wyvije Reviews

3 Body Problem (2024– )

3 Body Problem does not equal Complete Adaptation Problem

[8/10 · 27 March 2024]

Having listened to all 3 Books in the 3 Body Problem I've been hoping to see it visually. I was also scared because the important depths and nuances of the books can so easily be erased or glossed over that it makes the thing a mess (see 1984 Dune). While there are changes to make it appealing to a Western audience (ie, set in UK v China) and the usual name changes & character lumping, I'm walking away satisfied. Could it benefit from 10 episodes? Yes. I hope that if Netflix pushes forward w/ adapting Dark Forest that it does just that.

If you haven't read the books and enjoy sci-fi that has roots in real science, I strongly encourage you to read/listen to the books first only to better appreciate & understand the broader story.

If you prefer to watch sci-series that are not just popcorn events but cast light onto the human condition, this is for you (and it's ok to eat as much popcorn as you'd like).

Other Netflix series I'd put in same category are Dark & The Rain. Stranger Things and Wednesday this is not, even those are also very good.

Damsel (2024)

Haters gonna hate

[8/10 · 15 March 2024]

After watching the movie and reading the reviews, I wonder if I watched the same movie or had the same expectations going in.

Will this win Millie Bobbie any amazing awards like an Emmy? I'll go on a limb and say, "Nope." It's not that her acting was bad, it was just good.

While I've been waiting for it to hit since I saw first trailer and wondered why Stranger Things was taking such a weird angle of El v Vecna, it was everything I hoped it would be. A great popcorn movie I could kickback and enjoy. The story, the action, the visuals all met what I want in this type of moment: a good time. Were there plot points I figured out quickly? Sure. There were also nice dips and dives that made me wonder how things would wrap up ... which they did and didn't play out the way I thought. Which is a good thing. Which is why I like this movie.

Person of Interest (2011–2016)

Serial + Episodic = Best Series Ever

[10/10 · 6 February 2024]

While it helps to know the overall mythos the series (helpfully provided in opening credits VO), you can pop in and out as you want. Episodes are largely stand alone but together provide a series tapestry rich with all the things that make a would be "by the book" procedural anything but "by the book".

It provides all you want, a wealthy nerd, a former spy, a dirty cop, a former military interrogator turned good cop, a psychotic hacker, sociopathic good girl assassin, and a German Shepherd Attack dog trained to kill with a taste (literally) for expensive first editions when left alone. All brought together by a machine designed to protect the world from terrorists and moonlights by ensuring irrelevant people like us are given a fighting shot at being saved.

In the end we all feel alone, but someone will come to save us.

Bodies (2023)

Basic Understanding of Bootstrap Temporal Paradoxes A Must

[8/10 · 29 October 2023]

Bootstrap paradox: A cycle of events where the origin has no clear beginning. You travel back in time, meet and marry a (wo)man and have a family. One of your children becomes a father and over the course of times becomes your great-great-grandfather. You might also know this as an oreborous, often symbolized by a snake eating its tail.

TL;DR: If you like time travel & murder investigations - this is for you.

The show concerns a naked male body that appears in 1890, 1941, 2023, and 2053 and four different detectives in each year investigating the body that appears in their year. The show does two things: introduces us to a man who is the basis of the bootstrap paradox and the murder investigation involving the four detectives. The activity isn't restrained to one timeframe per episode but rather overlaps the investigations and events, showing how things overlap - often using split screenshots to demonstrate this.

Towards the end we learn about a "terrorist" group who has a goal of breaking the loop, including the man whose body would be found naked in the four timeframes. When an additional 5th body of the same of the man is found alive in 2053 an Inception inspired (IMHO) solution is formulated & implemented.

Understanding the end of the final episode may feel unsatisfying due to the results of what happens when the loop is broken. But when you prevent the loop from starting there are specific resulting ripple effects that occur that may feel like a let down; unless you've been waiting to see how/when it occurs.

One thing that is satisfying is to see how the breaking of the loop affects people in 1890, 1941, and 2023.

What is unsatisfying is the lack of understanding what makes the 2053 future a bad thing (other than being rooted in a 9/11 style event). While it does smack of Big Brother, people have access to advanced technology if part of the "elite" but even the poor have access to the same (just not as fancy). This begs the question of how much of a dystopian world is this. It presents that if you are "part of the system" you benefit more than if you reject it. In There is also no clear explanation of what the central person in the loop was doing between two key timeframes.

