knuckle-99779 Reviews

The Simpsons: Lisa the Boy Scout (2022) Season 34, Episode 3

Morty's Mindblowers 2.0?

[3/10 · 17 October 2022]

In an odd turn about, simpsons has begun copying other cartoons, instead of leading the pack in themes, tropes, even plots.

The episode is high jacked by some Guy Fawkes-esque mask wearing hackers. What follows are a series of vignettes with the main cast in a series of "un-aired" content stolen from Disney.

The problem the episode encounters is, unlike MMbs, there is no overarching story in which to embed the "lost eps." The 2 hackers falling in love, getting caught with the FBI at the door; there's absolutely nothing to do with our First Family of animation.

It feels like some Simpsons junior writer suggested to glom the popularity of Rick and Morty, then execute content ala Family Guy. Which sounded great to a senior staff who were fed up with their jobs, but failed to come together in any meaningful way.

By the end of the episode, all stakes have been removed with the "it was just a dream" trope. But this is another clip, so is it true? Are the Simpsons all a figment of Homer's coma dreams? Are they characters, and the property of Disney, nee Fox? Who cares.

Some chuckles, some good moments. But not a great episode. And, fun fact, IRL I met a girl named Brandon, who took her husband's last name upon marrying him. His first name is also Brandon. So now they both legally have the same name, first and last. Unsure about middle.

This episode, much like you all feel about my anecdote right now, fails to maintain interest across a mere 22 minutes. Fortunately Rick has repaired portal technology, so with a little luck, we can escape this lazy dimension and return to a non serialized season, filled by coherent A/b storyline episodes, unrelated to anything else.

RIP Maude.

Adventure Time: Sad Face (2014) Season 6, Episode 5

Once SUPER Artsy; Capitulations and manipulations carved it MOST ALL out for the fartsy.

[8/10 · 29 September 2022]

SPOILERS FOR: Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

TL;DR: WAAAAAAAAUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

Firstly, I'd like to disclose that on balance, I find Andy Milonakis to be singly unbearable. (Also, I frequently topple OFF-balance.) NEPTR (the NeverEndingPieThrowingRobot) is one of the few rolls, truly the ONLY casting of his that I can immediately call to mind which doesn't drive me just batty with a seething Hatred to rival that of the Lich(e.) A rather GROSS monster(or fruit...)

But, in terms of being an entertainment HIT or MISS, and with the über-weird and inherent strangeness of the show being an ever present 2-headed elephant in the room, even the infamous "...comedy....style...." of Milonakis is unable to deconstruct the beauty of A. T.

So, now that we understand I'll be assessing this episode without being affected by my accepted bias toward Andy M, Let's begin, with Beauty.

Lets actually begin with this and then slide into Beauty. THIS episode reminds me of trying to find movies that my folks would enjoy when we have dinner together. As they've aged, their patience (especially my Pop's,) for any kind of character depth&dev. Is almost nonexistent.

If the main character hasn't killed 1, preferably 2 "bad guys," (terming the fodder as a 'character' is being generous,) in the first ~15 minutes, then they level at the film an accusation of "nothing happening." Character development, character studies, subtle social commentary; all take a back seat to action that doesn't challenge, and plot that discloses itself in regular intervals via similarly bite-sized, easy-to-eat quanta of exposition; telling rather than showing, and even when showing, still also telling we, the marks, what they've just shown. It's gotta be all destination, no journey.

Perhaps as my folks' age and their diets' fragility both progress, so to does their willingness, perhaps ability, to mentally digest denser plots more slowly, without suffering mental indegestion... a mental indiscretion. With dental implication.

Such is the episode we are greeted with. Jake, in a very {French mime film from the early 1900's}-style, gives us an intense character study of the agony these old vaude-villains suffered through, and their desire to not pander in a world which devours the likes of Jerry Lewis.

