UnbiasedAnonymous Reviews

The Last of Us: Long, Long Time (2023) Season 1, Episode 3

As a gay man it was an alright episode.

[31 January 2023]

The people bombing this episode at 1 star are pretty disappointing. There was lots of things to enjoy here, but I do think this episode is a drop in quality from the previous two.

I enjoyed the performances of Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman, specifically Offerman. The piano scene was excellent, and their chemistry felt authentic. Bella Ramsey also continues to impress me with her portrayal of Ellie, nailing the same hard but playful attitude from the games. The episode was terrifically written and directed. The small details such as the dust on the table as Ellie pushes the keys across was great attention to detail.

The episode plays out like a love story intending to enrich the world, but it feels empty considering the fates of the characters. With them straying from action and focusing on romance, it has slowed down the pace of the show after the first two episodes.

I was frustrated also to hear towards the end of the episode the track 'on the nature of daylight'. It immediately made me think of the final scene of the film 'Arrival' and has been overused a lot in media to where it completely took me out of the story.

I can understand why people didn't enjoy this episode quite as much outside of any political discussions being had. It was essentially a short story within a television show and not everyone is going to enjoy the change in tone and slower pace.

It was a drop for me compared to the first two but still an enjoyable experience.

7/10.

House of the Dragon: The Black Queen (2022) Season 1, Episode 10

Excellent season conclusion.

[24 October 2022]

This episode shows the blacks perspective over the events of episode 8-9, after the greens usurp the throne under Rhaenyra. The episode was visually stunning, and the performances again were excellent, with Emma D'arcy being the standout. It was beautifully directed, with many scenes paralleling those of episode 1 gracefully.

The ending of this episode likely raises the most concern, where Lucerys' death by Veiger was a mistake rather than intended by Aemond as is told from the books. This change is understandably polarizing.

On one side, Aemond is a young man who has never seen war. Lucerys is his cousin, and so you could understand why he may have a level of restraint in his execution. On the other, it seems the writers are shying away from purely villainous characters.

The main issue that comes with these changes is the war feeling like it was lead from a series of 'accidents' rather than pure character driven decisions. Alicent misunderstanding Viserys, and now Aemond unintentionally executing Lucerys. I do hope the seasons to come focus much more on pure character driven motives as from the books.

Overall, this season has been quite excellent. The time jumps were quite daunting at times, a few narrative hoops and a little messy CGI, but mostly hard to find complains with. This season has surprisingly managed to match up fairly nicely to that of its predecessor. Looking forward to what is to come.

House of the Dragon: The Green Council (2022) Season 1, Episode 9

Great episode, with problematic changes.

[18 October 2022]

This episode displays the aftermath of Viserys' death, playing out almost like a treasure hunt for Aegon as the greens attempt to usurp the throne under Rhaenyra. We got introduced to some intriguing new characters, got to see more of the world outside of the red keep, and had many supporting characters motives put on display.

Overall, the episode was visually great with wonderful performances. The issues come mostly with book changes that I feel the writers either did not foresee or hoped the audience would overlook.

After the council has seized control and moved to usurp the throne for Aegon, they bar the gates, and murder those considered 'treasonous'. Even so, Harold Westerling is simply able to give up his position and leave without any issue, potentially warning Rhaenyra.

The biggest issue comes at the final scene, where the writers clearly chose to have spectacle at the end to please the general audience. First of all, Rhaenys committed mass genocide on civilians, and is now generically evil even by this universe's standards. Her decision not to burn the greens I believe the writers felt was validated because they had established that she had suffered through death and was sympathetic to Alicent. A pretty big leap of logic, since they had just usurped the throne murdering 'traitors', essentially declared war, and likely would have imprisoned and murdered Rhaenys herself. Burning them would have ended any conflict and kept the realm in peace.

Why she chose to murder innocence and spare the threat of war? Who knows, but hopefully the plot goes back on track and isn't replaced with shock value. I don't want another season 8.

House of the Dragon: We Light the Way (2022) Season 1, Episode 5

An excellent episode, though messy end.

[20 September 2022]

This episode was incredible and seems to mark the beginning of a civil war that continues to brew.

All our characters are confronted with strenuous personal conflicts, as Viserys loses his health, Alicent faces the betrayal of her friend, Laenor and Rhaenyra face their royal duty, and Daemon confronts his almost equally despicable wife.

The real conflict of this episode however lies with Sir Criston Cole, who after breaking his vow of chastity grapples with his tarnished pride. He attempts to escape his guilt by pleading with Rhaenyra to marry, which she unsurprisingly denies. The episode ends with him brutally murdering the lover of Laenor after he attempts to treaty with him over their shared unlawful relationships.

This episode was beautifully shot, with the most impressive feat being the wedding scenes towards the end that used choreographed dances as backdrop to much of the dialog. The dialog was especially archaic this episode which fit in beautifully with the plot and sets feeling very Shakespearean. The performances were once again incredible, along with the music, most notably the entrances of both Daemon and Alicent, who seems to have embraced her place as a Hightower.

