TL;DR – A good start to a
season and a good promise for the things to come
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
It has been a long time since I have seen someone attempt a martial arts TV
series in the west and it not be mostly a disappointment. With that in mind, I
came into Wu Assassins with a little apprehension
but after watching the first episode I have some hope.
So to set the scene, we open in on San Francisco and Kai Jin (Iko Uwais) who
works as a chef at his friend Tommy’s (Lawrence Kao) place (well actually his friend’s
sister Jenny’s (Li Jun Li) place but it is complicated). Tommy is throwing a
party for his Triad friends and when something goes wrong Kai steps in to stop
one of the cooks getting attacked. This means that the Triad has to respond,
attacking Kai while he works in a food truck. As he is escaping he hits a woman,
instead of finding someone injured on the street, he finds a woman (Celia Au)
who gives him the power of 1000 monks to fight an oncoming storm.
TL;DR – The animation is
fantastic, that characters are charming, and the stories really hit home
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
For a while now, I have been wondering what show is going to fill that Adventure
Time sized hole that is still in my heart. For a long time it was Steven Universe, but with that gearing
up for what might be its final movie I was wondering if anything else would
come along. Well, I don’t know yet if Twelve
Forever will fill that hole, but at the very least it is interesting as all
get up.
So to set the scene, it is Reggie’s (Kelsy Abbott) twelveth birthday, but what
should be a time of celebration for her is turned into a disaster when her
mother Judy (Bridget Everett) uses the time to help her move into the next
stage of her life, the one with deodorant, shaving and bras. Reggie does not
want to grow up, all of which is put in the spotlight when all her old toys are
put into the garage sale. However, all is not lost because her and her best friend
Todd (Antony Del Rio) have a secret, they can escape to a magical realm called
Endless Island. They decide to hide the old toys by burying them under the
ground. The only issue is that on Endless Island what you bury has a habit of
coming to life in unexpected ways.
TL;DR – A campy schlocky mess
at times, but also kind of endearing when it hits its groove
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
We have been living through an interesting time for Science Fiction on TV, with
the rise of streaming services we have seen a plethora of new shows and ideas
that both look to the future and reinterpret the past. Today we are getting a
Sci-fi show that kind of does both, building upon very real concerns in the
world but framing it in a style of Sci-Fi that we have not seen in a long time.
With that in mind let’s jump in and explore the full first season.
So to set the scene, we open with a normal day on Earth in the not too distant
future after the world has been devastated by a second great depression and the
great flood. Things are starting to return to some sort of normalcy when an
alien ship smashes through the atmosphere flies across the USA and crashes into
a field transforming itself into a huge crystalline lattice. Months later, they
are still no closer to finding out what the artefact is or wants, but they have
picked up a transmission to the Pi Canis Majoris solar system. To work out what
to do they send the USIC Salvare under
the command of Niko Breckinridge (Katee Sackhoff) out to investigate. Niko had
to leave her daughter Jana (Lina Renna) and her husband Erik (Justin Chatwin)
behind as Erik is leading the scientific mission at the crash site. But before
too long things start going wrong, and we still don’t know if the aliens are friends
or foe. Now from here, we will be
looking at the season as a whole so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – This is one of those
Sci-Fi shows that has you wondering what the hook is going to be and then it
hits you.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
While there have been a lot of issues, one of the best things to come out of
the new streaming world has been a new wave or really interesting Science
Fiction TV shows. At the heart of this, but by no means the only contributor,
has been Netflix that has had a huge slate of really interesting Sci-Fi
content. Well, today we get to take a look at its newest addition Another Life with an exploration of its
pilot episode Across the Universe.
Overall, there was a lot of interesting facets in this first episode, but one
thing I really liked was the production. The design for the Salvare has facets
that are instantly recognisable but also are a little unique. The rings have a
visual language of a rotating gravity ship, but there is internal gravity so
there is an interesting juxtaposition. The standing sets are also really
interesting mixing a bland of high-tech and also
maybe-we-filmed-this-in-a-warehouse-somewhere that kind of works. Also, I am a
sucker for astronomy, so you had me sucked in the moment you stopped at Sirius
A, which they showed in all its glory.
TL;DR – Watching this I discovered
that Orange Juice goes into ever marinade and there is a peach not-pie that has
my name on it.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
There are many reasons to make a food TV show, maybe you want to explore what
drives the top chefs, maybe it is exploring the food that speaks to a place or
time, or maybe you create a TV show so you can hang out with a friend and cook
stuff across America.
So to set the scene, back in 2014 Jon Favreau wrote and directed a film called Chef about someone who quits his job in
a fine dining restaurant to open a food truck. On the film consulting about the
food was Chef Roy Choi who had followed a similar story in his real life. I
have not seen Chef (though that will
likely change in the coming days) it is clear that the two formed a strong
friendship which we see all throughout The
Chef Show.
TL;DR – This is a series that I think is important for everyone to see because what we do has consequences and those consequences can be ruined lives.
Score – 5 out of 5 stars
Review –
When I loaded up this limited series, I kind of had an idea of what to expect.
I had heard about the Central Park Five before and I thought I had a rough
framework as to what happened and of course, having the blowhard-in-chief double
down on it helped bring it all back into focus. However, while I understood
what happened, it was an intellectual knowledge and not an emotional one. While
I walked in here with what I thought was understanding, I now know I had no
idea, none what so ever.
So to set the scene, one evening in April in New York City a group of young
people of mostly African-American decent came together to have a bit of a raucous
in Central Park. Soon the police arrived and brought a bunch of them in disturbing
the peace after roughing more than a few of them in the process. However, later
that night in the north section of the park woman was found clinging to life
after being raped and assaulted. It is at this point that detective Linda
Fairstein (Felicity Huffman) draws the connection between the two incidents.
