Lainfan

78 followers

Netherlands
36

Drive

Wow. Not sure what people are thinking, calling this a modern classic? Nope. If you want that, see "Nightcrawler." Hell, "Baby Driver" is a better "getaway driver" movie and at least brings something inventive to the table. I watched this with much anticipation, having heard it was a great movie. Not really. Let's watch the two main characters stare at each other for long, soundless scenes, populate the film with ZERO interesting characters, and then top it of by having a main character with the emotional range of a toothpick (see what I did there). It's too bad - Gosling's a great actor (but not in this) and I loved the director's "Neon Demon." Oh well, you can't win them all...

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@genslen 'Baby Driver' is in a way the total opposite of this movie as a result from creative choices. Both have similar stories and are very stylistic, strongly choreographed and with an emphasis on music. But 'Baby Driver' is a very bright and upbeat movie, while 'Drive' is dark and slow. I think it could be an interesting case study to compare these two movies more in depth.
PS. Even though i do not share your opinion about 'Drive', I do also prefer 'Baby Driver'
PPS. Nightcrawler :metal:

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Vivarium

Amazing. A very original scenario, perfectly executed until the end. It all makes sense, but still leaves a lot of open questions for your imagination.

The main actors are ok, they do the job, but the supporting ones are amazing. The whole beginning sequence with Martin is so weird and hilarious, a perfect intro into the movie. The kid is also creepy as fuck, with a little help from voice over he's just perfect.

The design of the house is also the perfect fit of trying to create something ideal but with no understanding of how things are supposed to be, the whole thing is uncanny valley to the max, just as much as Martin is.

And the whole situation raises lots of questions, what's the correct behavior ? It's rapidly obvious that the kid is not human, so what do you do ? Can you trust them ? Are you sure you'll be released ? Are you helping an alien invasion or something like that ? Should you not stop it ? Or maybe the other way around, if you manage to raise the kid normally, with love and everything, there's a chance it would end up being a good thing ?
What if you killed it ? So many other scenarios to try other than the one chosen by the characters.

Do everybody behave the same way ? Does everybody dig their own grave ? How many instances ? How many time did this happen ?

So yeah, not only is this a very original, complete and captivating story, the whole concept is just genious and leave so many other possibilities to think about when the movie ends. It's new, it's weird, it's fun. Definitely a masterpiece.

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@fly_ As of the time of the story, (at least) 8900 times, there is a receipt at the final scene.

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Extraction
Into the Night

1253/5000
I didn't expect much when I accidentally stumbled across this new series on Netflix. Apocalyptic scenarios are not necessarily new; not even in the series segment. But the premise "the survivors have to flee ever further from the sun with an airplane" seems so absurd when reading that one cannot do anything else than to think beforehand "Okay, then I can at least do something else on the side".

The series starts off a bit confusing and rushed, just like the situation for the characters must be. At the end of the second episode I realized that I really wanted to keep looking. Right now. And until the end, I watched the twists and turns that the small group of survivors had to face again and again. I attribute a large part of this tension to the music. Not even concise or pushy, but with a steadily fast beat she is able to convey this typical feeling of "what's lurking around the next corner". At the end of the 6 episode series, I would like to know if there is a sequel. Apparently my first impression was wrong and I'm glad I tried it anyway. 7/10

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@cthalin A sequel has not yet been confirmed, but if there will be a 2nd season it will most likely go into a completely different direction (if it follows the source material in any way.)

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Justice League Dark: Apokolips War

great movie
but something i didn't understand.
why would trigon fight darkside in the end and not just kill of the remaining justice League?

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@itai-raf From what I understood, to dethrone the 'false god' Darkseid. It just shows one of the weakpoints of the movie, it glances over too many things with only little or no explanation.

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Spies in Disguise

I don't get how I can see a movie it doesn't work for me please help me

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This website is not a streaming website, it is so you can track what you watch (and more.) The name kinda gives it away. However it does often provide links to sites where you can buy and watch movies (top left, below the movie poster.)

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Amazing Stories: 1x04 Signs of Life

Nice to see Josh Holloway (Lost) in something. At least he gets to say “son of a bitch!” I think that’s what he always said as Sawyer, anyway lol. Otherwise he doesn’t get enough screen time. This was a decent episode nevertheless. About aliens taking over people in comas.

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@jim222001 I was about to mention 'Colony' too, but someone beat me to it. And looks like you dropped that after 3 episodes anyway :p

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Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

I still hate Red/Blue Harley. I much prefer Red/Black. That said I like her costuming MUCH better in this movie than Suicide Sqaud. Somehow between the costuming and the framing there's a LOT less "Look how sexy and skimpy Margot Robbie is dressed like a slutty Harley Quinn". I'd only seen one teaser video and I thought Harley looked stupid in her outfit. However on screen it worked a lot better than I thought it would. A lot of my biggest issues with the movie are weird shots and framing and the uninspired soundtrack. I mean I like Barracuda but I wish the score had more signature to it. Just generic pump up music and generic heartfelt music etc etc etc. The soundtrack need not be filled with covers of songs done better when they aren't slowed down RnB remixes or acoustic pop remixes. The James Brown joint (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H77fRz1rybs) was okay but honestly why not go full girl power out there. Why not give me a Spice Girls cover like maybe "Viva Forever". That would be interesting and in a movie with (level of violence) a little girl getting her face sliced and then ripped off maybe some of that creative energy could be spared to the music choices. I mean I hate Ariana Grande but women love her maybe a version of "Dangerous Woman" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnyBfSXdcTQ) would have been more fun and interesting or maybe Amy Winehouse who has choice jams beyond "Rehab" such as "You Sent Me Flying" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfZj2h1t0Jc) or "I Heard Love is Blind" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMM3HqKw9JA) and she has tons of club remixes for the fight scene rehash.

