This is a cross post of @gwajnberg/a-fun-horror-movie-but by @gwajnberg.

Another horror movie that I watched not long ago

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Fallout Season 2 Episode 5 The Wrangler just completely turned everything upside down and what the hell just went down with Lucy and Cooper at the end there, although there is not much action and they got off wayyyy to easy from the Deathclaws it was an interesting one, this whole time I been thinking these two were slowly building some kind of wasteland friendship thing where they start understanding each other despite coming from completely different worlds but nope the show just said screw that and gave us Lucy punching the Ghoul straight out a window with a power fist possibly killing him witch is insane because this guy survived so much crap already but he did sold out Lucy like a piece of meat. The fact that she screamed I thought we were friends right before doing it makes it hurt even worse because you could tell she actually meant it, she really believed they had something there but finding out he was just using her as a hostage trade to get his family back from Hank really broke something deep inside her and you could see it in her face, I love how the wasteland is building up this character of Lucy and breaking her appart. I get why she did it though, Lucy has been going through absolute hell this entire season dealing with drug addiction and becoming way more violent questioning who the hell she is turning into out in the wasteland, so when someone she finally trusted just betrays her like that of course she is going to lose her shit and do something crazy like launching him out a fkn window with that power fist she stole earlier from Sunnys place after she killed that guy trying to rob the shop.

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

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I wonder if the Ghoul is actually dead or if maybe this was some elaborate plan they cooked up together to trick Hank, I doubt he dies just because he and Lucy are the team that carry this show, I want to believe Lucy got smarter than this and maybe they planned the whole thing to get close to her dad without raising suspicion but the other side of me thinks nah this is real and the Ghoul just got IMPALED!!! through the chest on that pole and might actually be done for this time. Either way the character development in this show continues to blow my mind because I have absolutely no clue where any of this is heading next, that whole Mr House stuff with the flashbacks about who really started the nuclear war is making me question everything I thought I knew from season one, was it really VaultTech behind dropping the bombs or is there some other group pulling all the strings from the shadows that we have not seen yet, Mr House doesnt know if he is the House anymore and if he is the one winning?!. The sets and extras in New Vegas looked incredible too, every single background person felt like they had their own story happening and it really does feel like walking through the actual video game, remind me of "Wreck It Ralph" but for adults, I cant say this a good adaptation for the game but as a regular viewer Im enjoying the series. That whole shootout Lucy had where she killed the robbery guy so quickly without hesitation shows how much the wasteland has completely changed her already, she went from being this naive vault dweller who could not hurt anyone to someone who robs places and shoots people in the face without blinking twice and its both awesome and tragic to watch at the same time because you know the old Lucy would be horrified at what she has become out here.

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The death claw stuff at the beginning was amazing and a little bit of a let down, yes they looked incredible and terrifying specially that baby death claw witch was creepy but after all that build up from last episode I really thought we were going to get this epic fight scene where Lucy and Cooper have to team up to take one down together but instead they just ran away under a fence gate and that was it, like TF is that??. I understand they are probably saving the big death claw battle for later in the season maybe episode seven or eight when things really hit the fan but still felt like a missed opportunity to give us something crazy right out the gate, also the fact that there were three full grown death claws plus babies means Mr House probably put them there on purpose to guard the Lucky 38 casino and keep people away from the managment vault underneath witch is a smart move but also makes you wonder how the hell Hank is getting in and out without getting torn apart by these things. From the death claws been too easy to escape, from Lucy getting over her drug problem so fast, I know somethings have to be silly to make fun of it but sometimes you need to make the character struggle a bit so viewers can believe it and on this episode they went pass that very fast and that tames down some things but then it has been pedal to the metal with Lucy turning into this wild wild west stone cold shooter/killer.

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I have been getting some comments on my threads and snaps about the flashback scenes on thie series, this might turn annoying for some viewers who actually want to keep moving forwards, the entire flashback concept on any kind of content is not suitable for some viewers by nature, and on this episode they do just that with Cooper and Mr House in Las Vegas but I cant argue those were some of the best moments in the entire episode as it spice things up with more context, who knew without this flashback that Mr House is not sure if there is someone else like him out there, finding out that House knew everything Cooper was doing the whole time including the plan to kill him and then House basically telling him look I am not the bad guy here I did not drop the bombs and neither did your wife or any of those VaultTech idiots in that board meeting it was someone else entirely. That conversation where House explains how he saw Cooper in Alaska through the T45 armor software and witnessed the demon in the snow witch connects to the death claws and possibly the Enclave experiments was so fkn good, also the fact that House figured out the world was going to end based on mathematical calculations and the date kept changing based on what Cooper did specially when he bought the ticket to Vegas is wild because it means Coopers family is directly tied to when the bombs dropped. The reveal that the bombs were supposed to drop on his daughters birthday but then moved up a month earlier after he came to Vegas tells me that the conversation he is about to have with his wife Barb in episode six is going to change everything and might be what pushes whoever actually dropped the bombs to do it sooner than planned, my theory is that its the Enclave who did it not VaultTech because House specifically says he does not think it was any of those corporate morons and there is another player at the table pulling strings that nobody knows about yet.

