Academy Awards 2023 Predictions!

Basically, I’m expecting Academy Award night to go by the numbers with no surprises which will be the biggest surprise. I have been tracking the various awards and this is an outsider’s guide with just awareness of how the Academy may be voted through articles and overall wins. Let’s start with Best Sound: I think All Quiet on the Western Front will take this one. Just a general sense, a part of the Academy voters are European. Best Score: I think Babylon will take it. Composer Justin Hurwitz won best score and song for his other collaboration with director, Damien Chazelle, La La Land (2016). He does have competition with John Williams with The Fabelmans. I think the glaring mistake is leaving out Alexandre Desplat’s score for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. Best Makeup and Hairstyling: The Whale, Brandan Fraser’s performance. There’s of course brilliant work in Elvis following him through his life. Plus, The Batman with the Penguin’s make-up.  

The room of Academy Awards, Academy Museum, 2022, author’s photo. 

Best Costume Design: I think Ruth E. Carter has a lock for this one, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, a technical category. She is a previous winner for Black Panther (2018). Best Animated Film: Another lock with Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio winning the Annie and Critics Choice Award. A good field, but misses out on Wendell & Wild directed by Henry Selick, streaming on Netflix. Also, Phil Tippett’s masterpiece, Mad God which is streaming on Shudder. Visual Effects: the clear winner is Avatar: The Way of Water, I just wasn’t impressed visually as the first movie, plus this furthers the trend of not building sets and costumes. It did win over the effects divisions. I think what was left out was the five Everything workers who created visuals I never would have imagined, Everything Bagel, more fantastic than anything Pandora and tied to the family’s story. Best Production Design: I’m thinking it will go to Babylon, old Hollywood energized, I don’t see any campaigning or interviews for it. 

                                          Guillermo del Toro adjusting the Geppetto figure at the Variety Screening Series, January 11th, photo by the author. 

Best Original Song: Um, this is an easy one, “Naatu Naatu”, RRR. It looks like the Academy voters are going for it. Winner of the Critics Choice Award. I think a very good runner-up is Rhianna’s “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. So “Naatu Naatu”, 65%, and “Lift Me Up”, 30% with others in the low percentages. The one song that I really think is missing is “Ciao Papa” from Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. I guess Academy voters can’t relate to a son going out to the wide world to save his father. Best International Film: All Quiet on the Western Front which swept the British Film Academy awards. Runners up include Argentina, 1985 and Ireland’s The Quiet Girl. Best Film Editing: I’m sensing Top Gun: Maverick will win here. A reported 800 hours were trimmed down to the film’s two hour, eleven minutes, a feat. Right up there is Everything which is a sentimental favorite with making sense out of chaos, but I think the number of awards for it, will be kept to a few. Best Cinematography: Another crowded field with some greats, Roger Deakins for Empire of Light, but I think it will go to Mandy Walker for capturing the spectacle and life of Elvis. I would add that Claudio Miranda was slighted for leaving him out of Top Gun: Maverick's noms since the special cameras had to invented, tested, and used with actors in the movie! 

Yes, the audience does get up to dance for “Naatu Naatu”, Ace Hotel, March 1st, author’s photo. 

Best Original Screenplay: Everything is a lock since it won the Writer’s Guild Award, the Critics Choice Award, and others. I’m thinking it will be it’s first award of the night. Adapted Screenplay: I’m pulling for Sarah Polley whose Women Talking is shut out of the rest of the categories, plus she won the Writer’s Guild Award. Best Supporting Actress: here I’m breaking away from the usual favorite, Jamie Lee Curtis won the SAG award, so I’m thinking that recognition from her peers is enough. I think the Academy, no evidence, will be spreading around the winners and chose Angela Bassett for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Entertainment Weekly’s secret Oscar voters picked her. The problem of course is Hollywood giving a major award to a comic book movie, the industry is not MCU fans. So I would not be surprised if Curtis takes it and would happy to be proven wrong. The spoiler could be Kerry Condon for The Banshees of Inisherin which wouldn’t get wins except maybe this category. Bassett, 45%, Curtis, 35%, Condon, 20% 

The purple dress worn by Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) at the UN, 2022, photo by the author. 

Best Supporting Actor: odds are Ke Huy Quan is a favorite for Everything, Everywhere All at Once, Quan’s story is so hopeful to all actors and a message to Hollywood. He has won SAG, Critics Choice, Independent Spirit Awards, the majority of recognition is behind him. Quan, 90%, with possible, but not really upset by Barry Keoghan for The Banshees of Inisherin. Best Actress, this would be a night ender, if Michelle Yeoh loses to Cate Blanchett. I don’t think things change with a Blanchett, look at her previous wins; Best Actress, Blue Jasmine (2013) and Best Supporting Actress, The Aviator (2004). Did the actress field open for more movies featuring actresses and diverse actresses after those wins? Will Yeoh winning automatically open the doors? Look at Halle Berry’s wins with Best Actress for Monster’s Ball (2001) and Primetime Emmy win for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999), also wins from the Screen Actors Guild. The following year Salma Hayek was nommed for Frida (2002) and after that Keisha Castle-Hughes for the Whale Rider (2002). A slow build, the point is not to win awards, but to have a presence and representation on film and television. Yeoh win, I put at 75%, a spoiler for Blanchett, 25%. Not on the ballot, it’s just wrong, are Danielle Deadwyler (Till) and Viola Davis (Woman King). 

