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Ren Faire (2024)
Pointless....
Starts and ends in the same place.... there's no revelation, no uncovered story, no mystery to solve, no interesting behind the scenes story.. there's no there there.
Complete and utter waste of time, unless you happen to be related to someone involved in the Faire or this doc. As a viewer.. it's utterly pointless.
It is interesting that the poster art makes George look like a black man.. he's not.. in fact, I don't think there's a single black person in this three episode documentary.
Absurd, aimless, fruitless, futile, impotent, inconsequential, ineffective, ineffectual, insignificant, irrelevant, meaningless, powerless, silly, stupid, trivial,
unnecessary, unproductive, useless, worthless, around in circles, going nowhere, in vicious circle, inane, nongermane, nonsensical, not pertinent, purportless...
.. is that your natural story line??? I touch plastic and it makes me sick.
The Big Door Prize (2023)
Season 3 is melodrama.. not mystery....
The first two season were about the mystery the machine brought with it, the comedy everyone's "purpose" caused.
Got a bit silly with everyone just handing out SSN willingly to some random electronic device. I mean, I guess there's no identity theft in this make-believe world. But okay...
Season 3 is a sappy soap opera about relationships... I get the "human connection" aspect. And that has been part of the first two seasons, but they went overboard with it in season 3. The "self-ploration" was quite possibly the dumbest thing in the series thus far. Especially given they stayed in the same town, same events, same social circles, even same house..... just lame. They've lost the mystery aspect entirely. They treat the twin as if he was ALWAYS dating the girl, rather his brother.. odd, and kind of creepy. She just moves form one twin to the other? Really?
Sorry but season three is more "how Deerfield turns" and less "what is the morpho".. and it kind of sucks.
Sweet Tooth (2021)
Good until season 3....
Seems the writers completely forgot the story by the time season 3 rolls around. Or... they felt the story was fairly complete after the second season and were urged (by $$$ signs) to create a third season. But season three is a considerable divergence of the basic back-story as its already been told.
There are a lot of turns and twists in season three which do not align with the story told in season one. We all saw how things started in season one.
I guess they are hoping viewers don't remember and it all becomes about some cave and WHEN things started. An overly forced southern drawl comes and goes on a per-scene basis for a certain actress. Things get a bit more sappy than previous seasons.. season three, the final season is CLEARLY the worst of the three. Shame. The mark of a good story is how it ends.
I greatly enjoyed the first two seasons.
Unfortunately season three was not even close to the same level of writing - relying on viewers not having any memory or just being gullible. Meh.. ends in pretty poor fashion.
Red Eye (2024)
EXCEPTIONALLY predictable....
Standard UK "thriller" drama.
Storyline is predictable from episode one to the end. There really are no surprises other than just how many standard tropes and "twists" they tried to include.
The old UK political lady (don't know her name) - "Mum" - just over-acts in EVERY scenes she's in. Horrible skills on display there and she's a primary character.
The thing is, while absolutely predictable, the first one - perhaps two - episode(s) aren't as bad and move along decently. Sure I was face-palming several times when it took characters an additional 20 minutes to figure out what the viewer figured out long ago. But they weren't as bad and after than, one kind of wants to know how the story actually plays out. But it's ultimately pretty bad overall....
As the episodes progress it just gets worse and worse, more predictable, more ludicrous, worse acting, cliché story... it just goes downhill after the opening car crash of episode 1.
-------- PASS ----------------
Biography: The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osbourne (2020)
HUGE leaps and gaps...
It's very cursory look at the early years.. then a LOT of focus on current storylines.
For a "biography" it's EXCEPTIONALLY lacking.
Where are his first 2 children from the first wife?? Why the divorce? How'd Sabbath get a deal? So may missing bits just to tell the story the publicist wants told in 2020. It's CLEARLY spin and just skips some things to keep the overall impression as good.
Sure the entire cause of any abuse or mistrust was alcohol and drugs... couldn't have anything to do with Ozzy be just an unkind person at heart.. and truth being exposed through substances.