In order to save his Chipmunk confidante, Blue Nose is forced to abandon his art, and fling himself headfirst (tail-headfirst?) into crowd-pandering material. It is this acquiescence to the mob that silences his true art form, unfortunately it does so for we viewers as well.

It's one of the most controversial episodes, as the producers tried to pay Blue Nose 1/2 of scale, since technically their whole part was written without dialogue, despite carrying the body of the work with their performance. In fact, the episode might not ever have made it to air, if not for Stephen Universe being on the lot that day, and threatening either a Crystal Gems Homeworld attack, or a Boycott in the writer's room where they were currently developing Stephen's autobiography. Originally optioned as a movie, they decided to adapt instead a limited series run, to capture all the nuance of these exceptional tails. (The tails were later cut for stories. No one was harmed.) The network was in a difficult position, and ultimately caved to Blue Nose to pacify Stephen.

And while we will never know the amount finally settled upon, (thanks to NDAs,) it was obviously enough to get this ep, and later ensure the on-time dev&disbursement of the Steven Universe show. (They ok'ed the spelling adj. As a sign of good faith. After their threats toward corporate, it wasn't enough to just pick up where they left off. Stephen is a great person and accepted the arbitrary studio demand with grace.)

Anyhow, another tidbit, while the humor may seem subdued, it was supposed to be a much larger display of B. Nose's artistic vision. It was leaked that for the (actual, physical) film included into the ep, as much plus half itself again was left on the cutting room floor. Impressive as it is all digital.

Sadly for this footage, (and MUCH of it supposedly captured some of Robin Williams' most earnest dramatic readings of his career,) as it stood mid-edit, the decision to cut him altogether and abandon the real life/animation blend was greenlit. (Think "who framed Roger rabbit...." and, spoilers; the Judge - also a Toon, framed Roger rabbit by manipulating both the Studio Executive to play patty cake, as well as Roger and indirectly the PI that the situation induced Roger to Hire... Ms. Cake didnt see much work after this film.)

I always suspected this was due to Robin being SO over the top, opposite Blue Nose's Mime. I think he (BN) could have held his own, and I think it would have really worked. And not only in France. Sadly, without the invention of NFTs to preserve the original digital recordings, the footage is lost to the indefatigable arrow of time; entropy. If only they had known the fortune that could be built from that lost edited footage, if they had listed frame by frame as NFTs. (If you would like to know more about getting super wealthy from NFTs, leave your bank account routing info with me and I'll get right back atcha.)

As it stands, we won't get to see the real art produced by Blue Nose, thanks to the NDAs & no NFTs, there IS a Blue Nose IPA in the USA. And that has some of his new performance art on different cans. Summarily; TheySayTheIPA, w/oNFTnorNDA, isAOK2Display@ USA&UKonAnyDay.

Greener gray.

Hip hip hooray.

Rating 7/11 above AM/PM at an 8/10 (open 24/7. Too much good stuff. As above, so below, and says this fellow; "tis so. Tis so")

🎩👌🏻 🐔💬 "cluckcluck, u outta luck." I love you.

Fire with Fire (II) (2012)

Strangest episode of Las Vegas Yet.

[4/10 · 28 September 2022]

So James Caan is nowhere to be seen, Mike is visible at the start of the episode, but disappears after very little screen time. He is undercover, again, this time as a fire fighter. It's strange to see so many big name cameos in this episode; Bruce Willis returns in a similar role as his TV character on Friends. Rosario Dawson was this week's high roller, and I think there had been some secondary footage about her being Caan's long lost daughter, but it seems to have been scrapped on the cutting room floor.

Josh Duhamel plays his predictable Danny self; starting off as a fire fighter with Mike before returning to protect his High roller. Far more swamps and neo Nazis than I recall Las Vegas having. I like his increased body count and swearing, along with gang ties.

