Community Reviews

The Strangers: Chapter 1 is a horror and suspense movie that will serve as a reboot for the franchise that began all the way back in 2008 with the original movie of the same name The Strangers (2008), its from this movie that we got the iconic masks from the people who terrorize a young couple during the vacations, ten years latter we get a second movie The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018) that serve as a sequel keeping similar plot in a different location and new set of characters. The franchise out of the horror fans never had great online scores and the plot is bit repetitive, basically telling the same story just on different location but the key factor is how actors performance the direction is extremely important, it becomes predictable so the surprise element is key for its success.

This time around a reboot is about to happen with director Renny Harlin who has a couple of good movies under his belt like Mindhunters (2004), Cliffhanger (1993), Exorcist: The Beginning (2004), Harlin has a lot experience producing and directing since the 80s, from the trailer there are already some angles and zoom in from certain scenes that I already like. This first movie will serve as the start for a new trilogy trying to reinvent the franchise and move forward expanding the world of this three killers, the initial plot will follow the original movie with a couple on vacation terrorized by this three masked strangers. I'm not sure if this is a trend but announcing it as a trilogy from the start might be both good and bad, it may excite fans a lot but if the first one does not deliver then then two others are doom from the start, if interest on the movies go down this could lead to early cancellation of the project and to be honest even the end of the franchise itself, there are many franchise out there that are repetitive at its core but always having new elements that attract the audience.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22050754/
• Platform: Theaters
• Release: May 17, 2024

Renny Harlin: The Visionary Behind the Horror

Renny Harlin has proven himself as a capable director in the realm of horror demonstrating a good understanding of how to create tension, suspense, and chilling atmospheres on screen all this key factors for The Strangers reboot, his skills in crafting immersive and terrifying experiences comes from his ability handling of pacing, visual effects, and storytelling. With a career that expands for decades, Harlin has accumulated a diverse portfolio of horror productions both as producer and director, showcasing his versatility and range within the genre, one notable example is "A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master" (1988), where he injected fresh energy into the iconic franchise with inventive dream sequences and imaginative set designs. Harlin's directorial prowess was further evident in "The Exorcist: The Beginning" (2004), a prequel to the classic horror film, where he skillfully navigated themes of faith, possession, and existential terror, in a sense looks like is a key man when it comes to give a push to reboots or continuation to this horror franchise. Another standout work is "Deep Blue Sea" (1999), a suspenseful creature feature a combination of horror with action, showcasing Harlin's ability to deliver thrilling and dopamine explosion sequences. I expect that his directional style will contribute to attention to details, awkward angle shots and some spectacle probably a bit gory, this things will make him and the movie to stand out ensuring the audience to come back for the other two, in fact its been said that all three movies would be release on 2024, bold statement.

Meet the Cast: A Mix of Familiar Faces and Emerging Stars

Madelaine Petsch (Maya) is known for her role as Cheryl Blossom in the hit TV series Riverdale, she has also appeared in films like F The Prom and Sightless, when it comes to The Strangers: Chapter 1, Petsch goes beyond of what she have work with in the past this time into the world of horror.

Froy Gutierrez (Ryan) gained recognition for his role as Nolan Holloway in the supernatural drama series Teen Wolf in addition to his TV work, Gutierrez has appeared in productions such as The Divorce Party and A Cowgirl’s Song.

Gabriel Basso (Gregory) catapult in to fame with the movie Super 8 and has had roles in movies like The Kings of Summer and The Whole Truth, as well as TV series like The Big C and Ghost Town, may be not a known actor for horro movies but certainly a good fit to act as couple with Madeline Petsch.

Rachel Shenton (Debbie) is known for her Academy Award winning short film The Silent Child, her talent and dedication have earned praise on and off the big screen as she is mostly known for he work on the TV Series and Short films when you look into her profile there are quite the amount, in addition to her award winning work, Shenton has appeared in TV series like All Creatures Great and Small, Switched at Birth, and White Gold.

Ella Bruccoleri (Jasmine) and Ema Horvath (Shelly) are emerging stars in the entertainment industry, Bruccoleri is known for her role in the TV series Call the Midwife, while Horvath has made a name for herself in the horror genre with roles in films like The Gallows Act II and Like.Share.Follow.