The stuff with Norm at the VaultTech headquarters discovering the FEV or Forced Evolutionary Virus on that computer before getting choked out by that other vault dweller was great setup for whats coming, I know a lot of people think the Norm storyline is boring and I kind of agree it drags sometimes but finding out about the FEV means we might actually get super mutants in season three witch would be incredible. Also that whole sequence where Hank is testing the mind control chip on the conman guy and it actually works this time was sick, all Hank needed was a few years of evolutionary wasteland effect, the way he just kept turning up the power until the guys brain almost exploded and then it suddenly worked perfectly was insane and now Hank has this guy as his personal mind controlled slave to do whatever he wants and he just did that. The fact that Hank has Coopers wife and daughter in cryo tubes in the management vault gives him all the leverage he needs to control the Ghoul and force him to bring Lucy back, although that plan completely fell apart when Lucy knocked his ass out the window so now Hank just has Lucy again and Cooper is impaled on a pole outside the hotel witch is not ideal for anyone involved in this situation. I am so pumped for episode six because we need to know if Cooper survives getting impaled, who this mystery faction is behind the war, what Hanks full plan is with the mind control chips and what happens now that Lucy just killed or seriously injured the one person who could have actually helped her survive out in the wasteland and find her father, Im really enjoying this series and consider I havent play any of the games or know the lore, this is just from a standard viewer.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #fallout, #wrangler, #lucy, #ghoul, #cooper, #betrayal, #deathclaw, #vegas, #hank, #vault, #wasteland, #house, #bombs, #enclave, #addiction, #powerfist, #flashback, #barb, #cryo, #family, #freeside, #norm, #mindcontrol, #vaulttech, #survival

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This is a cross post of @gwajnberg/having-fun-with-family-and by @gwajnberg.

My Zootopia review!

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This mornig I posted on how I wastch both movies back to back and after watching the sequel Five Nights at Freddys 2 that took them about 3 years to come up with well the results were not the best as I think now the movie took the other end of the rope and Blumhouse made a choice here that is going to piss off a lot of people who are not deep into the games, this whole thing feels like they went all in on pleasing the hardcore game crowd and basically said screw it to everyone else. The movie does not hold your hand at all, if you have not done your homework watching three hour lore videos on YouTube or played every single game in the series you are going feel a bit lost sometimes as I felt like the movie lack some context. They throw in toy animatronics, the marionette puppet thing and all these character reveals that make zero sense unless you already know the backstory from outside the movie, witch is honestly kind of ballsy but also kind of annoying depending on where you look at it from. I respect that they picked a side and decided to go full fan service mode, first because the previous movie had that big flaw that didnt know what it wanted to be and second because those people have been keeping FNAF alive for years and deserve content made for them, but it does leave casuals sitting there like what the hell is going on. The opening scene was actually really damn good with the 1982 flashback to the original Freddy Fazbears Pizza showing how Charlotte Emily died trying to save a kid from William Afton, that whole sequence that gives you goosebumps but wasnt that scary but anways I think that was the peak of the whole movie for me and I wish they kept that energy along the rest of the movie, after that it just becomes a waiting game for something interesting to happen and most of the time it just doesnt.

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

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Matthew Lillard barely shows up witch sucks because the dude is great and the parts with him are way more interesting than most of the other stuff, he only appears in Vanessas visions for the most part as she deals with guilt over what her dad did to Charlotte. The marionette was the most creepy thing during the movie and probably the scariest part of it, they did some cool visuals with it, that were not exactly from the games but worked well for the movie format, when the marionette possesses Abby near the end that was a bit disturbing and probably the only time I actually felt creeped out during the whole movie. My biggest problem is that PG 13 rating is still holding this back so hard, I really though this time they were going for an R rated but they didnt and I say this without knowing anything about the games but based on the massive amount of comments on how it was one of the flaws from the first movie would have been better just to do a 180 degree change as they took the gamers side for the sequel, they try to push it with the kills but you can feel the limits and if they ever decide to go for a third movie they really need to just take the risk and go R rated because the story they are setting up needs that freedom, you can not have William Afton running around as a serial killer murdering kids and keep everything so tame and safe for teenagers. Josh Hutcherson does his best here but the poor guy has nothing to do for like half the movie, they gave him this whole sequence where he is trying to disconnect the animatronics at the original Freddy Fazbears location while dodging attacks from the withered ones and it drags a fkn ton. Elizabeth Lail gets way more to do in this one as Vanessa and she handles the emotional stuff pretty good, her character is dealing with guilt over Charlotte and then finds out she has a secret brother who is a security guard named Michael witch comes out of nowhere, she is in that heavy headspace for most of part of the movie and she pulls it off even when the writing does not give her much to work with.

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The whole movie feels like they had no idea what story to tell so they just threw in a bunch of subplots and hoped it would add up to something, also consider I might be mistake if the games are like this, I bet they are not but still this is my perspective as just a viewer of the movies. Abby wanting to see her animatronic friends again, you got the romance thing between Mike and Vanessa that goes nowhere, you got McKenna Grace showing up as Lisa a paranormal investigator who accidentally disrupts Charlottes music box witch sets the marionette free to possess her and later break out into the real world witch was actually an important plot point but felt rushed, you got this science fair thing at Abbys school where Chica shows up and murders the teacher witch was brutal but came out of nowhere, none of it connects into one smooth plot that makes you care or try to figure out things by yourself instead of waiting for the movie to man explain things for you. The first movie had problems but at least it had a clear story you could follow, this one is just people doing random things to fill time until the movie ends, there is no character growth or progression, I hope they didnt decide to go this route thinking since this is a sequel the audience already knows whats up, like there wasnt anything that makes you invested in what is happening on screen witch is a huge step backwards from the first one. Even though it has been mention how this second movies does make a lot of reference to the games for me it just felt like watching a movie on my second monitor, like they made this exclusively for people who have spent hours studying FNAF lore and forgot that most of the audience has not done that. They marketed this movie to the whole world but only made it for a small group of people witch is a weird choice, you can not have your cake and eat it too, either make a movie for everyone or make it for the fans but do not pretend it is for both when it clearly is not.

