Tag Archives: Manny Jacinto

Freakier Friday – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A delightful film full of silly shenanigans.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

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

The whole family realising they were swapped.

Freakier Friday Review –

There is a lot of choice in the body change genre of comedy. You can take an older person and make them young again, or make a young person old. You can even swap some twins around if you want to change things up. However, sometimes you want to get more bang for your buck, and that is where we enter body swap territory. In today’s entry, we look at the film that might be the queen of the body swap genre, and it is time for a sequel to do it all over again.

So, to set the scene, back in the 2000s, calamity came to the lives of Tess Coleman (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her daughter Anna (Lindsay Lohan) when they read a fortune cookie at the same time and swapped bodies, living each other’s lives until an act of selfishness broke the spell. It has now been twenty-two years since that fateful time. But with Anna about to marry her new fiancée, Eric Davies (Manny Jacinto), there is a significant change in the lives of her daughter Harper (Julia Butters) and new stepdaughter Lily (Sophia Hammons) coming. Well, it seems like it is the perfect time for another switch-up.   

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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) – 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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The Acolyte (Star Wars: The Acolyte) – Revenge/Justice – TV Review

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TL;DR – We move from intrigue to a very narrow path, but one that still has me interested.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Warning – depicts scenes that may cause distress.

Mae squares off with Torbin.

The Acolyte Review –

If the last episode was an Amuse-bouche to get us ready for this world, then this week is, it is time to serve us up with an entrée, well, narratively speaking, at least. We are done speculating, and it is time to dive all into this world where the Jedi are hiding something.  

So to set the scene, Sol (Lee Jung-Jae), after securing Osha (Amandla Stenberg) and proving she was innocent because only Luke can be in two places at once. He takes his Padawan Jecki Lon (Dafne Keen) and new knight Yord (Charlie Barnett) to the planet Olega, where Mae (Amandla Stenberg) has attacked another Jedi Master Torbin (Dean-Charles Chapman). This time, she was unsuccessful in the kill, the first time, but where there is a will, there is a poison. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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TV Review – The Good Place: Whenever You’re Ready & Season 4

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TL;DR – This was the perfect way to end such a special show

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

The Good Place: Whenever You’re Ready. Image Credit: NBC Studios.

Review –

How do you end a show, does it go out in a whimper, in a mess, in a fleeting flame, or do you stand there as a wave of emotion pours over you. I have seen a lot of finales that have stumbled at the last hurdle, some so bad that they cast the rest of the series into question. However, today I get to take a look at one that gets it right as it says goodbye.

So to set the scene, throughout this season the philosophy gang Michael (Ted Danson), Eleanor (Kristen Bell), Chidi (William Jackson Harper), Tahani (Jameela Jamil), Jason (Manny Jacinto), and Janet (D’Arcy Carden) have been fighting to save the afterlife. First from a system that just put everyone in The Bad Place, and then from The Judge (Maya Rudolph) who decided to wipe everything away and start again from scratch. However, finally, after everything the gang has made it to The Good Place and it is here that they get to have their best times. Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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TV Review – The Good Place: The Book of Dougs

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TL;DR – While it does not always quite get there, it was still an interesting ride.

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

The Good Place: The Book of Dougs. Image Credit: NBC.

Review –

After three seasons of trying the gang is finally in the good place, and after all this, the emotional and social capital to get us here does it actually hold up? Well no, but then I think it does something a little more important, maybe.

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TV Review – The Good Place: Janet(s)

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TL;DR – The entire universe is against them, but it is here where the show finds its core drive and so many Janets

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Janet(s). Image Credit: NBC

Review –

So far this season, The Good Place has been a bit hit and miss, with a lot of episodes that make you wonder where are they going with this? Add to this, the show started splitting up the group which didn’t fit the tone of the show. The good thing is that even though some episodes were not working, because the show itself is so good it meant that even when an episode didn’t work, it was at least still compelling. Well this week, not only do we come back to form, we get one of the show’s most fascinating episodes to date.

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Movie Review – Bad Times at the El Royale

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TL;DR – A really strong ensemble piece that works like a puzzle getting reveal one piece at a time, which you will enjoy depending on how long you are willing to let the premise of the film take its time to get going.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

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

Bad Times at the El Royale. Image Credit: 20th Century Fox

Review –

I am always a sucker for a good ensemble film, where you have a group of actors working together to make a better whole of a film. Indeed having a look at my Top 10 Films of All Time (see here) all of them fall on the spectrum of being ensemble films. However, Bad Times at the El Royale is not just an ensemble film, it is also a puzzle where we get to see parts of the story revealed one at a time, and they are all trapped there as a storm rolls in, and there are different motivations and, well I think you know that this is a film for me. However, it might not be a film for everyone, with that in mind let’s dive into the world of the late 1960s and one fateful night.

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