What the movie DOES have however, is monumental off the rails jaw dropping Special effects. The CGI is phenomenal, and the animations are spectacular, the special effects alone is indeed worth the ticket. You haven't seen CGI like this before, this is a new landmark.

Some action scenes in this movie are an absolute thrill to watch, absolutely brilliantly executed. My favorite is a fight scene in a bar that just shows that if they had taken their time, this movie could have been a very enjoyable ride.

If you have seen All of James Cameron's movies, like i have, you have noticed that he always include strong female characters, and this movie is no different. This movie might have the strongest female in any of his movies yet. This is the story of a cyborg girl who's found in a scrap yard, who doesn't know who she is, but has strong powers which she discovers as the story progresses. Her past arrives as flashbacks, and slowly she evolves into her new self as she discovers things about herself and make decisions on what she wants to become, and what she wants to achieve. A story about being alive, learning who you are, and what your purpose is. A moral tale of right and wrong, good vs evil.

Making her eyes bigger, was a very bold and risky move, and it sparked quite a bit of controversy. But it was the right move, an absolute right move. Now i can't even visualize her without them. The eyes are the gate to your soul, and Alita, she has a very beautiful soul.

But as i mentioned, there are some problems with the film, and arguably those problems could have been solved, maybe if the movie had been one hour longer. Or just have skipped events like motorball and leave those things for the sequels, or leave out a few characters, and let Alita have only one enemy at once for example. God dammit, i wish the industry could just lean back some times, and let things just evolve naturally. This movie needed that, the story is full of heart, but what does an emotional story accomplish if we don't have enough time to feel?

But, none the less, what a great performance by Rosa Salazar, who brings so much life into the character. She is basically the reason this movie stays afloat. The other actors have way to little time to develop their characters properly which just makes them all feel hollow for the most part.

6/10 - Fair

Free Solo (2018)

One of evolutions greatest achivements and a "by the book" documentary

[7/10 · 3 February 2019]

To watch this ascend in real time, without any backstory, without any going forward and back in time, would have been a lot better than to watch this documentary.

Why do i say this? Well it was only when he was actually climbing, i really felt this documentary delivered something I'd never seen before. The achievement Honnold accomplished here is nothing less of godlike, and it's impossible to rate the climb itself any less than 10/10. It's one of those few times i start to believe i need to tune it up to 11. Because holy damn.

But this is not a rating for Honnold's incredible performance, it's a rating of the documentary, and sadly, it does not even come close to being as great as the climb itself.

Lot of the camerawork on the climb itself is pretty good, but also, it's also missing a lot. I don't know if they just cut out most of the climb, or if they don't have that much material to begin with. Anyhow, it was only the climb itself that was spectacular, the way they pan cameras over Honnold as he is dangling thousands of feet above the ground, and any wrong move he makes, is death. I could feel my stomach turn watching it. But this film contains way too little of this footage.

It spends most of it's time building up to the climb, we meet his girlfriend, his mother, his friends and so on. They all say how scared they are, some of them starts crying, but they are proud. Actually some of this even felt forced, like the makers felt this really needed to be in this documentary to make it interesting.

It's not like i didn't understand before what's at stake here. If he falls, he dies, that's a tragedy, people will be mourning, but the world moves on. Climbers die all the time, we read bout them in the news, then they are gone, and forgotten. Some of these climbers have done absolutely amazing things. If Honnold had died that day, the news would have read that he died trying, and many people would have thought "reckless moron" and moved on with their lives.

Therefor. I felt, they should have included way more of the actual climb itself, and less time reminding us what's at stake. I mean, we get it, the images show us clearly what's at stake, even knowing he actually made it, i still could not keep my stomach turning when he was doing near impossible moves.

It's of course nice to meet his girlfriend and his family, and it's nice to get to know Honnold a little better. But i got into the cinema believing i would witness one of the most amazing achievements in human evolution, and left feeling a bit cheated. I hope they release way more footage of the climb itself at a later point.

7/10

A Star Is Born (2018)

Emotional rollercoaster driven by strong performances

[8/10 · 15 October 2018]

One of the things i was thinking after seeing this film is: How often does a singer/popstar try to become a movie star? Quite a few times. And how often does that work out great? Not that often.

And how often do you see a movie star try to become a singer/popstar? And how often does that go really well? You probably see where I'm going with this.

