Compliments to Your Show

Based on: 2017 novel of the same name by Min Jin Lee  Created by: Soo Hugh Directed by: Kogonada & Justin Chon Starring:  Youn Yuh-jung, Kim Min-ha, and Yu-na as adult, teenage, and young Kim Sunja; Jin Ha and Yoon Kyung-ho as Solomon Baek;  Soji Arai (Baek Mozasu), Han Jun-woo (Baek Yoseb), Jeong In-ji (Yangjin), Jung Eun-chae (Kyunghee), Lee Min-ho (Koh Hansu) This one's a bit harder for me to review because I didn't understand it very well 😅 As I've mentioned before in this blog, I have a hard time keeping track of characters when there's an ensemble cast, and especially names when I first start a series. Time jumps are hard for me, too, especially if they're frequent and not made obvious with captions. Unfortunately, this series had all  of that, with the extra obstacle of a foreign language with subtitles the entire time. I did my best to keep up, but.... it didn't work too well.  Pachinko  had several ...

  Based on: Marvel comics featuring the titular character, created by Sana Amanat, Stephen Wacker, G. Willow Wilson, Adrian Alphona, Jamie McKelvie Created by: Bisha K. Ali Executive producers: Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Sana Amanat, Adil & Bilall, Bisha K. Ali Starring: Iman Vellani (Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel), Matt Lintz (Bruno Carrelli), Yasmeen Fletcher (Nakia Bahadir),  Zenobia Shroff (Muneeba Khan),  Mohan Kapur (Yusuf Khan), Saagar Shaikh (Aamir Khan), Rish Shah (Kamran) I was introduced to this comic in grad school, believe it or not! It was one of the assigned readings in a Young Adult Fiction class.  I'm not a big comic reader (I just don't enjoy the comic platform) so I only read what was assigned, but based on that, I knew I liked the character a lot and so I was thrilled when I saw this show announced!  The series drew some controversy before it was even released on Disney+ du...

  Based on: Vertigo comic of the same name by Brian Wood & Riccardo Burchielli Created by: Roberto Patino Directed by: Ava DuVernay & Ernest Dickerson  Starring: Rosario Dawson (Alma/Zee), Benjamin Bratt (Parco), Freddy Miyares (Skel), Hoon Lee (Wilson), Jordan Preston Carter (Odi) In hindsight, I'm not sure what appealed to me about this show. The trailer made clear that it took place in a dystopian alternate future, so I heard "sci-fi" but there really wasn't any! Ultimately, the characters kept me going, which is as it should be.  The limited, six-episode series is (as I stated above) takes place in an alternate future where America goes through a second civil war. The series is about a medical doctor (Alma) who is separated from her son (Skel) during the war and hasn't seen him in six-some years since an uneasy peace was negotiated. At the beginning of the series, Alma is given a chance to enter the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) to fol...

  Based on:  Star Trek by Gene Roddenberry Created by: Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, Jenny Lumet Executive producers: Eugene Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Jenny Lumet, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Aaron Baiers, Heather Kadin, Henry Alonso Myers, Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman Starring: Anson Mount (Capt. Pike), Ethan Peck (Spock), Jess Bush (Nurse Chapel), Christina Chong (La'an), Celia Rose Gooding (Nyota Uhura), Melissa Navia (Erica Ortegas), Babs Olusanmokun (Dr. M'Benga), Bruce Horak (Hemmer), Rebecca Romijn (Una/Number One) This series has been important for me personally because it's the first Star Trek  series I've ever caught on air!  I only truly became aware of Star Trek  as even a thing I might like back in college around 2013 when my best friend insisted I watch The Next Generation (TNG) . (I loved it.) But even in the ensuing decade, it never occurred to me that the franchise was still up and running; I thoug...

    Based on:  Star Wars  by George Lucas Directed by: Deborah Chow Executive producers: Deborah Chow, Ewan McGregor, Kathleen Kennedy, Michelle Rejwan, Joby Harold Starring: Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan), Moses Ingram (Reva), Vivien Lyra Blair (Leia) There had a been rumors about Obi-Wan getting his own movie or standalone project for some time. So you could say I was pretty excited about this!  I understand the series got mixed-to-positive reviews as it aired for somewhat overstuffed story and how well (or not well) Reva was written, those aren't sentiments I shared. I understand it to an extent; Reva did feel a little bit forced and this plotline didn't necessarily need to extend across six hours.  But personally, I thought the series was great. I'll be the first to admit that I'm pretty biased with this: I love  Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan. He's my favorite part of the prequels, the Clone Wars animated series, and just Star Wars as a whole. I'...

    Created by: The Duffer Brothers Executive Producers: The Duffer Brothers, Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, Cindy Holland, Brian Wright, Matt Thunell, Karl Gajdusek, Iain Paterson, Curtis Gwinn Starring: Winona Ryder (Joyce), David Harbour (Chief Hopper), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas), Noah Schnapp (Will), Sadie Sink (Max), Natalia Dyer (Nancy), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan), Joe Keery (Steve), Maya Hawke (Robin), Brett Gelman (Murray), Priah Ferguson (Erica), Eduardo Franco (Argyle), Joseph Quinn (Eddie) and honorable mention to Logan Riley Bruner (Fred) because I loved his performance! Okay so can we talk about how perfect this series is?  Not "season." Series .  I'm just blown away by everything. Writing. Acting. VFX. Scale. Differing plotlines coming together. 60+ minute episodes remaining engaging the whole way. Perfect characte...