Science Fiction

TENET

  • Title: TENET
  • IMDb: link

TENET Blu-ray reviewI miss blockbusters. Although far from Christopher Nolan‘s best work, TENET doesn’t skimp on spectacle. Tackling perception as he did in Inception, this time around Nolan plays around with the idea of time travel and inversion. The concept is far more clunky than planting an idea within someone’s mind. In fact, TENET eventually devolves into little more than super-spy pitting his skills against a villain out to destroy the world. Basically, TENET is Christopher Nolan’s version of a Bond film.

The story involves an unnamed spy (John David Washington) introduced into a secret war involving those using entropy to travel backwards in time and alter events in their favor. The science is mostly gobbledygook, but the set-up does allow for some interesting sequences involving characters moving backwards through events a second time. Kenneth Branagh is fine as the evil mastermind, although his evil Russian act isn’t as much fun as it was in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.

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Star Trek: Discovery – Die Trying

  • Title: Star Trek: Discovery – Die Trying
  • wiki: link

“It was raining Starfleet officers.”

Star Trek: Discovery - Die Trying television review

“Die Trying” offers the crew of the USS Discovery the opportunity to prove their worth Fleet Admiral Charles Vance (Oded Fehr), the current head of Starfleet, who is reluctant to trust a group of time travelers from the distant past. Despite the initial frosty reception, Discovery is given a mission with Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) in command that shows off the usefulness of the ship’s Spore Drive and offer a strong argument for the ship’s crew to remain together rather than be dispersed across other ships of Starfleet. It seems the crew has found a new home, as something as a mascot for Starfleet, but it also offers foreshadowing concerning Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) playing well with others in their new surroundings.

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The Mandalorian – The Believer

  • Title: The Mandalorian – The Believer (Chapter 15)
  • wiki: link

The Mandalorian - The Believer television review

In an episode that brings back another familiar face, which has become The Mandalorian‘s bread and butter, the quest to rescue Grogu begins with Cara Dune (Gina Carano) using her clout to get the cutthroat Mayfeld (Bill Burr) released from prison into her custody. Using their captive’s knowledge of Imperial codes and procedures, the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and his pals hope to locate Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito). However, in another constant theme of the show, things turn out to be a bit more complicated from the firefight just to get into an Imperial facility to Din’s latest compromise when deciding how far to go to rescue Grogu.

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Star Trek: Discovery – Forget Me Not

  • Title: Star Trek: Discovery – Forget Me Not
  • wiki: link

Star Trek: Discovery - Forget Me Not television review

Hoping to find answers locked away in the symbiote of Discovery‘s new passenger Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio), the ship travels to Trill in hopes that Adira’s memories could be accessed and answer questions about her past as well as Starfleet. What they find is divided civilization on decline, a faction of which is disgusted by the mere thought of a symbiote being joined with a non-Trill (which, until the previous episode, was as likely as a human male spontaneously giving birth). However, Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Adira are able to find a sympathetic ally to help Adira make a connection with the former hosts.

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The Mandalorian – The Tragedy

  • Title: The Mandalorian – The Tragedy (Chapter 14)
  • wiki: link

The Mandalorian - The Tragedy television review

Directed by Robert Rodriguez, “The Tragedy” is primarily an attempt to make Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) cool again (albeit and older and fatter version, maybe we can call him Boba Fatt?). While the character had quite a history in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, with the introduction of the sequel trilogy all of that history was wiped away. While on Tython, allowing Grogu to make a connection through the remains of a Jedi Temple, the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) is surprised by unwanted guests in an episode that marks a turning point for the season from returning Grogu to the Jedi to saving him from the Imperial remnant. Teased in an earlier episode, it was expected that Fett would eventually show up for his armor (although you wonder, if he could get his ship back why did he need to wait so long to retrieve his armor?). The surprise here is the not-so-dead Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) who was saved by Fett.

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