J Smudger

I have watched all four episodes of Alien Earth that have been released so far. The cinematography, music, and special effects are strong, but everything else misses the mark. The characters are unconvincing, with the military looking more like soft Gen Z kids than hardened soldiers. The intrigue around the new alien species has been wasted, and both the script and direction are weak. None of the characters manage to hold any interest. The only reason I am still watching is a mix of boredom and my lasting love for the Alien franchise, a love that comes entirely from the first two films. Those remain the only projects that deserve recognition as part of this world, since everything that followed has been garbage.

The new Superman film misses the mark. Instead of a grounded superhero story, it dives headfirst into overblown, comic-book chaos. Lois Lane is the biggest problem. She should be smart, charming, and loveable - here she’s combative, entitled, and badly miscast (too old, too many surgeries, and not pretty enough). The supporting meta-humans are mostly cringey, with some inexplicably overweight, and watching Superman get beaten up for most of the film just isn’t satisfying. Man of Steel proved you can challenge him well - this doesn’t. The CGI swings between good and poor, while Lex Luthor is absurdly overpowered with inter-dimensional tech, stripping away the grounded menace that makes him a great villain. Worse, the film skips buildup and jumps straight off the rails. On the casting side, the diversity feels forced - more like box-ticking than natural representation. And one subplot, where Lois’s short, unattractive colleague is revealed to have been with Luthor’s taller, prettier girlfriend (who’s still completely hung up on him), just feels unrealistic and awkward. That said, it’s not joyless. There is some entertainment value, and the acting isn’t outright terrible. But overall, it’s a misguided take on Superman: messy, forced, and far from what fans wanted. Verdict: Ambitious but clumsy - entertaining at times, yet ultimately a misfire.

This film is almost entirely fan service for those of us who watched the first film. However, it has almost none of the charm, humour, or heart that the first film had. Tbh it was hard to watch.

Disney’s Daredevil: Born Again is a frustrating, disjointed mess that fails to earn its moments. With a drastically reduced episode count, character development, subplots, and even action sequences feel rushed. The writing typically lacks intelligence, wit, or any of the clever details that made the original series shine. Charlie Cox does his best, but with age catching up to the cast and a weak script, even his performance can’t salvage the show. The storytelling feels slapdash, likely a reflection of the production chaos and constant rewrites. Disney’s focus on identity politics over hiring real talent has left them with soulless, corporate content that alienates fans rather than engaging them. Instead of a triumphant return, Born Again feels like a shallow imitation—something to slog through rather than be excited about.

This pretty much sums up Gangs of London: The action is brutal and well-choreographed, but the writing is all over the place. The storylines feel messy, and half the betrayals and double-crosses seem to happen just for the sake of having a twist rather than making sense within the characters’ motivations. It also jumps between too many characters without giving enough reason to care about most of them. One minute you’re following a decent storyline, and then suddenly, you’re stuck with some side character whose name you barely remember, dealing with a subplot that barely connects to the main story. And then they throw in an insane action sequence to pull you back in—except half the time, it’s ridiculous how incompetent supposedly elite killers are at shooting anyone. And they completely fumbled the 2 main characters, Sean and Elliott, making them as annoying as possible with half baked character arcs.

Only at the end of Season 1, but so far, it’s a very entertaining and easy-to-watch series. It blends drama and comedy well, with good characters and engaging storylines. Yes, it’s unrealistic and often silly, but it maintains just enough realism to keep you invested. That said, it leans pretty heavily into modern political messaging: • Women are portrayed as unrealistically strong, easily overpowering men twice their size, kicking down doors with ease, and catching athletic guys on foot without issue. • There’s a fair bit of virtue signaling, promotion of unhealthy lifestyles, and misinformation about addiction. Despite this, the show remains enjoyable, and Nathan Fillion is excellent as always. However, given how these things tend to go, I wouldn’t be surprised if the wokeness ramps up in later seasons. Edit: By Season 3, it does. The show pushes the idea that straight white men are the root of most problems—racists, corrupt cops, criminals, you name it—while everyone else is virtuous and oppressed. Most of the major storylines revolve around BLM, systemic racism, and progressive talking points. Nolan’s character gets berated whenever he tries to help, dismissed as “mansplaining” or being a “white savior.” Meanwhile, it pushes the idea that the police force is mostly racist, and women are better at everything. There’s still some entertainment value left, but it’s wearing thin.

From Season 1 to Season 3, this series is incredibly consistent. It has a great script, fantastic voice actors, an engaging plot, satisfying character arcs, and strong violence and adult themes. The series occasionally subverts expectations and stays away from the ‘woke’ trend that’s been flooding all forms of media for the last 10 years. A breath of fresh air and a truly special series that will leave a lasting impression. I couldn’t recommend this series highly enough.

First 4 seasons are great. Then it starts to get ‘woke’ and reaches unbearable levels of ‘wokeness’ come Season 10. In addition, the writing gets noticeably worse, the show loses much of its humour and identity, and they begin to destroy some of the characters, like Howard, to make a liberal-agenda point (not through a decent character arc).

This film is undeniably creative and embraces its own absurdity, but it completely fumbles the story. The lead protagonist is far too entangled in the overall plot, and the film’s attempts to be clever fall flat, with twists and character arcs failing to land. Even the imaginative segments veer into the ludicrous—like ice skating on crude oil with blades strapped to shoes. Every part of that scenario is as ridiculous as it sounds, and it doesn’t work within the context of the film either. I’m more than willing to suspend disbelief and indulge in fantasy for the sake of a good movie, but this is far from a good movie. It’s terrible by nearly every metric: • Poor CGI • Cringe-worthy humor • Unconvincing and unlikable characters • A lack of cleverness • An obvious and predictable storyline • Nonsensical plot decisions or lazy writing • Physics-defying stunts that stretch credibility even for a cheesy action film • A wasted, talented cast Matthew Vaughn continues his streak of disappointing releases. His last worthwhile film was Kingsman: The Secret Service in 2014. At this point, if his name is attached to a project, it’s a clear signal to skip it.

The show is entertaining in many ways. Season 1 features some interesting character development, and the dialogue is often clever and amusing. These elements make it enjoyable to watch on a surface level. However, the show frequently pushes a political agenda that is hard to ignore and, at times, disrupts the overall experience. For example, there’s a scene where the protagonist parks on the sidewalk and justifies it by saying it’s fine because he’s white. Moments like this feel less like storytelling and more like virtue signaling. This pattern is consistent with Apple’s broader messaging, from downgrading the family emoji to introducing pregnant men emojis. It’s not surprising that this ideology spills into their shows, often in ways that come across as heavy-handed. While the series has its entertaining aspects, viewers should be prepared for recurring themes such as: society admiring an 80-year-old woman’s beauty as though she is young, promoting cosmetic surgery among women as normal, portraying masculinity as inherently toxic, and the idea that being a man or being white is something to apologize for. If you’re able to look past the agenda, there’s still some entertainment value, but it’s hard to fully immerse yourself when the messaging is so overt.