Tag Archives: 2005

Movies or shows released in 2005.

Movie Reviews

The Squid and the Whale (2005) Review – Some People Should Not Become Parents, The Movie

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I have a complicated relationship with Noah Baumbach. I like some of his movies (like Marriage Story (2019) and now this one), while the others I watched (Kicking and Screaming (1995), While We’re Young (2014) or The Meyerowitz Stories (2017)) left me cold. I don’t think they are bad movies; he just lives in a different society to me, so I find many of his stories just not that relatable, and many times, I can’t get into his films because of it. And in the first half of The Squid and the Whale, I thought it would be the same story again, him writing and directing an OK movie with great actors, but it will just miss me emotionally. But then… the second half happened.

It doesn’t happen that often you watch a movie full of unlikeable characters. And I mean that literally; not a single character in The Squid and the Whale is a good person. If pressed against the wall, I could argue that Laura Linney comes off as the most likeable out of this bunch, but that’s like saying you’d rather get shot in the leg than your arm. For the entire first half of this movie, I wondered why this movie exists. What is the point? Surely, we wouldn’t just watch a film about one of the most dysfunctional families ever just for “shits and giggles”, right? And when I feared the worst, the scene where Jesse Eisenberg visits a school counsellor and finally can see through many things because he gets him to reflect. And we do the same with him.

This movie is fairly simple if you break it down; it’s about how some people can fuck up their children by them being them, not “evolving”, just being stuck and unhappy in their life. Apparently, a big chunk of this is autobiographical based on Noah’s life, and if that’s true, I really hope he is in a much better place now. The Squid and the Whale reminded me a bit of The Lost Daughter (2021, my review here) because the themes are identical – what happens if people who shouldn’t become parents become parents? But this is where the similarities end, as The Lost Daughter goes a few extra steps in the… right direction. Wrong direction? That is the conundrum.

These two movies are unique because we don’t get many films like these, as they are (I would imagine) a hard sell. We like inspirational stories where people overcome everything and grow up to become great parents, or at least passable enough. We don’t like the harsh reality that many people should not become parents for a plethora of reasons, where they are too much into their lifestyles, don’t have the emotional capability, haven’t “fully” grown and still try to act like teenagers… pick your poison, there are many things that are unfortunately valid reasons. And the moment I started to watch The Squid and the Whale through that lens of “how would it look like if both of your parents were not fit to be parents”, this movie started to make more sense.

What I found fascinating is how, ultimately, the movie doesn’t judge either of them too harshly; it almost excuses both Laura Linney’s and Jeff Daniels‘ characters because it understands they are doing the best they can. At least, that’s how I read it, as the movie seems to acknowledge both of their issues (and they have many), but ultimately, the film asks us not to judge them too much. It is a fascinating and frankly unique look at these people, and I was surprised at how much I respected this film, especially when I doubted it in its first half.

Let’s be honest now; this is a rough movie to recommend because I can see how you could understand all the above things I mentioned and still despise all the main characters so much that you would have a terrible time with this film. And I couldn’t blame you; it’s tough to “root” for unlikeable people, especially in a family drama. The Squid and the Whale is one of those rare movies where I can understand every rating from 1/5 to 5/5. I think where I ultimately landed was due to a couple of things. Firstly, I have found massive respect for Noah to film this and rely on your audience not to judge these characters (who are, at least partially, based on your parents) too harshly. Secondly, we don’t see many movies talking so openly about how we don’t choose our family, but you should try your hardest to love them because they are also just people. I think that is universally relatable; I don’t think anyone forgets the first time they realised their parents were “also people” and saw them as such, with their flaws.

Overall, The Squid and the Whale is a hard movie to like, talk about, or recommend. And yet, when the film lets you in, you find yourself (almost) sympathetic with all these characters despite their massive flaws. Noah and I often don’t see eye-to-eye, but he’s gained enormous respect from me by putting himself (and his parents) out there for every random person (such as myself) to judge. If I were to bump into him and talk to him, I don’t think we would become best friends, but I believe he might be a fascinating person to chat with for an hour or two. If you fancy a film with no good characters to root for, and yet you might still sympathise with them at the end, try this one.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

TV Show Reviews

24 Review (Season Four) – The Nuclear Football, Habib Marwan and The Peak of 24

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It’s been a while, but my watch of 24 continues. And since I have future knowledge (as I am writing this review, I have already seen seasons five and six), I can safely say that this season was the last great one. It seems that from season five, this series relies a bit too much on… actually, let’s not focus on that, shall we? This review is about season four, so let’s delve into that.

