Nutso short series in 45 minute episodes. It was a bit slow at first but picked up speed after the third episode.
Truth Seekers is a dark comedy for sure and can get gory so it's NOT for kids!
Oh, and towards the end we see a nod to a David Lynch classic. I'm not telling. You need to watch this show to find out.
Reviews
11 Reviews
Mr. Robot
(2015–2019)
Elliot Alderson's "Long Night's Journey Into Day"
17 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Elliot Alderson's "Long Night's Journey Into Day"
I became familiar with Rami Malik from his spectacular portrayal of Freddie Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody." I had read something about him being in a television series called "Mr Robot" and nothing else.
Well, my husband and I decided to check out "Mr Robot" and for one thing we couldn't believe this was the same actor who crawled so skillfully into the skin of Freddie Mercury! Malik has range and I'm sure if he is careful with his career he'll become one of the greatest actors of the twenty-first century.
Malik plays a mentally ill computer wiz and hacker named Elliot Alderson whose grip on reality is shaky. His world is dark and drugged. The audience gets pulled into his nightmare world and we see and hear his internal conversations with Christian Slater's character, Mr. Robot.
The audience is privy to Elliot's contempt for humanity through his inner monologues which appear to be addressed to an unknown other person. The audience? A hallucination?
Some of Elliot's inner monologue is adolescent "cosmic wool gathering" of a dangerous kind. He's a hacker of the first order and he using his skills to act out his contempt for a specific group of people. Guess it's better to be a hacker than a mass shooter....
But why am I making reference to the classic Katherine Hepburn film "Long Day's Journey Into Night?" Both the movie, based on the Eugene O'Neil play and "Mr. Robot" are emotional rollercoasters, gut punching and exhausting experiences. The Tyrone and Alderson families are mired in addiction, grief and dysfunction. The Tyrone family unravels by the end of the day and by nightfall leaves them in the metaphorical dark.
Elliot's journey begins in darkness and takes his audience through one of the most emotionally exhausting television shows I've ever seen. The show's color palette is grimy, muted and dark. Elliot always appears a bit jaundiced. The colors add to the grimness of both his inner and outer worlds. Elliot eventually escapes his long dark night but getting there was quite the ride.
None of the other characters are particularly sympathetic. Darlene is a foul mouthed, but brilliant hacker herself with a loathing for humanity and uses her talents to help Elliott. She uses and manipulates people to get what she wants.
Only one of the supporting characters could even remotely be thought of as sympathetic and an innocent. Grace Gummer plays Dominque the FBI agent who gets sucked into the dark story where most everyone involved in that particular subplot ended up dead. She was just working at her job. It was her assignment, nothing more until "more" happened.
Mr. Robot also featured some incredible bit performances by very talented character actors. There's Janice, played by Ashlie Atkinson, the over-the-top and ever so evil taxidermist. My gawd that character was creepy! Bobby Cannavale's Irving provides a kind of perverse comic relief.
And there is one scene that appeared to be right out of Twin Peaks....The hotel lobby with the two door men, one so involved with eating multi-colored cereal and the other one having a lively FaceTime chat in Spanish, that neither see Elliot's coming and going.
And the comic relief provided by the sandwich munching dude in the white hazmat suit was sublime!
Immerse yourself in the Mr. Robot universe, and when you finally com up for air, enjoy some light hearted fare like "Good Omens" starring David Tennant.
I became familiar with Rami Malik from his spectacular portrayal of Freddie Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody." I had read something about him being in a television series called "Mr Robot" and nothing else.
Well, my husband and I decided to check out "Mr Robot" and for one thing we couldn't believe this was the same actor who crawled so skillfully into the skin of Freddie Mercury! Malik has range and I'm sure if he is careful with his career he'll become one of the greatest actors of the twenty-first century.
Malik plays a mentally ill computer wiz and hacker named Elliot Alderson whose grip on reality is shaky. His world is dark and drugged. The audience gets pulled into his nightmare world and we see and hear his internal conversations with Christian Slater's character, Mr. Robot.
