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Reviews
Tyrant (2014)
Not Sure What the Hell Happened to This Show
The first season of Tyrant was very promising. We are left wondering who the real tyrant is. Barry and his evil brother have a dynamic that leaves you constantly intrigued. The influence of the wife and children are another force waiting to be explored. I even had some hope the homosexual son sub-plot would take a powerful turn. I could hardly wait for another episode as each one was so promising.
Season two was still satisfying but took some turns that I found unconvincing. When I saw the advertising where Barry is walking in the desert and holding the sand, I did not expect them to take such a literal turn. Daliyah's character was actually another win for the show. I held on with the expectation that season 3 would knock some exciting developments out of the park.
Season three feels like it was written by high school students filling in where previous writers abandoned ship. I'm assuming that's what happened anyway. Granted, I have only watched snippets of each episode because it got too soapy for me to continue. There were so many missed opportunities, and the direction it has taken is nonsensical. The death of Jamal was probably the point where the show ended being relevant. There is never any real drama here anymore. It just became another show that adds unnecessary grenades because the real story has been bulldozed.
The Ranch (2016)
A Show for Middle America and Better than Reviewers Suggest
Netflix has pulled off creating another great show. I would say the current 7.5 score is a little low, and I think some reviewers need to give this a chance longer than 1 episode. First off, it is a little cliché and predictable at times, but what sitcom or comedy show isn't? But I would say some are dismissing the truly funny moments without understanding the context. It is pretty funny and enjoyable if you have grown up around country culture. I saw a similar disconnect with the film Elizabethtown, which perfectly captured southern culture but was dismissed by general audiences.
I have lived "in the country" for half my life and known people similar to Beau, Maggie and Colt, and many of the details are authentic, which is part of why I see it as a top show. Sam Elliot does a great job. Sometimes the drama between the father and sons is as real as real life, but it calms back down to one liners and gags soon enough. That balance makes it easy to binge through because there's always something to pull you in and make you laugh. I've never so easily watched 5 episodes in one night.
Saved! (2004)
Well-Done, Refreshing, Could Have Been a Classic
This movie is very entertaining, especially if you have interacted with fundamentalist evangelicals at some point in your life. In the U.S., there is still a hostile debate between fundamentalists and atheists in the south on the issue of evolution, which made the 'Creationism' poster in the back of the classroom both realistic and hilarious.
There are 17-18 year old's in this film with some very interesting beliefs about homosexuality, prayer, etc. Every goofy part of Christianity is touched on, ripped apart, and sometimes re-hashed in later scenes. I viewed this film with my relatively conservative Christian parents, and they still found it quite enjoyable, relating some of the 'crazies' to people they've met in churches and Christian colleges.
A few scenes in this movie reminded me of instant classics like Breakfast Club, Ferris Beuler, etc. I especially liked the ones between the preacher's son and Jena Malone's character. The almost- kiss in the mall was memorable.
Mandy Moore does a great job being the "Mrs. God" character. Her throwing the Bible was probably one of the funniest movie scenes (I've known a couple Christians who did this to people they were trying to convert).
The only reason I don't think this film was bigger or perhaps higher on the IMDb scale, is because it focuses just a little too much on hyperboles of dumb Christian behavior. I'd argue that the same plot and actors with a slightly different tone (less cheese, more realism) would have made this a classic teen film like Mean Girls or Juno.