Andreas Stenlund

VIP

6

[7.7/10] Let’s start with the superficial and work our way to the substantive.

There is something inherently cool about a Jedi Master who has taken such a vow, showed such discipline, reached some level of enlightenment to where they can basically levitate in place,n protected by a seemingly impenetrable force bubble, that can withstand even the most fervent attacks. We’re only two episodes in but what I like about the Acolyte is that it’s already expanding what we think and know of the Jedi. Using the HIgh Republic era as a playground for new and unique uses of the Force, that pose different challenges for even a trained assassin like Mae, helps make the Jedi feel amazing again, rather than rote and known.

The same goes for Sol’s fight with Mae on Olega. Maybe I will get tired of the wire fu approach at some point, but for now, it remains a thrill. Watching Mae fight with all her might, while Master Sol displays an economy of movement akin to master Indara from the last episode, remains incredibly cool. The nigh-literal dust-up between them, with furious attacks and calm blocks, again displays the differences in disposition between studied master and hungry student.

What I appreciate, though, is that neither of these exist just for the sake of coolness or sheer thrills. (Which, if I’m being pointed, is a criticism that can be leveled at J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars films, even the parts I like.)

Master Torbin’s force bubble isn’t just a unique obstacle for Mae. It means she has to find a way to get to her target beyond the sheer force that is already her calling card. The fact that she doesn't kill Torbin, but rather provides him poison to kill himself and end his guilt over what happened on Brendok is a piercing, fascinating choice. The moment where she offers him an exit, and after so much stillness and silence, he descends to accept this offering, feels monumental. And his uttering one more apology before drinking the poison sells the magnitude of what must have happened in mae’s past tremendously.

Credit to the writers. I can get really tired of mystery boxes in genre fix. (Thanks again, J.J.!) But in moments like this one, where characters’ choices are informed by a past we’re not fully privy to yet, the magnitude of those choices makes us care about and anticipate the reveal of Mae and the Jedi’s history without needing to know it right now. As someone who came of age during the Prequel movies, it’s easy to see the Jedi as a flawed institution. But meeting four Jedi who were a party to whatever happened ito Mae and Osha, and who are all clearly haunted by it, to where someone like Torbin would go to these extremes, gives you a sense of how significant that event must be, and why Mae must be so desperate for revenge.

That ties into her fight with master Sol. He’s less interested in defeating her than disarming her, both mentally and physically. From a sheer plot standpoint, the fact that even Mae doesn't know the identity of her master is an interesting little twist. But more to the point, Sol trying to get through to Mae, to help her move past what happened, gives their fight more meaning than even the most thrilling of fisticuffs could.

I also appreciate how Master Sol is in the middle of two extremes here. On the one hand, he seems frustrated by the Jedi strictures and bureaucracy. He bristles at Master Vernestra telling him the Jedi must convene a committee before he can follow-up on Mae’s fugitive run. He rejects Yord’s warning that sending Osha in to deceive the apothecary would violate various precepts. He seems annoyed at best at how Jedi practice doesn't always align with real lif needs.

But at the same time, he tells Osha to let go of her grief, of her attachments in the past, in a way that seems as though he’s telling her not to be human. On the one hand, you can sympathize. He sees how these complicated feelings about what happened have harmed both Osha and Mae, and wants to offer a method to attain peace with them. On the other hand, he still seems haunted by them, as do his colleagues. So it’s rousing when Osha basically tells him, You're not my master anymore; you don’t get to tell me what to do .”

I’m surprisingly receptive to notions that, as cool as the Jedi are, they are a terribly flawed body. (see also: their morally questionable use of invasive mind control tricks, including on Mae.) The idea that they made a grand error on Brendok, covered it up or minimized it, and are facing the choes of it in Mae and Osha is a resonant throughline.

I also appreciate how we have some structure here. Mae has a Kill BIll-esque list of the Jedi she wants revenge on. She has a particular challenge -- to defeat one without using a weapon -- that puts her at an additional disadvantage but gives her a cause and an objective. And the way these aren't random targets, but rather people she feels have wronged her adds extra juice to the proceedings.

So do the side characters. I kind of enjoy how much of a dick Yord is, but I also appreciate that he’s not actively evil or anything, to where he stands up for Osh when she’s accused of murdering Torbin. I’m increasingly entertained by Jecki, her willingness to call Yord’s plan stupid, and her cleverness in coming up with a much better and more effective one. And as a Good Place fan, it’s nice to see Manny Jacinto as Qimir, a feckless apothecary aligned with Mae who feels appropriately rough around the edges.

This is also a good episode for Mae. It’s not easy for her to be around Sol again, or to have him judge the life she’s made for herself since leaving the order. The tender and fraught rekindling of their partnership is one of the best things about the show so far. It adds a certain charge and sadness to every scene where they’re together.

Likewise, it’s nice to see Osha and Mae confront one another, after each believed the other was dead. (And, not for nothing, it neutralizes my theory that maybe Mae is the dark side taking over Osha’s subconscious or something.) The fact that after everything each has been through, the connection shared and lost, Osha ultimately provides for Mae’s escape rather than bringing her in, portends more interesting things to come.

Overall, once again, The Acolyte blends compelling intrigue, exciting action, and meaningful character work to produce another pleasing episode of television.

[8.5/10] Well, if you want to get my attention with a new Star Wars show, kicking things off with a badass wire-fu fight with none other than Trinity herself, Carrie-Anne Moss, as a Jedi Master, will absolutely do it!

What a breath of fresh air this is! From that action-packed opening sequence, The Acolyte grabs your attention with verve and character. There are lived in touches, a sense of mystery and excitement, and most of all an immediate whiff of who every major character is and what they mean to the story. It’s easier to set up interesting things than it is to pay them off, but if this first hour is any indication, it’s going to be easy to be along for the ride.

I cannot say enough good things about the opening sequence. Maybe I’m a sucker, but so much modern action, including in Star Wars media of recent vintage, is chopped up all to hell in the editing bay. That kind of choice neuters the impact of the fights for me. So taking a cue from Moss’ turn in The Matrix and not only embracing those wire fu influences, but letting us see the fight in longer shots and a more measured pace and cinematography really lights my fire.

Plus man, for all of the Japanese cinema influences in Star Wars, I’m not sure we’ve ever gotten a legitimate kung fu fight on screen in the franchise. (“The Duel” from Star Wars: Visions has a bit of that, and I guess we get brief glimpses of Qi’ra from Solo doing a bit of martial arts as well.) The frantic motion of Mae and the more measured movements of Indara’s response help sell the difference between one who’s still learning and full of emotion versus a centered master. The fight itself is glorious, with well-staged action and strong visual storytelling and choreography. And the clincher -- that Indara falls not from mistake or being bested in combat, but from saving an innocent, makes her a noble and tragic figure, while justifying how this skilled but comparative amateur could take her down.

And that's just the opening scene! Dayenu -- it would have been enough.

From there, the episode splits into two story threads that eventually intersect: Osha, a former padawan being questioned and detained for the murder, and Sol, her former master, deciding to track her down. Both stories work, and the place they weave together is especially meaningful.

I appreciate the twist here. The show does a good job of suckering you into thinking that Osha committed this crime on her day off from being a “mechnik”. She has the ability, given her former training. She has the reason for resentment, having seemingly been expelled from the order thanks to Master Indara. And she has a tortured past, of great loss of her family that, as we saw with Anakin, can lead a young force-sensitive person to some inner demons. So it’s entirely plausible, even expected, that she’s the one going toe-to-toe with Indara in the opening.

I’m not always a fan of big twists, but I appreciate the reveal that it was, in fact, her twin sister who went against Indara for a few reasons. One, it’s meaningful for Osha. To learn that the sister she thought was long dead is still out there and assassinating her former allies leads to complex emotions. For another, it portends an intriguing opportunity for “for want of a nail” storytelling, showing where the different paths of daughters from the same family led them.

Most of all, it puts is in the position of Master Sol and the other Jedi, being intuitively sympathetic to this young woman who seems friendly, funny, and earnest, while wondering if the difficult things she’s been through have caught up to her in some way. Playing with the audience’s sympathies and expectations like that, to connect them to the characters’ perspectives, is the right way to use a twist, instead of just using a reveal for shock value.

Osha’s misadventures along the way are fun and sympathetic. I love the sense of her scraping by as a low-rent nomadic mechnik after leaving the order, keeping her spirits up but just getting by. I like that, through Yord at least, the Jedi seem like smug cops rather than noble monks, who are railroading Osha. I like her excitement on the prison transport, where she’s bitten by her altruism, but empathizes and saves others, which should be our proof that she’s not the one who took out Indara. All these scenes reveal character in a compelling way, and Amandla Stenberg does a stellar job inhabiting the role.

There is also such exquisite texture! The opening scene has a real old world village cantina vibe, and should make Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fans cheer. Her talking tool droid, Pip, is frickin’ adorable and endearing, and I can easily imagine every nerdy kid watching this show wanting one of their own. The ship designs are memorable and distinctive inside and out. (I especially like the droid-run prison transport.) And the different species represented are memorable and original. (The cyborg dude is especially striking.) Plus hey, the Trade Federation aliens are well done and familiar to anyone who watched the Prequels growing up.

