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The Peripheral (2022)
Its good
Watched first 5 episodes.
What is good? Characters actually act smart. Or at least they try. Especially how they try to keep the secret is realistic. Main female character is strong, but still not a Mary Sue. She has her flaws, and she is not "the best" in everything. But she can also stand by her own. A capable gamer, better than her brother. A compassionate character, again better than her brother. But not a great soldier, and sometimes vulnerable. It is perfect. And she is also not gay, which almost become a cliché at this point. Too much of a good thing still can be a bad thing, they managed to have a balance. Not too much family drama, also not a lot of pointless romance, which is another cliché. But it might change in future, there are signs of it between black dude from future and the main girl. Hope they don't overdo it.
What is bad? Time travel-dimensions cliché. There are too much similar stuff around already, and ironically the options on how story can go are limited due to this. Also post apocalypse scenario, which is another cliché done to death. I fear we are going to end up in one since we condition ourselves into one at this point.
Acting is good enough.
So in the end good sides weigh more fore me.
Tales from the Loop (2020)
Its good, but not really sci-fi
In fantasy, there is something called soft and hard magic. First one is just there to support the story, it works as a setting, or an element to move the story. Second one is more realistic, magic cant do everything and has its limits.
This is the same thing. Science has little to no role in this story. It is nothing more than a background element. Just like in Star Wars, a space fantasy.
Does that mean this is bad? Of course not. But you are clearly mistaken if you think this is the same genre with stuff like The Expanse. This is fantastic-drama more than sci-fi.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: All Those Who Wander (2022)
Ignore the cynicism, this is good
Yes, the story is not exactly unique. But that is both very naive and ignorant observation.
We literally produced hundreds of thousands of stories in different media since we figured out how to use radio waves for communication, and it is inevitable that we run out of truly unique stuff at some point.
Whatever the franchise is, you cant expect the same kind of unique awe from the second or third experience. Seeing a plane flying for the very first time is an unique experience, but do you expect the same reaction second time?
So, it is pointless to be too harsh, this is a good story. It fits canon, and it is believable. Don't forget, all the train wrecks we get in any franchise is due to that fixation on being unique. It doesn't work when you force it.
So embrace what you get, give them time. And if we are lucky, they will come up with something unique. Otherwise, we get nothing.
Star Trek: Prodigy (2021)
Don't Listen to Cynicism
It is star trek.
Yes, it has a character that looks like general grievous. And he does have some kind of droid army that you see 10 minutes in total in whole season. But that is as far as similarities go with star wars. What makes star trek 'star trek' is the story. Its the ideals, its the science and progress, and its the ethical dilemmas.
This show has all of them. Only bad thing about it is being too short. So dont listen to people who only watch one episode, and decide prematurely like a Ferengi chasing profit.
Halo: Allegiance (2022)
Its good
Is story is rushed? Yes, but this is kinda problem with all recent shows, having ridiculously short reasons. 10, 12 episodes? That is a f.....g joke. It is corps getting greedy, but to be fair we made this happen. People complained "filler" episodes so much, now we barely get any time for story development. Just look at how people reacted to last episode. Yes, the Asian girl is annoying, but you need to give story a chance to develop. Annoying people do exist after all, and a good story cant only consist of "likable" characters. There is only one way you can develop a likeable character, and it is to the worse. You need someone faulty to develop the character. If they don't do it, then you have right to complain, and it is too early for that.
And I see people complain about the fight scene in this episode, saying master chief had no chance against armored Spartans. This is pinnacle of cynicism. They are trying to capture him! It is not a fight to the death, in which master chief would be certainly wrecked. But this is not simply the case.
Story is good enough for limited time they had to develop it, and everything else lacking is an extension of it. So if you really want to complain about something, complain about the amount of episodes we get.
The Wheel of Time (2021)
This is not what you think it is
I want to address some issues raised about this show.
First, portrayal of men and women in this show is adequate, this is certainly not another Star Wars "Ray" issue. They are not sacrificing the story to implement an agenda. Sorcerer women in show (or any women in show, really) are not mary sues, they go down rather easily when their guards are not around. In fact, they perform better in concert with their guards.
Second, diversity in show is unlikely for a medieval setting, but it is certainly not impossible. Empires with rich slave markets did exist, and some of those slaves did become free citizens or gave birth to free citizens, creating a diverse society. Roman and Ottoman empires are two examples you can give to this.
And to be honest, these are issues that spill over from overly politicized and divided US, pushing hard against each other just because of partisanism. Yeah, its not the greatest show ever, and does have some cheesy moments. And it is also not the best book adaptation either. But the show doesn't really deserve scrutiny it receives.
Prityazhenie (2017)
Above Average Sci-Fi
Although story is not usual invasion story, it has similar versions in other movies. It is also rushed and has some holes in it, but it is nothing new for this genre. People say story is weak, but after covid, I really cant say stupid decisions characters take are unrealistic. As others say it is a love story suggesting love can overcome everything. Also it is trying to give a message we all figured out by now, that we will destroy ourselves. other than that acting is ok, it is watchable. Visuals are very good, in fact might even be the best cgi for a while, and visuals made me watch the movie mostly. If you like sci-fi and have nothing better to do this might be good to pass the time.
Extinct (2017)
Not good, not bad, just fine
Bad things first.
