Welcome to my Blog

Welcome to my Blog! I got this idea from a friend. I would like to have the motivation to continue this. I think it'll be nice. I won't update often/daily. Maybe once a month. But it'll be fine. I just can't hold myself to a high expectation. Oh well! Good luck to me!

Friday, 31 March 2023

TV Series Review: The Night Agent (Season 1, Netflix, 2023)

The Night Agent is a political thriller about a terrorist attack happening within 7 days. The show takes place between Virginia and Washington, DC. The show stars Gabriel Basso, Luciane Buchanan, Hong Chau, and Eve Harlow.

The Night Agent takes place in Washington, where we meet Peter Sutherland (Basso) for the first time. He is on a train when he notices a man placing a backpack underneath the seats and getting off the train. Peter finds the backpack has a bomb in it and evacuates the train before it goes off. Peter then gets assigned to Night Action, a program for FBI agents. He sits in a room with a phone waiting for a night agent to call in. When Rose Larkin (Buchanan) calls the line, saying her aunt and uncle were murdered, she's taken into the FBI and an investigation starts as to why her aunt and uncle died.

I wasn't planning on watching this show until I saw a tweet saying it was like Bodyguard, so then I had to see it for myself. I see a couple of comparisons, mostly how the lead actors look the same. But the stories are different from each other. The show wasn't the worst. It was quite good and addicting to watch. Mostly because you have to watch to find out the end. I do feel though that it was long. It could've been 8 episodes or 6 rather than 10. I also couldn't keep up with what was happening. I don't think I can even tell what the problem/situation was in the show entirely. My absolute favorite episode is episode 6: Fathoms. That's when the story moves forward and we see some action to solve the problem. Also, I feel like a lot of time was wasted establishing the villains and giving them deeper backstories. It's like they were trying to make the viewer sympathize with them, but I do not feel that way.

The relationship between Peter and Rose starts off with two people working together on finding out the conspiracy, to lovers protecting each other. I mean, it's like a typical relationship in a thriller series. The protector and protected fall in love with each other due to the circumstances they face. I enjoy this trope. That was also another reason why I chose to watch the show. I like a dramatic love story. Though I didn't ever feel them falling in love through the episodes. There is one scene where they are eating dinner in a motel and cracking some jokes. That was a good scene. After that, they didn't have many personal conversations besides some sarcastic comments. They did end up staying together at the end of the season.

The performances from the main cast were great. I enjoyed Basso and Chau's performances together. There were a lot of action scenes and Basso and Harlow's stunts were fun to watch. The action and fight scenes are crazy. My personal favorite episodes are the car chase scene in episode 1: The Call, the hotel shootout in episode 2: Redial, and the beach scene in episode 6: Fathoms.

Is The Night Agent a good show? Yes. Do I recommend it? Maybe. It's not a super serious show where everything is sad and depressing like Bodyguard, but it may not also be everyones' cup of tea. If you like dramas, yeah I recommend it. However, this is a Netflix show, so it is a little cringy. I may not watch the second season when it comes out unless it's a good plot. I still think Bodyguard is a masterpiece though, but The Night Agent's ending is so much better.

Rating: 7/10

March's Watch List

Movies:
🍀 Plus One (2019)
Read the review here!
🍀 The Skeleton Twins (2014)
🍀 Marcel the shell with shoes on (2022)
TV Series:
🍀 Greek
🍀 South Park
🍀 Ted Lasso (2020 - 2023)
Read the review here!
🍀 The Night Agent (2023)
Read the review here!

Saturday, 11 March 2023

Movie Review: Plus One (2019)

Plus One is a romantic comedy about a pair of college friends being each other's companion to different weddings in the summer. The movie was released in 2019 and stars Jack Quaid (Star Trek: Lower Decks, The Boys) and Maya Erskine (PEN15). It takes place in different parts of California.

The movie starts off with Ben (Quaid) and Alice (Erskine) at a mutual friend's wedding. Alice, recently out of a long-term relationship, gets drunk and leaves early. After the reception, she suggests that Ben and she should be each other's plus ones to the weddings they're invited to. Ben reluctantly agrees as long as Alice can find him his "one true love" through these weddings.

In my opinion, this movie is told from Ben's point of view. It focuses on Ben's personal problems with relationships and his thoughts on them. Alice plays the love interest and the turning point for Ben. Though they did give Alice a story, it still didn't feel like much. Alice's side of the relationship could've been shown a bit more. I feel like Alice is the "cool girl" to Ben's awkwardness. Alice is a go-with-the-flow person and Ben isn't. Ben sits and thinks about the long term, which lands him without the love he's been searching for.

I was expecting a little more from this movie than it actually was. I thought there would be more fun adventures the two go on before the conflict and would actually show the "honeymoon phase". There was only one montage of them in Hawaii after a wedding, relaxing with each other. Most romcoms have a moment where one of the love interests breaks out of their usual self and does something crazy. One scene related to this is a deleted scene from Trainwreck, where Bill Hader's character steals a horse-drawn carriage. Another scene is from The Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement, where Mia sneaks out to meet Nicholas in the middle of the night. Those out-of-character moments sell the relationship to viewers, showing how they can change for their partners.

One part of the movie I enjoyed was the costumes. I really liked Alices' wedding attire. The weddings took place in California in the summer, so her outfits were more lightweight and flowy. I also did enjoy the locations where the movie scenes were filmed. Although, I didn't like the coloring/filter of the scenes. It felt too warm-toned.

Would I recommend Plus One? Probably not. It wasn't super fun to watch and I didn't really care about it after it ended. There are better romcoms that are similar to it, like Trainwreck. I don't want to hate it too much since it was a small film and trainwreck was a huge film with big stars and a popular director. But if you do want to watch Plus One, don't keep your expectations too high.

Rating: 6/10