Sense 8

My 2015 Favorites

Movies:

2015 was not a good year for movies, for me at least. Of course, I’ve yet to see Star Wars so that could certainly change. I gave only two movies 5 stars, Tomorrowland and Mockingjay. I had several 4 stars that I remember very fondly though. Anyway, the following is a list of the movies I enjoyed the most, star ranking be damned.

    1. Tomorrowland– I was not expecting to love this movie as much as I did and I’m so thankful that I rented it. Literally the day after I watched it I went out, bought it, and watched it again. I have it downloaded on all of my devices and will just randomly watch parts of it. I love it and I could easily see this movie becoming one of my all-time favorites
    2. Jurassic World– This movie is another one that I bought, but I haven’t actually watched it yet. Thinking back to the theater I really loved it and I’m excited for more in the franchise like this. Also, Chris Pratt is awesome.
    3. Kingsman: The Secret Service– I think this movie was so great because I wasn’t expecting it. I went in with very little expectations and was pleasantly surprised.
    4. Parallels– I hesitate listing this because, while I liked it, it doesn’t feel complete. I really hope there’s more to come because the world created was very interesting.This was the year of books. I read over 100 books and so many of them were good. I did of course read a couple I absolutely loathed (I’m looking at you Fable: Edge of the World and Murder is Binding) but the majority of what I read I really enjoyed.

Books:

 

    1. Lois Lane: Fallout by Gwenda Bond– I gave this as a Christmas present, that should really tell you how much I enjoyed it. I can easily see this being the first book in a series I absolutely adore.
    2. Justice Calling by Annie Bellet– This is the first book in the Twenty-Sided Sorceress series and one of my favorite discoveries of the year. Great series and I’m looking forward to reading the most recent installment.
    3. Anything by Jenn McKinlay- I read several McKinlay books this year and I loved almost all of them and the one I didn’t love I still liked. If you’re looking for a cozy mystery I highly recommend anything she’s done. She writes great characters and her stories are light and fairly believable.
    4. Clariel by Garth Nix- Even after all this time Nix stayed true to the world and showed us a great character.
    5. Magic Breaks & Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews- It’s Ilona Andrews, of course these books were amazing.
    6. Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs- Just like Ilona Andrews, Briggs never fails to give me a book I love.
    7. Cinder by Marissa Meyer- Really liked the unique take on fairy tales this series has brought. I haven’t yet read the final installment, but I’m looking forward to it.

TV:

 

I don’t write as many TV blog posts as I should, probably because I watch too much damn TV, but here’s a list of my favorites for the year.

    1. Sense 8 on Netflix– This show suffered some pacing issues, but it didn’t affect how much I loved it. Season 2 can’t come out fast enough.
    2. Marvel’s Agent Carter on ABC– Loved this show. Really loved this show. I want to be Agent Carter when/if I grow up. She’s such a great character and I’m really looking forward to season 2 which starts in January.
    3. Jane the Virgin on CW– When I’m watching this show I’m in freakin love. When I’m not watching this show I can’t really understand why I liked it so much because it sounds so crazy. Every episode delivers and it has continued into the second season, there has been no dip in quality. Highly recommend, more people should be watching this.
    4. Daredevil on Netflix– Episode two has one of the best fight scenes of the year from movies or TV, it was that good.
    5. Jessica Jones on Netflix– I didn’t think it was possible, but this was darker than Daredevil. Not really a huge fan of dark, but they did this very well. I thought Jessica Jones was a realistic portrayal of an abuse victim that happens to have some superpowers. She was rarely likable, but I never hated her, you could always understand why she acted the way she did. Actors were spot on as well, it was freaky seeing Tennant be so evil.
    6. Dark Matter on SyFy– I found this show on Netflix and was pleasantly surprised. It takes a couple episodes to gather steam but when it does it becomes an interesting Sci-Fi tv show. Nice female lead and an interesting story.

 

This has been my 2015 year in review. What did you enjoy most this year?

Sense 8 (2015-?)

sense8_cast_netflix

Sense 8 (2015-?)

Network:

Netflix

Creators:

J. Michael Straczynski

Andy Wachowski

Lana Wachowski

Starring:

Aml Ameen

Donna Bae

Jamie Clayton

Tina Desai

Tuppence Middleton

Max Riemelt

Miguel Ángel Silvestre

Brian J. Smith

Plot:

A group of people around the world are suddenly linked mentally, and must find a way to survive being hunted by those who see them as a threat to the world’s order.

Review:

First, this review is not based on just the pilot. Normally I’ll watch a pilot episode, decide if I’m at least mildly interested in the show and then give it three to six episodes to catch me. I would not recommend that for Sense 8, you really need to watch all the episodes to make that decision.

I loved Sense 8 and I’m on pins and needles waiting to hear if Netflix has renewed it. I’ve talked myself down several times already with assurances that Netflix is willing to try new things and was aware that the show was pitched as multiple seasons. Still, I’m on edge.

I can completely understand if you watch this and end up not liking it. Sense 8 is not for everyone. The pacing is slow, it’s very much an origin story, and it’s almost all character building.

I flip flop between who my favorite character is, Lito, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, is awesome and I love his partner. Van Damm, Aml Ameen, is hilarious and so much fun to watch. Then there’s Wolfgang, Max Riemelt, who’s the troubled bad boy that doesn’t believe he deserves love. There are some characters I don’t like as much, but none that I out right hate.

The pacing did get annoying at times. It was pretty slow for a show that is twelve episodes long. There was a lot of information that they were feeding you, though. I wished there was a bit more action and I thought the action they did show wasn’t on par with other Wachowski movies. Of course this wasn’t a movie and they had to deal with a smaller budget and actors who don’t necessarily have fighting experience.

I could easily see this becoming one of those things that people either love or can’t make it through. It’s almost like Jane Eyre in that the first three hundred pages can be a little dry, but then it starts to really pick up. The first eight episodes are a lot of information and unanswered questions, but by episode nine things pick up. A little. When it ends there are still a lot of questions unanswered, but they’ve also answered a fair amount too.

I really enjoyed this show and would highly recommend it, but I’m not going to be mad if you don’t like it. Just give me some good reasons, though.

5/5

EDIT: So happy this was picked up for a second season!