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The animatronic designs are still really good and that is probably the movies biggest strength, they nailed the look of these characters and the fact that they can be cute and terrifying at the same time depending on the context, the marionette especially looks great and the way it moves is unsetteling every time its on screen. The toy animatronics and the withered versions all look solid and you can tell they spent money on making these things look real instead of just using cheap CGI, and it turn out really good because practical effects always look better for this kind of stuff and it adds to the creepy factor when you know these are actual physical things on set with the actors. The sound design and music are doing a lot of heavy lifting here too, most of the scares come from loud noises and quick flashes but the music behind it makes those moments hit harder than they would as the story telling is messy, the whole audio experience is probabaly carrying the scare factor because visually the movie is not doing enough to freak you out on its own. There is also this whole Faz Fest thing happening in the background where the town created their first festival based on twisted local legends about what went down at Freddy Fazbears, people are walking around thinking it is all just spooky stories when the truth is way darker, the logic of this universe just does not add up most of the time but I guess it makes sense that regular people would turn trauma into entertainment witch is kind of messed up but people love drama.

Overall if you are a fan you will probably have a good time with all the reference and watching the animatronics come to life trying to connect with the game, but if you are not into the lore this will feel random with all the subplots taking different directions and never meet at a middle point, witch is not a good sign for a movie that is only around 100 minutes long, a very short one. The writing is the biggest problem here and the movie ends on a cliffhanger with Vanessa getting possessed by the marionette after Mike tells her to stay away from him and Abby because she lied about having a brother, then the post credits scene shows three people finding William Aftons decayed Springlock Bonnie suit from the first movie and taking it for a haunted house plus a voicemail from Henry Emily warning Mike that Charlotte is still out for blood before she kills him. I would give it another 7 out of 10 just like the first one, I dont think it was terrible and when you consider its strength and flaws it just trade a lot with the first movie, better than the first one in some technical ways like the animatronic work and the marionette scenes but way worse in terms of story and character development, it feels like a setup movie for what comes next witch I will still be watching and just add it to my buckelist for when I dont have much to watch, took me almost 3 years to watch the first one and went back to back with its sequel. If they can just figure out how to write an actual story instead of just throwing references to the games for 100 minutes then the third movie could be really good as this was an improvement in certain areas but if they keep going down this path of only caring about the game fans then this thing is going to lose everyone, in any case Im not sure how many movies they can make about the games but feels like a trilogy would already be a bit extended considering the success of the first two movies.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #fnaf, #horror, #blumhouse, #sequel, #animatronics, #marionette, #gaming, #adaptation, #disappointment, #lillard, #hutcherson, #lail, #scares, #fanservice, #easter, #lore, #rating, #violence, #writing, #characters, #reviews, #movies, #franchise, #afton, #freddy

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I am not going to pretend I have played the game or know about it, in fact that is the reason I decided to watch the movie, just a few days ago while browsing I realized this is based on a game so I took the chance and watched it. Five Nights at Freddys is one of those movies where you walk in expecting absolute trash because of how video game adaptations usually turn out, but this thing somehow managed to be okay for what it was trying to do, although it definitely has its problems and I can see why some people are feeling disappointed, specially critics online. The movie got a 33% from critics and 87% from the audience on Rotten Tomatoes, that usually tells you something is going on. The whole setup with Mike Schmidt being this broke night guard dealing with his traumatic past while working at this creepy abandoned pizza place full of killer animatronics sounds cool on paper, but the movie spends way too much time on family drama stuff between Mike and his little sister Abby that feels like filler when you just want to see the scary robots doing their thing. The first 30 minutes are basically just Mike being depressed about his brother who got kidnapped years ago and him trying to keep custody of Abby from their aunt who is a total bitch. Josh Hutcherson does his best with what he got but the character is written so bland and depressing that you kind of stop caring about his personal issues after like 20 minutes, and instead you just want the movie to get to the good stuff with Freddy and the gang tearing people apart.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4589218/
• Platform: PRIME VIDEO

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The problem is the movie keeps pulling back on the violence because they wanted that PG 13 rating to sell more tickets to younger audiences who play the games, so instead of getting brutal kills like you would expect from a horror movie about possessed animatronics murdering people, you get mostly off screen deaths and implied violence that feels weak most of the time. There are a few cool moments scattered throughout, like when the animatronics actually move around and chase people, those scenes look pretty decent and the practical effects work better than I thought they would, but then the movie ruins it by trying to make the animatronics seem sympathetic because they are supposed to be dead kids possessing the robots. That whole twist about the kids being manipulated by William Afton feels rushed and does not really land the way it should because the movie barely spends any time developing that part of the story, they just throw it at you near the end and expect you to care when you have spent most of the movie watching Mike take sleeping pills and dream about his brother getting kidnapped at a campground. The dream sequences happen way too many times and they all feel the same with Mike trying to navigate his dream back to that day so he can remember who took his brother, but the ghost kids keep showing up and messing with him. It is a cool concept that gets old real fast when you realize the movie is using it as a crutch instead of giving us more time with the animatronics doing what they do best, which is killing people in creative ways. The jump scares are pretty weak too, there is this one scene where a security guard at the beginning gets killed and it should be terrifying but it happens so fast and with such little build up that it just feels like another generic horror movie kill.

