Julia Ormond as Elizabeth – The Walking Dead: World Beyond _ Season 2, Episode 4 – Photo Credit: Steve Swisher/AMC
This week’s World Beyond picks up right where we left off last week. Now with everyone reunited, it does not mean that everything from the previous season is settled.
This episode was made worthwhile by Huck’s presence, in my opinion. Specifically, the flashback scenes and her interactions with Elizabeth and Felix were the only thing in this episode that changed the story/characters. Moreover, it was the only thing to change, which made it especially suspenseful. Felix was about to damn near kill Huck, but that did not happen at all!
The transformation of Iris still confuses me. I find it a bit amusing how they will just replace characters and not do proper character development on this episode of World Beyond. The plot is being held up by their refusal to reduce the amount of filler. It is the end of the world so why not pair Iris and Percy up as a couple! Silas was treated similarly. His rage blackouts and flashbacks when it comes to killing have suddenly subsided. Trauma doesn’t disappear overnight.
Speaking of Silas, the first scene after the opening with the minefield and fireworks were done better here than how it was done on the main show. I also do like Dennis. My interest in Dennis’ character has me wondering if he’s spending time with his girlfriend in anticipation of a fight with the bad guys. He obviously doesn’t have her anymore. Additionally, I am curious to see which side he’ll be on later, starting from the assumption he will eventually help Silas instead of simply watching over him.
Nicolas Cantu as Elton, Madelyn Kientz as Asha – The Walking Dead: World Beyond _ Season 2, Episode 4 – Photo Credit: Steve Swisher/AMC
At the end of the day, Today’s episode of World Beyond matches the title as everyone had to question who is family and who is not. That is greatly displayed during the entire runtime of the episode and I welcome it. Sure, there were some dialogue decisions that should have not been on the script. But those lines were not damaging to the plot at all. Overall, Today’s World Beyond is really decent.
Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content.
Karen David as Grace, Lennie James as Morgan Jones, Avaya White as Baby Mo – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 7, Episode 2 – Photo Credit: Lauren “Lo” Smith/AMC
Tonight’s Fear The Walking Dead is a race against time. In a way I can describe it, I would say to fasten your seatbelts and get your earplugs.
That is because Morgan and Grace are dealing with a major conflict while trying to watch over Morgan Jr. Hearing a baby cry all night as a new parent is one thing, but for 90% of the episode, I found it annoying. There is some good action that I like. Along with the visuals during the day to the night. But it did not make up for the messy plot.
Due to the fact that everything outside of the submarine is contaminated by radiation, I am wondering how did Morgan Jr. survived inside there. In fact, How is it that Morgan and Grace just found a storage hatch full of baby formula out of nowhere? I am pretty sure that they searched the whole place. But it just magically happened.
Speaking of Magic, Emile’s long lost twin brother appeared at the end of the episode and I am thinking why did this happen now instead of before the previous season finished. Now Emile is going to get his revenge on Morgan. It will be interesting to see how this will develop.
Karen David as Grace – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 7, Episode 2 – Photo Credit: Lauren “Lo” Smith/AMC
Fear The Walking Dead does great when it comes to developing Morgan with extra layers. Today’s episode showed how ruthless he is with the two bandits that tried to steal Morgan Jr. and claim him as theirs. I will give it to them, I would do everything to protect my own child. I also feIt sad for Grace as she is experiencing postpartum depression! hope these next few episodes begin to move the plot forward!
Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content
If you were to tell me that in 2021 that there will be 2D stealth action video game, I would say that you were wrong. UnMetal is not only that game, but it is also a great experience.
UnMetal is a unique take on the genre where the inspiration comes from Metal Gear for the MSX. The story of UnMetal is told by a commando named Jesse Fox who becomes a prisoner after he is wrongly accused of committing a crime. He must find a way out of a military compound where he is trapped. He finds that there is more at stake here than just a simple arrest. What at first appears to be a conventional espionage story soon develops into a satire of action movie and game concepts. He must use everything at his disposal to reach the bottom of the situation, including his wits and fists.
There are nine chapters in UnMetal. If you played Metal Gear Solid: Ghost Babel for the Gameboy Color, you get the idea on how this is structured. Sneak and hide away from the guards while you solve puzzles that moves the story forward and encounter the boss of the chapter.