The ending of this episode did raise a few issues that did soften its impact more than I would have liked. Criston commits murder at a royal feast in front of the king himself, but he is not arrested. An act of violence at a royal engagement seems would not be handled so relaxed. The final scene also shows the wedding taking place after it was told to us it would take place after 7 days of feasting. It is likely the wedding was made immediate due to the Kings deteriorating health or Criston's disruption, but the episode left it fairly unclear and confusing. The final shot uses a rat as foreshadowing once again over Leanor's lovers pool of blood, which feels unlikely would not have been cleaned before the ceremony but was a nice shot outside of the leap of logic.

Overall, these are fairly small nit pics, and this was a fantastic episode.

House of the Dragon: We Light the Way (2022) Season 1, Episode 5

Excellent episode, though a confusing end.

[19 September 2022]

This episode was incredible and seems to mark the beginning of a civil war that continues to brew.

All our characters are confronted with strenuous personal conflicts, as Viserys loses his health, Alicent faces the betrayal of her friend, Laenor and Rhaenyra face their royal duty, and Daemon confronts his almost equally despicable wife.

The real conflict of this episode however lies with Sir Criston Cole, who after breaking his vow of chastity grapples with his tarnished pride. He attempts to escape his guilt by pleading with Rhaenyra to marry, which she unsurprisingly denies. The episode ends with him brutally murdering the lover of Laenor after he attempts to treaty with him over their shared unlawful relationships.

This episode was beautifully shot, with the most impressive feat being the wedding scenes towards the end that used choreographed dances as backdrop to much of the dialog. The dialog was especially archaic this episode which fit in beautifully with the plot and sets feeling very Shakespearean. The performances were once again incredible, along with the music, most notably the entrances of both Daemon and Alicent, who seems to have embraced her place as a Hightower.

The ending of this episode did raise a few issues that did soften its impact more than I would have liked. Criston commits murder at a royal feast in front of the king himself, but he is not arrested. An act of violence at a royal engagement seems would not be handled so relaxed. The final scene also shows the wedding taking place after it was told to us it would take place after 7 days of feasting. It is likely the wedding was made immediate due to the Kings deteriorating health or Criston's disruption, but the episode left it fairly unclear and confusing. The final shot uses a rat as foreshadowing once again (unnecessarily in my opinion) over Leanor's lovers pool of blood, which feels unlikely would not have been cleaned before the ceremony but was a nice shot outside of the leap of logic.

Overall, these are fairly small complaints, and this was a fantastic episode.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

An interesting premise that drags.

[6/10 · 6 August 2022]

The film is surprisingly vague in themes outside of the ones that hit you on the head. It never attempts to answer the elephant in the room, and I think that was the right choice, instead focusing on its characters, allowing the audience to interpret their experiences for themselves and how it relates to their own perspective on mortality.

The film does look beautiful but is fairly unambitious. For a film opening up so many different conversations, it would have been nice to see the director take more risks to enforce them.

The acting in this film is mostly great with Taraji P. Henson and Tilda Swinton being standouts, although Brad Pitt gives one of the stalest Oscar nominated performances I have ever seen. He looks bored throughout most of this movie, making it hard to relate to his character, a huge disappointment to watch compared to his other great works.

The main issue with the film for me is its length, having a near 3 hours runtime where some stories drag unnecessarily.

A well-made fantasy drama that I am unlikely to rewatch.

Stranger Things: Chapter Nine: The Piggyback (2022) Season 4, Episode 9

Excellent in every way, except the writing

[1 July 2022]

After the incredible twists and turns of Volume 1, I was highly anticipating the conclusion and questioning if it could continue to live up to the high expectations I was holding. Sadly, it didn't quite reach it.

The acting, sets, and editing is all top notch (the use of music on this show is exceptional), but sadly the episode fell flat when it came to suspense, and struggled to balance its huge cast of characters, with some getting essentially ignored.

It was clear part way through the episode that it was playing it safe. By the end, the only character that we lose was a seasonal character, the same pattern as the past two seasons with both Bob and Alexi. All the main cast were in unbelievable circumstances, and all are left with barely a scratch, except for Max, who was killed to open the gate, but then subsequently brought back in a coma going into next season.

The Russian plot was entertaining on the surface, but it was hard to see why their actions mattered by the end outside of saving Hopper. Jonathan and Will have a touching moment with some good dialog, but their storyline away from Hawkins ended up feeling like it lead to nothing. The town fear, along with the jock storyline, also met a dead end, concluding on what felt like wasted screentime.

Overall an excellent part 4, but fell flat at the finish line. This episode was the perfect time to trim this huge cast and focus in on raising the steaks for the final season, but ended up tumbling upside down into the land of safety.