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cobbssecondbelt · 1 year

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Chapter 19 is good, actually. (Yes, you can hit me. But not too hard please.)

After rewatching today's episode (yes, I did that) and letting some time for my original disappointment to cool down, I want to point out: Chapter 19 isn't bad. Far from it.

Actually, I even found it was the strongest one so far, from the writing to the pacing and overall realisation.

It's only frustrating that Pershing's part is entirely to thank for this.

This part was very good. Coruscant looks wonderful and the overall story, even if not the most engaging to watch, was very well done. I've always enjoyed Dr.Pershing and think Omid Abtahi and Katy O'Brian rock at their roles. I'm very intrigued to see where Elia Kane's character is going and how will all this tie to Gideon's return. The insight on the New Republic morales was very interesting too. It was also so nice to finally have an episode that takes its time. The pace of the first two was pretty fast and a bit messy, which is so uncharacteristic of the show. Chapter 19 however had an energy more similar to the first part of season 1, slow but effective. It proves that Favreau is still able to deliver good storytelling, which only makes me question further, what happened with Mando? How come those side characters had perfectly executed settings and arcs in only 40 minutes, when our main storyline has been struggling to pick up all the loose threads for the past three episodes? I guess we'll see. Slip ups do happen after all.

To conclude on a lighter note (because the negativity in the community is starting to get heavy), despite some disappointments and frustrations, I did come out of this episode feeling more confident about the future of the season, surprisingly. Like I said, absence of main character set aside, this was overall a strong episode. The end part with the covert felt more grounded too. I feel like the foundation is finally done being built (hopefully, as we're reaching the halfway point next week, it would be time for things to pick up a little bit). It was a shaky start but this chapter did remind me, this is a team of creators that can still deliver strong artistry and stories. Now the only thing I am still slightly worried about -beside a Bodin romance arc- is which direction Din's character will take, but the only thing to do now is trust the process since all the plot points shown in the trailers have now been treated.

Welcome in the twilight zone, I guess.

#din djarin #the mandalorian #dr.pershing #elia kane #star wars

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theuntitledblog · 1 year

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Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) - REVIEW

SYNOPSIS

Ant-Man and the Wasp find themselves trapped within the Quantum Realm only to discover a much larger world exists including a great threat in the form of Kang.

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Let's be clear, this is a film that's about one thing and that's introducing the new major villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors). Does it succeed in this task? Absolutely it does but does Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania succeed as a film? Well that's a different matter; it couldn't be more further away from its predecessors with a visual scale and style that's more akin to James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy and Taika Waititi's Thor sequels. Yet Peyton Reed doesn't seem to fully embrace the quirky weirdness of that visual style in a film that seems too focused on its singular purpose that it feels somewhat undercooked. There are characters and plot threads that are underdeveloped to the point that you don't really care about them or the more wider stakes of the third act. But most surprising of all is that for a film called 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania', it really should be an absolute blast for comedy especially with the more light hearted tone of this particularly property of the MCU. But Quantumania barely lands any significant laughs or has much in the sort of comedy moments that stay with you once the credits roll. That's not to say that I think this is an outright bad film but Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a film that I can't help feel could've been better than it actually is.

One thing that continues to baffle me about the Ant-Man sequels is why they even bother to have 'The Wasp' in the title. If you take a look at the poster at the top of this post alone then the conclusion you would draw is that this is a single lead movie despite the team up in the title. Evangeline Lily's Hope van Dyne is a character that has enjoyed some great action beats in these films and has in fact been the more competent hero of the pairing. However the major character arcs have always been focused on Paul Rudd's Scott Lang and never for Hope. Quantumania is pretty much an Ant-Man movie in everything except name and Hope feels nothing more than a spectator in a movie that should also be about her. It's a consistent waste for this series even though Reed does do a better job serving other characters such as Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton) and most of all the original Wasp, Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer). They smartly expand on Janet's previous exile in the Quantum Realm to create history and personal with Kang. Michelle Pfeiffer is one of the standouts of film as her character is given greater depth all the while she's utilized to develop and build-up the anticipation to the films standout element; Kang the Conqueror.

The MCU doesn't have a good track record when it comes to the villains for their non-Avengers movies and the Ant-Man series hasn't really been much different ... except now. In Quantumania the villain not only delivers but is easily the best element in the movie and is when the film comes into its own. Jonathan Majors Kang gets excellent treatment; he's carefully established initially as an off screen presence as the various displaced, oppressed (and underdeveloped) characters of the Quantum Realm speak cautiously of a "Conqueror". His appearance feels a long time coming and is all the more effective due of the build-up and Majors doesn't disappoint in the role. There's a genuine sense of threat to Kang as Majors brings an imposing physicality to Kang in the several set pieces he is a part of and in the way he delivers his lines in several outstanding exchanges with Pfieffer and Rudd. The struggle against Kang is by far the most satisfying part of Quantumania it's just unfortunate that other aspects of the story falls flat in a sadly too formulaic third act.

