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Lawmen: Bass Reeves (2023)
Decent so far
Pretty good show so far, haven't seen anything all that new for this genre, but David Oyelowo has been incredible, almost like this role was made for him. I'm also always a fan of grumpy Dennis Quaid. I did like the show enough to write this little ditty though:
Weeellll, this is a story about a man named Bass
He's got a pretty wife and really great abs
He was a slave, but he ran awaaaaay
Now he's a U. S. Marshall, well ain't that greeeat?
He used to fight for the Confederacy,
But I'll tell you it wasn't willingly
He beat up his master and he ran awaaaaay
Now that master is still looking for him to this daaay
He met a Deputy by the name of Sherill
He's a hard livin' man with a flask of swill
Bass saw through his life of scooorn
Bass excepted the job cause he can't grow no coooorn.
Well needs work...
Tulsa King (2022)
Boring Drivvel
There was one line of dialogue where I thought the show would have something to say, "Was it worth losing 25 years of my life for this job? No." Thinking that maybe in that tough exterior there was a gentle soul coming out of prison to make wrongs righted, and after seeing 1 1/2 episodes, is it worth wasting 10 episodes watching this show? No.
Yet another show written by Taylor Sheridan for man-babies who need a power complex. Except he tries his hand at comedy, and it's almost as bad as Domenick Lombardozzi's wig. A man almost 80 sleeping with a woman half his age, pushing people around, punching people, getting everything he wants immediately after leaving prison. I.e. Boring. I can't complain about Rey from Star Wars knowing everything and doing everything perfectly and not do the same for this. He also gets a plucky black sidekick which made me wonder if Sheridan had ever met one before and a very bored looking Martin Starr is in it too. Wow, wacky weed humor, wake me up when Sheridan realizes what decade he's in.
If you want to see Sly in a comedy/fish out of water story, see Demolition Man... I beg you.
Nope (2022)
Hubris and a celebration of film
What arrogance and pride does mankind feel they can control the natural world, be it nature or animal, for our entertainment? That is just one of the many possible themes of "Nope", another mind-bending if not a bit long film by Jordan Peele, that I was drawn towards during my viewing. Horses, no matter how majestic, feel fear just as we, and will react accordingly to protect themselves, like say, being surrounded by noisy annoying Hollywood cast and crew. Even Siegfried & Roy are referenced, the star duo of Las Vegas until one was infamously mortally wounded by their white tiger.
Chimpanzees as well, no matter how cute in their costumes, are still apes, and will eat a person's face at a moments notice. Jupe Park, who saw his cast mates attacked by that chimp 20 years earlier in front of a live studio audience, holds on to an incredible trauma still in the present, but now draws in an even greater force, an alien being he wishes to command whether to take back his fame or heal his past wounds, it is never quite answered. It's safe to say it also does not go right, as he and 40 others are swept up in the alien's tornado (more nature here) mouth and eaten. He did not learn his lessen.
Neighboring Park's sideshow lives OJ and Emerald Haywood, ancestors to the person in the first pictures turned motion. OJ has an incredible respect for his horses, learned from the very much underused Keith David, who plays his father. It is OJ who notices the aliens habits, aggressiveness, when its hungry and helps devise a plan on how to stop it before it moves on from the relatively empty valley it occupies. He defeats it by respecting it, even knowing not to stare at it as one should avoid an aggressive dog's eyes. The obvious contradictory to this is the insane TMZ motorcyclist, who even crippled and close to his appending death begs for his camera to shoot the alien in an almost rabid state. We do not see his face, his helmet is a mirror, the mirror reflects us. Antlers Holst also perishes this way, but in a calmer more serene way of climaxing his career with the perfect shot to fulfill some emptiness in his boredom of life. Even the cameras they use differ massively, the 4K digital almost obscene device the TMZer holds vs. Antlers' self-made-hand-cranked throwback with real film. Antler however, is not innocent in all this, editing reel upon reel of animals killing each other for our enjoyment.
This all culminates by the end when Emerald takes pictures of the alien just before its demise, harking back to the pictures of her ancestor riding a horse. Jordan Peele's stellar ability to combine westerns and sci-fi was incredibly done, I almost wish he went further, since the alien can disable electronics. The film is also very much Spielbergian mixed with H. G. Wells and John Ford at times, having an impeccable gift at the craft. However hard it can be to decipher his films at times, they always leave a mark on me and part of the fun is IN the deciphering.
Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (2022)
I had too high expectations
Like Jordan Peele's recent try in a newer Twilight Zone, Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities has good production, cinematography, lighting and on occasion great atmosphere. However, for me, after watching four episodes, each have been bogged down by story and payoff. What the 1950s Twilight Zone did in only 25 minutes was astounding, not that every one was top tier amazing, but still gave a relatively coherent and well done story with interesting characters. In this day and age however, with Netflix and Paramount+ and Amazon Prime, an hour and change is the norm and it just doesn't work and I guess I hoped Toro would avoid this problem.
Every episode has setup upon setup and when it finally does get to the actually meat, there's been so many appetizers I feel full. Or the climax is so short I sit thinking, "Wait, it's over?" Even my favorite so far "The Autopsy" has Toro introduce it, giving away a vital plot point that could have been revealed later on. There's then almost half an hour until we get to said autopsy, wherein when the big twist is revealed has a James Bond villain explanation for the ages (Thanks David S. Goyer, as always).
Not that I'm opposed to world building, character introduction, atmosphere creating tension, but where minutes-watched-algorithms have replaced ratings, 1 hour+ episodes that could be edited down significantly for our enjoyment would be and should be crucial. I'm still rooting for the show, because I love anthologies, but I also know LESS is MORE.
Edit: I've watched the next four and feel they too could have been edited down to avoid redundancy, but Pickman's Model might be the exception. It was a brilliant slow decent into madness that makes Lovecraft so special. After watching all 8 I noticed scenes that could have been combined or characters cut completely. Either way, I still hope there's a season 2.
Quantum Leap (2022)
Disappointing start
After just seeing the Pilot episode, it was hard to have hopes for the future of this remake, but again, it was only 1 episode. Even so, very sorely lacking was any kind of hook for me to come back. The stale robotic Sorkin-esque dialogue didn't help, unnecessarily over-explaining how all this sci-fi mumbo jumbo time traveling works.
The wooden acting from every key player, especially unfortunately from Caitlin Bassett, the replacement for Dean Stockwell (RIP). Gone I guess are the days of a truly comedic suave cigar smoking showman who could steal a scene with a wink. Now everything and everyone feeling so bland and formulaic. I do have hope for Raymond Lee and Ernie Hudson. Lee was a great choice I feel, carrying the show as much as he could with as little is given for him, as so much is jam-packed into 1 episode it hardly seemed like the first leap even had a point other than exposition dump after exposition dump.
Future mystery after mystery revealed, one after the other, it again felt over-convoluted and unnecessary. 5/10 is generous, only because I'm giving it a benefit of the doubt, for now. I hope they slow things down and have some fun with it.
Crimes of the Future (2022)
How must humans evolve in a ravaged world?
There are many themes in Crimes of the Future, so many it feels like a jumble of organs in an abdomen ready to burst. Though none are focused on enough, the conceit of the film is very well done, Cronenberg harking back to his "body horror" days of voyeurism and sexualized pain, i.e. Videodrome and Crash. His fascination with disease and body dysmorphia to the point of obsession continues like shown in The Fly and Dead Ringers.
He adds a new layer this time, what is it to be human? He addresses organ tattooing, like how some tattoo their eyeballs, turning the body into a work of art as this post-apocalyptic world continues to find the most extreme "performance" for an audience of drooling onlookers to have any spark of feeling. They've destroyed their world so much, new cancerous/parasitic organs isn't shocking, just another Friday night at the art gallery. The human race seems to be teetering on a new mutated species, so much so a bureaucratic and crime division have formed to put an end to this before it begins. The idea of this is so frowned upon even the world "evolve" is taboo.
However, all goes awry when an 8 year old boy, who eats nothing but plastic, is killed by his mother for being a "monster". His father wants to show the world what he was, born adapted to a dead world full of rust and dilapidated buildings, able to thrive where others will die out. The government needs to keep this a secret, even assassinating the father who also began a radical organization that synthesizes plastic "candy bars" for a new plastic digesting subset. The tragedy of course is it was not the boy's fault for being born this way, but the ignorance and disregard of those before him that caused so much of what they fear. So as much as the crimes of the future are showcased by new organs, new species, new radicals, Cronenberg also shows us the crimes of their/our past.
