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maxrottersman
Reviews
Andor (2022)
A Case Study In Bad Writing
He goes it to look for his sister. Escort says she isn't there anymore. He asks what her name is. Escort says, "No one gives their real names here." DUH! It's his sister. Of course he knows her name. He wants the name she's going by. Escort walks off and he doesn't even try to explain that to her. Just stupid.
Back on his planet has a robot that has Text-to-Speech that sounds like 2019. Remember, this is in the future!
So if you want to watch something poorly written, Andor won't disappoint. I was less interested in know what happens when the first episode ended than when I was 30 seconds into it.
The Gray Man (2022)
You can't fix stupid
Yes, you pay Billy Bob Thornton and Ryan Gosling enough money and they will read your juvenile script in front of a camera. I didn't make it past the first episode. They're paid to stay interested. I have better things to do.
Ida Red (2021)
Neither realistic nor cathartic
There are thousands of young filmmakers out there who have similar scripts which are all about sociopathic wish fulfilment without even a nod to...um...right and wrong. This one got made. Real money was put into this movie. So if you're interested in that.
There is no real heist in this movie. That's what got us to watch it. Portray people realistically or make an emotional point. Again, this movie did neither for me.
Kevin Can F**k Himself (2021)
An Interesting Idea Written Poorly
The secret to great satirists is they love the material they satirize. The writer here has no real love of sitcom. Just grist for her mill.
The show blunders immediately by putting a sitcom sequence first before a reality sequence.
What's really mind blowing is expecting anyone to relate, or feel sympathetic to the main character in 2021.
I can't believe this made it into production. It isn't funny. It isn't deep. I will give it one thing, it is somehow beyond pretentious.
Annie Murphy was the most important character in Schitt's Creek. My heart went out to her as strongly in that as it is left cold,confused and annoyed in KCFH.
All you need to know is in the title. Is that ever someone you want to spend the evening with.
But do try to watch it! It'll make everything else you watch just that much more enjoyable.
Mank (2020)
None of this happened and if it did I wouldn't be interested
There is no story. No compelling struggles of character. No connection to today's media (Hearts to Murdoch); what a lost opportunity! Fincher is visual cartoonist. He has nothing to say. When he puts images to the script of people who do, magic happens (Social Network). When he's in charge I marvel at how tone-deaf he is to what is, and what is not, story and character.
There's more creative cinematography in today's YouTube filmmakers. I could only watch 30 minutes. So take this review only as a warning to check your critical faculties at the door if you're a literate film buff. I'd rather keep my memory of the people in the film as serious filmmakers, deeply insecure all, not cardboard cutouts walking the world in complete confidence with no real-world problems.
Documentary Now!: Waiting for the Artist (2019)
Of all the commercial shlock out there they pick this to ridicule?
If you saw The Artist is Present, as I did, you're not going to find this satire remotely funny. Indeed, I complained so much my daughter turned it off after 10 minutes. My daughter is an artist and said it wasn't a big deal. I said, "have you see the documentary?" She said 'no.' I told her, watch the documentary and then come back and tell me this isn't mean-spirited and not funny--AT ALL.
The original documentary is about how an artist connects to others. How any of us connect to each other. If you think that''s pretentious, or stupid, okay. I didn't, for "The Artist is Present". Even though I DO find most performance art pretentious and stupid. Indeed, I watched Artist is Present expecting for it to confirm my general dislike of performance art!
What really riles me up is I often recommend "The Artist is Present" but if someone sees this first they'll never watch it. Worse, they'll believe they know what it's about. A good satirist deep down, loves their subject. These people don't love art. All the humor is dumping on Marina Abramovic.
Again, these guys could have made fun of Taylor Swift or the Kashians. Why they'd ridicule real artists is...well..of course, Fred Armisen is no real artist. After seeing this I believe Kate Moss must have nailed it, "'He's so great at doing impersonations. But the greatest impersonation he does is that of a normal person."
If you haven't seen The Artist is Present, PLEASE WATCH IT FIRST! Don't let this piece of low-life humor ruin it for you.
Art means something. It means something to me. I have nothing against artists making fun of other artists--when the deep respect is there. It isn't.
Again, watch The Artist is Present. Please watch with an open mind. It's one of the best art documentaries I have ever seen. I knew absolutely nothing about Marina Abramovic before I watched it. Nothing.
Fleabag (2016)
Waller-Bridge Does Too Much Upstaging Of Her Characters
A very enjoyable show. However, she always upstagging her characters which ultimately weakens the story.
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (2017)
Fake Drama
Relative to what this cast should have accomplished, this is a 1. However, it is watchable.
Dustin Hoffman will die an actor who always played the same part. A bumbling guy, messing up here and there, trying to get things right...misunderstood. Etc. They should have known better before casting him in this. He didn't commit to the character's selfishness, delusions and narcissism--his pent up anger. (Ironically, because in real life Hoffman, like the character, is a selfish prima donna) Without Hoffman actually acting the part, the rest of the actors are left hanging, losers all, who one can feel little sympathy for. In other words, the film is boring, one only waits in the hope that the cast will ultimately save it. The womens' part are atrocious for this day and age, a young women interested in porn, a lonely spinster and a lush. Emma Thompson should know better.
I do a full-on rant about the film on YouTube. If you search "maxotics meyerowitz" you should find it. IMDb is unclear about linking to YouTube directly so I won't.
The Deuce (2017)
An Embarrassment for David Simon
If you thought The Wire was genius (which I do) then you may scratch your head watching this.
NYC in the 70s was dangerous. Money was tight. Hard to believe anyone would be stupid enough to try to rob someone they were staking out AFTER the money was deposited in the night box--they'd at least take his wallet. Showing two pimps hanging out together at the Port Authority is completely unbelievable. Did competing drug dealers hang out in The Wire? Of course not.
Every scene is off.
The characters are stereotypes and weak ones at that. Baffling from this writing team. The story is written to setup porn scenes with women who don't have boob jobs-- maybe that's what the creators are most proud of. That and having James Franco play two characters. PLEASE! Do your experimental theater on your own nickle. I pay for HBO! ;)
Romanticizing street prostitutes in any way during that time is something David Simon should be embarrassed by. Having the first show end with a black pimp cutting up a white prostitute is beyond the pale. Gratuitous violence.
The show leads one to believe there are many blacks in the police in the 70s; that they would tell a white officer to calm down. That the police would do a stake-out involving a bunch of cars and THEN let someone go free. Of course, it's a little more complicated than that. The cop probably did want to make the girl, but he leaves. The black pimp on the other hand has no such grace apparently.
As a former reporter I'm surprised David Simon didn't red-line reams and reams of this script for inaccuracies.
This show could have used the 70s to shed light on our current situation, but it didn't. If you're over the age of 55, and want to get your dander up, watch it. If you're younger, know, it's completely phony. In real life, all those people led the Hobbes' life, "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short"
In NYC, in 1971, women and blacks were not as free as the show implies. According to this show women are going to bars while their kids sleep at home, blacks have good jobs in the police department, women are making good money as prostitutes and enjoying breakfast with their pimps.
The creators of this show should know better. It really does disgust me how they have whitewashed the 70s. The problems in the cities in the 70s is the problem TODAY in middle America. David Simon must have had a stroke or he just doesn't care...I'm mystified. How could someone do the best TV of the past 100 years and then lay this "Deuce"?
Gone Madigan (2010)
A Stand-up Classic To Me
I didn't see a review so am writing one because Gone Madigan is a 10 to me, not a 7.1, or whatever IMDb shows. Why? It's very funny. But so are many comics. She seems like an interesting person, someone you'd enjoy being around. So are many comics. So what makes her special? Her technique is flawless. I was just watching Joe Rogen, and as funny as he is, he resorts to saying things like "this is just comedy, I'm not like this in real life". Madigan never breaks her persona to excuse something. She doesn't break character to voice a pet peeve. She's very, very disciplined in how she tells her stories, though that is very far from how she appears. She makes it look easy, way TOO easy. She's one of the few comedians where I remember her bits long after watching. I remember the stories she tells. I can't say that for most comedians I watch. That's a 10 in my book.