Bram Sebio-Rangel

The show was barely halfway over and people were rating it as if it was the worst thing ever. I even saw 1 star ratings after just the FIRST EPISODE WAS RELEASED. My goodness, so many Star Wars “fans” can’t ever be patient with tv-shows. I’ll admit the exposition was a little slow but it’s been so rewarding to get to the last few episodes. Particularly as someone who has read the High Republic books, this show is pretty decent. Give the show a chance, people!

As a history professor, I can honestly say this movie is a masterpiece! From Joaquin Phoenix’s stellar acting to the gloriously romanticized/nostalgic battles to even the Emperor’s relationship with Empress Josephine… I could not love that movie more. I am not usually one for 2 1/2 hour+ movies. My attention span— same as my generation’s— is admittedly moderate at best. But this film I could’ve watched for 3 hours or longer. I was captivated all the way to the end. I hope more history movies could be made like Napoleon.

My wife took me to go see this movie and I did not go into it with any expectations, save for the fear it would be too cheesy or ultra "girly" like the Barbie commercials I grew up with. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how dark and cynical the movie was. And judging by all the 1 stars I'm seeing in the reviews? It's pretty obvious how badly this movie is needed. Any film that challenges Conservative traditionalism anywhere in the world (but especially the United States) always gets a backlash from the reactionaries of the country but what else is new? I'm proud to give this movie 5 stars not just because of how excellent I found it to be, but also to cancel out all the predictable reviewers that go online just to bash films for being "too woke" or "too anti-traditionalist." This is 2023, yet so many have resorted to become broken records.

I think this game is absolutely incredible! Lots of characters, creative dialogue, on-planet and space gameplay, an insanely fun story-mode… My wife and I played this for months. The last part is where my biggest critique comes in. I’ve seen people say that it takes roughly 45-maybe 50 hours to 100%. Let me tell you that unless you made the game or have already done it before? This number is a LIE. It takes well over 100 hours to beat it at 100%!! Maybe they were just referring to like… completing story mode and unlocking the characters/ships. With all the challenges, hidden blue bricks, the traveling back and forth from planet to planet just to find a trinket or a character to bring back with you/to fight? It takes a long time. And for perfectionists like me, it was actually a bit stressful. Now that I’ve achieved 100% and gotten all 45 achievements, I can finally relax. 😤 Finally, I have an Xbox One S. And even though the game itself didn’t take up all that much space on my hard-drive? I’ve experienced lots of lagging: when I travel on certain maps it forces me to restart. I’ve looked it up and I’m definitely not the only one. It’s frustrating. I know I don’t have the “X” but it’d be nice to be able to enjoy my games without needing to pay for an updated hard-drive. I think it’s just a massive game so it needs a lot of data processing. For the record? The DLC/Special Edition is ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT. Getting Ahsoka, the Bad Batch, Mandalorian, etc.? Amazing. Hope they add more like Clone Wars and Rebels characters.