During my time with UnMetal, There were some interesting gameplay mechanics that I believe surpassed MSX’s Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Jesse Fox is able to hide behind walls, roll forward, combine weapons and items, carry guards, and search for guards belongings. When you are close to going to another part of the screen, there will be red arrows that will indicate where the guards are on the next screen. The bigger the arrow, the closer they are to you.
Speaking of the guards, there were times that you can hear their conversations that could give you clues depending on the situation. This is also expanded during the story as some of the multiple dialogue choices you can choose from can make select situations easy or hard. For example, before one of the boss battles, I was given three options on a question. I choose one of the options and the battle was difficult. When I went for another option when I tried again, it was less difficult. But It however, was not more easier. I like the decision of putting these sudden decision making choices in UnMetal.
Each time you level up, you can choose which statistic can also be leveled up too. The list of items and weapons are a ton to find and choose from. You will also have to figure out which items to combine to progress the story. Something I will add too based on my experience, is that there were times that I used the radio for conversations and the guards that were close to me actually heard it. I was accustomed to the way the system worked in Metal Gear so it caught me by surprise be on UnMetal.
I finished UnMetal’s story at around 16 hours and it also took me an additional 30 hours to 100% UnMetal’s challenges. For an independent game that takes inspiration from the classic Metal Gear series, the developers went above and beyond to bring back the authentic stealth experience back to 2D. UnMetal is truly a fun game and is totally worth the money!
Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content.
“Halloween Kills,” a sequel to 2018’s Halloween, showed how weaponizing pain can cause individuals to become as depraved as the entity they are fighting.
The writers Danny McBride, David Gordon Green, and Scott Teems hoped to accomplish that, in addition to addressing those Haddonfield residents who have also been impacted by Michael Myers’ attacks beyond the Strode family. In spite of a plethora of grisly kills and thrills, the film’s tone is too uneven, and the story so superficial that it does little to advance the story, which should be completed in one more movie.
Directed by Green (who has directed the previous installments as well), “Halloween Kills” takes place immediately after the events of “Halloween” and is set in the same night as its predecessor. Allyson (Andi Matichak), Laurie’s granddaughter, travels to the hospital with her mother Karen (Judy Greer) following the attack by Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney).
Michael is once again on the loose after he is discovered not to have died in the house fire he was trapped in. An evening of remembrance for Haddonfield’s original 1978 attacks brings a group of survivors together to remember the anniversary. The group rallies together to defeat Michael for good.
There are many references and callbacks to the original film in the new one, as well as characters played by the original actor. These include Kyle Richards as Lindsay, one of the kids Laurie babysat in 1978, Nancy Stephens as Dr. Sam Loomis’ former assistant Marion Chambers, and Charles Cyphers as former Haddonfield sheriff Leigh Brackett, whose daughter was killed in the 1978 attack. Another old character resurrected by new characters is Lonnie Elam played by Robert Longstreet and Tommy Doyle, another child Laurie babysat who becomes the child leader.
The way “Halloween Kills” expands on the original story is unnecessary. The movie opens with a flashback to 1978 during which deputy Frank Hawkins is accidentally shot and killed by his officer and then prevents Dr. Loomis from carrying out Michael’s execution, a decision he regrets looking back on the moment.
It doesn’t do much to increase the importance of the original movie or of the current storyline. While the movie is frequently more about pleasing the fans-which is fine if they like it-than telling the story that the first film set up as focusing on three generations of Strode women, it is often more about satisfying the fans than telling the story. Their presence is almost nonexistent as “Halloween Kills” focuses on a bunch of clumsy fools’ efforts to foil Michael. Although the film is supposed to be about trauma, Karen and Allyson barely even mourn their father and husband’s deaths. He is barely even mentioned.
It’s also at this point that the movie feels like it doesn’t fully understand what it’s trying to be. We already know where Michael is located at the beginning of the film, so the action doesn’t really build up, and the scenes go back and forth between serious and slapstick. Almost comically, when a group of characters runs into Michael, he kills them one by one, as their stupid, halfhearted attempts at survival are swiftly thwarted.
Although I have to admit that a lot of these scenes are fun, the movie also makes an attempt to be a cautionary tale that doesn’t mesh well with the rest of the film. Tommy whips the crowd into a vengeful frenzy, chanting “evil dies tonight,” as they prepare to bring down Michael in the hospital. The horrible consequences of their violent lust result in them attacking the first person they see who is suspicious. The film’s aim is to explore the idea of a monster creating even more monsters, and thus, creating even more monsters, but the concept is handled poorly, and is not woven into the story.
