Melanie Lynskey is not a hard ass. Never will be a hard ass. She will always be a soft mom. Maybe an annoying aunt but never a hard ass. I can't imagine why she was cast in this role unless she can show me something in her actor tool kit that I've never seen before which is unlikely. I was immediately taken out of this episode when it was revealed that she was the leader of this gang of obviously battle hardened survivors most of whom were men. My wife said it even more succintly: "What was she before, their boss at the Dairy Queen?". Anna Torv or Merle Dandridge would have been much better choices. And, while I'm at it, WHO SHOOTS A DOCTOR IN A SURVIVAL SCENARIO LIKE THAT? It's not like they're a dime a dozen! Bad casting and stupid writing choices that depart from reality are not forgivable.
Reviews
32 Reviews
Our Great National Parks
(2022)
Excellent series, Beautifully shot, Timely message
1 May 2022
This series follows the traditional, nature documentary format but with exceptional cinematography. There is a surprise and inspiration, if not a thrill, in each episode. The necessary references to the threat of climate change are expected but not intrusive. Obama is a good narrator and his enthusiasm and respect for the subject matter is obvious. It is remarkable that the formerly most powerful person on the planet could pick such a humble but important project. It is a testament to the man's outlook and humility. I can't imagine the soulless, orange ignoramus and most recent former President doing anything remotely notable.
Sorry, Barry became another Covid casualty.
30 April 2022
It's been nearly three years since the last episode aired. I think the momentum was lost. I had a difficult time re-connecting to the storyline and the backstories of the characters. Plus, Henry Winkler was suprisingly unfunny as written in this episode. There were too many developments that felt rushed and unexplained and we were just left with a series of pained expressions on Bill Hader's face. Not really funny and it didn't inspire me to tune in to the next episode.
Let Him Go
(2020)
Great if you love bad scripts,poor directing and disconnected acting
4 July 2021
Awful. Plausible story but badly told and without nuance. Costner was his predictable boring, wooden, stoic whatever and Lane was a fitful series of acting hiccups. Manville and Donovan were ridiculously miscast.and I didn't believe a moment between any of them. This director, Bezucha, should never direct anything he writes. A truly mediocre effort.
Best Baker in America
(2017– )
The bakers are amazing, the judges...not so much.
24 May 2021
While I appreciate the talent of the contestants and the difficulty of the challenges, I'm finding that watching the show is becoming more tedious because of the sideshow judges. Jason Smith at least goes about things in a businesslike manner despite his screamingly hysterical jackets and his contrived country bromides. Carla Hall is downright ridiculous most of the time. She obviously suffers from an excess of personality and is always working at 11 on a scale of 10 and the obvious subtext is me...me...me...! Two sideshows is two too much for me.
They got the Blown part right.
30 January 2021
As far as finale went, I think they picked the wrong person. I thought Cat was the better artist. Elliot's creations were pretty glib throughout. He showed a lot of skill but his interpretations were not very complex and I did not sense any real emotional depth. It is an interesting series. Learned something about glass blowing from the artist's standpoint but there could have been a bit more useful information imparted about the technical process.
Mank
(2020)
Less than meets the eye.
6 December 2020
It's a strangely lifeless rendering of the period and the people. It was as if Mank was filmed in a museum and the parts played by automatons. Everything thing looked right, the costumes fit, the actors uttered their lines at the correct moments with the appropriate inflections and in the right tone but without eliciting any thrill of discovery or illumination of character to make this film very interesting.
Herman Mankiewicz was a legendary figure in filmmaking. I felt like I gained no insight into this man (or any of the other characters, really) and what made him tick. He deserved better than this puffed up, but empty, rendering.
Excellent Telling of the Evolving Great Tragedy of America
29 September 2020
The American People Will Reach the Correct Conclusion
29 September 2020
The Comey Rule is an excellent production with great acting, excellent pacing and production design. The story follows the facts as we know them and concludes with the knowledge that Donald Trump is nothing but a mentally disturbed, mendacious pawn of Putin and Russian oligarchs in whose service he will betray the United States of America.
Violence porn at its most soul deadening
11 March 2020
I actually felt dirty and kind of embarrassed after watching wave after wave of victims being cooly dispatched - seemingly all by head shots. Technically, the carnage was deftly realized on the screen but it was bloody, unrelenting, irredeemable carnage that made me stop eating my popcorn and look for something else less demeaning.
What Keeps You Alive
(2018)
Spoiler Alert! : It's idiotic.
