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Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)
Fantastic series, even for non-fans
I don't usually watch a lot of animated stuff, and I'm also not a hardcore SW fan ( although I have always liked it ), so I'm pretty unbiased.
I have to say Clone Wars is one of the best series I've ever seen;
- Quality writing and production, superb storytelling, great direction, cinematography.. Everything you can possibly want in a series - it checks all the boxes.
- Relatable and compelling characters and their development, believable interactions and humanizing even the most "larger than life" figures.. Even the "bad guys" are often making you want to put yourself in their shoes, and almost root for them. And THE CLONES! Who we once viewed as just a human version of the mindless droid army, suddenly seem like real people! And some of the most likeable characters in the series like Rex, Cody, Fives, Echo, etc. Obviously, Ahsoka deserves a special mention, but even some of the minor characters are memorable.
- The early stuff ( especially S1 ) is admittedly a little rough to get through, but once I got past that it just kept getting better, and better, and better, to the point where I completely forgot about S1 and was just sucked into the universe and events of the later seasons. S5 was incredible, as was S7 which left me an emotional mess at times. The last 4 episodes especially are some of the best content of anything I have ever seen.
- Have to mention the amazing score by Kevin Kiner as well; it really gives S7 that extra depth and transports the viewer into the moment completely.
- Finally, on top of everything above, perhaps the final piece of the puzzle is the fact that this show gives so much context and meaning to the prequels and the characters and the relationships; Anakin, Obi-Wan, Padme, Ahsoka, Jedi Council, etc. It gives the events of Revenge of the Sith much more depth and meaning ( like the Ahsoka arc which causes her to leave the Jedi Order - making Anakin's disillusion and gradual decline of his relationship with the Jedi Order make more sense )
Finally, all I have to say is - thank you Dave Filoni.
Unlike some other content that is made purely for profit, without any passion, with lazy writing, etc, Clone Wars is the perfect example of what happens when the people in charge gebuinely care about the product. The attention to detail, the passion, the dedication and work that was put into this series shows.
McGregor Forever (2023)
Genuine, unfiltered masterpiece
For someone as famous and successful as Conor McGregor (arguably the biggest combat sports superstar/athlete of all time), it's very rare that we get to see and/or learn something about him that we haven't already.
And yet, this documentary mini-series is filled with never seen before footage; interviews, conversations and interactions between Conor and his family, friends, coaches, and most importantly - himself.
It's just a shame that Conor had no creative input/control over the documentary so they apparently left some stuff out that he would have liked to show, but nevertheless it's a great watch.
The 4 episodes cover just a small chunk of The Notorious' life and career (focusing on the last couple of years), but still delivers incredible insight into the life and mind of a fighter.
- Injuries and mental struggles (most of which were undisclosed and rarely mentioned, let alone used as an excuse for poor results - even in this series some of the injuries are briefly shown and then moved on from)
- Everyday sacrifices and commitment of a lifelong martial artist
- Inspiring internal dialogue and conflict, competitive drive
This documentary is a must-see for not just every athlete and combat sports fan, but every human being in my opinion.
House of the Dragon: Second of His Name (2022)
Brilliant writing
Masterfully written & directed episode, accompanied by multiple standout character performances, and a truly haunting soundtrack.
So reminiscent of early-mid GoT in terms of quality, pace, and writing, that it's actually scary. Everything was on point. The tempo didn't feel too rushed nor too slow, the story was seamlessly immersive and real, despite being set in a fantasy world where dragon sightings are an everyday occurence. Only complaint would be that, at times, it felt like tiny bits of the plot were missing ever so slightly. Some things that happened off-camera might've been decent additions to the already great episode, but that's really nitpicking.
All in all, a great display of screenwriting & execution.
Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)
Far from Good.
Obviously, the film is still entertaining to watch.
It's a Marvel movie, which means insanely high production value, a massive budget, great cast, a lot of familiar faces, and well-choreographed action sequences & visual effects. So, that's a lot of boxes checked and because of those the rating is already a solid 7/10, purely due to being entertaining.
