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Nightsleeper (2024)
This type of show explains why no one under 45 watches the BBC
They should stick to the things the boomers love. Dancing shows, cooking shows, gardening and antique shows, two team gameshows, more dancing shows but with some singing, all that nonsense. At least they have an audience for that nonsense, while this doesn't seem to be aimed at anyone in particular.
It's what happens when a clapped out public service broadcaster paid for by elderly people tries to do a trendy Netflix drama, only it is written like a CBBC doctor who spin off.
Objectively terrible from the writing all the way up to the acting, set design, bad cinematography, storyline, plot, it's all a bad impression of things much more successful.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
It's the MCU's attempt at cloning.. the MCU
When a global audience concluded over a decade of MCU content with Endgame, closure was given, stories concluded.
Throughout that period other franchises tried to cash in on the superhero format. Disney, Star Trek, DC, etc.
No one expected the MCU to also be late to the game. This is the MCU's attempt to cash in on... the MCU.
Please, be chill, close your badly thought out streaming platforms, come up with a few good shows and sell them to Netflix, stop pumping out stupid budget superhero movies and origin stories no one cares about, and go back to medium budget netflix delights such as Daredevil. The streaming wars are done, you all lost.
Star Trek: Picard: Võx (2023)
If you liked "The Best Of Both Worlds"..
You'll like this. It's certainly going to be in the running for best TNG two part story, even though it's technically a different show.
Finally, Star Trek is back on our screens and it doesn't feel like a teenage soap opera aka "Discovery".
I would have preferred the final episode and this episode to be combined in on, but overall it's been done very well. There are some other fan favourites reprising their roles.
You can tell this season is written by a Star Trek fan, and not Alex Klutzman and his band of merry clowns who know nothing about Trek or it's fanbase.
Not much else to say without spoilers.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)
It's a superhero movie post MCU Endgame when everyone is tired of superhero movies.
People aren't even interested in whatever new phase Marvel are now putting out after Endgame, why would they be interested in similar cashgrabs from other studios late to the party? They might have gotten away with it a year ago, but it's too late now, people have moved on.
The general consensus is - Everyone has had enough of super hero movies and would like to move on to other cinema offerings.
DC, having failed to make any meaningful success during the MCU movies is still spending hundreds of millions on a tired formula as if it's 2015.
No one wants MCU superhero movies, no one wants DC superhero movies, and no one wants streaming superhero shows.
STOP MAKING SUPER HERO SHOWS, NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE HERO'S JOURNY ANYMORE.
Supercell (2023)
Meh
There's not really much to it but high school melodrama.
Most of the time I can't hear what the kid's saying and the rest of the time it's obnoxious characters yelling at each other while making stupid decisions and pointless statements.
None of the characters are remotely likable and they all drift from scene to scene without any momentum or clear plot development.
Some of the green screen effects are very poor, and in one particular scene you can see a bank of star shaped LED light strips which are supposed to be lightning and it's reflecting off every object in the scene to the point of distraction.
It's amateurish through and through.
Give it a miss, go watch some 4k Tornado videos on YouTube.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022)
Something Something Rings
I can't remember the last time I watched something this expensive and just keep looking at my system tray to see how much longer I've got to sit through. It's a chore. I'm not some LOTR fanboy, I've watched the Hobbit movies and at some point I saw the main movies I think during the pandemic, but fantasy with wizards and such isn't really something I'm generally drawn to.
I made it through the first two episodes last week and said that it's not for me as it's just got no substance to it. I thought perhaps I could come back to it with a fresh mind a week later and give the 3rd episode a try.
This week I got about 3 minutes into episode 3 and remembered why I gave up watching it last week, closed the browser tab and won't waste my time anymore.
It's slow and schizophrenic at the same time, there's nothing much going on except some kind of looming threat, I couldn't care less about characters as they are caricatures and unrealistic, dull and stupid walking clichés embodying writing that is toe-curlingly cringeworthy when it's not being hollow and devoid of meaning or purpose.
