NullUnit Reviews

The Tailor of Sin City (2024– )

Yaaaawwwwwnnnnn....

[2/10 · 15 September 2024]

Ya know.. Not EVERYTHING is worthy of a multi-episode documentary series.

Just repetitive talking heads... over and over..

I can see it as a one-two hour special or film.. but 4 1-hour episodes of talking head after talking head after talking head....

The story itself may be a bit interesting, but it's not realy that compelling in itself. At least not as told by a series of talking heads recounting the past.

There are no recreations here, just stock photos or footage. There is some archival footage of Pratt and some audio.. but that's really a VERY minor aspect, at least thus far. Archival news photos for character.. clips from the films Goodfellas/Casio to pad the story.. it's just a low-effort series - film a bunch of people talking about the past... then edit it together and TRY to make it visually entertaining. It is comical how the talking heads may be discussing Vegas in the 70s.. and the editors throw in some stock footage of a dinner party CLEARLY from the 50s.

It's pathetically produced, regardless of how interesting Pratt and his story may be. It just seems like with all the streaming services even the worst product can find SOMEWHERE that will air it.

Rick and Morty: The Anime (2024– )

Fairly horrific...

[2/10 · 13 September 2024]

While this may be a smash hit for the Japanese market.. for the US it seems pretty terrible.

There's no humor in it. It's bland.

One tell-tale sign of the poor experience is the 4 minute title sequence. CLEARLY the viewer experience isn't important. Or not as important as a bunch of names no one cares about. Why is the title sequence longer than the after-credit story parts??

I just find this entire series uninteresting and boring. Using the original IP so it LOOKS kind of similar with similar characters, but that's where the similarities stop.

Seems to just be trying to profit from the IP while letting others do the work. Others that have no grasp of the actual original show - or comedy for that matter.

--------- PASS ---------- This travesty is NOT "Rick & Morty".

The Real Murders on Elm Street (2024– )

Podcast on TV...

[2/10 · 11 September 2024]

This is a Podcast.....

For visuals... they throw in a collection of stock footage pieces and photos, or perhaps 10-30 seconds of any court or police related video (if they have it)... If they do actually bother to shoot any scenes, it's clear these scenes are intentionally as generic as possible, in the hopes they can reuse the footage again later.

And then they weave all the above in between repeated shots of talking heads.

Truth is one doesn't need to LOOK at any screen at all, you can simply listen..... it's a Podcast.

The problem with many of these new "true crime" series is that cops are cops.. they aren't radio presenters or announcers. They don't do a good, much less decent, job at using vocal inflections to maintain any interest.

It all starts droning on and on in rather monotonous tones - but again, cops are cops. I don't expect them to be any better with vocal talent than the would be at professional sports. Some may be more adept than others, but none are at a level worthy of a professional production.

The story may be interesting, but the harsh reality is.. READING it may be more entertaining than these Podcast-esque television productions.

Greedy People (2024)

Good watch.

[8/10 · 29 August 2024]

I liked this. Which is generally rare in today's film-scape.

The film ultimate ends much darker than it may appear when it starts.

It's a pseudo "caper/whodunit" film which starts in a relatively light manner then slowly, ever so slowly, gets darker and darker.

Completely held my attention throughout. No lulls, no dead space, no filler. Probably one of the more engaging films I've seen in the past few years - especially for a more drama based film.

Well worth a watch... crime drama mystery with decent turns and twists. While some may be predicable, there's a high probability one or two may catch you off guard.

Incoming (2024)

Bland + fecal humor

[3/10 · 29 August 2024]

When writers start stooping to fecal humor they've run out of ideas and are writing at a 4th grade level. As evidenced in this film.

There's practically no humor here. It's very, very bland "rom-com" attempt overall. It's not really a "teen comedy". There's one looooooooong fecal humor scene that was clearly a very desperate attempt at something, ANYTHING, which may be seen as funny - it wasn't, it was gross.

A 40+year old teacher character which all the teens react to in VERY unrealistic ways.

Characters are cliché and predictable. Nothing out of the ordinary or original. And certainly not real humor.

