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UFO (2021)
Deceitful, contradictory and poorly done
Other than high production values, there is nothing to recommend this series from J. J. Abrams Bad Robot. From the first episode they randomly mix together hoax videos and images, simulations and real footage, rarely indicating which is which. And while they spend the first two episodes laying out how real the phenomenon is, the next two episodes say "no, no it's not," based primarily on one bitter MUFON guy's testimony. If you are familiar with UFO history the show is an embarrassment; if you are new to the topic you'll just end up baffled.
Mare of Easttown: Illusions (2021)
The dumbest episode yet
From the top...
So that old woman died in a car crash so we could have scene at a wake where the husband confesses to having an affair with Mare's mom, and Mare gets a good laugh. That's it, no plot relevance, just another bizarre detour visited and dropped.
The relationship between Zabel and Mare makes zero sense, there is less than zero chemistry and he (the actor, and let's assume the character too) is 12 years younger than Mare. The only reason this 'relationship' exists is so that when Zabel gets shot we care more.
And finally...why didn't the two girls upstairs SCREAM?! We know they would be heard since the kidnapper gagged them when visitors were over. But you see if they screamed the whole story comes to a dead stop and they arrest the guy. The pipe shaking was a contrivance to slooowly reveal what was on.
I'm still giving the overall series a 7/10, but that's mainly based on Kate Winslet's performance, which is excellent, and not the writing, which is poor.
Q: Into the Storm (2021)
Tedious, excessive detail.
There might be a good two-hour documentary in this six hour mini-series, but after watching the first two episodes I'm out. I thought this was going to be about Q and the movement he/she spawned, instead I got the history of internet message boards. They spend a whole *hour* telling us how Q moved from 8-chan to 4-chan to 'The Storm' to post their cryptic messages. Or, they could have just said what I said in a voice over and moved on. It was like doing a documentary on the Kennedy assassination and spending an hour explaining how Oswald got his job at the Texas Book Depository. And for bonus negative points the music is grating and annoying.
Like the Nxivm cult documentary of last year, this is another HBO doc that needed a total re-think.
The Wanting Mare (2020)
A slow-burn to nowhere
I'm giving the movie 5 stars for its visual effects, done primarily in Photoshop, After Effects and Blender, and the acting, which was good. Unfortunately, as so often happens, the problem starts with the script. After watching the entire film very carefully, I'm not exactly sure what it was trying to say. There are obviously plenty of metaphors floating about, too many by half.
Oh, and the director doesn't know where he shot some of the movie. In the end credits, and in an interview with Befores & Afters magazine, he repeatedly refers to the Canadian province of Nova Scotia as "Novia" Scotia. Spelling, like directing, is hard.
Seinfeld: The Nose Job (1991)
Possibly the worst Seinfeld episode ever
Horrible writing. "Is it your contention that Shakespeare was an imposter?" Well the whole book was about how Shakespeare is an Imposter, and after reading the entire book the landlord didn't know?! It's like the Seinfeld writer wasn't even paying attention to what he was writing. And the scene that Jerry and Tawny K. are reading is gibberish, it doesn't even read like a real fake play. The entire episode feels like bad sitcom writing, and is full of camera tricks that are decidedly non-Seinfeld. And it has an 8/10 rating on IMDb? They must be friends of the landlord.
Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill (2020)
What's the deal with the yelling?
The yelling, shouting of jokes, moving all over the stage...I've never seen Seinfeld look so uncomfortable on the stage and unsure of the material. His old self was calm, observational and sly. This played as desperate - I eventually found it impossible to watch.
Sheryl Crow: A Change Would Do You Good, Version 2 (1997)
One of the worst mainstream videos ever made
A nonsensical plot with voices and sound effects drowning out the song. It's more like a 4 minute movie with Crow's song as the background music. It completely detracts from the song, and has nothing to do with it. It's just Michel Gondry run amuck, and I usually like his stuff - and I love Sheryl Crow. It's worth seeking out the original video for this song, which was done in B&W and backwards (mostly). I guess the label felt it wasn't 'good enough' for Crow, but the monster they created for the second version did no one any favours.
Where Soldiers Come From (2011)
Stunning documentary film-making
Don't let the bizarrely low rating on IMDb dissuade you from watching this amazing documentary. One subject of the film compares the men going off to Afghanistan to the characters in 'The Deer Hunter', and it's an apt comparison. There's no torture, no Russian Roulette, but there is the story of a group of friends from a small town in America going off to fight in a war they don't really understand. And like The Deer Hunter, they come back with wounds not necessarily visible on the outside. This film isn't pro-war or anti-war, hell, in a lot of ways it's not even about war. It's about friendship, family and survival. In other words, it's about life. A must see.
Life or Something Like It (2002)
Oh the humanity
First off, I will admit I watched this only because of Angelina Jolie. I would watch her read the phone book for two hours (as long as it's in wide-screen - hate pan-and-scan). And after sitting through this movie, I really wish I *had* been watching her read the phonebook instead.
Her character goes through more changes, evolutions, devolutions and wild (unexplained) mood swings in one week than the rest of us will achieve in a life time. Every scene is a cliche, every performance over the top (I'm looking at you, Stockard Channing). The movie has a very good point to make about life, and realizing what's important, but it's kind of like learning how to hit a baseball by having 100mph fastballs pelted at you until you learn how to hit them. Sure you've learned something, but oh the pain!
**** SPOILER ****
IF YOU HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE...
To those who don't get this (sheesh): she *does* die, for cryin' out loud. Didn't you hear the EKG go flat-line for a moment? Jack said she would die -- he just didn't say for how long. (Yes, it's a dumb technicality, but look what movie that technicality is in.)