Additionally, the advisory regarding nudity is regard full frontal/hind-side male nudity and gore is regarding injuries to the naked dead man & what caused the injuries. Language is a liberal use of the F word. In other words things most like to offend US audiences v the UK audiences.

Legion (2017–2019)

Watch Only Once At Your Peril

[10/10 · 25 August 2023]

My wife describes this show as being a fever dream.

From a conceptual, visual, and storyline perspective it is both spot on and a bit of an understatement.

Across 3 seasons you largely interact with the same core characters in a timeline that is 60s influenced but who change and evolve as they learn more about themselves and each other, as they see the consequences of actions.

It is definitely NOT a show for young audiences as there are storylines involving highly mature topics surrounding severe mental health issues (particularly season 1).

All that said, watching it only once will leave you scratching your head and wondering WTH is going on. After multiple viewings there are still tiny pieces of an artistic puzzle to put together.

Although based on comic books, it is as untethered from much of the canonical source material as it and comics tend to be from reality. This, of course, makes it all the better.

Moonfall (2022)

Intriguing concept but makes 2012 seem plausible

[1/10 · 30 September 2022]

The intriguing concept has less to do with the moon falling but the reason why and a backstory to its history.

The problem is that to get to the concept the bulk of the movie lurches from one absurdity to another in a way I've not seen since the movie 2012. Absurd scenarios that even make the moon falling seem not that absurd.

Is it a popcorn movie? TBH ... even that would be giving it more credit than it deserves.

I'm sure that in some regards it was an easy paycheck for the actors as it didn't require an incredible amount of character building (compared to their previous catalog of roles) and hopefully their participation won't be held against them.

Finally, if this was meant to be a farce in the mode of 50s-60s B movies ... it might be considered ok?

How to Get Away with Murder (2014–2020)

What could go wrong with a show starring Viola Davis as a law professor/defense attorney?

[1/10 · 21 June 2022]

Unfortunately the answer is a lot, but none of it dealing with her acting abilities.

Imagine a law professor/defense attorney who teaches the reality of the law, employing five 1st year law students (and two other murderers), while having an affair with a married man not knowing her husband is cheating in her with one of his college students he successfully impregnates, has killed, before being murdered himself with the cover-up of his murder being orchestrated by his wife. Welcome to season 1.

I had hoped for a cool courtroom procedural that would balance a novel concept of teaching/practicing the law ready for all that legal procedurals get wrong (eg, how long it takes to get to trial). What I wasn't prepared for was a legal professional who co-opts virtually everyone in her orbit into breaking the law just to help her get ahead or out of jail. There was only one redeemable character before sto[ping 1/3 of the way into the 2nd season and if he lasts ... even he may also go too far to be redeemable.

In the end, only Davis' talents give a disgusting character enough vibrancy to make her interesting and not mini-series villainess until you realize how despicable the character really is.

Warehouse 13 (2009–2014)

Take the X-Files, Indiana Jones, and blend w/ joy

[9/10 · 2 June 2022]

You get monster of the week + show mythology w/ archaeological references + crazy artifacts.

A show to enjoy simply for its off-bear reality, high hi-jinx, and a group of friends that you'll never want to say goodbye to.

Except Mrs. Friedrich. She just disappears.

The X-Files (1993–2018)

A Classic w/ a Fatal Flaw

[7/10 · 5 May 2022]

When the X-Files came out in the 1990s it was a cult classic that deserves every adulation it received & continues to receive. It broke new ground in story telling that was both episodic but also tied to a larger conspiracy driven mythology, which became its fatal flaw.

A UFO, paranormal expert FBI agent is partnered with a grounded, practical partner tasked with bring a scientific approach to their cases. A partnership that works in all the best way.

The fatal flaw is how the conspiracy of a cabal of shadow government agents and the consequences are thrown in and out of sync seemingly out of hand, at the whim of writer(s) or producer(s). At one point events that culminated in a between seasons theatrical movie, are eventually tossed out.

There are many classic episodes (eg, the partners appearing on COPS, Ed Asner & Lily Tomlin as a ghost couple, the partners giving their own renditions of a case involving roving vampires, etc.) that make this must see TV. Just be prepared for the phrases I WANT TO BELIEVE & THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE to get very murky in very frustrating ways as you learn your belief in the truth isn't well served.