Richard Brake (Sheriff Rotter) is known for his performances in various horror films, including Rob Zombie’s 31 and Mandy, In addition to his horror work, Brake has appeared in box office hits like Thor: The Dark World and Batman Begins.

I'm sure not many may know about this franchise it been so small a the moment with only two movies but the mask are iconic probably people might know more about the masks than the movie itself, this franchise is originally based on a life true story potentially change to fit narrative and style of an horror film. There is anticipation for the reboot and Renny Harlin is the director chosen to give it a new direction, from the trailer I did mention that there are a few scenes that caught my attention like when the men shows to the door but only appears the silhouette same as the kid that comes in the first time asking for a women who doesn't live there and all it shows is the silhouette like there is a constant shadow? no body ask whats going on? , when they are eating an blood starts to drop from a bird that is hanging at first make it look that its ketchup been splash but its just too much, there are indeed certain aspects that I like already that will make me want to watch it, its all about the details, angles and the sequences on how things are going to happen since we already know how this movie goes.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #stranded , #eerie , #smalltown , #youngcouple , #madelainepetsch , #froygutierrez , #crosscountry , #pacificnorthwest , #venusoregon , #secluded , #airbnb , #peacefulnight , #terrifying , #maskedstrangers , #suspense , #fear , #unexpectedtwists , #horror , #chilling , #featurefilm , #series , #movie , #officialtrailer , #trailer

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Cover image edited in canva; the image was taken from the following source

I have always like the Planet of the Apes movies with Planet of the Apes (2001) been my favorite with Mark Wahlberg, Erick Avari, Michael Duncan, Elena Carter, Kris Kristofferson, this movie had quite the cast but looks like almost none of them get respectable scores online, the 2001 release had over 200k reviews on IMDB and only got a 5.7/10 got destroyed.

This time comes Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024) that started its development on 2019 and on 2022 20th Century Studios announced the start of filming for this new version of the movie that is the number ten on the list for the franchise and the first one to be part of the Disney+ brand, would not be crazy if we get an animated series in the future but I doubt since this franchise is more for adults than kids, the 2024 version is based on the characters created by Pierre Boulle in his 1963 novel with its firs adaptation on 1968 with the same title Planet of the Apes with Charlton Heston.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a direct sequel to War for the Planet of the Apes, humans now live in the wild suggesting that after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes potentially the spread of the simian flu have led to the decline of human society and humans have regressed to a more primitive state, the original trilogy focused more on Cesar's group, it has now been revealed that apes had gained intelligence worldwide becoming equals to humans. This sequel talks about other group of apes, others who are more ruthless and less peaceful than Cesar's clan. The trailer for the movie specifically showcase a human called Mae, she is different than the rest, showing more sings of intelligence that could become a risk to the apes current rulers.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18177528/
• Platform: Theaters
• Release: May 10, 2024

Well balance the Cast

The film features a talented cast, Freya Allan captivated audiences with her role as Princess Cirilla in the successful series The Witcher, well successful around those who are not hardcore fans but none the less. In this movie, she plays the role of Mae, a girl who appears to possess knowledge about the technology that will be revealed in the movie. Next on the list Kevin Durand who gained recognition for his role as Martin Keamy in Lost, and later appeared in productions such as X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Robin Hood, and I Am Number Four. Dichen Lachman rose to well known for series like Neighbours and play the role of the mysterious Sierra in Dollhouse, also appearing in Jurassic World Dominion in 2022. William H. Macy is known for his performance as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo and his role of the troubled patriarch Frank Gallagher in Shameless. Owen Teague gained recognition for his role as Patrick Hockstetter in the horror hit It, and later appeared in projects such as Black Mirror and Mrs. Fletcher. Peter Macon gained audience recognition with his portrayal of Lieutenant Commander Bortus in the science fiction comedy series The Orville. Sara Wiseman is recognized for her role as Carolyn Bligh in A Place to Call Home and the series Rake and High Country.

As you can tell quite a diverse cast who have work on multiple type of production, some more successful than others but its my opinion that as most others Planet of the Apes movies this might not be a block buster but a very entertaining movie, I have seen some of the franchise movies more than once and they still captivating.

