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mightyjor
Reviews
Reacher: ATM (2023)
What happened to the writing here?
I absolutely loved season 1 of Reacher. It was cool. Not much else to it. I'm not saying it was the best thing ever made, but it was solid and fun throughout. This one just has awful writing. Maybe it was the writers strike, but something has gone terribly wrong.
My first tip off was the ATM moment where he just punches through a car window with a cloth around his hand. Thats not at all how car windows work. You need a finer point to break through, not a softer one. Not a huge sin, I mean it's an action show and we forgive that sort of thing all the time.
Where it really got bad was his Sherlock Holmes deduction moments, starting with the dead body being dropped from a helicopter. He deduces it can't be a helicopter because throwing a body off an airplane might hit the tail or a wing. What?? Haven't you ever heard of skydiving? You can throw things off planes dude, it's not going to wreck anything.
Next was the post office. The dummy villains didn't think to check the post office when there's a post office key in the room and a post office literally right outside the door? They broke through the chair legs but didn't try a post office key?
Then when they try and figure out the door, the try to Sherlock Holmes it again by saying people prefer things on the right side and he was right handed. What??? Not only does he try every single box when he gets in, but when you get a key you don't get to pick your box, they just hand one to you!
And then the moment that made me shut it off. The girl looks at her laptop a couple times and says she doesn't have the right hook up for it and needs an adapter. WHAT??? What kind of crappy laptop doesn't have a USB connector? Maybe it's some crazy tech usb that has a proprietary hook up. Nope. It's just a USB. THATS NOT HOW LAPTOPS WORK. Every single laptop has a USB port, and you can literally see them as she's waving her laptop around to find one.
Also the bar scene flashback with all his buddies just made Reacher look like a total douche. Not only that, but there's no way these skinny Hollywood brats are taking down the tough guys that were there. And I'm not just saying that because of the physical obvious differences. The whole team was put together not because of physically strength, but because one of them was great at de-escalating situations, another was a sharp shooter, etc. You're telling me he was able to sharp shoot his way out of there? I thought it was a given that they would be pretty crappy in a bar fight, but no, seems like they somehow got the better of these 300 lb body builders. That, or Reacher did all the heavy lifting there.
Anyway, it's just stupid. I don't know what happened to the writing team, but this was just awful.
The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)
Fun, but messy and overly political
I've really come to love Flanagan's work in the horror genre for it's well realized three dimensional characters and the very human and sometimes horrifying struggles they go through. I think one thing the horror genre does great is showing human beings at their most vulnerable, and because of this it can show humans at their most brave, kind, courageous, and hopeful.
Fall of the House of Usher, while still a fun supernatural tale of woe, falls completely short when it comes to the character work I've come to expect and somehow gets absurdly political by the end. It seems like every character has two defining things about them: they have no morals and they have some weird sexual fetish things. We spend way too long on both of these points and learn virtually nothing else about each person.
I actually like the bullet points of the show and it's got some really amazing moments. I liked watching all these awful people get what was coming to them. I liked some of the scares and blood and creative kills. I liked seeing them freakout as things get worse and worse. There's a few scenes with beautiful dialogue and poetry from Poe. Some of the shots are jaw dropping and horrific and all of it has that cinematic flare that I've come to expect from these shows. So now that I've mentioned why I've rated this as high as I have, I want to get into my issues with the show.
1) the weird sexual stuff is weird. For one, most of these actors were "teenagers" in the Midnight Club, and even if they're adults in real life, when they're acting alongside each other it just feels like they're teenagers and the sexual stuff just feels gross. I know they're adults, but the association is there. Secondly, why does everyone have some weird sexual things? Sometimes it matters, like the kid wanting to turn on the "rain" during his rave, which lead to an amazing moment and I think justified it's focus on the sex. However, the video game guy is just cheating on his boyfriend for no apparent reason in the first shot and his infidelity turns out to be completely meaningless in the scope of his story. There was so much drama to unpack with him and his boyfriend but it skips over all of that for a spooky and unsatisfying resolution. The red haired lady watches her husband make love to other women, the tech lady has her two very young sexual assistants, the one dude is into orgies, the video game dude is unfaithful to his boyfriend and his story line involves multiple explicit sexual acts. And by the way, why is everyone in this show gay or bi? Not that I really care, but that house of Usher was going to go extinct without any intervention from the demon lady. Weird that you would write all your morally reprehensible characters to be in the LGBT community, I'm just saying.