Meh... it's marketing spin.. nothing more.
The Acolyte (2024)
casting could be better...
After 2 episodes, the story is okay. Kind of, well, "easy" in terms of actual storytelling. It's a little weak in terms of originality, depth and complexity. I want to avoid spoilers but suffice to say, the opening plot point "discovery" (revealed by the end of episode 2) was just eye-rolling and felt like a storyline written for 12 year olds.
Seems like it MIGHT pan out to be decent. But the casting.. oh the casting is terribly poor in places. Almost as if they cast based on hairstyles and dancing ability (for fights), not actual acting skills.
Meh... its much better than most of the sci-fi out there. But it's not better than most of the other Star Wars spin-offs.
Little sappy and a bit "YA" overall.
Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza (2024)
Really sad...
A documentary detailing the death and commercialization of a truly unique idea to bring people together.
The original idea - bring culture and alternative music to rural areas where people are never exposed to such a thing, keep ticket prices low so "the kids can see it" - Rebellion is a thing for the youth.. and Lolla started that way. Showcasing bands many may never have heard of. TRAVELING within the US to expose the country's youth to art and music which was DIFFERENT than the mainstream media was pushing. Episode one lays out the original mindset very well....
But it all devolved. "Grammy" should never be a phrase heard regarding any Lolla act.. but that's what it is today. F
Lolla no longer brings music to rural areas where kids can afford to go see it.. now they book big label backed pop stars (what's "alternative" about that?) and ONLY play Chicago, Lolla doesn't bother touring within the US at all, and Lolla then travels the world in a quest for more money, ... it's all about the dollar, not art.
This entire documentary builds to an excuse and justification for the commercialization. If Farrell can not see how Lolla has COMPLETELY lost the message, he's blind, or just lying to the audience or perhaps himself. Ferrell got old and sold out and Lolla devolved into a commercialized money-maker. Nothing wrong with selling out.. but at least own in.
Ferrell is kidding himself if he thinks it's still "about the music" it CLEARLY is not. With acts such as Lady Gaga, Chance the Rapper, and Miley Cyrus.... Music is CLEARLY unimportant and merely the vehicle to profits.
What a pathetic thing Lollapalooza has become. It is absolutely NOTHING special now and only serves as a profit machine.
I don't know how ANYONE can watch episode 1 of these series, then watch episode 3.. and think Lolla is anything other than a money-grubbing venture today.
Passenger (2024)
Pretty horrible....
It appears as though there's a formula for the ~45 min episodes...
40 minutes of drab, over-emotional, sappy drama.. and 5 minutes of some non-descript "thing" in the woods. Well, at least that's how the 4 episode I watched played out. I couldn't tolerate it for the last 2 episodes. Felt as though I was needlessly being strung along through a rather confusing story with no payoffs.
Characters are relatively unclear other than the primary character. There is ZERO character development in this.. characters come, and apparently go, without any connection to them.
I found it to be a waste of time and poorly written overall.. is it a sappy drama or a horror/thriller? Seemed far more drama than anything else.
Snack Shack (2024)
Decent "coming of age"
This was a worthwhile watch.
It's not really that much of a comedy, but there are light-hearted scenes. It's far more "coming of age" and romance in general. But not sappy romance, coming of age romance. Kind of a light drama overall without any long drawn-out emotional scenes.
Good couple or "date" movie. I'd watch again without any problem.
That all being written.... I did feel the film relied a bit too heavily on music montages. The problem when using music montages is that if one finds the music unpleasant, then the scene may be unpleasant. It's a fine line to walk. And when you walk that line every 10 minutes or so, well, the chance to falter is more prevalent.
Lots of foul language and "teenage" romance - the primary characters are 14-16 years old. No nudity. Underage drinking and a slight bit of marijuana use. Some violence in terms of teenage rivalries and fist fights, but no real blood or gore. Decently targeted for a PG13 audience.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)
Just awful...