The audience is privy to Elliot's contempt for humanity through his inner monologues which appear to be addressed to an unknown other person. The audience? A hallucination?
Some of Elliot's inner monologue is adolescent "cosmic wool gathering" of a dangerous kind. He's a hacker of the first order and he using his skills to act out his contempt for a specific group of people. Guess it's better to be a hacker than a mass shooter....
But why am I making reference to the classic Katherine Hepburn film "Long Day's Journey Into Night?" Both the movie, based on the Eugene O'Neil play and "Mr. Robot" are emotional rollercoasters, gut punching and exhausting experiences. The Tyrone and Alderson families are mired in addiction, grief and dysfunction. The Tyrone family unravels by the end of the day and by nightfall leaves them in the metaphorical dark.
Elliot's journey begins in darkness and takes his audience through one of the most emotionally exhausting television shows I've ever seen. The show's color palette is grimy, muted and dark. Elliot always appears a bit jaundiced. The colors add to the grimness of both his inner and outer worlds. Elliot eventually escapes his long dark night but getting there was quite the ride.
None of the other characters are particularly sympathetic. Darlene is a foul mouthed, but brilliant hacker herself with a loathing for humanity and uses her talents to help Elliott. She uses and manipulates people to get what she wants.
Only one of the supporting characters could even remotely be thought of as sympathetic and an innocent. Grace Gummer plays Dominque the FBI agent who gets sucked into the dark story where most everyone involved in that particular subplot ended up dead. She was just working at her job. It was her assignment, nothing more until "more" happened.
Mr. Robot also featured some incredible bit performances by very talented character actors. There's Janice, played by Ashlie Atkinson, the over-the-top and ever so evil taxidermist. My gawd that character was creepy! Bobby Cannavale's Irving provides a kind of perverse comic relief.
And there is one scene that appeared to be right out of Twin Peaks....The hotel lobby with the two door men, one so involved with eating multi-colored cereal and the other one having a lively FaceTime chat in Spanish, that neither see Elliot's coming and going.
And the comic relief provided by the sandwich munching dude in the white hazmat suit was sublime!
Immerse yourself in the Mr. Robot universe, and when you finally com up for air, enjoy some light hearted fare like "Good Omens" starring David Tennant.
Time Trap
(2017)
Science Fiction For Beginners
19 December 2019
Okay, low budget science fiction for beginners who are just getting into it. The story line is linear with no complex relationships and an underlying theme everybody can relate to: searching for lost loved ones. A large amount of time is wasted with the kids bickering amongst themselves where ther could have been more exploration of the cave phenomena.
House of Cards
(2013–2018)
The Finale Fizzle Of House Of Cards
4 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Spoilers Alert!
Eight Stars for First Three Seasons. Six Stars For Seasons For Seasons Four. Four Stars For Season Five. Three Stars For Season Six, If That.
The first season followed the basic storyline of the 1990s BBC original which lasted three seasons spaced over the entire decade. When the American version didn't end after theee seasons after already veering off into prime time soap territory I became very disappointed. There were many themes from the original that could have been incorporated into the American, but weren't.
Before the Kevin Spacey scandal and his departure from the show, I was hoping the final season would have acknowledged the BBC version by casting some of tha surviving British actors in the American HOC.
I would have loved to see Michael Kitchen come out of retirement to play the King Of England in a state visit at some point in the final season. Sir Ian Richardson who played Francis Urquhart died many years ago, but his son Miles is an actor and played a small role in the last of the BBC HOC, The Final Cut. He too could have had a role in the American HOC.
Sadly the final seasons of the American HOC got muddled in absurd plots growing more and more absurd bearing no resemblance to the original as the years dragged on.
At least Doug Stamper finally got what was coming to him and that it appeared Claire Underwood also meets her demise as HOC fizzled out.
I wonder how the show would have gone had Spacey not been fired from his show?
Did anybody catch my joke?
Eight Stars for First Three Seasons. Six Stars For Seasons For Seasons Four. Four Stars For Season Five. Three Stars For Season Six, If That.
