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thomas-mcaulay-118-534411
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Ahsoka (2023)
Can someone explain ?
I don't understand what's it's about. I honestly was so bored I stopped watching after the second episode. Tedious dull scenes - even the action seemed sluggish and clunky. I think perhaps you need to have watched all the animated stuff. The droid character was probably the only good character in the whole show. I genuinely struggled to understand what the story was about - I'm guessing the are trying to bridge the gap between return of the Jedi and the new movies. These new shows are visually stunning with amazing VFX but they really need to hire better writers if they want them to succeed beyond the hard core fan base.
The White Crow (2018)
Am I missing something?
I think I probably would have enjoyed this film however 80% of the spoken dialogue is in Russian and there are no subtitles. I tried the subtitles on Netflix for the hard of hearing and whenever Russian is being spoken or just says "Speaking Russian". Are we supposed to not understand? Are we expected to learn Russian? I'm totally confused!
The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020)
Boredom of Bly Manor
I was really looking forward to this but sadly, it was a deep disappointment. Firstly, the story drags on and on episode after episode. As is so often the case with Netflix seasons, the story could have been told as a three part mini series instead of ten hours of tedious extraneous dialogue.
The English accents by some of the cast sound ludicrous and and young girl is annoying to say the least. It wasn't even really very scary to be honest.
Boring!
Star Trek: Discovery: That Hope Is You, Part 1 (2020)
Plodding mess
The latest season continues the already failed format of a long slow story arc. Basically the plot of the episode is, Burnham arrives in the future, meets a guy and the federation has gone. That's it, that's all that happened in the episode and it took 50 minutes to say it. It was the most dull 50 minutes of tv since....we'll season 2 ended!
Star Trek: Picard: Nepenthe (2020)
Great episode
I was almost done with Picard after the incredibly depressing last few episodes. Although this one had a few flaws (why murder a bunnycorn when you have a replicator?) I actually really enjoyed the scenes with troi and riker. In fact, I was surprised at how good Marina Sirtis was, probably her best performance in Star Trek yet. Killing Hugh was a shock but not as bad as Icheb who frankly was a better fleshed our character. The daughter Kestra was very well cast, a great young actress.
Star Trek: Picard: The Impossible Box (2020)
Boring
It's so dull I found myself skipping many of the scenes. The acting is awful and the story is boring. It appears totally unrelated to Star Trek except for the occasional Easter egg.
Star Trek: Picard (2020)
Time to let it rest
I think it's time that we accepted the Star Trek we grew up with is gone and it's never coming back. These new shows are the complete opposite of what Star Trek should be and the creators clearly have no understanding of why the fans love the show as they do. I don't hold it against them, they simply don't get it. I honestly would rather they just stopped making anymore now and let the thing Rest In Peace.
Star Trek: Picard: Stardust City Rag (2020)
Gene would be turning in his grave
I enjoyed what the first episodes had to offer. It was a modern take on TNG and I accepted the darker tone. What I do not accept is watching people being tortured to death, especially characters we know from previous shows. This is incredibly traumatising television and no what I would ever consider as entertainment. Also, the plot is incredibly dull and plodding. Picard started well and seems to have just gone badly wrong. I can't believe Stewart or Frakes even signed up for this garbage.
Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
Had to switch off half way through
They just shouldn't have bothered. It was done with the best of intent but Blunt's more authentic version of the character is entirely unlikeable. The worst thing about this film is the music. The songs range from mediocre to dull. Nothing memorable whatsoever. It will take more than a spoonful of sugar to make this go down...
Star Trek: Discovery: Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2 (2019)
Disappointed
Was hoping that this episode would answer a few more questions than it did. There were some good elements but the numerous plot holes just left me a bit cold on the season over all. The main issue I had was at the end - The whole point of going to the future was to get away from Control. And yet, control boards Discovery and they just keep going on with the plan? Then when control is defeated by a 50 year old woman doing kung fu, they just carry on to the future anyway? I mean, he's dead so just cancel the plan and move on! Weird...
The Nun (2018)
Comedy?
The problem with this film is that you go into it with an expectation that it will be on a par with the Conjuring. That's the standard this film has to meet and it fails miserably.
As a stand along tongue in cheek horror movie it's not bad. It's very similar to the Mummy and Mummy Returns franchise and quite enjoyable when not taken too seriously.
In short, it just felt confused in tone and came across almost as a comedy at times.