This season starts with a bang… well, technically, a crash. A train crash. And it’s all action from several episodes onwards, but of course, that’s not the main plotline of this season. The actual threat for this season starts when Arnold Vosloo (known by most fans from The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001)) shows up. His Habib Marwan made for an excellent opponent who was always a few steps ahead of everyone, Jack Bauer included. Also, his name is said about 20 times per episode, so it’s easy to remember. And I was secretly hoping the showrunners would let him survive to make him into a bigger, multi-season villain. So, a spoiler alert (but not really), he doesn’t survive. He puts up a fight, and his CGI death was funny; it was a shame we couldn’t have more of him as, to me, he was the most worthy opponent Jack has had, maybe ever.

This season was also great for our returning characters, from Michelle and Tony having their “will they won’t they” dynamic that never got boring or annoying. Mary Lynn Rajskub has also returned as Chloe, and it’s hard not to like her socially awkward dork who knows her stuff and will give it to you straight, sometimes without any prompts whatsoever. I also like the dynamic between Audrey (Kim Raver) and Jack; I thought it never went overboard, and they seemed like an actual couple.

I can’t help but feel (and this was before I had my future knowledge of the upcoming two seasons) that this could have been an epic end to this series. I won’t spoil how this season ends, but it felt like it was written as a potential ending to the entire series, and honestly… if it were the end, 24 would have the legacy as one of the best action TV shows ever that also managed to end on a high note. Pretty much all stories have naturally finished, there was no cliffhanger for the next season, and the end of season four seemed like the story of Jack Bauer reached its logical conclusion. But since that is not how TV works (or at least worked on a major TV network), we had to keep it going.

And I can actually use my future knowledge to confirm this would have been more impactful had it ended here. Most of our favourites are still alive, we haven’t brought back anybody from the grave, and no unexpected family members have appeared… what’s that I am naming? Just those annoying TV cliches you tend to recognise when you have watched one too many TV shows from the 90s/2000s, and when these cliches start to happen, you know the showrunners have run out of ideas, steam or creativity. Am I saying 24 will commit all of these sins? Well, you will just have to read my next review. 😉

Overall, the fourth season of 24 was, in my eyes, the pinnacle of 24, alongside the third season (my review here). Everything is bigger and better than the previous season, the main villain included, and when it finally concludes after 24 episodes, you wonder how and where this show will take it now. With my future knowledge, I can safely say choices have been made. Choices; I am afraid that will annoy some people (and probably many fans at the time) and make the fans slowly get off this show and not celebrate it as loudly as other shows of this era. I genuinely believe if the show stopped here, it would have been regarded as one of the best action shows of all time.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Movie Reviews

Havoc (2005) Review – Between Drama and Cringe

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Movies like Havoc are really hard to review. Not because they are so hard to follow, have super convoluted story, or some great idea behind it you’d have to watch the film five times to fully understand/appreciate, no. It’s more to do with the fact that this is one of those “even rich kids have problems” movies, which can be “a bit” cringey. And this one definitely goes to the cringe territory hard (did somebody wanted to imagine, what it would look like, if all white cast acted like the toughest gang ever, acting all “gangsta”? Nobody? Yeah, same.) but at the same time, there is a point to that. Whether it’s good enough (or a new enough) point, that’s up to us to decide.

Havoc is definitely an indie film with some big actors just before they became big (Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Channing Tatum) and it is definitely the first movie, where Anne Hathaway showed us, what she was capable of. She definitely shakes off the “princess” films and is the reason to watch this one, as she is the single reason this movie stays on some sort of tracks and doesn’t go fully into the cringe town. Her character is nothing new under the sun, spoiled, bored, rich girl, who is bored. She does dumb stuff, because she’s young, privileged and doesn’t suffer almost any consequences. But Anne does her thing and somehow, she makes her kind of likeable, especially towards the end. What I also liked about her character was the fact that even though she was everything I’ve just written above (spoiled, bored etc.) and more, she was given two choices to “snitch”. And both times, she refused, and not because she tried to be cool, no. She did it, because deep down, she understood, that what her character was doing, wasn’t right. Especially her second “not to snitch” choice was really impactful, as she had a skin in the game and there were actual stakes for her. Long story short, Anne is the reason to watch and finish this film.