But other than that, the flow of the movie is very predictable and dull, and the writing is sub-par even for a "fun action movie". Perhaps I would enjoy it more if I was 15 instead of 25, since a lot of the dialogues and events depicted in the film are very childish, and it seems as though the targeted audience for this one specifically was exclusively teenagers. Very corny, unoriginal & predictable writing.
Despite the aforementioned lazy writing, the movie is still worth watching. If nothing, it's entertaining and full of familiar faces & good action scenes.
Game of Thrones (2011)
Despite the horrible writing in Season 8, still a brilliant series overall!
Game of Thrones is a masterful adaptation of G.R.R.M.'s fantasy novels, with absolutely impeccable acting, cinematography, music (score), special & visual effects, and for most of the 7 seasons - incredibly good writing; intricate storylines, profound character development, great storytelling, and insanely immersive plot. All of the above is not true for Season 8 though.
So, what was wrong with the final season?
And why was it so bad?
The problem is NOT that character X died, or that event Y happened. The problem IS how it happened, aka how poorly it was written. People who defend D&D under the excuse that "fans are angry because they wanted a happy ending" or similar crap, are just blessed with ignorance & lack of perspective so they managed to enjoy the good visuals of the final season and ignore the massive dip in quality of writing & storytelling.
The last 4 episodes of Season 8 written by David Benioff & D.B.Weiss. who evidently didn't care much about the show at this point. They had gotten a deal with Disney and started working on Star Wars, so their writing in the final season of GoT was extremely lazy, full of retconning & plotholes, continuity issues, and logical errors..
In an interview from a few years back, the author of the books G.R.R.M. said that he originally wanted 12 seasons for Game of Thrones, but the aforementioned showrunners D&D wanted 7. They went back & forth for years, until the latter finally agreed to do the 8th season. They didn't even want to make the last season, which is evident from their awful writing.
It's hard to rate the show with a 10/10 after watching the atrocity that was S8, but it's also hard not to give it a 9/10 because most of the first 7 were incredibly well written & executed seasons.
Game of Thrones: The Iron Throne (2019)
The problem isn't who dies or what happens, but how poorly it was written.
Remember when G.R.R.M. said he wanted 12 seasons, but D&D wanted 7? And they barely agreed to do 8? It shows..
It's blatantly obvious how little the showrunners (and, tragically, the writers) David and Dan cared about the 8th season of Game of Thrones. As much of a cliche it is to say at this point, the writing is atrocious. It's full of retconning, omitting crucial parts of the story & characters' development, plotholes, lazy writing, inconsistencies, and even trivial stuff like simple logical flaws (like Euron & the Iron fleet in episode 4, as opposed to episode 5.), etc.
Bottom line is, I wish D&D had left the position, went to do their precious Star Wars films, and allowed someone who actually gave a crap to write Season 8.
The cast, the cinematography, the score, everything is amazing! But, the ONE thing that's extremely sub-par, is also the most important thing when it comes to tv series & movies. Really disappointing end to one of the greatest shows of all time.
Bumblebee (2018)
A solid 7/10. Surprisingly watchable!
If not for the sole fact that John Cena is in the movie (admittedly, I couldn't contain my laughter whenever he appeared on screen), but on top of that, the movie is actually pretty decently written & executed. Yes, it's very kids-movie-esque, and the rating does hold a lot of these titles back, but nevertheless I actually enjoyed Bumblebee.
Admittedly, a lot of what happens in the film is predictable and there are quite a few cheap/cheesy moments, but the cast and cinematography are phenomenal, as are the action sequences. No offence to Michael Bay, but apparently as soon as he took a step back the franchise seems to have gained momentum (in the right direction, too!) so credit where it's due.
Overall, Bumblebee is a very enjoyable (albeit somewhat predictable) piece, which I highly recommend you watch in a cinema because it's very visually appealing. Hailee Steinfeld is brilliant, and John Cena is.. John Cena. Bumblebee gets a 7/10 from me.
A Star Is Born (2018)
Shockingly good! Brilliantly written & really well put together.
Brilliant. A must see for EVERYONE, and I rarely say this.
As a 24 year old male student, I've never really been "into" romantic dramas (not that I have a genre preference, just haven't seen many that were actually good..), but boy was this a pleasant surprise! One of the best films I've watched. Easiest 9/10 I've ever given.
Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga have insanely good chemistry.. You can just tell they've become really close friends in real life, as it shows in every scene they share. The whole cast was flawless, though; very emotional and memorable performances across the board.
The cinematography, the score, Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper's singing, the writing, the execution.. Everything about this movie was brilliant!
Super Troopers 2 (2018)
A huge disappointment.
My expectations weren't necessarily high, as sequels of movies like Super Troopers rarely live up to the original.. But I was still massively let down.
It's incomprehensible that, after 17 years, the crew was incapable of coming up with some original & witty jokes, at the very least. Everything good about Super Troopers 1 is missing from this sequel, but more than anything this movie is missing a good writer & director.
Spare yourself the torture, and save an hour and a half of your life. Don't bother watching Super Troopers 2.
The Last Samurai (2003)
The Last Samurai is an absolute masterpiece.
From the writing & directing, to Zimmer's incredible score and impeccable acting all-round, but most notably by Ken Watanabe and Tom Cruise..this movie is an absolutely epic journey and an emotional rollercoaster that everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime.
The Last Samurai is violent. Emotional. Raw. When a movie succeeds to bring tears to my eyes, as a 25 year old man, you know it's something special. The Last Samurai is exactly that.
Without spoiling anything, I will just say that this is a perfect storm of impeccable acting, an incredible cast of actors, writers, directors, and everyone involved. The end result is almost flawless. A perfect encapsulation of the Samurai code, bushido, this movie revolves around the core values in life, which we often forget.. Most notably, honor.
An absolute must-watch, an almost impeccable movie; 9.5/10.
The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
One word: POTENTIAL
This movie had the potential to be one of, if not THE greatest movie of all time; The script/writing, as well as the score, were absolutely brilliant. You can clearly see/feel how good this movie could have been, but ultimately it fell flat..
Again, the script itself was great, but the execution/directing and the acting was pretty bad.. Virtually every dialogue comes off as extremely corny and the actors look and sound like they had a gun held to their head whilst reading their lines. Even the brilliant Daniel Day Lewis had some cringy & corny performances in this movie, which is baffling.
Overall, the movie is still enjoyable and not at all bad, per se. It's just kinda sad seeing what "could've been". So much wasted potential. Pretty overrated movie all things considered. Still, a solid 7.5/10 from me.
Braveheart (1995)
One of the greatest movies of all time.
There are only two movies on my "GOAT" list that I would rank above Braveheart, and know that I'm incredibly hard to please, so make of that what you will.
It's above and beyond the most epic story ever told, and Mel Gibson deserves every bit of credit for this absolute masterpiece. From his directing & flawless portrayal of William Wallace, there's very little one could find to criticize. Braveheart is obviously not entirely accurate historically, but honestly who cares? A lof of the stuff is exaggerated, and some of it simply didn't happen, but again, it's a movie. And in that it is as close to perfection as possible.
I would also like to point out that I have only just watched this movie for the very first time ever!! It's crazy, I know, especially considering the fact that the movie came out one year after my birth. I've had plenty of time, but never got around to watching it until now. And even in 2018, this movie is bloody brilliant. It was so ahead of its time that it crushes even today's high standards and blows 99% of today's movies out of the water by a massive margin.
Everything about this movie was done right, and it's so rare for me to say that.
Absolute masterpiece - 10/10.
The 100 (2014)
Goes from a bad teen drama to a well-written, violent sci-fi. Highly recommended!
The 100 starts out pretty bad; A good portion of the first season is a poorly written, bad teen drama in a sci-fi setting. But there are glimpses of brilliance and it's immediately evident that this show has a lot of potential.
And, thanks to the showrunner/writers', it evolved & improved massively from S1 moving forward!
Season 2 of The 100 is some of the best television I've seen in a while, and I'm extremely hard to please. They dropped most, if not all of the cheesy "chick-flick" elements and just the overall teen drama feel went down. At this point, The 100 is just a well-written, solid sci-fi/drama and is easily the second best CW show. (although that might not be much of an accomplishment, but still..)
Currently 4 episodes into Season 5, it looks even better than ever!
I highly recommend everyone to watch this show, as getting through the crappy first half of S1 is well worth it!