But there are inspired sequences in Birds of Prey like when Harley breaks into Gotham PD. It's a fun romp even if some of the physics completely break verisimilitude. The Breakup with Joker was great. Not seeing Joker was fine, and then roller derby. I liked how no one at roller derby really cared about Harley's level of violence. They just considered her weak for going back with Joker so many times. The eponymous Birds of Prey don't really have the character work that Harley has but they don't really need it.

When Huntress came on screen i didn't like her. I wasn't feeling this dark comedy take on Huntress but very soon I was flipped on that as well. Rosie Perez is still cute. Ali Wong was fine. I still don't see Ewan McGregor, man that guy's face has changed a lot. But everyone is good. The character are fun. The ones I complain about are the guys actually Zsasz was kinda odd, Black Mask is still confusing as a character. I don't know him, I don't understand why he has his mask or when he wears it. I thought it might be related to his gloves but we never really learn. Harley was mostly good. I think her best fight scene was when she had a bat though. That was some creative, interesting fighting that felt like Harley's character. It fit. I wish it was edited better with longer and/or wider shots. But uninspired fight scenes are a staples of action movies now and Harley Quinn is of no particular exception to this.

The funniest part of the movie was everyone staying to the end credits scene to get trolled. It was beautiful. The guy in front of me was literally upset "I wasted 3 minutes of my life for that". I say stay for it though just for the giggles. Birds of Prey is something the DC universe needs more of. Fun. It's dumb, there's scenes that don't make any sense. Bad guys standing around waiting to be hit but in the end.. it's just got fun. Genuine fun like Wonder Woman had genuine sincerity (as opposed to constant sarcasm). Well worth the price of admission even if it doesn't have Oracle.

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@wolfkin @guenguer There are 3 or 4 categories in the Academy Awards (Oscars) related to sound and/or song, and most other (bigger) award shows have one or more categories for it too. I myself also am usually not the first to point out music in a movie, but it is there and for an important reason.

(I was not much impressed by the music in this film btw.)

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Manifest: 2x09 Airplane Bottles

Oh, look, Cal's back. This was a pretty decent episode. The main plot is starting to be more focused on, which is good and starting to become much needed, while everything else, the drama and whatnot, isn't focused on as much. I'm very interested to know the significance behind Yusuv/Yusuf Al-Zuras and everyone else on the boat/ship being directly, or perhaps indirectly, effected by whatever happened when the plane was in the air. They even saw it. I don't think the year was mentioned when that happened, but I imagine it was a long time ago, which makes that whole situation more bizarre, and intriguing. Plus, the plane was mentioned as a silver dragon, which confirms that it must've been quite a while back for that to be their closest comparison. Sufficed to say, I'm very intrigued by that development, and also where it will lead.

Moving on, Saanvi is becoming quite a tragic character. Why did she ever think that scientific means could resolve something supernatural? She kind of deserves what's happening to her, tbh. That's just a blunt, straightforward thought of mine that is by no means influenced by hate towards her or anything like that. At the same time, I feel like the writers couldn't think of any other way to use her character, and that's the reason for this slow descent into demise. I don't particularly care about her, but it would be very tragic if this ridiculous intention of hers, that was never going to work out, to begin with, ends up killing her. I mean, I'm not expecting that to happen, but I'm not expecting it to not happen, you know? It would be unfortunate, that's for sure.

Also, "You know damn well I didn't start that fire." > "You're being vindictive." > "I don't care if I burn this entire precinct down." Wow, Michaela. I don't think you're helping your case very much, even if he does know that you didn't, which he undoubtedly does. She was a bit irritating in this episode. She's trying too hard, falling for "every trick in the book", not keeping her mouth shut, getting agitated way too easily. But I guess she was written that way as a means for one of Simon's associates in the police department that's apart of the "cause" could be used to target her given how Simon's venture in Ben's house led to finding out...everything, pretty much, therefore, presenting a "reason" to send someone to dispose of her, and for the sole purpose of Jared coming in clutch, to save her.

And lastly, for some reason, when the lightning happened in the first scene with Cal in that room, when Grace was starting to feel lightheaded, I thought it was the lightning itself that caused that, by affecting the baby. That's it! The baby is the plane! Of course! It's all connected! There was lightning when the plane was up in the air, and because the baby IS the plane, lightning would irritate it, all because it has PTSD from the lightning when it was the plane. I've solved everything, folks. You've read it here first, so don't forget about me once that is revealed to be as correct as anything can be.

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@legendaryfang56 That last part made me chuckle.

