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House of the Dragon (2022)
Redemption!
3 Episodes in, I am honestly thrilled with what I've seen. Coming back to this world was not exactly a nerve inducing experience, as the last 2 seasons of GOT left a bitter taste, House of the Dragon was a simply an "I'll give it a go" show, I was optimistic but I held myself back from getting excited.
Happily, HBO bringing this show into my life has rekindled the same wonder and excitement that I felt during season 3-6 of GOT. GOT for many of us showed us just how good TV could be, and even though HOTD isn't destined to be considered the best show all time, it has lifted a massive shadow that the conclusion of GOT cast over the world.
The cast is just excellent; the cinematography is on point; the script and characters are both engaging and complex; the sets are grand and meticulously detailed. Most of all the costume designers have truly outdone themselves, I usually do not give a lot of thought to costume when watching film, but the work that has been done here is incredible.
I can not wait to watch more and I hope they continue creating content to this standard.
Eternals (2021)
Will split the room. I really liked it
Without a doubt the most visually stunning and drama rich marvel film. The VFX are on another level, although the finale is a bit too "grand" for lack of a better word, the first 90% of the movie for the most part was quite grounded and slower than most MCU movies which was very welcome as it suited the style of this story and characters, plus gave us something new and refreshing to the franchise.
The big finale was classic Disney, in a way that was a little disappointing, a massive CGI sequence that felt a bit out of place from the rest of this brave movie, they somewhat chickened out and were too afraid to let the film climax on its own terms. A very in-your-face reminder that MCU have a formula, there are a few moments like this.
I stilled loved it, the speedster looked so good The Flash movie really has to bring it to satisfy now. The amount of beautiful shots have no right to be in a MCU movie it was wonderful. The deep and complicated relationships within a diverse and interesting group of characters makes the movie immersive and relatable. It also has some profound questions at its core. I can't wait to see these characters again, Phase 4 has completely exceeded my expectations so far.
One terrible after credit scene that made me very nervous for the future of the MCU (not funny or cool). And a second one that is really intriguing and exciting.
The Planets (2019)
The best show ever made
I can't contain how much I love this.
Top quality in every regard! Educational in a calming and profound way. I can't stop rewatching it and every time something new sinks in. It makes you realise just how far are species has come and just how little we've scratched the service at the same time. Amazing visuals and top class narration from Brian Cox! 11stars please make more!
The Planets (2019)
The best show ever made
I can't contain how much I love this.
Top quality in every regard! Educational in a calming and profound way. I can't stop rewatching it and every time something new sinks in. It makes you realise just how far are species has come and just how little we've scratched the service at the same time. Amazing visuals and top class narration from Brian Cox! 11stars please make more!
Greatest Events of WWII in Colour: Dresden Firestorm (2019)
What an episode! Flipped everything on its head
Throughout the series I was feeling more and more proud to be British, as we were fighting of the evil nazi's and being very cleaver and revolutionary in doing so, however the Dresden firestorm brings into light the morality of the allies tactics and shows that the war wasn't simply a 'good vs evil' affair. The narration is utterly fantastic, as it is throughout the series. A very well made documentary overall, this by no means the best episode, although it is a turning point in the doc' where the actions of both sides get scrutinised. I don't think the Dresden incident is very well know, especially compared to the famous event such as D-Day and Stalingrad. People should be aware of this horrific attack and this episode is incredibly informative and impartial. 10Stars! It left me with goosebumps.
Game of Thrones: The Last of the Starks (2019)
The Game Of Thrones we forgot that we love.
At first was surprised to see there are a lot of bad reviews for this episode, then after an hour of thought it started to make more sense. So what are the problems in the episode? Honestly not much... people seem to feel that Cersi acted out of character by not killing Dany/tirrion when given the opportunity; they hate how the Greyjoy fleet managed to ambush the dragons. Okay...
So why didnt cersi destroy them all at the gates of kings landing? Plenty of reasons really. Would it of stopped the coming war and make cersi the supreme ruler? no. Is John and the north on their way yes. John has the influence over the common people, dany however is the crazy, foreign, targerien who's army are savages and who's dragons will burn there homes to the ground. Cersi needs dany as the main enemy to keep the people from realising that she is the true evil.
The Greyjoy fleet where behind that huge rock. Why is that not enough? Dany wouldn't of dreamt that they would dare attck with the ships, she has dragons after all. Dany underestimates the technological advancements of the capital and loses a dragon because of it. Never before have dragons been the underdog when it comes to the seas.
The episode actually reminded me of the old game of thrones. A roller coaster of emotions with evil gruesome deaths and a lots of politics. Hell yeah! It's been years since game of thrones kept me so enthralled.
Going forward I love the show more than ever before, and I will not allow misguided negativity to spoil what is clearly the best tv show period. People choose to allow their criticisms overpower their enjoyment, others choose to forgive imperfections and keep themselves level headed. 10/10 best episode since season 6. Great filmmaking fantastic development in the story.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
The film vs The preconceived negative opinion
First of all I am a comic fan, I am a DC fan and I am a Marvel fan, but most importantly I am a film fan more than anything.
Now we've all heard and seen all the hatred and animosity surrounding this film and Zack Snyder. The reason why this exists is not entirely clear and is certainly not entirely rational. Maybe it is because of the advertising mess up with the second trailer, it was not a good trailer in hardly any aspect, and was undoubtedly a big blow. Maybe the negative opinions are do to the fact that people feel they need to take a side because it is Marvel and DC, however if you do choose a side you are only choosing a film company to be loyal to which is ridiculous!! Maybe all of the negativity simply comes from the media, The media will condemn any film they want to because this animosity is money for them, if you hear a big film is going to be terrible by a media or critic you get interested in why and at the end of the day everybody loses except the businesses in the media, people are easily influenced in this social networking era.