The first season followed the basic storyline of the 1990s BBC original which lasted three seasons spaced over the entire decade. When the American version didn't end after theee seasons after already veering off into prime time soap territory I became very disappointed. There were many themes from the original that could have been incorporated into the American, but weren't.
Before the Kevin Spacey scandal and his departure from the show, I was hoping the final season would have acknowledged the BBC version by casting some of tha surviving British actors in the American HOC.
I would have loved to see Michael Kitchen come out of retirement to play the King Of England in a state visit at some point in the final season. Sir Ian Richardson who played Francis Urquhart died many years ago, but his son Miles is an actor and played a small role in the last of the BBC HOC, The Final Cut. He too could have had a role in the American HOC.
Sadly the final seasons of the American HOC got muddled in absurd plots growing more and more absurd bearing no resemblance to the original as the years dragged on.
At least Doug Stamper finally got what was coming to him and that it appeared Claire Underwood also meets her demise as HOC fizzled out.
I wonder how the show would have gone had Spacey not been fired from his show?
Did anybody catch my joke?
Stealing from "The 4400" and "The Event!"
19 October 2018
I agree with the reviewer "spirit cymbal" that Manifest draws on short lived show "The Event." I also see elements of the great science fiction show called "The 4400." The "4400" involved people snatched from various locations at different points in time and then they all suddenly reappear un changed from the sometimes many years since their snatching. In "The 4400" the people return with interesting mental abilities that threaten the ordinary folk.
Is "Manifest" turning into a muddled science fiction soap opera? I don't know. I'll just rewatch "The 4400" on one of my streaming apps.
Is "Manifest" turning into a muddled science fiction soap opera? I don't know. I'll just rewatch "The 4400" on one of my streaming apps.
Manifest
(2018–2023)
The 4400 Again?
4 October 2018
Just a quick first thoughts about this show. I've not watched regular network shows since I cut the cable and went to streaming only in about 2012. At that time I followed only two shows and I was able to get them on my streaming apps. I'm more into the European shows on Netflix these days. So, that being said, I decided to give "Manifest" a try after activating the NBC app on my Amazon FireTV box.
Well, what prompted me to give "Manifest" a try was how the trailers for it made me think of "The 4400" - a fantastic science fiction show on the Syfy channel a number of years ago. In "The 4400" people from various time periods were abducted and suddenly return all at once somewhere near Seattle. The people returned with unusual abilities. It looks like the returnees in "Manifest" are exhibiting similar new talents. And from what I remember of "Lost" it does have some similarities to that old network show.
So far, after only two episodes "Manifest" is beginning to look like a prime time soap with a light dusting of science fiction. And a weak one at that. The "mystery" and the folks who moved on in their relationships thinking their loved ones were dead is playing out like one of those "click bait" video ads. Just get to the point will you!
It's nice seeing Josh Dallas in another series so soon after "Once Upon A Time" concluded. Or is it? I keep seeing "Prince Charming" and expect to see Regina walk in on his scenes in "Manifest."
"Manifest" is something to watch while waiting for season four of "Man In The High Castle" and the final season of "House of Cards."
Well, what prompted me to give "Manifest" a try was how the trailers for it made me think of "The 4400" - a fantastic science fiction show on the Syfy channel a number of years ago. In "The 4400" people from various time periods were abducted and suddenly return all at once somewhere near Seattle. The people returned with unusual abilities. It looks like the returnees in "Manifest" are exhibiting similar new talents. And from what I remember of "Lost" it does have some similarities to that old network show.
So far, after only two episodes "Manifest" is beginning to look like a prime time soap with a light dusting of science fiction. And a weak one at that. The "mystery" and the folks who moved on in their relationships thinking their loved ones were dead is playing out like one of those "click bait" video ads. Just get to the point will you!
It's nice seeing Josh Dallas in another series so soon after "Once Upon A Time" concluded. Or is it? I keep seeing "Prince Charming" and expect to see Regina walk in on his scenes in "Manifest."
"Manifest" is something to watch while waiting for season four of "Man In The High Castle" and the final season of "House of Cards."
