Tag: Pedro Pascal

Gladiator 2 (2024) | REVIEW

Denzel Washington as Macrinus in Sir Ridley Scott’s GLADIATOR 2 — PHOTO: Paramount Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Sir Ridley Scott (The Last Duel; Alien) — Screenplay by David Scarpa (All the Money in the World).

Set around fifteen or sixteen years after the events of the original film, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2 follows Lucius Verus (played by Paul Mescal) who has built a new life for himself in Northern Africa, where he goes by the name ‘Hanno.’ When his new home is invaded by the Roman Army, led by General Acacius (played by Pedro Pascal), his wife is killed, he is taken as a slave, and is later acquired as a gladiator. He is forced to return to the capital region of the Roman Empire, which he was once a prince of but now holds hatred for. Lucius’ services as a gladiator are bought by the ambitious Macrinus (played by Denzel Washington), who aspires to control all of Rome, and Macrinus promises Lucius that, if they work together, he will work towards giving Lucius the opportunity to fight and take down General Acacius, who Lucius blames for the death of his wife. Unbeknownst to Lucius, however, General Acacius is married to Lucius’ mother, Lucilla (still played by Connie Nielsen), and he, in fact, has secret plans to start a revolution, restore power to the Senate, and remove the dangerous co-emperors of Rome, Geta (played by Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (played by Fred Hechinger).

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REVIEW: The Mandalorian – Season Three (2023)

Lizzo and Jack Black in THE MANDALORIAN in THE MANDALORIAN, exclusively on Disney+. — PHOTO: Lucasfilm / Disney+.

Series Created by Jon Favreau — All Episodes Available on Disney+ Now.

To a certain extent, The Mandalorian was once the kind of show that united the Star Wars fanbase after the divisive sequel trilogy. However, the show that spun off from the excellent second season of the show — The Book of Boba Fett — was not only uneven, it also undid the very end of The Mandalorian season two through these episodes that were always more episodes of The Mandalorian than The Book of Boba Fett, even though they were sandwiched into the latter show. Since then, live-action Star Wars on Disney+ has featured the very satisfying but safe nostalgic Obi-Wan Kenobi show, as well as the outstanding course-correcting dark and mature Star Wars series Andor. It was always going to be hard for this third season to live up to Andor, but what is really frustrating is that it doesn’t even live up to its own previous seasons. The third season of The Mandalorian is a little bit of a disappointment.

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REVIEW: The Last of Us – “Look for the Light”

Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie in HBO’s THE LAST OF US — PHOTO: HBO / Liane Hentscher.

The following is a recap and review of the ninth episode and season finale of HBO’s The Last of Us. Expect story spoilers.

In the ninth and final episode of the first season of the HBO adaptation of the critically acclaimed video game franchise known as The Last of Us — titled Look for the Light — Joel (played by Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey) finally reach the hospital that they’ve been moving towards. But how will the Fireflies greet them? Look for the Light was directed by Ali Abbasi (Holy Spider and The Last of Us: When We Are In Need) and written by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and Neil Druckmann.

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REVIEW: The Last of Us – “When We Are In Need”

Scott Shepherd as ‘David’ and Bella Ramsey as ‘Ellie’ in HBO’s THE LAST OF US –PHOTO: HBO / Liane Hentscher.

The following is a recap and review of the eighth episode of HBO’s The Last of Us. Expect story spoilers.

In the eighth and penultimate episode of the first season of the HBO adaptation of the critically acclaimed video game franchise known as The Last of Us — titled When We Are In Need — Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey) encounters a group of survivors that may be more trouble than they seem. When We Are In Need was directed by Ali Abbasi (Holy Spider) and written by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl).

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REVIEW: The Last of Us – “Left Behind”

Bella Ramsey as ‘Ellie’ and Storm Reid as ‘Riley’ in HBO’s THE LAST OF US — PHOTO: HBO / Liane Hentscher.

The following is a recap and review of the seventh episode of HBO’s The Last of Us. Expect story spoilers.