That brings me to the other weird thing that completely threw me for a loop while watching the show. We have multiple characters standing on their soapboxes talking about whatever politics they think are good or bad, but it's so muddy that the characters become confused. It's like the writer wanted to write someone kind of evil, but they can't help but throw in their political talking points of men being awful and trying to take away womens reproductive rights. And that particular speech is given to a man by his sister. And this is coming from a sister who has been through everything with her brother and he has supported her their entire lives. I'm not saying a character can't say these things, but maybe this isn't the kind of speech you need to give to a man who has always been there for you? Maybe he doesn't want to hear that all men are incompetent? I don't even know where her vitriol for men came from? Because of her father? Well, didn't her brother help her get away from him? And didn't they hate their mother too? Man it's just so under developed. When I hear them talk I just hear some 23 year old with a bachelor's in gender studies talking through the script. Again, I LIKE unique characters with multiple different stances and politics and conflicts arising because of those. This show did not have that. Everyone is queer. Everyone is politically identical. Everyone is awful. Oh, and all the women in the show are just as condescending as the tyrant guy they seal in the wall, but for some reason we're not supposed to find that irritating as all heck?
Anyway, rant done. I still like the show a lot. I just found myself groaning and cringing a lot more than I found myself screaming in horror or tearing up. The acid rain scene was great. I loved the shot of the dead bodies falling from the sky. I just found all the sexual and political stuff to be gross and unnecessary.
The Midnight Club (2022)
Great overall show with a few things I don't like
I really enjoyed the show for the most part. It's got some really well acted and complex characters that are easy to love, though some characters get a lot more attention than others. The show spends a lot of time dealing with really complex issues of death, suicide, religion, etc. And I think it does it all fairly well.
There's a sub plot with the cult that feels like it should be the main story line, but it really ends on a bit of a whimper without a great deal of resolution. It feels like it wanted to save a lot of the important story for season 2, but did so at the expense of a satisfying resolution for season 1.
Where the show really shines though are the small horror stories sprinkled throughout. All of them are very unique, really well told, and have fun and clever moments throughout. I highly doubt a group of teenagers would be able to tell so many layered and complex short stories, but I'll look past that little plot hole since it was so fun to watch all of them.
So aside from a poor resolution to the main plot thread, I'd say this was a great watch and well worth the time invested.
From (2022)
Excellent mystery box setting with some inconsistent writing
The setting and mystery of the show are just fantastic. They do a great job setting things up that get you to really wonder about this place they're in. The monsters are creepy as heck.
On the opposite end, you have some really awful writing and a bit of bad acting. The protagonist whose name I can't remember is about as unlikable as it gets, acting like a nice dad and then coming off his hinges and throwing some mentally ill dude out of the front door.
The flashbacks to the first people in this place are really terrifying and I'm glad it's only flashbacks since the whole show in that style would maybe be too tense for me. Overall I'm really excited for season 2 to see where things go from here. I'm hoping and hoping that we get some real answers by the time the show is over and it ends with a bang, but we'll see.
Nope (2022)
A great monster/thriller/mystery
This is my favorite kind of horror movie, one where we don't know what the monster is and we slowly learn clues about it and try to take it down. It's not nearly as concerned with scaring the audience, though there's certainly a few horror scenes, 2 in particular that I'll be thinking about for a long time to come. I love that the UFO itself is the horror element, rather than some creepy aliens with guns or something.
Anyone will tell you that the movie is gorgeous, but some of the things that people didn't like actually were pretty fantastic imo. The slow first hour did a lot to build up the monster which made the last half all the more powerful. I've heard funnily enough criticisms that too much of the antagonist was revealed and others saying it didn't reveal enough, but I think it was just the perfect amount. It was enough that I felt like I had a really good understanding of what it was without bogging down the story with a bunch of boring details that aren't crucial to the plot.
