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iamhondo
Reviews
Gaslit: Year of the Rat (2022)
I want that hour back.
One of the worst episodes of anything on tv. The insane concentration on Liddy dragged on and on and on and on. This was clearly the laziest script so far.
Who tuned into this series to deep dive into the twisted, psychotic, self-righteous bum, Gordon Liddy? Not me. Even without this episode, his airtime is far overdone.
Hopefully the finale can squeeze in a few minutes of dialogue for the non-Liddy actors with some reference to the Watergate scandal.
Moonbase 8 (2020)
A waste of time and talent.
Empty plots. Unimaginable responses. Terrible special effects. Meaningless transition characters.
Each episode plods so slowly that I kept looking at my watch. And I don't _wear_ a watch. That's how boring it is.
How can these talented actors not be embarrassed? I can't imagine they watched the finished episodes and said "Nailed it!"
Some shows are a reflection on the writers and performers. Other shows are a reflection on the people who like it.
Homecoming (2018)
Ultimately disappointing.
I wanted to like this. At first, the quirky time flip-flops, and a boding of this-isn't-what-it-looks-like in the episodes kept me going. The acting is very good and Julia Roberts must have a lot of self confidence to play her character. Imagine someone plainer than "plain". I liked some of the odd camera angles and other technical elements. So much potential.
But the pacing is a form of torture. The 30-minute episode feels like forever. The plot wants to be dramatic, somber and tantalizingly revealing. But its thin substance doesn't justify the plodding. The "there" isn't worth the time investment. (And I don't think compressing the episodes into a movie would change that judgment.)
It's labeled as "Season 1" -- probably, pro forma. But, as you near the final episode eager for some closure and release, that sounds like threat.
This series is like that odd menu item you see on the menu of a familiar restaurant but never try. Then one night, you finally try it out of curiosity and an inflated sense of adventure. It's not so bad that you spit it out or send it back to the kitchen. But after you slog through the serving, you're sure you won't be ordering it again.
Ghostbusters (2016)
Harold Ramis would be happy.
I hate writing movie reviews. But I have to. This movie is much better than the paltry average user review value.
When I watched the movie, I was expecting a "meh..." rehash of an old successful script (of a movie I liked) re-purposed to extract a female audience. Sit through the movie, acknowledge the heritage and then go home.
But this movie would have made Harold Ramis happy. There's the original movie's wit, sarcasm, and confrontation of the micro- conflicts of life, like wonton soup quality fluctuation. When the movie veers from the easy path of the original movie, they make a funny point: Like the exorbitant cost of the fire house as an office, vs a more humble and affordable headquarters.
I almost always like Kate McKinnon and Kristen Wiig. But I'm normally less enthusiastic about Melissa McCarthy and Leslie Jones. So I was just hoping for a C+ team of main characters. Instead the whole team was perfect. Some other reviews complain about Jones' stereotype role. But her character was often the sober voice of reason when the other three were ignoring risk. Jones played a strong, ambitious, reasonable character. (Sounds like some people can't handle that.) McCarthy stepped into her role and projected the determination her character needed for credibility.
Other actors who did really well: Cecily Strong and Andy Garcia were very good. Chris Hemsworth was appropriately flighty.
There were cameos with a tip of the hat to the original movie. Most of the cameos I caught while watching, but a few I had to notice in the on-line credits. (Free marketing suggestion: "Cameo Bingo" cards.) And the many throwbacks to the original movie were done with a wink and/or a nod, often with a snarky twist. I thought it was all very tidy.
Is this a guffaw torrent, tears-in-your eyes, wet your pants laughing movie? No. Neither was the first one. Both were funny, clever, innovative, and at the end you were glad you watched. I'm not sure the 2016 movie will spawn the same volume of quotable lines, but we'll see. The movie definitely exceeded my tepid expectations and the actors surprised me in a good way.
Now I could take the coward's way out and accuse all the severe 1- star critics of the movie of being immature men who can't handle women being invented, forceful, fearless, and successful. And the that's exactly what I'm going to do. Sorry so many guys have problem a with women as peers or superiors. I'm just guessing that their anti-women attitude will be an increasing self-assigned burden as their life moves forward.
Better Call Saul (2015)
Who likes this tedious stuff?
(Just a rhetorical question. I don't really want an answer.)
Over a few days, I watched all 10 episodes of season 1. The show seemed to be popular and I wondered what I was missing.
I'm still wondering. I can't think of any reason to watch the show.
1) Characters are unrelatable and unsympathetic.
2) The..... pace....... drags........ so........ so....... so....... so....... slowly. ("Did we fill an hour yet?")
3) The "plot twists" are ridiculously predictable unless you're about 9 years old or less. If this show surprises you...well it shouldn't.
4) The writers jump multiple barracudas in each show. Things that CAN'T happen in real-life pass for normality. Yet none of the anti- reality events are used to advance whatever hint of a plot the series has.
5) Lots of silly, unforced issues with minorities and women.
I think the acting is pretty good. (For example, Rhea Seahorn has to convince us an attractive, intelligent, well-employed woman with little free time is willing squander it to platonically mother a pathetic, unreliable schlub. ACTING!) The actors try to save the weak writing.
The filming is well done and the retro mood is usually witty and only slightly overplayed.
This might have been a decent 90-minute movie where you walk in, walk out, and move on. But as a series, it was painful to watch. I was glad episode 10 showed no hint of sucking me into season 2. It was a relief to hit the delete button and free up dvr space.