Quantumania's lack of depth when it comes to new characters such as Katy O'Brian's Jentorra and William Jackson Harper's telepathic Quaz leaves the story feeling somewhat thin. It all feels at service to introducing Kang rather than being a satisfying part of the story on its own although it does also go hand in hand with the story between Cassie and Scott. But it is the lack of screen time and the surprising lacks of humour that prevents these characters from having any meaningful impact like the way that Korg did in Thor: Ragnarock. The writers simply haven't given the audience to care about in this regard which is disappointing. What does work however is exploration of the relationship between the now teenage and her father while Janet's hidden backstory with Kang is the source of needed tension in the Van Dyne family. All of this is held together by the threat of Kang who is more of a match for the heroes which ensures that there are some genuine stakes. The finale itself does feel like a missed opportunity for Quantumania and Kang to leave an immediate and lasting impact but fans of large scale set pieces will be thrilled by the effects heavy spectacle. That this film isn't more funny than it is is as baffling as it is unforgiveable because even the weaker elements could've been lifted some great comedy.

VERDICT

Quantumania isn't top tier MCU and it demonstrates that the formula is starting to show signs of wear but the imagination of the visual effects, the likeability of the main characters and Jonathan Majors Kang offers just enough to make it a fun experience despite it flaws. But how this isn't more funny than it is I'll never know.

3/5

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moorheadthanyoucanhandle · 2 months

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Opening this weekend:

Love Lies Bleeding--It certainly does, along with a fair number of corpses, before this New Mexico noir has run its course. It's 1989--the Berlin Wall is coming down on TV in the background--and our heroine Lou (Kristen Stewart), a lonely employee at a low-rent desert gym, spends her days unclogging toilets and stonewalling FBI agents who would like to talk to her about her estranged arms-dealer dad.

Lou falls hard for Jackie (Katy O'Brian), a beautiful feral bodybuilder who's in training for a competition in Vegas. Jackie moves in with Lou, but as you might guess, all does not go smoothly. Jealousy, domestic violence, gang violence, PEDs and the rage to which they give rise all intrude on this sweet romance and lead to gruesome murder and desperate cover-ups.

Stewart and O'Brian are both believable, and their passion for each other is exhilarating, even as you see the collision course with disaster that they're on. Ed Harris is at his creepiest as Lou's Dad, but Dave Franco wins the award for most odious as J.J., Lou's brother-in-law who abuses her hapless sister Beth (Jena Malone). Anna Baryshnikov is wistful as Daisy, who has the bad luck to have a crush on Lou.

The director is Rose Glass, the Brit behind Saint Maud, working from a script she wrote with Weronika Tofilska. As with Saint Maud, Glass is adept at blending the horrific with the ecstatic and the erotic, and her style, abetted by Ben Fordesman's queasy fluorescent cinematography, shifts comfortably from bleak British nastiness to gritty, lurid '80s-style southwestern nastiness. While the story gets a bit chaotically close to running off the rails in the homestretch, Glass even manages a surreal, magical-realist flourish near the end that feels right.

Arthur the King--This isn't a new version of Malory or T. H. White or Camelot. The title character here is a scruffy third-world street mongrel of such dignified bearing that he's given the royal moniker by his new best friend. Said friend is Mike (Mark Wahlberg), an "adventure racer" who impulsively feeds the dog a meatball during a break in a grueling event in the Dominican Republic, after which the mutt shadows Mike's four-person team as they run, bike, free-climb, zip-line and kayak across hundreds of miles of jungle. He even steers them away from peril.

Directed by Simon Cellan Jones, this is based on the 2017 book Arthur: The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home, by Mikael Lindnord. The script, by Michael Brandt, is fictionalized; Lindnord is a Swede, not an American; he met Arthur in Ecuador, not the Dominican Republic, and Wahlberg's teammates in the movie (Simu Liu, Nathalie Emmanuel, Ali Suliman) are likewise made-up.

More strikingly, the real-life circumstances of Arthur's adoption may have been more ambiguous: an Ecuadoran man later claimed that Arthur, originally named Barbuncho, belonged to him, and that Lindnord had essentially dognapped him. Many hardcore dog lovers, of course, will be unlikely to feel much sympathy for the owner of a "pet" who's at liberty to join a dangerous cross-country race.

In any case, Arthur the King is an unembarrassed and pretty effective hybrid of the venerable band-of-misfits, last-chance-for-glory underdog sports movie with an old-school "I think he's trying to tell us something" dog picture. It's admirably attuned to the plight of strays; there's a hint of reproach, probably unintentional, in the contrast between Arthur's struggles to survive on the streets and Mike's self-imposed travails in his rather bougie, corporate-sponsored sport.

Ultimately, though, the movie is really no less corny than any Rin-Tin-Tin or Lassie flick. But it's well-paced, and if, like me, you're a sucker for dogs there's a good chance you'll enjoy it. Wahlberg is agreeable as the boyishly earnest Mike, but neither he nor any other member of the human cast is a match for Ukai, who plays Arthur, and steals the movie like it was a meatball.