All that being written, I do give credit for it not being overly "politically correct" and treating every scene as if it had to be covered in bubblewrap so as to not offend anyone. At least they weren't trying to "shelter" audiences from any attitudes.

Overall.. Pass. ... It's nothing like any teen comedy you may be remembering.

Sunny (2024– )

Japanese show....

[3/10 · 29 August 2024]

This is a Japanese show, not an English show.

More than 50 % of each episode is Japanese speech, subtitled. I speculate the ONLY reason there's any English at all, is due to Rashida Jones being cast in the lead role (the only non-Japanese character).

I found the series too slow and convoluted and fairly nonsensical and uninteresting.

If you love reading your tv shows, or actually speak Japanese, you may love this show. But if you are a non-Japanese speaker and are merely looking for entertainment, there are much, much, much better and more interesting series out there than this.

------ Pass -----

Twisters (2024)

Terribly bored.....

[4/10 · 21 August 2024]

Horrible sound track.. just dreadful remakes of Johnny Cash classics or a bunch of repetitive "honky tonk" music.. just to stereotype Oklahoma I guess (which they couldn't stereotype enough apparently.) It was pretty miserable to listen to. One of the worst soundtracks I can recall.

Then contrast that with relatively silent tornados. I mean tornados are like freight trains in the ears, they "roar", loudly..... you CAN'T not hear them. Guess they kind of forgot to generate the CGI audio to match the CGI video. I mean characters on screen cover their ears but to the audience, the tornados were silent enough to still here the grunts and groans of the characters.

To be frank.. I was rolling my eyes a lot ...

There's ZERO character development in this film. Any character dev happens AFTER, and as a result of, the opening sequence. Daisy and Glen may be easy on the eyes, but the characters are just cliché, shallow, and predictable. Characters are just.. well.. as if written by those who have been writing films for 20 years and are merely seeking to "refresh" a past success, not write a new, engaging film based on a premise.

The film is severely missing the "entry point" aspect of writing.

It's filmed from FAR too close most often, with very few establish shots then a whole bunch of "2 feet away" shots. The cinematography and direction (scene blocking) is just poor in general. You'll be able to tell the eye color of the actors.. but not the size of any town any tornado may be heading towards.

This honestly "feels" like a money grab more than a desire to tell a good story. Guess it is what it is.

Gotta love multi-billion dollar films that don't want to pay any residuals to a well known internet search engine so you see characters using some generic "Search" web site.

And the entire "Tornado Whisperer" aspect was ludicrous.

The Decameron (2024– )

Okay...

[6/10 · 8 August 2024]

Characters are decent. The dry humor is mostly well done. Acting is good. Sets and costumes work.

It feels a bit drawn out. Episodes may be too long in general. Humor needs to be a tad quicker to sustain the mood.

The largest issues I seem to always have with period pieces now days is that they inject social mindsets of the 21st century into the period being portrayed. It's not overwhelming or overly present in this series, but it does exist. I grow tired of historical pieces written as if everyone has a mindset fitting of 2024 in some respects but not in others. In this series.. misogyny abounds for the most part - as it would have then. However, what would have been condemned in the 1300s is apparently accepted by every character - it's a dichotomy.

A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)

sigh... m'kay...

[5/10 · 7 August 2024]

Long boring moments punctuated with sudden turmoil.. but somehow none of it feels very real.

Ermmm ..... my cats have ALWAYS made noise.. every single one of them.... This poor cat.. never makes a sound, not even when suddenly dunked head-long into water. That's quite the acting feat for a cat! Were its' vocal cords surgically removed?

Threadbare plot line here... no depth.

No scenes of the alien ships.... Just falling lights in the sky.

No scenes of soldiers fighting aliens... just aliens pouncing on people.

This film could have effectively just used the same CGI which was generated for the first film.. which it may have. There's nothing new here in terms of the aliens.

Sure there's a backhanded attempt of a some "big story regarding life and death." However, like posted, it's VERY backhanded and COULD have just been an after thought. It doesn't have a whole lot of weight in the story.

At the start of the film there's some relatively decent attempts at building the "remain silent" tension.. but as the film progresses, that sort of falls away and is lost.

The film - from start to end - focuses ENTIRELY on one terminally ill woman's journey.. be that what it may.....