All in all, this episode is one that I could take or leave. I was hoping to see more of Mike's MIT tricks come into play. His classmates are very rude. But when you have Vincent D'nofrino you gotta use him. Seemed to be a bit high-strung as the consultant-cum-villian we all knew he would be under the classic "guest starring" billing.

Wants: more gambling, more Mike.

Has: some of the most experimental filmmaking attempted by Las Vegas crew.

Needs: All our hot ladies back, especially Nikki Cox. Gotta get James Caan back at the helm. (Hopefully not a permanent swap out for 50 Cent...naming them both Ed was an odd choice.)

Talking Saul (2016–2022)

Chris Hardwick: Talking Aftershows

[5/10 · 9 August 2022]

Sad Chris, wants to act.

Unable; except aftershows.

His despair is our guest.

A haiku.

I think this sums up a reasonable level of expectation for what he brings to the table. Your enjoyment will be based on how much of a fan you are for the particular show. He is incidental.

"POINTS!"

Star Trek: Enterprise: Acquisition (2002) Season 1, Episode 19

Stunning act of bravery and solidarity.

[6/10 · 15 May 2022]

To see Clint Howard finally get to shine in a role where he doesn't look nearly so...exotic... as he does in movie and TV roles of the past. And then to put the other 3 crewman in such elaborate makeup, all just to match Clint's more "...unique" characteristics; well, it shows more empathy and heart than I thought Hollywood was capable of displaying.

XD xD In all seriousness, if was fun getting to watch Ethan Phillips return to the Trek Universe, playing the Ferengi raid party leader. He was previously on Star Trek:Voyager as the delta quadrant scavenger turned ship's cook Neelix.

There isn't much more to the episode than a handful of ship's crew vs the 4 ferengi raiders. Feels like the producers were trying to keep costs low. Although it didn't feel quite like a true bottle episode, they DID manage to wring a cute and decent story from a rather... "wash cloth" sized idea.

All in all, This is a fun episode that never quite shifts into second gear, it tries to get the audience "invested" (😉) in the story, but often it feels like it is not quite sure which way to turn, and thus stalls out.

Decent, nothing special, top line of the episode: "my lobes...stroke my lobes." 🤢

Mythomaniac: Épisode 12 (2021) Season 2, Episode 6

Fuzzy; a decent S1 finds itself the victim of a distinct loss of focus in S2.

[4/10 · 7 May 2022]

So the series began with a neglected, unhappy woman lying to her family (especially) and friends that she has cancer. Throughout the first season (6ep) she repeatedly doubles down on the lie as her social situations continue to improve; the rebellious child falls in line, the neglectful, cheating husband starts noticing her again... But as the stakes climb and the lie grows untenable, ultimately everything collapses. The cat gets let out of the bag and she closes the first season losing the support of her family.

Its a decent enough story, if a bit of a constant downer. But the second season...man, they just lost focus. The mom is homeless, and starts shaking up with a sugar daddy who is flexing his liquidity from his cashier job... the older daughter joins the neighbor's cult, which bears a more than passing resemblance to Scientology. By the end of the second season, the "ceremony" the cult insists upon, as they won't attend any funeral/wake if the departed was cremated...they then serve the girl with a £13,000 bill for the ceremony, including £8,000 for the celestial grave protecting the soul after cremation (amongst other charges.) This aligns her for recruitment onto "the Boat," which is where the "Top Brass" of the group reside.

Meanwhile the husband breaks up with his pregnant girlfriend in favor of looking like a homeless person, though she hides the pregnancy from him. He winds up with an insecure slight Step-monster, who is very beautiful and very jealous of the ex-wife.

The gay son/trans(?) Son (he's all over the place, which I suppose could all be a part of growing up, but here it feels like a lack of commitment to a character identity on the writer's behalf.) Gets a painful heartbreak arc, with a partner who is abusive in his treatment, due to intolerant parents. All very cliché.

