danizoca

I'm exhausted. This tension, the politics, the intrigue, even to the last second. So much is happening in this episode. So much concealed under such elegant garments.

In one way I look forward to the finale next week, however I'm not sure how they are going to fit what I was anticipating to be in this episode into the last, unless it is a 3hr episode, but I think it won't be such.

The other way I'm looking forward to the finale, is I no longer will need to invest all my emotion and attention in this concentration of spectacle and the craft of each Actor performing to perfection their role, and appreciating each word, glance, and interaction with their counterparts in such a magnificent, stunning location.

I'll be ready for this finale but until then I'll be soaking in what I've watched today. What a pleasure it is to witness what the Arts can deliver if given a proper opportunity.

Thank you to the Creators, Actors, Crew, and Those That have painstakingly brought this masterpiece to us.

The conundrum has set in... I desperately want to see the last episode now, but I don't want it to be the last show. 10/10

As of Season 2 Episode 6, these are my speculations:

Something happened which split the group into four:
1. Silas - has his own agenda (although, IIRC, he was protecting Gavin/Isaiah because he made a promise to his mother, so they're probably "aligned"?)
2. Aldrich - had her own agenda
3. Gavin's mother - to permanently shutdown 1988
4. James (father) - who doesn't care what happens to the past as long as the future is saved

I think when they learned they were causing the sinkholes, James changed his agenda. They will stay in 10,000 B.C. and restart the human history their way.

Also, Gavin's mother said that their own future (2076) changed after the sinkholes started showing up randomly in their history. This is probably what gave James the idea to keep the portal open, and maybe to stay in 10,000 B.C.

I'm also suspecting that James is using the portals as a weapon. When they opened a portal to 1988, it caused an earthquake, a sign of an impending sinkhole.

If that is correct, then wherever the portal is opened, a sinkhole will eventually show up too.

The portal from the Lazarus project is one way. The sinkhole is the loop back. That is why the sinkholes are showing up. The energy produced by the Lazarus portal needs a loopback. Since no one's controlling it on the other side, a loopback portal shows up randomly.

Now, why a sinkhole? It's not the sinkhole per se, it is the location of the original portal.

Over time, throughout history, the elevation of land only kept on going higher and higher. Back in 10,000 B.C. compared to the modern era (1980s onwards), a lot of layers were already added.

So, when the loopback happens, it returns to the same elevation, and it is underneath the layers of soil that accumulated over thousands of years. Which resulted into sinkholes.

Only problem, the location of the portal is random. The only possible fixed thing is its elevation, hence the loopback portal is always underneath.

--- Another possibility, James already knew everything beforehand. His wife, Silas, Aldrich, they were all kept in the dark as to his actual agenda.

Only Lovers Left Alive was another vampire tale but not quite like the ones that have been presented to us over the last years. This is actually a very "vampiresque" film and it is exactly what we pretend in a film about vampires.

The atmosphere is absolutely perfect! We never see the light of a day, the sadness and heaviness of death is always present, afterall the characters are actually death of course. The pace may not be the best always and what's more interesting about this film, even with the lack of some content you actually never lost the interest and you wanna see more about the characters and where they will end up. The style also contributes to drag us inside of the film and it wants to deliver some messages about todays society.

The performances are great. Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton gave very interesting and deep performances. Afterall this is their film, there's not much of a story in it, it's just about two lovers, two vampire lovers which their love resists through centuries and they will be connected forever no matter what.

Only Lovers Left Alive is true romantic film and I see it as a romantic Ode. A film to triumph love in general.

Imagine making a movie that has such big stakes, but make it so nobody cares about any of the characters.

Jean Grey - Yawn, she struggled with controlling her powers, controlling her emotions. Some part understandable but I felt no emotion.
Professor X - Acts like a Villain for the first half of the film.
Mystique - Shouldn't have hired Jennifer Lawrence, she couldn't handle the make-up. Attempts a death scene but leaves no emotional impact.
Quicksilver - Has some of the most iconic scenes in comic book films and they don't give him his scene. Gets injured early on and just disappears until the end of the film.
Storm - Was just there to do damage.
Beast - The only character with correct motivation and you somewhat understand why he feels the way he does. Just feels like bad casting personally. Hoult is just too youthful and skinny for beast.
Cyclops - His character is just completely centred around Jean. Feels like we never get to see just Scott.
Nightcrawler - Where does this come from, he just become a murdering psycho and the build up just seems too out of character for him.
Magneto - Probably the best performance, character flipped sides very easily considering his motivation for wanted to kill Jean.
Jennifer Chastain/Aliens - Why, what, who, what, why.

Good scene - Using their power to fight over control of the helicopter
Bad Scene - Every single one with Jennifer Lawrence

Ever see a movie and you suddenly realize your IQ is dropping? That's this movie. I seriously cannot believe this movie got made, or that anyone in charge of the budget signed off on it. It's horribly dull, just scene after scene of people dancing and partying. These four "ladies" go on "spraang braaaake" and bad stuff happens. I kept waiting for the point, but really, the movie has nothing to say other than "look at these ladies in their bikinis." I guess the "moral" is that you shouldn't do bad things or bad things might happen to you? Maybe?

My least favorite part was the constant repetition of lines. I feel like the "writers" couldn't come up with good dialogue, so when they found something they liked, they repeated it. At one point, the girls get arrested, and they keep saying "it wasn't supposed to be like this" over and over. I'm not kidding, I think they said it six or seven times. The film is visually stunning, if I'm being positive. They spent a LOT of money on neon lights and fake guns...and swimsuits. SO MANY swimsuits, and so many closeups of women in swimsuits. I kinda feel like the director graduated from "Girls Gone Wild" to artsy films, but this need more plot, character arcs, and less of James Franco's teeth. If you want to hear people say "spraang braaaake forevvvvvahhh" many MANY times, go for it.

Well… this movie has absolutely broken me.

For context Unbreakable is one of my favourite movies of all time. Shyamalan was clearly ahead of the curve by deconstructing the standard comic book narrative only five months after the release of the first X-Men movie. The slow pace and highly intentional camera work make for a very entreating character study.

Split really caught me of guard back in 2017. James McAvoy’s performance being a highlight of the year and the reveal of David Dunn at the end lead to some great discussions about how the two stories would connect.

So now just two years after that revel but a whole nineteen years after Unbreakable Shyamalan brings us the concluding chapter to his comic book inspired trilogy.

Having seen the critical response before going in I wasn’t expecting much but for the first two thirds I really could not tell what the problem was. All of the performances were great. Bruce Willis coming of the back of years worth of disappointing performances seemed to actually care about his character. Samuel L. Jackson shows his ability to showcase a characters entire thought process with just the rise of an eyebrow and James McAvoy is so good at switching between personalities that moments in this film exist for the sole purpose of letting his show off.

The camera work kept me on edge the whole time, Shyamalan utilises every trick he has ever pulled of from hand-help tracking shots, point of view shots, panning shots reminiscent of his every work of Unbreakable and Signs and absolutely wonderful one takes that allow for McAvoy fully showcase the potential of his character(s). The more minor roles are also handled really well with Taylor-Joy returning as Casey Cooke adding to her wonderful performance from Split and Spencer Treat Clark making me question why he hasn’t had the chance to show just how great an actor he can be since his appearance in Unbreakable. Sarah Paulson is also far more important to this film than I had first presumed and her character has some great moments and aided by her subtle and purposeful performance.

But eventually you have to get the the finale. Without spoiling anything I am not a fan of the way this film concludes. To me it appears as if Shyamalan wanted a bigger reveal to justify the existence of the film and it just does not work.

The typically Shyamalan ending only serves to highlight some other issues I had with the film, particularly how underused the character of David Dunn was and how Shyamalan clearly cares more about the plot and characters in Split than Unbreakable begging the question of why this film had to exist and why It is called Glass when that character doesn’t do or say anything for about an hour of the movie.

Most of Glass is good, some of Glass is great but it never quite lives up to it’s full potential. Its worth seeing to round of the trilogy and maybe that ending will grow on me over time.

Great performances across the board and bold, unique direction but ultimately unsatisfying.

[7.1/10] A very amiable episode where not too much happens, and most of it feels like setup for bigger things, but the experience is a pleasant one.

Nothing feels more like setup than Luke being nudged by his sister for being too scelortic in the same way their dad was. It all centers on the boat Luke inherited from his dad which is, I suppose, as a good a symbol of stubborn intransigence as anything. After his other attempts to get a little more spontaneous fail, he ends up selling the boat to Kirk and buying a new and better one, that way he can take April on trips.

The lesson is that, gasp, Luke can change, something that the show underlines super hard in his last little scene with Lorelai. (Hint hint.) It’s fairly corny how much the show is tipping its hand in terms of putting Luke and Lorelai back together, especially when Luke being inflexible was more an invented problem in Season 6 as a barrier to the happy ending than something that felt true to Luke’s big life decisions. But still, at least they’re showing individual growth before just slapping the OTP together once more.

We also get some movement on the Logan/Rory story. Logan admits to Rory that his investment went belly up (after keeping it from her for weeks. What is it with Gilmore beau’s and hiding big news?) and Rory tries to be supportive but Logan is being a bit of an ass. Worse yet, he’s backsliding, staying up late drinking and resorting to going to Las Vegas with Colin and Finn (whom we haven’t seen since Season 6) to commiserate.