The apparent desire to anthropomorphize monsters in this is... well.. I would say "ludicrous" but that's falls terribly short of an adequate descriptor. It's just over-the-top ridiculous.
Monsters aren't monsters here.. they are monsters which behave as if they were like people.
Do writers sit down and strain themselves trying desperately to write as many hackneyed plot points as possible and cram them into a single film?
This film is trite, predicable, uninspired, and frankly stupid on a level I can not explain.
Sure CGI is good, but in 2024 that's not a feat in itself and doesn't "make" a film interesting, much less enjoyable. Hasn't been for many years now.
The next time I go on a exceptionally dangerous, life-threatening, mission.. I sure hope someone reminds me to bring along my 11 year old child.
Mr. Birchum (2024)
.. same old, same old...
Nothing really that new.
Same old jokes, tired, overused, animation style.
I really wish these low-budget "idea without a concept" animated shows would find a NEW animation studio to use. They all look exactly the same.
There's no "style" here... no flair.. Flair examples since the studio CLEARLY has no idea.... Simpson's coloring and non-human shapes.. South Park's "cardboard" characters. Rick and Morty's non-realistic human figures. Solar Opposites off-kilter characters and settings, etc. You know CREATIVE animation. Not just standard human figures and oh, throw in a talking dog, or some other animal, too...
This is one of those shows where someone (Carolla and company) has some random idea for a sitcom, but doesn't have the money or can't raise the money for an actual live action sitcom..... so they take the cheap route.. animation. But there's no real point in it being animation, since it's just supposed to be "real life" situations. Animation mimicking live action because you can't afford live action is boring and pointless.
It's more of the same.. nothing inventive or original. Including the idea behind the show.
Just a low budget way for those behind the scenes to think they can make money with minimal effort and then rendered by an overused animation studio with next to zero artistic creativity.
John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in LA (2024)
So many comedians...
.. so little humor.....
The things is.. each episode is roughly 1hr long... in that hour there's a lot of exceptionally strained attempts to be funny... unfortunately, there's MAYBE 5 minutes of actual humor in each episode. Usually any humor comes in the form of some passing comment from someone on the couch, not from Mulhaney at all. Overall, Richard Kind is CLEARLY better at comedy.
I didn't find ANY of the packaged comedy bits funny in any way. Nor was Mulhaney really funny himself.
The reality is any humor comes from the unplanned, unexpected, gaffs in every episode. Or perhaps that hairpiece on the hypnotist.
I mean an entire episode with everyone wearing sunglasses?? That seemed like a good idea???
I really wonder.. do people in LA really think anyone else in the rest of the country honestly care about LA?? It's just so solipsistic and narrow in focus. It's not about comedians or "everyone" - meaning a lot of comedians - "being in LA" it's just about LA.
It's REALLY not worth an hour of your time, let alone 6. Pass on this.
The Big Cigar (2024)
Another Apple show for Septuagenarians...
I'm not a young man... I only have a vague recollection of actual events surrounding Newton and the Panthers at that time. I was roughly 5-6 years old during the time period of this series.
This show was "created" by a white man younger than myself.. I think that's important to note. The series is approached as if it took place in 2014, not 1974 - as if Newton's story was a recent news topic, not history from 50 years ago. Do people younger than 20 have ANY real clue about Newton and the Panthers? People younger than 30? 40? And can a white man really do justice to a story about civil rights rebellion figures, even if it is well intentioned. It *seems* a bit exploitive to me.
The "set up" is severely lacking here. There's no backstory, no explanation of the turbulent time period or all the social turmoil that took place in the 60s-70s. There's no telling of the "basis" as to why Newton was sought after and persecuted. No explanation of the 10 years following the JFK and MLK assassinations. You know, the important aspect of Newton's story in terms of motivation.
This is a popcorn series, without any real substance, made for those that perhaps recall the late 1960s and early 1970s (septuagenarians) and don't need any explanation of American social issues at that time. It's not made for today's, much younger, audience.
