shrewd.buddha

I believe that Eagly bringing presents to Peacemaker - as he has done previously - will end in tragedy. I fear for Leota's purse puppies..

I was pleased and relieved that the show managed to come to a mostly satisfying and non-tragic conclusion. The reunion for Kirsten and Jeevan was nice. Hamlet, the play, did manage to capture many of the family dynamics between the characters. And with all the connecting coincidences, it was interesting that these actors ended up where they did 20 years later. However: The way Clark, Elisabeth and Tyler jumped into the play at the last minute was unbelievable: no rehearsals, magical memorization, etc. It was an interesting show and kept us entertained for the most part. Many of the circumstances were far-fetched, though (especially episode 9: Dr. Chaudhary ). The book had many of the same issues, but I was more forgiving of a single author. For this show to come together, teams of people had the chance to iron out the concepts. Some of the more annoying concepts: Everyone was okay with dozens of illiterate, stolen children being raised in the wild by Tyler? Parents are less attached in this world? Why is everyone acting as if technology has been destroyed? It's still there, just abandoned! Communities of survivors would most likely form around areas where hydro-electric, solar or wind energy was available. The problem is a shortage of people - not knowledge or materials. Where are the bicycles? They are easy to maintain and should be lying around everywhere. How was Tyler planning on destroying 'the Before'? Every abandoned public library and Wal-Mart was an even better version of the Museum of Civilization. Miranda's phone call to the airline pilot: Did they just want more coincidences, and more Miranda? Are the writers not familiar with the Emergency Exit Row? (He could have tried to persuade them, but that's about it.)

It seems as if these characters who are eternally trapped in children's bodies are also incapable of maturing emotionally. Sprite, in 5000 years, could have matured into a wise, serene person. Behaving and dressing as an older person would not have been difficult. All of the Eternals probably would have become somewhat jaded toward human affairs and not act so impulsively emotional. But, it's a superhero comic book movie, so ....

There exists a graphic novel whose message is so powerful that it can obsess a child (Kirsten ) into constantly reading it. And just telling its story second-hand, from memory, people (Tyler) can seduce children from their parents in less than an hour. Five-year-old children can be tricked into sneaking into their grandparent's house and used as suicide bombers. Somehow Tyler's cult of children don't seem to have trouble surviving without a stable source of food and shelter -- and play dress up like they are in Neverland. This. Sad, but true.

Other than poorly explaining how Jeevan and Kiersten got separated, this episode seemed wildly out of place. Was there supposed to be some overall theme or something going on? It raised so many questions that it seemed to be written by someone who didn't understand any of the surrounding circumstances. Was the phantom snowplow operator created just to explain people riding motorcycles in the snow? Jeevan and Kiersten walked everywhere? Not even using bikes? But there are motorcycles? A community that could support a well-stocked, heated birthing clinic but not other medical needs? Buffing the floors? Only pregnant women in the building? -- being dropped off by people who lived elsewhere? Jeevan, injured, was the best candidate to make into a doctor? No other non-pregnant person was willing to step in to help and learn?

Miranda seemed pretty stoic in general, walled-off and distanced from Arthur, so her outburst during the sales pitch seemed a bit out-of-character (but the world was ending, she had a head injury, and maybe she was losing it). It was funny when she calmly turned things over to her colleague after her rant. Arthur seemed like the stereotypical celebrity: narcissistic/insecure/extroverted/worldly/etc. They never really sold the idea of kismet between the two of them. Having read the book , it is hard for me to determine how the show appeals to me: For a large part, I am watching because I read the book - to see how it was adapted. If there was no book knowledge, I don't know if I would enjoy how the story is unfolding.

It looks as if James Gunn has found an outlet for his unbridled outrageous humor (with a low-key emphasis on subliminal rage). John Cena is a likeable actor and appears to be "all in" for this show -- willing to bare it all. The other characters are okay, in their respective D-list kind of way. In the Suicide Squad, Peacemaker really sparked by having a competitor like Flagg or BloodSport. This first episode felt like a very long road to get to an action sequence -- but it was a satisfying one. Parts of the show feel very sluggish. And I don't know which chaffs me more, the widespread incompetence or the intentional racism. But if I can turn my brain off and enjoy "Emily in Paris", I can do the same for this ... most likely.

It wasn't until the 2nd episode that I appreciated the opening credits. It really sells the tone of the series. And this episode moved a lot faster than the first -- probably because there was less set-up needed. One issue this show may have is that the James Gunn dialogue is starting to take over every character and conversation. The quirky minutia is fun -- but it can quickly tip to overload. That was fun. Mostly. Some of the jokes and scenes are verging on lingering too long. I also worry for the animals ... even though the eagle is CGI.

All in all, it was a nice sendoff. It was a shame that the space battles - which were probably costly CGI - came off as slightly confusing. It didn't help that most of the ships had similar profiles. At least Marco came to an end. I would have preferred that his demise had not been so impersonal or indirect. And since Rosenfeld (Marco's 2nd-in-command) died in battle, it seemed an odd reason for Fillip to decide that was his final straw.

