Tag Archives: Disney

Agatha All Along: Through Many Miles / Of Tricks and Trials – TV Review

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TL;DR – The first trial is here, and it very much sets the tone for the show going forward.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this film.

The Coven arrives on the Road.

Agatha All Along Review –

After last week’s Seekest Thou the Road and Circle Sewn With Fate / Unlock Thy Hidden Gate double opener gave us the foundation of this world, it was going to be interesting to see where they would go from there. Everything was building to that road, and by the end of episode 2, we were there. Now, we need to find just what trials will appear along the road.

So, to set the scene, when Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) combined the powers of Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata), Alice Wu-Gulliver (Ali Ahn) & Lilia Calderu (Patti LuPone), oh and Sharon Davis (Debra Jo Rupp) and Teen (Joe Locke) are also here, to open the door to the Witches Road, she seemed surprised the most that the door opened. But attackers were there, and Agatha had no choice but to run down the staircase. But now that they are all on the road, the dangers start hitting home because even straying off the path can be deadly. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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Agatha All Along: Circle Sewn With Fate / Unlock Thy Hidden Gate – TV Review

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TL;DR – It was time for Agatha to get the gang back together, that is, if she had ever had a gang before.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this film.

Teen looking out with a gag on.

Agatha All Along Review –

Well, I was not sure what to expect when I sat down to watch the first outing of Agatha All Along, but the first episode, Seekest Thou the Road, was kind of a blast. But that left me with some high expectations for the follow-up. Thankfully, with some clever cast compositions, I think this might have landed even better.

So, to set the scene, after Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) gets her memory back but not her mojo, she is hit with a realisation: she has less than a day to live. Some very powerful people are after her, and thanks to a snitch witch, they know where Agatha is and that she has lost her power. What do you do in a situation like this? Well, maybe it is time to get a temporary coven together, but then Agatha is not historically known for playing well with others. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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Agatha All Along: Seekest Thou the Road – TV Review

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TL;DR – This was a fascinatingly weird start to the series that hit the end of the episode with the gusto it needed to move forward.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this film.

Based on the Danish Series WandaVisdysen.

Agatha All Along Review –

I’ll be honest: I didn’t think we would ever come back to Westview with all the changes and realignments of the MCU in recent years. I loved the promise that WandaVision presented, even if I don’t think it stuck the ending. But in this world, it was clear that Kathryn Hahn was a real presence as Agatha, and when it was announced we were going back, I hoped we would get something as boisterous as it could be, and I think we might just get that.

So, to set the scene, Agnes (Kathryn Hahn) is a local detective in Westview and is arriving at a peculiar murder scene because a young lady from Eastern Europe has seemingly landed in a riverbed without disturbing a single leaf. This frustrates Agnes because there is something there, something she can’t quite put her finger on. But her life takes a turn when the Feds (Aubrey Plaza) arrive. Because no one wants the Feds snooping around your case because things tend to go wrong. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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The Acolyte (Star Wars: The Acolyte) – The Acolyte & Season 1– TV Review

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TL;DR – While the finale felt incredibly rushed, I did find the series to be a grand entry in the franchise.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Qimir tries to take the helmet of Osha.

The Acolyte Review –

Well, we have reached the end of what has surprisingly become one of the most controversial Star Wars entries since at least The Rise of Skywalker. I am not sure why a series that revelled in the mystical side of The Force that George Lucas loved garnered such a negative response, but here we are. Today, we will first pull apart the season finale before taking some time to explore the season as a whole.

So, to set the scene, at the end of Teach/Corrupt, Sol (Lee Jung-Jae) promised Mae (Amandla Stenberg) that he would tell her what really happened that one fateful night all those years ago. It was a sad series of consequences that led to Sol killing the twin’s mother in Choice. But while Mae has a revelation, Osha (Amandla Stenberg) wakes up in a cave on an unknown planet, where she is captured by Qimir (Manny Jacinto), who wants her to unlock her powers. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode and season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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The Acolyte (Star Wars: The Acolyte) – Choice – TV Review

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TL;DR – Another flashback episode that I didn’t think we needed to have, yet it grew on me as time went on.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Twin moons loom overhead.

The Acolyte Review –

In the last episode with Teach/Corrupt, I championed how this series was able to keep up the momentum of its narrative after the shocking events of Night. Then I opened up this episode, and the dreaded sixteen years earlier appeared on screen. I had wondered if we would ever come back to Destiny and see what happened from the Jedi’s perspective, but I didn’t think that it would take up a whole episode.  

So, to set the scene, 16 years before the events of our time, the Jedi Sol (Lee Jung-Jae), Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss), Torbin (Dean-Charles Chapman), and Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo) were on a mission to the planet Brendok. It should be lifeless after a hyperspace explosion, but it is full of life, and the Jedi want to know why. Could this be a great convergence point for The Force, or is something else at play? However, as Sol explores the northlands, he finds a young Mae (Leah Brady) and Osha (Lauren Brady) playing under a tree that looks like nothing else on the planet, and history is made from there. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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The Acolyte (Star Wars: The Acolyte) – Teach/Corrupt – TV Review

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TL;DR – We take a breath after last week’s revel, only to dive deeper into the force.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

a 'Totally' Unknown Planet.

