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Hob (2017)
Disappointing Exploration and Frustrating Mechanics Mar "Hob" Experience
As a fan of puzzle games, "Hob" initially seemed promising with its intricate map design and puzzle mechanics. However, delving deeper into the game reveals a host of frustrating issues that mar the experience and make it difficult to fully enjoy.
One of the most aggravating aspects of "Hob" is its lack of navigational aids. When new areas open up, they often lead to multiple previously explored regions, leaving players disoriented and unsure of where to go next. This problem could have been easily remedied with the inclusion of waypoints or a pinging mechanic to provide guidance. Instead, players are left to rely solely on their spatial memory, leading to tedious backtracking and aimless wandering.
As the game progresses, the map becomes increasingly convoluted, exacerbating the navigation problem. To make matters worse, the main objective marker, which once provided a general direction, inexplicably disappears near the ending of the game, leaving players even more directionless and frustrated.
The jumping mechanics in "Hob" are also a source of annoyance. The isometric design of the map makes precise jumping difficult, and attempting to play with a mouse and keyboard is an exercise in futility. This forces players to use a controller, limiting accessibility and alienating those who prefer other input methods.
Furthermore, the game suffers from technical issues such as getting stuck on minor protrusions in the environment, which should have been addressed by the game's engine or code but remain unresolved.
While "Hob" does have its merits, particularly in its meticulously crafted puzzles and detailed map, these positives are overshadowed by its glaring flaws. The lack of waypoints and guidance makes exploration a tedious chore, and it's difficult to imagine anyone completing the game without resorting to outside help.
Overall, "Hob" has the potential to be a standout title in the puzzle genre, but its execution falls short. With proper attention to navigation and technical polish, it could have been a stellar experience. As it stands, however, the frustrating mechanics and lack of guidance hold it back from achieving greatness. My rating for "Hob" cannot exceed 7/10 due to these significant issues.
Dune (2021)
Really good depiction of science fantasy or alternate science fiction
To elaborate more on the title, when I started reading Dune, it soon became apparent that there is no way there could be a reality without AI, and things like lasguns and shields existing, not to mention the feudal/aristocratic society. There can be discussions made in favor of feudal/aristocratic society existing as the best way to ensure stability and bring forth community wide concerted efforts to planet scale projects that we see in most science fiction stories today, but I digress.
The movie's visuals are outstanding and literally out of this world. Unlike some of the other movies which have lackluster visual effects, this movie has probably the best CGI I have ever seen in a movie. The sand effects which meld in with the real world sand are second to none. It truly feels like you are watching it happen in real time.
The discussion about the movie not being faithful to the book is unfounded. Denis has tried his best to bring artistic depth, action, world building and extravagance but at the cost of not making the film boring. And I understand that. There is no way a movie could have been made where all the conversations from the book were portrayed with even 50% accuracy. That amount of world building (not simply in terms of visuals) cannot happen in any other medium than that of a book. And anyone who has watched any respectable stories such as GoT and TLOTR etc. Will know that this is correct. Having said that, I believe when it comes to the visual aspects of world building, Denis does seem to have achieved it completely.
There are two things which I don't like about this movie. The first is that each major actor other than Timothee and Rebecca have a 10 min max screen time. So even in a 2.5 hr movie it feels like there are only 2 people with others doing a cameo here and there. The second thing is that while I generally like Hans Zimmer's music in his movies made by Christopher Nolan, it seems to me that Hans has completely missed the mark on the tone of the film. In his other works such as Inception and Interstellar, which were much much harder to create music for, he seems to have nailed it, but in this one he is adding stark, harsh, rattly sound when there doesn't seem to be any need for it (when we see them flying over the desert over the sand wall). It was much easier for him to create music inspired by the desert and countries which have desert in them like most of middle east, Arabic countries, Egypt etc. And I think it would have fit perfectly with the theme of the gentle wind blowing in the desert, transporting sand across the planet.
One last minor gripe about the movie is that, it is too short. I would have loved a 3.5-4 hr movie with a part 2 of course. I don't understand why hollywood hesitates to go anywhere close to the 3 hr mark. They probably think that people won't see the film because people won't have 3 hr contiguous time in their schedule or something. In any case, I would like to see a director's cut, extended cut or whatever that potentially brings the movie to the 3-3.5 hr mark. I have a feeling that it exists somewhere.
And lastly, it would have been a better option to probably create the Dune saga as a TV series with a similar if not higher budget than GoT. I don't understand why this couldn't happen. Everybody would have loved to see those conversations and be as involved in the story as we all were with GoT. Warner Bros (or someone else) could have created a streaming platform just to stream the Dune series as a TV show and it would have netted them more money than the potential 3 parts of this movie (of the first book?). I don't know, super wasted potential there.