I get what they were trying to do with Jubal and the victim's father - but it was so heavy-handed and obvious. It was far fetched that Jubal, who was leading the investigation, would have the time for so many side-trips to the father's house.

^My thoughts, exactly. I was also rooting for the Internal Affairs guy and was disappointed that he was just a clumsy investigator and would only be as competent as the writers decided he should be. He could have said they had proof that Kellett was on the bridge, then let her wonder how much evidence they had. Kellett took a pic from the bridge which would place her at the scene. Jubal and his desk jockey team from FBI:NY would make short work of their coverup with street camera footage. Forrester jumped in with a compounding lie without knowing if there was more proof of Kellett's activities. There's probably evidence of him alone in another location at the time. Forrester's "love before ethics" also makes his character less appealing. Perhaps the main case was supposed to sway viewers into believing that Kellett's successes outweigh her corruption -- but it didn't work for me. It seems as if almost all the three FBI shows' main characters are self-righteous law enforcers. I can't root for these characters when they decide for themselves which laws and regulations they should follow. Are the showrunners actually attempting to get viewers to hate-watch? I had not planned to watch this ep, but was pulled in with the hope that Kellett was about to be found out. I won't fall for that again.

It was good but I think it would have had more impact if the movies had been released closer together time-wise. Recurring characters and actors can strengthen a franchise - but not when you cannot remember who they are or what they did previously. It seemed as if Rami Malek got to be the main villain because he has an Oscar. His character was just the typical diabolical psychopath that Bond has do deal with. I found it hard to believe could get the drop on Bond and manage to be the last man standing on the island. I wondered why the producers decided to have the entire Spectre organization taken out by someone other than Bond. Bond seemed to be a bit like Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark -- the opposing forces might have eliminated one another without his involvement. Agent Paloma (Ana de Armas) left much more of an impression than the new 007 (Lashana Lynch). The new 007's largest contribution seemed to be verbal quips (and media bait).

We watch mainly for scenes of Paris .. and as a fun diversion. But I will commend this episode for pulling together a lot of elements into the story: French landmarks, French classic weird cinema, French language learning -- and then tying them into Emily's current situation. The black-and-white, floating head, letter reading scenes added to the effect. It seemed as if someone put some thought into this one.

^This was the highlight of the episode for me. Everyone thinking about why they were fighting. Interesting to notice that Marco doesn't have a similar scene -- probably because his motives are selfish and petty -- he convinced the Belters he was fighting for their 'freedom', but abandoned and sabotaged them. ^This was actually a distracting element for the entire episode. I felt more critical of what the showrunners were deciding to focus with only one episode left. Laconia? When Clarissa offhandedly mentioned that her father (Moa) might had been trying to do the right thing all along, I thought Holden would have had more of a reaction. Thousands of people on Eros and many children died as a result of what Moa started. But then I remembered that many people died because Drummer did not vote to execute Marcos. And many people died because Naomi decided to give the proto-molecule to Fred Johnson. Perhaps the the path to hell is indeed paved with good intentions.

It was a pretty good season, but it didn't feel as fun as the first season. Personally, I enjoy the monster-of-the-week, rollicking sword-and-sorcery type episodes. The GoT, political drama seemed to complicate and weigh things down (so many names to remember). Infanticide was definitely not fun. The actress playing Ciri is doing a great job ... BUT ... this Ciri is definitely not a "child", no matter how many times they say that word. Ciri is like a nuclear warhead football: everyone wants to either control her or destroy her. She has the power to do almost anything but doesn't have the skills to control it -- which makes her the deus ex machina plot device -- she can do whatever the plot needs when it needs it. We like the show and look forward to another season. I do hope the writers settle on a consistent tone for the show. Sometimes it seems to know it is sort of wacky: people often talk in contemporary ways , people are pretty casual about magical teleportation despite it being medieval times. The sweet spot, for me, are scenes such as ones with Jaskier and Jennifer sniping at one another but also working together. However, I could do without yet another show going the route of "we are a family now".

The Laconia arc: I think we saw what was coming. But the long discussion by the Martian man to the little girl was weird. And it is not believable that the girl could get access to her brother's body without anyone noticing -- and even less believable that she could roll a gurney out into the forest. There are many issues with the Laconia story line and its filming. I don't think we needed more scenes of Marco demonstrating he is an insecure, petty asshole. ..Or his second-in-command talking him down from overstepping. ..Or Fillip being wishy-washing on criticizing or supporting his father's war. Marco doesn't have a cause anymore: he can't offer freedom to the belters - he has abandoned them. He only has his navy as support -- and they could mutiny at any moment.

It seems surreal, but I probably have been more entertained by the reviews and reactions to this movie than the movie itself. (And have spent much more time viewing.) That seems appropriate for a movie that didn't seem to want be its own movie.