Brandan Fraser won Best Actor for The Whale at the Screen Actors Guild and Hollywood Critics Association. He has competition for Austin Butler’s Elvis, which I think is a career defining performance, but I think he is still young and can return to the noms. I absolutely love that two 20th century icons; Elvis (Butler) and Blonde - Marilyn Monroe (Ana de Armas) are nommed. The Variety prediction by Clayton Davis is that The Daniels will “pull of the hat trick, taking picture, director, and original screenplay.” Variety pointed out the at seven of the ten PGA winners won Best Picture. Directors Guild Awards, remember that the branch for the categories are voting on will swing for the vote and it looks like The Daniels; Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert have won the DGA and I think the most important for them is the Independant Spirit Awards since they came from independent filmmaking. The secret Oscar voters all put Everything as Best Picture as well as the Screen Actors Guild for Best Ensemble. So this is the breakdown (out of 19 categories); Everything - 5 awards (big winner or will it win more and shut out films?), The Whale - 2, All Quiet - 2, Black Panther 2 - 2, Babylon - 2, RRR - 1 out of 1, Elvis - 1, Pinocchio - 1, Women Talking - 1, Top Gun: Maverick - 1, Avatar 2 -1. Just one more day to find out the winners! 

#EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce, #TheDaniels, #MichelleYeoh, #KeHuyQuan, #TheWhale, #BrendanFraser, #AllQuietOnTheWesternFront, #BlackPantherWakandaForever, #AngelaBassett, #RuthECarter, #BabylonMovie, #RRRMovie, #ElvisMovie, #GuillermoDelTorosPinocchio, #WomenTalking, #TopGunMaverick, #AvatarTheWayOfWater 

The Mandalorian, “The Mines of Mandalore”, Review!

 In “The Apostate”, Mando greets Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) in her empty throne room who says his given name, Din Djarin. Mando offers to join her to retake Mandalore, but she says she was abandoned without the Darksaber. Bo-Katan says her forces turned into mercenaries and he could lead them. Also, that the Children of the Watch gave up on Mandalore before the Purge! He says that he wants to find redemption in the Living Waters. She says it is all a myth and tells Mando that the mines are under Sindari. The episode is directed by Rachel Morrison, who previously directed American Crime Story, and is notable as the first woman to be nominated as cinematographer for Mudbound (2017). It opens with some fireworks and cheers from a Tatooine arena. A Rodian in red robes is pointing out something to Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) about a speeder. It is always great to see Peli Motto again, not an action hero, but an incredible tech and linguist, she knows droidspeak, Jawa, and apparently Rodian. 

She says there are parts missing and then tells her pit droids to push the speeder out. Peli tells him that she can work on it, the speeder work will take two months, and she asks for half for the parts. Peli is a bit frustrated that she’s working on Boonta Eve. She has a pit droid check to see he has left, R5-D4 call the Jawas, and put back the missing parts! Peli sees the N-1 Starfighter she helped build and greets Din. She asks about her “guy” and Grogu leaps into her arms! He burbles something like “Peli”, which she says is his first word. Mando says he needs the IG-11 memory circuit and Peli has her droids call back the Jawas. I absolutely love Peli speaking Jawaese. They don’t have the part so Peli taps the malfunctioning R5. He says he needs a droid for spelunking, cave exploration, to test the atmosphere before he enters. R5 backs away and Peli sells it as a droid that was from the Rebellion! Peli offers to put in a droid port for half off, but R5 looks nervous. Din takes off with the fireworks bursting in the night sky. 

Mandalore is a green planet with heavy clouds swirling around storms. He admits to Grogu that he has never been to the planet, but grew up on its moon, Concordia. It first appeared in the Clone Wars episode, “The Mandalore Plot” (2010). Din tells Grogu that Mandalorians must know maps so they can never get lost. He descends through the storm clouds that disrupts the ship’s systems. We do get a cockpit perspective of a planetfall like Empire Strikes Back before the clouds break to green lands. Mando notes that the fusion bombs magnetized the atmosphere cutting off communication. They land by a flattened area next to jagged, green crystal formations. R5-D4 is sent to take air samples from the mines. He shows the worried Grogu R5 on a scope with a pinging sound out of a submarine, “One ping only.” It seems like Mando can understand Grogu’s gurgling. Suddenly, R5 is gone! Din pressurizes his helmet to check on R5. He enters a darkened cave lit by green crystals and sunlight before reaching the mines! 

Mando is attacked by brutal creatures, Alamites, like the Morlocks from the Time Machine (1960)! He blasts a few and then takes out his Darksaber. Din hears R5 and then sets the droid upright. They return to the ship and Mando has R5 project his scans with the air perfectly breathable. Grogu follows Din returning to the cave in his hover pod. It seems dangerous to bring his “kid” into the mines, but Grogu does give Mando someone to feed dialogue. At the overlook of the city Sunari, Mando drops down on his jetpack to the Civic Center, with Grogu. They drop down further to try to find the mines. The duo passes a growling creature. Din notes that falling water should go to the mines as the Living Water. A tiny dragon-like beast, a reptavian?, snarls from a pipe. They find a stone passage that leads to the mines of Moria, I mean, Mandalore. Din finds a triangular shape in the ground, a buried Mandalorian helmet!, he regards it almost Hamlet-like. Then, a giant, insectoid droid has him in its grasp. Grogu has taken cover and sees it take away The Mandalorian! Grogu follows it on foot and the beast locks Din into a cage machine. We see that there something organic, nasty, floating in its red, droid eye! 

A hatch opens and the skeletal, droid cyborg crawls out! It is something like a IG-100 MagnaGuard with an organic eye and fleshy spines on its back. The cyborg tosses away Mando’s blaster and Darksaber. Grogu sneaks over to the machine and uses the Force to try to wrench it open. Din says, “Get to Bo-Katan” before the cyborg sends out an electrical blast! Grogu hurtles away on his hover pod, the dragon tries to chomp him, and he floats out of the city. He reaches the cave entrance when a four eyed-Alamaite drops down. It is hurtled out of the cave and Grogu leaps into the starfighter! The dragon tries to claw its way into the cockpit, but Grogu flies away. At Bo-Katan’s palace, her droid introduces her visitor. She sees outside a window, the starfighter land, Bo-Katan is angry that Mando has returned. There is only Grogu so she asks her droid to get the astromech’s flight path. Then, she leaves on her Gauntlet starfighter! Bo-Katan to the rescue! She enters the Mandalore atmo and looks wistfully at the ruins of Sundari. Bo-Katan has Grogu lead the way. R5 monitors them from the ship. I have absolute confidence that Bo-Katan, prepared, can take the cyborg. She sees the underground city and says to Grogu that it is a tomb. 

