Tag Archives: Jared Harris

A House of Dynamite – Movie Review

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TL;DR – As divisive as it is fascinating, anchored on understandable tension, and character performances that rocked me at times.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

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

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Sun rising behind the Washington Monument.

A House of Dynamite Review Introduction –

We are getting to the pointy end of the year, and that means it is time to start catching up with a bunch of the films that I missed this year. This is made more apparent because I just spent a month away in Japan, and there are a bunch of films that I missed while I was away. The first cab off that rack is a political thriller that explores the calamity of nuclear weapons, which means that this is already 100% my jam.

So, to set the scene, it is just a typical day for people around the world, including those in the missile defence systems in Fort Greely, Alaska and those in the Situation Room in Washington DC. But tensions have slowly been growing around the world, and when you have a fuel around, all it takes is one match for it all to explode, which is when a ballistic launch is detected over the Pacific Ocean, heading right to the USA. A nuclear event that everyone has feared is now a reality.   

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Foundation: The Shape of Time [S3E6] – TV Review

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TL;DR – A calamity of events comes crashing together like a wave hitting a cliff wall.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that used to view this episode.

Hari's shrine opens again.

Foundation Introduction –

When I first started watching the third season of Foundation with A Song for the End of Everything, I was concerned they would be trying to force all of The Mule’s story into this one season. I still have those concerns, but as the season leans into a more schlocky vibe, I have been more intrigued to see where they go.  

So, to set the scene, calamity is erupting across the galaxy, much stemming from the work of The Mule (Pilou Asbæk). He has put the plans of the Foundation, Second Foundation, Traders, and Empire into chaos, and could have put the human race on the path to its extinction. But the one person that The Mule is obsessed with is now in sight, which is not good news for that person, Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell). Even worse news for Gaal is that she has picked up an unwanted visitor on her ship, Demerzel (Laura Birn), the last robot left in the galaxy, and she is not happy. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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Foundation: A Song for the End of Everything – TV Review

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TL;DR – A solid introduction that promises a lot, but is more about the vibes than detail.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this episode.

Exposition in a garden.

Foundation Review –

Well, it is time to jump back into the world of Foundation, a series I am fascinated by for how it adapts a classical work for a modern audience. The original series is one of its time, and it chopped and changed as Isaac Asimov charted a more serialised work. But this new adaptation has found ways to run through that narrative to give it a connection. Some of these have worked, and others have been failures. As we shift into the next phase of the series, it will be interesting to see where we land.   

So to set the scene, it has been 152 years since the Second Crisis, and while The Empire continues to collapse, The Foundation grows, expanding further out of the outer reach. Now both the Empire and The Foundation are fighting to control Kalgan, a pleasure planet, and the key to controlling The Middle Band. But there may be a third player out there, ready to tear everything up. For after much prediction, or perhaps, not enough prediction, The Mule (Pilou Asbæk) is on the move, and both sides should fear him. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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Foundation: Creation Myths & Season 2 – TV Review

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TL;DR – The crisis climbs to a crescendo as cracks cascade over a crumbling continuum of chance and causality.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this episode.

The death of Terminus.

Foundation Review –

Well, we have come to the end of the second season, and what a fascinating season it was. Adapting novels to work in a visual medium is no small feat, let alone one of the founding icons of Science Fiction. Taking a selection of interconnected short stories and making them work as a whole and in a framework that will work with a modern audience is a tightrope to pull off, and today, we will see just how well they have managed this task.  

So to set the scene, we open in the moments after Long Ago, Not Far Away ended by discovering just how Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) survived being very dead, so dead that even Salvor (Leah Harvey) believed he had passed. A trick from Gaal (Lou Llobell) so powerful that not even Tellem Bond (Rachel House) sees through the deception. As Terminus lays there as a flaming ruin, with Brother Day’s (Lee Pace) fleet in orbit, the question becomes, how can psychohistory’s plan continue from here? When all we know has been left in ruins. But when a sensor is tripped, Demerzel (Laura Birn) soon discovers that secrets can escape no matter how much you try to control them. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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Foundation: Long Ago, Not Far Away– TV Review

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TL;DR – The calamity of capriciousness causes crisis conflagration.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this episode.

A jail for an andriod.

Foundation Review –

As we crash into the end of the season with today’s penultimate episode, there is a building wonder as to whether this season can stick the landing. It has pulled in so many different directions. Will that work when you bring everything back together? Well, this is what we will explore today.

So to set the scene, in The Last Empress, we discovered that Demerzel (Laura Birn) might, in fact, be the actual Empire, using the cloned dynasty almost as a shield to obscure her power. Today’s episode starts with her story of discovery, imprisonment, and how Cleon I (Terrence Mann) rescued/imprisoned her. But while this is happening, Brother Day/ Cleon XVII (Lee Pace) is going to Trantor looking to bring the Foundation down. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Foundation: The Last Empress – TV Review

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TL;DR – The culminating catastrophe coalesces.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this episode.

Many Seldons

Foundation Review –

I was captivated back in Season 1 of Foundation. This book was challenging to adapt, and the show did it interestingly. This season has been a bit of a rollercoaster, and I wonder if they have a plan of where it is going. Today’s episode might be the answer, maybe.