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The movie tries to build this mystery around who is behind everything and if you have even a tiny bit of horror movie experience you will figure out that Matthew Lillard is the villain about 10 seconds after he shows up on screen. He plays this career counselor named Steve Raglan who gives Mike the job at Freddys and the way he talks and express himself makes it so obvious that he is hiding something that it is almost hilarious, I dont want to say its bad its just like a movie made for teenagers and not for adults to really try to figure out things. Lillard just takes over the screen every minute he is in just as he always does which is fun, they probably thought he would be enough to keep viewers entertain but there is such contrast with Mike character and the rest of the that Lillard cant carry the movie on his shoulders, but even he cannot save how messy the movie turns where everything falls apart and becomes this weird family friendly conclusion where nobody important really dies and the bad guy just gets dragged away by the animatronics without much closure. The biggest issue with Five Nights at Freddys is that it feels like the movie was made by committee with too many people trying to please too many different audiences at the same time. From horror fans like me who would like to see a real slasher but the on other side you cant do that if you are PG 13 for teenager gamers who might want the movie to stick to the game but from my understanding the game is even better than the movie on the horror aspect, so yeah its like the movie doesnt decide what it really wants but after all the studio just wants more money so they try to have something for everyone, it just doesnt work that well. The pacing feels all over the place with long stretches of nothing happening followed by brief moments of action that are over really quick without much impact. There is this whole subplot with a cop named Vanessa who knows way too much about Freddys and keeps showing up to help Mike, but the movie never really explains why she cares so much until the very end when it turns out William Afton is her dad and she has been covering for him this whole time, that revelation alone should be a huge deal but it comes so late in the movie and is handled so poorly that it just feels like an afterthought.

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The relationship between Mike and Abby is supposed to be the emotional core of the movie but it never really clicks because Abby is written as this weird quiet kid who just draws pictures all day and talks to imaginary friends, reminds me of Ginny from "TWD Ded City" she was very similar been quiet by choise 90% of the time and doesnt work that well, you need a lot of physical expression from the actor for it to work out. Then it turns out her imaginary friends are actually the ghost kids possessing the animatronics it should be creepy but instead the movie plays it off like it is wholesome and they all become friends and build a fort together and that might have taken the wrong turn for part of the audience as again we are suppose to be watching a horror movie but as they try to stay PG 13 they turn the ghosts into her friends, I wonder if its like this on the game?. The animatronics are suppose to be the Jason of this movie, brutally murdering a group of vandals but the next minute they are playing games with a little girl and it is supposed to be cute, would have preffer if they just go out for everyone even the girl or at least keep it like that all the way until the end so there is this build up to figure out why the animatronics behave like that so then she talks to the kids and become friends, its just an idea so anyways they can implement that kinda happy ending cute thing. The action scenes when they finally happen are decent enough but nothing special and this is the only reason I could give it a 7, not a solid 7 but it has enough. There is a kill where a guy gets his face bitten off by a cupcake animatronic that was hilarious although not much of an horror scene, it doesn make you grab hard your seat or look away. The practical effects for the main animatronics like Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy look really good when they are just standing there being creepy, but the moment they start moving around ithey look a bit clunky and square, I guess its because Im and I bet many viewers are not use to match animatronics and horror movie together. The movie tries to make up for it by keeping most of the action in dark poorly lit scenes but that just makes it hard to see what is actually happening and I hate when movies does that, its frustrating when you have been waiting the entire movie for the animatronics to do something cool and you cant really tell the details of wtf is going on.

The ending is probably the weakest part of the whole thing, with Mike and Abby teaming up with the ghost kids to defeat William Afton by reminding them that he is the one who killed them and not their friend. The kids turn on him and drag him into a back room where he gets trapped in a spring lock suit that slowly crushes him to death but we do not even get to see it happen, he just starts screaming and then the movie cuts away, thats a really crappy way to end a movie. It is such a bad ending that leaves you feeling like you wasted your time watching a movie that was too scared to commit to being an actual horror movie and instead tried to be this weird family drama with horror thrown out around it, now that I think more about it sounds like a Gasper movie. Matthew Lillard is definitely the best part of the movie even though he doesnt get that much screen time and when he finally shows up as the yellow rabbit Springtrap you can tell he is having a blast playing this unhinged child murderer but its just such a short time for him to really make an impact and his motivations are never really explained beyond him being a psycho who likes killing kids and stuffing them into animatronic suits. I wanted to like this movie way more than I did because I think the concept of killer animatronics at a kids pizza place is something different that can be both funny and still have the horror aspect in it, I would not go as far as a "Scary Movie" type of parody but a bit less, this had so much potential for horror but everything about it felt rushed and watered down and scared to take risks. Its my opinion that the PG 13 rating really hurts the movie because you can tell there were moments where they wanted to go darker and more violent but had to pull back to keep that rating and sell more tickets to younger audiences. If this had been rated R and leaned into the horror aspects it could have been something special, but instead we got this safe, bland version that feels like a missed opportunity. I would give it a 7 out of 10 because it has some cool visual moments and Matthew Lillard is entertaining when he is on screen, but the lack of real scares and the boring main character drag it down way too much for me to recommend it to anyone except die hard gamers people who just want to see their favorite characters on screen. If you are expecting a good horror movie you are going to be disappointed but if you just want to see Freddy and the gang in live action then you might get some enjoyment out of it.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #freddys, #horror, #animatronics, #videogame, #adaptation, #killer, #robots, #jumpscares, #murder, #haunted, #pizzeria, #supernatural, #possession, #thriller, #suspense, #mystery, #violence, #scarymovie, #sequel, #franchise, #entertainment, #cinema, #streaming, #peacock, #gaming

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Someone always lies.

