mmserrano4 Reviews

Covert Affairs (2010–2014)

Exploitative intentions and abysmal presentation

[3/10 · 5 December 2023]

This show is always running on the television so I have seen bits and pieces here and there, but never a full episode, mostly because of the look or 'style' of it. The style can best be described as overlit and oversaturated, shot on a shaky handheld camera. It looks very ugly, almost like a soap opera without the specific and stylized sets with well framed doorways.

However, I wouldn't have thought to leave a review if that were all I thought. Today the pilot episode was on, and it doesn't look like this at all. The camera movement is always motivated and the shots are always well framed. It was jarring to know what show it was and see it look actually like a real piece of media. I can't tell if this is what they thought they were doing as they went on, or if this was some kind of complete accident. They never got the director of this episode to return, so I'm inclined to assume it's a freak accident and that the hideousness of the rest of the show was the intended style.

I can't tell if the actual premise is supposed to be critical of the CIA pimping her out or not. It seems to be critical of it a lot of the time. But then it's just the entire show and it seems the premise is more to normalize this.

Disneyland Resort: Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission Breakout! (2017 Video)

So much worse than tower of terror

[1/10 · 4 December 2023]

I get that marvel movies dont have stakes, but can the rides at least? Really? Rescuing someone with anti gravity? This is just poorly conceived to its core. The building doesn't make nearly as much sense and its theming is both less involved and less cohesive, what little remains has much less purpose. The lighter tone not only makes the ride less fun and less scary, but less interesting as a piece of popular culture, as an expansion of its source material.

The Twilight Zone was not only a compelling and fitting twist on the age old concept of the elevator drop ride, but it lended itself to a 'spooky' tone from which a theme park ride always benefits it. You know. The whole 'theme' part of it.

There is no theme to this. The theme is consumerism, the theme is further double dipping of a property that does not have legs any longer. A desperate cry for attention. Compare it to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. While that series never really left the culture, it wasn't opened just to market the Twilight Zone to people. It was opened because it was a great idea. While there may have been some motivation in the inception of the early 2000's series, this ride always seemed somewhat out of character for the family park. This new set dressing seems more in character, but it and many of their recent changes have robbed the park of core elements of its personality, especially in its variety. Enough screens, enough weak retheming, enough Marvel. Disneyland is about developed genres and themes that children feel they are living in. Not pictures of superheroes and space.

Columbo: Double Shock (1973) Season 2, Episode 8

worst so far

[7/10 · 21 September 2023]

Been watching the show lately. Two episodes so far women die needlessly and after the fact to cover up the crime. First one was okay because at least the first victim lived. This time it was just bothersome, basically the only way the killer could be caught is if they committed/had opportunity for another murder. So theres another one, and on the most innocent and needless character. Obviously it's not an especially realistic one, a "sexually liberated" woman who goes and bangs some old rich guy but "not for his money" as the episode insists. Regardless, she did nothing wrong except give in to vices of pride and sex, and yet is punished with a gruesome death at the end of the episode to tie the plot up. Distasteful, despite the incredible performance of the 'twins'.

Barry (2018–2023)

The best show on television

[8/10 · 12 February 2023]

At first when I was watching Barry, though I was enjoying it, I found it a little irritating some of the things they'd contrive in the service of a television show. A few moments where progress, communication, or certain doom are absolute but the series basically disregards the consequence. But there are really very few of these. The show is amazing, on its own merits it's got the veneer and technical quality of prestige drama while really being a somewhat standard comedy series, with the addition of continuity, character development, and thematic exploration the likes of which are seldom achieved as effectively as they are here. Series like Succession, The Righteous Gemstones wish they could land half of what this series does. Instead they choose to follow evil characters and attempt to justify their behavior through cyclical abuse, mental issues, being emotionally stunted, trapped in an environment of bad actors who prevent them from growing. These traits seem like the natural evolution of something like Seinfeld, however they are what passes for prestige drama today. Barry, though it's a comedy, manages to balance the drama of the story with the heaviness of its themes and characters effectively, and the setting of Hollywood up and comers justifies their stupid, machiavellian behavior and obnoxiousness much better than Succession or Gemstones.

One Night in Bangkok (2020)

i didn't watch this movie

[1/10 · 24 October 2022]

I didn't watch this movie but the soundtrack page has no mention of murray head's 1984 song "one night in bangkok" from the 1984 musical "chess" and as such the title is completely meaningless and the movie probably sucks. Collateral is only as good as it is from the amazing casting, which obviously isn't present in this remake. However this glaring error could be forgiven if the film at least, AT LEAST, used the classic track from the 1984 musical "Chess", Murray Seafield St. George Head's 1984 killer tune "One Night in Bangkok", the very object of the title's desire. However it does not appear to be the case. These sick puppies behind the scenes thought they could have their cake and not pay for it too. Well they'd better think again, they're on their way to the vet to get this twisted sickness out.

