Change Your Image
jamesreviewsthings
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Lists
An error has ocurred. Please try againReviews
Steven Universe: Change Your Mind (2019)
I just love it
Sometimes even someone who is busy watching art films and boring modern movies gets to indulge in pure joy. This is what "Change Your Mind" was to me. I haven't felt this way in years. For anyone who has managed to stick with SU from the beginning, this is the payoff for years of filler.
Steven Universe: Together Alone (2018)
A really good episode.
Exciting and genuine. I'm surprised to find myself enjoying "Steven Universe" again.
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018)
Awesome idea with tons of effort put in.
Still my favorite show. This could've gone very wrong, but I think it worked well. So far I haven't found an ending that felt definitive and satisfying, which is the reason that I prefer regular stories. But for a new concept this is incredible to try out!
Roma (2018)
This was a great film!
The writing, acting and directing were great but the cinematography and audio really stood out to me. It was so easy to imagine being right there with the characters. A complaint is that some of the shots at the beginning seem like they're taking a lot of time showing us nothing, but the movie really picks up and earns the 2 hour runtime. I advise anyone to see this film. My thoughts may change when I rewatch it.
Doctor Who: The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos (2018)
Yippee ky yay...... robots!
Really bad. This episode is not compelling at all and has writing that drags. Brought back a boring character no one wanted to see, had it set in another boring spaceship. This episode has nothing to it Just boring sets, music, and characters and a meaningless plot without any intrigue or established stakes. I miss when companions would still have their own lives outside the TARDIS like Amy, Rory, Clara and Bill. Ryan and Mandip mean nothing to me because I know practically nothing about them. Graham's feelings throughout the season have been fairly well developed, but seeing *** **** again was not exciting or interesting to me. This season is not going to hold up. After Resolution Chris Chibnall should be replaced, and Jodie Whittaker should find some new companions or this show could be cancelled because of the enormous drop of quality in this season.
The Grinch (2018)
The Christmas Reviews Begin!
I saw this in the theater with my friend and we had a good time being cynical while watching this. It's easy to be cynical watching Illumination films because it's obvious that they're not going to change. They will always act on the lust for money, and they will always make the safest, easiest decisions. Although this movie wasn't as blatantly evil as "The Lorax", this whole experience was pretty lackluster and poorly thought out. The anti-capitalist messages were just brushed over as always, leaving nothing to take from this. I wasn't insulted, there was just nothing. Don't expext anything from Benedict Cumberbatch, because nothing stands out about his performance in the least. He doesn't even sound like a mean person, he's just kind of nasally (and American). Everything we know about him are traits we intuit from knowing about Boris Karloff's or *sigh* Jim Carrey's portrayals of him. He's just mean, except he's not even that mean here. Nothing about how he looks says "I'm mean", it's just what we already know. I feel bad for children who will grow up with this version of the Grinch because they're missing out on an incredible personality. Charater design in this is horrible as always, I mean why couldn't they have modeled the reindeer off of actual reindeer? They look ridiculous! They also changed Cindy Lou Who's character so she would be a copy of Edith from "Despicable Me". Not big on that. Also adding a religious song for the carollers just makes the story more complicated! "The Grinch hated Christmas, the whole Christmas season. Now please don't ask way, no one quite knows the reason." Well if Jesus exists in this universe, wouldn't that mean that all the other religions exist too? They never acknowledge this! What a horrible desicion! This is another example of less is more. The 30 minute short is still saying more, showing more and is more inclusive than this modern movie. They could reboot "The Grinch" as another hand-drawn short and I'd be happy, but I doubt that will happen. Overall, nothing interesting or memorable there. This is just another boring same-y throwaway movie.
Doctor Who: It Takes You Away (2018)
Half way through this episode I was going to give it 2 stars but then I saw the second half.
This is the best episode in the season. That surprises me because for the beginning of this one I was face-palming at the acting, the cliche of the plot, and at Graham's jokes. But as it went on, realised there was so much to this episode. This episode touched my heart and almost made me cry. Bring back Ed Hime! Cinematography and set were the best so far and so was the music! This made me want to by the soundtrack when it inevitably comes out. Great acting from Bradley Walsh, Sharon D. Clarke and Jodie Whittaker but not anything special from everbody else. Such a fantastic finish, though. Crazy and weird and awesome and will subverge all expectations. Definitely watch this!
