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thomasgreuel
Reviews
Andor (2022)
Best Star Wars Show
To me this is the best Star Wars content in many years as it shows us what a galaxy with genuine characters and a plausible plot is like.
The Star Wars movies are more or less teenage movies (which is fine), but here we get to see how an Empire and how a rebellion might actually operate. And we get a show in which not everything is black and white, but there are greys on all sides because these groups are run by people with their own agenda.
I really hope that Disney sees enough success in this show to continue with some of this more mature content. There is a room for children's Star Wars, teenage Star Wars and adult Star Wars. More of that please! A show with no space magic is really interesting!
Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)
The blandness
Why has Star Wars turned so mediocre? They don't understand today's story telling.
Great shows like "Better Call Saul" or "Fargo" put a lot of effort into making every scene interesting. They dedicate time into character building and scenes and small details.
So the chase scene with Leia in ep.1 might have been a one take that highlights how a 5 year old could outrun a bunch of old warriors (maybe she is small and nimble and knows the area).
Star Wars however banks on nostalgia. They think, because it's young Leia, people will love it, no matter what they do. Unfortunaltely that doesn't work. And young Leia does not have the charm of Grogu (Baby Yoda). She comes across as increasingly annoying, turning petulant in the most inappropriate situation.
The same goes for the villain: If you think of African American female villain from the gutter (They are thinking from the ghetto, but can't say so). You might think of Snoop from the Wire. A brilliant character, menacing but not too obvious. Star Wars just puts someone in a black outfit and makes them look angry and we are supposed to feel scared. We don't know why or what problem she has with Kenobi. Show us a backstory in which Obi-Wan accidently destroyed her father's business and so she had to become a criminal to feed the family (or something along those lines). In the Star Wars universe everything operates on the basis of clichees, and so dressing her in black automatically makes her a villain.
To me the best scene from the Mandalorian was the conversation in the mass between Bill Burr's character and that commander from the Empire. It gave backstory, you understand motives and there was a lot of suspense. A simple scene but much better than all the shooting and explosions we saw before and after.
My hope for the rest of the Kenobi show is pretty limited. Instead of giving us a reason why Obi-Wan has lost his space magic (although he is on a mission to protect their last hope), they just make him look sad. But even that fails. If you want to portray him at his lowest, then humiliate him instead of making him do an underpaid 9 to 5 job with a mean boss (most of the audience does that every day).
I have a feeling that Disney is working on too many shows at the same time without putting enough effort into any of them. That's why the outcome feels rushed like 80s TV. (Un)Fortunately the audience is spoilt by some great shows and they expect the quality they see in The Boys or Breaking Bad. I have a feeling this is not the show they are looking for...
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land (2021)
Turns out the he Sarlacc Pit is not that bad after all.
C-3PO: "In its belly, you will find a new definition of pain and suffering, as you are slowly digested over a thousand years."
That's how the Sarlacc Pit is introduced in Return of the Jedi. For decades we phantasized what it would be like inside and how Bobna Fett could escape.
I pictured victims moaning in agony, tentacles sliding over them, digging into their skin, sucking them dry, but at the same time feeding them with tentacles that grow into their mouths and noses to keep them alive, because the Sarlacc Pit actually feeds on the pain of its victims. You know, something like that.
Turns out it is nothing like it, in fact it takes 30 seconds to escape.
I was seriously disappointed and was actually hoping they'd throw him back in to give Boba a real challenge.
Nope.
Just like they wasted this monumental opportunity, the rest of the first episode was lackluster and felt cheap.
In summary: Too much cosplay and TV sets. Boston Dynamics felt misplaced.
Also Temura. Morrison is cool but his acting seemed a little stiff and unfocussed. He's supposed to be that badass but comes across as weak being so nice to everybody.
So the first episode was a little weak and disappointing although it looks like Star Wars and is certainly better than the Prequel and Sequel films.
Tattoo Redo (2021)
Questionable Ethics
So the idea of the show is that people regret having gotten tattoos that were often influenced by others, and now they get a coverup that somebody else decides. Seems not like the smartest decision. And more often than not the person making the decision doesn't know the other person very well. So you can tell that they often don't like the results of their coverups. But for the sake of the show they have to pretend they do.