The Orville: Electric Sheep (2022) Season 3, Episode 1

hopefully not a telling start

[7/10 · 13 June 2022]

Not a fan of opening the season with the massive action scene. Making it a dream doesn't really change the fact that they're just using a massive action set piece to show off and draw attention. I am not impressed. Though seeing the crew reactions to isaac post 9-11 has promise conceptually, it seems like it is being handled with the subtlety of a brick. Looking forward to this new season but i'll probably just wait for a few more to be out before carrying on.

The Orville (2017–2022)

great show

[7/10 · 9 June 2022]

I loved the orville's first two seasons. Built up to a cool point and opened up a whole world. This season opened on a crazy nightmare space battle which kind of makes me doubt it. But so far i haven't had a problem with it aside from that. Looking forward to more episodes. Don't rely on action or fx please.

The Batman: Deleted Arkham Scene (2022 Video)

Super glad this was cut.

[2/10 · 30 April 2022]

The absolute last thing I want to see in a batman movie is the joker. I have had enough. There's not much more to do with the character that hasn't been done recently. This scene is very middling and is basically just an exposition dump, dumbing down the themes and character motivations and would've greatly diminished the impact of every arc in the film.

Charmed (2018–2022)

the episode i watched of this was pretty good

[7/10 · 16 April 2022]

It really just seems like a harmless and pretty family friendly magic adventure series. Nothing brilliant, just some cheese and a coherent plot, characters, setups, and pay offs. That's a lot better than trying to make something brooding or cool and having it turn out to be an incoherent mess. This isn't gonna go down in history or anything, but as far as television goes it's definitely not the worst. Lots of people here complaining about wokeness which I do not read at all beyond the fact that the premise of the show involves three women. I haven't seen or even heard of the original series so I don't have anything to compare it to or any emotional attachment that might result in some feeling of betrayal. As far as this goes on it's own, it feels like a kind of silly show that clearly devotes time to developing and establishing characters, which alone gives it some merit. That is literally more than what most of our media does.

The Orville (2017–2022)

Starts strong

[7/10 · 8 October 2021]

I'm only a couple episodes in but so far my only complaint is the abundance of modern pop culture references. Still clearly shows restraint from MacFarlane in that area compared to other works of his, which is incredibly respectable. Hoping for it to maintain its present course of toeing the line between taking it too far and respecting its characters and stories. That opening scene in the first episode didn't really hit as a comedy beat for me, but it sets up the characters quite well. Good chemistry between actors, innovative concepts, and genuinely funny. Solid television, especially in (current year).

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Explorers (1995) Season 3, Episode 22

Great episode

[9/10 · 12 August 2021]

My judgment may be clouded by a father/son bonding plot and a space sailboat a la treasure planet but this episode had a point to be made about historical accomplishments as well as anything it did about the relationships between the characters, which was a good deal. The last episode that OBrien and Bashir actually had a scene, OBrien still wasn't really fond of him. Now he directly implies he loves Bashir, and Sisko's son Jake is having nothing but breakthrough conversations with him. This not only establishes their relationship better, but the overall parent-child relationships in this era of Trek. Might not be relevant to the overall plot of the Dominion War or anything, but characterizes the Cardassiasns in a way that hadn't really been seen before.

Stranger Things (2016–2025)

s1 was okay

[6/10 · 26 July 2021]

Don't really get why shows still can't find it in themselves to end while they're ahead. Was a decent show for a time, never would've grown to dislike it if not for the constant rehash. But it wouldn't be a true 80's horror homage if it didn't devolve into an utter parody of itself, as is inevitable.

Star Trek: Voyager: Course: Oblivion (1999) Season 5, Episode 17

Continuity errors abound but punchy and tragic

[7/10 · 26 July 2021]