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Angel Has Fallen

It's a very average movie and they had a great opportunity in front of their face and they didn't use it.

They have a corrupt acting president, now the best ending (exciting and for various reasons!) would have been for him not wanting to leave. Instead of an average shootout at a random building, the acting president would be in the White House with his private army and the need is to attack the WH and forcefully remove him. That would have been cinematic and better than what we have.

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@atlantis14 I don't think they would have ever done that, with the whole 1st movie already centered on the WH. Interesting idea if this was a different franchise though.

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Doctor Who: 12x05 Fugitive of the Judoon
10

Review by Mario A. Luna
BlockedParentSpoilers2020-01-27T23:12:39Z— updated 2020-02-13T05:34:43Z

We've known for a while now that the Judoon would be coming back to the show. A few pictures from set leaked a couple of months ago and I must say… I'm pretty impressed. The BBC managed to keep the "big stuff" from the episode a secret until today. We got a bunch of surprises! At the start of every new Doctor Who Series, there are always rumors. Characters and monsters supposedly coming back, here and there. But there is always one fan favorite: Captain Jack Harkness.

The immortal Time Agent that used to travel with the Doctor. Chibnall brought him back. We knew a character would be coming back for this week's episode, but I never would've thought (not even in my wildest dreams) Jack Harkness would appear on screen again. Now the Easter-egg from "Spyfall Part One" makes sense (the head of MI6 name-dropped both UNIT and Torchwood). This ain't just one-off appearance, this stuff is big. I think we'll see him again during the finale or during Series 13, I'm sure.
Also, he dropped a couple of bombs that could turn into story arcs later on. Maybe an answer for the Timeless Child thing? We'll get those answers! "She needs me and I'll be there". Maybe this version of Captain Jack is from the future. He seems to know the Cybermen are coming back and they will encounter the Doctor and her Fam later on. He's trying to warn the Doctor about something that will end up happening anyway. Maybe.

It was fun to see the Judoon back on screen again! There were a bunch of callbacks to the "Smith and Jones" episode from Series 3 (their first appearance) and they worked really well during the story. They kind of got overshadowed by the biggest surprise from the episode, though. But before that… let's talk about another character for a bit: Gat. A Time Lord that used to work alongside with the Doctor. She is, allegedly, from a previous point in her timeline and the Doctor doesn't remember her. She was trying to capture her under someone else's orders. I think this is, precisely, where all starts to get a bit… "timey-wimey". Apparently, there is a new version of the Doctor out there. A face we, the audience, have never seen before. And it's getting pretty hard to trace back into his/her own timeline to make it work properly.

First we got introduced to this woman named "Ruth". She turns out to be an alien in disguise, hiding from the Judoon on Earth alongside a man, protecting her. Later on, we found out that she got her memory wiped and that she's using technology like the Fob Watch from Series 3. Fob Watch: a device that allows a Time Lord to re-write his/her own biology to turn into a human. A MacGuffin created during the Russell T. Davies era, used by both the Master (Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords) and the Doctor (Human Nature/ The Family of Blood). So, it turns out that the lighthouse was working as a kind of Fob Watch thing. Time Lord technology, so this "Ruth" character must be from Gallifrey. And that's when the episode slaps you right in the face… the Doctor finds the graveyard with THE FUCKING TARDIS BURIED THERE. Holy fuck! So this Time Lord MUST be the Doctor! But we've never seen this face before, so she must be from later on… right? RIGHT?! This can't be… the timelines must be out of sync.

And this is where it gets a bit… wonky. This Doctor still calls her TARDIS "ship" and it looks very similar to the "default" console room of the Type-40 TARDIS the Doctor stole when he ran away from Gallifrey 2000 years ago. Look, the round things! What are the round things? Our Doctor doesn't remember being her. Her TARDIS looks like a police box, that means the chameleon circuit is stuck with that look… so she MUST be from the First Doctor's future. That's when the TARDIS' got stuck with the blue look, after he landed on Earth during the 60s. Okay. This could work… I think. If she's from the First Doctor's future, she can be a version between the Second Doctor and the Third. After "The War Games" story, we never saw the Second Doctor regenerate. After his trial with the Time Lords, they forced him to regenerate. We never saw that regeneration. What we saw was the Second Doctor's trial and the Time Lords exiling him to 20th Century Earth.

Later on, we just saw a NEW version of the Doctor (Spearhead From Space) falling out of his TARDIS after regeneration. We never saw him change, did we? So the Time Lords punished the Doctor by condemning him to exile on Earth during the 20th Century and by forcing a regeneration on him. "Ruth" did say she moved into the city on 1999, right? That's still 20th Century Earth. Maybe they could've wiped his memory too, I guess? Or she could've wiped her own memory. She seems to be on the run from the Time Lords, that can work too. But that still doesn't explain why our Doctor doesn't remember being her. Also, there's a bigger problem here. A Time Lord has 13 lives, a cycle of 12 regenerations. Right? Adding up a regeneration between the Second and Third Doctor would brake this old rule. That's why the Time Lords granted the Eleventh Doctor a whole new regeneration cycle during "The Time of the Doctor" story as a reward for saving them during "The Day of the Doctor" story.

