Oliveraandreasson

HBO yet again delivers with this suprisingly thrilling and emotionally hard-hitting miniseries.

It has the typical matte and muted color scheme of an HBO drama, but that works rather well considering this world and story is far from colorful. A good score from unknowns Sacha and Evgueni Galperine also enhances the ominous and depressive mood of the 6 episodes. Acting performances, while mostly very one-note, are actually quite good, with Hugh Grant's playful tongue in cheek-humor and painfully delivered sadness being the standout. Nicole Kidman, however, is a bit dissapointing as the lead, as she doesn't seem capable of delivering much facial emotion outside of her eyes and slight twitches in bodily language. Donald Sunderland has a massive screen presence but the performance is, as I've said, very one-note (this, of course being an issue on the writing side only).

Speaking of writing, in terms of a murder mystery, the show never really delivers any mystery until the last two episodes. The drama is well-written and compelling but it falls flat as a crime thriller. However, one has to give them the success of the ending, which instills a suprising amount of emotion and uncertainty regarding the outcome. '

All in all, a good watch. HBO continues to deliver with this type of show, and while not without its faults, it brings some serious entertainment.

Avatar: the last airbender is a clear 10/10 in my book. Endlessly charming, amazing worldbuilding, a plethora of loveable characters that all undergo truly masterfully executed character development, great animation, and a fantastic score. Really, everything you could ever wish for in a show. No real drawbacks at all except for the first season dragging just a little bit too much. Truly the best animated show of all time, and my personal favourite show. Highly recommended!

Surprisingly, "The Queen's Gambit", a show I hadn't heard anything about until I accidentaly stumbled upon it on twitter, has proved to be one of the best pieces of film/tv released in 2020. Filled with amazing performances and displays of artistic excellence from underrated and unrecognized cast & crew, the show quickly pulls you into its very intense and lively world, and doesn't let go for a second.

Lead star Anya Taylor-Joy delivers the best performance of her career with an absolutely electric and very emotionally loaded interpretation of the troubled chess prodigy Elisabeth "Beth" Harmon. She moves and speaks with confidence, weight and charisma unrivaled by most other actors/actresses her age, and manages to convey a large range of emotion, often without uttering a word. Co-stars Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Harry Melling also suprise with two very interesting and unusual performances, that play very well off of Anya Taylor-Joy's cahracter, and it leaves me longing for more.

Writing and directing is great, but the real suprise in terms of crew is the editing ( Michelle Tesoro) and score (Carlos Rafael Rivera). The soundtrack, score, and sound design, while a bit generic at first, really picks up throughout the seven episodes and really shines with its elegance and darkness. The biggest achievement of the series is, however, how it manages to make the interesting but arguably quite boring sport of chess into a nerve-wracking and truly thrilling experience. I believe this is mostly the result of rather masterful editing, but also of the very sparse yet accurate exposition.

All in all, a truly great show that I cannot recommend enough. This is one of those shows you really dont want to miss out on, and we will watch the evolving career of Taylor-Joy with great interest.