In spite of what many have said, “Halloween Kills” is not a bad movie. Blood and guts are plentiful in slasher films. Nevertheless, there are many dialogues that could have been cut, as they don’t feel natural at all. Despite its epic nature, it’s hard not to wonder exactly what the point of this film is when it ends almost in the same place we started.
Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content.
Alexa Mansour as Hope, Will Meyers as Mason – The Walking Dead: World Beyond _ Season 2, Episode 3 – Photo Credit: Steve Swisher/AMC
If you are dying to know how corrupt CRM are, this episode of World Beyond is a great directory for it.
Like The Walking Dead’s The Commonwealth, the current CRM location has it’s flaws if the characters are not obeying their laws. But how the CRM wants to restore the world is really moving the plot faster than the first season. I also believe that the CRM. is getting more interesting the more people know about it.
Hope is front and center for most of this episode. She is dealing with the other teenagers in class and meeting unwanted friends for the first time. All of this is going on while she misses her sister Iris. I have a good feeling that Hope and Iris will reunite very soon! Plus, Hope’s conversation with her dad gets bonus points for me!
Everything with Percy and Elton is a mixed bag for me. Especially the action sequence. Since World Beyond started airing, the stunt choreography for the most part has not been good. That happened here while they were taking down empties. It visually looked good when that camouflaged empty woke up to try to devour Elton. But the scene followed that could have been done better. Especially since I could not believe the teens took them out the way they did. But when that eye ball was being taken out, I thought that was cool.
Alexa Mansour as Hope – The Walking Dead: World Beyond _ Season 2, Episode 3 – Photo Credit: Chip Jackson/AMC
It also seems like they are having Iris and Percy develop a relationship as their bond gets closer. This could be dangerous down the line as Percy is not a person to be trusted. But we will see how the story unfolds!
I believe this episode of World Beyond is one of the stronger ones of the series. For the first time since late into season one, I am looking forward to the next episode!
Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content.
Colman Domingo as Victor Strand – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 7, Episode 1 – Photo Credit: Lauren “Lo” Smith/AMC
Fear The Walking Dead kicked off their seventh season this week with an interesting episode. And it is all about Strand!
Continuing the anthology format, “The Beacon” tells the story of what Strand up to a few months after the nuclear bomb dropping in the area. Strand made himself the leader of The Tower that he first entered at the season six finale. He is different and I believe Fear The Walking Dead’s plot is setting him up to be the villain for this season. This has not happened on any of the three shows before. To see how this is being planned out caught my interest.
Strand has always been a character where he tries to make sense out of everything with his motives. Regardless of how good or bad they are, he is a great character.
The setting and the look of the episode is a nice shift. It is Fear The Walking Dead meets the Fallout video game series mixed with the film The Mist. I did thing it was strange that the horses were suddenly not affected by the radiation. But the shootout that happened was really good though!
Gus Halper as Will – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 7, Episode 1 – Photo Credit: Lauren “Lo” Smith/AMC
Will makes his one and only appearance on “The Beacon” as Strand kills him by the end of the episode. Sorry, we hardly knew you Will. But it makes me wonder what will happen when Alicia will reappear this season since she was nowhere to be found when they looked for her.
Overall, I really like this episode. If I can summarize “The Beacon” I would say that this is comparable to the season six premiere except we are following a character that could be a villain.
Let’s hope that we see a good showdown between Strand and Morgan!
Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content
Ritchie Coster as Pope, Lynn Collins as Leah – The Walking Dead Season 11, Episode 8 – Photo Credit: Josh Stringer/AMC
You would think that The Walking Dead would stop repeating their mistakes over and over again. But that is not the case with tonight’s mess of an episode titled “For Blood.”
That is because the tired gimmick of a “cut to black” cliffhanger was used again here! It comes off as the writers not knowing how to finish the first half of the final season. Sure, there may be some context to why the abrupt ending happened like this on the production side. But for the casual viewer that watched this show for years, it is enough.
Did The Walking Dead learn from past cliffhangers not to do this again? In fact, most of this season’s episodes ended in a cliffhanger that did not move the plot forward at all. If I had to sum up the first half of the final season of this world renowned series, I would say that Maggie and her friends went on an RPG video game-esque side quest to get food. That is the general summary.
