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The Thieves Banquet by Akala
The Thieves Banquet by Akala
2013 | Blues, Hip-hop, Jazz
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Rating
Great UK conscious artist
Akala is an incredible person. Writer, activist, genius and damn good rap artist. The Thieves Banquet continues Akala's vehicle of using the music to spread his valuable and important messages but only works if it sounds good and it does. It's not Akala's best work but it's still better than most of the other dirge out there. I'm reviewing this in 2019 and right now we need a new album to give the social commentary for today
  
The Handmaid's Tale  - Season 1
The Handmaid's Tale - Season 1
2017 | Drama
Fantastic adaptation of a great book (2 more)
Increasing parallels to current socio-political powers in the western world
Doesn't lose itself or its quality in the adaptation
Buckle up
One of the most intense and emotional TV shows I have watched, we managed to split it across two days just to get to the end but I reccommend pacing yourself as the content can be very confronting(as it intends to be). Fantastic social commentary once again by Margaret Atwood- a literary legend across genres and entertainment mediums.
  
Snowpiercer (2013)
Snowpiercer (2013)
2013 | Sci-Fi
I’m chilled by the sensational dystopian sci-fi thriller Snowpiercer (2013), now streaming (finally) on Netflix UK
While it works well as a dystopian action thriller, it’s a much more complex and layered film than it may appear at first glance. There are moments of comedy (both light and pitch black), subversion, searing social commentary and shocking violence and although the film isn’t afraid to wear its bleak, nihilistic heart on its sleeve, it does so without alienating or disengaging the viewer....

FULL REVIEW: http://bit.ly/CraggusSnowpiercer
  
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
2006 | Fantasy

"I have to say one of my good friends Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth. I think it’s an incredible movie. One of the things I love about Pan’s Labyrinth is that the film could never have been developed within the studio system. It’s one of the purest expressions of a very specific and unique vision. It’s a horror film, it’s a social commentary film, it’s a dark fairy tale, and when you know Guillermo, it’s a film that could only have spawned from his imagination."

Source
  
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
2017 | Action, Adventure
Characters and acting (0 more)
Unconvincing social commentary (0 more)
A very different movie from the Marvel universe, Spiderman: Home coming, made perhaps the most overdone movie superhero fresh and exciting again. And how did they do that? Going back to the basics of who and what the character is: A high school kid, who looks like, acts like, and think like a high school kid.

Well acted on both sides of the good and evil, Tom Holland gives us an endearing Spiderman and follows up on his introduction in Captain America: Civil War. The Vulture, Spiderman's villain this go around, played by Micheal Keaton, has the one thing most superhero villains lack: a believable motive.


That's the one place where I think there was a little room to grow in this movie. There are hints of trying to make a social commentary on the military industrial complex and it's effect on the average citizen, but a lot of that gets lost in a visual action story. A small gripe, but, I think, a fair critique.


All in all, one of the stronger and more fun and enjoyable Marvel films to date.
  
Bright (2017)
Bright (2017)
2017 | Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
I don't get the hate - this was a fun popcorn flick.
I'll admit, I watched this movie basically because of all the hate it was getting on social media. I thought "It really can't be that bad, can it?" And I was right. It really wasn't that bad.

Now, if you're looking for an original storyline, insightful social commentary that hasn't been done three hundred times before, or acting that'll blow you away - well, why the sweet Hades were you watching a Netflix movie starring Will Smith and ORCS for heaven's sake?


However, if you were wanting a fun popcorn flick that required no thinking, but gave you cheesy-lines and lots of action, this was almost perfect. It really just depends on what you're expecting from it going in.
  
Assassination Nation (2018)
Assassination Nation (2018)
2018 | Thriller
A bit of an odd film. It's not as cool, edgy or shocking as it thinks it is. A small town called Salem goes all Purge crazy after hackers release everyone's phone and intertnet data. The first half is pretty slow but once the town is in meltdown it becomes more interesting. A bit of social commentary on how people behave and act online in comparison to real life underlies the film. Didn't quite reach the high levels in getting it across to make it particularly memorable. You might like it if you liked the Purge but it's not as good as the first Purge film.
  
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Chris Hooker (419 KP) rated Cell in Books

Jan 12, 2018  
Cell
Cell
Stephen King | 2006 | Horror, Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
8.0 (29 Ratings)
Book Rating
Have you every found yourself refering to people who have their face buried in their cell phones as zombies? Stephen King took it a step further and made the cell phones turn them into killing monsters at a single pulse through the phone. As a middle school teacher this though terrifies me, I would never get out alive.

It is an interesting twist on the zombie/apocalyptic theme that seems to make a social commentary as well. The characters are typical Stephen King so they are developed but not complex. There is a certain amout of familiar predictability. I was quite disappointed by the ending though. Still it is a good beach read.
  
West Side Story (1961)
West Side Story (1961)
1961 | Drama, Musical, Romance
Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins' toweringly brilliant musical should be ring-fenced for eternity, regardless of what Steven Spielberg thinks. Racial tension and gang violence is rife on New York's west side, but when co-founder of the Jets Tony (Beymer) falls in love with Maria (Wood), sister of the leader of the Sharks, can this bring about peace and understanding between the two street gangs? (Probably not.)

Appealing leads and some soaringly beautiful love songs, but also whip-smart humour and social commentary in many of the other numbers, all superbly directed and choreographed. The darkening of the story into genuine tragedy is masterfully done. One of those transcendentally great films, especially on the big screen; the reason that we have a 10 on the scale.
  
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Artie Adams (1 KP) rated The Orville in TV

May 28, 2018 (Updated May 28, 2018)  
The Orville
The Orville
2017 | Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
Change the character names and every script would work as a TNG or VOY episode (0 more)
Illustrates just how much of a trainwreck CBS's crap factory is (0 more)
The best Star Trek on TV
When CBS announced that a new Star Trek series would be coming in 2017, they should have made it clear it wasn't anything THEY were making. But they didn't have Star Trek alumni like Brannon Braga or actual fans (or just people who've ever watched Star Trek) like Seth MacFarlane making their programs.

The Orville is a return to the optimistic exploration of the human condition that made Trek great, featuring social commentary (About a Girl, Krill, Majority Rule), hard sci-fi (Pria, New Dimensions), and a mixture of the both (Mad Idolatry).