hmb-51778 Reviews

After Midnight (2024– )

No more sponsorships

[1/10 · 25 May 2024]

I am not happy with Revision 3 of the show - this is the one where Taylor stands out in front of the studio audience as she tries to sell the lame jokes they've written for her about whatever happened yesterday on the Internet.

First things first - it's old news.

Second, the writers really leave Taylor out to dry with most of these bits.

Then there's the show from Thursday, May 23rd.

This one is (very sadly) "sponsored" by a tequila. I refuse to repeat its name here for the main reason I was barraged by its name over and over and over again.

One lame bit after another as the contestants swilled a cocktail.

If I ever see another episode with a "sponsor" I am done.

I will never watch it again.

So, so lame and unnecessary.

Dead Boy Detectives (2024– )

Super glad they aged the characters up

[10/10 · 22 May 2024]

I really enjoyed the show from soup to nuts. But I am SUPER happy that they aged up the characters from 13 to 17 or so.

The interactions of the characters would have been really weird otherwise.

The chemistry of the characters is so my much fun. The central four are just so much fun to watch.

And even though the Cat King is an invention, he's my favorite. I'd let him keep his catnip in my freezer anytime.

One clarification from what I have understood from the graphic novel was that both boys are part of the LGBT community. Not just one of them. So, the protestation of love would have not fallen so strangely.

Still, we're on our third watch through.

Assassin's Creed Mirage (2023 Video Game)

Weirdly broken game

[2/10 · 19 April 2024]

Downloaded the game they're offering - like 90 minutes to play the game before you have to decide weather to buy.

I was done less than 30 minutes in.

First issue was he wouldn't run up one of those triangular wooden things leaning against a wall.

Literally WOULD NOT RUN UP IT. Ran around it, but if I tried to make him run up to thing he'd vear off. After wasting 45 seconds trying to get him to do this simple task, I gave up. But I realized this showed a lack of quality control in the development of the game.

Then, a few minutes later I was trying to steal whatever the Templars had in that box AND HE WOULDN'T KNEEL ANYMORE. Tried hitting the button over and over.

NOTHING.

I need him to sneak.

He won't sneak.

Done.

I get it that quality control is lacking these days.

But this game has been out for months now. And you'd think they'd want folks to have a nice experience while this shoehorned "secret" story unspools for 90 minutes.

But no.

Will literally never buy anything else in this universe.

And this from someone who's put well over 400 hours into Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

A Royal in Paradise (2023 TV Movie)

Great performances of subtlety and nuance

[9/10 · 21 October 2023]

You heard me! Nuance and subtlety in a romance movie.

Every time I thought this thing was going to go down that very very familiar road, it's somehow pulled itself out of the morass.

Is there a prince in disguise? Is there a girl and a deadline? Absolutely!

But the movie is also an excuse to show some really beautiful nature photography especially the kind underwater -which one you consider this is supposed to be about a nature preserve makes total sense.

The secondary leads are both very winning, even the Royals as much as they could be a pain in your thigh, turn out to be, well, sort of endearing.

Is there a happy ending? Is this a rom-com?

Yes, and yes. Rhiannon Fish does her usual broadness, which works fine here.

On the other hand, Mitchell Bourke doesn't absolutely imperatively good job.

His wistfulness about his dead father actually pulled feelings from me.

He has that sort of dignity one expects of a prince, plus he gets a shirt off a lot. He is literally acres and acres of pretty.

I certainly am looking forward to more films starring him.

Give it a chance, it is after all on Freevee.

It is more than a good use of your time, but a relaxing and lovely to look at view.

I Woke Up a Vampire (2023– )

We made it to episode 3, I think

[3/10 · 19 October 2023]

Honestly, I wonder how many episodes we actually watched.

I do remember that we quit when they were doing the video game war, battle, whatever, it was just stupid. Not that the show hadn't gone off the rail several times by that point anyway.

Like so many of these shows, the main character is actually the antagonist.

