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Showing posts from December, 2024

"The Sopranos Season 1" Laying the Groundwork

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      "Y ou'll remember the little moments, like this." That is how The Sopranos  season 1 ends, and I think that perfectly sums up what this show felt like it was about to me. It reminds me of Breaking Bad  in that sense, and I don't just make that comparison because these are two highly lauded drama's. What I mean is that there is remarkably little "mafia-like" activity that happens in this show. Yes, they "whack" people, but really the only time they dress up in suits and act all "mobby" like you'd imagine when someone says Godfather or Goodfellas  one time this entire season (Which they mention like a hilarious amount). Instead what really sells this show, at least in my opinion, are all the little moments building up all these characters in this world.      The structure of The Sopranos season 1 is basically this, there's a very light underlying plot bubbling all season, about tension between Tony Soprano, and his uncle J...

"Wicked (2024)" A Good Musical Adaptation?

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      Yeah I went to go watch Wicked . You've seen what I reviewed, was that ever really a surprise? What is a surprise, at least to me, was that the film was actually surprisingly good. Look, sometimes it's so easy to get caught up in twitter drama, and negativity only feeds off negativity, so going into it all the press I knew about this film was: the colour grading was bad/could be improved, whatever Cynthia Erivo is doing, Ariana Grande body discourse, and of course Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater cheating discourse. All of this to say, there was not exactly a lot of positive momentum for this film in my mind going into it, people were complaining hard about the fact that it was only part 1, afraid that Hollywood would do what Hollywood does best and stretch out this musical to five hours or something like they tend to do with finale's in action movies. Luckily, I can report that Wicked  has weathered the storm, remarkably well in fact I'd say. Frankly, of all the...

"Kendrick Lamar - GNX" Don't Expect a Miracle from Me

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       You know I've never actually listened a full Kendrick Lamar album? That's not to say that I dislike all of the music he's released. I'm certainly a fan of his poppier stuff, and even off this album I absolutely adore Luther , though that song could hardly be considered a rap/hip-hop song. Either way, it's hard to think about this year in music and not think about him. His beef with Drake was on the mind of everyone, even mine, and I quite enjoyed some of the songs that came out of it, mainly Not Like Us and Like That . Even still, I was not particularly eager to go out and listen to this album when Kendrick surprise released it a couple weeks ago. I suppose a part of me understand that he's beloved, but I also understand that I'm not a big fan of the genre he operates within, so really the more I listen to his music the less my opinion on him is going to become. Regardless, I figured it's only fair I give it a shot, after all maybe I like more so...

"Lizzy McAlpine - Older" Uninspiring at Best

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    I have no strong opinions on Lizzy McAlpine, and will not pretend like I have any. I don't listen to much Indie Folk, though I am a fan of Fleet Foxes, so if McAlpine's music is anything similar than maybe I have a chance at enjoying this. I will say I have known of McAlpine's existence for a while, though in the sense that I also know who Kacey Musgraves is and never particularly listened to or felt a need to listen to her music. I fully expect this album to be fine enough, but who knows maybe I find one or two songs I enjoy. My friend Erock recommended this album, so I will listen to it regardless of my opinion. So without further ado, my track-by-track review. Older - Lizzy McAlpine The Elevator - 60/100 A solid enough track, though not one that I'd ever listen to again. The instrumentation is decent especially near the end where it begins to crescendo. I don't think I can rate this track very highly because it very clearly feels like an intro track which mos...