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Reviews
Good Bones (2016)
Over it
Jugs Jr sasses to mom while they watch other people do work. First season was decent second is okay and now it is just a mess that focuses on the drama Mina and her store bought jugs bring to the show. It is not impressive at all and really trashes the show. As you can see many others gave the shoddy workmanship a pass in favor of a mother/daughter team. Then you can see folks got fed up with the drama real fast. Thankfully there is a whole channel full of these shows where they take some old townie shack and give it new countertops, stainless steel appliances, and paint the walls dove gray. Somehow this vaults an 80k single family home into a 250k open floor plan scream house lol. No thanks.
How She Rolls (2021)
Real Housewives of Biscuits booooooo
The first episode I watched I thought it was a spoof comedy show like hotwives of orlando. Alas it is not. This show is basically a big advertisement for their Biscuit shop. It focuses on these southern women who decided to sell biscuits. As usual it is done "new skool startup" company style with loads of corny empowering mantas (you should just replace empowered with profitable) as they try to co opt their way thru southern culture. I feel NONE of the soul that a person should watching southern baking as it is all filled by scenes of these ladies in their mansions whining to their partners in their kitchens that never get used. And when they do call upon southern culture, it feels gross and like a soundbite for a podcast. And YES they totally blew thru their startup capital getting a space they could barely afford, a food truck because why not, and lots of onboarding packets for the revolving staff. Quite possibly more gross feeling than watching Vivian try to keep a high end restaurant going in a po dunk town and wondering why no one comes to eat entrails and a turnip that is heirloom. Anyway, this feels almost worse than that trainwreck. It is lame to me as a southerner, as a businessperson, and as a donor to PBS that they thought this would make a good show. I would have to guess one of the husbands is a producer or video editor at PBS. These women clearly spend more time putting on a face in the morning than running the shop or making biscuits.... Back to Trails to Oiishi lol.
The Great American Recipe (2022)
What you would expect from PBS
Overall the show has the production values to hang in there with the plethora of cooking competition shows out there. At least they aren't in a tent lol ( Yes GBBO, it is the stupidest location to bake ever). Anyway it is fun to see folks cook their favorite recipes. What ISN'T fun is listening to everyone blather on about their pseudo life stories and try to make every recipe some penultimate cultural centerpiece and give cachet where there is only vapid IG posting underneath. The "Judges" seem to make this the deciding factor of who wins. Bake a carrot cake and no one cares. Bake a carrot cake because Hurricane Katrina hit and you found carrots floating by??? Winner! It is stupid junk like that that brings this show down quite a few pegs. I made it thru the first season whole before deciding to follow another series with some sort of judging rubric beyond how much it made you cry. Judging food by disregarding flavor is silly. Anyway there are worse shows out there. I gave it 3 stars because the judges are pointless.
Stupid Pet Tricks (2024)
Bit of a mess
I usually enjoy Sarah and her cute girl with a potty mouth angle but she just doesn't seem to fill the shoes as host on this show. It is supposed to be family oriented but there are adult and sex jokes throughout the series. She doesn;t really gel with the pet owners and her barbs as comedic hosts do, just don't land properly. This part doesn't matter so much since the acts are half and half real and actor based.
The band is okay but it is stupid as heck to play loud music live next to animals like that. You can often see the effect of this poor production decision. The rest of it are bland comic bits by animals as studio staff. Meh.
The animals are cute. In the end this should just remain a portion of a late night talk show methinks.
Happy to Be Home with the Benkos (2023)
Why ruin history?
Wow, so I haphazardly watched season 1 and made it thru two episodes of season 2 before throwing my hands up at yet another questionable home refurb design show. I kept watching and hoping things would center back on normal design-wise but it is a rinse repeat mess/ Take an historic home, kick out all of the interesting old bits and give it a paint job that says "this paint was on sale because reasons" and you pretty much have it. McMansion crackhouses ready for Abe Lincoln to settle in and toast a rock by a purple fireplace. In all fairness the designer cough cough admits she has no training whatsoever (bully for her) and is on this country's downfall of fake it till you make it. Grumpy is surprisingly the most entertaining and knowledgeable of the bunch I found thru the episodes. I don't wish them any specific ill will but in an ocean of people that do this kind of thing, there are certainly better options out there. Better than some shows but still not a great concept.