She starts her own issues and makes her own problems. She is unappealing in every way. The so-called bad guys, a snooty girl who falls down when she walks, and the others are blandly and poorly acted.

Her little friend, who is coded as LGBT, is pretty well done. But he has nothing to do except go around fixing messes that the main character creates and actually trying to solve the issue of how his friend became a vampire.

In truth, a show just about him, would be a lot more interesting.

Is the new best friend also one of these halflings, who knows? Worse yet, who cares.

The actress playing the parents of the main character do nice enough job, but my word the kids that play the twins. Yikes.

The one thing I will give the show credit for, is that they do have characters say poor things about characters that are acting poorly. But there is no actual retribution or control.

Avoid at all costs, unless you're 7 years old.

Drag Race Brasil (2023– )

We know they're not real competitions... but

[1/10 · 23 September 2023]

This show has some of the LEAST talented queens in comparison to the best shows.

The host is not ready for the gig. She lacks anything that resembles any actual depth as either a queen or a host. She makes Brook Lynn Heights look like a great host in comparison.

The judging, if you can call it that, is hollow and shows the obvious script they're forced to follow.

It gets to the point queens who are 4th teir in their drag are kept around because the show wants to look good for having a queen without a stitch of talent outside painting her face - in what appears to be pandering to the disabled population. As a disabled person, i find it disgusting.

I'm sorry, but we're not going to be watching this sad little piece of Drag Race herstory.

The Final Countdown (1980)

Glacial

[2/10 · 22 July 2023]

I remember seeing this back in the day. Its many issues were papered under by the (terrible by modern standards) less-than-stellar effects.

The dialogue is so pedantic and predictable - not to mention delivered with a weird, gutless delivery.

Kurt Douglas has never been a subtle actor, and outside of him seemingly barely stifling the occasional burst of laughter he turns in a workman-like performance.

Poor Martin Sheen. He's here to be the fulcrum around which the plot is to turn. But he's just a sypher.

I'll mark this down to having just survived a heart attack the previous year. He still looks like the snack he often played before, but he should have maybe sat this one out.

And I won't even touch on Katherine Ross or Charles During.

Just sad.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Charades (2023) Season 2, Episode 5

Watch him run!

[10/10 · 14 July 2023]

He's a grandson of Gregory Peck.

His performance in the Star Trek universe as Spock has been measured and subtlety. Here's his chance to be outlandish and explosive. He's also obviously having fun.

If there's anything missing is maybe a bit more slapstick. Not his fault, but he is so good as he struggles to kill a certain someone whose slovenly habits become unbearable after years of going along and cleaning up the other person's mess.

For those of us who quietly take care of others, it's a moment of joy and release - and spittle.

And we get the joy of seeing Mila back as his mother Amanda.

Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (2023)

WOW. All the naysayers forgot the original movie

[10/10 · 3 June 2023]

Honestly, I love Grease. I saw it with my family at a DRIVE-IN theater!

That's right, a drive-in movie theater. Those days are long gone. I think there's maybe one drive-in movie theater in my entire State.

The sound came out of a tinny speaker that was attached to a long cord. It was one channel - no surround sound or Atmos anything. The projection was on a huge outdoor screen that was showing signs of wear. The place had been built in the 1950's - the setting for this movie.

It was the 1970's doing that nostalgia thing for the 1950's. It, in no way, reflected the actual 1950's. The two female leads were significantly older than their supposed ages.

The music wasn't 1950's style.

I'll point out they had to sew Ms. Newton-John into her outfit at the end of the movie because LYCRA wasn't available.

The original is nearly 50 years old.

So, if your complaint is this show isn't accurate. Or like the original film.

Well, that's true. It's more like the 1950's than the original.

And, honestly, having the Pink Ladies being formed by young women outside of the social order frankly makes sense. They seemed to exist outside of the social order of the movie too.

They were, frankly, hiding their pain and fear behind bravado and snarkiness.