I liked the first two films, the original being best.. but this.. this film feels like the aliens were seeking the cash in your pocket more than anything.

Supacell (2024– )

All the standard pitfalls of poor writing...

[4/10 · 31 July 2024]

TIP: How to INSTANTLY recognize poor writing at the beginning of the first episode of any series.... it's really rather easy and a trick OFTEN used by mediocre writers, directors, producers....

"Tease" a foreshadowed scene. It's that simple.

Start the series with a single incongruent scene that is designed to be more interesting, more intriguing, more compelling and induce more questions than the rest of the series premiere... then proceed with the rest of the premier episode's drab, boring, slow, story... Hopefully the viewer stays engaged because they want to understand that first, rather non-sensical, scene. If it is not explained by the end of episode one.. then hopefully the viewer tries episode two in hopes of an explanation. Then hopefully if nothing has been explained by the end of episode two, you've hooked viewers with other aspects or angered them enough that they just want the explanation - So, it becomes more of a "hate watch" but is still watched..

It is the mark of a mediocre production to tease these such scenes because they KNOW if the story is told outright and straightforward, it'll be dismissed as boring and uninteresting.

This series premier uses 2 such "tease" scenes to keep viewers interested.. because surrounding these scenes is really baaaaaaaaad, slow to progress, drama. I was ready to ditch it entirely half way through the premier... fast forwarded 15 minutes.. and it gets SLIGHTLY more interesting... only slightly. But it does get waaaaaaaaayyyyy, waaaaaaay more "cheesey". CGI effects are passable but not really that good.

Episode two could not have been any more boring or cliché. I gave up after episode two.

I always assumed London was a fairly diverse city. If this series is any indicator, I was incorrect. Even the background actors and extras aren't diverse. Just odd (and clearly displaying a hidden agenda.)

My time is too valuable to waste on bad tv.

------- PASS -----

After Midnight (2024– )

Only "late night" show I'll bother with.

[8/10 · 24 July 2024]

@fter Midnight is really the only late night thing I'll watch. All the talk shows are boring and rather monotonous. This show is just a bunch of jokes over and over. Some fall flat, but some are really great spontaneous things.

(is At-fter a word?? Someone failed to workshop that - it's nonsensical.)

My only complaint is ....

WHY is a show which airs AFTER MIDNIGHT censored as heavily as a daytime drama??? It is only coarse language at most.

Are they trying to protect unsupervised 8 year olds staying up to watch this? American TV is so stupid at times. Shows airing after 12am should mean language restraints should be a bit more lenient. Even the UK understands that after 9/10 pm some adult language is acceptable.

Stop babysitting adults FCC!!!

This Taylor Tomlinson incarnation so very much better than the Hardwick incarnation.

Time Bandits (2024)

Kudrow?? Bad choice.

[6/10 · 24 July 2024]

I have fond memories of the 80s film. Always loved the adventure. Palin and Gilliam wrote a masterpiece for the film.

This outing, in tone, is overall similar. But it seems to have it's faults. I'm not yet certain if the faults out weight the pros.

It has a generally "fun" atmosphere. Dialog and settings are light-hearted and adventurous. Sort of a somewhat "silly" walk through historical settings. That's always a great watch. So there's a big plus there.

The cons.. well... Kudrow really. This appears to be an example of when you finally get a "name" to sign onto a project and they are thrust into a primary spotlight role regardless of how well they fit the part. Kudrow doesn't fit this part. Not at all. She's completely lacking the "wannabe tyrant with a lack-of-confidence" trait in the character she's portraying. Just wrong for the character. This is Kudrow *trying desperately* to play a Monty Python (Palin/Gilliam) character and falling flat. To me, Kudrow has always "forces" comedic roles (post Friends) - and it can become obvious at times.

I can't help but think swapping the roles of Jemaine Clement (the bad guy) and Kudrow would have been better for the series. Jemaine Clement is a fantastic comedic actor - and his talents appear to be wasted in the role he has in this.

I miss the fact that Kevin was the same size as the rest of the bandits in the film. That made them all seem much more like a "gang" of bandits -- I somewhat "get" why that wasn't a choice in today's social climate I guess, but it's not as favorable to have Kevin be a small child compared to all the 6ft tall adults.

