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Reviews
North Hollywood (2021)
Perfect for anyone looking to despise pro skaters.
You know how in every sports movie an underdog wants to take an innate love for a game, and a remarkable skill in a sport and prove to all the doubters and naysayers, "I have to do this!". Well in North Hollywood someone decided, "What if our protagonist was an unlikable jerk?" "And what if his dad was kinda a hard ass played by Vince Vaughn?". For someone so intent on making it as a professional skater, Michael sure seems content to dump his friends, alienate the pros who seem to want to help him & moon over some girl that's 'out of his league'. I'm guessing based on the plethora of current & former pro skaters in the cast, it was decided to go for skating authenticity over acting ability. Still there is nothing fun going on in this messy slap dash production. Scenes seem to run the course for a bit only to end with no clear resolution. Just watch the "mall scene" where Michael & his friends attempt to steal a deck. They get away, but then don't and in the next scene Michael's riding a new skateboard? Meh.
Skip this and watch Gleaming the Cube instead. At least that movie is funny.
The Last O.G. (2018)
No Tiffany - No funny
So when Last O G began its most recent season (summer/fall 2021) it quickly became evident that without Tiffany Haddish in the cast, the show lost a major if not essential piece of what made it so funny. But then, to move Tracy back in with his mom and set up this ludicrous situation that Tiffany's character is- "in Paris for the summer"- "So here's more of the white dad we know you wanted". Meh. No JB Smoove, none of the funny tenants from Tracy's building he was handyman for, Hell, let's even get rid of his hood tours! No thank you Mr. Morgan. I'll pass. Leave the "message" humor to Tyler Perry.
Dune (2021)
Burdened by big budget
Any fan of the GoT HBO series would agree that what made the first 4 seasons work was that, due to the constraints of a lesser budget (than latter seasons), it was up to the characters development and the dialogue to carry itself up from a Lord of the Rings-style swords and sorcery knock-off, to the multi-layered political intrigue laden masterpiece it became (until the last 2 seasons 😒). By giving Villeneuve a blank check, I feel, he was crushed under the weight of the world he was building. I've never read Dune, but I have seen both the Lynch version and the 90's sci-fi channel mini series, and I was struck by how little it deviates from either, especially the Lynch version. I had hoped to be introduced to an entirely new take on Dune. Think - True Grit w/ Jeff Bridges vs. True Grit w/John Wayne. Yes they both tell the same story but how many single scenes were duplicated by the former from the latter? Few to none I say. This alas is not the case for Villeneuve's remake. Other than the very last act, after Paul & Jessica have escaped the Harkonan attack, it was all too familiar... but with less exposition and almost no context. Sure it looks amazing but at what cost?
Malignant (2021)
Fast Forward to 1:42..
... watch from that point and I assure you that you haven't missed anything important to the understanding and enjoyment of this movie. While it's definitely no "Sleep Away Camp", it is Sleep Away Camp adjacent. You get the idea.?.
Under the Silver Lake (2018)
Come on get the feels
Attempting to rate, review or explain any coherent plot in this movie seems to miss the point. Just like the best works by the many auteur's named in the above reviews ( Lynch, Hitchcock, Roeg etc) the "plot" is not the point. This is what cinema does best when it's done well. It makes u feel things and depending on the viewer, almost any scene in USL can titillate one while annoying someone else. Did anyone else contemplate that Sam's car, apartment and even his life may not have really been his? That he may have been a sociopathic killer that simply became obsessed with random folks, murdered them and then simply became them afterwards? I kept getting flashes of American Psycho. Sam, clearly an unreliable narrator, seemed to be surrounded by people who only saw their peers as interchangeable objects, there for them to use as they saw fit. Where is this more true than young Hollywood? Women bark like dogs, no one remembers anyone's name, "he was a producer, she's an actor/artist". This only propels the paranoia of a world totally under the control of a powerful elite cabal's deeply coded reality. Why else is he/she famous while I'm struggling?!? I feel like this movie will be looked back on in the future as film ahead of its time by a very talented cast and crew who understood their world a bit better than their audience perhaps.
