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Reviews
The Orville: Gently Falling Rain (2022)
It doesn't have to be about your politics
I see the majority of reviews of this episode either loving it or hating it based on their interpretation of the political themes. Everyone wants to draw parallels to current politics and assign which Krill faction is an allegory for which American political faction. It is possible to have political themes in a show without it relating directing to what's going on here and now. Back in the day when Duras and Gowron were having their beef, I don't recall everyone trying to decide which one was George HW Bush and which was Ross Perot. With all that out of the way, the episode was pretty good, but not without its flaws. There was a lot crammed into this episode. As previously stated, there are a lot of political and moral themes, but it seems to be more than could be contained in one episode, even with the extended running time. It may have been better served as a 2-parter. There were quite a few set ups that didn't quite find a payoff. That being said, there's potential for a good recurring villain in the future. Teleya may not have the cunning and deviousness of a Gul Dukat, but she's got the makings of a good baddie. As for the rest of the episode, it had the high production value we've come to expect from the Orville, and the space battles were pretty good, though very heavy on the plot armor. The Orville vs 3 Krill heavy cruisers? No problem. A Union fleet warping through Krill space all the way to their home world before facing resistance? Nothing to see here. That same fleet engaging in a large scale space battle and escaping with no losses? Whatever, all's well that ends well. Aside from these noticeable eyebrow raisers, the episode was not bad.
Bill Burr Presents: Friends Who Kill (2022)
What happened to Bill Burr
I like Bill Burr. His name is what made me click on this show. This is not his best work. His entire opening set was a left wing political rant. If that's your thing, great, but that's never been Bill's thing, and it's one of the reasons he's had such a broad audience. He's likely just alienated a large portion of his fan base. As for the rest of the show, couldn't tell you. I've never liked Michelle Wolf, but was willing to slog through it for Bill's sake, but after that opening set, I turned it off. Judging by the majority of the other reviews, I didn't miss much.
Star Trek: Discovery: Su'Kal (2020)
Seriously? That's it?
So, the burn... the Macguffin that they've been chasing for this entire season... is an alien toddler's hissy fit? Who writes this crap? In addition to that, there's so much more wrong with this episode. Burnham is, of course, as insufferable and off putting as always. Tilly has been left in charge of the ship, but is the most incompetent, un-captainy officer on the entire crew. So, naturally, she screws the pooch and gets the ship stolen. Much of that whole ship takeover thing only happens because of glaring continuity errors (beaming through shields). There's more foreshadowing of the inevitable removal of Saru, who is frankly the only decent character on the show. By the way, what's with Kurtzman-Trek and space tentacles? Someone's hentai fetish is showing. It's just one eye rolling moment after another with this show. I'll stick it out to the end of the season, but thus far, 11 episodes in, there have been a grand total of about 5 minutes of enjoyable content total on the season. Star Trek is dying a slow, painful death at the hands of Alex Kurtzman. Luckily they've been renewed for a 5th season, so they can revive the corpse and torture it some more.
Star Trek: Discovery: Terra Firma, Part 2 (2020)
Another miss
Hammy acting. Garbage storyline. This episode gets 1 star for each of the good things it contained:
1 - the Guardian of Forever
2 - Burnham getting impaled by the sword of Greyskull
Fire the writers. Fire the actors (except for Doug Jones). Start over with a clean slate. This show ain't working.
Cowboy Bebop (2021)
Not bad
I enjoyed the new Cowboy Bebop. John Cho did a respectable job as Spike, and Mustafa Shakir absolutely nailed the Jet Black character. They could have done a better job casting Faye Valentine, as Daniella Pineda's portrayal was rather off-putting. One of the most memorable baddies from the anime is so bombastic and bonkers, I wondered if they'd even be able to pull him off, but they did so rather well. The vehicles and various other set pieces were true to the anime, making it feel like the show creators really put some love into it. An anime to live-action adaptation is a tough thing to pull off, but I feel like they captured the spirit and aesthetic of the original, and did about as well as one could expect. Compared to an absolute abortion like Dragonball: Evolution, this comes out looking like a smashing success. I'm rather disappointed that there won't be another season. Where they left off was ripe with potential for some interesting developments, and the last second appearance of one of the most beloved characters left me wanting more. Oh well. Hopefully Netflix will change its mind and renew the show.
Warrior Nun (2020)
Has potential
I wasn't familiar with the source content, but the premise of the show is interesting.
The good:
-Good concept/story
-Good cinematography/locations
-Some good acting
The bad:
-A lot of clunky dialogue, and the main protagonist's angsty teen inner monologue seems ill-fitting
-Some wooden acting, which kind of detracts from the characters, and makes them not very endearing to the viewer
-Pacing problems, and too much focus on "teen drama" for lack of a better term, which seems to detract from the main plot
-The big demon monster thing looks like it's straight out of a SyFy original
Overall, not bad. It takes awhile to find its feet, but once it gets going, it's not bad.
