BadBadBrain Reviews

Brand New Cherry Flavor (2021)

PURE NEO-CRONENBERG AWESOMENESS

[9/10 · 13 August 2021]

It's SO DIFFICULT to find stuff done like this that is not half-measured, watered down or censored to impotency.

This series is surreal horror in the vein of Cronenberg, Kafka and Burroughs, and it's done RIGHT.

The cast is SPECTACULAR, the effects are top notch and the overall design is perfect. Yeah, it's weird, really weird. But it's totally grounded in great dialog, a completely digestible story and a surreal mind bending plot.

If you're looking for PG screamfest, this isn't it. But this is SO much better than this sort of thing has been for years. And it does not fall off as it goes.

Eighty-six stars.

HouseBroken (2021–2023)

It's funny. What else do you want?

[7/10 · 1 June 2021]

It seems that SO many people DEMAND animated shows to be EXACTLY what they expect, usually based on another show (Family Guy, Southpark, whatever) that they like.

Housebroken is....funny. It's not edgy, or crude or in your face. It's just standard issue, excellent voice actor funny.

You like pets and wants to see something funny, Housebroken will do. You want to force it into the mold of whatever else you liked, it probably won't.

Give it a fair-minded shot and you shouldn't be let down.

Warrior Nun (2020–2022)

Gets SO much better as it goes along...

[8/10 · 8 July 2020]

I didn't have high expectations for this. I admit it, I judged it on the title, and that was a mistake.

But it really, really develops as it goes along. Sure, you can say you've seen the genre before: secret church organization vs. demons on earth, and a science angle tying it all together....but I thought this take was pretty original. I don't expect everything I see to have Avengers Endgame special effects, but Warrior Nun does well for what it was working with.

Just give it a chance...like several episodes. It starts out pretty predictable (and for some reason has a love interest angle that literally goes NOWHERE after the first few episodes), but the longer it went, the better it got. And the season finale I did NOT see coming...and neither will you.

I'm looking forward to season 2...

October Faction (2020)

I swear some reviewers literally haven't even watched this...

[7/10 · 7 July 2020]

Anyone who goes on about this being some high school melodrama show hasn't watched it. Yeah, the kids are in high school and that's a part of the story, but a small one.

It IS kind of standard secret organization fighting monsters in the world stuff, but the overall story is strong, the script is at least good, and the acting is fine....if the casting a bit qestionable.

I don't expect every show to have Avengers level special effects, and this is no exception, but the visuals are more than passable. But overall the show lacked a....personality. It was a little by the numbers, not really inspired and just didn't have a feel of it's own.

But it's not the write it off, predictable, boring wreck that some people are trashing it as. It was solid, and if you like supernatural action with a good story, you'll dig it.

Stargirl (2020–2022)

IGNORE THE NERD HERD, THIS IS AS GOOD AS COMIC TV GETS...

[9/10 · 19 May 2020]

I got to see this pre-release. And it was pretty mind-blowing for a CW show. I don't think they can keep the same production standards throughout the series; the pilot looks as good as a movie, it really does.

And it's from the same bunch that all the CW DC shows are from. Justice Society stuff is kind of a hard sell; it based on comic nostalgia and old school comic fans, not really the CW demo. But the story is solid (yeah, lots of new girl in high school stereotypes, jocks, mean girls, geeks, etc., but that's basic comic lore stuff), the acting is great, the cast is SPOT ON and the effects are next level for a network show. And it's SMART production Notice how you never see Solomon Grundy's face? That's because there's a TON of money in making a CGI face look realistic...and they used that money to incredible effect over all.

It does what the CW aimed for: Updates old DC property for a new audience, and they really, really sold it well. I don't know if the series can or will keep up the level of excellence that this pilot set....but if it does, we're in for a whole new world of comic based shows from CW.

It was WAY more than I expected, and if it's not as much as you expected, you expect too much from a network comic show. But for comic fans, this is GOLD. I hope it catches on and they keep it up.

Proximity (II) (2020)

It's not unwatchable, BUT...

[5/10 · 15 May 2020]

This film is kind of a fascinating trainwreck of someone who was trying to be Spielberg but also wanted to be John Hughes. It mean, it's so...uneven. The photography is fine, the dialogue is above average, the acting solid. But I would never have thought this was written and directed by the same person; it feels like the writer and director were at odds with each other.

The basis of the story is a video of an alien that a guy says he shot, and the story is driven by whether it is real or not...but you never get to see the video. It's like a McGuffin...but you NEED to see it to validate the other characters' responses. It's cheating the viewer by not letting you see it for yourself.

And the music is TERRIBLE. Invasive, and tries to drive the emotion of the scene in all the wrong directions. I swear, if I produced this and heard that music in the final cut, I would have paid out of my own pocket to have it re-scored.

It's not awful. It's not unwatchable. But it always feels off tempo, off balance...and not in a good way.

Overall: Meh.

Leaving Neverland (2019)

THE TRUTH ISN'T ALWAYS EASY TO HEAR...OR TO SEE

[9/10 · 4 March 2019]

DO NOT BE DISSUADED BY THE ONE STAR REVIEWS FROM JADED MJ FANS... especially the ones disguised as "open minded." No reasonable person could watch this and AT LEAST not be conflicted about what it offers.

This is an incredibly powerful, DETAILED look at child abuse, not another sycophantic homage to Michael Jackson, He was a cosmically talented performer, but he was also an extremely flawed human being. The focus here is on his victims, not on his performances. And this film takes a deep, detailed look at the lives of two children, now grown, who were victimized by MJ, and by doing so tells the story of how pedophiles groom their victims (particularly, celebrity pedophiles), why so many assaults go unreported, and the lasting and extensive damage that disbelief causes not only to the victims but to their friends and families as well...particularly the mothers that let it happen in the first place.

It is not easy to watch this well made, beautifully shot documentary, but everyone should find the time to do so. It's not about Michael Jackson, it's about child sexual abuse, and even if you don't have kids, everyone has the responsibility to know what this film has to offer to ensure we all see the signs to prevent it from happening whenever possible.