Acting is not great and it makes the show hard the watch sometimes. Couple of times I felt like pushing the show down the stairs and yelling "You want me to cut to 3 weeks earlier, when you were alive?" over its dead body like a certain well known cartoon character did. I wish they find a better way to tell the story other than the cut back scenes. Some of faith, love and relationship stuff felt like kinda forced sometimes. But to be fair some other sci-fi shows similar to this also did that so we cannot really say they uniquely terrible at this. Maybe they might have a church relationship and an agenda based on it like some others claim here but I cannot really tell. To me it wasn't so different from other shows. (they all do it)
Now, the good things.
Unlike many other shows on air, science was quite accurate on many occasions and that was a surprise for me. It incorporated well into story and they also didn't make science a miracle solution to everything in the show. Yes science is awesome and can do a lot of stuff, but still cannot tell you everything whenever you need it. In other sci-fi they use it whenever they need a miracle solution. Usage of improbable science to make the plot go is a cheap trick in my opinion. Science is trial and error, not magic. Other than that story is also good. It has some clichés which you can easily find in any alien invasion story but they are not too disturbing.
So in conclusion It is OK to watch if you are a bored sci-fi fan.
Da Vinci's Demons (2013)
Good show, but stereotypical a lot
Show is very well made in general, intelligent and intriguing. And for a while gave the impression that it wont be using standard rhetoric west love to use. But here we are, show using beheadings -which is in fact questionable whether really happened- as plot to get somewhere. It is not a part of Islam, and never was.
Well, a good story give you an enemy and a good guy and entertain you, but great story also show you why is the bad guy is actually bad. The show was going that way, but this is not the case in 3rd season. Well, it is not that inaccurate, when Ottoman empire invaded somewhere, people who resist did get enslaved. And unlike how it portrayed in the show, a dead person has no use for Ottoman empire.
What producers don't understand that while Ottoman empire was indeed no saint, but it did have a moral code. And it was pretty good one for that time. While minorities or "infidels" of any kind of any kind were being slaughtered in Europe by millions, in Ottoman empire they were free to practice their own faith and have their own culture. That is the reason why Greeks still speak Greek today and "exist".
Well all I want is if you are going to add something to the show at least do some research on it. But I cannot blame them entirely on that, because when you search stuff there are always something trying to show Turks and Muslims in general evil.
Just like Vatican claimed Turks beheaded people who refusing to convert in the invasion of Otranto. They started this stuff when they were short of coins and needed an enemy to crusade and loot. Antichrist Muslim Turks were there to save the day. That so called holy war even looted Constantinople while it was still Roman.
But who cares! Eat popcorn and watch the show while they turn you into another "brick in the wall" by educating you the way they like.
Mai wei (2011)
Killing is the easy way
This is a production which shows us the people in pursuit of some ideals who think anything would be suitable to achieve that goal can be terribly misguided in their actions. The movie tells us the real difference between any kind of two people lays only on surface, and the real challenge with virtue is to understand the other person. Its a good movie with a right message even tough it has some mistakes in it.
I am not going to say much about factual or continuation errors in the movie, all I can say they are not intolerable. But I can recommend this movie without hesitation to any human. Its a great example what happens when you chose to fight rather than putting aside your differences.
Dracula Untold (2014)
Who is worse than a vampire? A Turk.
Well, in most content which include antic or middle ages style in it always has a thing against the "easterner" figure, but in this movie it seems finally they decided to put it in a shape. As Turks.
Personally I think this closely related to the position of the Ottoman empire in world stage in those days. During its 700 years of rule, Ottoman empire managed to grow big enough to be a superpower of the day and kept that place for 200 years. Yes Ottoman empire was not formed by saints. But it barely deserve this. I bet nobody thought Vatican's demonization of Turks would be this effective back then. There are even some commenters putting some known terrorist organizations in sentences like equals with Turks. Its like Nazis demonizing Jews to legitimate their killings. Aren't we better than this?
Anyone with some skills with google can find who really count Vlad was and the practices at Ottoman empire (although this part might be a little controversial because of propaganda efforts) So I will not go trough them and bore you with realities. But I will say that there are many errors. If the producers decided to go fantastic about Vlad why put real figures against such made up character and humiliate people?
That would be really ironic if people of the future mention USA the way producers did to Ottomans in this movie. Not impossible considering the last 50 years of USA.
Falling Skies (2011)
Not the best Sci-Fi out there
Show is about 45 minutes, but only half of it is watchable. I skip the the parts they get sentimental. Because I couldn't care less about characters. Why is everyone acting like they in a summer camp? Where is the apocalyptic atmosphere? Producers, play some fallout or at least watch the movie 9 for starters...
The good part is the show have some fairly developed aliens, some mechas here and there, interesting tech and plot twists. But keep your expectations low.
It also lacks controversy. I don't like it normally but some "inspiration" from star trek can benefit this show.
If you a fan of Sci-fi, this might be good pick if there is nothing else left to watch. But personally I would watch the classics all over again before getting that desperate.
Iron Man Three (2013)
Somewhat Entertaining Movie
There are many negative reviews about the movie, many of them with good points. But there are two issues I don't agree with the rest of the audience.
The first one is the terrorist character issue. I think there is a message under this narrative, connecting the mandarin with bin laden. Producers unsuccessfully tries to show public how easily opinions can be manipulated and how easily false enemies forged. A noble try to add story line a purpose but they fail big time and this effects the movie badly.
The second issue is the time characters spent outside of the armor. This is also a good try to give the stark character a trait of a hero thinking he is just a guy with tech. But this is a mundane effort since he does have traits, and pretty good ones I say. He is a Genius, and he is an INVENTOR.
Movie is good for watching and having some fun, but don't expect anything more.