Reviews

OUTSIDE of the fact that it's painstakingly slow and boring (albiet fascinating which, granted, seems like contradicting but alas, is true) I'm taken aback by the fact that we are preached to and partially admonished by the filmmaker and subjected to HIS opinions - and why we need to hear a layman opine on psycology (as opposed to an actual psycologist or pyschiatrist) is beyond me - I get he's got a ton of skin in the game but maybe this is a scenario where 'you're too close to it' dude, leave it to the professionals - ya know and not to be a dick or anything but it's definitely a detractor and why I've given the project a sad sack six

Now on a personal note - I don't want to appear insensitive, cause I'm not, especially towards this subject - in fact, I myself have been affected by a similar situation with an ex girlfriend - that has forever altered my life - so when I say that this is small potatoes, and the only reason a) we're hearing about it and b) it was important enough pursue - was because the leverage of pressure used to gain confidence was the intitial impersonation of these EXTREMELY WEATHLY AND POWERFUL people - and let me also clear up for u the concept that it was not done for the money but for control - peeshaw - this idea illustrates the naiveté of the film maker and even the investigators - the money WAS the driving force - the perpetrator knew that to keep it chaotic and keep the sums reasonable that a) it's more believed and b) authorities would be FAR less likely to engage - this is common for Intelligent fraudsters - also this was done on a continuous scale - so it's not negligible amounts over time - furthermore we keep hearing how complex and time consuming the grift was and how not worth the effort - again I say peeshaw - this is that person's career - and it's not all that much effort - the internet takes care of the documents and the hardest part is keeping track of everything - but the perp is clearly highly intelligent and skilled, so they merely exploit and hone scams that 'make logical sense' to them - of course there is components of psychopathy and those of loneliness and feelings of anonymity - obvious tendency to want to demonstrate superiority and punish those who were endeavoring to succeed where they hadnt even attempted but... over all again I say 'small potatoes' that the documentary ITSELF has made a mountain out of a molehill -only the breath and length of the scam makes it noteworthy

And again, I'm extremely empathetic - however not impressed

(and on a final comical note - isn't it amusing that these high end private investigations are basically just adept at search engines and paying close attention to social media?!) (Sheesh what a world we've devolved into)

So ya, I just finished the roast of Tom Brady where Ben Affleck vented about trolls and I turned on the 8pm entry of animation domination (the staple that has kept me sane since my own high school enuii) and found Judy, frought by spring feelings, talking about logs being phallic and the need to 'get some boy ass' mmmm boy ass, says Homer - and realized how entirely inappropriate and foolhardy this show has become - how foolhardy WE have become (and let me preface this all by saying that I've never seen Mr Brady in a superbowl, it's not my cup of Joe - I'm an F1 fanatic - that's the only team sport for me - I watched the roast for it's historic and comedic value) - but now I'm faced with this - idiotic alliteration with intentionally childish voices, trying to sound cutesy while dealing with massively adult scenarios that frankly have no place in an 8pm Sunday time slot - and don't peg me as conservative or prude orrr..... I'm not - but why are we, as a society, allowing this slide into what I can best describe as Mike Judge's 'Idiocracy'?? Let's halt the slide and be better?!!

When you introduce the most powerful physcoactive drugs on the planet then you get this, 9 times out of ten, mix an already charasmatic leader and religious idealogy and boom...

But what I REALLY want to say is : idiotic morons! Idiotic morons! Idiotic morons! Idiotic morons! Idiotic morons! Idiotic morons!

And now understand the violence to innocents - well....

"and he made us..." " and we had to..."

enough said! Repugnant

//in terms of the documentary objectively, above average.

If I'm being honest, this is a poor documentary about a subject that could have been "covered" better, in general -

... This is THAT good! It's truly a tour de force (and forgive me for using that terminology but omg! OMG! When you write something this significant AND do it the justice it demands in the acting.. I mean... Ya 'tour den force' is the only fitting phrase) - it took me awhile to truly appreciate what I was looking at, what he was conveying and why but.. Sheesh! And lemme tell you right now, a 9 from me is exceptional! (for reference I reserve tens for things like an Attenborough nature documentary, or maaaybe Rick and Morty but both of those are for different reasons - I never bestow the NINER - but it's warranted - congratulations man, you should be very VERY proud - THANK YOU for this! Thank you FOR YOU!