They drop down, love Grogu’s flapping ears, and he is nervous around the dragon creature’s pipe. She starts telling Grogu that the Mandalorians once worked with the Jedi. Bo-Katan reaches the area where Din was lost. She takes out her pistols and blasts the ceiling which drops an Alamite. Bo-Katan is quick with her blaster and other weapons killing the Alamites. She recognizes them from the wastelands outside of the cities. The cyborg stabs Mando with a cable and then rotates the cage. His blood is being drained! Suddenly, a blast hits the strange droid pump and Bo-Katan fights with the cyborg. It hits her with his electrostaff, but she uses her grapnel to bring in the Darksaber. She is the true ruler of Mandalore! Bo-Katan makes short work of the cyborg with the Darksaber and her combat shield. Still, the head of the cyborg crawls away. Din struggles to talk and then warns her about the cyborg now in its insectoid body. She is able cut down its legs and deactivate the cyborg. Later, Din revives and thanks Bo-Katan for the rescue. She has made him pog soup which Bo-Katan is given to every Mandalorian. Din struggles to get up and continue his mission. I love the back story of Bo-Katan Kryze, not much about her sister, Satine Kryze, whom I would want to see in live action form played by Anna Graves. She was the leader, Bo-Katan was the warrior, Satine could have brought peace to the Clone Wars. This is the best episode of The Mandalorian! 

Five Bars of Beskar Steel out of Five! 

#TheMandalorian, #TheMinesOfMandalore, #PedroPascal, #Grogu, #KateeSackhoff, #AmySedaris 

The Ark, “Two by Two”, Review!

It is "3.2 Earth Months Later”, we have a more or less settled command room, Dr. Sanjivni Kabir is a little distracted. It seems incredible that no incidents happened for months let alone weeks on the Ark-1. Eva Markovic reports that the shuttles are restored. Alicia Nevins is searching with Lt. James Brice for Uranium-238, a isotope found in nature. I keep thinking of Marvin the Martian’s Uranium Pu-36. Eva says they will run out of fuel without it. Lt. Sharon Garnet says that Angus Medford has a surprise in the mess hall, he stands on a chair to announce that there is a small harvest! It is epic to see small vegetables and the crew applauds him! Lt. Brice stares at Alicia and leaves. He staggers in the corridor, his hand to his temple, and collapses! Dr. Kabir is organizing the cabinets while Felix Strickland brings her the food tray. He orders her to go to her bunk and eat the food. Next to her, Brice wakes up and crawls over to to ask who brought him to his bunk. Lt. Spencer Lane knocks at Garnet’s door and she has him sit so she admits she has contraband, Scotch, she found from the captain. A bonding moment. 

THE ARK -- “Two By Two” -- REECE RITCHIE, CHRISTIE BURKE, REECE RITCHIE -- Photo: Aleksander Letic/Ark TV Holdings, Inc./SYFY

Lane says he drunk it with his father at NASA. His father died on the moon. Garnet cheers to his father. She continues saying she drank Kentucky bourbon with Dr. Hall. She says he died in sleeper pod one. They drink to Dr. Hall. Garnet says she is thanking  for revealing all of her secrets. Lane looks solemn before cheering. Lt. Brice calls all personnel to the bridge. He has discovered Uranium-238 on a planet, Eva says it would take too much fuel. Lane brings up the solar sails. Brice notes that there is a yellow binary star. Alicia brings up a solar slingshot that would reach the planet. Brice goes to check if there is damage to the sails. Eva catches up to him and says she was the one to take Brice to his bunk. He threatens Eva if she speaks to anyone about it. She gets mad at him and speaks in her native Serbian language. He says more politely to keep it private because it is embarrassing to him. I sense a love hate relationship. Lane paces in Cat’s room even though his sessions finished. He wants to know if keeping a secret will affect him physically. She agrees and says he should share the secret. 

He admits that William Trust, who created The Ark program, is hidden in a cryo pod. Cat doesn’t want him to tell Garnet and she says “half the people on the ship” would want to kill him from her sessions. So Cat tells him to keep his secret! Lane enters the cyro pod and checks a pad to find out the identity of the woman. Trust is interviewed and asked about going on the Ark-5. He drops his pad and sees a button to open another door. It opens to a lit room, filled with genetic material, Lane opens one for an orangutan and brings up the Biblical Ark's “two by two.” At the bridge, Eva argues that Brice can pilot around the dwarf star and Alicia mentions that the flight has to be precise. Lane concurs with the decision. At the med lab, Dr. Kabir is frantic about the loss of the pills, and Strickland has taken the amphetemines. He says he will help her with her addiction and keep it private. She falls emotional about the situation. Strickland says that he will watch over if she crashes and will contact her if needed. 

