Reviews

I really tried to follow what was happening here but this show suffers from the usual pitfalls of poorly written mysteries. The plot is hard to follow and there are no coherent motivations or explanations for any of the episodic murderers or monsters. Characters jump to implausible conclusions purely because the plot needs them to, so it feels like things are just sort of happening with no rhyme or reason. The "villains" occasionally have motivations that are a little too understandable, and in a different genre we'd probably be rooting for them to get their revenge.

The acting is just okay, although most of the actors are charismatic enough that I wish more time was devoted to the friendships between the characters. That said, I hated Bea and Billy, and I absolutely despised the love-triangle between them and Leo. While Spike and Jess bring a level of carefree humor (like real teenagers), Bea is overly intense and mean to everyone around her (yet still has every guy falling for her lol). There was absolutely no believable character development and every time character relationships were seemingly progressed, they totally reset by the next episode.

Like other reviews have pointed out, the music is awful. Genuinely, unbelievably awful. It completely ruins what could have been some very creepy horror scenes. Even if the creators were hoping to use modern music, they could have at the very least tried to select songs that fit the tone of the show rather than just slapping a techno beat over it all.

I'm also not a fan of the "modernized" version of Victorian London (Actually, I like the colorblind casting - and if that's the thing that makes this show unwatchable for you, then yikes). I don't hate it, but the half-modern costuming and modern dialogue makes the whole show feel half-asses, like the creators couldn't be bothered to do their research.

First, this is not a comedy, no matter how hard it tried to be. There were a few moments where I though "that was kind of funny" but I didn't even crack a smile once, and I didn't hear a single laugh from the crowd in the theater. Overall, the movie should have stuck to a single time period. It glosses over some interesting stuff, but it never goes in depth enough to make it interesting. It was so well acted, and they set up a lot of potentially interesting plot threads that never panned out or went anywhere, so there was no real depth or emotion to any of the events depicted. The whole movie was directionless and I felt like I was watching a clip show rather than a story where there were stakes and consequences for the characters involved. The bit with the narrator was really interesting but the movie didn't build up to it enough, so it seemed like just another random event, rather than the merging of two plot threads.

It's a cute show, and it's definitely watchable, but almost everything about is just slightly... off. Firstly, don't hold this show to Avatar standards - you'll only be disappointed. The worst by far is the low-budget animation. It's glitchy and awkward, and the characters look out of place against the beautiful backdrops. They aren't even well-rendered. Especially Callan, whose head isn't in proportion with his features. A close second is the poor writing. There's a lot of goofy throw-away scenes that lack any kind of pacing or comedic timing, something Avatar did incredibly well (and something that made Avatar watchable to all ages). Nothing is more awkward than listening to every character explain their own unfunny jokes two seconds later, as if the audience won't understand otherwise. And on the topic of pacing, it literally took four episodes - half the season - to kick off the plot. If they cut out some of the pointless, goofy "comedy" scenes, extended, panning landscape shots, and drawn out moments of characters sitting silently, they probably could have condensed it down to a single episode. Also, some characters speak as if it's the middle ages while others use casual, modern slang. The difference was too jarring, and that's not even taking into account the cringey voice acting or the loud, over-emphasized sound effects. Over all, I did enjoy it, even if it took me a while to get over the animation and pacing, and the story was interesting, especially if you're into Lord of the Rings type fantasy. Unfortunately, its attempts at creating any meaningful drama fall painfully flat. Hopefully, Netflix will invest a little more money into the next season.

Very funny and unpredictable. I wish the series would stick to its original premise of a cynical and nihilistic ex-philosophy professor vs the over-achieving students he's (not) teaching Biology to. The episodes that separate Jack from his class are boring, and there are a lot of great characters among his biology class that aren't being used to their full potential. I wish the side plots followed them rather than the catty teachers in the lounge. Also, you really need to suspend your disbelief to fully enjoy this series, and honestly I think they should have chosen a different subject (anything but an AP class). AP classes are overseen by a national organization and the teachers need special certifications to teach them, especially AP biology, which is worth 8 college credits (thousands of dollars and A LOT of time). They should have had him teaching honors classes or something similar that doesn't have a lot of oversight.

This isn't a bad movie, and if it were maybe a hour shorter it would have been a lot easier to watch. It's just SO long, and none of the excessive run time was spent making the characters sympathetic in anyway. I couldn't bring myself to care about any of them, and it didn't really seem like must was at stake. Red Sparrow isn't the spy-thriller the trailers make it out to be and that's not an entirely bad thing. It's an almost painfully realistic spy movie. This isn't James Bond or Atomic Blonde, and most of the actual spying is portrayed as more political in nature. I do think that the often graphic violence and sex will definitely put off some viewers, but other than being kind of uncomfortable to sit through, most of these scenes were pretty bland and too long.

I haven't read the book yet and won't until the season ends. The acting is pretty solid and every episode has a major development that pulls you in (admittedly this happens in the last half of the episode after about 20 minutes of somewhat pointless conversations). There's way too much Kreizler sitting around in his dimly lit, tacky dinning room having pointless conversations with his maid (who is painfully uncomfortable in every scene she's in) and not enough Moore or Sara (or any of the other very interesting characters that are all ignored). The writing does make it a little difficult to follow the main characters' investigation and new information or "breaks" in the case aren't presented in any significant way so sometimes its hard to figure out who knows what. The introduction of the first major suspect is honestly one of the worst I've ever seen, and there are gaps in the show's logic that are never really addressed. Honestly if the writing was a little more cohesive, this show would be absolutely fantastic.

If you've ever worked in any kind of office, Corporate is an insanely accurate satire (I've had at least three supervisors who act like the confrontational and overly peppy John and Kate). This show isn't about good people - its about supervisors who will seemingly make your life harder just because they can and people who are willing to endure anything to maybe one day make a little more money. The plot lines are enjoyably over dramatic and the deadpan banter between the two main characters is absolutely hilarious. The soundtrack is fantastic and the dreary fluorescent lighting really drives every scene home. Also, the CEO character growling out "are you PowerPoint proficient?" had me laughing for like a minute. Lance Reddick does a great job.

I literally can't believe some critics have billed "Bright" as the "worst movie of 2017". It's really not that bad, especially if you like buddy cop movies. Lots of action and cool special effects, even though it never fully lives up to its potential or makes good use of its magical twist. Honestly, it was unfunny and the pacing and tone were way off. I think a lot of its problems could have been solved by just giving a couple minutes of backstory to the world the movie takes place in, especially this "prophecy" that we never actually hear.