And overall extremely entertaining, i don't know if it's the hyper polish ((that's polish as in rub till smooth, not.. You know - Warsaw haha (sorry)) after being on Broadway and all but Sheesh-what a show! And yes, I'm a Jew or more accurately Jew-ish and it should be stipulated that this adds to the experience, cause we can relate to so much of this, even with the 'ish' suffix in full bloom -and I wanna add that there's an element of vainglorious pride watching and hearing Alex, so understand there is some bias but objectively I would and will recommend this. (and of you are wondering about the 8, well... That's high for me, i reserve tens for stuff like Attenborough documentaries and thr 9s goto Rick and Morty sooo)

Those so called "people" are either cast and crew or the friends of the aforementioned cast and crew and ffs people, shame on you! You show needs to stand on its own merits, in fact I'm gonna take away my 3 stars and lower it to a one or two for the mere fact that yall SHAMELESSLY seeded the comments and ratings - and lemme tell you that I KNOW this is the case because I'm a regular day one contributor to try and add some sort of guide post for others and I've learned to suss these loaded reviews and reviewers out - from the screennames to the verbiage and more directly, owing to the fact that these came out IMMEDIATELY asa the comments section was opened for input - BOOO!

Subjectively I don't see what's amusing about ineptitudes.

The man who played with fire, a title that sounds like a Stieg Larsson book and aptly so, picks up the trail that Larsson himself left, in the hunt of for who killed Olof Palme. I feel fortunate to have found this as it's very professional and informative as well as being engaging and tangentially entertaining - in a string of inconsequential and unnecessary documentaries that I've viewed over the last several months alone, this is not that but rather the opposite entirely. It's not some story of a stalker on social media or all those other, not trivial but not really vital either right? Thus I feel secure in recommending that it's worth your time.

Well done and worth watching, definitely contains merit and is presented in a fair manner - - so as always I have to comment on how, in the case of documentaries, the metric of review is significantly different than in a film for entertainment, right? Cause one (the reviewer) must decide if they're gonna to be critical of the subject matter or, rather, the technical aspects of the film - ie it may be a worthwhile topic (although to be fair this is entirely subjective and I guess the documentarian can't be faulted for what they feel is worthy or what they want to explore?!) but be presented very poorly and vica versa - in short, in the case of this film BOTH are worthwhile, but I'm reviewing more the film as a whole.

... they felt the need to stipulate that it's the "second best" hospital and not merely the best - as it's definitely not addressed within the storyline or dialog, so it becomes apparent that they were simply attempting to be cutesy... right? However it wasn't necessary - e1 is actually quite interesting in terms of Scify and even in terms of, let's call it' theoretical medicine in a hypothetical scify setting ' - I mean to say the show isn't particularly funny and it's that newer style of animation that I equate with velveeta but it's surprisingly good, and I'm surprisingly pleased so I'll start off with giving it a 7 cause I can't give it a 6.5 and I'm a notorious hard reviewer (meaning rarely, maybe once every couple of years do I award a 10, and it's for things like an Attenborough documentary or Rick and Morty, but even then I feel like it's unwarranted, slightly haha)

OK well, I've downgraded, after watching the second half, I find the overuse of voice actors on multiple characters within the same episode off putting. I find the grays anatomy type everyone is boning everyone off putting. I now find the lack of any knowledge of theoretical physics off putting.

... and truly I hate to say that, and that it's in essence true but this is wholly unnecessary - it's like so what's next? We make documentaries about elderly who get phone calls about thier car warranties? This is life in today's world! This is what humanity is, isn't it? We, as a society, should have or needed to have dealt with this sooner or barring that, unfortunately, just not done the social media - which is easy for me to say cause I don't (and I don't because I know humans, they're horrible) so if u accept the perils of putting your life out there then may I offer some advice? Don't fall for solicitus messages like 'can I tell you a secret' and on a personal note re the documentarians - you guys are trash! With that gratuitous creepy voice (which wasnt a recreation of the fraudsters voice, it was a dramatic reading of the text) and all this nonsensical b-roll of the messages following the phone lines and internet cable! Suuuch a poor device and not even accurate about how it works - this is almost an all-time low and as a society we need to (I NEED TO) stop consuming thier content and furthering this decline in 'Idiocracy'

But allow me to ammend my comments by adding this very important aspect which is : I do have complete sympathy for the women that fell victim to this, I am not saying that it's thier fault that the were asking for it or that they deserved it - of course not! I was saying that it's unfortunate that this IS imo par for a human to do to another via the anonymity of the internet and that we need to expect this, SADLY, and act accordingly - it's tragic I know but until we prove that we can be better to one another then this will always continue to happen.

