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zakdbrown
Reviews
Onimusha (2023)
blasphemies
Not a fan of the CGI used this way, I don't mind it being used but all of these studios are being cheap with it which leads to very stiff animation. That really takes away from the art's medium; it's an insult to the very meaning of the word to cheap out on the art of animation in this way. As some who's loved to consume animation all my life and a bit of a 3d artist it really tares me up to see studio's doing this, there are so many amazing artist out there who can take steps forward in the evolution of animation utilizing cgi instead it's used to cheapen the medium. To do so in a story that uses Musashi as it's main character is just insulting, a figure who's the embodiment of perfecting a skill/craft/art.
I give it 3 stars because of the character design, early on I was hopeful that this was a Vagabond adaptation because the character design was reminiscent of that masterpiece of a manga.
There are also some signs of Musashi in the series at times showing a keen understanding of his environment, sizing up enemies and party members, at times fine fight sequences, mentioning his historic battles/enemies.
Possible spoilers beyond...
I don't consider anything said beyond here as spoilers but just incase I'll label it as such.
Looks like the story maybe from an old game I haven't played which explains a bit so maybe that would bring nostalgia and understanding to the fans of that game but as someone who hasn't played it.. Sure introduce demons take the story in an odd mythical direction.. Sure bring in some powerup for him.. Sure bring back his old enemies.. But then why.. so much why..
"I can't rely on the oni gauntlet too much it's draining"; I'd also think it would be an insult to Musashi and all of his training; but then he proceeds to use it in every single battle even before sizing up his enemies or trying to fight without it. The Yoshika women? Really? Again use the gauntlet immediately to merc them before they even move. Around that point Musashi stopped being Musashi, he didn't care about mindfulness his environment or the art of swordsmanship his character could be any mindless avatar. The teleporting of lemon at the end then the girl.. sudden change of personalities in key people. Kojiro's magical bird powers 'legend was he was so skilled he could clip the wings of birds flying near by' so they make him summon some magical bird powers?! The gold is corrupting.. no it's a curse.. no it's demons.. no it's the undead.. no it's future tech.. no it's to give samurai a role.. no it's to rule and defend the nation.. no it's some Frankenstein thing.. so much of the story is garbage near the end. The breaking of the oar.. omg my mind snapped on that one, the whole purpose of the ****n oar was the extra length.
Anyway, had promise but man what a miss.
Better Call Saul (2015)
Amazing must watch
All time favorite drama show, the writing the acting the shots. Everything about this show is fantastic. If you're a Breaking Bad fan this will hit home for you real quick and in my opinion surpasses the original series.
Prelude to the original story so we get to bring back a lot of beloved characters while following the always charismatic antihero Bob Odenkirk's character Sal Goodman
What has me make the review though is Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler, her acting is top notch. Lovable character as well so maybe that bleeds into the opinion here but she maybe my favorite actress of all time for this role alone.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
solid
Kind of spoilers..
Solid fun film, can understand it not being for everyone as it was very Sam Raimi but as a fan of his series of films I found it very enjoyable. Everything about America was rather silly, but casting/outfit.. ya Raimi type. The way scarlet witch goes from instantly healing ring crawling from the mirror world to walking with a limp after her fight chasing them while looking ghoulish in the shadows to emphasize her being a like a classic witch wasn't consistent but very Raimi. The corrupting books that hold great power but great consequences, classic Raimi. All the jump scares that were somewhat cheese to make the viewer jump/laugh at the same time.
(very spoiler)
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The way strange possess his own corpse, how it's animated looks/talks, how the ghost that attack him look and all the pupil shots were all very Raimi.
Of course you can't forget Bruce Campbell, just surprised he didn't say "shop smart shop Smart"
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(end of very spoilers)
I took a star off because it's not a knock your socks off amazing movie of course.
Another because I feel some scenes/tropes/shots Raimi loves to do were somewhat forced into the story and onto the actors rather then seem organic.
But overall it was a fun twisted Sam Raimi film that almost worked perfectly blended into this part of the Marvel universe.
Frasier (1993)
gold
Possibly the greatest comedy/drama series ever made in my opinion. To put it simply the writing is sublime and the cast of actors are endearing.
The series is full of comedy with the finest timing despite a laugh track not relying on one, heart warming storyline that stands on it's own tugging at your heartstrings but not being overwhelmingly or making their characters unrealistically sweet. As each character opens up they draw you in developing along the way but holding onto their quirky traits throughout.
The only flaws I found were like other series of it's time it may have some slight continuity errors along the way, but as it went for 11 seasons that's not too surprising. Some of the situations are over the top for comedy and to keep the story going but there is a charm to that in this show as well.
The Good Lord Bird (2020)
Great all around
Fantastic engaging movie, full of great acting all around.
Quantum of Solace (2008)
Audio, whisper talk
This is my 2nd daniel craig james bond film and one of the reasons I put off watching the series for so long. I can't hear you! wtf are they thinking with this whisper talk dialog every godmn scene is mumbling hushed whisper talk. You're making a movie is the dialog so unimportant that you don't need to hear them at all? I have to turn my sound on full blast to make out a word but then I can't watch at night because the fx and music is super fckn loud. Serious baffled that out of billions of people I'm the first to bring up this issue.