Not looking forward to the next episode. Chibnall does not know how to name episodes. No expectations. I will be posting a list of Jodie's episodes ranked so check that out! Thanks for reading.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Ator, the Fighting Eagle (2018)
Funny, but didn't stand out like the others.
This was a pretty good episode, but many of the riffs felt recycled. I also felt there was some missing potential especially in the market of joking about Griba's hair. It was a solid episode, but not a particularly memorable riff or bad movie to end on. The end scene was exciting and fun though, and it left you pumped for more, whenever there will be more. Overall, this season had the least content in the show's history. It just felt like Season 11 got improved and condensed. I still would've liked more, but I got what I wanted. The Gauntlet gets an A- from me.
Doctor Who: The Witchfinders (2018)
Not disappointed, but could have been better.
I was looking forward to this episode because "Doctor Who" and wtch trials seemed like a perfect match. It was a fine match, but I had some problems. I mainly enjoyed the writing in this episode, but I would've preferred a more consistent dark theme. Though I liked some of it, the humor here mostly felt out of place and sitcom-y. Remember that this is about witch trials. I'm also pretty sick of the "old fashioned or out of touch white guy says something sexist" jokes. They weren't funny in "Twice Upon a Time", and they're just as tedious here. Just having someone say something sexist is by itself not funny. It's just boring. So boring. It's like they stop the story for these lame attempts at being relatable. And it's not that I think there aren't any images or speeches that are meaningful here. The messages in this episode are some of the most well-written in the season. I think that some of the attemps at being written like the rest of the season kept this episode from reaching it's full potential. At it's best, I think that this episode could've been a better version of "The Curse of Fenric". You can make the episode dark, we can handle it. The pros include a satisfying muddy grey color palate, good special effects and my favorite perferomance from Jodie Wittaker so far. This is a good one. Don't skip over it.
I hope that "It Takes You Away" is serious throughout. I want something like "Listen" again. Also, the alien's voice at the end of this episode sounds really stupid.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Mac and Me (2018)
Hilarous. Riffs fast and really funny.
This show is the best case scenario of a remake. Perfect job so far! Well written and funny episode.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Atlantic Rim (2018)
I heard it was the weakest riff, but I loved it!
So far this season has been better than the last. I hope they try riffing more modern movies like this. Man this one went one for way too long. Funny to the end, though. Now starting "Lords of the Deep".
Doctor Who: Kerblam! (2018)
An exciting return to form for the show
Kerblam! is an entertaining episode that was snappily written, well designed and pretty well acted. I liked the music and a lot of the shots where effectively eerie. It wasn't as scary as "The Empty Child", it was more scary in a fun adventure sort of way. All of the "fun adventure" stories in this season have been some of the worst in the show so it's nice just to have something that feels like what we've seen before. Not as good as "Robots of Death", but it's something I'd rewatch. It feels like an average David Tennant episode. I like that feeling.
I've been the most hyped for "The Witchfinders". I'm excited for the rest of the season. I hope we get something exceptional.
Eddsworld (2003)
Well animated, witty and likable series!
This is the best animated series I've found on the internet. The settings and themes for each episode are so diverse, as opposed to the standard white void. The jokes are hilarious and quotable, and it's easy to love the characters. I wish this show was still being made.
Doctor Who: Demons of the Punjab (2018)
Disregard everything up to this point. They don't count.
This is where Season 11B starts. Hopefully this one will have episodes that are all just as good or better than this. So far, I have really enjoyed the return of the mainly historical episodes. This was set in a very complicated time, but the message of "love conquers all" was simple and true, though a bit overdone in general. I liked the set up, there was emotion to it, and there was no unneeded reference humor to bog it down. Beautiful setting and production as well. Good job as always. The aliens were fairly interesting (perhaps metaphors) and their goals were more believable than whoever that guy was in "Rosa". There was that point when Prem said "this is a danger I will have to face alone" which is a pretty overused line I wouldn't think I would have to hear. In the long run though, I think that this episode holds up well. I can see how this is a first episode for Vinay Patel, and I hope to see some more from him, as I enjoyed his use of metaphor, and inventing tension that came naturally. Or maybe I'm just gushing because I finally get to watch an episode that wasn't written by Chris Chibnall. This may not be quite on the bar of "Listen" or "Father's Day", but this seems like something I can look back on happily.
