Change Your Image
safods
Reviews
Stranger Things: Chapter One: The Hellfire Club (2022)
Love of the craft.
The pre credit scene alone just made me relax and give a sigh of relief because I knew I was in good hands with regards to the craftmanship of making good tv. The scene was scary and creepy and anything but relaxing, as intended.
But relaxing because the technical aspect was so good, camerawork, editing, sound, lighting. Everything just felt like it was made with love, passion and freedom to be creative. Which makes ALL the difference.
Add to that a wellwritten script, directing and acting, everything gets elevated to another level.
I was nothing but glued to the screen and hooked. People giving this episode a low score because they were disappointed at a personal level should be ashamed. The love of the craftmanship that is movie and tv production alone merrits a higher score.
Cant wait for whats to come.
The Boys: Barbary Coast (2022)
Fumble?
This is like watching a possible fumble in slow motion and you dont know if the ball will be dropped or not. I fear it will. The first two seasons I had no troubles with where the plot was going, this year I have to stop and remind myself, "what....what was it again?"
The acting is great as usual, but the writing is subpar. It's very repetative and a bit boring and lackluster.
When in doubt, just blow up some humans.
When in doubt have Homelander make his crazed look, again and again.
The Deep has to be humiliated.
Rinse repeat.
Hopefully it will pick up towards the end and the ball wont touch the ground.
Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)
Moses Ingram is a good actress.
Anybody who has seen her work in The Queens Gambit will know. Which just tells you how poor the script and directing for this show is, she is not intimidating, she comes across as lost in her role which is a crying shame. She just seems miscast for this show. The main inquisitor was the one they should have kept as the antagonist, what a waste.
Ewan McGregor is the one redeeming thing in this and I already see the telltale signs that he will end up an extra in his own show.
If Ingram's character, or lack thereoff, is not enough to convince you about the horrid directing, the chase in the forrest should leave no doubt in your mind. Go back and watch the thug run into that branch, then watch it again and you'll get what I'm on about. Any director looking at a monitor seeing that take and thinking thats fine has zero credibility. How anybody can rate this a ten is a mystery.
Disney, we deserve better, Obi-Wan deserves better. Moses Ingram deserves better!
Superjail! (2007)
Insanely of the hook in a good way.
As other points out, it's weird and over the top. But it's never boring, it's never not interesting or über violent in a glorious visual way. I'm just happy this got made and we have it all.
The Book of Boba Fett (2021)
Dear friends.
It's ok for us to like an IP(Star Wars) and dislike the product, this show point in case. I just felt like Boba Fett is an extra in his own show, he's really not pro active in any meaningfull way. It reminded me of the Picard show where the lead is just aimlessly wandering around being told what to do and what to think without making critical decisions. It says alot when the best episode is the one where Boba is completely absent.
I have a funny feeling this show got "directed" by the suits in Disney. They should just trust the creatives and let them do their thing. Instead we get this bland, boring and heartless show. I think I'm done with Disneys Star Wars products, the good and intelligent storytelling is gone, the good characters are gone. At this point it's a Star Wars IP on life support and I do hope they turn it around.
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 7: In the Name of Honor (2022)
The little things.
I'm sorry, but throwing Rancors and big cgi droids at us does not excuse poor writing. All that fluff is completely meaningless if theres no logic in the scenes. The droids was 30 feet away from a group of people running down a narrow street and they did not hit a single person, not one. Mando and Boba having a conversation right next to a droid and the droid ignores them for some reason. They shoot, burn, bomb and slash and the shield to no effect and when the shields finally drops everyone of the freetown folks just looks on from behind a wall.
Giant wookie throws people around like dolls in one scene and the next gets overwhelmed by a handfull. Oh and where did his limp go? Theres loads more of this in the final battle and I could easily accept a few, but when it's just one little thing after the other I get totally pulled out of the drama and my suspension of disbelief is replaced by just disbelief.
What bugs me the most is that all the ingredients for an terrific final episode and battle scene was there, they just completely dropped the ball. What a waste.
Bob's Burgers (2011)
My favorite TV family.
The Belchers are my favorite TV family to hang out with. I can't remember how many times I've watched this show and I still come back to them. The voice acting is great, the storytelling is well written and the animation is completely it's own style. It's not high drama or action packed, it's just the Belchers and I adore every one of them and the side characters.
Aliens (1986)
That script!
Saw this as a kid and enjoyed it for the action and the gung ho marines. As an adult I realised how insanely well written this action movie is. Every character brings something to the table and have their moments in the movie which means I care for them, some I root for, some I hope end up on the Alien menu(looking at you Burke).
But I'm involved in their fate and journey through the movie. The Ripley character goes from reluctant to involved to taking charge, all done without being obnoxious or condescending. Talk about strong female character. Yes ma'am. It's all done without relegating the male characters (Hicks, Hudson, Bishop, etc) which in turn only elevates Ripley's awesomness. In short, a great well written script makes this a classic 80's action movie and rewatchable.