Another explanation I can think of is that this version of the Doctor is a previous face from a different regeneration cycle (1st) prior to the events of the "An Unearthly Child" story from 1963. She could die and regenerate into the First Doctor after being granted a new cycle. But what about her TARDIS? Well, maybe the chameleon circuit still works and she just happened to be using the police box look and that's why the Doctor used it later on in the timeline and then it just broke and never got fixed. Right? I'm bending the canon as much as I can. There's the problem with this theory. During "The Name of the Doctor" story, Clara entered the Doctor's time stream and got broken into a million pieces. A bunch of Claras all over the timeline. We know what the default look for all TARDISes is. We saw a Clara helping the Doctor. She helped the Doctor and Susan while they were running away from Gallifrey. This Time Lord version of Clara told the Doctor what kind of TARDIS he should be stealing.

The third explanation I can think of is multiverse. Maybe this Doctor (if she is in fact, the Doctor) is from another universe and she ended up in another universe by accident or because she needed to scape from the Time Lords from her universe. I don't know. And the last one is that she isn't the Doctor. Maybe she's another Time Lord (the Master, the Rani, Romana, etc.) that's using the Doctor's DNA as a template for a biological disguise or something. Someone is lying, I can feel it.

Rule #1: THE DOCTOR LIES.
But for now… she's the Doctor. Let's roll with that. It's always fun to see how the Doctor sassies herself, hahaha. Classic.

"How did I end up like… that? All rainbows and trousers that don't reach".
"How did I end up like you? I've never been anything like you. Trust me, I'd remember… specially that shirt".

Overall: great episode, definitely big. But I do think that Chibnall's walking on thin ice here. This retcon stuff is hard to pull off, I just hope he can do this. For the sake of the show's history. I don't want him to break the fucking canon. I'm excited! Fun stuff!

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@chuchitzu Oh really? Then i said nothing :p

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Doctor Who: 12x05 Fugitive of the Judoon
10

Review by Mario A. Luna
BlockedParentSpoilers2020-01-27T23:12:39Z— updated 2020-02-13T05:34:43Z

We've known for a while now that the Judoon would be coming back to the show. A few pictures from set leaked a couple of months ago and I must say… I'm pretty impressed. The BBC managed to keep the "big stuff" from the episode a secret until today. We got a bunch of surprises! At the start of every new Doctor Who Series, there are always rumors. Characters and monsters supposedly coming back, here and there. But there is always one fan favorite: Captain Jack Harkness.

The immortal Time Agent that used to travel with the Doctor. Chibnall brought him back. We knew a character would be coming back for this week's episode, but I never would've thought (not even in my wildest dreams) Jack Harkness would appear on screen again. Now the Easter-egg from "Spyfall Part One" makes sense (the head of MI6 name-dropped both UNIT and Torchwood). This ain't just one-off appearance, this stuff is big. I think we'll see him again during the finale or during Series 13, I'm sure.
Also, he dropped a couple of bombs that could turn into story arcs later on. Maybe an answer for the Timeless Child thing? We'll get those answers! "She needs me and I'll be there". Maybe this version of Captain Jack is from the future. He seems to know the Cybermen are coming back and they will encounter the Doctor and her Fam later on. He's trying to warn the Doctor about something that will end up happening anyway. Maybe.

It was fun to see the Judoon back on screen again! There were a bunch of callbacks to the "Smith and Jones" episode from Series 3 (their first appearance) and they worked really well during the story. They kind of got overshadowed by the biggest surprise from the episode, though. But before that… let's talk about another character for a bit: Gat. A Time Lord that used to work alongside with the Doctor. She is, allegedly, from a previous point in her timeline and the Doctor doesn't remember her. She was trying to capture her under someone else's orders. I think this is, precisely, where all starts to get a bit… "timey-wimey". Apparently, there is a new version of the Doctor out there. A face we, the audience, have never seen before. And it's getting pretty hard to trace back into his/her own timeline to make it work properly.

First we got introduced to this woman named "Ruth". She turns out to be an alien in disguise, hiding from the Judoon on Earth alongside a man, protecting her. Later on, we found out that she got her memory wiped and that she's using technology like the Fob Watch from Series 3. Fob Watch: a device that allows a Time Lord to re-write his/her own biology to turn into a human. A MacGuffin created during the Russell T. Davies era, used by both the Master (Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords) and the Doctor (Human Nature/ The Family of Blood). So, it turns out that the lighthouse was working as a kind of Fob Watch thing. Time Lord technology, so this "Ruth" character must be from Gallifrey. And that's when the episode slaps you right in the face… the Doctor finds the graveyard with THE FUCKING TARDIS BURIED THERE. Holy fuck! So this Time Lord MUST be the Doctor! But we've never seen this face before, so she must be from later on… right? RIGHT?! This can't be… the timelines must be out of sync.

