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Reviews
Hawkeye (2021)
Probably an 8 before the last episode...
Too corny at the end. Everyone forgets that as much as Clint is tied to Natasha, he is probably the best hope for keeping Wanda from turning. She is supposed to turn and go all Walter White in Doctor Strange 2. He's her huckleberry. She is hellbent on finding her kids in another dimension. Clint was the one to convince her to be an Avenger. He freed her from the Avengers compound, from Vision, in Age of Ultron. She put Vision in the basement, protecting Clint. If her brother's ghost pointed her in a direction, it would be Clint's. What? You didn't see that coming?
The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
If Freeform or the Hallmark channel made a Matrix sequel...
The original Matrix trilogy, especially the first one, relied on groundbreaking visual effects and choreography to make them relevant in pop culture. The second and third installments, as flawed as they were in terms of storytelling, at least produced in that aspect of filmmaking. This installment carried on with the flawed storytelling aspect of the second and third without capturing the visually believable aspect of the original trilogy. Those stories of the original trilogy had the plot carried by amazing visuals. This was an expected storyline that didn't have the visuals to carry it.
WandaVision (2021)
Uninspired
It's Pleasantville (1998) with Marvel characters. And a LOT of pointless filler material in the first two episodes.
The Chase (2021)
Needs a different host
She reads questions like the sloth from Zootopia. Bring back Brooke Burns.
WandaVision: Now in Color (2021)
It's just not good
Watching these episodes feels like homework. Sitting through excruciatingly dull filler material made worse by a laugh track to get one or two pieces of info about greater story arc of the season or the wider world of the MCU is not something I'll be subjecting myself to anymore.
WandaVision (2021)
Uninspired
It's Pleasantville (1998) with Marvel characters. And a LOT of pointless filler material in the first two episodes.
Ted Lasso (2020)
Pleasant surprise
Tough to gain traction when the pilot is the worst episode. Such a farcical setting and circumstances. But it grows on you.
Jason Sudeikis' Ned Flanders impression (minus the religious zealotry), the Major League aspect of a hard, cold recently single female owner trying to tank the team, and the fish-out-of-water aspect of a midwestern American in Britain somehow resonates.
If you're on the fence, go to YouTube and look up the dart scene.
Game of Thrones: Beyond the Wall (2017)
Conflicted
Love the storyline of the episode, the interactions. But... plot holes galore. Like, why would an intelligent, formidable villian like the night king see two dragons, one stationary and one flying, and then decide, "Yeah, let's throw the spear at the moving target off in the sky and not the one sitting on the rock in the middle of the lake that is much bigger and much closer"? Kind of takes away from the magnitude of the villian's intelligence/capabilities.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 13: The Jedi (2020)
I'm a child of the 80/90s
Love Star Wars. Semi-knowledgable of the cartoon canon. Thrawn drop was nice. I know everyone is going crazy about Anakin's padawan. But I fan-girled out over Michael Biehn. Mando was his huckleberry!
The Boys (2019)
Sophomore slump
Season one was solid. It did a good job of establishing the characters and creating its world. Season two, everything that was cleverly built up in season one came crashing down with weak and pandering storylines. Big letdown from what could have been. Probably won't waste my time with season 3.
Draft Day (2014)
The writers and technical advisor stole their paychecks...
Fun idea for a movie. But... the reality of it is so far off. It borders as Star Wars as a training video for NASA or Stevie Wonder as an optometrist.
Cobra Kai (2018)
YouTube TV
The only bad thing about this show is that they initially went with YouTube's startup streaming service, and the world had to wait a couple years for it to fail before it could go to Netflix to gain an audience.
Floor Is Lava (2020)
So bad
This feels like some big-wig at Netflix gave the green light to a terrible idea pitched by a family member. It's also pretty brutal when the host overhypes a four foor jump. They do realize that old-men-NFL referees walk off three feet at a time applying penalties, right?
Space Force (2020)
Swing and a miss
The political left will enjoy this. But the writing and the jokes are really lazy. It's all easy and obvious pot shots that lack any real depth in the humor. It's a shame because they put together a nice ensemble of talented comedic actors and actresses.
The Wrong Missy (2020)
Happy Madison fulfilling their deal with Netflix...
Lauren Lapkus... nice to see she got a shot. David Spade, do you have some bills to pay? Nick Swardson, do you have some buffet tabs to pay?
Knives Out (2019)
The story
I don't really care for Rian Johnson after The Last Jedi. But this is a well-crafted story. There are a couple minor plot holes/questions. It's like if Agatha Christie was a painter, and Johnson created a passable forgery. Ana de Armas is in the infant stages of her stardom, Daniel Craig has embodied a character (albeit with a questionable US southeastern coastal accent) that can potentially launch a sequel/franchise, and Chris Evans got the chance to demonize a "non-woke" caricature of priveledged, white America. The politicical/ethnic aspects of the story weren't necessary. It moves the plot minimally. But, great cast. Good story.
