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Reviews
Star Trek: Picard (2020)
Forget the Haters!
Don't listen to the haters, this series is magnificent! Just seeing Patrick Stewart refill his role as Captain Picard should be reason enough to watch this series and revel in awe at the simple fact that it's happened. It's like watching Connery return as Bond in an alternate universe. And even if this show was an absolute pile of s**t it would still be worth watching for that fact. Luckily that is not the case.
Although it's still very early in the series, Picard is already showing all the hallmarks of an instant classic. It does rush certain aspects that I would have preferred more fleshed out, but understandably it has to get to the point pretty quick and unfortunately forgo some character development with the new players (which the haters would have hated even more since they unjustly call this show "boring" to begin with). And that leads me to my next point....
Picard is not boring. Both character and show intended. Subtle, subdued, introspective, yes all of the above. But todays audience just seems to want thrills and spectacle and nothing else. Even the original Next Generation wasn't like that, it was quietly bold and supremely existential in it's best episodes. And that's what I hope for going forward with Picard.
Patrick Stewart as Picard is like an old friend you haven't seen in ages... Awkward for just a second then it's as if you never spent any time apart. Give this show a chance, it has the ability to be great.
Plus it's awesome to see Brent Spiner as Data again, that android freakin' rocks!
Firefly (2002)
The Best Sci Fi in decades!
I know I am very late to the game here in reviewing Firefly, but come on.....!! If the hundreds of positive reviews and severe backlash for Fox cancelling this show is not enough to convince you it's good, then you're never going to be convinced. It made Fillion a household name (at least in the Sci Fi community), it broke boundaries of what science fiction was pigeon-holed as, it grabbed audiences from many different genres and most of all it was just f*#king brilliant! The Fox network must have been kicking themselves in the balls when they realised what they had done. If it was given half a chance, it could still be going today with spinoffs and movies. What a shame.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Charlie Work (2015)
Brilliant
That last reviewer is either a moron or has no idea how television works. First of all, this episode was funny as hell, secondly the 13 minute uncut one-take performance by Charlie was simply amazing... One scene that lasted 13 minutes, completely uncut, all done in one take, while moving in and around the bar and even outside is just simply brilliant... Even Scorsese would be proud of that scene...
So I don't know what the last reviewer of this episode is talking about, because for me the show is just as good as it has always been, and this episode is one of the best in the whole series...
Brilliant show, funnier than most things on TV, 10/10
The Greatest Movie Ever Rolled (2012)
Elwood Sucks
Would have been awesome without Graham Elwood. He is not funny, never has been, why the hell did Doug Benson make a movie with him? Watching this is like a Greek tragedy, Doug is hilarious, the next second you're subjected to the torture of Graham Elwood. I can only guess that they are good friends and Doug threw him a bone. But he ruined the movie by doing it. He has heaps of friends that would have been better, Sarah Silverman would have been hilarious, Brian Posehn would be like a good acid trip, anyone would be funnier than Elwood. He is simply not funny, he drags the movie down so much. Just when you're laughing at Doug's jokes, he comes on and kills the whole mood. Still funny for the Doug moments tho, which thankfully is most of them... still, only gets a 5... you should know better Doug, you know movies!
Louie (2010)
Disturbingly funny for all the wrong reasons
The reason I say that is because quite often you'll be laughing at this amazing show and suddenly reason you really shouldn't be laughing at something so wrong. That said, this is an incredibly good show.
Louis CK is probably one of the best, funniest and most talented comedians working today, along with Ricky Gervais (who has an hilarious cameo by the way), and if you're a fan, this will not disappoint.
Usually amusingly awkward and strange, often laugh out loud funny, Louie is a masterpiece of modern comedy. And while dealing with sometimes serious problems many of us have, Louie CK manages to find the awkward comedy in all of it.
If you're a fan of Louie CK, or even if you are not but like dark comedies, definitely check this out. Just one quick warning to newcomers, if you're easily offended, avoid this like the plague, hahaha.
Derek (2012)
Groundbreaking
Ricky Gervais is a comic genius the likes of which we haven't seen in decades. His comedy is somehow both universal yet specific, appealing to a worldwide audience yet never losing touch of his English heritage. But enough about that, this is about something more important.... Derek....
The Office was a brilliantly clever comedy, Extras was even better, Life's Too Short was criminally underrated and wasn't given a chance to find it's feet, An Idiot Abroad is a masterful use of a genuinely interesting and captivating idiot and then there's Derek....
Derek is a masterpiece. I have to qualms about stating that. In future years, maybe even five or ten years down the track, Derek will be the sitcom that all other sitcoms are compared to. The sitcom formula of a studio audience and general dumb jokes is already all but dead, and Derek is the nail in the coffin of such shows. In fact, it is the inevitable fresh step forward for sitcoms in general.
Derek lets go of the usual sitcom laughs and replaces them with real life giggles. Sometimes you're not even sure why you're smiling, then you realise it's because of the situation you're watching. Even worse, sometimes you don't even realise you're smiling.
But it's the emotion of Derek that sets it apart from other sitcoms. It's not lame, superficial, meaningless emotion either, it's real emotion, due in no small part to the brilliant supporting cast. In almost every episode I've watched so far I've gotten teary. And thats exactly where the future is for sitcoms. Real emotion. People are getting sick of cheap laughs and emotionless humor. The best comedy comes from tragedy, always has and always will. It's a shame it's taken TV 60 years to realise that. Derek, along with a select few other shows, may very well be the savior of the sitcom. Because if I the future of sitcoms is Two And A Half Men then I might as well kill myself now.