A solid 8.5/10.
Stardust (2007)
A fun movie with stellar acting and a couple of really entertaining scenes
Just a quick disclaimer; I'm fully aware that, being a 23 y old guy, I don't belong under the "targeted audience" group and my review/rating would probably be better if I was younger. The only major issue I have with this movie is that after the first 10-15 minutes, I pretty much knew what was going to happen throughout and at the end of this movie. When a movie is predictable and too transparent it really hinders my ability to enjoy the movie entirely. If I was younger this probably wouldn't be the case and I would rate it much higher.
Now then, that being said.. I do have to say that I still did enjoy the movie as it was really fun and exciting at times. It's by no means a spectacular piece of work, but it's decent nevertheless. The cast was great and they really did the characters justice. The story was, as I said, quite predictable, but enjoyable nevertheless. The scenes with Robert De Niro were hilarious, same goes for Ricky Gervais. The flow of the movie felt really smooth and it didn't really get boring at any point, which is a major plus.
Overall, a decent movie that's well worth the watch. It's entertaining and fun! Like I said, I'd rate it higher than 7/10 if I didn't have such a problem with predictable plots.
The Punisher (2017)
The Punisher is raw, violent and real; better than expected
To be perfectly honest, I didn't expect it to be as good as it turned out to be. I watched all of Marvel's tv series' and was pretty disappointed by most of them, partially because Daredevil's season 1 was fucking amazing and set the bar really high. The Punisher suprisingly broke the streak of shittiness (Iron Fist, Defenders, Luke Cage, even..) and joined DD at the very top. The writing was much better than I expected and most of the characters were done justice by their actors, especially Jon Bernthal. The Punisher is probably as realistic as it possibly could've been, considering the universe it's in. There's no superpowers, just pure, raw, brutally violent action. But it's much more than just a bunch of well coordinated action sequences; the writing is on point, the plot revolves around more than just Frank Castle and his anger-driven "kill everyone involved with his family's death" path of vengeance. And it's even somewhat unpredictable, which is super rare these days. All in all The Punisher is really well done and is definitely worth watching. It's vastly different than Iron Fist and Luke Cage for example, which is a good thing. Keeping in mind I rated Daredevil S1 with a 9/10, I'd rate The Punisher with 8.5/10. Very good.
Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You (2017)
Potential masterpiece turned into a shitstorm
I was pretty excited about this project. The thought of experiencing the golden era of Pokemon again but in a visually upgraded format and experiencing some of it's "greatest hits" was very appealing. But then I watched the movie. I don't mind the changes they made..well actually I do. I WOULDN'T mind the changes if it meant getting an upgrade story-wise, but the writing was piss-poor and actually seemed really rushed towards the end and sloppy as hell. I wouldn't even mind the fact that they replaced Misty and Brock with some randoms and gave Team Rocket like 2 minutes of screen time if it would contribute to their vision of this installment of Pokemon, but it was just so disappointing. The only thing that I actually liked about this movie was the visual appeal to it. They did a decent job with that, but pretty much everything else felt off. There were a few nostalgia trips that I kinda liked, but everything was so random and out of place that I just couldn't get into it. It's unrealistic to expect from anyone to be able to stuff dozens of hours into a 90 minute movie, but then again it couldn've been done SO MUCH BETTER. This was such a cool idea and had a lot of potential, but they blew it. I was really disappointed with the end result.
Band of Brothers (2001)
Hands down the best TV Series I have ever seen.
As someone who is not a die-hard fan of war movies/TV series, I have to say that Band of Brothers is absolutely fantastic in every way imaginable. I've re-watched it 3 times already and every time it's as good, if not better, than the last. The cast is amazing, the characters are interesting and the story is really easy to get lost inside. What makes it even better is probably the fact that it's all based on a true story and, even though certain things have most likely been modified/exaggerated, there's a certain appeal to witnessing something that happened not so long ago. Also, every episode includes a couple of minutes of interviews/statements with actual Soldiers that lived to tell the tale of "Band of Brothers", and I think those are really special.
I'll be brief and say it's simply perfect and absolutely worth watching! Easiest (and probably the first) 10/10 score I've given so far.