The Good Fight
(2017–2022)
Okay We Get It, The Producers Hate Trump LOWERED MY RATING
13 April 2017
Updated Review and I lowered my rating to a FOUR.
In my review of the pretty good first season, I said that if the show stops the "we hate Trump" snarks and asides, I'd up my rating. Well, the show continued it's "we hate Trump" rants and even upped the flatfooted political bias.
The story lines are more convoluted than what we saw in the first season, and the political bias is flatfooted and annoying. The writing also seems weaker than the first season. In the original show "The Good Wife," the political bias was there but it was not as flatfooted and was artfully sneaked into the storylines.
Now we have a great cast of talented actors playing great characters stuck in bad political memes poorly disguised as a drama. Get back to good storytelling and leave the political snarks to Sean Hannity and Rachel Maddow.
I'm not a Trump fan, but hey, enough is enough! Okay?
Okay, producers and writers if you're going to take digs at Donald Trump at least make the digs a bit more creative and less flatfooted and heavy handed. Your show is great and creative, but those "we hate Trump" asides are so totally out of place. It's almost like the scripts were written before Trump was elected, and after his election the scripts were hastily rewritten to reflect the surprise election of Trump. Rather like "insert snide remark here." I'm no Trump fan, but those childish snarks are so juvenile! Were it not for those badly executed obvious political asides I would have given this show a ten out of ten.
That being said....
I enjoyed "The Good Wife" and am thrilled to see Christine Baranski's "Diane Lockhart" and Sarah Steele's "Marissa Gold", and Carrie Preston's goofy "Elspeth" and the rotating guest cast playing quirky judges and other offbeat characters are back. Both "Good Wife" and "Good Fight" take advantage of the talents of so many fine New York based character actors. That's one of the reasons I've been watching both shows for all these years.
The "Good Fight" stories are as well written as the "Good Wife" stories. There is a underlying sense of humor in this drama series and I've appreciated that. Life is dramatic, but it can also have a lot of low key humor running through it. "Good Fight" recognizes that and uses humor very well.
If the show ceases the snarky anti Trump asides, I'll come back and change my rating to a ten.
In my review of the pretty good first season, I said that if the show stops the "we hate Trump" snarks and asides, I'd up my rating. Well, the show continued it's "we hate Trump" rants and even upped the flatfooted political bias.
The story lines are more convoluted than what we saw in the first season, and the political bias is flatfooted and annoying. The writing also seems weaker than the first season. In the original show "The Good Wife," the political bias was there but it was not as flatfooted and was artfully sneaked into the storylines.
Now we have a great cast of talented actors playing great characters stuck in bad political memes poorly disguised as a drama. Get back to good storytelling and leave the political snarks to Sean Hannity and Rachel Maddow.
I'm not a Trump fan, but hey, enough is enough! Okay?
Okay, producers and writers if you're going to take digs at Donald Trump at least make the digs a bit more creative and less flatfooted and heavy handed. Your show is great and creative, but those "we hate Trump" asides are so totally out of place. It's almost like the scripts were written before Trump was elected, and after his election the scripts were hastily rewritten to reflect the surprise election of Trump. Rather like "insert snide remark here." I'm no Trump fan, but those childish snarks are so juvenile! Were it not for those badly executed obvious political asides I would have given this show a ten out of ten.
That being said....
I enjoyed "The Good Wife" and am thrilled to see Christine Baranski's "Diane Lockhart" and Sarah Steele's "Marissa Gold", and Carrie Preston's goofy "Elspeth" and the rotating guest cast playing quirky judges and other offbeat characters are back. Both "Good Wife" and "Good Fight" take advantage of the talents of so many fine New York based character actors. That's one of the reasons I've been watching both shows for all these years.
The "Good Fight" stories are as well written as the "Good Wife" stories. There is a underlying sense of humor in this drama series and I've appreciated that. Life is dramatic, but it can also have a lot of low key humor running through it. "Good Fight" recognizes that and uses humor very well.
If the show ceases the snarky anti Trump asides, I'll come back and change my rating to a ten.