Soon Kevin Richardson (Asante Blackk), Antron McCray (Caleel Harris), Yusef
Salaam (Ethan Herisse), Raymond Santana (Marquis Rodriguez), and Korey Wise (Jharrel
Jerome) are dragged in front of the police, with no adults present. Soon the
police would have their confessions, for assault and rape, confessions that
looked dubious even under the most cursory inspection.
TL;DR – While there has been patchy moments this season, I do think they stuck the ending.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
Well, here we are, the final ever episode of Game of Thrones (if you don’t count the multiple prequels in
preproduction at the moment). I can still remember that day when I first
watched the very first episode as a group of men from The Watch go north past
The Wall and discover there was something worse than wildlings waiting for
them. A lost queen forced to marry into a barbarian horde to secure her ungrateful
brother an army to retake their throne. A drunkard ruling a kingdom though all
he wants to do is hunt and joust and fornicate with people who are not his
wife. A family of noble people trying to do what is right, especially when it
is hard, and being woefully unprepared for the mess they were walking into.
Also, the things we do for love. All of those years of story have been building
to this final episode, and I wonder can they stick the landing?
So to set the scene, during last week’s The
Bells a lot of things happen and a lot of people died. After the death
of Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) in The
Last of the Starks, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) had become inconsolable,
and Missandei’s final word Dracarys sat in her mind so that even when she heard
the bells of surrender Dany decided to burn Kings Landing to the ground, not
really caring who or what got in her way. The complete slaughter of the capital
is something she has threatened since she arrived and finally showed what
damage even one dragon can do, insert the nuclear weapons analogies. The
capital is in ruins, Jon (Kit Harington) tried to do the right thing and
failed, Cersei (Lena Headey) and Jamie (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) had their whole
worlds crash down on them, oh and Euron (Pilou Asbæk) is finally gone. We open
with the aftermath as ash and snow still fall in the ruins of Kings Landing and
the dead and dying lay among the wreckage. Here Tyrion (Peter Dinklage), Jon (Kit
Harington), and Davos (Liam Cunningham) walk and see the damage their actions
have wrought and the potential hell that they have unleashed. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode
as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – After a season of fun Brooklyn Nine-Nine comes
to a close in what would have been a great series finale if we didn’t have an
amazing season seven in store.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
Today is an interesting review to write because I know that it would be a very different
tone if it was not already announced that a Season Seven is on the way. It
would be a review of closure and looking back. However, today, while there is a
bit of closure we instead get the joy of looking forward to what is still yet
to come.
So to set the scene, underneath all the hijinks, crimes, heists, and murders
this season has been an overarching story about two futures for the NYPD. There
is the future under John Kelly (Phil Reeves) which was looking back at Stop and
Frisk and other outmoded forms of policing and the future under Raymond Holt (Andre
Braugher) that is looking forward. At the start of the season in Honeymoon,
it was clear that Kelly had won, and that he would make the 99 pay for getting
in his way. After a season of back and forth, it finally comes to a head when
Kelly puts Jake (Andy Samberg) right in the middle of their feud where he has
to choose between following Holt and saving lives. Just a reminder as we dive
into both Sicko and Suicide Squad we will be looking at the
episodes as a whole, that there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – The rushed final
season is starting to show its issues … badly.
Score – 2.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
I have honestly been really happy where the final season has been going so far.
I liked how Winterfell and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms were these
slow-burn episodes giving us some much-needed character development and
interaction. I found The
Long Night to be a really emotional experience as the dead came
and slaughtered. I was ever really jiving with The
Last of the Starks up until that last 15 minutes. It was like a
speed boat suddenly threw out its anchor grinding everything to a halt. This
means for the first time, I am coming into an episode of this 8th
season, and the penultimate episode at that, with a lot of hesitation and I
don’t know how to feel about that.
So to set the scene, last week everyone was celebrating their win over the dead
and the Night King (Vladimir Furdik) but there was still one big threat on the
horizon. Cersei (Lena Headey) still controls King’s Landing, and with it the legitimacy
of the throne. Just one problem Cersei captured Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel)
and beheaded her in front of Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) and well that did not go
down well. So we begin today with everyone getting ready for the final push but
some people have reservations and one of them is Lord Varys (Conleth Hill) who
is finally caught out. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a
whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. This week we are going to
do something a little different and focus our review on different character relationships
because it is through these relationships we see the very highs of this episode
and the real lows.
TL;DR – After six years, will the annual heist be a
dull affair, no of course not.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
Throughout Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s
history, there have been a number of running jokes and the most recurrent of
these is the Halloween heist. For me, the original heist episode all the way
back in Season One was one of the episodes that elevated the show from being
just fun to something more. However, after six times around is there anything
new you can do with this idea, indeed Rosa (Stephanie Beatriz) calls out this
very sentiment, but I think the show still has a few surprises left.
So to set the scene, it is Cinco de Mayo and Terry (Terry Crews) is stress
eating because it is the day he is taking his lieutenants exam. As a way to
help take his mind off it Jake (Andy Samberg) and Captain Holt (Andre Braugher)
both suggest that they run their annual heist today as they could not run it on
Halloween because of a gas pipe explosion. Soon it is decided that the teams
will be Terry and Jake vs Holt and Amy (Melissa Fumero), because Rosa and
Charles (Joe Lo Truglio) are over it. All they have to do is get Scully’s (Joel
McKinnon Miller) medical alert bracelet by the end of the night, which can’t be
too hard … right. Now
from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some
[SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR Movie Reviews and Analysis 