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davidklausa
Reviews
The Righteous Gemstones (2019)
Cowardly writing
This show does not have the courage to actually criticize anything about Christianity, a subject ripe for making fun of. It's so farcical that it lacks any social commentary or knowledge of evangelicalism, probably to avoid offending adherents. I'm not sure they even understand the difference between Protestants and Catholics.
Just a lot of yelling and cheap lewdness, much like Always Sunny. Is this what Hollywood writers with no connection to the real world think is edgy? See Mr. Show for an example of incisive writing.
John Goodman is believable as a minister. The other characters are overacted and unlikable.
Years of Living Dangerously (2014)
For the totally uninitiated.
As someone who already understands the basics of climate change, I find little to learn from this show. It's basically celebrities asking very naive questions, softballs to get an easily impactful line. Cheadle, Ford, and Friedman are boring and humorless. The camera pans to closeups of handshakes and guns, trying a little too hard to create an atmosphere of foreboding. The typical Gore-bashing argument of flying in private jets etc. does seem especially on display here, although somebody has to fly around doing some journalism if messages are to be spread. The actual content of the show is educational. If you don't know anything about climate change and respect actors, you can get something out of this.