Kim's Video (2023)
Very cool story
This was overall an enjoyable documentary on Kim's Video Store and the aftermath of finding a home for the collection. The story is fairly straightforward with a few twists but in the end it is nice to see things back as they should be. I am thankful for people in this world that value history and culture that stems from it even if it is seedy and the the overlooked story is sometimes the most interesting.
Mr. Kim is an interesting fella. Big heart and love of film, raided by FBI on multiple occassions, possible cia asset during the Korean War, and generous with his life and money. I would have enjoyed a bit more on him than the tertiary minutes we get, but I respect his privacy and need for a life not defined by video tapes and late fees (You should have nailed the Coen bros on that honestly. They had plenty of money, gave zero craps about helping out, and played facetious whenever possible about it. Lost a lot of respect for them instantly).
The only mar on this was the story teller. I appreciate the efforts to recover the collection and the movie in general but it ain't always about you. Proving he has at least consumed the Criterion collection and claiming the movies have voices that call to him, it sounds like someone who is trying to emulate having a soul without understanding what a soul is and why things feel. It was super awkward having him wander around Salemi, not speaking Italian or even able to use translate, pointing cameras in locals faces while acting like a non verbal on spectrum weirdo, breaking into buildings and mixing spanish with Italian (Jeebus dude they are romance languages and very similar in basal structure unlike French or Portuguese you should be able to understand and speak 6 words from all of your Fellini fests lol). I loved the Giorgio Moroder loving musician that did film music, he was a hoot. Such a wonderful modernly classic sound. UNLIKE THE SOUNDTRACK which was knobbish dubstep. I guess either the filmmaker made it or it was free because it did not fit and only helped the party scene in which the heist was set. Overall a cool story and thankful of what was done to preserve the collection for generations to come. Back when youtube was shelves and you had to go and get it lol.
Murder in a Teacup (2024)
Good content but poor audio
I loved "The Young Poisoners Handbook" when it came out and Graham Young's story is a sad but true one. This was a documentary rather than a film and had interesting interviews with those involved BUT
I want to take this time to address British media production values from a loving american viewpoint. I love the content of British TV and Movies overall. They can be a bit dull to some americans or the dialects difficult to suss out at times but otherwise better curated content than US overall. But look we have to talk about professional production values in this day and age. Brits took FOREVER to figure out lighting for sets, and often in the past relied in a baffling manner on natural light of which there is generally little in UK lol. Then came the 1000000W PAR cans burning holes in the video tape etc through the 80s and 90s. Thankfully when HD came, there was nowhere to hide the bad lighting anymore and people there seemed to learn how to light better and give a more current and polished appearance. They have the formula for murder pr0n now thankfully adopted for content flow that americans like too BUT holy cow the audio in all of these is so incredibly bad it ruins the story. You either have voiceover work of murderers and victims done by cartoon workers and the interviews are unintelligible because old brit men refuse to use inflection or emotion so it is always a low drone punctuated by....punctuation. The brit grans are always sing songy and sound absolutely silly in the middle of a murder doc and worst of all the audio levels just go in and out like no sweetening was done save to top n tails edits. Heck every single dsp app has NORMALIZATION in it and I suggest you guys learn how to use it by clicking on it. That is all you have to do. It will fix the levels while you nip out for a cuppa. Just please take note and get this part up to match the gloss of the lighting and flow and you will find much better reviews. I notice many feel the same way I do about the character voice overs and how silly they sound. Now just fix the mumbling and levels... Overall I enjoyed learning the real details of his life and its twisted path. Keep bringing this caliber of interesting content and I will overlook some of the production foibles.
