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adamkraemerla
Reviews
Tales from the Crypt: Carrion Death (1991)
There's lots you can do with a corpse
Seems to me that this is not an overwhelming predicament. Not at first, anyway.
A dying cop swallows a key to a pair of handcuffs? What's to stop a psychopathic killer from reaching down his throat? Or tearing open his throat? Is he squeamish all of a sudden?
And let's say you can't retrieve the key for some reason; why would you feel beholden to remain attached to the policeman's entire body for that long? Eventually, he gets the idea of chopping the cop's wrist off, but why do it only after carrying his dead body 6 miles across a desert? Seems worth making the attempt immediately, I would think.
And by leaving the body behind, you'd also get rid of the vulture, one assumes.
Just a few thoughts on the gaping plot holes.
Murdoch Mysteries: Virtue and Vice (2023)
Worst defense ever
The case against Julia hinges on a) whether she's a crazed feminist zealot and b) a competent doctor and not a single character witness is called by her attorney? I admit I'm not overly familiar with the Canadian court system in 1910, but it seems to me that she was very poorly represented. Essentially, an issue of bad writing.
In addition, since when has anyone telling Murdoch not to investigate something worked? His wife is on trial for murder, the victim made a phone call, and the best he can do is speculate that it may have been important?
Overall, just a very frustrating episode, less because of the outcome and more because of the plot holes.
Josie Jane: Kill the Babysitter (2020)
Left me wanting more, but in a good way
Honestly, a little too much unexplained and a little too short - I think the invaders could have been toyed with a bit more in their search for Josie - but mostly just hoping for a sequel that will help flesh out the backstory further. A lot of the dialogue hints at something bigger.
Murdoch Mysteries: Sir. Sir? Sir!!! (2018)
Mostly just disappointed in the title
Come on, writers. "Little Cop of Horrors." Jeez.
It was fun. Silly, but fun. It's obvious it's not part of the overall storyline. I'm watching these episodes on Acorn and my first thought was "Halloween episode." Think of it as their version of the Simpsons "Treehouse of Horrors."
The Devil's Arithmetic (1999)
Great acting; ehh script
I'm sorry; if I were suddenly finding myself from any time post-WWII, the first thing I would do is try to convince ANYONE I'm from the future. This isn't actually that difficult to do. Even if that weren't an option, knowing that the Nazis murdered more than 6 million Jewish people in Europe, I would MAYBE try to find out the year. And then try to figure out how I'm speaking a language I don't know.
I think Brittany Murphy (rip) and Kirsten Dunst do a very good job. But the first half hour is just ... silly.
The Watch (2020)
"Inspired" is not "based on"
Ultimately, even in that there are some enjoyable moments, the question that I keep coming back to is "why"? It just seems like this show must have been created based on a series of questionable decisions.
I'm not a purist. Nothing is ever exactly like the book; and the characters you saw in your head are never exactly like the actors who play them. But in this instance, if they had simply created new characters and called them by existing names, it wouldn't be too different from what they wound up with.
Basically, this show is inspired by Terry Pratchett's Discworld the same way Taco Bell is inspired by real Mexican food. Most of the ingredients are there in some form, and you occasionally get something that's not half bad, but you'd never ever confuse the two. And you really don't want too much of the latter.
Perry Mason: Chapter One (2020)
We're rooting for this guy?
WARNING: SPOILERS, THOUGH NOT HUGE ONES
I'm writing my review of Episode 1 rather than the whole series because I have to assume it was greenlit after more than just the pilot.
That said, what a miserable anti-hero they're trying to convince us to root for.
What have we learned about him so far?
1) He can't fight. Or doesn't try. One of the two.
2) He's a terrible businessman.
3) When in possession of potentially lucrative photos, he either loses them or fails to make any money from them.
4) He was dismissed from the military. During the war. One assumes for conduct unbecoming.
5) The one thing he did discover, case-wise, we didn't actually see him find out.
6) When his ex-wife denies their son a toy because she's not willing to pay a cent (the 1931 equivalent to $0.17 today), he doesn't even try to point out that the kid is the one being punished.
7) When offered $6,000 for his failing dairy business (the 2020 equivalent of $101,000), he turns it down. From the woman who seems to like sleeping with him regardless of his indifference to her. And even though he's apparently so broke that he was one cent short of sending his son a Christmas gift.
8) When he seems to be connecting with the mother of the victim, he fails to find out literally ANYTHING from her. He asks her not a single question.
All in all, I can't count the ways (oh, yeah, eight) how much I dislike Mason. I was literally yelling at the screen at his seeming incompetence in his professional and personal lives. I'll give it another episode, but right now, I'm hurt that the show runners want me to root for this guy. I liked Thomas Covenant better.
The Spy (2019)
BASED on a true story
It's 2019. If you still think "based on a true story" or "inspired by a true story" means 100% factual, that error is on you. That said, I had no idea how well Sacha Baron Cohen could really act, so good for him. The first time I even heard about this was on a "FYC" billboard in L.A. I've been a fan of Alona Tal since Supernatural and of Noah Emmerich since Beautiful Girls, but I've never seen SBC in anything other than comedy. Say what you will about its pro-Israel slant (the main character is an Israeli, after all) or the fact that it's not entirely historically accurate (Eli Cohen's real-life widow says she has no idea how to sew), it's still an excellent spy series featuring notably good acting. It's entertaining, and that's mostly what I'm looking for when I press play on a show called "The Spy" on Netflix.
The Spy (2019)
BASED on a true story
It's 2019. If you still think "based on a true story" or "inspired by a true story" means 100% factual, that error is on you. That said, I had no idea how well Sacha Baron Cohen could really act, so good for him. The first time I even heard about this was on a "FYC" billboard in L.A. I've been a fan of Alona Tal since Supernatural and of Noah Emmerich since Beautiful Girls, but I've never seen SBC in anything other than comedy. Say what you will about its pro-Israel slant (the main character is an Israeli, after all) or the fact that it's not entirely historically accurate (Eli Cohen's real-life widow says she has no idea how to sew), it's still an excellent spy series featuring notably good acting. It's entertaining, and that's mostly what I'm looking for when I press play on a show called "The Spy" on Netflix.