Reviews

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a brilliant actor and delivers Snowden's flat timbre and character perfectly.

Unfortunately, this may be a case where the lead is too good of an actor.

Snowden's flat timbre and character is dull to the point of annoying and, in acting him to perfection, JGL injects dull annoyance into the film.

Whose to blame? JGL? Stone? Snowden himself? Hard to say, however, reality isn't always entertaining and "Snowden" may have been a better story for a documentary than a dramatic film.

This film gets 90-percent of the way there. As a story of the relationship between two brothers, during a stressful time in the life of one, it's poignant and wonderful. To a discerning eye Goat's setting in a fraternity will come across, through most of the film, merely as set dressing for the underlying story, rather than an indictment of fraternity life generally. And at that level it works beautifully. Unfortunately, the last twenty minutes of the film flips into an anti-fraternity rant that, while not exactly coming out of nowhere, could have been better left on the cutting room floor. Nonetheless, Goat is a powerful and emotional film that, in this reviewer's mind, is touching, as opposed to disturbing as some have called it.

The character development in Goat, beyond the two brothers, is minimal but the level of vague ambiguity it creates works perfectly in helping focus attention on their relationship.

Nick Jonas' acting chops were a wonderful surprise. Ben Schnetzer and Gus Halper also deliver unrelentingly powerful performances.

James Franco's sudden, albeit brief, appearance, is a little out-of-place and the presence of his character somewhat unrealistic.

Every actor who appears in "Superstore" - every regular, guest, and extra almost without exception - is extremely fat to an almost dangerous level. Ben and America are the two exceptions to this general rule, as is the "Cheyenne" character (and even Ben, while not fat per se, has an obviously stout frame when viewed in profile; what is sometimes diplomatically called "athletic").

The exceptional obesity present on-screen in "Superstore" is so noticeable that it almost seems like it might be part of the joke; a jab or commentary by the writers about big box store shoppers and employees. However, no allusion is ever made to this nor punchline offered.

This perspective on the unusual casting in "Superstore" is not intended to body shame the cast, nor is it designed to be a flippant comment. This is a comment directly related to the program's watchability. The fact is, the singularly unusual casting decision makes the program very difficult and distracting to watch. I find myself so mesmerized by the producers' decision to feature such a tightly meshed array of similarly unusual body types that it is often difficult to concentrate on the dialog. This is one of Superstore's most critical failings.

Elijah Wood is as wonderful as ever and makes the show watchable. Unfortunately, the program is plagued by the "BBC Curse," which is its tendency to cast an actor who has decided to play the titular character (in this case, Dirk Gently) as incessantly quirky to the point of annoying.

Samuel Barnett's first ten minutes of screen-time was a delight. The second ten minutes was slightly exhausting. And now, each time Barnett delivers his lines, I wait with irritation for them to be over and for the camera to pan away from his face.

(Also, it's extremely distracting the way Barnett keeps eye raping Elijah Wood and totally out-of-character for Dirk Gently.)

I'm a sucker for post-apocalyptic film/television; if I don't like your post-apoc thriller it must really be bad. I mean just epic awfulness. Aftermath fits that bill and more.

There is no plot to this thing, literally no plot. The characters have all been arranged at a starting line and then just randomly amble through to point A, B, C, and so forth as stuff happens, all the time displaying the emotional intensity of a plastic bag.

/mild spoiler follows/

The weirdest point was when the wife matter-of-factly says "the world is falling apart but at least we're all together" and then curls up in her chair like she's about to break-out the bon-bons and watch Oprah. Or, less than 12 hours after their son just gunned down a dude in the living room, the whole family has neatly moved on to trying to troubleshoot the text messaging on their cell phones. Or, after the gas station attendant waves a severed head at the family, they're "wow, that was - like - crazy!" as though they'd just seen a really good juggler.

I understand ScyFy has $25 to put these s*$#storms together but semi-decent writing and passable acting don't require a blockbuster budget.

If Graves were a one-man show starring Nick Nolte it might be okay; Nolte's demeanor and delivery are, perhaps, not so much entertaining as fascinating.

Unfortunately, the rest of this dud acts an albatross around Nolte's neck. A ridiculous plot and tortured writing combine with an amateurish cast who have the acting chops of a community theater troupe.

The show ultimately tries to bank on the novelty of a revolving door of cameos by also-ran, real-life politicians like Michael Steele and Rudy Giuliani who deliver their lines - no matter what those lines are - with permanent rictus grins etched into their faces. They are apparently just so delighted to have been asked to appear on an Epix TV serial that they can't stop smiling and the show's producers don't care enough to ask them to desist.