TL;DR – Today we run through the 2019 Oscars Nominees to predict who we think will win
Article –
Today is Oscars day and in a couple of hours,
we will know all the winners in what has been one of the more fraught Oscar
campaigns that I have personally seen. But as we prepare for the night of
glitz, glamour, and maybe not having an
awkward opening monologue that still has to live in Hugh Jackman’s shadow, I
thought I would take a moment to look at the nominees to give our views as to
who we think will win.
TL;DR – This is a show that is filled with clever writing, full of compelling characters, interesting stories, and heart you rarely see.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
Authenticity, this is something that content creators across the world are
desperate to achieve because it is what modern audiences crave, even if they
don’t quite know what it is. Add to this it is easy for people to notice when
something is out of place when it is something close to them, like the lives of
tradies, or small shop owners, or people living in apartments. So it is a bold
move to set a new drama series in a setting that is deeply familiar and even
bolder when you pull it off with style.
So to set the scene, The Heights
revolves around the people that live in and around a block of apartments called The Tower. While the area around is
starting to rapidly gentrify, The Tower is made up of low socioeconomic
residents just trying to make their lives a little better. One day as everyone
was out enjoying the sunshine with a BBQ and a game of soccer the fire alarm of
The Tower rings out. This causes all kinds of frustrations for the residents
like Hazel (Fiona Press) who have to evacuate when everyone knows it is a false
alarm. When all is sorted, everyone goes back to their lives when a soccer ball
gets kicked into a garden but when Pav (Marcus Graham) goes to collect it he
discovers a newborn baby among the
veggies. Pav an ex-cop runs the baby
straight to the local hospital (it was quicker than waiting for an ambulance) into
the hands of Claudia (Roz Hammond) a doctor that is new to the hospital and
area. Everyone begins wondering whose
baby could it be, but there is a lot on everyone’s plate, like a wake and a closing
of the local pub, starting a new school, finding a new job, and 100% not
telling your mother than you are studying education and not business. Now, from this point onwards, we will
be looking at the season as a whole, or at least the first 16 episodes, so
there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – We get a powerful look at Saru and his world,
but it does still feel like we are waiting for the other shoe to drop
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
Star Trek Discovery is a show that is juggling a lot of different stories all at once. Yes, we have the main drive of the red lights and the red angel. However, we also have The Klingons, The Mycelium Network, Section 31, and more. As the season has gone one, it has been interesting to see how the show brings all these different elements together to help with the central premise or using the central premise as an excuse to look at these different side plots, depending on your perspective. One of those side plots has been the life and biology of Saru’s people and today all of that comes to a head.
So to set the scene, since we were first introduced to Saru (Doug Jones) we knew there was something out of place with him and why he was the only Kelpien in Starfleet. Over Season One we found out that there was a devastating dynamic on his planet where Kelpiens were not the dominant species. We learned about his threat ganglia derived from the biological need to stay safe. All of this fell into place in the Short Trek The Brightest Star, when we discovered that there were two species living on the Kelpian homeworld, one that preys on the other and that a certain point in their lives all Kelpiens are sacrificed to the Ba’ul. It is murder disguised as ideology, as the Kelpiens believe that this is the will of the universe called the great balance, and they are going to die anyway in the Vahar’ai, so what is the matter. However, in An Obol For Charon, we discovered that the biological shift that triggers the culling was not actually fatal, and every part of Kelpien society was a lie. At the start of this week’s episode Saru is discovering just what biological changes are happening to his body now he does not have a threat ganglia, only for another red signal to blare out, only this time it is coming from his homeworld. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – Today we the best
episode of the series so far that builds on everything that has come before and leaves you desperate for more.
Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
One of the few great things about 2019 is all the great Science Fiction content
we are getting across the mediaverse at
the moment. One of the interesting
examples of this has been The Orville,
a show about a bunch of misfits trying to do their best as they explore the
universe. It is a show filled with flawed people, but it is also a show filled to
the brim with charm. In today’s episode Identity,
we get a show that takes everything we know and then flips it on its head.