"Somebody's grandpa was a serial killer....." Sigh, not necessarily tho, right? Cause a serial killer isn't automatically a father - and it's assumptions and leaps like that that pepper this series with, let's say reckless allegations that most of, are pure speculation - now PLEASE understand that I'm not defending the subject of the documentary, nor disbelieving the accusers (in the cases that it's first hand recounting) but let's just say that had the filmmakers not been immediate family AND the accused being deceased, this type of film couldnt or wouldn't exist - so to me, the fact that one or more of these are purely conjecture - it causes me to see the whole through this lens of speculation - for that I think I have to give it a 3, if for no other reason than, IN FACT, it is NOT the TRUTH about Jim.

I mean just absolutely tone deaf offensive - at least to me for sure - they try and be all modern about it by including a Bi male into the mix but come on, this is just distasteful! And frankly I don't care if (and I dont know cause I stopped short, fair enough) it ultimately ends with a lesson in morality or the two leads find each other, I just can't take this kinda tryhard+problematic bullsquat - and for the record, a girl like Gina doesn't require NOR would go thru the trouble or expense of all those props to get her neighbor, she'd just ask him to do her (and I realize this appears that I'm being sexist but seriously it's preposterous)

So when I watch one of these modern documentaries I'll always scrub thru the initial 30-120 seconds as 85 percent of the time, it's material we'll see within the documentary proper, that's used as a teaser or preview (which is rediculous if we're already pressing play, although allow me to elucidate the criterium upon which Netflix considers a file viewed :TWO minutes, after which time they can count it as viewed in its entirety and it'll count later on for licensing or selling to another platform as well as the residuals and financial obligations for the artists involved etc), now I don't tell you this for any reason that applies to my review, just so you guys know to a) ffw thru spoilers and b) the metrics of the studios (which usually benefit themselves)

As for the film, my first thought is, when did these documentaries begin with the gutteral horror film music the visceral chittering and grim violins and become so HEAVILY produced with this reek of entertainment over say, education or information? Sensationalized and imo, disrespectful and detrimental to those who remain, the collateral humanity that bears the pain of loss and the grief of a traumatic death - I don't know what it says about us that we keep making and consuming this content and albeit hypocritical I know, although I no longer will watch a film/series in which the criminal or accused, is allowed (and compensated) for thier anecdotes - but that's a personal choice of which, more and more I'm limiting what I expose myself to for better or worse, for noble or deluded reasons I don't know - Finally on the film itself, with documentaries it's so difficult to know what metrics to review or opine on, cause do u focus on the subject matter (which is the story the filmmaker chose to make, and is entirely subjective to them) or the technical merits of the film proper? In this case I'll focus on the latter - where I've already whinged about how over produced it is, I have to admit that it also lends a professional air to it so... Anyway that's my pair of pennies without continuing to ramble

although I'd like to add, I would like you to bear in mind that these detectives are posing for and reinacting for this B role of them at work - this is very telling imo // also come on, this ultimately was obvious, the police did thier jobs in this instance and got lucky with evidence , not "chess when the others playing checkers" for the love of all the fish and apricots.

However, once you allow your mind to understand that there is NOTHING at stake, it both diminishes as well as puts into perspective, that what we are watching is more produced than, let's say, authentic - and when I say produced I mean it twofold - the latter being that the end of episode 1 we get this information that increases the jeopardy - again let me add, the jeopardy that is nonexistent - and I strongly believe that moment with her consulting choreographer, is 'scripted' or strongly produced - IF that's the case then the remaining show is suspect as to what we are doing here - also as a afterthought, it's evident that this crush on Witt in formative years as well as the visceral connection to the music, have a profound affect on both guiding (obviously) but moreso, possibly wanting to recapture something long since gone - this all being said, its a tad egotistical to have spent all these resources and harange us viewers as an audience to watch this indisputable vanity project - but whatever... It's good! And entertaining sooo, isn't THAT everything? (it is) (lol)

And what's REALLY lame, in today's world of anything goes as long as it's consensual, that they would even suggest that drugs and premarital sex, will consecrate you to HELL no less! Or more accurately that the lack of premaritals and cocaine will land u in Heaven! Eff-u pal! Gonna make me worry about my immortal soul (haha jk jk I know that's all tales we tell the kiddies to keep em in line, tales that for some reason stuck with many thru adulthood - it's like God? Youd have a better chance putting your faith in extra solar life! Why are aliens considered ludicrous and God is just peachy?) Anyhoo did I reach the limit yet? Luv ya !