The "bandits" in this series aren't very quirky overall - or haven't shown it much yet - that's what made the bandits in the original Palin/Gilliam film so endearing.

Anyway.. after 2 episodes it's not horrible, but it's not yet "great" either. It's worth catching, but there's no telling if it'll get better or worse at this point. I think, largely, that depends on how central Kudrow is in each episode. Looking at the list of the cast, there does appear to be some great comedy names yet to appear in the series.

---------------------

After 6 episodes, it's just sort of lackluster and often "try hard." It's not bad, but I have yet to find any laughs. It CLEARLY tries.. but I'm just not finding it funny. And some aspects are just non-sensical.. they travel back to Georgian times and everyone is calling Kudrow's character "sir"?? I know today that may be a thing in 2024, but in the 1700s??? Historical settings are all very superficial and unrealistic in terms of character mindsets.

The Bear (2022– )

good until season 3...

[5/10 · 17 July 2024]

I really enjoyed the discovery and getting to know the characters in the first season. Traditionally a drama centered on cooking isn't my thing at all. But after the first episode, I just kept watching without really noticing. It was easy to get engaged in the storylines.

Season two was also engaging. The struggle and inception of this new restaurant brought stress, troubles, arguments, and discourse to the characters which worked so well in the first season.

Season three.. well.. two words keep crossing my mind... pretentious repetition. As if the producers. Writers, directors, whoever THINKS this simple cooking show is somehow more important than a passing series that will be forgotten two years after it's off the air.

Season three episodes are generally straight out repetition for the sake of repetition. There are only a couple episodes in the entire season 3 that seem to move the story forward.. then they go back to repetition. It FELT like a 3 episode season.. quite obviously padded out to 10 episodes. The BULK of the season episodes are overly repetitious scenes - 5 minutes of dialog - more repetitious scenes. I understand the intention may be to show how the staff is grinding to get better. But one can show the passage of time without literally repeating similar scenes over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over.

Then the season finale was 100% pretentious. I won't spoil things with details but, man, what an unfavorable, arrogant, unsavory, depiction of the "chef" industry as a whole. The season 3 finale was a REAL turn off to me. If this is anywhere close to what chefs really think - and I kind of think it may be based on the random chef headshots (which were POINTLESS) - wow, what a bunch of self-centered - use your own expletive here.

I found season 3 more of a drag than anything, dropped a few stars due to that.

Teen Torture, Inc. (2024)

maybe it's me....

[3/10 · 16 July 2024]

Maybe it's me but I find no joy, pleasure, or viewing satisfaction watching others recount stories about their own trauma years later. If a documentary focuses on such, then it's expected that there will be some comeuppance or retribution in the story. This documentary is nothing more than a recounting of trauma stories.

I can sympathize with those affected, and I honestly do.

But I wonder what makes this a documentary? It's a collection of trauma stories mixed with ambiguous allegations. Now the allegations may be true. I'm not denying that. But theres no "meat" here.. no substance, nothing other than trauma stories and publicly available facts. There's no "hidden" story. No "gotcha" moment. No exposing of public deception. No recrimination for ANY parent that put their child in these centers. To retribution for any corporation or individual. Nothing.

Ultimately, this is just anti-Dr Phil and trauma stories, that's all. This all will certainly pull on one's compassion and empathy at times, but I'm not really sure it has ANY makings worthy of a documentary.

Max seems to be airing a great many of the "substance-lacking" documentaries lately. They all start to come across like food photos on instagram.... only interesting to the person taking the photo, not other viewers.

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (2024– )

Insufferable forced drama

[2/10 · 16 July 2024]

I picked the killer out in the first episode... I'm not master detective.. never read any of the books.. but INSTANTLY I marked the killer in episode one when he/she appeared.

Then it goes on for 5 additional, forced drama, obnoxious music montage, episodes full of red hearings and turns that seemed, and ultimately were, meaningless. Cardboard, stereotype characters merely doing what stereotypes do.

This was so, so very forced and formulaic. Wasn't engaging, telegraphed the turns early.. nothing unexpected, imaginative, or new. Just standard tropes.