Your overall enjoyment of this movie will be entirely derived from a simple question – whether you can empathize with people, whose boredom stems from them being white, privileged and not happy with their life, so they just try to be somebody else. And somebody else in this instance are black people, because this group perceives them as cooler. And that is pretty much the entire movie – bunch of young, bored students get themselves into trouble, because their lives are so dull, they are looking for that spark, that excitement, that fix. Which we can judge as being just “first world white problems”, because, yes, that’s exactly what it is. But at the same time, I can 100% believe people like this existed and still exist. And if you try really hard not to cringe, especially during those scenes, where they talk to each other, like the members of the lamest gang in the world, and look slightly deeper, you might find a bunch of scared kids, who are still trying to figure out everything.

I have also hit the age (almost 30 now) where I see what’s popular on YouTube or TikTok and can’t wrap my head around it. And of course, naturally, my first reaction “10/15 years ago, when I was that age, my generation was way cooler!” But deep down, the honest truth is – this how it always goes. Most of us can be (and were) really embarrassing while we were growing up, as that’s part of life. And the generation that matured before us, looked at us disapprovingly, saying how more cringe we are, because when they were young… see that circle of life? Every generation believes they were the shit, the peak of the civilisation and once they reach a certain age, when the trends stop making sense, they can’t believe “what these Gen eXers are into”, but are the young people truly much worse than you or I, when we were growing up? No, I don’t think so.

And I think that’s what Havoc is trying to be about. Deep down, underneath all that “glitter”, gang-like behaviour, it is all about just bunch of teenagers, who are looking for something, yet they don’t know, what that something is. Does the movie go about it in engaging way? Not really. As mentioned prior, if this movie didn’t have Anne giving her all to make it work and hold this movie together, it wouldn’t have worked at all. Who I thought also did a great job was Bijou Phillips, whose character goes from intriguing to flat out spoiled fast, but that is who she was underneath. I also liked her fixation (and I think the movie is hinting at more than that) for Anne’s character, how they depicted that friendship and the ultimate “resolution” of that friendship. That was done really well.

Overall, Havoc is definitely a movie, that won’t leave you feeling cold. You will either feel sorry for most of the characters portrayed, or feel an unhealthy amount of rage towards them, for having the means to do pretty much anything they want to, and yet, most of them are still incapable of making any sound decisions. For me, it honestly reminded of a pendulum swinging from one side to another as (I know, I keep mentioning this) mainly the scenes, where they pretend to be tough, “gangsta” and try to talk/look like black people, was a cringe fest. But without those scenes, you wouldn’t have the other ones that give you “access” to some of these characters and what they are all about. Of course that is, if you want to know, if they haven’t annoyed you prior. This might be one of the hardest movies to “recommend”, as it’s not exactly great, but Anne Hathaway is giving a great performance and for what it’s worth, I liked the ambiguous ending. Watch it with zero to low expectations and maybe, you will be rewarded…?

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

TV Show Reviews

The Office Review (Seasons 1 – 9) – A Lot of Beauty in Ordinary Things

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I feel like I need to start this review with a little backstory – I have seen the original (British) The Office (2001 – 2003) a long time ago, when I was much, much younger, so I don’t think I have appreciated the awkward humour as much as I do now. That was part of the reason I have never been interested in the American version of this show. But the more time you spend on “the Internets”, the quicker you learn how much this show means to “my generation” and, mainly thanks to Netflix, how many “new” fans The Office gained after the show wrapped up back in 2013, to the point where there is no doubt about its cult status. So I finally gave in and watched the entire thing.

The Office is definitely one of those shows, where you see (especially in the earliest episodes) how the culture (even though it only started in 2005, so not that long ago) changed when comes to what jokes were… acceptable? This area has always been a bit challenging for me to talk about, as I definitely believe in no lines, when comes to comedy. Because I think comedy has always been a great tool to “touch the untouchable”, to “mock everyone equally”. The smarter comedies definitely challenged believes, ideas and mocked everybody and everything (I mean, look at works of Monty Python (1969 – 1974 and their subsequent movies) and people often forget that when comes to comedies, there is a difference between “this show/joke didn’t age well” to character work. What I mean by that, is most of the inappropriate jokes in The Office come from Michael and/or Dwight, but there is a reason for that. Michael is supposed to be this borderline idiot, who can’t help himself being that way and Dwight is supposed to be a different “breed” altogether, where he has no filter, and he says it as he sees it, plain and simple, as that is how we was raised. So next time, before you read another “think piece” about how this movie/TV show didn’t age well, it’s worth recognising whether that’s true, or whether it’s more to do with certain character choices, who in real life, would say inappropriate stuff like that. There is a difference between trying to be edgy and making a point, trying to make character come alive.