THE ARK -- "Two By Two” -- TIANA UPCHEVA, RICHARD FLEESHMAN  -- Photo: Aleksander Letic/Ark TV Holdings, Inc./SYFY

On the bridge, Garnet drops sun protection and Brice pilots the Ark-1 accelerating around the star and Garnet orders the sails to open triangular, yellow sails. Then, there is an alarm It is a solar flare! They are being pulled in! The Ark is pulled closer to the star, Eva says the sail needs to be repaired, she says a spacewalk could repair it. Garnet says her Tardigrade DNA could take the radiation. It is Garnet’s turn to take on a risky mission! She makes her way to the solar sail, attaches her tether, directed by Eva to repair it. She attaches the clamps and Garnet is dragged as they accelerate to safety. Lane calls for Garnet. He races to help her at the airlock. He is there with secruity. Garnet is collapsed, they remove her helmet, her face burned. Eva calls for a brace as they accelerate out of the star’s gravity. Alicia gets an alarm for the alien substance at the planet! They don’t have a choice!, risk the acidic substance, but they need to refuel. They take Garnet to med bay and Strickland says he will care for her. Secrets are revealed, but the situation is still tense on The Ark!  

Four Compression Suits out of Five! 

#TheArk, #TwoByTwo, #ChristieBurke, #ReeceRitchie, #RichardFleeshman, #TianaUpcheva, #PavleJerinic, #ShaliniPeiris, #StaceyRead, #ChristinaWolfe, #RyanAdams

The Last of Us, “When We Are In Need”, Review!

The Last of Us had us wondering about the fate of Joel and now we have to worry about Ellie! Re:cap - “Left Behind”, Ellie was trying to help Joel who was stabbed in his stomach, she flashes back to her time at FEDRA school. There is a reunion with her friend, Riley , who takes her to an abandoned mall. They are safe from FEDRA and Riley shows Ellie the Four Wonders of the Mall. The first is a merry-go-round, the next is Raja’s Arcade, duplicated from the video game. In a corner of the mall, a cordyceps corpse has wakened while they play Mortal Kombat II. They finish their last game, Ellie does a Fatality move, and they scream, but there is a closeness to their friendship. Ellie is ready to go back, but Riley promises her a gift. They head through a food court to Macho Nacho, at the back room, Riley gives Ellie No Pun Intended Vol. 2 so we see the connection. Ellie finds on a shelf, pipes used for explosives, she realizes Riley was posted at the mall. She starts to leave and Riley tries to catch up to her, shouting that she is being posted to the Atlanta QZ, Marlene had made this Riley’s last time in Boston. Riley says she wanted to say goodbye and Ellie leaves. 

Ellie re-enters the dark mall and hears screams, she runs over to a store, and a Halloween ghost prop pops up. This was Riley’s fourth wonder and Ellie asks for her book. Riley brings up that she remembers her family and feels that way with the Fireflies. A quiet moment between friends. Riley sneaks under a counter and tosses her a werewolf head. While she takes out her Walkman. Riley plays “I Got You Babe” (1968) sung by Etta James with a clown mask. She dances on top of a counter and brings up Ellie.  They dance together giggling. I was always checking the edge of the frame, but nope, it’s just fun. Ellie takes off her mask, Riley takes off her mask, and Ellie tells Riley not to go. Then, they kiss, Ellie tries to apologize, but then they both smile. Next, they hear a trash can kicked over, yup, it can’t last.  Riley takes out her gun, shoots the Infected, and they start to run. The Infected tackles Riley knocking her out and the gun tumbles. The Infected knocks Ellie back and she stabs it to free herself. Riley hits it with a bat and the Infected attacks her! Ellie finishes the Infected with her switchblade to its head. She sees the bite on her wrist and tries to wipe away the blood, this is the bite! Riley holds up her hand with a bite mark by her thumb! 

We move then to a close-up of Joel’s ragged breath. Ellie runs to check cabinets. Back at the mall, she rages smashing cabinets with the bat. Then, she sits next to Riley, quiet and crying. Riley has they have two options, the easy way, holding her gun, or “we just keep going.” She adds, “But we don’t quit.” They hold each other until the end. This is such a showcase for Bella Ramsey! Ellie pulls out a kitchen drawer and finds a needle and thread! She holds Joel’s hand, now Ellie is the protector, then she begins to painfully sew Joel’s bloody wound closed! “When We Are In Need” picks up at an unfamiliar, snowy town of Silver Lake nestled under snowy hills. We hear a voice, this is the town’s leader, David read Revelation 21 at Todd’s Steakhouse. The rest of the community is there. There is a sheet with “When We Are In Need He Shall Provide” written on it. A girl, Hannah (Sonia Maria Chirila), is crying. David asks Hannah if she can finish the passage, he continues, and then she is questioned about its meaning. He is about to walk away when Hannah asks when they can bury him, meaning her father, Alec. David says they can’t dig now so he will be buried in the spring. A strange community and I just didn’t trust that things were normal there considering the show. 

                                                THE LAST OF US - - “When We Are In Need” - - SCOTT SHEPHERD - - Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO. 

David says goodbyes to the townspeople and then asks about food supplies with James who is played by Troy Baker, the voice of Joel in the games! James says they have about a week. He brings up that a deer was found by Josiah and Martin. James admits he still believes, David was just testing his loyalty, and then has James get the guns for the hunt. At the house, Ellie taps water on Joel’s lips, then she eats some tiny squares of rations before leaving one for Joel. She leaves with the rifle. The game shifts control to Ellie at this point! Ellie sees a rabbit, aims, but the rabbit scurries away with Ellie landing on her face in the snow! She continues walking and then spots a deer. Immediately, it hit that this is the deer that James and David will be hunting! Ellie takes cover by a fallen tree, we see the deer’s breath, then Ellie before she shoots! The deer staggers and then runs away! Ellie starts to run after it. The trail of blood in the snow leads to the deer, David and James discuss the deer, James says the hunter is nearby. Ellie warns them to drop their rifles! Ellie asks them to turn to her and says she will shoot including James whom she calls “buddy boy”!  

