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somasoul
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The 100: Blood Must Have Blood: Part 1 (2015)
The 100's best joke was that it might be turning into a good show...
I should have just known better by now. I've stuck with this show despite the character's terrible decision making skills and the god- awful writing. But Season 2 got through mostly intact. The storyline is really great. And Clarke's story arc (along with Bellamy's) has been really good. In fact, Clarke's arc might be one of the best character arcs I've ever seen on TV.
Then this episode. Yes, the writers have faltered gloriously and laughably before. But never before with so much at stake as far as the plot goes. Having taken the entire advantage, the grounders throw it all away. Having built an interesting culture for the "Tree-People", one almost as well realized as Herbert's Dune, the writers throw it all away. Hell, the episode is called "Blood Must Have Blood" an ethic the Tree People have lived and died by often at their own peril. We got it, they spent multiple episodes earlier this season killing off Finn to build up how important this ethic was to Lexa's people.
Then...this? The writers not only had their characters make a bad decision, they also did so and undid all their world-building in one fell swoop, for no apparent reason whatsoever. The Tree-People must have blood, they have to. The writers spent the whole season declaring just how important this is to their culture, and how unreasonable it is, and how the blood letting could put everything in jeopardy for them but it HAD to be done. Then...baffling. Just baffling.
This isn't even touching on the lack of scouts at the battle, sending Raven and Wick alone for part of the mission, why Mount Weather seems to have so many soldiers for a fortress of 350 people that has no need for soldiers, why Clarke *had* to get through the front door when, obviously, other doors exist.
Baffling. Stupid.
I'll keep watching and keep laughing. But for a while there The 100 had me going on its best joke: That it was turning into a legitimately good television show.
Space Buddies (2009)
Kinda dumb and cute and harmless
You gotta rate these things from the perspective of what you expect. This is Direct-To-Video so it competes with stuff like "The Wild" or "The Reef." Kids direct-to-video is a wasteland of unwanted, unwatchable horrors. So imagine my surprise at these "buddies" movies. I mean, they aren't bad. The plots are coherent, they have some legit jokes kids and adults will find funny, and the cinematography and effects aren't awful.
Look, it's all fluff. It ain't Rob Roy or Mystic River. The kid actors are pretty bad. But the direction and casting are pretty good. A lot of these kiddie features become a mess plot-wise but the buddies movies stay on course. Adults won't cringe watching this stuff, it's totally palatable in a stupid sort of way.
Great for kids up 10, after that I suspect they'll lose interest.