I was hoping for some good behind the scenes stuff, but based on the first episode this show will be the very definition of a fluff piece. "I had such a good time working on this and I love everyone here and I can't believe I had this opportunity".
Definitely the most consistently entertaining season so far, although it gets off to a terrible start with the Mon Calamari episodes. There's some astoundingly good stuff as the season continues, with the Umbara arc probably being the highlight of the entire show up to this point. The cringe worthy episodes are fewer and far between, characters are given some really compelling stuff to do. I think if you haven't fallen for the show by this point you never will, and while there are so many things I could criticise about it I think that this show is becoming essential for Star Wars fans.
The action scenes can be overwhelming and cartoony, but they are always a visual treat. It can be throwaway entertainment, but it will surprise you more often than not and it's improving the prequels immensely.
This should have been 6 episodes or even less. The cast are fantastic and it's ridiculously gorgeous, but there's slow burn and then there's just spinning your wheels. After a very strong start it just peters out with a few glimmers of interest along the way.
The actors here can't be faulted at all though. In particular, Cynthia Erivo gave a fascinating performance as the peculiar Holly Gibney, and Ben Mendelsohn's emotional turn put me through the ringer a couple of times. I also thought that Julianne Nicholson gave a very strong and memorable performance as Glory.
I found that I did look forward to watching the episodes each week, but that's mostly due to the characters and the people playing them. When it comes to the actual plot it was a whole lot of nothing and while the resolution improved things it still fell pretty flat. This would have been much more powerful and lost nothing with a (much) shorter run time.
I love this list, thanks for making it. Will you be keeping it updated with the new Clone Wars season 7 episodes?
I guess Kaz must have been cursed this whole time, because there's nothing that happens to him here that hasn't happened in every previous episode. He's just a clumsy idiot.
Jared Harris acts circles around everyone else in this. I'm glad he's returned!
Surprisingly decent. There's still nothing to write home about in regards to characters, but this had some lovely visuals and got quite thrilling at points. Some really nice set pieces between the falling lift and the dragon cavern. I do love me a big old monster.
Obvious nods to Jurassic Park here, and it sounded like the dragon roars even used elements of the JP t-rex sounds.
I have to be honest, I really don't understand the factions and politics present here. Am I not paying enough attention, or is the show doing a poor job of explaining?
My only impressions so far:
- OPA: some kind of terrorist group. Bad.
- Belters: Gangs, criminals, violent, corrupt. Bad.
- Earth: elite, ignorant of others plight. Bad.
- Mars: isolationist, seen as a threat by everyone. Bad.
Surely this can't be right?
However, this episode was better for characters. People really seem to dislike each other but at least there was some reasoning behind it this time.
A surprising dip into horror works pretty well. Creepier than you might expect from a kids show. There was some great cinematography and visuals here too, I was particularly impressed with the way the camera moved. This show was getting more ambitious.
Obi-Wan was fun here, especially his ruminations on how the worm might attack Luminara. Also a side note, Luminara is becoming one of my favourite characters.
Pretty good fun, although it suffers from how cheap it all feels. The final 15 minutes went a bit off the rails. I did like Agatha the sarcastic nun.
More enjoyable than the previous season from earlier this year, Book 3 moves with a purpose and tells a larger story along the way. I was happy to see some dragons finally appear back in Book 2, but here we are spoiled. The opening episode dealing with the enormous blind dragon Sol Regem was a glorious piece of storytelling all on its own.
I enjoy the balance between serious emotional beats and some good humour. The jokes spring from characters and never feel out of place, even though they usually take me by surprise. "Anyway, here's the wonder wall," was so well done that I had to pause to recover.
Viren becomes more of a traditional bad guy (Soren even describes him as a "villain") and it's a a bit of a shame to see his previously more nuanced character reduced to something more black and white. My favourite part of the story is Rayla and Callum, and I was really happy to see what developed between them.
It continues to have some of the most gorgeous art and animation I've seen with some really breathtaking designs and scenery. This show has settled into its rhythm and I don't think I'm as blown away by it as I was back when it started, but I'm eager to keep going.
This is painfully bad. Why am I enjoying it so much?
Some proper dragon stuff at last, which was very satisfying. Unfortunately I can't really remember the story up to this point and the recap didn't fill in a lot of the details, only broad strokes.
I'm glad I chose to stick with this after the weak early episodes. Coming into the show felt like a homework assignment with the amount of characters I had to keep track of (in both child and adult versions). I wasn't able to make this settle down until around 4 episodes in when it felt like I could stop taking mental notes. By the end the show has established each of these characters very independently of each other, but it's really hard going to get there.
The most surprising thing about Hill House may be that it ends up being closer to a family drama than a horror story. Absolutely the horror moments are all there; there is a fantastic sense of dread and the ghosts and ghouls are effectively creepy. The show thankfully relies more on making you uncomfortable rather than startling you, but it did manage to pull off one of the best jump scares I've ever come across (episode 8, in the car), using the fact that it genuinely comes out of a moment you don't expect.
