Andor: Season 2

I'm kinda pissed off I will not lie to you.

Now admittedly the vast majority of the first three episodes were really not doing anything for me (to the point I kinda wanted to quit to be brutally honest for a moment), but really after that whatever issues I might have with this season are down to I just didn't like the conclusion to the Imperial stuff. Shocking I know! But beyond that how does this second part to a technical quadrilogy if we go all the way to the end of A New Hope stack up? When it gets going it is slipping right back into the good stuff that you would expect and loved from the first season! If anything I can sum up this series as, all the pieces on the chessboard are making their final moves cause this does indeed end right before Rogue One begins so we see Cassian fully commit to the Yavin rebels, we see the final moments of Mon before leaving the Senate, Luthen really cutting it close to being discovered, and Dedra being shuffled to the right places at the right time. It never is as easy as I explain it and indeed there is a loooot to talk about maybe more than I have space for so let's discuss technicals first. Acting wise the calibre has not diminished if anything it's exceeded the first season, with the highlights going to Diego, Denise, Elizabeth Dulau who really comes into her own as Kleya, and of course light of my life Genevieve. It's very easy to forget you're not watching actors in a show that's all I'll say! The expansive sets, costumes, props, and visual effects are still top notch and I do truly hope we get so much more physical sets despite the Volume being a marvel of technology. The tone has truly gotten more grim and even real at certain points, which...even as a die hard Star Wars fan I never imagined I could truly say. There really is no way to gloss over or sugar coat it, seeing Ghorman and the massacre was striking, it was scary if even for just a second, if this show knows how to do anything it's calculate the rising tension and suspense to a staggering effect, and it hits as well as it does because we've seen this shit before on the news. Now of course Star Wars has always had some real world inspirational draw, this is not some modern spin take on it. To sum it up in one point, why were the Imperials mainly british and the rebels mainly american? It was a little world event in history, might have heard of it, it was called THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. But Jesus wept, it just hits so close to now and yes it is undoubtedly entertainment but you also have to acknowledge what the writers were trying to get across. I can forgive three goddamn episodes of Cassian being stuck doing nothing while being caught between two dipshit factions, because of all the better story elements that come in later. I honestly don't even know where to go from here, and the worst part is because my ass was so behind the times that I kinda was already hearing "spoilers" for lack of a better term and it did indeed damage my viewing pleasure and experience. I knew about Bix and all she was going through, I knew about Brasso, I knew about Dedra's outcome, I knew about Saw's questionable recreations, I even knew about the damn healer. So I really hate to say it but the score will suffer because of that. Do I still think it is a very well crafted and entertaining show? Yes! Will I most likely watch Rogue One after writing this? Yes! Was it as good as season one? That is an impossible question because I didn't know shit through season one until each episode came out, so it's already unfair but even then as a whole, I would say no. Life is unfair and mostly bullshit, but I'll get over it. I'm dying one day anyway and I still had several surprises in store for me, and there is always something to look forward to. Still pretty fucking bummed out anyway but emotions are the most fickle thing in existence. In like a years time this In Retrospect will quell any issues and I'll be all the happier for it. Reeealllyyy gonna piss off pretty much everybody, though unintentional I swear, when I say 3 stars, 8/10, I'm willing to have my opinion changed. But not today.

In Retrospect: Andor (Season 1)

Fashionably late or just very late, life is kicking me in the ass and this is just the show I needed.