Meanwhile the newly married dad (secret/immediate Ultimatum civil service to reassure the new girlfriend of his commitment.) So now that he's married, he's discovering just how awful she is, as every little thing sets her off, but he doesn't help by lying about basically everything he does. Whether it makes sense that he would have to or not. He continues to be a shitty husband, this time getting the hots for and putting the moves on his ex wife, talking about how much he's losing, breaking up the family... basically h learns nothing, and does not change his behavior.

Oh also the tap water is no good. It's yellow like a chardonnay, and makes the younger daughter sick during her dance party.

I failed to mention the secret Italian son (adult) that mom failed to mention to her "keeper children" who shows up, ingratiates himself with her family after she's been kicked out of it, and almost starts dating the middle daughter (his half sister,) who develops a crush on him, which he fails to immediately discourage and disclose his relation to her. He chooses instead to drip the bomb on the whole family, I think at Christmas, no less.

Basically everyone is terrible, and we are constantly being pulled in all these different directions without any opportunity to really become invested with the plight these people find themselves in. I think they really fumbled the second season. The producers could have cut the storylines by half, and doubled the enrichment for the remaining threads, and I think the result would have been much more engaging.

I'm not sure what if anything these people have learned, beyond some superficial idea of family being important, but it seems no more refined than the scene in Thunderdome where the "before times" & the "long long ago" creation myths are told; it becomes no more real or meaningful than the children's version of the history lesson.. just some repeated totem that comforts, but fails to offer any true moral or structural guidelines to better live with one another after blowing their world up. The Mad Max stuff was just much more literal. Acting is all good, just for a project that ultimately was sub-par. It's your time, do with it what you will.

Split (IX) (2016)

Uncanny resemblance.

[7/10 · 13 January 2022]

Alternative take on reviewing here. Just finished watching season 2, episode 6 (The Boogeyman) of Criminal Minds. The plot involves the kidnapping of 3 girls to an undisclosed location, could be underground, it's unclear. But it is a secure & remote, bunker-like location. The girls are forced to choose which 1 of the 3 girls will die, in order for the other two to survive. One appears sick, and is designated as an outsider or "other," very early on in the narrative. This girl, however, is laying in wait, and ultimately bides her time until she gets the drop on the healthy girl who masterminded the original plan.

It is not a direct copy of the story, but there are LOTS of interesting parallels between the CM episode and this movie. My brief description doesn't do it full justice. Especially in tone. I think it bears a re-watch for proper comparison. I think the CM ep's opting to take the psychopathy down a much darker (grounded in reality) path to take the, to a much more devastating emotional reaction from the audience. (Although CM isn't trying to be a comic book,) The Criminal Minds episode was produced around a decade prior to Split. Probably 100% coincidence, but it makes for some interesting watching when bearing the similarities in mind.

Hopefully someone finds some merit, or at the very least, novelty. Cheers!

Red Notice (2021)

TERRIBLE writing.

[3/10 · 28 December 2021]

My absolute favorite part was where we got a halfway decent scene of seeing the set up go down, which lands The Rock in Siberia with Deadpool. This was orchestrated by Wonder Woman.

THEN, we get to watch as Wonder Woman explains what we JUST WATCHED to the Rock and Deadpool. This movie assumes you are an idiot. If that is the case, you might fall in love with its subtlety.

Forever (I) (2018)

If you reviewed this with a low rating...

[8/10 · 29 November 2021]

...I'm guessing you have plenty to live for. Other reviews warn away for the depressed. As a tribe member I must say, I find the tone captured in this series to be just (French chef kiss) MWAHH.

They capture a certain feeling that comes out of year after year of being ground down, regardless of particular circumstance. A learned hopelessness. I find the laughter to be bitter, more often than wholesome, but it IS in abundance. They really capture a certain ugly aspect of humanity, a passivity and cowardice that lead to acceptance of circumstance that harms both the perpetrator and the victim.... And if you've ever lived with this kind of ugly, this show resonates. I dig it.