Contraband: Seized at the Border (2023)
Actually protect our borders and film that
You know who gets prosecuted 80% of the time on this show? Americans. Most of the cartel mules and drivers they catch are not even ticketed and released. Have 2999 Tramadol tablets and and 8 ball of cocaine on your baby? Are you american? No? No problem! Here, let us get you and your kid 10 dollars worth of snacks for the walk back across. Not your baby? No problem, we will take it off your hands and send you back to the cartels unprosecuted to get another baby to cross with loaded with drugs. Hold on now! Is that a piece of wood you found beside the road? Yes? Are you American? Yes? OH LET ME CALL THE FBI AND FINE YOU 5000 DOLLARS AND PROSECUTE YOU FOR A FELONY SO YOU LOSE YOUR JOB, HOUSE, AND LIFE. YOU NEED TO GIVE US 10 DOLLARS NOW TO PAY FOR THAT FAMILY OF CARTEL MULES TO HAVE LUNCH. Just sad. I know the agents hands are tied by policies and the sheer size of daily crossers, but there has got to be a better way. Beef cattle are better scrutinized. Another idea is screw the hourly crossers. You have 8 hours until you can cross back so no hopping over for an hour lunch in mexico. We need better leadership in our country in regards to our local Fentanyl Walmart to the south. I wish the people of these countries would take their freedom back from the cartels by poisoning their food and water supplies and burning them in their beds while they sleep. That way no one would have to make the dangerous crossing over here and could enjoy their super amazing countries again. Main problem with the show is the content. The intermix the cases so you have to watch the whole show, stuff is repetitive and boring, there are gross misuses of power from the agent that lets obvious gang members claim asylum in the US to the agent that tries to throw someones grandma in federal prison for 10 years for a spent weed vape pen. The scales of justice are imbalanced and most likely they prosecute americans to keep their quotas up for promotion to get the heck off those bridges and just do bag screenings in a bus terminal lol. Anyway, it can be interesting but usually it gets repetitive after 3 episodes you have the basis for most of the scams folks pull at the border.
Call the Bailiffs: Time to Pay Up (2021)
Cant Pay We'll Take it Away is better
I am not sure of the reason to even have the baliffs, as the cops usually end up coming lol. Just send the cops. These are some of the worst female bailiffs I have seen. Smarmy gran and Casey run their mouths, shove people around and threaten them etc. Gran just talks smack in the van and cowers and calls for backup while Casey seemingly takes hours off from hassling drunks in a local pub to scream and shove and threaten. Often the payees will request to work with the other officer she is so low and abrasive. I don't really blame them. But in the end most of these folks are scammers and scumbags that take away from normal paying folks like us. Someone who has gone without and still paid bills has little sympathy for a person that bought range rovers and skipped rent for 3 years. Anyway there are a couple of other shows with better bailiffs and the stories aren't all chopped up to keep you on the hook and watch all of the cases. I had forgotten about this pile and the two bailiffs until it came up on stream today.
Antares de la Luz: La secta del fin del mundo (2024)
Snoozefest
I fell asleep three times during this meandering creek of nothingness. The first fourth of the film sets up the fact that it is a documentary about a cult. I am not honestly sure if it ever defines the cult, the purpose of the cult, where these people came from and why we should empathize, etc. It may have at some point but I slept through it. It just moves so incredibly slow, the interviews are interspersed and not necessarily part of the current story. I don't know. I woke up at the end feeling relieved it was over and angry at the film makers. If this is supposed to make us feel bad for anyone it failed. I just felt contempt. Contempt for the voice actors doing the interviews and as always the mumbling and aiyuhuasca visuals and still images that weren't crime scene images but those generic things you see on youtube conspiracy theory videos. Those are somehow more engaging though. Maybe this was a tragedy. The storytelling definitely was... Thanks for the sleep I guess.
Snack Shack (2024)
The 80s teen comedy is back, baby!
This was a fun movie and offers a bit more than the previews taunt. It has love and hate and the whole damn thing in it, not just beavis and butthead trying to score. The actors all do a good job, the setting is spot on and as an eagle scout that was a lifeguard at 15 for my first job, DURING this era, there was so much right about this. Give it a watch and it will be silly and fun but also have some of those hear breaking life lessons in it. I LOVED the parents and their wackiness and a total nod to Hughes and Savage Steve Holland wacky parents. The main characters are pretty spot on best buddies. I kind of expected the soundtrack to be a little more known and present, but it was okay. I laughed and cried and thought about those times when it all seemed so simple and the world was an open book that occassionally kicked your teeth in. Kudos to the writers, cast, and crew and bless you for filming on location! I hope other attempts at this genre can achieve this level of honest and fun story telling. RIP Shane. Had one of those too...
