Season 1 was good, leaning into the more traditional style of Star Trek, and they seem to want to continue that…
But I warn you this trailer has much stupid humour
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Well, they were the first Guardians of the Galaxy…
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I know I’m almost a year late, but I watched Obi-Wan over the last few days. Very enjoyable. Some of the best lightsaber fights since the prequels. It should have honestly been a 2.5-3 hour movie, as there was a bit of too much fluff at times. Overall, I liked it, but I could go either way with another season.
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Under the banner of heaven (Disney + / FX)
Andrew Garfield delivers once again a magnificently heartfelt and sympathetic performance in this miniseries based on a true crime story about a Mormon detective in Utah investigating the horribly brutal murders of a young mother and her baby, both part of the Mormon community.
It is a fascinating portrayal of the destructive potential of organized religion, how it can pervert faith into egotistic and self-serving justification of immorality and pure evil. Jumping between the investigation, the slow decent of a Mormon family into intolerance, fundamentalism and complete immorality, and depicting the origins of the Mormon religion, writer Dustin Lance Black manages to convey a very rounded portrayal of a community torn apart by hopes and lies, trying desperately to cling to tradition while finding out how terribly it has failed them.
The slow burn of these seven episodes builds to a devastating crescendo, with the actual murder becoming an inevitable conclusion of misunderstandings, jealousy and the hunger for power. We know what will happen from the first episode onwards, but we don’t know how it will happen. And when we find out it is deeply heartbreaking and shocking.
This is one of the best mini-series of the last years, shamelessly underappreciated, maybe because it is not told with forced dramatics or over-the-top antics but rather as a character study building and building and building, until one is already drawn so deep into its hypnotic pull one cannot take one’s eyes of the proceedings.
Apart from Andrew Garfield, every role is cast perfectly, with Gil Birmingham as his partner in the investigation, a Native American who looks back on history and faith in a totally different but very honest way, and Sam Worthington, Wyatt Russell and Rory Culkin as brothers who are groomed by their father to believe and compete with each other, losing their way inevitably. And finally, Daisy Edgar-Jones as the young Mormon mother trying to reason with the brothers and becoming the patsy for their frustrations, is marvelously conveying intelligence, warmth and hope which horribly gets taken from her.
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Just finished Picard.
Summary
Wow. What a season and what an episode…
To be honest I lost count of how often I welled up. Incredible celebration of TNG and Star Trek (very, very nice tribute to Anton Yelchin too). Overall I’m ecstatic that Jean-Luc wasn’t killed off or made to sacrifice himself. How bold of the series to give us a happy ending for him! This season has been a perfect way to sign off on TNG. I love that they recreated the All Good Things ending, which was the perfect end to TNG.
Enterprise G was a surprise, I was expecting a new Enterprise, not the Titan to be re-christened. Looks like they’re all in on a new series. It’s always nice to see Q, but pretty much forgot how s2 ended apart from thinking he had been killed off, so that was a surprise. Hopefully by the time a new series comes around they install a few extra lights on the E-G!
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The Patient (Disney+/ F/X)
A therapist is being held prisoner by his patient who wants to stop being a serial killer.
As high concept as that premise is, it works terrifically due to the fantastic writing of these 30-minute episodes, delivered by a wonderfully calm and empathetic Steve Carrell as the therapist and the highly believable Domnhal Gleeson as the young serial killer who is trapped in a horrible family trauma.
Riveting television.
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I loved it too!
I can see Seven of Nine making it lighter in the spin off of the Enterprise G they were clearly pitching. The imagery of the Titan set, being a place of fear and darkness then the Enterprise D bridge being lit comfortable and warm wasn’t subtle.
Tuvok refusing to accept Seven of Nine’s resignation was more touching than I expected.
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Same here…
Summary
… and this is proof how one can craft a satisfying ending without killing off favourite characters.
Yep, this is what should have been done with NTTD.
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Summary
It’s amazing really - all the tropes were there and it seemed inevitable they would kill him off: reconcile with a former lover, introduce a son he didn’t know about, have an opportunity to sacrifice himself to save the son just after reconciliation. It really was very close to NTTD.
I guess he was sacrificing himself was heading down that rout, and it was the intervention of the crew that saved him. Which is fitting, as Star Trek is always (or should always be, in my opinion) about the crew lifting each other, and honestly s3 has been an incredible demonstration of the power of the ensemble.
It really is amazing and commendable that they gave Picard an ending where he is happy, smiling and surrounded by his family, Starfleet and real, rather than the predictable rout of the crew standing around his grave.
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Not sure the maths on this series works…at all.
What their Superman looked like 2 decades ago;
Based on where they are in their careers and parenting, I imagine Lois and Clark being in their early to mid-40s in this show, even though they don’t look it. It’s okay to play older in Hollywood, you just can’t BE older.
Also, several lines of dialog established in the first season that Clark either ages very slowly or not at all, so who knows how old he may be?
BTW, I saw “Road to Perdition” again recently and finally made the connection that he’s that kid. Sure makes me feel old.