There are these huge long sweeping shots and big sets filled with busy stuff everywhere as it's clear they've been told to burn through as much CGI money as they can, to such an extent that the whole show just feels like padding and filler episodes with occasional dialogue. Nothing happens. The plot doesn't seem to go anywhere other than pointless side quests that don't amount to anything.
The characters seem miserable, I can't relate to a single one, so there's literally no point watching any more as I've got better things to do and simply can't be bothered. I want those two hours back, and the 10 minutes it's taken me to write this review.
Given the astronomical money thrown at this perhaps Amazon thought that it would be too big to fail, but this will likely go down as one of the most expensive TV flops of all time, and I begrudge that my prime membership been thrown at nonsense instead of something original and entertaining everyone can enjoy.
Secret Space UFOs: Rise of the TR3B (2021)
Terrible and amateurish, no new info.
This is basically an hour and a half of Secureteam videos with Tyler doing his thing. There's nothing new other than a few wacky conspiracy theories about triangle shapes being used on space-related arm patches. Doesn't seem to have grasped that they represent rocket exhaust plumes from vacuum engines, thinks they represent TR3-B's.
Very minimum effort, poor sound editing and content that appears to have been shot with an iPhone in a motel with zero cinematography or lighting skills to speak of.
It really isn't worth the money at all, DO NOT BOTHER RENTING/BUYING IT.
Eternals (2021)
Yawnfest
Not original or particularly entertaining.
I gave up after an hour or so as it was pretty uninteresting and formulaic. Nothing new or special, just another boring long unending superhero movie, like we havn't had enough already.
The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
Ms Wachowski? Why? Vagaries of perception. Temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify a movie that is without meaning or purpose.
Why, Ms Wachowski, Why, why, why? Why do you do it? Why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you're fighting for something? For more than your survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Is it freedom? Or truth? Perhaps peace? Could it be for love? Illusions, Ms Wachowski. Vagaries of perception. Temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify a movie that is without meaning or purpose. And all of them as artificial as the Matrix itself, although only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love. You must be able to see it, Ms Wachowski. You must know it by now. You can't win. It's pointless to keep fighting. Ms Wachowski? Why? Why do you persist?
Don't Look Up (2021)
Hilarious Trump allegory
When a superpower fails to realise that it's not been a superpower for some time. They need war to survive, and no one is interested in war.
Team America Pt ii.
Invasion (2021)
It's a massive waste of time before you realise it's a massive waste of time
It's rare that I rate anything this low. Don't waste your time.
Nothing happens, just melodrama a high school kid could have written better. The plot doesn't go anywhere, nothing that happens is remotely interesting, and I've lost interest after sitting through 6 episodes when I should have quit after the 4th.
UFO (2021)
A sceptic's guide to dismissing UFO's
This TV series opens well, but from episode 2 onwards it becomes an exercise in debunking as many aspects of UFOology as possible, often with ridiculous reasoning presented as logical fact, and character assassinations.
This just seems to be an attempt to muddy the existing waters, and bringing nothing new. They overlay video of known hoaxes and fakes while talking to specialists in the subject, presumably in an attempt to make the interviews with specialists seem like fruitcakes.
All that time spent on the character assassination of Elizondo, Delong, yet they didn't even attempt to contact them for interview or comment. Not bothering to contact Cmdr Fravor either, just using snippets of interviews he has had with other people and using them completely out of context.
I'm surprised Mick West isn't credited.
By far and away the worst production on the subject matter I have seen since the mid 80's, it reeks of sceptic desperation, mockery and hugely uninformed calculated misinformation.
This is JJ Abram's contribution to sceptic disinformation. Think twice before streaming, renting or watching anything else he attaches his name too. Not content with ruining star trek an star wars, now he's out to get anyone involved in ufology.
Watch DeLong's "Unidentified" if you want facts, uncut interviews and accurate animated reconstructions.
Tenet (2020)
Strong story, poor sound editing
Most of the time I couldn't understand what people were saying, and the cuts between shots are so fast you've already missed another line of dialogue trying to figure out what the last one was.
I hope it's fixed in the bluray release so I can watch it again and I will at least be able to turn on subtitles.