David introduces themselves and explains they are from a group. Ellie says she is from a group and David says they can trade for the deer she can’t carry with her rifle. Ellie asks if they have medicine for infections. She wants buddy boy to get the medicine. David tells James to get two bottles of penicillin and a syringe. Ellie has David back up so she can unload the bullets from the rifles. David says it is four miles to the village so he offers to carry the deer to a nearby lodge. A fire is going and David wants to know her name. Ellie is not up for being friendly and David continues that he leads a group. She asks if they are part of a “weird cult thing.” David reluctantly acknowledges her and says that he is a preacher and formerly a teacher. He says he left with others from the fall of Pittsburgh. David says “everything happens for a reason” and since the winter has been harsh, he sent four people to a town. One was killed, Alec, Hannah’s father, by a “crazy man” with a girl. Alec is the man who attacked Joel at the university in “Kin.” David smiles and tells James to lower his gun. He tells James to throw the medicine to Ellie. The ulterior motive of David seems creepy. She takes it and runs back to Joel. Ellie fills the syringe with penicillin, but doesn’t know where to inject it! 

THE LAST OF US  --  “When We Are In Need” -- TROY BAKER -- Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO

She injects it directly into the wound, really it should be cleaned beforehand, and then pulls back his jacket. Ellie should also redress the wound with fresh cloth, still she doesn’t know how to properly care for Joel. She rests next to him to sleep. I’m thinking she should stand guard. At the Silver Lake kitchen, a man brings in a tub of meat which he says is venison. The stew is served to everyone when James and David bring in the deer which should be the venison! No spoilers here unless you already realized or seen the show, but the situation reminds me of the post-apocalyptic comic book limited series, Just a Pilgrim (2001-2002) by Garth Ennis and Carlos Ezquerra, recommended for adults! David admits that a rumor could have reached the townspeople that they found a girl connected to the murder of Alec. He says the next morning, they will go find him. Hannah says that both them should be killed. David walks over, takes off his glove, and slaps her to the floor! He seemed like a calm man, but now we know he is brutal, not just to Hannah, he threatened James to follow his orders! You do have to watch out for the quiet ones because you don’t know when they will turn violent. 

David pulls her up and tells her that she has a father and wants her respect, he doesn’t tolerate disobedience like FEDRA. He begins to pray before eating his meal and the others join in before eating. Morning at the house, Ellie checks in on Joel, and gives him another injection. She opens the garage door to pile snow in a bucket for the horse. Next, she sees a murder of crows take flight. Ellie sneaks over to see six hunters following her trail. David is one of them along with James who is told to bring back the girl. James questions David’s decision, the leader turns to him, and James lowers his head in compliance. Ellie tries to waken Joel and gives him a knife to protect himself she leads the hunters away. She rides the horse as the hunters approach. Ellie rides up to them and fires her gun. They take cover, James runs to get into position, and shoots the horse sending Ellie flying into the snow! The actor who played Joel taking out Ellie! The hunters surround Ellie and one tells James to shoot her, but they stopped by David’s rifle shot! David carries the unconscious Ellie, orders two others to drag the horse back, and the others to take their revenge! It seems like Joel is almost missing from this episode. Another stunning episode of The Last of Us that is a turning point for Ellie! 

Four Fungi out of Five! 

#TheLastOfUs, #WhenWeAreInNeed, #BellaRamsey, #PedroPascal, #ScottShepherd, #TroyBaker,#SoniaMariaChirila, #AriRombough 

The Ark, “One Step Forward Two Steps Back”, Review!

This episode of The Ark brings up the murder mystery, the crew's faith in Garnet, and another danger to the ship! Re:cap - “We Weren’t Supposed to Be Awake”, the crew of the Ark-1 was faced with the toxin particle which was from the comet water! A cure was found from Lt. Sharon Garnet’s clone blood, but there was another problem. Angus has analyzed the crystal that caused the loss of the command crew and says, “It could have been a weapon”! Garnet states that they are the only ones that have reached that far in space. Angus Medford says, “I didn’t say people.” Dr. Sanjivni Kabir is placing her medical tools in a kit in the now empty med bay. She is still tired and reaches for her pills. Dr. Kabir is interrupted by Lt. Spencer Lane who thanks her for her work saving the ship. He questions her about how she came up with the cure. Lane offers to watch over the med bay while she sleeps. First time Dr. Kabir has had that offer. She thanks him, but then we get a grim look from Lane!  When Dr. Kabir leaves, Lane starts to type on her computer, I think when any medical personnel is away from their computer, their password is needed! 

Lt. Garnet is walking when Lane bursts out that she is a clone. She says it is on a need to a know basis. Then, Garnet says Dr. Kabir knew, and Lane admits that he had illegally checked her medfiles. One this breaks confidentiality with a senior medical personnel and two it breaks chain of command, two wrongs don’t make a right. At the most, Lane should have brought this up privately. She says he could be court martialed and he brings up her sister. This angers Garnet who tells him to leave. Very tense, but Lane continues since he thinks he is up to lead the ship. Garnet says she will step aside if she feels she has lost control. He wants a vote, really classified information is a threat, and Lane should be court martialed. Is he the villain of this show? The video of bar killing is reviewed by Lane at the command room. Dr. Kabir who should be angry at him and Lt. Brice finds it pointless to vote. Nevins asks what is wrong about clones. Strickland explains that clone were used as soldiers, the Clone Wars?, Dr. Kabir adds cloning the same soldier (like Jango Fett) causes degradation and they became psychotic! 

