stuff by paige

I finally got around to watching Season Two of The Mandalorian , which was one of my most anticipated series returns, and I was not disappointed. This instalment follows Mando and fan titled favourite Baby Yoda as they search for Jedi to help train The Child and learn more about him. As with the majority of the Star Wars franchise, this season of The Mandalorian is full of action, adventure and interesting characters.   Each episode follows a similar narrative structure; Mando needs information, he can find it on a certain planet, but the character who holds the information requires him to fulfil a strenuous, dangerous task before he can obtain it.  Although some people might find the repetitiveness irritating, I found it quite comforting, plus if the show was just Mando and Baby Yoda eating soup I would probably still watch it. As always, the planet sets and different character details are stunning. The first episode especially featured some amazing establishing shots, disp...

In all honesty, I had forgotten that Amazon Prime had a streaming service until I started getting advertisements for this show, and was instantly intrigued - sorry Netflix, but it just looked too good. And good it is! The Wilds is an intense and exciting show which follows a group of girls, some friends, some strangers, as they find themselves stranded on a deserted island after their plane "crashes" on it's way to a girl power centric trip to Hawaii. All is not as it seems, and every episode leaves you second guessing characters intentions, relationships and what exactly is going to happen to the girls.  This guessing game is not helped by the non-linear narrative, as the story is revealed through pre-stranded flashbacks, stranded flashbacks, and present day as the girls are interviewed about their experiences on the island, leaving a lot of questions to be answered in the very final episode, and even potentially in a future season. The show does a good job of explorin...

 If you can handle blood, violence and subtitles, you HAVE to watch Alice in Borderland. Adapted from a manga series, Alice in Borderland follows Arisu (Kento Yamazaki) and his friends as they find themselves transported into a desolate alternate version of Tokyo, where they are forced to compete in games to collect cards and extend the days they have left to live. The show is a perfect combination of everything I enjoy about anime and live action - lots of action, tension and crazy story concepts with the element of seeing a real flesh person going through those things, making things seem so much more real and intense.  The show being live action also meant that the cinematography elements hit even harder, especially in the first episode where the setting is established through eerie extreme longshots, emphasising just how desolate Tokyo had become. The games are extremely difficult and usually result in the losers of the games meeting a gruesome end; rather reminiscent of t...

 It has been years since I watched a k-drama, and even longer since I watched one the whole way through. However, I decided to trust my friends judgement when they suggested Itaewon Class to me, and I was... pleasantly surprised?  As you would expect from the term k-drama, the show is literally jam packed with drama, revolving around a variation of high stake themes and expected themes, such as death, violence, romance, business, revenge, friendships and familial relationships. There is always something exciting and dramatic happening plot wise in every single episode, and at times I felt as though I had seen a whole series worth of content in one episode. This I felt was emphasised with the extreme time skips which carry the narrative forward, for example when the series moves on ten years within the first few episodes. I initially started watching the show by myself, however halfway into the first episode I realised my boyfriend was watching over my shoulder. Slightly confu...

I have intended to watch Netflix's The Get Down for a long, long time, and I finally got down to it.  Starring, amongst many names, Justice Smith and Jaden Smith, the two season long show follows a group of friends in seventies era Bronx as they find their passions, purpose, and paths in life through music and the relationships they make along the way. Music is the main theme of the show, with genres such as disco, rap and dj-ing explored by the protagonists. This means for an incredibly lively soundtrack which is used as a tool to navigate the narrative and reveal plot aspects. I have been familiar with the shows soundtrack for a few years, due to being introduced to it by a friend, and this made my viewing all the more exciting as I could sing along as I went. The show isn't all fun and music, however. The Get Down is a complex show, exploring not only tensions and drama in the characters relationships but also historical issues through dark themes, for example: poverty, gan...