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Episode 2 was pretty good and I felt it made the story move forward with the Wheeler family situation and they went a bit brutal but still hide some of the carnage like damn they really sent it. When Nancy and Eleven walked into that house and found both Ted and Karen Wheeler bleeding out on the floor because a demogorgon came through the ceiling to snatch Holly that was rough to watch, you know they are not playing around with this final season at all and its showing from episode one with portals been so easy to open and with the killings too, I havent seen any of the other Seasons so I only wonder if it has always been like this, I mean pulling people guts out like they did with Karen. The whole hospital sequence with Nancy blaming herself for everything felt real because you know she would take that guilt even though there was nothing she could have done to stop it but its that guild that they never pay attention to Holly imaginary friend considering they are all targets to Vecna, but Mike talking about how this matches the vision Vecna showed Nancy where her whole family was dead was actually a smart connection from him. That whole thing about Holly getting taken almost four years to the day after Will Byers got taken on November 6th 1983 makes way too much sense to ignore, from what I have seen and how they talk about this events it seems there are no coincidences when it comes to Vecna and everything has a purpose. The reveal that Hollys imaginary friend Mr Whatsit was actually Vecna this whole time is messed up because how did nobody saw it comming at least from their perspective as I mention they are all targets, it means he has been grooming this little girl for who knows how long, telling her about monsters and watching her without anyone noticing what was happening.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4574334/
• Platform: NETFLIX

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The opening scene is probably one of the most intense cold opens for this season and I mean that because it does not waste a single second getting into the action and horror, Karen is going to take a bath, drinking wine, listening to ABBA music after clearly having a long day probably and then boom Holly comes running in screaming about a monster in her room, her first reaction obviously was "there is no monster" until she realize shit was real. Ted and Karen obviously think its just a nightmare because what else would they think at this point, they have no idea whats been going on in Hawkins for years now and their kids never told them the truth about any of it which comes back to bite them hard as hell but thats parents fault for not believing their kids, sometimes you just have to compromise and meet in the middle, not that you are going to believe every crazy story but just pay attention and listen. The demogorgon comes crashing through the ceiling and just starts attacking everyone, Holly runs and hides in the bathroom with her mom who was already running a bath, Karen hides with Holly in the bubble bath filled with soap bubbles water and they hold their breath while the demogorgon is right there hunting them down which is so tense, I really though they were going to come up for air. Then Ted shows up and grabs a golf club like thats going to do anything against a literal monster from another dimension and gets absolutely destroyed, Karen starts fighting back with everything shes got and stabs the thing multiple times in the mouth with a broken wine bottle which was badass, she turn into a savage gladiator, no fucks given if she dies and for a minute I thought she might make it but its clear this was the first time I saw a demogorgon fighting. Despite both of them trying their best the demogorgon badly wounds them and takes Holly through some kind of portal or gate it created, Nancy and Eleven show up right after its over and find both parents barely alive, both on the floor covered in blood and Holly just gone with nobody knowing where she is.

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At the hospital things get even more complicated because now everyones trying to figure out what the hell happened and why Vecna would target Holly of all people when she has nothing to do with any of this stuff, she is just a little kid who never fought any monsters or closed any gates or did anything to piss off this psycho. Nancy is taking all the blame on herself saying they should have warned their parents or got them out of Hawkins or done something, anything to prevent this from happening, Mike tries to tell her its not their fault but you can tell she is not in the mood to believe anyone considering her family is almost gone. Nancy brings up how this matches the vision Vecna gave her back in season four where she saw her whole family dead and now it feels like some kind of countdown to that nightmare becoming real. Meanwhile Dustin shows up at the hospital all bruised and battered claiming he crashed his bike but Steve does not believe him at all and they get into this argument about Holly getting taken and why nobody could stop it. Ted ends up in a coma from his injuries and Karen is barely hanging on after getting all slashed out by the demogorgon, cant even talk because he throat is really bad same as the rest of her body, I honeslty dont understand how someone would survive its worst than fighting a huge Bear considering the demogorgon claws, this situations makes it even harder for them to figure out what happened or get any answers from the parents about what they saw or why they think Vecna took Holly.

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The whole Mr Whatsit thing is probably the creepiest part of this entire episode for me because it means Vecna has been planning this for a long time and grooming Holly without anyone noticing what was happening, but its not only her from the scene that we saw Will been the first victim, a scene from previous episode and he was the very first experiment. Mike talks to Nancy about how Holly kept mentioning her imaginary friend and after everything that just went down Mike thinks Mr Whatsit might actually be real and not just something a little kid made up in her head, its not clear to me how he got to this conclusion because in the heat of the moment sometimes writters pull moments like this from thin air but lets say its because a demogorgon was involve right so makes it kinda obvious. They decide they need to talk to Karen to find out more about Mr Whatsit since she would be the only other person who might know something about this imaginary friend, they sneak into her hospital room to try and communicate with her. When they ask Karen about Mr Whatsit you can see the fear in her eyes because she knows exactly who they are talking about, which confirms that this was not just some random imaginary friend Holly made up but something real that has been around their house for who knows how long watching and waiting for the right moment to strike. The episode ends with this huge reveal that Mr Whatsit is actually Vecna and he has been manipulating Holly this whole time, getting close to her through what we can assume are dreams or visions which is his preferred method to trap his victims.