This is what's mesmerizing about this movie, in this movie, both those scenarios came through. And not just by a margin of luck or just barely there, no, this is a movie that might have the highest wow factor of the year, and i suspect quite a bit of people are voting on this wow factor alone, because then i would give it a 10/10 without hesitation.

Like, who knew Cooper could sing like this? He has gone from an actor to have almost 10 million listeners on spotify in a week. He is so authentic in his role, it's almost scary. And who on earth could ever have guessed Lady Gaga was such a great actress? I mean, wow. Seriously i could really go on and on and on about these two and how authentic and real they are in this film, the chemistry is absolutely remarkable, and they show real emotions that makes you shiver all over. And add to that one of the best performances Sam Elliot has ever done, and you have solid emotional core that keeps you locked in for almost the entire ride.

For about the first 2/3 of this film, this was a 9/10 movie for me, i just loved watching it, but the third act was a bit disappointing, not only did i start to realize exactly how this would end, but i also felt that we spent too much time away from what made the movie so great in the first place, the chemistry between Cooper and Gaga. I don't think Cooper handled this last act all too well, but it's not terrible, but he should have kept that knot tightened, so that when what happens, happens, the emotional impact would have been far greater.

This is however a fantastic directional debut from Cooper and a phenomenal major acting debut from Lady Gaga, it's a movie about true love, love so pure it almost feels like you just want to be in there with them and never leave, experience all their ups and downs. It does not matter if there is suffering, the love is real, and that's what matters.

Lady Gaga has told in several interviews that she felt that the only one believing in her was Cooper, even on the set people where skeptical towards her. Well they are not skeptical now, because Gaga might actually be nominated for an Oscar for this role, I'm almost certain she will. And the song from the film, Shallow, is the front runner to win the Oscar for best original song. Almost all the music in this film is great, these songs could easily have been hits on their own, and well, now they are.

The verdict. Well you know what, the first 2/3 of this movie is absolutely fantastic. for real, I'm going to see those parts over and over and over, and the scene where Gaga first goes on stage, oh wow, wow wow wow. That is an emotional scene that will stick with me for a very long time. It's just the ending i have problems with, and i need to see the entire movie as a whole. It has brilliant parts in it, it has tons of great acting, great music, great emotions, and to top it all, it feels totally authentic.

I give this movie a 8/10 - A really good movie which i recommend

22 July (2018)

Intense first half but too many unnecessary shortcuts

[6/10 · 11 October 2018]

I am a long time fan of Greengrass, he isn't always making great films, but some times he brings some real good nailbiters which i greatly enjoy. For example Captain Philips and The Bourne Ultimatum. And you immediately see his fingerprints all over this one as well, with it's shaky camera movements and quick pacing.

The first half of this movie is pretty good actually, albeit the way it is cut together bothered me. The timeline in which all this happens feels like a couple of days, but it took months. The attack itself took hours, but yet it feels like minutes. It sort of brought me out of the story, because i know this story really well, being a Norwegian, and reading all about this, following the trial and the events surrounding all of this, it was really distracting to see that Greengrass was in a rush to get from one scene to the next.

I'm not saying the movie should have been 5 hours long to depict all of this more accurately, but at least make it clear how much time is spent between the scenes. The way this movie is cut, it felt like the trial started one week after the attack on the island.

So i kept hanging in there, i liked the acting, i liked the directing, but when we crossed the half-way mark i started to dislike a lot of the things i saw, the rush to get through the trial, the creative freedoms they chose to implement, the acting slowly got worse for some weird reason, and the spoken English also got worse the closer we approached the end. The actors in this film are mostly Norwegians, and it's painful to listen to when we can't make the language sound more authentic. But the weird thing is, it sounded more authentic in the first half of the movie.

Overall this movie does tell the basics about this dreadful event, i personally know people that was on the Island during this attack, and i think the movie pays proper respects to them, i do. But i also have to see this as a movie, which it is. And then I'm not so impressed, this is not Greengrass at his best, but it's a fairly good film overall, and the first half is really intense. This movie could easily have been 20-30 minutes longer, the content is there, no short cuts was needed to make this movie, it only makes the event less terrifying in my opinion.

6/10 - Fair

UFO (2018)

Not bad, but it could have been so much more

[6/10 · 4 September 2018]

This movie ultimately looks and feels like a pretty good student film, it has a pretty interesting story at it's core, and is made on a low budget, it also has some fine acting in it, but at the end of the day, it delivers little i would call cinema worthy. Now i didn't see it in a cinema, but still, a movie is a movie.

