tashlast Reviews

House of the Dragon (2022– )

Pretty impressive what they accomplished here.

[8/10 · 6 December 2022]

This show had to do a lot of heavy lifting since its a prequel to a series that ended in a complete disaster and is telling a story based off source material that I personally consider to be subpar because of how unreliable all of the sources telling this story are in the book. So to say that this show had the odds against them is putting it nicely.

And yet...I'm actually impressed with what the writers were able to do here.

This show is set 100 years after Aegon's conquest and about 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones takes place. The series takes place in essentially what is considered to be the "golden years" of House Targaryen. They are at the height of their power, the 7 kingdoms are prosperous, and unlike it's predecessor, dragons are a part of everyday life for the common folk since there are so many around. Right from the get go we are witnessing a succession crisis in Westeros in which King Jaehearys must decide which of his two grandchildren must he choose to be his heir since all of his children have passed before him. He leaves the matter to a vote amongst the high lords of Westeros. The contenders: Rheanys, who is the first born to the eldest son of Jaehearys or Viserys, who is the eldest male grandchild. The high lords choose to bypass Rheanys' claim on the basis of a patriarchal system and model that is so enshrined in Westerosi culture that stipulates that only men should rule. Viserys is named the heir to the throne and we see in the 13-14 year time jump, he had ascended the throne as King.

We are introduced to Rheanyra, the only child of King Viserys I and his cousin-wife, Aemma Arryn riding atop her dragon Syrax above the skies of Kings Landing. We also meet some of the powerful people in Viserys' court. We are introduced to Corlys Valaryon. Husband to Rheanys and proclaimed Lord of the Tides who's seat is at Driftmark. We meet Otto Hightower. Hand of the King and he comes from one of the most powerful house since his family resides in the religious capital of Westeros, Oldtown. His teenage daughter, Alicent is lady-in-waiting to her best friend, Rheanyra whom she shares a close bond with. And then we meet our Rogue Prince and the younger brother of the king, Daemon Targaryen (Which in all honesty is my favorite character to come from this show. Matt Smith's charisma, charm, and candor really brings him to life) We meet Daemon as he sits upon the Iron Throne, which is in a COMPLETE different shape than how it looks in Game of Thrones. He's basking in all of the glory of being Viserys' heir since his marriage with Aemma hasn't produced a male heir.

In a series of events (that is too much time to detail), Aemma tragically dies in childbirth leaving a blatant succession crisis for Viserys.. He has three choices to contend with: 1. Daemon, a highly contriversial figure yet the eldest male in-in line, 2. Rheanyra, his only trueborn daughter who would become the first Queen to sit on the Iron Throne and a decision many would scorn, or 3. Remarrying and hoping to produce a male heir that can succeed him. Hoping to satisfy the best of all worlds and after hurtful words are exchanged between him and Daemon (leading to him being removed from consideration as his heir), Viserys decided to name Rheanyra as his heir but also decided to marry Alicent Hightower, who has been a source of comfort to Viserys while he was grieving his losses.

Now as with what we know about Westeros, nothing ever goes well and that's the exact predicament that is seen with Viserys choices. It causes scandal, scheming, tension, and division among his family, and it seems like no matter what he tries, nothing will ever work out fine.

In the years since Rheanyra was named heir, cracks start forming in House Targaryen as loyalty is tested through scandalous trial and tribulations and sides are being formed to contend with growing changes.

The series utilizes time jumps to emphasize change in time and attitudes. We see the character growing more mature as they try to navigate with the issues at hand.

The acting is phenomenal. I truly believe amongst this cast, the standout have to be Paddy Constentine, Matt Smith, Emma D'Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Milly Alcock, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Leo Ashton and Rhys Ifans. Everyone brought their A-game, but all of these actors deserve every bit of praise possible. The chemistry is beautiful.

The writing is a tossed coin. Most of these episodes are really well written but there are maybe 1 or 2 where the writing a dialogue feel weak. So I don't know if I should take that as a warning sign to jump off this train before disappointment, but I still have some faith. I'm really invested so far with this plot and these characters.

The writing is *chefs kiss* once again by my man Ramin Djawdi. Give that man praise for every bit of the score and you can bet I'm never gonna shut up about how much praise and awards he deserves.

The production value is completely off the charts compared to earlier season of Game of Thrones. CGI once again was hit or miss depending on your standpoint. Many of the shots are absolutely gorgeous but their are some CGI bits that do look wonky. But hats off the the production crew for their hardwork through filming during COVID. I can't wait to see what they bring next season!

I think this show has potential. It was a surprisingly good start to a show that is coming from a really bad ending and it shocked me by actually making me invested in the plot and its characters. Now... am I willing to toot the horn on this show? Not yet because I'm still learning from my mistakes with Game of Thrones. I'll definitely tune in for next season, that's for sure!

Mulan (2020)

30 dollars and 2 hours I'll never get back.

[4/10 · 8 September 2020]

Dear Disney,

I already had Disney+ and you made us pay an extra 30 bucks on top of our subscription to watch this movie.

Now, if you're gonna charge 30 bucks for people to watch a movie, the movie better be so good that I end up raving about it for years to come. But instead, you wasted my money, time, and left such a bitter taste in my mouth.

There were the very, very few good things I can pick apart from this movie, but a grand majority of this movie is a cesspool.

So here are the 'good' things about this movie- -NO SONGS! No opportunity to BUTCHER the classic songs we love. THANK YOU! -The actor for Mulan's dad was great. Probably the best actor of the entire thing. -Cinematography looked good. Plenty of frame shots I would definitely make into a screensaver if I wanted to. -Costume design was beautiful.

And that's all the good I can really lay down.

This movie tried to take itself so seriously, that it turned into a joke. And not a funny one at that. There were moments where I burst out in sudden laughter at how ridiculous some things were. Basically, for the people that don't know, this movie is not trying to replicate it's animated source. It's trying to adapt the original Chinese folk song/ballad about Mulan. So the original implication was that there would be no magic, no slapstick comedy, no musical moments. A serious and meaningful war movie. Did we the viewer get any of that in the one hour and 50 minutes we were watching this?

Nope. The acting was flat, the plot was a mess, suspension of belief out the window in probably less than 30 minutes because they added a certain subplot last minute that tried to make sense but just confused me even more than I already was about the movie. The fight choreography was not all that impressive. Some of it laughable. And lastly, there's genuinely no heart to this movie. It's such a blatant cash grab, and I'm annoyed that yet another one of my favorite Disney classics got a live action reboot where they butchered everything.

I'm actually making count now. So far, we've had live action reboots of Cinderella (decent), Jungle Book (fine), Beauty and The Beast (Awful), Aladdin (Awful), The Lion King (Atrocious), and now Mulan (Awful).

Strap in your seats fellas. Next is live action Little Mermaid.

Until then, all I can say to Disney and Bob Igher is, DISHONOR ON YOU, DISHONOR ON YOUR COW! Wasted my money for yet another piss poor live adaption. STOP with the live action remakes and make NEW original stories.

Save your money people. Go watch the original Mulan on repeat with your kids. I know I surely needed to do so to recover from this waste of my time.

4/10 stars. For a big budget movie, it deserves to be a Direct-to-video movie if I had to be honest.

The Last of Us: Part II (2020 Video Game)

Not a 0/10 game, but definitely NOT a 10/10 game.

