sdowen-59793 Reviews

My Life with the Walter Boys (2023– )

Teenagers will watch anything

[1/10 · 20 December 2023]

This is another cliche teenage angst drama like the other 200 cliche angst shows that came before it. The acting and writing in Beverly Hills 90210 weren't stellar either. Neither was Dawson Creek.

It's a teenage drama. Pretty people with problems is the secret sauce. Glaring plot holes and weak writing. The show glosses over the mental health struggles someone would be dealing with if they lost their entire family.

Just like Arrow, the show has no shortage of gratuitous chest shots of Cole to keep the teenage girl fanbase satisfied.

Sara Rafferty and Alisha Newton are the only two acting bright spots in this show. Both manage to get more out of their parts despite being fed weak lines and poor character development.

Alisha does a pretty decent mean girl. (We will jokingly call her "Mean Georgie").

Nikki Rodriguez isn't bad in the lead. She's a decent actress dealing with very shallow character development. The writers don't give her anything to work with in the script.

If you love shows about pretty people struggling with pretty people's problems, and you don't care about plots or quality. You will love this show.

If you care about a good story, you will tune out after the first episode.,

My Christmas Guide (2023 TV Movie)

Okay Film with a Cute Premise

[6/10 · 20 November 2023]

I don't normally watch Hallmark films. I am a fan of Heartland and I wanted to watch Amber Marshall's performance.

It's an okay film. It's not going to win any Emmys. Nothing Hallmark mass-produced will win. The love story isn't entirely believable. The two leads don't have enough chemistry.

Amber Marshall's character isn't too much different from Any Fleming. She goes from horse whisper to dog whisper in this film.

The character of Chad is one-dimensional and poorly written. You can't believe Amber Marshall's character would ever date him.

This is a film people for Heartland fans to enjoy. It's a Hallmark film with a mass produced script punched out during a two week shooting timeframe. You have to tether your expectations.

It's a B+ effort for a Hallmark factory film.

Pardoned by Grace (2022)

Poorly cast and written

[1/10 · 13 September 2023]

It feels more like a Saturday Night Live spoof of an over-the-top Christian film. It's just unwatchable. Joey Lawerence doesn't have the acting range to make a believable reformed criminal. There's not any point where you can take Joey Lawrence seriously without laughing at his corny performance.

There are too many poorly written mass-produced Christian propaganda films. I doubt judges are spouting off an endless barrage of Bible quotes in court.

It's a far cry from Highway to Heaven or Touch By an Angel. It's missing character development and the film is too peachy to be believable in any way.

This is just another poor quality mass produced assembly line religious propaganda film with no substance.

Star Trek: Prodigy (2021–2024)

It grows on you...

[9/10 · 20 March 2023]

If you only watch the pilot episode, you won't know what to think. You might mistake it for troll hunters in space.

If you watch enough episodes. It grows on you. Rather than starting with a crew trained to be Starfleet, you start with a crew of aliens misfits who have no clue what it means to be a Starfleet crew.

With each passing episode they slowly learn to work together as a crew. It grows on you because you see something you haven't seen in any Star Trek series before.

It has a great message for kids as they see a group of young people with very little in common learning to work together past their differences to become a great Starfleet crew without ever having attended the academy.

It has the element of magic that made the TOS great. A group of characters who actually have chemistry who never lose hope.

You end up with a cartoon that's superior to Discovery in every way.

Don't Worry Darling (I) (2022)

Style over Substance

[5/10 · 27 November 2022]

"Don't Worry Darling" had the potential to be a better film if someone else other than Olivia Wilde directed it.

The film is visually stunning. The cinematography is well executed. The decision to re-write the original screenplay to accommodate Harry Styles's weak acting skills wrecked the film.

The plot twist doesn't work because Harry Styles is badly miscast. You needed a more experienced Actor like Shia LaBeouf to play the husband. The script rewrite ruined the character of the husband.

The movie lacks character development. The husband's motivations are weak; it doesn't make the rest of the story believable.

I don't think Olivia Wilde was ready to direct a film of this magnitude. It shows. She invested more time chasing an Oscar nod for art direction than she did on script development.

A movie with a great original script fell flat because of Olivia Wilde's inability to put her ego aside to work with others.

Shia was right about his character. Olivia would have had a better film had she listened to him.

And Just Like That... (2021– )

Afraid to be honest

[6/10 · 11 September 2022]

What made the original SATC work? The characters confronted issues with brutal honesty. The show forced people to think & laugh at the same time. SATC had a Norman Leer approach to fearlessly discussing women's sexuality.

