It's been years since I've seen a Doctor Who episode worth watching. I've become very jaded toward the show despite watching every episode out of pure fan loyalty. I've disliked this new Doctor Who so far, and was even about to jump ship, but it took this return to form to remind me of why I loved Doctor Who in the first place. It's not the best Moffat episode, but it certainly brought back the quality, emotion, humor, and gravitas that made the show so amazing. It's been soooo long that I was starved for quality Doctor Who. This is also the first time I truly enjoyed Gatwa as the Doctor. He finally felt like a real Doctor. Sadly, this was a bottle episode and the shows quality might return to the new status quo. I hope not, but for this episode alone Doctor Who truly returned.
Reviews
15 Reviews
Krapopolis
(2023– )
Could have been so much better...
25 September 2023
I'm a huge fan of Dan Harmon so my expectations for this were high. Unfortunately this show didn't come anywhere close to meeting those expectations. I love the concept and the cast, but this show ultimately lets its own potential down.
The first issue that stuck out like a sore thumb was the poor comedic timing. Harmon's comedic timing is usually on point, but this felt way off. In fact it felt similar to other Fox duds like Duncanville or Housebroken.
The show isn't horrible, and it did manage to get a few chuckles from me, but I need more than that from a comedy. Both Community and Rick & Morty managed to make me laugh out loud with nearly every single episode. They also managed to make me care about their stories with each episode. That didn't happen with Krapopolis. The stories here are boring, the characters are boring, and the comedy is boring.
I'm honestly shocked that this is a Dan Harmon show because the quality I associate Harmon with is nowhere to be found. I wanted this to be so much more, but sadly it ended it being on par with the typical mediocrity found in modern Fox animated shows like Duncanville.
The first issue that stuck out like a sore thumb was the poor comedic timing. Harmon's comedic timing is usually on point, but this felt way off. In fact it felt similar to other Fox duds like Duncanville or Housebroken.
The show isn't horrible, and it did manage to get a few chuckles from me, but I need more than that from a comedy. Both Community and Rick & Morty managed to make me laugh out loud with nearly every single episode. They also managed to make me care about their stories with each episode. That didn't happen with Krapopolis. The stories here are boring, the characters are boring, and the comedy is boring.
I'm honestly shocked that this is a Dan Harmon show because the quality I associate Harmon with is nowhere to be found. I wanted this to be so much more, but sadly it ended it being on par with the typical mediocrity found in modern Fox animated shows like Duncanville.
The Flash
(I) (2023)
Harkens back to the days of Schumacher's silly Batman.
16 June 2023
This film is silly, campy, has a few genuinely cool moments, has a few genuinely cringey moments, and is ultimately a goofy mess of a film. It certainly has a Schumacher vibe to it, and I would rank it between Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. It's probably closer to B&R.
The only recent comic book film I could compare this to would be Wonder Woman 1984. Both films had bad directing, bad effects, and bad CGI. In fact The Flash's CGI is even worse that WW84, it's downright shockingly bad.
I don't understand WB. I trash talk Black Adam and Shazam 2, but both of those films are better than this cheese ball of a movie. It's like the studio look at how poor Marvel's Phase 4 was and said "hold my beer."
The only recent comic book film I could compare this to would be Wonder Woman 1984. Both films had bad directing, bad effects, and bad CGI. In fact The Flash's CGI is even worse that WW84, it's downright shockingly bad.
I don't understand WB. I trash talk Black Adam and Shazam 2, but both of those films are better than this cheese ball of a movie. It's like the studio look at how poor Marvel's Phase 4 was and said "hold my beer."
I'm loving the show, but this episode is a hardcore Aliens ripoff is too much.
4 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
They went above and beyond when ripping off Aliens for this episode. From the visuals, to the lighting, to the music, the a Newt clone, to the surrogate parent subplot, to transforming the Gorn into Alien, to the chest busters, it was all so painfully heavy handed. No subtlety whatsoever. This went way too far to be an homage. I have zero respect and zero tolerance for this kind of blatant ripoff.
This show has so far been fantastic, and I've really enjoyed it, but this episode did nothing but frustrate me with the extreme amount of artistic theft. I just lost a lot of respect for this because because of this single episode.
This show has so far been fantastic, and I've really enjoyed it, but this episode did nothing but frustrate me with the extreme amount of artistic theft. I just lost a lot of respect for this because because of this single episode.
Barbarian
(2022)
Two movies stitched together, one good and one so so bad.