The Acolyte Review –

After a giant climatic episode, shows can struggle with the aftermath. Once you have paid off all that build-up, it can be hard to move on from that. Last week’s Night was very much an episode like that, with mass casualties and reveals a plenty. Today, we see if they can follow that up or if they will fall into the same traps.

So, to set the scene, at the end of Night, many Jedi had fallen, but Sol (Lee Jung-Jae) managed to escape with Osha (Amandla Stenberg), but wait, that is not Osha, that is her sister Mae (Amandla Stenberg). Because Mae was captured by the new Sith master on the scene, but for all Mae’s planning, she forgot to notice that Sol was not the only one to walk out of that forest. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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The Acolyte (Star Wars: The Acolyte) – Night – TV Review

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TL;DR – An explosive episode that had me audibly gasping multiple times.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

The Sith is revealed.

The Acolyte Review –

Well, one of the big problems that a show can have is setting up a fascinating Part 1 only to mess it up for Part 2. Oh, the lousy letdown, after waiting a week or even more, is such a letdown … looking at you, Doctor Who. But sometimes they nail the landing, and today, we get just that.

So, to set the scene, Mae (Amandla Stenberg) has arrived to hand herself into Jedi Master Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo), only to find him already dead because her Master (not spoiling it here) has returned. This is when Sol (Lee Jung-Jae), Yord (Charlie Barnett), Jecki (Dafne Keen), Osha (Amandla Stenberg), and a bunch of other Jedi arrive. Things could not get any worse. Well, that is when the Sith arrives and blasts all the Jedi away. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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The Acolyte (Star Wars: The Acolyte) – Day – TV Review

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TL;DR – A slow build of tension, the creaking forest, the looming darkness, and lightsabres drawn.  

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

The Jedi line up.

The Acolyte Review –

Well, last week, we took a turn that I had not expected as we dived back into the past with Destiny. It was an episode full of mysticism and likely an unreliable narrator or two. It was an unexpected detour, but now we are back on the hunt because Jedi are falling like flies, and there is a new evil on the rise. Which, of course, is your average Saturday night in the Old Republic.  

So, to set the scene, we arrive on the forested planet of Khofar, where the Wookie Jedi Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo) is located. Unfortunately for him, he is next on Mae’s (Amandla Stenberg) hit list as she targets all the Jedi involved with whatever happens on her home planet. Back on Coursaunt, Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson) and the other Jedi have also noticed the pattern. But Sol (Lee Jung-Jae) convinces them to send him and Osha (Amandla Stenberg) out to get Mae because she knows things the Jedi Order desperately needs to know. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Inside Out 2 – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It is an oddly fascinating film that might be more important for parents to watch than the kids it is targeted at.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid and post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Warning – Contains scenes of intensity.

Joy at the consul.

Inside Out 2 Review –

Back when we first started TL: DR Movie Reviews, one of the first films we looked at was a seemingly benign kid’s film that emotionally broke me and left me openly weeping in the cinemas. Inside Out was Peak-Pixar and part of that wave of cinematic greatness that included greats like Coco, Bao, and even the more recent Luca. It had a wonderfully original story with a genuine heart behind it. Well, it has been an age, but a sequel is now here, and it is time to see if it hits as hard as the first outing.

So to set the scene, since we last met Riley (Kensington Tallman), she has grown up, met new friends (Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green & Grace Lu), and started forming core beliefs to help guide her life, all while her emotions Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale), and Disgust (Liza Lapira) all help her through the day. Well, when Coach Roberts (Yvette Nicole Brown) asks Riley and her friends to come to the high school summer hockey camp, it is everything Riley has ever dreamed about. The only problem is the night before they leave, that big red puberty alarm goes off, her mind is in chaos, and oh, who is that new emotion?

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The Acolyte (Star Wars: The Acolyte) – Destiny – TV Review

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TL;DR – I thoroughly enjoyed this flash to the past to set the scene for the future.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

The yellow tree of Brendok.

The Acolyte Review –

We’ve met the players, worked out that it is twins, and even got a few hints as to what the Jedi were up to. However, since Revenge/Justice, there have been some questions about what the inciting incident was that threw this mess into motion. I thought we would have to wait for the rest of the season to see that answer delivered, and the show was like, nope, ep three, here you go.  

So to set the scene, around sixteen years before the events of Lost/Found, we find ourselves on the planet of Brendok, where a young Osha (Lauren Brady) and Mae (Leah Brady) are living with their mothers, Anieseya (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Koril (Margarita Levieva). Brendok is an abandoned planet seemingly outside of Republican control, but you soon understand why everyone is upset that some Jedi was found snooping around. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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