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Reviews
The Handmaid's Tale: Mayday (2019)
Relatively better, but not good.
So this episode was more suspenseful than the pretty slow meandering rest of the season but that shouldn't mean we overlook its flaws. A pretty badly planned escape to the plane (walking with that many kids with all those searchlights?) - also: what's with the really well orchestrated soap sharing just to stop the gate from making a noise? So they made all those plans for a squeaky gate but the rest of it they just winged it? What a season. An exciting ending sure but overall inexcusably dumb for a show that was so good.
Chernobyl (2019)
The cost of a lie
This is an excellent example of a well-crafted historical miniseries that easily applies to contemporary societal ills we face today. The lies told by leaders (often ignorant of the real consequences) and the catastrophe that can result form them. Well-shot, well-acted and well-written, this is series is hard to watch but hard to stop watching. If you're someone who loves historical drama then this is an obvious choice and if you're not - then watch this one anyway, it's only five episodes and it might make you think about todays politics beyond the show and dance - the true consequences of all the lies.
Game of Thrones: The Watchers on the Wall (2014)
One of the best Battle episodes
This show has distinct battle and action heavy episodes each season and this is one of the shows most stylish and finest. Excellent one take kinda look to the battle - and terrific pulsing pounding score to keep the heart pounding. I later found out who the director was (if you haven't seen The Descent yet then you really should) and it totally makes sense why the tension is cranked so high in this episode. Great stuff and after seeing the "Long Night" in the last season - this is certainly a much superior battle.
Game of Thrones: The Long Night (2019)
Not GOT at its finest
Really high expectations so it's hard to judge fairly perhaps. Just not a well shot battle scene (again relatively speaking). Certainly the type of effects (snow and fog etc) are particularly sensitive to compression artifacts (a sad reality of today's cable companies) but the faults lie deeper than just the grey blurriness of the visuals. As mentioned by others, the continuous shots of main characters looking to be at the point of no return... only for them to return! The implausibility (and almost compete absence) of any strategy to actually win the battle - I realize that it was about setting a trap for the Night King but you think with all of the who's who of the best and brightest military minds they wouldn't just charge right in. Also- maybe I missed something but once Daenerys saw the lit barrier - why didn't she aim her dragons fire at that line, those zombie fellas just stood there for like five mins when she could have lit them ablaze!
Eh who am I kidding, I'm sure I couldn't have written anything better myself but I find myself questioning this episode on many fronts more than any other episode so far (or at least any main action battle episode at least). While I was watching I'm not sure I breathed or moved much at all so I suppose it had its desired effect - but it was certainly a fleeting one at that.
The Ritual (2017)
Decent
Pretty decent film with great acting and great cinematography and setting. Not a bad way to spend an hour and a half or so. Also the perfect movie to watch for those "waking up in the middle of the night and can't sleep so may as well watch something entertaining" kinda nights.
Hereditary (2018)
A New Classic Horror
This was fantastic. I had to keep pausing it to catch my breath. Toni Collette is terrific (as well as the rest of the cast - always love to see Ann Dowd). The tension is increased as the plot twists its broken bottle deeper and deeper into your mind until it's hard to breathe and imposssible to look away. As always it's easy to say that any movie isn't scary - it's the audiences job to be in the right head space in order to put themselves in a state of vulnerability so they can appreciate the terror that the film is supposed to create.
Put yourself in the right frame of mind to be scared, grab some popcorn and keep the light on.
House of Cards: Chapter 73 (2018)
Wow! Thank God it's over!
Not the worst series finale ever, not the worst season of anything ever, not the first time a show went on too long, not the last time a show will go on for too long, but the last time I will ever have to watch this show again fills me with both sadness when I remember how much I loved it some years ago when it was good, and gladness when I remember that's it's over and I don't have to watch anymore of this terrible season.
Titanic (1997)
Forget the Leo factor, this movie just wasn't very good.
Titanic goes down in history (forgive the wording) as one of the most overrated movies of all time. The fact that Leo is in it and what effect that has on imdb voter's opinions is neither here nor there, the movie just stunk. The acting is mediocre, the direction second-rate and the special effects? Who cares about special effects these days. Not me for one. Story isn't everything, and I know that. Dialogue, cinematography, lighting, art direction etc. should all be taken into account but when a story is this infantile its easy to overlook these aspects of the picture, and I think that's where Titanic falls short. It's hard to give any movie a fair rating when its given this much hype but all hype aside and all prejudice aside i would honestly give this picture a 4 out of ten. and that's being kind for fear of being labeled as a 'Leo-hater.'
Cast Away (2000)
This movie should be "Cast Away"
This movie should be cast away because it sucks! I have never seen such a long commercial for Fed ex as this. It's two and a half hours of tripe. The plane crash scene is well shot and I really liked the part where he's deserted and stuff but the rest is long and excruciatingly boring. Tommy, my son, do something worthwhile like deserting yourself on an island for 4 years if your going to put yourself in another migraine-initiater like this one. Sorry, i didn't mean to be to negative imdb but this movie is kind of crappy.
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
A beautiful yet disturbing masterpiece
I think we're all sick of being told that drugs are bad and you shouldn't do them. That's why it's my opinion that Requiem for a Dream should be shown to all high-school kids rather than those corny, 80's specials. This would frighten even the most hardcore herion-addicts, never mind a pimple-covered pubescent.
Seriously though, Requiem for a dream is not just another anti-drug movie. If thats all you see then you're missing the big picture. It illustrates the similarities between heroin addiciton and weight-loss, coke and sexual desire. That's why the movie is so disturbing, because it shows that these problems are one in the same. Someone like me would like to think that these junkies are so different than us and that that would never happen to us, but this movie shows how easily I could be just like them.
This movie features beautiful directing using split-screen shots, eerie blue lighting, and overall excellent cinematography. It also has the best original score I've ever seen (or heard?) Clint Mansell's dramatic and powerful music adds so much more intensity to the screen that by the end of climax the viewer is left breathless.
Truly an excellent movie on all accounts and I look forward to seeing more work from this extremely talented director. And a must-see for those planning on being drug-addicts in the near future