Viggo Mortesen's character is stuck in the middle, his body wants to change, but he keeps rejecting it, until he finally succumbs to its will and bites into the candy bar, finally free of pain and discomfort he felt throughout the whole film. Whether Cronenberg is talking about governmental stronghold on our bodies, climate change, too much plastic in the oceans, art to escape reality, love your body, reject authority, the film seems to end on no matter how hard we deny the changes around us, we either adapt, or die.
That Dirty Black Bag (2022)
Was my review deleted?
I think my review of this show was deleted, possibly for being negative, but who knows. Overall I think the tertiary characters are boring and don't help the show at all and there's no justification to give them so much screen time when they do nothing for the show or overall plot itself when the main characters are so outside the town setting away from whatever everyone else is doing.
The main character has a simple enough reason for revenge, but Booth doesn't do a good job I don't think, though I do like the stolen money plot-line and the gang going after it and how they're all connected with the Sheriff. It's like watching two shows, one is trying to be a Spaghetti Western, the other is just a bland pointless soap opera. This needed severe revisions to make it feel whole.
Yellowjackets (2021)
Horror/Suspense at a snails pace
Imagine watching Friday the 13th... except Jason doesn't kill anyone until the 7th movie. That's, unfortunately, how I've felt watching the show so far. 6 episodes in and the mysteries are still mysterious, and what little mysteries there are I'm finding myself not caring as much as I once did after the first 2 episodes. The present parts have only been fun to watch for Christina Ricci, who does an amazing job as a friendly psychotic nurse and Aiden Stoxx, the son of Taissa, who's straight out of a Jordan Peele horror.
The past parts I want to like, trying to find out where it all went wrong since the first episode doesn't hide their decent into barbarism out in the woods. But the ever growing teen drama that I hoped the show would steer away from and slow progression through every day has gotten hard to watch. The characters are out there for 19 months... are we really going to see every day of this? Is this show going to be 57 seasons?? (19 x 10 = 570). Really hoping this 2nd half is more engaging.
Cowboy Bebop: Blue Crow Waltz (2021)
Lackluster Penultimate affair
I can't imagine why after a season long build up of "tension" to finally reveal the secret between Vicious and Spike's animosity that the showrunners or whoever would want to make this episode look so cheap. Production wise and emotionally as well. This is all new, not even shown in the anime, what exactly happened in the past, and I was okay with that until I realized it comes off more as a bad CW pilot.
After being extra jokey and whimsical throughout the season, this episode really could have dug its teeth deep into the gravitas of a broken friendship/brotherhood but it all ends so quickly, wasting the talents of John Cho imo. I guess that's what episode 10 is for, but it begs the question again why show any of this when it lacks the punch as the anime did that only showed the littlest of hints and clues.
Ragdoll (2021)
Rube Goldberg machine for murderers
After 3 episodes it's apparent Ragdoll is just going to get wackier and wackier and I'm on the fence if I enjoy that or not. The tonal shift from comedy and intense abyss blackness is almost as whiplashy as getting hit by a truck or set on fire: some ways characters get killed by the mysterious person on the phone that Rose, the main character, calls when he wants a serial arsonist, Mark Hooper, taken out. Unfortunately the killer leaves a Ragdoll of six people sewn together and pointing directly at Rose's apartment, what a beginning! Confused yet? The show's kinetic energy rarely lets up, which is fun but can be hard to follow at times.
However, what seemed like a serious Drama/Thriller watches more like an episode of Psych or Castle, then wants to be The Bridge or Se7en. It's a lot to take in, but I can do. What's taken me completely out however are the ridiculous ways the killer kills his/her victims.
They know when a PM is in the exact room where flowers are delivered and know the PM will have a smoke when there's no smoking allowed. This then triggers an accelerant from the flowers to be lit from the fire, causing the PM to burst into flames. Okay fine... The killer also knows exactly how Hooper's brother will be caught, found with planted drugs so his lawyer can slash his throat, the lawyer being blackmailed prior. Fine, that's still plausible.
