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Corky_McButterpants
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Blue Eye Samurai (2023)
So A.I. is writing everything now...?
Extra points for the nicely executed animation, but the tired, predictable, oh so familiar storytelling makes this a total waste of ones time if you're over the age of 14 (or a well read 8 year old). Cringe worthy dialogue that seems quite satisfied with coming off hardcore and on the nose (with bonus swears to claim ownership), but just plays as off kilter the whole time...
if this wasn't written by an AI dumbot I will eat my oversized straw hat and wooden shoes; string n all. >_<
I've no problem with the gender swapping of a historically male role, it's fantasy before anything else after all, but is there any reason to attempt it (other than fulfilling 'the message') if it doesn't bring anything particularly noteworthy to the table.
Go watch some Kurosawa, or better yet, Samurai Jack... Gotta get back... Back to the paaaaassst...Samurai Jack.
The Pentaverate (2022)
🎶 It's Mike's World... Mike's World... Party Time? Not Excellent...
I have to say I absolutely adore Mike Myers, right from his earliest foray into Saturday morning kids TV here in the UK. He's such a genuine and nice Canadian eh. Wayne's World was the SNL sketch that didn't really outstay it's welcome with the expansion into Cinema and popular culture. Austin Powers was a genius creation that had a couple of good goes at displaying Mike's penchant for multi character goof-balling... and then he met Beyonce; maybe best not even talk about that one, shall we?
And now we're witness to what happens when a comedy legend who is decidedly stuck in the past with his now dated shtick gets several fat stacks of Netflix cash thrown at him... to develop a short run series based off of a throwaway sketch from 30 years ago when Mike was, you guessed it, playing multiple characters with skewwhiff comedy Scottish accents. Really quite painful to watch as the same old low-hanging scatological fruit is so blithely tossed at the viewer with no apparent passion for the material to actually flow and have meaning and, most importantly.
Mmmm, oh yeah... timing! It's nothing but a gag-reel of spliced together ideas from page to small screen all wrapped up in a lightweight conspiracy, secret cabal, oh look! Fat bloke, blah blah, mcguffin. Production is not to be faulted, but frankly that's irrelevant if the base of the sauce we're cooking here is already on the turn. And it's particularly sad to see Keegan-Michael Key front and centre in this Myersstock cavalcade of nonsense. Mike Myers is deserving of his place in the hall of comedy heroes, it's just a shame that he has no one in his inner circle to explain to him that the world has moved on and warn him off such weak projects as this. Not groovy baby!
Fargo (2014)
Three outstanding seasons in the can... and then.
I honestly can't recall having watched a single instalment of Fargo's previous seasons and not been willing to chew off my own arm for the chance to watch the next episode as soon as possible... having given season 4 a fair shake with the opening 2 acts, there seems little point in continuing...
Whilst the period setting and wardrobe are undeniably on point, the cast of characters (and the questionable casting) all seem drawn from the Rockstar gaming camp of hackneyed one dimensional rent-a-villains®. Who are we supposed to root for when no one stands out?
Billy Bob's Lorne Malvo alone in season 1 was enough reason to keep you on the hook, but surrounded as he was by such excellent company in Martin Freeman's performance and Alison Tolman's unrelenting force for good.
Season 2 could be considered the closest parallel to this tale of gang rivalry shenanigans (with added aliens?) but again, it was held up by such a strong collection of interesting characters from Kirsten Dunst to Patrick Wilson, Ted Danson and Bokeem Woodbine. You were immediately invested in the path they were each walking and how the intersections would play out.
Season 3 gave us the (not new, but well handled) twin thing from Ewan Mcgregor, and again, surrounded by some fascinating characters brought to life by Carrie Coon, Michael Stuhlbarg and the chilling vileness of David Thewlis.
I've always been fascinated by how many great comedians make thoroughly excellent (and natural) actors - does it stem from what led them to become a comedian in the first place? That fragile ego that demands over compensation? A simple learned ability to inhabit any other vessel than their own? Unfortunately Chris Rock is far too well adjusted and confident in his own 'self' to break out of his shell and give us a convincing portrayal for Loy Cannon.
And with him front and center at the top of this pyramid of obvious and mostly banal players, one has to question why the trademark Fargo feel, built up thus far, is so glaringly absent. Has too much production been laid off on underlings stepping into bigger shoes and such? Did the Covid outbreak seriously hamper the 'flow' of what normally lays these golden eggs for our TV consumption? If Noah Hawley is announcing this is business as usual, so be it... but I will only be giving this a couple more stabs before checking out.
You're on thin ice Mr. Hawley. Yes sir you Betcha!
The Great War (2019)
Remember how great 'Atlantic Rim' was? Oh look here's a clone chasing 1917's success......
A visually clean experience where WW1 trenches apparently had no mud in them! We're supposed to invest in characters fighting for the S.U. of America because entire scenes are mirrored to pander to the balance of the frame. Attractive raven-haired foreign nurses are unapologetically lifted wholesale from Game of Thrones. Add a sprinkling of 5th Grade narrative to highlight the struggle for the coloured soldiers and you've got it in the can... here we go off to the awards (the Raspberry ones ofc). - Huzzah! \o/
3 Private Ryan's out of 10.