Speaking of which, this version of the Jedi feels particularly indebted to the Prequels. There’s great discussion of the danger of attachments, of training someone who’s too old and has been through too much, of the Order’s political enemies. Setting this show a century before Revenge of the Sith frees you from a lot of the continuity shackles other Star Wars stories have to contend with, so it’s interesting that The Acolyte seems to be picking up themes and concepts from the Prequel era.

That not only includes Yord, who already seems to be the show’s stick in the mud, but from Master Vernestra, who seems more interested in wrapping up this matter quickly than in seeking justice. Heck, Master Sol even feels a bit akin to Qui Gon Jinn, someone who’s patient and wizened, but who allows himself a more emotional connection and less rigid view than the Order.

I like Sol a lot. Making the deuteragonist a master who still cares for his padawan, and is trying to balance that care and trust against his obligations to his order, makes for a compelling mix. He’s a good match for Jecki, his quietly caustic current padawan. And he’s a good counterpoint to Osha, someone who represents a difficult part of her past, but who still plainly has her best interests at heart.

The moment where he seeks her out is well done too. There’s a real The Fugitive vibe to the confrontation, with an appropriately Jedi twist. And most importantly, Sol believes his former pupil. When she’s desperate and running for her life and confronted with destabilizing surprises about her past and her family, he still trusts and accepts her. That is powerful, and portends worthwhile things to come.

The Acolyte leaves us with teases of potential sith-adjacent interlopers and weaponless threats and internal politics within the High Republic. Those are tantalizing enough as teases. But what I appreciate most about this opening hour is the good nuts and bolts work we get: in the cinematic craft, in the well-defined and sympathetic character dynamics, and in the way the script plays with our expectations. If The Acolyte can keep this up, it has a promising future ahead.

(Spoilers for Star Wars: The Clone Wars: There’s many ways in which Osha’s story seems like a reinterpretation of Ahsoka’s. Everything from the fugitive hunt to the master who still loves and trusts her, to the Jedi Order dealing with political pressures give you the sense of what Anakin’s padawan went through. Obviously Ahsoka never had an evil twin, but it’s interesting to see the franchise revisit that story shape in a different time and place. I’m not complaining! I love that storyline, and I’m excited at the notion of exploring Osha’s relationship with the Jedi and the Force through this lens.)

[5.0/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] I figured out that this was an Al Jean showrun episode before the credits rolled, and I wish I could tell you why. Maybe it’s the use of characters like Gil and The “Yes” Guy who seemed to be some of Jean’s favorites. Maybe it’s just the general tone, which skews a little older in its perspective than the eps showrun by Matt Selman. Or maybe it’s the fact that, at most, I had a few mild chuckles in this one. Whatever the reason, these types of episodes stand out in this era of the show, where Jean’s installments are fewer and further between.

The idea of the sportscar salesman using his ersatz lamborghini-slinging techniques to pretend to be Homer’s friend just to get him to sign off on a renovation next door has something decent to it. There’s some emotion in Marge and Homer enjoying having “couple friends” only to feel used when the Blackburns seemed only to want to ply them with the finer things so that the Simpsons wouldn’t be able to contest their noisy construction plans. Heck, I even like that the couch gag ties into the main episode plot, setting up that Homer’s fantasized about these fancy cars.

But all the luxury sports car-based humor feels pretty hoary, and Homer’s revenge being to convince a store full of suckers that it won’t improve their public is weak broth. The ending just sort of putters out, without a real satisfying or believable resolution, or much in the way of humor.

The B-story is no better. Again, there’s a grain of a good idea with an exploration of the bullying dynamics at Springfield Elementary. There’s something to the idea of Nelson being a menace, and Bart and Lisa turning the tables on him via cyber-bullying. But all the bullying arms race with Nelson, Bart, Lisa, and Hubert Wong get too goofy, without actually being funny, too quickly. The B-plot also feels like it barely has an ending.

There’s a few mild laughs to be had here. The kindergarten bully telling Bart, “There’s the easy way, and the easy way...we’re kindergarteners,” got a chuckle out of me. And there’s something light but sweet about Lisa threatening to expose Nelson’s treatment of an injured hummingbird, only to reveal him taking tender care of it. But otherwise, the comedy in this one is mild rather than worthy of big laughs.

Overall, this is the type of episode that reminds you that the show’s taken a turn for the better in recent years, but that the change can’t save episodes still run under the prior regime.

Starts hilariously, with Glen ending up at a couple's place (Art and Cyndi) after a car accident, and Art convincing him to sleep with his wife. This looks like a trap of some sort, and even more when Art comes up to Glen's place announcing that Cyndi is pregnant.

But, everything is more complicated than that, A LOT more, and nothing is really what it seems. The narrative structure chosen allows for layers upon layers of lies to be peeled off as we slowly learn more about what really happened.

There are three separate but intertwining stories.

1) Glen, his relationship with Cyndi, and their time in the lab
2) Art selling his services to the wannabe senator
3) Shannon and the lab work

Once you see the big picture, the main point is Art's revolutionary hypnosis technique. The title, Ultrasound leads you to believe that something is going on about weird pregnancies, Cyndi's, and the great introduction scene for Katie, where it appears that she is very pregnant without realizing it. But both actually are Art's work.
After quitting the research lab with his technique he tries to sell it for election purpose to senator Harris. As a first proof, he makes Katie, the senator's mistress, believe that she's not pregnant, and uses Cyndi, his assistant, and Glen, a random guy probably chosen because he's very receptive at a wedding where Art is performing, as future foster parents who will believe it is their own child by convincing them believe Cyndi is pregnant. Dr Conners, Art's ex partner, kidnap them to use them to reverse engineer Art's technique. Shannon is working there as she thinks it will be used as a cure for veterans, and rebels when she learns the applications will be military.

But to get to this point, information is slowly distilled as we put the pieces together, that's really captivating throughout the story as there are several layers of lies or hypnosis on most characters. Notably Glen, who Art convinced that Cyndi is pregnant, and Conners convinced that he's disabled. But it also turns out that the intro scene situation where he met Art and Cyndi didn't even happen either.

The ending situation is a little more blurry.
Shannon seems to have escaped, but did she ? It's not really clear whether the technique has been used on her or if she has just been lied to.
Cyndi seems to be free of the influence, as she remembers how she really met Glen.
Glen is at least still under the influence of Art's wedding show, and free of the pregnancy and disabled legs lies, but he still believed to have met Art and Cyndi as a couple.
Art has a falling out with the senator, but he still appears on stage with him, weird as Katie apparently is out of his influence and know she's pregnant. Can only suppose that he used his technique on the senator. But then wouldn't Katie being aware be a danger for him too ?

Great idea, great story, complex but not enough that you're lost, and each revelation makes sense as we learn bit by bit. Really a great job.

There are a lot of surprises packed into Drive-Away Dolls. An 80-minute runtime is one of the first (and one of the only welcome), and in that brevity comes a dense slew of inexplicable choices in direction, writing, and casting.

After a pseudo-noir opening sequence involving a botched handoff and a beat up old brown car, we meet Jamie and Marian: two lesbians in 1999 Philadelphia. Jamie (a raunchy party gal played by Margaret Qualley) and Marian (uptight and repressed, played by Geraldine Viswanathan) have been friends for years. When they both come to the conclusion that their lives are not satisfactory, a roadtrip to Tallahassee, Florida becomes their solution. They pick up a drive-away car to use for the trip (a vehicle that someone needs transported, which you can drive for free if you happen to also be heading in the same direction); of course, it’s the same beat up old brown car we saw in the opening, containing some contraband goods. The girls, oblivious to their cargo and the nefarious men pursuing them, drive towards Florida and towards personal and sexual reckoning.

If that sounds generic on paper, it’s because it reads as generic on screen. The queer aspect of this movie is doing so much of the heavy lifting that someone should be spotting it. Without that overlay, it’s a typical raunchy rom-com, with a dash of crime and some light political commentary (which is really too afraid to say much of anything). What’s bizarre is the tendency to seem shy about the sexuality. This movie is raunchy, make no mistake — but in many cutaways (amid other wildly off-the-mark scene transitions) there is a sense of embarrassment about showing or doing too much.

Broadly speaking, that comment can apply to most aspects of the film. With a script that wants to be bonkers, the direction and pacing are oddly laid-back; the presentation of the material is at odds with the material itself. For each moment that reaches an effectively high level of hilarious camp — and there are a few, I give credit where it is due — there’s a strange tangent into reflective dreamlike reveries or completely inexplicable and drawn-out transition sequences heaping on 70’s drug trip pastiche (an odd choice for a film taking place in 1999).

For a movie that feels like it was made for a streaming debut (and one without much fanfare, at that) there are a surprising number of recognizable faces. Pedro Pascal, Colman Domingo, Matt Damon, and even Miley Cyrus appear here — and all are wasted with either little screen time or pointless, constrained material. Beanie Feldstein, as an angry ex, makes a meal out of every scene she gets, chewing up both the scenery and her scene partners. Unfortunately for the entire production, our two leading ladies (Qualley and Viswanathan) have virtually no chemistry. Qualley is a cute little sex-pistol doing her best with a committed southern drawl, while Viswanathan, on the other hand, presents an obstinate performance that refuses to either let the audience in or bring much out. The combination of the two results in a fizzle rather than a bang, and when they inevitably end up beneath the sheets, the character swings to get them there are enormous.