Hope they make Lex cool here, but honestly I’ve had enough of that character to last several lifetimes, so they’ll have to work to impress me.
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I have a vague memory of how this Clark could be the the age of his peers (the one we’d met was played by Calista Flockhart) and they hand wave it with Kryptonian, but it kind of raises more questions as to how a bunch of esteemed journalists have never noticed the Clark Kent isn’t aging like the rest are…
I never warmed to this Superman version all.
And why has he stubble on his face?
It’s to try and get round this Superman is…well…
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But back to Picard
Summary
Jack becoming the nervous child with his parents was surprisingly good. Emotionally healthy Jack was a much more engaging character than hormonal teenager Jack. They made him part of the group rather than (as I said before) a lead of a different show
Enterprise-G Scene With Captain Seven of Nine • Star Trek Picard S03E10 - YouTube
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I didn’t follow any of the CW superhero shows until this one so all I saw of Hoechlin as Superman was a YouTube clip from whatever that crossover was where he fought the Brandon Routh version. Standing next to Routh he looked like Robin next to Batman so I was underwhelmed. Then came word that the new series would start with Lois and Clark married, move them from Metropolis to Smallville and saddle them with two teenage sons. Three strikes right out the gate in my mind, so given all that I can’t account for why I tuned in to the premiere (other than an abiding love of Superman that’s already weathered more media fails than should even be statistically possible). But I took to it right away and especially to Hoechlin as Superman/Clark. Yes, an awful lot of surface details for the mythos have changed, but on a fundamental level I feel they’ve got the spirit and essence of Superman totally right for the first time since…I don’t know, 1981? He’s an intrinsically decent, honest and compassionate person and manages, like Chris Evans’ Captain America, to be all those things without being a boring square (though I admit he does come closer than Evans).
There’s plenty of bumps otherwise, though. The teen drama is tolerable at best (though miles better than most CW fare), Lana is way too much hotter than Lois and yet every plotline that centers on her is deadly dull, Lois’ entire range seems to run from grim concern to cold anger, to the point where I can’t honestly remember her smiling or being fun once, and last year’s “big bad” was ridiculously nonsensical even for this die-hard Silver Age comic fan.
I agree about the 5 O’Clock shadow. Not only does it look weird on the traditionally clean-cut Superman, it also feels wrong for mild-mannered Clark (or even this “I gave up suits and an office job to live in Smallville” version) and it’s too hipster-narcissist a look for a midwestern dirt farmer who should be too focused on practical matters to spend an extra hour on trimming and oiling his beard every morning.
But I think maybe someone thinks it makes him look less boyish? Or maybe it’s just to differentiate him from the Superman he played on Supergirl, who based on revelations from last season was not in the same universe.
Anyway in the absence of decent movies, it’s a way to get my Superman fix. And it costs me nothing, so the price is right.
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I agree, and it bodes well for a potential series.
Summary
It was surprisingly touching how flustered and unsure how to respond he was to Jean-Luc telling him he was proud of him.
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The Mandalorian - Season 3
I loved the first two seasons, and I waited for the whole season 3 to be available so I can enjoy binge watching it.
And after the first two episodes I thought: Hmm.
And after the next two episodes I thought: Ummmm…
And then I completely lost interest. I was so bored. And the next time someone said “This is the way” I just thought: please, stop.
This season 3, IMO, is a complete desaster. It´s just same-samey, a mash-up of everything that has come before, adding a bit “Andor” here, going the usual route of the movies, offering eye-candy (look, a jetpack, look, lots of jetpacks, and new stormtroopers in new uniforms, and the red capes for those who will actually appear in the last trilogy). And if in doubt, go to Grogu, looking worried or smiling or letting his ears drop. Yeah, throw him in the air, too.
Completely uninvolving and a typical sign of narrative bankruptcy.
The story has been told and concluded at the end of season 2. But this is now for the shareholders: yes, Sir, of course, we can go on indefinitely. You have paid so much, now you will get the revenue for this.
And yes, it works because I will not cancel my Disney+ subscription because I desperately hope that the new Star Wars content will be better.
Which it won’t be.
Let´s face it: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER ended the Star Wars story (for my taste well enough).
Everything else which will come afterwards will just be an excuse for more light saber duels, space battles, bad guys hamming it up and finally dying (not really, they will be resurrected as the WOW-twist next time) with lots of flashy visuals reminding us of better days, and lots of music reminding us that John Williams already did it sooooo much better and won’t do it again.
Hey, it´s Monday. Rant away.
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FUBAR (Netfllix)
Just a review of the first ten minutes.
Capable, contemporary action comedy filmmaking. Nothing special. Nothing surprising. Tired old tropes, everything seen before and better. And Schwarzenegger, well, as a kid of the 80´s I do have a soft spot for him (damnit, pump it up, me, girlie man!). But… would it have been so algorithm-unfriendly to actually give him something interesting here?
I was so bored I could not bear to watch more of this. Sorry, Arnold.
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