Chris Chibnall says he has "no ideas" for a Christmas Special. Why don't you get someone else to write it then! How did this man get hired? Is it only because he has his own show?
"Kerblam!" looks really great. But I could be wrong. I only saw 10 seconds of it.
Doctor Who: The Tsuranga Conundrum (2018)
I hate this.
This is one of the worst episodes, if not the worst, I've ever seen of the show. The acting was mediocre, the sets were uninteresting, the villain was not even a villain was more like a Porg or Jack-Jack. The score was just some faint, ugly edm stuff. And the writing was the worst so far! This is on the level of seasons 22-24. As in atrocious. The only slight bit of entertainment to be found was when that ginger guy was pregnant. It was even funnier when they tried to make it a serious thing, instead of a one-off joke. While the Doctor and (insert whatever replacable side character here) are yammering on about positrons or whatever I found myself imagining what a "male pregnancy sack" looks like. This episode is so tiresome and desperate that I was literally banging my head against the wall at times. Don't you love it when he tries to raise the stakes of the episode by just adding another plot point that does nothing? Or try to shove in some sort of serious message? I get more subtlety out of "Peppa Pig". Speaking of forced reference humor, methinks Chibnall watches a lot of PBS. How does he expect the new audience he's writing for to know what "Call the Midwife" is. I do, for some reason (it's a very nice show) but most won't. Luckily next time we'll finally get a dfferent writer. Disgusting.
I feel like a lot of people (with good reason) would be leaving the show by now but I've decided that after watching the 1996 tv Movie that there was no going back. I'm here for the long haul.
PPS: Where does he get these names from? The Pting? What is this "Lady in the Water"?
PPPS: More reference humor.
Doctor Who: Arachnids in the UK (2018)
Not very impressed by this episode.
This one was kind of what you would expect. It's just "oh jeez, there's spiders". Nothing was clever, frightening or interesting about how the spiders were presented. I wasn't super impressed by the music. Is it not too late to give Yasmin anything that makes her interesting? Setting adds nothing, the CGI for the spiders wasn't very impressive. I don't see the point of this one. The villian is like if somebody tried to write an American character only having reference to the Alec Bladwin sketches on SNL (he does look like Baldwin). Nice topical humor there, Chibnall. Really making your new show timeless and engaging. I kind of liked the end scene but nothing in this episode was really special to me. Nothing to write home about either way.
I think that "The Tsuranga Conundrum" will either be very good or super boring. We'll just have to see. By the way, at this point at Season 8 there was "Listen", one of the show's best. That doesn't bode well for this season considering Season 8 is widely disliked.
Doctor Who: Rosa (2018)
I love Doctor Who again. Thank you Malorie Blackman.
This episode tackles a subject that many "Doctor Who" writers in the past have tried to avoid in a graceful and meaningful way. That subject is of course, wouldn't people be racist to the Doctor's companions when he travels back in time. Most episodes they'll just ignore it because of irrelevance, or just deny racism would happen, but this is the first episode which really explores a very sensitive time in history with respect. This episode was as much of a success as it could have been, although I believe the villian's motivations to be a flimsy device to push the ultimate message of this episode, which I really love and support. I'm just not sure why an alien from the future would care about whether Earth is racist or not. It just feels very specific and forced. But that doesn't matter because this episode is funny (funnier than the old show mostly), actually thought-provoking, beautifully shot, had terrific music and actually well written! I could barely taste the Chibnall. My dampened soul was lifted slightly. Now let's watch yet another episode about spiders.
By the way I accidentally posted 4 different versions of my last review. I don't know why that happened. Likely incompetence. Thank you for reading.
Doctor Who: The Ghost Monument (2018)
Yeah.
