eoffermann Reviews

Babysitter Must Die (2020)

Die Hard and the Mountains of Madness...

[6/10 · 23 November 2021]

Characterization needed a lot of massaging - it's not enough to say "cultists" and make them weird crazy people when we have to watch them for the next hour. There's only three of them so I should know why every one of them is willing to die for this cult or why they want out. If we don't need to know them that well, we also don't need them onscreen for 75% of the film.

Riley Scott and the character Josie are terrific: Scott has the cocky humor when it's in the script so she should get more of an opportunity to use it. There's enough of an underdog hero aesthetic and an amusing basis for her to have a near-superpower set of abilities but ultimately, she's underutilized. The setup is basically a Lovecraftian take on Die Hard so we kinda needed a lot more of that. It's cultists and a rich guy's house not Nakatomi Plaza, so we could have totally been treated to some really brutal "Home Alone" shenanigans but ultimately there just wasn't enough to work with.

Fight scenes are pretty good, the acting was decent - would have probably been a lot better if there was more to work with on the page. The premise is solid but it felt like they rushed the script.

I'd watch a sequel if they wanted to really go with it. More numerous cultists, or really eff a handful of them up by the end, Harry and Marv style, and play it for laughs. This felt too timid to be as good as it could have been. Funnier, bloodier, creepier... something.

Manhattan, AZ (2000)

Wonderful long-cancelled show

[9/10 · 5 February 2011]

I always enjoy discovering shows I missed - though there's always the disappointment of knowing that it's already long gone.

Manhattan, AZ is a dark, dark satire - and that's probably why it didn't quite make it. It parodies death, incurable disease, race, the elderly, pedophiles, celebrity... it was clever in ways that very few shows are.

The leading cast are predominantly people you won't be familiar with (the most notable exception being Chad Everett), though it is filled with great and well-known supporting cast. The actors that appeared for an episode or two were always extra enjoyable: Sarah Silverman, Abe Vigoda, Stephen Tobolowsky, Orson Bean, Al Ruscio - and supporting cast like Mindy Sterling (Frau Farbissina in the Austin Powers films) - they all just really brought this great show so much flavor. The leading roles are well-executed as well, in a tongue-in-cheek style: but then, that's also the show's weakness as a mass-market vehicle. Satire rarely does well in prime time, and the first season wasn't even broadcast in its entirety before the network sent it to the can.

Luckily for us, USA has seen fit to release it to Hulu and at least as of early 2011, you can watch it there. I suggest you do, provided you have a taste for silly scenarios and darkly inappropriate humor.

You might disagree with this review, but I know because I work in Television. And we know better than you.