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Reviews
Stranger Things (2016)
Hard to find things wrong
I tend to be contrarian when I write reviews. My ratings will seem over what I have to say. This isn't a perfect show - but I give it a 10 because it's a show I can't stop thinking about while watching.
The suspense is perfect. The "good guys" are all multidimensional and complex but fundamentally good. The grey characters walk along the edge of a knife. The evil is inscrutable but extremely evil. The "bad guy" uses the "good guys" against each other and themselves. In this show, one truly has a sense of Solzhenitsyn's "evil cuts through the heart of every man"
The lore hasn't gone off the rails in the latest season - quite difficult to do while revealing many things.
The supernatural aspect doesn't feel overblown or too 'deus ex'.
The 80s must've been dope - unfortunately I was born in the following decade, ah well. Being a DnD nerd woulda been cool but then I'd have missed out on the vidja games and dawn of internet.
The show isn't filled with modern political propaganda - it has a bit of politics, a bit of religion, a bit of "relevant issues" talk but not much and again it isn't overblown.
This is a clean crisp and exciting show. I'd highly recommend to anyone who can handle a bit of theatrical blood and adolescent swearing.
The Sea Beast (2022)
Started off really strong
Visuals and acting are a 9/10 probably - what absolutely destroyed this movie was the reveal and conclusion.
The backstory was excellent. We have monsters that will come and wreak havoc on civilization except for the rough and rebellious hunters who slay them. It's dangerous work for the hardest people. Our protagonist is a spirited girl who wants to be part of the hunter crew. We also find out the king and queen pay good money for killing the sea monsters. This is how the kingdom is well maintained. I did wonder how the king and queen are able to afford paying these mercenaries such massive sums but that wasn't important I guess.
The conflict introduced is the king and queen are going to make the hunters obsolete by building a massive warship which will be commanded by the kingdoms navy. The king and queen set forth a competition to see who can slay the biggest sea monster of all. This is a brilliant plot conflict point - the symbolism is technology + soldiers versus rugged hunters. Can society get rid of the proverbial gargoyles and still keep out the evil? So many great directions we can go from here.
But actually - the sea monsters are just nice massive animals that don't want violence.
But actually the war between hunter and monster is the product of state created propaganda.
But actually the massive war ship and military are basically nonentities that are wiped out the second time they show up on screen.
But actually the king and queen pay hunters to kill monsters because....because...well we aren't actually sure why.
So what's the moral of the story kids? The state is tyrannical just because. Monsters at the end of the world are only evil because the state tells you they are. If you just overthrow the powers that be, then you can make friends with monsters and live in peace and harmony with your pals.
Terrible story telling - so much potential wasted. The movie was pretty though. At least we didn't the see the return of the "men are stupid idiots" trope from Moana - the sexes were well represented in this one.
The Boys (2019)
First 2 seasons great, 3rd, not great
Homelander is Trump now. Great - let's all ooze over how big and bad he is and how dumb the fictional Americans are for liking him.
This could have been a countercultural show - the good guys are the bad guys and the bad guys are also the bad guys because anyone dealing with power who isn't guided by a higher good is doomed to become tyrannical.
Instead we are getting allegory for modern times...
Brilliant, original writing /s.
Halo (2022)
I don't care about these people
I played the games and I loved the story. I cared about what happened to the characters.
I was disappointed more of them weren't killed off in this season. I actually thought Makee was okay, so that was disappointing. I don't think I can stand Halsey, Dr. Keyes, any of the Spartans (John is angsty and obnoxious), everyone and everything in Madrigal is a waste of time - whole planet should blow up. Cpt Keyes is okay. Parangosky: serves no purpose. She's an admiral? She's important? Not sure still.
This show would be way better if it were just Chief running missions with Marines like the first Halo game and killing covenant. Just pretend we don't know what the Halo is and we'll all be happy to learn about it again.