There are only so many excuses I can make for this season. Jodie Whittaker is great, the supporting cast seems promising, the music's good, the budget is superb. There are only so many excuses people can make for this episode. The new TARDIS is great! The intro is cool! Umm something else! This episode is boring, uninspired and cookie-cutter. I don't even like Graham and Ryan as much as I did in the first episode. In fact, they're really starting to get on my nerves. Oh yeah there are other characters in this episode. Remember Angstrom (angst malestrom?) and Epzo (you can tell they're from space because their names sound stupid) They were just sooo interesting! Not complete character archetypes at all! (spits acidic bile at Chris Chibnall) Chibnall can make this series as beautiful and "new" as he wants but it won't change the fact that his writing is completely subpar. This episode is basically just "Total Drama: the Ridonculous Race" set on an alien planet. At least that show's funny. Oh yeah and there's also a bunch of "Keys of Marinus"-esque enemies that should be entertaining but just feel slow and same-y. Maybe next week's episode will be better (it has a different writer) but I wouldn't know how it would be appropriate to make an episode of "Doctor Who" with Rosa Parks in it. I'm feeling really pessimistic right now because I wrote a better review for this that somehow got deleted.
Doctor Who: The Ghost Monument (2018)
Yeah.
There are only so many excuses I can make for this season. Jodie Whittaker is great, the supporting cast seems promising, the music's good, the budget is superb. There are only so many excuses people can make for this episode. The new TARDIS is great! The intro is cool! Umm something else! This episode is boring, uninspired and cookie-cutter. I don't even like Graham and Ryan as much as I did in the first episode. In fact, they're really starting to get on my nerves. Oh yeah there are other characters in this episode. Remember Angstrom (angst malestrom?) and Epzo (you can tell they're from space because their names sound stupid) They were just sooo interesting! Not complete character archetypes at all! (spits acidic bile at Chris Chibnall) Chibnall can make this series as beautiful and "new" as he wants but it won't change the fact that his writing is completely subpar. This episode is basically just "Total Drama: the Ridonculous Race" set on an alien planet. At least that show's funny. Oh yeah and there's also a bunch of "Keys of Marinus"-esque enemies that should be entertaining but just feel slow and same-y. Maybe next week's episode will be better (it has a different writer) but I wouldn't know how it would be appropriate to make an episode of "Doctor Who" with Rosa Parks in it. I'm feeling really pessimistic right now because I wrote a better review for this that somehow got deleted.
Doctor Who: The Ghost Monument (2018)
Yeah.
There are only so many excuses I can make for this season. Jodie Whittaker is great, the supporting cast seems promising, the music's good, the budget is superb. There are only so many excuses people can make for this episode. The new TARDIS is great! The intro is cool! Umm something else! This episode is boring, uninspired and cookie-cutter. I don't even like Graham and Ryan as much as I did in the first episode. In fact, they're really starting to get on my nerves. Oh yeah there are other characters in this episode. Remember Angstrom (angst malestrom?) and Epzo (you can tell they're from space because their names sound stupid) They were just sooo interesting! Not complete character archetypes at all! (spits acidic bile at Chris Chibnall) Chibnall can make this series as beautiful and "new" as he wants but it won't change the fact that his writing is completely subpar. This episode is basically just "Total Drama: the Ridonculous Race" set on an alien planet. At least that show's funny. Oh yeah and there's also a bunch of "Keys of Marinus"-esque enemies that should be entertaining but just feel slow and same-y. Maybe next week's episode will be better (it has a different writer) but I wouldn't know how it would be appropriate to make an episode of "Doctor Who" with Rosa Parks in it. I'm feeling really pessimistic right now because I wrote a better review for this that somehow got deleted.
Isle of Dogs (2018)
I wrote this in 2017. Mind the "Infinity War" joke.
