splayzer Reviews

Foundation: Long Ago, Not Far Away (2023) Season 2, Episode 9

HOLY POLY!!!

[10/10 · 8 September 2023]

I just saw the episode and I am in complete ecstasy!!!

Book purists, be damned!

This is the BEST space sci-fi on TV since the good ol' days of Farscape and Firefly. And its not a coincidence that Foundation completes the tri"F"ecta!

This is one of the very few times that I finished the episode and immediately watched again!

Every sequence is a masterpiece!

Demerzel's story, Poly's speech, Seldon and Day, the space battle, the freaking SPACE BATTLE! The Invictus crashing into Terminus!

And to spire my feelings completely out of control, Bel's ship is called 'Destiny' (i have over 3000hrs and counting logged into Destiny 2 the game) Gaal's part still meh tho.

Pure sci-fi orgasm!

Davis S. Goyer: you Sir, are a freaking genius!!!

WOW.....just WOW! 10/10.

Severance: The We We Are (2022) Season 1, Episode 9

"NOT PENNY'S BOAT"

[10/10 · 9 April 2022]

Same energy! Can't think of a better reference than this one, which aired 14 years, 10 months & 18 days ago (feeling old yet?!)

This year's best hour on TV so far!

Exhilarating episode (the whole season tbh!), superb cinematography, award winning direction, acting, everything!

My only gripe is that Irving's storyline is not compelling as Mark/Helly's. Hope Dylan will get some love from the writers on Season 2.

It's gonna be a long and hard waiting til next year, luckily we have both Ozark and BCS airing their last season later this month.

What a year for TV!!!

The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land (2021) Season 1, Episode 1

$$$ gotta keep the cash-grab machine rrrrrolling $$$

[2/10 · 31 December 2021]

Holy Midi-chlorians!

That was bad, like 'Rise of the Skywalker' bad, the completely opposite of Mandalorian.

There is no content or substance.

This is Disney (and sadly Jon Favreau) tentative to turn a shady 'do not trust me' type of character into a semi-anti-hero.

I haven't read comics in which Fett is a protagonist, but in my mind I simply can't picture a cold bounty hunter who does one bounty, collects the reward, moves to another gig while keeping a low profile, stopping by Jaba/Fortuna's palace and think: 'nah...Imma retire here and make my own empire in a place full of conflicts with people hunting my a$$ down".

WTF???!!!

And the whole (paraphrasing) "I am going to rule with respect, not with fear" line was corny AF!

In the street fight scene, I had to double check my player speed coz I really thought it was in slow motion, it was probably one of the worst fight scenes in the whole SW big budget projects.

Not a good start, can't see getting any better.

Now I fear if Kenobi will go down the same route of bad storytelling...

Yellowjackets (2021– )

Wait, what?!

[6/10 · 23 November 2021]

This review is based on the 2 episodes that are out now.

Episode 1 was ok, built up some tension, but holly crap! What happened with episode 2??!!!!

So, you telling me that possibly/probably people got stranded in Canadian wilderness for almost 2 years coz Ugly Betty didn't want to go back being a nobody and smashed the black box/transponder, so she can continue to be relevant and the center of attention in all the madness that ensued?! Oh and she's doing the same crap in 2021, sabotaging Nat's car, so they can ride together to the cabin.

Are you kidding me?! Is that the "smart" script writers came up with?! WOW! That's gotta be the fastest 'jump the shark' in the history of recent TV.

Next episode Ugly Betty will defeat Sasquatch with a spoon and be crowned Queen of the Jungle!

Get me outta here ASAP! I'm done!

The Many Saints of Newark (2021)

The Molti Mess of Newark

[5/10 · 2 October 2021]

Disappointing, underwhelming & lacklustre.

What a waste of great actors and 'story'...I was really hoping this movie would be a blast, the triumphant return to the universe we all love and admire...but now I understand that part of my disappointment is entirely my fault, coz I've set the bar too high when I shouldn't have.

For Sopranos hardcore fans as myself, this is straight up bad. For the normal folks, its just a below-average crime TV movie. A lose-lose situation from all angles.

The (few) good parts:

• Vera Farmiga and Corey Stoll are absolutely the best of this movie. Farmiga perfectly encapsulates the hysterical bully temperament of Livia, while Corey low key plays Junior with flawlessness, the scene where he has the accident is pure gold! Every time one or both of them are on screen is a win in my books.

• The ambiguity of whether the scenes at the prison are real or product of Dickie's imagination is great.

And the bad ones:

• Silvio and Paulie's portraits are so cartoonish that it became cringey, forced and unnecessary.

• One reviewer here suggests to watch 'Down Neck', 'For All Debts Public and Private' and 'Kennedy and Heidi' beforehand for (quote) "full appreciation". Let me tell ya: you don't! The only thing learned from this movie is who killed Dickie, nothing else. It adds nothing to the Sopranos experience, at all. It's just a late 60s early 70s mafia TV movie situated in New Jersey. And even tho, there's no even enough mafia in it.

