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The Afterparty: Ulysses (2023)
War Injuries Can Be Funny
I think using an American soldier having his leg blown off as the pretense for a satiric romance and light comedy is brilliant.
I'm sure the tens of thousands of horrifically injured soldiers barely getting through every day dealing with the attendant PTSD appreciate the attention paid to their losses and the humorous moments they provide the audience.
I wonder why more shows don't use injured American soldiers as props for their genius?
Maybe people will learn just how funny it is to see a young man maimed -- especially an American.
Then they want to know why America doesn't care whether or not they ever settle their strike.
Tulsa King: Go West, Old Man (2022)
Sly and the Family...
Sure, the business aspects of the show along with his takeover of the weed store strain credulity. I don't think I have ever seen a movie or a series where the writer understands what's involved in laundering money -- the mechanics of how it's done and the resulting hit to the aggregate dollar figure of what needs to be cleaned by the process used. Heck, neither did the guys from the neighborhood back in the day.
Yet, Sly must have done some hanging out with Caan, Chazz Palminteri, Burt Young, and the made guys at il Boschetto in the Bronx because he has the attitude, mannerisms, and style of the successful guys who survived their youth.
Simply said, Stallone is great, and the show is well worth the watch. I've only seen episode one but if they don't ruin it with wokeness and political propaganda I think it will be a "can't miss."
I know I'm not going to miss it.
City on a Hill: A Program of Complete Disorder (2022)
Tom Atkins
"The good news is your dates are here. The bad news is... they're dead." I have remembered that quote since I saw the movie in the late 1980s. Tom Atkins said it and unless you didn't watch TV or see any movies in the last 50 years, you would know the man. I think IMDB owes him an apology. When you click on his name because you know his face and remember that quote and it brings you to a page where he has only one credit, you realize a crime has been committed.
Aside from that, I loved the episode. You just know Jackie is going to do the right thing, regardless of how it affects him.
How about you, IMDB? Tom deserves better.
Love, Death & Robots: Pop Squad (2021)
For the Children
I wish I could give this more than a 10. It is particularly relevant today when many people think children and babies a choice they have a right to make even when that decision would have been considered too late only a short time ago.
Where are we headed? What have we become?
Love, Death & Robots: The Very Pulse of the Machine (2022)
The Answer
Martha Kivelson -- the answer is right there. K lives on.
I'm surprised other reviewers didn't note this. I can't be the only one to see it.
This was very good despite the low rating (for LDR at least.. I've liked Mackenzie since Station 11.
The Time Traveler's Wife: Episode #1.3 (2022)
A Blow to Us All
I am a big fan of the movie and now the show.
I will admit that what transpired in episode 2 was a blow to many of us.
And I'm sure many among the show's biggest fans would relish the opportunity to be a middle-aged, naked man meeting a 6-year-old girl in the forest. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Wait...what? There's tons wrong with that...
Yet, if you can get past the onanism -- I was beside myself when I saw it - this is so far a nice show.
It's romantic and well done. It's sad, yet still hopeful. I'm going to watch it, see if the journey is worth the destination.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Strange New Worlds (2022)
WWIII -- The Big One...
An excellent first episode with a great cast, even though they replaced Sulu and Bones, and disappeared Scotty and Chekov.
I've always liked the actor replacing Bones and I can live with all the other changes.
They did bring back a strong Pike with his visions of his demise seemingly ripped from the original series where he was played by Jeffrey Hunter.
They also returned Spock, Uhura (sans the locks), and Nurse Chapel (Majel Barrett, the original Chapel was Gene Roddenberry's wife).
So far all was well. The writing was tight. The story was good.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and was pressing the "10" button right up until they showed archival footage of "Audit the Vote" causing WWIII.
I get it now; this was a learning experience.
Sorry, I don't need actors to teach me right from wrong, or about politics, or what is good for America.
Why can't entertainment merely entertain?
Why must it teach?
Star Trek, the Original Series was "woke," but it never attempted to blame Nixon for WWIII.
I was about to sign up, but I won't pay Paramount/CBS $10/month to be taught by people who refuse to learn anything, yet are convinced I'm the one who needs the lesson.
Breeders: No Direction Home (2022)
Luke's Anxiety? Give Me a Break
I don't care about Luke's anxiety.