If you've got 6 hours to waste and don't want to think too hard.. meh.. maybe.. but otherwise it's largely pointless. There are MUCH better "mystery" series to watch.

5-25-77 (2008)

digital grain like ants on screen....

[2/10 · 16 July 2024]

The fake, pseudo, grain which has been clearly added digitally made this an "uneasy" film to watch for me.

Sure some late 70s films had some grain, pits, and scratches on the actual film cellulose.

In order to try and "fake" a late 70s film, someone decided to add grain digitally. The problem with digital grain it that it MOVES. Actual cellulose film grain never moves, it's a fault in the cellulose. It may "travel" across the film as frames move, but often the film is moving so fast there's no minute perception of movement - more quick flashes if there is any movement at all. With this film, when grain was added to scenes, it's like watching a screen full of ants scurrying about.. it ALL moves.

Not every scene had added grain.. but when scenes do.. it's just kind of an "ick" feeling and it's used often enough to cause THAT to be the number one memorable factor of this film. There's nothing which stands out anywhere near as much as the creepy crawly feeling of moving digital grain.

Hit Man (2023)

Just missing something...

[5/10 · 8 July 2024]

If it takes 10 ingredients to make a perfectly delicious cake.. and this film were a cake... it's missing 3 ingredients.

This wasn't a bad film by any means. But it's clearly missing something. The films climax is rather breathless. Nothing overly "present" or "notable" at the time.. and then, before you know it, the film is over. And you think.. "oh THAT was the climax? Really?"

Acting is decent.. storyline is a bit stretched in places.. he's NOT a cop but is playing an undercover hitman in order to arrest those seeking murder for hire.. He's in meetings with the Police Captain.. but he's NOT a cop????? So if he's a professor of some sort, how the heck did he get hooked up with undercover police operations??? Just doesn't make a lot of sense. But I guess the audience isn't suppose to ask COMMON SENSE questions.

Would have helped a GREAT deal to see WHY the previous undercover hitman was seen as a "bad employee" (He IS a cop... but not portrayed as a "bad cop", just a bad employee)... there's nothing other than ambiguous references. Nothing solid.

Anyway.. it's a half-decent rom-com I suppose. I didn't dislike it.. but it wasn't really fulfilling either. Just left me feeling like a sucker for sitting through it for almost no real reward. Mostly, it's forgettable.

Meh......

Space Cadet (2024)

I tried, I really tried...

[2/10 · 7 July 2024]

I tried to like this. I really did... I let some of the early missteps go....

But 20 minutes in I realized I'm not a 12 year old girl, with a, well, somewhat superficial view of the world in general. In short, I am clearly NOT the audience this film is aimed at.

It was not entertaining or engaging in any way for me. The social aspects are just so far detached from actual reality for me I couldn't forgive the nature of it trying to portray a real-life adventure, even if fictional in nature.

Is this really what social circles are like for 17-25 year olds now?? I wouldn't know. But if this is even remotely close to reality. Just wow. It would drive me crazy.

Basically.. this is made for the "Barbie" crowd, not for adults with brains.

Your pre-teen daughter may LOVE this film... everyone else should just pass on it.

House of the Dragon (2022– )

Winter is a lie.

[4/10 · 2 July 2024]

This is just a soap opera.

Writing is atrocious. No subplots, no secondary characters. It's all soap opera and "emotions". But then GOT devolved into a soap opera as well .

When I heard the line "Winter is coming" in season 2, episode 2.. that pretty much made it clear, they don't have any story here, and are doing their best to conjure up something as close to GOT as possible.... but they are failing in the writing. Seriously failing.

There are no battles.. they show a disagreement that was the start of a battle. Then jump immediately to the aftermath, but nothing in between.

This series just feels like so, so, so, so, so much time is being wasted talking... then talking some more.. followed by talking.....

I suspect they'll treat it overall like season 1..... E01 talk, E02 talk, E03 talk, E04 talk, E05 talk, E06 dragon tease but mostly talk, E07 talk, E08 DRAGON + cliffhanger for next season.