Final Space (2018)
Unexpectedly Amazing
I'm a fan of animation and comedy and sci-fi. "Adult Swim" type fare. I stumbled upon this series expecting a silly space romp with interstellar comedy hijinks. Holy crap, was I surprised. Sure, this show has its fair share of witty comedy sprinkled throughout, but that's not what makes it great. Once the characters and the universe are introduced and the story starts building, you realize that this show has created a legit, deep sci-fi plot. The characters are well developed, and by the end of season 1, you're invested in these characters' struggles and can't wait to see what happens next. Season 2 continued to build upon the universe they created, and the plot continues to get ever deeper. I hope this show continues to get renewed and goes on for many more seasons.
Paradise PD (2018)
Pointless toilet humor
The first impression of this show is that it's well animated and well voice-acted. The further you get into the show, the more you realize that it doesn't have much to offer. Dirty humor works when it has a point, but this show never does. 90% of its jokes fall flat. It's trying to be over-the-top lewd for lewdness' sake. It uses worn out tropes and stereotypes to the nth degree, and it doesn't come off as edgy or well timed. It comes off as a big middle finger to middle America, who the writers obviously have great disdain for. South Park has been doing edgy comedy for over 2 decades, and is still going strong, because their comedy, no matter how raunchy or politically incorrect, is well thought out and relevant. That show has soul, whereas Paradise PD does not.
Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020)
Good performances, horrible writing
I like Margot Robbie. I like Ewan McGregor. They delivered good performances for the parts that were written for them, HOWEVER...
The overall writing was garbage. The plot was fairly easy to follow, but there were so many scenes that were so ridiculous and unrealistic that it detracted from the story. I get it, it's fiction, so it requires some suspension of disbelief, but just about every action scene is so flagrantly unrealistic that no degree of buy-in makes it believable. For example, even though this is a comic book movie, the main protagonist is a woman with no superpowers, but she is protected by plot armor of Star Warsian proportions. She is able to singlehandedly lay siege to a police precinct, in broad daylight, with a single-shot weapon, with virtually no resistance. All off the male police officers that stand their ground are handily pummeled by this 120lb woman, while the rest run away like scared schoolchildren(apparently cops aren't issued guns in this universe). This was a theme throughout the entire movie: aside from the main antagonist, all men were either bumbling idiots, cowards, or scumbags. But the middle-aged lady cop was able to handle close quarters combat with a bunch of goons no problem. Sure. The character with the most potential was huntress, but her arc fell completely flat. I'm still trying to figure out whether Mary Elizabeth Winstead phoned it in, or if she was scripted to be that dull and ineffective.
I came to this movie because my 14yo daughter wanted to see it, but the toxic themes espoused by it are not conducive to making well adjusted young ladies, and the main protagonist is not a good role model by any measure. This entire movie was a girl power, down with the patriarchy, virtue signal. Identity politics before story. A little research after the fact, and I find that the director pitched the movie as exactly that, and the powers that be at DC were happy to oblige. This virtue signaling, garbage is exactly why the DCEU is failing. One-off successes like Aquaman and Wonder Woman (who did a phenomenal job with a strong female lead) are not enough to overcome abject failures such as this. If they are going to survive, they need to listen to the fans, focus on good story and compelling characters, and stop hiring "woke" activist directors.
Arrow: Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Four (2020)
What was that?
I've followed the Arrowverse from the very beginning, so I've become accustomed to taking the good (action, good acting, good story) with the not-so-good (cheesy dialogue, bad acting, etc). Being a sci-fi fan all around, I can generally follow a time/universe hopping storyline fairly easily. All that being said, what the hell was this? This was meant to be the climax of a saga crossing multiple seasons of multiple shows, but it was a disjointed mess. The story made no sense. They jumped from flashback to flashback, assembling plot points that seemingly had no effect on the final outcome. In the end, they reboot the universe with... feelings?!?! I'm sorry, but the writing for this episode (and most of season 8) was horrendous. This series has delivered some interesting and compelling storylines over the years, and I expected it to go out with a bang, but it's gone out with a whimper. Sad.
Cannon Busters (2019)
Solid effort from Netflix
This show is pretty entertaining, and I look forward to another season. From episode 1, it drops you right into the action, and catches you up on the backstory as it goes along. The character arcs are interesting, and the various parts come together to an eventual reckoning. Although, the final episode of season 1 wasn't quite as good as I was anticipating. The way some things were resolved (or unresolved) could have been better. Overall, it's a solid anime. If you're an anime fan looking for a loose description, it comes off somewhat like Trigun, but a little more outrageous and over the top. I look forward to future seasons.
Supergirl: Not Kansas (2018)
Seriously?
This is not why people watch comic book based shows. This is just the next in a series of episodes pushing a heavy handed leftist agenda. They present nothing new or compelling, and their argument holds just as little water as it always has. Yet another example of leftist Hollywood assuming that everyone thinks the same way they do, but just like other formerly beloved franchises, they're only alienating a huge chunk of their core fan base. The show has already been renewed for a 4th season, but if they keep producing garbage like this, the drop in viewership and ratings will ensure that they don't get a 5th.