It was a fun movie -- definitely a blockbuster popcorn movie. At first I found myself irritated with it having the tone of a comedy. It felt a bit silly a first, but as it went on I got into its groove. The highlight was the Peter Parkers interacting with one another. Dr. Strange's spell to make everyone forget Peter Parker would be problematic -- much like Steve Rogers staying in the past with Peggy in the Avengers movie. If the spell only erased memories and not physical evidence (or change time), then there are massive amounts of news reports from the last few weeks that document a person named Peter Parker is SpiderMan. Marvel will probably choose to just ignore any of that.

It didn't feel like a movie. It felt like a film attempting to deconstruct and repurpose a previous, popular movie. It felt like social commentary and metaphorical analysis and psychological analysis -- but without making any exact point -- just a lot of psychobabble and technobabble. It felt empty. Afterwards, I did not recall the names of most of the new characters. (But the entire cast of Sense8 seemed to be in it.) In many ways it did feel like fan fiction. They explained away all the things they didn't want to deal with: Neo and Trinity's death, age, the lack of Fishbourne and Weaving. They explained 'in' the things they wanted to happen: Continued conflict with the machines, the new rules of the Matrix, sentient robot friends, human zombie hordes, etc. So much explaining... It lessened any 'reality' of the world. There could have been talking animals if they wanted -- with just more explaining. I suppose there is no point of criticizing logic of the Matrix reality. Why didn't the machines explore geothermal energy or resolve the issues of accessing solar energy? The scene with the engineered strawberry just seemed sad (and more explaining). It is as if sci-fi writers have never been outside to see how many wonders there are on Earth that have nothing to do with humans. Upgrading Trinity to superhero level also felt like fan fiction -- and an attempt to retcon the character to 'fix' the idea of a 'Chosen One'. But the idea of a 'Chosen Two' isn't much better. When Neo was overpowered, it didn't make things more interesting. Neo's "outstretched hands projection powers" got tiresome. It wasn't unwatchable -- from my living room on HBOMax, at least. But it also wasn't very exciting or inspiring.

I am sensing a theme here.. I was not heavily invested, so I was not majorly disappointed -- but they had spent a lot of time in the previous episodes talking about the big, epic battle to come when the Dragon Reborn met the Dark One. 'No other person present will survive when the two forces collide.' But it basically felt as if Rand woke up from a nap and said "no thanks". It did not help that Rand had already experienced a fake-out dream sequence moments before in the same episode. Going forward, if the series wants to be taken more seriously than a Young Adult story, I think it would help if the characters were given better dialogue. When the younger five characters literally say they "love" one another (even the guys talking about the other guys), it comes off as very YA. (to me, at least) But for all I know, the show is aiming to be YA. There's nothing wrong with that.

I sometimes wonder why some show runners decide to piecemeal their stories instead of telling at least one complete story in each episode. When events are happening simultaneously, it makes sense. And piecemeal can work if you are binging the season in a short period. But it is a bit much to ask of viewers to mentally re-assemble all the two minute clips at the end of the one-episode-per-week season. Just my opinion. The callback to previous characters does make it feel as if they are preparing to close out the series. I do like that things are really moving at a faster pace this season. Events in past seasons felt padded and stretched out over many episodes. I had initially expected it would take several episodes for the Rocinante crew to even find the ship that was creating the killer asteroids. I really hope that Marcos is not going to be the main focus of this season. He doesn't deserve to be. Also, I'm tired of the cliched villain who is always two steps ahead of the 'heroes'. Hopefully, the Marcos situation will be resolved before the last episode.

The production was so sophisticated, but the writing was so cheesy. It was as if the different teams thought they were making different shows.

I sort of felt bad that Netflix cut the season down to eight episodes. The show had potential. But then I think that we would just have gotten more after-school-special type episodes. All of the 'heart' metaphors: Will's injured heart being healed by Robot, Robot's cave drawing of humans with valentine-shaped hearts, Robot living on in Will's artificial heart, SAR going for the heart, again --- it was a bit much. It is also a shame that Will's Robot was limited to being the dumb muscle bodyguard character (did he suffer a brain injury?). The writers also seemed to imply that all the Robots were not super intelligent, perhaps only knowing how to use the technology left to them by their creators. The robots were able to navigate their way through galaxies, scan humans to get their last known GPS coordinates and track any electronic signal. However, the robots were never able to learn how to translate human language, could not learn how to fly a human spacecraft, did not seem able to communicate with other robots wirelessly and used drawings to communicate. And -- if you pull a thorn from a Robot's paw, it becomes your friend. It was nice that they expanded the final episode to give everyone a happy-ish ending.

So now we have robots who are secretive ninja assassins who decide to frame Will's Robot. Interesting. I liked how John decided to take a walk out the back door seconds before the killer robots broke in the front door to murder the humans. That's some contrived plotting lucky timing on his part. Maureen has only been on the Alpha Centauri base for a couple of hours and she is already running the place?!

I was not paying super close attention, but I got the impression that Judy discovered that she was not a planned pregnancy. From the conversations, I inferred that Maureen and bio-dad hooked up during astronaut training -- then Maureen dropped out because she decided to go through with the pregnancy .. without telling bio-dad. Apparently Maureen told Judy another version of the story. Wow. Maureen, you are really racking up all the points for "person who thinks they know best for everyone else".