Really watch the movie again, and then use your imagination and you'll see this show has its own, very valid, take on the less than wonderful time it is talking about.

And, fo that, I'm grateful.

Tina (I) (2021)

A remarkable life, a meh documentary

[8/10 · 27 May 2023]

I got HBO Max a year ago to watch the British version of Ghosts.

We gave up after a bit, it was a show without any movement.

At the midpoint of the third season, it was obvious that it was a hollow entertainment.

I'm ending my time with Max is with this film.

The HBO Documentary:Tina, is sort of the opposite.

So much movement.

Sadly, there's a lot lacking here.

The editing is off-putting.

The weird filmed interstitials add nothing to the show or the words spoken over them.

Tina Turner is, and will always remain one of the most dynamic and talented performers to ever come out of the United States.

Her tormant and pain are front and center.

Only until that last bit, where she finds her great love.

Zurich is seen as a bucolic paradise.

I am so glad she found so much happiness after so much sadness and abuse.

I pray she's found peace.

Rest in Power, beautiful Queen ~

Monster High: The Movie (2022 TV Movie)

OMG! Such cuteness and fun songs

[10/10 · 16 December 2022]

Okay, we started to just Hate watch it.

But the costumes were fun, the acting was so much better than these sorts of things get.

There are a lot of silly visual jokes.

But the CGI is better than most of these direct to streaming movies.

The truth is the music was amazing. The singing was so great. Especially the principle leads. Miia Harris as Clawdeen Wolf has both tonal clarity and a full, rich pop voice. Case Walker as Duece Gorgon is serviceable with a welcome opennes to his voice.

Is this cannon? Not from what I've heard. Is it entertaining? Yes.

The happy ending was a foregone conclusion.

This production has some things over another other "different girl" at a school for supernatural kids. For one, it actually came out BEFORE Halloween.

Strangely the Big Bad is a Hyde - which is interesting. Are there no other bad guys to anchor these things?

Terrible modern choreography danced with enthusiasm in festive costumes.

A repeat watch for sure!

Something for the Boys (1944)

What the flock?

[3/10 · 25 September 2022]

Another one of those assembly line tortured Cole Porter musicals. He'd crank out pithy entertainments only to have Hollywood turn them into yet another lame gutless wonder.

This outing is especially egregious when the Z-grade production starts with a number featuring the lead actress in an outfit they obviously had laying around for a MUCH taller actress.

Worse is the way they costume the backup dancers. Red and white striped spangled pants sticking out of a bodice that hitches up so far in the back it looks more like fan service from a bad anime.

The rest of the movie got so bad we bailed 20 minutes in.

Another lackluster Carmen Miranda vehicle.

The End Is Nye (2022– )

Who plays Kor?

[10/10 · 4 September 2022]

I love the tone of the show. It's funny when it needs to be.

They seem to be making this show into its own South Park. But instead of Kenny, they kill off Bill every episode.

It's sort of like every wonderful end of the world disaster movie. But with better jokes and Bill's low key cool.

Like when another airline passenger grabs his hand just before their plane is destroyed. He reassures the Audiece, and possibly himself, that this action is okay.

That same passenger shows up in other episodes, as himself. Whereas other actors change parts. An astronaut one time, a bride in another.

Now, how about someone stepping up and telling me who plays Kor, the caveman?

The Ghost and Molly McGee: Out of House and Home/Home is Where the Haunt Is (2022) Season 1, Episode 18

Wow, a busman's holiday for sure

[8/10 · 6 August 2022]

As someone who works in homelessness and foreclosure this episode was chilling and sad.

Look, I get it. These are very serious topics and the writers cannot be faulted for soft selling them - especially when directed at kids.

But I know too well the numbers of actual children out on the streets with a parent or legal guardian. And in hiding these very real issues in a kids show were everything is "fixed" in an ending right out of It's a Wonderful Life is understandable, but ignores all the kids who are not going to be saved by their neighbors "pitching in" and buying their house out of foreclosure.

