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mmcginnis
Reviews
The Peripheral (2022)
Good, but wait to watch until season 2 comes out
So much depends on a good ending, and this season didn't have one. I was following along, liking the characters and the story, but last two episodes seemed really rushed and honestly confusing. I'm all for complex narrative that asks you to just ride along for a while until you get it, but there was no payoff here - just the opposite. I didn't read the book, so don't know how it lines up with the original, but the season ended in a really weird place both plot-wise and emotionally. The credits rolled and I just stared at the screen, confused and wondering if that could really be the end. Not satisfying at all.
Based on how the first season ends my recommendation is "wait until they come out with another season before watching any of it". And if everyone else feels the same... good luck getting renewed for another season. Bummer because I'd really like some closure at this point. :(
Away (2020)
Drama is almost ok, but the science is pitiful
If you're in the mood for a family drama, and really don't care about science/reality, this might work for you. But if you've seen any other movie based on a realistic NASA mission of any kind, it's going to drive you crazy. They do so many unnecessary, stupid things just to amp up the drama - I found myself shouting at the screen in disbelief many, many times. Off to watch The Martian again just for a dose of "reality"...
Charlie's Angels (2019)
Not fantastic, but not as bad as the ratings suggest
Definitely had the grrrl-power vibe throughout, but that worked for me. If you go in without expectations of a sexy, male-pleasing Charlie's Angels reboot, and just watch it as a mildly funny female action movie, it's not bad at all.
Elementary: Our Time Is Up (2018)
Funny! Keep the writers and the sister
Love the humor in this episode, and Joan's sister is awesome. More of both please!!
Battle of the Sexes (2017)
aEnjoyable but disjointed, lacks focus
"Could have been so much better" was my gut-feeling after watching this film. I'm not sure the filmmakers knew what exactly they were making a film about; feminism? Billie Jean King finding her lesbian side? Bobby Riggs's gambling problem & marriage? a big splashy TV event with a guy played by Steve Carrell doing funny things?
They never decided, and it's too bad because there's so much that's really good in this film. I personally wish they'd just made it a rise-of-feminism/BJK biopic with the Battle of the Sexes as the climax, and left out all the Bobby-Riggs-personal-life stuff which didn't really have any place in this film other than to give Steve Carell more screen time. The equal-pay / BJK story was far more complex and interestingly told.
That said, still worth a watch, if only for the historical "wow that really happened!" realization. And of course Emma Stone and Steve Carell are great. :)
Time Scanners (2014)
Interesting info, but should be 1/2 hour show
I saw two episodes of this show, St Paul's & Petra. Both had some interesting factoids, but were painful to sit through. The show's producers either didn't plan for enough content, or couldn't find enough content to fill an hour-long show - which meant every. tiny. bit. of. information. was. repeated. twelve. times. Not just your standard 3-times- to-get-the-point-across repetition, either; the narrator would say it, the (also annoying) host would enthuse about it in exactly the same words, they'd get the guest to say it, the expert to say it... and then they'd show a graphic of it, sometimes several times over. I felt like a developmentally challenged four-year-old being talked down to by some not-very-smart teachers.
I'm also not sure of the value of the technology or the "new" insights gleamed, but that didn't bug me half as much as the presentation. Not up to PBS standards!!
Persuasion (2007)
Is the director or cameraman a video game addict?
I was very eager to see this adaptation and enjoyed parts, but ended up wondering why the film makers tried to make a classic (Masterpiece!) production look and feel like a video game. So many of the shots were head-on, with the actors looking directly into the camera, that I found it downright distracting. Even romantic moments were shot showing only one of the two characters, and background info felt as if it were being shoved into the breathing room between shoot-out action scenes (of which there were none). It just isn't necessary to mess with Austen that way.
And yes on the other comments - running around Bath, hatless, sweating, alone? C'mon. The director and writer obviously had no idea what was going on in that scene or they wouldn't have added all the faux "action". Grr!