And this is where it gets a bit… wonky. This Doctor still calls her TARDIS "ship" and it looks very similar to the "default" console room of the Type-40 TARDIS the Doctor stole when he ran away from Gallifrey 2000 years ago. Look, the round things! What are the round things? Our Doctor doesn't remember being her. Her TARDIS looks like a police box, that means the chameleon circuit is stuck with that look… so she MUST be from the First Doctor's future. That's when the TARDIS' got stuck with the blue look, after he landed on Earth during the 60s. Okay. This could work… I think. If she's from the First Doctor's future, she can be a version between the Second Doctor and the Third. After "The War Games" story, we never saw the Second Doctor regenerate. After his trial with the Time Lords, they forced him to regenerate. We never saw that regeneration. What we saw was the Second Doctor's trial and the Time Lords exiling him to 20th Century Earth.

Later on, we just saw a NEW version of the Doctor (Spearhead From Space) falling out of his TARDIS after regeneration. We never saw him change, did we? So the Time Lords punished the Doctor by condemning him to exile on Earth during the 20th Century and by forcing a regeneration on him. "Ruth" did say she moved into the city on 1999, right? That's still 20th Century Earth. Maybe they could've wiped his memory too, I guess? Or she could've wiped her own memory. She seems to be on the run from the Time Lords, that can work too. But that still doesn't explain why our Doctor doesn't remember being her. Also, there's a bigger problem here. A Time Lord has 13 lives, a cycle of 12 regenerations. Right? Adding up a regeneration between the Second and Third Doctor would brake this old rule. That's why the Time Lords granted the Eleventh Doctor a whole new regeneration cycle during "The Time of the Doctor" story as a reward for saving them during "The Day of the Doctor" story.

Another explanation I can think of is that this version of the Doctor is a previous face from a different regeneration cycle (1st) prior to the events of the "An Unearthly Child" story from 1963. She could die and regenerate into the First Doctor after being granted a new cycle. But what about her TARDIS? Well, maybe the chameleon circuit still works and she just happened to be using the police box look and that's why the Doctor used it later on in the timeline and then it just broke and never got fixed. Right? I'm bending the canon as much as I can. There's the problem with this theory. During "The Name of the Doctor" story, Clara entered the Doctor's time stream and got broken into a million pieces. A bunch of Claras all over the timeline. We know what the default look for all TARDISes is. We saw a Clara helping the Doctor. She helped the Doctor and Susan while they were running away from Gallifrey. This Time Lord version of Clara told the Doctor what kind of TARDIS he should be stealing.

The third explanation I can think of is multiverse. Maybe this Doctor (if she is in fact, the Doctor) is from another universe and she ended up in another universe by accident or because she needed to scape from the Time Lords from her universe. I don't know. And the last one is that she isn't the Doctor. Maybe she's another Time Lord (the Master, the Rani, Romana, etc.) that's using the Doctor's DNA as a template for a biological disguise or something. Someone is lying, I can feel it.

Rule #1: THE DOCTOR LIES.
But for now… she's the Doctor. Let's roll with that. It's always fun to see how the Doctor sassies herself, hahaha. Classic.

"How did I end up like… that? All rainbows and trousers that don't reach".
"How did I end up like you? I've never been anything like you. Trust me, I'd remember… specially that shirt".

Overall: great episode, definitely big. But I do think that Chibnall's walking on thin ice here. This retcon stuff is hard to pull off, I just hope he can do this. For the sake of the show's history. I don't want him to break the fucking canon. I'm excited! Fun stuff!

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@chuchitzu Your text would be easier to read if you used paragraphs. Just a tip.

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Legion: Season 2

Finally, a Marvel show about the X-Men universe! This is already better than the best seasons of the best ever Marvel shows (S02+ of Agents of SHIELD and Daredevil)... and certainly much better than the Iron Fist or The Defenders!

SEASON 1:

Be warned, the show is extremely confusing - being from the perspective of a mental patient - and has a bit of a slow start, though it picks up significantly in E03, at which point it upgrades to merely "very confusing" until the penultimate episode. Sadly, this resulted in my wife loosing interest before getting to that point, so be sure to stick with it.

I love the chilling glimpses - and brilliant soundtrack accompaniment - of the antagonist: the "monster." They are by far the best representation of this creature/character, ever!

Also, there are subtle hints as to how this show, and its protagonist, tie in to the story of the better-known X-Men.
This takes place in the past, similar to X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: First Class, so it shows some interesting prototypes of well-known technology and even appliances (Espresso, anyone? ;).

I am sad to see there are only 8 episodes, with it ending just as soon as things start to come together and make sense.

When Season 1 ended after finally explaining (a few) things, I thought Season 2 would finally be less confusing...
WRONG!

SEASON 2:

S02 jumps forward an unknown amount of time, we have to peice together what happened in between.
Not only am I not sure what is reality, at times, but even if I'm watching a TV show anymore.

At times it turns into an International Indie Film (complete with Chapter titles, and Interludes), a Nature Channel animal documentary, and even a Hip-Hop Ballet (though a good one!).
Wow!

SEASON 1 RECAP (for SEASON 2):

Here is a recap of the ending of Season 1 to help get you started, to make things (slightly) less confusing:

https://screenrant.com/legion-season-1-finale-mid-credits-sequence-explained/

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@powersheetexcelbi And then Season 3 hits and makes Season 2 look like elementary school xD
ps. A belated thanks for the link, i remember finding it useful back before I watched S2.