This is what may have happened to Garnet’s clone sister, Denise, and she admits she is a normal human. Finally, Dr. Kabir is angry at Lane, really he is a danger playing politics and should be confined to quarters. Her last comment about him is very funny! Lane tries to keep his point that clone were a danger, Nevins says she saved the ship, and Eva Markovic says Garnet is human. He turns to Felix Strickland’s persepective and he votes to support Garnet as leader. The others raise their hand in support and Garnet smiles. I like when loyalties are test and win out! Garnet gets an update on the ship, Eva notes that they are not ready for near lightspeed with one working engine, and she goes to see what she can do about the engine. Next, Garnet turns to Strickland about the murder investigation. He was going to question people when stopped by politics so he goes to continue the investigation. Garnet gives James Brice command of the bridge. She asks Nevins to work with Angus on the crystal to “weaponize” it or to make a shield, I like option b. It should have been clear that Garnet’s clone origin is to be kept a priority secret. 

THE ARK - - “One Step Forward, Two Steps Back”  - -  RICHARD FLEESHMAN, REECE RITCHIE, TIANA UPCHEVA, STACEY READ, CHRISTIE BURKE - - Photo: Aleksandar Letic/Ark TV Holdings, Inc./SYFY

Garnet confronts the sulking Lane and says his problem with her was before he knew she was a clone. He didn’t like how she took command. She orders him to go to Cat Brandice for his “mommy issues”, burn, and then take his place as her second-in-command. Bold move to put someone in charge probably to keep her in check. Eva walks to the engine room with Gregor (Asenije Beric), a beautiful shot of the conduits in the engine. He brings up the possible radiation from the engines and Eva advises to raise speed from 5% and use the emergency shutdown if there are problems.  In a corridor, Cat quietly tells Strickland that she thinks Eva is the murderer, and that she said Jasper deserved what he got. This was told in a confidential session, The Ark personnel can’t keep secrets! Strickland checks handcuffs and then meets with Eva. He asks her where she was during the murder. She locks him in the cell and sends Strickland gasping for air. He collapses and then Eva opens the door saying that she would have made it look like a heart attack and would not be stupid enough to throw the knife in the water pipe! Strickland gasps, “Point made” and Eva stomps away, tough lady! 

Gregor is working in the engine room, an alarm sounds, and radiation canisters break! They leak green fluid right by Gregor’s boots, he struggles to reach the shutdown switch with his radiation swollen face, and collapses. On the bridge, Brice checks the drop in speed, and has Garnet look at the xenon levels. It is a chemical used for ion thrusters and radioactive from nuclear fission. She says they are the same. Brice puts together the xenon level should match the speed unless… there is a reactor leak! Garnet contacts the engine room and no response from Gregor of course. She contacts Eva to go to the engine room via wrist communicator. Nevins finds Baylor Trent at the mess hall and it is an awkward apology from both of them. He says they can do over their first date. Nevins sits and tells him about seeing her mom who disapproves of him, mother’s know best. Then, Nevins asks him who he saw and Trent admits he saw Susan Ingram (Lisa Brenner). She asks him how he knows Susan. We get a flashback of The Ark-1 in dry dock, very cool, a hexagonal cage-like structure as it drifts from the Earth. This is like the drydock in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) until there was the Spacedock. 

He thanks Commander Ingram for assigned him to the ship. I thought the actress, Brenner, was familiar. She was Anne Howard in The Patriot (2000). They look out a large window to see the Earth, a massive storm formation covers the lower half of North America, there are bursts clustered around the middle of the continent! An even larger spinning cloud appears off of the tip of eastern Canada, producer Dean Devlin was the co-writer and director of Geostorm (2017). It would be heartbreaking to see ground level the apocalyptic Earth. They start kissing. Then, we get Trent on the ship saying she was his mentor, and he says “Hallucination Susan” liked her. Red flag! Commanding officers are not on a first name basis! Nevins gives him a quick kiss. She tries to apologize, he kisses her again, and Nevins is stunned. Eva reaches the outside of the engine room, the door lock is sealed, and she sees the drift of fallout particles. Through the door, she sees the radiation leak and Gregor’s body. I’m surprised that there is not an automatic ship warning with the leak. Eva rushes to the bridge and reports to Garnet and Brice. She has her crew working on containment, but if it spreads she says the ship will go into automatic lockdown! 

                        THE ARK - - “One Step Forward, Two Steps Back”  - -  PAVLE JERINIC - - Photo: Aleksandar Letic/Ark TV Holdings, Inc./SYFY 

We finally get to Angus who is examining on the metal pieces in his green house while mulling over Garnet’s order. Nevins is too love struck to pay attention. He should have labs and a science station separate from the gardens. He is worried about turning it into a weapon. Angus compares the situation to using a cup of water to make a rainstorm. Nevins brings up an umbrella. An analogy that could be made into a defense. She brings up Ensign Trent to him, yes Angus you are in the Friend Zone, he says he doesn’t really know him. They go back to working on the substance which he says was in a pellet and Nevins adds container. Angus says it could be natural like a coconut. Nevins continues saying the pellet could have been shot at them. Interesting ideas. Strickland returns to the security division which is surprisingly busy compared to the rest of the ship and checks with his aide, Officer Jelena Griff (Tamara Radovonović). He mentions if she has worked on the message sent to Lane and Jelena notes that she only finds a code from the sender. Clues lead to the murderer, but of course there is the threat of the radiation leak.  “One Step Forward, Two Steps Back” has the ship threatened, more mysteries, and a look back at the Earth that may be lost! 

Four Compression Suits out of Five!   

#TheArk, #OneStepForwardTwoStepsBack, #ChristieBurke, #ReeceRitchie, #TianaUpcheva, #StaceyRead, #MilesBarrow, #PavleJerinic, #RichardFleeshman, #RyanAdams, #ChristinaWolfe, #ShaliniPeiris, #TamaraRadovonovic, #LisaBrenner, #AsenijeBeric

CelebRRRation at the Ace Hotel Theater!

