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marc_baker1
Reviews
Titans: Lazarus (2021)
Not buying Kartheiser as Scarecrow
Maybe it's just me and my Peter Campbell bias but when he dances in an attempt to channel Nic Cage or Ted Levine, it just looks like awkward 8th grade first dance dancing. There's no menace or edge too him. Just a one-note miscast bearded man in a jumpsuit.
Love the show. Unlike some commenters, I'm fine with the show diverging from established canon. Just tell a good story.
The White Lotus (2021)
Downton Abbey on the beach
I'm hoping the show leans into the working stiffs more. Feels like 75% rich people and 25% people who feed and clean them. Might be better if 50/50.
I'll give it more time to see where it goes. Great ensemble cast.
Fake Famous (2021)
Color me shocked...
...if this isn't the premise for a major network reality competition show within a year. The Next Top Star Influencer hosted by Nick Cannon. I fear for all of us.
Titans: Conner (2019)
So then Krypto is ...
...um, Clark and Lex and dog? I know, I know, they were "experimenting on him". But I'd still pay a monthly subscription fee for a gene-spliced Adventures of Krypto series. Think of the possibilities:
- moral dilemma - should I be good or evil or just lick myself
- career decisions - newspaper reporter, corporate tycoon, or pee to mark my territory
I would go on but I've wasted enough of your time.
Oh, and great episode. Script great. Effects during commando scene great. Lex's dad - c'mon, do this is in a Superman movie - give us this depth. Well directed.
And the deus ex machina at end is fine by me. Isn't Superman a god figure in some of the DC mythos?
The Boys: We Gotta Go Now (2020)
What if you knew Batman was coming for you?
A full episode of Butcher preparing for Black Noir would have been Nirvana. I'll take the 5-10 minutes we got.
Primal (2019)
Why hate on Jannsen when...
...you can hate on Imperioli.
IMHO, Imperioli was Pippen to Gandolfini's Jordan during his Soprano run. Where did this one-note nothing of a role come from? Michael, please chew some scenery if you're going to take the paycheck.
Fortunately, 2019 Cage's passable impersonation of Con Air Cage made this watchable.
John Was Trying to Contact Aliens (2020)
I'm a fan of Netflix providing exposure to different forms of storytelling
Well made short doc (16 minutes) on one man's passion, his search for the unknown, and discovery of something he wasn't looking for. Nicely crafted music. Professional editing and camera work. Good job
Boys State (2020)
Maybe there's hope for us
Halfway in, I had to check to make sure this was a documentary. I don't know how the filmmakers lucked into one of their subjects but kudos and I'm glad I got to see the results.
This doc definitely has a slant to it but I think it's major theme of "change through listening" is universal.
Well done.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: The Gang Cracks the Liberty Bell (2008)
Bad episode - incredible ending
As I watched the episode, I remarked to my viewing partner several times about how bad the episode was compared to most. A lot of money seemed to go into the period sets for not much payoff. But the ending...staying spoiler free it reminded me of the "Richer" episode of South Park - another program with a million dollar end scene.
I love the idiots that make this show.
Booksmart (2019)
Like an episode of Broad City...
...if Broad City was four times longer and four times badder. Caricatures in contrived situations. Hard pass.
DRIB (2017)
What have we become?
Sell with the preposterous. Ok. I'm in.
Well made movie with some interesting, though not fully formed, ideas on how corporations exploit our baser instincts to sell product.
Extra rating star added for Brett Gelman's scene-eating performance as Brady the marketing dick.
Minding the Gap (2018)
Experiencing others pain
I'm not a skateboarder, did not grow up under difficult circumstances, have a father I am proud of and feel I've done ok as a father myself.
There should be no reason for me to connect with this film. Yet I did in a very strong way. Mr. Liu showed me his subjects' pain and did it in such an honest way. As he says to his friend, Kiere, at one point - I see myself in your story. He is just exploring and trying to find an answer to his own pain through the mediums he knows - skateboarding and filmmaking.
The third act climax for each subject is painful and heart wrenching. I'm thankful that Mr. Liu shared this with us.
Lost in Translation (2003)
Better than a Porsche
Lost souls. Strangers in a strange land. Sure.
In my mind it's about connection. Any day, every day, most of us look for it - some harder than others.
We get one if the timing is right but mostly don't because most of us have made our beds and signed up for straight-jacketed monogamy.
I hear guys love this movie more than women. Hard to understand why it could be otherwise.
I assume Soffia let her actors run amok in Japan and followed them. Some pieces fall apart like the 5 karaoke songs in a row. But I'm hooked on the journey. Bill whispers "I have kids. Please don't ever have kids" before the two part.
Great mood. Great shots. Great unfulfilled physical encounter. Friendship and flirtation were purer.
A Ghost Story (2017)
My gift to you
Emotionless Affleck with nice abs dies
Emotionless Affleck ghost rises covered in morgue sheet with two holes
Sniffling widow Mara cry masturbates with a pie
Affleck throws plates and scares the Christmas out of some poor Latinos
Rambling diarrhea hillbilly bores a party
Mara sticks a note in a wall and it says...WHAT? !? I'm sorry Mr. Lowery but I just don't get it. You make me feel stupid for not understanding and I resent you for that. I think you want me to feel this way and maybe I did something to make you want to make me feel stupid and I apologize for it. But I feel you should now apologize to me because what I did to you inadvertently couldn't be as bad as what you've done to me purposefully.
Oh and pilgrims and Indians and a high rise and a bulldozer and a piano and please listen to me and don't watch this. I beg you.
2 stars because nice shot framing and spooky tense music