[5/10 · 22 July 2020]

Okay, so I just finished this game after giving it a rest for a couple weeks because I needed a break from this game. Now that I can finished it can I say this was $60 bucks well spent?

Not really.

That is pretty sad for me to say coming from someone who adored and LOVED the first game. I still own my original copy for the PS3, and I have probably replayed the remastered on my PS4 more than I have replayed any other game ever. I'm normally not the biggest fan of the post-apocalypse setting in video games because they can get boring pretty quickly, but there is always the very rare exceptions where a writer can create a refreshing and fascinating world with complex and an intriguing set of characters to follow throughout the game. That was TLOU1 and Telltale TWD to me. Meaningful stories and great characters. Going into this game I had my expectations set high. Probably too high, and this game did not meet the standard of narrative storytelling of the original game.

The pacing and overall storytelling was horrendous to play. My suspension of disbelief was pretty much out the window after about playing 2 hours of this near 30 hour monster. I couldn't get into the story because the pacing was all over the place. Main or side characters get killed for SHOCK VALUE and then it would go into a random flashback to explain who the character is or to explain why those out of nowhere events happened to justify the scene that just happened in the original timeline. Then there would flashback in within flashback to justify those previous flashback and--- it's just a mess. I can't tell you how much I DETEST the use of flashbacks in media, because it's the laziest route a writer can use to try and validate their story. It's one of the reasons why I could never get into this game. Sometimes you're playing in the flashback for so long that you forget what you were even doing in the original timeline. This was done too much in Abby's portion of the game. They kept using flashbacks of her doing 'good' things like petting dogs (that you later kill as Ellie) to justify who she is in the present timeline. It's contrived as hell.

If you can't write your characters in a way that can convince your audience that they are who you desperately want me to believe who they really are and consistently need to use flashbacks to build characters and develop the plot, then you have probably became lazy.

Also, this game focuses too much on 'theme' than the actual 'story.' It's main theme I suppose is that 'revenge is bad' but the plot is so contradictory of itself, because if revenge is so bad, then why did Abby seek revenge for killing her NPC nurse dad that was about to kill yet another innocent immune person for a fruitless vaccine for a fungal infection? Doesn't that completely spoil the point?

It wasn't hard for this game to become boring because it turned to that quickly. I played on hard to start off, but then I had to change the difficulty to make it tougher because I was getting so tired of the game. The exploration didn't feel like anything new, and with a story as laughable as it is, things felt too repetitive too quickly.

With the subject manner of the characters, I am extremely disappointed with ALL of the characters in the game. Joel was ruined, and no it's not him dying that is completely the point. It's HOW he was killed that was stupid coming from someone who just finished playing the original game before getting my hands on Pt 2. A complete mis-characterization. Ellie has become a murderous moron. Spent the entire time hunting Abby's group, killing hundreds on her way including a pregnant woman and a couple of dogs (I will forever HATE this game for forcing me to kill dogs), sacrifices her life with Dina and JJ, and just SPARES Abby after everything she has done to her emotionally. Tommy has been nerfed. He gives away his identity, his location, and becomes a frivolous idiot who just leaves, returns, and tells Ellie to go seek revenge after telling her the entire game to let things go.

As for the new characters, aside from Jesse who is absolutely RUINED by the game since he is just killed and the game never mentions him again even though he is the father of Dina's baby, NONE of the new characters are any good. Dina is Ellie's girlfriend, but I didn't really care for her much because she's barely a character which sucks because she seems like a good character, but she has no development. Owen is a cheating scumbag that deserved to go. I CHEERED when Manny died because he is a complete a** that always screams 'pandejo' as if we couldn't figure out he is Hispanic already but to hammer home the point. Mel annoyed me. She is heavily pregnant, yet she always puts herself on the very risky front lines. She cares about her baby right? So why is she putting her life on the line like this. Actually, this goes for both Mel and Dina. You guys are literally PREGNANT! Stay in your safe zones until you give birth and THEN put yourselves on the line of fire. And I'm sorry if I'm forgetting any other characters, but it's hard to remember characters names when you really don't give a da*n about 90% of them.

And then there's Abby... All I can say to everyone is this. You want me to sympathize with her? To LIKE her? Then don't make my first impression of her killing one of the greatest PS4 characters of all time because there was never one moment I did feel for her. After playing as Abby for a draining 12 hours, I felt pretty numb. Basically they tried to paint her as extremely altruistic showing that she's a good person. On the way she has an extremly cringy and awkward love story with Owen that I covered my ears from and just read the subtitles because of how forced the dialouge in those "romance" scenes are. She saves a bunch of people from rival cultist which leads to her meeting Lev who becomes her companion, and on the way she's losing all of her friends to Ellie's killing rampage which leads her to (understandably) hunt Ellie down and finish her herself. So, what is the problem I have with Abby other than how she offed Joel? It's because of how her entire character orgin is contrived. They made Abby the daughter of some NPC surgeon that we killed as Joel to save Ellie in the OG game. They couldnt have made her a Firefly or close friend of Marlene seeking revenge on Joel for massacaring the Fireflies. But they made her the daughter of some NPC to drive this entire story which is sucha rediculous plot choice that goes against everything from what we knew in the OG game. However, that being said, her gameplay was easily one of the best parts of this game. Messing with her combat was great. I know people have critiques about her extra muscular physique in a world where that logically wouldn't be possible unless she found a bunch of steroids, but beating enemies by fist was fun to do.

Alright, rant over.

Everything from a technical aspect is beautiful. The graphic visuals were phenomenal, and I liked how the environment in the game reacted to any changes you make in it. Like in the snow settings whenever the characters walked around, they'd leave footprints. The music was the soul best part of the game to be. Gustavo is always a genius, and I bought the soundtrack already. Mocap was great as usual. Voice acting was amazing as well.

So, in summary, this game is not worth a replay and is really disappointing to any fans of the original game. It really tainted the core part of it's universe which was it's characters. Ellie and Joel were some of my favorite characters ever and I'm upset to see how far they have fallen from who they once were. Nuanced and breathtakingly well written characters. If I had known this was how the story would wind up, I would've never wished or asked for a sequel. It's such a damn shame. This game has also shone light on the problems with the studio in general. I won't ever buy another game by Naughty Dog because of how poorly they have treated their staff and the team working on this.

Great job Neil Druckman. You have entered the bad writers Hall of Fame and now join the ranks of David Benioff and D.B Weiss for Game of Thrones, and JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson for Star Wars. But on the hind sight, Johnson has redeemed himself with Knives Out. Maybe someday you'll redeem yourself. But until then, screw you for writing a terrible story, mistreating your staff, and wasting people's time and money. People asked for a good game with a well written story and compelling characters, not the 'themes.'

Now if you excuse me, I'm gonna go finish Ghost of Tsushima and try to forget the writing of this game.

Final Rating- 5.1/10

Attaway General (2020– )

A message to all Tik Toker's.

[1/10 · 11 July 2020]

Please realize that you aren't actors. The most "acting" you guys do is lip sync and do lazy easy dances on a social media platform that appeals to the likes of 8-13 year olds. If you want a shot at acting, please take up some theater or acting lessons or something. I only saw one episode and I couldn't even make it through that. These are internet famous influences who can't act to save their lives and the narrative they're driving for has as much nuance as a dog taking a dump.

Just stick to Tik Tok and leave it at that.