You don't get to learn much about tattooing and the shown tattoos are fairly generic.
Better Call Saul: Magic Man (2020)
Still one of the best shows on TV
At times Better Caul Saul was moving a little too slowly for my taste, but it has picked up, and the first episode of season 5 is TV at its best.
The BW intro with Gene's storyline is back and incredibly tense. It keeps me begging for more.
The episode has this mix of subtlety (in tiny reactions by Kim and Mike) and in your face moments, delivered mostly by Jimmy.
We see a lot of familiar faces, and while nothing much new happens ( a lot of strings from last season are tied up), the episode is tense and promises the Breaking Bad vibe we all long for.
Blown Away (2019)
Interesting show, disappointing finale
I don't really like these reality TV competitions about craftsmanship (like tattooing) because everything feels scripted and fake.
This show starts differently and it deals with an interesting craft that probably does not attract a lot of fans but produces stunning results.
The contestants all feel like hippsters in various degrees, which is fine. There is a lot of talk about the environment, which feels ironic given the amount of energy that is required to form the glass.
We get to see what great things glass blowing can and I would have liked to see more of the actual techniques and learned more background information.
It becomes pretty apparent early on that the skill levels of the contestants are very different, and that there are two contestants who play in a different league.
Unfortunately in the 2nd part of the season it becomes apparent that there is an agenda and the show is fixed, because the actual quality of the art is thrown out for, well, a political stance that eventually crowns a winner who is lacking in technique, fairness, imagination and general conduct.
I would really like to see a 2nd season with different judges who value the actual art.
Black Summer (2019)
Refreshing take on zombies
I didn't expect much from the show but actually really like it because it is not TWD.
The show focuses on the early days of the apocalypse narrated in an episodic style. We meet characters without being told their backstory and follow them for some time, sometimes to their end.
The zombies here are of the feral type, so not the shambling TWD nuisances. These zombies are fast and dangerous and the people dealing with them are not fighters but regular people who run away rather than doing roundhouse kicks with katanas.
If you are disappointed with TWD then this might be for you. There are no lengthy, meaningless dialogues about human nature, the characters are not protected by plot armour, zombies are dangerous, people encountered are regular folks that you need to figure out. It has a great, gritty cinematography and no laughable explosions.
Of course some things don't make all that much sense, but you wouldn't expect realism from a show that deals with people coming back from the dead.
I hope this gets continued.
Dark Tourist (2018)
Great premise lame execution
The premise of extreme and macabre tourism is great, but the host is the softest person on the planet who is so easily offended that it hurts.
He would be a great host for a show about petting zoos, but he really has no interest in the topic, and so the show squanders a lot of potential.
For example: There is this piece about the death of Charles Manson (which has nothing to do with tourism really), and he interviews Manson's friend. But instead of trying to get a different picture, to try to find out what is likeable about such a person, he asks the friend whether Manson should be forgotten and then he seems actually offended when the friend compares him to Louis Theroux.
Everything stays shallow, we don't really learn anything about the guy who likes to torture people for fun or why someone would subject him- or herself to torture.
There would be a lot to uncover if the host had any interest in the subject or the people that either seek such thrills or live in these places.
Fear the Walking Dead (2015)
uneven - moving in the wrong direction
FTWD was always a mixed bag. It promised to focus on something different than the original TWD but came across as uneven.
As of Season4 Episode2 it seems to move into the same direction.
Characters can't be related to because they do stupid things. (Morgan needs to be rescued a dozen times and yet continues to walk off alone, Madison jumps into an oily tank full of zombies to save a woman that seconds before tried to rob her).
It seems to be in the same timeline as TWD (so the idea of a fresh apocalypse is dropped neither is there a world decades later - both could be interesting).
Madison's actions are as random and incoherent as Rick's, the action doesn't make sense, but we trust that plot armor is thick enough to divert machine gun bullets being shot at them from a Walter White designed mounted rig and magically only headshotting the zombies.
And now the show has a villain ("The Vultures" whose business model it is to wait for communities to break apart so they can scavenge their stuff). To top it off they have a smug and annoying leader. No. Please don't - no more Governors or Negans.
On a positive note, the show moves at a faster pace than TWD and so far people don't go in circles talking to each other about morality. Let's hope Morgan continues to be silent about his past and pacifist philosophy.
