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jessicabnoll
Reviews
Deadwood (2004)
Huzzah
I watched DEADWOOD during its original run and have been evangelizing it, and regularly revisiting it ever since. For a series that I originally thought to be "Excellent", it's astounding to me how much newness and elevated greatness I find in the series with each subsequent revisit over the years. The success, and beauty of this story telling is the community that is "Deadwood". Creator David Milch set out to tell a story about a burgeoning civilization and in his quest to do so, unlocked a universal beauty, an absolute truth, community begets family, begets, progress begets endless storytelling. The never meant to be final third season is peppered with promise of future connections and stories that we never got to see. This writer would personally have been delighted to see how supporting characters John Langrishe further worked his way into the council of elders. Or, the continuance of dear, defensive Charlie Utter's coming to understanding, and cracking a smile when dealing with Al's heavy seconds at the Gem. Growth and build are constants in this story. I would have loved to have seen more of it. I would have loved if it never ended.
The Morning Show: White Noise (2023)
Thinking of Senator Lloyd Bentsen
While watching season 3, episode 3 of THE MORING SHOW, I found myself thinking of Senator Lloyd Bentsen's famous 1988 VP debate quip to Dan Quayle, "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." This season thus far, and much of episode 3, lead to to make this comparison between the THE MORNING SHOW, playing the role of future VP, spelling challenged, Dan Quayle, and the far superior SUCCESSION in the role of JFK.
THE MORNING SHOW, has all the ingredients to be a great drama on it's own. Show biz, news, money, human drama, palace intrigue all abound, and should be able to mix into an engrossing story. However, THE MORNING SHOW seems to keeps throwing itself in the trash to keep apace with real world events. While this tactic makes sense given that the show is about a morning breakfast TV show, the reality is that the shifts in the story, and season three's odd insistence on copying plot points from a far superior show (SUCCESSION) leave the viewer with detached story lines with little to no emotional connection for the audience.
This episode is elevated by the excellent Nicole Beharie, who does heavy lifting on behalf of her writers who have asked her character to both confront and solve racism.
As a viewer, "show within a show" is always a favorite, juicy device, unfortunately, this show continues to fall short of hitting the mark as it tries very, very hard to stay a pace with current events making them, and their statement on it the main character.
The Idol (2023)
A laughable offering from the child of a famous director
This is utter dreck, misguided, pulled apart, and put back together in an endless montage of slow walks and long looks accompanied by pulsating music peppered with sharp tones here and there. Ms. Depp shows much promise. Her opening moments of feigning emotion are provocative. How I wish we could have seen more of her mechanics working. Instead, the audience is told who she is, and what has happened. Everything else about her character is learned through her actions towards others. I don't know what this was supposed to be, before the productions overhaul. More so, I don't know what this is supposed to be as has been presented to us.
Sam Now (2022)
Generational Trauma: The Unspoken Plight most Families Wrestle With
A multi-decade spanning, wonderfully told story of generational trauma, told through a loving lens. Like actual family trauma, the story goes deep, and a happy ending is not guaranteed. The stories main character, Sam, is a familiar persona to anyone who has suffered abandonment and loss. In truth, the whole family, including the director, Randy, Sam's older half brother, are all players in the tale, each exhibiting their own classic responses to abandonment. It's fascinating to watch, more so by a multi-decade spanning purview. I only wish the filmmaker had dug a little deeper, and shared a little more about his own story, as he seem deeply effected by the disappearance of his stepmother perhaps by way of his own biological mothers absence which is barely touched on/talked about in the film.
Black Bird (2022)
A must, if only for Paul Walter Hauser
Black Bird has a more than interesting story to tell but suffers from some oddly elementary writing now and then. However, it should be seen if only to witness the mindbogglingly nuanced performance of Paul Walter Hauser. Mr. Houser's performance has an almost hypnotic effect on the audience which makes it all the more terrifying as the the subject matter discussed becomes increasingly more intense. Mr. Egerton gives a strong performance that unfortunately bares the brunt of some of the aforementioned schlocky dialogue. His "Jimmy" is also saddled with an oddly cobbled together family drama as secondary story. The scenes between Hauser and Egerton left me pinned to the back of my couch making it well worth the price of admission.
Atlanta: New Jazz (2022)
Little Boy Lost
Another beautiful episode that's damn near a masterpiece by looks alone. But wait there's more! A tripping Al finds himself on another odyssey dealing with who he knows himself to be inside vs. How the world at large sees him. Some wonderful callbacks to the themes of family, loss, and self-awareness that are so prevalent in this wonder of a show.
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
A fun adventure in a galaxy far, far away
This film is infused with all the fun and humor that made you love the series in the first place. Big points to Alden Ehrenreich for bringing a younger, more green Han to life (don't worry he's still undoubtably Han). Woody Harrelson is pitch perfect as Han's rouge mentor, Donald Glover does some heavy lifting with some of the films harder to swallow moments, and Phoebe Waller Bridge brings tremendous heart to the story by way of a most excellent droid. Emilia Clarke gives a good performance, but can't quite seems to break free of her more famous Khaleesi chains. It's unclear to this writer why this film received so much negative attention, it's truly a fun romp through space, and isn't that what made us all fall in love with this story's universe in the first place?
The Tomorrow War (2021)
More plot holes than a slice of Swiss cheese
Poorly written, could have been so much more exciting. It also felt edited to shreds while still being a bit too long. The aliens are pretty cool looking and sufficiently terrifying. The fantastic Betty Glipin is wasted. Characters of color have little to no backstory, but boy are they willing to put their life on the line to help Chris Pratt's character.
Hunters: The Great Ole Nazi Cookout of '77 (2020)
What the hell has happened to this show?
HUNTERS started out with such great promise, but now feels like a first attempt at a comic communally written by a group of teenage boys who have never written anything before.
The King of Staten Island (2020)
Why Do Judd Apatow films feel like they are 12 hours long?
I'll tell you why... because they are well meaning with solid core stories, but incessantly meander to the point that any good story telling is marred and fully diluted by how far the filmmaker takes us from the central plot.
Creative choice critiques aside this film contains wonderful performances from its cast, in particular Mr. Davidson who keeps a place in the viewers heart throughout despite portraying an out of control character who makes bad choices over and over again. Marissa Tomei turns in a strong performance, though the writers of the film seem to let her down about three quarters of the way through.