Shining Vale (2022–2023)

First 7 episodes are amazing. Then episode 8 happens

[3/10 · 2 August 2022]

It's a dumpster fire. So bad it ruins what came before it. Making the whole notion of a Season 2 more of a threat than a promise.

Almost like they are writing Season 8 of GoT without any supervision. Almost like they didn't actually have any idea where this was going.

At

All

Sad.

Up to that point it was a fun house mirror on suburban life.

Were there cracks beforehand? Yes.

A neighbor who has spent the entire season warning about whatever is going on in your house suddenly decides to summon the demon for you - opening the door to their destruction.

The husband cuts off his finger because he's distracted by a woman who he refuses to actually sleep with.

Said woman's husband seemingly survives a wild sexual encounter with you. Though that's been a recipe for murder before.

The rules just start to quit working.

It is sad.

Uncoupled: Chapter 8 (2022) Season 1, Episode 8

I am already waiting for Season 2

[10/10 · 31 July 2022]

I am generally not a fan of binging on Netflix. I find the whole practice be, I don't know, sort of weird.

Then a show like this comes along and I all I want to do is watch the whole damn thing basically in one sitting. If for no other reason than to keep up with all the shenanigans and comings and goings.

Is this a realistic show full of people you know. Nope.

Do these people live in parts of New York that I haven't even thought about. Yep.

Were there times I wanted to scream, actually did scream, at the screen when our hero would do yet another stupid, stupid thing. Yep!

But when the show rolls itself around to Episode 8, and everything landed, and my heart strings were pulled, it really, really worked.

Are there cliffhangers? Yep.

Am I waiting for a season 2? Yep!

I think you will be too.

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022)

Come for the beautiful visuals, stay for the dialogue

[10/10 · 30 July 2022]

Did I start watching for the impeccable beauty of the titular character, absolutely.

Was I worried it would be a rip off of Pretty Woman and The Graduate. Was I wrong at every turn.

Such a lovely modern take of The Four Seasons, with subtlety and complexity.

The truth is, this is a perfect little melodrama.

And while there's a fair amount of nudity (with both leads) it's never gratuitous or in your face.

Come for the pretty, stay for the impeccable.

Good with Wood (2021– )

Strangely enough, this is a love letter to Wales

[10/10 · 26 July 2022]

As Beloved and I watched this competition reality series, we were both struck with the breathtaking beauty of the Welch countryside.

The stunning scenic wonder that is this place just bowled us over.

The casting of the show is well done with a variety of folks.

One thing I found interesting was the way the judges seemed to be interested in keeping the white young man on, despite his off and on weaknesses.

I'm sure the demographic that wants a white young man to prosper is something you might have to consider.

Eventually, the winner was the person who was the most off-putting of the bunch. She's a talented person, no doubt, but not as photogenic as much of the other contestants.

I honestly thought the young black man would win the contest as he seemed almost like a ringer.

But in the end, a trans woman won. Not because she was beautiful but because she was talented.

Hitmen (2020–2021)

Pretty good season 1... Then...!?%&

[5/10 · 22 July 2022]

It was fairly Waiting for Godot in the first season. Then it turned into low rent Tarantino rip off.

Black comedy turned to sludge. 5 stars for the first season. Minus 5 for whatever season was doing.

Ghosts (2019–2023)

We got HBO Max FOR this show - yuck

[1/10 · 19 July 2022]

Beloved and I watched the entire first season of CBS's Ghosts (2021) before we ever saw a second of this show.

What a huge mistake.

Maybe if we had watched this first, maybe it would just be what we saw first instead of the enormous, painful disappointment.

We waded in and found the characters to be both more irritating and poorly written than the CBS version.

We made it to season 3, and watched two of the characters be ugly and condescending to a living.

We looked at each other and said in unison: 3rd season and there's been no growth.

