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Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey: The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth (2014)
This episode doesn't just represent an hour of science worth seeing, it represents an hour of science which should be common knowledge
This episode does a great job of reaching a viewer's soul, and touches on the most important world issue of our time(climate change). The production value and content is also magnificent like the other episodes. This episode centers around the incredible journey life went through in the last 250 million years; This seems like a long period of time, but in the broad scope of time, it's actually just the last 3 days on our cosmic calendar, which the show frequently features.
The episode gives the spectator an initial awe and respect for the species which comes to evolve into humans. They survive some mass extinctions which nearly eliminates life on the entire planet. It's a kind of pride which seems so much more real than any religious explanation of what one should reflect on and spiritually take pride in.
The episode discusses some key and fascinating events which are responsible for humans existing at all and progressing to understand so much about our universe. There's the asteroid which killed the dinosaurs, which most people know opened a door for small cold blooded mammals to rule the world. But there was also an even more dangerous mass extinction before the dinosaur one. This one killed about 90% of all earth species. And that mass extinction was caused by severe climate change, which life species unknowing created and were helpless to fight its disastrous effects. Yet some earlier evolutionary form of humans survived. The episode explains how the continents shifted to affect and progress life on earth for what would become our species. The Mediterranean sea used to be like death valley on steroids, but due to continental drift came to fill up with ocean water. This caused the sea level to fall and North and South America to reconnect. This altered the ocean flow which severely altered the ecology of life on Africa where human ancestors were developing. This change forced human ancestral primates to evolve from swinging on trees densely populating Africa to running through plains. The running freed up their hands for using tools. But these primates still would have existed as hunter gatherers if it wasn't for the next big natural event. The neighboring planets changing their pull on the earth which made the earth's rotation, and with it, earth's climate more stable throughout each corner. This allowed early humans species to rest and form successful civilizations. This marks the end of worldwide prehistory and the start of history.(History denotes written record)
The episode ends noting how despite our species remarkable progress, our short term interest in big industrial profit and energy, has resorted to our species burning fossil fuels in a dangerous manner. A manner similar to what the planet experienced millions of years ago during the planet's most devastating mass extinction. Perhaps the most stirring comment of the episode is that the dinosaurs and other species had no warning or means of understanding or preventing their extinction. What's our excuse?
As I reflect on the episode as a whole, I recall only learning about the important and controversial time of prehistory within public education. Prior to college 6th and 7th grade were the only times we covered prehistory with much depth. Never before 6th grade was it covered for me, and never after 7th was it a specific area of study in public school. But perhaps the most alarming thing is that 6th and 7th grade seems to be a terrible age to learn something important and so often contested, as the scientific understanding of early humanity. At this age kids are in the awkward phase of both focusing on grades with busywork focus. While also being restless and immature enough to not take this information seriously. And for many, this is the only time within our schooling system that this information is taught, if ever. The fact that such information is covered so little and poorly at such inopportune times for the American public is a GIANT PROBLEM. And consider I attended public school in California from the mid 90s to the late 2000s. This is hardly the worst schooling environment for American children. But even so, I was raised with a firmer understanding and acceptance of early Christianity's mythical record of prehistory, than the scientific explanation. And I attended a pretty open and chill Church too. It was regarded as the fun church in my area. Still I feel our education system, even in California did and likely still does a poorer job of convincing kids of the evidence-based rational scientific account of prehistory, than religious faith's versions.
Religious origin stories are ingrained so early and with so much care to a majority of children. And in Sunday School, I wasn't graded, which left me comfortable to take in the information that seemed good an comforting and somewhat responsible for so much communal goodness.
Instead I could have been taught that science doesn't explain for what we want, but what we have. Kids despite what adults think, are ready at a young age to learn about science. No matter how much believers of faith's-superiority-or-mutual-existence-with-science want to pretend that religion explains or fits with science; it doesn't. The reality is that science accounts for religion and religion doesn't account for science.
I'm not saying kids need to be indoctrinated into being atheists, but kids need to be fed scientific truth, and understand that if they choose a faith which contradicts science, as every popular religion needlessly does, they are choosing something which is literally unreasonable.
For me this episode brought a stronger feeling of both pride for humanity and then shame for humanity than any religious sermon I ever experienced. This episode doesn't just represent an hour of science worth seeing, it represents an hour of science which should be common knowledge. And Unfortunately to the public, it isn't anything of the sort.
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
worth seeing, but I don't get the hype
For people who say this is the best war movie, I can't help but wonder if any of those people have some of Stanley Kubrick's war films. Dr. Strangelove and The Paths of Glory IMO are so much better than Saving Private Ryan. Saving Private Ryan visually and technically is far superior to the other films. But the story isn't a gripping story which feels like it has an very powerful message. Largely because it's centered around WW2 which was a war which was necessary for the allies to fight in. The more compelling films IMO are the ones centered around wars and encounters which represent the costs of wars for little if any benefit. I'd say that Warhorse is a better film than Saving Private Ryan too.
