sabigotho Reviews

House of the Dragon (2022– )

When Rhaenyra shouted the offensive word I am not allowed to write here, I knew we were in trouble. UPDATED

[5/10 · 3 September 2022]

I would never imagine myself saying this, but my thoughts while watching these first two episodes were: Guys, we forgive you for the GoT finale season disaster. Please come back now. We need you!'.

So far, the most exciting thing about the House of the Dragon is the GoT theme music.

While we seem to be in GoT realm, as soon as these characters open their mouths, you realize that you are in something that looks like GoT and feels like a boring period drama. The dialogue is meh, the characters flat, with no spark or sassiness, aliveness, or distinctiveness. The pace is problematic. I hope it gets better, even though book fans are ecstatic -I suspect they are the only ones who will keep watching.

I have a hunch that what is missing are the two people who made GoT such a thrilling, amazing, and unpredictable ride. Mark my words: this show needs Weiss and Benioff to make it and probably everyone involved in this production already knows it.

- Updates: The third episode had a couple of powerful scenes: 1) The scene with Rhaenyra and Viseris when he gives her permission to find her match b) the scene with Daemon that leads up to the battle. The actors are really good, Matt Smith bravo. Daemon is probably the only character that could be in the same room with Tyrion, Jamie etc. But I still find the House of the Dragon characters to be minimally interesting, or else why do I not care about what is at stake for them?

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

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[10/10 · 10 June 2022]

This film hits one with everything from everywhere all at once.

You will laugh, you will cry, and mostly you wont believe your eyes.

This is modal realism.

Invasion (2021–2024)

Not a 3 but definitely not a 10!

[6/10 · 11 November 2021]

This show starts with instances of not-so-good acting.

Some of its cliche/cringe-worthy moments get resolved as the narrative evolves. Gradually as if the actors are easing into their characters, the acting gets better.

If you are into subtle sci-fi, then give it a chance. It takes a couple of episodes to get into it. Overall, this show has good production values, so I would say that 1-4 ratings are incomprehensible.

However, so is the massive influx of reviews giving it a 10, I can't help but wonder if these are fake. Invasion so far lacks in character development and the writing is far from exceptional. If this show is a 10, then what are the great shows we have seen this year? Like The White Lotus, or Ted Lasso or Maid?

The Chair (2021)

I wish there was more!

[7/10 · 24 August 2021]

The first episode is the weakest one, so make sure you watch two before you decide. As the story unfolds, the show becomes more and more enjoyable, episode six, left me craving for more. The cast is amazing. (Holland Taylor absolutely fabulous). The humour subtle. It's relevant and I particularly enjoyed the interplay between the different generations (students, younger faculty, older faculty).

New York Stories (1989)

A theory

[7/10 · 30 April 2021]

I have just watched it, and I agree with everyone about the Coppola segment. And it got me thinking 'why would a great director willingly make a bad short film?' And then I noticed Sophia Copolla's name in the credits. And I read in other reviews here that she has co-written the script and designed the clothes.

Life without Zoe is about a girl of absent, albeit, talented parents. She is affluent but growing up alone because her parents have to spend a lot of time abroad for their creative jobs. She has a soft spot for her father. She parents her parents.

I am thinking that this project is a personal bonding experience and a hands-on little film school, a gift from a father to his daughter perhaps? And If this is the case, I find it sweet and bold and remarkable.

Then I am thinking how much I did not like Sofia Coppola's last film On the Rocks which felt weird and out of place the same way Life without Zoe did. And it is again about a woman and her charming father, that she is more of parent to.

Both films just feel like inside jokes between father and daughter.

On the Rocks (2020)

A bit disappointed

[5/10 · 24 November 2020]

Hmmmm.... I am sceptical about the gender politics of this movie. I understand that it revolves around a fin de siécle around certain masculinities, while showing showing a female protagonist caught in dilemma. I was really bothered and slightly offended by the female character played by Jenny Slate. What was that all about? I was more bothered by the protagonist's reaction to her, or maybe by the depiction of a single mother as a self-absorbed chatterbox whom the character disregards every single time, whilst on the cusp of finding herself in the same exaact situation. Maybe this is a new york stereotype I am unaware of, but it made me cringe.

The 100: The Last War (2020) Season 7, Episode 16

thank god this sphere jumping situation is finally over for good!