Newton's story, as told here, has zero impact when interspersed with the attempt at some sort of "buddy series". The series goes from heavy drama portrayed as docudrama, but lacking any real impactful actual facts.... and light "buddy film" aspects with the producer character.
It's junk.
I did not find it entertaining on its own, and it is definitely not a fitting way to tell the story of an important figure in US Civil Rights history.
Dune: Part Two (2024)
Not a complete film....
I'm going to retype much of what I typed for the first film....
I get that there are at least 3 films to be made in this series. However, given that, each film should stand on its own overall. There's no ending here... it just peters out until it's tired.. and the audience is left to wait for the next film....
This film series is being made as if it were a television series. Each "film" is merely an "episode" and doesn't come to ANY sort of conclusion in itself. The difference is, for these films, audiences are left waiting YEARS before the next "episode" is released. I can't speak for others, but 3-4 years later I've long since lost any sort of investment in a story. Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, et al, at least created "chapters" where they actually had an ending and each film could be viewed independently of the other films. That is NOT the case in this new Dune series.
Given the series broken into separate films, each of the films needs to be a whole in itself. Having an actual ending to the film appears to be not even an inkling for this new incarnation of Dune. The first film had no ending, and this second film doesn't either. They are NOT complete films.
This is a decent sci-fi story. My mind does keep referring back to the 80s version. There are aspects they did WAY better in the 80s for the same story - even many of the CGI effects were better in the 80s.
Anyway.. it's not a bad story. It is engaging, but ultimately merely leads to disappointment and perhaps frustration. It's not a fulfilling series since each film is left without an ending.... and it'll be several YEARS before the story continues.
.. meh.. wait for all 3, then watch.
Dune (2021)
Meh.. not a complete story...
I get that there are at least 3 films to be made in this series..
However, given that, each film should stand on its own overall. Otherwise all 3 films should be released at the same time. There's no ending here... it just peters out until it's tired.. and the audience is left to wait for the next film....
I think of film series like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings - each of the parts was a whole in itself. This new incarnation of Dune has no ending. It is NOT a complete film.
That being written, it's a decent sci-fi journey. My mind does keep referring back to the 80s version.. remarkable that some things in the 80s version were actually much MUCH better even though the story is pretty identical. Things like the personal shield, the baron in general.. all better in the 80s version.
Anyway.. it's not bad., but it's not fulfilling either without an ending.
.. meh.. wait for all 3, then watch.
The Amazing Race (2001)
I miss the travel aspect. Now, it's just challenges.
The Amazing Race has always been fantastic. Easily 8-10 stars. Until recently.
The last few (post COVID) seasons 34-36 have removed all the travel aspects and it's essentially watching the Detours, Roadblocks, etc in some exotic location.
They no longer show ANY of the travel.. no scrambling for "first flight" anywhere. No dealing with non-English speaking travel agencies. What's the point of a "race around the world" if you never actually see any of the travel?? Just have them all compete in challenges outside the studio lot in the US. Would it really be any different?
The lack of actual travel has made it FAR FAR less "adventure" overall. Some of the best parts were watching the contestant interactions at airports or bus stations when they were NOT competing in a challenge. Now, all you see are challenges and driving to challenges. They rarely even do the "take a taxi" and always seem to provide a race vehicle.
It's diminished the show considerably. They need to bring back the travel aspect.
This series started by showing clips of teams at the pit stops.. when they were NOT racing. Those moments were fantastic... it was a poor choice to removed those several years ago. Now, they've removed all travel. They've slowly lost sight of what made this series popular and have essentially ruined the entertainment value at great deal. Producers would do well to go back and watch seasons 1-4 themselves and see what drew viewers in.
I'm sure there's some reason for starting every leg with all teams already in some country and at a mat and merely ripping clues in order. But it's not nearly as interesting or entertaining.