The Orville: Identity (2019)
It just gets better and better
Wow, this was just an incredible episode. I haven't had goosebumps like that since best of both worlds part 1 cliff hanger! I'm officially hooked!
The Orville: Deflectors (2019)
The best episode yet
I've always had a feeling that if they toned down the silliness, the Orville could really excel at making serious sci fi drama. This episode proves that and I was absolutely blown away. Not since episodes such as TNG the Outcast have I felt so moved by a story on LGBT discrimination. It highlights the absurdity of discrimination in such an intelligent way. You don't need to show men kissing to prove you are pro LGBT rights, you need to make others truly understand why those rights are so important. Making the viewer question their views and preduces, allowing us to understand each other's cultures, is what made Star Trek the beloved cultural phenomenon it is today. This is the episode Star Trek never got to make. It will go down as one of my all time favourites.
There is a great irony in the fact that so many reviewers of this episode appear to have homophobic views whilst claiming to be true fans of the original Star Trek philosophy. I'm sure if IMDB had been around in the 60's the reviews for TOS would have been filled with similar 4/10 scores simply because there was a woman of colour on the bridge. Well done to the creators of the Orville for having the guts to do this kind of story in the face of adversity. If nothing else it proves that we still need this kind of TV in order to make progress in today's society. The heart and soul of Star Trek lives on in the Orville.
Star Trek: Discovery: Saints of Imperfection (2019)
Yet another misfire as far as I'm concerned
I understand that some people are enjoying this show and I respect that. All I can say is that after 29 episodes I'm officially done. I honestly just don't enjoy it. I don't understand it, I don't care about or like most characters and I've just given up. I say this with a heavy heart as I wanted to like Discovery but there just comes a point where you give up. I say this as a lifelong fan of Star Trek too!
This episode just left me stone cold. I found myself actually hoping that characters would die so we wouldn't have to watch them. The "science"is absurd. They are hoping if they talk enough nonsense quickly enough we will just overlook the fact that it's so utterly contrived.
If this is what is popular nowadays I wish the creators and fans best of luck. I'm out
Star Trek: Discovery: An Obol for Charon (2019)
Not for me
I think they make the pacing so fast that you just overlook the incredibly contrived plot. How convenient that Stamets has a device that can translate blob language and interface into a human brain just lying around in the lab! And what's with drilling someone with a black and decker? It's just weird.
I found the schmoltsy scenes extremely drawn out and over the top. Nobody was ever fooled into thinking Saru would actually die. As the episode ended i looked at mate mate and we just said exactly the same thing...What the......??
A disjointed bizarre mess.
The Orville: Primal Urges (2019)
Very thought provoking and relevant episode
This episode was excellent and addresses a very serious and real problem in today's society. Most of the negative reviews on here are due to the fact that the story revolves around a same sex relationship which is clearly too much for some people to handle. A brave and bold choice by the producers of the show! Also, the "you have had enough injections" was the funniest moment in the entire series!
Rogue One (2016)
Utterly dull except for the last 30 minutes
I went to see this film with high expectations given the positive reviews from both professional critics and general public alike. About an hour in to it I was utterly shocked at how incredibly dull and plodding it was. I found I had little or no empathy for the characters, in fact the only character of any interest was ironically not human! (A droid the name of which escapes me) I'm sure the die hard star wars fans may like it but anyone with a simple passing interest in the franchise will be falling asleep in the theatre.
Basically the entire story could easily have been done in about 45 minutes but it was padded out for what seemed like at least 2 hours. Also, they appear to have emulated the ill advised CGI cameo of long dead/very old actors that can be found in films such as Tron Legacy and Terminator Salvation. The result was then and still is a character that looks like they are out of a computer game. It was so distracting that I wasn't really able to pay attention to the dialogue, not that it mattered too much as the plot was so dull anyway.
The final 30 minutes of the film is action packed Star Wars space battles and was really fun and entertaining. The way it leads in to Episode IV was also very cool although I would have preferred not to see Princess Lea's CGI plastic face at the end which just looked like a freak. Overall this is one for the fans only - otherwise don't waste your time and money.
Star Trek Beyond (2016)
Star Trek is Back...
As a lifelong fan of this franchise I'm delighted to say that Star Trek is finally back. After the disappointment of "Into Darkness" I was very doubtful as to whether or not this third installment would deliver the goods. Although the film does have its flaws, they are on the whole incidental to what is I believe a generally good story.
