I think we might all have missed the point. I think that S4 was a parody of S1. There is no way the writers could have been serious.. The plot is patently absurd and risible that it could only be satire. They took all the faux existential ennui of S1 plus the Gothic themes and took them to the ridiculous extreme. What if the world is literally dark--except all those scenes where the sun is up, oops--that would be something, right? The problem is that the satire is not broad enough to signal the viewer that it is all a con. If, by contrast, the writers were serious, they produced the worst television show in recent memory.
Reviews
25 Reviews
P-Valley
(2020– )
Interesting, But Sloppy And Overlong
17 October 2022
I understand the lure of the show. It takes a lot of the usual strip club tropes and turns them upside down. It features a virtually 100% African-American cast. So, in a lot of ways the show is groundbreaking. But, it's also a bit of a mess. The writers make very basic story telling mistakes. For example, the entire premise of season one, about why Hailey was on the run, is washed away in just a single scene. Characters appear and disappear for no particular reason. The writers seem to struggle with maintaining a through line on the narrative. We take all manner of detours that lead nowhere. There are countless scenes that go on and on and really add nothing to the narrative. This show should have been at least 1/4 shorter than it is. It is evident that the creators of this show know True Blood. This show is so much an homage to Tru Blood that it's almost a copy. But, true blood had many more things going for it, including the supernatural. Also, the Laffayette character in True Blood is very obviously the basis for Uncle Clifford in this show. Keep in mind, too, that the music is HORRIBLE, crude amateurish rap. The argot of the show is corny and forced. After hearing "stacks" and "scrilla" too often, it sounds like parody. P Valley is worth watching. But as an attempt at a narrative art form, it falls dreadfully short.
Physical
(2021–2023)
Well Done But Very Dark
11 September 2022
This is a well written, well directed, well-acted show. But, oh so very dark and ugly in its themes. It really is rather bleak. The writers forgot to include any likeable characters. You will want to take a shower after spending two seasons with these depressing and rather horrible people. I really don't see why this had to be so depressing. They did not need to mke a sitcom. But nor did it need to a trip into the dark underbelly of the human soul. A little comic relief would have got a long way. As it is, you are left with no one to root for. That does not make for good story telling. The best character in the show currently is Vinnie Green. But even there, the writers have him mixed up in a horrible mess of a personal life.
Brimming With Ideas But Not Compelling
8 September 2022
You have to admire a movie that is about something. This flick is full of big ideas. It explores the nature of authority, the absurdity of life, the very idea of guilt. All of this is admirable. But, the story is not terribly interesting. I think the 50 years gone by have not served it well. It looks and seems dated. The soundtrack is so bizarre as to be intrusive. You really wonder why the composer did what he did. The acting is good, especially the lead and especially when he is echoing El Duce delivering a tirade about the need to conform. The casual depiction of the eroticized violence against women might put some viewers off. So, over all, good idea, so-so execution.
Saturday Fiction
(2019)
Brilliant Spy Story
26 July 2022
The critics who didn't like this film should take a second look. This is one of the best espionage movies of all time. It can be hard to decipher who is working for whom, but that is likely true of real spies. It has strong echoes of Casablanca but it also illuminates contemporary politics. The cinematography is gorgeous. The acting is tremendous. A must see.
The Essex Serpent
(2022)
Dull and Poorly Acted
13 July 2022
It's hard for any show to overcome Danes. I suspect she is the worst working actor in the world now. Here she is rail-thin with a dodgy English accent. She still sports only a few expressions: puzzled or angry. The story wants to be about BIG ideas, but it's mostly a boring slog. The Serpent is the best part of the show, if you know what I mean.
Beautiful, heartfelt movie
22 June 2022
I can't think why this is considered a thriller or a mystery or a horror story. It is none of these. Instead, it is a beautiful heartfelt and very, very moving story about Love and Loss. Be Sure to have your Kleenex handy if you watch this. A true master work at cinema. Devastating emotionally. You won't soon forget it.
CODA
(2021)
Sentimental Pablum
9 February 2022
This is a by the book Hallmark Channel movie jumped up to seem important. You have seen this 100 times before, often much better done. All the clichéd characters are here. All the clichéd tugs on the heart strings play out. Really not worth the attention it is getting.
The Lost Daughter
(2021)
Lacks Narrative Drive And Payoff
1 January 2022
Watching this movie, I kept thinking of how Patricia Highsmith would have handled the same elements. I think it would've made a much more interesting and better story. The lead in this film is something of a Ripley character, but there is not enough action in the film to propel it to any meaningful conclusion. Olivia Colman is probably the best actor we have going. The movie is worth watching just for her. But, it could've been much much better.