Behind the Camera: Wes Ball

Leading this adventure is director Wes Ball, known for his work on the Maze Runner series, where he directed the entire saga, before jumping into the world of apes, Wes Ball collaborated with Matt Reeves who was the director of the last two movies of the Planet of the Apes franchise, on the movie Mouse Guard which unfortunately was canceled after the Disney / Fox merger. Despite this setback Ball’s previous work showcased his talent, making him a fitting choice to direct the latest chapter in the Planet of the Apes saga. Its been some time since we have seen him as a director or at least that's what I could find based on his public profiles as director, although besides Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes he is also the director for the upcoming project of The Legend of Zelda a movie that will peal a lot of eyes and get a lot of interest from the audience world wide been about such as iconic game.

Peek into the Story: Noa & Mae

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is set in a world dominated by apes and follows the story of a young ape who embarks on a journey that challenges everything he knows about his past, this is not the story of Cesar anymore, this time around we have Noa, for anyone who has been watching the latest three movies. As a new tyrannical leader of the apes emerges the protagonist and rest of main characters including humans, Mae a girl who evidently look way more intelligent and advance than the rest of humans, finds themself in constant trouble specially Noa who himself questioning his beliefs and forging his own path forward. Along the way Noa encounters a young human woman named Mae, who remains a mystery for everyone as speculated may be an astronaut and seems to possess knowledge about the technology that will be revealed in the movie, technology that can unite humans and apes, everywhere they talk about this tech but not much has been explain apart form the trailer. The working title of this movie during production was Forbidden Zone, suggesting that Mae may originate from the forbidden zone where a spaceship may have crashed, subsequently encountering Noa and accompanying him on his journey.

Overcoming Challenges

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024) was one of those movies who got impact drastically by the Pandemic since script development was happening around the same time COVID-19 was in full force this change drastically all release dates and distribution plans, facing all kind of safety protocols we talking millions been spend on of movies like this so it needed to be done, I would only imagine all this productions delays and logistical issues only increase the the budget and cut down some other corners to make this happen, production probably encountered all kind of obstacles along the way having to recreate a new environment for the movie as the story is setup 300 years after the events of the previous movie War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) having to create a new environment, not everything is build from scratch with new technology and AI but there still space needed to create such scenario. This new iteration of The Planet of the Apes aim to launch a new trilogy centered around the character of Noa probably extending the franchise to 12 movies in total started back in the 60s.

I'm always interested on this type of movies where society and the entire planet changes completely even if its just humans or in this case apes, its like exploring a new world and this carry many details into the story and scenario where everything happens, its the details that keeps me entertain since you are basically exploring a new world. On the other hand as I mention the audience might be just tired of watching humans and apes fight on every one of this movies so there must be something new an unique on this one that sets it aside from the rest but I quite doubt it so it must have quite good CGI and costumes to impress viewers or something on the plot that makes it special, just the fight humans vs apes wont cut it.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #sciencefiction, #action, #film, #apes, #Caesar, #future, #transformativejourney, #destiny, #WesBall, #OwenTeague, #FreyaAllan, #KevinDurand, #PeterMacon, #WilliamHMacy, #officialtrailer, #trailer, #movie

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Parish is a TV series that has been ramping up after every episode, a week ago I put up a thread with an interview where Giancarlo Esposito explains how he relate to Parish in a sense because before his break out on the TV Series Braking Bad he was broke, to the point that he was corner with no options, similar to what the main character Parish had in his hands.

This time is not drugs and gangster genre but human trafficking, modern era of slaving people despite it is suppose to be over  a twist we don't see every day from this genre of TV series, in my opinion this give it a sick turn and might even not appeal to everyone but as I mention the war between Horse and Anton just seem to be starting, Anton use have an association with the Tongai family where they supply the work force and Anton was in charge of distributing until things change and it looks like when Horse Tongai took control of the family business decided to change the deal, problem is this happen without notifying Anton and went behind his back, bitch move if you ask me. The series has two more episodes left based on IMDB profile, so this makes me wonder if there will be a second season which I can't count on it yet or if this is one of those Mini Series where they never said it was a mini series?

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18552362/
• Platform: AMC+

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On Episode 3 Anton show up on the scene but we didn't know much of him just that he was the man in charge of the crew that try to kill Horse Tongai but turns out Anton and Parish use to work together in the past, they had this conversation time ago where Anton ask him to do a job for him and Parish said Never Again! Strong statement that after some time, present now he could not back up, no Parish is working for Anton competitor.

