TV Show Review - Stranger Things (Season 4)

Season: 4

Genre: Thriller/ Drama/ Fantasy/ Horror

Number of episodes: 8

Year: 2019

Starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Sadie Sink, Dacre Montgomery, Priah Ferguson, Joseph Quinn, Eduardo Franco

Description: It’s eight months after the events in the Starcourt Mall. Max is having a tough time dealing, distancing herself from Lucas who has found a place in the basketball team. Dustin befriended Eddie, the leader of the Hellfire Club: a D&D group. Mike visits Eleven, Will and Jonathan and Joyce still believes Hopper is alive. When people start dying in Hawkins and Eddie is the main suspect, the young gang decides to help him and find who is behind these deaths, while Eleven goes back to doctor Brenner to regain her powers and Joycesets to find Hopper.

Review: After nearly three years, “Stranger Things” fans (ME!) can finally see how things continue for their heroes from Hawkins, Indiana. Will that long wait be rewarded?

WARNING! THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!

Netflix decided not to drop the entire season at once. The first seven episode dropped and later the final two we available as well. And the season had a very long runtime, especially the last two episodes. And I didn’t mind that at all.

The previous season came to a climax battle, where Eleven and her friends defeated the monster from the Upside Down at the Starcourt mall, while Joyce and Hopper went deep underground to thwart the Russians’ plan. The victory came at a high price: Billy was killed, El lost her powers and Hopper disappeared. The rushing army quickly laid the entire Starcour to ashes, and in cover-up, all traces of Russians, monsters, and gateways to other dimensions were carefully hidden away. Joyce moved to California with her sons Will and Jonathan and their friend El.

The big question at the beginning of season 4 is whether the whole gang will ever get back together. El writes letters to Mike from California in which she pretends that she is doing very well, but in reality she is deeply unhappy without her friends and she is being bullied. Home in Hawkins is no paradise either. Since the horrific death of her brother Billy, Max has been seeing the school psychologist regularly, but other students are also suffering from trauma. In the Upside Down, a new monstrous creature sees in this a way to manifest itself again in Hawkins.

Of course, with each new season of “Stranger Things”, fans are especially looking forward to seeing their familiar heroes again, but the creators are always introducing new characters as well. This season is no different. A big addition is Eddie Munson, a high school student with a love for heavy metal, drugs and Dungeons & Dragons. And Eddie wins all of our hearts from the first scene we meet him. Which makes the final episode extra difficult to watch.

Season 3 had a small bonus scene, where there was a hint Hopper had survived the explosion. And of course it turns out that he has. Joyce’s attempt to reunite with Hopper take up a good portion of the episodes, and with that the new season deviates considerably from all the previous ones. For the story no longer plays out only in Hawkins, but also in California, Alaska and Siberia.

The tone of the series is also markedly different this season. Previously, “Stranger Things” breathed the atmosphere of the Spielberg films and Stephen King movies of the 1980s, but now the emphasis is firmly on horror. Characters are killed off in some pretty shocking ways, which may make this season’s 16-and-over predicate justifiable. Again many references to popculture, like “A Nightmare on Elm Street” ( with a cameo from Robert Englund), “Halloween” and “Carrie”.

Max has a bigger role in this season, which I really loved, since she is one of my favorites. And she is, together with newbie Eddie, one of the highlights of season 4. Can they please give Sadie Sink an award for her performance, because it was incredible. And with that the characters of Max and Eddie both had an epic scene, which eventually became the most memorable moments of season 4 (Max escaping Vecna for the first time and Eddie’s guitar solo in the Upside Down).

All the familiar and new characters, references to previous season and well-known genre films, music from the eighties and he now familiar formula of the Duffer Brothers ensure that you step into a warm bath with season 4. Is more always better? In the case of “Stranger Things”: absolutely! Now we wait for season 5, which will be the final season. Time to rewatch season 1 to 4 now.

Rewatching My 100 Favorite Movies - Update 18

I decided to rewatch my 100 favorite movies of all-time. What those are, you can check HERE. I watch them in random order, there is no rhyme or reason there, just watching those movies I love so much.

61/ 100: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
Mother of a murdered and raped teenager can’t stomach the fact that one year after the fact, a perpetrator has still not been caught and she decides to put pressure on the local sheriff. The mother is not only good, he sheriff is not only bad. And that goes for all the, well-drawn charactrs. At once, comic and tragic, with unforgettable, razor-sharp dialogue from writer/ director Martin McDonagh, who we know from movies like “In Bruges”. Read my full review for “Three Billboards” HERE.

62/ 100: Rear Window (1954)
Photojournalist Jeffries sits at home in a wheelchair with his leg in a cast. His beautiful girlfriend, fashion model Lisa Fremont, comes o see him every day. She hopes to propose, but Jeffries is afraid of commitment and prefers to spy on he neighbors across the street. The wife of one of them, a man with an unhappy marriage, is suddenly nowhere to be seen. Has she been murdered? The story takes a grim turn when Lisa gets actively involved in the case. One of the undisputed highlights of Alfred Hitchcock’s oeuvre, still quite exciting and downright brilliantly constructed. Check out my full review of the movie HERE.

