Change Your Image
gnfnrlives
Reviews
Drive (2011)
Wants to be dark and moody but comes off just silly.
This movie has gotten a ton of positive reviews but it's hard to see why. The previews would have you believe there's going to be some fantastic car chase scenes but there's really only one and it's not particularly memorable. More annoying however is the complete lack of attention to detail. When Albert Brooks slices Bryan Cranston's arm, "The Kid" should find him in a huge pool of his own blood. But it's not even close. Cranston is just laying there propped up against the car, dry as can be. And when The Kid goes to Pearlman's restaurant, why does he need to wear a mask? He doesn't even go in. Just silly attempts at making The Kid seem bad-ass somehow. The character development is laughable. If Albert Brooks is allegedly running LA what is the purpose of Ron Pearlman's character? Is he the Stringer Bell to Brooks' Avon? He's an idiot with no real purpose. In a post Wire world, brooding music and long silences just are going to get it done. This movie was a total bore.
Medicine for Melancholy (2008)
Ehh
I love this movie because I used to live in the City and it warms my heart to see it again. I hate this movie because the actors have zero chemistry. Wyatt Cynac, while charming as all hell on The Daily Show, comes off like an ignorant douche-bag and the female lead has all the personality of a dead fish. I actually found myself annoyed with the film by the end. Also, as Wyatt's character points out, the SFC is a beautiful city with a wealth of potential details. His character lives in the Tenderloin District which can be really colorful to say the least. Yet the director kind of glossed over that. The film ultimately seemed to be about hipster a-holes who, lets be honest, have to be the least interesting people on the planet. I had high hopes for this film but walked away very disappointed.
Sons of Anarchy (2008)
What show are all these people watching?
I would love to know. I want to see that show. The one I watched, and I watched 2 whole seasons, is appallingly bad. I can't even understand how or why I made it through 2 seasons. Each episode only got more ridiculous. It's a daytime soap disguised as a hard-hitting drama. A federal agent shoots her witness then frames Katey Sagal even though Sagal just shot someone else with a completely different gun? Who's buying this? The leader of the Mayans has to be the DUMBEST dude in the history of mankind! Every time he shows up on screen he's getting burned by SAMCRO. The writing is purely guttural and shows no thought process whatsoever. The acting is laughable. It...it just defies explanation how this show is so popular. What I witnessed is a complete disaster. Someone PLEASE tell me where the good one is!!!
Detroit 1-8-7 (2010)
Pass
Silly show. Ham-handed dialog, predictable story-lines, terrible casting and generally poor execution all around. I thought the Wire had shown everyone how to do a cop show. Clearly the creators of this show weren't paying attention. Casting in particular is such an important element of a show. Here we have a gorgeous woman and square-jawed fellow working together as detectives. Fashion models as homicide detectives in Detroit. Really? How a show like this gets on the air is baffling. On a side note, the pilot was shot in Atlanta. Was Detroit really that expensive? It's for the best that this show didn't make it. I would feel bad for Imperlli(?) but even he wasn't very good. He probably knew from the start this would be a dud.
Intelligence (2005)
Surprisingly awful
The first season was enjoyable if a little silly. The second season was just ridiculous. The ending was beyond stupid. I'm hoping they knew they were getting canceled and just tried to tie things up, but even with that the ending was atrocious. Please ignore any review comparing this show to The Wire. They are not even in the same universe.
There are so many story lines that don't go anywhere, characters who come and go without reason, and some of the casting is just flat out bizarre. The guy they got to play Reardon's lawyer looked like he was twelve. Max Headroom's presence in the first season was a nice foil for the sometimes annoying Mary but he was completely useless in the second season. Maybe it's a Canadian thing, but ALL the "baddies" were tools and there was no discernible reason why any of them would respect Jimmy. And what purpose did his partner really serve? All he ever did was run the bar. They couldn't be farther from Stringer Bell and Avon Barksdale.
This is a show that desperately wants to be important but falls way WAY short. I hope not all Canadian crime shows are this bad. I like Canada and want to hold them in high regard. But this show makes all those Canadian jokes seem true.