Huysamen Engelbrecht

5 followers

Johannesburg, South Africa

Halt and Catch Fire: 1x01 I/O

There is no way around it. This show starts slowly. Episode one contains exposition to set the tone.
This is not something to worry about. You don't need to know the coding, the engineering, or any of that.
This is about the characters.

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi

I really liked it. I walked out with a smile (slightly wistful, at the much greater role Princess Leia played). This film was clearly the new type of Star Wars movie. Not your grandfather's Star Wars by half.

Amused by the initial doubters and commenters who say the hated it. This was a hard act to follow the great (if by-the-numbers) Force Awakens and the stunner Rogue One, but I was continuously impressed by the way Rian Johnson pulled this one off. There were numerous places I expected the film to end on a cliffhanger, but was relieved that the plot point was extended a little bit more each time. I also like how they quietly included small nods to Rogue One as well.

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The Orville: Season 1

A solid entry to the sci-fi opera genre, worthy of the ones it winks and nods to. The stories are for the most part interesting, and although the character dynamics are still working themselves out, it's the side-characters once again that stand out.
Some of the jokes fall like lead balloons, but at least they try.

If you hark back to the formulaic Star Trek type shows of old, and don't feel like the more modern anthologies like Battlestar Galactica (or indeed Star Trek: Disovery) are for you, you'll like this. You might even like it regardless.

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Final Destination 5

Forgettable characters plugged into (exactly) the same formula as the previous films in the collection.
Unlike the others, however it has a slightly more satisfying conclusion for completists out there, so if you've been watching them all, this one does look back at its predecessors (and not the "oh look I found on the internet that this happened before" kind).

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Lucifer: 3x07 Off the Record

A truly remarkable episode. This is the one single episode that defines almost everything this show is about, including the Gaiman Lucifer character.
The looping story trope has been done many times before, but I didn't see it coming, and lesser writers would have stretched this over a whole season. Instead the story packs a nice punch

If anyone asks "What's this Lucifer show about" - this is the episode you should give them to watch.

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The Gifted

Started off brilliantly, but they had about 7 episodes' worth of story stretched out into 13 episodes.
Too much filler. It's programming like this (taking a great concept, then diluting it by creating endless open-ended stories and contrived cliffhangers) that will cause the eventual demise of television based on comics.

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Doom Patrol: 1x02 Donkey Patrol

Since this episode follows directly from episode one, I couldn't wait to see it, and it was glorious. I got some distinct Dirk Gently (sniff) /Legion vibes and the antagonist is sublimely ridiculous (but not to be ridiculed). If anything, the encounter was a bit short, but it left me wanting more. Thank you for not ruining a fond childhood memory.

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Lucifer: 3x13 Til Death Do Us Part

This could have gone so, so badly, but the comedic timing was excellent, and the story progression was good. This season is clearly an example of the crew and cast comfortably in their groove

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Legion: 1x01 Chapter 1

I haven’t been as impressed yet discombobulated by a first episode as this one in years. Whoah. Legion, you have my attention.

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Modern Family: 7x10 Playdates

I laughed out loud so many times my cat thought I was losing my mind.

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Modern Family: 6x20 Knock 'Em Down

An episode that reminds you of how good this show can be at its sharpest and funniest. Actual laugh-out-loud situational comedy.

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Humans: 2x08 Episode 8

An absolutely fantastic ending to the show. As @Lucas says, this finale leaves little to be desired. Enough mystery remains that could fuel imaginations for years, because the characters, both human and synth, are complex and living beings that inhabit our brains now. I'm in two minds over whether I should start bingeing Season 3 or take a break.
Perhaps I shall wait a little, and let the story sink in. Shout out to the entire production team, cast and crew. The story was immaculate, with no time for filler - especially since they used great space for quiet during the episodes. No flashy quick-cuts. Long, lingering shots focusing on the characters doing, not telling.

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The Gifted: 1x12 eXtraction

Damn, there's some horribly distracting ADR going on in this episode. It sounded like pretty much every single scene has additional lines poorly overdubbed, and the quality difference is so obvious as to be distracting.
Big speeches, constant open-ended references to the X-Men, cookie-cutter characters, and wooden acting made me care nothing for the either protagonists or antagonists.

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Manages to impress much like the first, but weighted down a little by the need to shoehorn in some pathos that make an otherwise great movie a little awkward at around 2/3rds in.

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Short Circuit

Fun, cute.