Viewers leave remembering the fantastic CGI work for the dragons.. but forget the 7+ hrs of dreadfully boring talking to get to the CGI. At least GOT had subplots and other things happening to keep a viewer even moderately invested throughout a season. HOD seems to have a single solitary soap opera plot and nothing more.

Season two appears to be about only women being in charge. Women telling the men what to do. All men are subservient or are easily manipulated by women surrounding them. Nothing wrong with strong women, but it's not a well-rounded series without more of a balance overall. Even the supposedly "strong" men in season two are controlled by women.. be it their mother.. some witch...

The heavily weighted female-centric episodes just make it seem all the more like a soap opera with a hidden social agenda. Although, it's not really that hidden. Honestly the "Yay women" writing gets exceptionally predictable..... one can start every scene with the thought "okay. . how do women look good and men looks bad in this scene?" ... and you can generally predict the outcome of each and every scene. They may think they are being clever trying to weave in social commentary to a period drama about dragons but it's not the least bit clever.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

Decent...

[8/10 · 26 June 2024]

Liked this MUCH more than Beyond Thunderdome or Fury Road.. and I am not a fan of Anya Taylor-joy - I don't think she so much as acts as she just has a body type that fits some roles.

In this, she's a good substitute for a very young teenager and, in make up, has good resemblance to Charlize Theron - making her appearance work for the film. She does LOOK like a younger Furiosa.

Really it's an action flick. There's not a whole lot of focused acting necessary.. a few good eyeball expressions and moving around is all that's required. The child actress in this got WAY more screen time - and did a great job with it.

I do think Hemswoth could have been more "cringy" rather than just mean.. but it still worked well.

Solid 8 stars for an action flick. Gets a tad long.. but still a decent watch.

Hotel Cocaine (2024– )

One burning point of curiousity...

[3/10 · 24 June 2024]

After watching the first two episodes (now 4) I'm left with one undeniable, burning question. A point I'll probably never receive an answer for. Something so apparent that just begs an answer nonetheless....

Are all the GOOD writers still on strike?

The writing in this series is just so utterly poor overall. As if there's an outline of plot points someone WANTS to hit and then they fill in the gaps with just incomprehensible scenes. I'll make amends... but for only 1 non-related scene. I mean, come on. What was the point of the "amends" scene???

This is some of the worst writing I've seen in a long, long, time. Add to that many of the actors playing lessor characters just aren't good at their craft. The actors playing main characters are decent, no complaints.... but then they are thrown into a scene with lesser talent and it just makes the lesser talent seem that much more below par.

I've already got MGM+, so I will probably continue to catch episodes here or there, when the DVR is otherwise empty.. but I am by NO MEANS planning on this series getting any better or being a worthwhile watch.

Just seems like they didn't have ANY good writers for this series...

I mean.. Superfreak sitting next to a guy in church.. suuuuuuure.... do the writers even know the lyrics of that song??? Doesn't appear they do.

Really makes me feel dumber for watching.

Six Schizophrenic Brothers (2024)

Very slow and uninteresting....

[2/10 · 24 June 2024]

Complete drudgery.. The production is HORRIBLE.

Did they want people to watch this or fall asleep to it??

The musical tones (long tones, not music) soundtrack is doing its level best to try and PUSH some sort of drama behind the really monotonous, continual, repetitive nature of the talking heads. And really, that's all this series is.. listening to people talk about family history for 4 hours.

Eventually I set this to play a 1.5x speed just so it wasn't slow dreadfully slow. It gets so, so, so, so repetitive which is more noticeable at a faster playback speed.

The series is largely full of unnecessary backstory. Backstory I found uninteresting and WAY too focused on the minutia of a typical large family or just general growing up for many.

I mean back stories about what someone's interests were, what sports they played in high school, the music they liked, who they were dating, what someone's wife was like, etc. I mean exceptionally uninteresting things if you aren't related to any of these people. Then clinical explanations of schizophrenia as a disorder, or a lobotomy as a procedure - NOT as they relate to any of these family members. Doctors detailing the clinical explanations in case a viewer is unaware (which has me wondering why anyone would tune in if they didn't know these things.)

It's just a boring series. Nothing notable.

I suppose if you know someone in the family or were impacted by the family it may be interesting. But as someone completely unrelated to any of it... there was nothing of interest to me here.