In the seventh episode of the first season of the HBO adaptation of the masterful video game franchise known as The Last of Us — titled Left Behind — we flash back to Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey) in FEDRA school. She gets into fights in school and may be headed down the wrong path in life, but then an old friend, Riley (played by Storm Reid), stops by and gives her an adventure in a nearby mall. Left Behind was directed by Liza Johnson and written by Neil Druckmann (co-creator of The Last of Us video game franchise).

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REVIEW: The Last of Us – “Kin”

Gabriel Luna as ‘Tommy’ and Pedro Pascal as ‘Joel’ in HBO’s THE LAST OF US — PHOTO: HBO / Liane Hentscher.

The following is a recap and review of the sixth episode of HBO’s The Last of Us. Expect story spoilers.

In the sixth episode of the first season of the HBO adaptation of the masterful video game franchise known as The Last of Us — titled Kin — Joel (played by Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey) reach Wyoming and search for Joel’s brother, Tommy (played by Gabriel Luna), and Joel starts having panic attacks. Kin was directed by Jasmila Žbanić (Quo Vadis, Aida?) and written by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl).

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REVIEW: The Last of Us – “Endure and Survive”

Keivonn Woodard as ‘Sam’ and Bella Ramsey as ‘Ellie’ in HBO’s THE LAST OF US — PHOTO: HBO / Liane Hentscher.

The following is a recap and review of the fifth episode of HBO’s The Last of Us. Expect story spoilers.

In the fifth episode of the first season of the HBO adaptation of the masterful video game franchise known as The Last of Us — titled Endure and Survive — Joel (played by Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey) team up with two brothers, Henry (played by Lamar Johnson) and Sam (played by Keivonn Woodard), in an attempt to get out of Kansas City safely. Endure and Survive was directed by Jeremy Webb (The Last of Us: Please Hold to My Hand) and written by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl).

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REVIEW: The Last of Us – “Please Hold to My Hand”

Bella Ramsey as ‘Ellie’ and Pedro Pascal as ‘Joel’ in HBO’s THE LAST OF US — PHOTO: HBO / Liane Hentscher.

The following is a recap and review of the fourth episode of HBO’s The Last of Us. Expect story spoilers.

In the fourth episode of the first season of the HBO adaptation of the masterful video game franchise known as The Last of Us — titled Please Hold to My Hand — Joel (played by Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey) are on their way to Wyoming to find Joel’s brother. But when they have to take a detour, they are ambushed in Kansas City. Please Hold to My Hand was directed by Jeremy Webb (Downton Abbey; The Umbrella Academy) and written by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl).

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REVIEW: The Last of Us – “Long Long Time”

Nick Offerman as Bill and Murray Bartlett as Frank in HBO’s THE LAST OF US — PHOTO: HBO / Liane Hentscher.

The following is a recap and review of the third episode of HBO’s The Last of Us. Expect story spoilers.

In the third episode of the first season of the HBO adaptation of the masterful video game franchise known as The Last of Us — titled Long Long Time — Joel (played by Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey) make their way toward the home of two of Joel and Tess’ allies. As they make their way and Joel tells Ellie about the pre-and post-outbreak world, we get to know Bill (played by Nick Offerman) and Frank (played by Murray Bartlett) in an expanded flashback that takes us all the way to ‘the present day.’ Long Long Time was directed by Peter Hoar (Daredevil; It’s A Sin) and written by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl).

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REVIEW: The Last of Us – “Infected”

Bella Ramsey as ‘Ellie’ and Anna Torv as ‘Tess’ in HBO’s THE LAST OF US — PHOTO. HBO / Liane Hentscher.

The following is a recap and review of the second episode of HBO’s The Last of Us. Expect story spoilers.

In the second episode of the first season of the HBO adaptation of the masterful video game franchise known as The Last of Us — titled Infected — Joel (played by Pedro Pascal) begrudgingly agrees to escort Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey), alongside his longtime smuggling partner, Tess (played by Anna Torv), to the Old State House in Boston. On their way there, Ellie sees what longtime infection can turn someone into. Infected was directed by Neil Druckmann (television directorial debut) and written by Craig Mazin.

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