When comes to the actual show, I can’t help but side with the vast majority of people, and say I also fell in love with it. Sure, the first season is rough around the edges (partly because the first season is pretty much remaking the original and it’s only from the second season the show is starting to stand on its own) and the last two seasons aren’t as great as the few prior, because of departure of one of the main characters (I knew who it was prior watching this show, as it was/is pretty much public secret, but just in case somebody has never heard about it, I won’t spoil it) but even those seasons still have plenty of great stuff going for them, so I can’t lower my overall rating.

As with any comedy show (at least nowadays), the key is your characters. If you make the viewers to fall in love with them, make them feel like these people are your friends/co-workers (even though deep down you know they are not) you have won the toughest battle. And this show definitely makes you love its characters. From the ones who are there from the start, like Steve Carell as Michael who is brilliantly dumb, yet caring when it matters, Rainn Wilson as Dwight does a fantastic job as first I didn’t like his character, but he ends up being one of your favourites, John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer aka Jim and Pam are definitely much better couple than Ross and Rachel from Friends (1994 – 2004, yeah, I’ve said, fight me! :-D) and I could basically name everybody else. But what this show does brilliantly is introduces you to new characters, who from the start, might not seem as interesting or funny, just for them after a while to “come alive” and you love them as much as the “original cast”, mainly Ed Helms and Ellie Kemper. I need to compliment mainly Ellie playing Erin, as her character could have easily been just an annoying stereotype of a dumb “secretary”, but she does so much with that role and her comedic timing is so on point, you just fell for her in no time and her orphan storyline is also touching.

This is what this show does really well – it gives every major character backstory, where it pays off in a long run. What I mean by that, is you don’t get your typical “oh this is a Pam episode” or “this is Dwight episode”. They always do couple of things here and there in each episode, and then connect the dots and once it falls in place, it clicks for you and you understand certain characters much better. So, eventually this show has plenty of character arcs throughout it, where the Jim from season 1 is different Jim to the one in season 9.. Plenty of comedy shows don’t do that with their characters, as it’s usually not a requirement, because we are not watching for the characters, but for the comedy, for the laughs. At least, that’s how it used to be, back in the “good old days” (but were those days actually good?) and yes, now it’s more of a standard for even comedy shows to do this, to go more into characters, but The Office does this really, really well. I will give you an example – Ed Helm’s character I really didn’t like, then I tolerated him a bit. Once he became a bigger part of the show and they slowly started to flush his character and gave him a backstory, you actually understood him and where he was coming from. And once you understood him, why he was/is the way he is, you can actually sympathize with him and like him, because you can tell he’s doing the best he can, with what his character had been dealt with.

As mentioned above, this show definitely has some weaker spots, mainly in its last season there are some character decisions, that almost ruin a few things, but they always manage to salvage it and again, even in the last season(s), you find so many funny things. That’s also a really important thing that I need to mention – you laugh every single episode. And I mean every episode, even if the storyline is weaker, or something is happening with one of your favourite characters that you might not agree with, there always are some killer gems/jokes hidden throughout the episode. I have seen a plenty of comedy shows in my time and only few have at least one A+ joke in every episode, and we are talking 9 seasons here! Not too shabby, my hat is off for the writers of this show.

I can definitely see myself coming back to this TV show in the future, and I understand why it became the cult it did in the past couple of years. The Office might seem rough around the edges at first, but if you give it a chance, you will discover, it’s quite ordinary. And as Pam said, there is a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Even if you end up not liking some of these characters, you will eventually learn to tolerate and understand them (in my case it was Angela). To me, that’s the thing about this show – it resembles real life, with plenty of these characters being so real, we knew them even before watching the show, because you’d probably met somebody as weird as Dwight in your life, as dumb as Michael, as dreamy as Pam/Erin or as cool/down to earth as Jim or Stanley. I will definitely visit this office in the future and unlike the real one(s), I will be looking forward going there again.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Movie Reviews

Just Like Heaven (2005) Review – Funny, Charming, What Else to Wish For?