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Serial Experiments Lain

You could call this a real cyberpunk anime.
A pretty abstract and philosophical story about identity and who we really are. It leaves the viewer questioning about more than just the series itself.

Juicy detail: It is rumoured to be one of the series that had an influence on The Wachowski brothers for The Matrix story. However I don't know if this is ever confirmed or true, and it probably was a minor one compared to Ghost In The Shell. After all it was aired only 1 year before the release of The first Matrix movie.

It is not for everyone, but if you have an open mind and like more gloomy and philosophical stories, it is definitaly worth it.

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@aiven i know, i mentioned that.

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Aquaman
4

Shout by Jordy
VIP
8
BlockedParent2018-12-08T21:49:38Z— updated 2022-05-07T11:19:30Z

This is mostly just bad kitsch.
James Wan’s trying really hard as a director and ends up succeeding in many regards, but it just doesn’t bring much to the table otherwise.
Some of the practical action scenes look good, but the characters and story are severely undercooked, unfocussed and messy.
It’s good that they’re not taking themselves too seriously, but the costumes still look kinda goofy and lame, the dialogue is inexcusable at points, and the actors are far from charming or funny. In fact, the leads of this film straight up suck, and don’t have the acting skills or presence to carry a franchise like this.
It’s trying to look expensive and vast, but a lot of it ends up feeling like one of those cheap Russian knock offs of a superhero movie.

4/10

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@jordyep Sums it up pretty much. Thanks for saving me the time to write a review :P

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The 100

Clarke is a major B with moodswings where people with a personality disorder can be jealous of...
Pretty bad show with bad writing and worse dialog.
Ps. Who names a female character after Superman?

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@johang2012 oh that is a nice detail :)

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War for the Planet of the Apes

Shout by OrangeDog
BlockedParent2017-03-21T17:49:57Z— updated 2017-07-11T08:30:48Z

Why in the hell are you rating a movie that is not even out yet ?

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@orangedog And sometimes just bc people vote for stuff they didn't see. Don't ask me why.

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Dark Matter: 1x12 Episode Twelve
8

Review by Gaby
BlockedParentSpoilers2017-10-18T04:39:57Z— updated 2018-10-27T20:32:49Z

So the beginning of the episode explains the issues and questions about the explosion/planet destruction from the last episode. Well, here I thought they were going to milk that for next season, but everything/the answers are just wrapped up in a quick recap by two in like a minute.

Two continues to be the show's most compelling character, and I suppose this is partly because the actress is also the most compelling and convincing out of the whole cast (aside from The Android). She really makes an okay script into something beautiful to watch. The rest of the cast, still feels disconnected from the words on the page, almost as if they are going through the motions. Now, It could also be in the directing or just lack of chemistry between the cast. Hell, it also be part of the setup for the show: to have a group is disjointed characters have to work together and only be bound by money and circumstances. Whatever it may be the case, Two is still the character (and actor) that grabs my attention the most.

The crew takes a job, but ends up being a setup/trap to capture Two. The group who engineered/created her want her back and they are lead by Whil Wheaton (!) in very heavy villain eyeliner. Apparently she is an advance bioegineered humanoid with some organic parts but mainly nanobots. Also, her creation is totally illegal and would be destroyed if anyone found out. So all of Two's backstory is literally female is a robot and engineered by mad men with a god complex. And once in his presence she is rendered completely harmless. Hmm. Watching Wheaton is a bit distracting cause he plays cartoon villain to a T. All that was missing was him twirling his evil mustache.

Even as the team is forced to leave her behind, they figure out a way to save her: The Android. I really like that the robot gets to go save the robot. Both of which are women. And, yes, I ship it! Again, the women on the show are the most compelling. Watching The Android kick major ass (taking down 6 guards), and putting herself on the line to save Two makes me so happy.

One of the favorite arcs is how The Android questions her effectiveness and stabitlity because she starts to care for the team. Even as a logic based machine, she cares and she is okay with that. (though it's entertaining to see her talk/argue with her factory reset version).

The hardest part to watch of the episode was watching the violence (and utter hate) inflicted by the male scientists toward Two. But watching her destroy them and freeing herself was so satisfying.

Note: I hadn't realized that the next ep was the season finale. The show's writing (and possibly it's direction/tone) has had a hard time building momentum and setting a pace to a proper build up toward a season finale. And it's frusrtating cause I like many of the shows general ideas and concepts they play in, but I fail to love the actual execution.

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@aherculeanheart Thanks for the synopsis review with every episode. I am about to pick up season 2 two years after i watched this first season. It helped a lot in remembering the story and characters.

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Children of Men
9

Shout by Lainfan
BlockedParent2013-10-31T19:53:57Z— updated 2020-03-25T07:42:28Z

The filming makes this movie worth to watch. There are some exquisite scenes, especially noteworthy is the (seemingly) single-shot scene where the main character has to rescue the pregnant lady from a building where the resistance fighters and immigrants hide and keep her captive. This while the building is surrounded by soldiers and tanks from the UK army.

Note: I edited this comment bc i did not agree with my opinion from that time anymore, and I could not delete it fully.

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@lieutenant-vague You are absolutely right. I have underestimated this movie when i first watched it since i appreciate this movie much more today.