There’s no rush to catch these drive-aways. They’ll pull into a streaming service soon; and even then, you may want to give them a parking violation.

I'm not sure I enjoyed what I just watched, but I'm going to give it time to process before I make a rash decision on my score. What a crazy ride of a movie this was. Even as someone who has seen Jumbo, a very similar film in subject matter, this one still took me off guard with how sporadic its story and narrative structure was. It also had me squirming multiple times with its absurdly squeamish body-horror segments. Very weird, very French, with a lot of symbolism and "under-the-surface" meaning that I will now spend days unpacking.
Never change Cannes, never change.

Edit: No, I've sat on this for a day now and I'm just not coming round to its strange, albeit wholesome and unique hodge podge of messages and themes. I enjoyed the juxtaposition and coming together of the two main characters, one never having a childhood and the other having their parenthood stolen from them. I enjoyed the themes of gender identity, returning to trauma as a comfort after living under it for so long, and the role of sexuality as a processing mechanism for all this. While these are very well represented and conveyed articulately, bringing them together in this strange horror/drama/art piece package just didn't connect for me. I can appreciate its parts seperately, but all together they just don't sing from the same hymn sheet in my opinion. Much like Midsommar and Possession though, I've had fun parsing and researching all the intricacies of this movie after the fact, so it has that going for it. I await Julia Ducournau's next foray into cinema, she certainly makes fun and unique movies you won't see from any other director.

This will probably become more beloved than Dune for being a bigger, more action driven film. Personally I prefer the first film by a long shot, but there's a lot to like here. I loved Paul's new journey for this installment as it doesn't develop in the way you'd expect based on the ending of the first film. The themes of colonialism, false prophecies and religion reach a level of depth that cannot be found in other sci-fi/fantasy contemporaries like Lord of the Rings or Star Wars; this film certainly made me understand why this story is taken so seriously as a piece of literature. Despite the source material being so old, there's still something new and refreshing about it. You don't often see major Hollywood productions calling out religion as a manipulative force helping the people in power. On top of that this brilliantly subverts the concept of the hero's journey we've become accustomed to by everything that was in one way or another inspired by Dune. The acting is pretty great, Timothée does a great job at playing the transition Paul goes through. Despite his boyish looks I was sold on his performance as the leader of the Fremen. Rebecca Ferguson and Javier Bardem are also scene stealers. The visuals are once again mindblowing, in terms of set/costume design, cinematography and CGI this is as close to perfection as you could get to right now. The vision and scope of this movie are truly unmatched, which leads to some breathtaking sequences that I'll remember for a while (sandworm ride; the black/white arena fight; knife fight during the third act).

However, for all the praise I have for Dune: Part 2, I think Denis is being uncharacteristically sloppy with this film. First of all, Bautista and Butler feel like they're ripped from a different franchise altogether. Their over the top, cartoonish performances are more suited for something like Mad Max than the nuanced world of Dune. The bigger cracks start to appear when you look at the writing. The brief moments where the movie pokes fun at religious zealots through Javier Bardem's character, while funny, probably won't age very well. Like the first movie, it has a tendency to rely too much on exposition and handholding, a problem which might be worse here. I feel like a lot of the subtlety is lost in order to make the movie more normie proof, and that's quite annoying for a movie with artistic ambitions like this one. For example, there's this scene where Léa Seydoux seduces Austin Butler's character, and everything you need to know as a viewer is communicated through Butler's performance. Cut to the next scene, where Seydoux is all but looking at the camera saying "he's a psychopath, he's violent, he wants power, etc.". I just feel like compared to Villeneuve's precise work on Blade Runner 2049, he's consciously dumbing it down here. It's understandable and somewhat excusable for a complex story like Dune, but he occasionally takes it too far for my liking. Then there's the love story subplot between Chani and Paul, which almost entirely misses the mark for me. It feels rushed, there's no chemistry between the actors and some of the lines are painfully cheesy. Because of that, the emotional gutpunch their story eventually reaches during the third act did little for me. Finally, I'm a little dissatisfied with the use of sound. I loved the otherworldly score Zimmer came up with for the first Dune, however this film is so ridiculously bombastic and low-end heavy that it starts to feel like a parody of his work with Christopher Nolan. For the final action beat of the film Villeneuve cuts out the film's score, and it becomes all the more satisfying for it.

Overall, I recommend this film, however maybe temper those expectations if you're expecting a masterpiece. There's a lot to admire, but it's flawed.

6.5/10

A Killer Paradox: A Gripping Crime Thriller with a Unique Twist

"A Killer Paradox" is a K-drama that will keep you on the edge of your seat from the first episode. The show boasts a unique and intriguing plot that breaks away from the traditional crime thriller formula. Here's what makes it a must-watch:

1. A Refreshingly Different Premise: Unlike most crime shows where the hero is a detective or vigilante, "A Killer Paradox" throws you a curveball. The protagonist, Lee Tang, isn't your typical hero. He's an ordinary guy who stumbles upon a strange ability - he can kill corrupt and evil people with just a touch. This unique twist adds a layer of moral ambiguity and complexity to the narrative, making you question the lines between right and wrong.

2. Stellar Performances: The cast delivers exceptional performances, bringing the characters to life with depth and nuance. Choi Woo-sik, known for his roles in "Parasite" and "Train to Busan," shines as Lee Tang, portraying his internal struggles and conflicted emotions with remarkable subtlety. Son Suk-ku, who has impressed audiences in "My Liberation Notes" and "Be Melodramatic," is equally captivating as the detective hot on Lee Tang's trail. Their on-screen chemistry is a highlight of the show, keeping you invested in their cat-and-mouse game.

3. A Visual Treat: The show is visually stunning, with captivating cinematography and a distinctive color palette that perfectly complements the dark and gritty atmosphere. The editing is sharp and keeps the pace dynamic, ensuring the story unfolds seamlessly.

4. Not Just Action-Packed: While the show boasts thrilling chase sequences and suspenseful encounters, it also delves deeper, exploring themes of justice, morality, and the consequences of taking the law into one's own hands. This thoughtful exploration adds another layer of intrigue to the story and provokes thought-provoking discussions.

Overall, "A Killer Paradox" is a refreshing and well-crafted K-drama that offers a unique perspective on the crime thriller genre. With its captivating plot, outstanding performances, and stunning visuals, it's a show that will stay with you long after the credits roll.

Minor points to consider: Although the show excels in many aspects, some viewers might find the pacing slightly uneven in the middle episodes. Additionally, the eight-episode format could leave some wanting more, hoping for a potential second season.

Despite these minor points, "A Killer Paradox" is a highly recommended drama for fans of the genre and anyone seeking a suspenseful and thought-provoking viewing experience.

Oy vey! I really wanted this movie to be good. I had heard only good things about it and I've wanted to see Adam Sandler do serious roles ever since Punch-Drunk Love.

But I don't know, man. This whole spiel of an asshole schmuck who is also unlucky didn't really click with me. For starters, I didn't really buy the "charistmatic" bit that is mentioned in the synopsis, the lead character talks a lot of shit but I'm not sure how does that amount to "charismatic".

Also, none of the characters was likeable, every character had at least one thing that made you hate them or be annoyed at them, least of all the main character who is an asshole and one annoying fuck, it makes it really hard to root for him, and thus uninterested in whatever journey he is undertaking in the movie.

It didn't help matters much that, for the entirety the movie, everybody is talking over each other, which made it difficult to follow dialogues and got gradually more annoying as the movie progressed. By the time the things got interesting in the third act, I was really prepared for this movie to end.

But, man! things really pick up in the third act and the movie manages to make me root for a guy who was impossible to root for just two seconds ago, I was under the thrall of the movie for the last 15 minutes.

So, in a way, the movie had achieved what it set out to do (if I understood it correctly), but then as the credits rolled, I didn't feel like I took away anything of value from the movie. I was annoyed most of the time, there was nothing outstanding about the movie (Sandler was okay), and while the ending was surprising, it didn't provide me any satisfaction.

I'm kind of torn on how to rate it, but a 6 feels appropriate.

This is a very weird movie, but not by its content. Hard to tell whether it was worth watching.

Visually it's nice, extremely clean and ordered. But 90% of what happens has absolutely no interest. Family picnic. Wife showing the garden to her mother. Some random conversations. Dictation of work letters. Administrative work. It is very boring, soporific even.

The only interest comes from knowing who those people are and the whole context, and the contrast with the banality of their lives, with the clinical simplicity of administrative decisions.

The whole camp is hidden behind a wall. There is just a background noise, far away, muffled, some cries, some gunshots. And the chimneys smoke.

Among what is banal but extremely shocking by the context:
- The mother complaining she could not get her neighbour's curtains.
- The commander getting a new post, but her wife complaining about losing her garden
- The sales pitch of the new generation crematorium
- Being so happy that the plan is named after him that he calls his wife in the middle of the night
- Ashes used as fertilizer in the garden

The only small moments that acknowledge the violence are:
- the wife, upset, threatening the maid that she could have her incinerated just like that
- the commander having a young girl sent to his office
- in the commanders meeting, the word "extermination" is said once, but all the rest is just logistics and quotas

At the end, a cutscene shows people cleaning the camp, and it takes a while to realize they are cleaning the current day Auschwitz museum, I guess showing the continuity of mundane tasks in all circumstances.

