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seandmillz
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Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun (2020)
Really hit or miss
The best thing I can say about the show is that it's not boring. Something is always happening. That thing is probably not funny, and rarely clever or anything beyond the type of jokes we'd make up in junior high, but it's not boring. Overall, you can skip this one, don't let the picture of Ed Helms on Netflix fool you, he's there for one gag and it isn't funny. (He learns his name is Egg, not Ed).
The best concepts are quickly derailed by unfunny jokes that last way too long. It's a mess. Unless your ideal humor is the type of jokes you make up in a long car ride with your parents when you're 8, you can safely skip this without feeling like you missed anything.
Jeff Garlin: Our Man in Chicago (2019)
Awful
Jeff Garlin has once said he doesn't write any of his material, it's all improv. While it's impressive that he's able to get a special out of droning on and on, maybe it's time he reconsiders the medium. Maybe a podcast would be better suited? If you think writing stand-up specials is BS, then why is your impov comedy so much worse than your written comedies?
Being a funny guy does not equal being a funny standup comedian. If you ever needed something to prove that statement true, then you'd have your show. If you're looking to enjoy a standup comedian, better try your luck elsewhere.
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019)
It's nice to know what happened to Jessie
However, the structure of this movie leaves a lot to be desired. There is some good stuff here, and none of it's bad, it's just put together in a way that wasn't particularly engaging. I love Breaking Bad a ton, my favorite show by a mile, and this is a nice denouement for Jessie's story, but it's not essential viewing. Highly recommended for die-hard fans of BB, it's not a disappointment by any means, but it's not really gonna turn any heads come awards time.
BoJack Horseman: Free Churro (2018)
Outstanding
This episode is almost entirely a monologue from Will Arnett. The writing and performance were both masterful. This is among the best episodes of any show ever put out. After it was over, I doubled over in laughter, and tears, all at once. I've never experienced both of those emotions in such perfect harmony and intensity from a show.
Outstanding, 10/10.
Norm Macdonald Has a Show: Chevy Chase (2018)
A great episode from a promising show
Norm MacDonald Has a Show is not a show you go for in depth analysis on the life and careers of it's guests. It's got some of that, but you're really there to enjoy Norm's irreverent and bizarre personality, and watch him interact with other strong personalities and see how it all shakes out. He's a comedic genius, a real comic's comic, and knows precisely how to play it subtle and play it loud, how to be stupid and be clever, and he knows that even the dumbest jokes have redeeming qualities.
While other episodes of the Netflix run have been very good, such as Jane Fonda, Drew Barrymore, and Judge Judy, this one with Chevy Chase is the pick of the litter. The absolute joy you can sense from Adam as he meets one of the comedy greats, and how Norm and Chevy play off each other, makes the chemistry just a good time. Chevy shows that, despite the talk about him being a nightmare-person and totally unreasonable to work with, he's a master of his craft, and can command a laugh at a moments notice. Norm and Chevy are both such effortlessly great comedians that this episode is full of laughs and fascinating moments, and for every great story, there's a good laugh. This proves that Norm MacDonald has what it takes to host a talk show, more so than just about any of the jokers hosting late night TV on network television. No disrespect to Kimmel or Colbert, but they just aren't half the comedians that MacDonald is, and I think they'd agree.
Netflix scored on this one, and I hope it gets the recognition it deserves.
After Last Season (2009)
This is the worst movie I've ever seen
There's a certain ambition to some low budget films that make up for the lack of studio backing with a creative vision. Directors like Dan Trachtenberg started their careers with low budget shorts, and have proved to actually have some talent. That's what makes this movie even more reprehensible. It had a $5,000,000 budget, and it failed to even assemble one coherent scene. There are talented directors, actors, and composers out there that struggle to get even 1% of that funding, and this piece of garbage "film" exists as an affront to all of them. It's not just an affront to those rising stars, it's an affront to the art form, dating all the way back to the first film ever made. This is an embarrassment, a film not fit for viewing, and hopefully the last film that Mark Region will ever touch.
Its incoherent plot is marred with sloppy, lazy mistakes. The sets are mostly cardboard and look like they were assembled by an unimaginative child. The soundtrack is awful and sounds like it was made by an untalented imbecile that found a keyboard at a pawn shop for $20 and scammed the director into letting him onto the team. The acting is largely undirected and reminiscent of the type of acting you'd expect from a 90's adult film. There are several moments where people making noise off-screen distract the actors. The editing is sporadic, which is not an adjective one should use when referring to the art of editing a film. Scenes linger for way too long, there are strange cuts to pieces of paper on the wall (which are mostly out of focus.) There's even a few moments where text was added to walls in post, but everything except the text is out of focus and blurry. It's truly pathetic.
If that wasn't enough, the director made hundreds of accounts to rank this movie up. There used to be dozens of 10-star reviews on this very website. This is undoubtedly one of the worst movies ever made. It makes Neil Breen's work seem like Scorsese, makes Tommy Wiseau's work look like Spielberg, and it makes the films I made as a child with a handy-cam look like Citizen Kane. If you enjoy the worst movies made, I recommend this to you wholeheartedly. It's a chore to sit through, but with a friend that also has the dark problem of enjoying terrible film... there is no finer undertaking. The best part? The movie is so forgettable that you'll instantly recover once it's over.
