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j_e_hill
Reviews
Fargo: The Tragedy of the Commons (2023)
Was hopeful that S5 would be as good as others
...and episode 1 confirms that it will be every bit as the first four.
Great acting, no worries about some of the bigger names being any less dead-on as those from seasons 1-4.
The music is better than ever. The new themes and score are unmistakably Fargo, and immediately transport you back to the universe that feels real to those of us that have watched from the beginning.
There are already so many wonderful allusions to prior characters and events, it's part of what makes this show so fun to watch. And intelligent. Some new characters evoke those from prior seasons. Some events are similar enough to prior seasons (and the movie) to fondly remind you of them, yet aren't lazy re-hashes of the same tropes or gags.
In case you forgot the absolute irreverence, without irony, that at times pushes the plot forward, in ways some don't dare to try, if they do, somehow do so clumsily instead of humanely (inhumanely)... the first episode, directed by Noah Hawley himself, makes sure you remember it. Dark Comedy doesn't make the point well enough. It's the best tv on tv.
And: the funniest use of an air gun that you're going to see in a tv show or movie.
The Crown (2016)
Overall excellent, but Season 5/6 casting of Prince Charles is as bad as it gets
Enough has been said about how good the show is.
But the casting of the role of Prince Charles, in the final two seasons, is among the worst combinations of both terrible choice in actor and the actor himself.
He doesn't resemble the actual person in the slightest. Worse, though, is his awful acting and repeated affectations, which are as amateurish and annoying as anything I've seen in a big budget show like this. It's nearly unwatchable to a point. The over-and-over biting of his lower lip, while sliding his lower jaw to the side, is as dumb a crutch as you'll see. It's so obvious you can even see that the editor tries to bail him out with quick cuts before he can complete the move, in some scenes. He's dreadful and it derails the show at too many moments over the final series of episodes.
How they got this so wrong, while getting so much of the casting (and acting, in turn) right, it's hard to conceive an explanation. But it's a pity, because the writing and the production of the show, along with most of the really great performances of the other actors, makes it otherwise a must-watch.
Both ladies who played Diana were really great... it would have been so easy to get it wrong, but in each case, I thought they were both fantastic in their acting, and were edited/directed in such a way to really evoke the real princess. Ditto for the eldest William, by the way, who is holding his own, equally.
(one other exception: the role of Dodi Fayed... while the actor was great, I feel it was really miscast as well, and plays to an overly sympathetic image, which doesn't really fit with what I think most would recall.)
Reptile (2023)
Suspenseful Old-School Detective Thriller
This movie is a little like a classic Michael Mann movie. Not quite to the standard of Heat or Manhunter, of course, but it brings to mind those and similar classics.
Some complain about the unresolved storyline threads, but I find that to be much more intelligent and rewarding. Did his wife cheat with him? Doesn't matter, it just mattered how Del Toro's character responded to the potential of it. Who was the actual killer? Doesn't matter, once we know that the boyfriend was complicit in it.
There are definitely some potential issues with the plot, such as the police not going to the victim's legal next-of-kin first, and the sometimes casual obtuse responses by some of the police, which don't seem to phase Detective Nichols, who otherwise has the nose for right and wrong. It seemed pretty implausible that the PO Box thing was so obvious and convenient to tie his DEA pal to the murders. But these things happen in movies and you have to take some of it with a grain of salt, there are only so many ways to move a story forward in two hours.
For those reasons, I'd give the movie a 6, but Benicio Del Toro's performance is worth a bump up to a 7/10. The acting throughout is terrific, in fact, with Alicia Silverstone convincingly playing the role of supportive but heady partner. Justin Timberlake leaves you wondering all the while, with a perfectly muted but evocative performance. The secondary characters are mostly well-played as well, even if a little one-dimensional in some moments.
Definitely worth the watch, if you like the actors and the trailer caught your attention, you will enjoy it.
Pam & Tommy (2022)
A triumph in awfulness
Amazing. They managed to make a show that:
Seth Rogan isn't the least bit funny (or sympathetic) in.
Makes Lily James less pretty than she is.
Presents Tommy Lee as even more annoying than he is.
And is the only thing I've ever seen Nick Offerman in that I didn't enjoy.
This is pretty bad all around.
This Is Us: Forty: Part One (2020)
I really don't want to re-live this year through this show
Bad idea to bring it into reality with the current events. But just seeing all the bad things that happened in real life play out on this show was not at all what I was hoping for this season. The escapism that makes good TV great is lost. And Randall was already becoming less and less sympathetic, now if he's going to take out his feelings on his family after 40 years, not something entertaining or redeeming to watch as entertainment. I don't like when Kevin feels sorry for himself and I sure don't want to see Randall's character turn into a (even more) selfish one either. But here we are. Hope they had their peace with these first 'two' episodes and get the the show back to what made it good soon. Also: there was no need to double-up the first two episodes. There was not enough for two full shows in there, and nothing about it was worth cramming into one two-hour sitting. (And 'limited commercial interruptions'?? really? there were as many and as long of commercial breaks as always. Disappointing start to the new season.
Fargo: The Birthplace of Civilization (2020)
The best television this year
This season's episodes are the best TV I've seen in a long time. Sure, the tone is different, and yes, there is a "political" agenda to the narrative (or, if you are human, a humanity story... it's not politics... this is really how we got here. Pay attention.) I find it funny that people lose their $%#! over a story about black people, but the one about Aliens?! ...well that was just fine.
Simply the best direction, photography, acting, casting, scoring, and production value of anything on TV right now. The dark humor and despicable morons as characters are what make it Fargo-- and I suspect we'll see how some of it ties to the prior seasons, even if just by a thread, as the series goes on.
Breaking Bad: Mandala (2009)
Gus is a fantastic new character
Giancarlo Esposito is a phenomenal actor... and Gus: what a good character-- played to perfection, as a conservative but powerful foil to Walter's tenuously-strengthening tough guy act. I'm more interested in the show now than ever, and hope to see more of him. He commands the screen.
Fargo: Welcome to the Alternate Economy (2020)
Definitely Different... definitely still good tv
I'm going to give it a chance. Very very good direction and set direction. Beautiful to watch. It might take a while to recalibrate to the new scenes and characters, but I expect it will be worth it. If they just rehashed and re-used the old bits from the first three seasons, people would all complain it was nothing new. This is quality television and I'm here for it.
Uncut Gems (2019)
No redeeming characters, an assault on your senses
This movie seems to be made to cause anxiety. The most redeeming character in the whole thing is a nameless goon that actually shows empathy for ten seconds. The main characters are all idiots and one dimensional. At one point, you're thinking he fully deserves whatever tragic fate is used to wrap up this mess of a movie. Very disappointed as I like comics in serious roles (Will Ferrell in Winter Passing, Robin Williams in a number of great ones, Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine, etc) so I was expecting Adam Sandler to be great in this. Instead, he's just shouting the whole time, and does nothing to cause you to root for him. I don't understand the good reviews or hype about this movie.
It's also flat out stupid how Kevin Garnett's "character" drives the plot with his silly infatuation with the mystic uncut gem.