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I always say I don’t mind watching any movie genre, as long as the story is good. But, there might be an exception to the rule, as there always is. The romantic comedies, or rom-coms, if you wish. I tend not to watch plenty of those, as… they are all kind of the same. Sure, you have a good/great one every once in a while, but for most of the time, you would usually get served a mediocre movie, that doesn’t offend you in any way, shape or form, but you won’t really remember it in a few day time. That is why I treasure the ones that manage to stand out, or supersede expectations. Just Like Heaven did that for me.

I think any rom-com lives or dies on two things – story and chemistry between the main couple. The story is usually various degrees of the same old same old, so most of those comedies are half dead from the start, so if the chemistry isn’t there, you know you are not in for a treat. I think Just Like Heaven succeeds on both levels. The story isn’t groundbreaking by any means, but you can tell it’s at least trying to do something, that we haven’t seen a lot and as far as the chemistry part, Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo have got it. You believe them every stage of their relationship (from the mandatory resentment to falling in love towards the end) you can see how these two would end up together. Plus, both of them play their roles really well and in a relaxed manner. The movie feels really natural, there is a sincerity about it and that definitely helps to sell the story.

Speaking of story, I did appreciate the movie trying to tinker with something new(ish), where the main character (Reese) is haunting Mark’s character, as she might (or might not) be dead. Since it’s a rom-com (and also the fact it’s over 15 years old) you probably guess rightly she isn’t, she’s “just” in a deep coma. That is my only “criticism” of this movie – I wish the reveal would happen slightly later in the movie. I feel like the story could have turned into a bit more goofy detective story, trying to figure out what is happening with Reese, maybe utilising more Jon Heder‘s character, as he played the “dude, who actually knows his shit” persona well. The most intriguing part of the movie is figuring out what is the deal with Reese, why only Mark’s character can see/interact with her and I felt this could have been more of surprise, but again, it’s only a minor criticism.

What I also loved about this film is it doesn’t feel too sugary. Sure, does it have its sweet/tender moments? Absolutely. Do they feel as sweet and cheesy as plethora of other rom-coms from the past 20 years or so? Fortunately, no. I don’t know, whether it’s something about having two very capable actors in the lead roles, but even though the movie is sweet, romantic, and all that good stuff, it never goes overboard. It never goes where the other, (below) mediocre movies would go.

Overall, I can strongly recommend Just Like Heaven as I was pleasantly surprised upon my re-watch to find out it’s still a really nice, lighthearted rom-com, that is not only bearable, it’s enjoyable. It’s so enjoyable in fact, that in a couple of years, I would not mind re-watching it again. And that is a sentence I can’t write about plenty of other movies in this genre.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Movie Reviews

Rumor Has It… (2005) Review – Textbook Definition of ‘Fine’

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I might be in the minority, but I would rather watch an awful movie, than the most average movie ever made. And I will tell you why. You will always remember great movies, so that is why I am not even going to mention them. And you will, by their nature, remember something that was just bad, didn’t sit with you well, or bored you… whatever your definition of a bad movie is. But, to me the worst thing is a movie, that’s so average, you don’t really remember anything from it a week from watching it. And that is Rumor Has It…

This movie is a textbook definition of as average as it gets. The story seems intriguing in the beginning, just for it to fall into the stereotypical (unfortunately unfunny) traps of current “comedies”, where you can not only tell what is coming, but on top of that, you can almost always predict who is going to speak up next, what they are going to say… Which is a shame, as the story was intriguing and the cast is great!

Jennifer Aniston made this right after Friends (1994 – 2004) finished their run, so she was still going strong from there, Kevin Costner is welcome addition most of the time and Mark Ruffalo with Richard Jenkins complete the list of great people, having nothing much to do here. I had purposely left one name out, because she, at least for me, made this movie watchable, stole the movie, and only because of her I am rating this movie slightly above the average mark this film deserves. Yes, Shirley MacLaine was the only person in this entire movie that made me laugh every time she was on the screen. She also looked like the only actor who had any kind of fun making this movie.