Seems to me they are doing their best to create something they can sell in syndication.. a simple 1hr block for 10 episodes. Either that or Phil is tired of it. If Phil's tired.. find a new host for heaven's sake. I doubt anyone watches this show for Phil's short explanation narratives.
If the AU and CA versions can still show travel, why can't the US version?? Lack of travel has moved the US version to the bottom of the list.
Season 36 has even done away with the final "Remember the Race" detour. Perhaps because the "race" isn't really what this show is about any longer.
Secrets of the Octopus (2024)
Meh.. interesting but....
The actual detailing of the abilities of the octopuses was very interesting and generally well filmed. It's just too bad that's not what this series stuck with.
The 3 episodes seems to focus WAY too much on what the biologist/scientist "feel" about the octopuses they are studying. I thought it was supposed to be about octopuses, not about how the people studying them feel or imagine octopuses think.
I liked Rudd's voice over work. I disliked all the scientists voice overs. The scientists narratives made this far less about "secrets" and more about speculation or wild leaps to anthropomorphize octopuses. "I like to imagine she's dreaming about me." Really? Come on.
The James Cameron bit was pointless and self-indulgent.
Sugar (2024)
What a fun new game Apple has provided with this...
Watch along and gain points for spotting every tried and true, overused, detective cliché you can find.
Earn extra points for spotting non-detective cliches... from catching a fly with chopsticks, speaking many languages, living in a hotel, driving the flashy flamboyant car, to voice overs for inner monologues and an apparent medical issue to ignore..
it's got all your favorite cliché hits! You won't be disappointed with this family night of fun cliché spotting. Call your friends, call your relatives - everyone will enjoy a fun game of cliché spotting.
I sometimes wonder who producers believe will be interested in the television show they are making. This show is CLEARLY made for those above the age of 60 - often using callback and footage from 1940-60s films. Trying so, so desperately to draw some parallel between "Sugar" and long dead actors such as Cagney or Bogart. I mean they couldn't have made the demographic more clear unless they had a forward stating "Made for septuagenarians".
Honestly spotting the clichés is the MOST interesting as aspect of this show. Everything else, and I do mean everything, is hackneyed.
Dinner with the Parents (2024)
Pales in comparison.
Was destined to fail due to casting.
The actor playing "David" is completely wrong for the part. He looks like a peer to the parents, not their child. He also is not a great comedic actor. The ENTIRE point is that the boys give each other "trouble" not that one of them is a punching bag for the other. They've turned a sibling rivalry into basically just bullying by one brother.
Michaela Watkins - Decent actor but... Same as she ever is.. unfunny and overly nervous. Her demeanor is just off for this. She comes across as someone overly worried, and riddles with anxiety about EVERYTHING around her.
Dan Bakkedahl - great in some rolls but far too "goofy" to be the dad in this - at least that's how he's playing it. Dad isn't supposed to be "goofy". He's just supposed to be odd. There IS a difference. Dad here comes across as "stupid", the "dolt", the "moron". Not the well-meaning, but accident prone, nature of the original character.
Carol Kane - great skills, but the character, with the accent is just wrong. Is Ladka around? It's her Taxi character 40 years later. Sure audiences may not know Taxi, but that's the character.
.. overall this is VERY "try hard". So much clear effort to try and get to something funny. It feels exceptionally forced and unnatural. I mean the use of "sissy" is quite possibly the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
This is a very typical US remake.. they complete ignore the "tone" of the original and just rewrite the scripts with a US twist without paying attention to the overall atmosphere.
The original Friday Night Diner was so much, much, much better.. and the AU (or is it NZ?) remake.. Roast Night.. is also better. This show is the worst of the international bunch.
Rebel Moon - Chapter Two: Curse of Forgiveness (2024)
Completely pointless.
DON'T watch this.. just watch Part one.
To be clear, Part One was NOT great by any means, but it was much, much, MUCH better than the second film.