It's a complex plot to follow, which is made next to impossible without understanding what the actors are saying.
I must say that I'm a massive Nolan fan and this is exactly the kind of movie I'll come back to and watch over and over again, but in this case his writing and direction has been completely obliterated in the editing room by some talentless hack.
The Phenomenon (2020)
Nothing new
Unfortunately there's no new info in here for anyone already familiar with the subject of UAP's, its more of a compilation of events we already know like the back of our hands. I regret paying the huge fee to watch it.
For newbies to UFOlogy it will give a nice overview of the topic, but it begs the question of why they would go looking for it in the first place.
Feels like a cash grab on the back of TTSA's work, which is not even mentioned or acknowledged whatsoever.
Star Trek: Picard (2020)
Star Trek:Black Mirror
Just as Discovery it doesn't get the fact that 99% of the fanbase tune in to see a future when everyone's finally gotten their shizz together and moved beyond the petty juvenile attitudes plaguing both Discovery and Picard writing, this show doesn't either.
I can only conclude that the writers, producers and directors THINK they understand Star Trek, but it is abundantly clear they have no idea. 15 producer credits in the long boring uninspiring intro makes that obvious. Picard is obviously run by a committee, and it shows.
Picard is a dark, depressing mellodrama chrinicalling some kind of alternate future Picard as he slowly walks to his grave. I find nothing inspiring, interesting or remotely utopian about yet another excuse to create another dark, gritty, edgy parody of Star Trek.
It really is a shame Patrick Stewart was cast for this garbage, he's ruined his legacy and it makes watching TNG uncomfortable now, knowing that all along this is the character and world he thought he was portraying.
What a let down.
Star Trek: Short Treks (2018)
Was she dreaming?
Nothing makes sense in Disco, ever.
No one on the ship after they finish their shift? hundreds of people on board and no one in the mess hall? No commanding officer in the shuttle bay so they take orders from the computer? One shift finishes without anyone else having come in yet, while the doors are clearly open to space?!
Come on CBS/Bad Robot, why are you so determined to kill Star Trek? Judging by the lack of anything on Netflix it seems they don't want to buy any more of this rubbish from you either.
Never did I expect to see a day in which Trek was handed over to people with so little interest, in, respect for, or knowledge of Star Trek. With one fell swoop you've sliced through generations of fandom so you can twist it and ram it down the throat of angsty teenage boys.
You've slaughtered it and put it's remains on display for all to see. Alex Kurtzman will be on record as the killer of a cult classic.
Shame on you Sir.
Call Me by Your Name (2017)
Lots of thinly veiled homophobia in here..
Some of these reviewers think there is a bigger age gap than there actually is.
At the time of production in 2016 the actors were 21 and 29, and they obviously depict people younger than their actual years, and that is aside from the fact that the age of consent in Italy is 14.
From what I can see the people making these remarks seem to be stemming from homophobia, and trying to turn a love story into a predatory horror. They ought travel outside of their own borders once in a while, and realise that their hate stems from nothing but bigotry. No doubt if the age gap were smaller they would find something else to be disgusted with. Thank goodness we don't live in America.
That aside, this is a wonderfully beautiful film that draws everyone watching back to their first love, the passion, euphoria and then the pain of the loss as the world just carries on. The production values and direction are excellent, and I would go so far to say that this was easily the most engaging and emotional love story I have ever seen depicted in film by a country mile as not a single viewer will watch it and not think back to their own first love, so the journey the characters go on becomes very personal for the viewer too.
Rarely does a film like this come along, perhaps only a handful in a generation, if that. Movie-goers who prefer chick flicks and marvel movies will probably be get bored early on, as the drama and engagement from this movie stems not from outlandish and unbelievable special effects, or shocking twists and turns, but from emotional depth and personal experience. Rarely can a film be so entirely predictable and yet completely mesmerising.
I simply can not recommend this film enough, and can tell you right now that it has set a mile marker for future movies, and will be discussed and dissected for decades to come.
