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Reviews
Sherman's Showcase (2019)
Comedic Genius in the spirit of R&B Spinal Tap
This pure genius, and I wish there was more creative efforts made like this. I described it as "R&B Spinal Tap meets the Mighty Boosh* All the other negative reviews I've read about this show come from people who just don't get it. Which is a shame.
I grew up watching Soul Train and Solid Gold, so having a show doing a straight up surreal parody of both those shows was magical. And the music. Is. LIT. The time, effort and creativity to craft songs that sound real and legit makes it that much better.
I hope that IFC gives us at least one (two?) more seasons of the mighty awesomeness.
A Black Lady Sketch Show (2019)
Fantastic Premiere, and I can tell it's only going to get better in the next episode.
This was amazing so far, and I can tell it's going to get better. It has the flavor of The Tracey Ullman show meets the Mighty Boosh. I'm loving the creativity and the talents of this performance squad! Thank you HBO for releasing this alongside Random Acts of Flyness.
Iron Fist (2017)
Marvel failed this one
I'm only two episodes in, and I can tell you that in contrast to the other three Marvel- Netflix series, this one is garbage. Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage all brought to the table something exciting, well made, and near masterpiece in writing and acting. Also, they played proper homage to their original source material. I don't want to say anything about the whitewashing of the Danny, as I'm sure there's been too much said on the matter. Focusing on just the quality of the production itself, this is amateurish in both acting and writing. And forget that generic soundtrack. There's nothing that feels plausible nor anything that makes me feel sympathetic about this character, or his situation. Everyone he encounters is a jerk, and I don't want to look at them on the screen However, I can't blame them for being jerky, because Finn's performance makes Danny seem emotionally unstable and annoying. The ONLY reason I'm giving it a 2 instead of a 1 is because at some point Claire will show up. And the only reason I'm going to finish up the series is for the Defenders team up series. However, I hope they kill off this series and make Claire an official member of the Defenders.
Daredevil (2015)
Soulful Crime Noir
It's obvious that one would make comparisons to that of Christopher Nolan's Batman, but for me it's more obvious to compare it to Arrow. For starters, I'm a fanatic of Arrow, to the point of being ridiculous. I had almost boycotted Daredevil because of the Arrow bashing, with the trend of the street saying it was "better". However, I finally broke the picket line, and went to check it out. And I'm glad I did.
In some ways I do know it's better, sure. Even though you can't turn me away from Arrow and make me bash it, I can't deny it's strengths. It wasn't fight sequences, or the action, because they looked and felt the same to me (and honestly, I love the fact that Ollie runs around shooting arrows rapid fire. That's just rad)
Rather, it was the acting, the pace and the level of believably that made it stand out. This is somber, and sad, and you really get scared that poor Matt may actually get killed. Compared to Ollie, he's such a more fragile soul, even if he can kick every one's ass an equal. Hell, there's an entire episode of heart wrenching caliber when Murdock's best friend Foggy finds out he's the psychotic "Devil of Hell's Kitchen".
The flashback sequences with younger Murdock were amazing. Your heart bleeds for the little guy, and I could actually see that being Charlie Cox as a child.
And unlike the popular consensus, I LOVED the slow paced scenes the best. Between the action, and the paranoia bits, there are a lot of moments where people are sitting behind desks and talking. Like real people at work. Many complain about these scenes stating they were "boring". But I loved them. They were the heart and soul of the show. It took some guts to say "OK, now let's have 10 minutes were Foggy, Murdock and Karen investigate stuff online and brain storm other things to look up and then talk some smack" I felt like I knew these people as a bunch of sweet nature, nerdy, up and coming Layers
However, even that wasn't what sold me on the differences between this and Arrow. What made it stand out was Wilson Fisk, Aka The Kingpin, Aka the adversary of the show. He was so sympathetic, you can't hate him. He's crazy, psychotic, violent. But you see why. You wish he had sought some help earlier in his life. He's just a big, overgrown child stuck in a psychosis from his past...thinking he's doing the right thing. Sure, he has some shady understanding of how to keep his revenues up, but you can tell he really thinks he's doing the right thing. And he does care about his those he love. In this instance, the bad guy was just as important as the good guys. And not in the black/white scenario. Some moments you actually think you're siding with him. It's crazy like that.
However, in the end I would still prefer Arrow over Daredevil in that Arrow is just more fun, and has a pulse. Daredevil would get old if it went beyond 13 episodes a season. Better it be treated like a 13 hour long movie series that comes out every year rather than a weekly serial spread out for 23 episodes.
