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The Strain (2014)
Surprisingly pleasant though not perfect
Not a fan of the horror genre, but this show was captivating and novel enough to give it a try. The first season is a banger, mysterious, there's suspense and a sense of impeding doom, and each end of the season comes with a huge cliffhanger that leaves you wanting more.
The second season fizzled out a bit more while the third and fourth picked up on the action.
After season 2 you can already know who will be your most favorite characters and most hated until the end of it. And for me it was Vasiliy Fet and Quinlan (favorite). Some actors were unconvincing like Eph and Gus. While most hated was the kid, whom probably only comes to comparison with Commodus from Gladiator or Joffrey from GoT. And here comes my complaint is that the writers used the kid too much to leverage the plot forward which often seemed irrational or unbelievable. Some characters were not given justice with their endings. I believe Fet should have went out with a bang, and Quinlan should have had a better duel and a more warriors death. Past that, I think some themes were recurring too much based around world war 2 which seemed either uninspired or cliche, though nonetheless served enough for the broader picture.
The effects, atmosphere, story, actors, is great, all in all an interesting, addicting show.
True Grit (2010)
Simply amazing
Not a common watcher of western movies here. Was not expecting to watch this with the pals, and was worried the movie was going to be slow, boring and bland. The movie starts out slow but soon picks up pace and with it all the action, humour, drama and thrill one could wish for, it was an entertaining experience even if the ending is low-key and bittersweet!
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)
Its got no substance
Lots of senseless killing left and right, and no story. And a ridiculous ending where the immortal Wick transitions the story from "survival" to "revenge" but that's about it, there's nothing to fill the story with apart with more killing.
I understand that some give this a higher rating than it deserves out of good will to Keanu Reeves, but we have to be critical if we want him to improve in the movies. To suggest a more refreshing take on "hitman" movies I suggest watching the relatively new movie "Polar" that is criminally underrated and has all the things Parabellum lacked.
Polar (2019)
Extremely underrated
This movie is criminally underrated. The average rating is 6.3 as of review, while John Wick's 3 Parabellum has a 7.5
Unfortunately the primary reasons being that Keanu Reeves has a large fan base that worship him, I like his movies, will always be a favorite especially the Matrix. But his John Wick movies after part 1 were lackluster, part 3 especially so. No story, just senseless killing with an immortal Wick.
What about this movie? It's amazingly well made, at first when I started laughing I made fun of the movie and had low expectations but boy was I blown away. The actor picked to play the old retired assassin is very convincing, gritty and professional in his manner, the story at first looks so-so but when it picks up speed and at the very finale manages to wrench you heart and pull a few heart strings, the killing is there, lots of it, and its done in a believable smooth manner not with pencils like in John Wick. The only downside of this movie is the main villain, who I assume the actor did not fit the role because it gives a ridiculous cheesy vibe.
Gisaengchung (2019)
Not so great
Movie was recommended by friend, who lauded it how many rewards it had gotten, so we watched this with high expectations. Despite the movie calling itself comedy there were only a few places in between that were relatively funny. And therein lies the problem, the movie was undecided which genre it wants to be, drama, comedy, horror, action? The story depends on plot twists to keep it going, some are predictable some are unexpected, and some are outright stupid. I'm talking about the finale, it just looks out of nowhere and forced so the viewers don't end up with a lackluster ending. It's a bizarre flick, but in no way great. I'd give it a slightly higher rating but there's a need for counter-balance to all the reviews overrating this movie.
Vikings: All the Prisoners (2019)
The episodes continue to be borderline ridiculous
If you want to see the main outlines of where this season suffers please refer to my review of the previous episode on IMDB.
This episode is even more anti-climatic and unrealistic than the last . Starting with Gunnhild arriving with *only* female warriors to help Lagertha based on her dream of an attack on the village (how convenient)
Hvitserk spends the entire season as a junkie with absolutely no character development, so what do we see here in this episode? Him living that junkie life, eating shrooms and drinking.
Kievan Rus in the background shows middle-eastern looking russians strolling about as well as black slave-traders bringing lines of black slaves into the city. We are supposed to believe this was common logistically and historically? The whole region with centers like Kiev and Crimea, throughout history mostly traded in primarily Eastern Europeans.
Now switching to the King's election. background character shows females drinking and having a drunk fight, clearly trying to break stereotypes right? *rolls eyes*
The final premise is that of the election, suddenly Vikings have a revelation of democracy and civility deciding to *vote* in a King of Kings.
If there's a TL:DR and the last episode was We wuz Byzantines n shieet due to Olaf using Greek fire. Then this episode is We wuz Greeks n shiet since Vikings are now a democratic folk.
Vikings: Ghosts, Gods and Running Dogs (2019)
Absolute wreck of an episode
This season, and this episode more so took too much liberties with its settings.
The plot is cliche and foreseen instantly, Bjorn exiles a couple of criminals into the countryside, and surprise surprise Lagertha decides to live in the countryside plus buries her sword. Then on this episode suddenly a band of *only* women come asking for Lagertha's help foreshadowing a sort of women only society.
The show continues to depict adultery, cuckoldry as if it was a common practice among Pagans and Christians alike, when we all know the societies of the time had a mind of their own with such barren adultery, marriages often ended in divorce even on suspicion or rumors of ones infidelity. I could go on into the details of historical practice among Christians and Pagans alike, but suffice to say what the show depicts is implausible.
The ending of the episode shows Bjorn making way to attack Olaf's city by swimming to the city. We are just supposed to take for granted that Bjorn's troops have no issue swimming in cold water, in chainmail and gambeson, and that Olaf just happened to know his strategy. The final absurdity was Olaf's use of Greek fire to trap Bjorn's troops in the water, it seems that Olaf has better alchemists than the Eastern Roman empire!
Apart from the plot holes, the show also suffers inconsistency in its environment setting due to a politically correct fetish, African women it seems were personal retainers of some backwater viking countries lords such as Olaf's. The women of the Rus it seems were predominantly Middle Eastern/Indian.
The redeeming factor of this episode exactly, is the return of King Harald, plot is finally progressing.
Joker (2019)
The most relevant movie of your times.
Even though this is a Joker's origins story, and it gets the job done in a gritty, psychologically smothering manner. It explores themes that are relevant in our society today, mainly that of empathy. It is painful to watch the movie as the main character struggles, with their life, mental illness, loneliness, apathy and bullying from others. It also explores the tense dynamics between rich and poor in Gotham city which keeps it whole in suspense.
The biggest lessons are to be found in media which drove some mindless people into a frenzy and hysteria towards hating this movie, the mainstream media elite now decide who deserves your empathy, what's funny and who are the scum of society. This movie perfectly touches on these themes in the end.
The cinematography is beautiful, the music is haunting and in well placed moments. However, this is not an action movie like dark knight begins, it's where 0 turns to 1. The Joker is on a journey of downfall and rebirth then self-discovery.
Easily, one of the best movies in 2019.
Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood (2019)
A strong movie but suffers from overextension
The story acted out by Brad and Leonardo is nothing short of a bromance, however the movie suffers from a long length. While we get to see the character development, intrigue and drama from Rick Dalton's and Cliff Booth's side. We never realize what's the point of watching half throughout the movie cameo appearances of Sharon Tate that don't bring any substance to the story apart from being filler.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)
Wrong movie title
Should be renamed X-women as stated in the film itself.