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thefilmdevotee
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Undercover Underage (2021)
Great message, poor tv
Starting with the good, it's wonderful hunting predators, no doubt about it. The issues surrounding the show however prevents Undercover Underage from being in the same league as To Catch A Predator. Issues such as sensationalizing every thing that happens. The music gets very intense if the predator sends a message, if the main player Roo suddenly gets a thought, if they find out, heaven forbid, the predator is a real person with a real age. Also, it never makes for good tv when everything onscreen is blurred for privacy reasons - the predator's voices are blurred, their faces blurred, it's pretty frustrating especially when they don't deserve protection in the first place.
The weirdest thing about it all is also the one thing carrying the show. Watching Roo is like watching a robot being excellent at playing the part of a human. She is clearly a machine but for the purpose of this show she has to be emotional and even at times, vengeful. She claims to hate doing this but watch her body language, hear her thought process and you'll soon notice she's highly stimulated by the hunt.
Cade: The Tortured Crossing (2023)
Thank you.
I saw Cade at the first festival screening I have ever been to, invited by a friend who works there - and who apparently had it out for me. He didn't even tell me what it was, just that "Many films that make it big start off here and this one is lifting eyebrows in the industry." Needless to say I fairly quickly realized this wasn't the next Citizen Kane. It was something entirely different, something I wasn't prepared for. At first I thought it was some kind of an arthouse film, meant to provoke. But the dialogue and plot proved me wrong.
At some point towards the end I realized why this was such a new experience. Because it's the first time I have ever seen a director make me use my brain constantly by allowing himself to turn his own off - for the duration of the film. Not once did the events on screen help me understand what was going on. Thank you.
Two and a Half Men: Hi, Mr. Horned One (2005)
20 perfect minutes
I showed this episode to someone who'd never seen Two and a Half Men. He instantly loved it. The show was always at its best when it mixed darkness with biting satire, and it really does that well here.