365 Days (2020)

Stockholm Syndrome: The Movie

[1/10 · 4 July 2020]

This movie is like if The Godfather, Beauty and the Beast, Twilight, The Room, and Fifty Shades of Grey had sex and the result was this demonic abomimation of a love-child that none of them would own up to.

The only reason this movie is labeled as a "romance" and not a horror is because the guy is hot and even that is extremely offensive. So just because the guy is hot that gives them an excuse to force a person against their will to fall in love with them? Disgusting. Is this what we're trying to teach people today? That stalking and harassing people is the best way to enter a relationship? This Massimo character has all of the appeal of Harvey Weinstein and Ted Bundy in one. It's creepy but true. He makes Christian Grey from Fifty Shades lool like a good boyfriend. That is NOT good. I felt my soul die everytime he said "Are you lost baby gUrL?"

Netflix needs to just stop with these Wattpad fanfiction stories. They're AWFUL! Stop giving such a high platform to contrived films that romanticize unhealthy relationships. I hate how this is still on Netflix on it's top 10 list as of July 2020. I don't even know what to say anymore...

Hamilton (2020)

I'm FINALLY Satisfied!

[10/10 · 3 July 2020]

As a hardcore musical theater buff and by extension a HUGE Hamilton nerd, I cannot begin to express how much of a literal dream come true this pro-shot was! I got to see the touring cast in Oregon a couple of years back and even though it was amazing to see it in theater, even that has it's disadvantages as I was sitting in $300 "cheap seats" in the back because you really can't experience everything going on on-stage. But being able to see it with a crowd of other spectators was an enthralling experience and I'll always be grateful for the oppurtunity to see it live. That being said, I've always wanted to see the original Broadway Cast live but couldn't afford it/travel to see it since it was sold out and the cast members started retiring their roles. So when it was announced we were getting this pro-shot, I PARTIED!

The cast members gave wonderful performances as expected and I was super excited to see them all shine. Maybe it's just me, but those shaky bootlegs of the OBC have been so engraved in my head so much that it's almost jarring seeing everything and everyone close up in HD. I think the best thing this pro-shot did was highlight the STAGE PRESENCE! I knew it was amazing from seeing the pre-released show clips back in 2015, but in here you can really take the time to appreciate it more.

The cast... Holy crap! The insane amount of TALENT in this is just crazy. The cast was phenomenal and everyone brought something to their role. Whether it was wit, charm, charisma, comedy, or drama, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE including ensemble singers/dancers brought their A-game. I need to take the time to especially commend the performances made by Leslie Odom Jr (Aaron Burr), Daveed Diggs (Lafayette/ Thomas Jefferson), Phillipa Soo (Eliza Schuyler), Renee Elise-Goldsberry (Angelica Schuyler), Christopher Jackson (George Washington), and Jonathan Groff (King George). All of those aforementioned traits I adored I stated I heavily enjoyed here, they all represented that to the T and I now have a better understanding of why they all received the awards they did. They deserved it!

What makes this whole musical ironic and appealing is how the fictitious portrayal actually made these real life people seem LIKABLE and how it endeared people to actually study up on these people. Our Founding Fathers were horrible people personality and morality wise, but I still have to respect them because they laid down the foundation for a running government to build this country. So for people saying 'it's not historically accurate,' I mean, it's not supposed to be 100% historically accurate, but at least they tapped into people's general curiosity by making a cleverly witty and entertaining play that encourages you to learn. And as someone who has done the research, upon re-listening, this musical for the most part is pretty historically accurate excluding it's over-exaggeration of some of the character interactions and timeline of events which makes Lin-Manuel Miranda a genius deserving of all the awards he got.

The stage design, the choreography, and cinematography were PHENOMENAL! You really do feel that experience! Small details I wouldn't have noticed in the audience, I totally picked up here. The angles to some shots feel wonky and sound editing could use some work, but it works and Thomas Kail directed this great! Leaving the live audience in there was the best thing ever because you don't feel awkward watching alone. It's like watching with the crowd and I'm just vibing to it. I also got to say, the costumes were fabulous. And I really mean FABULOUS! For some reason now, I REALLY want Jefferson's coat, and all of the Schuyler sister's dresses. Because they looked aesthetically great on the actors.

All of the songs are bangers, and you'll probably find yourself humming to the tune of one of the songs later because there all so catchy. I laughed, cried, sung, and applauded! This is the one time something lives up to it's hype.

Maybe this is just my theater nerd bias speaking, and maybe this might change the more I sit on it, but overall, this pro-shot gets a solid 9.7/10 for me!

Charlie's Angels (2019)

I don't know which movie that came from 2019 killed me more. This or Cats.

[1/10 · 19 June 2020]

Why is Hollywood so insistent on ruining ALL of my favorite franchises. Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Terminator, James Bond, Ghostbusters etc. ALL of these were some of my favorite franchise growing up. This is no exception to Charlies Angel, which I LOVED the original movie and the TV show. So why, why, WHY did this have to happen? Has Hollywood run dry on ideas and are now desperate to find something new to make? Is that it? Is that's why they needed to resurrect this franchise with an all-female reboot to fit in with the apparent "new" Hollywood today? They did this already with Ghostbusters 2016 and it FAILED!! So WHY?!?! What happened to just making creative stories? Is it THAT hard???

I recently watched this with my roommate for her birthday and she rented it. I started with the mindset that I was gonna hate it because I purposely ignored this movie dead on arrival. And now, after being forced to watch it I'm pissed. Why is Kristen Stewart still hired for acting roles? She has the emotional levity of stale bread. And that stale bread is a better actor. The other actors are just as awful. The plot was terrible, the comedy was just as bad. As a woman, I felt embarrassed by this movie and I don't claim this movie. It's horrible.

Also, WHY is Sir Patrick Stewart, one of the most respected actors of all time a part of this?!?!? It's like watching Ian Mckellan in Cats. It's unbelievable. Who are their agents? They need to be FIRED for humiliating them by putting them up to this. Seriously. Patrick Stewart shouldn't have been demoted down to a Kristen "I can't act to save my life" Stewart's movies. He's way better than that. He didn't deserve this humiliation. I just HATE it!

I want to say something nice, but I can't. This is seriously one of the worst things I've seen in my life. And that's saying a lot because I've seen the destruction of many of my favorite franchises in one single blow. But for 2019, I'm really believing that this movie competes with Cats for the worst movie of 2019. Gosh...DON'T watch it! You're better off watching Ford vs Ferrari.

Sincerely,

A heartbroken/angry black woman.

The Post (2017)

An Oscar Bait Snoozefest

[4/10 · 8 June 2020]

This movie seems like something made in the Oscar bait factory. Grab two of Hollywood's top best actors, grab one of the greatest directors out there, re-tell the events of a historic political event/taboo subject and BOOM! Get that Oscar nominations. Could this movie be any less special or boring as a matter of the fact? I just KNEW by looking at that this was such an Oscar baity film. I almost fell asleep watching this, and honestly, I left not caring. Sure Streep and Hanks were great but ehhh. Some bits here and there that were decent at best, but all I could think the entire time was how pandering this movie was to the critics that were bound to give this nominations for awards just based off who was in it, who directed it, and the subject matter. It's one of those whatever films.

Uncut Gems (2019)

Sandler gives the greatest performance of his life!