The start of the CelebRRRation made history with the world’s largest screening of RRR with the Ace Hotel’s 1,647 seats for fans! Director S. S. Rajamouli introduced the film. He started saying that he was told the movie theater about the history of the Ace Hotel Theatre and also the seating capacity. It opened in 1927 as the United Artists Theatre for the United Artists studio formed by Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford. The theater is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. The theater itself has incredible decor from the lobby with an unknown statue, the ceilings, it feels like Old Hollywood. Rajamouli continued, “I feel so proud and honored to bring you RRR.” 

                                            RRR special guests; K. K. Senthil Kumar, M. M. Keeravani, S. S. Rajamouli, and Ram Charan, photo by the author. 

The audience was very hyped and cheered for every appearance and a good part of the dialogue. They loved the action, romance, every song and actor, and of course the dancing. Once “Naatu Naatu” started, audience members started there way to the pit of the stage, everyone got to their feet to watch the film and the dancing, true spectacle. At the end was a Q&A with Director of Photography K. K. Senthil Kumar, the music by M.M. Keeravani who is nominated for “Naatu Naatu” at the Academy Awards, Rajamouli, and actor, Ram Charan who plays A. Rama Raju. The speakers were interrupted by many cheers. Rajamouli responded about the awards for RRR, “As much as I’m happy with all of the awards, I’m most happiest when I hear the screams of the audience in the theater.” The audience of course burst into cheers. 

RRR at the Ace Hotel Theater, author’s photo. 

Charan was asked about the dance steps, “This style is S. S. Rajamouli style. So nothing can be easy, it has to be complicated, it has to be enjoyable, and it has to reach the Oscars.” I hope M. M. Keeravani and all of the talented cast and crew of RRR take Oscar gold. #RRRForOscars! It was great to see so many of the filmmakers who brought us one of the best movies of 2022 and really any year. Ram Charan later tweeted, “What an overwhelmingly happy response to screening of #RRR at the Ace Hotel! Receiving a standing ovation from you all will be etched in my memory forever!! Thank you all so much.” The RRR Fan CelebRRRation continues with screenings through this weekend to March 8th. It currently streams on Netflix, but watching at home and seeing it on the big screen is like hearing about a concert and being there in the audience. Any theater showing RRR is an event, the audience is required, and I hope everyone catches it before the Academy Awards! 

@RRRMovie, @theatre_acedtla, #acetheatre, #RRRForOscars, #NaatuNaatu, @VarianceFilms, @BeyondFest, @am_cinematheque, @ssrajamouli, @AlwaysRamCharan, @tarak9999, @aliaa08, @DOPSenthilKumar, @mmkeeravaani

The Mandalorian, “The Apostate”, Review!

Season three of The Mandalorian has begun with “Chapter 17: The Apostate”! This episode is directed by Rick Famuyiwa who directed last season’s “The Believer” (2020). We pick up from season two’s finale that had Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) take away Grogu to train as a Jedi. Then, there was a season 2.5 (I would just put out two episodes in an Interlude), in The Book of Boba Fett with “Return of the Mandalorian” (2022). Mando encounters The Armorer and Paz Vizsla who inspect the Darksaber. He won the symbol of ruling over Mandalore from Moff Gideon in the second season finale, “The Rescue” (2020). The Armorer fashions armor made for Grogu from the beskar spear. Paz Viszsla duels with The Mandalorian for the Darksaber, but is defeated. Still, Mando revealed that he took off his helmet in front of others which breaks his code, and The Armorer cast him out as a Mandalorian! She says he can find redemption in the “Living Waters” under the mines of Mandalore. 

On Tatooine, Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) has upgraded an N-1 Starfighter for him. In “From the Desert Comes a Stranger” (2022), Mando goes to visit Grogu. Lil’ Grogu sees a vision of his time at the Jedi Temple during Order 66. Skywalker offers Grogu to accept the former Mandalorian’s gift of the beskar chainmail or the lightsaber of Yoda! In the finale, “In the Name of Honor” (2022), R2-D2 flies Luke’s X-Wing to take Grogu to Tatooine. He reunites with Mando and helps Boba Fett and his battle with the Pykes. The episode begins with the sound of hammering. A canister of water is poured in a basin of swirling water, like a divining pool similar to the Mirror of Galadriel? There is the beskar Mythosaur icon above The Armorer’s forge and she places a disc in the blue flames. Then, she begins hammering it into a sphere. Soldering more pieces, a wrist weapon, and then a blue helmet. Drums are beaten as The Armorer emerges from a cave with a number of fellow Mandalorians in two lines joining the ceremony with flags. 

A young boy, Ragnar (Wesley Kimmel) waits with his legs in the waters of a lake. The Armorer raises the helmet for silence. Then, she begins reciting the Way of the Mand’alor which the boy repeats. Paz Vizsla is there. The Armorer places the helmet on Ragnar and says, “This is the Way”, repeated by the boy, and the others. She dips a bowl to fill it with water and then recites the Creed of never removing his helmet. Before he can repeat the words, The Armorer stops him, and pulls him away as a beast roars from the lake!  The Kaiju, part crocodile and part turtle, called a Dinosaur Turtle (?) laps up a Mandalorian as the others try to blast its hide. Vizsla calls for the young ones to retreat to the cave. Three Mandalorians use their jet packs to place charges on its back. I’m not certain why its crocodile hide isn’t targeted with charges. They are not too effective against Kaiju. Really, when it roars, they should toss thermal detonators in. The creature does a death roll and crushes and brings a few underwater. The Armorer rushes in with her hammers. She pulls a fellow Mandalorian ashore, but is tossed aside by the beast. 