Sisterhood of Death
(2012)
High Weirdness From Pioneer Square, Seattle
10 February 2017
This is director/writer Antony DeGennero's second filmmaking venture and like his previous project, "Natural Possession," his flare for campy high weirdness is creepily good. If you have a taste for campy weirdness, this little film is great. His use of color and lighting is well done, with red, smokey light predominating. The story is pretty straight forward for a comedy- horror film, with witches and demons as main characters. The film does have a technical problem with the dialog syncing with the actors' "chin flaps." Oh, there is some nudity and gore, but it's not very graphic and minimal. So if you're looking for some goofy and campy entertainment for a rainy and cold night, order a pizza and pop a bowl of popcorn and have fun viewing "Sisterhood of Death."
Goliath
(2016–2021)
Like "The Good Wife" With A Really Bad Attitude
17 October 2016
Random Thought Review
This show, hopefully a limited run extended mini-series is a gritty, dirty, nasty "Good Wife" with a bad attitude.
Where "The Good Wife" was upscale and cast with beautiful actors and filmed in bright colors and light, "Goliath" is the opposite. Billy Bob Thornton would not have been cast at an attorney on "The Good Wife." Billy Bob Thornton is beat up looking in real life and plays a beat up burned out attorney living in a low rent apartment on the beach near Los Angeles.
Billy McBride's allies are fatally flawed and compared to "The Good Wife" unattractive. His associates look like ordinary people you'd meet in the supermarket. Great casting in other words.
The attorneys at "Cooperman-McBride" are simply over-the-top in their nastiness. William Hurt gave me nightmares. That man is a genius in getting into character - in this case, I hope he was able to shake Cooperman after wrapping on Goliath. I'd hate to have that character haunt me after the show wrapped.
Over all this gritty take on a legal drama is great simply because it is so different from the long running "Good Wife."
Just my random thoughts.
This show, hopefully a limited run extended mini-series is a gritty, dirty, nasty "Good Wife" with a bad attitude.
Where "The Good Wife" was upscale and cast with beautiful actors and filmed in bright colors and light, "Goliath" is the opposite. Billy Bob Thornton would not have been cast at an attorney on "The Good Wife." Billy Bob Thornton is beat up looking in real life and plays a beat up burned out attorney living in a low rent apartment on the beach near Los Angeles.
Billy McBride's allies are fatally flawed and compared to "The Good Wife" unattractive. His associates look like ordinary people you'd meet in the supermarket. Great casting in other words.
The attorneys at "Cooperman-McBride" are simply over-the-top in their nastiness. William Hurt gave me nightmares. That man is a genius in getting into character - in this case, I hope he was able to shake Cooperman after wrapping on Goliath. I'd hate to have that character haunt me after the show wrapped.
Over all this gritty take on a legal drama is great simply because it is so different from the long running "Good Wife."
Just my random thoughts.
Star Trek Continues
(2013–2017)
Wonderful Recreation Of TOS
12 June 2013
The "Season Four" opener is a perfect recreation of TOS, acting style, writing style,story elements, story theme, story pacing, sets, costumes, lighting, cinematography, SFX, everything is recreated perfectly.
Unlike the reviewer who thought it could have been more "professionally" produced, I think he missed the point. STContinues is a recreation of TOS. It has the look and feel of TOS, and a very professionally done look and feel. The audience should look at ST Continues like the historical recreations seen at Old Colonial Williamsburg or the folks who perform Civil War reenactments. Star Trek Continues is a historical reenactment of a forty-seven year old television show.
I wonder if the young and generally inexperienced cast studied not only TOS episodes, but other shows from the mid to late 1960s to learn the acting styles of that era? I wonder the same of the technical crew. Did they also study shows from the same era? Although their performances were uneven at times, it looks like they did indeed do their homework.
The guy who plays Kirk is an okay actor, give him some more training and he'd be great. As Kirk, his performance is spotty, not "spot on." As a mimic of Shatner's Kirk, he's got most of the body language down perfectly. His acting style is in the range of the 1960s original show.....borderline overacting! The overacting is part of the recreation of TOS.