This 3rd victim? No way! They know this Prison escort driver will go to work that day, that he'll take some kind of pill, which has been replaced with LSD or MDMA, will be coherent enough to drive to a planted bomb under a bridge, hit a fire hydrant making visibility tough, know a prisoner from said truck be able to fight off another guard and black police woman to somehow know American police woman will leave drugged truck driver alone to find his daughter's missing backpack with... yep, you guessed it, a poisonous snake (ala Kill Bill) inside! And no, none of that is made up. I'm sure there's more insane examples of a killer getting everything right and always being right, I just couldn't think of any.
The only question is how the hell do you top that? Maybe the show should have been called Nostradamus instead?
Cowboy Bebop (2021)
Fun but misses on many marks
"See You Space Cowboy..." is shown at the end of 4 out of the 5 episodes I've seen so far and that's quite presumptuous of the writers, assuming we WILL be back to watch a mediocre adaptation of Cowboy Bebop, the beloved classic nearly perfect jazz space tragedy of the late 90's. I was willing to give the show the benefit of the doubt, but even in the trailers they couldn't help themselves and remade characters, plots, even nearly the whole 1st episode of the anime. For some reason, coming up with new stories was just too much trouble, which was masterfully done in the 2001 Cowboy Bebop animated movie.
Even when they do come up with new stories, each episode feels the need to extend the runtime to 45+ minutes (possibly the fault of Netflix), doubling that of one anime episode. Meaning by the time the Netflix episode is halfway over, we'd be done with the anime, which somehow conveys more information, emotion, action and better humor than an overlong slog of a scene the live action version seems to do. It reminds me of the new Twilight Zone, each double the length of the 1950's show, with less going for it and the message wondering away.
This fault lies heavily on the bewildering decision to overly show the monotonous syndicate scenes (I won't go into this Vicious "The Chin" version) which have added nothing so far and the removal of the slick beautiful neo-noir feel in favor of more energetic Scott Pilgrim-esque or a less funny pseudo-Edgar Wright gags. Also the strange decision Hollywood continues to make that dutch angles means cartoon or comic book, when the cinematography of Cowboy Bebop made it so skillfully beautiful that it was the first for many to walk the line of "just a cartoon" to a real work of art. Maybe instead of Cowboy Bebop they should have remade the wackier "Outlaw Star"?
The huge pluses are of course the music, wisely picked for their scenes, though I'm not sure I've heard anything new by Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts, but I could be wrong. The action is great, though the fight scenes seem slow and overly choreographed, that's unfortunately due to the live action vs. The watery flow of Spike's animated fight style. And the main cast has been fun to watch, John Cho is really good even if he's not quintessential Spike, he seems to combine Spike and Shunsaku Kudo, the character from Detective Story whom Spike is based on. A lot of people have commented he's too old, I don't see it. Faye is annoying, but she's supposed to be (as long as it's not all the time) and Jet is Jet...really, Mustafa Shakir is that good. I loved him in "Quarry" and now this.
Overall, it's nice to hope maybe kids today will watch this and then watch the original series if they haven't, but it's kind of like the new Ghostbusters or Star Wars films... did this really need to happen?
Mayor of Kingstown (2021)
Decent enough, but too muddled most of the time
Jeremy Renner just wants to live in a cabin, but he's too scared of bears and has to learn to cook first. Remember that, because we're reminded more than a few times. But when a random convict (who's caught and murdered almost immediately) kills his brother, the Mayor of Kingstown, Jeremy Renner feels he must take the brother's place... even though he still doesn't want to. And no real reason is ever given why he stays or why he feels he owes his brother or family this sacrifice. There's never a feeling of Kingstown needs a King and that's Renner because 90% of the time people are telling him to leave.
Suddenly he isn't scared of bears, in fact wants to be friends with one, and is so upset about the lose of his brother, he throws caution to the wind by beating up a mobster in public, nearly runs over a gaggle of Crips with his car and almost burns down his family's office... all in the span of a day or two. The corruption is at a level of lunacy that rides the line of suspension of disbelief, the metaphors miss their mark (a story of 3000 dogs drowning comes and goes with little to know meaning for what's going on in the show), there's also an over long execution scene that made little to know sense why it's there at all. I guess to remind us this is supposed to be about prisons? If cops aren't asking Renner to crash into a meth dealer's car out of the blue.