So in the end, this is definitely a work of art that succeeds in what it's trying to achieve. However the boringness is what makes it special, and you can't avoid the fact that it is mostly boring. Not to watch when sleepy or tired.

"Sing Sing" by The Bones of J.R. Jones: One of the most pivotal scenes in True Detective: Night Country's episode 3 is when Danvers and Navarro skim through all the evidence they found inside Raymond Clark's van. As they try to find new potential leads in Raymond and Annie's photos, The Bones of J.R. Jones' "Sing Sing" plays in the background, intensifying the sense of urgency surrounding their investigation.

"Like I Do" by Georgina Birch: Danvers and Navarro's hunt for evidence leads them to a hairdresser, Suzan, who they believe was one of the few people aware of Annie and Raymond's relationship. When they enter Suzan's home, George Birch's "Like I Do" can be faintly heard as she colors a local woman's hair.

"Limbo" by Lissom, Julien Marchal & Lowswimmer: Leah's story arc in True Detective: Night Country goes through its own development when she attends a protest in episode 3. As her girlfriend leads her to a protest against the local mine and its water polluting activities, "Limbo" plays in the background, marking the inception of her rite of passage.

"I Follow Rivers" by Marika Hackman: This track plays in True Detective: Night Country's episode 3 when Navarro finds her sister out in the cold and comforts her before taking her back home and tucking her in bed.

The good:

• While the season had its issues I was satisfied with the conclusion. It might be too predictable for some, but I think they did a good job with the hints and the solution fit very well with the themes of the season, so while it wasn’t shocking it was still good.

• “Yeah, but that’s exactly how a Nova Scotian constable would run”.

• I was really hoping Howard was gonna finally get his Broadway moment.

• The relatability when Oliver said, "Hold on it’s making me subscribe if I want to read more. I thought I had like 4 articles left?" in.

• Still have no idea what “Death Rattle Dazzle” is actually about lol.

• That ending was chilling! Who tried to kill Charles? Who killed Sazz? What was Sazz trying to write in blood on the floor?

• Season 4 or where do you go after Meryl Streep? The set up for next season is very interesting, it looks like were going to be in L.A., which could make for a change of tone and scenery.

The bad:

• So many loose ends never explained, which went nowhere. The writers purposefully set up a bunch of clues that don't go anywhere. For example, the whole Cinda Canning thing was unnecessary.

• Did not a lot happen this episode, or is it just me? It was still entertaining, but not as much story progression as I’d hoped.
• “I take offense to that.“ “That was my intention.”
• I think Ben was talking to a plate of cookies and he was the one who wrote ‘fucking pig’ on the mirror afterwards because he was upset that he ate the cookies and they had mentioned he was hard on himself.
• When Oliver accused Charles of blasphemy. – “I have never heard such FILTH!” “Tom is a Christian, Charles!”
• “It took you a year to paint a wall in your aunt’s apartment. Hustle is not exactly your middle name” - I felt personally attacked.
• Charles and Oliver roasting Mabel was hilarious. – “You don’t count because you have old lady energy.” “Oh, she really does. 72 is where I’d put her. Maybe 75.”
• One thing I don’t like this season is the obviousness of the fakeout suspects. If someone's the main suspect you can guarantee they're innocent. They wouldn't make Charles date another murderer. That's crazy.
• Howard and his sweater obsession.
• I'm still convinced there are 2 killers. The one who poisoned Ben and the one who pushed him down the elevator shaft.
• Where are the police?

One man's journey into madness as he battles paranoia, anxiety, major mommy issues, guilt, childhood trauma, fear, mania... Beau Is Afraid is basically 100 symbolisms and metaphors per minute, to the point where I don't believe anyone can really decipher it fully (except for Ari Aster himself). The narrative is dense and goes into the convoluted and abstract territory but it's incredibly ambicious. Too ambicious? I support Aster for not being afraid and doing something unique and different but this was a bit too much for me. It throws A LOT of ridiculous and weird stuff at you but I feel like most of it is there just to be weird, it doesn't have purpose, it just bloats the runtime and confuses the viewer for no apparent reason. It's an endless loop of crazyness and it gets repetitive and frustrating after three hours (felt like five hours). I couldn't wait for it to be over and I came out of the theater exhausted. The final part is also the least interesting. An extremely long movie for such a small statement and it didn't make me feel much at the end. It probably needs a few rewatches for me to get everything but i'm not sure this deserves another three hours of my life.

Beau-tiful cinematography and visuals, pitch black humor, great attention to detail in every frame, some deeply uncomfortable and disturbing moments, loved every set piece and Joaquin Phoenix is the best thing about this. His performance is what makes the weird and ridiculous pass in a lot of the scenes and keeps the viewer interested. Patti LuPone stole the spotlight when she shows up she was amazing.

A hard one to give a rating to, i'm not sure I can do it. I'll think about it but right now, i'm afraid! (Edit: it's a 6/10)

@FinFan - Recall that the reptilian creatures were seeking "an object" that turned out to be young Makee. Their staffs tracked her across the galaxy, and reacted as they got closer. They prolly didn't even know for sure who or what they were looking for, so I feel it's something special within her and by extension John, although John appears to be getting more "woke" (in a GOOD way) every time he interacts with the artifacts. Or, perhaps it is a Keymaster / Gatekeeper scenario ala Louis and Dana in Ghostbusters (1984). Just my two centavos worth.

@Mookie - Remember, they are trying to flesh out a first person shooter video game into a cogent series, that has to appeal to not just fans of the game, but normies as well, so, individuals, and even NPC's are given back stories to make it more interesting to those unfamiliar with the concepts or game play. (as well as stretching things out to fill up those 60ish minutes per episode) Thus we follow John-117's journey of discovery, not only of his lost memories (origin story) but his quest of discovery as far as the artifacts go. Halsey singular determination to pursue and possess all knowledge is really just a guise for her unfettered thirst for power, thus her mental cruelty to the children in order to turn them into obedient killing machines. This IMO will be her undoing, as almost occurred with John, but for his fondness and trust of her. Kai-125 however seems wound MUCH tighter, but with LESS self control than John, as shown by her imitation of him and subsequent tonsorial freestyling's. (also she just has batshizz crazy eyes) Her reaction to her recovered memories and betrayals may prove to be interesting, soon.

Yes, Kwan Ha's storyline is indeed also IMO the weakest link. She is uninteresting, bratty and petulant in the worst way, and, all she has proven she is able to do so far is get all her relatives killed and expose the rebels to their enemies. But they needed something to justify Bokeem Woodbine's presence and salary, so, yeah I guess.

Burn Gorman is once again miscast as the villain, unless they were looking to fill the little man with a Napoleonic syndrome trope. IRL he would get pimp slapped "Big Willie style', monkey stomped, and sent back home to his momma, so to me it's quite comical when he tries to be menacing. As Kim K would prolly say, "....no big D energy"..

An underwhelming effort from a company that seems to have fallen behind the curve. Creatively it’s pulling too much from Zootopia and Inside Out while not adding much of its own flavour, almost every choice in this movie is predictable. Sure, the racism/prejudice commentary is more aggressive now that we’ve entered the post-Trump era (seriously, you should go back and look at how Zootopia handled that same topic, it feels quaint now), but besides that it doesn’t bring much to the table. The worldbuilding lacks the clever intricacies of Zootopia, the pretty animation style has some unique textures but it’s no Across the Spider-verse, and emotionally it feels more like Illumination than Pixar. It’s a very straightforward, cheesy romcom with a formulaic set-up for the main characters (think Notting Hill, Crazy Rich Asians, and countless other movies your mom loves), some ok comedy (bad puns notwithstanding) and a boring adventure (fixing pipelines, how exciting). The score’s pretty interesting because it seems to pull a lot from Indian folk music, on the other hand the songs sound generic and overproduced. Overall, I’d easily recommend this over some other animated films from this year, as this does genuinely try as a movie. However, that doesn’t change that I expect both children and adults to be mostly bored by this.

4.5/10

I am getting really frustrated with the dialogue this season, where every scene goes on a minute longer than it needs to because they're constantly repeating exposition over and over again, sometimes within the same scene. It's a level of over-clarification that either feels like they're trying to pad out the runtime, they're cowtowing to studio notes to keep constantly clarifying things, or it's a rushed draft that didn't get to be finessed and pruned before shooting began. Given Disney/Marvel's pre-strike attitudes toward writing staffs, and how badly bogged down Secret Invasion became in many of the same ways, it's not surprising, but a lot is still stuff that could have been tightened up in editing before these episodes were released.

And it's a bummer because I'm otherwise still loving everything else. They're taking the story in some great directions, it still has that Steed & Peel Avengers dapper weirdness. Renslayer and Miss Minutes re-enter the plot nicely, with Minutes taking an especially twisted and creepy turn (holy heck, Tara Strong!). The Victor Timely variant of Kang has ticks that are a little overly played by Majors, but make for a distinct and compelling character. I like it, I just really wish the writing was snappier and tighter to match the sharpness of the directorial and design style.

The revival wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t any where near as funny as the original. I wanted to love it, but it was very like every CBS sitcom, like" "Mike and Molly" for example.