What Jennifer Did (2024)
No energy and bad audio make this one a hard pass
Guess what jen did? She killed her parents of course! Wow what a dramatic presentation of an open and shut case. Outside of her time at college in which she did not attend, there is really no mystery about this. It was all over money. Anyway save yourself some time and watch something else. The audio is horrid. Everything is done at a whisper and nothing is sweetened in post production or if it was, it was done on an iphone lol. The detectives are super low energy and use baby talk to her in their interviews for the majority of this thing. By the end I just lost any connection with the family and event due to the annoying babytalk and mumbling and not sure why this story is special in the end. Sad but at least there is one less mumbling sociopath off the streets. NOT!
Their case is currently being decided about a retrial and they could all walk free because jurors weren't given a man 2 option. Okay so I had to come back and add this along with wtaf was wrong with those detectives. The lady had some sort of head injury or was slow by normal standards and the guy detective was more interested in reading her a bedtime story than extracting any sort of truth. You have to be a real C- student to not request a lawyer, and even a C- student should have been able to mentally best those two lol. I hope they are both safely working in a file room where their skills would be useful. Just wow.
Abbott Elementary (2021)
Not sure what all the fuss is about
Made it through 6 episodes as I was hoping a certain issue would resolve but they never swung back to it. Okay, so it is the standard workplace comedy with interpersonal jabs and us all rolling our eyes at bureaucracy and way way too much staring into the camera. We get it you are pleading with the viewer for help. I dunno. I liked two of the characters and there were some heartwarming moments and a couple of funny ones but it relies on lowest common denominator humor and although I love Brunson, it just needs some oomph and pacing to really pass as the otherworldly sensation others are describing it as. I'm not particularly a comedy snob, but I always feel like if something is using a tried and true formula should bring better joke writing to the table. That is just me. But I have literally thousands of these shows to choose from, so you really have to be first or different or connect thru subject matter for things to stick. Hope it gets better but I just could not watch anymore.
Drive-Away Dolls (2024)
Messy and boring
Love most of the Coen brothers films for their good story telling of off beat topics and memorable characters. This movie was none of those things. It is pretty much teen romp spank bank for young lesbians. Vincent Gallo only wishes he had thought of this concept lol. We have gratuitous lesbian sex about every 8 minutes that can last from 5-10 minutes. I am no prude, but it is pointless and useless unless you want to film girls making out as the director clearly did. Anyway the two main characters consist of an unlikeable boring office worker and under experienced lesbian along with the loud mouth extrovert lesbian friend. Omg so much bad acting where to begin? Lead character's accent is appalachian and in no way from texas. It is a mountain accent. Do some homework before you embarrass yourself. Thankfully the character is totally annoying and very predictable so it is easy to ignore her idiocy. The most fun and interesting characters are the guy at the car pickup, the two goons chasing them, and possibly the senator but he is onscreen for all of 3 mins. It just gave no Coen vibes and I am somewhat stunned anyone followed through on this. It would have been cool in 1996 but at this point it is just tired cliches and unfunny bits in between lesbian make out sessions. Skip it.
The Craft: Legacy (2020)
Poorly written many loose ends
I guess I should have read the other reviews but I like to give things a fair shake. Ugh, where to begin? This movie was just poorly written and executed. I find it even worse when there is already a movie to give it a path to follow and it fails to do that. The only thing it really does is set up the Craft 3 at the end. There are scenes that are never finished like the sleepwalking, Timmy's necklace, the male sovereign cult, the family crest importance, and who knows how many others I just don't remember now the next day lol. The girls are nothing to really root for, only the main character is developed, and Balk is on screen just long enough to keep her SAG card warm lol. Just a mess. Visually its effects rival the original movie sadly enough. There are youtube videos with better visuals. Anyway it was a disappointment. I don't fault the actors as they tried to do what they could with this awful script. I was particularly impressed with the Timmy actor and those scenes. Anyway watch it if you want but it isn't very good.
The Truth About Jim (2024)
Next season: Was Jim Mordecai indeed Hitler's baby?