Saving Private Ryan does display the real bravery and horrors of WW2. But that is nothing particularly new. Just about every WW2 film does that. The main story-line of rescuing Ryan is what is the biggest turnoff to me. The film even addresses the issue of their order to rescue Ryan. It's not smart to put an entire team of many people in danger in order to try to rescue one soldier in the middle of a battlefield. Many other soldiers die, and Ryan, even when found doesn't feel he deserves to be rescued. He even insists that they keep fight off their enemy rather than leave right away. My inquiry is that if our Nation objects to too many family members dying in battle, why allow so many of one family to fight? Probably my favorite parts of the film were the side stories not directly related to Saving Ryan at all. I like the story of the translator going from a coward to a killer. I like the part of the film where they discuss whether it's right or wrong to escape a Nazi Trap or put themselves and their mission at risk in order to spring the trap. And of course the D-day invasion sequence is incredibly powerful.
The film is certainly worth watching, and many people it's great, but I just find it OK, and certainly not one of the best War films. I don't know if it would even crack my top 10.
Se7en (1995)
Good, but not very good IMO
First off let me say that the direction and acting is very good. I don't recall having any major complaints and can't recall many minor complaints. To me this film just didn't have a 10 out of 10 script which is why I give it 8 stars. For me, the story is the most important part of just about every film. This movie's story was very good for the most part. However I had 2 big complaints. 1: for the first murder, they mention receipts for the food he bought. They mention that there was food bought twice the same day. Why didn't the cops investigate the store on the receipt and see if there was any video footage from either/both purchases? 2: I was able to predict the end right before it happened, which really is less than ideal when it was clearly meant to be a shock. I might have ranked the film higher if I hadn't just watched: Witness for the Prosecution. And that film pulls off the surprise ending better and more dramatically than just about any other film. So I had a high bar of expectation prior to seeing the film and I had really high hopes for 7, seeing how it has an 8.6 ranking. I think following my viewing i won't leave as a fan or hater of the film. I managed to see a lot of impressive components in the piece, and it's still well worth a viewing if you can handle the disturbing content. And maybe I was a rare case in predicting the end.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Too depressing.
This film might have been made the best way it could be made. Seeing as it was chronicling the real life of a stock market corrupt team. But it wasn't enjoyable to me at all. It might have served the role of informing us that Stock Market workers are corrupt. But I think most people going in were already convinced of that. My take is that the subject of stock market corruption could be better covered as a dark comedy in a similar style as Dr. Strangelove. Or the film could have been entertaining if the entire thing was covered from the perspective of the cops who took Belfort down. The way this film was made just makes me hate the world for producing such nastiness both in the real world and on the big screen. Not all films have to be happy. But there has to be some hope involved in the story somewhere. Sure the guy went to jail at the end. But his sentence was so small that it felt just like another defeat. Also, the film was REAAALLY long.
Downton Abbey: Christmas Special (2015)
Too complete
Overall the finale was very enjoyable and left the viewer very pleased. My only real complaint was that everything almost ended too happily and firmly.
After the previous episode I was unsure if there would be time to funny wrap up enough for the finale. I was therefore rather surprised to see that the show if anything concluded too much. I wasn't hoping or expecting there to be any tragedy at the end of any character's arch. But I was expecting Thomas to end up as Butler or for Mrs. Patmore and Daisy to both have promising love interest for the future. Denker and, to a smaller extent, Carson might have been the only characters to not be completely happy at the end of the series. And Denker isn't too likable in the first place.
All the conclusions individually seemed pretty plausibly. It just seemed too fortunate that virtually everything turned out great for everyone at one moment.
I think Isabell's new husband didn't have to end up recovering from his disease, and Thomas didn't have to take over for Carson. Thomas was already given a very nice and poignant send off when he left the Abbey. I would have preferred him get along at the new position and have Carson keep his health and Butler status. I also thought the hints of Mrs. Patmore and Branson finding love interest for the future was too much to cram into one final episode. Patmore was supposed to have her B and B. And it was kind of ignored in the finale. I also would have preferred a scene of Baxter telling off the criminal of her past instead of just hiding from him.
Still, overall the finale was very enjoyable and a success. It's difficult to end a show in a way which pleases everyone in the perfect way. Overall they did a great job. I already miss Downton.
Castle: The Nose (2015)
Nose Job
I'd say this is in the upper 20 percentile of Castle episodes.
