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samyueldanyo
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Ancient Apocalypse (2022)
Conjecture
Textbook confirmation bias, logical fallacies and survivorship bias not acknowledged. That is why one should not have a narrative and go look for evidence or correlations - those can always be found.
Some genuine scientific education would really help the main character.
To be honest it is not even that entertaining - some videos on youtube would enamour you more with conspiracy theories and pseudoscience. I acknowledge that those are fun to watch from time and time and good talking points for gatherings but only as so far as one keeps in mind their flawed nature.
Always look for the incentives when not sure what to believe.
Harry & Meghan: The Complete Story (2022)
Look I get it.
As a mixed-raced person, who was raised by a single mom I can very well understand Meghan's background. I can understand that there are many racist, hateful and ignorant people out there.
BUT surprisingly after all this time Meghan showed with this production that she still does not understand why the majority of people do not like her.
The problem is that you Meghan do not understand what it means to be a royal - there is a contract between the royal family and the people - once you are a royal - you are not your own person anymore - you are part of an institution and you need to exemplify the values it stands for.
The fact that Meghan can still giggle while talking about curtsy and being "stuck up" proves that she just cannot get it. I guess she is too American - and that is fine but you cannot be a royal at that point.
Harry is way too understanding and it is clear he loves her but he will do all parties a service if he can explains better what the royal family means.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Alloyed (2022)
Super satisfying reveals and the stage is set perfectly.
The irony of Galadriel helping Sauron to execute his masterful plan is super satisfying. The lord of gifts and temptation is at full display. You can see the elves being enamoured by the power of his skill, melted into the rings.
Great acting by the cast.
The rings themselves are exquisitely beautiful and watching the craftsmanship was great.
I also really enjoyed the display of magical powers by the wizard (my bet is a blue wizard rather than Gandalf) and the wraiths (Morgoth had wraiths before Sauron). That was something which was only hinted at in the films and since they were at a much later age of Arda it made sense that magic would be weaker then.
Very enjoyable and great fun to be back in Middle Earth.
Ignore the haters and gatekeepers - many of them know enough the be confident but not enough to be wise.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022)
Ignore the haters. One can feel the wander.
The first 2 episodes are not perfect but they exceeded my expectations and I would say if not great are at least very good. All of the changes work and do not pull one out of the story. Galadriel being a warrior works - who does not change over thousands of years- in order to become wise one needs to go through stuff.
There was action, comedy, thriller/horror, adventure, fantasy, mystery. The production is on a high-budget film level. Actors are good. I truly enjoyed the details and the script was decent as well - much better than what was shown in trailers.
Overall, I had a lot of fun and would recommend as a Tolkien fan. Really enjoyed the added mystery and detailed work of world-building.
Ignore all the haters, trolls, gatekeepers and people profiting from them. They want to suffer a life of hate and would prefer to not see people enjoying Tolkien's work.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Mind-blowing how this can be scored in top 200
Awful writing. Cringe, soapy. The whole movie is a unfortunate sequence of dumb decisions. Characters are acting out of character. The whole time I could not get into the movie. It was just off. I could see Tom Holland and Zendaya but not Peter Parker and MJ. Zero chemistry in screen even though they are together in real life - I guess they could not get into it as well.
Giving 5 for Tom's portrayal, effects and the 2-3 cool scenes.
It is mind-blowing to me how anyone could give this above 8 and that as of writing this review, the movie is scored 8.3.
The Expanse (2015)
Good but could have been great.
After watching the final season 6 - I lowered my score to 8. That is still a very good score but I am a bit disappointed. Seasons 1-3 and parts of 4 are some of the best sci-fi out there. Season 5 is somewhat weak and season 6 is pointless.
The show-runners lost their way by focusing on the drama and forgetting to develop and tie-up the sci-fi. The reason most people were watching the show is the sci-fi 1st, politics 2nd and the drama should be used only as a way to tell the story and make it relatable.
My advice would be to watch seasons 1-4 and come up with your own ending.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 (2010)
Boring
The previous HP movies are mainly mediocre to decent but this one is sooo boring. A lot of random things happen but there is no flair. Even the sneaking into the ministry of magic was kind of dull. I would never understand why they gave (and keep on giving) films to Yates.
School of Chocolate: Breaking Molds and Bending Chocolate (2021)
Cool seeing artistry in cooking
But the show is a bit over the top from time to time and some things make me doubt how fair/l, analytical competitive & natural it is versus scripted & balanced. Also the bridge seemed way better to me.
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Pretend Family (2019)
Cool Rui Development But...
The senior Demon Slayers seem way too OP. If it was so easy to kill one of the 12, how come the corps has not eradicated demons all together by now? I would have expected even for the best DSs to be hard to kill one of the 12. Felt a bit anticlimactic and takes the suspense out of the overarching story.
Kimetsu no Yaiba (2019)
Cool
Visually incredible - character design, world design, mythology assembly (they have taken things from quite a few sources but put them together and it works well).
There are some continuity and logical problems.
A few things I was constantly asking myself are:
Are DS paid a salary? What do they eat, where do they sleep?