[7/10 · 5 June 2020]

I'm gonna be honest, I'm not the biggest Adam Sandler fan. I purposely ignored this movie because I was expecting it to be another bad Sandler film. But upon taking a glance at some of the 2019 year end movie top 10's for some movies to watch, this movie kept showing up on the lists. So finally I caved and sat down to watch it.

And let me just say... DAMN! Wow! Just wow. That was INTENSE! I could actually feel the sweat form on my forehead towards the end of it because I was so nervous. This movie left me a mess. It was great! The directing, the plot, and the CHARACTERS were fantastic. The directing was done pretty well, but there were a few inebriating shots in the first half and throughout, but it's still directed well. The plot was very intriguing. At first I didn't think I'd care, but towards the end I was biting my nails because I was so into the film. I haven't felt so tense throughout an entire film in such a while, and I left feeling like a trainwreck. When a movie can do that, you've succeeded.

I need to give Sandler alot of the credit. I believe it's his best performance acting wise and one of the greatest of the year. Him playing this dark gritty and charismatic gambler was thrilling. I truly believe Sandler should take on more dramatic roles like this, because he was phenomenal. In fact, now thinking back on it, Sandler was so underlooked during the award season. He ABSOLUTELY should've been nomianted for an Oscar. In fact, this movie should've been nominated for Best Picture. This movie is so underrated and I REGRET not watching it earlier.

Look, I'll be willing to watch more of Adam's movies if he takes on more of these roles. This movie and his performance were fantastic!

I'd highly recommended this movie. It's a thrill ride. In fact, I'm surprised at the amount of low ratings in these reviews. It was great!

7.8/10 Might change it to an 8.

When They See Us (2019)

Watched when it came out. Thought it was amazing. Then mistakingly read some of the negative reviews.

[10/10 · 19 May 2020]

When They See Us is a 4 part mini series that revolves around the true story of The Central Park Five, who were falsely imprisoned at young ages and put into jail without a truly fair trial. It features one of the most talented casts I've ever seen, with the acting range of the youth, especially Jharell Jerome who portrays Korey Wise, the oldest of the accused is beyond everything I would've expected. The casting for everyone is amazing. The kids stole the show. I hope they have acting careers after this.

This show isn't a plot. It's the telling of the events that happened to real people. And this has gotta be one of the most enraging shows I have ever seen. It's truly difficult to watch what these boys went through without getting angry at how they were treated. I had to restrain myself from wanting to punch the screen at times because I was THAT angry. It was horrific, and I finished episode 4 with hot tears in my eyes. I left emotionally exhausted. Through the anger and emotion it was too much. Just the injustices was all too much for me.

Now, I stumble across some of the negative reviews, and I swear some are just trolls. How can you claim 5 innocent people are still guilty to this day, even with 100% confirmed proof that they weren't guilty is beyond me. I'm disgusted by those people. Take you're biased self and leave. This was an injustice done by the law, and those kids didn't deserve their treatment.

A perfect 10 from me. This series was beautiful.

Defending Jacob (2020)

Actually not too bad.

[8/10 · 10 May 2020]

I was singlehandedly avoiding this show for a long time because the ads would pop up everywhere for Apple TV, and I knew it was a semi-marketing ploy for me to cave in and get Apple TV. But after weeks on end of seeing these ads, and having run dry of TV shows to binge on Netflix and Hulu, and just being bored during my self-quarantine, I finally caved into subscribing to Apple TV to watch this specific show.

And honestly, not a bad show. It's actually pretty decent. Decent being that the acting is really good. Evans, Dockery, and Martell all shine well in their roles. They actually make believe for a real family. And I'll say it again, seeing Evans in a role that isn't Captain America is really refreshing. He has great on screen chemistry with Michelle Dockery. Make a believable couple. I like Jaeden Martell. I've been seeing him in a lot of stuff lately, and he's really going far with his acting. Good on him!

The best thing about this show is the cinematography. This show is beautifully shot. I kid you not, its like the best shot thing I've watched. And now I'm wondering if this is just Apple using their new iPhone 11's to shoot this show because of it's camera quality. Bur it's pretty great.

The story, the plot is not too bad. I actually like the concept of this story a lot. Its very intriguing to say the least. But I do find some of the writing in some parts to be really strange. Like kinda cringe inducing. But it's still some good writing bits in there I enjoy.

Other than that, I find this show pretty polished, well made, well acted and conceptualize. Is it the best thing I've watched? Probably not. But it's a really good mini series and I'd recommend it a lot for those looking for a new show to get through

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Saying this movie is perfect is underestimating it as a whole.

[10/10 · 9 May 2020]

Like the genuine bine of what perfection looks like in film. And honestly the greatest comedy/drama I've seen. Scorcese hits all the marks again with this movie. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect cast. If it were up to me, I'd nominate a lot of people in the cast for an Oscar in this film, because the performances were like you've never seen. DiCaprio, Hill, Robbie, and Chandler were amazing.

Going into this I had my doubts about Jonah Hill because I'm used to seeing him in these comedic roles and I didn't think that he'd fit in well in Scorcese's movie next to people like DiCaprio. Going out, I was thinking Scorcese has got his new Pachino, just like DiCaprio is his De Niro, because he was honestly was the second best part of this entire movie (Obviously Leo was #1). I will NEVER underestimate his acting skills agian. In fact, Hill should take on more roles like this, cause he's amazing in them.

Look, as a biographical movie based off the real life events of a scumbag, I thought it was gonna be boring. This movie NEVER failed to catch my attention. I had my eyes GLUED to the screen. Everything from the screenplay, the acting, the directing was just captivating. It was supposedly 3 hours long, but I felt like I was sitting in my seat for about one hour because I couldn't feel any tinge of drag. Even from the get go at the start I was intrigued. Just jumped right into it. This movie didn't hold back any punches. As a comedy it hit EVERYTHING. I lost my near in so many times. I don't know exactly what scenes are meant for the laughs, but I was laughing a lot. So the humor is A+. As a drama, I felt the tension, due in part to amazing acting and amazing script.

So many people complain about the excessive nudity, crude nature, and language in his film, but geez. It's R rated for a reason people! Don't get too much on your high horse for it.

The one thing that I hate about this movie was the after effect of it on the real world. Jordan Belford, the guy who this movie is based off on, gets more attention for being a complete jackass and for his past criminal deeds of tricking a lot of people into going broke. It doesn't sit well with me that he gets a positive end from it. But that's just me. He deserves a whole lot worse for his past abuses.

This has gotta be one of my favorites movies of all time. And I'mma be sticking my neck out on a line, but this is one of Scorcese's best movies ever. It just is to me.

10/10. Utter perfection!

La La Land (2016)

I tried my best to love this movie.

[4/10 · 29 April 2020]

I am a huge fan of musicals. Whether they are movies or on Broadway, give me any musical and I'll listen or watch it and about 79% of the time, I will instantly fall in love. Now, this was one of the most anticipated movie musicals to be released since Les Mis, and just as a musical fan, I was jumping up and down for weeks to watch this because of all of the hype around it. I was watching what critics were saying all over, and some were calling this "The Best Movie Musical of it's time." I'm not the type of person that allows critics to form a general bias for me. I watch what they say, and go in with my expectations in middle ground. Depending if the film is good or not, my opinion on the movie either increases or drops to the floor.

So what did I think after leaving this movie?

