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This Is Me... Now: A Love Story (2024)
I feel sorry for the heroine & anyone who produced this
The zodiac council is the funniest part of the movie. Some of the sets are interesting. I'm surprised at how bad (at least some of) the choreography is. I'm not sure what this movie was about. Epic this and Major Theme that. Stem punk and space and glass condo and group therapy and oppressive factory scenes and a greek chorus /zodiac council and motorcycle careening across some sort of desert or beach that has standing water. There is so much symbolism that you need to be real-time checking different databases if you have questions. But when I say there is so much symbolism, it doesn't appear to be particularly deep. She grew up with some adversity. She wanted love. Her friends were skeptical (rightly so) about all of her marriages (if we are to believe the lines given to the actors). She is madly searching for love and we are finally left with barely a statement that she has finally found it. But if we follow the thread of the story, I would venture to say there is some cloud of foreshadowing that doesn't leave me all aglow with confidence in the power of love or that she has finally found it. I mean, good luck to her, but we could have been left with a warmer feeling. Or just a warm feeling.
I'm not even sure if this could be one of those so-bad-that-it-is-good movies. There were some scenes I kinda liked. The therapist thread was pretty funny and left me hoping the therapist is on retainer. Does she have anyone who can be honest with her when they think something she has produced is bad? This does seem to be self indulgent at the least. The word vanity keeps popping in my head like a flashing neon sign. Unchecked, self indulgent vanity project? I guess that summarizes my thoughts. To tighten up this review I would have to watch the movie again, but no way that's going to happen. Let me put it this way: if you think my review is all over the freaking place, then I have effectively represented the essence of this movie.
Painkiller (2023)
The. Non-dialogue. Audio. Is. Horrible.
I would rate this higher except that the non-dialogue sound track has some huge problems. In the first three episodes (can't remember which) there was quite a long scene - or set of edited cuts that essentially make it one scene - where there was this wall of sound scratching / rattling noise that was used instead of music. It was so incredibly and unnecessarily loud that I had difficulty hearing / understanding the voice track because the scratching wall of noice audio was so loud. The horrible scratching sound was so loud and so physically painful to my ears. I know the horrible sound was used to set a mood for the horror of the story. I get it. But it should never have been so loud that it covered up the voice track.
Now in the fourth episode another equally creepy non-voice sound track with lots of discord and some added layer of hillbilly music (so many layers of discord sound to make a wall of sound) is also so horrible and loud that I can't clearly understand the voice audio. The non-dialogue music and noise track plays simultaneously with the dialogue. It almost never stops whether there is dialogue or no dialogue.
These are just examples. The sound track that runs parallel to the voice track is consistently too loud and quite annoying. It obviously is an effort to create another level of mood, of horror and anxiety to the story being told.
I'm at the point where I'm wondering if a lot of this was required in post production to boost the drama that might not have been evident when the scenes were edited. I'm wondering if when they were editing the episodes they then requested more music and louder music to add a layer of drama and horror and anxiety to cover up what might have otherwise been a not very exciting TV show; a last minute hail Mary to compensate for less than interesting scenes. I just can find no better reason for this horrible music and noise sound track. It almost never stops. It is such a relief on the rare occasions when there isn't some sort of techno music relentlessly pounding along.
I'm going to try to keep watching because I would like to see this story. I just am not sure if I'm going to be able to handle it. As I type this, episode 4 keeps playing and the techno throbbing is relentless.
I like music. All kinds of music. Some music is meant to be played loudly. My problem isn't that there is a music sound track. My problems is that it rarely stops, it is louder than it needs to be and it is it is louder than and competes with the dialogue. I just can't understand why they would allow this to stream with this audio problem unless they were covering up for other critical problems.
When production value is so bad that it pops you out of the story, there is a problem. I'm probably too generous rating this a six out of 10.
Hijack (2023)
Exciting! Edge-of-your-seat thriller!
Hijack is an edge-of-your-seat thriller. Idris Elba is perfect in this role.
I usually tool around on my phone or laptop while watching most TV shows or movies. But my attention was fixed on the screen for almost all of Hijack series. It was so fast paced with an evolving story/situation so that I didn't want to miss anything. For me, this is the definition of a great thriller. Riveting.