On to the episode itself, the only scene I actually liked was the opening minutes. Negan and Maggie killing those reapers in the style of The Whisperers is badass. There are also some parts in Alexandria that I do like too. From Rosita killing those walkers, to the storm, there is some good stuff. But then, my brain turned on.
Cailey Fleming as Judith, Annabelle Holloway as Gracie – The Walking Dead Season 11, Episode 8 – Photo Credit: Josh Stringer/AMC
How could the storm happen in Alexandria but not yet to where The Reapers are? Both scenes are at night so I do not know the explanation at all. And as good as Rosita killed those walkers, the way she knocked the door was too casual for someone who is desperately trying to get back in the house. It took me out of the moment. However, the shot of her once the door opened is really cool.
Then we are back with The Reapers. A field of landmines and firecracker arrows along with Pope’s anticlimactic death just fueled the laughter in me. Pope talked all the game about how much of a leader he is with his religious ideologies and military background. All of that for him to be killed from Leah like that. And now I am supposed to believe Leah is a threat? Pass! Maybe Leah realized that she was with the wrong family. But she talked a big game about family before she even killed Pope. Tell me what is making sense anymore please!
I do not mean to crap on this mid season finale of The Walking Dead, But I believe it deserved this criticism. Everything with The Reapers has been wasted potential and I do not care to see them again. It is the final season and we got the same formula again when it is time for the 8th episode. And how will they even open the next episode? It does not matter now because AMC premiered their 11B promo this week ahead of the cable airing of “For Blood.” When the The Walking Dead returns in 2022, please continue everything with The Commonwealth because that has been more interesting (Along with the Connie’s Horror House) this entire season so far. An unsatisfying mid season finale cliffhanger that can be outclassed by a local high school theater play is my lasting memory of The Walking Dead for the rest of 2021.
Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content.
Teo Rapp-Olsson as Sebastian – The Walking Dead _ Season 11, Episode 7 – Photo Credit: Josh Stringer/AMC
This week’s episode of The Walking Dead just debuted one of the most hated characters in the comic book series. That is, Sebastian.
If you are not aware of who Sebastian is, he is Pamela Milton’s son. Sebastian killed Rick Grimes on issue #192 of The Walking Dead. Now that he is on the main show, the question that will be drawn out for another year is who will take comic book Rick Grimes’ death!
The actor Teo Rapp-Olsson does a great job of bringing the spoiled kid to life on The Walking Dead. From his scenes with Eugene, to the scene with Mercer and Lance, I am sold on Teo Rapp Olsson playing this character. Now on to the episode itself!
Michael James Shaw as Mercer, Josh Hamilton as Lance Hornsby – The Walking Dead _ Season 11, Episode 7 – Photo Credit: Josh Stringer/AMC
There were some good things that I did like on “Promises Broken.” The Maggie and Negan saga that has been ongoing this whole season, finally reached a point where I am glad that these two had a conversation. Negan admitted that he would have killed the entire group when they first met was cold! Not as cold as to why he told Maggie this in-front of her face. The point for this scene, is that these two needed to talk no matter if they liked it or not.
Another thing I did like is that Negan learned something from The Whisperers as he taught Maggie how to herd walkers. I got a laugh out of Maggie wearing a Whisperer mask. Believe me! I did felt that it was random for Elijah to finds his sister as a walker at the end of the episode. That is just me.
Everything with Daryl and Leah I did not care about. The Walking Dead is seriously forcing these two to have scenes together to build a lost bond. But it does nothing for me. But at least they found some survivors. The survivor’s wife went out in a horrible and sad fashion.
I will also have to say that Yumiko’s character progression is a bright point for this first half of the final season. It will take some time for her to get used to the old ways before the apocalypse hit. Yumiko is going to be a central figure in The Commonwealth. And she even saw the real Stephanie! And I can say that I am happy that Ezekiel is feeling much better! Next week is the last episode of The Walking Dead of 2021!
Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content.
As a huge Sopranos fan, I was disappointed by the movie. What made The Sopranos so great was the organic character development where you’d see beefs and alliances develop between characters over the entire season, snappy dialogue, and motifs/devices that injected a touch of the supernatural/fantastic (think Chrissy’s crow, the ghouls following Paulie around, Tony’s many dreams) while also helping to explore the complex psyche of Tony Soprano.