Zola
(2020)
Violent, Disturbing, Sadistic
20 October 2021
Do not believe that this is a comedy. It's a bleak look at the lives of the marginalized, filled with gratuitous and sadistic misogyny. If that's what you want, go for it. Us, this is not a comedy nor an adventure nor a Buddy road trip picture.
Sex Education
(2019–2023)
3rd Season Is Awful
23 September 2021
The first two seasons of this show were delightful--comical, whimsical, and touching. Then came season 3. What a bizarre and awful season this was. It seems apparent the writers had no idea where to go. You have the storylines ranging from horror to slapstick to bathos on a whim. The story of the new head mistress and her draconian measures are on par with 1984. Then you toss is a supposedly hilarious bit involving a sock full of human feces. The romantic story lines look they were assembled off a a checklist: handicapped person? Check. Trans person? Check Gay people? Check. Plus, the actors all now look more like middle-agers than high school students now. I pray there will be no season four because season 3 was so awful.
Dumb and Confusing
28 July 2021
This is a really poor attempt to tell part of the Watergate story. Unless you lived through it or are otherwise a history junkie, you would have no idea what the Watergate scandal was about based on this movie. This film really suffers in comparison to the all-time classic all the presidents men. It also features a really pointless subplot about Mark felt trying to find his missing daughter. A really awful effort. Skip this and watch Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman in all the presidents men.
Mare of Easttown
(2021)
Unwatchable Garbage
3 June 2021
I made it through 1 1/2 episodes before giving up. This could be the worst television show ever made. The people of this fictional town are the best argument I've ever heard for eugenics. Every possible cliché is at work here. This is a show that aspires to be like Fargo but misses the mark entirely. I honestly don't think I've ever seen worse TV program.
Intensely Boring
7 May 2021
If you follow your neighbors around for 24 hours you will discover that they are mostly very boring people. That's what we have here. This barely qualifies as a documentary. Unless you like seeing a toddler running around in circles for four minutes, you're not likely to enjoy this. A waste of time for everyone involved.
Murder on Middle Beach
(2020)
Painfully Boring
12 April 2021
What a waste of time for everyone involved. I cannot think of a less interesting story told any less interesting way. How this got on the HBO I can't imagine. The filmmaker must be somehow related to an executive at the network.
Very poor Effort
3 March 2021
Herrens veje
(2017–2018)
Relentlessly down beat and too long
11 February 2021
This is essentially the movie ordinary people overlaid with some amateurish jabber about philosophy and religion. 20 episodes is simply too many. The story loses steam quickly. It seems as if the script was designed to allow each of the characters to see the cruelest thing they could possibly think of at any given time. The way these people treat each other, it's amazing this isn't n a murder mystery story.Also, some of the details are just ludicrous. I particularly liked the chain-smoking oncologist. There are other howlers that you will have to discover for yourself. It is nice to see a grown-up drama about grown-up people doing grown-up things. But, this could've been much better.
Boring and without drama
9 December 2020
Da 5 Bloods
(2020)
Truly Awful
24 November 2020
As I was watching this terrible movie I wondered what it would take to make a parody of it. It occurred to me that there was no way to make a parody of this movie because it was already a parody of itself. This is a terrible movie. Terrible in every way a movie can be terrible. The dialogue is ridiculous. The storyline is even more ridiculous. Spike Lee has absolutely no idea about nuance or subtlety. I suppose if you watch it as a comedy,You might enjoy it. But, if you all want to take this is a serious movie you are out of luck. If you do watch the movie make sure to stick around long enough to see the absolutely ludicrous scene where they try to get one of their travelers off of a land mine. This is so bad that the Looney Tunes cartoons wouldn't go there.
The Vow
(2020–2022)
Boring, Disjointed, Repetitive
25 October 2020
After watching 9 episodes, I still lack basic information. Who is Reniere? How did the cult make money? What actual crimes did the cult leaders commit? Instead of exploring these issues, we got the same few scenes over and over again. How many times do we have to watch one of the former cult leaders break down in guilt over their role? A really poor effort.
Lovecraft Country
(2020)
Idiotic And Incoherent
20 October 2020
This is one of the dumbest tv shows I have ever seen. The clearly had no idea what sort of program to make. The tone skitters wildly from august Wilson to Raiders of the Lost Ark. this seems as if it should star Nic Cage. Truly awful and filled with characters who constantly do the dumbest possible thing. Each episode is worse than the one before. Utter garbage.
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