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Reviews
The Bear: Forks (2023)
And the hits keep coming....
Probably one of the best episodes of the series. I didn't think they could top the Christmas episode but they did.
I love the show because I worked at a high-end restaurant at one point in my life and it's refreshing for a show to appeal to an "insider" along with people just looking for a compelling well-written drama. This is as true to the industry as anything I've seen.
Some might not know the actor playing Fak has run a number of restaurants, done a number of food shows and was an executive chef in Toronto. He's also an executive producer on the show. This along with some great cameos shows Hulu's commitment to excellence and really exceed my expectations. The scene with Olivia Colman and Richie was amazing.
Richie is a complex character that has been demonized to the point that he's difficult to watch most of the time. How the writers chose to humanize him in this episode is truly genius. I went from hatred for the character to empathy. Now that's a neat trick.
A Discovery of Witches (2018)
Well worth your time
I don't give 10 ratings often but this is an amazing fantasy series. I love this genre with some of my favorites including Twilight, Witcher and Cannery Row. If you liked these I hazard you will thoroughly enjoy Discovery of Witches. It's a wonderful story of good versus evil wrapped around a love story. I've characterized it as Game of Thrones meets Outlander with less pain and tragedy.
The actors are truly gifted with the chemistry between Diana and Matthew drawing you into their world. The villains are equally talented which provides the balance needed for a good story.
The visuals are outstanding and as good as any big budget series or movie.
The ending is phenomenal and wraps things nicely. For those looking for a depressing and non sequitur GoT ending this probably ain't your bag.
Shantaram (2022)
Self righteous
I enjoyed the initial episodes of the series as I've been to India and loved the people and the culture but it just goes down hill after the start. Lin who is simple a criminal, along with his brother, becomes a self righteous arrogant foreigner who can't figure out what is right and wrong in a world which is largely gray. Very Bollywood. Add the Aussie angle with the caricature bloodhound detective and it starts to become annoying quickly. In one of the later episodes prison escapee Saint Lin performs brain surgery on someone in a hut while running from said detective. Right.... so contrived. Sadly I recommended this to some of my friends before watching the entire season. Shame on me.
Luckiest Girl Alive (2022)
Very powerful story
This was one of the best dramas I've seen since CODA. Tough topic but very non-political and not preachy which kept me watching. Mila Kunis was truly amazing and I've become a big fan after this performance. Very well done and directed.
This movie tells the "story" of JUSTICE in what is sadly a very common reality in our society both past and present. If you hate bullies and like retribution this movie is for you. If you need a safe space maybe not so much....
I hate bullies. I especially hate entitled bullies and they deserve a special place in hell. Most of us have experienced them. If you haven't, you're likely part of the problem. To think the anti-bullying PSAs have helped any more than the me-too cancel culture is lives-in-a-bubble fantasy. Social media has made it worse.
I read some place that people were upset with Netflix because there wasn't a "trigger warning." Please; did you read the obligatory intro warnings? They missed "smoking." These are likely the same people who gleefully watched the graphic violence and gang rape scenes in Outlander, Downton Abbey and pretty much every other romantic period piece. All historically accurate. I watched them all and loved them.
Great movie.
Animal Kingdom: Fubar (2022)
It all makes sense
Loved the series and was wondering how it would end. During the early seasons you didn't know much about Julia, only that she was dead and Jay ended up with the Codys. Smurf was a sympathetic and beloved character who survived a tough life and seemed to perceiver regardless of her situation. You weren't sure if you loved her or hated her. I didn't understand why they would kill off such a central character especially given the lackluster appeal of the remaining family members until the final season.
Initially I wasn't a fan of the never-ending flashbacks but it all made sense in the end. The final season showed the back story and the true evil that justified Smurf's death. After watching the last season I actually wish it would have been less of an "out" for a terminal Smurf and more of retribution for her past. The fact that Jay did it was poetic justice once the story was told.
The abuse Julia endured justified how Jay betrayed the family. Let's face it, Craig and Deran were just criminal dopes. Jay and Pope could at least justify their sociopathic tendencies given their life experience. Pope showed however conflicted, he may have been the only "good guy" of the bunch.
Great series with a great ending.
Halo: Inheritance (2022)
How is this Halo?
Why has this series become all about an annoying minor character named Kwan Ha? Was there not enough usable material from the games and books? People who played the game are scratching their heads. Seems like the writers/producers are just leveraging the "Halo" name for another story. Just call it "Kwan of Madrigal" and be done with it so we can move on to other more interesting shows.
Billions: Lyin' Eyes (2022)
I just can't
Sadly they're circling the drain here. I can appreciate that they lost Damian Lewis to a personal tragedy but to move the narrative 180 degrees towards woke diatribes is not entertaining. I could tolerate Paul Giamatti (barely) as the rival of Axe but now he's just annoying and a self righteous caricature. All good things come to an end but it should have been at the end of last season. It's like the show runners from GOT got another job....
Game of Thrones: The Iron Throne (2019)
And you thought the ending to "Lost" was bad....
Wow - the final season was a clip show of what should have been 10+ episodes with a horrible ending. Seven seasons building to war with the Night king results in one episode so dark you can't tell what happened. Then Dany goes crazy after being the only "good" amongst all the evil. Then Jon who seems confused all the time kills her and rides off to a wall that doesn't exist to protect against what? Apparently this what happens when you take the training wheels off writers who largely "trace" other people's art.
HBO is likely to feel the pain as this show was their livelihood and they dracarys'd the golden goose as well as their prospects at the next big hit. I guess they got tired of making money? GoT was the only reason I had HBO so at least that expense can be leveraged elsewhere for future entertainment which means I won't be watching "watchmen." There's a lot of content providers out there now. Oh, and that shiny new special addition box set of blurays I was looking forward to buying to re-watching the series? Not gonna happen either.