It was obvious for Anton to go after Parish, when he ask "What do you want?" the answer was very simple, kill Horse Tongai now that he is in his inner circle, in the meantime Anton kept his family hostage at home while Parish finish the job.

Parish was decided to pull the trigger and get the job done, after all he knew if he didn't he and his family were dead but even if he get caught after killing Horse at least his family might have the chance to remain alive, Colin is in his debt so he did ask him if anything happen to him to take his wife and daughter away, I think Colin is loyal to Parish but he looks like a snitch not going to lie.

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Parish makes it to Kumba, thats Horse Tongai Head Quarters, in there his brother Zenzo and sister Shamiso who were going crazy the previous day when things went down. Horse thinks there is an informant within their organization, Zenzo is dead center that is Parish but he actually save Horse life, he either could have let him die or kill him and he didn't instead safe him and his son although that still doesn't proof he is not the snitch.

They go back an forward if Parish the snitch but no one has proof he is or not, Zenzo did come up with a tracker that the police "found" on Parish car but he ain't stupid and said they could have planted or even you Zenzo.

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Horse is blind by rage, his sister wants him to think straight when his brother almost don't give a shit since if Horse dies or screw him the next on the line is him so he would just gain the control of the operation, what we got here is a bit of Game of Thrones, three brothers who are successors for power, only one of them is really power hungry that is Zenzo, Shamiso is more on the business side of things make money and Horse is suppose to be in the middle of both to keep things under balance and know how to lead but he took a bad decision at going behind Anton's back and now is paying the concurrences.

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Parish had a clear shot to kill Horse, the man is wounded, still weak, they were left alone in the room but Parish is a man of his word, that very moment Horse confess him that he fully trust him despite what Zenzo says, that make him back down from the plan of killing him, all of the sudden things change drastically and he start to improvise, I have no idea how Horse didn't see the string on Parish arm when he turn around.

Zenzo had a little bird cooking in the kitchen trying to get him to sing, this torture scene was very weak to be honest, I was expecting it to be more brutal, cut the guy, really fuck him up but all they did was electrocute him a few times and a couple of punches, episodes need to keep ramping up in action to this show can continue, in IMDB it has a 6.7/10 so far that's not bad for not been a AAA show and I have notice over time people don't vote that much only the first episodes but on RottenTomatoes the score is at 78% but I have found there are many random votes with weak commenting so if we meet in the middle its a 7/10, still good.

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Anton's man who was getting tortured confess the snitch is Colin, not sure if this is true but Parish bet he is not the one, he even challenge Zenzo on this but Shamiso did mention to Parish that Horse is a man of reason and if he finds Colin is innocent he will survive. At a point in the middle of this back and forward Parish pretend Colin trick him and ask Horse for the machete he had in his hand because he would be the one to kill Colin, this was just a trick to freeze Horse putting the machete on his neck and telling him whats what, he was tired of been corner and this is not a war he wants to be part of, he is out and only was trying to help Colin to get out of the hole he was in, after that his job is done and want nothing to do with him or Anton.

As you can tell from the cover Horse confronts Anton at the end of the episode telling him to take his head if he wanted, Parish might be off the leash with Horse but he still failed to kill him so Anton will be back, besides I didn't mention that back at Parish house his wife and daughter kill the two guys who had them hostage, on this episodes things did get wild and I love that, when Parish was pretending to go rouge on Colin ass he was about to panic and tell Horse that Parish was there to kill him... Colin: don't make me tell them Parish, what a bitch jajajaja its easy to stay loyal when you are ass is not on the line, only a few behave that way, look at Shogun (2024) how Hiromatsu commit seppuku as a protest because he would not see his lord go down and surrender without a fight, it takes big balls to stay this local.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #parish2024, #americancrime, #drama, #tvseries, #adapted, #bbcone, #thedriver, #grayparish, #reformedman, #familylife, #tragedy, #murder, #moraldilemmas, #perilousoutcomes, #taxidriver, #zimbabweangangster, #undocumentedimmigrants, #southernports, #humanity, #justice, #ambiguousboundaries

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Even after giving a 6/10 to Silent Dogs (2024) this is a movie I would recommend to anyone who like suspense and crime investigator theme movies, I went out on a thread and mention how fire the ending is but this does not mean the movie have no flaws.

