Well, it's been a week of nostalgic revisits for me.
Movies:
1. Shrek (7/10): A really fun spoof of Disney fairy tale stories that becomes a touching movie itself by the end. I like Shrek for the inventiveness, the voices and the humour. This is a movie that nicely blends comedy with fairy tale tropes and has just enough emotions to keep you invested. Have seen this many times. Expect to see it several times again in the future.
2. Harry Potter 1 (6.5/10): It expertly introduces us to the world of Hogwarts, and makes us understand the characters. But having grown up, I am now seeing flaws that I did not when I was a kid. Like the useless adults, the fact that Hogwarts seems to be 100 years behind the time it's actually in, the crazy safety issues, etc. I know that it's supposed to be a kids movie, but I cannnot help myself from pointing these things out. These problems persist in the other HP movies I saw this week.
3. Harry Potter 2 (6/10): Expands the lore quite well while making Voldemort an even more serious threat. But the fact that the main killer in the movie is what it is and able to get around so easily cannot be explained away with just one line (it's using pipes). That, plus the long length, makes it a weaker movie than the last one.
4. Harry Potter 3 (6.25/10): Starts off a bit weirdly. I hated the bus ride scene and how slimy this movie felt, but it also undoubtedly changes the tone of the movies and send them on a path to more complex stories. The movie which made me stop watching HP movies as a kid has now made me excited for the next ones.
5. 1917 (6.5/10): I saw this a few weeks ago but forgot to write about it. This visuals and camerawork is the best part, while the characters and the emotions aren't that compelling. Maybe seeing it in the cinemas would have lead to a better experience, but even on a laptop t looked good. I just wish the script matched the technical ambition.
Series:
1. Run s01e03 (7/10): It's getting more interesting now. While the characters aren't particularly likeable, the mystery in the story and the increasingly complicated relationship between the main couple is getting intriguing. I hope the last 4 episodes deliver on the potential.
2. The Flash: It took me back to a time when the superhero genre hadn't grown so much. This series is part soap opera, part superhero show, but it blends them well together. With impressive effects for it's budget, good acting, a gripping central mystery and characters you can care for, this series is still fun to watch. It had so much potential but really crapped itself from season 2 onwards. Still, the 1st season is an impressive achievement and I might just revisit Arrow s1 and s2 after a while because of this. Also, the theme music of The Flash is amazing. Will give a proper rating once the season is finished.
3. 30 Rock (7.5/10): Finishing this series felt like the end of an era. I am now out of well-known, successful sitcoms to binge. Sure there are some other ones but they aren't at this level, and I am not going to watch sitcoms form the 80's or 90's. This series was funny throughout and focused more on jokes than character development, which is why most characters did not grow at all through the series, but it still managed to give you a good time and I breezed past the final season. I will rank it below The Office and Parks and Rec. The reason being that while this show never went as low as their lows (this first few season of Parks and Rec and s1, s8 and s9 of The Office are bad), it also never reached their highs, and never made you feel attatched to the characters. Nevertheless, the all feel like a family and I'm glad watched this show.
Disclaimer: The idea of this post belongs to the user Ankit 007. I am just making this post because he's been inactive for a while. I will try to make a post like this every Saturday.
Content of the Week: 30 Rock.