(trailer review) - Fallout: Season 2

One of the streaming industry's most missed opportunities is to create or curve the trend in recent years. As technology evolves and people have a greater reach to almost all things across the world, our need for information has vastly expanded. Our need to consume everything all at once has gotten to an all-time high, and one could argue that it is still climbing. So, when streaming started to grow more popular and the success of Netflix and other similar models began to grow, "bingeing" was a thing people did to consume their favourite shows. Episodes after episodes, seasons after seasons. It was not too dissimilar to watching your favourite movie and watching the sequel afterwards, or getting together with your family and/or friends and spending the weekend to watch the entirety of Star Wars or Lord of the Rings. It became a culture, but when the pandemic hit, that was all we could do: binge. But when the pandemic was over, a show like 'WandaVision' taught us, that with great writing, scripting, directing and a good story, people will come back week after week after week after week and continue the conversation for a show for days and weeks, building a snowball of popularity when people caught on and wanted to become part of the "water cooler conversation" until the snowball eventually melts away. Also, the trend had changed. But this model is not new by any accounts, because we had seen it with older shows, and even newer shows and they labelled it, "event screening", something like a 'Game of Thrones' where everyone locked in, watched and couldnt stop talking abou it all week until the next episode, but streaming (not all), do not seem to get it. Because it is streaming, it does not mean the binge model is something that cannot be removed, and to introduce a weekly release model. And like most bingeing content, season one of Fallout came out, but disappeared like a fart in the wind. The only reason, I believe we are getting a second season, is due to the fact that, the story was interesting and very good (just like the computer game it is based on) and there may have been a staggered binge of the series meaning, if you knew about it you binged it, then maybe a week or so later, someone else binged it, so on and so forth. The problem with that is, you have small pockets of people talking about it, but the event or the hype dies, but on this occasion,  it was prolonged, just for a little bit as people spoke about how good the show actually was. The weekly format works and I hope that with this second season, Amazon decide to release it weekly because I really enjoyed the first season.

The first season focused on 3 characters, the Vault Dweller, A Ghoul and a deserter from the Brotherhood, a group of militia that polices the wasteland. The show ended with everyone converging at the end, defeating the big bad, only to end up heading to New Vegas, or at least, the Ghoul and the Vault dweller is heading there. This trailer gives us a little taster of some background story as to what has happened to Vegas, the world, and likely the Ghoul, who (as we know from the first season) had a storyline that involved his family. And the Vault dweller, having been sheltered from the outside all her life, accompanies the ghoul (or vice versa) on this road trip to find answers. We see more shots of the vault dwellers we met in season one or another vault entirely, (since the game has a lot of vaults in the city at different towns). We see a man who may have played a part in destroying the world. We see the deserter, and it looks like he is also on a quest of his own. And lastly, the money shot at the end for those who have played the computer game, is a Death Claw, a creature with incredible reach, strength and speed, and usually means instant death when you see one, because they come charging at you with their long arms and talons. I hope they release this second season weekly, which will allow people to watch and talk about it, whereas the first season wouldn't allow. The music is great and the gore is still in tact. The first season introduced us to a quirky world and I sincerely hope they keep the same energy with this next season.

(episode review) - Alien: Earth- Episode 2

 

 

So, naturally, I went on to the second episode, wondering what was going to happen next. There is chaos in the streets, investigative work from medic Hermit, Wendy and the gang, and this episode follows Hermit and Wendy separately until they converge. Hermit is with his team trying to rescue people and do a little investigating to find out what is going on and if there are any survivors to help, and Wendy is on a quest of her own to get close to Hermit with her team, doing little to no investigating, but stumbling across alien species. Although telegraphed from the first episode, you ultimately know what is going to happen, and for some reason or another, an alien seems to be on its own quest to stalk, chase and capture someone (so it seems), for its own individual agenda. Not to mention Morrow, who seems to be the lone warrior on his own quest.