Meanwhile Eleven is trying to use her powers to find Holly but she cannot locate her anywhere which is really strange because Eleven can usually find anyone if she knows them. Eleven goes into the Upside Down right after the demogorgon takes Holly and Hopper is pissed that she went in without using the tunnels and risked her life again, he warns her that the military is hunting her but she had no choice because Holly needed help immediately, this kind of things are the ones Im like, ok this seems to convinient because either they happen right away or latter they keep happening like a demogorgon taking Holly or latter on at the Upside Down both Hopper and Eleven had to fight the military. Hopper and Eleven keep searching until they reach this enormous fleshy wall that blocks their path and its clear both Holly and Vecna are on the other side of it, Eleven finds Hollys shoe outside the wall and realizes the demogorgon pulled her through the wall itself which is why she could not sense Holly with her powers. Will has this idea that maybe he can use his connection to the hive mind to track down where Vecna is hiding Holly, earlier in the episode Will had some visions and Robin takes him to the spot in the woods where he had his vision to see if they can trigger it again. At the spot they find rocks on the ground placed in the shape of a spiral and Will remembers hearing kids laughing in his vision which leads them to Hollys elementary school, Will realizes his vision was actually through Hollys eyes and he saw Vecna choose her as his next victim outside her school. The military is also tracking Eleven now because they review footage from the Wheeler house and surrounding streets, they pull up a still frame showing Eleven in the car with Nancy the night before which confirms she is back in town and connected to the attack, then again we got very convinient or lets say its coincidenceses but things keep happening in certain order like the series is front running itself and Im not so sure if I like this. After all it was a good episode as its packed with context and action, something I really appreciate as a new viewer to the series without having to watch any of the previous series, I would give this episode a solid 7.5/10.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #strangerthings, #netflix, #vecna, #holly, #wheeler, #demogorgon, #hawkins, #eleven, #nancy, #hopper, #upside, #season, #episode, #horror, #thriller, #mystery, #supernatural, #monsters, #thriller, #suspense, #drama, #sci, #fantasy, #television, #streaming

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Man on Fire from 2004 is one of those action movies that had so much damn potential to be something really special and let me be specific that 90% of the movie is fkn awesome but then just completely falls apart at the end and leaves you sitting there asking yourself what the hell just happend, the whole thing builds up this raw energy with Denzel Washington doing his thing as John Creasy and you get invested in him protecting this little girl Dakota Fanning plays and there bond is actually pretty solid for what it is, watching him go from been this broken former CIA guy who literally tries to kill himself to finding something worth living for again through his friendship with Pita really works for the first two acts. Tony Scott knew how to shoot action sequences that feel gritty and real, none of that overly polished bullshit where everything looks too clean, he gives you this dirty Mexico City vibe where kidnappings are a real business and bodyguards are basically mandatory for rich familys who do not want there kids ending up in some cartel dungeon, the statistics they throw at you in the beginning are absolutely horrifying like one kidnapping every 60 minuts in Latin America and 70 percent of victims do not survive witch sets up just how dangerous this world is. Creasy starts off as this alcoholic mess who drinks Jack and water without even hesitating when offered a drink, the guy is clearly dealing with some heavy trauma from his past work as a counter terrorism operative and you can see it in every scene where he gets asked about his history, he shuts down completely and refuses to engage with anyone trying to connect with him witch makes sense for someone carrying that much guilt about whatever he did during his 16 years of military experience. Christopher Walken shows up as his old friend Rayburn and does his usual Walken thing, trying to help Creasy find some structure and purpose by getting him this bodyguard job in Mexico City protecting the daughter of a wealthy business man, Mickey Rourke appears briefly and then gets killed off in the most random way possible with his head cut off floating in a pool witch felt like they just wanted him gone quick without any real payoff for his character.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0328107/
• Platform: AppleTV+

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The relationship between Creasy and Pita is what makes the first half of the movie work so well, Dakota Fanning was like 10 years old when she did this and shes absolutely phenomenal in every single scene, she sells this precocious kid who sees right through Creasys tough guy act and slowly breaks down his defenses by just been herself and asking him questions he does not want to answer about his past or weather he likes music or why hes so unhappy all the time. The scene where he tells her hes been paid to protect her not to be her friend is harsh, you can see it hurts her feelings and she moves to the back seat of the car and stops talking to him, but then later he starts warming up to her when he helps her train for her swimming competitions and teaches her how to get faster off the blocks at the start of the race witch is such a small detail but shows how much he starts caring about this kid. They have this whole thing with the Saint Jude medal she gives him as a gift, the patron saint of lost causes witch is exactly what Creasy is at that point in his life, and he wears it around his neck along with a little flower bracelet she made for him and those visual details show you everything you need to know about how shes changing him without the movie having to spell it out with dialog. The swimming competition scene where Pita finally wins first place and Creasy is there cheering for her by the pool is touching, you believe these two people care about each other deeply even tho they come from completely diferent worlds and there relationship is supposed to be strictly professional, Mark Anthony shows up as Pitas father Samuel who is having money problems with his business and dealing with his own marriage issues with Lisa played by Radha Mitchell, the family dynamic feels real even if we do not spend a ton of time with them.

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When the kidnaping finaly happens its absolutly a well develop scene, Creasy identifies the threat immediatly when he sees the same vehicle following them and he tells Pita to get back inside but its already too late, they ambush him with multiple shooters and even corrupt police officers are involved in the whole operation witch shows just how deep the corruption goes in this version of Mexico City where the authorities are working with the criminals, well to be honest that happens all around the world now days. Creasy gets shot like three times trying to protect Pita and hes bleeding out on the pavement while shes screaming his name and trying to stay with him, Dakota Fannings performance in this scene is heartbreaking because you can see the terror in her eyes as shes dragged away and Creasy cant do anything to stop it, the whole sequence is shot in Tony Scotts signature style with quick cuts and color filters that make everything feel chaotic and disorienting witch works perfectly for what there trying to project. After Creasy wakes up in the hospital and finds out Pita is gone, they actually took her, the whole tone of the movie shifts completely, it becomes a strait up revenge story where Denzel goes full badass mode hunting down every single person involved in the kidnapping and killing them one by one in very creative brutal ways, the interrogation scene where he cuts off fingers and cauterizes the wounds with a car lighter is hard to watch but also satisfying because you want these assholes to suffer for what they did to this innocent kid. The voice they keep talking about is this mysterious figure who runs the whole kidnapping operation and never shows his face, Creasy works his way up the chain of command by torturing information out of people and following the money trail, Mariana Sanchez played by Rachel Ticotin is this journalist who helps him by giving him information about La Hermandad witch is the brotherhood of corrupt cops protecting the kidnapers, the conspiracy goes all the way up to high ranking government officials and wealthy business people who profit from the whole disgusting system.