No spoilers here as Jim was not Hitler's baby and really not sure what he was besides a mean guy ag studies teacher as the entire series is conjecture and speculation. I believe he was probably abusive to people and the rest I just have nothing to go on because the series gives us nothing to go on. The detective-narrator, Sierra Barter only tertiarily knows him and tends to be overemotional either for the cameras or herself but it just drags the series to a crawl and is the part that feels disingenuous. And what we are presented with are just basic descriptors of any rural person. Knew how to raise and slaughter animals, knew local area and backroads, carried a knife in the truck, use farm phrasology to threaten etc. It all probably sounds bad to a city person but I have frankly seen and heard much worse about people in the Publix checkout line. Anyway there are a PILE of these kinda murder pr0m docs so just watch something else. It really jumps the shark in the last episode and part of the third. (zomg what was the 20 mins of the lake scene???). I also cannot get over the fact that both HBO and Max signed off on this longwinded story. You know what most serial killers don't have? Hours of film footage (70s pre youtube and phones was a big deal heck my parents probably have a total of ten mins of me growing up) with the family doing family things, a cancer razor, and a cadre of live people aka survivors to talk about them. Sorry I just had to get that part out as it really stuck throughout the series. ALLLLLL of that home footage... Even if this was a podcast I would have been disappointed. I dunno if the powers that be are going to make this a returning series of some sort, but hope it goes through more production scrutiny before we are faced with hours of Sierra sitting in places, open mouthed, and trying to make sense of some feelings or buying a mocha latte (as you do) on your way to visit your mom because the drive is super stressful or her mom has severe IBS issues and keeps coffee out of her house as it is demon poop juice. And finally hire another private eye to put together a nice Kinkos murder info packet for the federales lol. Maybe it is meant to be a Steel Magmolias kinda old women are strong movie but it just feels like the vibe is off the entire way through. I throw my hands up at this one.
Death and Other Details (2024)
UPDATED Okay for an escape
It is a mixed bag but overall positive for me. I agree with other reviewers' opinions of Patinkin doing a brit accent and its absence of goodness. The good: Pretty visuals, developed characters. Bad: flashbacks and poor temporality along with invisible characters and actors constantly mumbling their way thru lines. Also the pointless nudity does nothing to help. So here is what we are left with an orphan with ties to a wealthy family power bangs her way through life, stealing and partying until this cruise and a murder threaten the rich family that she gloms off of. The former detective of her mom's murder and an invisible boogie man Sams that spans time and continents somehow lol. The characters are all thankfully heavily flawed and unlikeable, so seeing them peel off one by one is a pleasure at this point. Was hoping they would off the mumbly ship captain dude but not yet. I dunno. I think it should be half the length it is and everyone probably go down with the ship to prevent any further crimes they would perpetrate. Finally interpol does not send out snooty detectives unless there is a nuke involved etc. Moral of this story just bang and steal until your mealticket is up and then kill off the competition. Okay but not memorable in the wash of these types of mysteries these days... UPDATE- so the ending was just as psychotic. The collection of characters, none of which are the Pope, and mainly Imogene (WTAF her name is emojen by their logic. Not immogene, Emogene, nor Immogene because she is specialer then all of us on the planet. Just stop) find out her mommy is the evil Sams that is punishing their evil ways and the worlds Epsteins, gets mad and plots revenge. Yep they kill her because they are all evil and evil has truly won. This was a mess and about 7 eps too long. The characters are just as thin and shallow as presented and while it was a nice twist, the ending just went tada! And left out the tailings of sams followers and their fate. Then we have the worst character duel possible, two awful people )mother and daughter) slug it out at the end which leads to a triumph of evil over evil. Pretty done with the know it all super special Emmajeans of the world. I really enjoyed Pokerface and Charlie's more earthy character with a gift rather than gods gift to mankind. All of it tries too hard and ends up confusing itself in the end. Waste of time imho. If they do another edit for a three part it might be worth it but in its current form it asks far too much for so little return.
Knives Out (2019)
Long on style short on substance...
This movie tries really hard to be new and slick, but the script is just a jumbled mess. Yes, the actors, locations, props, etc are all top notch, but the mystery gets lost along the way. The dialogue is not particularly clever or witty and the movie is just too darn long. It probably could have been a tv episode to be honest, but here we are because someone paid big bucks to make this thing. I was hoping for Clue but got an episode of Broad City trying to do Christie. I dunno what other people see in this movie. It took me three tries to even make it all the way through. It just felt like watching a child try to do a wheelie for three hours but not accomplishing it.