The Muppets. (2015)
This is lame
When I read all these mothers were offended by the show, I thought they were being typical dogmatic fans who worship at the altar of nostalgia. However, I have to agree with the mother's to an extent. I'm not offended by the grittier style of the humor. In fact, I like it for the most part. I love the one camera comedy style, giving it a sense of The Office meets Spinal Tap. But what I don't like about this show is...IT'S BORING. None of the Jokes have been funny (except for Fozy's subplots. Those are kinda cool. But only just...)
The current voices for the Muppets are TERRIBLE! I can do a better imitation of Kermit than Steve Whitmire, and all the various characters just sound off. (The Swedish Chef sounds like he's grunting after gargling whiskey, like if Zakk Wylde is playing him , and who ever the hell is playing professor honeydew isn't even trying). What's worse, is the portrayal of Miss Piggy. She's just mean. Sure, she was always overbearing, and wouldn't take anyone's crap...but she was never vicious. Kermit has been emasculated some how in the recent films and this show. He's a total push over. In the original series and movies, he was a bold leader who wouldn't stand down to anything, even if it meant hurting some feelings. (Of course, he'd then sing a song about what a jerk he was with the guest star, and eventually things would work out. I mean, he wasn't a brute)
I hope this show doesn't last so they can think about their actions and provide me with higher quality shows and movies. The last two movies were excellent (sans Kermit's wimpy attitude), and I had high expectations. I understand, it's not easy being Green. But for god sake, the Muppets have been around for a long time. They're old schoo' pros. They're not green anymore.
Indian Summers (2015)
This is NOT the new Downton Abby!
I'm seeing a whole bunch of stupid reviewers claiming this is the new Downton Abby. On the surface, you'd like to think that. It's roughly the same time period (give or take about 10 or less years).It's got exquisite, historically accurate costumes, lush landscapes and very detailed accuracy to manners and speech. But that's where it ends, because this isn't even CLOSE. This is closer to Game Of Thrones, regardless of the time period...and the fact that GoT isn't from the same world as ours. This is about devious, wicked people who smile in your face, but stab you in the back. They play people to be their pawns in a political battle. Innocent people get hurt, while nasty people gain power. Mind you, I only saw the first episode as I write this, but from the mini-spoilers in the "behind the scenes" along side the violence, intensity and sexuality (and I don't just mean sexiness. This hints at raunch, even if it doesn't show it) showed me clear this wasn't your Aunt Violet Grantham's Tea Party.
So turn back now if you want more lofty, sweet nature dramas involving debates whether or not the young cook servant should learn math, or the Irish Chauffeur has the right suit for dinners, or if that dumb ass duke invested his wife's money poorly again. This is closer to R rated stuff.
Don't get me wrong I LOVE Downton Abby, but I think it's awesome that PBS is showing some hard hitting grit. Mind you, it's the BBC's fault (actually I don't know if the BBC made this. It was on Channel 4 in the UK. I can't tell if that's BBC or an independent channel.). But the UK has up'd their game from "awesome" to just "HolyCrapThatJustBlewMyMindGiveMeMoreGiveMeMore" for both BBC America releases and PBS's Masterpiece.
Thank you UK once again *bows*
Catastrophe (2015)
I would LOVE to give this a 10/10...but....
Rob and Sharon are brilliant over all. I would give these two 12 out of 10, I love them so much as far as their performance for the entire season and for their over all writing. Some of the dialog felt improvised and real (sometimes it felt a little canned as well, but it was so funny, it was worth it)
However...what holds me back is this: The supporting characters out side Rob and Sharon are just such miserable people. And it stops being funny at certain points. I don't mean I love a comedy only full of positive, happy people. I just mean, all the supporting characters are mean spirited in some way, or emotionally immature or just down right skanky. I can get the contrast about 80% of the time, but then one of the characters will do something or say something that is a complete turn off. I understand this is supposed to be gritty, raw and "realistic", but they talk more like they're a bunch of teenagers at a club. I don't know too many women who go around discussing their lady bits, or men talking about their man rod that freely. Especially to the new kid on the block like Rob. Or, I should say...none that aren't the totally macho bro- types. Anyway, I hope Season 2 is more eccentric, or at least increase the charm that's still the main spirit of the show.
Anyway, my last words about Rob and Sharon (I hope they read these things)...I stand by my ground that as far as a comedy team, and over all performers you two are THE. BEST. I also have a wish list of guest stars:
David Tennant as Chris' brother. He should be gay, but incredible aggressive and almost macho.
Billie Piper as some girl who works at a pub.She turns out to have this IQ of 180...knows all this psychology/cognitive therapy stuff and basically is the voice of what I just described about how every one is miserable. Only, she wants to be a famous D.J. one day.