This film kind of feels like an episode of a TV show, in it's editing and it's camera work. It's a movie that is made almost entirely on autopilot it seems, it delivers a formula you have seen hundreds of times before, it delivers very few surprises outside the plot itself which could go anywhere to be honest.

And that is what saves this film, that i didn't know exactly where the main story would take me, and this raised the suspense, so i was never bored watching this, at least not much. But Gillian Anderson and David Strathairn has way too little to work with here, it almost feels like they are in this to either cash in on some easy job, or to maybe support an up and coming director, because they are both fine actors, and in this film, you couldn't tell if you had never seen them before.

It's a decent end of the day film, it keeps your attention for the most part, but it wants to be something more, but there just isn't enough money involved to take it to the next level, so it tries to just stay on the ground, tries to keep things small, though ultimately the story itself is HUGE, so it sort of clashes a bit.

So a decent afternoon flick you can watch while having some food or just feeling bored. Not a bad movie, but nothing special either.

6/10 - Fair

Better Call Saul: Smoke (2018) Season 4, Episode 1

What a way to start season 4!

[7 August 2018]

There is no doubt anymore, we are witnessing the best spinoff series of all time. This is just getting better and better with each season, taking it's time to build the characters, and slowly but steady leading us towards the events of Breaking Bad.

There is so many ways this show could have gone wrong, just that they try and make a spinoff to maybe the best tv series of all time, is brave or stupid enough, but that it is turning out to become maybe on par with Breaking Bad, totally unprecedented, it has never before happened in Tv series, ever.

This first episode of Season 4 just nails it to the core, it is perfect, i could not take my eyes off the screen for one second, every scene is orchestrated with surgical precision, the suspense is immense. And now finally we start to see the transition from BCS to BB, it is what we have all been eagerly waiting for.

I can't really go into specifics without spoiling anything. But holy cow, now it begins folks, this is IT!

I will go as far as to say that this might be the best episode of the series yet, It set's up all the play for weeks to come, it's just masterfully done, what brilliant brilliant writers Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould are.

And a big big shout to Minkie Spiro which directed this masterpiece.

Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)

Not even close to the original

[5/10 · 9 July 2018]

Sigh. Well i knew it, the moment i saw the trailers, i knew it. And i didn't need to see the trailers either tbh. How often does a sequel become better than it's predecessor? How often has that happened in movie history? Not very often. It's not even many times the sequel becomes equally good as it's predecessor.

This isn't one of those either. This film delivers pretty much the same cast, just with added explosions. There is no real finesse in the story, maybe a small surprise here and there, but ultimately, this entire story feels like it happens just because it can. The plot is full of silly coincidences that instead of adding more tension, just makes the movie feel silly and ridiculous.

To say it in an easy way, this movie is not Aliens, it's Rambo II.

The film delivers several scenes just to add action to the overall story, but some of these scenes serves absolutely no purpose what so ever, other than to be action scenes added. This is a really bad move, this is basically exactly how Michael Bay plans his movies. Add action, then find a story that fits around it.

This movie disappointed me so much, I'm not going to spend much time talking about the people involved. But the actors did a good job for the most part, and Del Toro carries the film on his shoulders.

But the script, the direction and the cinematography does not stand out in any way. Let's take the cinematography for example. In the trailers you already see it, this movie has basically just copied Deakins work from the original. And what's funny, is that if Deakins had filmed this movie, not even he had copied himself, as he believes every movie should have it's own look.

But this movie has the same angles in the shots, the same overhead follow shots, night vision, heat vision, same behind car follow shot, same drone on the side of moving cars shots. And so on and so on.

When it all comes together it just feels like an empty attempt of replicating what made the first film so good. But what this movie ultimately lacked was a director like Denis Villeneuve and a cinematographer like Roger Deakins.

The soundtrack also feels like a poor imitation of the original film. Everything is just copy paste, and then add a shocking scene here, and a shocking scene there, and add some more firepower. That's all this movie is. And that could have been avoided, with just a good story without silly and totally unbelievable coincidences. It just completely ruins the overall experience.

When there is tension building up, and it does happen at times. It just get's shattered to the point i shook my head in disbelief due to lazy writing. sigh.