The cast are universally great. I keep on being impressed by Mckenna Grace (young Theo) every time I see her in something. On the adult side, Carla Gugino gets placed front and centre but by the end everyone gets to do some heavily lifting. Kate Siegel, Michiel Huisman and especially Victoria Pedretti are just great.
However, it took me a while to get to the point where I can say that. Without exception, the adult versions of these characters are absolute assholes and it's not much fun to watch them (and near impossible to sympathise with them). It takes time to understand what they are all about and what they've been through. A big issue did develop in that I found the flashbacks to the 1990s to be much more interesting than anything that was happening in the present day.
An exceptional episode made up of long, single takes was the real turning point for me where I found myself emotionally invested in what was happening. The spooky side of the show doesn't really fulfil its promise for the most part but the family become fascinating. The season builds up to some dramatic stuff that falls a little flat due to the scare factor really disappearing and the resolution is far more sedate than expected. I may have just been expecting a different show (and it was certainly promoted that way).
I'm not sure what to make of this right now. This first episode was bizarre. A hazy kaleidoscope of unwanted memories and past trauma blurred with a lethargic present day investigation, if you can call it that at this point.
The characters are very strange, nobody acts like a normal person. That adds greatly to the atmosphere but makes this a very unwelcoming watch. Amy Adam's gives a fantastic performance from the start.
However, my main question right now is how far into Led Zeppelin's discography Camille is going to get.
An okay start, slow but effectively creepy. I'm glad it's not full of dumb jump scares. Hard to get much of a feeling about the characters this early, but it does feel like there are a lot of them. Notably, all the female cast members look alike (nice casting giving them all a resemblance to Carla Gugino) and I was struggling to tell them apart.
Henry certainly make poor choices (getting into a car with a stranger at night?). This is an intriguing set up but it's moving extremely slowly and my attention keeps wandering. I'd like it to get on with things. Still, I want to keep watching for now and I really like the actors.
Henry's conflicting memory of the assault by Clay is a confusing one - is she imagining scenarios that might have happened? Is she second guessing her own account of things due to the confusion surrounding her black out/teleporting? Is she trying to replace her memory with something less traumatic? I have no doubt that Clay did assault her but this is putting a bold spin on things and Maddie Hasson is doing a great job depicting it.
Klingons are fun! ...when they're well written. Here they definitely are not. This is painfully by-the-numbers and the resolution comes very quickly after a lot of slow build up. The only bright spots are the actor playing the Klingon captain, and Roxann Dawson showing that she's one of the best actors on the show when she's given more subtle material to work with.
This has all the ingredients to be a good episode: the Doctor as the story's focus, some great guest actors, a juicy ethical quandary. But it fails due to how generic and unadventurous it is. It feels like an episode that Trek has done numerous times before, a mish mash of overused ideas being recycled. The end result just has no spark and there is zero thrill in watching it. My favourite part was the final scene with Seven and the Doctor.
I hated the alien designs here, they were bland and obvious. And how come several of the alien doctors and patients looked completely human?
Also: damn it, Jerry! Why couldn't you just tell us where Gar is?!
I've been wanting to watch this for years and finally had the opportunity. Superman II was one of the key films of my childhood and so much of it is burned into my memories. I never knew of the turmoil behind the scenes as original director Richard Donner was replaced after completing around 75% of the movie.
This reassembled cut of the film has wonderful intentions behind it, and while the end result is FASCINATING, it's definitely not a whole piece. Only so much can be done with the fragments of an unfinished film, so I have to applaud the work that went into this.
The new version of the film follows largely the same story beats but consists of mostly new footage, and the tone feels significantly different. It's more raw, there's more emotion and a lot of the lighter comedy moments are gone. Some sequences are very different to what I was used to - for example, the entire opening in Paris no longer exists here.
What I was most struck by was Christopher Reeve's performance as Superman (and Clark Kent). Reeve was always and likely always will be the most perfect Superman actor. In this new cut, he gets to display much more powerful, emotional scenes than the original gave us. Notably, his scenes with Marlon Brando are captivating. I find myself always getting emotional whenever I watch Reeve in this role for obvious reasons, but this drives home the tragedy in a new way. It's quite wonderful.
Also, he plays Clark Kent so wonderfully on top of that. It's a shame that later films never allowed actors to have much fun as this alter ego.
Still, overall I do prefer the theatrical cut of Superman II. It flows better and doesn't feel as rough around the edges. The ending is better there, too. Plus the music cues are lined up in a much more satisfying way which is unfortunately lost here.
Earnest, sentimental and often overly cheesy but every moment is consistently watchable. This Is Us wears its heart on its sleeve and is one of the most "American" shows I've ever seen, but it succeeds due to how honest it is. I like the characters, I'm interested in their lives and I feel invested in knowing where things will go.
