Category: 015 Disney Plus Recommendations

 the new Star Wars spin-offs getting sequentially worse?

I loved the Mandalorian (perhaps it was because we had next to no expectations when S1 was first released); season 2 was alright, but not as good as the first; Boba Fett was even more meh, I came to this realisation when I realised that I didn’t care if Boba Fett lived or died as I wasn’t emotionally attached to his character; and Obi-Wan Kenobi……….  Ok, before I let you know what I thought in the very first paragraph of this post, I might as well draw it out a little bit longer since I have your attention.

So, the reasons why we were excited about Obi-Wan Kenobi when the chatter first started, was for the fact that Ewan McGregor was back to reprise his role as Obi-Wan! So, that’s check-mark one!

Second, with the advances in technology and where CGI is currently at, the expectations were super high in how this Star Wars chapter might look! That’s check-mark two.

  And thirdly, there was great anticipation in the fact that after 2 years of Disney Plus and Star Wars being a part of our daily lives, we were finally going to see a new story which was at the heart of the Star Wars saga, after thus far only skirting at the fringe story-lines. So, that’s check-mark 3.

So, after all that being said, to say that the anticipation for Obi-Wan Kenobi was high? Now that’s an understatement. And did it live up to the hype?

Unfortunately, not, unfortunately not.

So, the story-line of Obi-Wan Kenobi occurs 10 years after Star Wars Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith. As you may remember Anakin Skywalker was defeated by his Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, leaving him horribly injured and disfigured. And then in Episode 4 A New Hope, we have Darth Vader. So, this latest 2022 Star Wars series seeks to fill in the gaps in those intervening years let’s call it 20 years. How did a left-to-die Anakin become the hulking 6’6 black visored Darth Vader? And let’s just say it wasn’t from protein shakes and lifting weights.  

We learn in Episode 1 of Obi-Wan Kenobi, that Luke and Lei are now 10 years old., both living with their adopted families on their respective planets. For Obi-Wan Kenobi, he’s living on Tatooine, to remain close to Luke, while he works a 9-5 job as a Fishmonger or is it a Butcher? It’s actually hard to define, as he butchers some giant alien whale carcass thing on a production line. Obi-Wan remains close to Luke like a phantom sentry, But his attentions ought to be with Lei, as she’s the first to be abducted and Obi-Wan is called into action to save the kidnapped princess.

All the typical Star Wars ingredients are there, i.e. lightsaber battles, cute droids, jokes at the expense of the Jedi, disillusioned Imperial officers, ridiculous looking humanoid aliens, and of course a cute kid (Disney’s influence on the Star Wars formula). So, all those elements are there. However, I couldn’t help but think, that Obi-Wan Kenobi felt more like a fan-fic. You know, like those fan run discussion boards where people post up alternate endings or dream-up back-stories to fill in the gaps.

 And isn’t this just that? We have a gap of 20 years between Revenge of the Sith and a New Hope, so let’s fill that gap with a new series? Like how the Mandalorian is a gap filler from Episode 6 to Episode 7?

But what particularly annoyed me about the need to bridge the gap between trilogy 1 and trilogy 2, was the fact that the accents needed to be bridged as well. The fact that Anakin had an American accent in Ep 1-3, but then as Darth Vader he sounds like James Earl Jones. And the fact that they had to get Ewan McGregor to sound like Alec Guinness, a Shakespearean actor. And I have to admit it was super annoying hearing Ewan trying to copy the voice, to little success- that put me off big time. And it was interesting at the end in how they tried to merge Hayden Christensen with JEJ’s voice, to bridge that continuity gap.

And the other two things which particularly annoyed me, was the lack of ‘seeing the job through to the end’. Like honestly who runs someone through with a lightsaber  and then turns their back and walks away, without actually hanging around long enough to ensure that the person’s actually dead? Four times this happens! I know, I know, these characters need to live to fight another day, but this lack of seeing things through to the end annoyed me. Haaha.

And the last thing which annoyed me was the fact that the final episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi, at least for those who required Audio Describe, the episode is defective! I know? How could this be? But the audio track and the visuals are out of sink, by perhaps 2-3 seconds. To an extent which it’s unwatchable. Sure, for a person who is blind, who cares!? But if you’re watching it with someone sighted, it’s unwatchable. We put off watching the last episode for 2 weeks, thinking that Disney would fix the problem, but they never did. So, we ended watching the non-audio described version together, and afterwards I re-watched it with Audio Describe on my own. This is such a first world problem, but you’d think a company of Disney’s size, they shouldn’t have these problems with a global product! Come on guys!