I’m pretty cold on this storyline. I think Logan having to deal with failure and not having money could be really interesting. But the notion of Logan backsliding into his libertine ways is too easy and too dull. I suppose I like the fact that they’re giving Rory and Logan conflicts based on external life events rather than infidelity or love triangles or other teen drama drivel that’s been done multiple times over, but this one could be stronger.
Still, the best part of the episode is Lorelai brokering peace between Lane and Mrs. Kim over the baby shower. She’s in a unique position to do it, because she both understands Lane’s need to rebel from an exacting and do things her own way with her own children, but also understands being a mother and how you don’t want to miss out on major events in your children’s life over differences, be they petty or meaningless. The use of her as go-between gives us some great scenes, and culminates in Lane asking Rory to fill that same role for her kids, which is a tribute both to their friendship and to the important role Lorelai played in her life.

We even get some great Lane/Mrs. Kim moments, with Lane declaring that Mrs. Kim devoted her life to Lane and that Lane intends to do the same thing, and the previously party-agnostic Mrs. Kim using her determination to make Lane’s baby shower happen despite the doctor’s requirement of bedrest. It leads to a John-Yoko-esque bed-in baby shower that’s ridiculous but amusing.

Overall, there’s not much to this episode, but it’s a pleasant outing, and there’s even a sweet recurring motif about “tossing out the first pancake” that lands nicely.

[7.3/10] So apparently this is the episode where the Gilmore Girls’ wealthy paramours feel threatened by an erstwhile rival, and so choose to act like jerks.
Let’s start with Logan. He’s not wrong that it’s uncool for Rory to carry on in Marty’s charade at the expense of her friend Lucy. I can see Rory not wanting to rock the boat and everything happening suddenly, but once again, Logan is the unexpected voice of reason, telling Rory that she was going to have to tell Lucy sometime.

The problem is threefold. Problem one is that it’s not Logan’s place to blow up Rory’s spot like that. When asked how he and Rory met, he could have easily just said “at a coffee cart on campus” or “through a mutual friend” or any number of things that would have prevented him from telling a lie, but not put Rory in that position. Problem two, it’s not the time or place to do it. Letting that happen in a public place where, to Rory’s point, Lucy would feel caught off guard and humiliated, is not good for anybody.

Problem three is that he did it for selfish reasons. Dressing it up as “what’s right and honest” carefully elides the fact that Logan was clearly lightly affronted that (a.) Marty had tried to flirt with his girlfriend and (b.) Rory hadn’t told him about it. Again, Logan’s not wrong to be miffed, but he reacts in what is ultimately a childish way, and pretends he’s acting out of a sense of honor. I can’t pretend I’m invested enough in the Rory and Lucy/Oliva relationship to be particularly heartbroken at the last scene, but maybe this whole deal will have some worthwhile fallout, for Rory’s new friend and for her boyfriend.
Chris has a very similar story here. He’s not exactly wrong in his basic feelings either. As Emily points out, Lorelai is used to having things her way; she likes winning arguments, and she’s not always great at compromise. Hell, it’s something Max pointed out back in the day. (Come to think of it, Lorelai’s relationship with Chris now has some of the problems the relationship with Max did, right down to putting Rory in an awkward position at times.) Chris isn’t crazy to bristle a bit at the sense that Lorelai wants to call the shots, and that she’s not always great at taking her significant others’ wishes into account.

But again, there’s multiple problems with how Chris reacts. For one, I don’t care if someone is being the most self-centered person in the world. No matter who you are, it’s not okay to be upset at someone for not wanting to try to conceive a child right this instant, especially if you just sprung the idea on them two minutes ago. For another, Lorelai’s right that it’s incredibly rude to bring their issues up in public in front of Lorelai’s mother (and Gil from Frasier!).
And last but not least, there’s something pretty suspect about Chris’s motivations. His whole desire to have a baby seems spurred by his looking at Luke and Lorelai cooing over little Doola together. It seems like he’s just trying to plant his flag via a child, and even if they’re married, that’s the absolute worst reason to try to have a kid, let alone to try to strongarm someone else into having a kid right now without warning. Chris has been short-sighted and oblivious before, but he’s rarely been this much of an outright jerk, and it doesn’t look good on him.

That just leaves poor Luke. There are intricacies to blended families and custody issues that I will never understand in the way that people who have actually experienced them do. But I feel for Luke here. What he’s asking for in terms of visitation sounds pretty reasonable, and Anna’s refusal to let him see his daughter because she’s not sure “whether April’s safe” with him is a low blow. He’s in an impossible position, one where he loves and has proven a caring parent to a daughter he didn’t know he had, and finds himself powerless to do much of anything to keep her mother from taking her away from him. I have only the faintest, broadest understanding of how family law would work in this situation, but it seems harsh that on a practical level, he would have no real rights in this situation.

But unlike Logan or Christopher, Luke has no one to take his ill-feelings out on (other than his diner customers, as usual. That is until he and Chris run into one another across the town square, and they each wordlessly find an irresistible way to get out their anger and frustrations.
It’s a very well-done and well-directed sequence. It feels weird to say about a show like Gilmore Girls, but between this and the rumble between Dean and Jess, the show has some pretty darned impressive fight choreography. It feels like a genuine brawl between two guys pushing middle age, with Luke’s ducking and dodging from high school sports coming in handy before things devolve into a much less elegant scap. There’s some dark humor in the way they crash into the X-mas scenery, and the way the normally restrained show starts using the steadicam makes the action feel far more frenetic and chaotic. It’s a moment that goes big, but the show nails it.

Overall, “Merry Fisticuffs” is a bit frustrating, since two of the guys in the show are about as rude as we’ve ever seen them, and the other is in what seems like an unfortunate, unwinnable situation with his newfound parenthood, but the show finds interesting ways to use those ill-feelings, and hopefully the fall out will be just as compelling.

I was expecting a little more from this film but I can't say that I am totally unsatisfied. It's not great but it's not a bad also. It was a sweet little coming of age film.

Adult World tells us the story of Amy, a young woman that just finished college and her biggest dream since ever is to be a famous poet. She spend a lot of her parents money on the pursuit of her dream, so her parents told her that she couldn't continue to live like that and she needs to find a job. After being rejected in some places she finally finds a job at a sex shop called Adult World. But she never gave up on her dream, she starts stalking one of her favorite writers persuading him to be his protege.

The main reason why I wanted to see this film actually was because I saw John Cusack's name associated with it and he has a great lunatic performance but who really surprised me afterall was Emma Roberts. She had a great performance, very natural and funny.

All of the characters have very unique personalities but I think the supporting characters should have had more time on screen and they were underused. One of the other problems with it is that at the end we feel like something was missing. Amy certainly learned a lesson but it leads us to a point that we're already counting on.

I think the main story is becoming more important. Now, especially. Simon and his wife have been arrested, and so have Billy and his two friends. The X'ers are practically finished. Sure, there are still those that didn't have significant roles who weren't arrested, like the union rep, at least on-screen. But I doubt they'll be of any importance moving forward. Not to mention, they may have been arrested off-screen after the significant X'er bust in this episode. With that plotline seemingly resolved, these three shadow figures are now roaming around, taking on the new "main" focus, I'm guessing. I don't think the writers would have them show up now if they aren't meant to be a bigger aspect, right off the bat. Especially considering they're a throwback to Cal's first Calling-induced drawing which was brought back up in this episode, too, only he drew one. And the biblical references are back! Matthew 24:24 and the baby's name, Eden. That baby is most certainly going to be a focal part of the show from now on, in some way. Also, am I the only one who is somewhat with Adrian's point of view? He may very well be deluded, as Ben said. I can understand why that would be believed and assumed, but at the same time, wouldn't blindly following the Callings, assuming they're for good, down to a T, just because of certain circumstances that lead to a seemingly good ending, also be a variation of delusion as well? Maybe even more so than Adrian's perspective. I don't know, I just feel like there's something to it.

A solid episode of Manifest though flawed. Everyone is acting like Real_Dad attacked someone without provocation but mysteriously ignoring the fact that 828_Racist actually threatened his son.

This episode our new character Zeke (which will be the name of my future first son by the way). With his lack of desire to return there was a while when I thought he might be a serial killer or something. After all so far we haven't really had any 828 passengers who are bad people. We had a domestic abuser who lost his memory. We have the Spy_Passenger who I still don't understand.

So by the way 828 racists are a thing apparently. I don't know how people who write TV think hate groups work but these are Alex Jones like conspiracies and you see them in every show like this, Manifest, The Event, Flash Forward and each time it's just silly. No one would buy this. Much less successfully start an entire movement on it. After all there are people who think they're saviors where are they? Why aren't they debunking the livestream which should clearly show that 828_Racist threatened a child. Why don't the police know that matter of fact. Why isn't Real_Dad pointing this out. This is TV writing. People do things for reasons and then when asked about what happened they stutter "uh uh uh.. i just lost control". No you didn't. You had a reason for what you did. Oftentimes a mitigating one.

