chrisg60 Reviews

Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming with Dave Letterman (2023)

Refreshing and revitalizing

[9/10 · 16 November 2023]

When Eric Clapton gave us his acoustic version of "Layla", those of us too young to have been blown away by the strength of the original, were delighted and caught off guard by the acoustic, showing the strength of the songwriting. The same here applies, in spades with this peek at how U2 has been re-imagining some of their most beloved songs. They sound good no matter how you slice and dice them when the fundamentals are already so great. It seemed strange to have Letterman in the mix, but he truly is a fan, and we can enjoy his sense of wonder, and believe it. Letterman isn't there out of irony or comedy, he's there to learn more about one of the top 5 rock acts of all time. The piano version of "One" is worth the trip alone. Bono is self-aware here that he's a handful, while The Edge stands out as an endearing elder statesman of rock,

Old (2021)

Strap In. This is going to be the bumpiest of rides

[1/10 · 13 September 2023]

Do you enjoy hate-watching a movie for its awfulness? I have the perfect evening set aside for you. It is rare for a movie to achieve the trifecta of awful dialogue, awful acting and awful direction, but M's awful OLD hits all 3 with room to spare. Enjoy it in all its awfulness. Every single scene dazzles with utter stupidity, as if this movie was written and directed by aliens from another planet who know nothing about the ways humans interact, speak and think. If only there was a drive-in movie screen for this to play on, it would be the perfectly awful experience we all knew Shyamalan is capable of inflicting on us.

The Lincoln Lawyer (2022– )

Starts out ok and jumps several sharks

[3/10 · 12 July 2023]

A reasonably decent lead character and interesting plot gets derailed by increasingly formulaic, writing and clichés by the dozens by the end of season one. Midway through the season, the series dropped off a cliff and it's quality marked by a thoroughly ridiculous scene where someone has been pulled over on the side of the road And is being detained at gunpoint by two police officers with flashing lights. Somehow the suspect inside getting out of the car and getting hit by a woman who says she didn't see anything and he stepped out in front of her. Really? The flashing lights and the police officers in the street didn't warrant a second look? This kind of gargantuan leap of silliness was necessary because the writers needed the character to die from here on out it's more of the same. Don't waste your time.

Bad Santa (2003)

Not a laugh to be found

[1/10 · 24 December 2022]

I gave up halfway through, on this pointless, assault on taste. I'm not a prude, and I'm open to a movie that savages Christmas, so with that in mind I ask: "What exactly, was remotely funny here?" Riddled with more plot holes than all the Karate Kid movies combined. It's impossible to find comedy without truth-telling located somewhere close-by. Start with a rotund 11 year-old who's unfazed by Santa's horrific attitude and vocabulary, yet still believes the Santa in front of him to be real, giving and kind. Ask me to believe Cloris Leachman's grandma wouldn't notice a belligerent a-hole living in her house. Ask me to believe John Ritter's mall manager wouldn't fire Santa on the spot, and that he has to fire both Santa and his elf companion. Ask me how a heist that netted him $111,000 leaves him driving a car worth $11 and getting laid in it with a much younger Lauren Graham? All the reviews tout its comedy, but provide zero examples. I think they're too afraid to call this steamy pile what it is: a failed attempt at a black comedy. Try "The Ref" if you want a dark comedy Christmas film. Just don't ask me to watch BS ever again. ZERO laughs.

Keep Breathing (2022)

It's Either/Or....

[4/10 · 3 August 2022]

There are people who want to see a wilderness survival story and there are people who like stories of reckoning with your inner turmoil. The Venn diagram of those two groups never touches... Hence every review is either a 9 or a 1. Likeable lead actress with unconventional soundtrack and visuals keeps this from being a complete disaster. I only wanted the Alaska survival story. The rest could've been summed up in 3 minutes. She's got baggage. Boo-hoo. We all do. Now tell the SURVIVAL story.

Undercover Billionaire (2019– )

Only takes 15 minutes for you to say "Wait... what?"

