Reviews
American Gods (2017)
Hello? Is There Any God Out There?
Just shout if you can hear me. Is there any god at all? Shhhhh, don't cry. It's just a little pinprick. There'll be no more, ah, but you may feel a little sick.
As has been mentioned on this page numerous times, and in other reviews and news stories across the net, audiences should go into American GODS knowing that it isn't fare for the easily appeased and those wanting to be fed every little tidbit ala Transformers. One reviewer asks: "Why is Shadow Moon surrounded by all this as soon a he gets out of jail? Why is he so special?" That made me snicker a little, but not in a wholly good way. It's scary to see how some have become so complacent that their minds seem not to function at full capacity. Not sure if this is a spoiler or not, but here goes: THAT precisely is one of the things we are waiting to see. What makes him so special. Was that so difficult to grasp? Shhhhh. Remember, don't cry. It's just a little pinprick. Can you show me where it hurts?
American Gods is a clever, no-holds-barred series that is a little slow in establishing its characters and then in character development. It believes that making the JOURNEY fun is what counts more than getting to the destination. It is heavy-handed with political allegories and with sex, sex, sex. Some of each of the episodes is spent on setting up what comes next, and some explaining the background of each character so that you may get to k̶n̶o̶w̶, no, so that you may get to feel them. Sometimes this is done so smoothly, that the exposition isn't always slap-you-in-the-face obvious, and so people may miss it. Unlike some reviewers, I never find this boring. In fact, I look forward to each new episode with bated breath. So, please do not be like the bloke who gave this series a 1 and wrote: "Read the book ... close your eyes and let him carry you on a journey through a world where humans do not walk." Can one really read a book with your eyes closed? I'd venture to say some here actually believe so.
God, it's good.
-Signed, A Lemon-Scented me
Twin Peaks: The Return (2017)
Skip it. No, not only skip it, but toss it.
Where do you begin to describe this show? First of all, I wasn't interested in seeing it as I had caught the original Twin Peaks and it wasn't my cup of tea but my boyfriend and our housemate insisted, and so it was. I didn't make it past the second episode but they watched through the fifth before they quit. I am leaving a review based on my thoughts only.
1). I think men are going to be more prone to not wanting to give up on this especially if they liked the original. While they may be baffled at how inconsistent or dull it is, they will bear it hoping to get to a place where it becomes good before finally realising there is no such place and giving up.
2). In this Twin Peaks, David Lynch and Mark Frost do "creative" with all the ingenious electricity and enthusiasm with which a normal person does the wash. Simply put, this programme is megastupid, megaincoherent, megasilly, megadumb, and way, way megaboring.
3). I would rather gargle petrol (gasoline) than have to sit through another episode of this, and if someone so much as mentions a David Lynch film to me, based just on this experience, I am probably not going to watch although it may be a great film. A possible loss for me and for Lynch.
4). It is one thing to pitch action like a madman at a postmodern attention span like some creators do, but between that and putting your audience into a sleepy, bored stupor, give me the more is more school of thought and keep me entertained like you were hired and paid to do.
The Ninth Configuration (1980)
Excellent, if you can find it
Wow! Basically, excellent is the one word which describes this movie best. Every movie should aspire to be as excellent. This is the movie other movies should want to be. They should all want to be this. Now, the funny thing is if you were to ask me what I mean by "this" I couldn't tell you as it is too good to define and it definitely MUST be viewed in order to grasp it in a way that will do William Peter Blatty justice. I guess you can tell I highly recommend viewing this film....that is, if you can find a copy.