Another thing I don't understand. Why is it so hard to remove spray paint? that must be the most ingenious invention ever created because NO ONE can solve it. They just all use water and scrub uselessly. Why doesn't ANYONE go out and buy some solvent. There are pages and pages and pages on how to remove spray paint but all you ever see is a bucket of water and a scrubbing brush. It's my understanding that if you get it while it's wet, maybe that'll work but considering how long that X was there you're going to need more than that.

But look how minor my complaints are this episodes. Spray Paint and super effective "racism". Like the one where-- that was last episode. Like Last episode this was pretty good, even with my nitpicks. I didn't mind Olive_theDaughter even though there was plenty of potential for her to insist that she should have been filled in earlier. The whole "everyone who knows dies" thing kinda feels contrived. They're drawing conclusions with barely any evidence. Correlation is not causation. People who know have died but that doesn't mean knowing is what makes them die.

Oo ooo oo.. Also. they played Bananagrams. As a board gamer I like to see fun games being played. not boring family games like monopoly and connect 4. Bananagrams is an excellent family game. it's exactly the sort of family game modern families should be playing.

Um, what happened? Who wrote this episode because they deserve a raise and everyone else needs to be fired because this episode so far (50%) is EXCELLENT. And the couple that is literally the worst is having a legit fight. But let's back up.

This episode picks up on the event that happened last episode Cal is missing. So the entire family is kicking up a storm. Dad wants to spy hard, Michella kidnaps the spy passenger (I don't even know when she learned Autumn was a spy because I must have fallen asleep last episode, something that happens regularly but I try to rewatch later to see what I missed) to find out what she knows. Assuming the infomation matches this is a reasonable act. Mom calls the cops which is a reasonable action given that she doesn't know what's going on.. wait is that right? Because Dad and Mom fight about this. Did he not tell her about all the stuff going on? I swore he did and she scoffed him off. Either way we get the "Don't protect me" speech which I usually agree with, but again I don't think he was protecting her because I thought I remembered him telling. If I have that wrong I have to reassess everything to do with Mom and how wrongly she's been acting. Not this episode though.

Dad: This is the drawing that is the only clue to where our son might be
Mom: I know this place
Dad: Are you sure?
Mom: it's made out of crayon I don't know.

wow. a great response to a stupid question. You have no leads. What do you care if she's sure. Then they have a drive that's just as awkward as it needs to be (with bonus product placement). Before they scour the town and have a legit fight. I mean a real legit fight over real legit things. I was so shocked that I suddenly realized the entire episode has been good and I had to get my notepad++ open just to type this mid-episode. They have a fight about whose fault it is that Dad moved out.

Mom: If we lived together this wouldn't have happaned
Dad: Yeah, I agree but it's not your fault
Mom: Wait what?!?!

Holy balls. Where do you get the cajones to say something that stupid hombre? I mean do you not like your wife? I thought you wanted to have her sleeping next to you? Because that's exactly how you keep her sleeping next to your replacement. She is rightfully offended at his presumption that she blames herself. After all it was his decision to leave.

Uh oh. I just hit unpause and it got stupid.

Dad: You kicked me out
Mom: You didn't fight for "us" (Ed: Ugh really?)
Mom: You left because you know what you did. You didn't make Cal the number one in your life.

Chicken-head says what? (I'd like to apologize for the unnecessary sexism. it's not cool. I was just super frustrated with the dialog) Like dang Grace you've been blocking Ben from doing what he needs to do FOR the family.

Dad: Everything I've done has been to keep Cal safe.
Mom: But no one else is blowing up their families why can't you be normal like them?
Dad: I'm a main protagnist do you not get how this works yet?

Alright the episode has gotten cheesy and product placy but you know what it hasn't got? Bad.

Dad: Mom, see this car? (Ed: because it's so ridiculous everyone needs to see it - https://i.imgur.com/2wkwI4G.jpg)
Dad: I think someone is following us. There's a single car behind us on this two lane highway with infrequent exits. Why else would a car be behind us.
Mom: But.. how can they keep up with us and not get lost we've been driving straight down the highway
Dad: I don't know but we're not driving a normal direction we're going straight
Mom: Does this car have any off-road features or anti-lock brakes?
Dad: I'm glad you asked that because all the base models come with both of those and for an extra $1000 we'll throw in linen seats.

Michella and Jared show up to do information exchange with the spy passenger Autumn

Mich: Thanks for switching to our side
Autu: You're welcome.
Mich picks up the information she brought autumn from the table behind her rather than from a brief case or any sort of envelope she would have been carrying on her. thus indicating she came in. Put the envelope down and walked in to talk to Autumn rather than just holding on to it for whatever reason.

Do the show runners even car about prop logic?

Mich: Did you guys get the location I sent you?
Mom and Dad: Yes.
Mich: I know it took you guys hours to get where you are but I'm coming too.. wait hours for me to get there don't try anything stupid like going to find your lost and missing son in the middle of winter.

But these are all relatively minor complaints in this show. I mean after this episode i can see what they were trying to do with Grace's character act. it just made no sense until now. In retrospect those earlier episodes are even worse because it was intentional. they need a firm steady hand to keep the characters and their motivations consistent and reasonable with the long term serial nature of the show. This shouldn't be impossible. But even the mythos ending was great. The hiker from Michella's vision isn't Cal in the future as I thought it's another time skipper, this time a hiker who skipped two years . He's an interesting addition to the cast and we've barely met him. This has got to be one of THE BEST episodes of the season.

Ed: Some of the conversations have been paraphrased for laziness reasons. Some have a bit of creative license in them

[7.1/10] It’s the main story that really saves this one. I love the idea of Leslie struggling with the idea of Leslie still smarting from it being her last day on the City Council, and concocting a hare-brained scheme to take Councilman Dexhart’s seat in her frustrations. The way that everyone pushes back on her, and her incredulous reactions to that (especially with Ron) is pretty funny, and Jerry thinking it’s a good idea being a cincher is surprisingly amusing too.

Plus, the ending absolutely kills it. Bringing back Jennifer Barksdale as Ben’s consolement gift is an inspired move, for the character and the show. Her telling Leslie to aim higher, and that Leslie can believe her because Jennifer doesn’t care about her enough to lie is a great way to keep Barksdale in character and still lift Leslie up. The trip to Paris veers a little too far into the wish fulfillment that the show would eventually devolve into, but it’s still heartwarming to see Leslie and Ben romancing it up out there.

The B-story, with Tom taking his Rent-a-Swag money and trying to go Shark Tank with things was pretty weak on the whole. The applicants didn’t have the same flair as the town forum attendees the show goes back to when it needs rapid-fire laughs, and Tommy’s Tissues wasn’t as funny as the show seemed to think. Still, the running gags about Andy’s sleep deprivation were a nice way to introduce him back into the cast. And the ending was great, with Tom, inspired by April, inventing a new title for himself, “Business Liason” that both plays to his strengths and plays into Ron’s free market predilections.

The weakest story in the episode, however, was Ann and Chris’s. The pregnancy jokes with Ann being hungry/crazy/etc. is the hackiest vein of humor. And the couple not being able to read their baby’s gender on the doctor’s note while racing to get him to clarify is a cheesy sitcom plot. This one really dragged the episode down.

Still, overall, the A-story wins the day on this one, and Tom’s story ending on a satisfying note cleanses some of the meh parts of it away.

A wise woman once said: "A guy like you should wear a warning - It's dangerous-I'm falling... I'm a dick ted to you don't you know that you're toxic?"

I'm sticking with my theory that the last episode of this season will wrap everything up as being a parody of reality or something like that. An episode of the writersroom of the Twilight Zone 2019 creating all these... stories in order to make a point and failing miserably at it, suddenly realising they themselves have created the Twilight Zone in their reality... our reality. And that we now live in the Twilight Zone due to all this propaganda instead of the "real world".

I didn't find this episode as annoying as the rest of 'm... even IF I am of the male type but it was once again a way too obvious tale without any nuance. Unlike other movies where a certain group of people suddenly go berserk this one was handled with extreme comedic effect. Hell, all men were attacking eachother, guess it would have been too harsh to see some actual male on female violence or rape. Can't go TOO far can we Mr.Peele?! No that would be wrong to show that.

In a way it's utterly fascinating to attempt to get into but I find it very hard to understand the mindset the creators and everyone else involved (or the people defending these mediocre stories).

Next week: The "remember that we're all immigrants!" episode

[7.2/10] Cartoonist Anthony Pizzo described Daniel Palladino as a good writer for Gilmore Girls, but one whose scripts you can always detect because they invariably include heightened emotional moments where the characters are having feelings very loudly. I like a lot of this episode, but it feels very much in that style, where there’s interesting things at play, but they’re all very over-the-top and not at all subtle or restrained.

Let’s hit the big stuff first. Jess comes back! I’m not sure why I’m excited by that, since he’s probably made me roll my eyes more than any other character on this show save for maybe Taylor, but it’s still a minor thrill to see his name in the credits after so long. And what’s more, he seems to have put his life together and learned from his mistakes.