Somewhere after about the midpoint of the series, there were some glaring logic or credibility issues with some of what was being said or done. I did roll my eyes (literally) at least a few times. Each time that happened, I was grateful when the thriller pace picked up and even the parts that lacked real world logic had my undivided attention.
Because, really, we don't watch TV and movies simply for facts or logic. Some of what we watch is totally fantastical. What is necessary for our enjoyment of most movies and TV is suspension of disbelief. (If you don't already know, suspension of disbelief is a real thing and you can look it up if you don't know about it.)
When I watch an action thriller, this is the kind of TV series (or movie) that I want to see.
Idris Elba is great. He needs be in more TV and movies of this thriller type. He would definitely shine in an action thriller franchise. I'll be there for it!
Truth Be Told (2019)
Not as good as it should have been...
I guess it is easy to be a critic when one has never made a TV series. I can also imagine that a production has to cut costs where necessary (writing, show-running, development, direction, etc...).
My biggest issue might be with the character development of Poppy and her plot trajectory. It will come as no surprise that I've never done a podcast, either, but here I am about to critique the work of a fictional podcaster. Would a professional podcaster start naming murder suspects in real time? Do people in media/broadcasting not have a general knowledge of the legal and ethical issues around accusing (an innocent) person of murder just because a few clues have lead one in that direction, assumption-wise? It might have seemed to be a reasonable assumption based on the limited information gleaned, but naive me thinks it might have been a good idea to not make rash murder accusations on a podcast listened to by people all over the country.
So that takes me back to the first sentence in the prior paragraph. Were those words that were written for Poppy to say on her podcast simply the most expedient way to move the plot forward? Because as stories go, it was essentially unbelievable; as in, it seemed like either she isn't as good of a podcaster as the series would like for us to believe, or she isn't very bright, and/or she is totally ignorant of any legal and ethical issues that can easily be avoided. Or maybe the creator/writer/show-runner had no other way to push the plot or was trying to cut corners somewhere and resorted to having the main character do something stupid. So stupid that it was hard to forget from that point forward just how impetuous and stupid the main character is, considering she is supposed to be an experienced and respected audio journalist.
I did watch the entire 3 seasons just to see how it ended.
In general there were issues with the writing that just made the story feel less real. If the writing wasn't the problem, then there were multiple issues with the delivery from various actors. At times I would think that the words were so bad that the actors struggled to say them in a believable way. My point is that multiple times I just popped out of the suspension of disbelief to wonder for a while whether it was bad acting or bad writing or both. This happened every episode. Not throughout the entirety of every episode, but no less than once every episode.
As far as acting, in some of the final episodes I thought one or two actors had some some excessive amounts of huffing and puffing and sighing and deeply angst ridden deep breathing. I'm literally talking about breathing as an acting technique. Which - hey! - is a valid acting tool as long as it is facilitating a believable character with believable behavior.
You might like this series better than I did. In general I won't recommend this series unless it sounds like your genre or you like to follow particular actors. There are quite a few good actors in this series. It is quite the lineup. I was just never sure whether a number of them were used to best effect. I will just caution that if you have seen enough episodes to kinda be into the series except you keep thinking some of the things different characters are saying are beyond credibility, just know that it will be that way throughout, to the final episode.
Class of '09 (2023)
Bad story telling - an epoch fail; mediocre at best but mostly vacuous and with bad wigs.
Bad writing is at the core of the problem. It might be dialogue with nothing except exposition. (We don't need two characters telling each other nothing other than what they both clearly already know when it is obvious that the information is only for our benefit.) The dialogue is so bad. Made me wonder if AI wrote this. The plot is clunky and may move us forward but we have no clue where we were or where we have arrived. And there is little reason to care because this isn't an engaging story. Did an algorithm provide a formula for when to shift from Past to either Present or Future and then back again? Maybe an algorithm is responsible for everything, including the writing. We don't have enough information for what this is about to even care if this mess of a story gels or becomes compelling in any way.
Brian Tyree Henry is the best part of the show but even he can't overcome the bad writing.