[5/10 · 2 October 2020]

Why are season finales always so unrewarding and packed with senseless action? No one seems to have learned a lesson from the GoT finale fiasco... Now down to the specifics and my subjective disappointments. What is the point of 'ascending' if it is a lot like dying from the audience's point of view? What are all these silly rules the judge makes up in order to drive the plot? 'Oh you can ascend but you can descend if you want, it a choice all along, but if you descend you cannot reascend or have childen or, you can't stop the test once it has begun even if you are dead for all mankind'. They could at least have created a plot twist to bring back Bellamy for an ascending scene, since his character arc in the entire season made no sense at all. 👋 the 100 and thank you for the good moments.

Raised by Wolves (2020–2022)

Visually pleasing, entirely bereft of humanity (UPDATED) (UPDATED AGAIN)

[5/10 · 10 September 2020]

The production, the cinematography, the music, etc, are indeed great. The acting is mostly good. The characters, the plot, and the unfolding of events; not so great. None of the characters are likable, which makes things bland. Very uninteresting. Hoping to come back soon for a review update bearing more stars, but for the time being, I'm just a disappointed sci-fi lover.

- UPDATES: So, last week I came back and gave another star (reaching a total of 6 stars that is). I felt that episodes 8 and 9 seemed to be going somewhere, I began sensing some humanity emerging in mother and father, I even liked Tempest for a hot second. It felt like the plot was unraveling in ways that bore an inkling of progression, an acorn of sense. But, having just watched the finale, I felt I had to come back and take back my star. I like cerebral but this is not cerebral. I like the action but this is not action. Guys, honestly, this is a mess. I mean, it needs annihilation of disbelief to sit through the finale. By the end, you are like 'whatever, who cares what's going to happen next season? Wtf happened this season anyway??'. I have also listened to the Raised by Wolves podcast and there are some interesting ideas there. I guess I am gutted because I was ready to love this and it just wanted to shower me with shock value.

- Season 2: I keep watching because I don't shy away from things I don't like, especially if it's sci-fi. Raised by Wolves, well, it's like getting a pair of plain white socks for Christmas, but wrapped in this exquisite, elaborate package. Again: actors (with some exceptions), production, music; great. But still soulless to the bone, and maybe that's the whole point.

In one word: pretentious.

Uncut Gems (2019)

nostalgia for the masculine without adding anything new,

[7/10 · 3 February 2020]

Apart from great gem visuals and good music. Oh, and a touch and go on the politics of heavy extracting in the opening sequence. Worth watching, good performances, but perhaps overrated.

The Witcher (2019– )

It feels like they had a list of boxes to tick.

[5/10 · 27 December 2019]

I have to start with the good news: this is a well made show. This is undeniable. - The bad news is that if fails to suck you in. I want to be fair, I did not pay much attention to it. It just played it in the background while I was doing other stuff. But I always hear. This is how I got sucked into the world of Outlander. Treating it as a soap opera on the radio. But then the conversations intrigued me to start watching. Once you get convinced about the premise of a show, you begin finding its shortcomings charming. - This did not happen with the Witcher. It feels like it tried too hard to tick all the right fantasy genre boxes and to colonise a bit of that neurogeography fans allocated to Game of Thrones. - Cool Visual effects? Tick. Interesting costumes? Tick. Dragons? Tick. Elves and dwarfs and cool superpowers? Tick. - A Soul? I am afraid not.

Lost in Space (2018–2021)

I don't know what the rest of you

[7/10 · 25 December 2019]

Sci-fi fans are watching for fun and guilty pleasure's sake, but I watch just about anything sci-fi from low budget to multiple $ zeroes CGI extravaganza. I feel that the one star, two star, 3 star ratings fall on the pretentious side of the scale. [Apologies if my view about reviews in this case offends anyone. I also admit that I did not read any of the extremely low star reviews because I got instinctively offended by them in the first place.

Lost in space does not pretend to be more than it is, and it is a damn good family sci-fi. Nothing more, but definitely nothing less. Does it make you cringe? No. Is there good character dynamic even when cliches are pounding hard? Yes. Does it make you want to click on the 'next episode' button and 'skip intro'? It does. Does it make you question some things? Yes. But: was season two of lost in space, more rewarding than the final season of GoT? Hell yes.