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benjimansmith
Reviews
La Brea (2021)
Good acting vs bad writing
Allow me to be perfectly clear... I honestly can't tell the good actors from the bad because the writing is so damn terrible. I'm about a season and a half in and wow! Just wow is it bad. The premise, while not terribly original was interesting enough to get me started. Optimistically I usually give new shows 3 or 4 episodes to give it a chance to introduce the setting, allow the actors to find their groove with there characters, and establish the plot. Ideally a show should improve over time. I'll be honest, I'm genuinely surprised that this show got a second season at all. Now I'm just watching it to see how big the dumpster fire can get. Now they're messing with time travel. That's how all over the place this show is getting.
I don't much mind the b grade cgi. That's pretty common in Sci Fi. I'm not saying the actors are bad per say because while good writing can help bad acting no amount of great acting can overcome bad writing. These might be the greatest actors in the world one and all but you'd never know it from this show.
The best thing this show can do is find it's way into a serious class called "What NOT to do in Cinema" (that would make a great IMDb list, wouldn't it?) and hopefully spare us from would be directors, writers, producers, show runners and so on from exposing the rest of the world to... whatever this is.
Still, it's a beautiful mess and, I'll be honest, I can't stop watching it. It's not "so bad it's good". It's just horrible. For me, it's like the proverbial train wreck. As much as I'd like to look away... I just can't.
Paper Girls: Matinee (2022)
Excellent Science Fiction
I gotta say, I was a bit wary when I first started watching this. Firstly I didn't know if this was going to be oriented toward a 12 year old audience. It most certainly is not. Secondly, many shows that deal with time travel have a way of messing it up. Badly. With one exception, this show has dealt with the subject with remarkable intelligence.
Having said that, the time travelling aspect is really just window dressing. This show is dealing with some remarkably deep subject matter that children just aren't going to be able to get. I won't get into it so as not to ruin it for you, but I will recommend that you have the time to do some binge watching because it's that good.
Yes, there it is reminiscent of Stranger Things but it is definitely not Stranger Things either. Try it. Give it 3 episodes though I doubt it will take that long to draw you in.
Enjoy!
I Know What You Did Last Summer (2021)
Multi generational Breakfast Club adaptation
Trying to remake one of the most iconic movies of it's generation is just risky business. Modernizing it so that todays younger generation can identify with it is challenging. Turning it into a season long, twisting, turning murder mystery is just genius. It really worked out well
Some of the naysayers have pointed out some flaws. It has some, but perfect cinema is hard to find. If you remember enjoying the Breakfast Club as a youth and have kids or grandkids now then this is an excellent opportunity to sit down with them and watch something everyone will enjoy. Even if you aren't familiar with Breakfast Club, it's still a pretty good binge worthy Whodunnit.
Another Life (2019)
An improvement over the first season
Let me first start off by saying that the writing still isn't that good in the second season. That's still the big negative for this show. The acting does level off and is less of a mixed bag, but still waxes melodramatic. From the reviews I read these were the biggest complaints about the first season.
The second season isn't without its flaws. There are some plot holes and I'm pretty sure there are a few important bits to be found on the cutting room floor. Some of the elements are a bit confusing. For instance, there is a certain team in soma that, given the mission parameters, shouldn't even have been aboard. This leaves you wonder just how many people have they've been cruising around with all this time, but hey it took up 3 episodes (bad writers!).
Having said that, the second season is much more action driven which I think is what most of wanted from the first season. It was a vast improvement. Also while the ending was a bit rushed (bad writers!) it expanded the sheer potential of the show to a much greater degree. Possibly even to viable spin offs.
If Netflix commits to a third season, replaces their writing staff (bad writers!) and hires technical advisors that don't get stumped at every episode of Are You Smarter Than a 4th Grader, then they would be onto something truly great. Otherwise, it would still make an excellent drinking game.
Cheers!
The Wonder Years (2021)
Well written
I'm not going to lie to you, I've only seen the first episode. It comes straight at you funny but then hits you with a left hook that just surprises you so much so that you go right down to your twelve year old butt. So much wonder(ful) happening here that I gotta say a thing. Thank you. Just thank you.
The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
The fun of it is...
There are dozens of ghosts hiding in the background throughout the series. They're not particularly scary, but they can be hard to spot. Which is what is so brilliant about it. As you're trying to spot them all it makes you focus on the screen so that when the scares do jump out at you they make you jump twice as high. Pure awesome fun!
(Full disclosure: we turned it into a drinking game. First person to spot a hidden ghost gets to make someone else drink)
The plot is pretty dark and mature. It is occasionally slow, but as many of the other reviewers have mentioned this series trusts more in the time it takes to build up a gratifying horror experience rather than resorting to simple gimmicks for a quick scare. Don't worry, those moments are in there too. What fun is a good horror flick without them?
Marvel Studios: Legends (2021)
For MCU fans
I'm ranking this seven stars because the first seven episodes are worth 10 stars each. Each one was presented a good two months after the finish of their televised series. We get to hear from the actors and actresses about their experiences playing the role. We get to hear from the directors about their vision from when they started until the finished product that we all saw. We get to see all kinds of behind the scenes footage about how it was made. I'm not going to swear persay, but fing awesome!
The next 5 episodes are worth about one star. They are essentially overblown trailers for movies that we've already seen before (Twice? Three times?). Maybe there was some sort of contractual obligation that required that they had to meet 12 episodes in a given amount of time? To be honest, as a fan, I would rather wait for the next episode of Marvel Legends two or three months after the fact and witness all the good and the bad about how it was made. Movies and series alike.
Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)
Not a fan of giving 10 stars
In this case I will. This movie is just fun to watch. I wouldn't recommend it for small children (it gets a bit bloody, but in a fun way for us adults). There's a bunch of Girl Power involved, so if your not into that skip this one by. As a fan, I enjoy those sorts of movies.
I don't foresee a whole lot of Oscar nominations, but it is a fun one to watch. Kick back, make your favorite snack with your favorite person and just enjoy.