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The Expanse
10

Shout by Deleted

omg what a cool scishow finally something complex and bold. they say it's the show that's standing up to BsG, but I say it's time we had a space opera that's worthy.
also, I'm amazed how many details they can cram up inside a pilot without getting it too overloaded.
a big plus for me are the space cam sequences and the sfx are eye candy.
a minus is the fact that even today's tv shows can't avoid this trap: there's no soundwaves in space, the vacuum has no air to propell the sound. so why the frak do we always hear big booms and afterburners ?
all in all, this is one to keep your eyes on.

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@fvr-deleted-1483869193 Sound in space (nearly) always gets done wrong. To make that part faithful is more a bonus point than a condition. At least it is for me.
It is way easier to make a movie or series while ignoring the limitations of a vacuum, in stead of having to think of something to replace it (in case you don't want to create tons of dead silent shots.) You need to get really inventive, become limited in what you can do with shots and audio and it certainly influences the feel of a film heavily. Sound is a big part in film and it is exceptionally difficult to NOT use it. Think of it as trying to make a movie like Lord of the rings with only practical effects. Or a Die Hard movie without Bruce Willis :P Yes it is possible, but it is really hard.

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Divergent

Great movie, lacked a bit of common sense here and there but it took it's time for setting up every story aspect nicely. This made it a bit predictable but it didn't bother me for a change.
Also: I deducted 1 point for the story being a too obvious Hunger Games concept copy.

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@thogek that's also true

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The Martian

You have to be kidding me. They've been advertising this movie with Matt Damon all over the posters and trailers and TV spots. He's listed as the top billed actor. People keep talking about him in this and how great he is. I see him promoting this film everywhere.

And then he dies in like the first five minutes. So stupid. I went into this to see why everyone loves him in this movie, but he gets hit by a piece of equipment and dies before I've even taken a bite of popcorn. Maybe, I thought, he isn't quite dead. But then NASA makes a full statement and everything that he died, so it had to be true.

I was so pissed that I just got up and walked out. I'm not dealing with this crap.

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You should watch the rest of the movie, if you didn't already.

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Doctor Who: 9x02 The Witch's Familiar (2)

Reply by Lainfan
BlockedParentSpoilers2015-09-30T15:05:20Z

I do happen to like the way they subtly hinted that The Doctor has enough regeneration energy for another go, at least. What I don't like is that this comes along with recent Peter Capaldi's comments on interviews about him being too tired of shooting Doctor Who, after just two series. That means that he's leaving after series 10?. Most likely. Cast a 57 y.o. actor in a physical demanding role, and what do you get?. The episode introduces the concept of a new Doctor in just a couple of lines, and that kept my attention off for the rest of it. When I went back to watch it again, there it was, I wasn't wrong. So, I'm expecting the beginning of the casting process after S9's Christmas special, and a proper send off after wrapping S10. Wearable technology?... sure.

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I think they actually gave him a full regeneration cycle. Which would indicate 12 new regenerations. I could be wrong ofc.
I think 2 seasons (of 12 episodes in stead of 13) is a bit low on the numbers too. Especially with the confirmed leaving of Jenna Coleman. The first season was only used to introduce Capaldi, and not much more. The sunglasses are finally a unique feature they added to give him more character (besides his eyebrows.) I am also hoping for a S10 with Capaldi, and a bit more seasonal storyline than the 8th season offered us.

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X-Men

"What would you prefer, yellow spandex?"

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But he never got it... xD

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Predestination

This has to be the most paradox Timetravel movie I've ever seen.
It's not that shocking because it is, after all, a movie about timetraveling...

But the whole Idea behind it is totally perverted! I mean, come on:
The main character is a hermaphrodite. He starts as a woman and later on in life he becomes a man.
He goes back in time, fucks his female self and impregnates himself with himself.
Yes, you read that right: He is the baby he has with himself.

MIND = BLOWN

What the hell was the director smoking?

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Not to mention he walks out on herself to steal himself from himself and herself to kill himself in the end.

No wonder they warn him for paranoia.

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Fate/Zero

A lot of people call Zero better than the earlier Fate/Stay Night creation (which is about 10 years after Zero.)
Zero is better in technical terms, but it is also made 6 years later. The main reason why people call Zero better (besides the purist to the original story) is the leap in visual effect. However, when Stay Night came out in 2006 I was impressed by the visuals as well. It's kinda like comparing the 1st and 2nd Matrix movie in SFX. Therefore, those 2 arguments are not valid enough for me personaly to pick a better one.

Stay Night has a side with a more romantic part in it (which is a bit awkward sometimes) where Zero lacks a bit of mystery I did feel with the first series. But in the end they are both great series, and I would advice every anime fan to check both series out, starting with Fate/Stay Night (Always watch stuff in order of their release.)

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With the new Unlimited Blade Works edition from Ufotable, which is clearly created as a step-in anime, it is probably best to watch Zero as the last anime (or second if you decide to ignore the 2006 DEEN version.)
Prequels always get spoiled by the main story, that's why they are sequels.

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Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

The movie lives in no way up to it's 9 year old predecessor.
Yes, the visuals are still stunning, yes the acting is overall still pretty good with many big names, yes the violence is still very overdone without turning into a Tarantino movie and yes it still takes place in the same universe as before and even some familiar characters make a comeback.