Black Mirror: Metalhead (2017)
Misunderstood
Metalhead gets a lot of bad reviews here. To me it is the best episode of season 4 because it relates to technology that is already present. We all know these youtube videos of Boston Dynamics' robot dogs that run and jump and look impressivbe and creepy at the same time.
This episode shows what would happen if these robots turned against people.
It doesn't have a backstory, just like the youtube videos don't explain anything. It just shows a credible scenario. To me that is brilliant and better than some of those other episodes with lots of plot holes.
The Walking Dead (2010)
It's dead
I suppose it still has a lot of fans, but TWD has become incredibly dull and boring. Some reasons:
The objective is to kill Negan. In every episode there are dozens of opportunities. He hands over his bat to his enemies, multiple times his enemies are having him at gunpoint. Not even his own people like him, in fact one of his lieutenants states that they want him dead and that he is just one person. Yet they create elaborate plans because people forget to pull the trigger at the right time or they only bring one bullet to a fight. It's painful to watch.
The characters are dull. You don't care for any of them. Even if Rick died I would not give a damn. There is no one I really root for or sympathize with. I guess Daryl is still cool (because he is mostly silent), but even the superbad Michonne is now in a relationship, minding the children. No more zombies on a leash.
Great ideas being wasted: So there is this cool armored, spiked zombie that Rick has to fight. Awesome. How would you do it? You show the thing. You show its power and have people talk about how dangerous he is (maybe he used to be a pro wrestler). You let one of Rick's group fight it and lose spectacularly. You bring out Rick. He shudders, is about to lose but then turns things around and triumphs because Rick is superman. How do they do it? Rick dances around this thing a little bit, pierces his own hand on its spiked head (who needs hands, in the comics he only has one anyway), then Michonne suggests throwing garbage at it. Rick throws some pillows. Monster falls. Victory. Underwhelming.
Absurd ideas. Two words: CGI tiger.
After how many years zombies still move without feeding? Bullets and fuel are infinite. Most food still comes from finding cans.
Characters' roles change without reason. Eugene was always the most useless person in the group. But in season 7 he switches sides and suddenly becomes the science mastermind who gets things done.
It's awfully crowded. There are so many groups now in a 30 mile radius: Alexandria, Kingdom, Hilltop, Saviours, Garbage People, Women in the Woods. Rick and Michonne even stumble upon some golfers.
Stormtrooper gun training - in the final gunfight they all shoot at each other from short distance for minutes. Many without any cover. Yet no one in the group is seriously harmed.
Talk is cheap - and that's why they do it so much. It seems they had one idea in season 7. Kill two major characters. The rest was just chatting.
The worst things about Negan are his monologues. Please, no more. Just give me the bat to the head.
David Brent: Life on the Road (2016)
You feel bad for Brent
The original office is one of the best comedies on TV. David Brent was essentially a good person, striving to do (mostly) good things and caring for his employees, but because of his lack of social skills became cringe worthy and other did the wrong thing. He was the boss and his employees had to play along with him, but to an extent they also tolerated him. Tim, Gareth and Dawn didn't hate him generally. That way the audience was able to laugh about him without feeling bad.
In the 2nd season he lost his job, his co-workers and everything he had. Laughing about him became unpleasant because Brent realised that he essentially was a loser.
Still the Christmas special turned things around, picked him up, hinted at him changing for the better and that happy end for Dawn and Tim was the most touching love story that I remember on TV.
The movie unfortunately undoes all the good. Brent gets kicked in the groin relentlessly to a point that it becomes painful to watch. I was reminded of Melancholia (yes, it was that bad!). For example, he pays a band to tour with him. They all resent him and he even has to pay them extra so that they have a drink with him. When they do they all check their iPhones.
Brent even contemplates suicide and shows him in therapy. It's not funny to laugh about someone who is humiliated to that degree. Ironically there is even a song about not making fun of "the disabled". If Gervais had only listened.
The film focuses entirely on Brent. There are no other characters, no alternate story lines, there is no character development or story arc. The film just drags along showing Brent being eviscerated on camera.
The two people who like him are marginal and remain quiet only to come forward at the end to provide a lazy relief.
It is a sad film that made me actually depressed. Please, Ricky, no more David Brent!