But please bear in mind that, of course it's just my opinion and it's SO subjective, this comedy thing but... I personally strongly disliked it and I LOVE 'Birbigs', like all time faves loved :( - I think in part it's due to the, now commonplace occurrence in comedians of a certain age, trend of mortality and experiences with increasing frequency of doctors appointments, that's so off-putting - but I don't come to a stand up show to grow my anxiety and overall shpilkis ya know? I don't know, maybe something is wrong with me and I'm not appreciating and enjoying comedy as I used to but this seemed exceedingly lacking - maybe just stay home with Oona (Una?) from now on, instead of talking four years to bring us stress and lackluster -in short, this is something I'd expect from Niel Brennan, except he treats his time like a therapy session.

I gave it an unequivocal nine (which I believe, if memory serves, I've only matched or exceeded for Rick and Morty and the EPIC David Attenbourough documentaries - seriously....) Bear in mind that I'm a 50 some odd, straight, single white guy and though I love a good, what we used to call 'chick flicks', but almost certainly wouldn't dare to these days - idk it just all worked for me - maybe I was stuck in a sentimental mood but, I mean literally I laughed I cried... Soooo ya know.... Run Dont walk!?? Lol - I hope you enjoy. (and if not, I mean I'd offer to refund your admission price but... I mean... Right?

Initially I felt this had a sortof 'Masters of Sex' vibe to it, in fact even the opening titles were reminiscent of MoS - however lack of tact when dealing with the issue of sexism, unlike with the afformentioned - becomes off-putting to say the least. Personally I very much welcome a feminist agendum however I can't understand why the writers felt they had to brow beat us with 5 standard examples within the first fifteen minutes? Why assault us with the same old "you'd look prettier if you smiled" line rather perhaps some nuanced tangential examples of the ripple effects of sexism that demonstrate how it's an institution, deliberately crafted by males? - sadly after writing all of that I still haven't addressed the show proper and all the fun science et al, I had been eagerly waiting for - and even sadder still, because it is in fact mostly a vehicle for sexism than a show about one womans accomplishments - nonetheless I am still enjoying it.

Ostensibly, this is a hol'atta nuttin boiga EXCEPT a lovely video that could shown to prospective jurors (and future criminals) on the sciences they need to (or should) understand when hearing a case - - I'm only gonna address the first episode here but post it to the show rating cause I have seen it, however my issues are inherent throughout - and though I don't fault a Feebee for being poor at public speaking but the special agent in charge of task force two, well... I hole his investigative prowess exceeds his command of the spoken word - nonetheless it for me it boils down to the lack of anything but methodology (unrelated to the specific case, oddly enough) and denials of interviews from authorities - frankly it's a wonder this was completed.

In a documentary, does one review the subject or does one review the elements of the film, the production et al?

In this case I'll start with the subject, although that's unfair because given that the filmmaker choice is subjective and thier prowess will prove to make the film interesting or intriguing or whatnot, I've always felt opining on the subject matter is, in a sense pointless - ya know it's either something the viewer is interested in or not

And on a personal level, and I want to emphasize that this is apart and independent of my feelings about Rachel Lee and the so called 'Bling ring' but I am vehemently opposed to all of these criminals (whether they've served thier time and "paid their debt" or not) essentially being rewarded financially by being the subject in thier own documentaries and often being lauded by the public as infamous heroes for lack of better terminology - I believe as a society we need to stop holding them up as legendary individuals worthy of our respect or 'worship' and whilst this isn't necessarily the case with Rachel Lee, it is worth pointing out that her stating that she wished to remain unrecognizable and out of the current collective zeitgeist (again) she IS IN FACT doing this documentary for HBO! So one must ask themselves, is it for a hefty payday to lure them out of semi anonymous safe haven of post incarceration OR does she still seek some of the infamy and attention that drove her to the crimes she admits to? (if it's the former, why are we so fascinated and starved for content, that we permit what is in my opinion ultimately a reward for her actions)

All in all I am, whilst being a male born in LA and raised in Bel Air (even attending a school that had its own continuation school called Indian Springs which we referred to as Indica Springs cause ya know... Right?) and having some empathy in those regards, first hand understanding of that environment of interacting with celebrity yet not being anything extraordinary - and of course merely being a human that was a teenager at some point but ultimately I'm unimpressed

By both the film AND Rachel Lee

// as an afterthought, and this is kinda funny and kinda like.. remember I said I had some empathy but not much sympathy, so get this, when I was still in elementary school, there was a kid on my street that had a bad reputation, I can attest he was a bully and, let's say ne'er-do-well. So for a stretch of time there were burglaries in bel air and eventually my family returned from vacation and the house had been robbed - there was a huge greasy palm print on my bedroom window (I had nightmares for months, I was a kid, gimme a break lol) so anyway it turns out that when the caught the gang of kids that did it, that boy was the main dude right? Turned out he went on to have a fairly successful career as an actor - and cause I don't think anyone will read this far I'll tell you his name (we're already on imdb, check him out, you totally recognize him) David Bowe, his girlfriend and Co. Robbed houses AND the school in bel air hahaha - what a Richard right? Funny stuff! Sorry David, some people don't forget.

In a documentary, does one review the subject or does one review the elements of the film, the production et al?

In this case I'll start with the subject, although that's unfair because given that the filmmaker choice is subjective and thier prowess will prove to make the film interesting or intriguing or whatnot, I've always felt opining on the subject matter is, in a sense pointless - ya know it's either something the viewer is interested in or not

And on a personal level, and I want to emphasize that this is apart and independent of my feelings about Rachel Lee and the so called 'Bling ring' but I am vehemently opposed to all of these criminals (whether they've served thier time and "paid their debt" or not) essentially being rewarded financially by being the subject in thier own documentaries and often being lauded by the public as infamous heroes for lack of better terminology - I believe as a society we need to stop holding them up as legendary individuals worthy of our respect or 'worship' and whilst this isn't necessarily the case with Rachel Lee, it is worth pointing out that her stating that she wished to remain unrecognizable and out of the current collective zeitgeist (again) she IS IN FACT doing this documentary for HBO! So one must ask themselves, is it for a hefty payday to lure them out of semi anonymous safe haven of post incarceration OR does she still seek some of the infamy and attention that drove her to the crimes she admits to? (if it's the former, why are we so fascinated and starved for content, that we permit what is in my opinion ultimately a reward for her actions)

All in all I am, whilst being a male born in LA and raised in Bel Air (even attending a school that had its own continuation school called Indian Springs which we referred to as Indica Springs cause ya know... Right?) and having some empathy in those regards, first hand understanding of that environment of interacting with celebrity yet not being anything extraordinary - and of course merely being a human that was a teenager at some point but ultimately I'm unimpressed

By both the film AND Rachel Lee.

Obviously I wanted to love it, I love LOVE R&M since day one but alas, thats more due to the brilliant theoretical physics and scify in conjunction with extremely clever humor and well thought out complex storylines - but this is NOT that and perhaps Justin or the collab with him, is the secret sauce (ie solar opposites right?? Super good!!) or maybe JUST Justin (which sadly is done for good cause well... HE'S donezo titch titch)... Anyway idk of yall have seen Dan's ATV+ show called "Stange Planet" which is essentially a satire of humanity with very literal creatures that use language for example a cat is a "vibrating being" cause it purrs, but it's only fair, especially in today's super high standards (maybe in the 90s it would be amazing but..)

Sadly this is also true for Krapopolis, it's just satire attempting to be original which only is because there's yet to be an animated show set in ancient Greece

But alas the series is young and this is only the pilot so I have to give it a 4 or 5 but only based on this one episode HOPEFULLY it'll get WAAAAY better.

First of all it's essentially twenty-eight minutes of material that's been vamped and teased and fluffed somehow into an hour long special - which would be fine had it been funny or thought provoking or entertaining orrrr enjoyable! Then it's basically jokes about the jokes and bits on the joke just told which I mean.. Sure people love a call back and he does that third person commentary which can be endearing but this is not that - ok wait, I can explain it simply and it's not that he does diarrhea jokes - nay... It's cause he actually came at us with the laziest or played out of all jokes - Starbucks (and if u think it's not about the mispronounced name on the cup well boy-oh-boy....) all and all, for this once seamless storyteller that I fawned over, I have to say BOO! Boo Jim, just boo!

... Idk maybe I'm a closeted Theatre guy, if u get my drift haha but ya, it just worked for me - basically it reminded me of one of the old ensemble casted Christopher Guest films, ya know with Eugene Levy and all the staple players - you remember right? Those fabulously fun mockumetararies? - and I've long regarded Ben Platt as one of the all time great voices (I'm certain I'm not alone in this, but I don't follow the musical theater zeitgeist) and although this doesn't showcase his musical prowess per se, it does use him effectively in a comedic role and it just works - I highly recommend it and YES I only gave it an 8 but that's only because I never give tens and 9s are reserved for films that are truely extraordinary (and Rick and Morty haha) anyway enjoy.