It's a shame, really is. What a potential this movie had, i looked forward to it so much, one of the most anticipated movies of the year for me. But yeah i kinda knew it, what made the first film great was Villeneuve, he is the man that made it work. Because if you think about it, the first film could very easily have come off as plain silly and over the top, and then again totally unbelievable. But it worked, and that is because the people took care of the material and presented it the right way.

This is not the case here with this film.

5/10 - Mediocre

Revenge (II) (2017)

What is with the high metascore? Makes no sense.

[4/10 · 25 June 2018]

This movie. Is a very uneven mess.

At times this movie felt like a John Carpenter movie, just without the suspense Carpenter is famous for. But it uses similar soundtrack and similar storytelling and camera techniques that he uses in many of his films.

If this movie had been a satire on his work, it could have been pretty good. But this movie isn't. It's a movie that don't really know what it wants, is it a satire? At times it feels like it, but then it feels completely serious, then it feels like a satire again, and then we are back at serious.

Not only is it very uneven, the movie makes about as little sense as eating carrots on pizza. I can only conclude that the only reason this movie scores so high among critics, is that it's about revenge after a rape. And in these times with #metoo it's important to stand with the girls. There is one critic that gave this movie 100/100... meaning perfect, a brilliant masterpiece, "apocalypse now" level of movie. Are you friggin kidding me?

There is something twisted and wrong with this world man, where even professional critics can't contain their biased feelings, and let it influence their view. Now those critics will respond that scoring movies is a lot about feelings. Yes it is, but then again, try and think for a second if you are manipulating yourself. This movie is NOT a 10/10, Jesus.

But let that be said, this movie isn't awful either. It has lots of style, some good suspense at times, some really nice cinematography at times, and a very pretty girl with one seriously inviting butt. And she can actually act a little bit too, so not all bad.

But there are too many scenes that makes absolutely no sense, it just feels like dumb decisions have been made to cut cost, or to just simply make it easier on themselves to actually shoot this film. Most of this film just happens in a desert with just a few people in the cast, there i little to no effort making this movie. The gore effects are "copy paste", same make-up every time, same everything. The good moments are few and far apart, and also the way she get's her revenge is very unsatisfying, but then again the rape scene was so poorly orchestrated i hardly felt anything. It's just a very uneven movie, that falls short of mediocre, it comes dangerously close to being a bad film. But it's saved by those moments where the tension actually works, that's all this movie has going for it.

But then again, if the tension is what works, this can't have been intended as a satire? Because those completely over the top scenes are not funny or entertaining, they just suck, they are simply put, just over the top. For the sake of being over the top.

So a movie neither a good thriller, or a good satire.

4/10 - Poor

Tomb Raider (2018)

Recycled Hollywood crap

[3/10 · 30 May 2018]

Well, this is one of those films that just don't have anything going for it no matter how you look at it. Except for Vikander, which tries her very best to hold this landfill of a movie together with everything she got.

This movie is so predictable, i knew exactly what would happen at every turn, the dialogue is uninspired and flat, the story is absolutely without any emotional impact, but they try to, they really tried to make it this way, and then it's left to the actors and the director to make sure those emotions are portrayed correctly and have enough time to grow into something touches the audience, but, it does not. It's like it has copy paste dialogue from dozens of B movies, and a rushed and totally illogical story. When you have these two combined, any emotional impact you try to create, will not result in anything less than failure.

It's so weird that such a great actress like Vikander chose to star in this film, i have no idea what she saw in this script. Because this movie can not strengthen her career one bit, this can only damage it. She is a very talented, young and beautiful actress that quite quickly has proven herself to be one of the special ones, an actress that can succeed really big if she chooses her projects carefully. And therefore it's mindbogglingly weird that she decided to do this, her salary must have been exceptional.

Well there won't be a Tomb Raider 2 movie this time, that i can promise you, at least not with Alicia, if she chooses to make a sequel to this she is quite frankly mad.

Tomb Raider is one of those game franchises that should be easy to make into a good movie, it has everything going for it, and i love the games, at least the game from 2012 that this movie loosely is based upon. I think Lara Croft is a very interesting character, but for some weird reason, no one seem to be able to write her a compelling story, it's always going to be cliche after cliche.

Why don't they try and make her more fun? And why is it so hard to make her a movie that resembles Indiana Jones? They are in many ways the same character, just opposite sex. But even Indiana Jones haven't had a decent movie since 1989, so i guess it's just one of those things.