We turned it off and have never even thought of it again.

In my defense, I'm American.

I love so many British programs, from Keeping Up Appearances, to As Time Goes By, to Miranda; but the "humor" here mostly boils down to mean spirited insults to masterbation jokes.

I literally hated EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER.

I'm no fan of Sam on the CBS show - she's a vapid, self-congratulating energy suck - but I literally love nearly EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER outside of her. I don't think you're supposed to like the Fornsbys. Or some of the guest stars. Though I loved Jay's sister.

But at least Sam is useful as a plot generator.

And there's so much room for the CBS show to grow.

I didn't care about these folks.

Not one of them.

Shrill, screaming, unrepentant ash holes.

Goodbye Ghosts (2019).

Forever ~

Generation Gap (2022– )

What??? Ask a toddler to pick a prize?

[2/10 · 16 July 2022]

The show itself is not as terrible as it could have been.

The comedy comes from the times you are screaming at the TV when nobody gets the obvious answers.

But the final act, having a toddler pick what prize the family gets, is one of those vapid and stupid ideas that should have been thrown out of the writers room and the idiot who came up with it fired on the spot.

Disappointing and stupid.

NEVER WATCH THIS.

Trixie Motel (2022)

Not sure who this is for

[3/10 · 16 July 2022]

Trixie is an acquired taste. She's also the most interesting and engaging personality here.

The GM is so smarmy it's hard to hear what he's saying.

The Interior Designer is one of those vapid Cali types who confuse garish with lively and tasteful.

The rooms, while all colorful, lack much in the way of coherent and cohesive design vocabulary.

They all sort of look similar.

And while Emily Hampshire is game, the sudden swerve into situation "comedy" was uncomfortable to watch and sit through.

The other stunts, from blasé marital sadness, to guest "stars" who are mostly bottom rung LGBT "celebrities" who you'll forget almost before the episodes are are over, remind you that there's other, better, shows out there to watch.

This makes me long for literally almost any other renovation show on Discovery+.

And the direction and cinematography is so obviously not directed at the LGBT audience.

It lacks verve and visual interest.

Not recommended to anyone who isn't a huge Trixie fanatic.

The Cat Returns (2002)

Another movie where the main character is someone I'd avoid at all costs

[1/10 · 3 July 2022]

Some of the window dressing is lovely. And there's a bit of imagination in the construction of the world.

But the main character is a complete waste of air. Petulant, stupid, lazy, and angry at everything.

Her decision making is so capricious I assume they're only there to keep the "plot" going.

I made it to about the halfway point. By that point I had given up any compassion or interest in her or the film.

The animation was pretty terrible in spots. Especially the modern sections and the work around the principal character. She looks positively cartoonish.

A complete failure that draws you in with nostalgia for the older film.

Ghosts: Bump in the Night (2020) Season 2, Episode 5

What drivel.

[1/10 · 7 June 2022]

I am starting to realize, looking at the other reviews, that the very Britishness of this show is going to be an impediment to my watching this show.

This episode has the type of humor I find infuriating and disgusting.

I wound up fast forwarding through nearly half of the stupidity on screen.

I don't even care what happened with the burglary.

Drivel.

We're Here (2020– )

Drag SOS for America

[10/10 · 28 May 2022]

This is a very American take on the British show Drag SOS.

Here we have three drag queens making over willing participants to do a drag performance at the end of a week of preparation.

Drag SOS is 5 drag queens (one a fabulous woman who just happens to be an amazing drag queen. Same sort of time frame. Same small towns - only in England.

We're Here gives each performer a chance to shine with their new Drag Mother

Drag SOS is a group performance with limited choreography and some custom gowns.

We're Here are very professional hair, makeup, and outfits.

There's something more humane and smaller (in a good way) with Drag SOS.

We're Here sometimes overwhelms the baby drags with the sheer fame of the Drag Mothers.

Still a good show that mimics a lesser known British program.