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handymandy78
Reviews
They Called Him Mostly Harmless (2024)
Repetitive, weird, poorly directed and chock full of bizarre characters
I'm only leaving a review to feel better about not getting two hours of my life back. This "documentary," (I use the term loosely) is a mess from start to finish. For starters, it's incredibly repetitive. It's like the first 45 minutes are people saying the same things on loop. That's bad directing at its absolute worst.
Then you have the big reveal that's been teased in the trailers throughout, about what an awful person this guy is. Is he a serial killer, leaving a trail of bodies strewn along the Appalachian Trail? Was he on the FBI's Most Wanted List? Who is this man of mystery that I've been on the edge of my seat about? Well, my best advice on this point is keep your expectations incredibly low about the "big reveal" so that you're not disappointed. And when I say low, I mean like in the gutter low.
Lastly, but definitely NOT least, there are the characters. And boy oh boy are they characters.... 😳 I don't know if all true crime addicts are this weird all the time, or if they all just got a little nutty because this happened when they were locked down during COVID. But everyone they interview is a complete and utter clown that's about two bushels shy of a load.
So I guess if you like boring, bloated, poorly told stories that drag along with crazy people laced intermittently throughout, this is your go to. Otherwise, forget you ever read this review, forget about this film and pick something else to watch STAT!
Jury Duty (2023)
Incredible - freshest, most creative concept in forever!
I stumbled upon this on Freevee, of all apps, which I never watch and have debated on deleting. My TV suggested it to me on the first day episodes 1-4 were available and I watched all four episodes, back to back, that first night.
Once those were over, I couldn't wait till more episodes were available. I laughed my a** off, but in a "this is so dumb" way.. lol... it's so, so good. My favorite series in years. All the characters are so likable and so funny.
And we talk about how sweet and sincere the "lead" is? He and everything about this show is 1000% adorable.. I give this all the thumbs up!
Tulsa King (2022)
Literally the dumbest show I've ever watched with even worse acting
Even suspending reasonable belief, this show is still so completely dumb. From infiltrating a legal business to protect them from the "Feds," to assembling a rag tag group of reluctant gangsters that are cool being normal one day to killers the next, to a nearly 80 year old Stallone beating up everyone in sight, to a gangster seducing an ATF agent, no questions asked... it's just an objectively bad storyline with objectively bad acting.
I'll admit, I'm from Tulsa, so I was excited to see local landmarks, see how the city was portrayed, etc., but it wasn't even shot here! Between how wildly inaccurate it was, the stupid storylines, and the horrible acting... it was impossible to enjoy. Oh yeah, and the way Native Americans and tribes were portrayed was just downright offensive.
So pass up this stinker for Rez Dogs if you want a real slice of Oklahoma, and if you want a gangster show, I dunno... anything is better than this.
Them (2021)
Man... for such a stellar start, the last few episodes really bomb
So much of this is incredibly difficult to watch, but in a way most of us need to. The prejudice and racism POC endure in this country is/was brutal and is portrayed without pulling any punches.
If you would have asked me to rate this series after episode 5 or 6, I would have easily said it was going to be a 10 - even though some of the otherworldly stuff seems out of place. I mean, life was a horror show without the ghosts and shapeshifters.
But I had a hard time making it through episodes 7-10. It completely went off the deep end, and didn't add anything to the plot or improve the point this series is trying to make.
Just really great potential that falls REALLY flat toward the end. Bummer.
Homeland (2011)
For a good spy Drama, watch FX's The Americans instead
Claire Danes' character is impossible to like or root for. Or even become invested in enough to dislike. You just kind of want her out of the way for other characters to grow and blossom.
I enjoyed getting to know more about the modern CIA and black ops in the illegal war in the Middle East. And by "enjoy," I guess I mean I'm glad I know more about how things operated there to see that I was right in always being anti- "War on Terror."
Life seemed to imitate art with the Afghanistan troop pullout fiasco after, after the show clearly based a plot line on the OTHER US Embassy fiasco in Beirut.
If people can put their political partisanship aside (on the left AND the right), there are some decent geopolitical and diplomatic lessons to be learned in the last season or two.
But as far as the show goes for entertainment quality and value, it's kind of a stinker.
American Rust (2021)
Slow, boring, unlikable characters. Just awful, really.
This is one of those shows you can tell was likely based on a book... a book that was probably very good, but the show is just a mess. It feels like the directors read the book so many times that they forget we (the viewers) have not. Because of that, they either leave sooo much out the show, or they get far too in the weeds on details we don't care, which only confuses the plot even more.
And oh, the plotlines... So many and what to say about them.
The murder of a former cop that we forget right away is the central crime.. The fight to unionize a textiles shop... A cop that is dirty for all the right reasons (in his mind. I honestly didn't get the motivation).... Some weird reappearance of a former partner turned revenge killer... A poor marriage that's been off and on for 20 years... A car bomb and a home arson that are never solved.