They may as well have created a doc about 6 bothers that painted a house in Wyoming. You may be a tad curious about the color they chose, but do you REALLY care they painted a house? And do you really want to sit and watch the paint dry while the family details every brush stroke??

Hannah Einbinder: Everything Must Go (2024 TV Special)

This isn't comedy...

[2/10 · 16 June 2024]

This isn't comedy.. it's performance art..

The roars from the crowd seemed REALLY odd to me. As if they were some cult following just there to cheer her on completely regardless of what she did or said. As if the audience was filled intentionally with her "tribe" who came to see and support "Hannah" and did not merely buy tickets anticipating a comedy show. There's no real laughter here.

I did not find anything she did, much less said, funny. It's performative art.. which okay.. I can accept, but it wasn't even GOOD performative art.

She's great in Hacks.. where there's a writing staff and a director to tell her what to do... but CLEARLY stand-up isn't her thing. Based upon the crowd reactions in this, she may be in a bubble.. surrounded by those wishing her well and supporting her, but lacking the ability to tell her when things need more work. This "special" REALLY needed much more work if it was supposed to be funny.

This is really just HBO saying "Hey Hannah, Hacks has been a success. Do you want to do a 1 hour comedy special? We think you've gained some notoriety and many would tune in." And she said yes, that was a mistake. Clearly when left to her own devices, absent a writing staff, she has no clue what comedy actually is.

The poor experience is foreshadowed pretty well by the pretentious opening French music... I mean a French song for your US comedy debut? Really?

Blech.

Ren Faire (2024)

Pointless....

[2/10 · 11 June 2024]

Starts and ends in the same place.... there's no revelation, no uncovered story, no mystery to solve, no interesting behind the scenes story.. there's no "there" there. Sure the producers/director, etc try and push some sort of drama with the soundtrack and editing... but there really is NONE.

Complete and utter waste of time, unless you happen to be related to someone involved in the Faire or this doc. As a viewer.. it's utterly pointless.

It is interesting that the poster art makes George look like a light-skinned black man.. he's not.. he's a pale, ghost-like, white man. In fact, I don't think there's a single black person anywhere in this three episode documentary.

Absurd, aimless, fruitless, futile, impotent, inconsequential, ineffective, ineffectual, insignificant, irrelevant, meaningless, powerless, silly, stupid, trivial, unnecessary, unproductive, useless, worthless, around in circles, going nowhere, in vicious circle, inane, nongermane, nonsensical, not pertinent, purportless...

.. is that your natural story line??? I touch plastic and it makes me sick.

The Big Door Prize (2023–2024)

Season 2 is melodrama.. not mystery....

[6/10 · 11 June 2024]

The first season was about the mystery the machine brought with it, the comedy everyone's "purpose" caused.

Got a bit silly with everyone just handing out SSN willingly to some random electronic device. I mean, I guess there's no identity theft in this make-believe world. But okay...

I found season 1 enjoyable. It had mystery, comedy and a touch of human connections. Nice balance overall.

Season 2 is a sappy soap opera about relationships... I get the "human connection" aspect. And that has been part of the first season, but they went overboard with it in season 2.

There's practically ZERO mystery in season 2. Season 2 is NOT about the morpho at all. The audience learns NOTHING more about the morpho or the blue dots - except that many characters have them.

Season 2 focuses almost entirely on relationships -- the marriage, the dad starting to date again, the teenage romance. The, uhm, exploration of the mom. The coupling of the restaurant owner. The priest's flirting....

Sorry but season two is more "how Deerfield turns" and less "what is the morpho".. and it really kind of sucks. I was intrigued by what the morpho may be. But Season 2 provides pretty much no new information.

Season 2 was a disservice to season 1 viewers.

The ONLY mystery in season 2 is in the last 2 minutes of the last episode of the season... setting it up for season 3.

But.. it's being reported it's been CANCELLED and there will be no season 3. That's one heck of a cliffhanger to leave the series on. Guess people will need to grab the book if they want to know what the morpho is.

Pretty annoying on Apple's part. Quality control in terms of writing or storytelling doesn't appear to be concern.