Everything is here for a good show, but everything is just too disjointed. Is Renner the REAL prisoner for being stuck in town? Should we feel more sympathy for him than the actual prisoners? Is everyone just a horrible person? He's playing both sides, or three, and at times seems to be enjoying his new crown, which just makes everything more muddled than it already was. I can see they were going for a show in the vein of "The Shield" or even "Bloodlines", which had Kyle Chandler star, but this has missed the mark in its first two episodes.
Foundation: The Missing Piece (2021)
I don't even know what's going on anymore
Gaal is gone I guess for 130 or whatever years now and we spent a whole episode with her whining because digital ghost Hari won't tell her the reason for the 2nd Foundation?
Salvor is still in this mindless shootout with Phara and her people only to later find matrix people? (tbf I skip through most of her scenes.)
Then the best part was Lee Pace who felt empathy for the old man dying while walking with him, but he just becomes a total sociopathic Emperor when he reaches the Womb, just so he can make the priestess lady feel bad because she made him feel bad? Then for her to realize robot lady is a robot even though we know she's a robot already so there really was no reveal? Then he has her killed??
What was the point of any of this? I was mostly distracted with Lee Pace looking like a turkey out of the oven for 90% of the episode, so that was funny at least.
Foundation: Death and the Maiden (2021)
absolutely atrocious acting this episode
Putting all the other faults aside, I can't believe a director got away with this. Not that the acting has ever been stellar, but this time around, I don't know what happened. Am I crazy? This was Middle school, Syfy Sharknado level acting. It seemed like everything is so expensive they could only do one take for every shot. Everyone is enunciating at such weird times, voices going up and down in pitch, suddenly that one woman in the desert world is speaking like she's at a Baptist church? The scene with Hari and Raych, neither spoke like even a human would, no matter what the scene entailed. Lee Pace doesn't seem to know what he's doing or what's going on. The one playing Salvor is the worst of all, it's like she's never given what her motivation is (since she seems to have very little), so she struggles with even the most basic of emotions. This is the only episode I've noticed this blatant plummet of acting quality, really hope it doesn't continue.
Aquaman: King of Atlantis (2021)
After 2 episodes, Really enjoying it
Its animation is really great, reminding me of a mix of Ren & Stimpy, Spongebob and Superjail. Though I thought this Aquaman would be more like the Batman: Brave and the Bold iteration (strong loud and dumb), I like the fish out of water, or rather, human IN water take. It just makes what little character development and plot there is more engaging. Always love hearing the voices of Dana Snyder and Tom Lennon. That being said, I don't know what a lot of people were expecting from this, a dark gritty Zach Snyder version? Is it too wacky for the emo edgelords? Not to be insulting, but it's fun to have a off the wall show sometimes with chaotic humor.
See: Rock-a-Bye (2021)
Horrible strategic battle.
I was going to write a rant about how bad this episode deals with battle strategy, but others have done so (werecow2003 made a good review of it.) But even they couldn't fit everything in. Oil bags, no use of phalanx, some pretty poor editing are just a few others things to mention. Overall, still like the show and hope there's a season 3, but I still have no idea why TV writers want these big battles but have no concept of war intelligence to speak of. Also, I have no idea how a bunch of blind people in a huge battle know not to kill their own soldiers when everyone is wearing the same armor, swinging the same swords not giving any signals... can anyone explain this to me.
Ten Year Old Tom (2021)
A great follow up to Life and Times of Tim
Though not quite as sharp as Life and Times of Tim, Ten Year Old Tom definitely holds up on its own as a funny series where a boy constantly wants to have a normal life, but everyone around him complicates that. The show can't go as far as "Tim" (gross out comedy-wise) seeing how we're now dealing with a 10 year old, but when a simple fishing trip ends with a burned down cabin and passed out prostitute, this snowball can grow quite large. Especially the school picture episode, my fave.
Amazing voice acting all around and the simplified animation never gets in the way of any enjoyment, like other Dildarian projects. Definite recommended!
See: The Truth About Unicorns (2021)
Tom Mison is great!