My only slightly negative comment would be the choice and placement of some of the soundtrack, although that is a matter of taste.
10/10 without a doubt.
Enjoy!
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
It's got to go, the sooner the better.
Oh boy, I just don't know where to start with this.
The biggest problem is that it tries to associate itself with Star Trek, when it has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Star Trek. Someone has vandalized a classic, dumbed it down so even idiots can follow a story, and then slapped Star Trek intellectual property left and right. The end result is nothing short of an insult to the intelligence of the fans over the past 40-50 years.
The writing and characters are dull and shallow, so very predictable, and everything is a cliché. There is no sense of wondering how an episode might play out as you can see it all coming a lightyear away. To completely retcon the Klingons is absolutely unforgivable. Just who do these people think they are? The writing is abysmal, how can it be possible in this day and age, with this huge budget, and come out with stories like a fan movie? It insists upon itself, has more plot holes than swiss cheese, and leaves a bitter taste in the mouth with the ongoing, never resolved story arcs revolving around very unlikable characters.
Jason Isaacs is a pompous and arrogant actor off-screen and only seems to enjoy destroying the history of the fandom, I can't watch another second of him in this role, and just adds to the collapsing house of cards that is STD. The vitriol from him toward the existing fanbase is doing him, or the show no favors, and if anything is making it even more hated.
By the mid season cliffhanger STD has lost most of the Trek fanbase and is now relying upon a hardcore bunch and unsophisticated newbies who wouldn't know a cerebral story or morality play if it slapped them upside their face. It's star trek made for idiots, by committee, and then shoehorned in to the Trek universe like an obese child trying to fit in to their baby clothes.
The special effects aren't great. Everything is oversaturated, blurry, shaky, obscured and unrefined. It looks like anime a lot of the time, there are fan movies on YouTube with greater finesse and refinement. Where is all the budget going? $8m per episode? It's completely unbelievable.
The end result is unwatchable garbage to Star Trek fans, and an action fantasy show for newbies. There is no science whatsoever, it's harry potter in space thinking it's Game Of Thrones.
They claim a 2nd season has already been commissioned, but I find that hard to believe. It reminds me of the claims by Paramount when Star Trek Beyond was flopping at the box office that the 4th movie script was already underway and to include Chris Hemsworth, then the movie ended up costing Paramount over $50m in net losses. It seems that it's a last ditch attempt at bringing in more viewers by pretending that it's so great you can't afford not to watch it.
The only real saving grace is CBS's decision to place it behind a paywall, so most people won't consider it to be canon in the same way that the novels are not canon because they were never seen in a TV show. STD is not a TV show, it's high budget fan fiction loosely based on the idea of Star Trek, but missing the entire point of it's existence.
It's really getting to a new low when Star Trek Enterprise is no longer the worst one, and in fact is looking like a pretty good option to watch instead right now. By the time we got to the mid season cliff hanger I was skipping through the pedestrian dialog more than I had watched.
I just left thinking that this whole thing had been a nightmare, I still find myself unable to fully comprehend what the hell CBS were thinking when they green lit this, and what the hell Netflix were thinking when funding the entire production budget.
You'll notice on IMDb that the reviews singing STD's praises are generally getting no likes or up-votes, so just who exactly is watching the show at this point? They've killed the inbuilt Trek fanbase from the outset, no one is going to accidentally come across it with a paywall there, so now it's just some hard core fanboys who frequent Star Trek websites to condemn anyone who isn't in love with STD, calling people racist misogynistic homophobes.
Well done CBS on another own goal. It's got to go, for everyone's sake, the sooner the better. CBS are now finding themselves in an international boycott relating to any content or goods with CBS's involvement.
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
It's got to go, the sooner the better.
Oh boy, I just don't know where to start with this.
The biggest problem is that it tries to associate itself with Star Trek, when it has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Star Trek. Someone has vandalized a classic, dumbed it down so even idiots can follow a story, and then slapped Star Trek intellectual property left and right. The end result is nothing short of an insult to the intelligence of the fans over the past 40-50 years.