So to set the scene, it is family time on the USS Orville, with Isaac (Mark Jackson) babysitting Ty (Kai Wener)
and Marcus (BJ Tanner) while Claire (Penny Johnson Jerald) works late in
sickbay. Everything was going well, bar the fact that Isaac always wins, and so
Claire thinks it is the best time to tell the boys that they are dating, which of
course they already knew. However, all of this falls apart when Isaac has a seizure
and shutdowns in front of the family. There are no life signs, but then is that
normal for a Kaylon? No one really knows. In a last-ditch
effort, the Planetary Union authorises The Orville to head to Isaac’s home
planet and hope that they can fix him. Now from here, we will be looking at the
episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS]
ahead.
TL;DR – While the story was a
little inconsistent, it an interesting ride from start to finish.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
We live in a world today where superhero team-up
projects are no longer a rare thing hidden in some comic book store. Today
people know and understand the thought of a group of people suddenly
discovering powers that they can use for good or evil. So in this world how do
you differentiate yourself from all the other shows out there? Well, you focus on one thing, and that is
family. Family can be complicated at the best of times, and well when you watch
The Umbrella Academy you find that I
don’t think there ever was a best of times.
So to set the scene, one day in 1989 a miracle happened (or a curse depending
on your perspective) when across the globe 43 women gave birth to babies, the
only issue was that they started the day not being pregnant. This drew the attention
of Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore) who went around the world trying to buy
as many of the babies as he could … he got 7. However, there were not normal
children, with all of them, well most of them, having extraordinary powers.
Luther (Tom Hopper) has immense strength and take a beating that would kill
someone and get back up. Diego (David Castañeda) has the ability to make
anything he throws curve through the air, so he is a man who likes his knives.
Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) has the ability to suggest things to people and
they are compelled to oblige. Klaus (Robert Sheehan) has the ability to talk to
the dead, Five (Aidan Gallagher) can phase through time and space, and Ben (Justin
H. Min) can summon tentacles to cause mass destruction. Of the seven, only
Vanya (Aidan Gallagher) didn’t develop any powers, being relegated to the sidelines as her siblings go off on missions
like stopping a bank heist. All of this is fine but time goes on and families
can drift apart even at the best of times. So at the start of the series, many of the siblings have not talked to
each other in years, but they are all brought back into the fold when their at
best eccentric and at worst abusive father is found dead under less than clear
circumstances. Now, for this point onwards, we will be looking at the season as
a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS]
ahead.
TL;DR – This is a film that is hilarious, funny, and had me laughing from start to finish.
Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
There are many reasons that you may want to go to the movies. You may want a
visual spectacle, an interesting character study, or maybe you just want to
site and laugh your heart out. Well,
today I look at a film that has the distinction of being not one but all of
these things at once. Even better I had no idea about this film before seeing
it, other than the title, so I didn’t know I was about to see one of the best
films of the year when I walked in. Also just a pro-tip, do not go into this
film on an empty stomach, trust me on this one, or at least plan to go get food
the moment the film ends.
So to set the scene, we open on an illegal gambling den as police radios
crackle to life with instructions reminding everyone to limit property damage
as they repel down the side of a building to block off all avenues of escape.
This means no smashing through windows like you are an action star and politely
asking the criminal to turn himself in … and that goes about as well as you can
expect. The whole team Chief Go (Ryu Seung-ryong),
Detective Jang (Lee Hanee), Detective
Young-ho (Lee Dong-hwi), Detective Ma (Jin
Seon-kyu), and Detective Jae-hoon (Gong Myung), chase after the suspect through
the streets of Seoul only for them to have everything fall apart. They are
dragged in front of the Police Superintendent (Kim Eui-sung) and berated for
their incompetence, with the very real chance that their team will be
disbanded. Everyone knows that they are on their last chance when Choi (Song
Young-kyu) the head of a rival police taskforce gives them a tip that Lee
Moo-bae (Shin Ha-kyun) one of Korea’s big
drug players is about to return to the country. So the team has to engage in
the biggest stake-out in their history, and it goes about as well as you
expect.
TL;DR – While there was a lot
that happened in this episode, it just didn’t click with me the way the rest of
the season has.