#love lies bleeding #arthur the king #kristen stewart #katy o'brian #ed harris #dave franco #jena malone #anna baryshnikov #rose glass #mark wahlberg #simu liu #nathalie emmanuel #ali suliman #simon cellan jones #mikael lindnord

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dalekofchaos · 4 years

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Resident Evil fancast

Reposting for more notes and my new choices but here we go again

my other video game fancasts

Life Is Strange

Life Is Strange Before The Storm

Assassin’s Creed

Mass Effect

KOTOR

KOTOR II

The Force Unleashed

Silent Hill

God Of War

Mortal Kombat

Bioshock

Bioshock 2

Bioshock Infinite

Skyrim

Oblivion

Dead Rising

The Wolf Among Us

Telltale’s Batman

Telltale’s Game Of Thrones

Telltale’s The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead The Final Season

Injustice

Red Dead Redemption

LA Noire

Detroit:Become Human

Red Dead Redemption 2

Henry Cavill as Chris Redfield

Alexandra Daddario as Jill Valentine

David Harbour as Barry Burton

Emma Myers as Rebecca Chambers

Michael Fassbender as Albert Wesker

Tyler Maine as Tyrant

Ben Foster as Joseph Frost

Chris Pine as Brad Vickers

Tom Savini as Enrico Marini

Arthur Darvill as Richard Aiken

Liam Hemsworth as Edward Dewey

Chad L. Coleman as Kenneth J. Sullivan

Taylor Kitsch as Forest Speyer

Ben Barnes as Billy Coen

Tom Hiddleston as young James Marcus

Charles Dance as old James Marcus

Scott Eastwood as Leon S Kennedy

Natalia Dyer as Claire Redfield

Lulu Wilson as young Sherry Birkin

Gemma Chan as Ada Wong

Isaiah Mustafa as Marvin Branagh

Mark Addy as Robert Kendo

Jake Gyllenhaal as Ben Bertolucci

Jim Beaver as Chief Brian Irons

David Tennant as William Birkin

Lena Headey as Annette Birkin

Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson as Mr X

Tom Hardy as HUNK

Diego Luna as Carlos Oliveria

Oleg Taktarov as Mikhail Victor

Igor Jijikine as Nikolai Zinoviev

Tom Felton as Murphy Seeker

Lance Reddick as Tyrell Patrick

Brian Howe as Dario Rosso

Derek Mears as Nemesis

Jaeden Martell as Steve Burnside

James Marsters as Alfred Ashford

Yvonne Strahovski as Alexia Ashford

Diane Guerrero as Manuela Hidalgo

Javier Bardem as Javier Hidalgo

Mads Mikkelsen as Sergei Vladimir

Grace Van Dien as Ashley Graham

Zazie Beetz as Ingrid Hunnigan

Zach Villa as Luis Sera

Nick Frost as The Merchant

Benico Del Toro as Osmund Saddler

Robert Maillet as Bitores Mendez

Peter Dinklage as Ramon Salazar

Dolph Lundgren as Jack Krauser

Russell Crowe as Parker Luciani

Chloe Bennett as Jessica Sherawat

Eddie Redmayne as Raymond Vester

Terry O’Quinn as Jack Norman

Michael Shannon as Clive R. O'Brian

Zoe Saldana as Sheva Alomar

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Josh Stone

Tobin Bell as Oswell E Spencer

Rami Malek as Ricardo Irving

Gal Gadot as Excella Gionne

Madison Davenport as Moira Burton

Malina Weissman as Natalia Korda

Natalie Dormer as Alex Wesker

Anne Hathaway as Gina Foley

Scoot McNairy as Neil Fisher

Jay Hernandez as Pedro Fernandez

Oscar Isaac as Gabriel Chavez

Jaimie Alexander as Helena Harper

Colton Haynes as Piers Nivans

Alexander Ludwig as Jake Muller

Chloë Grace Moretz as older Sherry Birkin

Adelaide Kane as Deborah Harper

Gemma Chan as Carla Radames

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Derek C. Simmons

Grant Gustin as Ethan Winters

Elizabeth Olsen as Mia Winters

Katie McGrath as Zoe Baker

Bryan Cranston as Jack Baker

Diane Lane as Marguerite Baker

Aaron Paul as Lucas Baker

Stephen Lang as Joe Baker

Millie Bobby Brown as young Eveline

Helena Bonham Carter as old Eveline

Paul Giamanti as The Duke

Charlize Theron as Mother Miranda

Gwendoline Christie as Lady Alcina Dimitrescu

Alexander Skarsgard as Karl Heisenberg

Eva Green as Donna Beneviento

Paula Rhodes voicing Angie

Andy Serkis as Salvatore Moreau

Karen Gillan as Daniela Dimitrescu

Ana de Armas as Cassandra Dimitrescu

Sophie Turner as Bela Dimitrescu

Kathryn Newton as Rosemary Winters

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