Which is definitely a disappointment, as with great names like these, you would at least expect something above the average, especially with Jennifer coming off one of the most popular comedy shows of all time. To be fair, she wasn’t bad but any means, neither of the big names I have just listed were necessarily bad, they were just… bland. And that is what makes Rumor Has It… one of the most average movies that ever movied in the history of movies. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve seen it and I swear I can maybe remember one or two scenes, and that is about it. Usually, that’s not a case for me, as when comes to remembering pointless things, my memory is excellent. 😉

This is also something I struggle with when comes to average movies – they are really hard to review properly. To give you an example – think of the best food you’ve ever tasted. Now try to describe it, and why you loved it so much. Now, think of the worst food you’ve tasted and again, describe what made it “the worst”. And now, tell me about that one salad you had a few weeks ago. Or that one store bought sandwich from last week. Exactly, there is nothing much to say, as it doesn’t matter if it’s movies or food, great/not so great experiences are memorable. The most mundane, average movies/food we don’t even realise consuming, as that’s just “yet another one of those”. That is why I’d have a hard time recommending this movie to anybody, even though I loved Shirley in it, because it is just “another one of those” you have watched thousands times prior. Nothing surprises you.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

TV Show Reviews

How I Met Your Mother Review (Seasons 1 – 9) – Let’s Talk About the Ending, Shall We?

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I remember starting this TV show back in 2008, when it was in its third season, arguably its peak, where every joke landed, the story line was really interesting and I really enjoyed the concept of the show, no matter how nonsensical it was (honestly, what dad would tell their kids these stories?). This was my happy place… basically until it ended.

And I know this is fairly controversial opinion to have, but even though the quality did drop a bit over the last couple of seasons, I still enjoyed it and… I did like the finale. Had to think about it at first, because it did take me by surprise, but more I thought about it, more I liked it. Of course, it is impossible to talk about THE most disappointing finale of all time (well, until Dexter or Game of Thrones came around, is that fair to say…?) without going into the spoiler territory, so…

Beware, SPOILERS are coming!

I honestly do understand where plenty of fans were and still are coming from, not liking the way this show ended. I mean, what TV show would put you through 9 seasons, where the concept is about how somebody met their wife/someone’s mother, but we not only don’t get to spend plenty of time with her, but once Ted finally meets her, it doesn’t take too long and she dies! I remember watching that for the first (and so far, only time, but I am planning on re-watching it at some point) and being shocked by that too. And for the first couple of minutes, right after that final episode, I was as most fans still are, mad. Why would they do that? Why waste time on something that doesn’t pay off? And of course, we all could’ve seen him and Robin were destined for each other!

But then I slowly started to realise something – How I Met Your Mother was always about approaching sitcom tropes from slightly different angle. They have often played around with unreliable narrator and most of the time it was funny, they didn’t even shy away from some sad moments (Marshal’s dad dying). So of course, we should’ve seen some curve ball thrown our way. But this is not the main thing.

The thing that made this show so great, was the fact they weren’t shy to get real. And what’s more real that sometimes, even if you meet the girl of your dreams, she might die sooner than you think? That the person you were supposed to be with, was close to you the entire time, but you both had to wait some time, go through different situations, partners etc., before you both are at the same place, where because of your past experiences, you see now what do you actually want/need? Black Mirror made this idea into one of the best episodes of that show, Hang the DJ, which I can’t recommend enough, as it illustrates what I am talking about in a really great length. Yes, we could’ve seen Robin was the right person for him, but there was a reason they didn’t stay together the first time they got together, they both had some growth to do and had to go through life “separately”, facing different situations, to realise what they want.

Like it or not, that’s life and sometimes, even if you plan everything and do every single thing 100% correctly, you might still fail, or lose the person you love the most and it might not even be your fault. Once I’ve realised this, I appreciated this TV show even more and that is why I want to re-watch it. Also, people nowadays tend to forget one thing – it’s not the destination that matters, it’s the journey. And this is how I feel towards this TV show or above mentioned Game of Thrones finale – just because you didn’t like that final episode/season, or it didn’t fulfil your every desire, it doesn’t mean the entire thing wasn’t worth it. But we are so “goal oriented”, we often forget that.