Tom Mison has been a huge addition to this season and has brought much levity to an overly serious show and this episode proves it. He's spectacular in the underrated Sleepy Hollow, where I first saw him, so it's great to see him chewing the scenery here.
Foundation: Preparing to Live (2021)
Oh boy...
Has David S. Goyer already ruined another show? You betcha! What a gigantic fall from episode 1. That laundry room scene couldn't have been more cringey.
And can someone please tell me why the Emperor of the Galaxy always wears the same blue outfit? Do they not have enough money to get him different clothes?
Ojing-eo geim: Ji-ok (2021)
HELL - An aptly named episode indeed
The first episode is called "Red Light, Green Light", the game they play that introduces everyone to what's in store for them: a slaughter to the greedy finish.
So what game could Hell be? Something terrifying? So insidious to change them all forever? No, it's back to their lives. Where we see how every character that's been introduced so far is suffering, in their own way with debt. A great subtle socioeconomic look at South Korea, this episode reminded me a lot of "Parasite". One could compare this show to "Alice in Borderland" for similar concepts, but I think "Hell" put "Squid Game" a little above "Alice" for this episode.
Doom Patrol: Possibilities Patrol (2021)
Still amazing
Still one of the most interesting fascinating character driven entertaining shows out there.
Y: The Last Man (2021)
Great premise, hopefully gets better
As a male, it was cringey watching the first episode have almost every male a terrible person: white domestic terrorists (guys at beginning), aimless deadbeat (protagonist), gun obsessed (President), Lazy dad (someone's husband), cheating husband (sister of protagonist's co-worker).
However, the idea that if all the problems with the world are men, what would it become if they all "vanished"? Would there be rainbows and sunshine? Peace on earth? Or would the women slowly reveal themselves to be just the same? That people in general are capability of the unthinkable with the matters of survival. Lust for power, greed, paranoia, out right murder; I think we've seen some of that already in the first 3 episodes and I hope it expands from there.
Having not read the graphic novel yet, it really does make me want to, but maybe after the 1st season. 7/10 only because it has been hard to keep my attention at times, but that may change, hopefully for the better.
Lisey's Story (2021)
It's a Stephen King Greatest hits Album!
Whether for good or bad, this story really is soaked in Stephen King tropes, which makes sense since he wrote it. Depressed Author? Psycho obsessed fan? Abusive father? Family with unexplained powers? Underlying unknowable dread? Hotel in a snowstorm? It has it all! I had to laugh out loud when I saw a message written backwards in blood... Stephen why do you do this?
The actors do a stellar job to keep me invested, and the show, for the first 3 episodes, rides a fine line of subtly and going full blown crazy which is great. My only critique is it can feel repetitive even early on and Dane DeHaan is a little over the top but really interested to see where it goes. They're really going full steam with that Oreo product placement as well.
M.O.D.O.K. (2021)
Loved the idea, not the execution
The idea of MODOK being comedic, and having a family on the side was pretty brilliant... on paper. But I had no idea the whole show had to do with his family and that just doesn't work imo. I thought this would be more of a Super Hero Squad Show from 10 years ago, since that show turned Doctor Doom into this hilarious oaf, especially with the help of Robot Chicken producers, we'd get a fun episodic Dick van Dyke-esque comedy. Alas, it's just unfunny family drama with millienial humor that I can live without.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021)
Fear is the path to the dark side and kids lead to suffering.
As I feared finishing up the 4th episode, Omega is just too annoying. The format has already grown stale, much like Mandalorian Season 2, as the episodes feel repetitive: Bad Batch crew needs to do something, they head to a planet, Omega does something dumb, they need to save her. I get she's a kid who's been locked away her whole life, which only makes it she wouldn't explore, maybe she'd be scared of all these new things? But instead they made her this moronic "Gee whiz, what's over there?" trope, that knows the Empire is after them, knows she's in constant danger, but doesn't care I guess? If she got in trouble not by her own doing, I'd be fine, but they really made her as annoying as possible to the point of putting all the lives of the Bad Batch in constant danger, that she's such a liability it makes no sense they'd keep her. At least baby Yoda was a literal baby where Mando had some kind of goal of delivery. Hopefully things change VERY quickly in these next 12 episodes.