24 December 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Starts off strong with a great setup and fantastic character work. The beginning is intense while delivering smart believable characters. Sadly it quickly devolves into a dumb heavy handed Castle Freak wannabe, and the characters go from being smart reasonable human beings to being so dumb that you have to wonder how they survived Darwinism up until this point. It's like the film had two writers, and the good writer stopped after the first 15 pages or so.
The film wants to be an allegory for rape, and despite starting off on sure footing it quickly stumbles over itself. The opening is a smart approach to this by creating a scenario that shows how the world is more threatening for women than for men. It works very well. As soon as Justin Long shows up the hand gets so painfully heavy that it weighs everything down. He is incredibly cartoony and dumb in the most eye rolling ways possible. He makes impossibly stupid decisions that is downright insulting to the audience, and he stops being a character and becomes a poorly written over-the-top prop villain as he spews out excuses & victim blaming for rape, excuses & victim blaming for shooting someone, and excuses & victim blaming for flat out trying to murder someone. There is zero subtlety or nuance here, and the execution is awful.
The monster in this is basically Castle Freak but with superpowers for some reason. I'm not sure why she has powers and it's never explained. Just like everything else in this in this film the creature starts of scary, but becomes a cheesy cartoony monster that can burst through walls exactly like the Kool-Aid Man. The film tries to drum up some sympathy for this monster at the end, but at that point I was so checked out from the sheer stupidity of the characters and the world they inhabit.
The film starts off so strong that all these issues hurt when they hit like a ton of bricks. Its sucks to get so invested in a well told story so quickly only to have the rug ripped out from underneath you just as quickly.
The film wants to be an allegory for rape, and despite starting off on sure footing it quickly stumbles over itself. The opening is a smart approach to this by creating a scenario that shows how the world is more threatening for women than for men. It works very well. As soon as Justin Long shows up the hand gets so painfully heavy that it weighs everything down. He is incredibly cartoony and dumb in the most eye rolling ways possible. He makes impossibly stupid decisions that is downright insulting to the audience, and he stops being a character and becomes a poorly written over-the-top prop villain as he spews out excuses & victim blaming for rape, excuses & victim blaming for shooting someone, and excuses & victim blaming for flat out trying to murder someone. There is zero subtlety or nuance here, and the execution is awful.
The monster in this is basically Castle Freak but with superpowers for some reason. I'm not sure why she has powers and it's never explained. Just like everything else in this in this film the creature starts of scary, but becomes a cheesy cartoony monster that can burst through walls exactly like the Kool-Aid Man. The film tries to drum up some sympathy for this monster at the end, but at that point I was so checked out from the sheer stupidity of the characters and the world they inhabit.
The film starts off so strong that all these issues hurt when they hit like a ton of bricks. Its sucks to get so invested in a well told story so quickly only to have the rug ripped out from underneath you just as quickly.
A fantastic spiritual successor to American Psycho!
29 November 2022
American Psycho gave us a protagonists who falls prey to the usual male drives and compulsions in the most negative extreme (to paraphrase Roger Ebert), and this episode gives us the same with the usual female drives and compulsions. Where as American Psycho delves the the shallow greed and narcissism of 80s Wall Street (well, it rings true of Wall Street of any decade), The Outside delves into the shallow judgment & narcissism of bored middle-aged middle-class American women (what year did this take place? Who cares, it's a satire.) Much like American Psycho, we see a fantasy play out through the eyes of our psycho protagonist. The Outside gives us a fantasy via magic lotion and a talking TV. We see the protagonist play out her deepest fantasies to a violent & disturbing end that kind echos Tales From the Crypt & May a bit. The Outside is a fantastic character study that is for anyone who enjoys these dark psychological satires that show us the worst of ourselves.
The Terminator
(1984)
Sci-Fi/Horror masterpiece!
22 January 2022
First of all, what is with all the reviews mentioning dated CGI? There is no CGI in this movie. Everything is practical effects or stop motion animation. Even for its time the effects were low budget as this was a small independent film. For its budget and what they had to work with, the effects are incredibly effective and way ahead of their time.
As for the movie itself, it's a brilliant film that delivers scares, action, drama, and a mind blowing time loop ending. The film begins as a typical horror film, starting with the villain out to kill, the hero trying to save, and the victim trying to survive. But as the film progresses it flips convention on its head. The story builds upon itself with complicated layers, creating an epic & interesting mythology, and delivering emotional stakes that films of this genre often lack.
The Terminator is one of the best films ever made. Very few films manage to achieve what this film achieves.
