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Your Honor (2020)
Is it a show?
As much as many of us would love to see Bryan Cranston back in action, this isn't quite it. While he does inhabit this role with similar vigor, the show itself is anything but Breaking Bad. We can't help but compare it.
This show has numerous problems with the writing and production. I'll focus on the primary issue, flow. The uneven flow makes it a difficult watch at best. It lingers on totally uninteresting moments for far too long, while simultaneously sprinting through moments we would like to know more about.
This flaw in the pacing is accentuated by the totally monotonous nature of it's characters. Every character in this show is universally stoic, speaking in hushed tones, almost whispering at all times. Real people don't behave anything like this. Even when things are intense there should be moments of levity, or stupidity. People aren't these perfect storytelling devices.
I found the series nearly unwatchable because of it's odd pacing and thin characters.
Get Out Alive with Bear Grylls (2013)
Not a show
They obviously spent a lot of money on good cameras and post production. If that is praise it ends there. They forgot to make this a show. Nothing about it is entertaining. If it is a reality show, there is zero social game. The competitions are tying sticks together in high grass. All of what makes a reality show a show is missing from this series.
Having one guy choose who goes home at the end of the show and ultimately who wins is perhaps the biggest mistake. I get it, Bear is some kind of survival guru icon. So what? Him deciding who goes deletes any element of social game this might of had.
They need to either just cancel this series or take it back to the drawing board for the next season. A TV series ultimately must be a show. Nobody cares if 10 people have to cross a creek. Only some hard core survival show enthusiasts care enough about what Bear thinks to watch a network series based entirely on his opinions disguised as a reality show.
You Seng (1993)
Underrated
One of the greatest non-Kurasawa movies of it's kind, this film has epic scope. The somewhat over the top action sequences are subtle compared to most Chinese films. It all fits and works well together. I viewed this film by accidentally recording it on DVR the first time. What really surprised me was the macho style warrior stuff. You wouldn't think a female director would pull off those stereotypically male sensibilities so well. The film takes several turns, has comedy, adventure, drama, and near the end becomes very spiritual. It's sad that more of the great movies being made in China, Korea, and Thailand don't get any press here in the states. The stream of regurgitated watered down garbage choking out of Hollywood can't compare to many of the movies from overseas these days. Perhaps one day the moguls will realize that people really respond to art and personal stories more than what star is in the film. The American movie audience isn't nearly as sedate as the marketing specialists think. We just don't have much of a choice.