As I’ve said many times in these write-ups, I always liked Jess more as someone apart from being Rory’s suitor, a decent kid trying to figure his life out rather than a gadfly third wheel or less-than-great boyfriend. This episode leans into that. He’s written a book; he has a steady job, and best of all, he thanks Rory for help making it possible. He’s not falling all over himself asking her to run away with him or insinuating this or that. He just seems like a decent guy, come to share his good news and show real appreciation for someone who made his life better. It’s endearing how happy Rory is to see Jess find a little success and stability, and to have her belief in him vindicated.

But then there’s the confrontations with Logan and Rory, and it starts to become a case of ideas I like with execution I don’t. It seems totally natural that Logan would (a.) be miffed to find his girlfriend palling around with an ex without saying word one to him (it’s what nearly broke up Luke and Lorelai), and (b.) would try to puff himself up a bit in the face of his girlfriend’s former beau. But man, it’s a bad look for him here. Even if Logan was just a garden variety jerk to Jess, which would comprehensible if not exactly commendable, the way that he patronizes Jess by throwing his money around, or implying Jess is a rube, or just generally tries to abrasively establish himself as better than Jess is truly unpleasant, and arguably unprecedented for Logan.

Then there’s the big flare up between Jess and Rory outside the restaurant. Again, I really like the idea here. I don’t know if I buy Jess’s “I know you better than anybody” self-assessment, but he’s right that he has an impression of who Rory is deep down, and the choices she’s made are very much not her, something that Logan, in his own way, agrees with. I like the narrative choice here, that Rory is affected by someone she considers a friend and who has insight into her without having been along for the ride, declaring that there’s something wrong, that she’s not acting like herself and it worries him.

What I don’t like is the melodramatic way it all goes down, or the Jess’s constant repetition of the same lines, or his odd, uptalk-y, headbobbing performance of his last few bits of dialogue. It’s nice to have someone non-jokingly ask Rory “why the hell would you drop out of Yale?” but like a lot of the old Jess stuff, it’s too overwrought to land despite the good ideas underlying it.

The same goes for Logan’s little blow up with Rory. The show’s been building to his growing dissatisfaction with the way his dad is railroading him into a life he doesn’t want, and there’s something there. But the way he gets angry at Rory, and the way that Rory gets angry at herself, is all over the top as they each accuse the other of being in the preferable situation and squandering it. The contrast Palladino tries to draw there is a sound one, but the method of delivery is too blunt.

Luke thinks the girls soccer team he’s sponsoring is a little too blunt as well, though more in the physical than figurative sense. It’s frankly the best, or at least the most solid part of the episode, which is not something I typically say about something there purely for comedy. It’s a little goofy of a plotline, but Luke being reluctant to sponsor the team, then super into it, then recoiling when he realize how hard-nosed his charges are is a cute bit with some fun comic performances. Heck, I even like the “Lorelai goes full bore into swatch-picking” comedy subplot as well.

But then Daniel Palladino starts holding your hand through every point he’s trying to make. I’ve never been a big fan of Paul Anka the dog, if only because the comic elements didn’t really work for me. But here the show goes over the top in underlining the fact that the dog is pseudo replacement for Rory. And while Lauren Graham does a yeoman’s job of trying to make the hamfisted dialogue work, the who equivalence drawn between her thinking she’s a bad pet owner and also thinking she’s a bad mother for “not being able to prevent this” is just too on the nose.

The same is true for Rory feeling stifled by her grandmother the same way Lorelai did. Once again, I really like the idea of Rory finding herself in her mom’s shoes and suddenly bristling at Emily’s micromanagement. But the episode makes it too cartoony, and then has that final confrontation where Daniel Palladino writes it all on the screen by having Emily declare that Rory is just like her mother, and refer to Richard in a sentence a la “wait til your father gets home.” We get it, Daniel. You’re recreating the Emily/Lorelai dynamic in a new generation. You don’t have to underline it so hard!

Anyway, I’m probably guilty of the same thing, taking Mr. Palladino to task for the same issue over and over again. What’s frustrating is that if you gave me the elevator pitch version of this story, of the parallels that would be drawn and the places the characters would be, I would be very enthusiastic. But this script squanders a lot of good opportunities for real, earned emotion, which means that it’s not bad since those good ideas shine through, but it could be so much better, and somehow that’s more frustrating.

[8.8/10] Whatever your other feelings about this episode,you have to give Gilmore Girls this -- it may have topped Parks and Recreation in the category of “Best Use of Madeleine Albright in a T.V. Show” which is no small feat. The recreation of the famous 4 A.M. birthday wake up call, with our former Secretary of State, gives us a slanted version of one of the show’s touchstones, in a way that shows the shadow of that broken connection is weighing on Rory’s mind while giving it an appropriately dream-like twist.

That’s the throughline for this episode. As in some prior Amy Sherman-Palladino-penned eps, this one doesn’t so much have an A-story and a B-story or so on, as it has a theme that everyone is ruminating on and orbiting around at once. Rory’s birthday is coming up, and that means different things to pretty much everyone in Rory’s life, including the birthday girl herself. The way each of them handles that is revealing of the characters, and features more great writing from ASP.

One of the benefits of having the boss writing the script is that the dialogue just pops. There’s absolutely cutting Emily lines like “Horrid people, why don’t they just show up the night before with a sleeping bag.” There’s funny character moments like Paris and Doyle’s well-rehearsed “I was sleeping with the editor” “Now I am!” bit. And there’s interactions like a meeting between Logan and Zach, or stately ladies laughing when Luke asks what the DAR is that are pitch perfect.

But often what strikes me about these signature episodes is how great the performances are even when there’s little-to-no dialogue. I think I’ve come to take Lauren Graham for granted on this show. She is so effortlessly good so much of the time, and so much a focus, that it’s easy to forget how talented she is and how much she carries the show. Both she and Kelly Bishop have the ability to vacillate seamlessly between flawless comedy and forceful but not overdone emotional moments. The look of touched joy on Lorelai’s face when she realizes that Rory called upset because she hadn’t RSVP’d to the birthday party, and the look of quiet pain on her face when she sees Rory’s birthday, and with it, Rory’s life, moving on without her, are each outstanding scenes that show of Graham’s incredible chops.

But everyone is on fire here (not literally, no need to worry Sookie). I appreciate that for the elder Gilmores, the initial concern about the big 2-1 is the prospect that Rory might be having sex. There’s ways in which Richard and Emily are very quaint and of their time, and this is one of them. It comes off pretty adorable if backward, with the invitation to the reverend and his speech about virtue vs. sweaters, Emily’s trying to hogtie Rory out of the poolhouse, and Richard ranting that he bought her a “sex house” “sex mattress” and “sex box springs. Hell, even Emily referring to Lane as “Rory’s Asian friend” is one of those small but significant details that shows how quietly backward the elder Gilmores can be, and that’s on full display here.

In the same vein, I enjoy how torn up Richard is about all this, how much he’s finally realized the depth of this issue, but in a way that’s still utterly patronizing to all involved. There’s something so true to the elder Gilmores’ “throw money at the problem” philosophy to Richard’s plan of either leveraging Rory’s trust fund to get to her to go back to Yale, or trying to bribe her with a car or townhouse. Lorelai is right to be steamed that only now does Richard accept that this is an issue and want to change course after he already facilitated this course, and she’s right that this sort of bribery would never work on someone like Rory.

But things only get better and more serious when Richard, Emily, and Lorelai more or less have it out in Richard’s office at the party. On the Lorelai front, there’s that moment of vindication for the audience where Richard says that everything went wrong when they went against her. (And I appreciate the added shading that prior moment gets with Emily noting it was Richard’s idea, which helps explicate things a bit.) But on the other hand, their conversation makes explicit the subtext of all this sex talk -- that they’re afraid about Rory being sexually active because they’re afraid it means she’ll turn out like Lorelai, and only then will they have “lost her.” It’s what Emily’s most worried about, and it drives her daughter away.

Then Richard makes it even worse, because while he seems to be somewhat worried Rory will turn out like her mother now that she’s sleeping with boys, he’s just as worried that she’ll turn out like Emily, however much he may try to back water from that. You can see the hurt and anger in Emily’s eyes when he calls planning parties and organizing social functions, which are her contributions to their lives, “meaningless” and “frivolous.” Richard is beside himself, feeling like he’s lost the granddaughter who’s the apple of his eye, but in his frustration and stupor, he may also lose his wife and his daughter, and that’s the sort of interwoven emotional threads that I appreciate when Sherman-Palladino is behind the pen.

And that doesn’t even touch on the outstanding Lorelai/Rory stuff here. The episode gets the longing, the regret, the wistfulness, and the awkwardness between them just right. There’s so much tradition and meaning wrapped up in Rory’s birthday for both of them, and the two simple shots of each awake, noticing the other’s absence at 4:03 A.M. on the big day, tells us all we need to know about how hard that is.

There’s also great scenes of each one’s beau trying to comfort them. The big Atlantic City plan is something Lorelai and Rory both feel loathe to be missing out on, and Logan and Luke each try their best to comfort them despite it. The way that each Gilmore Girl expresses the same sense of loss in the same way shows how close the two really are, even when they’re this far apart. It adds a layer of melancholy to every moment when they’re interacting with or considering the other, and the way that their initial slight thawing at the party leads to Rory being pulled away by her new life is softly devastating.