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RuPaul's Drag Race UK: 2x05 Episode 5

This episode saw Ru in an unusually bad mood during final judgment, being (in my opinion). Judges were almost Rupaul's Drag Race Canada Season 1-level harsh, and while the queens took it well, it clearly affected them. The strain of the months-long interruption due to the virus, one queen being left out due to their diagnosis, and the return of another didn't help team cohesiveness at all.

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Supergirl: 4x09 Elseworlds (III)

All yuk yuk easter eggs and trampling over cherished stories with poor characterisation and implementation to get the feels flowing. I'm still baffled at the use of the Book of Destiny for this storyline, and the name "Elseworlds" when it's just a remix of last year's crossover (and very obviously just a midpoint for next year's for next year) is saddening.

With the next season's big crossover being name-dropped at the end, it seems the writing teams are confident in their ability to somehow do DC Comics' great original crossover justice. I fear this will be hubris.

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Doom Patrol: 1x01 Pilot

Avoided this since I didn't know if the DC curse would steamroll over one of the most underrated teams in comic books, but after not hating their appearance in Titans, I thought I'd at least give the first episode a go.
Somehow they managed to really capture that special feeling that the team have; a team of people that didn't want their abilities, and aren't cut out for it. I loved it, and the ending had me clicking frantically for more.

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Kronk's New Groove

Criminally lacking in Ysma, and far too much Kuzco, this felt like three animated episodes put together rather than a film. The characters also felt wrong, and weren't quite true to themselves.

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Humans: Season 2

Season two had a very hard act to follow. About halfway through the first episode, I was really doubting where they were aiming, but the introduction of key new characters and driving forces changed my mind very quickly. It was an engrossing watch, with some moments of bemusement, befuddlement and "yess!" moments.
A worthy successor to the first season!

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Marvel's Cloak & Dagger: 1x02 Suicide Sprints

Episodes 1 & 2 are clearly meant to be a single episode, else episode 1 would be a very slow intro to a much better episode 2, where we get to know far more about our leads (and their small but important set of circles - although it feels as if Tandy's is much smaller than Tyrone's at the moment.

The story end just as things started ramping up, not something new in the new binge-age, but annoyingly (as of this watching) each episode is shown weekly.

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Halt and Catch Fire: 1x04 Close to the Metal

This episode is deliciously written, and the crisis -- well the crisis is mere cladding for the greater Greek tragedy unfolding.

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Halt and Catch Fire: 1x02 FUD

With the machinations and explanations of episode 1 out of the way, this episode slowly builds the pressure, drawing you and in the last five seconds, blows you away. Magnificent.

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Lucifer: 3x24 A Devil of My Word

A very fitting and satisfying ending to Season Three. Mostly well-written throughout, the Season wasn't afraid to do interesting things with the characters. The last third of the Season was treading water until episodes 23 and 24, where we got a lot of action (especially the short action scene with Lucifer at the end) and some good endings. Fortunately, it his written in such a way that there are almost no loose ends, and this can be a fitting finale, but in my bones I know there's more the creative team can do with these characters - especially if it moves to a network that will let them really delve into Neil Gaiman's Lucifer.

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Lucifer: 3x23 Quintessential Deckerstar

Despite some really good episodes the last few were slightly meh, if I'm honest. You could feel they were filler building up to something. And this episode packs a wallop. As Vero states in their review, the last 10 minutes were edge-of-the-seat stuff.

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The Amazing Spider-Man

A good popcorn-movie with enough heart to keep you watching.
I'd avoided watching this one, thinking there wasn't much point in investing in a storyline that was already over, but I was pleasantly surprised. The story has a few really heartfelt moments, and I enjoyed Garfield's take on the character. James Horner's soundtrack was great, and although it lacked an identifiable theme for Spider-Man, it was a typically grand and sumptuous score.

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The Blacklist: 2x19 Leonard Caul

"I was caught with my pants down, and as my last three wives can tell you.. It's not a pretty sight". Oh my word.. Love it when some characters other than Reddington get amazing lines like that occasionally.

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The Final Destination

Don't binge-watch the whole series. The characters become vague stereotypes and the only difference between the movies is the increasing amounts of CGI. Each sequel takes the original's plot and swap in different characters and increasingly unbelievable "accidents".

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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Smaug is by far the best rendered character of the film, which isn't such a great thing. The film is overall quite pleasing and enteral raining, however.

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Mars

This would normally tick all the boxes for me. It struggles between actual good story and preachiness. Had it had a lower budget, It would have been unwatchable.

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