by Señor con Queso

Argo: Let’s Make a Film…but a Fake One

Hello everybody! Sorry for the wait, as we have been very busy behind the scenes optimizing your experience! This time around we have the film featuring a CIA funded film known as Argo.

ARGO

DIRECTED: Ben Affleck

STARRING: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman

GENRE: Political Thriller

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: United States

In 1979, the American embassy in Iran was invaded by Iranian revolutionaries and several Americans were taken hostage. However, six managed to escape to the official residence of the Canadian Ambassador and the CIA was ordered to get them out of the country. With few options, exfiltration expert Tony Mendez devised a daring plan: create a phony Canadian film project looking to shoot in Iran and smuggle the Americans out as its production crew. With the help of some trusted Hollywood contacts, Mendez created the ruse and proceeded to Iran as its associate producer. However, time was running out with the Iranian security forces closing in on the truth while both his charges and the White House had grave doubts about the operation themselves.

Damn Ben Affleck, you just keep moving up on my favorite actor/filmmakers list. Argo is a fantastic film, I just wish I had seen it sooner. I want to give a shout out to both the main and supporting cast, as they breathed life into characters that could have been rather two-dimensional and merely textbook. The story is in fact fascinating as well, since I didn’t know much about CIA cover missions yet they absolutely enthralled me. Damn it Affleck, why can’t you make a bad film? Oh wait. Gigli. Nevermind…forget I said anything.

I don’t have many gripes with Argo, as overall it is a pretty decent film. I just have to say, the film suffers from what I like to call “first act-itis”. The film does a fantastic job setting up the overly interesting characters and setting, but it hinders the time flow throughout the film. Argo is incredibly slow, as it feels like it takes forever to get up and get going. The actual operation, which is based off of the real life CIA operation, known as the Canadian Caper, doesn’t even start until almost the hour mark. Regardless, Argo is a fantastic film that any thriller fan will enjoy.

PROS:

Solid main cast performances.
Fantastic supporting performances.
CIA cover missions.
Interesting plot.

CONS:

“First Act-itis”.
Pacing.

SCORE: 8.0/10

If you have any suggestions for films/TV/Games/Music/Anime for me to review, drop me a comment!

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All check out my lengthier video game reviews over at Nerd Bacon Games.

09.04.15

by Señor con Queso

Welcome to Great Overlord Golan the Insatiable!

Hello everybody! Today we have quite the interesting pick. I need to stop taking recommendations from friends, its Golan the Insatiable!

GOLAN THE INSATIABLE

CREATED BY: Josh Miller

STARRING: Josh Miller, Mary Mack, Rob Riggle, Aubrey Plaza, Maria Bamford, Rachel Butera, Matt Silverstein, Nick Rutherford

NO. OF EPISODES: 12

GENRE: Adult Animation

YEAR: 2013-

COUNTRY: United States

Golan the Insatiable is a demigod warlord who reigned the dimension of Gkruool with an iron fist before he was banished to Earth by rebel forces. Golan ends up at the home of the Beekler Family in the town of Oak Grove, Minnesota, befriending the family’s goth-like daughter Dylan, who becomes his follower as he learns about Earth’s customs while causing havoc in Oak Grove as he plots to return to his world.

In the season two reboot of the series, Golan is summoned (by Dylan) to Earth, rather than banished there. He stays with her after finding out that his acolyte Kruung has overthrown him for control of Gkruool during his absence. Besides learning about Earth’s customs and causing havoc in Oak Grove, Golan plans to build up his power so that he can return to Gkruool and take revenge on Kruung.

I seriously have to stop taking suggestions for series to watch from a handful of very certain people. This time though, they actually found a series I liked for the most part. The voice actors, while initially hard to not find annoying, grew on me as well as their characters. I am excluding Dylan’s sister, as she is just that annoying character written to be annoying as all hell. Golan’s character design is overly ridiculous, making him a casual ogre who really just doesn’t give a shit. Yeah, I think that works.

There are a number of drawbacks to Golan the Insatiable that are readily apparent, but I am just going to breeze through a handful of them. You can pretty much skip the entire first season of Golan, since the second season serves as a reboot. Instead of rebooting the series with new stories though, they take the longer 20 minute format (instead of the original 10 minutes from season 1) and expand on each the episodes. It initially bothered me, since three of the six episodes are just retellings from season one, but it made each episode even more ridiculous and over the top.

PROS:

ADHD.
Voice acting cast (for the most part)
animation.
Golan’s personality and character design.

CONS:

Season 1.
Season 2 reboot of 1’s stories.
Only three out of six episodes are new.
Longer format doesn’t always work, feels forced.

SCORE: 7.0 / 10

If you have any suggestions for films/TV/Games/Music/Anime for me to review, drop me a comment!

Remember: Like Media In Review @ https://www.facebook.com/MediaInReview?ref=hl Follow Media in Review @ https://twitter.com/Media_In_Review.

All check out my lengthier video game reviews over at Nerd Bacon Games.

08.31.15

by Señor con Queso

Inside Out: Emotions…Personified.

Hello everybody! For this week’s Newish Movie Show, we have Inside Out.

INSIDE OUT

DIRECTED: Pete Docter

STARRING: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Richard Kind, Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan

GENRE: Animated, Family

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: United States

Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it’s no exception for Riley, who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions – Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness. The emotions live in Headquarters, the control center inside Riley’s mind, where they help advise her through everyday life. As Riley and her emotions struggle to adjust to a new life in San Francisco, turmoil ensues in Headquarters. Although Joy, Riley’s main and most important emotion, tries to keep things positive, the emotions conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house and school.

I am definitely one of the few people that doesn’t like Pixar films. I would be the last person to admit they enjoyed a Pixar film, but that time is definitely now. Inside Out is definitely one of the more innovative Pixar films and a diamond in the rough for me to actually enjoy. The writers were very clever, as they accurately portrayed the pains of growing up for a little girl. Well…at least for the most part. The voice acting couldn’t have been better chosen, as each other the VA nailed each one of their “feelings” perfectly.

There is no reason that Inside Out can’t possibly be one of Pixar’s latest and greatest films ever made. Unfortunately, I felt that there were many instances that the creators could have tackled important subjects that children need to know but unfortunately could have easily gone right over their heads. While I know this opinion isn’t particularly popular, I felt that it could have been made just a bit clearer.

PROS: