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The Expanse: Cascade (2017)
World and character development
Is it strange to say that I hate two of the main characters (Jim and Naomi) while not being a fan of a third (Alex), yet absolutely love this show. Every other character is intriguing and seems real to me, from Bobbie in this one, Cotyar (who grows in this episode, even with the relatively minor screen time), Amos, Chrisjen and Sadavir, to even the newest, Dr. Meng (biologist).
Season 1 Episode 4 gave us our first real insight into Martian culture and I loved that episode. This episode gives us a real look at how Earth is and how it works outside of the UN that we have seen.
Overall, this episode moved a lot of little plots and characters ahead. I really liked it.
Tian jiang xiong shi (2015)
Good idea but bad execution
Do not ignore the complainers.
A FEW SPOILERS
I feel as if there has been a push to give this really good ratings despite its obvious flaws. It definitely had potential, and Jackie Chan is still pretty good in this. The entire concept I feel is a good one (however poorly executed it was) as was the moral of the story - that being of people (races, nationalities) coming together to solve problems. This moral though was force fed to the audience with no respect to the viewer's intelligence and was far too heavy- handed. The editing was atrocious with a good 33% of the movie non- sequitur or just plain out of context plot wise (not temporally). They also took a chapter from Game of Thrones to kill off pretty much everyone. Plot and character development was often nonsensical or just plain strange. I finished most of it but I could not finish the entire movie - it was just that bad. Look to the people giving it average or less ratings if you would like a more detailed description. The 10 star reviews are a mystery to me.
Daredevil: Dogs to a Gunfight (2016)
Bad writing
***This contains spoilers*** This episode is absolutely horrific. I have only watched this episode the once and did not need to go back to find the glaring problems inherent in it, especially the ending.
Why would the cops fire on the truck (springing their ambush) immediately as there was no need and they didn't have confirmation of anything? This is factoring in the Punisher knew it was a trap. It was still inane to break their cover at that point.
How did four (or more) trained snipers miss the Punisher on the rooftop with little cover and for over a minute? How did the Punisher, with a shot arm no less, escape while carrying an either limp or fighting Daredevil when the place was surrounded by cops (there were many there)? The Punisher is good, but not that good.
I will give the season a chance as sometimes writers get lazy; however, this was very lazy/bad writing and I hope it does not continue. I had other problems with the Daredevil character development too, but that's opinion. I'm here to point out gaping story holes.
The Book of Eli (2010)
Good movie even with the propaganda
Overall, as a movie, I think it is well done. The acting is average or above, the action is good, and there is a strong story line.
Obviously the biggest issue with the movie is the insanely obviously Christian propaganda within it. This has people, both Christians and Atheists, voting on it more so based on just this. As an Atheist myself, I assume the Bible is a work of fiction, so it works perfectly into this movie and makes for a very interesting background and lore for it. Anyway, I watched it again just to make sure, but in the end I feel the people who give this movie low scores based on the religiousness of it didn't think critically about it. Maybe it's just me, but I found that the entire premise and unfolding story actually told us that religion, especially organized religion, is one of the most dangerous things out there and should be left out of a society attempting to rebuild. I doubt the people who wrote, directed, and produced it would agree though :)
The Expanse: CQB (2015)
Good character development
This was a very good episode. While there are many aspects to the different unfolding story lines, I'll focus on the space battle. The biggest part of this was the character development of the Martians. It gave us a new/updated insight into their culture and who they are.
SPOILERS NOW
I actually felt bad for the Martians when the ship exploded. The Martians had been somewhat set up as the enemy in the previous three episodes, so it says a lot when they can make you like the so-called "enemy" after just one episode. I especially loved the Captain, her arrogance/strength, and her final words.
Overall, this episode is what truly made me realized I will absolutely give this series and entire season of watching before I make a judgement.
The only thing I can criticize is the fact that not a single Martian officer/soldier survived while practically all the main characters did...
The Shannara Chronicles (2016)
Still unsure
It moves between teeny soap opera to great fantasy storyline/action. For these reasons, I will continue watching the entire season and then give it a more thorough judgement. If you are against the hordes of teen angsty dramas with 100% insanely good looking people who are put in immature situations, then there are parts of this you will hate. However, I think that the overall quality so far has mitigated those problems and it's worth a look to see if you like it or not.
In general, the actors are doing good jobs with their roles and the story line has not got bogged down in lore yet. Don't get me wrong, I love the lore and read these books as soon as they came out decades ago, but I find shows that cater too much to fans can lose out on new fan bases. The only thing that I have come across that sort of bothers me is the time taken to go back and forth between different places - it almost seems like they teleport and not trek anywhere.
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009)
good balance on light-heartedness and darkness
I just finished watching another movie somewhat similar to this with William Dafoe (Odd Thomas) and found both to be similar in how the movies made me feel. Overall, this movie was fun, though not perfect. Having said that, the fact that I still liked it despite somewhat mediocre acting from many (some were good) says a lot about the movie I think. Like Odd Thomas, it would make a good TV series and I am surprised this movie/book series doesn't seem to have gone anywhere.
I think the best aspect is that it is targeted at a younger audience but is not so overboard in its portrayal of the typical TV/movie teenager (over the top love stories, sexual and emotional angst, rebelliousness, etc.), which is surprisingly refreshing.
Odd Thomas (2013)
different and quirky, a nice change
I did not (and unfortunately have not yet) read the books, so I think I was sort of lucky watching this. I really liked this movie because it was not an origin story as so many are (looking at you Spiderman), it just jumped right into the lives of people while managing to give us a good understanding of each character and enough story to connect with the important ones. It was quirky in its style and I understand how some might not like that. I liked the fact that this movie was different - even if it would be better as a TV series. Either way, the ending did catch me off guard. While hindsight is 20/20, I found it strange I didn't pick up on it; I assume it's because of the good-natured theme and quirkiness, putting me off guard. Either way, catching anyone off guard nowadays with an ending is worthy of praise. It's fun, good-hearted, quirky, a little different, and just all around interesting.