Batman V Superman Dawn of justice has been subjected to a pre-conceived idea that the movie is not good or for some strange reason shouldn't be good. I do not understand why people are hating this film before they have seen it or giving it a one star simply because it wasn't there cup of tea, by no stretch of the imagination is this film a one star. A one star film implies that it is worse than 'baby geniuses 2' or something.
This movie has some of the best action scenes I have ever witnessed it most definitely tops the leaderboard for superhero action scenes that is where Zack Sneijder deserves his Due. Batman, superman and wonder woman etc. all have amazing combat choreography and this is complimented beautifully by Snyders great direction, the imagery and of course hans Zimmer's and junkie XL's impending soundtrack. When it comes to action Dawn of Justice gets an easy 10/10 from me.
I feel sorry for Zack he is being bullied by the world in a unimaginably cruel way at the moment, people have even started petitions, the truth of the matter is the majority of these people are comic fans and know little about movie-making, once a superhero film reaches the big screen it is now a film no different to any other physically, people need to look of superhero movies as films and not something greater.
The performances in this film are wonderful, Ben afleck brings us a terrific Bruce Wayne/batman, gal godot is absolutely stellar!! as Wonder Woman (she stole the show for me) and Jesse eisenberg is very very good! His lex Luther is ruthless, estranged and very evil there is definitely a comparison to be made with Heath ledgers Joker, Jessie's Lex is not quite as crazy but is much stranger and more evil. The acting side of things is for the most part impressive however carvil and Amy Adams aren't as good as the rest of the cast in my opinion. I would of liked to have seen Matt Bommer as superman and someone else for Lois, nevertheless they were both better in Dawn... Than they were in man of steel so this is nothing major to complain about.
The movies pacing had its high and low moments, there were times where it was fantastic and there were times where it was jagged (for lack of a better word). The movie is a upward slope, from the very begging the "epicness" and speed increases as the movie goes along. It was actually very refreshing to see, too often do action and superhero films put a massive action scene towards the begging leaving the concluding action scenes less impactful. Dawn of justice works on our anticipation and builds us up nicely from moment to moment. However some of the scene transitions didn't work very well, some scenes feel like they need to be longer because there was a hell of a lot of scenes (in the first half mostly) and the music didn't seem to complement a cut from dark batman scenes to light superman ones. (The man of steel piano). Wonder woman's drums were my favourite part of the soundtrack! They gave me goosebumps in the cinema.
I really like this movie, the things I were lead to believe I wouldn't like I actually really loved (like Jessie Eisenberg and Doomsday). I would recommend it to any action lover or superhero fan. It is unpredictable I was surprised a number of times because of things I didn't see coming. It is more mature and more thought provoking than any of Disneys marvel films (which are more lighthearted fun). I can say for sure that I am more excited for the upcoming DC films than I am marvel, and Disney is the reason (I want something more dark if serious Disney!) regardless of this the upcoming marvel films do look great!! I'm not going to pick a side because if I do the only person who losses is me.
Arrow: Brotherhood (2015)
New style of combat!
I personally feel that season 4 of Arrow (so far) has been a big improvement on season 3. This episode has took Arrow to an all new and more exciting level, especially in terms of the fighting and action scenes. The action/fighting choreography, cinematography and direction within this episode is not only visually and technically superior but also portrays these DC superheroes as the badass's that they are supposed to be. In previous seasons the fighting never really possessed any real flair that we have come to expect and demand from are favourite on screen superheroes, however now Arrows combat is closer to the fighting scenes within Netflix's Daredevil, Kick-ass and to some degree Captain America: Winter soldier. Despite the clear inspiration from the Marvel world it feels unique and original, the good guys get hit more, attacks feel more painful and the way its filmed and edited together all compliment the choreography to create the best action scenes I have seen from a CW TV show.
The episode overall felt fresh and less in the style of 'one tree hill', which some of Arrows earlier episodes are guilty of. In my opinion this is a big step in the right direction and if the creators of Arrow run with this new style the show could reach new heights that many people would not of thought possible considering the fluctuating quality of the TV show overall.
This was a great episode (excluding Oliver's speech. Speeches in this show have always fallen short as they are not long enough or written well enough to seem inspirational, they also seem a tad awkward because the audiences always give an unrealistically over-enthusiastic response).
Nevertheless, with these changes, my excitement and need for more Arrow has multiplied tenfold.
Gone Girl (2014)
In many ways the best film ever
David Fincher has done it again! And on a whole new level. Gone Girl is a masterpiece which includes everything you would expect from a Fincher film, mainly the overall visual image of the film is classically Fincher (beautiful, stunning & cool).
Gone Girl plays with the viewer, from start to finish you don't know what to expect next, there is no moment of relief where you feel safe that nothing significant is going to happen, real edge of your seat stuff. The two main characters (Ben Afleck & Rosamund Pike) steal and throw away your allegiance more times then you can count, the film makes you want to choose a side and sympathise with a specific individual, however it is almost impossible to do so. You will: hate, love, feel sorry for and be surprised by both lead characters many many times throughout. (I would also like to add that Neil Patrick Harris gives an amazing performance, the best acting I've ever seen him do)
It is like no other film I've ever seen before, and to top it off I cannot find any aspect of the film that I didn't think was perfect. This review is from the perspective of a viewer that has not read the book.