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Reviews
Navalny (2022)
What Hope Looks Like
With bare honesty this documentary tells the improbable story of a single man taking on the Kremlin in a PR battle and winning resoundingly. As he and his team unravel the mystery of his poisoning, they shine a light on Putin's brazen, murderous regime.
This intimate look at Navalny deserves the Oscar it won for best documentary feature. It's the best ninety minutes in front of a screen that you'll spend in a long while. There are so few heroes in politics around the world today. In the face of attempted murder and possibly decades in prison, Navalny shines bright as a force of good facing the Kremlin without fear.
Reservation Dogs (2021)
This Show Does Everything
How a single show can be this hilarious edgy, profound, irreverent, and fresh is astounding. The guiding themes of friendship and loss and history are omnipresent, yet each episode takes the viewer on a journey that is at once deeply human and just plain beautiful.
I honestly can't think of a show in recent memory that accomplishes more with less. I've never seen such honest depictions of life on a reservation. The acting and character development is masterful. The music selection is perfect. The acting is near flawless. The writing is spot on.
Though the first season blew me away, I went into the second season with lower expectations. It's so difficult to keep the magic and the first season was teeming with magic. But the second season managed to be even funnier and more moving.
Watch this show now.
Bluey (2018)
Absolute Brilliance
No show has ever done more with less. Simple animation and episodes under seven minutes add up to the greatest kids show of all time. Without Pixar budgets, this Australian public television show accomplishes as much as early Pixar ever did in telling stories that are equally as enjoyable for parents as for kids. What a remarkable feat this show is.
It is pure-hearted and wonderfully deep and just simply magical. The stories are concise but consistently expansive. The music is brilliant. The animation is simple but inventive and never repetitive. The whole here is vastly more than the sum of its parts. Sincerity and joy triumph in Bluey and the tone seems to never really get lost across ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY EPISODES.
I have no idea how the makers of Bluey do it, but all of Hollywood should pay attention. For several years I've petitioned many friends to rate Bluey on IMDB and I'm delighted that it's finally in the upper echelon of all-time highest rated shows where it belongs.
Tumble Leaf (2013)
Beautifully Slow
A work of art, Tumble Leaf is engaging and visually magical. Our three year old twins love it. And I enjoy watching it with them. Each segment develops a theme methodically, but the lessons are not heavy-handed or preachy.