The episode manages to have some intrigue and be a ton of fun despite the silly Becket and Castle separation thing. The story-lines involve Espo and Ryan getting their results from the captains exams. Espo passes Ryan doesn't. Jealousy and comedy ensues particularly when Ryan accidentally shoots Espo in the gluteous region, and people start calling Javi Asspazito.
Meanwhile the witness of the murder is a woman with a condition giving her extremely heightened smell. She is comically appalled by every smell. But Castle sees her heightened sense as particularly useful and an excuse for him to get involved in the case with Beckett. At first the Cops can't stand her relentless disgust toward everyone and every smell. Castle spends much of the episode trying to convince Nosey to leave her apartment and help. She turns out very useful and enjoys helping more and more over time. She is capable of determining a fake Van Gogh due to the oil paint being too wet and able to recall the sent of the killer. They also at one point have a police lineup for sniffing rather than seeing/hearing. There's a twist for the murderor, like usual. Nsey was also able to reassure Castle that Beckett still loves him because she can smell pheromones. So at least Castle can be a be a bit less desperate moving on.
Overall I enjoy the story-lines of Castle having to develop excuses to be involved with the cases in order to win back Beckett. But I wish the Castle and Beckett tension was due to something a bit more substantial. If currently seems very forced, and I know I'm not alone in that regard.
Star Trek: Voyager: Eye of the Needle (1995)
First great voyager episode
This episode might not be as good as the first great episode of Next Generation which is commonly considered, The Measure of a Man. However This voyager episode arrives much sooner than The Next Generation's first great episode, and is special in a different way.
This episode has two great story-lines and they go together very nicely. The crew discovers a tiny wormhole. It's too small to fly through, and the probe they send in doesn't make it all the way through it. However, the probe is able to make contact with a ship on the other side. They also learn that the wormhole, to their luck leads to the Alpha Quadrant. The bad news is that the ship they contact is a Romulan ship. The Romulans predictably don't trust the federation ship, but Voyager persistently keeps after them. They finally build some understanding and positive terms with the captain of the other ship. There is a touching moment where the Romulan captain informs Janeway that he travels through space over years without seeing has wife, and has never met his 7 month old daughter. The Romulan agrees to send a message to Starfleet informing them of their location. But next thing, Belanna discovers a possibility of beaming crew members from one ship to the other.
This possibility really relates the the other storyline in the episode. Like many great story lines in Voyager, the Doctor is right in the thick of it. The doctor, in the very early stages of becoming more than a human convenience, becomes a sympathetic figure for Kess, who is learning to become a medical assistance. Only the crew being able to activate and deactivate the doctor, as well as the crew talking rudely to the doctor begin to agitate Kess. She bring up her concerns to the Captain. The captain then visits the doctor for the first time to treat him like a crew mate with feelings and needs, rather than a lifeless human serving hologram. The Captain decides to have engineers work to allow the doctor control his program's on or off state. Shortly after this good news for the doctor, Kess informs the Doctor that the entire crew might be able to beam off voyager through the wormhole into the alpha quadrant. The doctor would be left behind. The doctor asks Kess to make sure to turn off his program if he is left behind. The doctor's status is explored so well in this episode with him receiving news of more power in the future, before realizing he could be left behind all alone without the ability to turn hims program off, if it weren't for Kess.
Back in the other story-line the crew becomes capable of transporting sample packages over to the Romulan ship, but the Romulan captain informs Voyager that the Romulans won't allow the Voyager crew to beam onto his ship, but the Romulan Captain says that the Romulan people might sent another ship for the Voyager crew to beam upon. The Romulan Captain does agrees to beam to voyager. The transport takes a lot of extra configuration and time, but is successful. Tuvoc then realizes by scanning the Romulan, that the wormhole transports through space and time. the Romulan captain is actually from 20 years in the past. The crew then are left unable to beam to the alpha quadrant, but the Romulan Captain agrees to relay their status to star-fleet in 20 years time. The viewer is just now thinking that the show has thrown the last good curve-ball, and the result of the episode will be a first contact back with earth. However, Tuvoc informs the ship the moment the Romulan is beamed back, that the Romulan entrusted with their information, according to computer records, dies 4 years before Voyager get lost in space. It's really a very sad moment for everyone but the doctor, who's the lone beneficiary of the bad news because his crew doesn't leave him behind.
The strange connection between the rival federation and Romulans is very interesting and touching. The Doctor's story arc is gripping and emotionally contemplative. And Overall they make the episode distinctive, exciting, melancholy, memorable, and IMO the best Voyager episode prior to Scorpion episodes.
Trouble with the Curve (2012)
Everyone is a sterotype and everything makes no sense
This movie almost seems to exist in attempt to DE-legitimize Moneyball. However, Curve is so bad that it only cemented Moneyball as being anything but similar to terrible.