Why would they risk their lives for seemingly nothing?
Why did Tanjiro not notify the council of slayers the moment he caught scent of Kibutsuju?
Why is not killing Kibutsuji the main goal of DS if he is the only one that can make new demons?
Arcane: League of Legends: The Monster You Created (2021)
Good but Jinx ruined Great
It is entertaining, looks cool - good stuff. I think it could have been great if not for Jinx (or some of her writing). Multiple people seem to love her basically unconditionally in the face of a number of atrocities on her side. Silco puts her even over "the cause" beyond any reason which seems out of character (for Silco).
At the same time we have not seen or been explained what inspires such devotion. The fact is she is mentally ill and needs to be help in a supervised facility where she cannot hurt herself or others.
On top of that we have the issue of Jinx being illogically over-powered. She wins against anyone she fights. She almost died but a day later looks absolutely fine and in fact has super powers now. She creates complicated gadgets which would include rare materials in hours if not minutes, figures out how to use hextech in a few
days/hours while it took years for the brightest minds with all the resources in their disposal.
Overall this makes for progressing the storyline but it also irritates.
Arcane: League of Legends: The Boy Savior (2021)
Jinx continues to be too OP
Jinx continues to pull bombs and guns which should weigh 10s of kgs literally out of nothing. She was hit with a metal rod on her head and just continues fighting.
While this is a fantasy series there clearly are physical laws established in the universe and when characters do not abide by them in order to make it more dramatic - it actually takes away from the story.
Arcane: League of Legends: When These Walls Come Tumbling Down (2021)
Really Good But
Powder/Jinx got too overpowered. They should have worked on a better believability - it seems that nothing affects her. Vi suffers from the same issue but Jinx is taking it on another level - it makes it look like everybody else are incompetent and ruins the suspense for me.
The Handmaid's Tale (2017)
Good ideas, good set, film, acting but bad world execution
My review till season 1 episode 6
There are good things about the show which have already been discussed. Nevertheless, for someone who has a small understanding of macroeconomics- this show does nit make sense. Also the way they have portrayed the most intensifying radicalism over such a short time-horizon AFTER they took power - does not make logical sense IMO.
Also the ambassador is portrayed so dumb.
Why would other countries trade for handmaidens? There is no reason for Gilead to have higher percentage of fertile women than any other country - hence if they wanted to close their eyes to the crimes against humanity - they could just make their own handmaidens from the fertile portion if their own populations.
The Handmaid's Tale: A Woman's Place (2017)
Kind of weak
There are good things about the show which have already been discussed. Nevertheless, for someone who has a small understanding of macroeconomics- this show does nit make sense. Also the way they have portrayed the most intensifying radicalism over such a short time-horizon AFTER they took power - does not make logical sense IMO.
Also the ambassador is portrayed so dumb.
Why would other countries trade for handmaidens? There is no reason for Gilead to have higher percentage of fertile women than any other country - hence if they wanted to close their eyes to the crimes against humanity - they could just make their own handmaidens from the fertile portion if their own populations.
Ragnarok (2020)
Review of Season 1
If this was American it would be 9+ rating rather than 7.5
Really good and entertaining. I love the dark vibes and the modern take. The casting is done really well. So refreshing to see something more authentic in between all the crap that Hollywood and US-based programs spew all the time.
There are a few plot holes/weak parts of the script but as a package way better than many higher rated US programs.
The Umbrella Academy (2019)
The writers need to find a new job
So damn bad it makes me angry. And it did not have to be - you got powers, time-travelling a lot of potential but the writing is simply atrocious!
The Umbrella Academy: The White Violin (2019)
Really bad
Predictable since episode 1. Copy of X-Men. Everyone making dumb choices left and right in order for the weak script to advance. No logical continuity. Just really bad.
I cannot understand how people on here are giving this 8-10.
The Iron Giant (1999)
It is ok.
Other reviewers seem to love it - I am not convenced.
I liked:
- The message.
- The boy had some good lines.
- The animation is decent.
- The setup is interesting.
- Dean's character is cool (albeit not too believable for a small town)
- Extremely predictable.
- The boy is irresponsible and quite unlikable in the first half.
- The robot is very dumb for the advanced tech it is.
- The bad guy is one-dimensional, very tired.
Overall it is okay a watch but I did not see anyting exceptional as other reviews suggest.
Ocean's Thirteen (2007)
It's fine if you turn off your brain.
If you turn off your brain it is entertaining enough for a Saturday-night movie, however be warned - the moment you start thinking - it is a mess.
Call Me by Your Name (2017)
Some things are great, some not so much.
I can understand why many people love the movie. The easy going atmosphere, dreamy summer vibes, landscapes and cinematography, editing, partly acting - are all great.
However, in my opinion there are some weak spots which the 10/10 reviews do not cover and I will mention bellow.
I did not find myself to like the characters. Both of the main protagonist are arrogant, selfish and full of themselves. Elio appears quite spoiled.
The way Oliver was dealing around the house as if he was the owner did not make sense to me. There was no indication they are old friends or related and even then his behaviour would be considered rude in Europe.