The competence on display really reminds you that the best of the original series was a masterclass in ensemble cast work. Kelsey slips into the role like a pair of socks, as for the rest of the cast, I'm reserving my judgment until I’ve watched at least a few more episodes.

Definitely feels like they're just trying to replace characters like for like. I get that David is basically doing his best Niles impression, but something isn’t clicking here, so far he seems to have been written like Shelton from Big Bang Theory to me rather than Niles. Flipping the Martin/Frasier dynamic with Frasier/Freddie just feels like "been there, done that". I'm worried about Frasier not having anyone to snob around with, I felt that his and Niles' discussions about clothing, opera etc. were quite important. Alan doesn't seem to fill that slot, and neither does David.

The canned laughter is spoiling the funny bits. It's on almost every damn line. Do people really need to be told when to laugh?

I’m hoping that it gets funnier as the characters develop.

Pointless episode.

Anakin and Ahsoka fight because he wants to teach her one last lesson: "it is bad to die".
Ahsoka is full of herself and makes fun of Anakin because he has nothing left to teach her. She keeps crossing her arm.

Flashback/Nostalgia scenes where an young Ahsoka, played by an actress with an even worse performance than Rosario, sees clone troopers dying and is sad and angry at Anakin for teaching her how to be a warrior and thus getting clones killed. She also crosses her arms.
Lightning effects and Vader imagery to make fans excited to see Vader again in an awful show.
Dave Filoni OC proves she is so much cooler than Vader, defeats him and chooses not to kill him, tosses his light saber away.
Anakin approves Mary Sue and sends her in her merry way.
They rescued Ahsoka from the bottom of the Ocean. Either she died from falling on the ocean and came back to life or she can breath underwater. Either way is dumb.
Ahsoka turns into Gandalf the White. She starts wearing white even before she wakes up after being rescued. Did Anakin dressed her up?They decide they don't need the map cause Ahsoka can talk to the space whales, hop her ship inside the stomach of one of them and tell them to go where Ezra/Trawn/Sabine are. Geez. No one could see that coming.
And that's it! They could cut everything between Ahsoka waking up in make-believe-land and she being rescued that no one would notice, because it doesn't influence the story in nothing whatsoever, other than showing that FIloni´s OC is cooler than Anakin/Vader, so fans should clap.

Ahsoka is still the insufferable character from the 2008 Clone Wars film. Rather, she is even worse.

(840-word review) This appears to be a commonly held opinion, and I shared it: the first half, or everything with Luffy, Koby, and Alvida, was a difficult start, even to "get through." It primarily concerned the acting of all three characters by Iñaki Godoy, Morgan Davies, and Ilia Isorelýs Paulino, with Iñaki's acting requiring some immediate adjustment, same with Morgan's acting (particularly the voice/accent, including the line delivery) to an extent – while Luffy and Koby's interactions had a bit of a whiplash, partially stemming from that, in addition to the characters themselves and their characterizations – and most notably, Ilia's acting, which was the most effective at throwing you for a loop; her and Morgan were the most distracting as far as that's concerned. You can ascertain what I'm insinuating. While Iñaki only required the continual exposure of the entire episode.

Fortunately, as the episode continued past that point, it became better and better, steadily improving. It spiked once Zoro appeared, who effortlessly stole the show for a variety of reasons, including Mackenyu's dominating presence, the fight choreography and his execution of it, and the subtle comedic tones at moments when Zoro was on-screen. Then Nami appeared – fantastic stuff; I liked the progression of her, Luffy, Zoro, and their arrival at the same place and the lead-up to them being together: a Luffy-proclaimed crew. But they're "not a crew/not together." Mackenyu and Emily Rudd, especially him, were the most distinctive highlights; all three characters, when together, stole the show collectively, aided by a palpable and genuine dynamic filled with chemistry that Luffy and Koby lacked.

Other aspects, such as the world-building and production value, were, understandably, prominently featured, as this world is vast, detailed, and particular; it was well-depicted, but I'm looking forward to the rest of the season for more of that aspect to see its overall scope, not because it wasn't good in this episode (it was), but because it can be better, and I'm sure it improves throughout. That's one reason to want another season: a larger budget and a better understanding of how to improve on many components through trial and error in this one by everyone involved with all facets of this show's development, utilizing the experience and knowledge gained here.

Going deeper into that, the set design stood out, namely the spaciousness, which I appreciated, probably more than I should have because I have no idea why. It may be summed up by saying it looks appealing; additionally, it may represent the magnitude of the entire world itself to an extent. Their environment-related details were notable, such as Helmeppo's self-portrait, the statue, paintings, the square sections of the ceiling, and the thing on the wall showing several axes in Axe-Hand Morgan's office. That gave the environments life, giving them identities and the impression that they were actual characters. You can see that a lot of thought and care went into it.

Specific things that were effective for me and great: (1.) the direction/editing regarding the close-up shots on faces – primarily the close-up shots on eyes (e.g., Mr. 7 and Zoro's at the beginning of their fight sequence) , the telescope shot of Nami, the split-screen one, akin to Western-genre films and also manga panels, before the fight sequence against Axe-Hand Morgan kicked off (all that was missing was the starting pistol shot signaling to begin), and the rocky (hand-held...?) camerawork in the scene of Garp and Bogard – (2.) the score, which was unsurprisingly a hit, especially the one when the crew set sail, aside from the "Wealth Fame Power" track.

Followed by various funny moments: "I even have to paint her toenails," Luffy slapping Koby (for "You being dumb"), "A bottle for me, and one for my friend: he's had a rough day," "You stupid, stupid girl," – Helmeppo's laugh, the scene of him naked, enjoying his reflection in the mirror while swinging Zoro's sword, then the majestic arrival of Zoro, and his final appearance, especially Luffy and Zoro laughing at his new haircut, courtesy of Zoro; his entire character and Aidan Scott's performance was phenomenal, forming the desire to want more of him – "Get lost. I am...lost," and finally, Jeff Ward's performance, which is already somewhat stealing the show with so little screen time; Buggy will surely be a highlight of this season.

Zoro (Mackenyu), Helmeppo (Aidan Scott), Nami (Emily Rudd), and Buggy (Jeff Ward), along with the scenes of the crew together, where the fun began, were the ultimate show-stealers. I suspect Iñaki Godoy, who was decent despite the outstanding competition, will achieve that level during the season as he settles into the part and grows accustomed to it, making the character his and as effective as possible. There's undeniable heart at work – already in the series premiere, and that's paving the way for a larger-scale, likely successful execution of that, on top of the feeling of pure, genuine fun that took over the screen once our three central characters teamed up; little do they know what awaits them.

@alexander - MEGA Ditto's, Fam.... MEGA DITTOS!!!!! But Ahh yes, the nattering naybob's of negativity IMMEDIATELY reared their basement dwelling little heads, (I mean their literal little heads, NOT their "little" heads) to whine about "canon", and how it's "not like the game" and its "utter crap". It seems like some people could be starving and dying of thirst in the desert, and if someone came along and offered them a Double Quarter Pounder with cheese, added bacon, and a 2 liter of ice cold DIET Mountain Dew, they'd vociferously decline, citing their vegan status and start lecturing on the evils of artificial sweeteners.

Give be a freeking break!

I'm willing to forgive Paramount for having the audacity to produce a show that would appeal to a WIDE audience, who may have NEVER PLAYED Halo, or even heard of it, but, by filling it with a cogent storyline that Joe average could get behind, actually enjoy, and want to tune into AGAIN. Perhaps this maximizing on potential return seems offensive to those who seem to think money and capitalism are evil, you know, the "starving artist" types who rail at the "sellouts" who fail to maintain their approved level of purity.

But I digress.....

Personally, I REALLY enjoyed the opener, and, was impressed by the production level, the talent, and the storyline as presented. Whether they can maintain this has yet to be seen, especially if the writers decide, like unfortunately so MANY Sci Fi shows of late, to start mallet ting the audience over their noggins with wokeness, and social justice commentary, rather than simply trying to be entertaining and appealing. Not that I'm opposed to such things. One however needs to temper the conversion attempts, and take what I call the "Rod Serling approach", that is, tell a great story, and make your point allegorically, rather than a full frontal assault. Star Trek TOS, and to a lesser extent, TNG also did this well.

Yet there too, the nabob's complained about sticking to "approved" storylines, while being seemingly unaware that strictly doing so negates any possibility of originality, inventiveness, or flair. "Hey, the Model T was a reliable car, so, why do we need Tesla's?" Because times change, tastes change, technology changes, and sometimes, changing up your Mom's recipe gives you something even tastier and more enjoyable.

Maybe this excerpt from the shows creators will help them get over their phobias:

But in adapting the character for an ongoing TV series, “It was necessary to basically ask the viewer to get rid of that dynamic,” says Schreiber. “You’re no longer a co-creator of this experience. You’re now being asked to put the controller down, sit down on the couch, and join Chief on a journey where he’s going to learn about his humanity in a way he hasn’t before. And through that process, we as an audience will learn things about him that we never knew before.”

https://tvline.com/2022/03/25/halo-tv-series-episode-1-master-chief-removes-helmet/

And I for one found the first course of "Halo" to be very appetizing, and look forward to the rest of the meal.