But then there’s Luke, who’s not nearly as showy as the other major characters in the show, but just as effective. He doesn’t make much out of giving Rory his mother’s necklace (pearls, appropriately), but it’s clear that the gesture means a lot to him. The same goes for him acquiescing to Lorelai’s mad scientist Halloween plan, something he’s very much against, but willing to do when he knows the woman he loves is in a bad place and needs it. He’s a good guy, and in an episode where Richard show’s the pitfalls of good intentions and poor understanding, Luke shows the benefits of acceptance, support, and love.

It’s a hell of an episode, and hopefully a sign that Season 6’s needle is pointing north once again.

(As a side note, I wish we had gotten more from Emily realizing that Lorelai is engaged and didn’t tell them. That was a big deal the last time it happened, and I was hoping we’d get more of an echo of that, or some aspect of Emily processing it, beyond just their quick exchange here. Also, I haven’t really had the opportunity to mention it elsewhere, but I’m pretty tired of the antics around Paul Anka the dog.)

[8.2/10] Another good episode. “Say Something” gives the dissolution of Luke and Lorelai the time and space it deserves. It has a superb performance from the always-great Lauren Graham, who sells Lorelai’s manic dismay and attempt to fix what’s broken, her crestfallen state after Luke ends thing, and her resolve to be an adult about all of this.

I like the parallels in this one -- where Lorelai, Rory, and Paris, are each trying to figure out whether/how they should contact a boy that they’re waiting to hear from. Paris’s business re: Doyle is the lightest, but it’s a great outing for Paris, for her usual caustic wit, her demands to play boggle (which left me dreaming of a Paris vs. Peggy Hill boggle match), and her ability to use the “dross” from a pair of “bimbos” effectively for relationship advice.

But I also like the Rory-Logan stuff here too. I’ll admit, I always found the game-playing in the who-should-call-whom game rather tiresome when I was Rory’s age, but the truth is that there’s a complex and mostly-opaque system of etiquette for these things that no one quite knows how to traverse to toe the line between “interested” but not “too interested.” It’s fun to see Rory trying to be smooth, feeling put off when what she thought would be an intimate encounter turns out to be a group poker game, and then is mature enough to (a little petulantly) raise her issues with Logan, work them out, and decide that the game-playing suggested by the “Bradford Cereal Girls” is not her style. Plus Logan is pretty nice here -- explaining himself fairly and giving Rory his limo to go help her mom when she’s otherwise carless.

That comforting is well done too. It’s always nice when, despite the tumult going on all around, the show falls back on the strength of the core relationship of the show. The way that Rory is willing to instantly drop everything to look after Lorelai in a time of need is admirable, and it’s always endearing how these two women are always there to support each other and live up to the show’s theme song.

That said, I could do without the town color in this one. Thankfully, it’s more of a drive-by with a lot of different characters rather than concentrated Taylor, but in trying to lighten the episode a bit via the different colored ribbons and collections of people going “uh oh” just weakens the overall project. Though Michel’s reaction to the doll party saves some of it.

But the show gets the most important thing right -- the break-up of Luke and Lorelai. There’s something so true on both sides of the equation, where Lorelai is desperate to explain herself, to try to make things right, to do something t improve the situation to where she can’t sit still, and where Luke just wants some time and space to think after such a dramatic scene and revelation.

It also gets the emotional states and perspectives just right. It’s so natural for Lorelai to say that Christopher is weak and he won’t be a problem again, and that Richard and Emily will be cut out of her life, because she’s an independent person who sees these people as exterior additions to her life rather than core parts of it like Rory. But Luke’s right that Chris will always be a part of her life since he’s Rory’s dad, and the same is true for her parents.

The fact that Lorelai couldn’t do right by Luke in this situation -- that she neither told him beforehand that she was going to go comfort Christopher nor was honest or forthcoming about it afterward -- suggests this isn’t the sort of problem Lorelai can just handle. Luke’s right to suggest that ingredients aren’t going to change, that what bothers him is how she cooked the meal, and he’s right to have reservations about that. It took until Season 5, but the show finally broke up a couple in a way I found believable and compelling; unfortunately it was my favorite couple on the show.

But credit to Gilmore Girls for having its characters make believable choices that are true to who they are and then playing them out to their natural conclusions. It’s not fun to see Luke and Lorelai broken apart after how great they were together, but this feels like the natural consequence of Lorelai keeping something from Luke like this, and the honest reaction that Luke would have, no matter how much he cares about Lorelai.

And what’s truly compelling about this one is how vivid and painful Lorelai’s regret is. I complimented Amy Sherman-Palladino’s visual style when she wrote and directed the prior episode, but credit should go to Daniel Palladino for this one too, not just for the way he writes truth into the sadness and uncertainty in these moments, but for the stellar dream sequence that feels of a piece with similar efforts from The Sopranos. The way Palladino uses symbolism and mixes and matches images and lines from past and present to signify how much Lorelai wishes she could go back and do better is tremendous.

That’s really the overall theme here. It’s sad that it takes to this point for Lorelai to say that she’s “all in” too. It’s heartbreaking when she worries about the lost “middle” of their relationship, that somewhere between their great beginning and the nigh-fated happy ending for the two of them, she’s worried about losing all those great years, all those wonderful times, that fill the spaces between starts and finishes. “Say Something” plays the pain of that loss, the realness of what drove Luke and Lorelai apart here, to the hilt, and makes them both feel like real human beings who, contrary to Taylor’s ribbons, we don’t have to pick sides over. We just have to recognize them as two good people, both in a tough situation, who each have reasons for our sympathies, something that Gilmore Girls can accomplish well in quality episodes like this one.

[8.4/10] One of the things I like about Gilmore Girls is how it explores the ripple effect that an event can have emotionally. Richard and Emily are excited about Yale school spirit and their granddaughter and so they take her to the Harvard-Yale game, which means that Lorelai, otherwise football-resistant, wants to go too. At the game, Lorelai talks to Richard’s old flame, leading Emily to realize that the pair have been speaking to one another, and eventually ferreting out the revelation that the two have been having an annual lunch since Richard and Emily got married.

That means an upset Emily is short with her maid, and eventually harsh with Lorelai for getting the ball rolling on this reveal. That leads Lorelai to say yes to Digger’s date proposal, which she’d previously been resisting so as not to upset things with her mother.

Phwew, that’s a lot, but it all fits and it’s all well-written. The family dynamics with the Gilmores is one of the strongest elements of the show, and it’s a testament to Amy Sherman-Palladino’s writing that she’s so good at balancing that and creating an emotional throughline for all these seemingly unrelated events.

Pretty much every part of this one work. It’s great to see the four Gilmores paling around Yale, doing traditions, having drinks, and generally having the complicated but endearing back and forths that make their Friday Night Dinners so entertaining. Little details like Paris’s boredem (and then smooch-fest with Michael York), or Marty’s awkward introduction to the fam, or even Richard singing along with the wiffenpoofs is delightful.

Then you have Lorelai and Digger’s date, which is a perfect encapsulation of why the two would be attracted to one another and have a spark, but not be right for each other. I love the subtlety of Lorelai feeling uncomfortable at the secluded room at the fancy restaurant, and Digger feeling uncomfortable at the Taco Barn drive-in. The script and the performers perfectly capture the feel of an awkward date, and you can see how both of them are trying but the fit isn’t right.

And then they go to the grocery story and cobble together an enjoyable evening, and for a second, they can forget how poorly the previous hour went. It’s sweet and funny, and lets you see how the two could work in a vacuum, but probably won’t work if they have to have a foot on solid ground in either DIgger’s world or Lorelai’s. Interesting and real.

And hey, even the comic C-story was good. I love Luke as Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof -- stuck in his ways and declaring that everything is fine and he’s never going to change things, and then amusingly folding just a little bit later. The “frog kid” as his new waiter is a good larf (particularly Kirk’s reaction to him), and the bit works.

Overall, a mighty fine and entertaining episode, like most of the ones penned by Amy herself are.

[6.0/10] Ugh, I cannot take this show going full-on relationship drama. I don’t know. I’m conflicted about this, because so much of this makes sense with respect to who the characters are. Rory is definitely the kind of person who would try to see the best in someone and end up doing something she regrets because of it. Lorelai is definitely the kind of person who would fly off the handle because she’s worried about her daughter, even to the point of telling one of her dearest friends to go to hell. And Luke is the kind of selfless guy who would take in his own good-for-nothing nephew and try to take care of him and be myopic about him to a certain extent. And Jess is the exact kind of scumbag who would disdain anyone legitimately try to help him and cause trouble in someone else’s life because he wants to be with her.

But god, it is so hard to watch, and it is such a bad look for the title characters. I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face -- I like the idea that despite the fact that Rory is such a good girl, she’s still doing the thing that all teenagers do, and making mistakes as she figures out what her romantic life should be. But geeze, seeing her openly flirt with Jess and give into his bad boy schtick is just so grrrrrrrr.

And Lorelai, who is nominally on my side about this, is not much better. It’s an incredibly low blow for her to blame Luke for what happens with Jess. It makes complete and total sense that she is frustrated and looking for someone to blame and Luke just happens to bear the brunt of her at a bad time, but it’s still so painful to watch her treat him like that.

