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Reviews
Black Mirror: Mazey Day (2023)
Not sure how this is a Black Mirror episode
This is just some of the laziest writing I've ever seen. I liked the aggressive paparazzi story line it started with, and there were so many ways the story could have gone from there. Unfortunately they decided to go with the one conceived of by a not particularly interested 11 year old. The cast was decent, and you can't go wrong with Zazie Beets, it's just too bad she signed on to the worst episode of the season, and maybe the entire show. I can only imagine it's really difficult to write something truly creative, interesting, and original like the earlier seasons of this show, but its too bad nobody spoke up and killed this thing off before it ever got made.
How I Met Your Father (2022)
Unwatchable
I made it through about 12 minutes of this before I had to shut it off. All the jokes are recycled from various 90's sitcoms, where they weren't particularly funny in the first place. I think the actors know this, so they mail it in pretty hard. Or they just aren't good actors, who knows. Don't make the same mistake as me-save those 12 minutes of your life. I'll never get em back.
Untold: Malice at the Palace (2021)
What's with the loud music?
I really enjoyed hearing the players involved talk about this with all these years of hindsight, but for whatever reason they played music over most of the interviews that was so loud it made them hard to hear. Overall though I thought it was well done. I'm not a huge basketball fan and didn't follow this particularly closely at the time, so it was interesting to hear a little more about how the whole thing went down.
I took one star off for including the whiny fan that came onto the court and squared up with Artest, then had the audacity to go on tv almost 20 years later and complain about being a victim. Guys like that make fans in general look bad.
American Horror Stories: The Naughty List (2021)
Danny Trejo
Somehow this show only gets worse. I guess if these guys aren't writing either about ghosts who act pretty much like normal people and/or witches, they don't have much to say. Lazy writing, bad acting, unoriginal in every way imaginable. Trejo takes it from one star to two. Don't waste your time. I wish I could get my 38 minutes back.
The Movies That Made Us (2019)
Should be so much better
I have a friend who has three daughters, all under the age of 13 or so. On occasion they'll come over and we let them watch YouTube on our tv. This show has a similar style to the type of videos they watch. It feels like the creators don't think the audience can pay attention for more than 30 seconds or so, so it frenetically bounces around, the narrator has fake conversations with the interviewees, and it goes from one story to the next so fast it's hard to take in what they're talking about. Fortunately most of these movies have actual documentaries made about them which tell the exact same story but are aimed at an audience that has reached puberty. Go watch those instead.
Southern Gothic: Creek Runs Red (2020)
Fun drinking game
Do a shot every time someone, especially the woman in orange, implies that something is exclusive to the south or at least is more common in the south. "People in the south love their families," or "when a crime happens in the south, we like to see justice served." Actually, you're just kind of explaining being a human being. Pretty funny stuff.
Mare of Easttown (2021)
Nothing new, still worth watching
There's nothing new or exciting about the main character in this show. A good detective with a troubled past who never cracks her gruff exterior, much to her family's dismay. You've seen the same thing in every other police procedural and dark detective drama. But it is very well acted all the way around, and has a pretty decent twist. For that, it's worth checking out if you have the time.
Not Carol (2019)
I wanted to like it
I'm sure Carol's story is interesting and postpartum psychosis is a condition that should be more openly talked about and dealt with. The information isn't the problem, the choices with the camera were. The talking head interviews are so close up and at such weird angles that it looked like an early 90's after school special on the dangers of drugs. It makes the subjects come across as inauthentic. I couldn't keep watching.
Sasquatch (2021)
Bigfoot doesn't exist...
...so it's a little weird that people are complaining about this show not being "about Bigfoot." Another show about someone looking for something they absolutely aren't going to find would be redundant and boring. This is an incredible true crime story with an ending you won't be expecting. Just do yourself a favor and watch it-unless for some reason you'd rather watch people spend 8 episodes in the woods chasing prerecorded Bigfoot noises.
The Nevers (2021)
They lost me
It feels like there is a book or graphic novel or something I was supposed to read in order to understand this show. I felt like I had a pretty good grip on the plot in the first episode, then things went off the rails during episode two and now I'm lost. I want to enjoy it, so I'll keep watching in the hopes that it gets clearer at some point since it's a good idea for a show.
Also, who are these maniacs complaining that all the bad guys are old white men? Did they never consider that white men, especially rich ones, are the people that 'mattered' most at the time? That shouldn't be the thing that's extraordinary about the premise.
Thunder Force (2021)
Watch it for what it is
This isn't meant to be a high brow tour de force that's going to change peoples lives or win awards. It's really dumb, but so dumb it becomes funny. Don't go in expecting more than that and it's kinda entertaining.
