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Reviews
Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (2020)
Horrible Ad Campaign. Show Not-as-Horrible.
I'm going to be honest. I only watched 1 episode, because the entire episode showed up as an ad on youtube on my TV (Yes, a 50 minute episode, as a youtube ad) which just screams desperation to get people to watch their show, and I didn't feel like getting up to grab the remote on the other side of the room. Suffice to say the ad campaign for this show is the most brutal, obnoxious thing I've seen in my life and really dragged this review down because I had no desire to see this show and their ad campaign made a full episode show up on my TV.
Now, as for the actual episode: The show is not the worst thing I've seen in my life. The premise is wacky but enjoyable for it's silliness. The actors think they are better musicians than they are, and their singing can be pretty obnoxious and overdone, but overall I think it's a fairly well produced show that would probably appeal to an audience that isn't me, and I could see someone like my mom giving it an 8 or so. I'd actually have not reviewed this show if I had randomly come across it on TV. HOWEVER, they interrupted my programming to put it on my TV, so I'm going to say what I thought of it. It's not my thing: It's probably not the thing for most people whose content got interrupted for it. If you didn't want people like me outside the target audience to review it, you shouldn't have made me watch it.
Watchmen (2019)
Milquetoast political commentary and poor execution
Most of the reviews place an emphasis on politics, and rightly so, this is a VERY political show. Disappointingly political, because the social commentary is handled with all the finesse, subtlety, and skill of a toddler killing ants with a sledgehammer. If you do not care about left-wingers, and right-wingers, and all of that trash, the show just on the merits is not that good, and I feel like this five star review is being rather generous. I would ignore any 10 star or 1 star review however because both are equally inaccurate and could not have been made in good faith. There is nothing about this show that could make it reasonably deserve any better than a 7, and likewise anything under a 3 is also unjustifiable.
The real scoop: The show is a very weak depiction of Watchmen, which you may enjoy more if you subscribe to the particular political message the writers pushed in a very hamfisted way, can ignore the show's overall low quality because it caters to you in that way, and are unfamiliar with the source material the show is based on. The biggest issue with this aspect is that the message the writers picked is a very odd choice to match up with Watchmen, because it is incongruous with the source material. One of the amazing things about the ye-olde Watchmen graphic novel is it was anti-state when most comics were ultra patriotic and pro-state, and smashed the "Moral Absolutism" present in most comic books by depicting most of the characters as morally gray rather than white hats and black hats. This show embraces the exact opposite stance, and does it in the most milquetoast way possible: By assigning the villain roles exclusively to caricatures of people with whom the writers politically disagree, and assigning the hero roles exclusively to people with whom the writers agree politically.
The thing the original did so well was it sold a message to the audience that was likely different from what the audience believed, and did it in a way that could convince them that the message was correct without beating them over the head with it. It made people think about big things. This show on the other hand only has a message to stroke the egos of the target audience who already agrees with it, and rather than making any attempt to show the merits of these stances through clever writing, they just openly disparage everyone who disagrees, which is fine with their target audience but does absolutely nothing to convince anyone of their stance. Something the original did so well.
Moving on past politics, the show itself even with the obnoxious political overtures stripped out is not that great. The plot is extremely dissonant. Some of the subject matter is extremely dark, and some is just ridiculously silly, and it comes in no particular order. The silliness of some parts of the show keeps the more serious elements from feeling serious, because you never know when the supposedly deep moral moments will be interspersed with raining squid. The writing is very much like the Star Wars Prequels, in that it can range from very good to very bad in the span of about 30 seconds, and like those films the show is generally better when nobody is talking.
Visuals: The effects are I'd say somewhere between a CW superhero show and a 15+ year old A-list film. That is to say, usually not outright terrible but definitely not amazing. It's somewhat surprising that this is an HBO original show because the visual effects are a huge downgrade from other HBO shows like Game of Thrones. The cinematography is nothing to write home about, it gets the point across. In this regard the show grinds along at a constant sub-par level that is endurable, but not enjoyable.
Overall, the show is painfully sub-par for an HBO show just on the merits, and has little to no value as a social commentary because it picks the safest possible stance for its target audience, and rams it down your throat in the laziest and least subtle possible way.
The Mandalorian (2019)
Pleased a Jaded Fan
I came into this thing not expecting much. I disliked the last two Disney Star Wars films and was expecting this to be much the same. I have never been so happy to be so wrong. There is more originality and style in the first episode than everything else in the series Disney has produced combined. I cried when it ended because I never thought seeing a Star Wars product would be this fresh and satisfying ever again. That feeling alone is worth giving the show a 10 based on only the first episode.
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
An Honest Review from an Old Fan
I've been in love with Star Wars since I was 3, and sometimes you love things even though they're stupid. People wanted The Last Jedi to be that same stupid plot they've been in love with since 1977, and it wasn't. People expected Luke Skywalker to hop in his X-Wing, go blow up an even bigger Death Star, and get a medal while everybody claps at the end, and that did not happen. Instead we got a very strong, independent movie that wasn't trying to emulate the success of it's predecessors. While some of the hardcore fans pan this movie for not being the same thing they've been watching since 1977, I think in the years to come it will be remembered as a high point of the series, because this is the movie that broke tradition and let Star Wars be something new.
I enjoyed the film, a lot, and if you were a fan of the Extended Universe, you'll love it too, because it feels just like a good EU novel turned into a movie. This is what the Sequel Trilogy should have been from the start. The stakes are high, not because the not-empire has some dumb new even bigger planet destroying weapon to blow up rocks that the audience doesn't care about (thank god), but because every character in the film legitimately feels like they are in danger, as the resistance is brutally chased down and destroyed one ship at a time by the First Order. I absolutely loved the film because it was fresh, the enemies felt dangerous, and it had me sitting on the edge of my seat from start to finish. I know some fanboys will cry today, but I have no doubt that years down the line, barring IX being absolutely amazing, this will be the go-to movie for the trilogy.