Hell, I hate Jess, but there’s something awful about the fact that she actually (at least seems to have) convinced Luke to literally put him on a bus. I get that she’s being mama bear here, and has every right to look out for her daughter, and is especially haried after Rory is in a car accident with Jess, but man, it feels so cold.

Then she is nigh-openly trying to break up Chris’s relationship with Sherry, which also feels wrong. Again, it’s understandable -- she’s in a bad place and reaching out for something familiar, but that, coupled with her treatment of Luke, verges into “it’s really hard to like you right now” territory for the character who is, nominally, supposed to be more mature about these sorts of things than Rory is.

Nevermind the fact that I’m sure we’ll have more Jess drama, and having him be such a big part of the episode just exposes how much of an annoying twerp he really is. Granted, again, this is what teenage bad boys are like, and it’s the exact kind of crud that would attract a strait-laced sixteen year old, but god, every sentence he utters makes me roll my eyes. And the whole “I’m not going to college, so why try” bit is such a cliché.

Then you have the whole two of them crashing Dean’s car debacle, which seems too perfectly tailor-made for more relationship drama for my tastes. It’s too symbolic and obvious.

But hey, at least we have Kirk’s hilarious, Ed Wood-esque short film to laugh at.

I don’t know, guys. This was a hard one to watch, and easy to one in which to be frustrated with almost all the characters (save for Luke, who provides reasonable, if occasionally naive explanations for everything he tries to do here). I appreciate the show having the courage to show its characters making big mistakes and hurting good people in the process. It’s a tough thing to do to take your characters in that direction. I just hope it has the conviction to explore that and not just gloss over it or pretend we should be on board with Rory and Lorelai’s actions.

WARNING! THIS REVIEW IS FULL OF SPOILERS! IT IS MEANT TO BE READ BY PEOPLE WHO HAVE ALREADY READ THE BOOK OR SEEN THE MOVIE! WARNING!

I, like a lot of other people, read the novel this is based on, and I personally feel like it's one of the most faithful adaptations of Kings work to date. Everything about it (except for a few minor gripes) is fucking awesome! Sorry, it just is....

I have to start by saying that I am, in all honesty, not a big fan of the Stanley Kubrick film The Shining. I think that it's a great looking film and I really appreciate the aesthetics of it but I just can't see how ANYONE would go as far as to say that it's the "best film of all time" or even worse: "the scariest film of all time". The Shining never scared me.

I like the novel quite a lot, more so than the film, but even there, I can't say that I think that it's one of the best books by King. Doctor Sleep on the other hand is one of my favourite King novels to date so when I heard they were making a movie directed by Mike Flanagan I was incredibly excited, to say the very least.

I've been a huge fan of Mike Flanagan since I first saw Hush, which to me is as close to a perfect movie you can make within its genre. Everything about it was meticulously executed down to the tiniest of detail.

Flanagan then went on to direct a bunch of other movies including the NETFLIX film Before I Wake, starring Jacob Tremblay (who portrays the not so lucky No. 19, or "the baseball boy" in Doctor Sleep) before directing the Stephen King adaptation Gerald's Game, also for NETFLIX. Being that Gerald's Game garnered such critical acclaim for a direct-to-stream film, and one based on King, one would think that him directing another adaptation, and with a bigger budget; would be inevitable.

So here we are: Doctor Sleep, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name and on the Stanley Kubrick film: The Shining, loosely based on the novel of the same name.

Is it any good?

God yes!

There are countless scenes in this film that are absolutely fucking epic! Like the scene in which we see the True Knot's caravans travelling from one destination to another through a birds eye view. The combination of the jerky; jump-cut editing, the sound effects and the overall sound design in this scene is nothing short of exquisite. So cool!

Then there's the scene in which Rose the Hat visits with Abra and first finds out where she live. This is visualized as Rose levitating off the ground, taking off and flying over the clouds in a way that harkens back to Disney's Peter Pan before landing on the street outside of Abra's house at night. This is so fucking cool! Especially the part of the scene where Rose the Hat's bare feet touch down on the ground at the end. That gave me chills. So good!

The same could be said about all the encounters between Abra and Rose, whether it be the scene in the supermarket or the one in which Abra sets her trap; and of all the scenes featuring the True Knot. But it's not all about the set pieces either, all the stuff in between, like Danny's fight with alcoholism and his work with Azzie at the hospice: It's all so well done!

The cinematography in this film is stunning from beginning to end, so much so that is deserves an Academy Award nomination. The night shots are simply gorgeous! The lighting and blocking of a lot of the scenes in this film is perfect.

So why then, is it that this movie has a metascore of 59? For a lot of the critics it seams as though it has to do with the final 30 minutes or so of the 150 minute film. Yes, it is a bit long.

Anyway, here are my thoughts about the end:

I love everything about it up until the bar scene; How Danny slowly walks through the Overlook waking it up, finally arriving at the bar; realizing his father has indeed become a part of the hotel. Can't remember how the novel ended, but the Kubrick film left that part of it kinda ambiguous.

What follows is a bit of mix between elements from the Doctor sleep novel and newly written material by Flanagan and King, which I find hard to separate since it's been a while since I read the novel. But I don't remember reading about the ghosts of Danny's lock-boxes collectively jumping Rose the Hat. As I remember it it, the end of the novel was pretty small in scale. I vaguely remember the ghost/spirit of Jack Torrence helping out taking care of Rose. Here, I actually prefer the movie version.

Then there's Danny becoming possessed by the Overlook and coming after Abra with an axe, just like Jack after Danny and Wendy in Kubrick's The Shining.

Then there's Abra turning a corner and running into the Grady Twins, just like Danny in Kubrick's The Shining.

Then there's the recreation of the helicopter shots of a car travelling to the Overlook hotel, just like in Kubrick's The Shining.

I feel like there are too many scenes paying homage to a movie I don't really care that much for.

It ends with the Overlook burning (already burnt to the ground in the novel) and Danny dying inside embracing the ghost of his mother. I like this part of it, it does feel more fitting of an ending. In the novel Danny travels back to the hospice to help a guy who wasn't that nice to him pass away knowing there's an afterlife, which is sweet but rather boring in comparison.

Also, with Danny being dead and his spirit living on like Dick's did, that makes things come full circle.

Finally...

Here are some pros and cons:

Pros:
*The amazing cast featuring a breakout performance by Kyliegh Curran who is everything I ever wanted in Abra. She manages to portray someone who is extremely powerful and bit cocky but still fragile and human at times. She's so good! Other noteworthy performances include Rebecca Ferguson as Rose the Hat (her best performance to date?), Cliff Curtis as Billy, Zahn McClarnon as Crow Daddy and Emily Alyn Lind as Snakebite Andi.
* Masterful direction/editing by Flanagan.
* Impressive screenplay (minus some of the stuff at the very end)
* Stunning cinematography!!
* Great music and sound design! I Love the rhythmically thumping heartbeat!
* Not shying away from the disturbingly brutal ways in which the True Knot extract Steam from KIDS.
* Skipping the plot-line regarding the True Knot becoming sick with the measels. That was quite interesting in the novel, but it would have taken time explaining.
* The choice to leave the whole Uncle Dan really IS Uncle Dan plot-line in the novel out of the film.
* The slightly different but much improved upon cycling effect used when the True Knot members die.
* The look and overall depiction of the True Knot.

Cons:
* The obvious wigs worn by the actors playing young Danny and Jack Torrence. Might just be bad haircuts?
* Not enough of the creepy chanting.
* Abra's Force-throw of Crow Daddy's truck is a bit over-the-top.
* The annoying twins homage at the end.
* Having Danny become possessed by the Overlook just like Jack.
* The VFX work in the scene where the Overlook is burning.
* Slight pacing issues and overall running time.

Doctor Sleep is my favourite movie so far this year overtaking Joker and It: Chapter 2 on my list.
It's easily one the best "horror movies" of the year. It might not be all that scary, but it sure is scarier than The Shining. Hehe

9/10

[7.6/10] The great thing about Guillermo del Toro’s films is that often they feel more like macabre fables than straight horror. Rather than attacking ghouls or horrible monsters, they feature supernatural creatures that are grayer, not explicitly good or evil, just the product or object of bad choices. What makes Cronos compelling is how thoroughly it follows that tack, where the combination of random chance and one bad choice in the name of vanity leads to a loss of humanity, and one final effort to hang onto it.

The film tells the story of Jesus Gris, the friendly but reserved owner of an antiques shop, who stumbles upon an ancient artifact that, unbeknownst to him, can grant eternal life, at a price. A chance prick from the sparkling golden device starts to change him, make him younger and more vibrant, but also gives him a terrible thirst. His possession of the item puts him in the crosshairs of the terminally ill, Howard Hughes-like recluse De la Guardia, who’s been searching for it for years in order to extend his life, as well as De la Guardia’s goon of a nephew/henchman, who handles the wetwork in the hopes of inheriting his uncle’s fortune.

Despite that setup, it is, slowly but surely, a monster movie. Cronos depicts Jesus gradually turning into a vampire, one with eternal life, an uncontrollable thirst for blood, cold pale skin, and an aversion to light. Del Toro, who both wrote and directed the piece, makes it an origin story of sorts, one that tells the tale of how a simple shop owner toyed with one of his antiques, and ended up turning into a creature of the night because of it.