I've heard others say the messaging was heavy handed, but I didn't think so. If anything, I think this is where the movie stumbles a bit since it's not really clear what the message is. We see very clear messaging, but a lot of that seems to get thrown out in the climax of the film in exchange for a great climax. I don't particularly mind though. The other criticism I might have for the movie is that the size and speed of the monster seemed to vary wildly throughout the film, where it would move really slow if a character was running from it but it could move lightning fast when zipping through the clouds. Maybe there was a reason for that and I missed it. The size thing was a bit more jarring though, sometimes it seemed the size of a normal jet plane, other times it looked like the mothership from Independence Day. I know there's some form of shape shifting going on here, but it still felt a bit sloppy sometimes.
Anyway, wonderful film.
The Black Phone (2021)
Really fun and emotional thriller
I can see why a lot of people would say it's not a "horror" movie since the scares are few and far between. It focuses far more on the clever premise and heart of the characters. I didn't find the unanswered questions all that annoying either. I genuinely felt like we got hints as to what's really going on behind the scenes and only a few people will catch them.
Child killers from a few decades back are really scary to me and it's such an interesting premise to think of what all the combined knowledge of every victim could lead to. Overall I think it's a great movie with a great execution. Not too bloody or graphic, much more focused on tension and characters.
**spoilers below**
If I were to nitpick anything, I'd say it would be a lack of resolution for the mom's story since it seemed to be an important part of the family trauma. The character of Max was a bit dumb. I think the killer having 2 different homes was edited to seem like a big twist but it didn't feel like one. Anyway, those are small things. The movie is fantastic.
Bill Burr Presents: Friends Who Kill (2022)
Gets worse as you go along
I'm not exactly sure what to say here. The opening act was fun from Burr. I was surprised I quite liked Michelle Wolfe and Jimmy Carr, but as the acts went on they got worse and worse. I felt genuine cringe at both the later female comedians that spent most of their acts acting like ogres. The worst I think was the ending musical numbers. At least the first one has a few jokes in the song, even though I don't think making the audience sing naughty lyrics is very funny. But what the heck happened at the end? Why did the show end with a terrible cover of Katy Perry? I can't help but feel like it was a big F U to everyone who stuck around for the entire show. It wasn't even a comedy song, just a really bad cover of what's actually a very fun song.
Anyway, this was just weird. Probably my least favorite comedy special I've seen on Netflix. Sad too since it had so much potential to introduce me to comedians I didn't know.
Love, Death & Robots: Swarm (2022)
Neat idea but I needed more
There's some really cool things going on in this episode. I really like the hive mind idea and the way it all of a sudden turns on them. The logic behind a sentient being turning on and off to fight off attackers is pretty neat.
Honestly though, I think the premise ultimately fails. The weird sex scene is totally random. Being chosen as breeders was cool but why do they even need breeders if they can clone? Seems like parts of this alien race functionality just appear and disappear as necessary. Also the abrupt ending is one of my least favorite things in these types of shows. It ends without even a hint of resolution and I don't understand what they were even getting at by absorbing the guy. Maybe I need to give this another watch and the clues were there and I missed them, but I don't think you need things to be irritatingly obscure for it to be smart sci-fi. Just present me with a cool concept that raises some interesting philosophical parallels with our own world and I'm a happy guy. Ultimately though, this felt like overly pretentious eye candy.
Love, Death & Robots: Pop Squad (2021)
As a dad it made me cry
It's rare a show can get genuine tears out of me, but this got them for sure. Absolutely incredible execution. Beautiful animation, great writing, and as a dad it made me really think about my daughter and all the things I love about her that I might take for granted sometimes when she's pressure squirting her diarrhea across the bedroom wall. Favorite episode from season 2 by far.
Love, Death & Robots: Bad Travelling (2022)
Masterpiece! My fave episode so far!
These episodes are usually a hit or miss for me, and oh boy was this one a hit. From the first scene I was 100% invested. The best sci-fi stories use their fantastical settings to show off great characters being smart and clever and resourceful and this one does it wonderfully. It had me gripped from beginning to end.
