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jenckell
Reviews
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022)
Return of the King Galadriel
The Rings of Power was a visual feast for the eyes and fantasy mind as I took pauses to turn pages reading up on the lore, I had been hoping to see a more expanded portrayal of the future elven queen Galadriel, pleasantly surprised by the full dimensions of Morfydds Clark's young and restless Galadriel. Trading in her crown for a blade she sets out to avenge her brother following a personal calling, even louder than the elven one calling to the undying lands. Clark's portrayal is a subtle one with hidden wisdom building up within a stoic mask and there's a reckless side of her I loved. But with over fifty hours of story to unfold there is no telling how much of it will be covered in Rings of Power, there simply wont be time. I'm curious to see what the future holds and how much of the lore they will have time to capture, and in what ages it will stretch and take them.
Galadriel was fully engaged in the continual warfare of the first age, and the ruse of Sauron in the 2nd age. In the 3rd age she fought off the attacks on Lorien then led her armies to Dol Guildor. I always sensed Tolkien had a weak spot for Galadriel as he lovingly wrote her in his lore, Galadriels mother-name was Nerwen ('man-maiden') & she grew to be tall beyond the measure even of the women of the Noldor; she was strong of body, mind, & will, a match for both the loremasters and the athletes of the Eldar in the days of their youth. -History of Galadriel & Celeborn. I'm hoping Rings of Power will cover as much as possible.
Killing Eve: Hello, Losers (2022)
A huge career achievement resulting in the end of a career
Laura Neal's career. No sane person is gonna want to hire her after this, A big accomplishment by Laura Neal. A huge career achievement resulting in the end of a career cos only a few writers have been able to reach these lows.
A League of Their Own (2022)
A truthful show that reflects the reality of American Women's Pro baseball in the 40's and 50's
"A League of Their Own" stands on its own by refusing to erase important stories from the narrative and that's wonderfully refreshing to experience. Lots of heart in this one.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Wow finally something innovative and new
The physical raw fighting sequences alone turns you into a giddy kid glued to the screen hyper focused to not miss a single beat. Consensus: You will miss almost all beats cos the fighting is that fast and you wont be able to catch them all even if you could pause and rewind.
I miss these type of movies focusing more on the physical aspect of fighting turning it into an art-form, and more of a struggle to force the character to master the skill in perfection before attempting to use it. The result of failure in physical fights are more deadly and the stakes are higher.
Surprisingly, this move had a lot of soul I missed from other older similar movies and a rich landscape of interesting characters and creatures. This movie also had a splendid cast attached with some bad-ass women who got to fight a fair amount themselves which I loved. Great watch. Can't wait to watch it a couple of more times so I can catch some of the fighting beats I missed.
The Chair (2021)
Nothing is black and white in this satirical take on academia.The magic of Oh's performance holds 'The Chair' together
Magnificent work from powerhouse actress Sandra Oh showcasing her incredible comedic talents as Dr. Yi-Joon Kim juggling the impossible task as chair of an English department while trying desperately to keep it all together in a department that will never accept her place in it.
"I feel like someone handed me a ticking time bomb and they wanted to make sure a woman was holding it when it explodes."
Brilliant performances by Holland Taylor, Jay Duplass and rest of cast. The writing feels authentic and fresh filled with nuance. All characters are deeply flawed and there's no "hero mentality". Nothing is black and white in this satirical take on academia.
The magic of Oh's performance holds 'The Chair' together as we get to see her neurotic stressed out self come apart at the seams. I highly recommend this!