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Reviews
Shawn Mendes: Live in Concert (2020)
Karaoke AI
While I am considered a big fan, this concert is atrocious. This feels like a mass karaoke event with the karaoke master being SM. This concert should be a drinking game. Drink every time he says "sing with me", "jump", "sing", "how are you doing Toronto?" "Louder", "I love you so much" I guarantee you, everyone will be illegally inebriated halfway through this show.
I dare you to find one song he sang completely without asking the audience to sing. I thought having a duet would stop him from making it a trio...but no, he managed to tell Toronto to sing lines.
I don't understand why he keeps asking people how they are doing. Have you been asked by a friend or a family member how you are repeatedly? Quite irritating. And how much feeling has changed in 10 minutes? 20?
Full disclosure, there is still 5 minutes of this concert so maybe the last two songs will be sang in full. I doubt it.
He does have a good voice. Great falsetto.
But the worst bit it is the interspersed motivational speaking moments that was cringy.
I hope he learns how to put a show on because it would be a waste. I don't deny the audience looked thrilled being able to sing Shawn's songs along with him. It must be a wonderful experience.
Outer Banks (2020)
Thrilling if logic is thrown out the window.
It started slow and it picked up and it was hard to look away. It seemed like this is a young adult show but it kept the pace and it was entertaining. The dialogue is quick and snappy so it was highly engaging. Everyone sounded authentic and likable.
Then the second season came and then the underdeveloped brain of under 20s kicked in. Life choices were horrible and the sympathy for the beleaguered protagonist starts to wane. It becomes irritating and instead of rooting for the main characters, you just hope this series ends sooner. The conversations sounded forced. Bad guys started sounding like caricatures. Good guys sounded like they dropped half their brain and can't make any good judgments.
End it at the first season and this would have been a good show.
The Last of Us (2023)
Where does this go?
The first 10 minutes of the first episode was captivating. The idea that humans can be kidnapped as a host to cordyceps is a good premise. But it turned into The Walking Dead. Its about the journey, the battles, the psychos.
Two things to take away from shows like these: If an apocalyptic event does happen and there are a few survivors, humans will turn on each other. E.g., toilet paper in covid times. Humans are idiots. When the planet is about to be taken over by mushrooms and zombies with no civilized convenience in sight, why do people insist on surviving? What's the next step? Make more humans and eventually live underground and drink distilled piss?
Anyway, just a reminder: athletes foot is fungal. Not too long now before the fungi slowly make every cell of the human body smell like old decomposing havianas.
The Tinder Swindler (2022)
A Documentary about a Conman, his Victims and Its Audience
The con isn't as easy to spot like the princes of Nigeria emails or tinder dates that one has never met in real life.
It's true that at the beginning that the overarching judgment towards these women is that they are gold diggers. They got dazzled by the private jets and Park Lane hotels. But somewhere in the course of the documentary, they just are people who are looking for love and the promise of a comfortable future.
NB It's comforting to know that there are many reviews left by people who will never get conned because they are intellectually superior. It's also wonderful that these people took the time out of their busy lives playing video games in their parents' basements to pinpoint that the fault is with these ridiculous women who were conned in this Ponzi scheme. This should teach them a lesson. The world is certainly going to be a better place after ridding the planet of these gullible women and being filled with these geniuses.
Yummy Mummies (2017)
climate change can't come sooner
These people...the only reason why climate change will be welcomed: to wipe them and their brood out.
The Queen's Gambit (2020)
Captivating series
Wonderfully engrossing and entertaining. The main character, despite being sullen on most scenes, is very likable and brings the viewer on a journey of all the highs and lows.
While it may seem that it is about feminine strength, the series accomplished the feat of not overcompensating and making feminism an agenda. It is solely about her rise and stumbles as a chess player.
Interestingly, the negative reviews on this page bear no sense on the series but are about their own religious extremism. While another must have been doing housework instead of watching an episode.
Highly recommended. Captivating story and superbly performed by the main actor. Side note: costumes are wonderful.
Las chicas del cable (2017)
Entertaining and irritating
It's an irritating show to watch. None of the characters are likable. The protagonists are not likable. The antagonists are also not likable. But it is hard to stop after committing to a season.
The costumes are great, the storyline is fantastical similar to daytime soaps although closer to reality.
This is better when the language is kept on the original Spanish and rely on whatever language you're used to as flashing subtitles. The dubbed English sounds similar to Japanese anime or older Kung Fu movies.
Similar to other Spanish tv series, all the characters seem to have a tendency to keep on making bad decisions. This might be the springboard for more episodes. There wouldn't be any sane reason to keep exercising poor judgments.
The rise of women's independence is showcased here. But this series might be casting women in a bad light. Most of the bad life choices are made by the women. Some by the men. While trying to promote equality, it is almost saying that women weren't ready to make the right choices and create more drama as they go through their personal and professional lives.
It's entertaining. It is addictive. It's so over the top and unbelievable and I might be hating myself for watching it to the end.
Relic (2020)
Typical Australian Movie
Patience is needed. Like most Australian made movies, it burns slow and shots are framed similarly. There are long silences between dialogues and it seems like the movie is about indulging on the director's attempt to take all the artistic shots he can squeeze in. It forgets that it would have been better if the director could pull away from using this movie as a vehicle for and stick to storytelling. The audience would appreciate this approach more.
It's a dud.