There’s something engaging both in terms of narrative and terror there. I’ll admit that I didn’t piece together Cronos’s vampiric aims until late into the picture (basically not until he recoiled from the beams of light jolting into the attic). It’s clear early on that the artifact changes something elemental in Jesus, and that its initial salutary effect gives way to something more sinister or troubling. But there’s an “aha!” moment when everything snaps into place, that is as joyful as it is horrifying.

In the film’s mythos, vampires (or their equivalents) are the product of an alchemist trying to gain immortality. To achieve that, he builds the device that causes all this trouble, and contains within it an insect, one that acts as a living filter. There’s something clever about tying the vampire mythology to our entomological friends. The dormancy and revival, the blood-sucking, even being drawn to and repulsed by light connects the movie’s transformed protagonists to the six-legged creatures who crawl out of the product of the alchemist’s work in the film’s first big scare.

But that’s not its last. Cronos is awash in excellent body horror and impressively gross consequences from Jesus’s descent. The way del Toro focuses on his protagonist lapping blood up off the floor is positively disgusting but drives home the dark side of his renewed vigor in a visceral fashion. The very mechanisms of the device itself -- piercing the skin, whirring with gears, convulsing its operator, revealing a slimy bug inside -- evince the physically disturbing and underscore the deal with the devil that Gris is making. And the physical decay of Jesus, as his skin peels off, he reaches inside his own abdomen, and gradually looks more and more monstrous after the attempts on his life, create a visual anchor for what is an internal transformation as much as it’s an external one.

In that, del Toro presents a cautionary tale. There’s a self-conscious fixation on regaining youth, staving off death, straining to freeze or reverse the effects of aging. Jesus develops an addiction to the artifact’s revivifying power. De la Guardia wants to reverse his own impending demise. Even Angel, the dopey-if-brutal eighties guy of a henchman, is minorly obsessed with plastic surgery and making himself look and feel the way he wants. True to the film’s name, there’s repeated imagery that evokes the tick tick tick of the clock, from the internal mechanisms of the device itself, to Jesus as the owner of a clock shop, to the giant electric sign that features a watch face, the stage for the film’s final battle. And in contrast to it all, it’s a deliberately paced film, one that lets scenes linger so we feel every tactile, oft-disturbing second of that journey.

It’s a journey that leads all of these men to ruin. De la Guardia falls to Jesus’s diminutive protector (whose lack of hesitation in defense is smartly established in the first bug scene), and eventually at the hands (er, foot) of his own kin, after searching for this item for so long and scheming to rob someone of it. Angel’s wanton murders are turned around on him, his brutality and plans to assume his uncle’s wealth falling to nothing but his own end. And Jesus’s simple effort to take advantage of his golden artifact and its seeming renewal reveal him to be tampering with that which he does not understand, and paying the price for it.

But only Jesus is granted a measure of grace and redemption, one tied to Aurora, Jesus’s granddaughter and one of the many innocents who populates del Toro’s work. In a moment of supreme weakness, having using his new abilities to defeat the film’s antagonists, he lays eyes on Aurora, as blood drips from her tiny hand. In the film’s tensest, most frightening moment, he starts to reach for her, to sate his aching hunger, a living metaphor for the old sustaining themselves by draining the young. It is a scene of pathos, or uncontrolled horrors overtaking the things that made Jesus a human being.

And yet, at the last moment he recovers himself, choosing a noble death of peace and protection for his loved ones over an eternal life that would reduce him to this. He crushes the device, the thing that holds fast his tie to this mortal world, and dies in the embrace of the wife he loves and the child that saved him, in more ways than one.

There is a moral in that, which speaks to the ugly products of resisting the natural passage of time, the connections to those close to us that allow us to have life and not mere persistence, and the tempting, dehumanizing allure of the things which promise to restore us to what we once were. A man unwraps a device, one cased in a fallen angel, and his whole world and self come tumbling down from the turn of its levers and gears. And still, it’s not a tale of a monster from without, but rather a warning and a struggle against a monster from within.

Disney’s 2019 version of Aladdin provides us with pleasant surprises and a few hiccups along the ride on the magic carpet. Agrabah looks amazing, you totally feel the Arabian vibe and still is a city with more depth then in the original animated movie with more cultures mixed into one. Jasmine has a well written storyline which is not only fitting for the time we live in now, it’s also very in depth and gives her even more of an edge. She truly outshines the animated Jasmine. Mena’s performance is almost identical to the original. Great acting and good looks. Although I was more anticipated for the Genie’s performance, it was Jafar who surprised me, but not always in a good way. I liked this style and Jafar being younger and more appealing. Marwan showed us great acting by letting us feel Jafar truly is dangerous. What I missed though are iconic moments the animated movie showed us like turning into a snake, make genie lift up the castle and being the old poor man who tricks Aladdin into the cave of wonders, which wasn’t all that wonderous to me at all. The feeling of the cave popping up from the sand was something I really missed, the interior though is flawless and well put together. Aladdin started of stronger then it ended but overall, this new adaptation left me ‘Speechless’ thanks to its wonderful cast, set design and refreshing plots.

Google were right to feature this film on Chrome's "New Tab" page when it came out. It's breathtaking. Lion deserves a 10/10 for cinematography.

I wish I could agree with the choice to cast Dev Patel in the lead role, though. Apart from the difference in skin tone, Patel's Saroo spent a lot of the film playing something of a sex icon. As amazing as the story is, I found the execution disappointing in the area of character development. Saroo himself didn't really get fleshed out, and as a result he remains kind of a cardboard cutout, a place for the viewer to self-insert and imagine how it would feel to be in his place.

One other big issue: Saroo's adopted brother. We find out almost nothing about him over the course of the film. His obvious mental illness/disability is sidelined to just a couple of scenes—sidelined to the point of being irrelevant. As the viewer, we know it exists, but that's all. We don't know what it is, or if he's undergoing treatment, or if he tried treatment and it failed to help, or how it's really affecting his life. Its effect on Sue is alluded to in a few places, but nothing about Mantosh himself.

It irks me a bit that the film devoted so much screen time to Saroo flicking the Google Earth map around. Some of that time could have been spent further developing characters, perhaps showing some of Saroo's life growing up. Skipping ahead 20 years deprived the audience of opportunities to watch Saroo adapt to life in Australia.

All that said, I realize that this film is essentially a pseudo-biography of living people, and as such there must have been limitations on what the film was able to show. So I can't lop off a mess of rating points for the perceived holes in the screenplay. And besides, it was still a damn enjoyable film.

Awesome episode. It started slowly but picked up suddenly. I certainly enjoyed. And I've got to say it, I love the camera work in the past few episodes. This second half of the season is certainly amazing.

I'm so upset that the Alpha Vamp is gone. There are a few supernatural beings that give me the screeps when they are on scene and he was certainly one of them.

The beginning of the episode was heartbreaking. If this show is something it's about family and not leaving anyone behind. And apparently, Mary doesn't get it. I think I'll never be able to understand her thought process. For God's sake,those guys tortured your boys let along that almost got Cas killed.

In 12 years, I've cried, smiled, suffered and enjoyed. I've watch them care for Mary, miss her every single day, especially Dean, and for once that Dean's allowed to express his feelings and emotions Mary shuts him down by saying "You're not a kid". That quote alone with Dean's answer "I never was" destroyed me. Holy crap, that was cold Mary. Dean's mentioned over and over again that he wants a mother. I totally understand Dean's feelings. As me, he's expecting Mary to be something else,to be a mom, the perfection we all though she was,but she isn't no longer,and it is difficult to swallow.

I liked Dean and Mr Ketch teamup. At the beginning of the season Ketch was set up to be one thing and even though he's not evolving so much, he's becoming someone else. Idk, his line "we have ways of dealing with hunters who go rogue" has to be a foreshadowing, not to say a threat. At first I thought he was above the BMoL and that his whole purpose was to eliminate Sam and Dean, but now, I'm not that sure. At the end of the day he's a hunter. I feel like he's going to be on Dean's side and will disengage from the BMoL.

PART 2.
I wonder what will happen to the boys once they discover that Mary put them in harms way and that she's working with the British MoL. But seriously, why would the Colt be glowing? At first I though it was God-related. I don't really know what Crowley wants the Colt for since he knows it doesn't kill Lucifer. Unless it could kill his child. And what if now Cas has Michael's powers? That would be so cool. Or that it restored Cas' wings and powers. And I fully believe that Crowley wanted the Lance to kill Lucifer, but he saved Cas instead. How sweet.

And Mary is so shady lately. She was really going to let them die instead of giving Ramiel the Colt back. Never trust a Campbell. She's been a bit so-so this season, but this episode really made me dislike her. Come on Mary, is a mission more important than family?

Smart, unexpected, action-packed, tense. It had it all. I really love Rich Speight Jr episodes. They're all so crazy. He nailed it. And fucking Mark Pellegrino. JUST YES!!!

The British MoL fucked them over hardcore. I couldn't believe at the end of First Blood, that Mary was even listening to them. Them, the guys who tortured her own son and tries to kill him. Mary's in some serious shot. And giving the Colt to the British MoL, argg. They are probably going to reverse ingenieer and mass produced it. I laughed so hard with the "one last thing" bit, like, oh, that's new.