Oh, and New Rule: if a series doesn't have enough money to buy the good wigs, that is a clue that the creators shouldn't waste their time and money on anything else in the production, either. It is a real message to viewers that the people who made this series just don't care. Those bad wigs pull you out of the story because all you can think of is how bad the wigs are. Same for the attempts to make people look older with whatever makeup tools were used. So bad. One fails to even remember what happened in those scenes with the bad wigs and poor attempts to make people look 25 years older.
The editing also is horrible. I keep thinking the slow pace and the incredible amount of film with no action or dialogue is part of an actual plan to stretch this story into more episodes than is necessary. Just dead space being filmed. Panning shots that are too slow and last too long. Camera lingering on one actor or scene for longer than necessary. Just too much empty filming that seems to be there to extend the episode run-time. Don't assume this is visual story telling. It is blatant, in your face dead space filler. And don't assume this is one of those smart thrillers that we might not understand because there is too much information to grasp everything all at once. This is not smart. It wishes it was smart but one would have to put in the effort throughout the production from the top down if one wanted to create a smart series.
I feel sorry for the actors who have to be the forward facing representatives for this bad series. I have not seen the entire series. I have only seen the first three episodes and that was time I will never get back. I have no plans to see any further episodes. There is good content to be had elsewhere.
The Mosquito Coast (2021)
Think I have a clue why the ratings aren't higher.
I'm not quite through watching S1E5 and I'm so irritated that I am compelled to stop watching in order to write this review.
Mosquito Coast is compelling in the way of decent international thrillers; even though I'm very irritated, I plan to continue to watch. At least until it irritates me so much that I can't bear another minute. I really hope it doesn't come to that because I do want the series to be better than it is so far.
The primary point of irritation is how freaking stupid these teenagers are. We could excuse their incredible stupidity for naivety or lack of world experience, but since the plot tension of the story began in the first episode and has been non-stop ever since (don't want to include spoilers), the teens have had a number of rude awakenings as to how scary the world can be. Given what they have experienced in these five episodes, one could reasonably assume that teenagers of what appears to be better than average intelligence would have learned a certain level of fear or caution. Basically it boils down to the writing of the story, that is, if the actual writers are the ones responsible for the story. The parents have their own dilemmas which alone could be sufficient in moving this plot along. It is just too much as far as the critical mass of problems this family are continually involved in and the added ways they create new, multiple, and varied Extra problems through which or around which they must navigate for their safety.
It is one of those TV shows (so far... S1E1 - S1E5) that compels one to want to shout at the TV,
"Stop. Doing. That!!!"
It begs credulity. And, what is good drama if one is not able to suspend disbelief?
So here I am, not quite finished with S1E5 and I've been totally pulled out of the mostly compelling drama because I don't believe in the credibility of some of the parallel story lines and am now writing this review because of my ever increasing frustrations.
Yes, I plan to continue watching.
I hope it gets better and doesn't continue to frustrate me so much that I no longer care. Right now my prediction is a little more weighted toward the writers /show runner not having the restraint to pull back on this method of plot propulsion, but I am interested enough in what happens next to hope that I'm wrong.
Better Call Saul (2015)
Might be the best series finale ever
This might be the best series finale ever. Of course, that means the writing would be the best. An exceptional series might require more than great writing but an exceptional series doesn't happen without exceptional writing.
The extent to which the series finale is a logical conclusion doesn't mean it is easy to guess. I was expecting to be heartbroken by one or two things but gratuitous endings often lack imagination and leave viewers angry, disappointed, feeling patronized. Personally, I think this final episode is as perfect as can be.
Not everyone will be pleased with this finale but i suggest one believe the high ratings viewers have given.
Better Call Saul is a masterpiece. Well created, well written, well run, well casted, well styled, well directed, well produced, and well acted. It will always be considered one of the best TV series ever.
Maid (2021)
Moving story, remarkable acting
I heard a review of Maid that left me thinking I wouldn't watch it. The review was by a man. I now wonder how many men aren't able to comprehend what many women experience.
This is a well told story. The acting is stellar. Truly remarkable acting. I literally couldn't stop watching. I watched all night through to the end. Riveting, compelling. This is a great example of a struggle to break a chain of abuse that gets passed down from generation to generation.
No matter what you think this is about, start watching it first. Make up your mind as you watch it. One can describe the story but you really have to see it to know what this series is.