A Chef's Life (2013)
Not sure how it lasted this long
Okay southern born and bred here. Vivian gives you enough to dislike her in the intro of the show and it just goes downhill from there. If you like to watch a smoldering dumpster fire, then this is the show for you. She and her long suffering husband are both chefs and after living in NY, they come back to the South she LOATHED so mommy and daddy can pay for her to open a restaurant, and the pitfalls that come with that and rebuilding from a fire for YEARS like the place was hit by a missile lol.
They try to be folksy and PBS is of course going to try and play that angle. The folks are real and pass off the ingredients and often the recipes for Vivian to later use in her restaurant. The whole problem is this restaurant in this town is just a bad idea from the getgo. Each episode finds our chef in a tizzy, fussing about husband, money, THE FIREOMG, staffing issues, soft openings and grand openings, and does shots of video to prove it all smh. She does a high cuisine farm to table menu, but often finds some cull vegetable or animal entrail as the main ingredient and then tries to dance it up a bit. Problem is nobody wants to pay 60 bucks for toad anus served on a graham cracker. So you can see how this will go. The rest is pomp for her family and friends to put on button up shirts and go eat toad anus at her restaurant... The staff morale is always low, sales are always slumping, and she is constantly changing opening and location to the boiler room. It is a headache to watch. All the while it is done by someone who hated the south (her huh huh laugh here), serves entrails, and coopts southern culture when it suits her needs. Everything is tortuous for her. I cannot imagine how her parents and husband feel having to hold their tongue while the titanic sinks. Anyway watch it if you want. She isn't super likeable so that makes it fun to laugh at the problems. Also the restaurant closed down in a mountain of debt despite the parental efforts and her and her husband got divorced because of arguing over money/debt. Chef's kiss...
The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
Overwrought mess
I went into this series from House of Usher ready to enjoy some more brooding terror. What I got was a postmodern mess of a bar story and three brunettes I could hardly tell apart. The story is long and boring. I nearly quit the series three times but pushed onward to the end. It is more of a melodrama with psychobabble amongst siblings and a dad of the year lol. Imagine you fed Tarantino a twinkie sized shard of crystal meth and let him loose with 8 typewriters that already outline the lineage of the horses contained on the property and it would be far more interesting than this. I couldn't be bothered to keep up with the characters since three looked similar and the time shifted constantly. In between were insipid babble between parents that read "Well Adjusted AF" magazine and a mumbly dad that I could hardly wait to die. The actor has no audible tone and somehow feels that lends importance to his lines which it doesn't. He has more in common with Marty McFly's dad as an incompetent enincompoop. Overall these issues made it not fun to watch, gave me no connection with any of the characters, and is more of a drama like Dynasty or Dallas than a horror movie. Feel free to skip this one and move on to Bly Manor which is way more watchable and actually makes sense and doesn't eat acid before deciding on the temporality of events.
The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)
Great series and uses the material well
I have to admit I hadnt read most of the shorts since high school but remembered the highlights and really enjoyed this series overall. It did a good job of updating the characters, scenes etc and incorporating the stories in an interesting way. I was not bored during this series. I went backwards and watched Hill House (YAWN) and am working thru Bly Manor now which is more watchable. Usher still feels the most accomplished and cohesive, using enough artistic shots and shifts in the story to keep us guessing and enjoying it, but not overdoing it like the mess that was Hill House. I hae recommended this to several folks so far and all are enjoying it. It was nice to have some good entertaining stories to watch again!
American Utopia (2020)
Now with more David Byrne!!!
I am old and remember TH playing on the radio and some of the college radio interviews at the time. He has always been outspoken and angry about the world with some annoying moral North of the compass in his sole possession. Anyway, this is probably what he wanted to do with his music. I can understand the general vibe of the parts but it is just kinda messy and incoherent in the end besides the message of diversity. You have to take Byrne with a grain of salt. He makes good music with decent but overbearing messages. Kind of like a sermon but sung with prog rock style mixed tempo drumming and world choir junk like Peter Gabriel. At the end of the day it was pretty well shot by Lee and although there are some visually stunning parts, it is also a bit too performance art in parts and the mumbling can be hard to discern. When you have no cue for a disembodied voice and you havent heard the words before, the brain often cant discern it in time at least for me and my partner. Ugh and Byrne should take one of his own pills and just give the money to poor people instead of this mixed media ego stroke of "love human" pumpkinspicelatte of morals. I like some of Byrnes tunes but am not a diehard fan, so maybe that is who this is geared toward as I see quite a few folks really liked it. I can see the appeal in that sense because like I started with, this is something like Byrne probably imagined in the early 80s and I am glad he got to scratch that itch and the fans got to enjoy it. Just not my total groove and felt a bit jumbled at times.. Thanks.