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The action sequences in the second half are where Tony Scott really shows off his visual style, the shootout at the rave warehouse where Creasy rescues another kidnapped girl is shot with strobe lights and heavy shadows that make everything feel like a waking nightmare, the scene where he blows up a car with a guy inside using a bomb attached to the guys rectum is so over the top it almost becomes darkly comic, Denzel plays every moment with this quiet intensity that makes you believe Creasy has completely let go of any humanity he had left and is now just a killing machine fueled by grief and rage over loosing the one person who made him want to live again. They all thought Pita was dead by now but the twist that Pita is actually still alive comes way to late in the movie and feels kinda cheap, like they wanted to have there cake and eat it to by making you think shes dead for emotional impact but then bringing her back so the ending can be bittersweet instead of completely tragic, Samuel made a deal with the voice to get his daughter back by handing over Creasy and the insurance money witch is why the whole kidnapping happend in the first place because Samuels business was failing and he needed the payout. The final exchange on the bridge where Creasy trades himself for Pita should be this huge emotional climax but it falls flat because the movie has spent the last 40 minutes showing us Creasy murder dozens of people, so him suddenly deciding to sacrifice himself feels less like a redemption and more like he just ran out of people to kill, Pita sees him one last time and he tells her he loves her witch is sweet but then he just dies in the back of the car from his wounds and the movie ends without giving us any real closure on what happens next or weather his death actually meant anything beyond saving one kid.

The biggest problem I have with this movie is that ending man, the whole sacrifice thing where Creasy trades himself for Pita and then just bleeds out in the backseat feels hollow as hell after everything he went through to get her back, I get what Tony Scott and screenwriter Brian Helgeland were going for with the redemption through sacrifice angle but it does not land the way it should have, at least I see it that way but others might appreciate how its different and not every movie needs a happy ending, but it just feels predictable and unsatisfying like they could not figure out a better way to end the story so they went with the most obvious tragic ending possible. The movie does a great job when it focused on the relationship between Creasy and Pita in the first hour, those quieter moments where there just talking or training together have more emotional weight than any of the action scenes that come later, Denzel and Dakota Fanning have incredible chemistry together and the movie makes you believe this hardened killer would find a reason to keep living through his connection with this smart funny kid who refuses to let him drown in his own misery. The revenge stuff is entertaining and brutal, but by the time we get to the end it all feels kinda pointless because Creasy dies anyway and we are left wondering what the point of the whole thing was besides watching Denzel look cool while shooting people, the movie had so much more potential to be something deeper than just another action revenge story but it gets lost in its own style and forgets to stick the landing. Overall I would give Man on Fire an 8 out of 10 because even though I rant a bit here I really like it and its one of my favorite Denzel Washington movies, its worth watching and the first half where the story actually takes time to develop characters and relationships, but the second half falls into a kinda standard action movie stuff that you have seen a million times before and the ending is just disappointing after all that buildup, if your a fan of revenge movies or Tony Scott or just want to see Denzel do his thing then check it out but do not expect it to leave you feeling satisfied with a happy ending.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #manonfire, #denzelwashington, #dakotafanning, #tonyscott, #revenge, #action, #kidnapping, #mexico, #bodyguard, #thriller, #2004, #moviereview, #christopherwalken, #mickeyrourke, #drama, #violence, #redemption, #sacrifice, #intense, #brutal, #emotional, #protection, #corruption, #crime, #disappointing

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Episode 6 of Pluribus really open your eyes in terms of how far this thing is going, we finally got some real answers instead of just more questions piling up on top of each other. The whole reveal about the HDP which is basically human derived protein makes you realize the entity is literally grinding people up and feeding them to the billions under the glue to prevent starvation, I feel this might not land so well with many viewers because the show is trying to put this on a high alert drama type of situation when its not, if we look at whats going on the world is not the same anymore and things have change drastically and whats normal for millions has now remains strange just for a few. My point is that the show is trying to make this look as some dark shit and John Cena delivering that message on video was both hilarious and disturbing at the same time, at least I understand this is a show that is trying to build up drama so Im here for it but just dont take it too seriously. I did not have John Cena explaining cannibalism on my expectations for this show but there he was with a cameo, as expected the drama Queen of the show, Carol, is completely left out of the survivor group, like these people have Zoom meetings twice a week and she is not even invited, they all voted on whether to include her and it was not unanimous against her which has to sting like hell, imagine been one of only thirteen people left with your mind intact and the other twelve are like nah we good without you. Kumba is the only one actually giving her any attention, by this I really mean it because not even him is so glad to be around her all the time, he also keeps having these weird side conversations with the entity talking about her behind her back, the whole dynamic is fishy as hell and I do not trust him fully even though he seems like the only one to meet her in the middle and might be the only ally she has right now, but not fully, he is out there living his best James Bond fantasy while Carol is driving eight hours with a severed head in her passenger seat trying to save humanity.

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

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The biggest reveal in the episode is that the entity cannot turn the survivors without their consent, they need to do some invasive procedure to get their stem cells and Carol flat out refuses which makes her even more of a threat to them, its like finding out the monster chasing you actually needs your permission to eat you so suddenly you have all the power. You can tel this is setting up some crazy endgame where someone is going to try to force her into giving consent, probably putting her in a situation where she has to choose between saving someone or giving up her individuality, thats the kind of shit Vince Gilligan loves to do to his characters. The scene where Carol breaks down in the bathroom was rough to watch because Ray Seehorn plays it so damn well, she is trying so hard to keep it together but you can see the loneliness crushing her from the inside, she drove all that way thinking she had this huge discovery that would change everything and then Kumba is like oh yeah we already knew about that a week ago, talk about deflating. The John Cena video explaining HDP was absurd in the best way because they literally made him the spokesman for why the entity is grinding up dead people into protein shakes, the others figured Carol would take the news better if it came from someone beloved and I guess they were right because I was sitting there nodding along like yeah that makes sense John, they cant pick apples so what else are they gonna do, the logic is sound even if its horrifying.

