Reviews
Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Survivors (1989)
Uses every strength
This uses every strength of the show perfectly. Picard and the Counselor give acting masterclasses, as do the guest actors. The story relies on being sci fi, and yet weaves a great mystery with a touching human core. Picard is tasked with solving the mystery, while the Counselor's suffering provides tension and urgency to the affairs.
I'm not a massive trekkie, watched about a season in total, including several rated higher. But this is my favourite, indeed one of my favourite episodes of any show. The way the couple's relationship dynamic is handled in 45 minutes outdoes what many shows can achieve over a season.
Kidneys for Jesus (2003)
Interesting
Interesting and challenging compared to the usual religious "cult" type documentaries. Instead of protesting funerals, these believers are doing an unusually powerful statement beyond what most are willing to.
The leader is bonkers, because of course he is, but his faith has taken him in a direction that is very noble. He wants attention, and schemes to get it, with the aim of finding more followers who are willing to donate everything.
The question becomes about how much a personal dislike of someone should colour your judgement of their actions. If followers are going to be exploited, isn't it better to be in pursuit of saving lives?
Hyperdrive (2019)
Excellent concept in desperate need of execution
Watching cars tackle precision challenges is fun. Really fun.
Why is the editing cutting out so much of the runs? People watching this like cars. We don't care about sob stories! I want to see the entire runs of the best drivers, not just 90 seconds of them.
The commentators are horrendous. No expert knowledge, just dumb hype men.
The structure is nonsense. Why do people in the first qualifier get to keep coming back, while the ones in the last qualifier entries only get one shot? It should have a round-robin structure so each car does 2-3 courses and has a fair go.
While we're here, penalties need to be bigger. It's currently a huge advantage to have a quicker car even if you drive poorly. It needs tweaking to reward someone who drifts perfectly in a car with 250hp.
It is such a good concept. I hope that it can be given to a director who understands the elements makes the show better and worse.
Kill Command (2016)
Solid sci-fi thriller
Just got back from seeing this, and I'm glad I did. Kill Command is a relatively straight-laced sci-fi that takes itself seriously - and is the better for it.
A military team are sent to training, when they are attacked by robots. They are accompanied on this mission by an upgraded woman. I'd go so far as to say it is best to leave the summary here, as the story unfolds in an organic and sometimes surprising way. Dialogue is always solid and acted well, thankfully.
Pacing of shots is excellent in my opinion, although my friend felt it could have been tighter. There are a few jump scares, but the best tension as always is when a scene drags on while we're not quite sure if the team is being observed.
There are some plot holes, but nothing that can't be ignored. Frankly, it just about works in-universe because of the light touch with world building.
Worth the watch, especially for fans of sci-fi.
Toradora! (2008)
Damn fine storytelling
Me: an occasional anime watcher. Very lazy, so dubs for me.
This is a real gem. It's a story of 5 friends as they come of age, grow together, and the overzealous love of teenagers.
What sells this is that the two primary characters are both quite believable. You have Ryuuji, who is a deeply caring guy, and Taiga, who is aggressive, cocky, and also vulnerable. While the story is told from Ryuuji's perspective, the most interesting character throughout is Taiga as she handles the trials of growing up. Fundamentally, she is not a cookie-cutter "cute girl" to stick in the centre of what is essentially a romantic series; she is needy and often unpleasant, while also caring for her friends deeply.
A lot of anime have craaazy hijinks and characters who are incredibly dense at reading others. The joy of this series is that for the most part, these guys are limited by their own inhibitions in a relatable way and often guess what each other is feeling. It's rare that you want to punch characters for being stupid, at least. Although they may punch each other.
Voice acting in English is pretty solid, certainly above average for anime dubs.