Here's what happens: Clint Eastwood plays a stereotypical old baseball scout who cares only for old-school baseball knowledge and thinks typewriters are scary new technology. He is losing his vision, can't drive and wants the 1950s back. And despite alienating his daughter, he is hero of the story because his ancient baseball thinking, within their fiction, is always perfectly correct to make up for him being otherwise completely unlikable and wrong. In reality, no baseball philosophy is close to 100% correct all the time. Eastwood's daughter(Adams) is a lawyer who hates Eastwood on the surface because he didn't care for typical responsible or girly interests like her. She is roped into helping her dad out because she hates him or loves or who cares. The real confusing character is her love interest through the movie, played by Timberlake, who is (no joke) a former pitching prospect who never made it big due to injury, asked to prove himself as a good scout for evaluating one player in order to become a Red Sox play by play broadcaster. Even those who know virtually nothing about baseball must know that this makes no sense. It turns out that the player both Timberlake and Eastwood/Adams are evaluating is the definition of stereotypical entitled sports jock. His lines of douchbaggery are laugh out loud bad and on the nose. His character at one point insists another player gets hit by a pitch so he can bat in the 9th inning. Douchebag threatens his teammate by saying his at bat has future major endorsement deals for douchebag at stake. Of course the jerk player also is projected by Eastwood and Adams as being unable to play in the big leagues because they think he will fail against real competition particularly the good MLB curve-balls, despite having great current statistics in high school(this concept actually isn't too unrealistic, but the movie lacks a sense of reality because everyone evil is bad at playing and evaluating baseball and every good is a perfect baseball analysis or player. They convince Timberlake not to draft the stereotypical jock player either, but The organization that Eastwood reports to(the Braves) ignores their report and drafts him anyway, make Timberlake thing he was manipulated into making a bad decision. Shortly after this disaster draft, Adams sees a kind young kid(who was bullied by the drafted jock earlier in the film) pitching to a friend. She immediately sees him as a future MLB pitcher and somehow is able to convince the Braves to sign him despite the kid never playing at a competitive level and her only being the daughter of mistrusted decrepit scout. What follows is the new pitcher and hitter facing off and the hitter failing.
Eastwood and his daughter are revealed to be brilliant. Adams and Timberlake reconcile, the end. The movie is really more like an irritating unrealistic feel good chick flix with some baseball and Eastwood playing baseball scout version of the same old character he has played the last 10 years.
The story just fails to spark an ounce of the interest of Moneyball because the story is constructed to show that good analysts are those who see past statistics into a player's heart. Good players on the field are always good off the field, and bad people are those who are self centered entitle jocks or young analysts who trust statistics. If someone knows anything about baseball, they will see these characters as the complete unbelievable agenda driven stereotypes and that they are. Almost every scout in real baseball uses a great deal of both new age statistics and old school scouting tactics, and this movie didn't even conjure this common scouting value as an option.(in case you think Moneyball displays no middle ground either, it's important to remember that moneyball took place earlier when new age statistics weren't commonly used by scouts like they are now. The depiction of the jock player is the most blatant example of an unrealistic one dimensional character. He really is portrayed like a sports star from an SNL skit. Moneyball doesn't stick perfectly to the book, but it is a much closer depiction of a story which is both more interesting and based on truth. Also moneyball's humor is on purpose and displays the subtle realities and often poignant qualities of baseball's unreliability.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Wounded (1991)
One of the best
This episode is just awesome. What I like most about this episode is that it does not leave one feeling like what was right necessarily took effect. Tom Gunton (the warden in shawshank redemption) does a fabulous job as a guest star as another star ship captain in this one. The episode introduces the Kardasians, and creates a terrific conflict between the Enterprise, the Kardasians, and another star ship captain who's about as respected as Picard in Star fleet. This episode deals with the enterprise in conflict with starfleet itself,, which is a concept that creates many great episodes, and in my opinion should have been utilized more. The other captain attacks the kardasians without approval, because he believes them untrustworthy, and secretly preparing for war with the federation. Picard and the enterprise partner with some Kardasians to halt the seemingly unprovoked attack. In the end the other captain is taken into custody of the enterprise, thanks largely to chief O'Brien's negotiations with the other captain whom he used to serve under. At the end however, Picard realizes that the Kardasians were being deceptive, as the other captain suspected. The episode leaves the viewer wondering at the end whether the Kardasians or the other starfleet ship was a bigger negative threat, and the uncertainty makes a strong statement about the difficulty of making the correct moral decision between two negative forces.
Overall, this is one of the top 10 episodes in my book. The only thing that bothers me is the unrealistically conflict of cultural food between O'Brien and his new wife. In the episode it's like their first meal together is after they got married.