A 13-year-old who gets to dictate whether or not his father can live at home, for whatever reason, is ridiculous -- especially since the daughter and wife want him there.
I wager poor Luke allows dad to pay the mortgage, buy the food, pay for his cell phone and buy his clothes, and expensive sneakers.
Teaching the brat that he can order his parents around as if they are servants will not end well either for Luke or humanity.
Hawkeye: Echoes (2021)
1978 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham
I had the car they made their escape in.
Coincidentally, it was given to me in mint condition by a deaf man who was the brother of a very good friend of mine. He gave it to me because even though I could not speak sign language we managed to still have conversations. He was a very nice man.
I loved that car. It burned up outside a bar on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan in the early 1980s.
His brother, my friend, disappeared later on that decade never to be seen again.
Yellowjackets: Pilot (2021)
Pretty Little Cannibals
Become damaged adults.
I saw the twist right away, and normally that would discourage me from going further. Yet, I will always watch the Book Thief, Sophie Nelisse.
Cristina Ricci is in this also, so there's that.
Plus, I really like Juliette Lewis and Melanie Lynskey. And Ella Purnell takes your breath away - she has my wife's eyes.
The story is interesting with potential, even though you don't learn too much from the first episode.
I think I will give it a try - if only for the cannibalism.
Goliath: Hadleyville (2021)
From High Noon to Film Noir
It hasn't been done better since Robert Mitchum was looking for Velma.
The first episode had everything, symbolism; atmosphere - every picture (the Hall of Faces) tells a story; the downtrodden hero who is not allowed peace; the darkest of watering holes; the mist shrouded dark street, the clandestine...everything, all the secrets.
I wish I could give it more than 10, and I wasn't all that enamored with season 3.
Billy's apartment may be in Chinatown, but you can forget that, it's Chinatown. Bruce Dern, Elias Koteas, J. K. Simmons, Jena Malone; with the loveliest of lovelies, Tania Raymonde, and the girl who makes everything she's in, unique, Nina Arianda - that's the cast who makes it all what it is.
"Are you Ok?" He asks.
"Are you, OK?" She asks in reply.
Neither want to say, "No,"
Thinking we are in on the joke, we know the answer.
Or at least we think we do.
Heels: Dusty Finish (2021)
Terrible Name, Great Show
I didn't watch wrestling as a kid, but then this show is not really about wrestling.
Sure the ring spectacle reigns supreme in the series but this is more about families, futures, possibilities, fates, and above all, despair -- all at the same time.
I wasn't going to watch this, thinking it would be about people in heels, not that there is anything wrong with that.
I'm glad I did because this show is absolutely great. It's the best show on TV so far this season.
Downeast (2021)
Good Story -- More Kirk Fox
I grew up around this stuff, but in the Bronx, and it was the Italians. If you had anything to do with their world, you were never free.
This is a little slow -- it seems longer than it is. Yet, it's good. I have one comment. It needed much more Kirk Fox. He steals the movie even though he is used sparingly. I'm going to look for him in other things.
Blood Red Sky (2021)
28 Days Later
I didn't know what this was about before I watched it, but I watched it anyway because it was above a 6 with thousands of votes.
The mother is excellent and her take on a lost soul willing to give anything for her child is nicely done and makes it worth the watch.
It won't win any prizes, but I liked it.
The rest of the cast is okay and despite it taking place almost exclusively on the plane, it doesn't seem too claustrophobic.
Mr Inbetween: I'm Not Leaving (2021)
It's Why He's the Magician
The character of "Ray" was introduced in the movie, The Magician, by writer and eponymous star Scott Ryan.
I stumbled on the series when season one came to FX. My only hope is that the title of this episode, I'm Not Leaving is a hidden message for the future because it is one of the best shows to ever be on TV.
If not, I will be checking for Ryan's next project, hoping for another series or a film -- The Magician was good as well.
The.director, Noah Edgerton (of the Edgertons) is also great as are all the main characters.
If this is it, I'm going to miss Ray and Brittany and the rest.
Kevin Can F**k Himself: Live Free or Die (2021)
First, Get Rid of the Men
The girls in this are great. Annie Murphy and Mary Hollis Inboden are terrific in their portrayals of unhappy people.