It's a very slow movie that will keep you around one hour getting inform on the current status of all the characters and not so much about the investigation itself, we got Russell Crowe playing Roy Freeman an ex homicide detective who lost all his memory, dude doesn't even remember what he eat for breakfast, use to drink a lot back in the day and went through a bad car wreck that cause this memory loss plus he suffers Alzheimer. A case from the past hunts him down, a man who confess guilty of a crime is about to get death penalty after 10 years in prison and after having a lot of time to think about it now request to see Roy and talk to him about what really went down because he is innocent.

As you can see Audience decimate the Critics on Rottentomatoes, although this looks fishy to me, quite a few scores with very little commenting, I just don't trust the scores on this websites, on the other hand on IMDB the movie did get a 6/10 and that's more fair to me, this movie is a one time watch because after you discover the murder it loose the amusement, its hard for me to think I would watch a suspense movie more than once.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8542964/
• Platform: AppleTV+
• Release: March 22, 2024

Roy Freeman an ex cop, his life has drastically change after getting an experimental medial treatment for his memory condition, something I don't get is WHY he lives alone when he suffers Alzheimer? there is no wife, no son or daughter not even a nurse at home with him, his situation is wild, got tape all over the house with names and instructions, the guy does not even remember his name or that he left the TV remote on the microwave, so from this point you ask how is he going to solve a case or how does he even go out, he has no tape with instructions when he goes out, this part does not click for me a person who has such bad memory still wonders around trying to solve and old case. Lets say as long as he is on his medication he stays focus and doesn't loose memory that quickly, say he only has problems when waking up and after he gets his engine running he is all good.

He keeps getting this flash backs of his surgery, its all experimental and seem to be a 50/50 shot but its working for him so far, he has to stay on pills every day to regenerate part of his brain. One day he gets this call from Emily who work for an association who revisit cases specially those of men who get death penalty and there is a men called Isaac Samuel who got convicted for the murder of Dr. Joseph Wieder and he ask Emily to get him Roy pay him a visit because at least before he goes down he wants to tell the truth, his side of the story.

Roy meets Emily and start to go through old case files, watch the evidence, pictures of the victim, read the report to latter on down the story find out his signature was not on any of the paper work, there was his partner but not his, obviously he can't remember a thing at this moment but little by little start to remember part of the story.

Roy had a partner, Jimmy Remis played by Tommy Flanagan, to be honest not an actor that I like too much I mostly remember him from Sons of Anarchy and that is it. While Roy interview Issac in prison a scene of how the interrogation went down comes up, Roy was no saint, them both Jimmy and him were two bully, they had Isaac so fucked up and were putting pressure on him to confess, all gas up, beaten, could not even open his eyes and been accuse of murder the guy was in chock and confess but just to make them stop and let him be to ten years latter had the chance to tell he was there the moment Joseph Wieder was murder, never saw the killer but it was not him, so the question remain who killed Joseph? Roy doesn't remember a thing, it was not Issac so may be Jimmy knows?

Roy visits Jimmy who has not seen him a very long time, in fact when Roy got to his place he didn't even recognize Jimmy but Jimmy did recognize Roy even under the coat and the beanie,  they start talking about the case and there was a guy they never follow up, named Richard Finn and all of the sudden when Jimmy and Roy decided to look for him to ask him some questions he was found dead, overdose, what a coincidence, Jimmy thought this would be it but Roy did decide to follow up and went to Richard's funeral where he found his brother, who at the moment had a script or book he was working on based on his personal life and romance with a women who had him crazy from day one. I know this is a movie but there are certain coincidences that are just too much may be if Richard's brother would have told Roy come home I got some stuff from Richard that might help but no it happens he had it with him? this are the kind of details why I give it a six.

Moving forward with the characters and not trying to spoil the entire movie, Richad met Laura Baine a very intelligent women who work with Joseph Wieder a professor, they both were working on a project that could alleviate people from bad memories and help them improve their life through psychological techniques. At first everything was great between Laura and Richard until he met Joseph and find out she was probably just having an affair with him? because this has turn into a three way relationship, who knows if Laura was fucking Joseph just to stay on the project but before he was murder he publish his work and she was left out, Laura attempt to sue him. Joseph was a very influential man with lots of connections, power hungry and love to fuck every women he like, he also had a thing to record them and keep it as a souvenir, happen to fuck Roy's wife a bartender who work at a place Joseph use to frequent.