The writing and characters are dull and shallow, so very predictable, and everything is a cliché. There is no sense of wondering how an episode might play out as you can see it all coming a lightyear away. To completely retcon the Klingons is absolutely unforgivable. Just who do these people think they are? The writing is abysmal, how can it be possible in this day and age, with this huge budget, and come out with stories like a fan movie? It insists upon itself, has more plot holes than swiss cheese, and leaves a bitter taste in the mouth with the ongoing, never resolved story arcs revolving around very unlikable characters.
Jason Isaacs is a pompous and arrogant actor off-screen and only seems to enjoy destroying the history of the fandom, I can't watch another second of him in this role, and just adds to the collapsing house of cards that is STD. The vitriol from him toward the existing fanbase is doing him, or the show no favors, and if anything is making it even more hated.
By the mid season cliffhanger STD has lost most of the Trek fanbase and is now relying upon a hardcore bunch and unsophisticated newbies who wouldn't know a cerebral story or morality play if it slapped them upside their face. It's star trek made for idiots, by committee, and then shoehorned in to the Trek universe like an obese child trying to fit in to their baby clothes.
The special effects aren't great. Everything is oversaturated, blurry, shaky, obscured and unrefined. It looks like anime a lot of the time, there are fan movies on YouTube with greater finesse and refinement. Where is all the budget going? $8m per episode? It's completely unbelievable.
The end result is unwatchable garbage to Star Trek fans, and an action fantasy show for newbies. There is no science whatsoever, it's harry potter in space thinking it's Game Of Thrones.
They claim a 2nd season has already been commissioned, but I find that hard to believe. It reminds me of the claims by Paramount when Star Trek Beyond was flopping at the box office that the 4th movie script was already underway and to include Chris Hemsworth, then the movie ended up costing Paramount over $50m in net losses. It seems that it's a last ditch attempt at bringing in more viewers by pretending that it's so great you can't afford not to watch it.
The only real saving grace is CBS's decision to place it behind a paywall, so most people won't consider it to be canon in the same way that the novels are not canon because they were never seen in a TV show. STD is not a TV show, it's high budget fan fiction loosely based on the idea of Star Trek, but missing the entire point of it's existence.
It's really getting to a new low when Star Trek Enterprise is no longer the worst one, and in fact is looking like a pretty good option to watch instead right now. By the time we got to the mid season cliff hanger I was skipping through the pedestrian dialog more than I had watched.
I just left thinking that this whole thing had been a nightmare, I still find myself unable to fully comprehend what the hell CBS were thinking when they green lit this, and what the hell Netflix were thinking when funding the entire production budget.
You'll notice on IMDb that the reviews singing STD's praises are generally getting no likes or up-votes, so just who exactly is watching the show at this point? They've killed the inbuilt Trek fanbase from the outset, no one is going to accidentally come across it with a paywall there, so now it's just some hard core fanboys who frequent Star Trek websites to condemn anyone who isn't in love with STD, calling people racist misogynistic homophobes.
Well done CBS on another own goal. It's got to go, for everyone's sake, the sooner the better. CBS are now finding themselves in an international boycott relating to any content or goods with CBS's involvement.
Star Trek: Discovery: Into the Forest I Go (2017)
spolsions and fights yall
Surprise, surprise, more fighting and space battles. It's happening in every damned episode. This is not what star trek is about, or has ever been about.
It takes up most of the run time every week. Pew pew, pow, bang, wallop...
Star Trek: Discovery: Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum (2017)
Star Wars: Discovery
I'm Michael Burnham. You're Michael Burnham? Yes she's Michael Burnham. Correct, I'm Michael Burnham. Not THE Michael Burnham, the mutineer? Yes, I'm Michael Burnham
I swear to god I'm going to kill a man.
In this episode our obtuse captain wannabe visits Avatar's planet Pandora, where everything lives and breathes through big trees and crystals and stuff. Everyone knows that crystals and tribbles will win the non-canon war.