Police Squad! (1982)
"...just a little hunch, back at the office. There's that little hunchback now!"
C'mon, far superior to the Naked Gun movies, though I agree it would have been hard if not impossible to keep up the pace/quality week after week. Could never be shown on network tv today, too many PC babies, alas a product of another time.
Big Sky (2020)
Who is this show for??? Uh, me!
So after the first "act" centered around Rick Schroeder meets Norman Bates as a long haul trucker/sex slave trafficker with a heart of gold (who has the best character name in tv btw- Ronald Perdman) and his "boss"/nemesis- Sheriff Smalltown McPsychopath (how these 2 Mensa members were able to ply their trade with impunity is beyond me) get caught then quickly either escape or get hammer murdered, the show moves onto the other biggest problem our nation faces, black market horse sperm dealers. I'll bet you were just thinking, "Why doesn't this show have a not-ready-for-primetime Javier Bardeen clone, complete with a compressed-gas powered fetish-weapon." Well don't worry cause they got one. The introduction of US Marshall Sexy Mustachio will surely be a worthy addition to the cast. His #1 skill as an officer seems to be impeccably copying the handwriting of an old dead woman, and finding random stones in cemeteries that make ideal paper weights. The wig budget alone must by close to $17.50. And in case there were any hold-outs who still don't plan to watch, I have 2 words- Ted Levine. 11 stars.
I Think We're Alone Now (2018)
Zzzzzzzzzzz...
I realize that after acting in an incredible ensemble cast ala GoT it is a daunting task to follow, that being said Peter Dinklage was great in The Station Agent long before his turn as everyone's fave Lannister. In "Alone Now" opposite Elle Fanning, Dinklage does his damnedest to draw you in to his post-apocalyptic idealized hometown but with so little to work with and several confusing montage scenes set to Rush blaring from the screen, plus a ludicrous third act that goes nowhere, I can't imagine what the end game was here. Unremarkable in every way and not worth your time.
Family Guy: The Book of Joe (2014)
"That and a bag of crank is my Saturday night!"
Seriously, Peter's sequel to The Hopeful Squirrel and him reading it to the families at the end? Simply brilliant, or as Cleveland said, "That's cray-cray in a good way!" The Brian story was okay. Oh yeah, and the Urban Outfitter books Peter lists at the end, fugedaboutit!
The Outsider: Foxhead (2020)
Very satisfying episode
So thru-out this entire investigation you have the central characters processing what can only be described as wildly conflicting evidence. I won't go into that, I only mention it because for this to work, the most cynical doubters MUST become believers or the story doesn't work. I knew Ralph had to be convinced but I must admit I was terrified of how that would be handled. All I can say is kudos to the writers actors and whole crew for doing what they did. I have high hopes for the last 2 episodes.
Mr Inbetween (2018)
Great black comedy, too bad...
...it probably won't get renewed. While Mr. In-between hardly reinvents the wheel, the one thing it has going for it in its rather brief 6 episode season, is its ability to present a character who can be a loving father, brother, etc. and still dole out brutality when it's called for. I always hate TV's need to make it gospel that anyone who employs violence for gain is doomed to visit that pathos on the ones they love. In most cases the opposite is true. How many real life mafiosos we're loving family men? The majority. Episode 4 was especially good. Hope it lasts.
Maniac (2018)
Maniac?
Halfway thru and I'm enjoying it so far. I'm a fan of sci-fi where 1 unnamed thing is different in their reality and it butterfly effects into a very different world I.e., analog tech, Ad-Buddies, etc. it makes me think of Counterpart, Brazil or even Blade Runner. But why is this show called Maniac? There is only 1 movie worthy of that title and it came out 30+ years ago and it features a true maniac 😱. Would Brazil have been as awesome if it was called Daydreaming Worker Drone? Maybe but I think not. Also someone needs to give Emma Stone a sandwich, too skinny! Jonah Hill is doing his best but he is out of his depth in a 'dromady' opposite Emma & Justin. The visual aesthetic is pleasing I just can't get past that bad title. I would have called it 'Grimmson'. That ones free, any other titles will require compensation.