63/ 100: Call Me By Your Name (2017)
It is the summer of 1983. The 24-year-old American research assistan Oliver comes to Northern Italy to assist Professor Perlman. And makes a big impression on his 17-year-old son Elio, who to his own shock and surprise falls in love with Oliver. The discovery of the talented Timothée Chalamet. All the praise for this film is understandable, it’s a fantastic movie. Sparkling, intimate and honest. A movie to fall in love with. HERE is my full review.

Still to watch: 37

00s Movie Review - The Invention of Lying

Director: Ricky Gervais, Matthew Robinson

Genre: Comedy/ Romance

Runtime: 100 minutes

Year: 2009

Starring: Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, Jonah Hill, Jeffrey Tambor, Tina Fey, Jason Bateman, Louis C.K

Description: A comedy set in a world where no one has ever lied, until a writer seizes the opportunity for personal gain.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2022 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 26: A ROMANTIC MOVIE 

Review: The film is set in a world just like our, but with the only difference: mankind never “invented” lying. People just have jobs, children, a house, a car. But in the meantime they are 100% honest with each other. And one man, writer Mark, one day is somehow able to lie and uses it to help himself and others. Comedian Ricky Gervais wrote the story and directed the film. But also star in it.

I’ve always liked Gervais’ humor and I enjoy watching him in films. “The invention of Lying” is a fun film, with jokes that may or may not work for you. For me it did most of the time. I really liked the premise of the film and it played out well.

Rating: 3 / 5

Book Review - Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King

Title: Gwendy’s Button Box

Series: The Button Box # 1

Author: Stephen King

Description: There are three ways up to Castle View from the town of Castle Rock: Route 117, Pleasant Road, and the Suicide Stairs. Every day in the summer of 1974 twelve-year-old Gwendy Peterson has taken the stairs, which are held by strong (if time-rusted) iron bolts and zig-zag up the cliffside.

At the top of the stairs, Gwendy catches her breath and listens to the shouts of the kids on the playground. From a bit farther away comes the chink of an aluminum bat hitting a baseball as the Senior League kids practice for the Labor Day charity game. One day, a stranger calls to Gwendy. On a bench in the shade sits a man in black jeans, a black coat like for a suit, and a white shirt unbuttoned at the top. On his head is a small neat black hat. The time will come when Gwendy has nightmares about that hat...

Review: “Gwendy’s Button Box”, unlike most Stephen King’s work, is only a very thin book. It is a novella, which you can usually read very quickly. The cover is beautiful and inside are wonderful illustrations.

The story follows Gwendy, who struggles with various aspects of her life, including her weight. After she gets a button box ins a special way, it seems to change her whole life. She loses wight, gets better grades, and excels at sports and work. The button box in particular is very appealing to the imagination of this story. The tension is well built.

There is a clear message in the novella. As you reas, you get the idea that you need to read the book again, to fully grasp the meaning of the story. We experience the story mainly through Gwendy’s eyes, although due to the length of the story we don’t really get to know her as a character.

The book combines several elements and genres, including fantasy, horror, life lessons and young adulthood. The ending of “Gwendy’s Button Box” is surprising, because the evens make you expect the novella to end differently.

Stephen King never disappoint, and he didn’t with this short story.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

20s Movie Review - Crip Camp

Director: James Lebrecht, Nicole Newnham
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 106 minutes
Year: 2020
Starring: -
 
Description: Down the road from Woodstock, a revolution blossomed at a ramshackle summer camp for teenagers with disabilities, transforming their lives and igniting a landmark movement.
 
Review: At a summer camp run by hippies, a crucial civil rights movement in the United States germinated some fifty years ago; that of the disabled. Camp Jened was one of the first places where disabled people could come together without any stigma. The young people who attended this camp felt for the first time that they were valued as complete individuals. It was they who later went on to lead demonstrations and protests to enforce equal rights for disabled people.

Indeed, the many archival images of 1971 summer camp reveal an incredible experience of freedom among the young people. Some of those interviewed describe the summer camp as their Woodstock. At the camp, the young people get first loves and have long discussion about the problems they experience because of their disabilities.

“Crip Camp” makes extensive use of historical material. The footage of the protest is particularly impressive. Of particular note is the moment when a group of disabled pepple entrench themselves in a government building for over twenty days to ensue that a law is passed establishing their equality. “Crip Camp” shines light on a civil rights movement that has been largely invisibly until now. It is more or less normal today for most buildings to be wheelchair friendly, but “Crip Camp” shows how arduous the fight was to make this happen. An incredibly shocking scene makes it clear why this was so important. This is a news report from the 1970s about Willowbrook, a kind of hospital for the disabled. These images are pure horror. Emaciated patients lie everywhere, tucked away with no real help.

“Crip Camp” is an engaging documentary with a positive message. It shows how steadfast people brought about real change in the U.S.