So, as you can see, I was let down by Obi-Wan Kenobi. Don’t get me wrong, it was good, but the bar was set so high- There could only be unmet expectations and disappointment as a result. But would we watch the next Star Wars release? Of course, we would! But are we guaranteed that we’d like/love it? Yeah, there’s definitely no guarantees there.

To watch Obi-Wan Kenobi now, click HERE! You can decide for yourself if I was too harsh in my verdict?   

It’s like Bear Grylls meets Jamie Oliver!

And the boycott of Netflix continues….. Oh, I’m just joking, it’s not an active effort to avoid Netflix content, but there’s nothing worth watching on Netflix ATM! Ouch! So, we’ve been spending the past few weeks watching purely Disney Plus, and what we’ve been binging at the moment has been Gordon Ramsay Uncharted!

For those who are unfamiliar with the National Geographic series, it’s essentially potty-mouth Gordon Ramsay on the ground, in a different remote location per episode, trying out the local delights and attempting to replicate his take on the local cuisine at the end of his stay in said country. It’s both travel doco and cooking show all rolled into one, whilst including some extreme experiences like deep sea diving or sheer cliff climbing- in attempts by the locals to humiliate poor Gordon. Hehehe.

To date we’ve seen Gordon in Sumatra, South Africa, Tasmania, Alaska, Laos,  Hawaii, Morocco, New Zealand, and Peru. Although the format is a bit predictable i.e., Gordon meets local renowned chef who welcomes Gordon to country and introduces him to the local food and terrain, before informing him who he’ll be cooking for at the end of the week. Then Gordon goes off and meets a number of different locals, oftentimes in the most odd and inhospitable locations, where they show him the local produce and ways of eating said produce, before Gordon returns back to locally renowned chef to either collaborate on a feast using the techniques/ingredients he’s just learnt, to feed some VIPs or the friends who he’s just made during the week, or the locally renowned chef competes against Gordon in a head-to-head cook-off. Either way, everyone is well fed and happy at the end of the meal, and after much praise of Gordon’s talents behind the stove, Gordon heads off on his next global adventure.

To date there has been 3 seasons (21 episodes), and we’ve enjoyed each one we’ve watched thus far! Sure, Gordon might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but we’ve warmed to him since watching his Masterclass, and he shows a large amount of vulnerability and humility  on ‘Uncharted’, as he heads off into the unknown, the locals having a bit of a laugh at the expense of the big white fella. Hehehe.

So, if you’re looking for a Reality TV show to binge this weekend, check-out Gordon Ramsay Uncharted on Disney Plus! Just click HERE! It’s much better than you’d ever imagine it to be!      

Not worth watching until episode 5?

Since the teaser at the end of the Mandalorian season 2, we’ve been looking forward to the next instalment in the Star Wars franchise! But was it worth the wait?

I never quite understood the obsession with Boba Fet, and was super surprised to find that you can buy figurines and choose Boba Fet as your avatar in Star Wars video games! Like what the!? He had the most minor of minor roles in the original trilogy, and if I remember correctly …… He didn’t even have a speaking part! But decades on from the original cinematic release, here we are, an entire series devoted to the bounty hunter Boba Fet.

The interesting thing, is that either using flashbacks or intricate weaving of various storylines ‘The Book of Boba Fet’ inserts itself nicely back into the greater Star Wars storyline. For example, a flashback sequence shows how Boba survived being swallowed whole by the sarlacc- which explains his re-emergence in the Mandalorian. And the flashbacks explain his rise to power as the new crime boss, a seat vacated by the death of Jabba the Hutt, and how Fennec Shand ends-up linking up with Boba in their criminal endeavours. However, to tell you the truth, the only two things I liked about episodes 1-4 of Boba Fet, was the Jawas (their chatter to me is super amusing) and the end credits! That doesn’t say much for the multi-million-dollar production. Right?

But everything from episode 5 onwards? I liked, liked it very much! Why? Because it was essentially ‘The Mandalorian’ season 2.5! The sudden emergence of Mando, and the continuation of his story, and episode 6’s devotion to Grogu’s training with a young Luke Skywalker! That was so cool! And may I say, super cute! “Jump Grogu! Jump!” And the complete absence of Boba in ep 6? Yeah, I very much preferred it that way! Honestly, Boba as a character, I was completely indifferent about him. Couldn’t care less if he got swallowed whole by another sarlacc. Haaha.