Based on this story we got possible killers, Laura who was left out of the project after she work with Joseph since the beginning and build it from the ground, Richard who was basically bully by Joseph because he was not only fucking her date but also let him offer him a job because Richard father died and he had no money to pay for his studies and at last we got Roy who finds out Joseph fuck his wife but the best part is that current Roy does not remember a thing about the case.

As the movie keeps developing it properly gives you many alternatives, I always look at suspense movies form the perspective that I'm the one trying to solve the mystery meaning Roy is my guy but my guy is broken, so he is constantly at risk of dying or who knows what could happen to him and at the same time he can't get things untangle fast enough because of his memory problem, it makes you feel impotent and you have to deal with it and that's another beauty of the this movie that at certain points in time makes you feel things, makes you react to how Richard was used by Laura, how he was bully by Joseph, how lost Roy was the entire time, in fact its not until the very end that Roy discover who really killed Joseph Wielder, the ending the last five minutes after the music stops is wild, I'm not sure if it was intentional but just before he figures everything out there is a part that makes you think it can't be this easy like they wanted you to feel disappointed and then gives you this big shot of dopamine when its reveal who murder Joseph, the movie ends right there, no future, no consequences just pure shock.

I believe Russell Crowe still got it, I have seen him this year say in two mid tier movies, both one time watch but very entertaining, Sleeping Dogs gets a bit slow but its a suspense movie specially with a man that is basically cripple at the moment with parts of his brain not working at a 100%, over all a movie that I would recommend.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #russelcrowe, #laurabaines, #murder, #homicide, #excop, #issacsamuel, #martoncsokas, #tommyflnagan, #university, #psychology, #universitystudent, #bully, #abuse, #richardfinn, #bartender, #dianelynch, #research, #suspense, #drama, #detective, #alzheimer, #brutalmurder, #memory, #braindamage, #secrets

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Shogun has come to an end, episode 10 is a big bag of mix feelings depending from where you look at it, lots of things have finally come to light but the most important is Toronaga himself, once during the first episodes both Taiko and Mariko mention how Toronaga comes from a family who once were Shogun so perhaps its a tradition within the family although things have change now days and its not that easy to rule with an iron fist and everyone else to accept it like its nothing because there is the emperor who is fair and have advisors and there the Shogun who rules with iron fist no questions ask.

As many other viewers at first I was disappointed with episode 10, I was truly expecting a big battle between armies but usually this kind of battles take form two to four episodes, since episode eight I was loosing hope it will ever become a reality, it turn out as I expect; it was all mind tricks and without the swing of a sword Toronaga wins, master class of trickery and showing that he is above anyone else, nobody lives or dies if he does not allow it, I come to the conclusion that it was not Buntaro who did not let Mariko die but Toronaga who was her lord and got her into a different path that suit his interest first.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18177528/
• Platform: FXNOW

A dream of a dream, this was all a dream, John never gets old and have grandchildren back home, he never got out of Japan, I even look it up and it is on the novel the series is based on that John was even once allow to go back and he never did. This scene with Mariko rosary in his hands, the Samurai sword and helmet on his room was his imagination, a dream probably after the blast that killed Mariko, latter on he throws the rosary into the sea, that's when I confirm this theory but right here I had my doubts.

After the blast Mariko dies and John feels like there is no purpose for him so from this point he is not afraid of dying and start to take life very lightly, Yabushigue starts to feel the remorse for what he did, because of him Mariko is dead. Ishido plan was to capture Mariko and probably take her away but the assassins he hired went too far at trying to capture her, they never thought she would put herself in front of the door they were bout to blow up, its here when things backfire for Ishido without he even realizing what was about to happen, his war with Toronaga ended the minute Mariko died and yet not the Church or the Council members knew this.

Every member of Toronaga clan is allow to go back home and leave Osaka since recent events and Mariko's death including John was permitted by Lord Kiyama who wanted him dead many times to go but behind all this there was a negotiation with Mariko, my understanding is that she was the one who act as middle man for Father Martin to be allow to build a church in Izu so when the time comes if necessary they spare John's life, Lord Kiyama was a Catholic, the one with enough power and part of the Church to allow John go back to Edo without any harm so he send escorts for him and Father Martin Alvito until John gets on a ship on his way to Edo where Toronaga is.