Bored and uninterested to be honest. I really didn't like the first hour of the movie. I wanted to try, but at least with many movie musicals the songs are appropriately placed to progress the plot. The placement of the songs were so random. Like so random that you wouldn't believe. The whole first act it basically goes, mini conversation, then song, then montage. That's basically it.

My second gripe with this movie. The singing. Holy hell. Can I just say, award for highest amount of autotune in a motion picture musical's soundtrack goes to La La Land! The singing, especially at the start sounded so artificial. The ONLY two really well sung songs that are not completely washed with autotune are John Legend's 'Start of Fire' (The only real proper singer in this entire movie who doesn't need auto tune) and the 'City of Stars' duet between Gosling and Stone. Even though it's very clear that those two aren't singers in the slightest, their vocalization there was their best singing in the entire film and I can appreciate that. Also, City of Stars was probably the best song of this movie. Which is kinda ironic since that is the recurring love theme between Mia and Sebastian.

My third gripe with this movie? The plot. Hhhhhh. Basically, to put it short. Girl with big dreams meets guy who also has big dreams. They both hash it out with each other, plan to help each other out, go out on a date (Done through a musical montage), kiss, move in with each other, both are making their dreams come true, things don't go as they wanted it to, their dreams are interfering with their relationship, their careers don't work out, they breakup, girl moves back in with her parents, guy is depressed about blowing it but wants to make it up to her, finds her parents house, guy talks the girl into never giving up on her career, girl goes after her dream again, they say 'I love you,' and years later they are living their lives separately and finding success, and the movie ends with this bizzaro montage of the life they wanted together and movie ends. And that's it fellas! That's it! So another classic Hollywood A meets B story. If they were gonna do this classic reused trope seen thousands of times, they couldn't have twisted it to be something unique? It has all of the hallmarks that make it a musical, but the story was tediously stale. So predictable. It took me about 25 minutes into the movie to predict how the rest of the story went, and it all happened, and I was still bored.

This was considered the 'Greatest Movie Musical of it's time?' I'm sorry, but even as just a movie, this movie was horribly bland.

However, there are a few good things to this movie. That being the lighting in some of the set pieces and settings was beautiful. Some of the most vibrant lighting I've seen for a movie supposed to be homage to the 90's. The directing is amazing and hats off to Damien Chazelle

The acting from Emma Stone was great. Gosling kept that monotonous tone through most of the movie, so I just got bored of his character right away, but he stepped it up towards the end in terms of acting. But their performances were heavily undermined. The best acting moment from the both of them was the table argument by far. And that was the probably the best highlight of this film I could take away from this.

So all in all, this was probably the most over hyped thing I've seen, and it's the most overrated Movie Musical I've seen, when there are much better movie musicals out there. Didn't live up the expectations since it was technically the same generic forced love story.

I'm actually really glad it didn't win Best Picture at the Oscars, and sighed a breath of sweet relief when Moonlight actually won. Because this movie musical is doesn't hold water to the current holder of the Musical Best Picture winner, which is Chicago. It just couldn't be the musical best picture successor. It can't be in there with other leagues of musicals like West Side Story, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, An American in Paris, Oliver, and Chicago.

And as I continued writing this review, the star count went down. I started my rating at a 7 and now I'm settling for 4 stars. Because this is the most forgettable movie musical since BOTH Cats movies. 1998 and 2019. But to be fair, I don't want to compare it to those awful movies, it still way better than both Cats movies in general.

BUT... but, if Broadway ever decided to take this movie to the stage, I think that's worth watching, because I'm always open to Broadway, and I always try to give new shows a shot. And even though I don't like this movie in the slightest, maybe a stage version could make up for it. I don't know. Maybe. And I'll even buy tickets to see it.

My final score is a 4. Thank you.

Suicide Squad (2016)

Man....

[3/10 · 28 April 2020]

What was this? That was just awful.

It started off good introducing all of these great and promising anti-hero characters that DC really nails in the book (Literally in the comics and The Dark Knight. FAR more preferable to start with if you want to invest in the DC universe), and then it goes downhill. There was no meaning in this movie at all. We get all of these cool moments, but where is the story? It became nothing in the end.

I gotta say, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, and Will Smith all carried this movie on their backs. I say that in the best way possible. But dear lord. As much as I like the guy, NEVER put Jared Leto's Joker back in the DC universe. EVER! This movie, in a way, shafted his career into a low. And for an Oscar winner, he was just really disappointing in this film. Easily the worst Joker I've seen.

I guess the score and costumes were fine. But jeez, Pass. Pass. PASS!!!!!

You want a good DC movie, I'll happily direct you to The Dark Knight and Joker (2019).

The Sound of Music (1965)

A Timeless Classic!

[10/10 · 27 April 2020]

I credit this movie as the movie that really got me into musicals.

I first saw The Sound of Music when I was 6 years old. My parents were watching it in the living room late at night and I hid behind a curtain to watch the movie because it was past my bedtime. And when it finished, I just fell in love. With everything. Just, I adored it. I got nearly every single of those beautifully crafted songs stuck in my head, and by the morning I was singing "Sixteen going on Seventeen" all the way to school.

It's the kinda classic that you have to appreciate, not just for its ingenuity, but it's ability to stay light hearted, joyous, and lively. Everything from the acting, the costumes, the settings, the plot, the MUSIC just cement it as thr greatest musical ever. No not just musical, but movie in general. It's one of those movies I have to rewatch it at least 3 or more times a year because I cannot recover from the pure feeling a joy it gives me. And for a movie that originated from the 60's, the quality is amazing! It never lacked substance.

I'm purely glad that this movie won Best Picture of it's year. I watch this with my family at least once a year. We all love it. It was because of this movie I got interested in Musical theater, and I still am to this day.

Always a special place in my heart. Rating- 50/10

Chicago (2002)

The best instance of where the Movie adaption is better than the staged show

[10/10 · 27 April 2020]

This has gotta be the most brilliant, most inspired, most interesting, and most entertaining movie musical I have seen since The Sound of Music, which is a classic! I kid you not, every aspect about this movie is just pure genius! And there's a lot of people who made it amazing.

First, the Cast. And Renee Zellweger, Cathrine Zeta-Jones, Queen Latifah, and Richard Gere performances were AMAZING! Just, whoever casted them were all right on the money! I never got bored of their characters once throughout the entire movie. And for me, it really easy to get bored of characters in movies really quickly. But I never could. They kept rhe energy up the entire time. And it's only fitting that they all got Oscar nominations.

The music and dance? Holy hell. Holy freaking hell. The music, the direction, the CHOREOGRAPHY were all just freaking brilliant! And I gotta say, if you got bored during any of those musical numbers, I don't know what to tell you. I guess nothing can entertain you then. Because that was the most fun two punch trip that you'll get.

I notice so many complaints about the plot and how about it's law enforcement corruption. And all of yiu guys need to get off your high horses. This movie is fiction and yeah, it might be a little jab at the hypocrisy of real life events, but it was made to be entertaining satire. Which was what it is. Nothing short of genius. The direction deserved every bit of praise. The plot was smartly, dramatic, and comedically handled. It's everything I could want in a movie.

Hands down best Movie Musical since The Sound of Music, and if any future movie musicals are gonna win Best Picture, they're gonna have to be better than this. Because I hate to break it to you La La Land fans, but it was nowhere near good enough to take the Movie Musical Best Picture mantle away from Chicago. Chicago has set the bar too ridiculously high for any of its musical successors. Not even it's staged production can beat it. Which is a first. Where the Movie adaption beats the original.