So does the superbly acclaimed Star Wars series hold up on a second viewing? Was Tatooine originally a water planet? I have to say it was a very different viewing experience marathoning the whole first season, cause I was right there every week on original release date hanging on every action and word until Thanksgiving Day 3 years ago. I will fully say it does indeed improve, now that I know the plot elements I can focus on all the other bits, pay even more attention to the great acting, revel in the visuals from costuming to environments, dig deep into this dialogue, and get hyped for season two all over again. The unfolding events in Cassian's life is certainly a wild trip to watch in one fluid sitting, from being a two-timing scoundrel home, to pulling off quite possibly the biggest bank heist in recent galactic memory, to escaping one hell of a prison, to pretty much putting himself on the line in joining the Rebellion. Crazy! Diego Luna, love that man, gets so much to do and the writing enhances his already great acting ability. Stellan Skarsgård as Luthen Rael is easily the most interesting character and also has easily the best speech and that's saying something in this show. Genevieve ohhh my stars, I am going to be so insufferable watching season 2 mark my words because that woman is a walking treasure trove and despite my Imperial leanings my heart goes out to Mon Mothma, and reading Reign Of The Empire enhanced that severely, (Even though I still hate her husband, there's better people to marry...like meeeeee.) emphasizing the stress and sheer paranoia someone in such a position would feel. Denise Gough that's mah gurl in this series, hell to the yes for the ISB making the leap to a visual medium, and my lord there could be a masterclass on facial acting from Dedra Meero alone! Also need more Major Partagaz in season two, just saying. Still really rather despise Syril Karn than ever before, I mean who knows maybe the next season will give me more to where I will dread his demise but I doubt that. Also just want to shoutout Brasso, I took him as kind of a nothing character first time around but now I'm a staunch supporter and love the guy, he's a true real one! Also fully believe our man and king Andy Serkis is still alive and thriving as Kino Loy, I know we're not gonna get dick on his character in the next season but I have dreams damn it! And I'm so happy to see people gravitate so strongly and praise the shit out of this show, granted I haven't heard a lot of stories from non-Star Wars fans who watched it and loved it but I'm positive they exist, the reception couldn't be more glowing. That kinda has some cons to it, like annoying bitches saying Star Wars will never be this good again or they start comparing shows and bash anything else which I find just intolerable and I hex those fuckers like there's no tomorrow. Is it strikingly unique in the Star Wars universe with stellar practical sets, excellent writing, fantastic actors, and a tone that makes Rogue One seem like a skip in the park? Yes! But just enjoy the show, it's different but there's plenty of media in this galaxy that's great stuff. I had a wonderful time and, well being the nerdy ass white boy I am and knowing galactic history like I took a college class on it, eeuugghhh it's about to get rough. Jesus Christ this show is about to hit so different in this foul year of our lord two thousand and twenty-five. The revolution will indeed be televised. 4 stars, 9/10, a short microjump and we'll be back for the series finale.

Andor: Season 1

Okay, holy shit we made it to the end and with one hell of a show!