[7.6/10] Ahsoka is doing a slow burn, and I can’t say that I mind. There are more teases and piece-moving than there are important plot developments, but that gives us time to get into the world and the story. The machinations of something as grandiose as the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn shouldn’t happen in a day. And something as emotionally potent as Ahsoka and Sabine reuniting as master and apprentice shouldn’t happen in a single episode. Taking the time to let these things simmer before they boil is a feature, not a bug.

Not that the cheekily-titled “Toil and Trouble” is lacking in narrative stakes or high-flying action. The latest clue as to Morgan Elsbet’s intentions leads Ahsoka and Hera to the shipyards of Corellia, where they uncover a host of ex-Imperials, still devoted to the cause, helping out their enemies with hyperdrives and other tech for the “Eye of Scion”.

The visit to Corellia serves a broader theme throughout the Mando-verse side of Star Wars -- that the transition from an Empire to a Republic is an awkward and irregular one. The “happy ever after” of Return of the Jedi gives way to lost causers, reactionary schemers, and in this case, people who profited off the old system who are just as ready to profit off the new one.

Peter Jacobson (of House M.D. fame) does a good job as the local shipyard functionary, trying to put our heroes off the scent and dissembling to keep his operation rolling. But he never comes off like a former Imp trying to raise the last vestiges of the Empire anew. Instead, he seems like someone willing to sell his wares to the highest bidder, whomever that may be. In the franchise’s continuing exploration of what it means to stamp out the embers of the last regime and build up the structure of the New Republic, it’s nice to acknowledge the problems caused by those simply out to make a buck, in line with The Last Jedi.

And it makes time for some action to keep the casual ans happy once more. We get another lightsaber fight, as Ahsoka makes quick work of the mooks in the control tower, bursts through a window with badass glory, and takes on a darksider and their assassin droid with sizzling aplomb. The sword fighting is crisp and clear, without too many cuts, and the choreography is exciting enough to hold your interest.

But this is really Hera’s coming out party. It’s a blast to see her flying with grace and dexterity in live action, as he chases down the ship headed to Morgan’s stronghold. The fancy darting through opposing fire throws her nimbleness at the controls. And what a debut for Chopper, her trust droid, who is as cantankerous, amusing, and potentially murderous as ever. The pair remain great, with a clear goal to place a tracker on the ship, some fun banter and gesticulating between them, and a nice display of their talents. Despite the deliberately placed plot movement, there's plenty of high octane moments here to keep the tempo up.

There's also some genuine intrigue on the villain side of the equation. Our mystery girl refers to Baylan as master, and seems to be genuinely ignorant of what this is all building towards. The episode reveals a new ally, a formidable foe who uses an Inquisitor’s lightsaber and can stand their ground against Ahsoka. And Morgan reveals the power of the map, lighting it up with her Nightsister magic and pointing the way to retrieving Thrawn. It’s all just breadcrumbs for now, but they’re compelling enough to whet your appetite for more.

More than that, Baylan gets a little shading in ways that make him a more interesting player. He derides Morgan’s theories about Thrawn’s location as fairy tales. He laments the possibility of killing Ahsoka, thinking it a shame to lose another Jedi with so few left. He seems steady, dignified, appropriately imbued with Jedi calm. And yet, he seems to desire unimaginable power, a sign of the fall of the dark side. While I’m impatient and, frankly, annoyed with Star Wars mystery boxes, I’m curious enough and satisfied enough with the early hints, to be on board waiting to find out what precisely Baylan’s deal is.

Despite all of this -- the latest rendition of the New Republic’s challenges, the action and excitement, the teases for our villains -- the main event here is the rekindling of the partnership between Ahsoka and Sabine.

I like the structure of how it plays out. You have Sabine’s closest ally, Hera, encouraging Ahsoka to take her on as an apprentice once more. You have Ahsoka’s closest ally, Huyang, encouraging Sabine to seek the path of a padawan once more. And you have both the former master and the former apprentice bucking at the idea, but eventually acquiescing when each realizes they’re ready.

You understand the distance that exists between them and why. The show does well to dramatize the ways in which Ahsoka is steady, thoughtful, and measured, as a Jedi Master might be, and also the ways in which Sabine is still recalcitrant, brash, and a little reckless, in the way a certain young togruta once was when she was a padawan.

Ahsoka is perceptive and deft, as her recovery of the attack droid in Sabine’s home reveals. Sabine is talented and capable, as her ability to retrieve the data from the droid’s head shows. But the near-explosion she causes when pushing the limits to retrieve it, and Ahsoka’s quiet but judgmental air, ably demonstrates why things fell apart.

But Hera and Huyang make the case that they need one another, for structure, for support, for purpose. They’re each too proud, and a little too burned from the last experience, to admit it, but their friends are right. Sabine gradually accepts it. A meaningful haircut is a trope, but also a good signifier that Sabine is done running away from her past, and ready to embrace the path she was on when the Ghost crew road high.

And Ahsoka speaks of both master and apprentice simply knowing they’re ready, the reason behind her reluctance to start anew. But when Sabine shows up, ready to take up her vocation once more, feeling more “her”, each of them lives up to that standard. It’s time to start again.

That start doesn’t happen overnight. I imagine they won’t magically be on the same page the whole time in episode three. It’s a process. A journey. A transition for both of them. But with a measured, even soulful rendition of their intertwining path, I’m willing to wait.

The most classic Star Wars tropes, with Mandalorian-esque pacing (if more ronin, less western). Because the sets and character designs are so familiar, IMO the luxurious sweep does not work - we know everything we're seeing too well. The pacing doesn't suit the relative immaturity of Sabine in particular - this slow and this in-focus, youthful impulse looks too much like just being dumb. So far, lacks the humor and landscape that makes The Mandalorian's laconicism bearable.

Probably works better if you are reliving nostalgia for the cartoons and the translation to live action is full of easter eggs, but that's not where I'm coming from.

So far, no interesting or nuanced characterization or motivation. Indulgent, classic, detailed ship design, but so far it hasn't been used for any storytelling or action. Set / costume / prop design and action choreography are all very competent but extremely conservative, venturing less far from the center of the IP than even Empire/Jedi do.

Particularly jarring: the CGI characters are still doing Lucasfilm "take an extra beat to dance around an actual performer" self-conscious look-at-that animations as if it's 1999. That's a quirk of a moment of special effects history, people. It's like a golf ball putted toward the camera in a 3D movie. Please don't make that yet another one of the zillion elements that must be present for Real Star Wars.

I'm optimistic (?) that maybe the creators are just being extra conservative and boring as a starting point, to protect the series from anti-"wokeness" not-true-Star-Wars accusations because the key cast is 50% female? Maybe we'll get more creative as we go? Ugh, but okay. I am repeatedly boggled by how much Star Wars there is given how extraordinarily narrow the IP is - like, after nine movies and a whole bunch of shows, there's so little variation. Of the things I've seen, only Rian Johnson's entry pushed things a bit, that was not a very daring push, and it was mostly undone by 9. Most individual Marvel characters with multiple appearances have been treated with a wider stylistic range. Star Wars is a brilliant bonkers universe with a zillion planets and aliens! There has to be more than one story in this galaxy! There has to be more to differentiate villains than how many laser swords of what color they swing around! The books and comics go bananas! When is some of that Doctor Aphra sauce coming to the screen?

That said, it's still Star Wars, it doesn't make any mistakes in executing Star Wars, and Star Wars feels good.

[7.5/10] Ahsoka feels right. The vistas of Lothal feel of a piece with their animated rendition. The characters seem like themselves despite shifts in the performer and the medium. Their relationships feel genuine even though much has changed in the five years since we’ve seen them together.

Maybe that shouldn’t be a big surprise with Dave Filoni, impresario of the animated corner of Star Wars, both writing and directing “Master and Apprentice”, the series premiere. He is the title character’s co-creator and caretaker. He is the creator of Star Wars: Rebels, the show that Ahsoka is most clearly indebted to. And he is, for many, the keeper of the flame when it comes to the Galaxy Far Far Away.

But it was my biggest fear for this show. More than the plot, more than the lore, more than the latest chapter in the life of my favorite character in all of Star Wars, my concern was that translating all these characters, and their little corner of the universe, to live action and a different cast and a different era of the franchise would make everything feel wrong. Instead, we’re right at home. The rest is gravy.

And the gravy is good. Because these are not the colorful, if intense, adventures of the Ghost crew fans saw before. This is, or should be, a period of triumph for the onetime Rebels. They won! The Empire is torn asunder! Lothal is led with grace and a touch of wry sarcasm by Governor Azadi, with none other than Clancy Brown reprising the role! Huyang the lightsaber-crafting droid is still around and has most of his original parts!

Nonetheless, our heroes are hung up on old battles and older wounds. Ahsoka Tano is on a quest to track down Grand Admiral Thrawn, who hunted the Spectres in Rebels. Sabine Wren can’t bask in the afterglow of victory as a hero when she’s still mourning Ezra Bridger. And the two warriors have some lingering bad blood with one another after an attempt to become master and apprentice, true to the title, went wrong somewhere along the way.

With that, the first installment of Ahsoka is a surprisingly moody and meditative affair, one that works well for Star Wars. Sure, there's still a couple of crackerjack lightsaber fights to keep the casual fans engaged. But much of this one is focused on familiar characters reflecting on what’s been lost, what’s been broken, and what’s hard to fix. The end of Rebels was triumphant, but came with costs. To linger on those costs, and the new damage that's accumulated in their wake, is a bold choice from Filoni and company.