Everybody seems to love Oliver and Elio falls in live with him. Why? Only because of his blue eyes?
Oliver looks 30. Elio - 15.
Elio is obviously full of hormones and in full blown puberty. He had a brief summer fling. The way the ending makes everything so serious as if this is a one in a million forever love was not to my taste. Anyone who has had teenage summer flings would know they are exciting and passionate but also that they run their course fast.
A lot of the characters seem to act weird in different parts of the movie. I also did not understand the scheme of the professor inviting students to his house in the summer to mainly chill. Maybe there is a background to that in the book.
Overall I would give it about 6.7.
Mr. Robot (2015)
1-3 Season Great. 4 Season - Story Lapses.
For seasons 1-3 I don't have anything more to say that other reviews - it is a great show in almost every aspect.
Season 4 - the plots about Eliott' mental state & Whiterose's plan and history - great. Where lapses start are the main drivers of the story.
Let me say - direction, production, acting, visuals and script are of a very high quality.
Overarching problems with the plot:
1. It is ridiculous to have us believe that a large group (or any individual in that matter) of the richest people on Earth will ALL hold ALL of their money in a single bank, protected by a mere 2FA - like come on! Even middle class knows to hold their money in multiple banks and accounts and implement stronger security.
2. The idea that anyone "top 1% of top 1%" will have any significant amount of their wealth in money in a bank account is 9-year-old mindset - laughable.
3. An investment group with presumably trillions in assets goes broke by moving their cash? Does not make any sense if one has understanding of Finance.
4. If Deus group has the assets, global influence and government/corporate connections as displayed - money is meaningless - they would always be able to manipulate markets or just loan from the printed central banks' money (as currently done all around the world).
Other weak point with the plot:
1. Whiterose killing Angela and hence losing leverage over Price and Elliot.
2. Whiterose not killing Elliot earlier(he is a genius but making it like he is the only one that execute "the hack" is lazy.
3. Having ex-junkie for account manager of your billion-dollars account???
4.Not being able to trace Elliot/Darlene when they are just walking around New York with cameras everywhere.
5. Underweight coder who barely eats or sleeps being able to outrun half of NYPD.
6. Media working for Deus when the plot needs it but when than switching it up.
7. Darlene just walking out of active criminal scene like np.
8. Whiterose not tracking/simply calling Wellick on the important day???
9. Dom and Darlene not shooting the Dark Army operatives when they caught them arguing.
...
Overall, sadly a lot of intelligence-insulting tools are used to move the plot ahead in season 4. Still a nice show to watch on artistic level and if you are ready to put aside your Finance and business knowledge and some of your common sense. I would give it 7.5.
The Punisher (2017)
Season 1=9, Season 2~3
I will try to be brief but I needed to write this because I feel really let down. I LOVED season 1. I have been telling everybody who might like this kind of show to watch it because it is incredible (that is coming from a person who is usually very judgmental about movies/shows).
Then season 2 happens.
First - Jon Bernthal is great as The Punisher!
Next - my feelings are inline with TRinzler's review. The writing really lacked and no brutality can make up for it.
My biggest problem - Dinah's character is dumbed down to ridiculous levels. She is a decorated soldier and a freaking chief special agent in Homeland Security but apparently that does not stop her to spill sensitive information left and right, to completely lack any judgement of character and to be utterly useless in anything she does. How are we supposed to believe this can actually happen? Then there is the BIG problem of Dinah watching Billy and Krista (aka the hot doctor, because everybody needs to be hot, even the freaking Jigsaw) for months. She says she never believed Billy and can clearly see that the doctor is highly attached to him. Billy disappears - no one even thinks of putting a surveillance on the ONE PERSON HE FEELS MOST CONNECTED TO? COME ON! Then on top of everything Dinah goes into Krista's house where Billy lives, WHILE HE IS IN THE OTHER ROOM and she cannot tell anything is wrong? What kind of chief special agent that should be?
The next thing is the utterly incompetent NYPD with the man in charge - Mahoney. I already mentioned how NO ONE thinks of keeping an eye on the doctor? Okay! But lets go back in time a bit. Apparently the city of New York does not mind spending literally hundreds of thousands if not million/s on a dangerous criminal, who is by all evidence guilty for FACIAL RECONSTRUCTION???? The best HOT DOCTOR??? What? Then the exemplary NYPD lets this dangerous criminal literally walk out of the hospital with his PJ on? Mahoney succeeds in blaming everybody else for the death and destruction but not once he blames himself for his utter incompetence? I don't even want to get into how every 4th grader, looking at the scene, where Frank shot the 3 women, can tell that the bullets have come from outside/down and there would be no line of sight inside the room.
I am sorry to say this but the writing is ridiculous and is irritating me that they did that to this show.
Conclusion: I would stick with season 1 and hopefully they do something better in the future! Jon Bernthal is great - this role is made for him! I am not sure why people liked Daredevil 3 - but I see the same problems here that I saw there - just poor writing. Netflix needs to take its time, instead of juicing subscriber growth!
Thank you for reading and have a nice watch!