The new show is afraid of conflict and afraid to confront issues honestly. Evan Handler's reaction to finding out his daughter is non-binary is unrealistic. The teachers force a political agenda on him and tell him how he has to accept his daughter's desire to be called a boy's name.

Evan Handler is a great comedian. The unrealistic reaction from his character blows an opportunity for him to overreact. I know I would not respond well in his situation. I would get angry at teachers dictating my relationship with my daughter.

The old SATC would have given Evan Handler his moment to react while discussing the issue of non-binary children.

And this, is it, glosses over the whole situation.

A gay man with a toddler bangs on the window of a vehicle. This elicits no reaction from the black characters in the car. They didn't dare to have the characters step out of the vehicle to escalate the arguments.

Miranda gives up her job to pursue social justice. That ruins her character from the show.

Big's heart attack is too fake. Real heat attacks are brutal. If they had the guts to make Big's hawser attack more realistic, his death would have a more significant emotional impact. They killed him off too early in the new series.

...and this is it, is too afraid to deal with issues honesty like SATC. They let the fear of offending woke people with honest reactions to real-life problems destroy the comedy that made the original series work.

Family Reunion (2019–2022)

Another Lazy Show

[2/10 · 19 August 2022]

There are no shortage of writers in Hollywood who should be looking for another profession.

This is another lazy poorly written sitcom trying to force laughs versus trying to make people laugh. The show has some great actors. It's sad the writing team could not write a single funny joke.

There are too many stereotypes. I'm pretty sure the black community in Seattle would be offended by many of the jokes about Seattle's lack of any black culture & history. Seattle has a rich black history.

This show is so calk full of black stereotypes, the audience cannot connect or care about any of the characters.

Don't waste your time on this show.

No Time to Die (2021)

1/2 a Bond film

[4/10 · 1 August 2022]

It's only a bond film if you watch the first half and forward through to the credits. After the mission in Cuba, the movie jump's the shark.

Instead of a Bond film, the 1/2 half of the movie delivers a mopey sexless and dull affair with a forgettable main villain in Rami Malek.

The writers had no idea how to end this chapter of Bond without killing the main character.

The future of Bond is uncertain. Maybe it's a tired franchise with no more ways to reinvent itself. If this is how Ion plans to write bond films, let Bond die.

Bond didn't die in the explosion. He lived long enough to be bludgeon to death one paper cut at a time by the dull end of a poorly written screenplay.

The Gray Man (2022)

Nothing original here

[5/10 · 24 July 2022]

The Gray Man is a poor man's Jason Bourne. The soundtrack is terrible. They borrowed canned 90's action from music from old Die Hard films.

It's not terrible in anyway. It's a mediocre action flick with a overused cliche plot.

Claire, the young girl, is the sole bright spot in this film. Her sharp humour draws a couple of good laughs.

Chris Evans was miscast as the primary antagonist in this film. A combination of poor writing and bad acting from Evans drags down the quality of the film. You need a good villain to make a great action flick.

The Kids in the Hall (2022– )

The odd laugh; not all that funny

[5/10 · 24 July 2022]

I guess you have to be a fan of Kids in the Hall to really enjoy this reboot. The odd laugh isn't really worth muddling through the more mundane skits.

The show is more silly and wired than funny. It has it's moments, it up to you whether you'll want to spend time muddling through the average skits for occasional laughs.

Loot (2022– )

Falls Flat

[2/10 · 9 July 2022]

There is no attempt at character development. You don't feel anything for any of the characters in this show.

If they spent more time showing how unhappy and isolated she was during her marriage, you might actually care about her character's journey,

There would have been plenty of humour to be found in Maya's coping mechanisms for a failing marriage.

The story is rushed; it only focuses on the most shallow elements of being super rich. You don't feel anything when her marriage falls apart. You don't feel anything when she decides to join the charitable organization to fill the void and find her purpose in her life.

It comes down to lazy writing and lazy character development. This show is narrowly written around a shallow women's empowerment agenda.

Apple needs to stop creating star vehicles. They need to focus on writing great shows and casting the right people to drive the story.

Loot is just another example of a star vehicle causing a train wreck.

Ms. Marvel (2022)

Interesting Start

[8/10 · 9 June 2022]

This show has a little more heart than many recent Marvel shows. It's great to see a diverse cast and new stories.

Ingnore the bad reviews from ignorant MAGA hats who spend too much time watching Fox News. Those deplorable people will always give you bad advice.

