 Ooh, that's a hot mug, guys. Hey guys, this is my review for the Netflix limited series Queens Gambit. I heard so many damn people talking about it. Holy shit, it's good. Good for completely different reasons from what I gathered. The story follows Harman, this orphan girl who becomes a chess prodigy in an orphanage and then she slowly rises up to take on the best of the best in the world. So it's essentially, it's just about a chess prodigy. So how do you make that interesting? Well, you get a cinematographer who after the first episode where it's kind of creepy and whatnot, it then goes into super sexy. I am amazed at how good they made chess look. I'm amazed at how sexy they made chess look. I'm amazed at how sexy they make everything in this show from just playing a game to stairs to the movement. Anya Taylor-Joy, she is some celestial being, I swear. Ever since I saw her in Split, I always thought that this girl can go somewhere half because of her talent and half because she can give you a stare that looks into your very goddamn soul. She just is celestial in terms of how her genetic makeup is. She has so many ethnic backgrounds. Her mother was African Spanish English and her father was Scottish Argentinian. That's so many different cultures mixed into one person and that's why she looks the way she does. She's just so unique and I think that's what they play off of. Not only with just her stares, which will, like I said, break your soul, but also with her movements. Everything about this show is fine-tuned. I was very, very impressed how with each episode it got better and better and better, not only in terms of the writing, but also in terms of the cinematography, but it also in terms of the respect to being a time period piece. There is a lot of different things about Queen's Gambit that make it as good as it is, not just the subject matter of what it's about, not just the character's own inner demons, strife and personal development, but also the commitment to the time period. For those of you who liked Mad Men and its attention to detail with its historical accuracy, from what I've gathered, this show does a great job with it as well and it's a perfect 60s period piece from the music to the clothing, to the aesthetic, to the buildings, to the architecture. Everything about this is really well-tuned and I'm quite honestly impressed. I think it's because it's a limited series that they're able to do as much as they are because everything about this show is trying to be reminiscent of something and there's these little odd bits that are super accurate to the time period in terms of how film was done. The car scenes are terrible at first glance but when you realize that they're actually basing it off of the technology and the techniques that were used back in the 60s, well they're trying to make it look like. It doesn't look like it. It's a modern day interpretation of it so it doesn't work perfectly but again that attention to detail is immaculate. I am super impressed with this show. My wife and I bingeed the first five episodes before we even knew it and like I said, the fact that it just makes everything so goddamn sexy with chess movements, I'll be 100% honest, haven't played in a long time but I always enjoy playing it but when they were starting to talk about movements and whatnot and I'm trying to follow the game on the board, me in the back of my eyes like, and I imagine I was like it for a few other people but because of how they deliver it, because of how intense everyone is but obviously that's the subject matter and that's the point of this is that it's engaging you and you're just sucked in. It's getting a bunch of people back into chess. My wife and I were looking up chessboards again and I honestly haven't thought about chess in a while but the fact that it is engaging people in something like chess is fantastic. I'm happy that over tech talk and whatever else. I love that people are playing board games again. I'm not a big board game fan but I like playing chess. I'll play chess because I know how to play it. I hate being explained how to be told how to play a board game that my ADHD just goes and overdrive. Something that I've been mentioning a lot of times is the cinematography and I will say that the cinematography in the show is superb. It has great color. It has great framing. There's shots where Aranya is just walking around and there's nothing happening except for her walking but you're enthralled with it. You are invested because of how good everything looks. The use of playing the chess games on the ceiling was a great way to visualize her obsession, her skill, her vices. I did think that Aranya did a fantastic job in terms of pulling you into her demons and to her stripes. Honestly, on paper, if they hadn't had the great cinematography, if they hadn't made her an addict, if they hadn't done as much of a visual display of how cool the 60s looked, I don't think this would have done nowhere near as well. There's a lot of elements coming together to make this show as good as it is and there's moments that just, I can't get out of my head. For instance, they played the Vogue's with you're the one, the shot where she's laying on the bed and she's looking up, the camera's coming down towards her and the shadow of a queen or a king, I think it was the queen, slowly encompasses her and it's one of the most haunting shots I've seen in a while. It's a damn good shot. Even if you aren't a fan of chess, I would highly, highly recommend it. It's a great character drama. It's a great seven episode series. It's exactly as long as it needs to be. It doesn't overstate its welcome and that's exactly what you want out of a mini series. But in the end, I'm gonna give Queen's Gambit a seven out of seven. This was a fantastic series to watch. You guys should definitely, definitely check it out and hey, it might get you back into chess. Now, the one thing though, is that while this is a historical period piece, it actually isn't entirely true in terms of who the subject matter is. Harmon is not a real character. This actually is slightly based off of the legacy of Bobby Fisher, the very young American chess player who went on to beat the best Russian player in the world. They took his exploits and they put Harmon in it. Take that as you will. Admittedly that does kind of befuddle me a little bit considering it never does say that it is based on true events. I think it gets away with that to a small extent. It is a bit of a kind of a weird convoluted question of what is historically accurate toward is proper storytelling. Where can you change the lines in terms of what is real and what is fiction? So it's a bit of an interesting conversation because it crosses the line on both sides. But I still don't mind it and I'm kind of interested to see if the Fisher estate has anything to say about it. I mean, honestly just curious. I have no basis on either side of this, but I'm very interested to see what happens if anything does. Otherwise guys, that's all from me. I hope you enjoyed this video. If you did leave a like and if you're interested in more to subscribe. Otherwise, see you guys next time. Thanks for watching the video. You're probably wondering who I am. My name is Nitz and you might remember me from the animated cult classic TV show, Undergrads. It's been a while, but I'm happy to say the click is finally getting back together in an all new movie thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign. But we are still asking for your support. You know, Nitz, you can't get more money unless you offer questionable favors. Yeah guy, unless of course those favors involve the ladies guy. By support, I mean getting the word out guys. Oh, well, couldn't you find a better means than this guy? All he seems to talk about is supernatural or hold a coffee mug real awkward. Why didn't you ask a Kardashian or something? Yeah guy, get in with the ladies guy. Hey, he's trying to help out. Like you've been trying with Kimmy Burton? I've seen Jabba the Hutt finish a marathon faster. Yeah guy, you're a massive slug thing guy. To see any and all updates about the upcoming Undergrads movie, be sure to check out and like the Bring Back Undergrads Facebook page. And with any luck, we'll see you guys soon.