The House Bunny (2008)
Absolutely dumb but very entertaining
Not all movies are Schindler's List. Keep this one saved for a day when it has been long and your brain needs to rest.
The House Bunny is probably bordering on sexist but in this world, the dumb good hearted blonde and her misfit cohorts comes out on top over evil Stepford Wives wannabes.And the boys comes out quite dumb here as well. In fact, everyone comes out stupid which means this is a fine day for equality of all sexes.
While those who have thought that this movie is too high for their acutely honed sense of humor, they are also the ones who wrote that they "drug" (sic) her husband to watching this. Maybe she did.
It's a good funny movie. Watch it. If you're worried about the dollars, it's out on Netflix. You've already paid for it.
Duchess of Windsor: The Woman Who Stole the King's Heart (2017)
Lackluster and haphazard
Quite unfortunate that though there are fascinating details to Wallis Simpson's life that are shared on this documentary, it's very poorly presented. It seems like there is no direction and edited quite haphazardly. The hosts and the curator seem to be more excited about being on camera that attempts fo convey information and humor were cringeworthy. I eventually enjoyed this playing in the background while vacuuming.
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)
What is with the half baked characters?
I don't know what I just watched. It seemed like there were chunks edited out and the storyline didn't flow. The characters were very weak and they seemed to pop out randomly and their introduction is jarring to the storytelling.
Didn't know that this was an adaptation of a book (books?). Maybe the book made more sense.
The characters are so Irritatingly angsty that it made me think I was watching a teen movie. It was the intrusive dramatic music that suddenly played somewhere at the beginning of the move that screamed teen angst movie.
Some of the actors in this movie seemed to have given better acting work in previous movies they were in and seemed like they just coasted along with this film.
Dialogue made me cringe.
I could polish this review before I press "publish" but why would I? No one bothered to polish the movie for the audience.
Extraction (2015)
When Main Characters are Odious
It's the first time in a movie that I've rooted for all the protagonists to lose in this battle of action good and evil. There have been times when I felt compassion for the bad guys but never have I ever wanted so much for the main characters to be completely wiped out of the storyline.
It's a good movie for background noise after all the gunfire scene at the beginning. After that, it's like a badly tuned white noise and then a droll muffle of an AM radio.
Nothing makes sense in this movie. I follow the suspension of disbelief code when watching movies but it seems white impossible for this. I'm happy to believe Kung fu masters can soar over bamboo fields but not for this movie.
I guess if you have a few spare gigabytes, you can waste it on this while you're in another room.
Stacey Dooley Investigates: Young Sex for Sale in Japan (2017)
Not a Documentary. Indulgent And Judgmental
I prefer to come to my own conclusions in all documentaries. Though I agree with Stacey, o really prefer that this was presented without her opinion.
I'm not entirely sure if her observations of the ages of Asians are quite accurate. We have mostly met Asian people in their 30s still getting ID'd. Her outrage and high horse come across as moral and racial superiority.
Very leading. Great content but should have been presented differently. Her worries about what may or may not occur is not an actual or reality. Sure, it may be a clear pathway but maybe understanding the culture and people before making that judgment could be important for this subject.
Extinction (2018)
A Contraceptive Movie
Halfway though the movie and I may have developed a migraine from the kids screaming. I've almost lways rooted for the main characters in movies but this is the only time I've wanted all the kids to be eliminated and fast. They'll probably survive because children are our future. I hope not these kind of kids.
The kids acting were not bad. They were just irritating and annoying. This movie inadvertently became the best form of contraception.
Oh the movie isn't so bad. Could have been a 5 or 6 but , oh my god, those children.
The Flash (2014)
Mindless Stupid Show With Life Lessons
This is really a stupid show but if you need one to fall asleep because you have to suspend any brain activity, this one is good. The characters love to say "I promise you (insert fantastical promise here)" and "I'll do everything in my power to (insert ridiculous activity here)". The characters, especially the entire West family, including the Flash, keep on making bad decisions. All the supernatural problems in various realities are caused by the Flash which makes you wonder why he is still the protagonist of the show. However, because of these bad decisions, the show continues on season after season.
This is a good show for kids to watch with their parents. Parents can use this as a learning tool to teach kids on the value of making wise decisions. It's also a good political vehicle on teaching kids that sometimes there are battles/problems that are best left for those involved to deal with instead of wiggling in resulting in a situation of utter destruction and failure.
The purpose of the show it primarily for entertainment. But if the very thin tenuous layer of reason is scratched, lessons can be learnt.
Ainsley Harriott's Street Food (2015)
Condescending
It makes me cringe when one has the means to do research and fails to use that budget accordingly. Each episode is condescending. Ainsley's take on the local food is presumably wonderful but there is something off on how this is done. However, where he goes to eat seem remarkable and are good tips for people visiting the cities featured. If only his take on the local cuisine was done in a rented kitchen or back in home studio somewhere else, this show would be better.
The Investigator: A British Crime Story (2016)
Meat Extender
This documentary's topic is the size of that small piece of meat with a liberal dose of meat extender. It's padded but there's no real meat in it. The same points are repeated frequently thst this show could have been just an hour and a half long to get to the end.
Neil, the grandson of the convicted killer, seems like a pawn to add to the unlimited supply of Sam's waterworks. Both the mother and son seem to get more and more emotional as each episode progresses. And the use of the word "progress" is loosely used.