A Black Lady Sketch Show (2019)
Comedy is supposed to make you laugh
I made it through the first season because I enjoy Robin from previous tv. I just dunno. Some sketches are okay but many are just awkward and feel hastily written and thrown up on the screen which yeah it is sketch comedy, but I expect more polish from an HBO backed production and if it is to highlight the failings of decades of white comedy and lack of black voice (lmao), then you should probably bring something good and new to the table that is actually funny. Anyway, I came I watched I found something better and actually funny. I may swing back if it lasts another season to see if it ever got a funny voice but there are so many things out there to watch, I may just keep on going lol. I guess when you base your entire existence on your skin color or sexuality, you have no interests or hobbies to connect with other people and make you human. My two cents. And it is NOT the first comedy show written, produced, and starred by women of color. That is just a bald lie and discredits the work of actual pioneers in the industry. If sounds great and probably feels good to say it, but it is a complete lie and I can think of four shows off the top of my head that foot the bill. Anyway...
Welcome to Flatch (2022)
Paul Feig needs to get it together
I wanted to like this show way more than I do. Was a big fan of This Country and was wary of a Yank crossover but the first couple of episodes had the right feel. Well fast forward to the end of the season. Adding Jaime Pressley was a good move but sheesh it just feels like an assembly of edited bits at this point. They have no idea how to handle the Big Mandy character nor most of the townspeople who just have random made up quirks from time to time. I don't know I just felt the episodes didn't feel fully thought out or that there were a lot of changes during actual shooting from the script. It is not the worst show, but I really think it can be a lot more. The cast clearly try and give it their all and I love them for it. I just feel like writing needs to be more cohesive and the characters more solid, rather than the "Julie likes pickles on her cookies" kinda crap. Chicken girl is annoying but loved seeing Scott doing the boyband frosted tips lol. Oh well. I really hope it does come back for another season but hope it feels more solid and with a point. The barbing of Flatch is a good starting point for the phoenix story so they will probably run that bit into the ground. Hope it tightens up. Best wishes to the cast.
Shelved (2023)
Just average
I really really wanted this to be more than it is. The actors seem to really try and although I love the library and the idea of a workplace comedy in one, it just comes off as average or slightly below. The characters are very similar to Parks and Rec but it is all just so lowest common denominator humor that pretty much just makes fun of the Ron Swanson ripoff and his WRONG conservative leanings and (yay Derrick from Shadows!) the librarian from the main city branch and his need to see things run normally. All the while laughing off public porn watching, egregious building code violations, theft, and feces in the aisles so everyone feels safe smh. Maybe it will grow, but hasn't so far... Do better. If you are totally copying a show and formula and characters a decade later, it should be pretty easy to come up with situations and jokes that transpose until you get your footing, otherwise the current writing feels amateur and doesn't bring anything new. If cheeseburgers were really good 10 years ago and then someone in Canadada sells a CheeseBeef Sandwich, then it should have something to differentiate itself. Add mushrooms, pickled bananas, something to make it memorable and appealing. Just not enough real laughs to be a comedy and comes more across as a fantasized biography. Ooooh tha Widdle Twain dat Could, so cute to watch the underdog win when it somehow feels deserving but why get new computers when there is feces on the floor, bathrooms destroyed, no public water fountain, and a trip hazard one of the locals uses to balance themselves, and the mentally incapable to physically and sexually harass your staff? It sounds like great management and the branch is totally deserving of new computers and respect because the boss is nice and has a big heart... zzzzzz I'll give it a couple of more episodes but it really needs to pick up the comedy part of sitcom. And someone drop a piano on that hateful desk assistant. She is just an awful, judgmental, negative person. It was fun to see her get schooled by the other women before launching into their gender-affirming resolution.