I had a small thought and find it hilarious, the people who waaay back who were like why in the hell are we introducing politics into Star Wars are the same people now who actually really enjoy this series and it's more political, slow paced, and less actiony moments. Yes Andor, the one show I was not entirely here for from the announcement but in the words of my Papa I'll be dadgum, I really enjoyed this show! Set 5 years before the Battle of Yavin and ostensibly also 5 years before Rogue One, we meet up again with Cassian Andor who through a secret contact in the still forming infant Rebel Alliance is thrown into many situations and rough spots as he slowly is turned to joining the cause. That is pure bare bones story, there is quite a lot that occurs, believe it or not there isn't a whole lot of twists and turns at least not in the conventional sense. Now this is a highly important factor to bring up when trying to get people onto this show, there isn't a chase and pew-pew action every episode, it's more the exception rather than the rule. It holds a different kind of power, and I attribute that to the series writer Tony Gilroy who's bread and butter is spy thrillers, he isn't even that hardcore a Star Wars fan hence the lack of aliens and droids for the most part throughout the series. But the man knows his shit and delivers an intensely fascinating and tension building show in any situation. From essentialy the great bank heist of Aldhani, to galactic Prison Break, to everything in between it holds your attention. True the flashback sequences feel very slapdash in how they mixed it with the story, going to and fro from the past to now, but truthfully you only got to deal with it for a few episodes. If you give this show your undivided attention it delivers much in return, character wise, plot wise, and even easter egg wise. So let's go through characters, it is a big ensemble cast so we'll focus on major players seen throughout. Diego Luna I feel really gets to spread his wings in this show, even though he did mighty well in Rogue One you just get more time with him. His out for his own self attitude, his secrecy, his sometimes cold blooded persona, but underneath it all you see a great dedication to his friends and family and know when push comes to shove he will fight alongside people. Stellan Skarsgard as Luthen, you want to talk like best performances ever in Star Wars? I'm serious man, he brought award winning big gun acting chops to this show potraying what I feel to be the true originator of the Rebels at least in ethics and conviction to fight the Empire. He just gets these sections of lines, full monologues at times, and just goes for it! I seriously couldn't praise the man enough if I tried. Now, oh yes, my favorite character, Denise Gough as ISB Lieutanant Deedra Meero. Whoa. It took maybe 5 seconds for me to settle on her as my favorite, if a quarter of the Empire had her conviction, meticulous mind, and broad strokes thinking the fucking Rebellion would have been killed before it got out of it's cot. She is not in this game for ascension through the ranks, she is here to wipe out dissidents and be awesome. Now to go to my least favorite character! Far from anything I could say bad things about Kyle Soller as Syril Karn, like the performance is spot on and done well but this character....Jesus wept. Okay, I didn't hate him at first, I saw this young, idealistic, commited to his job and code of ethics man and I can respect that. It then turned out he was a actually a simpering, washed out, wannabe who has a huge vengeance hard on for Cassian and a probably more quite literal hard on for Deedra. And I just, oh my God, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. The fact they even tried to nudge this potential romance made me want to wrap my lips around a fucking T-21. No. I am telling you no, go in the corner and think about what you did! This will not stand man! Now you know my stance on rebels, they are traitors, murderers, terrorists, and thieves. They are not heroes, they are not martyrs, they are a disease. However! Genevieve O'Reilly as Mon Mothma, I can live with her. Not to sound shameless, though I am, Mon Mothma is the most beautiful woman in all of Star Wars. No horseshit Jack, better than Cara Dune, better than Rey, Rose, Padme, even our beloved Leia, it's her over everyone okay! She makes my heart glow every second she is on screen, her husband is fucking useless marry me instead, and her story segments are kinda heartbreaking at times so she just gets a 12/10 overall! Everyone else as supporting cast was just as commited and strong as our major players so props to all involved, special love to Adria Arjona as Bix, Anton Lesser as Major Partagaz, and a secret extra bonus character whose work I love immensely but some secrets are best kept. Just go watch it. Lightning round opinion time! I have to applaud Lucasfilm for just making practical sets and not working exclusively with the Volume, the props, set design, costumes, and effects are just as good as any of the films maybe even a bit more so because you get just so much of it since it is a series. The Arrestor Cruiser plucked straight out of proto-type Star Destroyer concept art, amazing, flawless, showstopping, where's my toy, I love it. I want a whole friggin' show based on the ISB, it's wonderful to finally see it on screen and an environement I want to revisit a lot. Episode 6, wow. Just wow. Breathtaking visuals!! Plus this show made TIE Fighters legit terrifying, and I am an Imperial at heart but even my teeth were set on edge hearing those screaming ion engines. Our little droid B2EMO, I'm still grappling with that absurd name yet I treasure him and his little stutter, but it does pose the question....can you be too emo? (Yes.) Soooo many easter eggs in Luthen's art gallery, those prop boys were having a real good time peppering in all kinds of items and artifacts, most of which I caught. After credits scene for the finale, sheer pornography, a happy ending if I ever saw one. Ooh my....but anywho! I swear on all I believe, that march in the last episode was without question or doubt the most suspenseful dare I say Hitchcockian scene in Star Wars history, cause it just builds and builds at a slow burn pace, akin to the series as a whole in that way, and you know something is up, some shit is about to go down when it stops but you have no idea what. That's stunning to see, never that I would say Star Wars is "formulaic", there's too much diversity in eras, characters, and stories with obvious reoccuring themes but this really breaks the mold as what people consider Star Wars could be. I'm in the camp that Star Wars can take on any genre, sub-genre, style, or situation and Andor proves it can be done. We have the technology. We have the writing. The sky is the limit as I have said before. It does truly trail blaze, it sets out on it's own story and does it's own thing, with all the shows we've gotten not that I'm saying this as a detriment but it is traditional wonderful fan pleasing Star Wars. I still say it's a toss up between Kenobi and Mando for my favorite of the shows so far, but Andor has a lot of my respect and admiration and could potentially top them all. If I said to 2016 Dude, that Andor show you have no interest in and not much hope for yeah my Dude it's actually groundbreaking and amazing, I would scarcely believe myself! But that's what happens, time marches on, opinions and viewpoints change, impermanence is life. So I'm walking away highly pleased and looking forward to season 2. 4 stars, 8.5/10, and this...hurts to say.