There's no politics on this story. It's genuine and fun. Ignore all the MAGA haters who don't like anything that moves the world out of the1950's.

Shadowhunters (2016–2019)

Decent Premise; Bad Acting

[1/10 · 7 June 2022]

The premise had potential. The producers only cared about picking pretty people. The result is I watchable unless you're only concerned how good someone looks when they toss their hair.

There's a lot of hair tossing in this show. It's impressive how they manage to have women twirling their hair every two minutes. It's hard not to laugh at the bad acting in each scene.

How We Roll (2022)

How many ways can you say awful

[1/10 · 6 May 2022]

I wish there was something kind I could say about this show. The jokes on this show are so bad, it makes the cliche joke about watching paint dry funny again.

This sitcom feels like something a slacker college kid produced for extra credit. CBS has forgotten how to produce a good sitcom.

I gave up after 15 minutes of the first episode. The wooden characters & bad writing will have you searching for your Apple TV remote to find something better on Netflix.

I wish I could give it zero stars. You're forced to give it one star. Mow the lawn, wash the dishes, or change the light bulb in your stove. You'll be more entertained than waisting a half hour of your life watching this awful show.

How I Met Your Father (2022–2023)

Better ways to spend your time

[2/10 · 23 April 2022]

This show reminds us why you shouldn't attempt to clone a great show. You never strike lightning in a bottle twice. HiMYF is painful to watch.

HIMYF is poorly cast. Hillary Duff is not much of a comedian. None of the people cast have any genuine chemistry. The show also suffers from poor writing. It sounds like the cast members are reading from teleprompters. The dialogue is not realistic. All the interactions between the characters feel forced.

20 lousy Tinder jokes during every episode are unbearable. Kim Cantrell was the wrong person to narrate the show. They should have hired a female comedian for the narrator. Bob Saggett provided a deep level of forethought and romantic retrospect to HIMYM.

Kim Cantrell's narration sounds like a director's cut you accidentally forgot to mute. It's grating and annoying.

The show might have created a better sitcom if they had spent more time on writing and development. This is another assembly show with zero heart.

Watch HIMYM re-runs on Netflix. It will be a better use of your time.

Star Trek: Picard (2020–2023)

Disappointed

[4/10 · 21 March 2022]

The first season was passable if not predictable. The second season decided to abuse the most overused cliche Trek plot, "the alternate timeline".

We have yet another season making a social commentary on recent 21st century events. Picard doesn't look forward towards the future. Instead, Picard is stuck in the past.

The original Trek would dedicate one episode to issues facing 20th century society. They would also celebrate exploration and learning about new civilizations.

The storylines in Picard are focused on confronting Trump's toxic politics. Most people are very tired of that kind of stupidity in our daily lives. We need a break. Instead, the two main plots in Picard constantly focused on 2016 - 2022 politics.

The writers of Picard don't understand what their audience wants. We want stories about the 24th century and a break from the craziness of the 21st century.

Peacemaker (2022– )

Lack of Character Development

[5/10 · 20 January 2022]

Peacemaker is a disappointment. Cena & Eagley are the only likeable characters. It's nowhere near as good as Deathpool.

I except more from James Gunn. The show suffers from too much lazy writing. There's a thin attempt at Character development in the 4th episode.

The end result is a show with too many dull unlikable characters that don't add anything to the show.

The character of Vigilante could be killed off in the next episode and it would greatly improve the show. He's more annoying, he's not funny & he drags down every scene.

The Many Saints of Newark (2021)

Not the movie fans of the Sopranos wanted

[6/10 · 15 January 2022]

They made a movie about Dickie Moltisanti. Most Soprano fans couldn't give a damn about Dickie. He's a background character.

Fans wanted a show about Tony Soprano. The movie made Tony a background character. We learned more about Tony's childhood from the original show than we do during this movie.

With the exception of one scene, we don't even know anything about Tony's relationship with his father.

It's puzzling. The original show was all about the complexity of family dynamics. This movie was a B-rate gangster flick sidetracked by a plot about a black gangster during a time in the 60's when there would have been minimal interaction between street gangs & mob bosses.

The fans wanted a Tony Soprano coming of age Story. Instead the producers delivered a 2 hour film with 14 minutes of Tony Soprano flashbacks.

Run the Burbs (2022–2024)

Not terribly funny

[4/10 · 13 January 2022]

CBC is in such a huge rush to replace Kim's Convenience. They keep creating diverse comedies with weak writing & weak casting. It took two years to write, develop & cast Kim's Convenience.