Tina (2021)
Incredible
I don't know what else to say, other than do yourself a favor and watch this. You've heard all the stories, now get a feel for the real person behind the icon that is Tina Turner.
The Last Blockbuster (2020)
Pretty corny
They called this a documentary, so I would have liked to see an informative movie about the rise and fall of an iconic American company. Instead, it's more like a long version of that old show 'I love the 90's.' Talking heads cracking bad jokes and an over enthusiastic narrator who sometimes pretends to be in the room asking people questions (though I doubt that is the fault of Lauren Lapkus.) The stuff with the family who runs the last store is good though. The whole thing just came across as a little cheesy and not very serious, which would be fine, just label it as such. It's worth watching, even though you might find yourself doing something else while it plays in the background.
Chernobyl (2019)
Why is everyone English???
This show is beautifully shot, the makeup is incredible, and the acting is top notch. In particular Stellan Skarsgard and Jared Harris have great chemistry together. But why the hell is everyone English/Western European? Maybe there is a good reason that I don't understand for not having a single Russian or at least Russian sounding actor, but it's hard to take people with posh English accents saying 'comrade' all the time very seriously. It's distracting to have to keep reminding myself that this isn't taking place in London, but communist Russia. Otherwise it's excellent.
Tread (2019)
Does a good job of telling both sides.
This doc doesn't try to force an opinion on the viewer, it lets the people involved tell the story and leaves it up to those watching to decide who they think was in the right. The interviews are interspersed with some re-enactments, which I'm usually not a fan of, but they are well done and not so numerous as to be irritating. These are combined with some pretty harrowing news footage and pictures of the aftermath that give you a good idea of what this guy did.
In my opinion, Marv Heemeyer was mentally ill. The town has rules that businesses have to follow, regardless of who owns that business. Instead of doing what he had to in order to get his business up to code, or even selling his property for a good sized profit and moving on with his life, he reacted like a petulant child who didn't get his way and put an entire town in danger. What he did is not how adults handle their problems. Marv was an absolute menace, and he should be no ones hero.
Attaway General (2020)
So awful it physically hurts.
While there is a little bit of comedic value to be had by making fun of this absolute garbage pile, it's not enough to actually sit through any considerable length of it. Someone should tell these "actors" that acting requires more than showing up in costume and vomiting out some questionable dialogue. And speaking of the writing, it appears that the writers didn't bother to do an ounce of research on medical procedures, who does what jobs in a hospital, or how humans speak to and interact with other humans. This show is a rare perfect storm of atrocious writing and embarrassingly bad acting that combine to make it 100% irredeemable. Give some real filmmakers a chance instead of wasting a single second on this month old cat box dumpster fire.
The Pharmacist (2020)
It's a must see.
It's pretty rare to see the story of a person who has actually acted to make a difference and change the world. Dan's story is just that. At times it's easy to dismiss him as a bit of a wacko who's struggling to keep going after a huge loss and gets carried away, but I think that might be because it's hard to imagine caring so deeply about something that you're willing to go to extreme lengths to make it happen. Absolutely heartbreaking, but also incredibly beautiful.
Tell Me Who I Am (2019)
Absolutely incredible
Probably the most poignant doc I've ever watched. To witness such selfless love in the face of such monstrous evil...It's hard to even put it into words. Do yourself a favor and watch it.
Bill Nye: Science Guy (2017)
Smart, entertaining doc if you bother to listen
Some of the reviews on here are scary, and it makes me wonder why these people would watch this in the first place, since they are clearly going in not believing in science. One of them said space doesn't exist and there's no way to prove it does. This is the reason Bill Nye works to change peoples minds and fight with those that deny climate change, because at the rate some are fighting knowledge and critical thinking, we'll get to that point where Idiocracy comes true. Being an actor and being a scientist aren't mutually exclusive, just like having faith in god and believing in evolution aren't. He comes right out and says he doesn't have a PhD and that's why he goes to talk to experts on the ground doing the work.
The Dirt (2019)
It's pretty bad
It goes one of two ways for the actors in this movie: either they overact so hard it's painful, or they just don't bother acting at all. MGK is terrible, but you can tell he can play the drums. And the way it's presented is somehow different from other "bad boy rock n roll guys" biopics I've seen before. It just feels like a collection of stuff that happened to some guys in the 80's. I got the feeling you could mix up most of the scenes and put them wherever you wanted and it would work out about the same. Would have given it about two stars, but the early rehearsal and show scenes seemed pretty real. A lot of times in these kinds of movies the guys all meet each other and play together and it sounds perfect right away. They tried to make it sound and feel like a real band just getting their music together. Overall, I'd rather watch the VH1 behind the music.