Don't Look Up (2021)
Good satire.
This gave me a good laugh one moment and that sinking feeling i the pit of my stomach that this might be how such a scenario would play out in real life the next.
Thankfully it's just a movie and thankfully a good one at that. The cast performs great all over the line, and the production value is high.
Some people will dislike it for personal reasons(call it woke(?), politics) or perhaps just because it hits home to close for comfort.
It made me think of another end of days satire, Dr Strangelove, though this is a bit more over the top in a Hitchikers guide to the Galaxy kind of way which completely works for the film.
Overall Good stuff. On top of the great overall satire of our society, it delivers a message without being hamfisted about it.
Freud (2020)
Please stop with the shaky cam!
I litterally had to stop watching because of that God awful camera technique, it has is uses in action or tense dialogue scenes but it was used in almost every scene exept for the wide shots. As soon as we had cross cutting scenes between actors having dialogue it started again. Please stop!
Inside Job (2021)
Woke.....where?
Woke is the new go to word if you dislike something I guess. Give it a rest. This show is funny and over the top in a good way. The animation is really good and every frame seems filled with lots of little gags and information. The voice acting and writing is also on point. Just sit back and go on with the premise, you'll have a good time.
Blade Runner: Black Lotus (2021)
So far...not so good.
The storytelling and character building is atrocious. How am I suppose to care about the main protagonist if I get zero information about her or whats going on?
I get the whole "lost memory" plot but we need something to lash onto in order to feel for her as she goes through the story. Right out of the box she just wipes the floor with any opposition presented, all drama and any concerns for her character is non existing. So why should I care?
Characters are being thrown in with zero introdution, so I dont care about them either. I absolutely love the Blade Runner world and the cyberpunk genre and I was so hyped after the trilogi of shorts released with BR2049 and the news of Black Lotus getting picked up for a series, but man what a let down.
The production value is all over the place, the background sets is by far the best looking. The characters looks bland and expressionless and the music is forgettable and does nothing to underscore drama or fight scenes.
The voice acting is okay though. 3 episodes in and I dont think it's going to get better. Thanks for the effort though.
Cowboy Bebop (2021)
3..2..1..lets jam.
I'm a sucker for good sci-fi and this show is that. The production value is top notch, those saying the sfx are bad makes me wonder what show they actually watched.
The camera and editing work is also good and the music composed by Yoko Kanno and played by the Seatbelts -I had to look them up as I will need more of this jam in my music life - is of the hook.
The main cast has great chemistry and nobody falls through, the only character that started to annoy me a bit was Vicious. Not that Alex Hassell is a bad actor, Vicious just felt a bit onesided. I binged all ten episodes in one sitting and was not bored(the second to last episode does drag a little bit). I liked the silly slightly over the top feel of it all, kinda reminded me of The fifth element without getting quite so silly.
The last episode had me sitting feeling slightly depressed thinking no....nonono it cant end like this, and then the very last scene completely flipped that. Made me laugh and smile and right there and then I was ready for another season with the cowboys and a dog.
Rick and Morty: Gotron Jerrysis Rickvangelion (2021)
Something is off.
Something is rotten in the Kingdom of Rick & Morty. Clearly theres been changes to the writing team. It used to be grounded in this earth family, which made the crazy off world-alien multi dimension stuff Rick and Morty went on more funny. Now it seems like every episode is Dr Who and family on steroids, and not in a good way. This whole season seems kinda off, lets hope it's just a bump on the road and "normal" R&M will resume next season.
The Grand Tour: The Grand Tour Presents: Lochdown (2021)
"It needs more gears"
Is a qoute from this episode, which kinda sums it up to me.
Yes, there is a few wholehearted laugh moments, Richard pulling a floating bridge with his boat ... and ...the part where....oh yeah the poster is quite funny!
Just seems like there is to much filler(?) used. The US musle car montage, the Commie Vrs MERICA! Race on the field. I honestly forgot the field race completely until I rewatched the episode.
Oh yeah, Jeremy losing his campervan was kinda a wholehearted laugh, but nothing like the time James broke down laughing chasing Jeremy in their caravan challenge.
I miss them building stupid stuff and getting into arguments when it fails and laughing their a***s of when it works.
The last couple of episodes just seems lackluster, like it's a fake china clone of something wellmade.
Science on the Edge: Fukushima: Robots in Hell (2016)
To little robot time.
This program is let down by the over dramatic use of music and way to little robot screen time, which is a shame. It could have been an extremely interesting documentary, the footage filmed by the robots and their trips into the Fukushima plant is where this gets good.
Unfortunately, there is not nearly enough of it, and when just about every scene - dramatic or not - is underscored by over the top music, it gets tiresome and annoying.