Final score- 12/10

Too Hot to Handle (2020– )

Is this really what TV has come to nowadays?

[1/10 · 20 April 2020]

I get that people are bored and are desperate to find things to watch on Netflix in self-quarantine, but jeez. This is such a shallow and stupid show, and I can't understand how why it's being shoved down my face whenever I open up Netflix to watch better shows or movies. Basically the premise of the show is that a bunch of hot people are challenged to not have sex for the entire month to win $100k. Which not only makes it shallow, but the drama is embarrassing. These actors. Yes, actors, can't make the fake drama worth while. It's so staged, I laughed whenever they got into their cat fights. What kinda of teenage wet-dream is this? It's just creepy.

If a good show is what your looking for people, I can make a nice hefty long list of Netflix shows worth the while. Just to name a few- *Breaking Bad *Better Call Saul *The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez *Tiger King *Inside the Mind of Aaron Hernandez *Black Mirror *The People vs OJ Simpson: American Crime *When They See Us *You *Unbelievable *Bodyguard *Orange is the New Black *Afterlife

ALL of these shows are more worth the watch than this.

Final Rating- -5/10

Parasite (2019)

What did I just watch....?

[10/10 · 18 April 2020]

I hate myself. I hate myself for not seeing this movie sooner.

Holy hell...that was just...INCREDIBLE! This is seriously the greatest film I've sat through. This was the biggest emotional rollercoaster I've ever been through. Give me any genre, this movie will cover it masterfully. This was a masterpiece. A masterpiece that greats like Martin Scorcese have yet to feat. You have no idea how hard that is for me to say because I adore Scorcese's movies. And like many, I regard him as one of the greatest filmmakers of our time next to Spielberg.

Bong Joon Ho can't get more possible praise because his work, and his breathtakingly talented cast was just amazing! I think I just watched a classic. A modern classic that will be studied for all time to come. I was happy that Parasite won most of their awards at the Oscars, including establishing a landmark for the Oscars by being the first non-english film to win Best Picture. But after watching this masterpiece, If Parasite didn't win Best Picture at the Oscars this year, and it went to films like Joker, 1917 or OUATIH, it would be the worst Oscar year in history.

I'm telling you, if you don't watch this, you can't consider yourself a true movie lover, because this movie has made it practically impossible for all succeeding Best Picture winners to live up to this.

WATCH IT! Final Rating- 70/10

Captain Marvel (2019)

The first real stain in the entirety of the MCU

[2/10 · 11 April 2020]

Look, it's not like the MCU hasn't had a few poor movies before Captain Marvel. We had pretty messy movies like Iron Man 3, The Incredible Hulk, and Thor: The Dark World. However, all of those film's can later be looked back on as stepping stones to further progress the story and characters so that actions the characters make in later films make sense.

But this movie was just...bad. This was not a good movie in terms of continuation in the MCU and just not good in general. Carol Danvers is by far the worst character in this universe. She's too cocky, narcissistic and downright too overpowered, with her only in movie flaw is that she has no flaws.

There's my problem right there. You see, having a naturally cocky ego being a part of your personality isn't too much of a problem as long as you start to develop into something more than a jerk. As seen with Tony Stark in Iron Man 1 and Dr. Steven Strange in Doctor Strange. Both start off as arrogant, narccistic d- bags at the start but throughout their films they learn humility and begin to become more humble after experiencing eye opening experiences.

Carol Danvers does NONE of that. She never develops. Her nonexistant arc fall flat no matter what. Everything she says sounds extremely condensending, she has to undermine the integrity of other characters, and she doesn't work at all for her powers. It's just given to her. Nothing else. Just boom. Mind Captain Marvel, everyone else in this universe actually worked for their position. Thor was a god that had his powers stripped from him entirely in his first movie. Had to regain his title as being worthy and struggled with that throughout his films. Tony Stark was selfish and self-centered until he was kidnapped and saw the liability of his actions when Yinsin died protecting him. He sought after trying to prevent innocence casualties and any harm coming to those he loved by struggling to make functional suits to protect people. And you got that over the course of 3 solo films and an additional dozen crossovers. Carol just has it because she has it. Thats it.

Her snark is very demeaning, and that lies on Brie Larson's poor portrayal. She doesn't have the charisma to pull it off. In fact, her portaryal is dull. There's no spark to it. And it's making me quetion Larson's acting skills. Which is genuinely a shame because I saw her in Room and she was phenomenal in it. So good that she even got an Oscar for it. So what happened here? She just couldn't carry this movie. Which is such a shame.

Now, for Nick Fury. This one hurts me the most. I'm all for some 90's nostalgia and I love me some Samuel L Jackson, because who doesn't? His portrayal in the MCU as Nick Fury has always been great. But, this 90's Nick Fury doesn't coencede with the Fury we've seen in the original timeline. How is he this jolly and open when in movies like Iron Man 2 or The Avengers he's such a rogue in the shadows? It just doesn't line up. People can change, but you're telling me HE LOST HIS EYE TO A CAT?!?!?! WTF? Are you kidding me? I just.......,WHAT?!?! I watched The Winter Soldier randomly on a whim before watching this and there was a scene where Fury is talking to Cap about his eye. He specifically said, "I lost my eye because I trusted someone." So what the hell? Does that mean he was lying? Was he ashamed? Because this movie makes it to be that a cat scratch made him lose his eye. This movie destroyed the lore over Fury's past. So now it's hard to enjoy Fury's scenes in the previous films.

The only good things about this movie were the Stan Lee tribute in the title sequence at the start, The de-again effect on Sam Jackson and the Shield agents, the cat (despite the Cat ruining Nick Fury's character), Mandelson and Jackson's acting, and the Cree aliens.

This character being in Endgame didnt make a damn difference. She could've been left out and it wouldn't be different. Captain Marvel was introduced too late and poorly. If this character is gonna stay in the MCU and Brie Larson is gonna stay playing her, they better change her act and Larson better up the acting game, otherwise her character will ruin phase 4 a lot.

Such a shame.

Rating- 2/10

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Endgame: The textbook definition of payoff

[9/10 · 10 April 2020]

I have been following the MCU since 2008 when I was 9 years old. I still remember the first time I watched the trailer for the first Iron Man movie starring Robert Downey Jr. and I BEGGED to my knees to my parents to go see it. After I left the theater with my dad I just remember never shutting up about it. I just adored it. 9-year-old me didn't know that Iron Man was just the beginning of something bigger that was to come.

Over the last 11 years, we saw the release of 22 movies (Excluding Far From Home even though it is technically the last movie of this phase). 22 Marvel movies consisting of origin stories, trilogy's, crossovers, and more. Over hundreds of actors in a brilliant family-woven cast. Thousands of crew members and over 1000 minutes of screen time over the course of all the movies. Breaking box-office records everywhere. Each one told a new story that was unique, new, and fun. Even though there were a few misses here and there, you could always feel like the story was building to something new. Kevin Feige and the Russo brothers knew how much this 11 year journey was to people like me, and it really showed in this film.

