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Reviews
The Last of Us: Look for the Light (2023)
A disappointing season finale to a show that started off amazing
When I first started watching the Last of Us, I was fully engrossed. The setting of the show was really well done, and I bought into the universe because everything seemed at least mostly grounded in reality.
However, as the season progressed (really after episode 6 and on) I think the show really went downhill. Not only was the plot pretty minimal/going nowhere, but there were constant universe breaking blunders. The universe was beholden to the story instead of vice versa. Joel lets someone sneak up on him in an open area despite having a gun and gets stabbed with a sharpened stick? By someone who broke off from a search party, none of which were armed with guns themselves?
Next episode: flashback that goes on for way too long and doesn't move the plot forward. Joel is basically dead.
Next Episode: Joel still basically dead, preacher gives Ellie a bunch of penicillin for no credible reason. Then Joel goes from basically dead to John Wick. Preacher and Ellie have a fairly ridiculous fight. Plot does not move forward at all except for Joel is now 100% healed.
Next Episode (the season finale): Ellie is suddenly despondent, they see a bunch of random giraffe's for some reason? And feed it? Then as they casually walk around in what should be a dangerous environment, they get snuck up on and captured. Turns out its the fireflies, and oh hey they're gonna kill Ellie because for some reason they need to take all of the cordyceps out of her, and the cordyceps is in her brain (yet it shows the fungus stopping in her arm). Joel doesn't like this so obviously he just kills everyone no problem and saves Ellie. Joel's literally walking through a hospital and slaughtering what I would assume are pretty competent soldiers armed with assault rifles.
Add on of the ridiculousness the fact that the plot moves way too fast to become invested in a situation, I'm no longer sucked into the universe.
I no longer believe the story they're trying to tell, and that basically ruins the show for me.
It's a shame that a season that started off so promising had to end in this uncohesive mess.
Icons Unearthed: Icons Unearthed: Star Wars - A New Hope: Part 1 (2022)
A terrible retelling of Empire of Dreams
This documentary adds very little to the story of the making of star wars other than, in my opinion, over crediting Marcia Lucas. This documentary interviews a few people involved with the making of star wars, but they replace everyone else (like George Lucas, most of the main actors, producer, etc) with random writers/people involved in the movie industry. There's absolutely no reason anyone should watch this when you can just watch Empire of Dreams (which actually interviews almost everyone majorly involved with the making of the movie) instead. If you have already seen Empire of Dreams, you can absolutely skip this, as I just found out. I'd rather rewatch Empire of Dreams than watch this poor retelling.
Icons Unearthed (2022)
A frustrating documentary that retells a story in a more boring, biased, and amateur way
I love almost all the content regarding the making of star wars. I have read the books on it and have seen multiple documentaries, interviews, and more regarding it.
So when I saw a new series came out on the making of star wars, I watched it immediately! I was so excited!
Instead, I could barely get through the 2nd episode. The documentary is a disjointed biased mess. They have random writers and people describing things that happened while making of star wars, even though these people weren't even involved with it. There are a couple people interviewed that were actually involved in the making of Star Wars, with the big one being Marcia Lucas, which the documentary seems to be heavily biased towards, as if to appease her cooperation. I also felt like the documentary is trying to force a bunch of drama on the viewer that wasn't necessarily there.
I couldn't help but feel that this documentary is telling me a much worse version about the making of Star Wars than the more official documentary - Empire of Dreams. Instead of a random writer telling you George Lucas felt ill from the stress of making star wars, you can hear George Lucas say it himself in Empire of Dreams. Instead of random people telling you what Fox thought, you can hear Alan Ladd Jr. And a board member themselves tell you what the situation was. This occurs throughout the whole thing! Empire of dreams has interviews with Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Gary Kurtz, and much more! To put the icing on the cake, in episode 2 they even take a clip from Empire of Dreams where Steven Spielberg is interviewed and they use it here! I'm just baffled that Vice thought it was worth their time and the viewers time to retell a story that's already been told in a much better way.
If you want to watch the making of star wars, skip this show/documentary and watch Empire of Dreams instead.
Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009)
A frustrating, middling documentary that wasted it's potential
I'm a sucker for stories that Waking Sleeping Beauty wants to tell. I really really wanted to like this documentary. I love stories of people coming together and creating amazing things.
However, I don't feel this documentary told that story. Instead, it felt like a textbook that skips the fun parts. This documentary will give you a general overview of disney animation in the late 80's and early 90's. It focuses quite a bit on disney leadership and how executives clashed, and feels like it skips over how exactly Disney animation rekindled it's magic. After watching the documentary, I'm still not quite sure what happened.
The documentary does a decent job of setting the stage of where disney animation was and the conflict between old animators and new ones. But the payoff is almost nothing. I felt like the documentary glosses over the big hits one by one, without explaining what happened behind the scenes that made those movies a success. Instead it tells you executives are mad at each other or something like that.
It makes for a very frustrating viewing experience. I cannot recommend this documentary.
Frontline: Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos (2020)
A great documentary that deserves more views
This a great documentary, with tons of interviews with employees, executives, and industry experts. It's well made, well narrated, and shot beautifully. It's a shame that this doesn't seem to have that many views or ratings.
I think it paints a great picture, albeit possibly a bit critical on Amazon at times. But it tells you a lot about Jeff Bezos, the man who is winning capitalism, maybe even a bit too well. This documentary is free on youtube and I'd highly recommend it to anyone curious about the company, Jeff, or our world in general.
League of Legends Origins (2019)
Basically one big ad for league
I generally really like video game documentaries. However the documentary part of this is really lacking. Theres like a 5-10 minute blip about the creation of the game, but after that it just ends up talking about the esports/community aspects. Which, I still find interesting, but I would have much preferred a more in-depth look into how league was made. They never really talked about balancing, or the challenges of making certain champions or even the gameplay itself. Instead they focus on the rise of the league esport, the celebration of its fans, and how it can bring people together. Much more time on how the game actually was made and challenges of the game itself would make this documentary way better. Great credits music though.