The men, or at least the characters they play, however, are horrible. I've seen Brian Howe in a million things and I can understand the attraction of series paycheck, but the male aspect of the show is just awful. Of course, it's not their fault. This is what the writers have given them.
I was going to do a Lori Lightfoot and write "awful" 30 times but I think it is unnecessary; people understand.
I've been fast-forwarding through the man portions and concentrating on just the ladies, But, I don't know how long I will last.
The Ice Road (2021)
Never Undersestimate Liam...
Here you have Liam Neeson, Holt McCallany, and Laurence Fishburne. It's a modern-day cowboy, a leader of men trapped in a mine, and an organizer designing a rescue mission. In addition, Marcus Thomas plays an injured American veteran, with Amber Midthunder as a foul-mouthed First Nation trucker who has extra incentive to save the miners.
A cowboy, a working man, a leader, an injured vet, and an Indian walk into a bar...
They aren't that lucky.
They are on a melting ice road in the spring trying to save 26 trapped men on the clock to eternity.
What could go wrong?
Forget about physics, medical realities, and all the other improbabilities of the tale. Forget the fact that an energy company, some of the most scrutinized enterprises in the world, would never get away with killing miners unless they were a Chinese company.
It won't win any awards, but it's a good ride with plenty of excitement that's fun to watch.
Evergreen (2020)
It's Both the Journey and the Destination
This is a delightful little movie with great acting, beautiful scenery, and likeable characters who are believable as regular people who meet and make a story that is their story.
The direction is good and the script is well written. Both done by Paul Goodman -- while undergoing chemotherapy to boot.
The soundtrack is even good.
After a bad day, it made me feel good.
Mr Inbetween: Before I Went To War (2021)
Ryan's War
Scott Ryan can write and his portrayal of Ray is memorable with resonance as a man who is torn between his humanity and his ability to be ruthlessly brutal.
I hope the show goes on and having seen the Magician I await another movie.
Flatbush Misdemeanors: the chicken or the egg (2021)
"You On Twitter Too Much"
Yeah, there is politics, but it's comedic and they mock it so I can handle it.
Plus this is funny. I grew up with a guy who reminds me of Kevin -- lackadaisical and with zero drive, but with a good heart.
And the good in a heart counts for a lot.
In Treatment: Brooke - Week 2 (2021)
I'm On Her Side
Uzo Aduba is really good here. Instead of being someone evaluating the lives of others, we get to understand what makes her who she is.
I really like this episode. I'm holding out hope for this show despite some things I don't like.
In Treatment: Laila - Week 2 (2021)
PoliticsAre Ugly. They Is Beautiful
Quintessa Swindell is non-binary and they is lovely to the point it is hard to take your eyes off of her.
There is so much promise here but who enjoys a lecturing -- especially when it is the same lecture you get from every show today.
Uzo Aduba is growing on me and the give and take in this episode is fascinating. I'm going to watch because I like Eladio, Colin, Laila, and Brooke -- if I can take the lectures.
In Treatment: Eladio - Week 3 (2021)
Anthony Ramos
Ramos gives a master class in acting. I've only seen him in one other role, and that was Honest Thief. I had to check the IMDB to make sure he was the same guy.
It is my opinion that he is perfect in this role. He channels through emotions as if he is the character he plays.
If not for the racial stuff, I would rate this higher because of his performance. And I will continue watching this because of him. I like Eladio and I think Ramos is great.
But please, leave me alone with woke stuff. Not everything in life is race. Sometimes a man is just a man and problem is just a problem. This can be great. Let it be great.
Let's Be Real: Episode #1.4 (2021)
Where Everyone Knows Your Name
This episode is worth it just to see George Wendt.
The man owns a piece of Television history.
Norm is someone we all know and miss.
And, he is still funny -- even about himself.
The Kominsky Method: Chapter 17. In All the Old Familiar Places (2021)
Does Your Dog Bite?
Come on, people. This season opener was hilarious -- one of the best comedy episodes ever.
I had to watch it twice to catch all the jokes. Kudos to the writers and all the actors who certainly delivered their lines perfectly.
First thing Monday I'm calling the woman who sold me my Jacuzzi and asking her what she did with that picture...