The Many Saints of Newark is not that. In many ways, it feels like a parody of the show – many have already commented about the cartoonish characterization of the young Silvio (his first appearance in the film is cringeworthy, and borders on parody on the level of an SNL skit), Paulie, Pussy, and Junior (how many times does Junior say “Your sister’s ****”?) which often feel jarring in the moment.
I felt as if I was brought to a Sopranos themed amusement park, where the main attraction and draw is seeing the characters in their youth, played by actors whose main performance notes seem to be exaggerations of whatever mannerisms the characters had on the original TV series. This experience might be delightful to some – personally, it was charming for a second before it descended into camp.
The plot is largely unremarkable – there’s a lot of screen time given to Giuseppina, who mainly exists to be a Helene of Troy-type deal for the male protagonists despite all of her talk of wanting to be an independent woman; there is a half-assed, exposition-heavy exploration of how African Americans fit into the organized crime scene, and a few scenes depicting the 1967 Newark Riots that felt very much like the film was reaching to strike a historical note, in the same way Godfather 2 did with the Cuban Revolution.
The difference between MSoN and Godfather 2 (and the problem with MSoN) is that Many Saints of Newark seems to never be sure of what it wants to be – it perpetually seems to be stuck between the three modes of pandering shamelessly to fans of the franchise (like the Star Wars sequels), making a statement/paint a scene of the racial tensions in Newark in the 1960’s, and exploring the character of Dickie Moltisanti, the movie’s eponymic protagonist.
With no clear direction and emphasis on the second and third desires, the movie ultimately ends up as little more than a trip to Sopranos-land, and the end credit score feels like another grab at the fanboys more than anything else.
There is something to be said about how Many Saints of Newark was marketed – as a movie focusing on Tony Soprano’s young self. Like many other fans of the show, I expected many scenes form Tony’s youth alluded to in the TV show – the jacking of Feech’s card game, Tony’s brush with his football coach, an exploration of his relationship with Young Carmella. We see none (or very little) of that in the movie, and I couldn’t help but feel taken advantage of.
Overall, the only “prequel” for the Sopranos are still Scorsese’s mob hits like “Goodfellas” or “Casino” for me – especially “Goodfellas,” for its influence on The Sopranos, not to mention the number of casting overlaps between the two. For a fan, I think Many Saints of Newark is still worth a watch – but if asked if the movie stands alone by itself, I would have to respectfully disagree.
Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content.
Lauren Ridloff as Connie, Kevin Carroll as Virgil – The Walking Dead _ Season 11, Episode 6 – Photo Credit: Josh Stringer/AMC
The Walking Dead just delivered one of the most scary episodes of all time!
That is right! A mini psychological horror film graces our screens with “On The Inside”. Lauren Ridloff and Kevin Carroll did an outstanding performance on bringing the tone of a horror movie to this episode. This ranged from how they acted, to the exchange of communication between the two characters, and the clever use of the sound design.
The Walking Dead is usually great with their sound. But here, it is on another level because there were multiple times that they switched to Connie’s perspective on how she is dealing with the creepy house they were in. I was also caught off guard by the well-timed jump scares.
If you were to tell me that there would be humans that would act like they came out of that film The Ring in a zombie apocalypse, I would have thought the idea would be crazy. They were used in such an amazing way on The Walking Dead! Too bad that there was no story to why they became like that, but maybe that could open the door for this on a future Tales of The Walking Dead episode.
Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon, Glenn Stanton as Frost – The Walking Dead _ Season 11, Episode 6 – Photo Credit: Josh Stringer/AMC
There were also subplots that involved Daryl being part of an interrogation sequence to prove his loyalty with The Reapers while also helping them search for Maggie, Negan, Gabriel, and Elijah. Though these short adventures move the plot along, I remain uninterested in The Reapers. All of them just have “get off my TV” heat with me!
Kelly’s search for Connie has also been a long one since early in the previous season of The Walking Dead. I can say that I am glad that they resolved this at the end of this episode. The trail of clues that Connie left for Kelly to follow throughout the episode helped Kelly find her. It was smart for Connie to do this as she knew that they would find her.
“On The Inside” is a great example of The Walking Dead being a television show in the horror genre. It is easily now in my top 10 favorite episodes and on e of the most memorable in the series. I give it my high praise as an awesome episode!
Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content.