Rating: 4/ 5

Movie Review - Spiderhead

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Genre: Action/ Crime/ Drama

Runtime: 106 minutes

Year: 2022

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Miles Teller, Jurnee Smollett

Description: In the near future, convicts are offered the chance to volunteer as medical subjects to shorten their sentence. One such subject for a new drug capable of generating feelings of love begins questioning the reality of his emotions.

Review: “You’re stich with four life sentences, with no chance of parole”. A sentence no prisoner wants to hear. Yet the prisoner to whom this is told responds with an almost manic fit of laughter, creating an uneasy feeling and an upsetting atmosphere. Unfortunately, this strong beginning does not continue, and while there are plenty of ideas, the execution of them is underwhelming.

“Spiderhead” is set in the near future. There is a prison complex where occupants are given the chance to reduce the length of their sentence. All they have to do to do so is participate in an experimental study of medication the controls people’s emotions. And that’s not all; the prisoners are allowed to walk around freely and there is an open kitchen. A deal you can’t turn down, but of course there’s a big, fat catch.

This interesting premise can cause the necessary moral dilemmas. It is therefore unfortunate that the beginning is somewhat banal. Lead researched Steve Abnesti can administer various medicatiosn automitically, including the so-called Luvactin. Its effect is euphoria and everything si beautiful. Like the other medications at Steve’s disposal, this one can be cranked up to eleven.

The tests for Luvactin begin fairly innocently but interestingly. Inmate Jeff looks at a view that actually consists of a garbage dump and thinks it’s beautiful. The same test is done on two inmates sitting together, which obviously ends in an intense lovemaking session. Which becomes a bit silly eventually.

And from there, the various tests yield more and more when it comes to the moral compass, and other emotions also pass muster. When the medication is administered, the recipients first have to acknowledge this and approve that they can. This gives the illusion of free will, but this is deviously reversed as Steve, in a friendly yet blackmailing manner, makes people do whatever he wants them to do. Chris Hemsworth, who plays this Steve, is solid in his role and he tries to make the best of what this movie is.  

“Spiderhead” has a very interesting premise, but has a very hard time getting it going. Alsmot two-thirds of the film is over before the first real conflict arises. Which makes it difficult to stay focused and the keep you interested. It could have been better if they used the premise to its full potential and made a more thriller-based film. Such a let-down, very disappointed in this movie.

Rating: 2/ 5

TV Show Review - Obi-Wan Kenobi (Mini Series)

Season: Mini Series

Genre: Adventure/ Action/ Drama/ Science Fiction

Number of episodes: 6

Year: 2022

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Jimmy Smits, Joel Edgerton, Moses Ingram, Vivien Lyra Blair, Rupert Friend, James Earl Jones, Kumail Nanjiani, O’Shea Jackson,

Description: Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) has to save young Leia after she is kidnapped, all the while being pursued by Imperial Inquisitors and his former Padawan, now known as Darth Vader.

 

Review: Ewan McGregor has never made a secret of his desire to don Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Jedi cloak and take up his lightsaber again. At first, there was talk about a standalone film, but eventually the producers of the Star Wars series opted for a six-part miniseries. McGregor is visibly enjoying himself, but  is actually reduced to a supporting actor. The story, in fact, revolves mainly around the ten-year-old Princess Leia and the rise of Darth Vader. Nevertheless, for fans it is still a feast of recognition.

“Obi-Wan Kenobi” is set between episode III and IV, thus forming a solif bridge between the original and the prequel trilogy. You might even tentatively conclude that this series makes that hated second trilogy more palatable, as “Revenge of the Sith” is tied to this first trilogy opener, A New Hope.

It is a few years after the battle on the volcanic planet Mustafar, where Anakin Skywalker, who had turned to the dark side, came away from the battle battered. With all kinds of artifice we see how he recovers and has the iconic Darth Vader suit hoisted, which provides him with an artificial face provided by James Earl James (in his nineties now). It will lead to cheers for fans, and this puts even more puzzle pieces in place. In particular, a fight scene in the final episode will be able to please many because it brings together nostalgia and new angles.

Whereas “The Mandalorian” had its main charm offensive in the form of Grogy (aka Baby Yoda aka The Child), the creators of this series got to work with a ten-year-old Princess Leia. Unlike the viewer, she has no idea who her real parents are or that she has a twin brother, who grows up in anonymity on Tatooine. Leia is played by Vivien Lyra Blair, who steals the show in every episode. She is smart, witty, but not pedantic or irritating, like a lot of children in movies are.

It's a nice touch that continuity with the movies has been provided by having all the actors still available reprise their characters, even though some have visibly aged and other appear in only one scene.

 

Unlike previous Star Wars series, all sex episodes of “Obi-Wan Kenobi:  were directed by the same person: Deborah Chow. She also directed tow episodes of “The Mandalorian”, and this time around her work shows consistent direction in a series is still most remiscent of the prequel trilogy in terms of looks.

“Obi-Wan Kenobi” is a better series then “The Book of Boba Fett”, but doesn’t manage to climb over “The Mandalorian”, but it forms a finely rounded story. It lacks a real soul like in “The Mandalorian”, but for a Star Wars fan it is still a must-see.