[5/10 · 8 July 2022]

Show me one Operations Manager who would say "hello" to some dude in blue jeans and a parka off the street looking for a sales job. He does? Okay. Surely he wouldn't show him around the manufacturing plant? He does? Surely the manager wouldn't offer him a commission sales job on the spot? He does? Why? Could it be that there is not one, but two cameramen and a sound engineer filming the entire damn scene? GTFOH, Discovery... This guy wouldn't get a sniff at a look at a job without cameras backing him. So disappointed. They should've only used hidden mikes/cameras.

Ozark (2017–2022)

Brilliant, but jogs to the finish line

[9/10 · 12 May 2022]

By now, any seasoned TV viewer knows that Julia Garner steals every scene she's EVER been in, from The Amerikans, through Ozark and Inventing Anna. As Ruth Langmore, Garner is handed the juiciest character to hit TV since Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad. Foul-mouthed, selfish, amoral, and loveable.

Everything Ruth Langmore does, feels improv'd, while holding fireworks in her hand. In S3, we got to see her bounce off Janet McTeer's intimidating fixer/cartel lawyer and Ozark was sprinting towards an amazing conclusion.

Then S4 dropped, and a third of the energy of the series mysteriously disappeared. Jason Bateman's lengthy stares down to the floor in every scene grew longer, Laura Linney's histrionics grew louder and their son's antics grew more absurd by the episode. The characters we cared about were detaching from us, daring us to still care while they did either nothing (Bateman) or too much (Linney). By the series finale, I was ready for it to be over. Netflix's 3rd best series finished bravely, but incorrectly. The writers disregarded the concept of KARMA. Those who survived and those who didn't, had no measurable element of karma in their fate. Pinkman did... The Byrd's and the lake dwellers? Nah. It's like someone drew straws to see who would die, and this series relied on us caring about the Byrds. By the finale, anyone in the family could've died and I would've shrugged. Watchable to the end, but pales in comparison to Seasons 1-3.

Big Sky (2020–2023)

Season 1 Decent-Season 2 A Joke

[5/10 · 11 May 2022]

Reasonably gritty and interesting villain(s) in this serialized story, but the writers have a profound lack of ability to kill characters off until the season finales, leading to some of the most ridiculous sequences where people should be captured/killed and it doesn't happen. Sophomoric writing in S2. Avoid.

Choose or Die (2022)

What's Worse? The Movie or the Netflix Algorithm?

[3/10 · 17 April 2022]

As I write this, the movie is #2 in America for movies today. I'm more horrified by an algorithm that surfaced this preposterous 85 minutes to the nation's subscribers, and somehow pushed it into the Top2. How does that happen? Great reviews? No. Word of mouth? No. Who's more evil here? The programmer of the retro game in the movie, or the programmers at Netflix?

The Assistant (III) (2019)

There's 100 minutes of my life I'll never get back

[1/10 · 31 March 2022]

The always great Julia Garner wastes everyone's time, including her own in this tedious hyper-realistic day in the life of an assistant who suspects her boss is diddling everyone he can lay his grubby fingers on. It's all hearsay, and all as boring as watching grass grow. A major step backward for Garner. Horrifically pointless. Steer clear of this pretentious waste of time. To those who say I missed the point, I say "If you want to send a (feminist) message, use Western Union."

Deep Water (I) (2022)

Came For Ana - Stayed to See Why

[5/10 · 25 March 2022]

A fairly preposterous movie from start to finish, asking us to believe a hottie wife can't find Ben Affleck attractive enough to sustain a normal marriage. It also asks us to believe the couple's entire circle of friends finds her brazen flirtations with various other men to be utterly normal. It asks us to believe a 7 year-old girl would know her father killed someone before her eyes and that she is unfazed. See the pattern? Would've been good if the writers understood how REAL people actually react.

The Woman in the House (2022)

I just got Rickrolled

[3/10 · 24 February 2022]

The series has the almost always enjoyable Kristen Bell, in a different kind of semi-comedy semi drama role. Netflix has been historically bad at classifying shows as comedies if they make you laugh once. SPOILER ALERT: Episode 8 contains the plot twist and I knew right then, I had just wasted 7 half hours of my life on a show that takes its audience for idiots.. A grown adult gets her ass completely handed to her in a fight by a 10 year old? This laughable plot twist asks us to accept that a child is capable of murdering 2 grown men and 2 grown women. Don't waste your time.