In this episode, we have more characters showcasing their individual personalities, more things going on and more aliens. I have caught myself making a face and it sticking, when it comes to some of the gruesome and disgusting moments, because yes, the Alien franchise is visual and they always get you in the feels, and I do not mean feelings of emotion. When watching an alien do something to a person, it always seems slow and methodical or very harsh and direct, you either squirm feeling very uncomfortable with what you are watching or you either jump in shock/horror in something you just watched that gave you an initial fright, either way, these are like hallmarks of the franchise and the intro to these aliens are interesting. I do wonder, going forward, I wonder how spin-offs will work if they keep up the great pace they have with this new series.

(episode review) - Alien: Earth- Episode 1

If I am allowed to be really honest with you, when I initially heard about Alien: Earth, I thought it was a stupid idea. The Alien franchise has always been great in space, where nobody can hear you scream, and it is claustrophobic as hell. There are a few people, there is one alien or many, and there is no outside help. With that said, I also thought, was it not the plan to keep the alien species, the Xenomorph, away from Earth, so...why Alien Earth? One more thing, if you are new here and have not read any of my reviews on the Alien franchise, like Alien Romulus, for example, I have stated before that the Alien franchise is one of my favourite franchises out there. Not all films are great, but it definitely was a return to form with the last film. So, trying not to come across bias at all, and I am sure I am going to fail, but this first episode was incredible.

The show starts off telling us about the different companies that are controlling Earth, and that they are all in a race to essentially control/run the universe. Humans interested in living forever, there are 3 types of additional "species" on the planet, Cyborgs, Sythetics and Hybrids. The first episode starts almost like-for-like as the original Alien movie. When I saw the dark skinned guy, I immediately thought of Yaphet Kotto as Dennis the technician. I felt like I could see the archetypes of specific characters (maybe not) from the original movie, but there was a spin here I did not expect. You get to meet a little girl named Marcy, and through the episode, you follow her and Morrow, whilst there are flashbacks of an attack by an alien or aliens. If I am honest, I was a little confused as to what was going on as I did think there were some flashbacks, but for the most part, the story seemed linear and it is to be believed (at lease for now anyway), that the Weyland Corp are vying for power from the other leading companies and sabotage seems to be the name of the game. The flashbacks are, maybe, what we do not see happen in the natural way the story is being told here.


The music, the sound design, the visuals and the special effects are all top-notch. Money has gone into this, and it stands out and looks stunning. I do not think I can stress enough that this episode felt like an Alien film but as a sidestep and continuation, meaning, it is not a film, it is a TV show, and this is the TV show branch of the franchise that has not dipped in quality nor storytelling OR any of the other things I previously mentioned. I am intrigued about the aliens and where the story is going to go, going forward, but I would be lying if I did not say I was more than intrigued and, in fact, looking forward to the following episodes. Also, I am not sure where we are with Cyborgs and Synthetics within the Alien franchise but I think Wynona Ryder's character in Alien: Resurrection is indeed a synthetic, so it does make me wonder if we saw any Hybrids or Cyborgs and if not, were they made extinct or are they "hiding" somewhere in the universe or still on Earth? So far, though, a cracking episode to get your sci-fi and Alien-loving taste buds watering for more.

(film review) - F1

It took me a moment to find myself at the cinema to watch this movie. I cannot say I was in a rush to see it, but also, there were other movies I wanted to see first, and although this looks really good and I was hearing good things about it, it was more about finding the time. I am not a die-hard fan of Formula 1; I don't even watch it when it is on TV. I am aware of it to some extent, but this movie, wow, I might actually start watching F1 because this movie was incredible!

Sonny Hayes is a race car driver, but when an old friend, Ruben, comes knocking to enlist him into his team and mentor a younger driver, everything does not go according to Ruben's plan, and his team is on the line.