11 January 2020
Not believable starting from A to and quickly running to Z. Another one of those sloppy "horror" movies that forces you leave good sense and judgement behind and believe in any outlandish choice the filmmakers drum up. You spend most of the movie yelling at the "heroine" out of frustration.
Good Time
(2017)
Ridiculous
19 December 2019
Oh yeah, makes sense, include your mentally challenged brother in a BANK ROBBERY and watch the comedy unfold. What could possibly go wrong, right? Jeezsus, that idiotic conceit completely torpedoed any empathy for Pattinson's character and subverted whatever perverted lessons of love, loyalty and sacrifice the overrated Safdies were trying to impart. If I were the father of those two, I would have dragged the Pattinson character to the police station myself for putting my other defenseless son through something like that. It's this kind of arrogant, self-serving storytelling that makes me fear for the medium.
The Irishman
(2019)
Scorcese goes gentle into that good night.
28 November 2019
Sorry, but as much as I love his earlier mob related works, this movie is a bloated telling of a story, the ending of which we already know. Yes, all the creative aspects are there: performances, production design, cinematography, yada yada. Essentially, we're forced by the self indulgent pacing to patiently listen to an older person tell a long winded story about people and events in which we're quickly losing interest. There's nothing at stake here. Nothing is told that hasn't been better rendered before. Perhaps it would have worked better if it had been more rigorously edited, or possibly expanded into a two or three part limited series, given all the characters and potential story lines introduced. But, here it is, wheezing to its conclusion. I hope Scorsese isn't finished making movies. I truly hope he isn't hanging his mob oeuvre hat on this film. Maybe he is. Maybe he's finished, but I hope not.
Please place your garbage in the designated bin
15 October 2019
One objection
9 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I know it's reality TV and much that is televised is scripted without the appearance of having been scripted. Also, I recognise that local people are brought in for the first "test" serving so Robert can gauge the efficiency of the restaurant's service, etc. What is explained to these people or what is offered to them in exchange for their time is unknown. My objection in this particular episode was Robert's choice to carry frozen ingredients that had been, unfortunately, used as main ingredients in the diners' meals and then contemptuously tossed onto a table in front of the guests to their apparent horror and disgust. I immediately thought this was done for dramatic effect but, ultimately, given the dire straits of the two women running the restaurant and their desperate desire to have Robert turn things around, I thought his action was excessive and overbearingly arrogant. I have no doubt that moment was improvised on the spot and the camera crew simply captured it but the effect, frankly, made Robert look like a giant. Of course, the restaurant was saved in the end, as scripted, and all's well that ends well, etc., but I thought, in that one moment, I caught an honest behind-the-scenes glimpse of reality.
A Simple Favor
(2018)
A hot mess
6 September 2019
Actually, this move was a great waste of time and talent. It started out intriguingly enough and then just degenerated into an incoherent mess. The director seemed to not know which direction to go or decide if it was a thriller or a cheeky satire on thrillers. It was awful.
Ugh
6 September 2019
It really is just not funny. The humor is forced throughout and there is not one single likeable character to make it worthwhile or one person with whom to empathize. It's a great waste of John Goodman's talent at the hands of Danny McBride who is unrelentingly cynical, strident, foul and unpleasant - and really just not funny.
Term Life
(2016)
Vince, get a coach. An acting coach, asap.
29 August 2019
Who convinced Vince Vaughn that he could act? He perfected his superficial, smart alec personality long ago in countless clunky comedies but now that he's older, more bloated and less confidence in that smirky grin, now he wants to go dramatic? This was obviously not his vehicle. A good actor can make even bad dialogue sound plausible. He didn't seem connected at all. Time for Vince to take the time to study acting if he wants to go further.
Danny, for the love of God, get a new schtick.
29 August 2019
While the concept is fun (God knows greedy, vacuous evangelicals are ripe for satire) and many of the scenes are well orchestrated and effective, for me, the biggest hitch is Danny McBride. He plays the same unrelenting strident petulant character in everything he's ever done. Danny, throttle back and show me a different color once in awhile (remember Up in the Air?). Otherwise, he makes it predictable and when things are predictable they become boring.
A rehash mish-mash, Meryl Streep notwithstanding
19 June 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Bleh. I'm done. It's a lot of repetition. How many times does Zoe Kravitz have to be asked "Is something wrong?". I think the screenwriters are writing by the seats of the pants. Meryl Streep adds a bit of needling craziness but her character is more repellent than interesting. It's all about her rabbity teeth, unfortunately.
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