They missed an opportunity to make a much better show. Moving from Toronto to the suburbs is a huge adjustment for people living the DT Toronto lifestyle.

There was plenty of humour that can be found in transitioning from city life.

They need to spend more time casting & finding better comedy writers. The show requires a solid adversary for Phung.

Conflict drives the comedy. This show is so obsessed with trying to portray a conflict-free idealized diversified world; it fails to deliver any laughs.

There are too many one dimensional characters who do nothing to drive the comedy.

I like Andrew Phung. Run the Burbs is not very funny. It's a huge miss.

Workin' Moms (2017–2023)

Back on track after an lukewarm Season 5

[8/10 · 13 January 2022]

The first 4 seasons were on the mark. Other reviewers complain about the Characters being selfish. The selfish behaviour drives the comedy. Perfect people are not funny. The cast of Seinfeld was very selfish.

They screwed-up Season 5 by moving Anne to Alberta. They falsely portrayed Alberta as a Conservative backwash. That's not representing Albertans fairly. The comedy suffered by creating one dimensional characters in Alberta.

Season 6 is back on track with exploding frogs & Anne struggling with insecurities with her daughter challenging her professional qualifications.

Hopefully Workin' Mom will avoid "jumping the shark" in future seasons. Season 5 "Calgary Adventure" was a mistake that offended more people than it entertained.

Strays (2021–2022)

Nicole Power can't save this show

[4/10 · 12 November 2021]

Strays is what happens when you rush the development of a show. The concept has potential . Nicole Power is the only funny person in the show. The rest of the show is poorly cast.

CBC panicked to develop a new show for Nicole. The result is a bad sitcom with poor writing & few laughs.

I doubt it will last more than one season. Nicole has the talent to star in a great sitcom. They could have added Nicole as a crazy mom on Workin' Moms where she would have been a great addition to the cast.

Every memorable sitcom involves 12-24 months of development, casting, ect. CBC cranked this show out in a couple of months with little effort is casting & writing. That's why the show is boring & barely watchable.

Saved by the Bell (2020–2021)

Dreadful & Unwatchable

[1/10 · 9 October 2021]

They had an opportunity to cash on some nostalgia for Gen-X who grew-up in the 90's.

They missed the ball trying to create younger versions of the original cast. There was no reason to have Zack's son acting like a wannabe version of his dad.

The show is cast poorly. Only the older original cast has any onscreen chemistry. The kids are dismal and not relatable.

Saved by the Bell 2020 was rushed to cash in on the 90's trend. The result is an unfunny, messy, sloppy remake that makes the original show look like a Shakespearean Masterpiece.

Moonshine (II) (2021– )

Nothing Original

[5/10 · 8 October 2021]

CBC should bring back Frankie Drake. The vast of Frankie Drake had better chemistry. This show isn't terrible in anyway; it's not good in any way.

It's a copy of so many American shows with similar concepts the daughter returning home to a small town while renewing her relationship with her quirky oddball family.

There's so many opportunities to tell compelling stories from the Maritimes. I'm puzzled why we have to keep recycling American sitcom plots.

Q-Force (2021)

Missed Opportunity

[5/10 · 16 September 2021]

An animated series about an all Queer spy team had a lot of potential to be better. It's not terrible in any way; but it's not great in any capacity either.

More time should have been spent on character development and story development. This would have offered a lot more opportunities for humorous dialogue.

Instead, you're hammered with non-stop recycled LQBQT jokes re used from Will & Grace. Instead of 3-4 really funny jokes, you're spammed with 50 gags with poor comedic timing.

They are a spy team sidelined for a decade. Yet there's no character development around this issue.

It's too bad. It's great to see an LGBQT cartoon. Hopefully more time will be spent to develop a better show.

Death Note (I) (2017)

Poor adaption

[1/10 · 18 August 2021]

Both the story & the actors have been whitewashed. They turned Death Note into a cheap horror flick with none of the nuances of the original manga.

There was no need to Americanize the film. Death Note doesn't work as a movie. If Netflix cared enough about the project, they would have developed a series to tell the story correctly.

They ruin Light's character by using Ryuk to convince Light to use the Death Note to commit murder.

Ryuk is an observer. He doesn't interfere with Light's decisions. Light is a highly intelligent sociopath. He doesn't need Ryuk guiding his decisions.

The writers of this movie didn't care about the character or the story. They created a cheap stasher flick void of ant character development.