So to set the scene, deep in the capital of Trantor, Brother Dusk (Terrence Mann) finds someone in Demerzel’s (Laura Birn) quarters who should not be there. Rue Corintha (Sandra Yi Sencindiver), enjoiner to Queen Sareth (Ella-Rae Smith), is rummaging through all of the android’s personal effects, but is she just an opportunist, or is she a threat? Meanwhile, on Ignis, Gaal (Lou Llobell) is desperate to find out what happened to Salvor (Leah Harvey) and confronts Tellem Bond (Rachel House), only to discover just how powerful Tellem is. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Foundation: A Glimpse of Darkness – TV Review

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TL;DR – This week, we continue to see the outworking of NJ Demerath III’s adage that “politics and religion are like a moth to a flame.”

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this episode.

A sun sets over a ring world.

Foundation Review –

It is no shock that I love me some Science Fiction. Indeed, I will take it in just about any form I can get it. But deep down, I think my favourite must be a good Space Opera with all its pontifications on show. It is a universe full of pomp and circumstance, and I am here for it.

So to set the scene, things are fraying all across the Empire, and no one is immune to its changes. On a water planet now home to a dead civilization, Hari Seldon (Jared Harris), Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell), and Salvor Hardin (Leah Harvey) confront each other as old wounds are laid bare. As the Empire retreats from the outer rim, the Foundation starts to slip out, coming as magicians and priests to those planets that have lost everything. But not everyone is happy with a potential new master after just getting rid of the last one. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.     

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Foundation: In Seldon’s Shadow – TV Review

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TL;DR – This opening episode whispers where they are going this season while opening with a Hari Seldon, that might be a little mad.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this episode.

The Galaxy.

Foundation Review –

I had always wondered how someone would adapt Foundation. Some of the older works of Science Fiction are foundational to the genre but don’t align narratively with how we create stories today. The First Season was full of interesting turns and explorations while expanding on Asimov’s world. It was not without its flaws, but it was always fascinating. My question is, where can it go from there?    

So to set the scene, at the end of last season, we had The First Crisis appear on the planet of Foundation set up by the leaders of psychohistory, Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) and Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell), to help the galaxy recover from the inevitable collapse of the 12,000-year old Galactic Empire. The first crisis was solved by uniting two former enemies and hiding themselves in the outer rim, building a base for recovery. The Cleon Dynasty is floundering after revelations about their DNA ancestry and on the small water planet of Synnax, a mother and daughter reunite. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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The Sea Beast – Movie Review

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TL;DR – You will probably see the shape of this film for the first couple of minutes, but that does not take away how delightful the time is as we go diving through a world of monsters.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this movie.

Red stares down the crew.

The Sea Beast Review –

I think animation, especially animation focused on younger audiences, gets a bad rap. Sure, there is a lot of nonsense out there made to fill time, but that does not mean that an animated film directed toward children will be inherently bad. There are films where you can see the artistry and craft that have gone into every moment. Well, today we look at just such a film with the nautical adventure The Sea Best.  

So to set the scene, for over a hundred years, there has been a war across the seas of this world. Great sea beasts stalked the oceans taking ships to a watery grave, even swiping people from the coastline as they were tending their gardens. To fight this menace, the royalty of Three Bridges hired great hunters to take the fight to monsters and keep the waters safe. The Hunters live by a clear code that all must follow, even those on the most famous hunting ship, The Inevitable. Under their Captain Crow (Jared Harris) and his forebears, they have kept the seas clear, with only the great red beast alluding them. Well, the King (Jim Carter) and Queen (Doon Mackichan) have become tired of paying Hunters to kill the beasts, so they make their own ship, The Imperator, to do the work for them. Seeing their future fall apart, Jacob Holland (Karl Urban) makes a deal with the royals, a race, and if The Inevitable gets the sea beast before The Imperator, well then, they keep working with the Hunters.     

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Morbius – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A soulless husk of a film that is barely made watchable by the fact that at least Matt Smith is having fun  

Rating: 1.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There are two mid-credit scenes

Disclosure – I was invited to a screening of this film

Morbius. Image Credit: Sony Pictures.

Morbius Review –

There are moments when the credits roll, and you sit back in your chair and wonder, what did I just waste my time with? Then, of course, you immediately go, well, maybe I am having a bad day, perhaps the film is targeting a different audience, or did I just miss something. But then you look around and feel the audience’s tone and discover that you are not alone with your disbelief. Well, today, we have a film that, when the credits rolled, a whole room of people collectively shrugged at the very meh-ness that they just watched.

So to set the scene, 25-years ago in Greece, two boys who needed three blood transfusions a day to live met in a clinic. The head of the clinic, Emil Nikols (Jared Harris), discovers that young Michael (Charlie Shotwell) is a prodigy and gets him into a private school, and he promises his friend Milo (Joseph Esson) that he will find a cure. In the now, Michael (Jared Leto) takes a helicopter ride to a cave in Costa Rica to capture some bats that only feed on blood. He is hopeful that inserting bat DNA into a human might cure him and Milo (Matt Smith). It works … but at what cost? Well, a boat full of mercs, at least.

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