alpierce1991 Reviews

The Guild (2007–2013)

Comedy GOLD

[10/10 · 10 December 2014]

I watched this series several years ago, but felt compelled to write a review when I saw the announcement of Felicia Day's memoir.

Day's breakthrough web series The Guild is nothing short of genius. Not only is the series brilliantly written, but it is perfectly relatable. Everyone has walked (if only briefly) in the shoes of at least one of these characters, or has known one of them - whether it's the penny- pincher, the mom with a need for escape, the hopelessly romantic young man, the pervy teen, the girl who is "way too good for all of you", or the nervous wreck.

It is rare that a series captures me the way The Guild did, and I hope to see more scripted series from Felicia Day at some point in the future.

Breaking Bad (2008–2013)

Easily the most overrated television show in history...

[5/10 · 19 May 2014]

People are STILL talking about Breaking Bad, long after the series finale, and I just wanted to write a bad review partly out of spite, but mostly out of confusion. I'm confused by the seemingly universal love for this show...

I'm a big film/television fan, and I love large-scale, epic drama more than my own mother, but Breaking Bad just never really did it for me. I have watched every episode of Game of Thrones at least 4 times, and I could watch them again without nodding off once, but I struggled to make it through a season of BB spread out over the course of a month. It became a chore to watch it, like it was obligatory.

I will give credit where it's due, and say that Bryan Cranston gave a phenomenal performance.

That being said, outstanding performances are in no short supply in television these days, and they can be found in series that are - wait for it - more original. Yes, this series is praised for its originality, but the "middle class parent turned drug dealer" bit has been done before. Granted, not to the scale of BB, but the premise IS unoriginal.

Oblivion (I) (2013)

Wasted potential...

[5/10 · 13 October 2013]

I really wanted to like this film more than I did. Mostly because I absolutely loved the idea of it, and the twists and turns were really wonderful, but everything was executed so poorly. Tom Cruise gave a horrible performance, which may have been the worst part of the film in all honesty. I was really counting on him to carry the film through plot holes & corny lines, but you can tell he really didn't believe in the film. A big reason I even wanted to watch this film was to see Jaime Lannister (Coster-Waldau), but his part was so minuscule and horribly written that it made me want to scream.

Another big problem is that the real meat of the story is pushed way back into the latter part of the second half, with the first hour dragging on and on.