When they arrive to Ajiro, John saw his ship burn down for the first time and Yabushigue was finally arrested for treason. Ajiro Village is suffering because there is suppose to be traitor within and Toronaga is trying to squeeze him out but it was all a test for John and again no body had a clue about it.

Hiromatsu once told Toronaga, there is a way to win this battle without going to war, get Lady Ochiba on your side and the war is yours. At the time Lady Ochiba had a deep feeling of Hate against Toronaga because she feels Mariko was send away because of him and her father was killed becase of him, always whispering with others, planning; Toronaga had no idea or at least made everyone think he had no idea of how to change this situation with Lady Ochiba. All it took Toronaga was leverage the relationship between Mariko and Lady Ochiba to win the war, the leverage was forcing Ishido kill Mariko, this way Mariko serve her lord and finally die as she wish many years ago. After Mariko death Lady Ochiba got tired of Ishido, she could not let Mariko accidental death slide and on top she had to put her foot down so Mariko could have a proper burial, since Ishido was more focus into getting the Council approval to go to war with the heir army backing them up.

Many of the things that uncover I didn't know until half of the episode had happen and I like that, its like solving a puzzle but things start to unfold, this was Toronaga last trick of the series for John. When Toronaga surrender to his brother John insult him by saying he was a fool so Toronaga wanted to test his loyalty, Toronaga on purpose burn down John ship and said there was a traitor in Ajiro village, Toronaga terrorize the village, there was no traitor it was him but this was all part of a plan to see how far John would go because his ship was burn down although he never expected John to attempt to take his life in form of protest, all this time John was trying to stay alive and now embrace the Japanese culture of death for honor. Toronaga stop him because no body dies unless he wants it so, he convince who to rebuild his ship and build him a fleet.

This last sequence of scenes reveal everything, lets dissect all this characters:

• Omi, he was always after his uncle Yabushigue fief, he wanted more power and was always thought of someone with less rank, after Yabushigue is set to die by Toronaga, he name Omi as hi heir, Omi was always loyal to Toronaga but made his uncle believe he was on his dside.
• Yabushige, finally betray Toronaga who always knew this was going to happen soon or latter and is order to commit seppuku, before dying he name Omi his heir and gave him his death poem that shows how obsesses he was with savage death.
• Lady Ochiba, this one surprise me a bit but not much, she stop her hate for Toronaga but just because Ishido killed someone very loved by her and on top had no remorse for Mariko death trying to force the rest of the Council to go to war immediately.
• Toronaga, he had spies everywhere and Yabushige was been monitored since the beginning, he explains Yabushige how everything was part of his plan, everyone who died had a purpose including Mariko and Hiromatsu, Yabushige was like an insurance for Mariko's death either Ishido killed her directly or Yabushige gets her for Ishido but the most impressing sentence was before Yabushigue died he say "Why tell a dead man the future?" same thing he told Omi after he had John and his ship under his command, it was here when Yabushigue understood how much out smart he was.

Toronaga always wanted peace without war and this could only happen under one condition, the era of Shogun, he wanted to become Shogun but he had too many obstacles, he never mention it directly but thats is what I think from his conversation with Yabushigue before he killed him.

John was never important for him but just a distraction, he was always a distraction, John claim to use Toronaga but it was all the way around, he first use him to gain time before he gets impeach, then he use John to get out of Osaka. Toronaga manipulated so many people it makes me doubt if things happen just because he wanted like the death of his son Nagakado.

The series does deserve a 9/10 I wont discuss that because after watching episode 10 for a second time I learn to appreciate Toronaga's plan, I did expect a big battle and leaves me with certain feeling of deception but that phrase "Why tell a dead man the future?" is what change everything for me and make me start thinking the type of men he is, he does harm to test others or even because it please him, he had eyes and ears on everyone and nothing happened without him knowing or approval.