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Kumba living it up in Vegas was a whole different vibe from Carols misery tour and it shows how different people are handling this situation, he has got the others acting out his James Bond poker game fantasies complete with an eye patch villain and everything, the moment the game ends and everyone just stops pretending and goes back to cleaning up felt creepy because it reminds you none of this is real and for sure there is something brewing in the back, even though the world have change there are some things that probably go beyond this world and that is hard work, I truly doubt that he will continue this lifestyle for ever without anything on this universe to stop him. Those people in the room are not actually having fun or choosing to be there by their own will as they are not individuals anymore, they are just doing what Kumba wants because the hive mind makes them do it, in a very typical way makes me look at them as zombies because we are not use to have everyone think as a single entity, on this sci fi shows we are more use to one controlling them all although here nobody at least for now controls everyone. Kumba is basically using people as props for his personnel entertainment and the show does not shy away from how uncomfortable that is. The whole Vegas sequence felt like a different show entirely with the bright lights and the empty streets, seeing the strip completely deserted except for Kumba and his hive girlfriends, its like the entertainment capital of the world has been turned into one mans playground and nobody else gets to enjoy it. Carol showing up and realizing Kumba already knew everything she discovered must have felt so dumb and the worst part is that all she had to do is ask but they still see the Hive mind as the enemy and refuse to work with it even when its about taken out information to understand them because then she think they will get into her head, she spent all this time investigating and risking her sanity only to find out she is the last person to know anything.

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Manus finally leaving his egg timer radio control setup and finding Carols videos was so satisfying to watch because you can say at last she is not alone, you can see how inspired he gets by her message about treasuring your individuality and I love how he tells his "mom" that his real mom is a bitch and refuses to accept the fake peace and love they are offering him, that moment where he drives away after the car stalls and his mom tries to talk to him was perfect because it shows he is not buying any of their bullshit. The way they shot that final scene with his mom in the shadows made it feel so sinister and really drove home that the entity is the villain of this show, they are not the good guys trying to help humanity they are forcing this fake utopia on everyone and eliminating what makes people human in the first place, individuality is gone and they want to finish the job by converting the last thirteen holdouts. Carol saying maybe tel them to pick an effing apple was such a perfect line because it cuts through all the bullshit excuses about why they have to grind up humans, like maybe just let people be people and figure their own shit out instead of forcing everyone into this hive mind nightmare, the entity keeps saying they want to help but their version of help looks a lot like control. This episode finally got the balance right between good and evil, not showing every single character as a saint, at least when Manus mom showed up, on this episode I think every moment mattered and I am so hyped to see Carol and Manus team up because they are clearly the only two who get it, everyone else has either given up or is enjoying the new world too much to want things to change. The contrast between Carols isolation and Kumbas indulgence was really well done because it shows two completely different responses to the same situation, she is desperately trying to fix things and bring people back while he is living out every fantasy he ever had without caring about the consequences, neither approach is fully right or wrong which makes it interesting. The reveal that the entity runs out of food in ten years adds this ticking clock element to the whole thing, they are consuming human derived protein from the hundred thousand people who die naturally every day but eventually that supply runs out and then what, do they start killing people on purpose or do they just let everyone starve. The fact that they cannot harm any living thing including plants makes their situation more complicated, they cant farm or harvest anything so they are stuck with whatever food was already stockpiled plus grinding up the dead, its a grim solution to a real problem and the show does not try to make it seem less horrifying than it is.

I am giving this episode a solid 7.5 out of 10 because it was exactly what the show needed after five episodes of slow burn setup, we finally got major reveals and character development that pushes the story forward in a real way, finding out the entity needs consent to convert the survivors changes everything because now Carol has leverage she did not have before. The pacing was tight and every scene felt important whether it was Carol discovering the truth about HDP or Manus deciding to leave his bunker and drive to Albuquerque, nothing felt like wasted time and that is rare for a show that usually takes its time with everything. If it keeps this energy going I think Pluribus could end up being one of the best shows of 2025, well its already showing with its nominations now that we are in awards season. The writing is smart to a certain level but do not take things too serious because as I mention it all falls down when you realize everything runs on top of Carols drama, if she runs out of drama / gas the show dies, but she does make you feel every bit of Carols frustration and lonelines. The John Cena cameo was unexpected but it worked perfectly because it added this absurd element what could have been just a dark reveal, having him explain cannibal in his typical way was both funny and disturbing which is exactly the tone this show nails. Manus packing up and heading towards Carol is the setup for what could be the best part of the season if they really kick it off because agree and dealing with Carol is not so easy, they might look like two people who actually want to resist the hive mind but the real question if they will be able to start working together instead of Carol doing everything alone, and whether they can actually find a way to reverse everything or if they are just delaying the inevitable.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #pluribus, #recap, #episode, #carol, #manus, #kumba, #hdp, #protein, #consent, #hive, #entity, #vegas, #survivors, #canibalism, #cena, #lonely, #isolation, #stem, #cells, #reveal, #gilligan, #individuality, #resistance, #convert, #albuquerque

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This is a cross post of @gwajnberg/the-life-of-chuck-how by @gwajnberg.

My refiew about the Life of Chuck