First, I'll get my negatives out first, because all MCU movies have some negatives. Some have more than others. I really despised what they did with Hulk and Thor. 'Fat-Thor' was funny at first, but then he became really insufferable to watch. Hulk was bizzare and they really didn't do right by his character. The Hulk I saw in 'The Avengers' wasn't here, and this interwoven Banner/Hulk didn't do it for me. I'd say the time travel plan sounded dumb at first, but Tony and Steve's time travel scenes were great to watch because it was nice seeing them revisit earlier established scenes. I think that Natasha's death was beautiful, but no funeral? She is one of the most deserving members of the team and deserves that honor. Also, I'm disappointed that they didn't really tie up Steve and Bucky's relationship. I don't have a problem with Steve going back to the past, living his life with Peggy, and giving his shield to Sam. But, they could've concluded Steve and Bucky's friendship arc way better, cause after all those two have been through together, you'd think we'd have a nice scene between them. Also, there were moments of complete and utter cringe in this movie. Like please, don't drag fortnite into this. That all woman shot in the final battle was very forced and cringy to watch. No problem with feminism in film or TV, but it shouldn't be too forced. And that is what it was. Rhodey was kinda awkwards and out of place in this movie. So was Captain Marvel. But that's it for the complaints.

Alan Silvestri and his scores man. Music was spot on all the way throughout. I will never forget the iconic Avengers theme and the way it was incorporated was just...can someone give him an Oscar? Please.

I'm gonna keep some of the scenes as my wallpaper because the cinematography was absolutely gorgeous. The most pleasing effect and settings I've seen in my life.

Fan service is so much more satisfying to watch. For all the people who say fan service is a bad thing- In this context, it's amazing.

Hilarious moments like 'America's a--" (Thank god for Paul Rudd) and the Captain America "Hail Hydra" moment in the elevator (Russo's literally waved a middle finger to the comics, and it was beautiful and funny). Strangling baby Thanos. Ha! And the odd test aging of Scott Lang was great. Comedy was on point.

Then came the satisfying parts. I love Natasha Romanoff so much. She is one of the best female characters in the MCU next to Scarlet Witch. So watching her sacrifice herself was very fulfilling to everything she has been built up to be. She sacrificed herself for the Avengers, which she considers family. That was the best way she could've possibly gone. Bummer she wasn't in the final fight, but it felt right. The fight between the Avengers trinity (Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America) and Thanos was divine. These 3 fighting off a mad titan like Thanos together was worth it. Seeing Cap wield Mjolnir was just satisfying to the T. Always knew he was worthy, this movie cemented it. Look, I waited a full decade to watch all of these stories, characters, and plot intertwine into one moment that I will never ever let go of. The moment all of our dusted heroes return, and Captain America with his shield and Mjolnir saying, "Avengers......Assemble." I just, I couldn't take it. I literally got out of my seat in the theater like everyone else and cheered my a-- off while holding off the tears. This movie was like a reward. A reward for the decade long investment. I am not ashamed to say I left the theater nearly weeping like a baby when Tony Stark died. This man literally started everything. He kickstarted this universe to the top. I hate to be that person, but Marvel has now definitivly crushed DC. Tony was one of my favorites, so watching him die felt like watching a part of me dying as well. It even hurt worse because the second they introduced his adorable daughter, I just knew in my heart that something bad happens to Tony. 10/10 best way to end his arc. Sacrificing himself for the good of humanity.

That funeral scene was expertly shot, and whoever held the camera there deserves an award. And then, finally giving Cap the chance to have that dance with Peggy made me so happy. You don't know how much I wanted Cap and Peggy to have a reunion so they can finally have that dance that Cap promised her way back in his first movie. That was the best way you could've ended it.

Even the end credits was nothing short of a masterpiece.

I started nearly bawling when the original 6 avengers started signing off one by one in the credits. I am genuinely proud of this cast. All of them have risen to better things, and lord. When RDJ signed off, that was it for me and my theater. A standing ovation and the screen went black.

This era of MCU movies is over. That 9 year old me is grateful to have been able to have experienced this journey. This incredible journey. I am looking forward to the future, but it won't feel the same without Iron Man and Captain America. But it's time for the new age of Avengers.

To the cast and crew- I love you 3000!

Final rating- 9.1/10

The Last of Us (2013 Video Game)

I want a daughter just after playing this

[10/10 · 9 April 2020]

Holy moly quacamolely! I think I've found a game that is better than mostly all TV and film alike. Just...where do I start? I was made aware of this game a long time ago when it first came out, and I always knew it had stellar reviews, so I did buy the Grounded version and DLC package in 2015. Thing is- I never had the time to sit down and play it, because I'm the kind of person who likes to start and finish a game in one sitting. So since I could never find the time, it always just sat on my shelf collecting dust. Flash forward to 2020, inside quarentine and have nothing to do but watch and or play everything I already haven't. I was going through my video game collection and I remembered about the game, so I popped it into my PlayStation to play.

About 12 hours later I was sobbing in my seat. I just can't start, other than saying, this game is a masterpiece! A genuine masterpiece. I'm not saying its better than most TV and Film, but I'm saying its SUPERIOR!

The atmosphere, the setting, the cinematography is breathtakingly beautiful. I teared up at the lighting in the decimated city landscapes. You could feel the lonliness, but also feel the somberness to it. The writing? It's shockingly thoughtful. You're never gonna get writing like this in video games. Very few have been able the capture the sentiment and care in their dialogue. And especially for a post-apocalyptic, first-shooter, stealth kind of game, it's very easy for it to become generic. But it never did. Nothing the character's said ever felt out of place. It felt natural and it built the story. Never an awkward moment.

Now, Joel and Ellie. I'm just calling it as it is. Top 2 characters of any video game in the last decade. I have a wide range of characters from video games I adore so much. But Joel and Ellie are just rare. They have so much complexities for the average survivor, and have grey areas to them that make you unsure at times. But they felt human. I actually cried for the both of them. And if anything, Ellie made me want to adopt a girl. Cause I just fell hard for her. The relationship between them is amicabley thoughtful.

I think I found a game that changed my life. More than any film, show, book or anything. 500% recommended. I think it's a genuine crime to not play this.

The Two Popes (2019)

Great acting....very slow and very dull pacing made it drag.

[6/10 · 9 April 2020]

Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce gave phenomenal performances as Pope Benedict and Pope Francis. But the story was very slow and getting interested in what was going on was difficult cause the narrative was too drawn out. I'd say, the movie could pick up the pace more so it can be easier to watch.

Coco (I) (2017)

Yeah...I wish I had that box of tissues in the theatre. Pixar has done it again!

[10/10 · 6 April 2020]

I'm just a natural sucker for animated films, which is why I just adore Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks and all of those animation studios for giving me a childhood. Now, Pixar has produced many amazing animated films time after time, and have received plenty of worthy accolades. I can never forget watching movies like Toy Story, Up, Wall-E, Finding Nemo and such. Because all of them have made me tear up no matter how much I tried holding it in. The fact that animated movies make me cry more than a vast majority of live action dramas just tells you what kinda of a person I am. You can make a very good story, but you're gonna need a lot of emotion to make me tear up or cry in my seat.

This movie was...

AMAZING!

I just..........,how can a movie be so lively, so adventurous, so inclusive and true to the cultural roots it's incorporating, and yet make me, a 25-year-old nearly sob in my seat at the end? Well, I'll tell you, only Pixar had gotten me crying in the theatre. Kung Fu Panda 2 did the same, but this movie just brought a new level of storytelling.