This is a lesson in how to build an entire multi-million dollar film with no forethought and just because you had an idea for a cliffhanger at the end of the first film. This isn't a 4 hr story broken into two films... it's a mediocre story told twice, under the guise of being two parts. Part Two is quite literally nothing more than a different way to tell Part One. (A la ChatGPT's second generation for the same prompts - ya get the same thing, just slightly different)
Part two serves no purpose. It just retells part one for the most part... mixing in FAR too much harvesting, grain production and literally retelling character backstories which were told in Part One. (WTF???).
Just like part one.. this is a mix of 7 Samurai (aka Magnificent 7) and Star Wars.. but oddly the two worlds never actually intertwine. Space ships faster than the speed of light.. but still need a sickle and scythe to harvest??? A sentient robot, or a hologram communication device, but no simple machines to sort and store grain.. m'kay. Looooooong slow motion flashbacks to re-establish characters that were already established in part one.
I quite honestly don't understand anyone that would read this script and think it's worth millions. But it could possibly be Snyder getting one over on Netflix.. Netflix pays to have it made, Snyder ultimately delivers trash (Like most of his films).
This is bad... on par with Sy-Fy/Aslym film writing. "Rebelgeddon!" .. "Rebel Moonado!" --- Nonsensical, full of plot holes and pointless, poorly acted, wan-a-be-dramatic character building regarding cardboard cutout characters you've seen in any one a thousand films over the past 40 years. But at least Asylum knows they are making "schlock". Snyder thinks he's making gold apparently..... but it's pyrite in reality, looks shiny, but is worthless.
Apparently grain/wheat only grows on ONE planet in the entire universe..... And this huge high-tech multi-planetary army can't figure out how to feed itself unless they conquer a bunch of farmers with shovels and rakes???
So much more, but I'm avoiding actual spoilers.
VERY typical Snyder... pointless, nonsensical plot holes, and focusing on CGI far, far, FAR more than any story.
---- PASS -------
Ctrl+Alt+Desire (2024)
not great...
Oddly seems to .. well.. not really "glorify", there was never any attempt to condone or excuse Amato's actions, .. but.. well.. this seemed to give WAY too much attention to Amato himself. This filmmaker seemed to feed into Amato's desire for attention, and Amato CLEARLY enjoyed it, in order to get a story. That seemed well.. just wrong. It came across as an uneasy way for Amato to "profit" from his crimes overall. I didn't like that. I mean, sure feed his ego to get the story, understandable. But that does NOT mean you need to use so much video of him in the doc itself. Audio recording would have been better. Don't provide him any unintentional ancillary "fame" so to speak.
Basically, I felt as though there were 2 episodes to feed Amato's ego (which he reveled in). Then one episode to detail Amato's crimes. I'm not really certain it needed the first and third episodes. If episode 2 was edited better and perhaps made it a bit longer - a 75/90 minute special rather than a 3 episode series would have made so much more sense.
It was interesting, but not a "must see" by any means.
This REALLY came across as "The Grant Amato Show." There's no "revelation", no "moment of clarity", no "uncovered story".. nothing really at all. I mean he was convicted.
I, for one, have the exact same impression of Amato after watching this as I did before watching it - spoiled rich kid with mental issues that reacted horribly when he wasn't getting what he wanted.
I found this to be a waste of time overall.
Parish (2024)
Drab melodrama....
It's drab. Unexciting, and in fact, boring. There's nearly no tension built .. no excitement.. no intrigue. (in spite of what the soundtrack wants viewers to believe.)
The characters are fairly ridiculous and largely uninteresting. Especially "Grey" - the lead character.
Giancarlo Esposito was fantastic on Breaking Bad.. where he said very little. Here.. where he's being a "dad" and portraying a struggle with emotion and family.. it just doesn't fit the storyline they are clearly trying to tell.