Love, Death & Robots: Three Robots: Exit Strategies (2022)
Great animation, Cringy humor, overly political
Animation is great as always. Unfortunately that's not quite enough to cut it with this sort short story. The humor is really bad...like I feel like it might have been written by an edgy 12 year old. The message was way too political as well. I often don't mind politics in my media, obviously you want to have some kind of message in whatever story you're writing. With this one though they stepped way over the line with a dumb message that's overly preachy for a silly cartoon. I liked these better when they were more focused on silly human culture things rather than eye rolling doomsday left wing propaganda.
Diabolical: Nubian vs Nubian (2022)
Man this could have been great
This episode hurts because it was almost so good. You have all the building blocks for something great - family drama, parents close to a divorce, a kid trying to keep them together, a fun twist with the villain halfway through.
There was really some heart in it but they threw away any sincerity the episode had for shock value and a tasteless cheap laugh at the end. The episode really falls apart at the end.
Diabolical: BFFs (2022)
Not THAT bad
Ok this isn't a masterpiece or anything, but come on, it's not unwatchable. It's almost like Awkwafina just gave the middle finger to Amazon and was allowed to write whatever the heck she wanted, which is kind of funny. The poop stuff was kind of gross and not very funny, but honestly the ending gave me a chuckle when she discovers what her powers are as she's fighting the Deep and it's this epic anime showdown almost like they're playing it straight, which I just found really funny.
Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist: Zoey's Extraordinary Outburst (2020)
Um what??
Why is everyone in this episode absolutely insane? Why was Zoey so rude and mean to literally everyone? I understand she's angry because of grief, but seriously. That was extreme. Like saying that the guys grief was boring? Man, Zoey is freaking heartless. Basically everyone in this episode took crazy pills.
Merlin (2008)
A spectacular show with a terrible ending
I love almost every episode of this 5 season show. I think most of the writing is brilliant and fun and is great at keeping you engaged.
Most.
The ending for this show is terrible. There are a few key plot points that never get resolved and I absolutely hate what happened and it was as unsatisfying of an ending that you could imagine. If I had known it would end this way I wouldn't have started.
The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
Movie Magic
Remember when Scream came out? People loved it - and not because it was the most horrifying and controversial scary flick ever released. It was a huge success because it gave fans of the horror genre something new. It made them laugh because it lovingly poked fun at a genre the fans knew by heart. Cabin in the woods takes a slightly different approach. Where Scream chose to laugh about dumb things people do in horror movies, Cabin decides instead to respectfully explain...well, everything - and making you laugh/scream while it does.
I absolutely loved this film. If you've looked at a few reviews, you'll see this film has three acts. I like to compare them to the three acts of a magic trick - something I learned from The Prestige:
1) The Pledge - Something ordinary is introduced to the audience. Five average college students go to a remote cabin in the woods where they'll spend the weekend partying it up! This is where we say to ourselves that because this is a horror movie, everyone will die, and thus we already know the ending. Am I right?
2) The Turn - There's something else happening here. It's not what we thought. This is the part where we scratch our head and say "Wait a sec...what's going on?" This story isn't keeping to the rails we set it on. It's taking a weird turn and only getting weirder. This is also the part where people give up and decide they hate it because it's different. It's also the part where your standard horror flick ends...but wait!
3) The Prestige - The resolution. The end. The explanation to everything that's been going on, and also possibly the greatest 20 minutes ever shown in horror movie history. This is the part where the audience is silent and speechless as every die-hard horror fan's dream is realized on screen. All your dedication, love, and sacrifice for this genre is justified. The credits roll, you walk out of the theater saying to yourself, "Did that just happen?" - and then you buy another ticket and watch it again.
I'm trying not to reveal anything too big, and I think everyone else will tell you the same; you want to know as little as possible about it before you watch. The movie is funny, scary, and unbelievably entertaining. If you don't like it, you're one of the people that took a turn in act two and stopped following along. I feel so sorry for those guys. Have a good time at the theater!