But even so, if it is only one of those things, they should just let movie scripts like these go into the trash bin. Steven Spielberg stated a couple of times that when he saw Laurence of Arabia in the cinema, he almost gave up becoming a director because that movie could not be topped, i guess we can all be glad he still became one because he has made some really great movies. But Tomb Raider on the other hand is one of those movies that are so mediocre and bad in everything it tries to accomplish, i want to become a movie director just to save Hollywood from themselves.

But in midst of all the poop there are some good things about this film. Some scenes are actually quite intense and entertaining to watch, and Vikander is indeed playing the part quite well, except it feels oddly weird to play like this in a movie with zero emotional impact, and there is also some nice cgi in there, but nothing revolutionary.

Meh, well it's what i expected. I never believed in this film. I always though it would suck pretty bad, and yeah no surprises there. Glad i saw it for free. Even then i feel ripped off.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

All in

[9/10 · 25 April 2018]

MAJOR SPOILERS!! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM!

My headline is the easy way to describe this movie. It is grand, majestic and spectacular. Just like Thanos towering everyone else with his physique this movie also stands above everything else, at least most of it. Because wow, this movie is really something to behold. Marvel went all in with everything here, the cgi is phenomenal, the acting is great, the story is well told, the pacing is near perfect. I have seen this movie twice in IMAX 3D and once in 4DX now, and i have never seen a movie with better image quality than this one, never.

Ever since the MCU started with Iron Man i have seen every film released, most of them are good, some are outright great, a few are mediocre and very few are bad. But for the most part it has been a hell of a ride, and I've eagerly been awaiting this movie for quite some time, we all knew that it would come down to this, but were you prepared for what would be the outcome? Not many were, though many of us knew several avengers and other major characters would die in this film, i did not expect it to be this many.

This movie truly didn't waste any time getting down to business, as before ten minutes had passed, Heimdall and Loki are killed, and we see the Titan kick the crap out of Hulk, this set the tone for the entire movie right of the bat, and was IMO a smart move, now we knew for sure what a badass Thanos is, and this was before he got all the stones.

What the Russo brothers have done here is to overdo themselves. Winter Soldier and Civil War are two of the best MCU movies to date, and you got to wonder how Marvel found these guys, and knew what they were capable of, because Infinity War just lifted the bar even higher. This movie is sort of Michael Bay's wet dream, this is what he wants to achieve, but never can because he has no idea how to tell a story or handle emotions. This movie is a 2 hour and 30 minute spectacle, which has action scene after action scene lined up, and it never feels too much, somehow they managed to balance it, and that is a feat not many directors can pull off.

But also the music is masterfully composed, and fit every scene perfectly. And the costumes and props design are state of the art, everything looks and feels so right in this film, all the people involved has done an outstanding job.

And i really have to give it to Josh Brolin. Thanos is easily the best villain i have seen in quite some time. He is a complex villain, that is so well portrayed i almost start rooting for him, and that is saying something come to think how many years i have grown to love the avengers and the guardians. This is also big thanks to the amazing cgi that just brings so much life into the character. I can understand his motivations, i can side with his thoughts, i both agree and i disagree at same time. Such a great character, easily the best MCU villain so far, and i had Loki as my favorite before him.

At the end when Spider-man, Doctor Strange, Scarlett Witch, Nick Fury, Star-Lord, Black Panther, Mantis, Bucky Barnes and many others are killed because he gets all the stones, i both felt a sense of pride for Thanos completing his mission, he truly is a determined badass. But at the same time i felt great sadness that so many of the characters that i loved, are dead.

But MCU has killed characters before, which has been brought back to life, so i guess that will be the case here as well, as the next movie most likely will deal with time travel and fight Thanos in the future and the past. Dr.Strange gave up the time stone because of the 14.000.605 outcomes that he saw, only one lead to victory for the avengers, and giving up the stone was the beginning of the victory path. So even though this movie ended on a cliffhanger, it left enough hints that will be talked about for a whole year, and it will build the biggest hype in the history of cinema. So at the end of the day, this movie just delivers on so many levels, and it will make way for the rise of many new characters to enter the MCU, and finally take down Thanos and undo some of the damage he has done.

It's quite amazing that this movie actually managed to live up to the hype, that should not even be possible when you think about it, but it did. The movie is absolutely amazing.

I can't wait for Avengers 4.