The Office: Garden Party (2011)
Yet another Andy plot hole
Andy's backstory changed as Ed Helms' career shot upward after "The Hangover". Thus, the need to make him a more major figure in the show resulted in changes to his character's backstory. We can all understand that. His parents were re-cast, his father's first name changed, and the number of his siblings varied. (He had "brothers" in the "PDA" episode and a sister, whose field hockey skirt he tried to pass off as a kilt, in "St. Patrick's Day".)
But, in this episode, he introduced his parents as his first bosses to Robert California, Mom and Dad? According to a prior episode, "Secretary's Day," Andy is appreciative of secretary's day because that's why he has a step-mom...?
To quote Kelly Kapoor from the "Glee" episode, "Honestly... that show...". That's where I'm at with this show. Love it. But the writing and plot continuity gets lazier and lazier upon further examinations.
The Office: Classy Christmas (2010)
Story editor should have been fired
The snowball fight/feud between Jim and Dwigt is a nice turn/one-off where Dwigt gets a rare win over Jim. But it made Jim look like a total jerk, which was off character. Even Pam knew it. Most of Jim's pranks on Dwigt are psychologically and emotionally menacing. Jim was never as physically aggressive towards Dwigt like this in any other episode in the series.
Also, how does Erin not know who Holly is or recognize her? Even if that was the case, how did not one of her colleagues just simply remind her of the disastrous skit Michael and Holly did at the company picnic she was present for two seasons prior?
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
All things considered...
It wasn't the worst. The Last Jedi has that title by a parsec. But it definitely wasn't good. Too much to clean up from Rian Johnson'.
1) JJ Abrams cannot deliver a decent ending (see Lost).
2) George Lucas is missed.
3) Kathleen Kennedy should never be allowed to have anything to do with any future Star Wars projects.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 5: The Gunslinger (2019)
History repeats itself
Love the recreation of Mos Eisley, especially the mirroring of the Han/Greedo scene with a cocky, brash youngin' sitting across from a bounty hunter in the corner booth of the cantina... The sand people/Tuscan raiders sneaking up on their observers... And all hail the return of Boba Fett at the end (the jingling spurs sound being a dead giveaway).
The Morning Show (2019)
Love This Show, as a conservative.
The liberalism, in the first few episodes, is so over the top and drowning that the gaps in the story/narrative are as unnoticed as a bullet in the foot. Great actors. Great performances. However, it's a horse with blinders.
The hypocrisy and inconsistencies in ideology are the antithesis of good writing. It's a polished turd. Aniston, Witherspoon, and Carrell give it a draw and shine (although, everyone without those names are the best parts). But it's overly-contrived, really derivative, and reaching to be considered for acclaim.
I hope some of the supporting cast do far better than the agents for the main stars following this. This is going to be forgotten real quick, if anyone actually signs up for Apple's service to watch it.
The Office (2005)
Good show
Great performances, by the entire cast. Endearing writing and storylines that play more towards emotion and empathy rather than logic or continuity.
Watch the show in the entirity a dozen times. The likability of each character resonates more and more each time.
However, as the series progresses, regurgitated themes and plot lines make it much more heart than head. The initial idiosyncrasies of the characters and the performances of the actors and actresses gradually sustain the lazy storytelling of a network cash cow, in the latter years.
But I'm still going to watch it a dozen more times.
Interstellar (2014)
Really?
Chris Nolan is better than this. This is some JJ Abrams' "Lost"-type nonsense. Put out a bunch of stuff and only answer some of it, leaving a bunch of unresolved plot holes and loose ends. Not good storytelling.
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019)
It's an epilogue.
You really have to appreciate the intricacies and details of the show to get into this. The sheer fact that Vince Gilligan and company got so many players in the tale of Jesse Pinkman to come back for this... And yes, Aaron Paul and Jesse Plemons are middle-aged and not spring chickens like their characters ought to be. This follow up is not a "popcorn" movie. It is slow. It is detail-oriented. It is the type of thing that is going to have to be re-watched a few times before it is truly recognized and appreciated. And it is very appropriate for Aaron Paul's Jesse Pinkman. The show may have started focused on Walter White. But, Aaron Paul turned it from a solo into a duet. The character, and fans of the character, deserved this resolution.
True Detective: Now Am Found (2019)
Layers
It was brief and subtle, but watching Mamie Gummer take the money and doing her own little Sophie's Choice was poetic/heartbreaking.