ROGUE ONE REVIEW (NONE SPOILERS)

After watching The Force Awakens, and hearing a series of spin-off Star Wars Movies were to be released (establishing a cinematic universe like Marvel and DC movies), I felt  that these things might just be money grabs: high production value without a solid story for support. While it may indeed be a money grab by the empire of the dream tyrant, Disney, it's a brilliant one. The cast was excellent and the special effects were amazing enough to bring a dead man to life.

It's not perfect. It does have some odd edits and tiny errors throughout, but it's over all ability to recreate the entire Ep. IV universe elegantly was enough for these things to be over looked. I was wonderfully overwhelmed with nostalgia. However, as a die hard fan I was extremely disappointed with Darth Vader's suit, but that didn't ruin the movie too much for me because we seem him go full sith lord on rebel scum later on. Knowing how powerful Vader had yet to be portrayed on the silver screen, I was immensely satisfied with the end result.

I don't want to give away too many details and accidentally spoil the movie, but it does justice to the original trilogy and fills in many of the gaps between Ep. III and Ep. IV. It works well as a stand alone film too. I give it a 8 out of 10 for technicalities, a 9 out of 10 for story, and an overall 4 out of 5 for entertainment.

HALF LIFE 3 CONFIRMED: Stranger Things Review

A break from all the sex and violence that most "Original" series have to offer, Stranger Things is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen on the face of the internet. On a cinematic level, it can be compared to The Goonies (1985) and Alien (1979), and if we could incorporate video games into the mix Half Life (1998) comes to mind. As a whole it satisfied my needs as a viewer.

The pacing was so well that no episode dragged on or felt as long as they did. The plot followed through like a good cup of coffee: smooth and fresh. The cast and character development were so natural I cannot fathom it another way. The soundtrack was also powerful and allowed for key moments to transcend the boundaries of the screen. In a sea full of technicalities, the only areas I found a little troublesome were the costumes and the special effects.

While the main cast appeared to be constructs of 80s fashion, everyone else seemed to me an 80s spin off (hipster is a word that comes to mind). I have nothing against the use of digital effects, but in a story that alluded to and paid homage to practical effects in movies like The Thing, I feel like they should gone that route more often than they did. Especially when it came to interacting with the environment.

For the casual viewer this series is easily a 5 out of 5, and even for those with a more cinematic eye it's hard to condemn the nuances that make Stranger Things what it is. The season could not have ended any better than it did with all loose ends tied up and bound, with parallels in the story forward, backward and all around, and yet with stranger things still to be found!