Okay everybody I have news. Not good news. I've been sitting on this egg of an idea for about half the year and I feel it is important and more importantly, time. Next year, after the 8th anniversary, I'm taking a step back. I'm not quitting, I'm not retiring, everything is perfectly fine in my personal life, but reviews are not going to be nearly as frequent as before. I have written over 1,000 reviews in less than a decade. Can you count to 1,000? Cause I sure did and I can't believe it even now! You think I planned all this to go as long as it did?? Heeeellllll naw! So we're just gonna do new releases, our traditional Halloween October goodness, maybe a birthday week, but that's really it until 2024. This has never felt like a job, but a passion project, I do not get paid for it and never have but I could care less! But I also couldn't tell you the last time I rewatched a movie just to rewatch it, to enjoy cinema without really having to write about it, to not worry about my constant schedule of reviews. Even when I take months off I'm still planning and writing for the future. But when The countdown began to #1000, I had to do some thinking. I love it too much to quit, but life must take precedent. But I'll be back before you know it come January and I want to say thank you very much for sticking around another year, sticking around forever, recently, somewhere in the middle, and I hope you've seen some good movies this year! Mind you, this Top 10 list...yikes, I don't have much credibility in the slightest but I might get yelled at for this. But until that time, be safe, stay warm, enjoy your holidays, and I shall return to a sunless space to share my dreams with ghosts, monsters, and ghouls, to bask in the light of a full moon I'll never see in reality, to hear the sound of falling leaves and howling winds, to traverse paths through ancient woods where there is no way of escape, to revel in the spooky and the macabre. I find that good.

The League Of Super Pets

Oh thank God. Not as bad as I thought it was going to be.




Yeah, after a re-evaluation of The Batman and the very very good Snyder cut I needed this to be decent. Thankfully I can report it was okay, in terms of overall quality. It has a really neat art design, taking a lot of art deco/50s futurisic influence to the backgrounds and environments, with some pretty cool character designs for the human superheroes. The fact alone I get to see a Superman suit a la' Kingdom Come is pretty sick, Diana is somehow even more awesome looking than normal I mean woof (ha ha ha....), Aquaman is a neat mix of classic comics and Justice League Unlimited, we got a new Green Lantern I was not aware of and hello there madame I will research you immediately, poor Flash and Bats could have had more interesting designs to be honest, we even get a frickin' rad Mercy Graves so I'm pretty happy on that front. But the focus is of course on the pets and they are mostly miss for me, not much love for Krypto or Ace (and that is the only time I will speak blasphemy on the name of Ace), the pig PB was cute, the squirrel...eh, but my favorites were the geriatric turtle and not just cause she cusses and it made me lose my shit in the theater, and of course the villains. Kate McKinnon my babe, you once again are my shining star and play one of the unironically best villains I've seen in an animated film in some time and she has a pretty kitty henchman who is cute as heck and will annihilate your enemies with extreme prejudice. I want him. That's the thing with this movie for me, I don't particularly care about Krypto or his story, more the funny odd stuff that happens along the way. It's an average basic premise and plot but it is serviceable. The comedy actually got me more than I could have fathomed, the villain is brilliant but even then has some groaner jokes, the turtle was amazing but any kids movie that drops an F bomb whether censored or not has some respect from me, and the semi-Looney Tunes physical humor worked in places. I am taking this as a small victory, it wasn't bullshit from cover to cover it was just painfully adequate with some bright spots. I can live with that. 2.5 stars, 6/10, and we got only one more week before I take a summer break so we will go out with a bang.