However, the final scenes in episode 7 where there’s street battles and skirmishes in the streets of ‘Freetown’, that was a bit hard to watch on February 27, two days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Which does raise the question, do we draw too much entertainment and enjoyment from films/scenes like this? Have we desensitized ourselves to this gratuitous violence, both as films, novels, and video games, that watching these real-life events unfold in the 21^st Century, it all feels too unreal?

Pre-2022, has the western world been living in a state of relative peace for so long, that we need to manufacture wars in the form of movies to satisfy our human desires for bloodlust? And now that war in Europe has broken out in our lifetime, we are appalled by it. But weren’t we only weeks ago, paying money to watch similar content, to appease our desires to see destruction and death? Those behind these atrocities in the Ukraine, have they not also grown-up watching violent films, played first-person shoot Em Up games? Thus it’s so easy for them to now step out, and shoot a person in real life? Fire missals onto civilian towns? What’s going on in Europe, are we all to blame? As we all have watched a war film, and cheered on the indiscriminate killing of baddies?

Stop this war Putin! Have we not learnt from the follies of our grandfathers?

Ok, returning to ‘The Book of Boba Fet’, as I get off my high horse. Is ‘The Book of Boba Fet’ worth watching? Well, if you’re a star Wars fan, you’ll watch anything remotely associated to the franchise. But you must watch it if you’ve been following the Mandalorian.! Because if you don’t, this maybe it! It’s hard to tell if there will be a Mandalorian season 3. And if they do, you’ll run the risk of not knowing why the little guy (Grogu) and the Mandalorian are back together again, after the conclusion of S2 where Luke whisks him away. And watching Boba Fet, will explain why Baby Yoda has such a stylish chain mail singlet. Very beguiling for a young 90-year-old green toddler!

To watch ‘The Book of Boba Fet’ now, click HERE!

As opposed to ‘Only vacant apartments in the Building’, here is inner city living in 2021!

It’s been a long while since we last tuned in weekly to follow a TV show, however the ‘back to the future’ like experience, was surprisingly refreshing! As week after week from end of August to October, Disney+ released the latest episode of ‘Only Murders in the Building’ for our Eagar consumption.

For those who are yet to watch the mystery comedy ‘Only Murders in the Building’, here are the key facts: it featured a trio of mega stars, household names like Steve Martin (as a retired TV actor), Martin Short (as a down on his luck Broadway Director), and Selena Gomez (as a resident with her own share of mysteries). The show is centred around a high-end New York City apartment block, called the Arconia where the three all live. And the drama starts after a young man in their building is found dead in his apartment, the three strangers band together to investigate the murder of the resident- after they learned of their joint love of true crime podcasts and dissatisfied with NYPD’s conclusion that it was suicide.

The series was unique for a streaming service series, because it featured actors who you normally wouldn’t expect to star on an “only on a streaming service” series- their involvement already drew the viewers in, and the product did not disappoint! Arty in it’s cinematography with the occasional dream like sequence, and it was also jarring to have an entire episode devoid of dialogue, as the episode was seen from the point of view of a deaf character. The series also had a fantastic soundtrack, which played on similar soundtracks from iconic true crime podcasts like ‘Serial’. And the fact that the characters were drawn together, and they solve the crime by producing their own true crime podcast called ‘Only Murders in the Building’, it playfully poked fun at the entire true crime genre!? Nicely done, nicely done!

But aside from the fact that each element of the show was top notch, but honestly what made the season a stand-out for us!? Was the fact that we started ‘Only Murders in the Building’ when it was first released, and we were forced to wait 7 long days before we could learn more and have the mystery progress one step further to its conclusion. After almost 7 years of streaming services, I had forgotten how watching TV used to be in the olden days. For the first time in a very long while, we weren’t able to satisfy our immediate need for instant gratification, and we had to stop when the episode ended, and we had to wait like everyone else to resolve the episode cliff-hangers. For once, no spoilers were out there, everyone being on the same level playing field as us, as we were all guessing how the mystery would pan out. Which made our Saturday afternoons, a time which we truly looked forward to all week long.

So although ‘Only Murders in the Building’ was unique as it had mega stars in it, it was a high end production, and it seemed that everyone was talking about it, but the biggest stand out for me? Was the fact that the suspense was drawn out for us for 8 long weeks, which helped us to get through a 4 month long Covid lock-down,.