Do You Trust This Computer? (2018)

One of the most important documentaries you will ever see

[10/10 · 7 April 2018]

Let me start by saying that i am very interested in computers, and i have been since the early 1980's. Since then i have been working with computers, used them for gaming, for social interactions, i have used them for entertainment, like listening to music, watch movies, and so on. I have basically spent my entire life since i was only a child, on a computer.

This documentary is about A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) and some of my favorite movies of all time are 2001: A Space Odyssey, Terminator 1&2 and Wargames, all movies being used to describe things in this documentary. Some of these movies might have given many people the wrong idea about A.I. and eventually what it can do. I however have been paying attention somewhat closely. By reading articles and watching documentaries for decades about this, i am very aware of the progress being done in the field of A.I. But i don't think most people are. Therefor watching this documentary might be one of the single most important things anyone can ever do.

Also, i just have to mention that i deleted my facebook account many years ago, when i started to understand how much i could be manipulated using it. It was when the Snowden leaks happened, a lot of people said back then, that they were going to delete their facebook account, but as it turned out, less than 1% actually did. They had become so dependent on the platform, their entire life is now depending on it.

This is how it begins. It is one thing to become dependent on electricity for example, or that your food is guaranteed free of toxics and bacteria, or that your TV show actually begins on time. Being dependent on A.I. is something else entirely. We are talking about computers that already know everything about you, and are constantly storing information about you, building a profile to better understand what you want and desire.

This documentary does a great job in making you understand how the world you currently live in, is operated by code, without your knowledge, actually without anyones knowledge. Thing is, no one really knows how A.I. thinks, we only make it, and off it goes on it's own adventure. This can lead to catastrophic events that can end the entire human race in just moments. And this is not some distant future predictions, this is happening right now.

Everything from search algorithms, self driving cars, chess playing robots, robots used in medical industry to detect cancer and other deceases, surveillance systems that can detect and identify faces in milliseconds, military armed drones that can detect threat and intervene all on their own. All of this is already here, and this is already scary, but this is only the beginning. Were we go from here is a very uncertain path.

Elon Musk, which is one of the people being interviewed in this documentary has previously stated that he thinks there is a very high chance that A.I. will end us, and this documentary will go a long way explaining how that might happen.

Do you trust this computer? is essential for everyone to watch, it is well made, it explains things in a way that makes this subject a lot easier to understand. It however doesn't bring much new information to those that know a lot about this already, but i recommend watching it anyways.

10/10 - Essential watch

Born Strong (2017)

1/2 Documentary, 1/2 Arnold Strongman commercial

[7/10 · 27 February 2018]

I have been following these guys for years. I admire all of them, and i personally consider The Big Z to be the all time greatest strongman, but i have Shaw as my favorite in current day. But i also love that Eddie Hall won the worlds strongest man 2017, he has worked so hard to get there, but so is also the case for all the others of course. in 2018 i hope Hafthor takes it, he has been silver so many times now, he deserves at least one win, so we can finally call him worlds strongest man.

Anyways, this documentary is focused around Arnold Classic, one of the other strongman events, and because of that you have interviews with Arnold Schwarzenegger, which are really nice. Arnold is a very motivational guy, and maybe the best bodybuilder that ever lived, listening to him about training philosophy and goals, is pure awesomeness.

But this documentary doesn't really deliver anything i haven't already seen, it's a very basic, straight forward production. You meet the guys, you learn about their background, you hear about their meal plans, their workout routines. But all of this was things i already knew, so this documentary don't really provide fans of strongman anything new to feast on.

I also knew who the winner of that strongman was, so that was not a surprise either. But it's probably a better watch for people who want to learn about the sport and the people competing. You will see that these are normal guys, just bigger, and a lot stronger.

Of course they are all on steroids, but that is because there are no tests conducted in these events, so if one uses it, all must use it, or they can't compete. And i know many people hate this, and they think that the one that takes the most drugs, will win. This is not the case.

To become a strongman you have to eat insane amounts of food, every single day, and you have to work out for hours every day. You can't just take drugs and sit on the couch and then go lift 500kg, not going to happen. So for those that aren't familiar with the sport, then i would really recommend this documentary, you will get to know these guys and see how they are behind the scenes. But of course, steroids is not mentioned with a single word in the documentary.

And as the cherry on the frosting, one of the biggest reasons for most people to watch this, is that Hafthor is playing "The Mountain" in Game of Thrones. He is the biggest star of them all, by far.

7/10 - Quite good