Raised by Wolves (2020)
This isn't even proper sci-fi. At heart this is what the Alien franchise is all about.
Important to note that I have only watched 5 episodes till now.
If you compare the Alien franchise with 'The Expanse' (btw watch The Expanse, its really really good), the main thing you will notice is that The Expanse is just realistic hard sci-fi with a story you want to explore more of. No lasers, no space warping, no AGI bullcrap and no cyber humanism. Everything in The Expanse is believable and soon could be actual reality. Now why did I compare Alien franchise with The Expanse? Cause The Expanse, as good as a sci-fi series it is, lacks mystery. Its charm comes from the world building and the protagnist's progress towards some immediate goal which you can partially predict. The Alien franchise though, doesn't emphasize much on the actual sci-fi part but rather on the mystery part as a whole and always keeps you guessing what the movie or world building is all about. Who were the 'Engineers'? Why did they create humanity? etc. This series is no different. You are placed wondering about many things and it keeps on increasing as you view more and more episodes. This edge of mystery and world building is what Ridley Scott excels at. But having said that, the themes this series portrays, especially when compared against the backdrop of the technological progress, don't much make sense to me.
This series will throw important dilemmas at you that you have never faced before. If you have ever wondered what a sufficiently human Android would think if it had a task to do but ability to make moral decisions, or what it would think while raising a child, or what would that Android would think of its creator, then this series is for you. This series also subtly makes you wonder about the fundamental thought process that must have gone behind creating religion and someone declaring oneself as an atheist. And then the above things I have mentioned are mixed and matched in ways one would not expect. This is such a show.
Now I have taken a few stars off for the plot holes and progression that the series very conveniently overlooks. But the rest of the aspects- production value, CGI and acting, are top notch.
Spaceballs (1987)
Absolutely hands down one of the best satire movies of our time
No I don't need to convince you. If you haven't watched this movie, you are doing as much disservice to yourself as much as you are doing a disservice to what satire is actually all about. This movie is the definition of satire. This movie achieves levels of satire truly unheard of, and it does it brilliantly. Mel Brooks is a true genius and visionary.
Norsemen (2016)
Mundane drama with handful of actual comedic moments
I don't understand all these positive reviews. This show is not bad compared to some of the shows out there. But this show doesn't achieve anything in particular. When you dissect the TV show, its neither a comedy, nor drama, nor story and nor satire. The end result is that you are wasting your time watching something to happen and then you get some random slapstick comedy which doesn't come out as satire.
Let me tell you where I am coming from: Monty Python and the Holy Grail, History of the World Part 1 and Spaceballs. Now these all are excellent satire comedies. Spaceballs achieves levels of satire unheard of and does it as nonchalantly as possible. Norsemen only wishes it could be as good as the works I have mentioned. The question you should ask yourself is this: is it really worth it to have a handful of actual comedic/satire moments over a period of multiple episodes? For me its absolutely not. If you want actual comedy mixed in with decent story, go watch 'The Boys'. Now THAT is comedy.
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
Don't waste you time or your money
Here's the thing. When you watch a movie or a TV show, you are expecting something, be it mystery, horror, suspense, comedy, drama, story etc. or just finding some meaning after the movie ends. And I get the fact that certain pieces of work (talking about movies here) can be classified as art. And this movie comes under none of those categories. You are just blindly watching something while having a feeling that what you are interpreting is the right thing. But if that's the case, you can sum up the entire movie in 20 mins. There is no need to spend so much time building something when the audience can't get something out of it. This would have been better as a Broadway show maybe. It seems there is a book on which this movie is made from. Maybe one should read that book and forget about this movie ever existing.
Now before I end this review, I wanted to compare this movie with Interstellar (which is my most favorite movie of all time). Interstellar at face value isn't all that good. But it has a deeper meaning while also being one of, if not the best sci-fi movies ever produced (with the brilliance of Christopher Nolan of course) and grounded in reality (for the most part). This movie though? Has absolutely nothing to offer. You will regret spending money and time watching this.
Teenage Bounty Hunters (2020)
I never write reviews
I never write reviews because I feel like its a waste of time. But this right here... is a hidden gem. As the other reviewers have said, it does take a few episodes for the series to reach its peak quality. I would say watch episode 1-4 and if you don't feel like it, you can drop it. But by then you will be super invested in the series. It has lots of drama, situational comedy, teenage love drama, family drama and bounty hunting. The two lead actors are amazing but the supporting actors don't ever pale in comparison. Oh and at the end its kind of full of plot twists which I didn't expect and its certainly well played out. This is certainly one that should be seen by all. At the very least this is an 8/10. Go watch it. Now!