The actual worst movie ever made, 1/10, thanks for reading.
Wonder Woman (2017)
A strange prevalence of hatred towards this fine movie, don't listen to it.
I'm sure by now many people reading this review are well aware that this movie is quite good. The strange hatred towards it is an act of rebellion against women, as silly as that concept is in a still male-dominated society, and it is not a reflection of the movie's quality. Some people can't accept change, they abhor it like nature abhors a vacuum: a swift and equal response to all things that don't adhere to their pathetically limited worldview. I expect a very similar response to Black Panther later this year. Instead of sexism it will be racism, and it'll be just as sad. That being said, I welcome these criticisms against these movies. These movies empower those that deserve to be empowered, and the critiques (at least the ridiculously unjustified ones,) really let you know that the world is changing and leaving certain undesirables behind.
As for an actual review instead of a rant against sexism, the movie is fine. The CG isn't the best in class, but it's good enough. Gal Gadot was admirable, as expected. Heck, even Chris Pine drops a decent performance. The other supporting cast did a serviceable job, but they were a little one dimensional. The movie doesn't run on infinite time, so I forgive it that flaw. My main issues are with the pacing, and the fact that the movie didn't capitalize properly on it's villain. It was in service to a bold story beat, so it's not a total loss, though. Besides the sometimes mediocre effects and the way they handled the villain, this movie doesn't have too much wrong with it. Some campy dialogue, but it's not unwelcome and it's fun. Go see the movie, and please come back to write a review to undermine these trolling losers that want nothing more than to bring down the people they have the least experience with.
American Gods: A Prayer for Mad Sweeney (2017)
This episode can be skipped entirely
As the title of this review suggests, this episode can be skipped entirely, and your experience of watching American Gods would be improved. The main story line is not expanded upon in anyway. This episode is made up of one long historical story, this time based on Mad Sweeney... but Mad Sweeney is barely in the story, and instead it focuses on a Character that has no relevance to the main plot. Mad Sweeney is shown as a side character... but the main character is played by the same woman that plays Laura Moon, so you aren't entirely sure if Mad Sweeney actually is Mad Sweeney or if he's some random character also portrayed by the same actor. It's deliberately confusing, and the reveal is that it is, in fact, Mad Sweeney. Okay. That's 45 minutes of wasted time for a petty reveal that in no way furthers this season's story. One minor plot point is revealed, but it's also revealed in the next episode, so there is no reason at all to watch this episode. It's nearly insulting, trying to push this random historical story as a stylistic and relevant aside, pretending that it furthers a character's motivation or explains the situations in any manner... but it certainly does not. It's a vapid, empty set of boring sequences with forced allegories that are just disgusting betrayals of the storytelling craft. This show deliberately tries to break conventions and push boundaries, but it fails miserably here, and in a few other notable ways. I do not recommend watching this episode, even if you love everything you've seen so far. Skip this, watch episode 8, and know that the only thing you missed was a car crash.
American Gods (2017)
Uneven and Heavy Handed
American Gods starts out with a promise. Not a literal one - the writers never explicitly promise that the show will maintain a specific tone of dark humor mixed with fantasy, but it sure seems that the show is going to travel that path. What you find as you continue is a mixed bag, however. They waste enormous amounts of time on small points of exposition, spend little time on important plot points, and none of it is backed up with a strong story. It's flashy dialogue surrounding a mystery that never gets answered. It's like watching LOST, except the dialogue is needlessly cryptic and ~mysterious~. The effects are wonderful, the cinematography is great, and the music is enjoyable. It's stylish, it's fancy, and beautiful... but there is no substance.
Half of the season sets up a compelling story line, and then immediately after that, the series starts spinning it's wheels, wasting an entire 55-minute episode for a plot point that wasn't all that surprising or interesting, and then escalating into some Disney-with-blood climax that will leave you scratching your head or cringing at the dialogue. I cannot recommend this, even if you enjoyed Hannibal or the novels.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 (2017)
Not the show it used to be, but trying to be
Mystery Science Theater 3000 was a show that I grew up watching on the Scifi Channel (now Syfy). I can still remember the little Saturn watermark from the corner of the screen. The original theme song played, and even though it was clearly Mike singing it, it had a rhythm that always got me excited for exactly what that show delivered. The riffers actually sounded as bored by the movies as the audience, which made it work in a very particular way. The lackadaisical Mike throwing a pitch and the insane robot Crow knocking it out the park. Servo grounded the three with his goofy voice and sarcasm...
Here, though, nothing meshes. I love Patton Oswalt, and he does an OK job, but he's the high point. This is a show about riffing on movies and the high point is the intermission. That's a bad sign. The riffing crew doesn't know or understand why the original was good. They got paid to talk over shows and they do it aggressively, with far less cleverness and far, far less comedic timing. It's a disappointment in every way.
I guess the point is this: The magic will never return. Mary Jo Pehl, Joel Hodgson, Mike Nelson, et al have moved on. If you're looking for the classic riff masters, the actual masterminds behind the original stuff, check out Rifftrax. Please. It's far better than this, with better source material, better writing, and better delivery. Hell, Mike Nelson solo riffing on Night of the Living Dead is superior to this cash-in in every possible way.
Avoid at all costs. 1/10