Industry (2020)
Music is almost constant
The pulsing - if not throbbing - techno music is almost constantly playing. During dialogue, even. The problem isn't specifically that the music is techno, yet not everyone is so totally in love with techno; it is that this is an example of worship of techno music as a metaphor for movement in the high tech world of trading and the shark-keep-moving-or-you-die experience of that world. By the end of S1E1 the music is louder than the dialogue and started to feel like a headache. I'm sort of interested in the story so I this might not be a deal breaker. I expect I'll watch the second episode. Probably.
Star Trek: Picard (2020)
The sound is a huge distraction & persistent flaw
The sound is a huge distraction and an increasingly annoying and persistent flaw with season 1 of Picard
For the most part I've enjoyed watching season 1 of Picard. It feels fresh yet has the familiarity of a comfort blanket.
The sound is the problem.
And it needs to be fixed for season 2.
I watch all kinds of TV shows, some of which have action and loud sound. When watching a TV series or a movie I generally don't have to lower the sound for the action scenes and then turn it back up to hear the dialogue. Normally I wouldn't even notice if I need to change the sound occasionally while watching a show. But in season 1 of Picard I am having to change it Every Single Time it goes from dialogue to action and vice versa, so that it has become a full time job. I've grown increasingly unhappy so much so that I've hit the pause button in the middle of the penultimate episode of season 1 to write this review.
Reprisal (2019)
If you like grindhouse genre, Tarantino, Rodriguez...
Only starting S1E5 so this review is about the first four episodes. It was evident in early scenes that this is grindhouse. Reviewers who rated this low might not be familiar with grindhouse tropes or simply might not like that genre. They might not know of or like Tarantino or Rodriguez. Different shots or scenes or storylines have reminded me of From Dusk till Dawn, Kill Bill, Grindhouse and just Tarantino and Rodriguez in general. This is an homage while being distinctly singular.
If one isn't familiar with the genre one might be tempted to break it down into timing or violence or critique the story. While I don't have any issues with any of that, I can say that anyone who takes this literally or seriously is missing the point. The only literal thing one needs to know is that this is over the top, outrageous, gory and tongue in cheek fun. Some of the shots are epic classic. After one scene I actually said out loud to myself, "This is hot as hell."
Counterpart (2017)
Counterpart is exceptIonal
Counterpart is a show I will watch many times. I've just rewatched S1 and am now into S2. The writing is exceptional, the acting is stellar and one of my favorite things about the series is the intense mood of intrigue. One of my favorite genres is espionage and Counterpart successfully brings that feeling, that mood.
J. K. Simmons is one of my favorite actors and his talents were meant for this role. The casting for this show is excellent. The European actors and settings add to the layers of international intrigue.
It is a shame that a show of this caliber hasn't been renewed. I can only assume many people couldn't find it on Starz. How great would it be if Starz were to reconsider or if another service were to take it on. Even if that never happens, I will still be able to immerse myself in Counterpart many times in my future.
EDIT - Post Script:
The review above is in the main a review of S1.
S2 had some tragic flaws. There might have been some casting mistakes in the romp back through history. The story of the two worlds origin and of the divergence was a mistake on multiple levels. One of the great strengths of the series is the mood, the feeling, the set, and costume design. That was in large part abandoned in the origins story that also took up way too much of S2. Something about the look of that primary character (both then and now) made me think of a mountain hermit I care nothing about. The story was tedious. It should have been condensed at the least. I would have been happy if it had been totally avoided. This history/origins story might have been the death knell of the series. I love this series and feel it had potential for more than 2 seasons. Just - in my opinion - some tragic, and ultimately fatal, flaws in S2.
It would be great to have this series picked up by another platform and retooled back to the espionage look and feel, or to an equivalent mood and setting.
The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair (2018)
Red Herrings R Us
If at any point you begin to think you've seen one too many red herrings, just cut your losses and stop watching this series. It doesn't get any better. The red herrings grow and multiply exponentially as the episodes progresses. By the finale it was simply ridiculous.
Six Feet Under: In the Game (2002)
Some scenes among the best in the series.
I've watch the entire series many times. This is one of my favorite episodes with some of my favorite scenes in the series:
-"Yeah, and I'd like a straight answer..."