Isle of Dogs is the new movie by Wes Anderson and I thought it was pretty great! If you don't know what movie I'm talking about because it's not Infinity War let me explain to you what it is. It's a story set in a near future in Japan where a mayor orders all dogs to be taken to an island were trash is dumped because of a disease. An adopted nephew of the mayor goes to find his lost dog Spots on trash island by flying a makeshift plane there. Also the dogs talk. This is a simple fun legend-type comedy driven by a love for dogs. I wouldn't be surprised if this movie gets backlash because some dogs are hurt in it and our generation freaks out when anything negative happens to an animal. There was a joke about a dog who hung himself on his own leash. I laughed out loud when I heard it but I was the only one, so I think everyone in the theater thought I was some sort of psycho. But this movie is not one of those movies where an animal is hurt and that's the joke, it's sensitive and comedy really works. The animation is stunningly beautiful and fun the look at. They obviously put a lot of time into it, especially the designs of each individual dog. It's an entertaining story and most of the jokes made me laugh out loud so I'm giving it a
8/10
Isle of Dogs (2018)
I wrote this in 2017. Mind the "Infinity War" joke.
Isle of Dogs is the new movie by Wes Anderson and I thought it was pretty great! If you don't know what movie I'm talking about because it's not Infinity War let me explain to you what it is. It's a story set in a near future in Japan where a mayor orders all dogs to be taken to an island were trash is dumped because of a disease. An adopted nephew of the mayor goes to find his lost dog Spots on trash island by flying a makeshift plane there. Also the dogs talk. This is a simple fun legend-type comedy driven by a love for dogs. I wouldn't be surprised if this movie gets backlash because some dogs are hurt in it and our generation freaks out when anything negative happens to an animal. There was a joke about a dog who hung himself on his own leash. I laughed out loud when I heard it but I was the only one, so I think everyone in the theater thought I was some sort of psycho. But this movie is not one of those movies where an animal is hurt and that's the joke, it's sensitive and comedy really works. The animation is stunningly beautiful and fun the look at. They obviously put a lot of time into it, especially the designs of each individual dog. It's an entertaining story and most of the jokes made me laugh out loud so I'm giving it a
8/10
Isle of Dogs (2018)
I wrote this in 2017. Mind the "Infinity War" joke.
Isle of Dogs is the new movie by Wes Anderson and I thought it was pretty great! If you don't know what movie I'm talking about because it's not Infinity War let me explain to you what it is. It's a story set in a near future in Japan where a mayor orders all dogs to be taken to an island were trash is dumped because of a disease. An adopted nephew of the mayor goes to find his lost dog Spots on trash island by flying a makeshift plane there. Also the dogs talk. This is a simple fun legend-type comedy driven by a love for dogs. I wouldn't be surprised if this movie gets backlash because some dogs are hurt in it and our generation freaks out when anything negative happens to an animal. There was a joke about a dog who hung himself on his own leash. I laughed out loud when I heard it but I was the only one, so I think everyone in the theater thought I was some sort of psycho. But this movie is not one of those movies where an animal is hurt and that's the joke, it's sensitive and comedy really works. The animation is stunningly beautiful and fun the look at. They obviously put a lot of time into it, especially the designs of each individual dog. It's an entertaining story and most of the jokes made me laugh out loud so I'm giving it a
8/10
The Greatest Showman (2017)
Trash and obnoxious movie.
I had a huge review for this movie for this movie I wrote when it came out but it was too long for Imdb. If I ever get a blog or a YouTube channel this will be one of the first things I talk about. This movie is annoying, pretentious and you should never ever watch it. Let's leave it at that.
The Nostalgia Critic (2007)
Change the Channel
If you heard what happened behind the scenes of the TGWTG movies you'd know what I'm talking about. It's not really bad to still like this show but even without acknowledging all the awful things that are associated with this channel the show is still unfunny, recycled, forced and cringe-inducing (sorry to use that word). I would know, and I used to watch it and from what I can tell it's only getting worse. This show has always (even when it was kind of funny) portrayed a really negative sort of take on how reviewing should work. I used to think about starting a YouTube channel that could be associated with Channel Awesome and I wanted to review some of the movies that the NC would. But I always told myself that I wasn't aloud to review movies that other reviewers had already done things on. There should be no argument on who should review a movie. Anyway the reviews on this show aren't even reviews. I bet Doug Walker doesn't even know what a camera angle is. He kinda just makes weak jokes in front of movies (where's the fair use). Yiu could call it charming. I just call it worse Mst3k (which he references quite a lot). None of what he's doing is constructive or adds anything. Don't watch this.