Reviews

You see a lot of documentaries that chronicle a series of impactful events in the life of the subject that led them to be where they are. This one is not like that. There is not much about Dolly's background beyond explaining that she came from humble means and knew from a very young age that she wanted to be a performer.

This is more about who Dolly Parton is as a person. Her motivations, her approach to life and how she manages her career as a musician. You come to understand why you never hear a bad a word about her, she's impossible not to like. And as Jane Fonda talked about as a result she is loved by a wide swath of people from very different backgrounds.

Not being much of a country music fan I didn't know how much of an incredibly skilled song writer she is and the diversity of songs she has done. Even having done songs with very dark themes like The Bridge that you wouldn't necessarily associate with her. I appreciated that the documentary includes a good sampling of the music she has done.

She is an incredible talent and you really get the sense that she is someone that is very self aware. She knew what she wanted and went out and got it. Can't help but respect that.

The concept behind this show is definitely not for everyone and people should know going in that this is a drama not a comedy. The story is very dark at its core.

Having said that I appreciate the effort behind doing a show like this. The idea is what if you took the often terrible behaviour you find in sitcoms and took a serious look at the consequences of that behaviour in the real world for everyone else. In this case the behaviour being looked at is the antics of a selfish sitcom husband.

I'm not sure I agree with the message this show is trying to communicate, I don't think sitcom behaviour is meant to be taken seriously. But I still found it very entertaining and the performances were all great. The jarring nature of the switching between sitcom scenes and real world ones really made the despair of Allison and the other characters effected by Kevin's behaviour stand out.

As I said I'm not sure the concept will work for a lot of audiences but it was done about as well as it could be in my view.

This show is easily the best mix of tragedy and comedy I have ever seen. And fair warning to anyone looking to laugh while the comedy is good the tragic aspects are very heavy.

This show is also the best depiction of platonic soulmates I have ever seen. And that is due to the performances of Christina Applegate as Jen and Linda Cardellini as Judy who are incredible together as unlikely best friends. Both of them have had amazing careers but I think this is the best thing either of them has done. And much of it was aided by the fact that the two have become good friends in real life which really added to the authenticity of the characters. Another important factor is that Christina leant painful real life experiences into her role which is a brave thing to do and worked really well in the show. She also can't be praised enough for having the courage to finish the show properly in the midst of her MS diagnosis during the filming of season 3.

For me the only weakness of the show came in season 3 where they tried to shove way too many major plot lines together into a 10 episode span none of which felt like they could be properly dealt with. This is especially true in a show that shone brightest when it was just Jen and Judy riffing off each other or trying to explain away some crazy situation to another character. They were the heart of the show. Two beautiful but damaged souls who found comfort and support in each other in the face of tragedy and grief.

In keeping with the theme of the show the ending is very bittersweet with a strong dose of bitter. So while the comedy keeps up right to the end so does the pain. Although the ending is open ended enough that you can choose to fill in the blanks in a way that is a bit happier.

I guess my biggest problem with this film is how pathetic and sad they decided to portray Marilyn Monroe. They present her as someone with no agency, no ability to act on her own, just someone with deep seated father issues that allowed herself to be exploited for fame. She calls all her partners daddy which I didn't buy at all.

None of the focus is on her career or her talents. I feel like this does a disservice to her actual career. Obviously she was exploited and had metal issues that helped lead to her drug abuse and early death but that shouldn't be all that defines her.

The film itself is pretty disjointed. Just a bunch of snapshots of her private life where she is mostly being abused, having sex, getting drugged up and having melt downs. A lot of the nudity felt gratuitous and the scene with Kennedy was particularly gross. You get no sense from this movie of who she really was as a person, and the film doesn't seem to care.

I'm not sure what the filmmaker is trying to say here but I don't think it works at all.

This show had a good premise that was setup well in the beginning with a solid cast but unfortunately they were never able to do anything particularly interesting with it. Way too much of the conflict ended up being about pointless teenage drama. While that kind of drama can be fine on it's own it doesn't mix well with the main storyline of an escapee from a dangerous and abusive satanic cult trying to fit in with a new family.

Many of the characters especially the father and the two teenage daughters were poorly written and made too many nonsensical decisions. The ending including the twist at the very end was not one I bought or thought was earned.

Rita Moreno is such a great storyteller. The entire 90 minutes could have been her looking into the camera telling stories of her early days in Hollywood and I would have loved it. Some stories were hilarious, others heartbreaking but all were fascinating.