-"Lord have Mercy, Lord have Mercy..."
-"Oh my god I Am high..."
-"Oh yeah. It's a whole yin-yang thing."
-"You're in the game now, buddy boy. Whether you like it or not."
Jamestown (2017)
Females roles are weak and disturbing
I don't only watch excellent TV, so it would have been conceivable for me to have watched more than the 2 or three episodes I watched. I just couldn't deal with the idiot female characters they created. One of them was constantly challenging social mores, as if she had never seen repercussions of such behavior. Another was constantly scheming and manipulation people and situations. To say the writing is bad is too easy. The concept is bad. Weak female characters isn't something I want to watch. I found myself cringing - literally - one too many times when finally I turned it off.
Westworld: Kiksuya (2018)
Best episode!
This might be the best episode of Westworld so far. While it depends on prior content from other excellent episodes, this episode was amazing in it's own right...wonderful. It didn't explain everything (as per normal). It also didn't have obvious multiple oblique tangents that have at times just would up making one not care. This episode is a powerful story that presents wise and soulful. While touching the aspects of the larger story, it is almost a stand-alone story, theme oriented, which informs the wonderfulness of it all.
Gypsy (2017)
Watching all 10 episodes doesn't result in payoff
First of all, the acting was not the problem. Great cast. They did great work. They just were saddled with a loser. Hope the actors were paid well because no one had their backs on this one.
Bad writing? That is usually the case. Except it seemed more like the conceptualization was left in the hands of people who really messed this up. One wonders if the production, direction, editing, show-runner(s) were the ones who put the arts-and-crafts hodge-podge style on a show that hinted of potential.
I should have quit watching after episode 2 when I realized it wasn't working. But there are enough tidbits of interesting concepts so that it seemed as if it might come together if I stuck it out. That was my mistake. It is a mess. Messy mess mess. Painfully slow pacing that doesn't have payoff. Nothing has payoff. Yes, there is sexual tension but this tension never gets interesting. Yes, there are interesting social commentary....but they amble about. There is tension of a thriller. But this thriller can't make up its mind what it wants to be when it grows up.
Nothing seemed to gel. It isn't like I expect all issues in a story to be neatly tied up in bows for a happy ever after resolution. I like complicated psychological thrillers with high sexual tension thrown in. It is just that nothing worked. Loose ends abound and I am left not caring enough about any of them because this is just a mess.
The ending was the worst. It was a smug effort at a cliffhanger but it really was a random non sequitur...a disrespectful slap in the face for viewers who hang on to the end in anticipation of some sort of cohesive reveal. Don't waste your time...or do. You may need to see for yourself just how bad the betrayal of your loyalty is.
Given Netflix's recent series cancellations I don't expect to see a season two for this loser. It promises stylized conceptualization of an erotic psychological thriller but it is just one of those big expensive fireworks that you expect to be the star of your holiday fireworks display just to watch it impotently fizzle and die as you and all your party guests stare at the ground in disappointment.
Lone Star (1996)
Lone Star is one of my favorite movies
Lone Star is one of my favorite movies. I believe John Sayles was channeling genius when he wrote this story and directed this movie. There are so many levels that this movie reaches me on that I hardly know how to break it down. It must have something to do with the fact that this story is set in Texas, where I was born and have lived most of my life. I was born and spent the first six years of my life in a town along the southern border of Texas, so there is something about the movie that touches me on a primal level. There are layers of symbolism and themes that superimpose themselves one upon the other. There is the theme of cultures colliding and merging and rejecting each other in ways sometimes unholy. There is the theme of history; history within families, history within ethnicities, history within cities and counties and nations. Then there is the classic period murder mystery that pushes the story along. There is one theme that is truly a classic Southern theme; that of The Keeping of Secrets. This keeping of secrets to spare others is probably the theme that rings as true as any other truth in this masterpiece. Every time I see Lone Star (and I have seen it so many times that I have lost track), I see something new and it always rocks me to my soul. There is nothing in Lone Star that doesn't ring true for me. This movie has a remarkable cast and there are a number of memorable performances that move me, including those of Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Pena, Joe Morton, Ron Canada, Chandra Wilson and Frances McDormand.