Ragnar stands in front of The Armorer and Paz Vizsla brings in his heavy cannon. The Dinosaur Turtle is struck in the side by blaster fire and The Armorer sees an N-1 Starfighter swoop past! A proton torpedo is launched which sends chunks of the lake beast flying and it finally collapses. The starfighter lands on the lake shore. Mando turns to see them and then Grogu pops out into the cockpit bubble! At her forge, The Armorer is working as The Mandalorian and The Grogu enter. She brings us up to speed about taking off his helmet. He mentions redemption and she says that it is not possible with the loss of Mandalore. He shows her a green crystal to ask about an inscription and then sits before it (this was not seen in The Book of Boba Fett). The Armorer where it came from and Mando replies that it was from Jawas who traded it from a “traveler” who said he went to Mandalore. She says the crystal shows that Mandalorian’s surface was destroyed by fusion rays. Yes, The Armorer is keeping the traditions, but it is foolish to keep out Mando who just saved her life, the life of the Mandalorian younglings, and survivors. Mando says he will bring proof that he found redemption under the mines and The Armorer says, “This is the Way.” 

The starfighter moves through hyperspace. Grogu watches it until seeing a large distortion, this looks like the Purrgil space whales from Star Wars: Rebels. In the finale of the animated show, “Family Reunion - and Farewell” (2018), Ezra Bridger trained in The Force, was last seen taken away by Purrgil along with Grand Admiral Thrawn! Grogu leaves the bubble and pops up in Mando’s arms. They leave hyperspace to land on the familiar Nevarro. They walk the streets of Nevarro City, Grogu sees a tree of Kowakian lizard-monkeys!  Mando sees a statue of IG-11 who sacrificed himself to save his friends. He is greeted by his “old friend”, Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), now with red robes as High Magistrate. Tiny droids hold the ends of his cape! At his office, Greef says that they are a trade hub of the Hydian Way, the hyperspace route starts at Eriadu, the homeworld of Grand Moff Tarkin. Greef says Mando can retire by the hot springs and is corrected about Grogu’s name. Promising, but Greef should know that is not a life for The Mandalorian. Mando explains that he is an apostate, a person who has abandoned a faith. They are interrupted by a copper protocol droid (Parvesh Cheena) who tells Greef there are pirates. 

Greef greets Vane (Marti Matulis), a Nikto pirate, and points out that they are kept out of a building they think is a cantina which Greef says is a school. Vane points out that it was built from Greef’s part of Pirate King Gorian Shand’s treasure. Lovin’ the Star Wars names. Mando rests on a tree to the side. Greef wants them to have a drink at his office, but Vane insists on having drinks at the school. Mando cuts in asking if the Magistrate has a problem. Vane and the other pirates, it looks like a group from Jabba’s palace, spread out ready for a fight. Vane pulls aside his coat to ready his blaster and Greef does the same. Western gun fight. Greef quick draws and blasts Vane’s weapon out of his hand. The other pirates get ready, but are blasted by Mando and Greef! Quick and easy, more stylish than Boba Fett. Greef says he needs a marshal, updates Mando saying Cara Dune was recruited by Special Forces, and that Gideon was sent to the New Republic War Tribunal. The last part is strange since Mando knew about it in "The Return of the Mandalorian"! Interesting, but Cara didn’t like organizations and wanted to be independent, especially because Greef needed her as marshal. 

Greef offers him the job, Mando asks if he can request the New Republic for one, but Greef wants Nevarro to be independent. Mando has other business and points out IG-11! He says that he needs IG-11 to explore Mandalore. Greef tells him that the statue is made of recovered parts of the droid. The statue is then seen with part of his arm and legs, at a work room, Mando works on IG-11. He powers up the droid, slowly he rises up, and falls back on his former bounty hunter programming! He starts to reach for Grogu to kill and Mando blasts him until tossing Grogu to Greef! The Copper Droid topples a bust of Greef to stop the droid! Later, Greef takes Mando with the droid parts to  droidsmiths. He points out the Anzellans (voiced by Shirley Henderson), the little alien like Babu Frik from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), to work on the droid. The best part of this show is synthesizing the parts of Star Wars into one story! They seem very Muppet-y, I keep expecting them to sing “Mahna Mahna”, but Mando is told, in their work space, his memory circuit is broken. Greef translates for him even though the leader speaks Basic. Mando says he will find the rare part. Grogu suddenly hugs the Anzellan, funny!, uh yeah, this is gonna be a toy or stuffie that is going to be sold. The Azellan tells Grogu, “Bad baby”, best line in the show! Greef sees Mando off telling him that finding the memory circuit if the Anzellans failed is impossible. 

In flight, Mando teaches Grogu navigation, showing him the hyperspace map which is referenced against the fuel gauge. He starts to point out the warning indicator when it blares red. Pirates! Vane is there with three starships to take revenge. Grogu slips into Mando’s bandolier as he goes evasive around the asteroid belt at the edge of Nevarro’s space. There are three more pirates ships. Mando slips away from the pirate starfighters and begins destroying them one by one. He pursues Vane’s fighter who contacts Captain Shard. His large corsair suddenly appears, this brings me back to the Star Wars comic book character, Crimson Jack, who appeared in Star Wars #7 (1977)! The cruiser’s blaster cannons lock onto Mando’s starfighter. Captain Shard (voiced by Nonso Anozie) is an alien that almost looks like Swamp Thing complete with red eyes, but his large mouth makes me think of Pizza the Hutt from Spaceballs (1987). He hits the accelerator ripping past Shand’s ship. They reach Kalevala part of the Mandalore system and descend towards a castle on a strip of land by the sea. A combination of Ahch-To and Maz Kanata, this episode is like the Best of Star Wars, why do you need the Sequel Trilogy? At the empty throne room, he meets with Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff). The Mandalorian pushes the story a little closer to his redemption, Grogu’s learning, and the fate of Mandalore! 

Five Bars of Beskar Steel out of Five! 

#TheMandalorian, #TheApostate, #PedroPascal, #CarlWeathers, #EmilySwallow, #KateeSackhoff, #WesleyKimmel, #MartiMatulis