The film is split into three distinct acts. The first two acts were by far my favorites of the three harking back to the original series in terms of the overall light hear-ted tone, comedic moments and sense of wonder. The scenes of the Enterprise arriving at Starbase Yorktown are truly jaw dropping. It's wonderful to finally see some originality coming from the writers in terms of a vision of the future. In truth, since Star Trek began 50 years ago all we have ever seen is a 1960's vision of what the 23rd century might look like. Yorktown for me is the first time Star Trek's vision of humanity's future has really been updated for a 21st century audience.
The whole look of the Enterprise is much cleaner than the previous two and more in keeping with Star Trek. Thankfully the beer factory engine room was not revisited and the sets maintain a consistency throughout the ship that we haven't seen before in the Kelvin time line. We also get to see the crew living together and the Enterprise as their home. This makes us actually care about the characters and the ship itself. By the time the ship was flying through the nebula I was already feeling sorry that this would be her final mission and that I had somehow sorely misjudged her.
After the Enterprise is destroyed and spectacularly crashes onto the surface of the planet, the film moves into the second act. This part of the film is great as we finally get to see some character development and all the principal cast have a role to play in getting out of their situation. The crew are left stranded on a hostile alien world and have to work together to escape. This is pure Star Trek and was a joy to watch.
Idris Elba plays the rather menacing looking "Krall". He is a human who has crashed on a planet and discovered alien technology to prolong his life by draining the life force out of others. This to me was a great story idea and added an element of real horror seeing all those people shriveled up after they had been drained. It kind of reminded me of Borg assimilation in Star Trek First Contact, especially in that he took on the appearance of his victims. Very cool idea! The whole premise behind the attack on the Enterprise was perfectly clear, he needs people to keep himself going. Unfortunately what was not clear was why he would want to commit mass genocide but I will come to that later.
Chris Pine finally comes into his own in this film and his Kirk begins to resemble the Kirk that we know from before. The scene where he deceives one of Krall's agents into disclosing her true intentions is a good example of Kirk actually using his intelligence to resolve a situation. He is showing he has the experience and intelligence to be the Captain of the Enterprise. I felt for the first time he looked like he was actually in charge. As fort he rest of the cast, all gave solid performances.
This brings us to the final act and in my view the worst part of the film for a number of reasons. Krall, not content with his life prolonging blood sucking activities on his planet, decides for no apparent reason to go out and murder a few million people. This whole part of the story made no sense to me at all. Also, the manner in which the Enterprise crew destroy the Swarm of ships was quite simply ridiculous. Playing "Beastie Boys" on the VHF does not cause a fleet of ships to just explode. That whole scene was something straight out of "Guardians of the galaxy" and it just didn't fit for me. I did enjoy the crash landing sequence of the Franklin on the Yorktown and the final fight sequences between Kirk and Krall but the whole reason for them all being there at all just left me cold.
There are plenty of Easter eggs in the movie that kept me laughing to myself when other less geeky viewers were left oblivious. Good examples were "the green hand in space" reference (which also made a visual appearance in the end credits), as well as musical nods in the score to the original series and some of the movies. (TOS fight music during Kirk's fight scenes and TOS "comedy moment" music when Kirk and Chekov are caught in Jayla's trap. Also TMP VGER music during the first scenes on the planet showing Krall's base.)
There is a touching scene at the end paying tribute to Leonard Nimoy and the original cast which I have to say worked very nicely. It was very subtle and quite touching to me as a person who grew up with those original actors. There was also an equally subtle tribute to the late Anton Yelchin when Kirk calls for toast to absent friends before the camera centers on Chekov. Beautifully done indeed and well done. There were just enough great things in this film to allow me to overlook some of the more silly story elements. It's well known that this script was done in a hurry and it kind of shows. If they had had more time I think this could have been an all time great. In any case, Trek is back on top after 50 years and here's hoping it will continue long into the future. Live long and prosper!
The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016)
Surprisingly good fun...
I normally wouldn't watch this kind of film but I went along with my partner and just gave it a go. I was actually surprised to find it to be quite entertaining and I was shocked it received such poor reviews from critics. I particularly like Emily Blunt's character. A good villain I find is one that you can empathise with a little bit. Her acting is always superb.
Special effects were stunning with some really memorable scenes and great costumes. A few obvious rip offs from other movies here and there but it didn't really matter. Best of all that Kirsten Stewart is nowhere to be scene. A good choice by the studio if you ask me!