The actor who plays Chekov looks like a young Walter Koenig. Physically he's the best match to an original cast member. Christopher Doohan who recreates his father's role as Scotty is okay. His Scottish accent is a bit forced, but with some dialect coaching he could easily perfect it. It's too bad he doesn't look much like his father, but at times I could see his father in some body language and at times I could catch glimpses of his father in his face.
Bringing Michael Forrest back as an aged Apollo was brilliant. (Just like bringing Ricardo Montalban back for "The Wrath of Kahn") For an actor in his early eighties he's still quite sharp and looking at his IMDb resume he's stayed quite active over the years. He was by far the strongest actor on this episode, but he did not overpower the younger and less experienced cast. His Shakespeare and classical training made his Apollo a compelling character.
I am totally, and favorably impressed by Star Trek Continues. I hope it does indeed continue.
I give it a ten for the quality of the production and its incredible recreation of a 1960s television show, but have to knock off three stars for the uneven acting performances.
Unlike the reviewer who thought it could have been more "professionally" produced, I think he missed the point. STContinues is a recreation of TOS. It has the look and feel of TOS, and a very professionally done look and feel. The audience should look at ST Continues like the historical recreations seen at Old Colonial Williamsburg or the folks who perform Civil War reenactments. Star Trek Continues is a historical reenactment of a forty-seven year old television show.
I wonder if the young and generally inexperienced cast studied not only TOS episodes, but other shows from the mid to late 1960s to learn the acting styles of that era? I wonder the same of the technical crew. Did they also study shows from the same era? Although their performances were uneven at times, it looks like they did indeed do their homework.
The guy who plays Kirk is an okay actor, give him some more training and he'd be great. As Kirk, his performance is spotty, not "spot on." As a mimic of Shatner's Kirk, he's got most of the body language down perfectly. His acting style is in the range of the 1960s original show.....borderline overacting! The overacting is part of the recreation of TOS.
The actor who plays Chekov looks like a young Walter Koenig. Physically he's the best match to an original cast member. Christopher Doohan who recreates his father's role as Scotty is okay. His Scottish accent is a bit forced, but with some dialect coaching he could easily perfect it. It's too bad he doesn't look much like his father, but at times I could see his father in some body language and at times I could catch glimpses of his father in his face.
Bringing Michael Forrest back as an aged Apollo was brilliant. (Just like bringing Ricardo Montalban back for "The Wrath of Kahn") For an actor in his early eighties he's still quite sharp and looking at his IMDb resume he's stayed quite active over the years. He was by far the strongest actor on this episode, but he did not overpower the younger and less experienced cast. His Shakespeare and classical training made his Apollo a compelling character.
I am totally, and favorably impressed by Star Trek Continues. I hope it does indeed continue.
I give it a ten for the quality of the production and its incredible recreation of a 1960s television show, but have to knock off three stars for the uneven acting performances.
Those Who Can't
(2013 TV Movie)
Gross Humor For Males Who Never Grew Up Nor Want To
3 May 2013
Where to begin? It seems to be written by smart-assed male high school students with all sorts of authority problems. Since when is simulated male to male anal sex funny? Sexual humor is such a cop-out. There is so much going on in the public schools to parody and pillory, a truly talented writer wouldn't have to resort to adolescent sexual humor.
I've given it a "3" rather than an "awful" only because there is only one character that comes anywhere near funny and that is the school principal. I'm a former teacher and I recognize that character! He's a composite of the worst of public school administrators! The only way a person can rise above classroom teacher in the public schools is by being a major wimp, to bend to whatever politically correct wind happens to be blowing, no matter the source.
Now, build a comedy around THAT character and cut out all the adolescent male sexual humor and you'd have a great show!
I've given it a "3" rather than an "awful" only because there is only one character that comes anywhere near funny and that is the school principal. I'm a former teacher and I recognize that character! He's a composite of the worst of public school administrators! The only way a person can rise above classroom teacher in the public schools is by being a major wimp, to bend to whatever politically correct wind happens to be blowing, no matter the source.
Now, build a comedy around THAT character and cut out all the adolescent male sexual humor and you'd have a great show!
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