A hot headed, washed up high school football star who is protecting a friend... A gay runaway who seems far too old to be "running away." (and is part of what I consider a far too graphic and gratuitous sex scene. Gay, straight, whatever -- it just didn't seem to have anything to do with the plot)... A girl who got away from her decaying small town, only to get sucked back in far too easily. Which, by the way -- all the ages of the "teenage/young adult" characters didn't seem to jive. They're scripted as though they're just out of high school, but the one being a married college grad, they should be a few years older? Anyway, I digress...
And so many "WHYS?!?!" Why did Del tip off Jackson at the end? Why did he call 911? What did the former partner have to do with ANYTHING? Did Del and Maura Tierney's character have some past relationship we didn't know about?? The whole show as so damned confusing.
On top of that, the acting is terrible, even Jeff Daniels' and Maura Tierney. And Jeff Daniels seemed way too old for his character. Even those two can't even save this show. It's slow, boring, confusing. Just an awful mess. What a waste of time. Save several hours of your life. Don't watch.
Your Honor (2020)
The real unsolved crime is how a deleted scene made it into the "last time on Your Honor" opening sequence...
This could have been SO good with a few more minutes dedicated to explaining some of the plot holes and fewer minutes dedicated to how an insecure kid like Adam was able to pull off things like a deadly hit and run and relationships with a teacher and a mob boss daughter.
For example: Was the mayoral candidate/judge's friend actually the big gang boss Rudy? What was the point of murdering the four innocent family members after Kofi was dead??? Why did no one notice the mob dad came and took a leak at the judge's house and didn't flush the toilet? What did the mob boss do with the Polaroid of the dog? NO ONE at the docks saw Trevor get murdered? And Trevor was able to get murdered, body dumped in the bay, Judge came home to clean himself up and burn clothes and shower, go hold court, attend happy hour ALL before his birthday party?? All in one day?? And for me the most important questions are why was the mother murdered, who was following Adam & why the morning of the hit and run, and who was the Desire gang member in the pics that the mom was having the affair with? (In one of the "last time on Your Honor" look back, there were scenes of grandma turning over pics that never occurred in a previous episode. I know they never appeared because I went back and looked for the scene. ACTUAL missing plot holes!)
The high rating for this show concerns me for the intelligence of society.
The Vanished (2020)
Was gonna give it a 4 for the acting of Thomas Jane and Anne Heche...but the plot twist at the end bumped it up to a 6 for me!
This movie has some pretty terrible acting by the two lead characters and a few unbelievable moments in the storyline.... A few times I thought "these two are crazy... Parents of a missing child would never do this." But by the end it all made sense... they were crazy! The plot twist at the end really did save the movie from being a total stinker, which is kind of unfortunate, because the right actors and a few tweaks to the story could have really pulled this off. It's a great concept for a storyline. Jason Patric was good though, as was Peter Facinelli in the small acting role. Hope he gets a little better at writing and directing, but promising start!
The Third Day (2020)
Terrible. Wants to be Midsommar, is Midsnoozer instead
I tortured myself through 3 episodes and couldn't do anymore. Came back for part of episode 6 and feel very confident in my original decision.
The cinematography is beautiful of course, and it has a very Midsommar vibe. But the plot. UGH. So boring, makes no sense.... I can do boring if it makes sense, or can stick with something slightly confusing if it's interesting. But this. is. just. awful.
Escape at Dannemora (2018)
I'm finally fascinated with this prison break, three and a half years late
I remember when these guys busted out of prison. It was national news for weeks, and I didn't understand why. Yeah, two dudes broke out of prison... yeah, they had help on the inside... the help on the inside was sleeping with one or both of them, which was kind of weird, but whatever. I just didn't get the non-stop coverage of it UNTIL NOW. Clearly all the reporters and national news outlets on the ground knew all the wild details, but it was too complex, and frankly, too raunchy, to report.
Patricia Arquette is a genius. Her voice, mannerisms, etc. make her unrecognizable in this role. Her transformation into Joyce Mitchell rivals Charlize Theron's portrayal of Aileen Wuornos in "Monster." Same with Eric Lange. I was like "oh wait! It's THAT guy?" You totally forget you're watching actors you've seen in other work. Benicio Del Toro is super creepy and Paul Dano is all grown up. The entire cast is brilliant.
I've checked reports about the true story, and so far (I'm 6 episodes in) it seems to be extremely accurate. I didn't expect this kind of drama and intrigue out of Ben Stiller, the director. He killed it. Just give the cast and crew all the awards right now. And yes, I mean all of them.
So yeah, I get the media frenzy now. I'm just a few years late to the party.