You got this young Mexican kid named Miguel, who grew up in his family's compound where his family banned all things music because of a tradition his great-great-great grandma enforced after her husband abandoned her and their daughter. It's a movie about trust, mending broken ties, fighting for your dreams, music, and family.

I can't tell you how beautiful this movie is. The detail, the lighting, the setting, the MUSIC! But one thing I adored was how it stayed so close to the Mexican culture it was portraying. Now, it's very easy for movies to use real life cultural customs in their movies and never add any significance or whitewash them. Never once did I feel like this movie whitewashed anything. This was the most accurate portrayal of Mexican culture I've seen in animation, and what a beautiful story it was.

The music was special. I have a young niece who shares my passion of animated films. She's was 7-years-old when I took her to see this movie with me because I wanted to spend time with her. I just want to say, 'Remember Me' became our song. I learned the guitar part just so when we're together we can sing it. She adored this movie with her heart just as I do. There's been a lot of memorable Disney/Pixar songs, but this movie produced some of the best music I've ever listened to. I'll never forget it. My niece is now 10 and we still sing this to each other. It's adorable.

Can I call it the best movie ever?

Yes. Yes I can. And I'll do it now-

Best Movie EVER!

Just watch it. You need to watch to understand why I said this. Perfect for the family. A pure tear jerker worth every bit of praise it got.

Final rating- 11/10

Thank you so much Pixar for yet another great film!

Marriage Story (2019)

Depressing, but realistic in a gut-wrenching fashion. And I have to side by Charlie.

[8/10 · 5 April 2020]

Look, I'm in quarantine and I had nothing better to do, so I sat through all the 'Best Picture' nominated films from this year's and singled out 'Marriage Story' and 'Two Popes' as the only two movies out of that bunch that I didn't watch. And Marriage Story was a far better movie to sit down and watch than Two Popes in my opinion.

The acting was just...phenomenal. Everyone in this movie acted their chops off in the most heartbreaking way they could. Henry's actor (Sorry, forgot his name) just made me depressed in a heartfelt way. He was the hardest to watch in every scene because I just hated to watch him favor his mom in front of his dad, be fought over like tug-a-war, and looking lonely when he was with his dad. I just couldn't... I simply just wanted to cry with his presence if you understand. I hated having Charlie just watching his relationship with his son fade. Adam Driver, like the kid, broke me. At the beginning I semi-sympathized with Scarlett Johansson's Nicole, but by the middle towards the end, the movie easily made me side with Charlie, even though he's no better.

I get that in divorces there's a bad side to each person that has to shine at some point. And at each point, I did come to hate both the leads because of actions they've done, but at the end, they're just humans. They made mistakes, and now one wants to move on understandably. But yet, for the one who wants cling onto a broken relationship and attempting to keep a legal fight going, I sympathized with him more because it was tough watching him hit rock bottom to fight for keeping some form of custody with his son, while simultaneously losing everything and his whole life just to maintain custody.

But Nicole also deserves to move on with her life without having Charlie's life consume hers.

It got ugly between both sides for sure, and this was hard to watch. But it was a very solid story that made all for a good film worth watching, with a great set of acting and direction.

My only complaints would be that but felt too repetitive and slow at times and some scenes felt out of place and random. The crossfading was just awkwardly edited to move on to other scene too. But those were my concerns.

In other words, a nice heartwrenchig tale. One for memory. Not perfect, but still not too forgettable.

Final rating 8.4/10

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Still one of the best MCU movies to date.

[10/10 · 4 April 2020]

Honestly. Where to begin? Look, I adore Tony Stark. A personal favorite character in the entirety of all MCU, but I gotta say, Captain America always busted out the best titular solo films in MCU and this movie is proof of why Captain America has the best movies.

Just everything. EVERYTHING about this movie was just so amazing. Couldn't live with watching it only once, so I went back to watch it 4 more times and it was still great. You got direct reccuring conflict from the first Captain America movie. Bringing back old foes and having them conspiring underneath the good guys noses and exposing S.H.I.E.L.D for its own corruption by its own commanding Nick Fury. Just to show you even the 'good guys' get their hands dirty too for selfish reasons when they feel they have to.

You get a building companionship between two of the core Avengers that DID NOT end in a romance. Which was surprising to me that this movie didn't just go for the classic guy and girl work together and eventually fall in love trope that Hollywood uses so often. And the best part was that Johansson and Evans lovingly sold the chemistry, and it almost lead me to believe that they're characters would begin a relationship. And despite everything those characters went through together, the bond between them stayed professional and comforting in the end. How very well played Marvel. Very mature.

The Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes is still one of the most intimidating and most formidable villains in the MCU of all time. He still beats Thanos. Every time he showed up on or before he showed up, you could always feel a lingering sensation of eerie dread for what's about to come next. It's thrilling and terrifying. The Winter Soldier is the epitome of 'Silent but deadly.' Sebastian Stan was just outstanding as the Winter Soldier. Easily one of the strongest performances in the film. He nailed that deadly assassin with no remorse or second thoughts and also nailed the confused and lost feeling of not knowing where to find the true Bucky he was. Sebastian had to play two completely different sides to one character and nearly made me cry in his final moments with Cap. Also, not only was The Winter Soldier a great character, but it was smart that they reintroduced this semi-minor sidekick friend character from the first Captain America movie who we all thought was dead, dug him out of his 'grave' and turned him into a shadowy deadly villain who struggles to break from the mind control that's forcing him to become a soldier of death. The strongest aspect of the film.

Also loved how this movie gace screen time to Natasha and Nick Fury to really show off their skills in espionage more so than the other movies they were featured in. It did right by both of the characters by giving some levity to them and established them way more. Especially Natasha because we are only told of her skills and shown that she's capable of weaponry, but we didn't really see a lot of her espionage to use. We got a bit of it in Iron Man 2, but this movie highlighted her for who she is. Also, even though we know what kind of a character Nick Fury is, it showed us how capable, strong and manipulative he really is. I just loved seeing him during the Car scene assassination attempt on his life. Samuel L Jackson always knows how to give a performance.

I'll just say it again, EVERYONE gave a delightful performance. Evans, Johansson, Jackson, Stan, Mackie, Redford, and everyone else brought their A-Game. Great acting, realistic conversations, and epic lines that are just so fitting to the characters they portray. The emotional sentiment in some scenes was just right on the money.

Ok now. Now, we're talking fight choreography. My heart could give out, but whoever choreographed those fight scenes needs more than just an Oscar. I cannot reiterate how and why the fight choreography in this movie is the best in all MCU. Maybe Civil War comes close, but this movie has some of the most bone-chilling fights I've ever seen in any action film. Just...that highway fight between Cap and The Winter Soldier terrified me with glee if you can understand. Some of the most intricate fight I've seen. The way the shield and knife were handled was just above and beyond. As much as I adore the elevator fight in this movie, the highway was better.

Music was chilling and emotional too. Nothing more can be said. I just love how the composer was so dark on incorporating Bucky's scream from when he 'died' in The First Avenger and mechanalized it into the theme for the Winter Soldier. How eerie and devastating. Just love it.

Gosh, what a movie. Best MCU movie ever. Even after Endgame and Infinity War, still the best movie ever. The only movie that could possibly beat this would have to be Civil War. That being said, as far as a spy-action thriller, it was just right about everything. Still incorporating that nice humor for a darker toned movie like all Marvel does. The best understanding of these characters since Iron Man and The Avengers.

Just brilliant.

10.3/10