If I'm being super critical, then I do find myself getting annoyed with Kate and Toby. Their relationship is very OTT and seems to consist of a repeating pattern of one of them (usually Toby) doing something to upset the other (usually Kate), then having an emotional conversation where they make up and decide to continue. This then happens again in the next episode. It became tiresome, but their issues are fairly unique ones for television and the actors have enough charm to make it work, mostly. I'd also say that most of Kevin's stories can fall flat for me, he's not the most interesting character.
My favourite stories tend to be the ones involving Rebecca and Jack. They are such a perfect couple and I love the way they act both towards each other and with their children. I also love going back to '80/'90s settings (and sometimes even further back). Their arguments (which come nearly as often as Kate/Toby's) feel much more natural and earned. It's also helpful that Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia have such good chemistry together.
And then there's Randall who just about steals the show. His narrative is a beautifully complex one and Sterling K. Brown gives his all in the role. His moments were the ones that eventually got to me and caused a few tears to flow.
I'm also really impressed that the casting managed to find actors who do seem to resemble each other at different ages, both in looks and in mannerisms.
The season seemed to be building up to something big in regards to Jack, but it never got there and I couldn't help feeling like it was a let down. It's like the show is only giving us small portions because they know they need to keep things going longer. I'm worried that given the amount of seasons This Is Us is getting that we could just be getting strung along until the story has really run dry. At any rate, right now I want to see more.
Nice to finally see an alien! The budget obviously didn't allow for much so the filmmakers managed to use a "less is more" approach. The two main characters were quite developed for such a short amount of time spent with them.
This is nothing amazing and has some really dodgy moments of acting, but it did manage to create that little bit of unease I associate with the Alien franchise. It's just a shame that this didn't try to do anything original.
Wow, this is more like it. I can't remember the last time a film actually scared me, and this managed to do just that. The sense of dread and impending terror runs all the way through this, and this is of a far higher quality in every area compared to the first short film.
Of all the previous Alien entries, this recalled the atmosphere of Alien 3 the most for me, and I even feel like the soundtrack music was inspired by that.
A strong lead actress really helps and the production values are great (some dodgy CGI the only weak link). Mostly, the story here is the real surprise. I had low expectations for these short films and this raised the bar in a big way.
Huh. This just took an unexpected and unique direction!
Was not expecting Stephen Merchant to turn up.
This has maybe the most gorgeous and realistic CG animation/art I've ever seen. It does pose the question of why not just use real actors instead of the time it must have taken to create the characters in this, but as an experiment in what is possible it's pretty mindblowing.
The story itself is excellent. I got a massive Wing Commander vibe from it all (and, now I guess it would be more apt to apply that to Star Citizen/Squadron 42 - this actually works as a pretty great trailer for that). Samira Wiley was instantly recognisable in the lead role and did a great job. What's most impressive is how engaging the story managed to be in such a short time, with the relationship forming between Colby and her ship.
The dogfight sequence above/under ground was just sublime.
Season 2 managed to continue the quality storytelling that began with the first. I did feel like this slowed the pace down a bit more, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. There was room for some great character development, particularly for Claudia and Soren. Meanwhile, some of the most interesting season characters got left behind, such as Aunt Amaya and Commander Gren (who remains chained up cheerfully in a cell!).
One of the best things here was finally getting to see some big dragon action - something I had expected back in season 1 but never came. Very much worth the wait and impressively realised. It also gave us a lovely window into Callum and Ezran's mother.
The show is just gorgeous. It seems that the animation has been tweaked a bit here to include a few more frames-per-second and be slightly less choppy, but it never bothered me much in the first season. Mostly it's the art, design and colours that really capture me, and the cell-shaded 3D look really works wonders.
Hopefully I can watch this show with my nephews when they are a bit older!
A bit of a misfire here. The comedy:drama ratio was skewed all in the wrong direction (especially given how much comedy potential there is surrounding Bortas), but above all it was just a bit too boring. The holodeck simulations were amusing the first couple of times but became tedious quickly. I really enjoy the Bortas/Klyden relationship, but this became repetitive and seems to have pushed their characters a bit outside of what was established in season 1.
In fact, Bortas may have dominated the episode too much and an extra plot line following another character could have improved things. Either that or maybe The Orville would work better as a 25 minute show. I know it can do better than this, though.
There were some lovely special effects involving the supernova and the disintegrating planet, and I loved the new alien that provided Bortas with the holoprogram.
Almost a year after the US premiere, Future Man finally comes to the UK! And SyFy UK are showing it uncut, unlike other imports.
Would be a lot better without the low-brow humour (Seth Rogen's influence on the script is extremely apparent), but I really quite enjoyed this. It's silly and funny with a great cast, and I love the geeky premise. I'll stick with it for now, hopefully it's going to become a bit more refined in both dialogue and storytelling.
What a horrible family, if you can even call it one.
I'm also surprised at the extremely weak writing for all the characters here. However much I adore Ezri, this is one of the worst DS9 episodes. Saved somewhat by some quite emotional acting towards the end.
Nice to see that more elements from the old Expanded Universe are being brought into official canon.