1883 (2021–2022)

A Flawless Start

[10/10 · 7 January 2022]

Since Deadwood prematurely ended back in 2005, there's been a gaping hole in authentic western storytelling that is finally plugged, with aplomb, by Taylor Sheridan. The story is told through the eyes of Isabel May, a wonderful relative newcomer (thanks Daily Wire, for financing her breakthrough role, in "Run Hide Fight". Great pacing, beautiful cinematography, and intriguing characters, perfectly laid out through the entire first season. Some reviewers gripe about her narration and even claim her accent is incorrect. Sure, yeah, you were there, people. You know exactly what 1883 Texas dialogue should've sounded like... Those panning the show are lost.

Run Hide Fight (2020)

If it wasn't financed by Daily Wire

[9/10 · 21 December 2021]

This film would be on many film fans lists of awesome Die Hard genre action movies. The left simply can't tolerate any success from the right and babbles a bunch of pseudo-intellectual nonsense about the film. Isabel May later goes on to co-star in "1883." So all the inane reviews about her acting also fall flat. Watch it.

Trailer Park Boys (2001–2018)

When does it get funny?

[1/10 · 14 December 2021]

Canada should just leave comedy to the experts. Even for a mockumentary, it looks as amateurish as a high school play. It might have amused someone in 2001, but in 2021 it looks pathetic.

Upper Middle Bogan (2013–2016)

Far superior to Modern Family

[8/10 · 11 December 2021]

I'm American. 1st 2 seasons of America's Modern Family were awesome. Great writing and timing. Then, they tried writing more dialogue for the children, and the series went off the rails. They have zero clue how to write dialogue children/teens would say.

UM Bogan got it right from the start, with a perfect cast including Robyn Malcolm from Outrageous Fortune, a New Zealand treasure. Midway thru the entire series and I am dreading running out of episodes to watch. Very funny.

Flaked (2016–2017)

Should've Called This Show 'The Parasite'

[5/10 · 5 November 2021]

I thought Will Arnett's character in Arrested Development was pretty loathsome, but he literally said, "hold my beer." Chip is arguably one of the most pathetic characters ever put on a show that lasted more than a season. I like some of the other characters, (Cooler carries the entire load of comedy on his shoulders) but oddly enough, it's the soundtrack that derails this show more than anything else. Hideously forgettable indy songs, fished out of the bargain bin of some head shop permeate the show and are so very much misplaced in every scene torpedoes this attempt at comedy.

It is unrealistic even for the hippy lifestyle that may exist in Venice, for characters to remain loyal to this most annoying of parasites in Arnett. No job, no home, no family and 2 friends to his name. That's the stuff of comedies?

Vikings (2013–2020)

Season 5: The Shark has been jumped

[3/10 · 13 September 2021]

I give seasons 1-3 a 7 rating, with the lengthy season 4 getting a 5... The overacting, and ridiculous contrived battle scenes in season 5 have forced me to quit. In 2 separate battles, the Saxons clearly have a huge advantage and a chance to obliterate the Lothbrok brothers, but instead mindlessly stand down during the battles. In 502, the wildly overacting Ivar is sitting alone screaming, surrounded by 50 Saxons, who stare at him in fear and don't put an arrow in him. In 505, they rise from the sewers one at a time and again, the Saxons stand there watching instead of killing each ONE as the climb up. Just a farce trying to keep the Vikings alive. Don't bother going past S3. Characters constantly plotting revenge and invasions in all seasons, gets repetitive, and there's no one left to root for be S4 end. The Last Kingdom on Netflix is FAR superior. FAR....

Good Girls (2018–2021)

Don't trust all the wanna-be critics who pan this show

[9/10 · 25 August 2021]

Let's be real: This is not Breaking Bad. If every show henceforth has to compete with BB, you'll see nothing but silly reviews about how stupid the characters are. That's ironic, since Jesse Pinkman and Walter White made far dumber choices than those shown here. This is fun escapist entertainment and utterly non-predictable. Will they will get into further trouble? User reviewers said "yes and that's terrible." Um.... if they don't, you ain't got a show! I'm not down to watch a show about 3 women robbing a store and then learning their lesson and living a righteous life. They ended it at 4 seasons and that's about the right length. Not a satisfying finale, but NBC is too dumb to plan that far ahead.