This "ex-criminal" rolls over for the bad guys easier than a bowling ball. He spends a ridiculous amount of time buried in flashbacks... And not flashbacks that are character development or explain his supposed criminal history but rather pointless flashbacks about being sad ... he has 10 minute arguments with his old "crime buddy" about "jobs" done more than 20 years ago as if they happened yesterday. But ZERO history of his "criminal" life has been shown or even explained.
It's simply written poorly and more like a soap opera than a crime drama.
The initial "heist" was boring.... unexciting.. and the driving afterwards, which is supposed to be Esposito's charter's specialty..was.. absolutely nothing special. An Uber driver would have worked. And then the "bad guy" hires this 65 year old to drive him and his child when he doesn't even know the guy?? Instant trust in the criminal world? That's an odd take. And "Grey" does NOTHING to dissuade the guy or get out of the situation?? He just does what he's told without a word. He's a pushover.. a patsy... sheep.
I typically love Paula Malcomson's performances as well.. but just don't buy the relationship on screen - the relationship is portrayed as if it is new and she doesn't know her husband at all. Does or doesn't she know this unknown criminal history her husband is supposed to have? One scene you think yes.. the next you think no. In addition, It has a very Gus Fring and Walter White's wife (can't remember her name) air ... it's too close to Breaking Bad in appearance and fails to achieve what they are trying to achieve - they should have avoided blondes for the wife, or asked Malcolmson to die her hair for the role.. that alone was a misstep.
Honestly.. after 2 episodes.. there hasn't been a very good start to the series. I'll give it one more, but I am by no means vested in the show. I am merely curious if I can correctly predict the outcome of the episode 2 cliffhanger.
Molli and Max in the Future (2023)
It's a dialog film with chaotic, unimportant, visuals
This is a conversational film. The conversation is fully of witty banter and good moments.
Because it's a film, and not a pod cast, visuals are thrown in. Visuals that are often chaotic in nature and only serve to confuse matters. None of the visuals are necessary. You honestly never need to see anything.. close your eyes and listen, that's all one need do. Of course no one would ever know about this if it were merely a podcast.
I did enjoy the banter and conversation.. However, I was often annoyed by the visuals. The two do not meld well. The writing for the conversation is fairly intricate and well thought out.. the visuals often appear cheap and reminiscent of 1999 CGI effects.
Just listen.. don't watch....
Crime Cam 24/7 (2023)
Nothing new.
This is just a "clip show" that is using clips that have been seen repeatedly on other clip shows over the past 5-10 years.
It's almost as if they farm other clip shows to get content for this show.. I've never seen a single unique clip on the series.. it's all merely repeated clips from elsewhere.
There is literally nothing new in this series other than the rather dated "computer AI" overlays.. making the show appear to be based in 1999.
I need more characters to reach the required minimum.. so... repetition, replay, rerun, echo, recapitulation, reiteration, reproduction, recycle, reuse, reshowing, derivative, imitative, musty, predictable.
Palm Royale (2024)
There are worse ways to pass the time...
.. there are also better ways....
This is okay. Interesting in a "train wreck" sort of way.
It can be hard to empathize with a character who so, so desperately wants to be seen as part of "society" when there's never been a thing for me, or anyone around me. Really hard to understand the motivations. Has a very "Gilded Age" show mentality, but in the 1960s rather than the late 1800s or early 1900s. Rich women all side-eyeing the "new money" newcomer who so desperately wants to fit in with the "old money".
Has a humorous moment now and then, but it's not a comedy in any way, to me. It's far more of a light-drama.
There's a lot of focus in the first three episode about what Maxine is doing to be a part of the group.. and in the background, you see hints of the troubles that's causing elsewhere in her life.. but there's been no really story about the fallout from her endeavors. This makes it all come across as just shallow and vacant.
I think Wiig is going a bit over the top with the character, but that may be the writing and intentional. Never been a huge fan of Janey.. Duffy is doing a horrendous job. Dern is.. well the same as she ever is any more.
It's mediocre... definitely not a "must see" or anywhere close to that... but you won't be thinking of divorce if a spouse really wants to watch it.