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Unfrosted (2024) is a comedy set in the 1960s, specifically in Michigan where the headquarters of Kellogg’s and Post, the giants of the cereal industry, were located. They compete to create a product that is easily consumable, aimed at the children’s market, with a decent cost, and that practically revolutionizes breakfast time. I would say a lot of what happens on the movie has been change and it most likely far from the true story mostly because this is a comedy so it has to be fun and things cant be dead straight to the original story.

When Post gains the advantage in this endeavor, Kellogg’s assembles a rather questionable team in many ways to create their product and this was probably a marketing move and get peoples attraction, fake it until you make it; they probably try to deviate the attention of consumers into the faces of the team they have assemble so Post loose some of that momentum they had on TV and ads for their new product, but beyond the joy that the future Pop Tarts brought to the world, the story is full of betrayals, lies, a lot of drama, and plenty of laughs.

I think the name for the movie is spot on and from the trailer you can tell how competitive this race to develop this new product was although make me think was people so tired of Korn Flakes? at least where I live Pop Tards are not so popular probably because the culture is not the same and more incline into traditional breakfast for the region.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14914430/
• Platform: Netflix
• Release: May 3, 2024

This time around Jerry Seinfeld is the director behind Unfrosted (2024), a well known comedian but now in his debut as director, Seinfeld is very famous for his groundbreaking sitcom during the 90s with the same name Seinfeld and for his stand up specials for Netflix and other platforms, Seinfeld besides now a director has been actor and writer becoming synonymous with excellence or at the most very much popular in the comedy field, the guy is very charismatic always with a smile on his face.

Seinfeld is not only a television actor, he has also explored other areas. In 2007, he ventured into the world of animation as a co producer, co writer and voice actor in the animated production Bee Movie, in my opinion one that got very low score considering how much kids love it. The film showcased Seinfeld’s ability to create family friendly humorous stories.

Because its Seinfeld making a movie about Pop Tards, I'm not going to pretend I'm a big fan of his sitcom Sienfield but I find out he does mention many times how much he love them during the show, there has been some comments online of how absurd this can be but in fact that is comedy, comedy is absurd almost 99% of the time, from what I can see the movie is not been sold as a true story although might be "based" on a true story with scenes extremely change to adapt the genre of a comedy, things will be exaggerated to match this theme.

A Stellar Cast Brings Unfrosted to Life

• Jerry Seinfeld takes on the role of Bob Cabana, marking his feature film directorial debut while showcasing his comedic ability, in addition to the series Seinfeld, for which he is well known he also participated in the TV series The Marriage Ref and done the voice of Barry Benson during the animated movie "Bee Movie".
• Melissa McCarthy is known for her starring role in the sitcom Mike & Molly, and has also gained recognition in films such as Bridesmaids, Tammy, and Can You Ever Forgive Me?.
• Jim Gaffigan is a stand up comedian and actor, with roles in The Jim Gaffigan Show, Away We Go, and the dramatic thriller American Dreamer.
• Amy Schumer rose to fame with her successful sketch comedy series Inside Amy Schumer, which earned her a Peabody Award and widespread acclaim for her bold and unapologetic humor, she has also worked in comedy productions such as Snatched and I Feel Pretty.
• James Marsden has appeared on the big screen in various roles, showcasing his how much he can get done from superhero films like X-Men to romantic comedies like 27 Dresses and Enchanted.

I bet gathering this cast together was not a problem for Seinfeld considering who would not want to work with him on his very first movie as a director, he has a successful career as a comedian, the movie is not shooting for a block buster rather than a streaming platform to gather lots of viewership online.

From the trailer alone I got a couple of jokes to be very funny, I can see how they use the TV news during the movie very engaging as telling a story of whats going on a common thing on comedies based on the 60s. The link between a Space Rocket about to launch and a Pop Tart going out of the toaster I find awesome, this really showcase that the movie has a lot of creativity into it and the production looks very well though, the entire scenario reminds me of the emerging world of the Chocolate Factory of Willy Wonka but just visually not trying to compare both movies. The combination of Christian Slater aka Mr. Robot, Jim Gaffigan, Hugh Grant, Jerry Sienfeld and Amy Shcumer is going to crack you up with their jokes, closing the trailer there was this women asking "doesn't my husband work at a corn flake factor, how did he explode?" that one got me sold, I wont argue that making a movie about the history of how Pop Tards became a thing but as I mention before its a comedy so why not, not a comedy guy but this one I wont miss out.

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