An alternate crew of Voyager exists on an alternate Voyager, apparently created in a previous episode "Demon". They have lost the memories of their creation, but retain those of the crew. I question the decisions (by the writers) to destroy the probe, why Voyager was between the new ship and the Demon planet, obviously why 7/9 was in it, and many others, but ultimately the ideas hold true and hold well. What does it mean to be alive, what's the distinction between being someone, and being their copy? Why do we pursue the things we do? Etcetera. Voyager often has episodes like this, which were few and far between in TNG where a tragic end is met rather unexpectedly, rather than a cop out. Made me feel something to see the entire crew dying before my eyes, because regardless of what they literally are, they're the crew of Voyager. Seeing them collapse into nothing within minutes of communication is distressing. The only reason I'm leaving a review here is because many of the people leaving negative ones seem to be Voyager haters or people seeking plot holes, and if those screw with your Star Trek viewing, you must hate a lot of it. I like this show, and I like the characters. Janeway commits to her original mission early in the episode, the pursuit of Earth, and declines destroying a ship that threatens them and their survival. Which is very in character, as the rest of the crew are. Eventually she decides to turn back on what's basically a suicide mission, which really isn't. As the crew degrade, they make more and more decisions based on characters in a time and place of struggle, as they always are. My biggest issue with this episode is the idea that the "time capsule" they create of unaltered materials is destroyed by the degradation of the ship, which doesn't really make sense to me. The writers obviously wanted to make something tragic for its own sake, and followed through to the furthest extent without making any concessions to the rest of the series. Voyger's crew deserves to know about this, and the alternate crew did not deserve to be forgotten, as Janeway says.

Ultimately filler, but compelling filler at least.

Better Call Saul (2015–2022)

wtf where is my epic walt moment

[10/10 · 27 November 2020]

I hate this show and give it one star because it has no walt moment. i liked breaking bat because he had lots of epic walt moment. this show is laws. so borign, can't stand the law. the character are all bad too. they are all smart, none like jessi pink men who would be stupid and people could laugh as he says (the B word)0 and the walt could talk down to him and let me understand what was happening in the scene. none of that is here i want the car to blow up not someone to con a free drink or five hundred dallers. THIS SHOW WILL NOT BE GOOD WITHOUT THE EPIC WALT MOMENT WATCH MY WORDS but the characters are really interesting and i like the chuck/jimmy dynamic, unfolds in a really interesting way.

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2019)

offensively bad

[1/10 · 20 August 2020]

Momentum that carries from the last film? coherent character beats? a spaceship with a giant lightsaber strapped to the front? no. none of that. this movie fails across the board, it never goes hard enough to be a fast and furious hilarious action movie, and it never holds on the characters long enough for it to be a star wars movie. so much in the film seems to have been thrown in in editing just to clear up plot discrepancies in the already threadbare point A to B to C story. i don't know why in god's name they gave this movie to jj abrams, that was probably the worst decision they've made. walt disney if you're reading this, please make the next star war movie about some people getting a really big cyber crystal to build a spaceship that is also a huge lightsaber and cuts through planets. please that's all i want.

Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016)

Almost definitely the worst thing I've ever seen

[1/10 · 20 July 2016]

All of my least favorite movies, A Clockwork Orange, Furious 7, Mad Max, all had some sort of entertainment value. Be that with some actual entertainment found within the confines of the film or by some friends and I getting ironic humor out of them. I went to see this with a couple of people, expecting it to be bad. We at least hoped we could make some jokes during since the theater was basically empty and we wouldn't be killing anyone's buzz. Paul Feig didn't even give us that.

This could've been a good movie and despite my outspoken hatred for it, I really hoped it would be. It wasn't. Somehow it dulled Bill Murray so much when he was thrown out of a window by the only ghost they caught the whole movie, I felt nothing. Which is a first considering I absolutely love Bill Murray and after that scene in Zombieland I thought this would hurt a bit. I was wrong, they killed Bill Murray and his charisma.

All of the ghosts look too detached from reality but at the same time look too realistic and out of place in a Ghostbusters movie. This really shouldn't be called Ghostbusters. I think if it just called itself something else and switched up bits of it it would've still been bad, but I don't think it'd be as controversial. They don't even really BUST any ghosts. They just kill them or something with Kate McKinnon's dumb ghost guns which fire proton beams which, as shown in this and the original, should be CATCHING the ghosts and holding them. Not slicing them in pieces.

My biggest problem with this movie I would have gone forever without realizing if not for one of Leslie Jones' lines. This was in one of the trailers, Melissa McCarthy was possessed and she starts slapping her and yelling "GET OUT OF MY FRIEND, GHOST", but then it hit me, were any of them even friends? I don't recall any actual conversations between them that weren't purely technical and about ghosts. The original had scenes like where Ray and Winston (memorable characters, can't say the same for these) are talking about the end of days, where they just casually eat Chinese food and talk to one another about the business, the Twinkie scene, but this had none of that. And Leslie Jones was definitely not their friend. How was she even a Ghostbuster? She literally just walks in and says "I wanna be in the club!!" and later discloses aside from the rest that she "didn't sign up for this I thought this gon be a book club or somethin". She came to them for help with a ghost, saw Kristen Wigg almost get decapitated by a train while trying to catch one, and hung out with them for days, weeks, maybe months with apparently so little communication that she had no idea what they even did there.

If you want a stupidly long and mediocre 1700 word review, go to this link http://apocalypsepromptly.blogspot.com/