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Reviews
For All Mankind: Perestroika (2024)
Season Four - ugh
Season four in general was pretty much a bore with the Norma Rae workers rights story line and the 'excitement' of asteroid mining (yawn), but it did have a potential interesting storyline with Margo adapting to the USSR...until they blew that at the end
But this last episode where by the end, almost the entire main cast is behind the asteroid hijacking that is quite frankly, ridiculously selfish. Oh Ed is sick of earth so it's ok to steal an asteroid so that Mars continues to be relevant but now a MUCH more costly endeavor that requires even more resources to keep going.
It also doesn't help that Joel Kinnaman's makeup and acting older is horrible. It reminds me of his tweaking days on The Killing. The other 'older' characters look appropriate and are being portrayed much better.
Looks like we have more mining fun for season five however I may have to jump off. I'll check out the first episode and make the call. Such a shame as this was one of my favorite series.
Time Bomb Y2K (2023)
Lazy Filmmaking
This is the second 'documentary' I have seen in the last few weeks where the filmmaker just strings along a bunch of clips about the subject.
Rather than explaining the Y2K issue with some sort of narration and context both at the time and looking back some 24 years later, the documentary relies on the clips from the times in order to do so.
All they did was compile news clips, movie clips and anything else from the late 90's that had anything to do with Y2K, present them in chronological order, and then add a few graphics here in there. Lazy and boring. I'm surprised HBO didn't just bury this.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Subspace Rhapsody (2023)
Well that was eight minutes I'll never get back
Ever watch a show or movie that has you engrossed, and maybe there is a scene where someone is driving a car and there is an exterior shot of the car, and you see clear as day that the producers blocked out the car manufacturers logo because that would somehow be free advertising. Well when I see that, it takes me right out of the little universe that the writer built and reminds me, oh yeah this is a friggin business and Ford did not pony up for the product placement.
Well in something like SNW, this episode reminded me that oh yeah...these are just actors who want to show off their inner Gilbert and Sullivan skills.
Plus this is also unoriginal. Seems like every other semi popular show wants to do something 'different' so they take the lazy 'let's put on a show!' musical. Next a baby will materialize and/or a wedding. I'd rather that they did a clip show instead.
Kevin Can F**k Himself: Allison's House (2022)
One of the best series finales
Throughout the two season run of the show, I would have rated it to be a slightly average show whose main saving grace for it not to be completely forgettable in a few years is it's sitcom/drama gimmick. One of the major problems I had was that I could not understand Allison's need to either kill or run away from Kevin. Simply divorce the schlub and be done with it already.
That said, the last few episodes were becoming more interesting but the last fifteen minutes were brilliant. The sudden switch from sitcom Kevin to drama Kevin was jarring and we could now see exactly what a monster he was and why Allison was trapped and emotionally abused by this man. All the kudos in the world to Eric Petersen to have that kind of range which I will be the first to admit, never thought he could have had.
A League of Their Own (2022)
Three strikes, yer out!
I made it to the middle of episode three and then realized this was becoming an obligation. First of all; I've been a baseball fan for fifty years. My favorite baseball movie is easily A League of Their Own.
I was excited to see a series made of the source material with this very talented cast, but they missed the boat. The movie was about a women's baseball team. The series meanders about current LGBTQ issues, racism, sexism, etc...and every once in a while they play some baseball.
And don't get me wrong, of course all these social issues existed in the 40's however the series feels clearly that it was written with current views so it feels like we are watching people in 2022 playing 1940's dress up. And if you want to make a series about this, then make a series about this and don't hijack a classic movie to tell the story.
And in general, let's stop making shows/movies set in a certain period in the past but write it with current sensibilities. It takes me out of the story as if a character started talking on a cell phone.
I could even forgive shoehorning a completely different storyline that has very little to do with the supposed premise of the series if the story was even remotely interesting, but they made this booorrrring (I mean, spending half of episode 2 droning on about the difficulty of procuring crabs for a dinner is not exactly must see tv).
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
Watch season 1, then avoid at all cost
A pretty good season 1 with some moments in 2 and less so in 3....but season 4...wow, what a mess.
All the characters overacting and talk talk talk talk talk talk talk about their feelings.
Clark (2022)
Glorification of a Narcissist
This is an interesting story however way too long. And as I went along with the episodes I found myself truly hating the man. The speech at the end by Sussi at least summed up his horrific behavior however it was glorified throughout the series.
Barry: starting now (2022)
This has become a snuff film
I get the fact that this was never a complete comedy but there has been nothing even remotely amusing this episode and this season for that matter. I'm done with this show.
Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (2022)
If you hate the NBA like me...
...you will still shockingly love this series. I had zero intentions of watching this since I dislike basketball and seriously am confounded at the NBA's insane popularity. Add to that, I truly believe that the wrong Jeff Pearlman book was adapted as Football for a Buck about the original 1980's incarnation of the USFL would have been perfect for a steaming service series.
But Winning Time has gotten great buzz so I figured I would at least give it fifteen minutes of my time....wow, I was blown away at how much fun this series is so far (I am writing this in the middle of episode 4). I still have zero interest in watching the NBA, but I am hooked on Winning Time.