How I Met Your Mother might not be perfect sitcom, sure, I’ll give you that. But it will always have a special place for me. This show is for me, what Friends is for a lot of people, which (unlike this show) I actually grew up on. But the more I grew up, the less I “liked” (I am using this really lightly, as I still like Friends, I just don’t *love* them as most people do) the show. Whereas with How I Met Your Mother, it’s kind of the opposite. More I remember this show and more I think about the ending, the more I appreciate it. I know plenty of people (if they ever end up reading this :-)) will have issues with this statement, but for me, the choice will always be a simple one. I will always choose How I Met Your Mother over Friends, no debate.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Movie Reviews

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005) Review – Rise, Darth Vader

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One thing most Star Wars fans can agree on (even those who hate the prequels) is Revenge of the Sith is objectively the best out of the prequels (but of course, some might add it’s like saying I’d rather have AIDS than cancer). I have showed my hand early (the hand being, Attack of the Clones is my favourite out of this trilogy) but objectively, I have to agree.

Revenge of the Sith is well paced, action packed and surprisingly funny Star Wars movie (definitely the funniest Star Wars movie until the sequels came along). Whether it’s the first rescues mission, Obi-Wan vs General Grievous and his not one(!), not two(!!), not three(!!!) but FOUR (!!!!) lightsabers at the same time, or the final action piece where Obi-Wan goes up against Darth Vader pre metal suit, there sure are plenty of action pieces, where for the most part, they aren’t edited to death, so you should be able to keep up just fine and not wonder where everybody is in relation to each other.

My main problem with this movie is – and this is what I’m trying to get across in all of these prequel reviews – George Lucas wanting to do everything himself. And as I’ve mentioned before, he is a great visionary, he knows what he wants to tell, but he’s not that great with characters or script. Especially when you can see a downfall of a much beloved character throughout the prequels. No, I’m not talking about Anakin, I’m talking about his secret wife, Padmé.

Let’s take a look at her character across this entire trilogy – The Phantom Menace, she’s fearless leader/queen of Naboo, goes wondering on Tatooine with nobody but Qui-Gon, switches herself with her body double several times (btw body double played by young Keira Knightley) throughout the film not thinking about herself, but fighting for her people, and eventually leading an attack on her old palace to take it back from the Federation.

Let’s go to Attack of the Clones – she’s a senator now, therefore in more danger, she goes into hiding with Hayden (that sounds like a 90’s sitcom, Hidin’ with Hayden every Friday only on ABC!) and slowly falls in love with him. But we still see her at the end, kicking some ass in the arena (even though, let’s face it, she should have never survived that place, but you could make an argument Anakin was protecting not only himself, but her for the entire time) and fighting like hell.

In this movie however… she turns into almost a puppy whose sole purpose is to be a mother and therefore turns soft…? Suddenly she’s head over heels, where all she does is planning the future for them as a couple, even though she should know it would be more difficult than that, and cries. I don’t know if George Lucas thinks when women get pregnant, that’s all they are doing, but it seemed her character devolved throughout the trilogy. What a waste of Natalie Portman.

I thought Hayden Christensen got more comfortable with his role, and his performance was much better than the last movie, you can tell how much fun Ewan McGregor is having (I’m really hoping they will do a series on Disney+ with him, I just want more Ewan as Obi-Wan in my life, preferably yesterday) and everything else flows well.

Even the effects hold up today, which can’t be said about different movies from the same era, but then those movie had nowhere near this kind of budget, so I understand why.

Overall, I want to write a tiny bit about the prequel trilogy as a whole, based on what I’ve noticed online.

When these movies first came out, and in the years later (early 2010’s) it was really cool to shit on them, the more shit you could throw at them, the more popular you became. But I’m starting to notice a trend where there are people like myself, who grew up with these films and can love them for what they are. I don’t think objectively anybody can say these are better than the original trilogy. These movies wanted to be different, were allowed to be different, more effects driven, as that technology became available and George Lucas went wild with them. And now, especially since the “sequel trilogy” has finished, and we now know the “full story”, more people are “coming out” with their love for the prequels where yes, they have their weaknesses, but over the three movies, they tell you a full story, that has a beginning, middle and end. Myself, I’m still wrestling with the entire Episode XI as that movie… you know what? You will read it soon. 🙂

All I’m trying to say is, if it’s been a while since you’ve seen these movies, give them a chance now. Is Jar Jar still there? Yes, unfortunately. But maybe you will find that they have more redeemable qualities than you thought.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

That’s all for the prequels! Onto the “sequel” trilogy we go! What did you think? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke