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Lessons in Chemistry (2023)
Terrific Start, Saccharine Ending
Unlike many reviewers here, I had never heard of the book before watching the series. It was good enough, but certainly nothing groundbreaking. It had the potential to become both a solid story of two awkward souls finding love as well as an interesting treatise of sexism in 1940-50's America. But these potentially engaging storylines devolved schmaltz, unrealistic portrayals of race relations and female empowerment for the era, and more than a few instances of eye-rolling (The most significant being how out of nowhere she is given her own tv show without so much as a screen test, and what's more, told immediately that it's "her show" and she essentially gets to call all the shots. Yeah...sure.) And then there are all those happy endings wrapped up in a bow. Meh. My great aunt would probably love it though.
Dr. Death (2021)
Season 1: 7/10 season 2: 5/10
Season one - while not the best TV out there - was more gripping, better cast and a lot more edge-of-your-seat as the back-story of the doctor emerged and even more so the horror of how the medical system failed to put a stop to this monster. Season two...well, not so much. Sorry Mandy Moore, you were mis-cast in this role, and no amount of eye-brow acting can cover this up. Also, far too much time spent on the romance story (we get it, he was charming, and you really, really fell for him...enough already!) of the other doctors/researcher guy commiserating episode after episode while passing a bottle around, showing us what wonderful people the doomed patients all were - all far too drawn out and took too much away from the drama at hand. Fewer episodes and tighter story-telling should have been prioritized instead of a meeting an episode minimum.
Leave the World Behind (2023)
Ignore The Haters
Best movie ever? Hardly. But seriously, the number of one-star reviews and vitriol directed at this movie is ridiculously unwarranted. If post-apocalyptic stories with some originality, a decent amount of suspense, and a few choice "what would I do?" scenarios is your thing, this movie will not disappoint. Throw in a top-notch cast, excellent cinematography and some cool directorial choices and you are in for an evening of good, quality entertainment. And FWIW, the ending is perfectly fine as is...I don't know what all those 1-star reviewers are moaning about. Perhaps not enough "multiverses" references? 😉
The Curse (2023)
Not For Everyone
I think the acting, writing and even the "slow pace" are worthy of praise in creating an interesting character study. Unique story-telling for sure, which I love; however, it is impossible to rally around characters who after two episodes display no redeeming qualities whatsoever. If bleak, dark and depressing is how you like to be entertained, give this show a go. And still waiting to find out in what universe this should be tagged as "comedy." While the scene from the trailer with the little girl and "the curse" hinted at a comedic touch, when played out in full context during the episode it was anything but humorous.
That '90s Show (2023)
Should have Tried Something New
The new cast of teens are dreadful: Uninteresting characters, lame jokes and terrible comic actors. The creators should have taken notes from "Frasier" on how to do a spin-off: take one excellent aspect from the original and build something new from that: a new series based on Kitty and Red as aging empty nesters alone, capitalizing on their amazing comic skills and chemistry would have been so much more entertaining. Instead we get rehash. And very poor rehash at that. The basement wasn't what we loved about the original show. Remember, the final season(s) of That 70's Show grew very stale, especially after Eric left. Inserting a replacement character- "Fake Eric" - failed miserably. So this time around we are given more replacement characters, each with traits trying to mimic the original teens, and not even coming close. So if you can't get enough of Red doing his "Those darn kids" schtick, then maybe you'll enjoy this show. Other than that, this gives us nothing.
Glass Onion (2022)
Over-hyped, Not at all Clever
A bit of fun, yes and visually appealing but ultimately a confusing, mostly disappointing story - too cartoonish to deserve the "Knives Out" branding. Whereas the original quite successfully took an old, familiar murder mystery storyline and made it feel new, established a believable setting along with a cast of characters with traits and flaws that felt real... not so this time out. Instead we're given highly implausible set-ups and caricatures instead of interesting characters. The straight-out-of- Hogwarts puzzle box/secret invitation, the eccentric billionaire's private island trope complete with it's magical appearing-dock, keeping the only known cure to a deadly disease that's ravaging the world to himself so he can host a murder mystery weekend - seriously??) And of course there's that famous priceless piece of art he was conveniently allowed to borrow from the Louvre - a very tough pill to swallow. I was entertained, but blandly so.
The Midnight Club (2022)
Improbabilities are a Distraction
Not a bad series, some creepy "ghost" moments, but don't buy its boast of "most jump scares in a single episode" (that being the first episode, where I actually found myself saying, "oh, enough already"... my first legitimate jump wasn't until episode 3 or 4, and even that was mild.) Some of the stories the characters tell at their club meetings are good enough. And while their personal stories and issues lend themselves to some touching moments, the series is held back by its highly implausible premise and plot holes (terminally ill kids spending their last months living in a dorm where parents only show up once-a-whatever on Family Day, a grand total of two adults in the entire hospice, neither of whom apparently supervising or checking in on these medically fragile teens at night. A hospice where a teen is left to die in a deserted ward completely alone. And where on Earth are these kids getting bottles of wine every night?) Who knows, maybe too much eye-rolling made me miss all those jump-scares, but after five episodes, I'm passing on the rest.
Barbarian (2022)
Promising Start...
I wasn't expecting the Next Great Horror movie so I kept an open mind, and I was pleasantly surprised by the first part of the movie. Unfortunately, the storyline soon veered along a completely different trajectory, eventually plummeting into utter ridiculousness. Snippets of good ideas interwoven with moments of creepy suspense couldn't save this mess of a story that tries your patience by feeding you implausibility after implausibility...and, I'm sorry - but someone please tell the writer or director or whomever...that the baddie "isn't really dead" trope has been done to death (pardon the oxymoron) and is just, well for 2022 - lazy storytelling. Unfortunate for a movie that had such a promising start. High marks for the Airbnb/Bill Skarsgard bit...but as for the the rest - turn it off and watch "The Descent" instead.
Lost in Space (2018)
Season 3: Absurdities Become Distractions
There are some terrific visuals and SFX in this show, bolstered by a sense of nostalgia (that theme song never gets old!) that keeps bringing me back to this series. I gave up on season one after a disappointing first few episodes, but was drawn back in with season two - which, while not "great TV" by a long-shot, had some good action and a storyline that had me feel that the show was gaining some legs. I thought of going back to give season 1 another chance...Sadly, season three has not yet kept up the momentum, and I think I will give a hard pass on a return to season 1 as a result.
The opening third season storyline at it's core is good enough - all the children were separated from their parents and stranded on another planet - but the decision to turn them into mini-adults was a poor one. The writers dropped the ball on this one. Maybe they should have read Lord of the Flies to learn that kids, even when thrown into "adult" situations are still kids, and that can make for some great drama in and of itself. But no: a year after being stranded and they have all apparently thrived, built a nifty little settlement, take French classes from Smith (what else would the only adult in the colony do?), and they all treat their leaders (all three Robinson kids, naturally) with the utmost of deference and respect. Not to mention, the directors apparently told them all to walk, talk and act like they were 40 year olds...which they all do, badly. (The exception is Penny who very much remains/acts like a teenager...and I would think teenagers would roll there eyes at the stereotypical side story of the two jealous boyfriends-to-be sparring over her affections...oooh - which one will she choose!?). So many absurdities (in a quest for fuel, the teens - including the colony's only medical doctor, because why not - quickly scale a two-mile high vertical rock face with the skill and agility of professional athletes), and so many missed opportunities (Parker Posey/Smith had the potential to maintain an evil, scheming persona to propel the drama and suspense, but instead is used mostly for comic (eye roll) relief.
Meanwhile, back on the parents' ship, the adults - who do not know if their children are dead or alive - exhibit the attitude of couples out on a date night wondering how the kids are making out on their own for a few hours.
And then there's Don West. In case Smith teaching French wasn't funny enough for ya, let's tell this guy to ham it up with some of the most cringe-worthy and cliched one-liners we can muster up. But wait...there's a chicken too! Let the hilarity ensue.
Unfortunately, any chance this season had to carry on with a good story is mired by the poor writing and directing decisions. Attempts to maintain the campy humour of the original series result in poorly-executed and thoroughly un-funny gags and one-liners. This show unfortunately fails at finding the fine line between using science-based fiction to stretch your imagination versus lazy implausibility. Good visuals and effects can't mask unskilled writing and directing.
Dark Waters (2019)
Not bad, but it's been done...better
While a very important topic, as a movie it fell short. Ann Hathaway's amazing talent wasted on a mediocre role. Mark Ruffalo did a great job convincing us that being a lawyer can be tedious and dull. For terrific story-telling on this topic re-watch Erin Brockovich instead. To feel incredulousness and outrage, read the NYT magazine article. For an evening in with not much else to watch, this will do.
The Farewell (2019)
What am I missing?
I am baffled as to why this movie is receiving such rave reviews. The story was okay at best. And now Oscar buzz galore!? For Awkwafina no less...seriously?? If 90 minutes of moping is considered great acting, well then sure. I am a huge fan of original strories and storytelling (Roma, anybody!) I could care less about the next superhero or Star Wars movies - and I was looking forward to The Farewell based on the reviews and hype. Nope. I did enjoy the glimpse of daily life of a Chinese family, and the grandmother was enjoyable to watch (buzz for another Oscar contender? Really??) But this movie just does not deserve the praise it has been receiving.
Hustlers (2019)
What a disapointment...
A slow moving storyline with shallow, unlikable characters. The script tries to convince the audience that the main characters' actions are somehow justified. All of the men are portrayed as drooling Neanderthals, and they work on Wall Street, so gosh, why shouldn't you drug them and rob them? And look how much FUN the girls are having with all that stolen money! And how can you not be touched when they all buy each other expensive Christmas presents because they are all like, you know, sisters? Seriously... a very poor telling of what was (probably) an interesting news story.