Now I'm really hooked and hyped for next episode. This was a bloody masterpiece and the reason why I will always watch this show.

Hands down to one of the best episodes of the show. 12 years and they still surprise me and catch me off guard. Damn Supernatural, you're good. And thanks you for this amazing, amazing episode. Long life Reservoir Dogs and Long Life Supernatural.

HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT. I didn't need the chair to watch this episode, the edge was just enough. I've been going in circles like a crazy man for ten minutes over. MARK FUCKING PELLEGRINO is back!!! Fuck yeah! My parents only heard me shouting "Lucifer's back!" They probably think I'm a Satanist now. I audibly shouted "what the FUCK" about six times during the episode. This episode is probably the highest-quality shot I've seen since season 5.

Mere words can't explain what I'm feeling right now. There are no words to express how happy I am that Mark Pellegrino is back as Lucifer! Fuck yes! I heard his voice and my insides went off. I jumped of my chair. Mark Pellegrino was built for that role. My favourite part of the episode: Mark Pellegrino sitting in a cell, singing and saying in a casual voice "That's not my name".

Dinner scene. Non-linear storytelling. Slow motion walking opening credits. Obscure 60-70s music. Glowing case. Reservoir Dog slow walk scene. "Okay rambles, let's ramble". Reservoir Dogs!!! I knew it was going to be Tarantino-ish but oh my Chuck. Holy mother of God. This is one of the best episodes in a while. A really well-written and directed episode. I got Pulp Fiction vibes when Mary opened that box. In my head "what's in the box? What's in the fucking box?" And Mary texting the "Hobbits", lmao.

I knew that when they forced Lucifer out of the President he didn't return to the cage. If he escapes that doghouse I really want Mark Pellegrino to keep playing him. Chuckdammit, that's my life.

The Colt's back, we learnt more of Azazel, how Crowley became the King of Hell, Princes of Hell, Crowley saving Cas, Mary meeting Crowley, Mary referring to Cas as one of the boys, Cas talking about Sam, Dean and Mary as his family. Those damn ninjas cutting onions in my room again. When he said "I love you" that pause afterwards felt like they should have said it back to him.

AWESOME! Felt like Yellow Fever Part 2. It's amazing how this show keeps surprising me. This episode explains why I love Supernatural and why I always will.

Rowena's back! Now that she's not trying to kill the boys, she's definitely more likable. And Sam being the big brother and taking care of Dean was lovely. Poor Dean, weird follows him. But to be honest, it's kind of his wheelhouse.

It was full of Mystery Spot/Yellow Fever moments. Sam reaching the point of being completely done when Dean said "Light stick" or trying to sit him on bed to watch TV. The moment "n-n-n-no Brother! - Witch!" was just hilariously perfect. I expected a verbal battle between them.

Holy mother of Jensen Ackles! He's a freaking legend. What an actor! How come he's not won an Emmy yet? His reaction faces are priceless. He's amazing at exploring the dark side and the funny one. No one ever looked so hot while being slapped.

It was all cool until the bathroom scene. #Who'sDean "My name is Dean Winchester, Sam is my brother, Mary Winchester is my mom, and Cas -Cas is my best friend". Tears in my eyes. It was tragic watching him while his memory was fading away and Sam was tearing up in another room. That mirror scene was the most heartbreaking shit I've seen in a while and he didn't even need to speak. Awesome acting!

And Rowena's confession. I bet Dean remembers all. And the post-it in the grenade launcher. Even without memory, Sam knew it. Damn, Dean's predictable.

"And our best friend's an angel. Whaaaaat!?" has to be my favourite quote. That and "Dory? I'm not gonna apologize for loving that fish. Not to you, not to anyone". Dean's my spirit animal. "A: the Rat Pack partied 'til the day they died. And B: I can still kick your ass". God bless you, Dean.

And Larry the Bull! That montage was awesome, mirroring Eye of the Tiger. That song fits perfectly with Young Dean. Bravo.

Remember, "Now salsa, you mittens". The question to life, the universe and everything. Forget the number 42.

The boys are back! I didn't think it would be that easy to get out of the prison. The place doesn't officially exist, I'm assuming security doesn't either. I was kind of expecting the whole rescue party to go all blazing guns to get them out.

"Waterboarded and cut on": Dean was tortured for 30 years hung in meat hooks, died x100, run for all the uglies in Purgatory, Sam's been tortured and Lucifer's plaything in the cage for 180 years. That fool's talking to the guys who go to hell for their vacation!

The boys keep on being the boys: "We aren't trapped with you, you're trapped with us", "We're the ones that save the world", and the microphone's hit the ground!

The British MoL are pretentious murderous douchebags, yet they misspell words in their freaky-ass machine. They kill more people than the monsters do. The insanity of their thought process: "no one will talk if we kill everyone, so let's kill 'em all". Killing those who don't posse a threat makes them no better than the monsters they hunt. There has to be a dark power behind using them to kill any competition. If they're just trying to take control over America I'd be a bit disappointed.

I really like Mr Ketch as a character, but I don't trust him. That accent, his suit, I like him. And Mick's accent just keeps on reminding me to Constantine's.

Full on Winchester, Cas made a selfish choice that wasn't for the greater good. Killing Billie was the most emotional anti-angelic thing I've ever seen him do. I guess now there will be REAPERcussions (sorry not sorry). Maybe Cas becomes a reaper? I loved his speech, definitely one of the most moving scenes on the show: "I won't let any of you die. You mean too much to me". "This is my voicemail, make your voice a mail" he's improved, lol.

I liked Billie's presence when she appeared and now she's gone night night.

I've been enjoying this season so far. It's refreshing that they're not focusing on any apocalypse or greater plan but focusing on more human aspects.

Supernatural Season 12: the return of the Assbutt. I was so happy to listen to that again. It never gets old. If I ever stop thinking that's funny, just assume I'm dead.

I enjoyed the episode, even though it felt different to the others. The tempo was slow but likable. I like that they're doing new things as well as evolving the plot slowly. The ending was good, though. I like the Lucifer without a plan as a big bad. He's even scarier. When they said they were going to L.A. I was expecting a reference Lucifer (the show), and nice callback to Hollywood Babylon. Love Supernatural for these little details. So now we have the Bits and Lucifer as the two big bads this season.

Right when I was digging into Rick Springfield's portrayal of Lucifer, he's a goner. He played it very well, imo. He was scary as hell (no pun intended) with Roseleen. But the "holy crop" moment was when he made the producer kill himself with his pen. I totally agree with Sam, "Lucifer was bad enough when he had a plan", but now he's just scarier. His mologue at the very end really made me sad. I mean, he's Lucifer and all, but he just wants to be loved. Daddy issues is his cross to bear.

Cas and Crowley are so funny in that 80s buddy comedy. "What's the spell? It's breakfast". Please, make this a spin off. I love sassy Cassy. That sarcastic "yay" to Crowley was so funny. That "at least I don't look like a lumberjack", rotflmao. As well as the vegetable water. I love how Dean reserved his horrified to look to the water. So Deanish. But let's take a minute to consider Deannerisms. As well as how good they look in a leather jacket.

Did anyone noticed that the leftovers in Words with Friends spelled Lucifer? And Mary's screen name was "mothermary1983", these Winchesters.

Quick question, did we just saw a resurface of Sam's powers at the end? Cause that's exactly what I thought.

Overall, enjoyable and different tempo episode. Lovely Assbutt and very good ending. Sad to see Springfield gone.

They simply nailed it. What a crazy episode. I really love the feeling of this season, reminds me of season 1-3. It was nice to go back to the Thule plot. It was also good to see Aaron aka Dean's gay thing. So cool. And killing Hitler! Seriously! It took the writers long enough to carry out this crazy idea. The best quote of the episode "Dude, you killed Hitler. Yeah. Awesome" and his facial expression. So proud. He truly deserves some pie.

It has to be the end of the world. Dean rejecting pie. PIE. I don't know what's more surprising, the fact that Dean rejected it or that Sam didn't forget about it. Clumpsy Dean is always at his finest, like being like a bull in a China shop. I couldn't stop laughing. I love this scene. And what about his disappointment when he couldn't use his grenade launcher and Sam said, "Don't worry. I'll happen". What better moment to use it that to fight Nazi Zombie Necromancers, Sam? You better keep your word, Moose.

That guy did a good job at portraying Hitler as a funny little assclown (the new assbutt). And his henchmen's faces... they were so freaking confused. That little Hitler run, though, lmao. It will always be a thing. I would've liked him to stay a little bit longer. He was too much fun, and that hilarious personality. Too soon to get rid of him. And, I thought I would never say that outloud. I cracked up and actually feel bad about it. Everything was hilarious with him. Like the dogs. "I love doggies, woof woof". I couldn't stop laughing. Apparently, after 71 years, Hitler lost his mind. And the way he died, protecting his app phone. He just wanted to use Twitter.

Dean saying "I killed Hitler" is the new "I'm Batman". I would like him to mention it at random times. I bet they keep a record of all the creatures they've killed and make bets with it. Like, Lucifer, checked, Hitler, checked.

At the end I was expecting Mr Ketch go appear and kill Ellie. I don't know what they would do with Hitler's bloodline.