https://nicemachine.net.au/tags/varada-sethu/ Recent content in Varada Sethu on nicemachine Hugo -- gohugo.io en-au Sat, 20 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://nicemachine.net.au/film/2026-andor-s2/ Sat, 20 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://nicemachine.net.au/film/2026-andor-s2/ The first episode scared me badly: more Empire meanderings and very little of consequence. But the remaining eleven more than made up for it. Wonderfully well paced and timely, the growth and ramping cruelty of the Empire is perfectly juxtaposed with the increasing stress and danger for Rebels. It is how that danger strengthens determination and risk that makes the series, culminating in a brutal episode 10 and the consequences thereafter. https://nicemachine.net.au/film/2026-andor-s1/ Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://nicemachine.net.au/film/2026-andor-s1/ Late to the party on this, but a very good serious Star Wars. Thank goodness. Some stellar casting and a lot of classic Star Wars magic: Rebel grunge, Empire coldness, every-species-under-the-sun (except on Coruscant, the white human-est and place in the galaxy), and faraway galaxies. The acting is strong throughout (see Stellan Skarsgård’s monologue) and the topics weighty. It does get a bit bogged down in the second half: by the end we know how to build an Empire ‘doohickey’ in a slave gaol, every detail of the dysfunctional relationship between an Empire stooge and his mother, and the machinations of the imperial banking system.