Score – 3 out of 5 stars
Review –
We are about at the mid-point of the season and the story of the red lights is
still unfolding. However, as we go along, there is still nothing concrete to
hold onto, Spock is still missing, the red lights are still an enigma, and who
knows what Section 31 is up to. Now while this has been fine up until a point,
at some time we need to have a moment of focus. Without that, we get today’s episode that is full of promise and cool moments but is lacking something.
So to set the scene, we start today’s episode in the moments after An
Obol For Charon finishes with Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) racing to
the engineering section after hearing about Tilly’s (Mary Wiseman) disappearance.
When she arrives all she finds is the alien cocoon pulsating on the floor and
no Tilly in sight. However, all of that is put on hold when the USS Discovery catches up with Spock’s
shuttle, only it is not Spock that makes a graceful exit after it docks with
Discovery, but an old friend … though I don’t know if you could call her that. Now
from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some
[SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – Today we find yet
another side of life on Moclus, and it’s
not great, to be honest.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
Well, tonight’s episode of The Orville was an interesting one because it was an episode full of
contradictions. It is an episode trying to shine the light of prejudice, but in
a really ham-fisted way, but then it works when it really shouldn’t. It also contrasts this really serious storyline with a
really silly one, and still all works.
So to set the scene, the USS Orville is
preparing itself for a long-term mission into unexplored space by returning to Moclus to get a deflector upgrade. This
involves a Moclan engineer Locar (Kevin Daniels) coming on-board to assist,
which is a bit awkward because he is Bortus’ (Peter Macon) ex. While this is
going on Kelly (Adrianne Palicki) realises in a conversation with Cassius (Chris
Johnson) that they both want different things out of the relationship, so she
decided to end it, which does not go over well. This is all before Locar reveals a secret that rocks the ship to
the core, and may have set in motion something uncontrollable. Now from here,
we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – At its core is an interesting idea, however, it is populated by the most unlikable characters in cinema at the moment
Score – 1.5 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
If you have read any of my reviews you will know I am a fan of Science Fiction.
I love exploring the future and what it could be, I love interesting ideas and
concepts, and I love the idea of exploring the universe. Today’s movie The Wandering Earth out of China does
all of that and more. However as I walked out of the cinema I was not elated, instead,
frankly, I was disappointed in how
someone could squander such a good idea.
So to set the scene, at some point in the near future the Sun decides that it
is ready to turn into a red giant now rather than billions of years from now
and humanity has a choice. They can sit there and die as the Sun expands, or
they can do something about it. They choose the latter
and build hundreds of engines across the planet so that they can move the Earth
to the Alpha Centauri system. To make sure nothing goes wrong they build a
large space station that travels ahead of Earth to warn them of any danger. The
one threat is that before they leave the Solar System they need to perform a
gravity assist boost around Jupiter, but then it seems that Jupiter was not
ready to let go. As all of this is happening Liu Peiqiang (Wu Jing) the senior astronaut
on the Space Station has to watch helplessly as his son Liu Qi (Qu Chuxiao), father-in-law Han Zi’ang (Ng Man-tat), and adopted
daughter Han Duoduo (Zhao Jinmai) are caught outside in the emergency and are marshalled
into helping the Earth stave off disaster.
TL;DR
– Every single feature of Civilization 6 (at time
of posting) in one map
Article –
This week, well two days ago at the time of writing, the new and second expansion for Civilization VI called Gathering Storm was released. It added new Civilizations, City States, World Wonders, Natural Wonders, and most interestingly Geographical Features (see all new features HERE). With that in mind, I knew I had to immediately jump in and update our Full Civilization VI Map.
Now as always, a couple of notes before we start, first the Civilization boundaries on the map are based more on clarity than anything else, so in most cases, they conform to their modern counterparts. We have also worked using the commonly implemented political borders, not necessarily what nations claim, and this means making some judgement calls which you will see below. Also, while all attempts have been made to make sure that everything is accurately placed, putting this together meant working from multiple different sources, and map projections, and as such, no matter how much you try there might be some slight discrepancies here and there.
Finally, after the break there will be a lot of large images, so now is the time to check that you are on WiFi and are not using Mobile Data.