So if you haven’t already seen ‘Only Murders in the Building’, and you’d rather skip the long drawn out wait and just binge to your hearts delight? Go for it! All 10 episodes of ‘Only Murders in the Building’ is now available for your viewing pleasure on Disney+, just click HERE!

The kid has a name!?

I’d been putting off watching season 2 of ‘The Mandalorian’ for a while now, if I had to. Place a finger on the why? I think I had some trepidation around ‘What if season 2 sucked?’ Which has been my oh too frequent realisation after watching season 2s. but don’t fear, ‘The Mandalorian season 2 was awesome (said in Oprah’s voice).

Do we need to go into the preface? As by now, anyone and everyone who is going to watch it, knows the scene. But what we did learn from season 2 was:

The child, the kid, the foundling actually has a name! yeah, we can stop referring to him as “Baby Yoda” now (but for the purposes of this post and wanting to avoid spoilers I’ll continue to refer to him as that).

Mando’s friends actually see his unhelmeted face for the first time! And for the actor who plays Mando (Pedro Pascal) he actually gets his just recognition (otherwise he’s a bit replaceable as an actor).

We now have a much better sense of the timeline in which the series fits in with the overall Star Wars storyline. Sure everyone said it was a time period in-between episode 6 and 7, but now we learn in definitive terms how it’s much closer to the ending of Ep 6, than the start of Ep 7.

And the last thing which we’ve learnt after watching season 2, is that perhaps the adventures of Mando have come to an end, however another Star Wars (non-animated) series is coming soon! (if you can call 12 months soon).

But again, ‘Baby Yoda stole the show and our hearts with his cuteness; the Mandalorian race has further stamped their authority as the superior warrior race; and I finally understand why people keep saying that ‘The Mandalorian’ has stayed true to the Lucas original trilogy feel, where it’s less dark like Ep 7-9 was, more adult than Ep 1-3 was, and where the plot lines were less complex like Ep 4-6 was. IN the end Mando just wanted to return the kid back to his own kind, while the Empire wanted the kid for their own evil purposes. Simple really!

You must see it if you haven’t already, and now I’m just left wondering……. Can I get a to scale soft toy of ‘Baby Yoda’? To start binging ‘The Mandalorian’ season 2, click HERE!

Bringing the cinema and theatre experience to your home!

 

Since Covid19 has pretty much shut-down all cinemas and theatres across the world, it has been a welcomed gift from Disney to receive the premiere releases of Artemis Fowl and Hamilton direct to our TVs. But did they live up to the hype?

 

Artemis Fowl (2020)

 

Based on the 2001 science- fiction novel of the same name, the Disney motion picture was mostly disappointing- due to its stray away from the novel’s main plot-line. Sure, a motion picture based on a novel doesn’t need to be exactly like the book it attempts to bring to life, however introducing and removing key components from the foundation of the story-line- which made the book both intriguing and suspenseful…….. Yeah, removing those elements is a recipe for disaster! However giving us the cinema premiere experience at home, and having that feeling of exclusivity that we had access to something that not everyone else had? Yes, that did help in softening the feeling that the film was a total bomb! Perhaps those who haven’t read the books before and do not have a level of expectation, might enjoy the film more due to having an open mind.

 

Hamilton (2020)

 

On the other hand, we sat down to watch the premiere of Hamilton on our small screen without any pre-conceived notions, and frankly I had no idea what the plot might be (and to tell you the truth after the film I was still uncertain if Alexander Hamilton was a fictional character, and if in fact he was real- was he really a man of colour?). But Hamilton a Broadway production  has reminded us of all that is good about live theatre, and we can’t wait to see another live show as soon as social distancing is a thing of the past. I’ve just got so much admiration for music theatre performers, the ability to have one take to nail all of their lines, the acting and the singing!? And to sustain that level of concentration and energy for a 2.5 hour show! Not to mention I’m just so blown away that anyone could remember all the lyrics for so many songs! Especially when some songs were heavy   lyrical raps. Bravo, bravo Lin-Manuel Miranda! And you’ll be glad to know, after an hour on Wikipedia, I’ve now answered my own query….. Ok, Hamilton was a real founding father (white) of America….. What can I say, we’re Australian and we don’t learn about American history at school.

 

For the best seats in the house, just activate your Disney Plus app and tap to watch Hamilton! Or Artemis Fowl if you’re so inclined. A 50/50 hit rate, we can live with that. Just as long as Disney Plus continues to release original content and/or exclusive to DP content- we’ll still remain subscribers of Plus!