But it is very obvious they tried to recreate the first movie, but with a different story and characters. There was no real intention in building something new, innovative or unique with this one. It is perfectly described in a review one of the comments here already shared: "Unlike its first incarnation which had an artistic execution and vision, this version is literally all execution without any artistic vision."

Talking about story. You do keep wondering what will happen next, but it is in no way as interesting as it could be. The timeline is very straightforward, and the connection with characters from different storylines are a bit too easy. And in the end it is just 1 guy who does the heavy lifting and finishes everything (HULK SMASH!) oh, but we don't know how he ends up...

If you did not liked the first one, you won't like this one either. And if you liked the first one, there is not a big chance you like this one too (unless you just want to gaze at boobs and enjoy mindless violence.)

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This site is not a site where you can watch movies xD
The sites name (trakt, from the word tracking) kind of gives it away...

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Gotham

The worst thing about this show is that it is not absolutely terrible. It is sometimes pretty good.

If it sucked, then it might get cancelled and we could all stop watching. Instead this show is a stark blend of good and bad elements.
It has some pretty decent noir detective style stories, where the main character, Gordon, is the only honest cop in a totally corrupt town. Then a guy called Penguin eats sandwiches after he randomly stabs people. Gordon is a cop so committed to doing the right thing he will literally sort through the shit to find the truth (evidence in the sewer). But later a guy asks a bunch of Riddles and everyone says he Riddles too much.
The other main cop, Bullock, is an interesting mix of corrupt cop but still has decent sense of justice. Then a young rich orphan is sad a bunch, while people tell him he will do great things one day (that we will never see).

Even though the "Gordon cleans up police alone" is the best part of the show it also has contradictions, for instance there is already another whole department of honest cops. And he also has a super successful, rich, and supportive fiancé who could completely take care of him if he quit being a cop. So he isn't really struggling with his life in any way. It makes him copping about look more like a whimsey, as opposed to a duty.

This show has a pretty decent core narrative, it's all the auxiliary stuff dragging it down. It also does a good job of not being entirely episodic. Often minor plot points from previous episodes will impact the next one.

For a show based on Batman, the worst parts of the show are the Batman bits. Like when young Bruce Wayne, or Selina Kyle ("Cat"), or the Penguin or the Riddler show up. If they cut out all the Batman things in this show, it would be much better.

I want to either love this show, or stop watching. But I can't do either. Instead I keep watching a mediocre series and hoping it improves.

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It disappointed me too for being not great. It is not bad, but it not being great is just not enough for Batman anymore xD

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Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
4

Shout by Deleted

you know a movie is not going to be that good if it has Lady gaga on the cast.

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Machette Kills was pretty hilarious :P

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Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
5

Review by Deleted

In 2005 Robert Rodriguez presented us with Sin City, a great cinematic work based on the graphic novels of Frank Miller, who brought something new with a very original style of Film Noir but with an absolutely brilliant visual concept. After nine years Robert Rodriguez returns to carry us to this "world of sin", and this time he is not alone, since Frank Miller leaves only the writing to join him in direction.

In Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, Frank Miller wrote two unpublished tales purposely for the film and two other already existing in his works. The problem is that they all does not seem to have the same impact of the first film. The originality, vitality and energy of the first film is not reflected in this one.

It remains brutal, violent and visually is definitely worth seeing on the big screen, but when it comes to the characters, can not be as strong and charismatic, and the story always seems to be unsatisfactory given each end. The interest that is awakened in each one of us is not even close to what the first film managed to make to the audience. Despite being entertaining, sometimes we find ourselves kind of bored.

The characters we already know from the previous film are not as solid or raise as much interest as the first. As for the characters introduced for the first time, they do not have the same strength and effectiveness. With a cast full of pretty big names, many of the actors are underused having very little time on screen.

I was expecting to see how Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be in this project. He is one of the young actors I most like to see on the screen today and after all this kind of role does not seem to fit well in his profile. That does not mean that he had a bad performance, but it was simply a bad choice of role I guess. Eva Green is the only one who can give the film a certain feeling of seduction and danger, she is totally the femme fatale but the overuse of nudity (nothing against it, I have no problem about it) despite they are quite artistic, just made the most important segment in the entire film turned into something inelegant. Eva Green's performance however is the best of the film, she can be all that her character requires, sensual, engaging and totally fatal.

What was missing in Sin City: A Dame To Kill For was the same attitude, enthusiasm and freshness of the first film. Perhaps the fact that they had waited nine years to make a sequel also was not the best decision.

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Great review, as usual. Only thing I differ in opinion with you is the miscast of Gordon-Levitt. Even though I hoped for a different outcome of the his story, but I guess I get the conflict it creates in the finale of the film.
Something I want to add is that it feels like less work was done on the elaborate costumes. Many characters were just 'to normal' compared to the first one. It all feels more rushed and less detailed. Which is weird with a 9 year time-gap.
But maybe my/our expectations are just too high after such a long wait.

ps. Gordon-Levitt isn't that young (33) and has been on screen for major projects since the 90s with the (in)famous 3rd rock series.

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