So is the decision to focus on Sabine here. Don’t get me wrong, Ahsoka has the chance to shine in the first installment of the show that bears her name. Her steady reclamation of a map to Thrawn, badass hack-and-slash on some interfering bounty droids, and freighted reunions with Hera and her former protege all vindicate why fans have latched onto the character. For her part, Rosario Dawson has settled into the role, bringing a certain solemnity that befits a more wizened and confident master, but also that subtle twinkle that Ashley Eckstei brings to the role.

And yet, the first outing for Ahsoka spends more time with Sabine’s perspective. It establishes her as a badass who’d rather rock her speeder with anti-authoritarian style than be honored for her heroics. It shows her grieving a lost comrade whose sacrifice still haunts her. It teases out an emotional distance and rebelliousness between her and her former mentor. And it closes with her using her artist’s eye to solve the puzzle du jour, and defend herself against a fearsome new enemy.

This is her hour, and while Sabine is older, more introverted, all the more wounded than the Mandalorian tagger fans met almost a decade ago, this opening salvo for the series is better for it.

My only qualms are with the threat du jour. Yet another Jedi not only survived the initial Jedi Purge, but has made it to the post-Return of the Jedi era without arousing the suspicions of Palpatine, Vader, Yoda, or Obi-Wan. Ray Stevenson brings a steady and quietly menacing air to Baylan Skoll, the former Jedi turned apparent mercenary, but there's enough rogue force-wielders running around already, thank you very much.

His apprentice holds her own against New Republic forces and Ahsoka’s own former apprentice, but is shrouded in mystery. She goes unidentified, which, in Star Wars land, means she’s secretly someone important (a version of Mara Jade from the “Legends” continuity?) or related to someone important (the child of, oh, let’s say Ventress). And I’m tired of such mystery boxes.

Throw in the fact that Morgan Elsbet, Ahsoka’s source and prisoner, turns out to be a Nightsister, and you have worrying signs that the series’ antagonists will be rehashing old material rather than moving the ball forward. The obvious “We just killed a major character! No for real you guys!” fakeout cliffhanger ending doesn’t inspire much confidence on that front either.

Nonetheless, what kept me invested in Rebels, and frankly all of Star Wars, despite plenty of questionable narrative choices, is the characters. The prospect of Ahsoka trying to train a non force-sensitive Mandalorian in the ways of the Jedi, or at least her brand of them, is a bold and fascinating choice.

But even more fascinating is two people who once believed in one another, having fallen apart, drifting back together over the chance to save someone they both care about. “Master and Apprentice” embraces, rather than shying away from, the sort of lived-in relationships that made the prior series so impactful in the past, and the broken bonds that make these reunions feel fragile, painful, and more than a little bitter in the present.

I am here for Hera the general trying to patch things up between old friends. I am here for Sabine holding onto her rebellious streak but carrying scars from what went wrong, in the Battle of Lothal and in her attempts to learn the ways of the Jedi. And I am here for Ahsoka, once the apprentice without a master, now the master without an apprentice, here to snuff out the embers of the last war and reclaim what was lost within it.

They all feel right. The rest can figure itself out.

[8.0/10] One of my favorites of the show so far. I appreciate how this humanizes Ted. The last episode attempted that with his feelings about his failing marriage, but it felt cheap and unearned. But here, his hesitancy to make the divorce final by signing the papers, him being in a rough (and intoxicated) state and biting Nate’s head off for no reason, and him having a panic attack makes him feel like a real person in a way that the preternaturally chipper coach hasn’t always been to this point. Seeing him struggle with something emotionally, despite his cheery disposition, brings him down to earth in a way I really admire.

At the same time, I love the story of female friendship w e et with Rebecca, Keeley, and new arrival Flo/Sassy, Rebecca’s childhood friend. The two women trying to comfort Rebecca during her anniversary weekend because she needs it leads to a lot of great interaction among them that feel lived-in. It’s impressive to be able to bring in someone who is supposed to be a childhood friend, one with some lingering issues about Rebecca closing herself off, and make it feels so instantly lived in and real. Flo bringing out Rebecca’s sillier, more fun side despite the facade, while also taking her to task for pulling back from their family, is really great stuff. And Keeley adds a lot of fun to the proceedings in her admiration for Flo and her playful friendship with Rebecca.

Plus hey, Nate the Great! I love his taking the whole team to task and the implication that it’s his pre-game speech that spurs AFC Richmond to their first victory over Everton in sixty years. I’m really interested to see where the show goes with him, a s he obviously has an eye for the game and for the players. I’m intrigued to see if they continue t o develop him into a coaching waiting, as seems like the trajectory. It’s nice to see how the guy forgotten about in the luggage compartment turns into the guy who brings his team to victory.

Hell, I even liked Roy in this one, who’s been kind of a generic figure to this point. Nate diagnosing him with losing his anger, the thing that made him great on the pitch regardless of his slowing other skills, helping him find it again is a nie beat. And I’m glad to see the show pull the trigger on him and Keeley already, rather than dragging out the inevitable.

Overall, this one is heartfelt, cathartic, messy, and r eal in the way the bright and friendly Ted Lasso isn’t always. There’s wins here, for Rebecca, for Nate, even for Ted when he makes a connection with his boss's best friend, but they come through organic interactions and hard times, which makes him hit that much harder.

[8.4/10] Hoo boy. This one hit close to home. And when you find yourself relating to Dennis Reynolds, you are getting old, getting deranged, or both. So not a good sign for yours truly.

But holy hell I felt this one. I don’t mind paying via a QR code or other modern changes. But boy, I do get perturbed that everything has its own app now. I do hate the byzantine process one must transverse in order to get customer service. And most of all, I feel that sense of not being mad at the person your dealing with, but being frustrated with a system that seems intentionally maddening, in my bones.

I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Frankly, it makes me worry that I’m an old crank who’s too sclerotic to adapt. For good or for ill though, Dennis’ frustrations when operating his car, buying tea, purchasing a phone, trying to get customer assistance, and any number of other small, seemingly insignificant tasks that leave him in a Kafkaesque nightmare is deeply, deeply relatable. As is the sense of trying to maintain your calm while needlessly frustrating parts of navigating simple tasks in everyday life pop up.

It’s a great showcase for Glenn Howerton. He does a great job of reacting to all the comic absurdities around him, while contributing some of his own. The episode asks a lot of him, with only amusing-but-brief cameos from the rest of the game. And Howerton is up to the challenge, Dennis has his own Falling Down-style adventure, and you buy every increasingly aggravating step of it.

I appreciate the little touches of the story. As is often the case with IASIP, there’s something amusing about how a member of The Gang generalizes a problem from the literal to the abstract. A clerk at a tea shop apologizes that “the system” won’t let her sell him tea without boba, while Dennis takes it to be a complaint about The System:tm: that seemingly acts from above to make his life miserable. (Think Frank feeling hot and complaining about “the climate” in the #MeToo episode.)

But what really puts this one over the top is the bonkers ending. I love the show getting weird and impressionistic for Dennis’ confrontation with the car company CEO. There’s something that feels very clockwork about it. The Roxette song makes a hilarious return after Dennis listening to it in the car to provide the soundtrack to his strange liminal encounter. The very tagline “Listen to Your Heart” has layers of meaning, from Dennis gently pulling out his erstwhile tormentor’s actual heart, to the whole thing being a reaction to a diagnosis of high blood pressure. Even Dennis crushing the heart into a diamond seems like a tie into the rest of the Gang’s scheme to put coal in a pressure cooker.

And even as the ending is caked in irony and humor, I kind of like it as a bizarre and outre, yet cathartic rendition of how many folks feel about trying to resolve their problems with the tiny but accumulating problems of the day-to-day. It’s insane, but by god, you kinda feel it.

Plus, I love love love the reveal that this was all an internal fantasy from Dennis to help him process his stressed out feelings and manually lower his blood pressure in a way that, against all odds, actually works! It’s a big swing, and I’m normally resistant to “It was all a dream” endings, but this one clicks within the general tone of the show’s bolder outings and the confines of the episode. I particularly love the Keyser Soze-like nature of Dennis’ dream, and all the repeating faces and motifs he sees on the way out are doled out perfectly.

Overall, this is a hell of a high note for the season to go out on. Creative, ambitious, and different. Now I just have to worry about having common cause with Dennis Reynolds. Uh oh.

[7.6/10] So let’s get the most important thing out of the way. I love Dani Rojas. The way he just runs around, overflowing with enthusiasm, shouting his own name and declaring “football is life” at a moment’s notice, is infectiously delightful. The fact that he’s a talented soccer player, one who shares Ted’s chipper attitude and is willing to listen to instruction, makes him the exact antithesis of Jamie, which also makes him the perfect motivator for Jamie.

There’s a good story to that, of Ted working as hard as he can to motivate this player and, in a tough moment for himself, getting angier and more emphatic than we’ve ever seen him when Jamie fakes an injury in protest of being benched. The way the combination of a happy-go-lucky competing “ace” and a Ted Lasso uncharacteristically ready to read the riot act, and even a speech from Keeley gets through to the guy is a good one. I even like the bittersweetness of Rebecca recognizing that Ted’s method is working and so getting rid of Jamie because her ultimate goal is for the team to fail to hurt her husband.