As for the movie itself, it's a brilliant film that delivers scares, action, drama, and a mind blowing time loop ending. The film begins as a typical horror film, starting with the villain out to kill, the hero trying to save, and the victim trying to survive. But as the film progresses it flips convention on its head. The story builds upon itself with complicated layers, creating an epic & interesting mythology, and delivering emotional stakes that films of this genre often lack.
The Terminator is one of the best films ever made. Very few films manage to achieve what this film achieves.
The Mist
(2007)
Brilliant film about the horror of hopelessness
1 January 2022
True hopelessness is a powerful emotion that can lead to horrific consequences, and that is what this film puts on display. Over the years, all around the world, we've seen how quickly people can devolve into complete savages. How quickly hysteria can make good people turn against their own morals. The Mist is all about showing what monsters we can become when pushed too far into a corner. Even the best of us will eventually succumb.
This film is the definition of horror, and following in the footsteps of films like Night of The Living Dead or Carpenter's The Thing, this film never eases up. It keeps pushing and pushing, and goes in a very anti-mainstream direction, a direction where true horror thrives.
This film is the definition of horror, and following in the footsteps of films like Night of The Living Dead or Carpenter's The Thing, this film never eases up. It keeps pushing and pushing, and goes in a very anti-mainstream direction, a direction where true horror thrives.
Psycho Goreman
(2020)
I wanted to love it...
11 September 2021
I love the concept, the creature effects, and the imagination. That being said, I was very disappointed in this film. The lead girl was so bratty, mean, annoying, and completely unlikable as a character. In fact none of main characters were likable or enjoyable to watch, except for Pycho Goreman, who was the only thing that made this film watchable. The story certainly did not live up to the fantastic concept, in fact the story was non-existent. It had all the ingredients to be something fantastic, but a bad screenplay and poorly written characters kill it.
Poorly written and worse execution.
20 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This episode had shockingly poor writing. Completely ignoring character rules (Thanos might have been talked into being a good guy, but he is still psychically the same character, yet he easily got his butt kicked by everyone,) every problem instantly had a solution, the dialogue was painfully bad, and worst of all it was bland & boring. Marvel isn't even trying with this show. The animators do a good job with the action and such, but the terrible writing and direction kills it.
The Marvel show I've been waiting for.
9 June 2021
Holy crap! This episode changes everything!
18 May 2021
What a fantastic twist. Not in a Keyser Soze way, but in a way that changes the core story, the main character, and the entire genre in such wonderful ways. Amalia's character is fantastic! I see her in an entirely new light. This is storytelling at its best! I loved every second of it! This is Whedon at his best. WB/HBO, let him finish his story! #BringBackWhedon.
The Nevers
(2021–2023)
Great show!
27 April 2021
Ignore the Snyder trolls who have coordinated to review bomb this show. This series is very good so far, and the best thing from HBO since before GoT went off the rails.
EDIT: changed my review to 10/10 for the fantastic season finale!
EDIT: changed my review to 10/10 for the fantastic season finale!
Not the ending that this show deserved.
20 November 2020
Warning: Spoilers
You can't just pointlessly kill off a main character in the epilogue.
In all honesty, Swan Song, the season 5 finale, was THE perfect ending. It was where the show was originally meant to end, and it was fantastic, heartbreaking, and well earned. Everything else after was fun, but that is how you end a show.
The series finale that we got was very disappointing. It felt cheap to kill off Dean in such a petty way. To have a random no named vampire goon accidentally kill a character like Dean is such a slap in the face. It felt rushed, out of place, out of character, and it didn't feel earned.
Then the episode went further off the rails by becoming an overly long music video that was pointless meandering filler. Who is Sam's new random family? Who cares at this point.
In all honesty, Swan Song, the season 5 finale, was THE perfect ending. It was where the show was originally meant to end, and it was fantastic, heartbreaking, and well earned. Everything else after was fun, but that is how you end a show.
The series finale that we got was very disappointing. It felt cheap to kill off Dean in such a petty way. To have a random no named vampire goon accidentally kill a character like Dean is such a slap in the face. It felt rushed, out of place, out of character, and it didn't feel earned.
Then the episode went further off the rails by becoming an overly long music video that was pointless meandering filler. Who is Sam's new random family? Who cares at this point.
The best reason to subscribe to Shudder!
6 September 2020
I've been a fan of Joe Bob Briggs ever since the 90s. I subscribed to Shudder just to check out his new show, and I'm so happy to see that he hasn't missed a beat! 'The Last Drive In' delivers, and thankfully Shudder hasn't toned down Briggs' non-pc humor.
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