Firstly, this film is an ode to the 90s with film story tropes you possibly thought died in the 90s; however, Top Gun: Maverick proves that a good story is a good story. Deliver a good story, entertain the crowd, and you can have a winner, but you need to go through the checklist and hit every point at 100%. It is not about quantity; it is about quality, and this is where a lot of movies fail. This movie is about the old man teaching the new guy the way to progress to get an advantage in life (well, in racing), but the new guy thinks the old guy is old and does not know what he is talking about because times have changed since the old man's hay day, you know, he's out of touch. It's the arrogance, it's the ignorance, it's the thinking you know what is best, it's the time element in how much time has passed and learning to be flexible and to adapt. This film had me so gripped; there was a moment I thought, "Wow, this movie seems long," but I did not care because I was enjoying it. This film has heart, sadness, regret, love, excitement, and touches on all the things I mentioned earlier, packed into this storyline about being open to learning something new and chasing your dreams, realising what you need in life and what you do not need. This film delivers in spades (inside card joke - when you watch the movie, you will get it). The film is also somewhat predictable, but it does throw some curveballs at the audience.

The music is phenomenal. The music also felt like an ode to the '90s. Not to say it was music they would play from that era, but sonically, it sounded like music from that era; does that make sense? The music was loud, but fitting. The movie displayed all the hallmarks of a Jerry Bruckheimer movie from that era, and the music was definitely consistent in tone. The sound design was amazing, like absolutely phenomenal. You felt like you were in the crowds, close to the tarmac, or even by the mechanics at the pit stop. I am not sure if they do it, but if you can smell burning rubber in a 4DX screening, I swear, you'd think you are actually in the movie. Every rev, every tire screech, every tool—it all had a unique sound, especially with the crunching and crashing of the materials these cars are made from. Seeing cars zipping fast down a speed track and crashing, and the sound it makes, will make you wince, especially when you learn how much one of these cars costs! There was a moment where the audience gasped (or at least I did), but the cinema was dead quiet, and I think I even clutched my pearls. There was this moment in the movie and in the storyline that carried a hefty weight as if Thanos snapped, and the sound design, as I said, was amazing.

The cinematography is like Top Gun: Maverick, but in an F1 car, and where the camera is situated, it had to be 100% real acting. It's 100% Brad Pitt and Damson Idris driving F1 cars. I cannot vouch for the high speeds, cornering, and such, but you can see Brad and Damson's eyes, and it looks like them and no digital trickery. The camera angles are in the cockpit, just like in Top Gun: Maverick, and the angles are great. Remember when I said the sound makes you feel like you are there, so did the camera angles.

Which brings me to the acting. Brad Pitt carries that old Brad Pitt swagger of a young heartthrob who has aged like fine wine, still swooning all the ladies, but whilst being older and knowledgeable, he also comes across rogueish, and his behaviour is a little rough, whilst being very gentle and calm. In short, he has baggage, especially for somebody who travels so light (another inside joke). Damson Idris is the opposite of Brad in every way as he brought a young, a little cocky, talented, but arrogant driver, who is dedicated but inexperienced. He enjoys the limelight and the fame, and Damson did a great job portraying JP. Javier Bardem. It was this movie that I realised that this is just one phenomenal actor. Whilst I was watching the movie, I kept thinking "wait a minute, isn't he the guy in Skyfall?" whilst at the same time saying "It was written". I was not even thinking of Dune, I was thinking of Skyfall the entire time I was looking at his face whilst also saying "It was written". I don't think he did anything special in this movie, but he carries weight in his performance. There is a scene where he has a dialogue with Brad, and it is an emotional scene, enough to move you. Javier was great. Even Brad in that moment was great; it was just a great scene. All the other characters and their performances were good; I just felt that Damson Idris' manager felt a little forced, and it took me out of it a little, but that might be because I am not used to that dynamic and his delivery.

I came out of this movie buzzing. Superman had me buzzing a little, Fantastic Four: First Steps had me buzzing a little more, but with F1, I was actually buzzing, so hard I was almost bouncing off the walls wanting to talk about it to someone, anyone and talk about how good it was. The film has everything, and it is very entertaining, as I was engaged from start to finish. I definitely recommend watching this.