I appreciate the integrity of that move, so to speak. My complaint about this show in the first half of this season is that it can be a little too much of what Emily St. James refers to as a “hugbox”. The world needs hugboxes -- shows that make everybody friends by the end of things and exist to brighten your day -- but they don’t always end up as my favorites. The show has done a lot to humanize Rebecca, to show her warming up to Ted and Keeley and the other movers and shakers of the team she’s trying to drive into the ground. Having her read a terrible headline that refers to her as “Old Rebecca”, which reinvigorates her on her mission to hurt the team to hurt her ex, sticks to the complicated choices the character is making, rather than turning her into a n ally straightaway, which I can appreciate.

I’m a little less appreciative of the thumbnail sketch of Jamie’s past that we get in his curse-removing item part of the story. It’s such a cliche to hear the “mommy loved me/daddy told me not be soft” personal history. If the show explores it in more depth down the line, t hen it could work, but delivered as a monologue in what functions as a convenient “Tell me what’s important to you” ritual, it comes off as a stock explanation for his priggish behavior.

That said, I like the general idea of the ritual! The team’s convinced the training room is cursed, something reaffirmed by Dani’s injury. Ted digs into it and finds an explanation for the curse. He comes up with the ritual to both to foster more camaraderie and understanding among his players and to do something to honor the soldiers who died after being treated and recruited in that spot, thereby lifting the hex. Hell, we even see Ted be a little sneaky, a little pragmatic, in colluding with Higgins to time Dani’s return in just such a way as to suggest they’d beaten the curse. It’s clever, and shows Ted understanding the need to get his players out of this psychological ditch rather than any firm belief in curses.

Overall, Jamie still is a bit of a dead end in this show, and I don’t need the continued telegraphing of a Keeley/Roy relationship. But I do like Ted’s efforts to sway Jamie paying off, his ritual that shows a deeper understanding of his players than anyone might have thought, and the steadiness of Rebecca in her quest, and of the writers in their willingness to keep someone sympathetic the erstwhile antagonist for the time being.

[6.0/10] This is the first episode of Ted Lasso that didn’t really work for me. They lean too hard into the maudlin without really earning it. Case-in-point -- I was really excited to meet Ted’s wife and son. The idea of a partner who could find Ted anything less than charming seems a little wild given how readily he bonds with almost anyone in his orbit. But the show suggests a good idea through Ted’s own words, that his wife might find his optimistic disposition “too much” now and then.

That's totally plausible! You could imagine someone suffering from depression struggling with Ted’s sunny worldview, or just wanting to be able to have a bad day without the efforts to buck them up. But we hear that without really seeing that. All we get is a generic, “It doesn’t feel like it used to” from Ted’s wife, and a rushed, trite “I have to let you go because change is good” epiphany from Ted. Nothing from their interactions shows us there’s a problem. It’s a told not shown sort of thing.

I especially bristle at Ted taking Higgins’ lesson that “If you’re with the right person, even the hard times are easy.” Hard times can be hard, man! It’s borderline unhealthy to put the idea out there that if you’re going through struggles as a couple that's a sign that you’re not meant to be. Challenges happen! Not all of them are going to be peachy to get through 100% of the time. But honestly, that's part of the overall problem here. The episode deals in trite truisms, and expects to get away with it if they can rely on some superb “almost tearing up acting” from the performers and a heartfelt Mumford & Sons song in the background.

Candidly, it feels manipulative. We’ve barely seen Ted and his wife together, and the show doesn’t do the work to explain why they once made sense together but now don’t. So while we can intuitively understand that accepting your marriage is over would be incredibly difficult emotionally, Ted’s wife hasn’t been a real character until now, so the attempt at heightened poignance in the moment comes off unearned.

Everything’s just profoundly on the nose in this episode. I don’t know if you realize this, because they’ve been very subtle about it to this point, but Jamie can be kind of selfish. I jest, but his self-centeredness has reached such cartoonish levels, and is commented on by almost everyone, to the point that it feels like Ted Lasso is bashing its audience over the head with that fact. And at the same time, it’s just as obviously signposting that Keeley and Roy are going to get together, which, fine, they have nice enough chemistry, but be a little less obvious about it.

Even if it’s a throwback to childhood sports movies, I do like that Ted benches Jamie to teach him a lesson, and that the team rallies around the idea of teamwork in the absence of their arrogant star player. It’s a simple story beat, but a venerable one because it’s effective. And for all my gripes, I like the fact that Ted’s greatest professional success in the game of soccer to this point is paired with his greatest personal loss. There’s poetry in that.

You can just feel this episode tugging on your heartstrings without having earned the pull. There’s no subtlety to this episode, no well-written interactions that feel like real people dealing with jubilation and heartbreak, just good performers elevating undercooked material that doesn’t earn the maudlin catharsis it’s shooting for.

[7.7/10] I like the theme of older and younger generations teaching each other in this one. The most obvious is Roy and Jamie. Ted convinces Roy to emphasize with his younger counterpart and remember the days when he himself was a “primadonna bitch.” Roy connecting with Jamie over the fact that he too remembers what it’s like to have an older teammate whose seniority is a good beat. And he doesn’t pretend that it’s all sunshine and rainbows after that, just that setting aside their differences for a common goal benefited them both. Hearing grumpy Roy sound like a human being seems to get through to Jamie, just a little, in making him recognize that he can be an arrogant prick.

You have the same deal with Rebecca and Keeley. Keeley teaches Rebecca how to pose for the camera and pumps her up in front of the paparazzi in her big post-divorce coming out party. Rebecca returns the favor by teaching Keeley to hold people accountable, including both her boyfriend and herself. So when Jamie embarasses her by setting up an extra “plus one” to improve his image by having two women bid for him, she calls him out on it. She even apologizes for bidding on Roy, using him as an object in their “little game.” And when Jamie doesn’t get that, doesn’t understand the difference between simply saying “I’m sorry” and actually apologizing for something you regret, she has the self-possession to dump his ass.

It seems obvious that the show is veering toward pairing up Roy and Keeley. But that notwithstanding, I’m much more invested in the friendship between Keeley and Rebecca. The two of them doing what Rebecca always wanted to -- riding around in a tacky peddle cart -- is a wonderful note to go out on.

I also love the introduction of Rebecca’s ex. It doesn’t hurt that it’s ANthony Stewart Head (!!!). I’ve never seen him play such a scumbag before, and he’s surprisingly great at it. You know that type of guy, the schmoozer who can work a room and knows exactly how to push people’s buttons, but is a complete shitheel underneath the facade. Head pulls off the unctuousness of the man to perfection.

But what I like most about it is how Ted sniffs him out almost immediately. Not only does he figure out that Rupert likely called off Robbie Williams to embarrass his ex and give him the chance to come play hero, but he sees what an empty piece of garbage Rupert is. Ted sees the best in everybody. He recognizes the ways his friends and coworkers can be the best versions of themselves. He even has the recognition to see how a shabby-looking busker could tear the house down at a million dollar gala. But given that ability to empathize, to connect, to really see people, he observes the blackness within the soul of Rupert, and affirms it to Rebecca. It’s telling when such a chipper, kind-hearted man sees you for the scum that you are.

Overall, a superb outing for the show that takes the gala setup and runs with it, while delivering some great character beats for all involved.

[7.5/10] Only three episodes in, and the basic move for Ted Lasso is already established. Somebody sets out to destroy Ted, or undermine him, or just get under his skin, and he’s just too sunny and achingly earnest to do anything but win them over. I’m not complaining. It works on me! Ted is a cartoon character, but Jason Sudekis’ winning performance makes him feel just real enough to believe in. Which is, perhaps, what equally grumpy writers like Trent Crimm eventually see in the man as well.

So he wins people over. Trent sets out to write a hit piece, but sees how earnest Ted is in befriending someone prickly like Trent, but also in being genuinely kind and supportive of people, and caring more about making his players the best people they can be than winning games. Roy Kent sets out to push back on Ted’s lack of coaching and unwillingness to step in and stop Jamie’s harassment of Nate, but his literary gifts and willingness to engage with schoolchildren and sincerity about wanting Roy to be the protagonist of A Wrinkle in Time convince Roy to step up and be a leader to stop the bad behavior itself.

Hell, it’s not limited to Ted. Rebecca has no qualms about using Keeley to destroy her coach and star player at the same time. But Keeley is so genuinely grateful to Rebecca for killing the paparazzi piece she surreptitiously spurred in the first place, and so very much on Rebecca’s side, both for her unfair treatment in the press during the divorce and her bosom in a privacy-breaking photo, that Rebecca can’t help but be a little charmed herself.

It’s a nice thing. The gags aren’t overwhelming. (Though I did laugh like a hell at “Do you remember your divorce?”) But there’s smiles all around, and the show really leans into the god character stuff. Everything from Ted using one of Nate’s plays without hesitation, to Coach Beard giving Nate the “high praise” of calling him a “good kid” is scientifically proven get a smile out of you. The show works its magic on the audience the same way Ted does on everyone around him: through sheer chipper earnest. Even crusty old reviewers like me are not immune to such an attack.