The 100 (2014–2020)

When Lost In Space, Survivor, & Game of Thrones meet

[4/10 · 4 April 2022]

I didn't watch in real time and doubt I'd have stuck with it as long as Netflix allows; although same is true with Lost.

While the show has a great Survivor edge, the Lost in Space (The 100) and the survivors (Grounders) IMHO have inconsistent "evolutionary" paths.

97 years after a nuclear holocaust, those born in space have not changed much. Those living on earth seem to have devolved several centuries. While some regression makes sense, the degree between the two makes none.

Worth watching? Sure. After binging Lost once or twice.

In Time (2011)

Time Is Life & Money

[8/10 · 15 March 2022]

A novel approach to bio-engineering, capitalism, greed, and a dash of population control.

While the movie has its ups & downs, the unique lens through which it views issues more than overcomes any missteps.

• What happens when the cost of living going up means the length of your life shortens?

• What happens when the power of life/death of billions is under the control of a few?

• What happens when running out of time on the way home is guaranteed to be fatal?

RED (2010)

🍿 time

[8/10 · 22 February 2022]

Is it a movie of great depth and social relevance? No.

Is it a great movie to kick back and enjoy with 🍿? Oh yeah!

Seeing Helen Mirren in a wonderfully different type of role is magnificent.

The Greatest Showman (2017)

A Faux Biography of a Flawed Man

[10/10 · 5 February 2022]

This movie does not present itself as a factual biography of PT Barnum, instead it is an overly idealized accounting of the life of a deeply flawed man.

In the movie PT Barnum seeks fame and fortune while overlooking that what he really wants/needs in life has been his for decades.

If the movie presents a celebration of anything it is the:

• diversity of the human condition (in the form of the Oddities)
• acceptance (in the forms of a then scandalous interracial romance)
• self-acceptance & perseverance (in the form of the Oddities celebrating their uniqueness in the face of bigotry)
• rejection of institutional privilege (in the form of Phillip Carlisle)
• the redemptive power of love (in the form of Charity's forgiveness)

With musical numbers that are rich and vibrant that highlight the impressive skills of stars Hugh Jackman, Zac Effron, and Keala Settle, it is definitely a feel good musical.

Are there parts that require a degree of willing suspension of reality/belief? Yes, but no more so of a long-lived man with the ability to heal wounds, has bones overlaid with metal, and sharp claws that extrude from his knuckles who lives with other people possessing unusual gifts including a man who can read/influence/control minds.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Read the Book, Watch the Movie

[10/10 · 5 February 2022]

Normally reading a book before seeing a movie is a seriously bad idea as the movie fails to live up to everything that ends up being left out due to edits as part of the adaptation process. In this case, the exact opposite is true. The book supplements much of what the movie shows visually but provides very little exposition on. For example, just what is happening with the cavemen and the earth based monolith? Is this typical behavior or is something even more happening?

Having watched the movie multiple times prior to reading the book I was shocked at the nuances I had missed. The book has allowed me to rewatch the movie with greater appreciation multiple times.

If you've only watched the movie but never read the book ... it's never to late.

Torchwood: Something Borrowed (2008) Season 2, Episode 9

Mums will be mums

[10/10 · 17 January 2022]

The sheer joy of the interactions of the MOB and MOG are pure delight.

Who needs an alien menace when you see these two have a go at each other.

Kudos to Ianto for expert tailor's eyes and Team Torchwood for mopping up the mess & letting Gwen & Rhys have a wonderful start to their honeymoon.

Babylon 5: Deathwalker (1994) Season 1, Episode 9

Best viewed at the hour of scampering

[9/10 · 4 October 2021]

When you learn that the truth is a three edged sword.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

Instantly Bonafide MCU Smash

[10/10 · 8 September 2021]

A great mix of action, levity, and family drama (who can't relate to that?) not seen since Captain Marvel (a cat hacking a tesseract hairball ... again who can't relate).

It is a visual masterpiece with elements any fan of The Legend of Zelda : Breath of the Wild will swoon over (maybe not something everyone can relate to).

If the 10 Rings "ring" a bell ... check out Iron Man 3 for a refresher.

Also make sure to hang around for mid- and end-credit scenes.