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CeeBeeGeeBee
Reviews
Fallout (2024)
Balancing humor, horror, violence and social commentary
Based on Ep 1
I'm a fallout fan, so that probably make me biased. Although, the harshest critics so far seem to be fallout fans.
The quality and attention to detail is astounding. It feels like the game has come alive but does not feel fake. It balances sci-fi, humour, horror, violence, and social commentary with ease.
The first episode was slower than I was expecting, but this showed a confidence in story-telling and world building. Happy to keep watching and see where the story goes.
Lots of little details for fans of the game, the blink, or you'll miss appearance of a junk gun being a great example. I had to pause, and yes they'd faithful replicated that odd weapon.
Yellowjackets: Storytelling (2023)
Why?
Just finished belatedly watching season 2. I agree with the general sentiment of the reviews here, that the acting (particular by the "teen" cast) remained outstanding. Also, I'd watch Melanie Lynskey, Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis read out the dictionary. The writing was a different story. It not just the "difficult second album" factor, it was going to be a challenge to match season 1. It was confused and lazy and could not be fully rescued by the talent of the cast.
Many examples of this, but the stand-out for me was the ex-machina resolution of the police pursuit of Shauna (an arc that extended back to season 1) with a few lines dialog from Walter that had more holes that gillnet.
I'm genuinely curious as to how this could happen. Presumably, the season was well funded and, with the success of the first season, the show had sufficient creative license. Why resort to such cheap tricks? Is it hidden presume that comes from the first season success and a wider audience that puts pressure on the writers to become more mainstream. So, the show becomes more like a generic teen drama/soap opera (with a dash of horror)?
I'll check out season 3, mainly due to the actors, but not with any great anticipation. I don't think they can pull it back from here. I hope I'm wrong.
From: Once Upon a Time... (2023)
The only mystery is how the writers managed to get paid of this
So disappointed with this show. The first episode set up a brilliant premise with great promise. Everyone was "from" somewhere but able to leave, there are monsters in the night and a malevolent force that could get inside people heads. In the 19 subsequent episodes that story has barely progressed. Instead we have a frustrating day-time soap opera largely driven by the characters inability to communicate (or even finish a sentence sometimes).
The ex-machina conclusions to the main story arc (Boyd get access to the music box by lighting a torch) is good example of how flat out lazy the writing is in season 2. Perhaps the writers thought they needed to cover this so decided to have him shot just beforehand.
My one hope is that a near death experience with being cancelled will engender a change of tact. It could have been a brilliant show but it more likely to be a cautionary tale.
Dave (2020)
One joke show that tries to be awkwardly funny but is just awkward
The (very) brief ads looked promising. The show lacks subtly in setting up the premise. A paranoid, nerdy, upper middle-class, Jewish guy want to be a rapper. The single joke juxtaposition of "Dave" and black wrap culture is drenched in stereotypes and cultural appropriation. It borders on offensive but is only spared that tag by Dave being the attempted punchline in most cases.
When the very limited rapping does occur, Dave turns out to be a moderately competent - but that's about it. There's the occasional funny bit of writing (like the ones that appears in the 10 second promos) but it not enough to make the show watchable.
In the midst of a COVID lock down I was super keen to find a new show to watch. But even with time on my hands this show was a waste of time.
Taylor Misiak as Ally is the one bright spot in the show.