In Retrospect: Rogue One

You may fire when ready.

I forgot how amazing Peter Cushing was in this! I don't care if it's cgi, it's Peter Cushing back to do another movie. Automatic 12 stars out of 10, when you add Carrie Fisher in this as well. I love Star Wars, the original 1977 Star Wars was the first movie I ever saw if you have somehow forgotten that, I already talk about it enough. But it was the first time I saw these actors in my life, and then through the years I saw them in more things. And they are gone now, so it was both triumphant and crushing to see them in this movie again. So Rogue One is still a great Star Wars movie, now that I have watched Rebels, I noticed several more easter eggs that flew by me the first viewing in theaters. It was a lot of fun, the characters in my opinion got better with repeated viewings. Now that I have the ability to rewind and pause, I could gather much more evidence of good performances in this movie. Jyn Erso still feels like an outsider to it all but becomes a true Rebel as the film progresses, Cassian Andor is this hard edged, no nonsense captain willing to do shall we say...morally ambiguous things. In fact, the Rebel Alliance isn't all comradery and heroes and doing the right thing no matter what. They do bad things in this movie, which is very much more like a real war, not everybody believes in their side and does things they may not be proud of. That is a great aspect. Krennic is a backstabbing son of a mother, has no respect or anything for other people, so he gets under your skin quickly. All the side characters like Baze or Ip Man (Yeah I know his name is Chirrut, but it's Donnie Yen so he's Ip Man!) got a lot better as well. Everyone says the Battle of Scarif is the best space battle in Star Wars, I would still say either of the Death Star assaults but it is pretty spectacular. I still am not a fan of Vader's castle on Mustafar though, now people would argue "Well it's on Mustafar because that's where he lost everything. Being there taps into his anger, and pain, therefore making him more powerful in the dark side." and I don't like it. I loved the idea he had this castle on a remote, desolate ice planet, more desolate than Hoth that he could retreat to away from the Emperor. The imagery alone in my mind makes it so badass but whatever, I didn't make the movie. The ending scene was still unbelievable, and it does indeed just keep getting more awesome every time. So worth buying it, so awesome still, Rogue One makes a fine addition to my collection. Will it be part of yours too?

Rogue One

I'm not disappointed.

New Star Wars movie!!! How was it? They did a very good job with it, it was a well made, well put together movie that encapsulates what happened before A New Hope. I enjoyed it, the story I totally rolled with, it was very believable that this is how the Rebels got the Death Star plans. The cast was great, even though I'm not the biggest Felicity Jones fan but Mads Mikkelsen and Donnie Yen and James Earl Jones were fantastic, and I have to say we see some unexpected faces in this movie. I was stunned to see so many familiar faces from the series. Senator Bail Organa from Episode 3 made an appearance, Darth Vader obviously, those two hecklers in the cantina from Episode 4, mentions of Obi-Wan, but most shocking of all was Peter Cushing. I was wondering if they were going to put Tarkin in the movie but...there he was! Peter Cushing as I live and breathe! It looked just like him, it sounded like him, I was freaking out in my seat whenever I saw him! That was positively shocking, the effects in this movie were so outstanding that they brought an old friend back from years gone by. Speaking of which, the film looks amazing with plenty of space battles, and blaster fights throughout. I was wondering if they were almost going to do a straight up war movie, and while it did have it's moments it still felt like Star Wars. They didn't screw around with the continuity, in fact they got it down impeccably with the attention to detail in all you see and remember from the original Star Wars. I'd like to see someone whine about that exhaust port on the Death Star now. What was surprising most is, most of the footage in the trailers is NOT in the movie. A good 80% of all the trailers look drastically different from the finished film. Now other films were like this, like Suicide Squad, the movie looked ever so slightly different from the film (Don't worry I still need to look back at Suicide Squad, I haven't forgotten.) but with this movie you might as well have not seen the trailers. Great movie, definitely go see it, I know I probably will again! Thanks for reading, enjoy the movie, and I shall see you guys next week.