The Scaredy-cat lanky Freddie Krueger Saru gets an opportunity to gallop across the countryside, only it's not really him, it's a really bad CGI version straight from 2003's "The Matrix Reloded", badly rendered skin tight Lycra nd all (at least bother to texture it next time). There were a few scenes in which his badge was on the wrong side. What happened? Did they forget to film that part by mistake and then have to make it again in post production?
Burn'em is now sexing it up with Voq. I mean Ash, while refusing to do what she does best - mutiny against a ludicrous hell bent captain who doesn't belong in Star Trek, much less a starship captain.
Bla bla bla, something about another reboot "klingon" defecting, the end.
And so we continue this farce in to another week of plagiarism and intellectual property abuse, pleasing none but the lowest common denominator of viewers, no actual science, no intellectual social commentary, and nothing to leave me wondering about my place in the universe.
On the plus side there were only three fights and one space battle in this episode between the pedestrian predicable pacing, so here's hoping that the conflict pew pew battle ridden teaser for next week's travesty delivers more meat-headed cliché we've come to expect from this utter catastrophe of a once-loved highly intellectual franchise being run in to the ground by 2nd rate writers and executives who apparently believe this is actually the star wars universe.
Let's be clear – This is Star Wars: Discovery. It's trying to cash in on that audience. Star Trek on TV has always been a difference beast to the Films, even more so since J J Abrams tried to turn Trek in to Star Wars, then ran off to the actual star wars. At this point CBS thought it would be a good idea to make a TV version of Star Wars.
The writers and actors can convince themselves till the cows come home that this is a "modernisation" of star trek, yet the fans of Star Trek are politely telling them to take a hike and go find a job with Disney. There was no real difference between TOS and TNG when it came to stories, and no real difference to any of the other TV spin-offs. What on earth do they think this abomination has to do with what has come before?
It's poor, shallow, pathetic junk TV dressed up with Netflix's money as some kind of masterpiece we should all instantly love. Well, we've got news for you – respect is earned, it's not given away. Your respect rating has dropped to an unrecoverable level. Find another project while you still can.
Star Trek: Discovery: Lethe (2017)
The destruction of Star Trek
It's a failure on so many levels, and I am joining the full boycott of CBS if this wretched thing is renewed for a 2nd season. That essentially means that we'll all download each series, and then never give CBS a single viewing figure ever again, via any TV or streaming service.
In a franchise with highly intelligent fans who pour over technical and scientific details, debating morality plays and inspiring their own future to push themselves to the limit of their potential, STD has taken a dump all over them. The plot holes come thick and fast throughout. A second viewing of a Trek episode usually adds depth with layers of subtext, but with STD all that becomes apparent are wtf plots incoherently strung together as if a game of Chinese whispers.
As this so-called "Star Trek" continues on it's maiden voyage, it's clear the audience is becoming smaller and smaller every week. Some of the most prominent and impartial viewers with a large audience of their own on YouTube and social media have begun to fall one by one. It's very generic, and so is only attracting very generic viewers.
The more STD asks of people to suspend their disbelief that this is part of the Star Trek franchise, the less and less invested and interested they become. I wonder now just who this show is aimed at, as it's definitely not for Star Trek fans. It boggles the mind. If the entire franchise were handed over to Marvel, STD is what would have been produced.
I can imagine that this was probably one of the main dollar-earning reasons why it was commissioned by Les Moonves in the first place, wanting a cut of the high-budget streaming pie, unfortunately he didn't have enough/any knowledge of Star Trek to see that it wouldn't work. It's not as if fans didn't try to warn them during the huge lead up time to STD's release, and now the price is being paid. Bryan Fuller clearly DID realize this, and was then forced out of the job so Moonves could push ahead with his agenda anyway.
As many people have pointed out, Enterprise is no longer the worst of the pack, and when lined up with STD it's clear that we didn't know just how bad things could get. I struggle to get through an entire episode, but I must or my opinion of it would be invalid.
I've watched all Treks in full several time over with the exception of the original series, it is no wonder that yet another prequel to it has zero appeal to me. That being said, the TOS fans aren't enjoying their favourite being rewritten either.
CBS – Jack of all trades, master of none, destroyer of Gene's Star Trek.