Some may be turned off by the political aspects of the documentary but their inclusion makes sense within the context of her life experience which informs the issues she has grown to care about. She has an important perspective to tell as someone who was a Latina immigrant and a woman in Hollywood during a time when those things were major limiting factors on what she could do.

Rita is not shy about sharing very personal experiences including her relationship with Marlon Brando and what her marriage was like with her late husband. She is clearly a person of extraordinary inner strength and confidence and it was a pleasure to get learn about her life.

Don't get me wrong there is some good jokes here especially in the first half however I felt like his feud with the trans community sucked too much oxygen and too much humor out of the room. It felt like at a certain point it stopped being about the comedy and more about Dave defending himself. Of course he has a right to do this but it doesn't make for great comedy.

I hope he meant what he said at the very end where he declared that he was done joking about the trans community until we are all laughing together. That will take some time and some engaging with their community on his part but I hope for the best.

I still think Dave is one of the great comedians of his generation and I look forward to seeing what he does next.

To enjoy Ugly Betty you really do have to embrace the campy fun of it especially early on. As it goes along the show evolves beyond the campiness as does the title character but it maintains its heart throughout. Its easy to see why this was the role that made America Ferrera a star. Her performance and her character are inspiring to watch.

When you first see Betty enter the the shallow, shark infested waters of the fashion world where everyone is vain and out for themselves you expect for her to have to adapt and evolve to survive. And to a certain extent that was true for the show but most of the evolution comes from the people around her. Her relentless kindness and good nature rubs off on everyone around her and you see each and every character grow and improve as people from beginning to end with plenty of bumps in the road along the way. She is far from a Mary Sue though, there are many times where she gets things wrong and falls flat on her face but its that perseverance and positive spirt that keeps her going and keeps the viewer invested in her story.

The show pokes plenty of fun at the fashion world but it also doesn't shy away from showing the joy and the artist expression it brings as well. It also provides a nice balance of showing Betty's life at Mode as well as her family life which is where she draws a lot of her strength from. The entire cast was great, you especially have to give props to the casting of Venessa Williams as Wilhelmina Slater in what was a Devil Wears Prada type of role. At the time I don't think anyone would have pictured her in that kind of role but she was phenomenal and clearly had so much fun hamming it up as the main villain.

In certain ways the show can feel a bit dated, there are certain jokes on race and transgendered issues that I don't think would be told in the same way today. And the way it deals with female body expectations while fitting for the show can be off putting for some people. But those were minor things in my opinion that doesn't distract from its overall brilliance. Its unfortunate it didn't go on longer but they still did manage to put a nice bow on the end of the final season to give the feeling a finished product. Its a great show for anyone looking to find inspiring characters with an uplifting message.

Being a middle aged white male from outside the United States I'm probably not the target demographic but I find this show charming. Some of its themes are universal: family, community, cultural clashes, economic pressures, trying to live your values under challenging circumstances. These are things a lot of us can relate to in our own context.

The backdrop of the show is about creeping gentrification into a Latino community in L. A. centered around a cast of characters tied together by family and their local taco shop. There are a lot of political themes around class and culture that come up that may turn off some people but I never found any of it heavy handed even in instances where I didn't agree with the messaging.

The cast is solid and the characters are well developed. I particularly enjoyed watching Karrie Martin as Ana, she lights up the screen in every scene she's in. I hope to see more of her. Glad to see its getting a second season.

There are so many things this show did well that its hard to list all of them. First and foremost the casting was spot on. Everyone was perfect for their roles. Virtually every episode was consistently funny and the writers did a great job of putting in easter eggs throughout that are referenced again in later episodes giving it a lot of rewatch value.

You will know if this is the show for you right from the Pilot episode. The format stays pretty similar with almost all the episodes taking place exclusively within the store with a few exceptions. And for Superstore that works really well. A lot of working class political issues are presented during its run. Low wages, union busting, maternity leave, health benefits, immigration and corporate power are all issues touched on in a realistic way which it manages to balance without losing any of the humor and without being preachy or heavy handed.

During its run I found I grew attached to the characters in a way that rarely happens for me with sitcoms. Each character, while flawed is compelling in their own way. They felt like real people you'd meet in that environment. You get a cast of characters that are diverse in both background and personality who mesh very well together throughout the story. The only thing I wish is that it could have lasted longer but with 6 seasons it still has a satisfying run and ends extremely well. The will they or won't they storyline between the two leads was also compelling. America Ferrera and Ben Feldman had great onscreen chemistry. Many of their scenes together rank among most memorable moments of the show.

My hope is that Superstore does well on streaming platforms and it spurs more shows of its kind because after watching this I think we need more working class stories whether they be comedies or dramas.