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Reviews
True Detective: Night Country: Part 3 (2024)
This One's Tough
In general, I am a fairly staunch defender of these kinds of episodes. A lot of quiet moments of character building, putting some pieces in place and building established relationships.
That being said, it makes sense when you have 10 episodes, it's a bad sign when you only have six.
If it's defense, there are moments where we get scenes of investigation and some interesting interactions with "people of interest." But the flipside is that we get just as many scenes that seem to be there just to fill up the hour runtime.
I can appreciate the focus on the native culture but, so far, it doesn't seem to really connect to anything else. That may change, and I'd be happy to see it.
The characters still remain hard people but that's because they live in a hard place. But it would be nice to see a couple of interactions where characters don't just default to "aggressively demanding."
There's still 3 episodes left (or only 3 episodes left) so I'm hoping all of the disparate threads start to pull together.
True Detective: Night Country: Part 1 (2024)
An intriguing if flawed start.
The first few minutes are really great at setting the mood for the rest of the series. Which is to say, it's just as disjointed as it is intriguing. Different characters are constantly being introduced, plotlines set up and then on to the next scene. It's the first episode so I expect to feel a little lost. I think what hurts the episode is that it plays like 3 episodes crammed into one due to the shorter season length. Which means very little that is introduced is given any time to really hook you. I want to be invested in these characters. Any of them. But everyone is so antagonistic or vague that I have no idea how to feel about them.
I love that this season is leaning harder on hints of the supernatural but I think it presses too hard in that direction. The first season suggested the possibility but always held back just enough to make you wonder. This season will have to twist itself quite a bit to debunk some of the events of this episode. Thinking about it, this first episode plays out more like a Stephen King story than a True Detective one.
Those are the reasons I didn't give it 9 or 10 stars. Overall, I enjoyed the episode. The atmosphere is great, some of the acting is on point while some is merely passable. It's hard to really judge any other aspect until I see more episodes but I'll definitely be tuning in next week.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
It's a Good Marvel Movie
This is a hard movie to judge objectively. I could go on about writing pros and cons, acting choices and visual effects, among other things, but they almost don't matter.
The elevator pitch is that a Guardian is critically injured and the rest of the team need to work together to find a way to save them. And that's basically the plot. But, as I stated previously, it almost doesn't matter. This is largely a movie about beginning and endings. James Gunn had a huge task in pulling together all of the threads he's laid out. Which is always a daunting task with the third movie of a trilogy. Especially one that still has to leave some doors open.
In that sense, I think the movie succeeds far more than it fails. The directing and acting are on point, the visual effects are the strongest of recent Marvel fare and the soundtrack is perfect.
So why 8 stars instead of 10? The film struggles with too many characters and giving them each something worthwhile to do. There are also times during action scenes when the cuts are too fast and hard to follow. Especially on a big screen. And while the High Evolutionary is a serious threat he's also a bit 2 dimensional (which is usually the case in Marvel movies).
So, in conclusion, if you're looking for a fairly emotional Rollercoaster ride, this is highly recommended. Just don't expect it to break the Marvel mold.
Prey (2022)
A Fun Adventure
First things first: despite what IMDB says, this isn't an origin story for the Predator. Nor is it technically a prequel. This is merely a Predator adventure that takes place in the past.
That out of the way, I had a good time with this movie. I felt it was well shot, the action scenes were fun and well staged and the performances were solid. The story doesn't get bogged down with extraneous sub plots or even an unneccessary romance. It's an action movie with light horror elements.
This film, while set in the past, isn't particularly accurate to the time period but it doesn't really need to be. It's about warriors with low tech means against an advanced, if amateurish, hunter. So if you need historical accuracy in an escapist film about an alien hunter then this probably isn't the movie for you.
Ms. Marvel (2022)
A Solid Start
Having collected the comics I've been looking forward to this show. It's not really aimed at me but that's no reason not to enjoy it.
First off, the show has a Scott Pilgrim aesthetic that sets it apart from other Marvel fare. It also helps to give it a youthful energy that permeates the proceedings.
The characters are well cast, feeling imnediately like they're an actual family instead of actors pretending to be one. Kamala's father is an especially strong performance.
The thing to remember is that this is the first episode of a series and not the first half of a movie so the pace isn't going to be as fast. Which gives character development some room to breathe.
The downside is that this episode doesn't really give much in the way of where this series is going to go, coming off as more of a slice of life family drama.
I like the actress who plays Kamala but she does seem to struggle with goofy enthusiasm which sometimes crosses over to obnoxious rather than endearing but I'm chalking that up to her beginner actress status rather than a failing.
All said, I enjoyed this episode for what it was and I'm looking forward to the next episode.
Alter Ego (2021)
An Interesting, if doomed, experiment.
Every once in a while, network executives decide to experiment with new formats for competitions. Usually you get something entertaining that might last a few seasons. Sometimes, though, you get a show that makes you wonder how much medication those executives are on (see "Unan1mous" for the worst example).
Alter Ego is interesting as a novelty. Singers who, ostensibly, can't perform as themselves for various reasons get to perform through a computer generated avatar on stage in front of a live audience and four judges. Then they are judged based on singing ability and how well their avatar "personality" matches said performance.
This is one of those things where the technology isn't quite where it needs to be for this all to work the way it should. The avatars have only slightly more animation and life than a video game character from 2003 and just don't emote enough.
While it may not warrant six stars I was entertained enough over the course of two episodes to be generous. I have a feeling the final product is going to warrant about 4 stars.