• Michael Gandolfini is ok, but with the hand he was dealt, it was impossible to win. Even with the physical resemblance and Tony's mannerisms he's incorporated in his performance, as a young actor, with his first major role in the industry, those were massive shoes to fill. To be honest, the role doesn't demands much from him and ultimately his performance feels flat.

• In the series, we are lead to believe that Dickie was this visceral and ruthless monster, but even after killing his own father and his 'stepmother-turned-goomar', I was more afraid of Jonny Boy and Hollywood Dick. I know he was supposed to be own 'Tony' for this journey, but Nivola is just too charismatic and in the end it feels Dickie is too.....nice?!

• The friendship/rivalry between Dickie and Harold could've been explored in a much better way, instead, it just feels rushed and thin.

In terms of sequels/prequels, El Camino and BCS are still the best, which is yet another proof that Vince Gilligan is the best TV writer for the last 10 years and probably the next ten!

Davis Chase, in several interviews, alluded to the possibility of coming back for another one. If that's the case, please make it a series, even if its a limited one, coz this movie ain't no Sopranos...

The Kettering Incident (2016)

Good sci-fi from Tasmania!

[8/10 · 2 August 2021]

This is one of those series that proves that, most of the time, you should completely ignore reviews (even this one!) and judge by yourself. Glad I trusted my own gut and went for it.

This is a slow burner, so if you don't appreciate this type of narrative, you should go watch something else. HBO and Netflix do a lot of this series nowadays and everyone praises them. Actually, TV only got worst since this series originally aired.

It's not nearly as bas as the 'reviews' here suggest. Sure there are plot holes and some questionable acting, but the atmosphere, story, visuals are all good.

The cliffhanger at the end of Episode 8 actually does not bother me at all, I prefer to have it this way than to become a 'Lost' type of series.

Overall a good series with an intriguing sci-fi-like story.

Loki: Journey Into Mystery (2021) Season 1, Episode 5

Glorious Purpose!

[10/10 · 13 July 2021]

Best episode of the whole MTU so far! The score in the climax really gave me "Ride Of The Valkyries" from Richard Wagner vibes! I was on the edge of my seat the whole sequence! Second best Marvel orchestrated score, only behind the Avengers Endgame main theme! And Richard E. Grant was the real MVP of the episode: "glorious purpose" was fabulous!

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

I wish I had never seen this 'thing'

[1/10 · 28 December 2020]

Oh boy...this will be a harsh one.

Born dead! We all knew it would flop, but I wasn't expecting it to be that bad!

WW84 is probably the worst superhero movie I ever seen, its so bad that make Green Lantern and Captain Marvel look like classics!

Diana Prince, mighty amazon warrior fights crime.....in a shopping mall???!!!

And the main 'plot' revolves around a genie.....in a rock???!!!!!

WHAT THE ACTUAL FÃCK!!!!!

The acting is bad, Gal Gadot most of the time has the emotional range of a wooden plank!

The CGI is bad, an episode of Star Trek Discovery which probably costs ten times less has way better effects.

The amount of wrong agendas that tries to push is cringeworthy.

Apart from one scene with an old computer, there is nothing to situate the viewer in 1984, if someone would tell me that the movie happens around 2015, I'd believe it no questions asked. There's not even a music from The Cure, U2 or Duran Duran. For all the wrong things, at least Captain Marvel had a solid 90s soundtrack that corresponded to the time period.

And its not even worthy to talk about orange man and his 'wall'.

The first one was not great, but holy hell! What happened here???!!!

Glad I didn't spend one single dime to watch this forgettable, stupid, soulless garbage.

It's a tragic end for what could've been a great series for an iconic character. I mean, it's the end right?! They ain't gonna make another one correct?! Please don't!

The Predator (2018)

I've paused it to give a 1 star rate, when the 'hero' swallowed the spaceball...

[1/10 · 26 July 2020]

...after this, it only went downhill, fast. I can't believe someone read this script and thought it was a good idea. The plot is awful, the acting is cringe-worthy, there is nothing of value in this time waster flick. Highly NOT recommended.

Sicario (2015)

"You are not a wolf, and this is a land of wolves now"

[9/10 · 2 November 2015]

A masterpiece.

Just came back from a late night session and I have to say, it's one of the most believable and accurate movies about the World's infamous border Juarez/El Paso, which was last seen last year, in the good but short lived FX TV series "The Bridge".

The plot is simple: CIA + private contractors versus Mexican cartel drug lords.

But the execution is the key over here. Canadian director Denis Villeneuve (responsible for two other masterpieces in 2013: Prisoners and Enemy) makes the night, aerials and panoramic shots look great, the thermal and night cams sequence are amazingly well done. If you enjoy fps games, you will be thrilled in the tunnel sequence.

From the awesome overture until the final act, it's tension all over and if you don't jump from your seat, at least 3 times, during the 120min, you are as dead as Jon Snow!

The cast is another success factor here: Blunt, Del Toro and Brolin all deliver good scenes, being Benicio the MVP.

To blend everything together, the engaging soundtrack composed by the always good Jóhann Jóhannsson.

Impossible not to remember of "Traffic"or "NARC" but Sicario might go top of the list in the next few years.

No doubt, one of the best movies from 2015.