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Showing posts from 2019

Stranger Things: Season 3 T.V. Review

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Cruisin' For A Bitchin'? As arguable as it is to consider how many properties of entertainment strive towards and inevitably lack any original idea which either reference something else from pop-culture or is adapted from a well-known book, it's easy to fathom how hard success really is for a lot of established franchises. Of course, it's only natural for an over-arching story-line to blossom, if no other reason than to allow its creators new ways to thrive creatively and distinctively. This is certainly the case with Netflix's adhered series of Stranger Things  - a show from its inception which is inherently self-reflective in its different stylistic choices and embraces these specific genre iconographies to the point of a satisfying metamorphosis. From its different shifts towards different genre's of 80's horror and thriller and embodying contextual tropes from films and books of the said era, it's used these aspects to the point of the series ...

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: Season 3 T.V. Review

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Bittersweet Swan Song? Regardless of Netflix's infamous and recent pursuit in culling-off adhered T.V. series that some respectfully had room to develop and conclude in their own distinctive way, as seen with the likes of One Day At A Time or Santa Clarita Diet , the said streaming service's approach in producing a wide variety of shows in their own name is unparalleled. Indeed, from their pursuit in delivering anime under their brand, with the likes of B: The Beginning  and The Seven Deadly Sins  to the live-action stalwarts of Stranger Things and The Crown , which have both respectively drawn in large audiences, it's easy to fathom Netflix's arguable dominance in the T.V. Series compendium; and how it's making ordinary televised viewing a thing of the past. However, if there's one distinctive series which has bestowed to its audience a rewarding familiarity in tangent with its adapted source and created a dead-pan satirical set-up that never stales, ...

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum Film Review

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The Art Of Action  As much as the superhero genre, specifically the Marvel strain of films, have rather saturated audiences with its abundance of choreographed heroics, the action genre is a category of features which was always morphed into many different styles; depending on the contextual circumstance. Indeed, Whereas the aftermath of the Second World War inherently changed film-makers at the time to depict battles fought by the brave and noble, films such as Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day or J. Lee Thompson's The Guns of Navarone , and how these films in return   led to the spy genre seen throughout the James Bond centric films of the 60's, it's fathomable to perceive just how much the action genre has changed since it's arguable inception from the very beginning of cinema. Such change is evident through Chad Stahelski's acclaimed John Wick series of films which purposefully takes the choreographed stylisation of the Hong Kong 'Heroic Bloodshed...

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu Film Review

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Wanting To Be The Very Best?! Ever since the initial recognition of Japanese animation in the West within the era of the 1980's, both the anime and video-game mediums have, in many ways, coalesced with one another to create a globalised outlook that has permeated our own understandings of now known Japanese terms. Indeed, from the way in which Hayao Miyazaki's Laputa: Castle in the Sky  subtly references the many story aspects that make-up the plethora of Final Fantasy games-titles to the just said video-game franchise enriching its recognition by also making fully-fledged CG-centric features of their own, with Advent Children and Kingsglaive , it's evident to perceive just how this  specifically aforesaid amalgamation of animation and gaming is seen as a partnership that served to reinforce the predisposition and iconography of Japanese culture. However, if there's one concept which adoringly harmonises its beloved animated-series with the addictive surplus of ...

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones Film Review

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CGIsm Why is the famed cinematic franchise of Star Wars  so loved? This is a question which I believe possesses numerous answers and opinions all of which are appreciated. Whereas others love them because of their tuned affinity in deconstructing the values and noticeable aspects of stories - of which we'll get to discussing down the line of further reviews - many adhere to the universe of Star Wars due to it's immersion and amalgamation of fantastical elements and characters that felt relatable. For myself, it was a filmic series that I grew-up with as a child; first watching A New Hope  and later being so fixated on the stories and adventures it presented to me. Despite its recent animosity and division of quality and story-telling in the latest cinematic endeavours, it's a franchise which, to this day, still enchants young and old alike. It's cultural impact is unparalleled to say the least, what with it distributing other forms of media since its inception in...

Avengers: Endgame Film Review

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Whatever It Takes... Such is the norm in this contemporary age where Superhero theatrical features seamlessly dominate the box-office space and last years Avengers: Infinity War  is the prime precedent of this. In now taking the fourth spot in the highest-grossing films of all time, surmising profit of over $2 billion dollars worldwide, it's no surprise really that Infinity War  went onto break box-office records since it upheld a compelling and shocking narrative that saw a mass amount of characters taking centre stage; similar to that of Empire Strikes Back . Indeed, it's now seen as a Marvel Cinematic Universe entry which see's recognised heroes doing something grandiose and spectacular which coherently masks the action genre to a tea. Many audiences will naturally anticipate to see similar shocking and monumental moments of superhero belligerence in Joe & Anthony Russo's follow-up to Infinity War , in Avengers: Endgame . However, what sets in motion inste...